Blogger - Splogs Be Gone

A few new features have recently cropped up in Google's Blogger free blogging service. Last week saw the emergence of the new Newsreel and Video Bar widgets. Newsreel delivers the latest Google News live to your blog and Video Bar offers a convenient, fool proof way of integrating YouTube movies without the need to alter post HTML.

A major area of concern for Blogger is the way a few hardcore users abuse their platform by filling it with spam blogs (splogs). This week they are unveiling a new feature in the battle against the splog - word verfication of individual blog posts. This has long been a feature of comment moderation and should help to stop sploggers in their tracks. It has the negative side effect that honourable Bloggers will no longer be able to use software to publish the same post on multiple blogs. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

Google Maps With A Twist

Last week I talked about how Google Maps had made its first appearance on the Google homepage. Today they are taking another step forward with Maps by introducing a new feature called My Maps. Just as the name implies My Maps allows you to customise your own Google map using the same drag and drop idea that has made the Blogger interface so popular. You can do usual mappy things like add lines and shapes as well the new Googlesque novelties of being able to embed text, images or video. Best of all you can publish you map on its own URL to share with the rest of the world.

To demonstrate the new system Googlers at Mountain View have been feverishly working away making their own cartographic creations. A photo essay of the Googleplex itself features as one of the published examples. Why not hop across to Maps and see what's new for yourself? For further details visit the Google Blog.

AdSense Ad Units - A Clean-Cut New Look

Out with the old, in with the new. The new ad formats will 'allegedly'
benefit advertisers and publishers alike.

AdSense have just released a refreshed version of their ad units. Gone are the irritating 'Ads by Goooogle' and in come a minimalistic alternative with neutral borders. Google have apparently been conducting extensive trials on the new format and have found the ads to be pleasing on the eye as well as better performing for advertisers and publishers alike. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the previous claim, about performing better for advertisers and publishers alike, is a contradiction in terms that couldn't possibly be true, but we'll just gloss over that!

The new ads are going to be making an appearence over the entire network over the next week or so. The changeover will retain the previous fonts and colour schemes, so there shouldn't be any inconvenience for publishers. For more info check out the official Google blog, Inside AdSense.

Quick Review: Broadband Suppliers

This is post is sponsored by Broadband Suppliers. To view our policy on sponsored posts please click HERE.

I remember not so long ago when I wanted to download a music or video file I had to take a deep breath, hesitantly click the download link and wait sometimes hours for the thing to download by dial up - not a very productive use of time or energy! Thankfully nowadays most of us have broadband and the annoying whine of the dial up modem connecting is a distant memory - after all, there's no point having a fast PC if your internet connection is painfully slow. Most people are wise to what broadband technology is, but they aren't so wise as to where to get the best broadband package to suit their requirements and budget, which is where Broadband Suppliers fits into the picture. Their website has the latest information on the tariffs available from all major UK broadband providers. If you're not technically minded it also has some useful articles explaining the science behind broadband and how to set up your home network.

For the latest information on UK broadband tariffs visit Broadband Suppliers.