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Happy 2011 Pilgrims!
December 31, 2010, 11:18 pmThank you for all of your support during 2010. From all of us at Marketing Pilgrim, we wish you a very happy New Year!
Are SSD Hard Drives Good Enough For Server Use?
December 31, 2010, 9:24 pm"Can I drop 2 or 3 drives in to a webserver and let them run for 3-4 years with no problems?"
Google's New Year's Eve Logo Will Make Money Via Twitter
December 31, 2010, 3:50 pmGoogle's logo today heralds a new decade with the roman numerals MMXI replacing the OOGL of it's name. Clicking the logo takes the user to a search for the term 'New Year's Eve' which has a particular focus on real-time news results. Click to read the rest of this post.
Auld Lang Huh?
December 31, 2010, 3:29 pmby Mike Krumboltz New Year's Eve is one of those love-it-or-hate-it holidays. But no matter how you feel about celebrating, odds are you're going to hear "Auld Lang Syne" at least 500 times. There is no escape. Naturally, Web searches on the song pop like champagne corks on New Year's Eve. Our guess is that folks simply want to know what the song...
Watch: New Year's Celebration from Times Square Online
December 31, 2010, 2:43 pmIf you want to watch tonight's New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square live online, you're in luck, because The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment have partnered with Livestream to stream the event. The stream is scheduled to start at 5:50pm Eastern and run until 12:20. It will feature three co-hosts, hourly countdowns, a ball...
Search Reports Reveal Popular Gifts for the Holiday Season
December 31, 2010, 1:20 pmAdvertising efforts targeting holiday shoppers started in the beginning of November, but no company can give an accurate prediction on how successful their items will be. The first company to "feel the raindrops" is likely the search engines, with an ability to track both what products people are buying and researching. Google's early report,...
10 SEO and Web Predictions for 2011â That Will Most Likely Come True
December 31, 2010, 12:55 pmOK, for 2009 and 2010 I had made my huge 30 Web Trends lists. Some of them turned out be true others did not. No surprise here. This year I turned a bit lazy. I won't offer you 30 predictions for 2011 I'm quite sure about I will predict only the things I'm almost absolutely sure about. OK, maybe some of them are a bit funny or over the top but who...
The 5 Biggest Interface Screwups of 2010
December 31, 2010, 11:20 amFound this one via Twitter (@kim_cre8pc tweeted about it) and liked it. Several good examples of poor design/usability that can be applied to concepts across different types of web sites and platforms.
comScore Documents Record Online Retail Holiday Season
December 31, 2010, 11:17 amHeading into the holiday season, many economic experts seemed to fear that the average present would be a homemade scarf or coffee mug. Instead, the latest (and probably last) comScore data concerning the holiday shopping season shows that U.S. online spending hit a record $30.8 billion. That works out to an increase of 13 percent compared to the...
Winklevoss Twins Says It's Not Enough Money
December 31, 2010, 10:10 amSome may call it scorn or bitterness, but the Winklevoss twins say it's all about the money, and there's just not enough of it. In a 2008 lawsuit launched by the twins against the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, they allege that the company failed to disclose their accurate profits and earnings. As a result, .
95% of Twitter Accounts Created Since January 2009
December 31, 2010, 7:04 amFrom the "Did You Know?" category comes the statistic claimed by a report from Sysomos that says that 95% of the current Twitter accounts were created after January of 2009. So for you folks who had your claim before that time you were officially 'way ahead of the curve' to one degree or another. Here is chart that shows this growth. (Thanks to...
Will There Be 50% More Vacant Cubicle Space at Myspace Due to Layoffs?
December 31, 2010, 6:00 amIt never feels good to write about this kind of thing around the new year but if there is one thing about writing about business one learns that it can be heartless at times.
Myspace, the perpetually troubled former social networking high flyer, is reportedly looking into the possibility of laying off up to to 50% of its existing staff of 1,000...
Happy New Year 2011
December 31, 2010, 5:37 am"To All WebmasterWorld Members - have a wonderful celebration and a happy, prosperous and peaceful 2011."
AdSense: How Did 2010 Fair For You?
December 31, 2010, 5:30 am"WebmasterWorld Members review their 2010 Google AdSense performance."
Skype Calls Banned In China
December 31, 2010, 4:30 am"... it was announced that all internet phone calls were to be banned apart from those made over two state-owned networks,"
Your Predictions for 2011
December 31, 2010, 3:45 am"Looking back at previous predictions, and forward at 2011."
Internet TV: Not Quite The Big Hit
December 31, 2010, 3:15 am"In other words, people are picking up Internet-connected TVs without knowing it or caring."
Three Reasons for Keeping Accounts Live Over Christmas and New Year! (UK)
December 30, 2010, 11:47 pmThe UK is experiencing something resembling permafrost. Tearful brides-to-be appeal to philanthropic millionaires on the news as they may not make it to their own wedding in time as airports are closed. The Times reports our beloved birds are at risk of starving and urge us to leave out mince pies. Hospitals are running out of donor blood. We in...
CNN Airs Debate Between Google, FairSearch.org Over ITA Bid
December 30, 2010, 11:21 pmCNN Dec. 29 aired a debate between a Google spokesperson and an attorney representing FairSearch.org, the coalition forged by Expedia, Kayak and Orbitx to halt Google's $700 million bid for ITA Software. Long story short: Google bid to buy ITA July 1 to acquire the software makers' wealth of data on airfare pricing and schedules. Several online...
2011 New Years SEM Resolutions to Consider!
December 30, 2010, 11:16 pmWith the New Year right around the corner it can often times feel like a clean slate ready to start the new business year on a fresh page. The same applies to search engine marketing and how you go about building your business online. It's been a strange few years for many businesses which is why 2011 should be the year where you grab your search...
Who Is Using Google or Yahoo! to Search for Facebook or YouTube?
December 30, 2010, 4:46 pmYesterday, Experian Hitwise reported that the top 10 most-searched terms in 2010 were Facebook, Facebook login, YouTube, Craigslist, MySpace, Facebook.com, eBay, Yahoo, www.facebook.com, and Mapquest. Click to read the rest of this post.
Facebook Reference Appears On Chinese Social Network
December 30, 2010, 4:25 pmBefore diving in, we should perhaps remind everyone that trademarks don't mean a lot in China. Knockoffs of all sorts are produced in massive quantities. But not long after Mark Zuckerberg toured the country and met with business leaders, Facebook's name has been spotted in connection with a Chinese social network. Some info to orient you:...
Facebook Grabs a Whopping 44% of "Shared" Content; MySpace Declines 27%
December 30, 2010, 3:59 pmIf you are working, then let's be honest, you're not really working. Right? It's the day before New Year's Eve and your mind has already checked-out. So, rather than an in-depth, verbose post about how internet users are sharing online content, how about some eye-candy from AddThis instead?
Facebook Grabs a Whopping 44% of “Shared” Content; MySpace Declines 27%
December 30, 2010, 3:56 pmIf you are working today then, let’s be honest, you’re not really working. Right?
It’s the day before New Year’s Eve and your mind has already checked-out. So, rather than an in-depth, verbose post about how internet users are sharing online content, how about some eye-candy from AddThis instead?
(via)
In True Groupon Fashion; 68% of $500M VC Round Going to Groupon's Wallet
December 30, 2010, 3:28 pmJust how close Google was to handing over $6 billion for Groupon, no one can say for sure. What we do know is that Groupon has converted that interest (or perception of such) into a cool $500 million in venture capital funding! According to an SEC filing (reported by Fortune.com ), Groupon has found $500M of the $950M it is hoping to raise. What's...
In True Groupon Fashion; 68% of $500M VC Round Going to Groupon’s Wallet
December 30, 2010, 3:20 pmJust how close Google was to handing over $6 billion for Groupon, no one can say for sure. What we do know is that Groupon has converted that interest (or perception of such) into a cool $500 million in venture capital funding!
According to an SEC filing (reported by Fortune.com), Groupon has found $500M of the $950M it is hoping to raise....
Google and FairSearch Argue ITA Acquisition on TV
December 30, 2010, 2:47 pmAs you may know, Google is trying to acquire ITA Software, but it has faced various hurdles, mainly led by a coalition called FairSearch, made up of travel sites. Now, the Department of Justice is looking at the deal. Last night, CNN's Jessica Yellin interviewed Tom Barnett, counsel to Expedia and former assistant attorney general for antitrust...
Barnes & Noble Declares Nook Devices Bestsellers
December 30, 2010, 1:55 pmThree days after Amazon declared the third-generation Kindle the best-selling product in its history, Barnes & Noble has responded with a similar claim. It seems the Nook line of devices now qualifies as Barnes & Noble's all-time bestseller. One small nuisance: like Amazon, Barnes & Noble chose not to share any specific sales figures, so don't...
Teens Quit Social Media
December 30, 2010, 1:14 pmTake away a teen's email, texting capabilities and their Facebook or Twitter account for a week and what do you have? In a best-case scenario, you might end up with a sullen, sad faced teen. It's hard to know what to expect from a teen if they are without the things that we've come to .
New Year's Revolutions: Five Megatrends for the Coming Year
December 30, 2010, 1:03 pmTheres a dizzying amount of change in the media and advertising space right now, and next year looks to be even more chaotic and exciting. To make some sense of it all, Ive identified some megatrends, which I define as trends that are reaching critical mass, or shifting in some significant way. Take a look, form your own opinions, and then let me...
How to Increase Your AdSense Earnings
December 30, 2010, 12:53 pmWhen you are an Adsense publisher, or even if you are just looking to make more money from your hobby website, one of the most important things you can do is experiment with sizes and placement. Most of the time, publishers use a single template for all of their page/posts; however, this doesnt always give the highest payouts. If you are using a...
Where Online Video (for E-Commerce) is Headed in 2011
December 30, 2010, 12:53 pmOnline video has gained a great deal of ground over the past few years, and that will not be slowing down as we head into the new year. In fact, we're likely to see greater and more efficient use of online video by e-commerce providers and marketers. Yaniv Axen, Co-founder and CTO of SundaySky , a video platform provider, shared some predictions...
Why Rovio Says Android will Remain Developers' Second Pick
December 30, 2010, 12:27 pmWhile there are dozens of reasons why users will choose either an Apple-powered or Android-run device to fill their smartphone needs, one of the most prominent facts, is how many applications are being offered. With 200,000 and 300,000 applications from Google and Apple, respectively, neither company is struggling, but they are certainly both...
Will Google Be Your Next Phone Carrier?
December 30, 2010, 12:27 pmGoogle tries to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and if history is any indication, they won't simply stop when they've reached the borders of their current service descriptions. They've done their best to move from being "a search engine" to just about every other net-service " so, what's to stop them from becoming a...
Yext Tries to Take Down Google Hotpot
December 30, 2010, 12:27 pmGoogle's expansions these days cause more than a few ripples in the world of online commerce. Their push to buy ITA is still the subject of major controversy, and the fact that Hotpot now takes an active role in providing location data has a variety of companies fuming. One such company is Yext, and they have launched an anti-Google alliance. As...
The Best of Copyblogger 2010
December 30, 2010, 12:22 pmEvery year on the 24th of December, we tell you we're taking the rest of the year off. And every year, we instead slip in a "Best of Copyblogger" post before New Year's just in case you missed something from the past year. Sneaky, huh? So here are the best Copyblogger articles from 2010, based on your enthusiasm via comments, links, retweets,
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!
December 30, 2010, 12:22 pmWell, this post is a little late for "Happy Holidays" but here at StepForth we hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Holiday Season! Also, we would like to wish everyone a fantastic New Years! All the best for 2011. May the new year bring you much prosperity! Happy Holidays & Happy New Year! is a post from: StepForth Web Marketing Inc. No related...
How to Use Blog Commenting as a Networking Superweapon
December 30, 2010, 11:59 amIn many cases, the first step to connecting with an influential blogger is by contributing quality comments on his/her blog. Very underrated (and over-spammed) tactic, but this article shows how to do it the right way.
Windows Phone 7: Have ALL the Apps?
December 30, 2010, 11:46 amWhen we mention Windows Phone 7 here, it's not usually with awe or enthusiasm. After all, Microsoft's "ambitious plan" entails climbing into the number three spot over the course of the next two years. Nonetheless, the device and platform have their strong suits. We've already mentioned that their app market is growing at an astonishing rate. In...
7 Ways for Bloggers to Overcome Writer’s Block
December 30, 2010, 11:34 amJessica Lee of Bruce Clay, Inc. shares seven ways for bloggers and writers to overcome writer's block. The No. 1 tip: Use what you are experiencing as fuel for your posts. This and other tested methods can help any blogger who is "stuck" with a blank page before them.
Google Fights Against Disclosure Order in Court Case
December 30, 2010, 11:25 amGoogle's original business model was reliant on SERP ads. Now, they've expanded their revenue base somewhat, but their primary focus is still on ads found either on the SERPs or their content network. The content network is such a broad thing, though, that it's caused issues " including some lawsuits. In a recent case of just such a nature, Google...
How Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Stacked Up in 2010
December 30, 2010, 11:25 amThe world of search engine technologies has been changing at an incredibly fast rate. Names that determined how we thought of searching just a few years ago are now breathing their final breaths (and AltaVista, may you rest in peace). Even from one year to the next, we can see major trends in how the search engines are faring. So, how did the...
Health Check: Will Google Take Over the World?
December 30, 2010, 11:25 amWe have a few nick-names for Google here. "The search engine giant" is one of the favorites, while a variety of other names " mostly ones that point out Google's size and strength in the marketplace " are often used. While there's a definite aspect of admiration for the company, it shouldn't be equated as fealty or obsession. And when companies...
Pew Finds 65% Of Net Users Have Paid For Online Content
December 30, 2010, 11:25 amWhen it comes to paying for online content, there are lots of outlooks. Some people subscribe to multiple news sites and spend hours on iTunes every week. Others set the Pirate Bay as their homepage. Now, following a study, Pew's claimed that 65 percent of Internet users have paid for digital content at some point.
Note that the...
Try Looking At Quora For What It Is
December 30, 2010, 11:10 amQuora has been around for a while now, but it's getting a whole lot of attention from the tech Blogosphere this week. Naturally, many have questioned its value, but bloggers seem to love it. Why is that? Is Quora the "biggest blogging innovation in 10 years" as Robert Scoble asks ? That might be a little strong, but Quora doesn't have to be the...
Google Adds Another Layer of SERP Security
December 30, 2010, 10:39 amAbout 1.2 million sites have been compromised by hacker attacks that integrate malware into the site's source code. The strong majority of these sites were just typical spots on the web, intending to give customers some useful features or information " not steal their identity or sell their contact information. However, security issues with coding...
Amazon, Netflix Earn Top Customer Satisfaction Scores
December 30, 2010, 10:39 amPeople who shop for things online wind up happiest when they buy from companies including Amazon, Netflix, Newegg, Apple, and eBay, according to new research. ForeSee Results's E-Retail Satisfaction Index ranked these sites among the best online retailers in the U.S. Indeed, based on a survey of almost 10,000 people who had recently visited the...
Official Logitech Statement: "All's Well" with Google TV
December 30, 2010, 10:39 amIs Google TV failing? Are Google and Logitech having a "falling out?" Well, if you've been paying attention to any of the reports (including, yes, the reports here), your likely answer is "yes" to both of the above. However, some analysts have questioned this, and several tech experts have chimed in with their own take on Google TV " a platform...
The Facebook Juggernaut Keeps on Rolling - Passing Google and Yahoo in Search
December 30, 2010, 9:58 am"When combined, common search terms -- e.g., facebook and facebook.com -- for Facebook accounted for 3.48% of all searches in the U.S. among the top 50 terms, which represents a 207% increase versus 2009,"
Local Ad Business Heats Up With Yext Tags Offering
December 30, 2010, 9:58 amGoogle is committed to its local Internet marketing efforts to lengths like we have not seen the search giant go to in a while. Searching for new revenue streams will do that. What have they done recently?
What Makes a YouTube Ad Worth Spreading?
December 30, 2010, 9:27 amLast week, a guest post in the YouTube Blog by Chris Anderson, Curator of TED, asked, " What makes an ad worth spreading? " This week, let's check out some examples of YouTube ads that went viral in 2010. Click to read the rest of this post.
Amazon Shows What People Bought (and Wanted) Most in 2010
December 30, 2010, 9:18 amAmazon released its "Best of 2010" lists today, which list the bestselling, most-wished-for, and most popular gift products of the year.
Kindle Dominates Electronics
It's been a good year for Amazon's own Kindle, as it was the bestselling product of the year, as well as the most wished for and the most popular gift, in the...
Skype Takes Video Calls to the iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch
December 30, 2010, 9:17 amSkype has launched a new version of its iPhone app that features video calling - a bold move considering Skype is fresh off a major outage issue , and that this will directly compete with Apple's new FaceTime feature of the latest iPhones. With the new Skype iPhone app, users can make and receive free video calls from their iPhone, iPad, or iPod...
Facebook Named Most Searched-For, Most Visited Site Of 2010
December 30, 2010, 9:17 amEarlier this month, Time magazine named Mark Zuckerberg "Person of the Year," and now, although Experian Hitwise isn't in the business of handing out such titles, it looks like Zuckerberg's site has become the online equivalent. Experian Hitwise announced late yesterday that Facebook was both the most visited site and most searched-for term of...
Website Usability: The Best 2010 Articles And Reports From MasterNewMedia
December 30, 2010, 8:37 amWorking toward making a web site more "usable" rather than "prettier" is always a good idea. While we often get lost in having our web sites designed in a way that pleases us, this is not exactly the best way to make our audience happy and coming back for more. What readers are seeking is not really any kind of "prettyness" but the ability to...
Pew Claims 65% Have Purchased Online Content
December 30, 2010, 8:23 amWhen I first saw this report I was pretty surprised. By the title alone I was thinking about content in a content marketing manner. Either I was thinking about paid content in a far too narrow manner (paid subscriptions for newspapers etc etc) or Pew is looking at it too broadly. I think it's a little of both. In the overview the Pew survey says...
The Google eBookstore Launches
December 30, 2010, 8:18 amThere have long been rumors that Google's already formidable book library would be stepping up its game, becoming a full-fledged eBookstore. These rumors have come to fruition, as Google launched a cloud-based program with over three million titles available on day one. The eBookstore is especially well designed for those using smartphones, since...
Blog Posts To Read For December 30, 2010
December 30, 2010, 8:02 amWishing you all a Happy and Healthy 2011!!! Below you will find our favorite blog posts that are related to SEO, search engine marketing and social media marketing from this past week. Please feel free to visit each, we hope you find them as helpful as we do! It's a Merry Christmas for e-Retailers This post talked about how the e-Retailers made...
Google Keyword Tool Mysteries
December 30, 2010, 7:11 amAs everyone knows, the Google AdWords Keyword Tool "KWT" is one of the best free research tools available online. But I thought it would be interesting to see how its data consistency holds up if you change a few external factors and then cross check against a real campaign. I have seen variances in data previously, but never took the time to...
27 December second busiest day of the year in online retail
December 30, 2010, 3:14 amOver the last few days the UK Internet population have been prolific online, in one of the busiest post-Christmas periods ever. Boxing Day was the busiest day of the year for online retailers again this year, but the sales have continued to perform ahead of last year's figures with 27 December being the second biggest online retail day of 2010....
iPhone Skype Now has Full Video - No WiFi Needed
December 30, 2010, 3:08 am"...ability to make video calls, allowing iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and fourth-generation iPod touch users to share real-time video amongst each other and users of Skype's Windows, Mac, and Linux clients along with the ASUS Videophone."
The Future of Internet Looks… Chinese!
December 30, 2010, 2:49 amIt’s no big news that Chinese market is growing with an impressive speed and more and more businesses turn eastwards – both for production and marketing. Over a billion people live inside the Far East giant borders – a healthy reason to address the region in order to increase sales as well as exposure.
The news is, however, that the...
Top 10 Web Apps We Love
December 30, 2010, 2:33 amPosted by Jamie We often get asked, "What apps do the SEOmoz team use?" To answer this question, we decided to put together a blog post with the Top 10 Web Apps We Love here at SEOmoz. The SEOmoz team decided on the Top 10 apps below (in no particular order). However, we found we liked so many apps that we decided to include another 15 that are...
Blekko Showing AdSense Publishers Information
December 30, 2010, 1:58 am"As a webmaster, I know we should be open to new search technologies and give a chance to new comers, but what have I to gain really by allowing them to crawl my sites so far if the negatives outweigh the positives?"
Google AdWords Changing Agency Support
December 30, 2010, 12:59 am"It appears that Google sees this as a 'realignment' of agency support."
Ustream Asia Uses PayPal to Stream Sold-Out Concert to Online Fans
December 30, 2010, 12:14 amHi Everyone! I'm Andrew Pipolo, PayPal's country manager for Japan. With the New Year just around the corner, I'd like to tell you about how PayPal is helping make Ustream Asia's first-ever global paid music broadcast possible on January 1 st . Ustream Asia will host its first paid music broadcast in Japan - "Ayumi Hamasaki's Countdown Live 2010 -...
Groupon May Be the Best Deal Google Missed
December 29, 2010, 11:22 pmThe beauty of blogging is that we can double back and rethink certain assertions and assumptions. I half-cheered when Google struck out on grabbing Groupon. I listened to naysayers and pundits who follow the local e-commerce market and I too believed $6 billion was an egregious case of over-valuation for a one-trick company with little upside....
Turn Your Website Into a Social Machine
December 29, 2010, 11:07 pmBeing social online is the new cool but for many entering the social media space online it is a daunting task. Many businesses still think they are very susceptible to a reputation issue if they say one wrong thing and the reality is you really have to screw up in the social space to tarnish your image if you are not a mainstream brand.
Final Pre-Christmas Push Propels U.S. Online Holiday Season Spending through December 26 to Record $30.8 Billion
December 29, 2010, 7:41 pmcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 56 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $30.81 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most...
LBS Is about Brand Engagement Too
December 29, 2010, 5:00 pmGreg Sterling nicely summarizes an impressive case study and explains why (from the article) "LBS is about building a relationship with a brand or company as much as one-off transactions."
Hudson Square Research Labels Google, Yahoo "Buys"
December 29, 2010, 4:41 pmAnyone who's looking to invest a little Christmas money might want to listen up. While we're neither backing nor attacking this advice, Hudson Square Research has initiated coverage on Google and Yahoo, labeling them both a "buy" and setting price targets significantly above the stocks' current prices. The firm's expectations are somewhat lower...
Unplugging From Social Media and Getting Social (And Original)
December 29, 2010, 4:26 pmMore WebProNews Videos Social media isn't always as social as its name would imply. For example, you can have conversations with people online and really not know them at all personally. It's possible that you've had a really deep and meaningful conversation on Twitter or Facebook with someone in your niche that you greatly respect, but if you...
Twitter, Snow and Politics: Newark Mayor Shows Online Smarts
December 29, 2010, 4:05 pmThe power of Twitter for politicians has been displayed during the blizzard that hit the Northeast United States this week. While New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come under criticism for the poor response and his lack of empathy, the Newark Mayor Cory Booker has become a national figure through his effective use of Twitter as a...
Facebook Passes Google For 2010 - Top Site of The Year
December 29, 2010, 3:47 pm"Facebook has been named most visited site of the year (crowding out last years winner Google). Comscore also shows Facebook.com passing Google.com in visits in November but all Google sites as still having more."
Getting Sacked by a Computer - Merry Christmas from Google
December 29, 2010, 3:43 pm"Then twio days before Christmas I got a letter from my bank saying that the check for October worth 1,700 had been stopped. That is 3,700 gone from my family fiancs in the two weeks before Chisitmas.
Experian Hitwise Finds Holiday Retail Traffic Consistently Up
December 29, 2010, 3:17 pmAs we wrap up 2010, there's still more evidence online retailers came out of the holiday shopping season in good shape. Experian Hitwise shared data indicating that retail traffic has been up on a year-over-year basis for the better part of two months.
The differences haven't always been huge; on both Christmas and the day after Christmas,...
Google to Enforce Anti-Cloaking Rules More Strictly in 2011
December 29, 2010, 2:17 pmGoogle is persistently refining and revamping its search engine, with one or more changes to their search algorithm each and every day. The objective for the company is fairly simple: To provide users with the most relevant, highest quality search results possible. In order to better achieve this, Google will be paying closer attention to sites...
Paul Allen Suing Google et Al, Again
December 29, 2010, 2:17 pmWe reported previously on Paul Allen's law suit against everyone in the world, including your mom. The law suit took some very vaguely worded patents and made a claim that more than a dozen major technology companies had violated them. The companies in question included Google, Facebook, Apple, AOL, Netflix, YouTube, and eBay to name a few. Of...
PlayStation Brings App to Android Marketplace
December 29, 2010, 2:17 pmAs we recently reported, Android has pushed through the 200,000 application barrier, but there are several exciting applications on the horizon. One of them is from Sony PlayStation, and it has soon-to-be users very excited. According to a report over at Android Community , a PlayStation application is slated for release in the near future, but it...
Starbucks Enjoys Social Media Exposure
December 29, 2010, 2:06 pmStarbucks is certainly no stranger to community involvement and corporate responsibility. Their involvement and awareness with many public issues has gotten them a nod from firms that measure social media exposure and involvement. There are many campaigns that Starbucks has initiated that have contributed to their social media popularity. Some of...
Google Joins Effort To Deter Violence In Sudan
December 29, 2010, 2:01 pmAn upcoming election in Sudan is widely expected to be marked by violence, but thanks to the actions of Google, Harvard, the UN, and a group called Not On Our Watch, it's possible the situation won't get too bloody. In an effort to discourage hostilities, the organizations have banded together to support satellite surveillance of Sudan. It's...
Breaking Down the Mormon SEO Strategy
December 29, 2010, 1:38 pmLast week while I was at lunch, I came across this submission on Hacker News about how Avinash discussed the effectiveness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints‘ SEO practices.
A tag cloud very quickly shows the story in hundreds of thousands of keywords. In the case above, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it...
Sears and Kmart Launch Movie Download Service
December 29, 2010, 1:15 pmSears has launched a new online movie download service called Alphaline Entertainment . It lets customers of Sears and Kmart download movies the day they're released on TV. The offering comes with a multi-year agreement with Sonic Solutions , which involves Sonic's RoxioNow platform to extend its reach. RoxioNow powers digital services for...
Google to Bolster Education Apps in Marketplace
December 29, 2010, 1:10 pmGoogle has definitely been putting a lot of its energy into the app marketplace, with a huge push to help developers create on the platform and a completely revamped user interface recently released via a silent OTA. As one additional part of their application strategy, it seems that Google is working hard to get more applications into the...
Googlers Get a Free Nexus S
December 29, 2010, 1:10 pmWe've been reporting a lot on the Nexus S lately. That's mostly because Google has been so clever in marketing it, of course, what with their 42â³ Nexus S model and the near-space voyage of seven brave Android phones. However, it's also because we're excited for Gingerbread, the possibility of an actually successful Google-constructed phone,...
The Tragedy of Advertising
December 29, 2010, 12:54 pmIn " The Tragedy of the Talk Show Host " (this month's Atlantic magazine), James Parker observes: "Like Seinfeld , The Larry Sanders Show was deeply committed to superficiality, honoring the intuition of the '90s viewer that Western civilization had essentially ended and that society was a husk of manners and absurd ritual." Adweek's Top 10...
The New Facebook Profile: Not So Popular
December 29, 2010, 12:49 pmIf you haven't noticed it yet, there's a new look to the Facebook profile pages. Depending on who you talk to, some love it and think it's a great improvement. Others think that the old profile page was just fine and should have been left alone, and Facebook gave them the option to do so. .
Ex-Googlers Create a Whale of an App
December 29, 2010, 12:49 pmThere are plenty of reasons to leave the major companies " Yahoo, Google, Microsoft " and pursue projects elsewhere. Recently, we've seen everything from the "I got let go" to the "It's time for a change in scenery" excuse. One of the most interesting reasons, however, is always to establish your own company, since these tech gurus always manage...
