Update, 1/20/11, 10:40 a.m.: Added encryption detail from Google.

On the heels of our coverage of Valley Forge search engine company Duck Duck Go’s new marketing strategy that plays off of Google’s targeted advertising technology and its inherent tracking capacity, founder Gabriel Weinberg has taken the message straight to San Francisco.

This week, the company unveiled a billboard promoting its DontTrack.Us campaign along the Bay Bridge, reminding drivers and passengers that Google’s use of advertising targeting technologies allegedly puts users at risk for identity tracking, third-party profile building and search history leaks.

But Google responded promptly this morning to an e-mail for comment.

“It’s unfortunate that DuckDuckGo is preying on people’s fears and offering incomplete information in order to garner attention,” wrote Google’s Christine Chen, Senior Manager of Global Communications and Public Affairs.

Chen refuted DontTrack.US’s example of Google’s tracking of user search terms, which could include sensitive, private terms.

“It is inaccurate to say that Google uses sensitive health-related terms to target ads on affiliated web pages,” she says. “We recognize our responsibility to protect the data that users entrust to us and we give them meaningful choices to protect their privacy,” including the ability to encrypt searches.

But according to Weinberg, Duck Duck Go doesn’t “store personal information or allow search terms to be passed to sites you click on.” The site has seen an upswing in support recently from online communities like YCombinator’s Hacker News and from users seeking consumer-focused alternatives to mainstream online tools.

Duck Duck Go eschews the common search engine advertising revenue model and is looking to other revenue streams, like selling tickets for concerts based on search terms, Weinberg says.

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• LA Times reports that Comcast told the FCC that critics of its deal of NBC are ‘self-serving.’
• The New York Post reports that in a court filing Comcast calls itself the fourth largest media company in terms of advertising and affiliate revenue if the NBC deal would go through.
• Variety reports on the filing saying that Comcast portrays its acquisition of NBC as an opportunity to stimulate, not stifle, competition.

Below, the man behind @ComcastCares is leaving, Google bumps its lobbying budget to fight on net neutrality and more.

• Business Week reports on the persistent claim that Comcast may have to sell of NBC TV stations or agree to an independent arbitration settle pricing disputes if the cable giant wants its deal to meet regulatory approval.

MIGHT BE OF INTEREST

• Frank Eliason, the noted @ComcastCares blogger, announces he’s leaving the company for a new opportunity. (Expect more on this from Technically Philly.)
• The Washington Post reports that the FCC has criticized the speed with which broadband has been deployed nationally, a claim that has no surprise drawn the ire of telecommunications companies like Comcast.
• Light Reading reports that Comcast is making a national push to be a ‘major player in the enterprise and mobile backhaul markets.” H/T Philly Tech News

GIVE A GLANCE

• Bloomberg News reports on a 50 percent bump in Google’s lobbying budget in the first half of 2010, largely due to its battle on net neutrality issues with Comcast and other ISPs.
• USA Today reports on a split among fans for the next choice to be the manager of the Cubs baseball franchise, with the local Comcast Sports Net website poll apparently playing a heavy roll.
• The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Comcast is going to add the Ski Channel to its On Demand programming — finally.

When there is just too much Comcast news to follow, the Comcast Roundup will be there every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST

Last week, Google thanked the 1,100 applicants who entered its Google Fiber for Communities contest, an initiative to test high-speed, next generation broadband — known as ‘gigabit’ fiber — that is up to 100 times faster than current average household Internet connections. As we’ve written in this column before, Google plans to wire between 50,000 and a half-million households with gigabit, an experiment which could have broad implications for technological innovation and national broadband policy.

The thank-you was but a tease for Philly’s technology community, which, as part of the City’s application to the Google Fiber for Communities contest, created “Gigabit City,” a repository where folks brainstorm specific projects that may be possible with gigabit technology. Like everyone else, they’ll have to wait until Google announces the winners in the fall, but City of Philadelphia Chief Technology Officer Allan Frank isn’t sitting around. He’s turned the city’s application into an opportunity to engage Philadelphia around next-generation broadband policy.

In the process, he’s been able to push the city’s telecommunication heavies  — Comcast and Verizon — to consider Philadelphia’s future.

