The Hybrid Race Car : Toyota CS&S Concept

Toyota CS&S was introduced at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. This hybrid race car concept was designed at the Toyota ED2 studio near Nice, France. CS&S stands for Compact Sports and Specialty. The CS&S is a 4-wheel-drive mid-engine 2+2 sports car powered by a 1.5 litre hybrid petrol electric set up taken directly from the Toyota Prius powers the rear wheels and a separate electric motor is connected to the front wheels.

This cool concept car Employing Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive, an electric motor drives the front wheels, while a gas engine and electric motor in combination drive the rear. CS&S also unveils "Toyota Space Touch," where the driver able to activated functions by touching holographic projections. This future automotive has a seating arrangement with removable covers for the rear 2 occasional seats, where the car can be run as a 2 seater or if the rear canopies are removed from behind the front seats, a 2+2 seater.

Toyota A-BAT Concept

The Toyota A-BAT was on display at the Toyota exhibit in Detroit at the 2008 North American International Auto Show beginning Monday, January 14. Kevin Hunter, president, Calty Design Research, Inc said that "Driving from beyond the suburbs to the city is a way of life for many people. We've taken Toyota's truck heritage to a different level by envisioning a vehicle capable of manouvering the suburbs as well as dirt roads. This compact truck is as comfortable for long commutes as it is for road trips. It can accommodate outdoor toys and home improvement supplies. Plus, customers benefit from the hybrid powertrain's low emissions and fuel economy."

TMS Advanced Product Strategy group and Calty, Toyota's North American-based, research and design centre located in Newport Beach, California are the group that responsible for the A-BAT concept development. This team created a new genre of compact vehicle with good fuel economy, advanced functionality, manoeuvrability, unique styling within its segment, and a durable package suitable for an active lifestyle.

Beside the lightweight A-BAT concept package also coupled with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive technology is designed to deliver excellent fuel economy. Translucent solar panels in the top surface of the instrument panel capture sunlight and convert it into energy, showcasing the vehicle's "green" character. Toyota A-BAT is an environmentally friendly cool truck.

This cool car has a unique aerodynamic exterior crafted by Calty Project Chief Designer Ian Cartabiano and Creative Designer Matt Sperling. They integrated Toyota's design philosophy, "Vibrant Clarity" into the exterior by keeping the design forward-looking, crisp and functional.

Although the A-BAT is rugged and has a spirited exterior, the interior team worked to create a modern look for the interior. The door trim, shoulder, armrest and instrument panel pads and seat cushions are made of a tough, lightweight and comfortable material that can be selected for personalization.

Daryl Harris, Senior Creative Designer said that "The inspiration behind the exposed structure on the interior was drawn from high-end mountain bike frames. "We applied lightweight construction materials, such as carbon fiber and aluminum, to the instrument panel, console and seats for increased structural rigidity while reducing mass."

The interior of this cool automotive has a retractable portable navigation unit with a seven-inch diagonal screen and Wi-Fi internet. It also includes other advanced features such as a port for portable device assistant synchronization and a hard drive for digital music. The Toyota A-Bat is the next evolution of compact truck.

Opel Flextreme Concept

Opel Flextreme Concept was introduced at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt in 2007. This cool car has a low emission mobility propulsion with the E Flex technology. The flextreme concept has a lithium ion battery as it’s energy source, this car also has additional energy from 1.3 liter turbo-diesel onboard CDTI engine. This innovative vehicle is expected to emit less than 40 g of CO2 per km. After charging for three hours at 220 volts this car will be at it’s full capacity. The engine also include the integration of two high tech electric personal transporters, located below the cargo floor. This electric transporters provide extra mobility option up to 38 km of clean mobility.

Opel Flextreme Concept has a dynamic and innovative exterior and interior design. Flextreme has a large transparent roof and two tailgate doors that open from the side and swing upwards it also has narrow boomerang shaped lights and sloping swage line in the side graphics. The front part is decorated with front grill and rims which are covered by lightweight transparent trim made from polycarbonate to improve aerodynamics and enhancing visual aesthetics. This concept car has a unique and practical door which they call the FlexDoors, the front door open in the conventional manner and the rear door are rear hinged.

