Dakota Smith
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Over at USA Today, Kevin Maney is blogging that Google is expected to launch Google Health. "Probably coming next week" writes Maney, who sources Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of search products and user experience. Mayer came to USA Today on Tuesday and told Maney that there would be a couple of big announcements next  Wednesday at the annual Google Press Day.  

Additionally, Maney asked why Google doesn't have more vertical offerings, like for health.  Mayer's reply:  "Health is an interesting one -- keep your eye out for that next week."  Maney also notes that the Google VP said video would be integrated more and more not only into results from Google News, but into all results.

Sphere, a new search engine with $3.75 million in VC funding from Hearst Publishing, Trident Capital and About.com founder Scott Kurnit, launched this week. GigaOm reviewed the site last fall, giving it a thumbs-up. Zdnet also gives it a good review, noting that is "generally speedy" and the interface is "clean and easy to navigate." Here are some other reviews:

TechCrunch:  "As great as the basic search platform is, what I like best about Sphere is in the Tools area. Install the “Sphere It” bookmarklet and click it whenever you are reading something that you’d like more information on. Sphere will analyze the page in real time and present blog search results that are relevant to that topic. It’s important to note that this is not a search to find blogs linking into that page you are viewing; rather you are finding fresh blog content that is related to the subject matter of what you are reading. I’ve tested this and find it extremely useful."

Writing in Wired today, Leander Kahney argues that Apple's stores are key to the company's success. "The stores are as important to Apple as the iPod or OS X when it comes to driving the public's extraordinary interest in the resurgent company -- though it's hard to say which is more important, because they're interrelated." As Leander notes, Apple says its stores are now making more than $1 billion in sales per quarter, and the company's 136 stores now account for about 17% of its total revenue.

Part of the attraction is simply the design of the stores, and indeed, Apple was one of five companies that won a Hot Retailer Award last year from ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers), which polled 3,126 mall managers and marketing directors in the U.S. and Canada. Looking forward, Apple has said it will open 40 stores in 2006. Two factors that I would keep in mind: rising commercial rents and the fickle nature of consumers. For instance, the Apple store in downtown Soho may be a gem, but I wonder how the design will look in, say, five years -- will it be outdated? And how much re-design does Apple plan to do on its stores? (Full disclosure: I have freelanced for ICSC).

[Photo of Apple store in Chicago io_burn]

An article in this week's BusinessWeek outlines Yahoo and MSN's plans to "launch their long-awaited Google counterattack." This month, Yahoo will unveil ad technology initiatives while MSN improve will go public with its first search-advertising network, dubbed adCenter.  While Google may be clearly trumping competitors in the online ad race, the article notes Yahoo appears to be following Google's approach by " investing its resources in the intricate science of matching ads to search queries and pages of online content. " And Microsoft's edge over Google may be that it simply knows its customer base: the company has info on more than 250 million users and will tap that data for its contextual ads.

Yahoo’s consumer tech site launched Sunday night, points out Paidcontent.org, noting that the site is headed up by Patrick Houston, Yahoo's general manager for technology--and the former editor-in-chief of CNET. Paidcontent's initial react? "Still a work in progress," writes Staci Kramer. "Gives Yahoo denizens a destination and some nifty features but wouldn’t be the first stop for CNET vets. Then again, I’m not sure it’s meant to be. "