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Google retracts "Related Searches" from Adsense

Yetserday when I began to see the "related searches" option on my adsense banners I was not happy about it at all. Other webmasters felt the same. Google has wisely responded by taking off the feature. Here's the email they sent me explaining why:

Hello,

We want to let you know about a new Google AdSense feature,
designed to enhance the overall experience of web users who
visit your site. Starting today, you’ll be able to customize
the appearance of the Google ads on your site.

You can now set the background, text, and border colors of
the AdWords ads displayed on your site so that they complement
your site. This new feature allows you to:

* Select from dozens of preset color palettes
* Create up to 100 custom palettes.
* Choose up to 4 palettes at a time to rotate randomly.

To take advantage of this feature, simply log in to your AdSense
account and go to the ‘Ad Layout Code’ page. Once you select the
palette(s) you want, the appropriate ad code is generated for you
to place on your web pages. For more information, please visit:
https://www.google.com/adsense/faq#format1

You may have also noticed that a ‘Related Searches’ feature was
released last night. We tested this feature with a number of
publishers; however, when we released it more broadly, we started
receiving feedback about concerns we didn't fully anticipate.
Because we want this to work for everyone, we’ve decided to
temporarily disable this feature until we can better address the
concerns. We’ll re-release this feature shortly with greater
flexibility for web publishers. When we do, we’ll let you know.

Thank you for your participation in Google AdSense. Please send us
any feedback or questions by clicking on ‘Contact Us’ at the top of
any page or by sending an email to:
[email protected] .

Sincerely,

The Google Team

Google News Alert

Google news just got better. They just released their "Google News Alert" service which allows you to receive news updates by email. You can choose up to fifty search terms to keep track of and how often. It's still in beta so expect to find bugs. Here are some links:
1. News Alerts main site
2. FAQ
3. Feedback
4. Discuss on Google Groups
5. Terms of Use
6. Privacy Policy

And some early news on the service:
1. Pc Pro
2. Business Week

And finally some early commentary on it:
1. Jeremy Zawodny- good discussion about rss feeds.
2. Abakus
3. Feedster
4. Currybet

Later commentary and uses:
1. John Robb and Disruptive Technology (cool!)
2. Eamonn Fitgerald- comparison to other news alert services, including Yahoo! and NYTimes
3. Jeremiah Oeltjen
4. Gen Kanai- he's right. This service might not stay free. Hopefully they'll opt for relevent in email ads instead of a fee.
5. Erik Moeller Metafilter - he suggested news alerts over a year ago. I wonder what took them so long to do something that seems so simple?

Diesel Nation Toolbox

This weblog is dedicated to showcasing all of the web tools that make Diesel Nation possible.