New Google Music App Leaked
December 29, 2010, 12:49 pmAs high-tech devices are increasing in power, they're also decreasing in bulk. Additionally, every so often devices will combine themselves into a single medium " such as when the cell phone and PDA turned into the "smart phone." The same thing has happened with MP3 players and mobile handsets, especially with the introduction of the iPhone. Now,...
Health Check: How IS Yahoo Doing?
December 29, 2010, 12:33 pmIn the movie "Frequency," a time travel movie where a son communicates with his dead father via a ham radio (thanks to the radio's unique ability to communicate between people living thirty years apart), John Sullivan gives his dad some prophetic advice: Buy stock in Yahoo. While this was certainly a great idea at the time the movie was released...
CES to Bring Google-Powered iPod Equivalent
December 29, 2010, 12:33 pmIt was once "Google vs Microsoft vs Yahoo." Today, the picture has changed to something more like "Google vs Bingahoo vs Apple." In case you missed it, Google is now in battle with Apple in almost every field; they both have tablets, both have immensely popular smartphones, and within a month Google will be showcasing a would-be "iPod killer."...
Microsoft vs Google: The University War
December 29, 2010, 12:33 pmIt used to be that the major technology companies already had a map that was fairly well carved up, and each stuck to their respective territory. That's not even close to being the case anymore, with Microsoft pushing hard at search engines and alternatives like Google Apps competing head on with Microsoft's Outlook suite. Each of these wars for...
Report: 7 Trillion SMS Messages Will Be Sent in 2011
December 29, 2010, 12:28 pmABI Research , which released a study on Mobile Messaging Services, is saying that over seven trillion SMS messages will be sent in 2011. That's worldwide, from about 4.2 billion mobile subscriptions. ABI says SMS is being increasingly regarded as something of a commodity by users, due to falling delivery costs and high competition. Industry...
Pre SEO Tips to Consider - Video Lesson
December 29, 2010, 12:28 pmHere is a new video that gives some advice of things that people should consider as "Pre SEO Tips". Often times I see folks try hard and spend tons of time, money and resources trying to build targeted website visitors (and your should!). But before you should ever even think about driving visitors to your website, you should think about...
Interview with Lisa Barone, Chief Branding Officer at Outspoken Media
December 29, 2010, 12:13 pmThis is kind of a different interview from the normal format your eyeballs are used to. When I designed the questions I had readers involved with the SEO industry in mind, so most of the interview will be focused on the search space and online marketing . For those who don't know who Lisa Barone is, Lisa is the Chief Branding Officer at Outspoken...
Newark, NJ Mayor REALLY Uses Twitter To Help People
December 29, 2010, 11:47 amTime and time again we try to figure out just what Twitter is good for. We talk about business applications and other ways it can help people. We hear some nice stories but we also are subject to the kind of online activism that is often much more hollow than actually active. Well, this past few days of blizzard conditions in the Northeast have...
PayPal Plans China Expansion
December 29, 2010, 11:24 amDifferent estimates put China's population in the neighborhood of 1.3 billion people, and soon enough, PayPal intends to start helping them do business worldwide. PayPal will open an ecommerce hub in Chongqing with the local government's blessing.
This won't be a simple matter of encouraging people to use the online payment system when...
Skype Talks Outage and Prevention of Future Outages
December 29, 2010, 11:11 amLast week, millions of Skype users lost their connections and experienced various other issues with the service. Though the outage didn't last much longer than a day, the sheer number of those affected created a huge blunder for the company. It didn't take long for Skype to go on damage control mode, however. CEO Tony Bates himself jumped on the...
eBay Mobile Holiday Sales Up 166 Percent
December 29, 2010, 10:35 amEarlier this month, eBay released two separate statements saying that mobile sales rose over a very short period. Now, the company's opened up a third time on the subject, and it turns out mobile sales for the complete holiday shopping season (defined by eBay as November 25th through December 25th) grew by an impressive 166 percent. That 166...
Netflix Plotting Global Expansion?
December 29, 2010, 10:04 amReports would suggest that Netflix is looking at going global soon. According to AdWeek , the company has been talking with advertising and media agencies about "potential international assignments". Netflix has made quite a name for itself in the United States over the years, and finally, just this year, expanded into Canada with a...
Foursquare Retail Checkins Up During Holiday
December 29, 2010, 9:07 amI will say that one of the hardest things to do when writing a post is to get all of the pertinent information in the headline. There are some days where I feel like I am feeding the machine with headlines like this since there are many people who don't read these posts but just shuttle them on with retweets (Can you believe that people would do...
Paul Allen Refiles Lawsuit Against Top Tech Companies
December 29, 2010, 8:57 amWhatever his faults, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen is at least persistent and ambitious. Allen proved this yesterday by refiling a patent infringement lawsuit against AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo, and YouTube. Allen first sued these companies in late August, claiming they'd violated four...
Facebook Drives Massive Traffic Boosts To Media Sites
December 29, 2010, 8:41 amFacebook says it has increased referral traffic to media sites by over 100% thanks to tools like its social plugins and Graph API, both of which were launched at f8 back in April. Facebook has worked with some organizations closely to help them find the right integrations, which is good for all parties involved - more traffic for the media sites...
Zuckerberg to Donate Wealth to Charity
December 29, 2010, 8:16 amOne of the world's youngest and smartest billionaires on the planet, Facebook's CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, has recently made a decision to sign the Bill Gates and Warren Buffet's "Giving Pledge" initiative and donate a large portion of his wealth to charity. The initiative is a agreement that over 57 multi-millionaires and billionaires...
Chinese Language Content To Dominate Web
December 29, 2010, 8:05 amWhile China surpassed the United States for internet user population about a year ago, it now seems the majority of content on the web will soon be Chinese too, GizMag reported . The impact seems to have people going in a couple of different directions. The Chinese government has ordered any use of English terms in print and web information must...
HOW TO: Choose A Right SEO Company - Your Checklist for 2011
December 29, 2010, 7:50 amSEO in 2011 is becoming more and more important and has a wider connotation than just rankings now. If you have an online business, you can't afford not to invest in a Search Engine Optimization campaign. Once you have developed and designed your website having an organic search engine presence and to reach out to as many people as possible who...
Groupon Continues to Grow at Funding, Valuation, and Geographical Levels
December 29, 2010, 7:40 amGroupon has reportedly closed a new round of funding at $950 million. According to Michael Arrington at TechCrunch, who cites "a source with knowledge of the financing," Groupon is now valued at $4.57 billion. That number will likely continue to rise for the foreseeable future, as Groupon appears to be the hot ticket item heading into the New...
HOW TO: Easily Highlight and Switch Between Keywords After You Search
December 29, 2010, 7:29 amToday's fun mid-holiday search tip will let you highlight your search terms on the page you land on in order to: Easily find your keywords on the target page Analyze on-page keyword usage (prominence and density) Switch between the keywords to easier scan through the page, etc. 1. Use Google Cache If there's a cache link available in the SERPs,...
Astroturfing: Maybe it's Not as Bad as it Seems
December 29, 2010, 6:43 amAstroturfing is defined as the act of creating a false sense of grassroots support. The two most common examples are politics and online reviews. For example, a Senator receives a flood of letters that appear to be a spontaneous response to a political event but the letters are actually from an organized group who will gain something by swaying...
Astroturfing: Maybe it’s Not as Bad as it Seems
December 29, 2010, 6:36 amAstroturfing is defined as the act of creating a false sense of grassroots support. The two most common examples are politics and online reviews. For example, a Senator receives a flood of letters that appear to be a spontaneous response to a political event but the letters are actually from an organized group who will gain something by swaying...
YouTube Blocks the Phrase "No Credit Cards"
December 29, 2010, 5:05 am..the phrase "no credit cards" gives an error message when anybody includes that phrase in a comment to a video on Youtube."
Top Posts, Comments & Users of 2010
December 29, 2010, 1:54 amPosted by jennita Earlier this month we gave you the top SEOmoz posts from 2010 based on the total number of thumbs up, traffic, backlinks and tweets. But that wasn't enough, and the community asked for more! You wanted to see the posts with the most comments and the comments with the most thumbs up (as I screwed that list up in the last post). So...
Logitech: What Google TV Delay?
December 28, 2010, 11:30 pmGood for Logitech. The maker of the $300 Revue companion box that serves Google TV has come out swinging verus the media to refute the Digitimes report that it had asked Gigabyte Technology to halt sending new appliances so that Google can upgrade the product. Logitech's rationale is that they would have no need to request a stay on new components...
Turn Website Traffic Into Customers
December 28, 2010, 11:15 pmWhat good is all that website traffic if nothing ever converts into a customer? Would you rather have lots of visitors with no conversions or less visitors with higher conversions? You have to realize that everything starts with your website. Your website needs to be able to funnel the traffic in a way that will create some sort of action. That...
“Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays” showdown – nearly double the conversion rate!
December 28, 2010, 10:58 pmHere's a short & sweet case study showing the difference in click-thru rates on emails that address the recipient with "Merry Christmas" versus "Happy Holidays" -- it proves the benefits of testing.
Top New Year's resolution searches for 2010: Will weight loss be on peoples' minds for 2011?
December 28, 2010, 5:09 pmAs 2010 comes to a close, its time to reflect on the year. If youre like us, its a time to say goodbye to old habits and start pulling together a list of New Years resolutions. With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the most popular New Years resolutions for Bing- comparing resolution searches made in January...
Fifteen Questions to Ask Your Future Website Designer
December 28, 2010, 4:52 pmSo what should you look for when hiring a website designer? While this will vary based on your individual needs, there are fifteen criteria and/or questions that I consider fairly universal to the process of selecting a website designer. This may not be all-inclusive, but it is a great starting point for locating and interviewing a consultants or...
The Things Google Did in 2010 (The Fourth Quarter)
December 28, 2010, 4:33 pmWe're looking at the things Google has done over the course of the year. For the first quarter, read this article . Then find the second quarter here and the third quarter here . Now we're on to the fourth quarter. Allow me to include the disclaimer from the previous posts: I have not included every single Google-related story of the year....
Rumor Ties Facebook, Twitter To SEC Inquiry
December 28, 2010, 4:24 pmDon't look for employees at these companies to break out shredders - or even break a sweat - quite yet, but the Securities and Exchange Commission might be curious about certain details related to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Zynga. Unconfirmed rumors indicate the SEC is looking into their privately traded stock.
Peter Lattman reported,...
eBay Releases 2010 "Top Shopped" Report
December 28, 2010, 3:22 pmIn the past month or so, Google, Yahoo, and Bing all released year-end lists detailing what's been on their users' minds. Now it's at last eBay's turn, as the company best known for its auction site has published what it calls the "Top Shopped" report.
Before we paste in the main list, here's a quick (and perhaps unnecessary) word...
Empower your Readers with a Voice - Tips and Tools
December 28, 2010, 3:01 pmBlogs are all about collaboration, not just speaking to a nameless and faceless audience. As such, finding ways to empower your readers with a voice becomes an important aspect of creating the most effective blog. There are many considerations to make when facilitating conversation in your blog, including design considerations and offering the...
9 Things Businesses Have Learned About Social Media
December 28, 2010, 3:00 pmSocial media has walked the fiery coals of skepticism and has brilliantly performed as a marketing, customer service and relationship building tool beyond expectations.
All size businesses have taken the polar bear plunge into what felt like an alien way of communicating with their customers. When businesses began using Facebook fan pages,...
Work Smart, Rather Than Hard
December 28, 2010, 2:50 pmThere is a common misconception in the world, especially amongst younger people, that you have to work hard and pay your dues, even if it means being miserable. For some reason people seem to think that they have to be miserable for the first few years of their work life in order to get to where they want to be; either professionally or...
Apple Gets Hit with Privacy Suit: A Poem
December 28, 2010, 2:27 pmTwas the week after Christmas and all through the land, millions of folks were making merry with iPads in their hands. In their pockets were iPhones, both fresh from the box. This Christmas was the best, they shouted, it really does rock!
But off in the distance they heard a small sound, the noise of a lawsuit slapping Apple around! They’re...
AndroLib Counts 200,000 App Submissions To Android Market
December 28, 2010, 2:22 pmFive months ago, an organization called AndroLib indicated that 100,000 apps had been submitted to the Android Market. Now, although AndroLib's stats aren't official, it looks like a whole lot of growth has taken place, as the latest graph shows the number has topped 200,000.
Have a look at the growth curve for yourself below. It...
Google Insights Examines the "New Shopper"
December 28, 2010, 2:14 pmIt's fairly normal for Google Insights to give us a report on what people are searching for. However, this year Google has gone further by looking at the overall trends of not just what people are shopping for, but how they currently think about shopping. So, what exactly does Google have to say about 2010â²s .
McAfee Releases 2011 Threat Predictions Report
December 28, 2010, 1:33 pmCriminals have a long history of targeting what people like most, and judging from the new 2011 Threat Predictions Report from McAfee, cybercriminals will continue to be no different. McAfee predicted that many of the technologies that gained popularity in the past 12 months may be exploited or attacked by online crooks next year. The security...
Celebrate the holidays with a free song from Bing!
December 28, 2010, 12:52 pmAs the year comes to an end, we want to thank everyone for their support- with a song. No, we're not serenading you (yet) it's a free song download. But hurry, the giveaway only lasts until midnight New Years' Eve. Visit this link to receive a code to download a free song from your favorite music service Happy New Year from all of us at Bing! -...
Top Online Marketing Posts for 2010 & 7 Year Blogging Birthday
December 28, 2010, 12:52 pmFirst of all, please wish TopRank's Online Marketing Blog a Happy 7th Birthday! It was 7 years ago today that I started this blog as an experiment to document industry news and develop my writing skills. With the help of many different people, it's turned into quite a bit more than that. THANK YOU for reading, sharing and contributing your...
Google Shares Android Operating Tips
December 28, 2010, 12:47 pmThree days ago, some of you no doubt opened a present and were surprised (or not, depending on how many hints you dropped) to find an Android phone inside. Now, while we're sure you're capable of reading the manual and experimenting, here's a collection of Android tips straight from Google. Interestingly, these pointers come from Jonathan...
Why Landing Page Optimization is Crucial and How to Start
December 28, 2010, 11:45 amJessica Lee of Bruce Clay, Inc. explains why landing page optimization is so important to an Internet marketing strategy, and gives the basics on how to begin.
Advice For Dealing With Content Theft
December 28, 2010, 11:25 amOne of the wonderful things about the web is that most of the world’s information is accessible online. Better still, a large portion of the world has access to all of that information. Search engines play a huge role in making it easy to sift through that information and find the stuff you are looking for. Problems arise, however, when...
Reading Wife's Email Illegal? Man Faces Up To 5 Years
December 28, 2010, 11:19 amThe Detroit Free Press - and most TV news - have the story of a man who went through his wife's email when he suspected she was having an affair. Using a password protected laptop in the house he shared with his wife, the man discovered she was cheating with her ex-husband. " Leon Walker was Clara Walker's third husband. Her e-mail showed she was...
Logitech: Google Didn't Suspend TV Boxes
December 28, 2010, 11:19 amThe Wall Street Journal reported that Logitech claims Google did not request suspension of top-set TV boxes as part of software problems with the development of Google TV being integrated into television access. "Suggestions that production of the Logitech Revue companion box might need to be halted to address software issues are unfounded. As...
Group Predicting Facebook Entry Into China Grows
December 28, 2010, 11:09 amA lot has been said in the past few weeks about Facebook entering China, and this morning, another expert expressed his opinion that the social network will at some point make an entrance. Gady Epstein, the Beijing bureau chief for Forbes, even used a form of the word "inevitable" to describe the move. A little background information: Mark...
The Online - Offline Marketing Chasm
December 28, 2010, 11:04 amI just saw a chart from MarketingSherpa that shows the most important objectives of an e-mail campaign. The findings make sense to a point. Here is the chart showing what is deemed most important in descending order. I was a little surprised at the difference between the most important e-mail objective (to generate revenue) and the idea of e-mail...
What Is Unobtrusive JavaScript?
December 28, 2010, 11:03 amAn awesome usability tip that I've yet to see written about before...great job Ruud!
The Online – Offline Marketing Chasm
December 28, 2010, 11:02 amI just saw a chart from MarketingSherpa that shows the most important objectives of an e-mail campaign. The findings make sense to a point. Here is the chart showing what is deemed most important in descending order.
I was a little surprised at the difference between the most important e-mail objective (to generate revenue) and the idea of e-mail...
Make Your Company's Site a Social Hub in 2011
December 28, 2010, 10:49 amEyeforTravel published their 2011 Trends and their number one pick is the increasing need to integrate social content and activity on your corporate website. As budget freezes start to thaw, its time for them (companies) to consider how to integrate social media functionality, for example, incorporating the power of Facebook comment boxes on site...
Judges Are Warned Against Any Questionable Social Networking
December 28, 2010, 10:43 amFor the people who normally enforce rules, tables are turning for them if they're caught in violation of doing something that's perfectly legal. In the state of Ohio, a Supreme Court panel there recently issued a set of rules that addressed judges and lawyers. Their recommendations were for judges to not befriend and/or chat with .
Buzz Predicts Three Versions Of iPad 2
December 28, 2010, 10:02 amBetter products often offer consumers more choices. Compare the original Model T (which Henry Ford supposedly approved in "any color so long as it's black") to a modern Rolls Royce (available in thousands of paint, leather, and trim combinations), for example. And now a rumor claims three versions of the iPad 2 will be produced. Joseph Tsai...
Google AdSense Testing Borders Around Text Ads
December 28, 2010, 9:32 am"...I've seen my Adsense Ads with a border. This happened on two different domains."
Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2010
December 28, 2010, 9:20 amThe Top 10 Blogs for Writers contest is always fun to watch, and a great way to add some new favorites to your own list of must-read blogs. This year the contest has shaken things up a little, moving from Michael Stelzner's Writing White Papers site to Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch's Write to Done . Copyblogger was not eligible this year because our...
The Real Problem With Content Farms is Google
December 28, 2010, 9:15 amThe business of content farms like Demand Media is creating content in the form of articles and videos that search engines will crawl and feature prominently in the long tail of search results . Demand Media and all content farms achilles heel is that much of their Internet traffic and revenue rely on Google. With demand media this is a subject...
Google Announces $20 Million Donation To Charities
December 28, 2010, 9:15 amThis week, tens of millions of people are resuming their normal work/school habits, perhaps packing up holiday decorations and definitely returning to less-than-merry states of mind. But Google's not quite through being cheery, as the company announced this morning that it's donating $20 million to charity. This may or may not sound familiar, as...
What Internet Marketers Should Concentrate On For 2011
December 28, 2010, 8:39 amThis is not your typical Top Ten list of "Things to Look for in the Next Year or So!". There are plenty of those out there and they all pretty much say the same thing. So rather than add to the noise I am going to come at 2011 from a different angle. To be honest, none of these are going to bowl you over. Why? Because most things worth paying...
Solve the Christmas puzzle online (+ news about multi-language sites & pages for mobile on Google)
December 28, 2010, 8:36 amWe wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a great year 2011! May you enjoy peace, love, and happiness among friends and family. Instead of our regular article, this weeks issue contains an easy holiday jigsaw puzzle that you can solve online. Have fun!
Gay Site at Fab.com Looking to Re-brand Through Social Networking
December 28, 2010, 8:18 amTo appeal to any demographic, you've got to make the site relevant, appealing and full of information to make the user want to visit the site again and again. As an effort to re-brand their theme and ignite interest in their site, Fabulis has taken steps to re-launch to the gay community. The first step .
Website Design: The Best 2010 Articles And Reports From MasterNewMedia
December 28, 2010, 8:15 amWhat makes for an excellent website design? How can you tell the difference between a web design that really works and one based on a popular cheap template? What's the difference between having an impactful look and delivering real design value?
Photo credit: Rafael Angel Irusta Machin
If you are not an experienced web designer, answering...
The Things Google Did in 2010 (The Third Quarter)
December 28, 2010, 7:37 amWe're looking at the things Google has done over the course of the year. For the first quarter, read this article . Then find the second quarter here . Now we're on to the third quarter. Allow me to include the disclaimer from the previous posts: I have not included every single Google-related story of the year. That would require a book (and a...
Email Subject Lines: The 5 Second Countdown & 6 Tips
December 28, 2010, 7:16 am5 seconds. That's all you have to reach out a grab someone's attention as he or she scans through email for eye-catching headlines. 50 characters. That's all the space you have for to create a credible, tantalizing, valuable, appealing, relevant, descriptive, interesting headline for a high open rate. Doesn't sound like too much to ask' I mean, 50...
Christmas Blizzard Pushes Feb. Storm Down SERPs
December 28, 2010, 7:06 amGoogle has shown a strong timely ranking for the last couple of days of the blizzard attacking the east coast. If you have searched "NYC Blizzard 2010" you have to scroll to the bottom of the organic results for any reference to the major storm of February this year. As it has been the story of the last couple of days, the listing of news at the...
What Shall I Do With My Least Viewed Pages?
December 28, 2010, 6:27 am"... I decided to have a look at my least visited pages. Some of these have been visited once in a month (as opposed to thousands for my more popular pages)."
Geek.com Reports: Facebook Takes Third Place in Unique Visitors, Surpasses Yahoo!
December 28, 2010, 2:36 amWe all know Facebook is one of the fastest (if not THE fastest) growing websites around. The popularity of Facebook is amazing and the number of hours spent by the users on their Facebook pages, playing games, posting and tagging photos is increasing every day.
And here is another indication of the website’s growth: unique visitors. This is...
5 Creative Solutions to Tough SEO Challenges
December 28, 2010, 1:42 amPosted by randfish December has been a surprisingly busy month for my email inbox, with questions on nearly every SEO subject imaginable. In answering many of these quandries, a common theme emerged - that many marketers engage in SEO challenges with a singular focus on the most common / best practice techniques and don't stray into a creative,...
Samsung Galaxy Player Coming at CES 2011
December 27, 2010, 11:18 pmSamsung Hub reported Dec. 27 that Samsung vowed to launch its Galaxy Player at the Consumer Electronics Show next week. The publication said: The 9.9mm thick Galaxy Player (YP-GB1) runs on Android 2.2 Froyo OS and features a 1GHz CPU, 4-inch Super Clear LCD screen supporting up to WVGA resolution (800×480), T-DMB, SoundAlive audio enhancing...
Proactive Reputation Management is Important
December 27, 2010, 11:13 pmSome of the greatest offense starts with an amazing defense. Have you ever heard this quote? It really is a true statement when it comes to online marketing. Companies that tend to wait until they are hit with a brand or reputation management issue in the search engine space will usually find themselves putting in twice the effort to really clear...
PayPal and Chongqing government partner on international ecommerce to support Chinese merchants
December 27, 2010, 8:23 pmIt's Chris Yao here, vice president of PayPal Greater China. Today I had the great pleasure of participating in a signing ceremony with the municipal government of Chongqing, the largest industrial and commercial center in southwest China. Chongqing is also the only municipality directly under the central government in western China.
Search for "Winter Storm" in Google News and See YouTube Video from WNYC Radio
December 27, 2010, 4:51 pmLike many of my neighbors in the Northeast, I'm hunkered down at home today because of the Boxing Day Blizzard of 2010. And while searching for "Winter Storm" in Google News I discovered a YouTube video from WNYC Radio. Click to read the rest of this post.
UK Online Retailers Score Big On Boxing Day
December 27, 2010, 4:24 pmMany retail sites that cater to people in the UK had a great time of things yesterday. In keeping with tradition (and barring some strange New Year's Eve surge), new UK-specific Experian Hitwise data shows that Boxing Day turned out to be the busiest day of the year for online retailers.
Robin Goad wrote earlier today, "Yesterday...
Are You Still Using That Old Phone? Mobile Marketing Goes for the Throat
December 27, 2010, 4:20 pm"Are you really still rockin' a flip phone?" That's an ad you might see if you try surfing the web with your Motorola Razr phone only it's being sent to you by Nokia. It's called "intercept campaigning" and according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, it's becoming very popular among cell phone companies as they all vie for a piece of a...
Facebook For iPhone App Gains 1.6M Users In Three Days
December 27, 2010, 3:28 pmEarlier today, we reported that Facebook beat Google in terms of UK traffic over Christmas. We also reported that Apple upped its sales forecasts for iPhones. Now, to perhaps link the two stories together, it turns out that the Facebook for iPhone app gained around 1.6 million users in the past three days. Considering how long Facebook, the...
Rumors Fault Google TV For Logitech Revue Shipping Freeze
December 27, 2010, 2:52 pmPopular products are almost always difficult to get around Christmas, with high demand causing stores to run out of bestsellers. Unfortunately for a certain search giant, it's starting to sound like a lot of items incorporating Google TV tech were allowed to collect dust. Rumors indicate Logitech even asked a supplier to stop shipping Revue...
Matt Cutts Offers a "Heads-Up" for 2011
December 27, 2010, 2:47 pmMatt Cutts used a simple tweet to give us a glimpse into the Google search team's 2011 focus. Now the community takes up those two simple sentences and the deatils of what it might mean.
Apple Not Doomed To Repeat History
December 27, 2010, 2:12 pmIn 1995 I remember waiting in lines to buy Windows 95. It effectively ended the design lead Apple had for 11 years in personal computers. From then on Microsoft had both the thought leadership and the market share. Apple ended up with less than 10% market share. Microsoft had most of the rest.
Lots of people think that Apple could repeat 1995 in...
FCC to NBC: No More Exclusive Video Deals
December 27, 2010, 2:11 pmComcast cleared one more hurdle last week in it's bid to acquire control of NBC Universal. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski gave the deal his blessing as long as they agreed to certain conditions. Conditions that certainly took the merry out of Hulu's Christmas. Says the Wall Street Journal: According to people close to the FCC negotiations,
Report: Apple Boosts Q1 iPhone Sales Targets
December 27, 2010, 1:24 pmTwo days ago, lots of people no doubt woke up to discover iPhones under their Christmas trees, and it looks like Apple expects many more iPhones to find new homes in the first quarter of 2011. Rumors indicate the company's upped its targets by between 5.3 and 10.5 percent. As always, Apple's not been quick to confirm or deny anything, much less...
Procter & Gamble Embracing Social Networking
December 27, 2010, 1:14 pmFor the biggest advertiser in the world, Procter & Gamble, their $9 billion advertising budget is going to get a big relief soon when the company starts using social networking more for their advertising needs. Recently, the mass manufacturer of household goods made a decision to cease its sponsorship of daytime soap operas, and focus .
Android Security Team Talks Openness, Not Rooting
December 27, 2010, 12:48 pmLast week, reports began to circulate that the Nexus S had been rooted. Concerns about Android's (lack of) security ensued. Android fans shouldn't worry, however, as this appears to be an authentic "it's a feature, not a bug" situation. Non-news along these lines may be a little anticlimactic, but Google has been pretty firm on the matter. The...
Through the Looking Glass: Dell's 3G Enabled Google Tab
December 27, 2010, 12:07 pmDell already has some solid Android tablet options available. While not all of them are doing equally well, it's almost a sure bet that we'll see an increase in success for these tablets over the next few months. Why? For one, the unlocked Dell Streak is going to drop down to about $400 (that's roughly a $200 discount, for those not keeping track)...
Galaxy S Should Hit 10 Million in Sales by EOY
December 27, 2010, 12:07 pmDo you remember when we told you that Windows Phone 7 was flailing, desperately trying to compete? Do you remember when we said that their 1.5 million total units shipped to resellers was nothing to smile at? Here's one other statistic that should confirm where things stand in the mobile world: Samsung announced that the Galaxy S phone series had...
Google Revamps Android Hotpot App
December 27, 2010, 12:07 pmIt's no secret that Google is excited about Hotpot, the new website property that has replaced "Places" and (maybe, just maybe) seeks to dethrone sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. In approaching this new market, Google has two key advantages: 1) An existing database of information and feedback on the locations it's detailing, and 2) Its access to...
Social Signals You Should Be Monitoring
December 27, 2010, 12:02 pmListening is not hard these days. There are now over 200 tools that can help you gather the conversations. The next step is not so simple. Finding the right content and figuring out exactly what the people talking about you need and want is critical to PR success today. Content analysis is a traditional PR skill, but data mining is not. ...