Flextreme Concept has a futuristic interior design with honeycomb structures. The honeycomb structure is a functional, geometric structure located in the instrument panel’s lower portion, above the center tunnel where the lithium-ion batteries are located, cabin floor and cargo floor. This cool automotive has a large panoramic display located directly under the windshield and on the center console. The display are configurable with a touch screen operation to show a complete view of the car surrounding and easy access to various menu such as air conditioning, communication device, infotainment feature and navigation functions.

Lumeneo Smera

Lumeneo Smera was introduced at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. With 144 volt lithium ion battery Lumeneo Smera can go from 0-60mph in eight seconds. The lithium ion battery is supplying the power to the dual rear wheel motors. This concept car is able to transport two passenger up to 93 miles and with 80 mph of top speed. In 2009 Lumeneo plan to produce 250 units of this cool car. The price range is starting at 24,500 euros ($33,000 US).

General Specifications :

First Introduced at : 2008 Geneva Motor Show

Country of origin : France

Dimensions :

Length / width / height : 2380 / 800 / 1450 mm

Doors / Seats : 2 / 1+1

Wheelbase : 1700 mm

Track : 655 mm

Steering diameter : 7 m

Maximum tilting angle : 25 °

Weight (with batteries) : 350kg / 770 lbs

Pneumatic dimensions : 145/70 R14

Engine :

Boot volume : 70 / 150 liters

Motorization Technology : Brushless electric motors with permanent magnets

Max Power : 30 / 40 kW / Hp

Max Torque on wheels : 1 000 Nm

Max Voltage : 144 V

Technology : Lithium

Capacity : 10 kWh

Battery weight : 80 kg / 180 lbs

Speed :

Performances Max speed : 130 kph / 80 mph

0-100 kph / 0 – 60 mph : 8.0 s

Range : 150 km / 90 miles

Pontiac Solstice SD-290

The inspiration of Pontiac Solstice SD-290 concept is coming from a vintage race car design. The design concept really capture the design of vintage race car and evoke the emotions of classic sport cars. The concept design has an old school look with a passenger cockpit tonneau cover and a driver windscreen, creating a pure race car looks.

Pontiac reduce the weight of the car, improved the aerodynamics and also redesigned the fender gill panels. They also created a new hood with heat-extracting grilles, a red paint scheme and cockpit filled with auxiliary gauges, a roll bar and racing seat.

This race car concept has direct-injected, turbocharged 2.0-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine that produced 290 horse power, this is the reason they call it Pontiac Solstice SD-290.

Official Pontiac Solstice SD-290 Features Highlight from GM :

- 2.0L Ecotec direct-injected and turbocharged generating 290 horsepower

- Five-speed manual transmission

- Weight reduction through installation of driver-side only windscreen and elimination of door glass/hardware, convertible top/hardware, HVAC system and wiper system

- Solo Performance cat-back exhaust system with center-mounted outlet

- KW Automotive coil-over suspension package

- Three-piston aluminum calipers with 13-inch rotors from Stainless Steel Brake Company

- Forged 19-inch wheels with Hoosier R6 racing tires

- New front fascia, grille inserts, hood and front fenders, leading to better aerodynamics

- Passenger-side hard tonneau cover

- Competition red exterior color

- Rear spoiler

- Tinted headlamp lenses

- Removable racing-style steering wheel

- Racing seat with four-point safety harness

- Chrome fire extinguisher

- Pegasus center console gauge package

- Driver's roll bar

Pontiac Solstice SD-290 Specifications :

General Specifications :

Country Of Origin : United States

Introduced at : 2007 SEMA Show

Engine :

Configuration : 2 liter Ecotec i-4

Engine Location : Front, longitudinally mounted

Powertrain Layout : Rear Wheel

Displacement : 2.00 L | 122 cu in. | 1999.6 cc.