Read the full story over at Philly Mag’s Philly post.

Google has yet to announce the winner of its Google Fiber contest, but the search giant is showing signs of life.

The company has launched a new website to thank cities that applied to be a part of the company’s Google Fiber experiment which would deliver Internet speeds up to 100 times faster than most consumer Internet plans.

The site highlights some of the over-the-top methods (such as Topeka renaming itself “Google”) utilized by 1,100 cities all over the country that hoped to increase the chances of receiving Google’s experimental gigabit internet infrastructure.

The effort locally was spearheaded by Gigabit Philly, a collaboration between city officials and local developers. The group has since broadened its focus from Google’s content and has relaunched as “Gigabit City”, offering a $11,000 “Genius Grant” to idea that makes the best use of Gigabit Internet.

Google says the site will be updated as the project moves forward, though the company has yet to say when it will announce winners only promising something “by the end of the year.”

DEFINITE READS

• Businessweek reports that in the coming weeks Comcast will unveil a beta version of a social networking service focused on allowing users to share their TV and Internet video watching. The service is currently called ‘Turnerfish.’
• Politico reports that 78 former government officials, including former congressmen, staffers and others, have been registered as Comcast lobbyists in the final quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010, in a blitz to push forward its move to purchase a majority stake in NBC Universal. H/T Philly Tech News

Below, we bet you can guess what three governors are leaning on approval of the Comcast-NBC deal, another round of Google-Comcast rivalry brewing and more.

MIGHT BE OF INTEREST

• The Associated Press reports that the governors of Pennsylvania, New York and California are lobbying for regulatory passage for the Comcast-NBC deal, saying “the significant benefits associated with the creation of this new joint venture far outweigh any potential harms.”
• The AP also reports that Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., a “key” member of the Senate Judiciary Committee has called to require Comcast to divest NBC Universal’s stake in online video site Hulu.com, among other conditions, if the acquisition were to be allowed by regulators. It’s a move out of concern that the deal could give Comcast too much power in Web video.

GIVE A GLANCE

• The Inquirer’s Joey DiStefano writes on analysis that suggests the newly announced Google TV product designed to make TV viewing more like web browsing is serious competition to Comcast.
• Peter Kafka from All Things Digital reports that Google is eying Invite Media, a demand-side, advertising-technology startup founded by a Penn grad and partially funded by First Round Capital and Comcast Interactive Capital, as PTN adds.

When there is just too much Comcast news to follow, the Comcast Roundup will be there every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST

This map displays where the responses were concentrated. Each small dot represents a government response, and each large dot represents locations where more than 1,000 residents submitted a nomination. Google plans to share a complete list of government responses soon. Image courtesy of Google

Updated 4/3/10 @ 8:59 p.m.: Planned, possible locations in Philadelphia

The application deadline for Google’s ultra-high speed broadband fiber experiment closed a week ago, but Philadelphia’s horse isn’t done riding yet.

Some 1,100 municipalities and thousands of individuals applied, according to the Washington Post, including a collaboration between Philadelphia city officials and community leaders, dubbed Gigabit Philly. Google says it will announce its “target community or communities” by the end of the year, so the Philadelphia group boosting the city’s application is still cheerleading.

Next week will see a relaunch of the local application’s Web site and, says coordinator and Philly Startup Leaders co-founder Blake Jennelle, “a true launch of the competition part of the Gigabit Genius Grant.”

As we reported earlier, PSL and others put up more than $8,000 to the best idea to use the Google experiment, as submitted to the Gigabit Web site.

“People will be able to post ideas and vote on ideas directly to a community driven site we have setup using Google Moderator,” Jennelle says. It may launch as early as Monday, he says.

Google said it would make the applications public. The company’s experiment is limited, asking to trial with at least 50,000 people but no more than 500,000. Leaders in Philadelphia’s application have talked about a selected portion of the city near the Delaware River, which includes both Web-native and lower-income residents.

Updated: Officials have also discussed a swath of the city encompassing West Philadelphia, says City Technology Officer Allan Frank.

See photos of the official press conference from the City of Philadelphia, announcing its application and Mayor Nutter’s support, as collected by Johnny Goldstein.