2011: The Year for Smartphones (and, Specifically, Google's)
December 27, 2010, 11:46 amMany have called 2011 the Year of the Tablet Wars. Android is releasing its first tablet-oriented OS (Honeycomb) and devices that are (finally) on par with the iPad, Microsoft is having its go at the market, and the iPad is just as strong as ever. But Seth Weintraub of Tech Fortune feels that it's foolish to disregard what will be happening with...
Microsoft to Go ARM Compatible, Stepping Up Its Mobile Game
December 27, 2010, 11:46 amWhy is it that the Windows Phone 7 devices haven't been doing well? Here's your basic recap. 1) They're new, and it's always tough for the new kid. 2) They have practically no app market when compared to Android or iPhone. 3) While flashy, their new OS simply didn't cut it when compared with iOS and Android. Well, Microsoft is certainly looking to...
Full Net Neutrality Text Released, Phrasing Re-Touched
December 27, 2010, 11:46 amWe've heard plenty on the FCC's internet neutrality ruling, although the only really congratulatory statements have been from companies that were pandered to (Google, I'm looking at you!). However, that may change somewhat as the full text, just released, has re-visited some of the "ambiguous" phrasing that had many net neutrality proponents...
Facebook Tops Google In The UK
December 27, 2010, 11:10 amIf any Facebook employees were still manning their stations two days ago, you can be sure they sent up a cheer as traffic data rolled in. A report from Hitwise has indicated that, at least in the UK, Facebook received more visits than Google for the first time ever. Credit goes to Robin Goad for monitoring the situation, and he wrote, "As the...
Facebook Passes Yahoo in Unique Visitors
December 27, 2010, 11:00 amWe've all known that Facebook is on the rise; it's status as the site with the most page views has had it dubbed by some as "Ruler of the Internet." While this must be tempered with the fact that Google is second only if you're counting visits exclusively to the main page, Facebook remains a site with explosive growth. It's not precisely shocking...
The 42â³ Google Phone
December 27, 2010, 11:00 amGoogle hasn't been short on clever promotions to publicize its Nexus S phone, with the most notable event being the recent launch of the device into space. We can add something else to that list, too: Google now has a 42â³ version of the phone at Best Buy. Best Buy, the primary retailer teaming up with Google, is featuring a 42â³, touch...
Results for Charitable "Chrome for a Cause" Tallied
December 27, 2010, 11:00 amGoogle was in the mode for giving this year, with tens of millions of dollars donated to charitable organizations and noble causes. Of course, Google didn't stop there. They released huge amounts of content to the open source community, gave away 65,000 netbooks, and created a charitable Chrome extension that let users raise money by opening new...
11 online brand-building strategies for 2011
December 27, 2010, 10:49 amA basic online marketing article...but it's both comprehensive and very actionable.
The Things Google Did in 2010 (The Second Quarter)
December 27, 2010, 10:39 amWe're looking at the things Google has done over the course of the year. For the first quarter, read this article . Now we'll pick up in the second quarter. Allow me to include the disclaimer from the previous post: I have not included every single Google-related story of the year. That would require a book (and a rather large one I believe)...
Microsoft Intent On Making Tablet Gains
December 27, 2010, 10:39 amIt can only be a company of the stature as Microsoft that can continue battling and trying real hard to make it big in every field that it enters. No matter how much competition it faces from stalwarts like Apple, Google, etc. in the Tablet market ( which is dominated by iPads ) Microsoft is bent on making it big here too. This time the idea is to...
Sony Ericsson Maximizes Social Networking with the SmartPhone
December 27, 2010, 10:34 amWhen Smartphones gave us the capability to check our bank balance and find the nearest restaurant while we were on vacation, we thought that there couldn't be much else that we would want or need. It turns out that the segment of the population that use their mobile apps for practical reasons are far outnumbered. .
Texas Educators Ban Social Networking
December 27, 2010, 10:19 amFor many of the school systems all over the nation, texting and interacting on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter has been one of those things that has been banned. School systems and entire school districts have implemented strict rules regarding students and teachers interacting on platforms outside of approved methods that the...
Kindle Becomes Best-Selling Amazon Product Ever
December 27, 2010, 10:03 amThe first Amazon Kindle was released more than three years ago, and for whatever reason, Amazon still won't share exact sales figures concerning the device. But this morning, the company did see fit to disclose one important fact: the third-generation Kindle has become the bestselling product in Amazon's history. To put that in perspective:...
7 sites for information on busnisses and organisations
December 27, 2010, 9:53 amWhether you are a business owner looking for information on your competition, a consumer wanting to make informed purchases or an information professional or journalist doing research, the call for transparency that has resulted from social media has led to a number of web sites where businesses share their info for free or where customers share...
Online Spending for the Holiday Up 15.4%
December 27, 2010, 8:46 amNow that Christmas 2010 is behind us it's time to look at just how well the holiday shopping season was for the online crowd. If we are to believe the numbers reported by the Wall Street Journal and MasterCard Advisors it was very merry indeed. According to a WSJ article there are more than one source reporting an increase The current year's...
Massive Smartphone Growth Predicted For 2011
December 27, 2010, 8:35 amA whole lot of smartphones - and in particular, Android phones - are going to find their way into new owners' hands next year, according to one expert. Seth Weintraub recently predicted that 500 million smartphones might sell, with Google's mobile operating system accounting for a lot of the purchases. Weintraub wrote, "[I]f you thought Android...
E-mail and Social Media To Get Larger Slice of Budget Pie in 2011
December 27, 2010, 7:27 amIt's the time of the year when the Marketing Optimists' Club convenes daily and tells how 2011 is the year of (fill in the blank here). There are wonderful predictions that are based on surveys of nameless companies and their so-called executives who break out their crystal balls and give service providers hope that there will be business in 2011....
Simple, Effective, Opportunities; What Does Guest Blogging Offer?
December 27, 2010, 7:27 amThere is often a problem when it comes to sharing SEO techniques online; people don't want to. However those people that only believe in taking from others will soon realize that reciprocating generosity will go in their favor both with their clientele, other Internet users and more importantly the search engines. With so much resource online, it...
Need More SEO Tools? Google Has Some!
December 27, 2010, 12:11 amPosted by Paddy_Moogan Howdy SEOmozzers! Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas break. For those of you still looking for SEO goodness to read around the holidays, I've put together this post on tools that Google provides that you can use for SEO tasks. We all love SEO tools because they can make our lives so much easier. Members of SEOmoz know...
Google and the Groupon Effect
December 26, 2010, 11:20 pmYes, I'm bookending the weekend with more Google-Groupon talk, going back to that abundant well where speculation floweth over. Just days after we learned that Google was looking at snapping up Groupon rivals after missing out on the market leader for local deals, the Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 24 that Google has hired several hundred sales...
10 Reasons to Create a Business Blog
December 26, 2010, 11:14 pmSo everyone keeps telling you to launch a blog and you know you have to do it but do you understand why it is important to launch a blog for your business? If you are not sure why you need to launch a blog here are some important reasons to get you thinking about doing it sooner rather than later. Sure there are lots of blogs sitting around in...
Social Media Coupon Apps Become More Local and "Push" Offers To You
December 26, 2010, 11:09 amBeing able to see the coupons saved on your smartphone, or, even better, to have saved coupons show up automatically on the phone’s grocery-list app, would make digital coupons much easier to use. This has come to pass, with apps like GroceryiQ (a Coupons.com product),Grocery Gadget and Grocery Pal, to name just a few.
Social Media The Double Edged Sword of Secrets and Flash Mobs
December 26, 2010, 10:57 amSocial media is great for spreading a message and organizing people, except when you are planing a surprise. How one local news source nearly killed a Christmas Flash Mob Chorus by publishing the details online before the event happened.
Brand Monitoring: Look at Brands That Are Doing it Right
December 26, 2010, 10:50 amListening. Its a mantra weve heard PR, marketing and social media consultants preach to brands for the last two years. But, how many brands are really listening to their customers online? Im not talking about responding to comments on Facebook or Twitter. Thats fine, but at this point, its table stakes, dont you think? Im talking about active...
Newspaper Launches Hyper-Local Location-Based Service
December 26, 2010, 10:49 amTRhe addition of a hyper-local, custom, location-based application to a traditional media effort is more than interesting. It shows a traditional media outlet again thinking beyond the boundaries of the print edition and even of their website.
Hitwise reveals Middle Britain online
December 26, 2010, 7:29 amEarlier this week Experian revealed the real Middle Britain to bring sharp classification to what has previously been an overused and woolly term. Using Experian's consumer segmentation tool Mosaic, some 13.1 million people were identified as Middle Britain in the UK. At Hitwise we frequently use Mosaic classifications to show what type of...
Question of Day: What is the Best Way to Recruit Affiliates?
December 26, 2010, 6:38 am"How do I get potential affiliates to even look at my product?"
Christmas Day 2010 was the busiest ever for multichannel retailers
December 26, 2010, 5:30 amUK Internet visits to retail websites increased by 32% between Christmas Eve (December 24th) and Christmas Day (December 25th). With IMRG reporting that 4.8m British consumers spent £153m online yesterday , the real winners were the multichannel retailers. As the table below illustrates, eBay UK and Amazon UK were the most visited online...
New Google Image Search Not So User-Friendly Interface
December 26, 2010, 5:05 amOur world, especially the online part of it, is all about speed. That’s why Google had become so popular so quickly. The amount of search results shown and the speed at which those result have been accumulated and presented to the user did the trick.
Nowadays, of course, many search engines are almost as quick as Google, the difference in...
Five Tips For More Efficient Business Blogging
December 25, 2010, 7:55 amWhy should we have a blog? Its a reasonable question. Nevermind the fact that millions of businesses are blogging and multiples of those millions of customers are reading said blogs. In fact, 23% of the primary Fortune 500 corporations have an external corporate blog. Blogs as a content management system make it very easy for content publishers...
Merry Christmas Pilgrims!
December 25, 2010, 5:41 amWhat is today really about? Here's an explanation-with some help of Google, Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas
December 25, 2010, 1:29 am"Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!"
Google Provides On-Premise Message Backup with "Continuity"
December 24, 2010, 2:15 pmWhen Google acquired Postini back in 2007, their objective was to both improve their internal messaging technologies and help develop new, value-oriented projects. One of the most noteworthy projects of that nature has now been completed and released to the market. Its objective is to create a backup system for companies who are using on-premise .
Santa Passes Everest, Reindeer Show no Signs of Tiring According to NORAD Santa Tracker
December 24, 2010, 12:43 pmSanta is almost halfway round the world and just passed one of the coolest parts of his journey, according to NORAD Tracks Santa, a high tech aerospace project created 55 years ago . Click to read the rest of this post.
Santa Claus Passes Everest, Reindeer Show No Sign of Tiring According to NORAD Santa Tracker
December 24, 2010, 12:33 pmSanta is almost halfway round the world and just passed one of the coolest parts of his journey, according to NORAD Tracks Santa, a high tech aerospace project created 55 years ago.Click to read the rest of this post...
The Things Google Did in 2010 (The First Quarter)
December 24, 2010, 12:27 pmI started off aiming to write an article about all of the things Google has done over the course of the year, and quickly realized that this would be one massive article, even if I only briefly mentioned everything. So I have decided to split the article up into quarters, so you don't have to take everything in all at once. Check back for each...
Top 10 Things We Learned About SEO in 2010 - SEOmoz Whitebeard Friday
December 24, 2010, 12:17 pmPosted by Jamie It's that time of year when it's not uncommon to be sitting by a fire, sipping a glass of Egg Nog (with brandy), and listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas on the stereo. Wait... that might only be me. Whatever your holiday traditions may be, SEOmoz is pleased to present the 'Top 10 Things We Learned About SEO in 2010', with...
NORAD Tracks Santa in Google Earth
December 24, 2010, 10:44 amIt was back in 1955 that a misprinted ad for Sears Robucks accidentally provided the number for the operations hotline for the Continental Air Defense Command of the United States (CONAD). When children began calling in hopes of speaking with Santa, the director of operations (Harry Shupe) responded quickly, and with humor. He had his .
Google's SMB Achilles' Heel: People
December 24, 2010, 10:34 amI wasn't planning on posting today until I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal about how Google has added sales people to sell to local businesses. The push is to move products like Boost and Tags for the local market. The article says Google Inc., which helped popularize the idea of automated ad sales on the Web, has been quietly turning to...
Google’s SMB Achilles’ Heel: People
December 24, 2010, 10:28 amI wasn’t planning on posting today until I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal about how Google has added sales people to sell to local businesses. The push is to move products like Boost and Tags for the local market.
The article says
Google Inc., which helped popularize the idea of automated ad sales on the Web, has been quietly turning...
Leaks of Details on Upcoming Android Tablets
December 24, 2010, 10:19 amDell, Archos, Eken, Samsung, Viewsonic, and a heaping scoop-full of others have produced some impressive (and, let's be honest, not so impressive) Android powered tablets. However, we have plenty more coming up, including notable releases from both Motorola and Acer. Both companies have been very strict about keeping products under wraps, refusing...
Android Keeps WikiLeaks Apps, Apple Banishes
December 24, 2010, 10:19 amIt seems that all the world's corporations have banded together against WikiLeaks, with the major credit cards having blacklisted payment options, Amazon having shut down the hosting, Facebook having locked down the FB Page, and " well, you get the idea. Now, add to that list Apple, who has removed the WikiLeaks application from their web store....
Norad Santa Tracker 2010 : Track Santa on Google, Facebook & Twitter
December 24, 2010, 10:19 amIt's Christmas Eve and the time has come again to track the route of Santa Claus as he travels the globe, bringing presents to the good boys and girls around the world. Want to track Santa's whereabouts on Christmas Eve? Here are the online tools you need. Official NORAD Santa Tracker NORAD continues it more than 50 years tradition of tracking...
All Races, Colors and Creeds' on Twitter
December 24, 2010, 10:13 amThere are more people of color online and engaging on social media sites than any other group. A recent study conducted by The Pew Research Center indicated that the social networking platform, Twitter, shows that over 8% of its population are Blacks and Latinos. The Research Center said that Twitter is a melting pot, and .
Google Revamps Webmaster Tools
December 24, 2010, 9:58 amGoogle has worked hard over the years to compile a comprehensive set of tools for webmasters. Especially for those less familiar with the concepts of SEO and website operation, Google's webmaster tools are an amazing resource. However, these tools aren't a focal project for Google, and are often left somewhat outdated or disorganized. Happily,...
Android Space Expedition a Success " The Data
December 24, 2010, 9:58 amWe recently reported on Google's space-bound expedition, where they sent their newly "launched" Nexus S phones to about 19 miles above the earth. Now, Google has gotten back to us with some stunning photos (like the one above), a killer video , and some recorded data from the phones. We mentioned in our previous entry that the Nexus S phones were...
Google Sponsors Twelve New Research Projects
December 24, 2010, 9:58 am"Digital humanities" " the study of society, history, linguistics, and culture through digitized data " has become a recognized sub-section of humanities in general. Many modern-era groups have worked hard to advance this field, providing stunning research or resources. Google, already an established provider of resources in the field, is also...
MySpace Issues User Data Protection Update
December 24, 2010, 9:17 amNew features, celebrity endorsements, and a redesign can only get a site so far. More than ever, users want to know their private information is safe. So this week, MySpace issued a clear statement to the effect that the social network is protecting users' data. Remember the big third-party-apps-are-leaking-data-to-advertisers scare in October? ...
3 Awesome Viral Projects Based on Google Suggest
December 24, 2010, 8:05 amI have always admired people's ingenuity and creativity. A new tool barely has time to get its foot in the door before hundreds of mashups, info-graphics, and follow-on tools pop up. Remember when Twitter started catching on? Tons of amazing projects suddenly appeared including Twitter translators, Twitter calendars, Twitter viral projects (like,...
Check Out These LinkedIn Groups If You're in PR
December 24, 2010, 7:14 amIf you work in PR, chances are you have one of three needs: * A need to build or grow your network. * A need to acquire new skills or hone existing ones. * A need to find a new job. While you could argue many social networks meet these three needs adequately, I might argue that LinkedIn has the biggest potential to meet these needs best when it...
The Real Problem With Demand Media is Google
December 24, 2010, 7:14 amThe business of Demand Media is creating content in the form of articles and videos that search engines will crawl and feature prominently in the long tail of search results. Demand Media's achilles heel is that much of their Internet traffic and revenue rely on Google. Albeit, this is true for thousands of websites but none with the traffic and...
Product Search Made Easier in the UK with Google Nearby Shops
December 24, 2010, 3:20 amUK shopping market maybe smaller than the US one, but Google wants to make an impact on it as well, introducing Google Nearby Shops UK. Now, when you query for certain product via UK Google Product Search, you will have the shops selling it appearing map-style below your search, to help you locate the closest item to your location.
Of course, if...
Merry Christmas from all at SEOptimise [Infographic]
December 24, 2010, 3:17 amWe've created an infographic to help celebrate Christmas with our readers and clients this year: Have a great Christmas and a happy New Year everyone! Also, stay tuned to our Facebook fan page for some very embarrassing photos and videos from our Christmas party last week. © SEOptimise - Download our free business guide to blogging whitepaper and...
Google Should Leave Groupon Rivals Alone
December 23, 2010, 11:26 pmWord came from the New York Post this week that Google was eyeing Groupon's rivals LivingSocial and BuywithMe after striking out on the local deals giant. Groupon, which reportedly left $6 billion on Google's bargaining table, has an 80 percent local deal market share. LivingSocial, after banking $175 million from Amazon.com, is the second-largest...
Drawing Local Lines In The Sand For Clients In 2011
December 23, 2010, 8:16 pmby Miriam Ellis Grinches, Scrooges and big, toothy sharks are out there in growing numbers, waiting to take the money of honest local business owners in return for very poor advice, promising Local SEO glory and delivering bad practices. In 2010, through my work as a Local SEO for my firm, as a Q&A forum consultant for SEOmoz , a Cre8asite...
Twitter Says No More to TwitterMoms
December 23, 2010, 6:58 pmTwo years ago, Megan Calhoun launched a website devoted to connecting mom bloggers through Twitter. Thousands of moms signed up and with that came the brand names, eager to catch the ear of this influential segment of the online population. She called the site TwitterMoms and I joined up back in August of 2009. Since then, I've been involved in a...
Finding Baby Boomers with Microsoft Advertising
December 23, 2010, 4:50 pmIn the advertising business, its all about getting your message in front of the right people. Sometimes that takes some trial and error as you figure out who those people are and sometimes you hit a home run right off the bat. Needless to say, finding that audience is like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow once you have it, its...
Three reasons for keeping accounts live over Christmas & New Year!
December 23, 2010, 4:19 pmThe UK is experiencing something resembling permafrost. Tearful brides-to-be appeal to philanthropic millionaires on the news as they may not make it to their own wedding in time as airports are closed. The Times reports our beloved birds are at risk of starving and urge us to leave out mince pies. Hospitals are running out of donor blood. We in...
Linkscape is Faster, Link Analysis is Improved & Other Goodies
December 23, 2010, 4:08 pmPosted by jennita Yea.. Kinda like this. Over the past few months our dev and product teams have been busy little bees working on some pretty exciting new enhancements and upgrades to the web app. Since it's the holiday season... we might even liken them to Santa's little elves building toys for all the good little SEOs around the world. We've...
Google Prepares For Christmas With Array Of Easter Eggs
December 23, 2010, 3:48 pmUnless you live somewhere east of New York, there's still at least several hours left before December 23rd comes to an end. But Google is eager to help everyone with kids get Christmas Eve off to a good start, and so the company's put together lists of all the Santa-related treats its engineers have concocted or come across this year. First,...
Google Combines Webmaster Resources In a Single Page
December 23, 2010, 3:12 pmGoogle has put together a new collection of resources for webmasters . This includes a page that provides all the different ways the company wants you to contact them if you want to tell them about a page you want to remove from search results, tell them about spam, tell them when you've fixed issues on your site, etc. They've also collected...
Baidu's Twitter Imitation Collects 1 Million Users
December 23, 2010, 3:12 pmAn apples-to-apples comparison may not be possible here, given that Twitter used to keep its stats private, time's passed, and Twitter and a service called Baidu Talk operate in different markets. But Baidu Talk, Baidu's Twitter-esque product, is doing quite well, apparently racking up a million users in a rather short period of time. Michael Kan...
Android Users; Giving to Charity Now Easier with PayPal Mobile
December 23, 2010, 3:02 pmHi all, Laura Chambers, senior director of PayPal Mobile here to tell you about another exciting update to our Android App. Just in time for the holidays, PayPal has added a donations feature to our PayPal Mobile for Android app. Now Android users have a fast and convenient way to make charitable contributions to more than 23,000 charities in the...
Salesforce Chatter Mobile Goes to BlackBerry
December 23, 2010, 2:41 pmSalesforce released Chatter Mobile for Blackberry . Chatter, if you're not familiar with it, is the company's social product, that's often been referred to as a "Facebook for the enterprise." "This new Chatter Mobile client gives you access to Chatter from your BlackBerry," says Salesforce's Jason McDowall. "Salesforces Chatter Mobile will allow...
Give Your Children a Call from Santa
December 23, 2010, 2:36 pmIf you called the number 855-34-SANTA, who would you reach? Why, the Google Voice powered voicemail of Santa Claus, of course. Google has a tradition of supporting Mr. Claus in all his ventures, and this year is no exception. They're continuing the tradition in a unique marketing approach for Google Voice through the above-listed phone .
Yahoo-to-Microsoft Ad Transition Period Drawing to a Close
December 23, 2010, 1:20 pmThe deadline for Yahoo Search Marketing advertisers to transition their campaigns to Microsoft's adCenter is approaching. You've had ample time to do, but there are no doubt some procrastinators out there.
"Given what a busy time of year this is for everyone, both personally and professionally, you may have the feeling that...
Teens Are Looking For Facebook Sex
December 23, 2010, 12:12 pmIn a recent study from the University of California, a team of scientists studied behavioral patterns and found that a lot of United States homeless adolescents are using social networking sites to find sexual opportunities. The study, led by Assistant Professor Dr. Eric Rice, showed that there was a significant increased usage of sites like .
What is the smallest thing you have done that has made a ranking difference?
December 23, 2010, 11:46 amMembers discuss small changes that made a big difference for ranking. The discussion is almost becoming a spontaneous "end of year" list.
Hitwise Finds Visits To Social Networks Surging
December 23, 2010, 11:46 amOut of a desire to say "hi" to old friends, reconnect with family members, or perhaps get a moment away from visiting relatives, it looks like lots of people are signing into social networks this month. Indeed, Hitwise relayed some UK-specific stats today, and the increase has been sharp enough that Facebook might top Google in traffic on...
Remembering What Facebook Has Done Since the Beginning of 2010
December 23, 2010, 11:46 am2010 has been a huge year for Facebook - arguably the company's biggest yet. CEO Mark Zuckerberg was named Person of the Year by Time magazine, a Hollywood movie about the founding of the company was released in theaters, and attracted a great deal of critical buzz. The company launched the "open graph", possibly the most important feature the...
Content Strategy and the Dirty Lie about SEO
December 23, 2010, 10:54 amA recent comment on Online Marketing Blog in response to advice on Content Marketing Optimization states: "Why not write less and give more to gain credibility ' reach the audience and the rest will follow?" It makes sense to create great content that people will interact with and share, growing visibility over time naturally. But that's a...
Facebook Passes Yahoo In Number Of Video Streams Referred
December 23, 2010, 10:29 amFacebook defines itself as something that "helps you connect and share with the people in your life," and now more than ever, it looks like folks are sharing videos. Brightcove and TubeMogul determined yesterday that Facebook passed Yahoo in terms of video streams referred during the third quarter. To be clear: the difference wasn't large, and...
WikiGeeks Experiment Launches
December 23, 2010, 10:18 amGathering a few hundred of your closest friends together and meeting on Facebook is a little like what WikiGeeks is going to be about with only a few differences: WikiGeeks will involve several thousand people, many with a connection to or a presence in Third World villages. WikiGeeks is a global project designed to benefit .
Play of the year
December 23, 2010, 10:08 amOver the last 13 weeks, we've seen over 2000 submissions pour in from people around the country, all looking to have their play make it onto ESPN's SportsCenter . We've thoroughly enjoyed the incredible catches , buzzer beaters , game-winning goals , and most of all, the indomitable displays of competitive spirit. That's what sports on YouTube is...
Blog Posts To Read for December 23, 2010
December 23, 2010, 9:47 amHappy Holidays Everyone! Below you will find our favorite blog posts that are related to SEO, search engine marketing and social media marketing from this past week. Please feel free to visit each, we hope you find them as helpful as we do! Google's Acquisition of Zetawire brings Electronic Wallets Nearer This post talks about Google's acquisition...
Android Market Gets AT&T Direct Carrier Billing
December 23, 2010, 9:06 amAndroid users who are also AT&T customers should no longer have to worry about pulling out a credit card and typing a long sequence of numbers every time they want to buy an app. Late yesterday, Google introduced an AT&T Direct Carrier Billing option for this audience. A post on the Android Developers Blog explained, "AT&T Android users can now...
Actually, Blogging is Dead
December 23, 2010, 8:51 amHow many times have your heard them say that? They said it in 2007 . They said it in 2008 , 2009 , and 2010 . Maybe they're right. When you're promoting a business, or a cause, or an idea with regular content ' It's content marketing . Blogging? That's just a hobby, right? So go ahead and ramp up your WordPress-powered content marketing in 2011....
Need To Change Your Google Place Page Information? Buy the Building!
December 23, 2010, 8:35 amGoogle has finalized the purchase of the largest building in Manhattan . We talked about the rumor of this purchase back in October. At the time we also noticed that despite the apparent importance of the building to Google, their own Place Page for the site had it located in Brooklyn. Yikes! Well, maybe you just need to buy the building to...
Steve Jobs Named Financial Times Person of the Year
December 23, 2010, 8:35 amFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got a lot of press for being Time's Person of the Year , but the Financial Times has someone else in mind. And no, it's not Juilan Assange. The FT has declared Apple CEO Steve Jobs person of the year, as the "visionary who put Apple on Top". It's fair. Jobs has made a pretty big impact in 2010, most notably with the...
European Commission Fined By EU Court for Copyright Infringement
December 23, 2010, 8:05 amIn the past we have looked at how the European Commission does its business and let's just say that we don't always see eye to eye . Well, a recent ruling from an EU court has me taking a step back and asking more than a few questions. The folks at ZDNet's Between the Lines blog report It's kind of ironic that the European Commission, a proponent...
Millions Lose Their Skype Connections [Updated]
December 23, 2010, 7:38 amUpdate 2: Parkes provided another update on the issue today:
An update on the downtime which has been affecting many of you around the world: the ability of one Skype user to find another relies on what we call ‘supernodes’, and yesterday, a number of these failed due to a software issue, which we’ve now identified. Our engineers...
The Integration Of SEO, Social Media, the Mobile Web, Ecommerce And Our Lives
December 23, 2010, 7:32 amA decade back, everyone wanted a website in order to get a leg up on the rest in their industry. But with limited bandwidth, dial-up connections and hefty budgets required for web solutions, this presence was the privilege of a few companies and individuals. Of course having a website was not enough in of itself; it had to be discoverable by your...
5 Things Google is Doing Wrong with Local Search
December 23, 2010, 7:11 amThese last two months have been quite interesting with the launch of the Google Places O-Pack . It seems like everyone and their dog finally decided that Google Local is going to be a huge theme for the big "G" moving forward, and a lot more businesses are focusing on it. Here is a chart showing the volume of leads that have come through my Local...
Homeland Security Presents 'Evidence' For Domain Seizures; Proves It Knows Little About The Internet
December 23, 2010, 7:11 amLink out to news sites and blog posts, or deliver search results, to get your domain sized? Mike Masnick sheds some light on the Homeland Security's ridiculous grasp of law: "It's become clear that this is a colossal screwup on the part of Homeland Security, ICE and the US government, based on a freshly minted ICE agent who doesn't seem...