Construction : cast-aluminum block and head

Displacement : 1.998 liter / 121.9 cu in

Bore / Stroke : 86.0 mm (3.4 in) / 86.0 mm (3.4 in)

Compression : 9.2:1

Valvetrain : 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC

Fuel feed : Direct Fuel Injection

Aspiration : Turbo

Drive Train :

Gearbox Transmission : 5 speed Manual

Drive : Rear wheel drive

Performance :

Power : 290 bhp / 216 KW

BHP / Liter : 145 BHP / Liter

Chevrolet Volt Concept

Chevrolet Volt is scheduled to launch on 2011, this cool car is able to travel 40 miles on a single charge without using any gasoline or emissions. Chevrolet Volt also has an electric motor powered by a 1.4-liter four-cylinder flex-fuel engine as a backup, this motor will take over when the car goes beyond the 40 mile range.

Chevrolet Volt concept has a sophisticated design, the design and engineering is a result from collaboration between GM designer and GE Plastics. Their technology make the exterior appearance of the Volt become more bold and futuristic. The Interior of this concept car is ergonomic and futuristic.

Chevrolet Volt Concept Specifications :

Dimensions :

Length ; Width ; Height : 4,318 [mm] ; 1,791 [mm] ; 1,336 [mm]

Front and Rear Tracks : 64 inches / 163 mm

Body style / driveline: 4-5-passenger sedan, unitized frame, electric propulsion, front wheel drive

Construction: body-frame-integral structure with composite exterior panels and roof

Drive System :

Description : electrically driven system with on board range extender, plug-in recharge capability

Type : lithium-ion

Energy : 16 kWh (minimum)

Peak power : 130 to 140 kW

Voltage : 320 to 350

100% Recharge 110-volt outlet : 6 to 6.5 hours

Max. electrical power : 130 to 140 kW

Max. mechanical power : 120 kW

Continuous electrical power : 45 kW

Continuous mechanical power : 40 kW

Power : 53 kW peak power

Drive : direct

Type : 3-cylinder, turbocharged engine

Size : 1L

Fuel : gas or E85

Nominal speed : 1500 to 1800 rpm

Max speed : 3200 rpm

Fuel tank (gal / L) : 12 / 54.5

Type : plug-in

Voltage / amp : 110 / 15

Horsepower (hp / kW) : 160 / 120

Torque (lb-ft / Nm) : 236 / 320

Electric mode range : 40 miles – full electric vehicle (EV) range

Estimated fuel economy @ constant state of charge : 50 mpg during charge sustaining operation

0 to 60 mph : 8 to 8.5 seconds

Top speed (mph) : 120 (limited duration)

Chassis/Suspension :

Front : independent, strut-type

Rear : semi-independent torsion beam

Steering type : electric, speed-sensitive, variable assist rack-and-pinion

Turning circle, curb-to-curb (ft / m) : 37 to 38 / 11.2 to 11.5

Brakes Type : electro-hydraulic power assisted; front disc, rear drum

Wheel size (in) : 21 x 6.5

Tires : 195/55R21, low-rolling resistance

Interior :

Seating capacity (front / rear) : 2 / 2

VW Space UP!

Space Up! is a new concept car from Volkswagen. This family car was first introduced at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show. VW Space Up! Is a fun car that offers maximum space on the smallest of platform. The exterior design has a very straight lined. This cool car has 3.68 meters length , 1.63 meters width and a large 18 inch wheels with 165/50 tires. The interior has four seat and in the rear is implemented with two integrated child seats. Each of the cushion of the seats has an airflow foam that automatically adapt to individual anatomies. All seat can also be folded and removed except the driver seat.

The engine is using environmentally friendly gasoline engines, diesel engines and electric powertrains. The engine is located in the rear. This cool car also has an 8 inch monitor display that shows vehicle information such as vehicle speed, fuel level, range and CO2 emission. All of the conceivable functions are controlled by a touch screen integrated with proximity sensors that reacts to gestures and specific hand movements. VW Space Up! Is a fun family car with confident design and extremely comfortable seats.

