There's a new Google Local Business Center which allows business listed in Google Local (and not listed Google Local) to change their information.

Now you can change your information by logging into the Google Local Business Center here:
https://www.google.com/local/add/login

I'm surprised that it took Google more than a year to allow changes to be made or requested. Apparently, Google will allow you to "have full control over your listing.
With Google Local, you don't have to worry about publishing deadlines or outdated content. After we initially verify your address, you can edit your listing whenever you like. You'll see your changes reflected in the search results within four weeks."

Four weeks? They'll change it within four weeks?

Here's the official Google Local press release from March 2004:

Google Connects Searchers With Local Information
Innovative Feature Combines Traditional Business Listings with Local Resources Drawn From Google's Index of More than 4.2 Billion Web Documents

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. March 17, 2004 - Google Inc. today announced the integration of local search results into Google.com with the availability of Google Local. This new feature enables users to find relevant local information with neighborhood business listings, maps, directions, and useful web pages.

Google Local represents the next step in local search technology. Now, users can search beyond traditional sources of local information, such as the yellow pages and local business listings, to reach a greater diversity of local resources drawn from the web at large. This innovation demonstrates Google's commitment to developing products that make it faster and easier for people to search across diverse sources of information from a single search box.

"Google's goal is to connect searchers with the information they need whether it's half-way around the world or in their neighborhood," said Sergey Brin, co-founder and President, Technology of Google Inc. "Google Local combines a wide array of sources including Google's more than 4 billion web page index, to produce the deepest local search."

Google Local search functionality is integrated into Google.com so relevant local information for specific keywords or locations is automatically presented to users at the top of search results pages. When these results are available, they are marked by a small compass icon which, when clicked, connects users to a Google Local search results page.

For example, users searching for a pizza restaurant in their neighborhood simply enter the keyword [pizza], and either a zip code or the name of a town or city [Palo Alto] into the search field to receive a comprehensive list of local pizza restaurants. Each result is accompanied by a phone number, street address, and a list of related websites such as those of local pizza restaurant, store reviews, and related information. Clicking on a business name delivers a new page featuring an easy-to-read map, directions, and more related web pages. If needed, users can limit or expand their results to include listings within a 1-mile, 5-mile, 15-mile, or 45-mile radius of a specific location.

Google searches its entire collection of web pages to pinpoint geographic information that is relevant to a user's query. Google combines this information with comprehensive local business, map, and service information drawn from a wide variety of U.S. databases such as the yellow pages and other sources. Today, Google Local connects users to U.S.-based local information. The company plans to include local information for international markets in the coming months.

Google Local, currently in beta, is the latest in a number of recent innovations that enhance the utility of Google as a resource connecting users to a wide variety of information sources. In addition to local information, Google recently integrated flight tracking, UPS and Federal Express package tracking, zip code information, and UPC code search into Google.com. A complete list of Google.com search features can be found at: http://www.google.com/options.

About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program, which is the largest and fastest growing in the industry, provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Google has just introduced what they're calling "Ad Links By Google". Basically, it's keyword text links from their AdWords advertisers that can be integrated into a site's navigation. It's going to work pretty well, I suspect, and as I'm sure they've already tested it. I couldn't wait to add them to a test site to see how they look--I've added them to my Articles page on my http://www.billhartzer.info site. That site's a work in progress, so it's not very pretty.

Anyhow, I plan on adding those Adlinks By Google to a lot more sites when I have a chance--they're probably going to work well.

According to a ClickZ article, Websourced has bought KowaBunga! Marketing. I've always been a fan of KowaBunga! Marketing, and use the affiliate ads on some of my sites.

"CGI Holding Corp. has made its second acquisition of an affiliate marketing player in five days. The company purchased KowaBunga! Marketing, operator of an affiliate platform and an upstart affiliate network serving approximately 2,000 merchants. CGI is the holding company for Web marketing firm WebSourced."

KowaBunga!'s union with WebSourced is likely to strengthen the former company's fledgling affiliate network, called Kolimbo, affiliate marketing experts say. The result could be a strong competitor to dominant affiliate networks LinkShare and Commission Junction (CJ), which is owned by ValueClick.

"LinkShare and CJ have an effective monopoly," said one seasoned affiliate manager, who asked not to be named. "I used to be able to get deals out of CJ that I can't anymore. Here you have a third player shaking up the space. The competition is good for merchants, it's good for publishers, it's good for affiliates."

Claus has an excellent explanation of the 302 Page Hijacking Exploit. He explains it like this:

"An explanation of the page hijack exploit using 302 server redirects. This exploit allows any webmaster to have his own "virtual pages" rank for terms that pages belonging to another webmaster used to rank for. Succesfully employed, this technique will allow the offending webmaster ("the hijacker") to displace the pages of the "target" in the Search Engine Results Pages ("SERPS"), and hence (a) cause search engine traffic to the target website to vanish, and/or (b) further redirect traffic to any other page of choice."

The search engines definitely need to fix this problem, and I'm glad he's finally brought it to light--it appears to be getting enough attention now, so hopefully the search engines themselves will handle the issue.