Online Video Trends: The Complete Media Industry Report - Part 2
December 23, 2010, 5:05 amThis is the second part of a highly visual and data-rich industry report on the latest online video trends emerging around brands and e-commerce websites.
Photo credit: Michele Piacquadio
While Part 1 provided a directional snapshot on the emerging 2010 trends in the online video landscape, Part 2 of this report introduces you to hard data...
A step by step guide for setting up a kick ass re-marketing campaign in Google AdWords
December 23, 2010, 4:43 amRe-marketing is ideal for advertisers with smaller budgets because you are preaching to the almost converted. From our own experiences, cliick through rates are more than double that of a standard banner campaign, cost per click is much lower, and conversions are higher, which then leads to a lower CPA.This article will take you through each...
7 Predictions for SEO in 2011
December 23, 2010, 4:27 amPosted by randfish It's that magical time of year when all of us who foolishly assumed the mantle of clairvoyance last December check up on our abilities and repeat our arrogant presumption again. Not surprisingly, something compels me to try again, despite the odds, but I am feeling a bit whimsical tonight, so let's make a game out of the...
Video Sitemaps & mRSS vs. Facebook Share & RDFa
December 23, 2010, 2:44 amWebmaster Level: Intermediate to Advanced What are the benefits of submitting feeds like Video Sitemaps and mRSS vs. the benefits of Facebook Share and RDFa ? Is one better than the other? Let's start the discussion. Functionality of feeds vs. on-page markup Google accepts information from both video feeds, such as Video Sitemaps and mRSS, as well...
SEO for User Generated Content
December 23, 2010, 1:30 amSites based on user generated content (UGC) are extremely popular right now. UGC even powers some of the largest sites on the web like Yelp, Wikipedia, and Stack Overflow. On top of that, it is becoming even easier to add UGC to your site through apps like BBpress or Sponge. If you don’t have some form of UGC on your site, you should look into...
Facebook and Google Expand on Social Shopping
December 23, 2010, 12:59 amI don’t think of shopping as a social experience, unless it’s a day at the mall with my friends. But when I’m online trying to fill a particular need, I’m not all that interested in sharing my choices with those who follow me on Facebook. Apparently, I’m alone in this because Google and Facebook are both working hard...
How Well Do You Mesh With Your SEO Firm?
December 22, 2010, 11:18 pmFinding the right search engine optimization firm or consultant is a very important step when you finally decide you want to get your search marketing efforts ramped up. The marriage between search engine marketing firm and client needs to be a warm and cozy one. You are a team working towards a common goal and if you can't get on the same page...
Google eBooks Burned By Samsung Nexus S, But Solid
December 22, 2010, 11:13 pmI knew Google eBooks was coming a week before the search engine launched the service months after it's original summer target date. I was excited to cover it and see what Google had to offer as an alternative to Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad. There are 3 million free and paid titles, all accessible through the computer Web browser, e-readers,...
Young Movie Stars Move the Web
December 22, 2010, 8:09 pmby Claudine Zap Remember the days when being a kid meant going through an awkward stage? Two young stars in two new movies are so beyond that. Both Elle Fanning and Hailee Steinfeld hold their own with their adult co-stars, and we expect to see much more of them in the future. Word of the young stars' phenomenal performances have caused plenty of...
Transition Your Yahoo! Search Marketing Campaigns by the January 5th, 2011 Deadline (US and Canada)
December 22, 2010, 5:29 pmGiven what a busy time of year this is for everyone, both personally and professionally, you may have the feeling that theres something youre supposed to do, but havent yet. Did you forget something? With all of the holiday hustle and bustle, I wanted to take a minute to remind any of you in the US and Canada who may still have campaigns in Yahoo!...
Google Purchases Huge New York City Office Building
December 22, 2010, 5:22 pm"...the web search titan just dropped $1.9 billion to acquire one of the largest and most historic buildings in all of the Big Apple. At nearly 3 million square feet, 111 Eighth Avenue, the former Port Authority building, sits like a beached, red-brick cruise ship overlooking New Yorks Chelsea neighborhood. The building is so big, in fact, that it...
YouTube Partners Treated To $1,000 Shopping Sprees
December 22, 2010, 4:24 pmYouTube videos that look like and sound like they were shot with $40 cell phones and tin cans on strings are about to become much more rare. YouTube announced this afternoon that it's going to let 500 YouTube partners conduct shopping sprees on its dime, only the actual total should be closer to $500,000.
A post on the YouTube Blog...
Google Sends Android to Near Space
December 22, 2010, 4:13 pmGoogle sent seven of the new Nexus S phones into "near space" via weather balloon to do some exploring. The phones were equipped with Google Maps for Mobile, Google Sky Map, Google Latitude, etc.
Does Google have too much time and money on its hands? Perhaps. A publicity stunt for these products? Maybe. It's pretty interesting...
Foursquare Hands Out a Holiday Gift: Photos and Comments
December 22, 2010, 4:02 pmFoursquare has a gift for all of their users, a shiny new, souped up version of the app that will allow you to add photos and comments. The ability to add comments turns this app from a trendy toy into something really useful. You can send a comment to a friend confirming your meet at a restaurant or send one to yourself to say, "don't forget to...
Google Raises $1 Million in Charity From Chrome Extension
December 22, 2010, 3:47 pmLast week, Google launched a Chrome extension in which every tab users opened would contribute to charitable donations to The Nature Conservancy , charity: water , Un Techo para mi País , Doctors Without Borders , and Room to Read for planting trees, providing clean water, building shelters, administering vaccinations, and publishing books....
Happy Holidays from DMOZ!
December 22, 2010, 3:31 pmHi Everyone! The editor community has collaborated to prepare the following post to wish you Happy Holidays. We hope you enjoy and we look forward to seeing you in 2011! Emily - - - - - - - - - Happy Holidays to all our users from the staff and editors at DMOZ. This time of year is often the time for reflection of the year gone by. The highs and...
Become Indispensable to Your Customers
December 22, 2010, 2:55 pmWhere do you begin to become what, as Seth Godin puts it, a "lynchpin," someone of true value? For our ends, how can you show true value to your customers? You might try content marketing. Content marketing is a bit of a broad term for us to use, but consider that many brands are created solely on brand value and content marketing. Take, for...
Final Shopping Weekend before Christmas Sees Growth of 17 Percent to Push U.S. Online Holiday Season Spending Past $28 Billion
December 22, 2010, 2:25 pmcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 49 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $28.36 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most...
Google: A Scorecard
December 22, 2010, 2:20 pmAlthough Google is a company, it is not unlike a person. Ever since its legendary ethical compass check " "don't be evil" " began circulating in the popular imagination, Google-watchers have often judged Google: is it evil or not evil? Is this Google product, action, or strategy evil or not evil? More subtly, it's possible to argue that Google is...
CityVille Poised To Pass FarmVille As Top Facebook Game
December 22, 2010, 2:04 pmIn the tech community, a lot of people profess to dislike Facebook games such as FarmVille and CityVille. They're snubbed due to requiring little thought or skill, and viewed with suspicion since users are encouraged to spend real money. But there's no denying their popularity, and it looks like CityVille is about to take the crown. A few days...
Millions Lose Their Skype Connections
December 22, 2010, 1:33 pmUpdate: Parkes says on the official Skype blog : Skype isnt a network like a conventional phone or IM network instead, it relies on millions of individual connections between computers and phones to keep things up and running. Some of these computers are what we call supernodes they act a bit like phone directories for Skype. If you want to talk...
SEO content marketing roundup, week ending December 22nd
December 22, 2010, 1:13 pmSEO sugarplums, content cookies, and social media sugar canes are dancing through this week's latest and greatest web writing news! There must be some sort of sugar high going on, as all SEO content marketing sources seem to be squeezing out every last drop of sweet stuff before the year's end' As we are, with this last roundup for 2010' Plenty of...
The next generation of mobile maps
December 22, 2010, 1:08 pm(Cross-posted on the Google Mobile Blog and Lat Long Blog ) I'm excited to announce Google Maps 5.0 for Android, with two significant new features: 3D interaction and offline reliability. We launched Google Maps for mobile a little more than five years ago. Since then, we've added dozens of features, and we've grown from a few thousand to more...
Google Gives a Soldiers Some "Credit"
December 22, 2010, 1:07 pmThe way we think about communication has changed immensely over the last couple decades. Email is now the primary way to get in touch with people, and even phone calls have taken to the internet. Google has been riding along the forward cusp of many of these technological changes; Gmail is the biggest webmail provider, .
Tracy Morgan Gets a Kidney, Julie Taymor's a Hit with Kids, Ginnifer Goodwin Dishes on Dieting: What's the Buzz
December 22, 2010, 1:07 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Ginnifer Goodwin (Searches increased by 24,075%). The "Big Love" star revealed she's been worried about being big since she was 9. According to Us, the actress admits to serial dieting from that young age. Metropolitan Opera (+7,098%). Julie Taymor's musical version of "Spider-Man" is...
The Use and Abuse of TripAdvisor
December 22, 2010, 12:42 pmBack fresh from a week at a resort in Costa Rica, I'm kicking myself' for being taken in by a "TripAdvisor scam". Essentially, we trusted a tour company because they touted their "great reviews on Trip Advisor" on the brochure, and verbally referred to it in their pitch. In short, we were done in by our love of user-generated content. The good...
Top YouTube Videos for Christmas 2010
December 22, 2010, 12:42 pmLast year, we brought you Searching for Santa at SES Chicago 2009 . Click to read the rest of this post.
Microsoft Said to Be Launching New Windows for ARM Soon
December 22, 2010, 12:24 pmIn a recent article, we asked if Microsoft could compete with the iPad? Well, it would appear that they may be trying in more ways than one.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Microsoft will announce a version of Windows that runs on ARM technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January. According to the report, which cites...
The ASA will investigate SEO practices
December 22, 2010, 11:52 amAndrew Girwood writes: "The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has a wide remit. In March 2011 this remit further expands, with backing from Google, to look at claims and sales practises on websites. It’s already possible for the ASA to investigate PPC campaigns."
Nielsen Names YouTube Top Mobile Internet Video Channel
December 22, 2010, 11:35 amTo mark the end of 2010, Nielsen published a document called "The Top Trends for 2010" this morning, and it's an interesting read, even if most of the lists don't fall within the scope of this site's coverage (FYI: "frozen novelties" were the top consumer packaged good on the basis of unit volume growth). But one thing that is relevant is the...
New Ways to Ride the Social Gaming Tidal Wave
December 22, 2010, 11:20 amWith all of the much-deserved success and press about Kinect for Xbox 360, another very significant addition to Microsofts gaming portfolio may have been overlooked: the official preview of the new MSN Games . This is the first social gaming portal which lets users easily connect to a centralized gaming hub that spans across multiple platforms....
Facebook Registration Plugin for WordPress Launched
December 22, 2010, 11:20 amLast week, Facebook launched a new registration tool for site owners. With this, users can quickly sign up for new sites with their Facebook profiles. The tool goes beyond the simple log-in feature of Facebook Connect, and lets users more easily fill out forms based on the information that they've already shared with Facebook (such as email...
Matt Cutts, Social Signals, Author Authority, Ranking Factors & Google Realtime
December 22, 2010, 10:59 amMatt Cutts, has confirmed Danny Sullivan's report that Google and Bing use social signals as a ranking factor. In a video on Google Webmaster Schedule, Matt Cutts said: "I filmed a video back in May 2010 where I said that we didn't use that as a signal, and at the time, we did not use that as a signal, but now, we're taping this in December 2010,...
Google Fends Off Android Trademark Suit
December 22, 2010, 10:23 amWhile a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, Google will not have to see if the same concept applies in the case of its mobile operating system. A judge has thrown out an Android trademark lawsuit and given Google the right to continue using the word "android." Granted, it was unlikely that Google - with its market cap of $193 billion and...
Motorola Acquires Media Sync/Streaming Company Zecter
December 22, 2010, 10:23 amMotorola Mobility, which is obviously part of the larger Motorola company, has acquired a company called Zecter . Zecter is a company with synchronization and streaming technologies for on-demand digital media consumption. Motorola explains, "Zecter's solutions connect users to their content seamlessly and instantaneously, giving them simple,...
How to Stop Marketing (And What to Do Instead)
December 22, 2010, 9:28 amBack when I took copywriting clients, I had one request that seemed to come up over and over again. "I don't want to do any marketing or selling," the client would say. "I just really hate all that stuff. It makes me feel sleazy and gross and I don't want my name associated with it and I don't want to have anything to do with it. "But, um, I don't...
Former Googler Spells Out Support For Company
December 22, 2010, 9:11 amThe man who created Gmail and came up with Google's "don't be evil" motto has been a bit tough on the company in recent days. Two examples : he gave Google better odds of landing on the moon than succeeding with social, and described Chrome OS as doomed. But late yesterday, Paul Buchheit made it clear that he believes the company as a whole "is...
The Top Web Properties and Gaining Web Trends
December 22, 2010, 9:11 amcomScore released its monthly update on the traffic activity at the top web properties for the month of November. "November marked the official start of the holiday shopping season, sending Americans swarming retail and coupon sites to take advantage of early deals and promotions," the firm says. "Retailers offered attractive discounts and free...
EU May Want More Access To Google Algorithm To Determine Antitrust
December 22, 2010, 8:45 amThe Economic Times reports "pressure is growing on Google to lift the veil on some of its inner workings as European regulators investigate complaints that Google's search engine unfairly discriminates against certain websites' by the European Union. Given Google has over 77% of the search market share in Europe and in some countries more, the EU...
Google Looking At Other Coupon Companies
December 22, 2010, 8:45 amNumerous news sources are quoting the New Iork Post's exclusive story about Google looking to acquire another coupon company after Groupon, the largest in the space turned down an offer of $6 billion. The Post reported that "talks show that the search giant is intent on jumping into the fast-growing local coupon market through acquisitions and not...
Japanese Woman Sues Google For Airing Clean Laundry
December 22, 2010, 8:45 amA woman in Japan has sued Google for posting a picture of her underwear hanging to dry when the local pictures were taken, the UK Telegraph reported . "I was overwhelmed with anxiety that I might be the target of a sex crime," the woman told a district court, the Telegraph noted. "It caused me to lose my job and I had to change my residence."...
A 12-Step Guide To Sabotaging Your Own Blog Contests
December 22, 2010, 8:39 amIf you're considering running a contest on your blog, it can be a great way to get new readers, build links, earn community goodwill, and position yourself top-of-mind in your niche. There are countless ways to screw up your own contest though. Here are some of the worst offenders. Giving away something people don't want. Guess how many people are...
Facebook Gives Users More News Feed Options
December 22, 2010, 8:24 amFacebook is now giving users a way to better filter their news feeds so they can really see the content they want. In the past, users have been able to choose whether they want to view "top news", which is a collection of updates that Facebook has deemed most important for you to see based on various algorithmic factors, or "most recent", which...
Facebook's "New Profile"
December 22, 2010, 8:08 amFacebook has a strong tendency of making updates to their profile, newsfeed, or other aspects of their site " and a strong history of notably mixed reactions from Facebook users. This time, Facebook has made some substantial changes to the profile page, but only released them to users who activate the "new profile" option. Facebook .
52 Ways to be a Conversion Badass (2010 Style)
December 22, 2010, 7:45 am52 of the best conversion rate optimization blog posts of the year from the top internet marketing blogs around – each with a summary of how it can help you become a conversion expert…
SEO Resolution: Capitalize on Formulaic New Years Content
December 22, 2010, 7:37 amWhile it may not be labeled on your desk calendar, today marks the unofficial beginning of a period that I like to call the " Formulaic New Years Content Festival, " or FNYCF for brevity's sake. FNYCF is the time of year when people seem to really enjoy "year in review" and "best of 2010â³ stories that re-cap the events of the last 12 months....
No One Appears Neutral (or Happy) About New Net Neutrality
December 22, 2010, 7:07 amI will be very honest with you on this one. I lost interest in this whole net neutrality concept a long time ago when I started digging into it more. The more I looked into the various arguments and thoughts about what should or should not be, the more confused I got. You see, I used to be the kind of person that would make a stand on one extreme...
Is Email's Future Really in Doubt?
December 22, 2010, 6:05 amThe headline appears to be a little alarmist but there are articles written all the time that appear to be trying to bury e-mail as a communication tool for now and the future. In most cases I can't tell if this is intentional or not but oftentimes it looks like e-mail gets painted as something for those who are older, less tech savvy and, dare I...
Is Email’s Future Really in Doubt?
December 22, 2010, 5:48 amThe headline appears to be a little alarmist but there are articles written all the time that appear to be trying to bury e-mail as a communication tool for now and the future. In most cases I can’t tell if this is intentional or not but oftentimes it looks like e-mail gets painted as something for those who are older, less tech savvy and, dare...
Microblogging & the Growth of Crowdsourced SEO
December 22, 2010, 5:10 amLoren Baker: With Twitter, I became less interested in the traffic and ad impressions, but more engaged in the conversation. In many ways with the same passion or fury that I had been with iSearch in email discussions 10 years ago or ThreadWatch.org commenting 5 years ago. [...] The Evolution of the Link has progressed over the past decade,...
The Importance Of Being Social To Google
December 22, 2010, 4:47 amMichael Martinez: People have systematically abused social media sites for links, thus forcing those social media sites to take counter-measures. But now the profiles themselves are being weighed and used to affect search results, and this new evolution in search ranking technology will invariably drive new attempts to influence the search...
Matt Curtis: Google Labeling Hacked Websites Intended to Help Website Owners
December 22, 2010, 2:54 amYou might have noticed that starting mid-December, Google is labeling certain websites with “this site may be compromised” notice that appears in the search results under the website’s link. According to Google’s Matt Curtis, this is actually done to help webmasters, noting that their website is probably being hacked. The procedure of...
Google's Social Researcher Joining Facebook in 2011
December 21, 2010, 11:29 pmBy now many of you who read this blog realize I care intensely about the rivalry between Google and Facebook. So you can safely conclude why I believe this next spot of news portends a black hole of trouble for Google. Paul Adams, Google's social research lead who has an excellent handle on the type of social graph relationships Facebook CEO Mark...
How to Show SEO Value
December 21, 2010, 11:23 pmThis next post is for fellow SEO consultants, freelancers and SEO service providers. Search engine optimization value comes in many different shapes and sizes it depends on the client and how they will respond to that value. I think hiccups occur and relationships are torn when people depend on the entire success of their company from a search...
Local SEO Experiment - Google's Change Location
December 21, 2010, 9:20 pmPosted by Dr. Pete Special thanks to Joanna Lord , Michael Cottam , and Lindsay Wassell for helping me collect data. Also, thanks to Danny Dover for explaining to me how all my initial ideas were wrong ;) Back in October, Google added the ability to easily change the location from where you search. It's located just under the search verticals ...
Online Ad Spending Beats Newspapers by Year End
December 21, 2010, 8:14 pmWe've seen it coming but the day is finally here, by the time we ring in the new year, spending on online ads will have passed newspaper ad spending for the first time ever. According to eMarketer, print advertising in newspapers will fall to $22.8 billion while online ad spending will rise to $25.8 billion. They expect the difference to be even...
Don't Let Bad Service Negate a Great Campaign
December 21, 2010, 5:10 pmMy hobby is entering giveaways. It's probably akin to a gambling addiction but it doesn't cost me a penny and I win some pretty cool stuff. Last week, I won a $25 gift certificate to a gourmet food company that I had never tried. Last Friday was free shipping day, so it was the perfect day to get the best out of my win. Except for the fact that...
FCC Passes Net Neutrality Rules, Many Object
December 21, 2010, 4:55 pmThe FCC passed its Net Neutrality regulations today and have already been met with protest and threats of legally challenging them have started, Mashable reported. "While the Open Internet Order does prevent fixed broadband providers from blocking access to sites and applications, the rules are different for wireless providers and not as clear as...
Don’t Let Bad Service Negate a Great Campaign
December 21, 2010, 4:52 pmMy hobby is entering giveaways. It’s probably akin to a gambling addiction but it doesn’t cost me a penny and I win some pretty cool stuff. Last week, I won a $25 gift certificate to a gourmet food company that I had never tried.
Last Friday was free shipping day, so it was the perfect day to get the best out of my win. Except for the...
Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas for Men
December 21, 2010, 4:39 pmPayPal Shopping Specialist Claudia Lombana here. Christmas is now just 4 days away! And if you haven't made all your holiday purchases yet, you're not alone. According to a 2009 study of 1,500 consumers by Boston-based market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey, 19% of people don't begin their holiday shopping until December. And 12% say they...
2011: Online Advertising Will Grow Again, and Here's Why
December 21, 2010, 4:34 pmDo you think your on line advertising will see more action in 2011? I do. Let me tell you why I think so. On line Advertising Officially Defeats Print For the first time in history, The Wall Street Journal reports , advertisers have spent more budget online than they have on print newspaper ads. To many this seemed inevitable, but we can finally...
Festivus: A Guide for Beginners
December 21, 2010, 4:13 pmby Mike Krumboltz Commercialism of Christmas got you down? Not feeling the holiday spirit? Perhaps Festivus (aka "the holiday for the rest of us") is just what the doctor ordered. Made famous by a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode in which George's father explains the alterna-holiday, Festivus has since taken on a life of its own. Celebrated on December 23,...
About non-junky HTML title elements targeting humans, Google & Bing
December 21, 2010, 3:20 pmIn response to some horrible SEO advice in John Gruber’s article on "Junk Titles", Danny Sullivan sets the records straight. HTML title elements do count in search engine rankings. Actually, they are crucial.
comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for November 2010
December 21, 2010, 3:17 pmcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for November 2010 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. November marked the official start of the holiday shopping season, sending Americans swarming retail and coupon sites...
Is Google Now a Phone Company by Grace of Verizon?
December 21, 2010, 2:58 pmOn November 8, 2010, Google acquired a bunch of phone related patents from Verizon. Bill Slawski asks if that was the payment for giving up on net neutrality on the mobile Internet as outlined in the "joint policy proposal for an open Internet" paper by Google and Verizon from August 9, 2010.
Free Call-To-Action Overlays, One More Reason to Promote your Videos on YouTube
December 21, 2010, 2:15 pmYouTube's "Promoted Videos" tool has allowed many marketers to stand out among the thousands upon thousands of videos flooding the web. Keyword-based targeting gives you control over which search terms trigger your video promotion and you only pay only when someone clicks to watch your video. What many people may not be aware of is that when you...
Google Highlights Hacked Websites in Search Results
December 21, 2010, 2:05 pmLast week, Google announced a new feature which displays an alert within search results that tells a user that website may have been hacked . Google has been taking website safety seriously since 2008 when malware warnings were displayed when you click through to a site. An example of the latest warning is featured below. The warning simple says...
FCC Adopts Net Neutrality Rules For Better or Worse
December 21, 2010, 1:49 pmToday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted Net Neutrality rules that have drawn very mixed reviews all across the political landscape. Rather than sugarcoat it or spin it in anyway, I'll simply embed the statement from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski (Via Brian Stelter), and you can make your own decision about whether it goes...
Twitter Acquires Fluther Team to Make Twitter More Relevant
December 21, 2010, 1:09 pmTwitter announced that it has acquired the Fluther, or the team at Fluther, rather. The product Fluther will remain separate from Twitter, and is not part of the acquisition.
In other words, this was a talent acquisition, and the company hopes that this team of five will help it find new ways to get people Twitter content that is relevant...
Facebook Gets New Instant Personalization Partner in TripAdvisor
December 21, 2010, 12:58 pmFacebook announced today that it has partnered with TripAdvisor to bring "Instant Personalization" to the travel site. The integration will allow TripAdvisor users to tap into their friends' travel experiences while planning their own trips. If a user is logged into Facebook, they can see friends' reviews and access a map showing places where...
Yahoo's Bizarre Image Error
December 21, 2010, 12:22 pmWhile the search engines have, and still do, have some pretty strange errors, none is more strange than that seen on Yahoo on December 14th. The search engine seemed to be working as normal, showing relevant results, including items pulled in from their news or image sections. However, those who clicked on image thumbnails on .
Shoutlet Raises Funding for their Social Networking Project
December 21, 2010, 11:51 amMost all social media marketing firms have several commonalities that they all share and keep their competitive edges sharpened. Their goal is to create a relationship with the customer, but the difference in what sets most companies apart is the methods that they use to do so. Recently, Shoutlet, a Madison, WI based social media .
More Control on Mobile
December 21, 2010, 11:46 amOver 200 million people use Facebook on their mobile phones to share photos, access applications and stay connected with friends. In October, we added a dashboard to give you a way to clearly see and control the ways applications use your information. Today, we're making these same controls available on your mobile phone so you can update and...
30 Great SEO Blogs You Might Not Know Yet
December 21, 2010, 11:41 amRecently both my own SEO Blog SEO 2.0 and the SEOptimise blog have been featured in a few "top SEO blogs" lists. While I was of course delighted to get so much appreciation for publication I write for I also noticed that some of the " best blogs " weren't best at all while other really good blogs about SEO were missing. Thus I decided to compile a...
Up, Up and Away - Long videos for more users
December 21, 2010, 11:41 amYour creativity isn't bound by a time limit, so why should your video uploads be? Back in July we raised the upload limit to 15 minutes for all users. Starting today, we'll begin allowing selected users with a history of complying with the YouTube Community Guidelines and our copyright rules to upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes. So go...
5 Tips for Dominating Page One Results With Social Sites
December 21, 2010, 11:27 amWhen you do a branded search these days, particularly for a well-known company, you often find various social sites* ranking for their name. But there are times when you know a brand is trying to go huge on social media pages, but for some reason those profiles and pages just aren’t showing up in the search results.
Just to be clear, Dell...
Turner Redesigns NCAA.com
December 21, 2010, 11:18 am Turner Sports has relaunched NCAA.com with plans to make it a year-round destination for college sports fans and provide coverage for all 88 NCAA championships.
The new NCAA.com will provide users with editorial coverage of all men’s and women’s NCAA sports during the regular season and championships, with school-specific...
Eight cities, eight teachers, one goal - helping kids succeed
December 21, 2010, 11:15 amEach of us had a teacher who challenged us to be who we are today. They pushed us a little harder. They inspired us to do more. They believed in our ability to succeed. To celebrate great teachers and to encourage people to get involved in a teaching across the world,
Jeffrey Hayzlett To Keynote at SES London 2011 in Cowboy Boots
December 21, 2010, 11:05 amJeffrey Hayzlett, author of The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing? , will be the keynote speaker at SES London 2011 , the leading search and social marketing conference in Europe. And you don't need to be a search engine marketing expert or social media guru to know ahead of time that he will be wearing cowboy boots at the event....
iPad Gets Verizon FiOS Mobile App
December 21, 2010, 11:05 amVerizon announced today that it is extending its free FiOS mobile app to the iPad. With this, FiOS customers with iPads can remotely control their DVRs, and use the iPad as a TV remote control. "Verizon is pushing the boundaries of TV with innovative technology that continues to spur the industry's evolution," said Eric Bruno, vice president of...
An Update on Google Fiber (Sort Of)
December 21, 2010, 10:44 amBack in March, Topeka, Kansas, showed its love for the mightiest of search engines by renaming itself "Google, Kansas." While temporary and unofficial (and actually not the first time the city had changed its name), the point got across: Topeka had some strong feelings about Google. The source of this enthusiasm? Topeka was one of .
Windows Phone 7 Sales Reach 1.5 Million
December 21, 2010, 10:34 amAndroid and iOS fanatics are likely to be all smiles today. Microsoft's at last released a figure related to the sales of Windows Phone 7 devices, and it's not anything that'll have investors dumping their shares of Google and Apple in order to get behind Steve Ballmer. A quick refresher: on December 8th, Android guru Andy Rubin tweeted that more...
The Enemy Waging War Against Your Ideas
December 21, 2010, 9:47 amCreative new ideas always have formidable enemies. Book burning, for example, is a primitive and terrible art. It's been going on since before Gutenberg set that first type into his revolutionary machine. In Ray Bradbury's incomparable Fahrenheit 451 , we see a cautionary tale of censorship, power unchecked, and the capricious human heart. He...