Renault Ondelios Concept

Renault Ondelios Concept was first introduced at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, Ondelios was inspired by the world of aviation. According to Renault’s Design Director, Renault Ondelios is inspired by motion rather than speed. This luxury hybrid concept is equipped with glazed polycarbonate roof, a pair of gull wing doors that open vertically and futuristic interior.

This Concept car is powered by a 205 HP (150kW) of the 2.0 dCi engine that produce 450Nm of torque. This cool car is using two 20kW electric motors at the front and rear for a brake and boost system that can save more fuels.

Renault Ondelios interior has three rows of (individual) seats that accommodate up to six passengers. Each seat is equipped with an interactive portable multimedia device which can be used for sharing data or multiplayer gaming. The headrest also has speakers plus multi zone HVAC system for each passenger.

Renault Ondelios Specifications :

Introduced at : 2008 Paris Motor Show

Dimensions :

Length ; Width ; Height : 4,805 [mm] ; 1,998 [mm] ; 1,605 [mm]

Height with doors open : 2,230 [mm]

Engine :

Internal combustion engine : 2.0 dCi

Power : 205 HP ; 150 kW

Maximum torque (Nm) : 450, from 1,700 to 3,800rpm

Motors : Two 20kW electric motors

Motor Location : one at the front and one at the rear

Power supply : 4kWh lithium-ion battery. Size: 40dm3. Weight: 50kg

Acceleration from 0 to 62mph : 7.8

CO2 emissions : 120g/km

combined cycle fuel consumption : 4.5 litres/100 km

Transmission : Double-clutch seven-speed automatic transmission, Internal combustion engine drive and electric motor drive

Wheel :

Wheel base : 2,895 mm

Front track : 1,690 mm

Rear track : 1,720 mm

Unladen weight : 1,452 kg

Boot (dm3) : 530

Tires : 255/45 ZR23

Wheels Diameter ; Width : 23" ; 9"

Partners: G Studio (Bodywork), Michelin (Tires), Samsung (Telephone for communication with vehicle)

Mitsubishi i Miev Sports Concept

Mitsubishi unveiled i Miev Sport concept at the 2007 Tokyo auto show. i Miev Sport has a simple and fluid exterior and interior design, the layout provides optimal distribution of weight. This futuristic electric car has a sporty performance and spacious interior. This concept car has an aluminum space frame body structure to minimize it’s weight. i Miev also has three permanent magnetic synchronous motors. As environmental considerations, on the roof of i Miev sport an auxiliary photovoltaic generator was installed for energy saving.

i Miev has a sporty, spacious and dynamic interior. The interior gives the security and comfort feelings to the user. Mitsubishi also gives excellent occupant protection from collisions from any direction, even when colliding with a vehicle of different height or weight.

i Miev Sport Specifications :

Introduced at : 2007 Tokyo Auto Show

Dimensions :

length ; width ; height : 3,450 [mm] ; 1,600 [mm] ; 1,400 [mm]

Body Weight : 970 kg

Body Structure : aluminum space frame

Engine :

Motors : Permanent magnetic synchronous motors

Front : In-wheel motors

Rear : Single motor

Max. output Front : 20kW 2; Rear: 47kW

Max. torque Front : 250 Nm 2; Rear: 180 Nm

Range (10-15 Mode) : 200km

Max. Speed : 180km/h

Wheelbase : 2,550 [mm]

Track (F/R) : 1,405/1,405 [mm]

Tires : 175/40R17

Interior :

Seating capacity : 2 + 2

Protecting Brands Against Web Spam

Hello All...

I have some pretty disturbing news, and as unfortunate as it is to address, it needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. This post concerns companies of all sizes, but it seems that small business websites are specifically targetted. And this particular predicament can directly effect your business brand name through no fault of your own. If you are concerned even the slightest about protecting your brand names, please pay attention to this article as it concerns everyone with a name to protect.

First, I would like to point out that our commercial website, Syd's Eastside Auto Parts, at http://www.sydsautoparts.com/ is a safe site. In fact, it has recently been scanned by McAfee SiteAdvisor and the results are available at http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/sydsautoparts.com.

