GoogleBlog:
After four years, and only 800 users, Google Answers is shutting down. It’s good to see that Google has the discipline to shut down failing projects.

TechCrunch:
The initial click-to-call release from Google was very easy to game with prank calls. They’ve re-released the service in a less useful, but harder to prank, version.

Inside AdWords:
Sarah from the AdWords team attempts to answer questions regarding landing page quality scoring. No earth shattering revelations, although it’s nice to receive confirmation that conversion data is not included in the calculation, even when available via systems such as Google Analytics. It appears to be primarily a relevancy comparison between the keyword and [...]

TechCrunch
Google makes some updates to its Checkout system to appeal to e-commerce sites.
Highlights:
1) Coupon creator
2) the ability to send an invoice via email
Google is also waiving its transaction fees for the rest of the year to boost usage of its hopeful PayPal killer.

Blog Maverick:
Mark Cuban weighs in on the proposed Google/YouTube merger. In short, his sources claim that Google acquired YouTube in order to suck all potential revenue (and, thus, investment capital) out of the online video marketplace. Very interesting read.

John Battelle’s Searchblog:
Responding for reports that Google has been working with the CIA, an official Google spokesperson says, “Nope, no way, no how.”
IMHO, the odds that Google has been in cahoots with the U.S. Intelligence Community are very small. It just doesn’t fit with the culture, and I think any attempts by Google managment to [...]