An Epic Year for SEO
December 21, 2010, 9:21 amSEO is a special field of endeavor. We don't just get gifts for the same holidays as everyone else. We get them all year long. And while some people might consider them anything but gifts, I see them as some of the best gifts I've ever gotten. So rather than my typical technical article, or one of my more opinionated rants, this week's article, my...
ESPN Introduces ScoreCenter For Internet Enabled TVs
December 21, 2010, 9:11 amESPN is making its mobile ScoreCenter application available on Samsung Internet-enabled televisions. The ScoreCenter app will be available in the Samsung App store and allows users to view scores from a variety of sports. Personalization features allow users to customize the app by highlighting their favorite teams and leagues. Users can also...
Report: Google Now Pursuing Groupon Rivals
December 21, 2010, 9:11 amWhen turned down for a job or a date, the average person doesn't give up on either the idea of employment or a relationship. He or she just tries again, perhaps with lower standards. And similarly, after being rejected by Groupon, Google's now supposed to be on the hunt again, looking to acquire another company in the same space. Josh Kosman...
A Comprehensive List of B2B Marketing Blog Posts from 2010
December 21, 2010, 8:58 amDerek Edmond and some of his B2B marketer friends have put together a list of their favorite posts about B2B marketing. Grab a cup of coffee and dig in!
Apple Expects to Top A Million Apple TV Sales This Week
December 21, 2010, 8:56 amApple announced that it expects sales of Apple TV to top one million units later this week. Apple TV has a few things working to its advantage. The main one is the price. It's only $99, compared to the first Google TV set-top box - the Logitech Revue, which is on sale (at Best Buy) for $249.99 with a regular price of $299.99. With all the...
It's Official: Online Advertising Spends More Than Newspapers
December 21, 2010, 8:56 am2010 will see more money spent on online advertising then on print newspapers, Forbes reported. This week "marked the official beginning of the internet's reign over print as a report shows that 2010 online ad spending will exceed print ad revenues for the first time." "According to market research firm eMarketer, 2010 online advertising revenues...
Mechanical Turk: Now with 40.92% spam
December 21, 2010, 8:46 amOn all social media outlets, you'll see bot spam, manual spam, and legit stuff. As for the spammy activities executed by humans, here is a hint where it comes from.
Shopping Online via Cellphone for Holiday Gifts
December 21, 2010, 8:45 amThis holiday season, consumers are beginning to shop and make purchases on their mobile phones. The shift from buying presents in front of the computer at home or work to doing it during bus commutes or while standing in line at cafes is small, but, for the first time, noticeable and even significant.
Let's Play: How Much Does This Social Media Job Pay?!
December 21, 2010, 8:40 amHere is a question that I always have and want some input from our readers on. This morning I was alerted by Paul Gillin about a social media manager's job with USAToday that is listed on CareerBuilder . Pretty nice gig, right? Well, considering you would need to live in the Washington, DC area (job is listed in McLean, VA) and you need to do the...
A Google ranking guarantee? There really is no catch.
December 21, 2010, 8:36 amEvery few weeks, we get an email from a potential customer who tells us that he does not believe our ranking guarantee. That's understandable. We guarantee that your website will be found in the regular (unpaid) search results on Google for the keywords of your choice. How does this work and will it work for your website?
Let’s Play: How Much Does This Social Media Job Pay?!
December 21, 2010, 8:35 amHere is a question that I always have and want some input from our readers on. This morning I was alerted by Paul Gillin about a social media manager’s job with USAToday that is listed on CareerBuilder. Pretty nice gig, right?
Well, considering you would need to live in the Washington, DC area (job is listed in McLean, VA) and you need to do...
Webmasters Concerned About Lost Traffic Due to Google Notifications
December 21, 2010, 8:25 amOn Friday, Google aded a new notification to search results for letting people know when a site may have been hacked. As hacking is running rampant these days, it's probably not a bad idea. However, not all webmasters are thrilled about it. In the past, Google has let site owners know about this through messages at Webmaster Central, but Google...
Microsoft Tablet to Be Unleashed at CES 2011
December 21, 2010, 8:20 amMicrosoft was actually the first company to showcase the idea of a tablet computer. It was back in 2000, and the Bill Gates presentation certainly caused a stir " and perhaps planted seedling ideas in the minds of competitors. This "computer that you use like a pen and paper" was certainly different than the sort .
It's The Social Media Time and Resources, Stupid!
December 21, 2010, 7:54 amRemember not so very long ago (probably just yesterday) when someone looking to really get involved in social media for business was told "It's free so just go for it!" ? This usually came from a social media "expert / guru / ninja / maven / superstar / hero / stud / wizard /expert" (oops, already used that last one so I must be out of pathetic...
Title Junk
December 21, 2010, 7:47 amJohn Gruber, a widely-read and -quoted technology and culture guy, is fed up with Title tags that make no sense and/or are filled with useless keywords. He also says that Title tags won't help you to be ranked in Google(!). What say you?
What's New In SEO for December 21, 2010
December 21, 2010, 7:38 amWe have compiled the latest news and updates from the big three, Google, Bing and Yahoo as it relates to SEO and the search engines overall. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH GOOGLE: New Hacked Site Notifications in Search Results Google has announced the new feature that will show up in search results, warning a visitor of a site that may have been...
It’s The Social Media Time and Resources, Stupid!
December 21, 2010, 7:36 amRemember not so very long ago (probably just yesterday) when someone looking to really get involved in social media for business was told “It’s free so just go for it!” ? This usually came from a social media “expert / guru / ninja / maven / superstar / hero / stud / wizard /expert” (oops, already used that last one so I must be out of...
Marketing Trends To Watch in 2011
December 21, 2010, 7:30 amMarketing trends change with the industry on a semi-regular basis. Depending on what’s technologically new or improved, marketing tactics adjust with those changes and affect the way businesses interact.
Harris Interactive, an information gathering group for surveys, polls and web marketing analysis applications, recently conducted an in-depth...
A Blueprint for Expanding Your Blog's Reach
December 21, 2010, 7:02 amAre you looking to increase the audience and e-mail subscribers to your blog? Do you feel like you have maximized your exposure in your niche? Well here is a strategy you can try that will help you to find new visitors and a brand new audience to your blog. The key is to identify the different audience profiles or target market your blog caters to...
The Decade In Search
December 21, 2010, 7:00 amRuud takes a look back at how search and social evolved over the past decade. Great write-up.
European Interactive Advertising Association Report Dec. 2010
December 21, 2010, 6:05 amAssociation has published the EIAA European Media Landscape Report Summary December 2010 Key FIndings of the report: Key findings 521m 16+ year old people in the 15 European countries sampled According to EIAA's latest Mediascope Europe study 76% (396m) of all 16+ year old people across 15 European markets surveyed use different media...
Ranking Signals Hiding Beneath the Surface
December 21, 2010, 3:35 amPosted by randfish I've recently been thinking more about some ranking signals that in the past, I dismissed (perhaps foolishly). Some of these the engines have previously disavowed, while others don't get the attention or discussion they potentially deserve. My list includes: Mentions of a domain / brand name - particularly in sources that the...
Gmail Creator Explains Chrome OS, Cloud Comments
December 20, 2010, 11:18 pmGmail creator Paul Bucheit and coiner of Google's "Don't Be Evil" credo has as good a non-technical explanation of Google's cloud strategy and Chrome Operating System on his personal blog Dec. 18. Bucheit added the color after his cavalier tweet, "Prediction: ChromeOS will be killed next year (or "merged" with Android)," kicked the proverbial...
Business Twitter Marketing Techniques
December 20, 2010, 11:18 pmTwitter marketing has become a very important process to growing any brand online which I think is not going to slow own anytime soon. Communication has become a very important step regardless of what platform you use to do it. Twitter was created for people to be able to communicate on short winded conversations 140 characters at a time but soon...
AOL Acquires Personal Profile Site About.me
December 20, 2010, 8:39 pmAOL announced that it's acquiring about.me , described as a "social identity site" that allows users to create personal profile pages. With these profiles users can display their Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles, as well as their email address, blog links, etc. "about.me is more than just the aggregation of social profiles, it allows...
The Top 10 Posts of 2010 on the Microsoft Advertising adCenter Blog
December 20, 2010, 8:03 pmHaving been inspired by Mels post from last week, Top 7 Microsoft Advertising Blog Posts of 2010 , Ive decided to do something similar here on the adCenter Blog. Imitation is the purest form of flattery, after all. After removing release announcements and milestones from the Search Alliance transition,
Guest Post and Video: Bing National Tailgating Championship storms Seattle
December 20, 2010, 7:42 pmThis week the Bing National Tailgating Championship brought the sun to Seattle. Judges including local rap pioneer Sir Mix-A-Lot, sampled burgers, puzzled the tailgaters and reveled in the rare northwestern sun. Team Hawk One took captured the regional title and will go on to compete in the National Tailgating Championship Finals in Dallas/Fort...
Android App Inventor Now Open to the Public
December 20, 2010, 7:22 pmBack in July, Google announced yet another "experiment": they were releasing an easy-to-use, visual interface that allowed everyday users to create apps for Android phones. The functionality wasn't immense, but Google wanted to know who would be interested in testing the new utility. The answer, it seems, was just about everybody. For that reason,...
Get In on the Gift-Card Exchange
December 20, 2010, 7:06 pmby Claudine Zap Gift cards seem like the perfect present: They're great for last-minute procrastinators. But if you're on the receiving end, getting one may be more of a chore or a bore, depending on the card you receive. The problem is that like any gift, it can reflect the taste of the giver rather than the givee. And so the fate of many gift...
Google Seeds Miso Music
December 20, 2010, 7:06 pmIn the mobile war of Google's Android versus Apple's iOS devices, the applications are often the ammunition. At first glance, then, it's surprising to see that Google has been a big investor in a company releasing an app for the iPhone and iPad " but not Android systems. The company is Miso Media, and their Miso Music application received about...
Will Delicious Survive?
December 20, 2010, 7:06 pmWhen information was leaked from a Yahoo! employee that indicated that Delicious would be getting the ax in the near future, the social bookmarking community cried out against the move. Yahoo has been quick to make a statement denying an imminent shutdown, but even then, there are different opinions on whether Delicious will survive. According to...
Google's Shared Spaces May Provide a New Way to Collaborate
December 20, 2010, 7:06 pmWhile Google Wave is on the road to either a shut down or a merge with another Google product line, its technology has certainly contributed to the company in valuable ways. It seems that the Wave technologies, as well as feedback received from the unsuccessful project, are being applied to other, related sites or services. One of these is of...
2010 Farewells
December 20, 2010, 5:29 pmby Mike Krumboltz Leslie Nielsen and Blake Edwards, two legendary funnymen of Hollywood, passed away in 2010. Nielsen got his start as a serious actor, before becoming well-known for his comedic turns in "Airplane!" and "Naked Gun." Edwards was a highly respected director who brought some of the best-reviewed comedies, including "Breakfast at...
DirecTV Close to Rolling Out Targeted TV Commercials
December 20, 2010, 5:19 pmI don't have a pet and I have no interest in male enhancement products, yet during an average week, I'll see plenty of commercials for kitty litter, dog food and ExtenZe. DirecTV says that's going to change and it may happen as soon as the summer of 2011. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, DirectTV has a $10 - $20 million dollar...
Keep your friends organized on the go!
December 20, 2010, 5:13 pmIsn't it great when you don't have to do work twice? The new feature Groups of Friends in orkut is one way of saving you a little extra effort. Once you group your friends into appropriate groups, such as "family", "college" or "best friends", you can later interact with all these people at once, in a single click. If you haven't created your...
Newsknife Ranks Top News Sites and Journalists of Google News for 2010
December 20, 2010, 4:58 pmNewsknife has just announced its ninth annual list of the top news sites based on their appearances in Google News. And for the first time, Newsknife has announced its first list of the top journalists based on appearances of their stories in Google News. Click to read the rest of this post.
Baidu Exec Calls For Facebook To Enter China
December 20, 2010, 4:48 pmA couple words of caution: Baidu doesn't speak for the Chinese government, and no one's hinted that any sort of formal alliance exists between Baidu and Facebook. A high-ranking Baidu spokesperson has said he'd like to see Facebook operate in China, however. Kaiser Kuo, Director of International Communications at Baidu, indicated his support...
Net Neutrality. We Don't Need No Stinking Net Neutrality
December 20, 2010, 4:23 pmThe FCC appears poised to pass a controversial set of rules that broadly create two classes of Internet access, one for fixed-line providers and the other for the wireless Net.
Yelp Launches App for iPad
December 20, 2010, 4:17 pmYelp has launched a long-awaited (by iPad users) iPad app. It's now available in the iTunes Store. The app lets users do the following: - Search for businesses using a new landscape map/list mode,
Lunar-Eclipse Watch, 'Water for Elephants' Trailer, Last-Minute Shopping Tips: What's the Buzz
December 20, 2010, 3:46 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Best books of 2010 (Searches increased by 2,561%). Huffington Post helpfully rounds up 13 "best of" lists. Have a favorite? Feel free to recommend in the comments. Lunar eclipse (+1,631%). Yes, it's tonight. And just about anyone living in North and South America will be able to see it...
Gmail Free Calling Offer Extended
December 20, 2010, 3:08 pmEarly this month, Google offered military families free $10 international call credits. The goal was to help soldiers deployed around the world stay in touch with their loved ones. Now, Google's also set to make it easier for ordinary U.S. citizens to save money when chatting, as it's offered free calling in Gmail through the end of...
Free the Internet! Time for the Net Neutrality Vote
December 20, 2010, 2:44 pmOn Tuesday, December 21, the FCC will vote on a proposal that will allow internet providers to better manage bandwidth by charging more to those users who use more and less to those who don’t. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Apparently, it’s not.
I spent an hour this morning reading over a variety of articles on the subject from the...
Facebook Should Be In China, Says Baidu
December 20, 2010, 2:12 pmBaidu called for a Facebook entry into China, where the government currently bans the social network out of censorship
Mobile Devices Playing Larger Role For Holiday Shopping
December 20, 2010, 2:03 pmNearly one-third of Americans say while they are at a store looking at product, they tried to find a better deal on their mobile device, according to a new report from GfK Roper, conducted on behalf of SapientNitro. Thirty-three percent say while out shopping, they email or texted someone to tell them about an experience at a store, such as...
Bing Launches Destination Pages for Cities
December 20, 2010, 2:03 pmBing has launched Destination Pages for city searches. If you go to a citys page, you will find information about events, weather, flights, news, etc. related to that city. You can find them by simply searching on Bing for a city and clicking the "Destinations" tab. "The new feature assembles all of the relevant information about a destination...
Google's Matt Cutts Talks Facebook/Twitter Links' Influence on Search Ranking
December 20, 2010, 1:47 pmWe recently looked at how Google and Bing use links on Twitter and Facebook for organic ranking, following an informative piece from Danny Sullivan on the matter. Google's Matt Cutts has now addressed the subject a bit more in a new video uploaded to Googles' Webmaster Help Channel . Do you want social media to influence search rankings? Comment...
TrustYou & Movolo : Advanced Travel Search for the European Market
December 20, 2010, 1:37 pmSearch in still king of the mountain for business and pleasure. For online travel, nothing could be more valuable actually. Google's intended ITA acquisition is the biggest example of the import for huge companies, but a myriad of others exist for consumers. Even "relevance" is being sliced and diced to satisfy the growing craving for travel...
Free mobile apps by Bing available today: Holidays 100 by Bing, Snowboard Hero by Bing, Powerboat Challenge by Bing
December 20, 2010, 1:17 pmOver the past year, weve been working with a number of companies to sponsor mobile apps . As we continue to roll out advancements to Bing for mobile , were pleased to bring you 3 new apps available today, for free: Snowboard Hero by Bing (iOS) Powerboat Challenge by Bing (iOS) Holidays 100 by Bing (Android) Snowboard Hero by Bing (iPhone, iPod...
Media Console has an updated help system!
December 20, 2010, 1:06 pmEarlier this week, the Media Console User Assistance team migrated all of its help content to a help system that is used across other Microsoft Advertising products. Weve moved to this system to provide a better help experience for you, our users. The new system comes with a few cool features: 1. Improved searching. The search engine reviews all...
Lunar-Eclipse Watch, 'Water for Elephants' Trailer, Last-Minute Shopping Tips:
December 20, 2010, 1:01 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Best books of 2010 (Searches increased by 2,561%). Huffington Post helpfully rounds up 13 "best of" lists. Have a favorite? Feel free to recommend in the comments. Lunar eclipse (+1,631%). Yes, it's tonight. And just about anyone living in North and South America will be able to see it...
Google Launches TeachParentsTech.org Site
December 20, 2010, 12:46 pmGoogle is well known for releasing helpful utilities that get jobs done more quickly. From Google Maps for finding local information to its built-in "define:" widget, the search engine seems intent on making life simpler. Such is the case with their most recent release: a site that helps people teach basic computer principles with ease. .
Bing Feature Update: Get to know any city more quickly with new destination pages
December 20, 2010, 12:46 pmLast week we told you about the natural language capabilities that make it faster to find and book flights in Bing. Today we are releasing features that make it easier to research and plan trips to over 3000 cities across the world. The new feature assembles all of the relevant information about a destination on one page so you can research a city...
FeedBurner Re-Design Could Use More Features
December 20, 2010, 12:44 pmThe FeedBurner re-design has been in beta testing for a few months now, but does it make the service better?
I’m a big fan of FeedBurner and I really like the new look and feel as it's much cleaner and matches other Google products, however since it’s so familiar, it feels a little lacking.
At this time there is no way to select a date...
Test your text and display ads with AdWords Campaign Experiments
December 20, 2010, 12:05 pmA few months ago, we launched AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE), a free tool that makes it easier to test and precisely measure the impact of changes to your keywords, bids, ad groups, placements - and now ads themselves! ACE allows you to run experimental changes on a percentage of your AdWords traffic. You can compare statistics for experiment...
AdMob Partners with Coke On Holiday Android App
December 20, 2010, 12:00 pmGoogle's AdMob team has partnered with Coca-Cola to create a mobile holiday live wallpaper app for Android. The animated live wallpaper app features a snow globe. The Google Mobile Ads Blog offers more details. Cokes live wallpaper takes the user into this snowglobe experience. You can visit scenes from the video and tilt your phone to move...
Groupon Appoints Amazon Exec CFO
December 20, 2010, 11:44 amThe company that supposedly turned down a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google has now given another sign that it has some very interesting financial plans. Groupon announced today that it's secured Jason Child, a high-ranking exec at Amazon, as its chief financial officer. Child held the title "Vice President of Finance" for Amazon's...
BING Webmaster Tools Now Providing Back Link Information
December 20, 2010, 11:22 am
If we are going to understand the latest nuance of online searching we need to know just which fundamentals we’re dealing with. If we are going to understand how to fine-tune and adjust our Web-based lives we need to know something about the tools we’re planning to use.
We’ll start from the announcement of “the release of the updated Bing...
Ask Breaks Down Popular Holiday Gifts Based on Questions Asked
December 20, 2010, 11:08 amAs Christmas approaches, Ask is sharing some info about the hottest gift items this season, based on users of its Q&A service. According to Ask's findings, in the gaming category, Xbox is at the top of the list, with over 5% of all Ask.com questions being related to the console. According to the company, gamers asked nearly five times more...
YouTube Provides More Information About YouTube Trends
December 20, 2010, 10:37 amAs reported last week , YouTube has a new site called YouTube Trends aimed at tracking popular clips on the site. The company claims that 35 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute, so YouTube Trends should provide a good way to find some of the stuff that gains traction. While the site was announced a week ago, YouTube is now...
Yahoo Puts Pre-Tax Cost Of Layoffs At $33-$38 Million
December 20, 2010, 10:37 amShareholders may grumble, but there's perhaps a bit of good news regarding the four percent of Yahoo's employees who were laid off last week. Yahoo's calculated the pre-tax cost of the layoffs at somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million. A form the company filed with the SEC explained, "In connection with the worldwide workforce reduction,
Patent Infringement Case Against Google Dismissed
December 20, 2010, 10:12 amPaul Allen has become an infamous name in the technology and search engine world as he opened a complaint against just short of a dozen major technology companies, including Google. The complaint stated that these companies had infringed on patents owned by Paul Allen, and both sought a repayment for damages and to prevent the .
Create Your Own SEO Metrics Dashboard
December 20, 2010, 9:41 amHere are some SEO metrics I've tracked and used for years. Follow along to learn how you can build your own SEO metrics dashboard.
5 Tips on Business Blogging With Minimal Resources
December 20, 2010, 9:41 am"Why should we have a blog?" It's a reasonable question. Nevermind the fact that millions of businesses are blogging and multiples of those millions of customers are reading said blogs. In fact, 23% of the primary Fortune 500 corporations have an external corporate blog. Blogs as a content management system make it very easy for content publishers...
Google Misses AG's Street View Deadline
December 20, 2010, 9:10 amThe corporate world tends to slow down this time of year; people take time off, offices close, and product announcements are delayed. A dispute between Google and the Connecticut Attorney General over Street View is escalating, however, and it looks like some lawyers might be called into action as a result. Earlier this month, Attorney General...
Men More Dependent on Social Networks
December 20, 2010, 9:05 amIf you were to venture a guess about what gender would have a greater percentage of its members saying it couldn't live without social media what would you choose. At the risk of being called a sexist (fill in the blank), I immediately think women. Well, girls, as my wife found out long ago, I can be wrong on more than a few occasions. eMarketer...
Hitwise predicts One Direction will win X Factor 2010
December 20, 2010, 9:00 amThe X Factor final this weekend is one of the most hotly talked about topics up and down the country and it seems everyone has an opinion on who is going to win this year's competition. Last year we correctly predicted that Joe McElderry would win the competition, this year the data suggests boyband One Direction will emerge as winners. Looking at...
How Your Prospect's Brain Becomes Your Secret Persuasion Partner
December 20, 2010, 8:49 amWhat if you could have a secret ally working behind the scenes, steadily working to convince your ideal customer or client that you are absolutely the right person for her to choose? Well, you can. One of the most potent marketing forces you can use in capturing, holding, and influencing the attention of your prospect's brain is the power of...
Free Shipping Drives Online Holiday Spending
December 20, 2010, 8:49 amOnline holiday spending has reached $27.46 billion this season, marking a 12 percent increase over the same time period versus last year, according to a new report from comScore. The most recent week (weekend ending Dec.17) reached $5.15 billion in spending, an increase of 14 percent compared to the same week last year, with four individual days...
Introducing YouTube Trends
December 20, 2010, 8:49 amWith 35 hours of video now being uploaded to YouTube every minute, keeping up with the latest goings-on around here can be a challenge. Last week, we officially unveiled YouTube Trends ( youtube.com/trends ), a new set of tools designed to help you stay on top of the latest popular videos and trends on the world's largest video site.
Testing, testing: How does your SEO copywriting fare out there?
December 20, 2010, 8:18 amWelcome back! In this year's final post of our SEO copywriting "how to" series, we're going to wrap up our discussion of measuring our success. Last week, we looked at search engine ranking as one way to gauge the success of our SEO copywriting efforts. Today, we're going to look at the second way, conversion metrics: sales, leads, and ROI from...
The JCPenney's Facebook Shopping "Experience"
December 20, 2010, 8:18 amSome of the big news coming out of Facebook is their move into having full-blown stores by retailers inside their Fan / Like Pages. This is the new social commerce that many are talking about these days and it appears to be poised to bring a lot of money to retailers and Facebook alike: if it worked. Before I share my experience with trying to...
How to Crack the New York Times Most-Emailed List
December 20, 2010, 8:12 amJust how many people does it take to propel a story onto the Times' influential most-emailed list? And can it be gamed? Write down your bet, then read the report.
The JCPenney’s Facebook Shopping “Experience”
December 20, 2010, 8:08 amSome of the big news coming out of Facebook is their move into having full-blown stores by retailers inside their Fan / Like Pages. This is the new social commerce that many are talking about these days and it appears to be poised to bring a lot of money to retailers and Facebook alike: if it worked.
Before I share my experience with trying to...
Google Focuses on Portland to Promote Hotpot
December 20, 2010, 7:58 amGoogle Hotpot, an expanded version of Google places that may well be competing with review sites like Yelp, was only released in mid-November. However, Google is ramping up their advertising quickly, releasing a number of great resources for both business owners and users on the web. Additionally, Google is taking their marketing offline with...
5 Link Building Predictions for 2011
December 20, 2010, 7:42 amThere are lots of posts circulating about predictions for social media, Internet marketing, blogging, and more for 2011. So, without further ado, let's look at some predictions specifically for link building 1. Less use of keyword-based anchor text, more use of brand names. With the recent penalization of sites possibly due to over-optimized...
3 Tools to Export Twitter Search Results to Excel
December 20, 2010, 7:21 amYou probably know how much I love Excel for being an excellent data management tool. I have already done a guide on how to export Google search results to Excel . Today I am sharing another set of tools that will allow you to export Twitter search to Excel for brand management and keyword research. Note: If you are geeky enough you can do without...
Recent SERPd.com Updates, Plus a Few Cool Things on The Way
December 20, 2010, 7:21 amFor those of you who haven't yet visited SERPd.com , it's essentially an SEO and Internet marketing professionals' social voting community. Yours truly along with Chris Burns launched SERPd.com this past September to fill what we perceived to be a need for an SEO voting style community on the web. So far, we are extremely pleased with how far our...
Link Research Tools to Introduce Link Alert
December 20, 2010, 7:01 amLink Research Tools I once gave a great deal of attention in my very favorable review (because the tool deserves it) have one new exciting feature to be added soon: Link Alerts: Think "Google Alerts" for Links! The tool will scan 12 backlink sources including your Google Analytics referrers for new links, validate them and report them to you. You...
eBay Pays $200 Million to Acquire Brands4friends
December 20, 2010, 6:56 ameBay announced that it is acquiring brands4friends , a German online fashion shopping club, for about $200 million. eBay says the move is designed to strengthen its position as a leading online fashion destination in Europe. The company already claims to generate over $5.4 billion in clothing, shoes and accessories merchandise annually, around...
The Top 7 Pitfalls of Affiliate Marketing for Publishers
December 20, 2010, 6:19 amRunning affiliate offers on your website can be a fun and rewarding experience, but there are quite a few challenges for you on your road to strike it rich. To help you on this journey, I've compiled a list of the top 6 pitfalls of affiliate marketing for publishers. While this list is by no means comprehensive of all the challenges you'll face in...
eBay Acquiring Fashion Daily-Deals Site For $200 Million
December 20, 2010, 6:12 am"...a fashion daily-deals site based in Berlin."
Christmas Crackers: Top Comments from 2010
December 20, 2010, 5:48 amAs we all wind down for the Christmas week, I thought I'd revisit some of the best comments left on my guest blog posts over the year' Image credit: Flickr Regular readers of my Twitter feed will know that I am a regular guest blogger, often appearing on websites such as Search Engine Watch , Econsultancy and Search Engine Land , as well as...
Why Your Smartphone Will Replace Your Wallet Soon #NFC
December 20, 2010, 5:30 amBig players in multiple industries have made strides toward putting virtual wallets on consumers’ mobile phones. Mashable elaborates how some of them have been approaching the opportunity to transform the way we make purchases.
Watch out for bad neighbors in your data center
December 20, 2010, 4:22 amWhen you've read Wired's piece "FBI Defends Disruptive Raids on Texas Data Centers" you may want to check out your hosting service for "bad neighborhoods". In Texas the feds raided two data centers and seized everything, including co-located servers.
Shark Attack causes 40% fall in Egypt holiday searches
December 20, 2010, 3:45 amThe Red Sea coastal resort of Sharm el Sheikh was one of the fastest growing holiday destinations for British travellers of recent years before the shark attacks struck at the beginning of December, making a serious dent in Egypt's popularity as a tourist destination. In our winter travel report , Sharm el Sheikh was the fifth fastest moving...
Use With Caution: Google Books Ngram Viewer
December 20, 2010, 3:45 amWith Goggle introducing its new tool, the Google Books Ngram Viewer several days ago, many were enthusiastic about this being an ultimate feature to use in etymological research. After all, the Ngram Viewer allowed to search millions of books (Google books, of course) and then check, track, and analyze the appearances of any word throughout many...