The McAfee SiteAdvisor program is a great service because it helps identify and protect against websites that are using malicious software. But it is on this note that I have noticed a disturbing trend recently, and it is essentially spam, but it can also be much more dangerous.

Unfortunately, SiteAdvisor doesn't see everyone's website or page as it is released to the internet. New sites are not usually well enough known so that they can be scanned. And it seems that some malicious hacker is setting up a system where he is spamming reputable brand names and domain names, using mere snippets of text from all sorts of reputable websites in the hopes that someone will search for a known brand name or even a domain name and wind-up at his page.

The spam web pages in question vary between pure spam pages of lists of unrelated yet very recognizeable name brands, as well as the associated domain names, which seem to actually be copied and pasted from tons of original brand name websites. Strangely, it is not just any one brand, but a whole plethora of these brand names from a wide variety of different successful companies. However, some of the spam pages are much worse and are actually redirecting the visitor to malicious software downloads which are disguised as an anti-virus software program or such.

That's right, spam is no longer exclusive to email. Just like email spam, web spam is often illegal, as well. And to top this off, the web spam is often more dangerous than the spam of the email variety. At least email spam has become a little bit manageable since most modern email client software anticipates and tries to detect spam emails. Unfortunately, browsers offer a weak point of attack for most spammers and scanners.

Truly, spam has broken the internet. Just to avoid it requires one kind of investment or another (time or money). But what if I tell you that your brands and domains could easily be attributed to spam? This most likely will happen if we don't take action when it occurs. Fighting spam that is directed against us becomes a necessity. Still, we have to take an active part in order to fend-off spam that could become associated with our brand or domain.

It is unclear why the governments of the world sit on their hands as spam permiates businesses to become a real threat against society. Yet governments have turned their backs on thier people by not making spam a criminal act. Still, even the smartest networking professionals probably require a significant time investment to kill this type of activity and the burden of spam is crushing our communication and business networking capabilities as it grows.

All of the above makes protecting your brands and domain names an important and significant step in conducting business online, or even in maintaining an online presence. So it is important to note how to combat this type of fraudulant activity.

Obviously, when I visit these scam sites, I can easily recognize the pages that are conducting the fraud, as I cannot seem to exit these sites, no matter what. Upon arrival to one of these sites, I am presented with a page faked to look like a "My Computer" window. The dead giveaway for me is that I have lots more devices attached to my computer than are shown. I also get a pop-up. This pop-up window itself is highly unusual since I am usually running at least a couple of pop-up blockers in the first place and it manages to survive them nevertheless. The pop-up message indicates that I have elected to download a file to help me scan my hard drives. Of course, I did not. This is actually quite telling. But, it is also quite dangerous since many of these phishing pop-ups are stealing the window focus. It seems that you cannot quit this window. Usually, I have to press Ctrl+Delete and quit whatever browser application I am using, completely. If you have anything going on in any of your other browser tabs or windows, it's gone when you quit a browser in this fashion. This in particular is actually quite scary since some browsers now offer to allow a person the ability to reload all of the tabs and windows which were active durring the last browser session. If a user were using this option, because of how things work, they might not even be able to get out of such a malicious site without reconfiguring their browser options.

Through Twitter, I contacted Matt Cutts on what my best options are to report these websites. Matt Cutts is the head of Google's Web Spam team that identifies and fights just this type of activity. His reply follows:

"@Domainating, if they're ripping off content from you: google.com/dmca.html . If they are spammers, use this spam report: http://bit.ly/r86F"

Since the text that is copied from our websites, and from all of the other business websites they are copying material from, are not actually large enough sections of text to be considered Copyright infringement, and because reporting of an instance of Copyright infringement and being wrong could actually be extremely expensive, I am reporting these pages as spam through Matt's recomended URL in Google's webmaster tools http://bit.ly/r86F.

Whether the page is merely a mish-mash of brand names, or is actually a phishing page (such as a site trying to get you to run (or download and run) a malicioius software package (disquised as an anti-virus scanning program or such), I am reporting these offending pages as spam in Google. Google obviously has the ability to sort-out these pages.

I am also reporting the phishing sites to McAfee SiteAdvisor.