Below, the city’s Chief Technology Officer Allan Frank, who first announced the city’s application at Ignite Philly 5, talks Google fiber.

DEFINITE READS

• Cyberjournalist reports that University of Pennsylvania researchers found readers are more likely to share three types of stories online.
• PEHub is looking for votes on where it should host its next meetup, and Philadelphia is a choice. Vote here.

Below, zombies and geeks, SAP CEO leaves in a tornado of speculation and more.

MIGHT BE OF INTEREST

• Keystone Edge has a Q&A with myYearbook founder Catherine Cook.
• i09 profiles the wildly successful Zombie screening that Geekadelphia held at the Troc in Chinatown.
• Peter Key of the Philadelphia Business Journal reports on Google seeking municipalities to try its broadband service. No word on in Philly is tossing its hat in.
• The Cadence Watch Company, which we covered in November before it was rebranded from Cadence Rowing, announced this week the winner of its watch design contest held during Design Philadelphia last October. Philadelphia University graduate student Josh Chadwick’s winning design will be manufactured and sold by Cadence in September.

GIVE A GLANCE

• AT&T’s regional office tipped Technically Philly that it has selected Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as its infrastructure suppliers for its planned Long Term Evolution Network. It’s a step forward to creating the company’s next-generation 4G network, eventually here in Philadelphia.
• Philly Tech News has a roundup of the fallout surrounding SAP CEO L�o Apotheker stepping down — and more here.
• The Inquirer reports that “Philadelphia solar installer Eos Energy Solutions has been acquired by Mercury Solar Systems of New York.”

Every Friday morning, we make sure you didn�t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• USA Today reports that Hulu executives are likely eager to start experimenting with paid version of the popular video streaming site but must wait for the finalized result of Comcast’s deal with NBC, which owns nearly a third of the site.
• The Washington Post reports that today the congressional hearings on the Comcast-NBC deal have begun.
• paidContent reports on Democratic staff memos that discuss, ahead of today’s congressional hearings on the matter, the impact the merger has to “fundamentally shape the way Web video evolves.”

• The Post also reports that Comcast has “blanketed Capitol Hill” with its take that its deal for NBC Universal won’t harm consumers or competitors, sort of like what David Cohen wrote on the company blog.
• Additionally, The Post writes on the consumer advocate who will represent the public in today’s two hearings on the merger.
• Gigaom says that 2010 is the year that Comcast “embraces convergence.”

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

• Multichannel News profiles Comcast’s trilingual VP of Video Content Diana Wechsler Kerekes.
• Peter Key of the Philadelphia Business Journal says that Comcast officially unveiling its product tier under the xfinity brand reminds him of what Verizon FiOS stands for.
• The Inquirer’s Bob Fernandez reports on the opponents of the merger. David Cohen gives his take on the company blog.
• DiStefano also reports on anti-Google activist and telecom analyst who unites Verizon and Comcast in the struggle against the search behemoth.

GIVE A GLANCE

• The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Comcast’s 4Q beat its 2008 and analysts estimates.
• The Inquirer’s Mike Armstrong reports that Comcast and Sunoco both were Center City companies whose earnings were worth following.
• The Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano reports that Comcast and TimeWarner are beating up on Verizon and AT&T in terms of user acquisition.
• Philly Tech News reports that Comcast has agreed to acquire VoIP provider New Global Telecom. Cable Digital News confirms it. H/T PTN
• The Comcast blog goes into the dirty details of its transition from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses, such as 192.168.1.1. to IPv6.
• The Economist podcast touches on Comcast in its social networking report, calling the telecommunications giant “both a plumber and supplier of water” and discussing whether it’s a model for media companies in the future. Listen below, skipping to 7:56 below.

When there is just too much Comcast news to follow, the Comcast Roundup will be there every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST

Ari Weinstein, 15, in the computer lab of Germantown Friends School, where he just finished 9th grade. Yukari Kane/The Wall Street Journal

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.

Ari Weinstein is the youngest Mount Airy-based hacker we’ve featured on Technically Philly in our long and illustrious history.

