Charlie Castle

Customers were quickly outgrowing the limited-storage free business version, Google says. Existing business users can still keep using the free version.

Google is ending it’s free version of Google Apps for businesses online suite after deciding that most business users were quickly outgrowing it and signing up for paid accounts that offer additional services.
The move, which was announced by Clay Bavor, director of product management for Google Apps, in a Dec. 6 post on the Google Enterprise Blog, comes seven years after Google first began offering the free Google Apps services.
"Google Apps started with the simple idea that Gmail could help businesses and schools work better together without the hassles of managing software and servers," wrote Bavor. "As we grew from a handful of customers to a few hundred, we expand to offer a premium business version of Google Apps. Fast forward to today and Google Apps is used by millions of businesses."

Google is asking you to make a stand.
Some governments want to use a closed-door meeting in December to increase censorship and regulate the Internet.

https://www.google.com/takeaction/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=hpp&utm_campaign=12032012freeandopen_en

A free and open world depends on a free and open web. | Google A free and open world depends on a free and open Internet. Governments alone, working behind closed doors, should not direct its future. The billions of people around the globe who use the Internet should have a voice.

Feds Shut Down Counterfit Websites This Week:

BOSTON —

U.S. authorities joined law enforcement officials from five other countries Monday to seize 132 domain names where counterfeit merchandise was being offered for sale online, including pro sports jerseys, DVD sets and jewelry.

Intellectual property rights specialists at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit teamed up on Project Cyber Monday 33 and Project Transatlantic with agencies from Belgium, Denmark, France, Romania and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Police Office.

In a statement, ICE Director John Morton said the effort highlighted international cooperation in defense of unsuspecting customers.

"This is not an American problem, it is a global one and it is a fight we must win," Morton said.

Authorities are also targeting for seizure more than $175,000 from PayPal accounts used by the infringing websites.

Visitors to the sites of seized domain names will encounter a banner notifying them of the seizure and educating them about the federal crime of willful copyright infringement.

What is SEO?

SEO is the process of making your website easier for search engines to understand. The goal of SEO is increased ranking for your website, which will result in more traffic.1 Engaging in search engine optimization requires a constantly evolving skill set. This guide contains basic practices that have remained relatively constant over time.

Many people who don't understand SEO or the goals of SEO consider it to be spam or manipulation. However if implemented within search engine guidelines, the practice is endorsed by Google and other search engines. Good SEO results in pages that are set up in a structured and orderly fashion. The pages will be filled with better information and more valuable content.

Charlie Castle