I have personally been reporting these pages as I come across them for our brand names. It is a terribly involved process and actually requires a significant time investment. This may be the very reason that the criminals involved are targetting the more recognizeable small business brand names as they might not have the resources to detect this brand name spam.

The truth is though, that these spam pages and sites are actually pretty easy to detect. The simplest and most direct route to detecting them is to simply to use a search engine (such as Google) to search for your unique brand name(s) and domain name(s).

However, we don't likely take time out of our busy days to do this on a regular basis. Although not the original reason, by signing-up for Google Alerts, we are effectively monitoring any mention of our unique brand names and domains. Originally, we signed-up for Google Alerts to monitor our web presence through-out the worldwide web. Alerts had originally notified us as our link submissions were approved in the web directories and GoogleBot (Google's Web Crawler) had spidered them. Now-a-days however, this method of watching for our brand names and domains as they are mentioned on the web is assisting us in the fight against spam and phishing sites that are utilizing our names to aqcuire traffic.

In order to get Google Alerts, you will need to sign-up for a Google account if you have not yet done so, already. You will also need a Google account to report the offending pages to Google through its Webmaster Tools program, at the URL (or web address) that Matt Cutts gave us, http://bit.ly/r86F. That URL is actually a shortened URL which redirects us to the actual address of https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreport?hl=en&pli=1 (Matt used a short URL program, provided by bit.ly so that he could send more info within Twitter's 140 character post limit).






Once you have signed-in to your Google account, you can setup your Google Alerts. Obviously, you should enter your unique brand names and domains so that Google will send you an alert everytime it runs across your brand name somewhere on the web. I also go one step further and break our longer brands into parts because we want to be sure to we know what others are doing with similar brands, as well.

However, when you do get notification that your brand is in use on any given page, and if you do not recognize it as a back link to your site, because the spammers and scammers are now using such sophisticated scripts that may rob you control of the browser, I recommend that you use a different browser.

That is, I recommend that you copy the URL of the page in question, and use an alternate browser to check out any and all alert links. This way, you are protecting yourself if the link's destination page does anything funky or even manages to steal away control of your web browser, you can quit the application (by pressing Ctrl+Delete, if it comes down to that).

For instance, if you are currently using Internet Explorer to view web pages, I would load-up an alternate browser. There are many browsers that are actually much better than IE is today (and better than IE ever will be in the future), such as Mozilla FireFox, Apple Safari, or Google Chrome. In the same respect, if you normally use one of those browsers, choose yet another to test out the alert links.

The good news is that the majority of the websites that you will encounter using your brand names and domains will probably be discussing your services, linking to you as a recommended (local) service, or are directories confirming a link that you have submitted. But you will still have to be diligent about following up on all of these alerts, because you don't want someone associating bad things with your brand.

When you have run into a bad guy page on the web that is trolling for traffic using your brand name, also remember that the page you are viewing could very well be a hacked page that has been put up by a malicious hacker without the knowledge of the webmaster. This is one reason why I choose to report the offending page to Google rather than asking the web host to black ball the whole website. Another reason is that many reputable firms are now blocking their contact information in the whois database. This is done to hide email addresses and other contact info away from spammers and scammers.

If you would prefer to contact the web host, as many pefer to do, you can use a whois tool (such as available through Domain Hostmaster). Even if the domain registration information is protected, you should be able to see who the nameservers are for that domain. Then you will lookup who the nameservers belong to, contact that web host with an email informing them of the situation on their server and identify the offending page. Usually web hosts are very cooperative and will take down a whole website until the webmaster fixes the offending page. However, although the above method works well for phishing and other malicious websites, it will likely not work well for simple web spam, no matter that it doesn't make any sense at all and trespasses everyone's brand names. That's why I address the offending pages by using the Google Webmaster Tools Spam Report.

One of the drawbacks of using Google's Spam Report is that it is requesting some very specific details. When you get your Google Alert and find that a site is simply using your brand as link bait to a doorway page, or for redirection to a malicious software download, you will still have to use Google to do some more research.

