Construction software company Viewpoint had revenue of $43.4 million for the first quarter ended March 31, an increase of 21.4 percent from $35.7 million a year earlier. The numbers were filed last month with the SEC by Trimble, which acquired Viewpoint in April.

Accel-KKR has sold nonprofit software company Abila to Community Brands. The investment company acquired Abila in 2013 when the business was spun-off from the Sage Group. Community Brands combines Abila, Aptify and Your Membership into one company. 

Imagine it's the semi-finals of the U.S. Open and Roger Federer hits a ball that lands near the base line. "Is it in or out?" the world's No. 1 player asks the linesman, who shrugs and then the chair umpire. The umpire responds, "I can't tell you. But we'll let you know when we total up the score."

That's the way the rules for search engine rankings seem to work in the world of the major players, Microsoft and Google.  We know there are rules and we can deduce some of them when we see how well articles on our Web sites do in appearing in searches.