A vulnerability in the Website Optimiser’ control script makes it possible for hackers to break into any site using the code and then make use of the site to launch a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack.

In other words, hackers can exploit the Google code vulnerability to send out malicious material in the form of email spam or embedded viruses from any site that is using the code, which could then destroy important data on the computers of visitors to those websites.

The good news is that this can be done only if the website or browser has been previously compromised during an earlier attack. Moreover, Google have detected the issue and are proactively informing webmasters about the potential problem. The Website Optimiser team suggests that the possibility of such a thing happening is low. Nevertheless, it would be wise to take appropriate precautions before it is too late.

The bad news is that Google could potentially drop the affected website from its organic rankings for hosting the malicious code that was introduced in the first place via a vulnerability in Google’s own programming!

Any Website Optimiser experiments that may have been created before the 3rd of December 2010, even if they have been paused or stopped, should either use new code provided by Google or should stop the experiment completely. remove all the old code from the site and create a new experiment in its place. It would be easier to create a new experiment than to update the code directly on the site.

New experiments created after the 3rd of December 2010 are safe from the possibility of an XSS attack as the Website Optimiser team has already patched the vulnerability to protect new experiments.

The first of these features, called ‘Site Performance’ is available through Google Webmaster Tools. It provides information to website owners about the speed of their site and will also offer some suggestions that can help to make the site load faster.

In the past too, Google has offered advice on how webmasters can help make their pages load faster, through several articles on best practices and via posts on discussion forums.

Through Site Performance, users will be able to find out how fast their pages load, and how their site is faring compared to other sites over a period of time. These performance charts and tables will, however, only be available to sites that have sufficient traffic to collect enough data for such details.

Individual users may, of course see a site at a faster or slower pace than the average depending on their location and network.

The other feature introduced is called ‘Google Public DNS’.

DNS, which is short for Domain Name System, is an essential part of the Web that converts domain names into unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers.

While using the Internet, users often access DNS several times without even being aware of it, as the service is usually automatically handled by the Internet Service Provider. However, when multiple DNS lookups are required together, the service can be slowed down considerably.

Google’s Public DNS hopes to be able to solve this problem and make the surfing experience faster, safer and more reliable for users.

Google’s recent emphasis on speeding up the Internet accompanies hints dropped by Google representative, Matt Cutts, about the importance site speed might play in ranking considerations in the future.

This makes perfect sense, in general, because it is a known fact that faster sites lead to better user retention and activity, thus leading to higher revenues. However, companies that don’t have the money to invest in top-notch infrastructure could lose out against big businesses that have the money to invest in dedicated server stacks and advanced Web architecture.

Principles that Cutts mentioned back in 2006 are more likely to still apply: So long as websites load within an acceptable time frame, which is determined by Google, it is unlikely that the site will be disadvantaged for loading a few milliseconds slower than its competitors.

The site, which was first created way back in the 1990′s, was one of the world’s oldest Internet neighbourhoods. Most new surfers built their space on sites like GeoCities and Tripod, marking their space on the Internet long before the arrival of social networks and social media profiles.

Yahoo! bought the site almost a decade ago, for a whopping $3.57billion, in stock.

All the data and information on GeoCities, which was stored on Yahoo! servers has been deleted. Some sites like the Internet Archive and the newly formed The Archive Team have tried to retrieve and store some of this data but have probably not managed to save all of it.

Yahoo! had stopped accepting new users for this site last April itself, as they were considering this move, and in June they announced that the site would be closed on the 26th of October 2009 for good.

A spokesperson for Yahoo! said that they will now “focus on helping [their] customers explore and build new relationships online in other ways”.

Analytics account managers have the option to share data with Google products only, with Google products and the benchmarking service or to not share the data at all.

Users choosing to share data with Google products will allow Google to use the information to improve AdWords, AdSense and other Google products. It is stated that the data from these users will not be shared with any third parties. Users opting to share the data with Google products and the benchmarking service will be sharing their information (anonymously) with Google and a host of third parties, including direct competitors.