Excel For SEOs: Manipulating URL Strings with Functions
December 20, 2010, 12:24 amPosted by MikeCP Over the past few months, I've been preparing a guide with the tentative title, Excel for SEOs: Lessons for Aspiring Ninjas . I've embarked on this great journey because sometime during the #Mozinar back in September I decided that my Excel abilities were far too limited, especially compared to all the smarty pants that were...
Google Shouldn't Acquire Market Leaders So its Rivals Can
December 19, 2010, 11:28 pmGoogle should be prevented from buying leaders in adjacent markets so rivals such as Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo and other companies can acquire them and make the online market more competitive. That's the clarified position Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein offered for Google's response to his complaint that Google has grown to...
5 Ways to Become an Industry Authority
December 19, 2010, 11:17 pmEveryone wants to be considered an authority figure in their industry. Why else would you start a business? Becoming an industry figure that has power and influence takes time and hard work but it is something that can be done you just have to take the right steps. Here are 5 ways that you can build yourself and your business as an authority in...
Google Has a New Social Experiment
December 19, 2010, 2:09 pmA new experiment has appeared in Google Labs. It's called Google Shared Spaces . It's hard to provide too much info about it at this point, because when you try to access it (after signing in with your Google account, which it requests) it only gives you a 404. Several people commenting on the site indicate that they are experiencing the same...
Paramore Loses Two Members
December 19, 2010, 1:28 pmby Mike Krumboltz Pop-punk group Paramore is losing two of its founding members. The band announced that guitarist Josh Farro and drummer Zac Farro are leaving. The announcement led to a lot of noise on the Web. Almost immediately, Web searches for "paramore breakup" and "paramore band splits" surged into breakout status. The band posted a...
Free Shipping Day Punctuates Heaviest Week of U.S. Online Spending in History as Four Individual Days Eclipse $900 Million
December 19, 2010, 1:07 pmcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 47 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $27.46 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most...
Thinking Out Loud: What's Driving Groupon?
December 19, 2010, 10:11 amJohn Battelle explains the power of Groupon's model. It has built a new channel into the heart of the the world's economic activity: Small businesses. And it is that channel where the true power lies.
The Decline Of Web 2.0
December 19, 2010, 10:08 amNiall Harbison looks at how some of the biggest sites from the “Web 2.0 generation” are either on a massive decline, facing huge competition or about to be closed down.
Yahoo! stumbles and other search engine news
December 19, 2010, 10:01 amWe have found some interesting news articles regarding Yahoo! this week. Yahoo! (YHOO) is going to close down search engine old timers AltaVista and AlltheWeb . No, this does not really matter that much, as they now serve as experimental interfaces to the regular Yahoo! search results. The Yahoo! search results are, as most of you will know,...
The European inquiry into Google is misguided
December 19, 2010, 10:01 amSeveral European companies have encouraged the European Commission to look into Google's search results, arguing that it gives its own sites and unfair advantage in search results. Pandia argues that they have not understood what web search business is about. Joaquin Almunia, the EU Commissioner of Competition, has opened a wide-raging case...
How to Get & Influence Google Sitelinks (Organic)
December 18, 2010, 11:23 pmSince 2006 webmasters have been trying to figure out how to 'get' and optimize for organic sitelinks in Google. This post has a case study, some candid pointers, references to a patent, and links to other great authority resources in an attempt to help new SEOs figure out the sitelinks conundrum for themselves in bite-size chunks.
Search Week in Review for Dec. 18, 2010
December 18, 2010, 1:02 pmHere's a roundup of this week's columns and news stories for the week of Dec. 12 to Dec. 17, as reported by Search Engine Watch , as well as search news and tips from around the web. Click to read the rest of this post.
Stop Doing Social and Start Being Social
December 18, 2010, 10:27 amMore WebProNews Videos If you're worried about doing social media, you're probably doing it wrong. Social media is not a goal. It's a means to achieving goals you have probably always had as a business. WebProNews recently spoke with Lee Odden of Top Rank Online Marketing about effectively utilizing channels that are available to you, and simply...
Emerald City, Emerald Sea' The Mystery Google Social Network
December 18, 2010, 9:10 amDepending on who you talk to and what you read, you'll very likely get several different answers about what's going on over at Google and their new social experiment that has a "code name." Emerald Sea Emerald City Google Me No one is quite sure on the name, and that's because Google is keeping tight-lipped .
Cup of Eggnog: How Big of a Failure Are You?
December 18, 2010, 8:29 amYou're a failure. Maybe not a complete failure, but you have failed at least once in 2010. I mean let's face it, nobody is perfect, everyone fails at something every now and then. I know you don't want to talk about failure. I know that it is hard to admit when you have goofed. Why is failure so hard to talk about? Because each of us fear that we...
Google Doing Body Searches
December 18, 2010, 7:06 amIf you have a compatible browser Google offers an internal search of the human body in a new offering from Google Labs . Called Body Browser you can explore the human body in great depth. One has to wonder when this will tie in to Google Health, or maybe the movie The Fantastic Voyage. Click to read the rest of this post.
Advertising On Twitter Hot Commodity To Major Brands
December 18, 2010, 6:35 amSeems Twitter cannot meet the demand from advertisers right now, Wired Magazine reported. The "company has signed on more than 80 of the largest brand advertisers in the country." "This is a problem worth having," spokesman Matt Graves told Wired. "We're excited about facing this challenge." Click to read the rest of this post.
Delicious May Live On Outside Yahoo
December 18, 2010, 6:04 amThe Delicious blog told its members that they were looking for a way to cointinue outside of Yahoo and for them not to panic about moving their bookmarks just yet. "No, we are not shutting down Delicious. While we have determined that there is not a strategic fit at Yahoo ,,,, We're actively thinking about the future of Delicious and we believe...
Google Refuses To Release Data CT Attorney General Wants To Check For Criminal Activity
December 18, 2010, 5:49 amOutgoing Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal requested the data collected during Google's Streetview data recordings and the civil investigative demand had a Friday deadline which Google did not meet, the Los Angeles Times reported . " We did not want and have never used the payload data in any of our products and services," Google said, the LA...
Fairsearch Group Tries to Prevent Google ITA Deal
December 18, 2010, 2:52 amAfter Google had announced its intention to acquire the renowned flight data provider ITA (the offer stands, reportedly, at 700 million USD), several serious questions arouse. Wouldn’t it be too much a step towards monopoly? What are the benefits for the customers? Why, the hell, Google is buying ITA at all?
Well, the answer to the last question...
Google Adds "Hacked Site" Notices to SERPs
December 18, 2010, 12:58 am"...they announced a new notice - for the hacked or compromised site, even if they did not discover malware."
Smartphone Shoppers Give Retailers Concern Over So Called In-Store Price Specials
December 18, 2010, 12:28 am"Now, marketers must contend with shoppers who can use their smartphones inside stores to check whether the specials are really so special, and if the rest of the merchandise is reasonably priced."
Wild Weather Roundup: Buzz Week in Review
December 17, 2010, 7:52 pmby Mike Krumboltz Whenever someone wants to chat about the weather, it's usually a sign you're in for a boring conversation. Not this week. Extreme weather was all the rage. From a sports dome collapsing to a lonely lighthouse frozen solid, this was a week when talking about the weather was anything but dull. Snow 1, Metrodome 0 Last Sunday,...
Eggnog: What is it and what can it do for you?
December 17, 2010, 5:44 pmby Mike Krumboltz If you're like most holiday revelers, you've got a few parties to attend this season. Odds are that upon walking through the door, after you don your required Santa hat and before you kiss under the mistletoe, you'll be faced with a large bowl of murky liquid known as eggnog. Your first reaction may be one of revulsion, but try...
7 Tips For Improving Your Business in 2011
December 17, 2010, 5:29 pmHoly cow! 2011 is right around the corner. This is the time when entrepreneurs thoughts (aside from those focused on preparing for the holidays, of course) turn towards growing or changing their businesses in the New Year. Smart. Because unless you want to be exactly where you are now, doing exactly what youre doing today, you need to do something...
Commerce Department, Ma'am. Privacy Division
December 17, 2010, 3:51 pmI can see it now. The black screen, the ominous ba bum sound and then the words, Law & Order: Privacy Division. They're federal agents who put their lives on the line every day so that you, the internet user, can surf without fear of being molested by targeted Old Navy ads and free lunch coupons on your birthday. Sure they're making it hard for...
Commerce Department, Ma’am. Privacy Division
December 17, 2010, 3:31 pmI can see it now. The black screen, the ominous ba bum sound and then the words, Law & Order: Privacy Division. They’re federal agents who put their lives on the line every day so that you, the internet user, can surf without fear of being molested by targeted Old Navy ads and free lunch coupons on your birthday. Sure they’re making it...
The Daily Deals Industry in 2011
December 17, 2010, 3:20 pmThe daily deals industry is an exciting space to watch right now, as evidenced by Google's recent $6 Billion offer to buy Groupon , Amazon's $175 million investment in LivingSoical , Facebook's recent launch of Facebook Deals , and all of the other competitors looking for a piece of the pie coming out of the woodwork. We had a conversation with...
PayPal Welcomes Federico Gómez Schumacher as New General Manager for PayPal Mexico
December 17, 2010, 3:10 pmHi everyone, Rohan Mahadevan here, lead for PayPal's business in Latin America. I'm thrilled to tell you about our latest hire and new general manager for PayPal Mexico - Federico Gómez Schumacher. Federico will run the office in Mexico City and will be responsible for growing PayPal's customer base, developing new products and services, and...
Google Releases 3D Maps v5.0 for Android
December 17, 2010, 3:05 pmYesterday Google released 3D Maps for Android phones equipped with Google Maps 5.0. Rather than stitching images together, Google Maps 5.0 uses scaleable vector graphics - a much touted feature of the next generation of web services. Click to read the rest of this post.
Atlas Client Center launches!
December 17, 2010, 1:42 pmOn November, 18, 2010, Atlas launched the Atlas Client Center. Client Center is a one-stop shop for all Atlas-related material, putting youagencies and advertisersinstantly in touch with important information. All the information in Atlas Client Center is constantly updated, and more functionality and features will be coming in the next few...
Winners of the Bing Windows Phone 7 tweet giveaway
December 17, 2010, 1:37 pmLast week , we asked you to tweet your favorite Bing features for chance to get your hands on a new Windows Phone 7. Thank you to everyone who took part. It was great to hear what you love about Bing. Some of our favorites included: @Bing I absolutely love the travel section of Bing! I can figure out different flight costs and times that it's...
The Top 6 Pitfalls of Affiliate Marketing for Advertisers
December 17, 2010, 1:27 pmAffiliate marketing can be a very rewarding endeavor for the ambitious online marketer; however, there are several things you should be aware of before you take the plunge. To help you on your journey, I've compiled a list of some of the top 6 pitfalls you may face as you deploy your own affiliate marketing advertising campaigns. While this list...
Hulu Attributes Unexpected Revenue Growth To Hulu Plus
December 17, 2010, 12:20 pmEarly reviews of Hulu Plus weren't too favorable, with most folks coming to the conclusion that Netflix was a better deal. The newer service has cut its price and improved its content selection, however, and as a result, apparently caught on to the point that it helped Hulu earn an unanticipated $20 million.
Here's what happened: last month...
MySpace Introduces New Tools For Musicians
December 17, 2010, 12:15 pmMySpace has introduced new tools to help musicians better promote and mangage their music. MySpace has partnered with marketing platform Reverbnation and will offer its FanReach email marketing tool to all musicians with a profile. FanReach allows artists to communicate with others both on MySpace and via targeted email campaigns. Myspace Music...
The GSA Goes Google
December 17, 2010, 12:15 pmGoogle applications have millions of users. They come from start-up businesses, mega-corporations, schools, and more. Today, nearly twenty thousands users are being added to the bunch " this time originating from the General Services Administration of the United States. The GSA is an infrastructure group that supports different federal agencies by...
Where Your IA is, There You Will Be Also
December 17, 2010, 12:05 pmby Stoney deGeyter I've been doing a lot of Information Architecture (IA) work for clients over the past few months, and each time, I can't help but think, "Why didn't we do this sooner?" Though I know the answer to that question before it's even a twinkle in my brain's fiber-optic nerve cell ending's eye. It's the same old song and dance, really....
Take the First Time Online Pledge this Christmas and Make a Difference
December 17, 2010, 11:49 amJust over two weeks ago Microsoft Advertising UK proudly announced their participation in a ground-breaking partnership with RaceOnline2012 , Age UK and other not-for-profit organizations and companies to help give 9 million digitally excluded Britons their First Time Online. ( Microsoft Advertising Unites Charities and Business to Bring 9 Million...
New York City Wants to Build the Next Google
December 17, 2010, 11:33 amNew York City's Bloomberg administration wants to build the next Google in New York . Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Robert Steel, gave his first policy speech on thursday at Google's recently purchased New York City headquarters on Ninth Avenue .
Bing Games goes social with launch of Happy Island!
December 17, 2010, 11:28 amEver wanted to create your own island? Now you can. We are excited to announce that the smash casual game Happy Island is now available on Bing Games. The object of the game is to create a booming tourist economy on your very own tropical island. If you want to play with friends, you can connect the game directly to your Facebook page. Whats...
Google Body Browser Shows Chrome's WebGL 3D Modeling
December 17, 2010, 11:23 amWhat you're looking at above is Google Body Browser, an experiment from Google Labs that leverages the WebGL graphics standard from the latest Chrome 9 browser beta to model the human body and all of its intricacies in 3D. Here's how Google describes it : Body Browser is a detailed 3D model of the human body. You can peel back anatomical layers,...
Resources to Help You Migrate Away From Delicious
December 17, 2010, 11:13 amBy now, youve probably heard the unfortunate news. Yahoo is sunsetting Delicious ( and a few other platforms). Folks are upset (or maybe disappointed is a better word). Im one of them. Ive come to rely on Delicious as my primary bookmarking system (not so much on the social side). And now Im left looking for alternatives. Ive heard the chatter...
The Importance of Local Search on Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday (Stats)
December 17, 2010, 11:11 amWhen you think of Black Friday, you think of brick and mortar. When you think of Cyber Monday, you think of Online Shopping. However, the Local Search space sees an interesting spike on Cyber Monday. Interesting Stats on Local Search behavior in and around the Thanksgiving weekend.
Google News Gets News Follow Feature
December 17, 2010, 11:01 amGoogle has added an interesting new feature to Google News. Now, when you do a search, near the top of the results, you will see a button to follow news for that query.
When you click the button, it will add that query to the topic list on the left-hand side of the screen, as well as create a custom section on the Google News homepage...
FairSearch Attempts to Hinge Google's ITA Purchase
December 17, 2010, 10:37 amGoogle is attempting to buy ITA, the company that provides airline flight data for roughly sixty-five percent of all websites, for the the price tag of $700 million. However, a coalition known as FairSearch.org " a group established in October "to support competition, transparency, and innovation" in the web search industry " is attempting to .
SEJ Reader Discount : Market Motive Online Marketing Certification Courses
December 17, 2010, 10:31 amLast year we announced that Search Engine Journal entered into a partnership with Market Motive to help provide search marketing certification courses; and I'm happy to announce that this partnership is continuing into 2011 with an emphasis on the upcoming April 19 Master Certification Course . While a few colleges and universities have started...
Facebook LikeBaiting? Is Social Rank Dying Already?
December 17, 2010, 10:31 amAaron Walls take on the controversial 'Social Rank' and how he believes it will affect the social/seo world.
Amazon Adds Newspapers And Magazines To Kindle For Android App
December 17, 2010, 10:25 amAmazon said today that users of its Kindle for Android app can now buy, read, and sync more than 100 Kindle newspapers and magazines.
Additional new features include the ability to buy and download Kindle books and periodicals within the Kindle for Android app, share reading progress via social networks, and zoom closer to images and other...
Google Promotes Open, Inclusive Internet Governance
December 17, 2010, 10:20 amThe United Nations Commission on Science & Technology for Development needs to open its doors and allow many more organizations to join an Internet-related group, according to Google. Vint Cerf, who serves as "Chief Internet Evangelist" at the search giant, spoke up this morning following a row over a governments-only...
Three Keys to Creating an Online Experience Worth Paying For
December 17, 2010, 10:11 amMembership has its privileges. When American Express unleashed this tag line on the world, they weren't blowing smoke. How do you sell a credit card with high annual fees when other cards are competing based on "free"? An expensive credit card that you have to pay off in full every month? How did AmEx succeed in winning over hundreds of thousands...
Google vs Facebook in 2010
December 17, 2010, 10:08 amA play by play of how the battle between Google and Facebook unfolded in 2010.
Why 2011 Will Be a Huge Year for SMBs
December 17, 2010, 9:19 amI am declaring 2011 the Year of the Online SMB. For the uninitiated, SMBs are small and medium businesses. They are the Holy Grail for business service providers because there are so darn many of them. They account for around 95% of the businesses in the US. (Either that or they supply 95% of the jobs but either way, it's pretty impressive.) I...
Governments shouldn't have a monopoly on Internet governance
December 17, 2010, 9:19 amThe beauty of the Internet is that it's not controlled by any one group. Its governance is bottoms-up"with academics, non-profits, companies and governments all working to improve this technological wonder of the modern world. This model has not only made the Internet very open"a testbed for innovation by anyone, anywhere"it's also prevented...
Vevo Launches HD iPad App
December 17, 2010, 9:04 amMusic video site Vevo has launched a free HD app for the iPad that features its catalog of 25,000 videos from more than 7,500 artists. We optimized the Vevo experience specifically for the iPad. Its a perfect match, actuallyVevos crystal clear videos played on iPads big, beautiful screen, the company says in a blog post . With the portability of...
European Commission Widens Google Inquiry
December 17, 2010, 9:04 amGoogle's lawyers in Europe, who have been forced to deal with all sorts of investigations and inquiries over the past few years, have just had more obstacles dropped in their way. A new report's indicated that the European Commission will look into two antitrust complaints originating in Germany. The complaints come from two publishers and one...
Tron: Legacy Tie-ins Launch iAds for iPad, Yahoo Search & Virgin's Project Magazine
December 17, 2010, 8:33 amWalt Disney Co.'s new Tron: Legacy movie is proving to be a strong marketing vehicle for tech companies who want to promote the potential of their online display products. Disney has partnered with Apple, Yahoo & Virgin in a move that seems to launch concept ads that mark the future of brand advertising. Apple has just launched it's first iAd for...
Social Networking and Rock 'N Roll
December 17, 2010, 8:12 amIn business, everyone knows that deals are negotiated on who you know and how well-connected you are. It also helps to be active in social networking and buzzing about industry news and developments. Well, it seems that the music industry has noticed the benefit in the social networking side of their industry, and they're turning .
Friday Funny
December 17, 2010, 7:47 amI suspect I will be tagged as being 'late to the game' but I was just introduced to Geek Culture 's Joy of Tech cartoon by the folks at All Things Digital in their Voices section. Hmmm, I guess that also says I should pay closer attention there as well since this is a regular feature and looks pretty cool but, hey, there's only so many hours in a...
7 Useful Google Cheatsheets - Download for Free!
December 17, 2010, 7:31 amI know that our readers love cheat sheets: our last year's post listing SEO cheatsheets had a great response. This week I have collected another set of useful lists that will allow you to use Google services to their full potential. Enjoy! 7 useful Google cheatsheets: 1.
Guest Blogging for High-Performance Links
December 17, 2010, 7:31 amcc licensed flickr photo shared by cole24_ Tuning Up a Serviceable, Yet Neglected, Website I freelance on-and-off for what was a boutique SEO firm that my two bosses built up from scratch. A technical guy with extensive knowledge of the hidden, back end world of meta-text, tags and html code, and a cerebral, analytic type with extensive real world...
10 Alternatives To Delicious.com Bookmarking
December 17, 2010, 7:02 amWhere former Delicious users might go in the future.
Blekko Makes Your Facebook Likes Searchable
December 17, 2010, 7:00 amSearch engine upstart, Blekko, has done in weeks, what seems to have taken Bing months to do - integrate Facebook like data into search results. Simply connect your Facebook account to Blekko, via the Facebook button at the bottom of the home page and quicker than you can say " Bob's your uncle " (British slang for 'and you're done'), you can...
De.licio.us Bookmarked for Closing
December 17, 2010, 6:40 amIt appears as if one of the most popular social bookmarking sites (and pretty strong brand name amongst certain circles) has been marked for what Yahoo calls being 'sunset'. In other words, it will be riding off into the sunset and sent to the glue factory. Never heard that one? OK, I'll say it in simpler terms. It's being shut down. The slide...
The SEOmoz Internal SEO Prelaunch Checklist - Whiteboard Friday
December 17, 2010, 12:34 amPosted by Aaron Wheeler As we all know, SEO is a very labor-intensive job. It can be really easy to let some things fall by the wayside even if you know you're supposed to do them but don't have the time. It gets even more complicated when you forget to do them in the first place! Now, Danny is an awesome man of many strengths,
Is Social Rank Dying Already?
December 17, 2010, 12:09 amThere has been a lot of talk in the SEO Community about Social Rank And some talk that it might die soon . What Is "Social Rank" As far as the SEO is concerned, social rank is the idea that Google, and other search engines, use social networking indicators in their ranking algorithms. If you get mentioned and linked to often, from social media...
Building Website Traffic on a Budget
December 16, 2010, 11:22 pmEverybody in today's business world would love to know how they could acquire good quality web traffic on a shoe string budget. Some things are clearly inexpensive they just require time where other items obviously take a solid budget to handle properly. The traffic is out there you just have to find it and often times it just comes down to making...
Facbook Offline, Briefly, Over Leaked Prototypes
December 16, 2010, 9:48 pm"For a brief period of time, some internal prototypes were made public to a number of people externally."
Google Testing Updated Version of Google Analytics (screenshots)
December 16, 2010, 8:26 pmThe folks at Google are testing an updated version of Google Analytics. While I’ve yet to dive in completely, I thought it might be worth a quick tour via screenshots.
The account home has been revamped. You’ll notice right away the separation of “Reports” and “Intelligence”. Additionally, quick links to the...
The Top Christmas Carols in Search
December 16, 2010, 7:52 pmby Mike Krumboltz Christmas comes but once a year. Christmas carols , on the other hand... they can stay in your head for much longer. Over the past several weeks, aspiring crooners have been searching for all manner of holiday tunes. Chestnuts roasting on open fires? Check. Reindeer with improbably red noses? Yup. Below we've written a list of...
Google Includes Display in Renewed MySpace Contract
December 16, 2010, 6:55 pmMySpace and Google Inc. will continue doing business together under a long-term deal that includes the Google Display Network for the first time ever. Nada Stirratt, MySpace Chief Revenue Officer, has been widely quoted as saying, "We look forward to participating in the Google Display Network and DoubleClick Ad Exchange to increase yield across...
Facebook Knows What You Look Like
December 16, 2010, 6:50 pmby Claudine Zap Now it's not enough that Facebook knows what you "like" and who you like. They know what you look like. The social-network company announced it was adding facial recognition software to its photo-sharing tool. Basically, the Facebook version of face-recognition software works like this: When you add a photo Facebook will suggest...
Yahoo! Video Becomes #2 Video Site - Just Before Being Shuttered
December 16, 2010, 5:18 pmFrank Watson reported earlier today that Yahoo! Video will close on March 15, 2011. A few hours later, comScore Video Metrix reported that Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in November 2010 with 145.8 million unique viewers. Yahoo! Sites took the #2 spot last month with...
Now available with Google Apps: Picasa Web Albums
December 16, 2010, 5:02 pmEditor's note: We recently launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. This series showcases what's new and how your organization can benefit. Welcome to Picasa Web Albums Sharing and collaboration are central to Google Apps with over 30 million users in businesses, schools, and government...
Yahoo! Video Becomes #2 Video Site -- Just Before Being Shuttered
December 16, 2010, 5:00 pmFrank Watson reported earlier today that Yahoo! Video will close on March 15, 2011. A few hours later, comScore Video Metrix reported that Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in November 2010 with 145.8 million unique viewers. Yahoo! Sites took the #2 spot last month...
Outbound Link Tracking via Event Tracking - Google Analytics
December 16, 2010, 4:57 pmMost savvy site owners have either Google Analytics or some other advanced tracking solution installed on their sites. Google Analytics offers extensive data about your visitors behavior for free which helps explain its immense popularity. One feature of Google Analytics that is often over looked is Event Tracking. Event Tracking allows webmasters...
comScore: Facebook, Hulu Lost Video Viewers In Nov.
December 16, 2010, 4:47 pmFacebook and Hulu, while doing fine in many respects, couldn't quite hold online video viewers' interest in November as they've done before. New stats from comScore indicate that both companies failed to match past performances last month, with Facebook losing a spot on a top ten list and Hulu falling off it. To delve into the numbers: Facebook...
Yahoo! Showcases Powered-Up Movie Searches in New Ad
December 16, 2010, 4:42 pmOne of the most anticipated movies of the year will premier tomorrow across the country: Disney's TRON: Legacy . The high tech adventure film is also serving as the perfect example to showcase the new, rich search experiences that only Yahoo! can deliver for movie searches. We've partnered with Disney to create a dynamic, "Tron-ized" advertisement...
Digg Welcomes the White House
December 16, 2010, 4:16 pmWe're happy to announce that the White House has joined the Digg community!
Update: Facebook is Up...Kind Of (After Downtime)
December 16, 2010, 4:01 pmUpdate 2: It seems, as a commenter points out, that Facebook is still down for some people. Tweets continue to roll in to that effect. (5pm Eastern)
People are taking jabs at Mark Zuckerberg for being person of the year now.
Update: It's back up. It's rare for FB to go down like that, but to the company's credit, the outage didn't last too...
Update: Facebook is Up
December 16, 2010, 3:51 pmUpdate: It's back up. Original Article: Facebook appears to be down, at least for many people. We're seeing a lot of chatter about it on Twitter. As Twitter user DJDearest says, "Facebook is down. Productivity at offices across the world just went up 356%." We don't know if it has anything to do with the recent "Anonymous" attacks, but Facebook...
Leaked Document Outlines Impending Yahoo Shutdowns
December 16, 2010, 3:35 pmFans of AltaVista, Delicious, Fire Eagle, and Yahoo Buzz - along with many other Yahoo properties - may want to devise a backup plan. A leaked corporate document indicates that a number of sites are due to be shut down, and more than a few others will in some way be merged. A note regarding the authenticity of the Yahoo document: this does indeed...
Microsoft Makes Email Content Dynamic With Active Views in Hotmail
December 16, 2010, 3:20 pmMicrosoft has some interesting news out for Hotmail users. The company has partnered with some other companies to bring a new kind of email to the inbox - one that is as up to date as possible, and lets users interact with sites from within the email itself. While email is widely considered to still be one of the best marketing tools, and is still...
R.I.P. Delicious, AltaVista, Alltheweb & 5 More Yahoo Products
December 16, 2010, 3:20 pmThe hits just keep coming at Yahoo. A day after laying off about 4 percent of employees and shuttering Yahoo Video , a screenshot leaked on Twitter that revealed Yahoo is planning to cut (or "sunset") eight Yahoo products: Yahoo Picks, AltaVista, Alltheweb, Yahoo Bookmarks, MyM, Delicious, Yahoo Buzz, and MyBlogLog. Click to read the rest of this...
comScore Releases November 2010 U.S. Online Video Rankings
December 16, 2010, 2:54 pmcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 172 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in November. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in nearly 5.2 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month.
A Few Thoughts on Entering an Emerging International SEO Market
December 16, 2010, 2:54 pmI have been in the fortunate position just recently of being able to pop in to meet the guys from the MEC Dubai offices and a number of other expats in non-related sectors too, and this got me thinking about all the challenges and opportunities that these people must face in establishing new team's in countries around the world so thought I would...
LinkedIn Launches Android App
December 16, 2010, 2:49 pmLinkedIn has launched a new Android app in beta. The app lets users view updates, search for people, respond to invitations, and keep in touch with connections. "This is the first time weve done a public beta for a mobile app here at LinkedIn and we have more features we'll be launching in upcoming versions," says LinkedIn's Chad Whitney. "But...
