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NEWS FROM THE LAB - Thursday, October 6, 2011
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Goodbye, Steve Jobs Posted by Jarno @ 09:16 GMT

Steve Jobs has died.

Google has altered its home page in tribute:

Google's Steve Jobs tribute

The words "Steve Jobs" link to apple.com:

Apple

And Apple's image of Jobs links to this message:

Apple remembers Steve Jobs

It's a rather moving tribute.

It's also a good security move on the part of Google.

As soon as we heard the news, we started looking out for malware, scams and other attempts for less than scrupulous people to milk Jobs one last time. It happens every time there's breaking news. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami last March is one notable example. When news happens, search engine optimization scams will happen.

Currently, a search for "Steve Jobs funeral" delivers a scam in the first page of results.

Google Search results

This particular site, stevejobsfuneral.com, attempts to collect e-mail addresses for a supposed lottery with a 1-in-15 chance to win a Macbook. And it links to an online store selling Apple products as way to pay tribute to Jobs, by buying Apple products.

Conveniently for the site, this link also contains affiliate advertising info that brings revenue for any purchases made though the link.

It is probably needless to say that people should avoid stevejobsfuneral.com, which was already registered on September 20th. The vultures have been circling around for quite a while.

stevejobsfuneral.com: scumbag website

Remember, when searching for news, use your common sense, and also news.google.com.

Google Search does a very decent job of filtering away malicious sites, but lately, it appears to be dropping the ball on spam and (advertising related) scams. Use Google News instead if it's available in your country.

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Rest In Peace, Steve Jobs.