Benchmarking, however, is not a bad thing. The service will provide webmasters valuable information about how their website is performing in comparison to other websites of the same size in the same industry vertical.

Google will not use the data from the analytics account to determine the website’s organic search engine ranking or its AdWords ad quality score. However, Google will aggregate data from a number of websites and then use it to improve their own services and results, which in turn could affect the website ranking and AdWords performance indirectly.

Further information about the new service can be found on the Analytics Official Blog as well as Analytics help center via the links provided below:

• Google Announcement: Benchmarking now available
• Data sharing FAQ
• Benchmarking service FAQ

Facebook’s JavaScript client library will facilitate applications to make Facebook API calls from any website and also create AJAX Facebook applications from any website. According to Wei Zhu of Facebook, the client library does not require any server-side code, turning Facebook into an application host.
This is great news for application providers, who can now see popular Facebook apps become available to the wider Internet population via other websites. Webmasters will benefit from the ability to include cool / popular widgets on their websites to draw more visitors and improve current visitor stickiness.

Facebook will benefit most of all, as developers will prefer their platform and user interest in the network could also rise as a result of the added visibility they obtain.
Any application using this library would need to load in an iframe, irrespective of whether it was through Facebook or through the user’s own website. This is likely intended to preserve the application structure. Almost all Facebook APIs will be supported except for photo upload.

Nick O’Neill at AllFacebook says that it will now possible for developers and webmasters to build their own gaming platform, that resides on their own website but leverages the power of users’ Facebook relationships. In the past applications have leveraged the Facebook API, but now there is broader access to Facebook’s core features and developers will be able to use cookies to access user data even when the users are not using that specific application.

According to Nick, “Facebook has publicly released something with the intent of extending their platform”, and that is big news as it clearly signals Facebook’s intention to become the driving force behind all social aspects of the Internet, and compete with Google, the ‘search backbone’ of the Internet.

Technical specs of Facebook JavaScript Client Library

Loomia App Available On Wall Street Journal Online

Start up company Loomia have already released one such app, called SeenThis on the Web outside Facebook. The Wall Street Journal Online announced today that they will use SeenThis to bring users’ social networks onto the pages of WSJ.com. WSJ.com users will now see what WSJ.com articles are most popular with their friends and groups from leading social networking sites, without having to leave the site. CNet and NBC have also signed up to use the Loomia service on their websites.

28.3 million UK visitors used at least one Google property, making it the most popular site, beating Microsoft’s 26.7 million visitors. Each of these companies reached a phenomenal 80+ per cent of the country’s online population. Yahoo! did not beat eBay to the third position, in spite of a 2.4 per cent fall in eBay’s visitor numbers.

The top ten websites in the UK can be seen in the chart below:

Facebook was the fastest growing site in the United Kingdom, with total visitors to the site rising from 7.6 million to 8.9 million in just one month. The 18 per cent growth rate is not a one-off occurrence. The social networking site has continuously risen in popularity since February of this year, making it an attractive acquisition target for Microsoft and Google.

Other sectors that fared well in the UK included online TV and shopping comparison, with sites from both sectors demonstrating double-digit growth percentages. BSkyB and News International both grew over 10% in August, with total visitor numbers well beyond the 5 million mark. In France on the other hand, the greatest percentage growth in visitor numbers came predominantly from travel sites. The fastest growing site, though, was an automotive trading site, LaCentrale.fr.

The top ten websites in France can be seen in the chart below:

Interestingly, Google reached only 69.5% of the French Internet population, compared to its 89% reach in the UK. The total number of Internet users in France is also still less than that in the UK. Google, Microsoft and France Telecom are the most popular sites here, with Yahoo! trailing at a distant sixth position in overall popularity.

The detailed reports for France and the UK can be read on the comScore website.