Confirmed: Yahoo To Close Buzz, Traffic APIs & Maybe Delicious
December 16, 2010, 2:39 pmIt's official: Yahoo confirms that Yahoo Buzz, MyBlogLog, Altavista, AllTheWeb ... will go, as will the Traffic APIs. Delicious seems likely to go, too.
Google Maps Introduces Holiday Email Cards
December 16, 2010, 2:12 pmGoogle has introduced a new feature that allows people to create and personalize their own holiday greeting cards and send them to others via email. The Google Blog provides more details. Were sure many of you have holiday plans in the works, so weve designed greeting cards you can email to friends and familyto share those fun adventures or...
New Facebook Registration Tool For Site Owners Aimed at Increasing Conversions
December 16, 2010, 2:12 pmFacebook is launching a new registration tool for site owners, which utilizes a single line of code. "For users it means quicker ways to sign up for new sites with Facebook, while seeing what information they're sharing, and which friends have already connected," a representative for Facebook tells WebProNews. The company refers to it as an...
Help Build a Better Speller: MSR and Bing announce Speller Challenge to researchers and students
December 16, 2010, 2:07 pmBing and Microsoft Research are enlisting the help of researchers and students from around the world to take part in the Speller Challenge . We are all familiar with the experience of search engines providing results based on a common misspelling or typo: This technique, called Spelling alteration, is the predominant way for search engines to...
Goodbye Delicious
December 16, 2010, 1:55 pmYahoo is either killing or merging into other projects: Delicious, Yahoo Buzz, MyBlogLog, Altavista, and a few others.
FTC - 1; Cookie Monster - 0: Impact of “Do Not Track” Legislation
December 16, 2010, 1:25 pmI thought this was an interesting look at what "Do Not Track" might do in terms of online advertising, especially from the perspective of someone with experience in the wake of "Do Not Call."
Chrome Beta Gets Google Instant, WebGL 3D Tech (And More)
December 16, 2010, 1:11 pmGoogle recently held a Chrome event in which it showed off some new things they are doing with their popular web browser (not to mention the opening of the Chrome Web Store and the introduction of Chrome OS). Now, some of the things Google showed off are available in a beta release of the browser. For one, you can turn on Chrome Instant (Google...
Star Wars Reference Hidden In Google AdWords Thank You Video
December 16, 2010, 1:05 pmThe Google AdWords team, who are celebrating 10 years of AdWords , sent this hilarious video out to advertisers yesterday in 43 different languages - the same number that the AdWords UI works in. The video has been seen over one million times. But, the more pressing question is - how many of you caught the Star Wars reference to "a problem with...
Nikki Sixx Has a Girlfriend, 'Iron Man 3' Loses Its Director, Comic-Con Sells Out: What's the Buzz
December 16, 2010, 1:00 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Nikki Sixx (Searches increased by 69,048%). If the rumors are true, the Motley Crue bassist and rockin' neighbor of Denise Richards is dating the star . According to Us Weekly, the two had breakfast together and are "taking it slow." "Iron Man 3" (+15,014%). "Iron Man 3" is minus one....
5 Holiday PPC Tips from Industry Experts
December 16, 2010, 12:55 pmWhile most PPC marketers have long since set up and optimized their campaigns for the holidays, no doubt there are scores of business owner-advertisers who have been so busy that giving their Microsoft Advertising adCenter campaigns the time and attention they need has slipped down the priority list. If this sounds like you, dont despair its not...
Google Maps Goes 3D and Offline on Android
December 16, 2010, 12:50 pmGoogle introduced a new version of Google Maps for Android, which brings several new features. These include 3D map interaction and offline reliability features. Google is now using vector graphics for the maps, so you won't see the map load in squares as it has done in the past. Instead, it will "dynamically draw" the map as you use it. Google...
Carol Bartz Has No FlickR Account Writes Yahoo Employee
December 16, 2010, 12:14 pmFollowing Carol Bartz's email , announcing 650 layoffs at Yahoo (just days before the holidays), Thomas Hawk, a Yahoo employee who works on FlickR - one of the, if not most, successful photos-sharing site in the world - has written an open letter to Carol Bartz airing his frustration towards the Yahoo CEO. He charges Bartz of neglect towards...
Four Marketing Trends to Look for in 2011
December 16, 2010, 12:09 pmMarketing trends change with the industry on a semi-regular basis. Depending on what's technologically new or improved, marketing tactics adjust with those changes and affect the way businesses interact. Harris Interactive, an information gathering group for surveys, polls and web marketing analysis applications, recently conducted an in-depth...
Carol Bartz Has No FlickR Account Writes FlickR Enthusiast
December 16, 2010, 12:06 pmFollowing Carol Bartz's email, announcing 650 layoffs at Yahoo (just days before the holidays), Thomas Hawk, an enthusiastic FlickR user - one of the, if not most, successful photos-sharing site in the world - has written an open letter to Carol Bartz airing his frustration towards the Yahoo CEO. He charges Bartz of neglect towards FlickR, one of...
35 Affiliate Marketing Predictions for 2011
December 16, 2010, 11:43 am35 predictions (from 12 affiliate marketers) on what 2011 may bring to affiliate marketing.
Experian Hitwise Marks Progress Of Bing-Yahoo Partnership
December 16, 2010, 11:43 amIt can be a bit of a balancing act when reports concerning the search market come out; if comScore, Experian Hitwise, and Nielsen all say different things, it's embarrassing to have three contradictory headlines. New numbers from Experian Hitwise tend to agree with yesterday's comScore stats in asserting that November was a good month for Bing,...
Should the Government Stop Google from Acquiring Big Fish?
December 16, 2010, 11:33 amFor the third time in December, Google found itself defending its business practices from allegations of monopolistic and anticompetitive behavior. After refuting claims that it is squeezing out search engines in Europe and local review sites in the U.S. Google disagreed with Washington Post columnist Steve Pearlstein, who suggested Google's...
Google And MySpace Renew Search Advertising Deal
December 16, 2010, 11:28 amMySpace and Google have reached an agreement to renew and expand their search and advertising partnership, which is good news for the struggling social network. Under the terms of the deal, Google will continue to operate MySpace search and advertising and will also provide additional display advertising services to improve the entertainment...
Can I Use Frames on My Site and Still Have High Rankings?
December 16, 2010, 11:28 amby Stone Reuning The simplest answer that question is no. Any qualified search engine marketer knows that frames pose big problems with rankings. Stand-alone frames with no modifications are not crawlable by the search engines. Any content contained within the frames will not be indexed and thus, not found. While frames look pretty, what's the...
Microsoft Advertising adCenter API Version 6 to Sunset this Spring - Upgrade to Version 7 Now
December 16, 2010, 11:12 amMicrosoft Advertising adCenter API Version 7 was released to the Production and Sandbox environments earlier this year . With adCenter API Version 7, you can take advantage of updates in campaign management, editorial features, and reporting. That said, please be aware that API Version 6 will sunset this Spring. To give yourself time to be code...
Google's Anticipated Music Service: Taking to the Cloud?
December 16, 2010, 11:12 amThose with their ears to the pulse of Google will already know about Google's plans to enter the world of MP3s. Nevertheless, the details have been vague for quite some time, and no one knows whether Google Music will be a service more akin to Google Bookstore or Picasa. Recent information, however, indicates that Google's approach may be that of...
Yahoo! Cuts 600+ Jobs :(
December 16, 2010, 11:12 amSince its partnership with Microsoft for search results, it's been rumored that Yahoo! was on the path to cutting off jobs. Now, rumors and their related figures have been confirmed, as Yahoo! makes a cut of over 600 employees. As reported by Silicon Valley , Yahoo! has cut four to five percent of its total workforce, laying off somewhere between...
Google Fiber Holds Off on Big Announcement
December 16, 2010, 11:12 amGoogle's "Fiber" experiment is a fairly simple concept: the company wants to provide lucky communities with the fastest internet access yet conceptualized for modern access. The one gigabit per second connection speed, a rate that would allow roughly 125 megabytes to be downloaded per second, was announced back in February, along with an...
Blekko Adds Facebook "Likes" to Search Results
December 16, 2010, 10:52 amBing announced yesterday that it is integrating more Facebook "likes" into search results, but Blekko, the new kid on the block, is now also providing such data, courtesy of Facebook Connect. "Now log onto Blekko through Facebook Connect and you'll be able to see whether or not your friends have 'Liked' a particular search result," a Blekko...
Google vs. Apple : How Is Android Faring?
December 16, 2010, 10:47 amMicrosoft has been shunted to the side in the world of mobility as Android and Apple vie for supremacy. However, as a flood of figures come in for mobile device popularity, different groups are reporting a different leader. So who is winning? Apple or Android ? According to a report on Mashable , that depends on what devices you're counting and...
Google Voice Spreads to Apple Devices
December 16, 2010, 10:47 amGoogle Voice, the service that allows users to set up a free local and long distance calling line for use anywhere that you can access the Web, has been on the Android market for quite a while now. However, their spread to the iPhone is recent (mid-November) and initially lacked some important features " including support for either the iPod Touch...
The Time for Giving at Google
December 16, 2010, 10:47 amThis time of year is a time of giving " both thanks to the holiday season and the end of claimable tax benefits from donations. It's unsurprising, then, that Google is feeling especially charitable as we reach the end of 2010. According to a message sent to Google users (and accompanied by an official video ), the search engine giant is giving...
My favorite 2010 SEO copywriting posts
December 16, 2010, 10:36 amGoodness, it's hard to believe that it's December 16th already! Where DID 2010 go? This is my last post of the year. Every year, I take a two-week "writing break" between December 15th and January 1. I use the time to recharge my creative batteries, reflect on the year - and game plan for the year ahead. Part of my "writing break" prep involves...
Bing Expands to 90 Million Users
December 16, 2010, 10:26 amWhen the Microsoft owned search sites changed their names to "Bing" a year and a half ago, it was fairly clear that this ground-up restructuring was their all-in effort to survive the war against Google. Now, after a partnership with Yahoo and a large push to get users to the Bing site, we're safe to ask the question: Have they? A Mashable report...
Google Rolls Out Chrome Business Deployment Installer
December 16, 2010, 10:26 amGoogle Chrome is quickly entering the mainstream for browsing options, having tripled in use over the last year. This new height of 120 million software users comes from all different locations, operating systems, and types of users. Now, as Google looks toward expanding Chrome's presence even further, a powerful Chrome utility for businesses is...
Google Launches the Nexus S " Into Space
December 16, 2010, 10:26 amAs Google's Nexus S hits stores, the technology giant is leaving release-date events primarily in the hands of retailers. While resellers like Best Buy, AT&T, and T-Mobile throw promotional parties, Google itself is launching the product in quite a different way. Specifically, according to their video released on New Scientist , Google decided...
Facebook Defends Their Participation in the Privacy Debate
December 16, 2010, 10:16 amFacebook is actively defending their position in the privacy and consumer information wars, seeking to strengthen their defense counsel as they consult with privacy advocates. The topic of debate is how well the 500 million member social networking site is managing and protecting the personal information of their users. As Facebook and other sites...
Report: Facebook's 2010 Sales Revenue May Hit $2B
December 16, 2010, 10:12 amLess than 24 hours after Twitter raised $200 million in funding at a valuation of $3.7 billion, there's good news about Facebook on the financial front, as well. A report's claimed that Facebook will pull in a whopping $2 billion in sales revenue this year.
Word comes from Brian Womack and "three sources familiar with the matter,"...
YouTube Gives Users a New Homepage To Try Out
December 16, 2010, 10:08 amYouTube has been testing a new homepage, and is now letting users try it out if they'd like to do so. They've added a button on the current homepage that you can click on if you want to give it a shot.
YouTube lists the following features of the new homepage:
Combined list - Merges your subscriptions, friend activity, and...
Bing Improves Facebook's 'Like' Results - Is This A New Ranking Factor?
December 16, 2010, 10:05 amYesterday Bing announced that specific links that have been 'liked' by your Facebook friends will be highlighted in the search results page. This is a development from the separate set of Facebook results that occasionally appear for generic search queries. Click to read the rest of this post.
Donald Trump's Top Three Tips for Dominating Your Niche
December 16, 2010, 10:05 amWe know his name. We know his brand. We even know his hair . But do we know how he does it? If Donald Trump has created has a building in your city, you know it. You not only know he has one, but you know exactly where it is. Maybe you even know how much it cost. You might even know about buildings he's developed in other cities. Are there any...
Who Leaked YouTube's Talks With Next New Networks to The New York Times?
December 16, 2010, 9:50 amAccording to Claire Cain Miller and Brian Stelter of The New York Times , "YouTube, the video site owned by Google, is in talks to buy Next New Networks, a Web video production company, according to two people briefed on the discussions." Now, who might those two people be? Click to read the rest of this post.
2011 SEO and Social Media Checklist
December 16, 2010, 9:45 amIn addition to focusing on increasing last minute holiday sales, now is the time to make sure everything is in place to make 2011 a great year for your site and business. We should all check our sites for errors and be focused on SEO and Social Media all year long but not everyone has the time or knowledge to do everything they should. If you are...
How to Use Excel to Show Search Results in Multiple Geographies
December 16, 2010, 9:45 amSometimes you need to know how well you are doing in searches in various different geographies. For example you might want to rank in your home market but also see how well you are doing in the global/USA .com market also. Each market will rank your site differently due to many factors and your SEO efforts could help with one while harming the...
Online Video Trends: The Complete Media Industry Report - Part 1
December 16, 2010, 9:33 amIf you are interested in learning and accessing hard data about the latest online video trends, you have come to the right place. In this highly visual and data-rich industry report, you can get a good view of how much online video is presently used across different regions of the world and relative to other established media.
Photo credit:...
How to Pick an SEO Company (from a Sales Executive)
December 16, 2010, 9:22 amHello and welcome to my big blogging debut! I’m in sales in our Seattle office and here to impart a bit of my knowledge about how to pick an SEO company.
I started with Distilled in April of this year and have talked with hundreds of clients, from both both big and small companies, and they all have the same story: they want to drive more...
US Making Little Progress On Broadband Speeds
December 16, 2010, 9:14 amNearly half (49%) of the people in the U.S. do not meet the FCC's minimum broadband standard of 4 megabits per second (mbps) download and 1 mbps upload, according to a new report by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). CWAs annual Speed Matters report on Internet speeds in the United States indicates little progress has been made since the...
Idea: Topical Chat
December 16, 2010, 9:04 amThis website would take the top headlines from a tech site for that day - at first just from Reddit (you gotta start somewhere), but later, from other sites too, in aggregated form, similar to Techmeme, but across different topics you can navigate to from the frontpage (entertainment, politics, technology etc.). It would present them in some sort...
Google Nexus S Phone Now Available Through Best Buy in U.S.
December 16, 2010, 8:58 amGoogle announced today that its Nexus S Google phone, announced last week , is now available in the U.S. starting today. The device can be purchased through Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores online and offline. "With a brilliant 4" Contour Display, a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, the latest Google mobile apps and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)...
Facebook To Roll Out Facial Recognition Feature
December 16, 2010, 8:58 amFacebook long ago passed Flickr to become the world's largest photo-sharing site, and thanks to an impending upgrade, its lead may soon increase. Facebook announced late yesterday that it's developed facial recognition software to help users tag photos. Justin Mitchell, an engineer, explained on the Facebook Blog , "When you or a friend upload...
Blog Posts To Read Week of Dec 16, 2010
December 16, 2010, 8:58 amBelow you will find our favorite blog posts that are related to SEO, search engine marketing and social media marketing from this past week. Please feel free to visit each, we hope you find them as helpful as we do! Social Media Policies, Being Human This post discusses social media policies and their effect on different aspects of a business...
Mac App Store Officially Coming January 6
December 16, 2010, 8:28 amApple announced that its Mac App Store will officially open on January 6 (a Thursday). With this, Apple hopes to capitalize on the success its had with its App store for iPhone and iPad apps for its older Mac brand. Right away, the store will be available in 90 countries, and will feature paid and free apps in a variety of categories like Games,...
Flock: The New Social Networking Browser for Mac Users
December 16, 2010, 8:17 amMac users can finally smile now that they've got a browser to call their very own. One that they can use to manage their daily searches and that's "user-friendly" to their social networking applications. Now Mac users can enjoy this new social networking browser without fear of it crashing (fingers crossed?), and having an application .
Rackspace Acquires Cloudkick for Cloud Server Management Apps
December 16, 2010, 8:07 amRackspace announced that it has acquired Cloudkick , which creates web apps for cloud-server management. Rackspace considers the move a way to better position itself in Silicon Valley, as Cloudkick was originally funded by Y Combinator, and its headquarters is in San Francisco, "making Cloudkick's headquarters the latest outpost for delivering...
Those Crazy Kids and Their Mobile Devices
December 16, 2010, 8:07 amNielsen has just finished a study that looks at the youth of the world and their relationships with their cellphones and smartphones. It makes for interesting reading for sure and it is a way to measure just how cultural differences will shape how the mobile world shapes up moving forward. First, here is the scoop on who chooses the devices for...
I've Got Zero Tips For Optimizing Happiness! What!?
December 16, 2010, 7:36 amZero tips!? WTFudge!? Yes, you got it right. I've got Zero tips for you. In this post, I won't be sharing any special tips, tactics, or secrets that will help you with your SEO strategies. Instead, I'd like to invite you to pause for a moment, close that analytics tab and postpone that great piece of writing to later. Just go DEAR (Drop Everything...
AOL To Bolster Display Ad Offerings With Pictela Pick-Up
December 16, 2010, 7:16 amAOL announced that it has acquired ad platform firm Pictela. The company makes what is described as a "high-definition brand content platform" for online advertising and social media. This follows other recent acquisitions by AOl, such as that of TechCrunch, Thing Labs, 5min Media, and StudioNow.
AOL says the pick-up will bring...
Google and MySpace In New Search Deal
December 16, 2010, 6:59 am"Terms of the agreement were not disclosed."
Can Bing Take on Google With These New Features?
December 16, 2010, 6:43 amBing introduced a handful of new features today. The one that will likely catch the most interest is the extension of its recent announcement regarding Facebook. Now, Bing will start showing you which of your Facebook friends have liked search results as they appear in your searches.
Are "likes" from your friends sprinkled into...
AOL Buys Web Ad Company Pictela
December 16, 2010, 6:30 am"Terms of the deal, which AOL announced on Thursday, were not disclosed."
Bing's Search for Market Share
December 16, 2010, 6:22 amYesterday, Microsoft's Bing search engine announced what is the digital world's equivalent of a tsunami of upgrades, tweaks, changes etc, etc. It happened at an event in San Francisco (I guess making these announcement out of the mothership in Redmond looks less cool as well as the fact that the digital press lives in the SF area). To summarize,
Carol Bartz's Leaked E-mail RE: Yahoo Layoffs
December 16, 2010, 6:22 amFollowing up on our previous story about the latest round of Yahoo layoffs , a copy of an internal e-mail memo from CEO Carol Bartz about the staff reductions has been leaked. Click to read the rest of this post.
Bing’s Search for Market Share
December 16, 2010, 6:05 amYesterday, Microsoft’s Bing search engine announced what is the digital world’s equivalent of a tsunami of upgrades, tweaks, changes etc, etc. It happened at an event in San Francisco (I guess making these announcement out of the mothership in Redmond looks less cool as well as the fact that the digital press lives in the SF area).
To...
Yahoo Video To Close March 15, 2011
December 16, 2010, 5:00 amYahoo Video is no longer allowing uploads and has announced it will be deleting all videos and shuttering this product in March 15, 2011, Yahoo announced.Click to read the rest of this post...
Bing Uses Image Categorization to Ease the Search
December 16, 2010, 3:27 amBing has introduced a new feature for the Bing Image Search. It is called “Instant Answer” and is, actually, a small bar of “tabs” that appears just below the search term box. Each tab suggests a more “specific” query, being especially helpful in the case of ambiguous search terms.
For example, when you type “heat”as the Bing Image...
Facebook Will Beat Revenue Targets This Year,
December 16, 2010, 2:49 am"Sales will more than double from 2009..."
6 New Tools Every SEO Should Check Out
December 16, 2010, 2:31 amPosted by randfish There's some terrificly useful new tools on the market that very few SEOs are aware of or using (at least, if my experience is any indication). It's my duty, therefore, to share with some of these shiny new sites and let you explore, engage and apply to your campaigns and efforts. Hopefully, these will add great value for you,...
Idea: CrowdChat
December 16, 2010, 1:39 amTwo groups have a text chat using a web interface, arguing about a certain topic. For Group B to reply to what Group A says, each member of Group A proposes a sentence. Then, each member of Group B quickly votes on which sentence of another member of their group they like best. (You don't have to propose a sentence, and you don't have to vote on...
SEO Should Incorporate Conversions Too!
December 15, 2010, 11:15 pmWhat is that we know about the SEO industry? We know that things are always changing in the industry and we know that what was done yesterday might not be what is done today leaving us to understand clearly that the industry is always evolving. The changes in the industry also dictate how search engine optimization is conducted and laid out.
$200m Raised in New Finance for Twitter
December 15, 2010, 10:32 pm"Twitter is also adding two new board members, including David Rosenblatt, boss of digital advertising group DoubleClick."
Mall of America Runs a Twitter "Parking?" Party
December 15, 2010, 8:31 pmTwitter parties are all the rage with social media moms, but this Saturday, Mall of America is taking that concept one step further with the "Big Secret Parking Party." Everyone knows the horror of holiday parking at the local mall, but imagine the nightmare at the biggest mall in the US! It's enough to make even the jolliest person turn into the...
Google Body Browser
December 15, 2010, 8:21 pmIf you're using the Google Chrome developer channel (or Firefox 4 Beta) have a look at the new Body Browser to explore a body in 3D. [Via Google OS .] [By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Body Browser | Comments ] [Advertisement] Want to make money with your website? AllPosters.
Mall of America Runs a Twitter “Parking?” Party
December 15, 2010, 8:14 pmTwitter parties are all the rage with social media moms, but this Saturday, Mall of America is taking that concept one step further with the “Big Secret Parking Party.”
Everyone knows the horror of holiday parking at the local mall, but imagine the nightmare at the biggest mall in the US! It’s enough to make even the jolliest...
Oh, The Opportunity
December 15, 2010, 7:30 pmI'm doing keyword research. The opportunities I see before me still amaze me. Keyword lists, showing the frequency of searches, are market research nirvana. It's like being a god, delving deep into the minds of mortals. And most people outside SEO. Still. Don't. Get. It. Ever explained keywords to people, and received blank looks in return? We can...
Too Much Talk Leads to a Few Less Followers
December 15, 2010, 6:33 pmWe know that most people choose to follow a business in order to get deals and coupons, but what makes them "unfollow?" Last week, Smart Brief on Social Media polled their readers on this very topic and here's what they had to say: The majority of the people (44%) said they unfollow because they're overwhelmed by too many updates. Along a similar...
Bing and National Geographic bring world-class photos to you on Bing Homepage
December 15, 2010, 5:27 pmSome things just naturally go together: Fred and Ginger; Bogart and Bacall; peanut butter and jelly. Today, Im incredibly pleased to announce another natural partnership: Bing and National Geographic. Our goal at the Bing homepage is to bring you beautiful, compelling photographs that encourage you to explore the world around you every day, even...
Twitter Raises $200M In Funding At $3.7B Valuation
December 15, 2010, 4:46 pmFor most people with a financial interest in Twitter, these are going to be some happy holidays indeed. The company's confirmed a new round of funding, and reports indicate that it raised $200 million at a valuation of a stunning $3.7 billion. Dick Costolo confirmed on the Twitter Blog that Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers was, as had been rumored,...
An Open Letter to Carol Bartz, CEO Yahoo Inc.
December 15, 2010, 4:45 pmGreat read that sums up the current state of Yahoo pretty well. Written from the point-of-view of one of Flickr's most well-known and loyal users.
Bing Incoroprates 'Instant Answer' into Image Search User Interface
December 15, 2010, 4:25 pmBing has made it easier to find the images you are looking for by automatically sorting your image results into categories. The 'Instant Answer' feature creates a toolbar above the image search results with suggested alterations to your search. Click to read the rest of this post.
Google TV Gets Improved Netflix and Remote Apps, Better Movie Search and Screen Sizing
December 15, 2010, 4:15 pmToday, Google began pushing out its first software update for Google TV. The update fixed a few bugs, and added some other new interesting features. "We've partnered up with our friends at Netflix to upgrade the app so that you can search, browse and watch any movie or show that is in the Netflix streaming catalog," says Google TV Product Manager...
Google Chrome OS Comes Under Fire from Industry Leaders
December 15, 2010, 4:15 pmThe Google Chrome OS has launched its pre-beta pilot program for qualified testers. However, while Google lovers around the world are practically drooling to get their hands on the Cr48, not everyone is a fan. Several leaders in the technology industry have openly criticized the Google operating system. Richard Stallman, prominent advocate of free...
I think Twitter is useless
December 15, 2010, 4:13 pmI am working on round two of my dotcom (popletters.com for those who are interested) and the viral marketing part of it is driving me insane- especially twitter. Honestly, I think Twitter is a big fat waste of time. I have read a few dozen sites, bought books, etc and all I get are spambots. Also, when I post, people think I am a bot....
Bing Incorporates 'Instant Answer' into Image Search User Interface
December 15, 2010, 3:54 pmBing has made it easier to find the images you are looking for by automatically sorting your image results into categories. The 'Instant Answer' feature creates a toolbar above the image search results with suggested alterations to your search.Click to read the rest of this post...
comScore Releases November 2010 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
December 15, 2010, 3:44 pmcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in November with 66.2 percent of searches conducted.
Google Image Search Is Getting Hyper
December 15, 2010, 3:34 pmIf 2010 has proved anything about Google, it's that the search engine giant is addicted to speed. The wide array of speed-oriented updates have made it clear just where the company's focus lies. Now, as 2010 draws to a close, they're quickly adding one feature: faster image search updating. According to Search Engine Land , Google Image Search is...
Google Puts Off High-Speed Broadband Decision
December 15, 2010, 3:29 pmTen months ago, Google volunteered to build experimental fiber networks in "a small number of trial locations." People in about 1,100 communities then proved what a great idea this was by applying for the program. Unfortunately, the response was more than Google could handle, and so the next step has been delayed. Milo Medin, the newly-hired...
Bing Incorporates FanSnap into Event Search
December 15, 2010, 3:13 pmTo enable users make a better decision whilst searching for tickets to concerts and sporting events, Bing have incorporated FanSnap into Bing Events.Click to read the rest of this post...
Bing Makes Real Use of that Facebook Data (and Much More)
December 15, 2010, 2:53 pmBing introduced a handful of new features today. The one that will likely catch the most interest is the extension of its recent announcement regarding Facebook . Now, Bing will start showing you which of your Facebook friends have liked search results as they appear in your searches. Are "likes" from your friends sprinkled into search results...
Hotpot vs Yelp vs Facebook
December 15, 2010, 2:32 pmDavid Mihm writes, "I’ve had a few ideas bouncing around in my brain about Hotpot recently–why Google released it, and why they’re promoting it so hard, to the point of breaking their own rules on Review Solicitation."
Announcing Google Earth Enterprise 4.1
December 15, 2010, 2:17 pmBack in August we announced Google Earth Enterprise 4.0 . This version introduced the new Google Earth Portable Solution, and a Google Earth Android Client, for enterprise use. Since then, we've been speaking with numerous customers about the release, learning all about the compelling ways they're using our portable and mobile technologies and...
Healthy New Year's Resolutions: Too Popular to Be Ignored
December 15, 2010, 2:17 pmUSA.gov , the US government's official web portal, just listed the most popular New Years resolutions . Not surprisingly, half of them are health related: drink less alcohol, quit smoking, lose weight, get fit and manage stress (the others, for the record, are mostly of financial nature). While this is not good news for local liquor stores and...