The first thing you will do is search for that exact same phrase that Google has alerted you to, using your alternate browser. This will be listed directly with the alert. Copy that search phrase into Google and then start searching for the offending URL in the search results. It most likely will not be at the top, if you have any kind of brand recognition program or if you do any search optimization, so keep looking until you find the link to the nasty page from within Google's search results.

Utilizing your alternate browser, once you find the page listing the offending URL in Google's search results after searching for that very specific brand name indicated by your Google Alert, you need to copy the URL Google is showing you, it is found in your web browser's address bar. Usually, by clicking in the address bar once, the whole address is selected. Once the whole URL is highlighted, hold down the "Ctrl" key (or the "Cmnd" key on a Mac) and press the "C" key to Copy that URL to the clipboard. Then switch to your main browser where you have the Google Spam Report page up and put your cursor in the third field where Google is asking you to copy the Google URL listing the offending page. Hold down the "Ctrl" key (or the "Cmnd" key on a Mac) and press the "V" key to paste the Google search URL into that third field.

Although Google is making you jump through a few hoops on this, I do hope that one day they will allow this practise to be easier and more streamlined by possibly allowing you to add an ID code that came with your Google Alert. But at least they are allowing you all the tools required to enable you to get the job done.

Note that when you arrive at pages to check out your brand name or domain name text and wind-up redirected to other pages instead (where you may be trapped or dircted to download malicious software), then your brand is used as bait and the final page you see is not what Googlebot will see when it visits the page. So you could check "Page does not match Google's description", but the baited page is the original webpage with your brand and is not the page that humans see, so you can also check "Cloaked page".

Remember also to report the fraud and malicious software pages to McAfee SiteAdvisor, as well. This will also require a registration. There are other places similar to McAfee SiteAdvisor that will do the same job, I am sure.

Getting those offending spam and phishing pages blocked and out of the search results is actually the responsibility of all of us. Check your brands in Google. Sign-up for Google Alerts. Report spammers and scammers.

Keep your brands and domains protected!

-Douglas Peters
Webmaster & Online Marketing Director
Syd's Eastside Auto Salvage, Inc.

References:

• Matt Cutts is a software engineer at Google and is presently in charge of the Web Spam team. His team tries to filter out spam from the search. He also maintains a blog which can be extremely helpful to webmasters and businesses looking to promote their websites, which is available at http://www.mattcutts.com/
  Also of note, Matt Cutts also has a few interviews and videos online that can be of great help, as well. You can search YouTube for Matt Cutts and get a nice selection. I have also grouped most of these together along with some other helpful web design videos at http://webdesign.vodpod.com/


• McAfee SiteAdvisor is a program offered by McAfee which allows registered users the ability to suggest websites to be checked for malicious software and phishing scams, as well as checking sites for good linking neighborhoods. This facility allows users to report problem websites as they encounter them.


• Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. You can set these email updates to notify you of any occurance of a particular keyword, search phrase or textual string throughout the web, in blogs, within groups & videos, etc... By utilizing this service to comprehensively alert you of any occurances of your brand names & domains, you can monitor what is said regarding them, and where they are mentioned. Signing-up for Google Alerts will require that you have (or register) an active account with Google.


• Twitter is a friendship and/or community centric micro-blogging social network system.


• Mozilla FireFox currently is the most advanced web browser on the market.


• Apple Safari is a great web browser which is the default browser on the Macintosh platform, and the Windows version is actually quite popular on PC systems, as well.


• Google Chrome is an up-and-coming web browser which is currently in Beta, but offers some very advanced features.

Note from the Author, Douglas Peters:

I am the webmaster and online marketing director for Syd's Eastside Auto Salvage, Inc., and its online properties. My personal profile on Twitter is Domainating (as it is also on other social networks), which reflects my efforts as a domain name registrar through my own Domain Hostmaster registration & web services website, as well as my efforts as a domainer, a brand expert and a professional logo designer. It is in fact my experience as an identity architect for small businesses through my expertise as the graphic designer for Symbiotic Design, a well recognized freelance design studio and its other online properties, which makes me uniquely qualified to write on brand names and domain name matters.