Weinstein, 15, is apparently “getting job offers from Israel and all over the place,”�and will follow in my footsteps and appear on Fox 29 Monday morning (See clip here), after his place in a Wall�Street Journal cover story that ran this week, as reported dutifully by our boy Joe DiStefano.

Weinstein is a contributor to iJailBreak.com, a blog devoted to help users install unapproved software onto Apple’ iPhone and iPod touch products.

Dude is keeping it straight tech raw in northwest Philly, even while he’s in summer camp on the Left Coast. Dude’s father Ken is a developing playing a large role in something of a retail resurgence in Mount Airy, DiStefano reports, including his ownership of the Trolley Car Diner.

H/T Joey D

After the jump, more Ben Franklin Technology Partners dispute, a Digital Philadelphia op-ed and six other tech stories you should read, including our best read article of the week.

Ordered by an incredibly complex algorithm rendering importance:

• eSchool News reports on complications to the doom and gloom three-year appraisal of Microsoft’s West Philadelphia School of the Future, near the Zoo.
• Plan Philly reports that another announced delay for SEPTA‘s smart card movement could actually be, uh, smart.
• Philly Tech News gives insight and detail to the conversation about state fundign for early stage funder Ben Franklin Technology Partners, after Joey D took apart BFTP.
• The Official Google Blog announces the launch of a new feature to its image search that scans for creative commons content, something awfully users for Web content creators. Will this hurt big stock photo business and drive down freelance photographers? We aren’t supportive of the Google blog making a totally lame and predictable reference to the 67th ward as the example in their post though. In other Google news, the New York Times BITS blog reports that the Beta tag on Google applications was finally dropped.
• The Philadelphia Daily News features an op-ed from stakeholders in Philadelphia’s digital divide dialogue. The op-ed was cross-posted on Young Philly Politics, which also featured a video from the Digital Philadelphia Initiative Summit, facilitated by the city’s CIO Allan Frank. See that video below.

• Our Most Trafficked Story of the Week: Shop Talk: School District of Philadelphia launches probe into its computer recycling program

Every Friday morning we make sure you didn�t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

SEPTA passengers and city programmers alike have reason to celebrate.

The region’s transportation organization announced today that it has integrated its trip planning services with Google Transit and that it will give third-party developers access to location and scheduling data, as reported earlier.

The first phase of SEPTA’s Google Transit offering provides route planning automated by Google for its Regional Rail, Market Frankford El, trolley routes and Norristown high-speed services. Users can enter a start point and a destination and are quickly returned directions that utilize Philadelphia’s public transportation system.

“Google Transit will help us introduce SEPTA and the convenience of using public transit when visiting our destinations in the city and the region,” SEPTA General Manager Joe Casey told members of the press on the Mezzanine level of SEPTA headquarters on East Market Street earlier today.

SEPTA plans to integrate the city’s sprawling bus lines in a second phase launch later this year, after it geo-maps 15,000 route locations. It hopes to become the first U.S. transit agency to make all of its methods of transportation available on Transit.

The developer specifications, formatted in Google’s open location and scheduling standard Google Transit Feed Specification, are already available at http://septa.org/developer.

SEPTA spokesman Brian Anderson told Technically Philly that for now, only a download is available.

“We don’t have the resources to create a developer community,” he said. An RSS feed on the developer site will keep coders up-to-date with new offerings, including the second phase bus data.

In addition to the Google Transit service, SEPTA will unveil real-time travel advisory alerts powered by Twitter later this week, and a real-time schedule building tool for Regional Rail riders in “several weeks.” That service, called “Next to Arrive,” will allow users to enter a train station and see the next four scheduled trains and their real-time travel status.

Google Transit integration was completed free of cost with the collaboration of Google and will work in conjunction with SEPTA’s current Trip Planner offering.

City Councilman Bill Green demonstrated the new service on his black iPhone 3G in front of onlookers at the media event. “It tells me what buses to take to what trains to what trolleys. I just follow those directions and I get there quickly and efficiently,” he said.

Green said this is only the beginning of city initiatives that are part of an effort to attract broadband stimulus grants that will make government data available to developers to create applications.

“SEPTA is getting there first,” he quipped.