E-Junkie CEO Robin Kholi shares digital goods insights
December 15, 2010, 2:06 pmHi, Therese Maher here, Marketing Manager for Digital Goods. This past October during our developer conference , we announced PayPal for digital goods, and the response has been phenomenal. A two-click, in context payment experience with seamless micropayment processing is in hot demand! Gaming, media developers and publishers selling virtual...
A Shakeup for "Iron Man 3"
December 15, 2010, 1:56 pmby Mike Krumboltz Third entries in superhero trilogies rarely live up to the hype. "Superman 3" was an off-key disaster. The third "X-Men" movie, while very profitable, couldn't top the first two flicks with the fans. Will "Iron Man 3" buck the odds? As our Magic Eight Ball might say, "outlook not so good." Because much like the third "Superman"...
Facebook Integrates With Clicker For TV Recommendations
December 15, 2010, 1:33 pmOnline television guide Clicker has introduced its own recommendation engine called Clicker Predict, along with Facebook integration.
Clicker Predict considers more than 50 factors when making entertainment recommendation for users. These factors are updated as a person searches for, rates, discusses, saves, shares and views online...
eBay Acquires Critical Path, Which Has Worked on eBay's iPhone Apps
December 15, 2010, 1:29 pmeBay announced that it has acquired Critical Path Software, a mobile app developer, which it has been working with for over two years. The company has worked with eBay on creating iPhone apps for eBay, StubHub, eBay Classifieds, and Shopping.com.
eBay's Richard Brewer-Hay on the eBay Ink Blog shared the following interview with Steve...
Twitter Revamps Its Business Resource Site
December 15, 2010, 1:20 pmTwitter has launched a revamped version of business.twitter.com , which is a resource site aimed at helping businesses get the most out of Twitter. "Twitter has long been a home for all kinds of businesses," says Carolyn Penner with Twitter Communications. "Whether it's a neighborhood ice cream shop (@humphryslocombe), a favorite store...
Google Apps innovation: join our quarter in review webinar
December 15, 2010, 1:10 pm100% web technologies have many advantages for customers over legacy software and server technologies, but the ability to access improvements without doing any work is particularly important. By simply refreshing the browser, new features just show up without any complex software patching or hardware upgrades. This is how software should "just...
Charlie Sheen Off the Hook, Michael Moore's Offer, Silvio Berlusconi Saved by the Vote: What's the Buzz
December 15, 2010, 1:05 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Golden Globes (Searches increased by 12,650%). "The King's Speech" led with seven nominations . Charlie Sheen (+2,019%). The "Two and a Half Men" star won't be charged for his Plaza Hotel rampage. Michael Moore (+1,459%). The documentary filmmaker says he offered $20,000 toward Julian...
Bing Feature Update: New UX streamlines finding the perfect image
December 15, 2010, 1:05 pmWhether its introducing completely new ways to browse pictures with things like Infinite Scroll or helping you filter images by color and composition, a more intuitive and visual image search experience has always been a big focus for us. To that end, this week were excited to introduce improvements in how Bing presents and organizes your image...
Bing Feature Update: Discover more things your Facebook friends like
December 15, 2010, 1:05 pmAs Satya talked about today , building on our exclusive collaboration with Facebook we will soon be rolling out another update designed to make search more social and relevant. Over the last several weeks, we introduced the new Liked results feature that uses the basis of your query to surmise your intent and surface relevant stories or...
Bing Feature Update: Bing and FanSnap are your ticket to the best seat in the house
December 15, 2010, 1:05 pmIf youre searching for sports tickets, soon you will now be able to compare tickets from over fifty leading tickets sites, check out the view from the seat and quickly find the best value in Bing. As Satya mentioned today, to help you make better ticket buying decisions we are incorporating FanSnaps venue maps and comprehensive event catalogue...
SearchEngineWatch.com's Top 10 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2010
December 15, 2010, 12:54 pmWith many search and social networks releasing their Top 10 queries and trends for 2010, we thought we'd jump on the bandwagon to find out which were the most popular blog posts (not expert columns) of 2010 on SearchEngineWatch. Click to read the rest of this post.
DOTW: Your 2011 Online Marketing Wishes, Predictions, Plans & More
December 15, 2010, 12:42 pm2011 is right around the corner! Where will you be focusing new efforts? What would you like our industry to do next year? What do you want Google, Bing, and Yahoo to do? Will Bing make gains on Google's dominant market share? In this week's "Discussion of the Week," the floor is open for you to share your plans, predictions, and wishes for the...
Court Rules Police Need Warrant To Access Email
December 15, 2010, 12:24 pmThe Sixth Court of Appeals ruled that police need a search warrant to get ISPs to divulge emails, Tech News Ninjas reported . This is the first case that has dealt with email under the Fourth Amendment that deals with illegal search and seizures. Click to read the rest of this post.
Making Mobile More Social
December 15, 2010, 12:13 pmLife happens in real time, and so should sharing. Today's mobile phones allow people to connect on the go and to share interesting moments as they happen all around them. Earlier this week, when the Giants won the World Series, revelling baseball fans took to the streets of San Francisco. I immediately grabbed my phone to take pictures and to...
Mobile YouTube 2.1 is Out
December 15, 2010, 12:03 pmOver the last couple years, Google has spent a lot of time spreading its presence in the world of multimedia and the mobile universe. Their overwhelmingly popular YouTube application on Android is the ideal example of both. However, while the application has been popular, plenty of complaints have arisen about usability. AHA! Enter YouTube 2.1 .
Bing Gains On Yahoo, Google In November
December 15, 2010, 11:53 amMicrosoft employees should know that setting off fireworks would be neither seasonally appropriate nor entirely in proportion to the small search gains Bing may have seen last month. But a new comScore report indicates that Bing did indeed see its share of the search market increase in November, and that's all the more significant since Google...
Wowd Updates Social Search App For Facebook
December 15, 2010, 11:06 amSocial search company Wowd, has released a new Web version of its service it says is focused exclusively on cutting through the clutter on Facebook and surfacing content that is the most relevant. We want to give people a simple tool they can really use - one that makes their online social lives easier, said Mark Drummond, CEO of Wowd. We listen...
Get a Copyblogger T-Shirt, Help a Child Learn to Read
December 15, 2010, 11:01 amYou weighed in on our proposed Copyblogger t-shirt slogans . You picked the ones you liked best. And you demanded we offer both men's and women's cuts. Now, you can do a good deed as well. We're donating 100% of the profit from your purchase of a Copyblogger t-shirt to the outstanding child literacy organization Reading is Fundamental . Click here...
Jeopardy! Pitting Humans Against Computer Searching For Answers
December 15, 2010, 10:51 amIBM will be pitted against the two most successful Jeopardy contestants in a test to see if the computer can search its database and find the correct answer faster, the TV Show announced. "The iconic game show announced Tuesday that it will pit Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, its all-time most successful contestants, against "Watson," an IBM...
Top 7 Microsoft Advertising Blog Posts of 2010
December 15, 2010, 10:51 amAs the year is nearly over, we started to take a look at what were the most read Microsoft Advertising blog posts of 2010. Weve always tried to bring you the very best, most relevant insight and news from our business and the industry as a whole, and from what youve been perusing, it seems our readers are as into integrated digital marketing as we...
Google Earth Six is Released
December 15, 2010, 10:41 amPart of Google's fame comes from their tendency to provide amazing freebies to their customers. For several years, this has included Google Earth " the only internet time waster that lets you feel like you're exploring the world. With the latest release of GE (version six), Google makes the experience far more immersive thanks to .
Twitter Top Trends for 2010 Contained Sponsor Promoted Tweets
December 15, 2010, 10:30 amTime Magazine's Techland reported that a number of the Trending Topics listed in their year end Top Lists contained listings from sponsor's promoted tweets. Two movies that made the list Scott Pilgrim vs the World and perhaps appropriately Despicable Me were advertisers/sponsors, as was MTV Music Video Awards which topped the Television category....
Facebook Gets More Useful on Android Devices
December 15, 2010, 10:30 amFacebook has updated its Android app. It's a pretty significant update because it adds Facebook Chat functionality, which was previously unavailable, and for some people a big part of Facebook use. The update also adds push notifications to Android devices running version 2.2 or above. Chat doesn't require this high of a version, however. In the...
Bing Improves Facebook's 'Like' Results - New Ranking Factor Confirmed?
December 15, 2010, 9:45 amToday Bing announced that specific links that have been 'liked' by your Facebook friends will be highlighted in the search results page. This is a development from the separate set of Facebook results that occasionally appear for generic search queries.Click to read the rest of this post...
Facebook Wins "Best Place To Work" Award
December 15, 2010, 9:13 amUnemployed individuals who aren't running low on paper and/or somehow limited in the number of emails they can send should dispatch a resume Facebook's way regardless of the odds of success. A new "Best Places to Work" list is out, and employees of Mark Zuckerberg's company were enthusiastic enough about it to put Facebook in the number one spot....
Gawker Attack Sends Ripples Throughout the Web
December 15, 2010, 9:13 amI can't remember the last time we've seen so many hacking (and related) stories in the news, particularly in which so many big name brands were affected in such a short amount of time. Last week, of course the big stories were about "Anonymous" taking down MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, etc. Now stories about brands like about Gawker, Yahoo, Twitter,...
Comma as URL Word Separator - What's G think?
December 15, 2010, 9:08 amSeeing more and more urls with commas in them.
Online Holiday Spending Hits $23 Billion
December 15, 2010, 8:57 amOnline holiday spending has reached $23.82 billion, representing a 12 percent increase over the same time period last year, according to the latest report from comScore. The most recent week (week ending Dec. 12) reached $5.31 billion in spending, an increase of 12 percent over the corresponding week last year. Monday, December 13, known as Green...
Tim Ferriss on How to Reinvent Yourself with Blog Marketing: IMfSP Radio # 6
December 15, 2010, 8:47 amYou know Tim Ferriss as the best-selling author of The 4-Hour Work Week , the man behind the popular Experiments in Lifestyle Design blog, and now as the author of his new book, The 4-Hour Body . But it obviously wasn't always the case. What does Tim credit for his rapid emergence into the public eye? His blog and his blogger outreach strategy ,...
How to Spice up Your Social Media Strategy in 2011
December 15, 2010, 8:42 amThis is a guest post by Jennifer Mattern. Is your company's social media strategy really working? Could it stand for some improvement? Whether you feel that you've maxed out the potential of your current social media efforts or you feel like nothing you do is really helping, it's time to step up your game. Now is the perfect time to make changes...
French Create Google Tax, Starts Jan. 1
December 15, 2010, 8:42 amThe new tax on online advertising spends called the "Google tax" was passed by the French government this week and will start Jan. 1, 2011, Le Journal du Net reported. The tax will be paid by online advertisers, not Google directly unless they advertise their products a lot in France. Click to read the rest of this post.
Five New AdWords Tools that Can Help You Move the Needle
December 15, 2010, 8:32 amIf you've tried to use your RSS reader to stay up to date with innovations on the Google AdWords platform, you probably have some unread posts, as you're likely subscribed to some combination of the sea of official Google blogs (I didn't even realize there were that many until I went to grab the link for all their advertising-related blogs: 18...
Bing Unleashes Its Holiday Updates
December 15, 2010, 8:21 amBing is the last of the three search engine giants to release its holiday shopping updates " and just a little too late to catch Black Friday or Cyber Monday. However, these two new features are certainly impressive. Visual Browsing Bing has made a strong bid for those who prefer a visual interface, providing a .
France: la 'Google Tax'
December 15, 2010, 8:16 amAccording to yesterday's Le Figaro article, companies advertising online will have to pay a tax - the infamous 'Google Tax' - equalling 1% of the yearly ad spend from January 1st 2011. This tax creation was proposed by french 'député' Philippe Marini who also requested to tax french companies e-commerce revenue by 0.5%. France has a tradition of...
The Post that Made Me
December 15, 2010, 8:12 amNichola Stott asked a number of well-known, prolific bloggers to share their experiences of blogging and writing – and to point out any seminal piece of work that signified a changing point for them.
Zuckerberg is the Person of the Year 2010 According to Time Magazine
December 15, 2010, 8:06 amTime has named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg its person of the year. "For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them; for creating a new system of exchanging information; and for changing how we all live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year," the publication proclaims. It's...
Mark Zuckerberg - Person of the Year 2010 - TIME
December 15, 2010, 7:58 amGreat 10 page spread about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. TIME's Person of the Year!
My CMO doesn't think search marketing is "sexy"
December 15, 2010, 7:51 amby Mike Moran I'm Irish, so I am not often at a loss when someone asks a question, but I was a bit startled at a query I received while doing a recent Webinar: "How do I overcome search marketing's lack of sexiness to convince my CMO to do it?" Now, I've been doing this marketing thing for many years now, and I well remember the days when...
Google Crawler May Have Helped Leak Colorado Drug Informants
December 15, 2010, 7:51 amColorado sheriffs are working with Google to find out how their database " mistakenly revealed the identities of confidential drug informants and listed phone numbers, addresses and Social Security numbers of suspects, victims and others interviewed during criminal investigations ", NPR reported . Click to read the rest of this post.
Using Google Ad Extensions
December 15, 2010, 7:25 amWith the recent updates Google has made to their Ad extensions in Ad Words, it makes sense to take a step back and look at each type to determine how and when to use them. Ad extensions expand the standard PPC text ads in the results to display relevant additional information that would normally be gathered on the page post click. These ad types...
Google Tries to Thank Advertisers with Bees, Dominoes, and Moon Writing
December 15, 2010, 7:15 amLast month, Google celebrated the ten year anniversary of AdWords , and now the company has taken the time to thank all of the businesses who have used AdWords to advertise. Gooogle being Google had to go all out of course, and give thanks in interesting and creative ways...or at least try to. They ran into some hiccups as this video would...
Social Media Advertising on Twitter
December 15, 2010, 6:38 amAdvertising is Dead. SEO is Dead. The list of provocative linkbait goes on and on but savvy practitioners realize that few things just die out. They change. Like advertising. Traditional ad dollars are most certainly moving to digital and as companies look for more ways to take advantage of technology to better connect with customers, social media...
Digital Death provides boon of Life for kids charity
December 15, 2010, 4:02 amRunning an effective social media campaign is no easy task for any company, but for a charity with limited marketing resources that challenge is especially difficult. Perhaps the greatest success to date of an excellent charitable social media campaign was the Nike Chalkbot, which promoted the LIVESTRONG campaign on the Tour de France raising...
Five big mistakes expert marketers make every day
December 15, 2010, 3:41 amRight now web businesses all across the globe are shovelling money into marketing programs that are massively underperforming, and chances are you’re one of them. This is because many marketers don’t focus on the one thing that will have the biggest impact on their business – the website’s conversion rate.
SEO content marketing roundup, week ending December 15th
December 15, 2010, 3:37 amThis week's latest and greatest web writing news resonates with the season, dominated by content both retrospective and predictive. Google, Apple, Twitter, and Facebook follow Yahoo in releasing their respective stats for 2010, and predictions abound for where the market is going with content, SEO, search, and social media, and on how to best deal...
Time Magazine Person of the Year: Mark Zuckerberg
December 15, 2010, 2:59 am"Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year."
Microsoft Patch Tuesday Massive Update
December 15, 2010, 2:50 am"...to plug 40 security vulnerabilities across a number of products, including critical bugs impacting Internet Explorer and Microsoft Windows."
Google Instant Mobile is Global – Almost Instantly
December 15, 2010, 2:32 amGoogle has recently announced that Google Instant Mobile is now available “globally”. This means that the tool is released for all countries that have Google Mobile access (there are several dozens of those) and supports almost thirty languages.
The product, similarly to Google Instant Mobile, is integrated into search features for any Android...
Majority of People Surveyed Say Online Rep is Important
December 15, 2010, 2:15 am78% of people surveyed in a recent poll said they believe it is very important to look up information about people and/or businesses online before deciding to interact or do business with them. And when they look you up, what will they find? Social media is a great tool for connecting with your customers but it's also a potential minefield for...
Stick a Fork in Yahoo?
December 15, 2010, 2:15 amYahoo continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. Yesterday the Internet company (how do you even classify them anymore?) gave pink slips to 4% of their workforce. Yahoo wants to give the impression of a company that is rising from the ashes but it still looks like one that continues to burn to the ground. TechCrunch reports Yahoo's...
Top SEOmoz Posts of 2010
December 15, 2010, 1:18 amPosted by jennita Over here at the mozPlex we thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of our Best Posts of 2010. But how do we determine what a best post is? Do we look at the number of thumbs up or do we care more about traffic generated by the post? Or since were SEOs over here, is a top post based on the number of linking root...
Google's Missing Disclosure
December 15, 2010, 12:37 amNetflix's Risky Position One of the fundamental keys to monetizing third party content is finding a way to do it while keeping your earnings data abstract. A huge problem that hits pure plays like Netflix is that as soon as companies see the profits the cost structures change. Comcast is looking to get some funds from Level 3 ( for distribution of...
Twitter Opens Advertising Opps to the Masses
December 15, 2010, 12:08 amFor quite a while now everyone and their brother has been lobbing the "when are you going to really monetize Twitter" bombs into the micro-blogging giant's front yard. It's a popular thing to do but as of late that cry has lost a little steam (in part due to having real business people like Dick Costolo at the helm) and the latest move by Twitter...
Content Promotion Techniques That Work
December 14, 2010, 11:22 pmDo you write lots of content that seem to get swept under the rug only to never be seen or read? You have to realize that there are thousands of articles, blog posts and all types of content being placed online almost every single day so not all of them can get the recognition that they deserve by your community. It takes time to acquire the...
Accurately Interpreting Search Results: It's Not The Same For You, Me, or the Search Engines
December 14, 2010, 11:08 pm"Then again, does it matter?... ...Google thinks it can use the volume of internet searches to tell us how much flu there is before the medical authorities know themselves."
How to Implement a Winning Social-Media Function in Your Organization
December 14, 2010, 9:01 pmA really terrific article on Marketing Profs that outlines how to get all your ducks in a row for social media, from assessment to planning to execution and analysis. Specific questions that need to be answered at each step along the way.
Guest Post: Bing National Tailgating Championship Recap, New Orleans
December 14, 2010, 8:07 pmThe Bing National Tailgating Championship headed down to the Big Easy for this weeks regional finals. Congratulations to Dragos Char Broiling Engine Oysters who claimed the right to compete for top tailgating honors in February. The New Orleans natives bowled over fans and judges with their oysters, gumbo and etouffé. If youre in Seattle...
Do the Big Brands Have an Advantage When it Comes to Social Media?
December 14, 2010, 6:19 pmSocial media is the great equalizer; Lady Gaga (VEGAS tonight, gambling and inappropriate attire to ensue ) Tweeting alongside Taylyr, the junior high school student with a band (:/ im in QUIET the awful state. im pretty sure i dont want to go to school in the morning). Facebook, where you can have updates from TV vampires right next to reminders...
Life in a Day premiere at Sundance set for January 27
December 14, 2010, 6:04 pmImagine a momentary glimpse into 80,000 perspectives from around the world. A goat farmer in the Ukraine heads to work in the morning. Three Angolan women sing a song as they beat corn into meal at lunchtime. A young man in the United States comes out to his grandmother. You'll see these scenes and more in the final cut of " Life in a Day " when...
Green Monday Witnesses $954 Million in U.S. Online Spending as Second Heaviest Day on Record
December 14, 2010, 5:02 pmcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 43 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, more than $23.82 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The...
Editing Web Sites for Success: The Seven Deadly Editing Horrors
December 14, 2010, 4:57 pmOkay, the headline is a bit dramatic, but sometimes I just cant get past my editor self. Ive compiled a quick list of the top 7 writing issues that cause me to not buy from a website. 1. Spelling mistakes . I really dont feel comfortable buying from a website that cant run spell check on their content. If they cant spend 10 seconds running the...
Jay-Z Decoded by Bing: Winners announced!
December 14, 2010, 4:52 pmThank you for helping to make history with Jay-Z Decoded. The response has been amazing and we are happy to announce the winners in the Decode Jay-Z Sweepstakes from www.bing.com/jay-z . The Grand Prizes have been officially awarded to Keisha T. from Northville, Michigan, and Latifah M. from New York, NY. Keisha has won a trip to Las Vegas to see...
BI-LO sees productivity gains and increased collaboration by going Google
December 14, 2010, 4:26 pmEditor's note: Over 3 million businesses have adopted Google Apps . Today we'll hear from Carol Dewitt, CIO of BI-LO . To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our community map or test drive life in the cloud with the Go Google cloud calculator. BI-LO is coming up on its 50th anniversary. We are a...
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft To Fight Illegal Pharmacies With White House
December 14, 2010, 4:21 pmGoogle, Yahoo, and Microsoft can't agree on much, and you might imagine that tossing some politicians into the situation wouldn't help, but a common goal's come to light. These companies, along with many others and the Obama administration, intend to stop illegal Internet pharmacies from doing business.
William McQuillen reported today that...
Google Voice Spreads to the iPad, iPod Touch
December 14, 2010, 4:16 pmAbout a month ago, Google finally launched Google Voice for the iPhone . Today, Google launched a new version that also supports the iPad and iPod Touch devices. "While you cant use your iPod or iPad as a phone, you can use it to initiate Google Voice calls with your phones," says product manager Marcus Foster. "We call this feature Click2Call....
Survey: Email and Company Sites Providing Better ROI Than Social Channels
December 14, 2010, 3:55 pmA survey conducted at ad:tech by EPiServer has found that 60% of respondents are getting the highest return on investment from email marketing and company websites and blogs when compared to mobile and social channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. "The survey results clearly illustrate what many in the marketing world already...
Yahoo's Holiday Layoffs: 650 Let Go
December 14, 2010, 3:35 pmYahoo laid off "about 650" people this morning - roughly 4 percent of the company's entire workforce of 14,000 - according to a local report from KGO-TV in San Francisco. Estimates were that between 650 and 700 people will be let go before the end of the day. Click to read the rest of this post.
French Regulators Call Google Dominant, Express Concerns
December 14, 2010, 3:24 pmThere's good news and bad news for Google in France today. The Autorite de la Concurrence - a competition watchdog - has decided it isn't thrilled with the company's power, but isn't yet willing to assert that Google needs to be tamed with fines and legal measures, either. The Autorite de la Concurrence observed in a statement that, with respect...
Court Ruling Protects Email Privacy
December 14, 2010, 3:09 pmA ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that the government has to have a search warrant before it can secretly seize and search emails stored by service providers, and that email privacy is protected by the fourth amendment. The ruling came in an appeal of Warshak v. United States, a case which is described by the EFF in...
What a Facebook Fan Means to the Brand
December 14, 2010, 2:59 pmFacebook is one of the quickest ways in existence for companies to reach mass amounts of potential customers. Businesses can create their own Facebook pages, whether they are an internationally recognized chain or a local coffee shop. Having a Facebook page gives a business several advantages: Instant updates to customers about sales, new...
Amy Adams' Next Role, John Boehner's Tears, Octomom's Housing Crisis: What's the Buzz
December 14, 2010, 2:28 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Amy Adams (Searches increased by 3,831%). "The Fighter" star will be headlining "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made," set to appear in Thanksgiving, 2011 . John Kerry (+2,690%). The Massachusetts senator attended Elizabeth Edwards' funeral. Figgy pudding recipe (+690%). Now bring us...
New Inbound Links Feature in Bing Webmaster Tools
December 14, 2010, 2:23 pmWe are pleased to announce the release of our new Inbound Links feature. Bing Webmaster Tools now provides registered site owners the ability to easily & intuitively retrieve data about links to their sites. We received plenty of feedback from site owners and SEOs that expressed the importance of this data to better understand how their sites are...
Newspapers Must Be Dead Brent D. Payne Has Left To Join Their Consulting Arm
December 14, 2010, 2:18 pmWhether it was to work in a more viable industry, or just a change to an area where his skill set could be more profitably employed, Brent D. Payne - the well branded face of online optimization for the Tribune is now Director of Search and Social Media at 435 Digital, the company announced today . If the Tribune that owns newspapers including the...
Kadashians' Fashion Disaster
December 14, 2010, 2:12 pmby Claudine Zap The stars of " Keeping Up with the Kardashians " are having some trouble keeping up with the fashion world. The sisters, who gained fame on their reality show, also fashioned a mini-fashion empire that may be coming to an end. First, the Kardashians for Bebe line's latest collection of resortwear may be their last . The president...
Google Fights Claims of Bias in Instant, Local Search
December 14, 2010, 2:07 pmGoogle has been busy defending itself from accusations of bias in its local, organic, and paid results in recent weeks. Yesterday, Amit Singhal, Google Fellow and head of the company's search quality, ranking, and algorithm team, denied another common allegation: that Google Instant favors big brands.Click to read the rest of this post...
Give Google Your Voice. Literally.
December 14, 2010, 2:07 pmGoogle has launched personalized voice recognition for voice search on Android 2.2 and higher. If you've used Google's voice search much, you probably know how inaccurate it can often be. This feature should (theoretically) help with this. Google will get to know your voice and understand it, and your search queries will become more accurate....
Americans Want More Control Over Their Online Information
December 14, 2010, 2:07 pmThe majority (90%) of Americans want more control over the information that is available about them online, according to a new survey by Harris Interactive for Intellius. Because people use websites and search engines to find out information about others, 80 percent believe their online identity is now as important as their offline personal or...
Social Networking and Compromising Your Privacy
December 14, 2010, 1:37 pmIf you think for a moment that everything you're tweeting and updating is safe or private, think again. If your intentions are for "their eyes only," you might want to pause before clicking the "Next" button. In an article released by TheRepublic.com, the writer confirmed what most of us know to already be true: everything .
Twitter Shows Its Real Power With Latest Top Ten of 2010 List
December 14, 2010, 1:16 pmYesterday, Twitter released a number of top ten lists for trends in 2010 . They showed off the top trends of the year in general, as well as the top in tech, news, movies, people, TV, and hashtags. Today, the company has released a list of what it has deemed as the top ten most powerful tweets of the year . The tweets come from reporter Ann...
Trackur Gets More Klout, Adds Twitter Influence Metrics
December 14, 2010, 1:11 pmOne of the cool features about Trackur's social media monitoring is our InfluenceRank scoring system. For every web site, blog, or Twitter user, we've always shown you just how influential they are-with a simple score out of 100. With news sites and blogs, we provided further analysis with screenshots, traffic details, backlink numbers and more....
New agreement with VIVO will bring PayPal mobile payments to Brazil
December 14, 2010, 12:45 pmHello everybody, I'm Mario Mello, general manager for PayPal Brazil. Today, we announced an important agreement with VIVO , the largest mobile phone service provider in Brazil and the South Hemisphere, to allow mobile subscribers to send payments for airtime, goods and services. Currently, Brazilian mobile phone subscribers need to enter a...
Renowned Agitator Michael Moore Offers To Help WikiLeaks Founder
December 14, 2010, 12:25 pmFilm director Michael Moore has offered to help bail out Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, and provide him a server to continue hosting his controversial site, not because it is one of the top searched terms at Google this month - but because he sees the site as a necessary free speech forum, he wrote at Huffington Post . In an article Moore...
Changes to Yahoo! Buzz
December 14, 2010, 12:14 pmby Yahoo! Buzz Log Yahoo! will discontinue the voting and ranking aspects of Yahoo! Buzz in the coming months. Visit Yahoo! Buzz help for more information. The Yahoo! Buzz Log will continue to bring you the scoop on the biggest searches and hottest trends. Thank you for your interest in the Yahoo! Buzz Log.
New Zealand Concludes Street View Investigation
December 14, 2010, 11:24 amThe lawyers responsible for handling Google's affairs in New Zealand may finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief. The Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand announced today that she's concluded her investigation into the Street View data collection debacle, and Google will not face any fines or significant penalties.
That's not to say the...
CNN Launches Free iPad App
December 14, 2010, 11:23 amCNN has launched a new free app for the iPad aimed at offering a more visual news experience. The CNN App for iPad combines images with reporting from CNN, including text stories, blog posts, photo galleries, and live or on-demand video. Users have the ability to toggle between U.S. and international news. The app has a user comment feature...
SEW Forums Adds New Forum On CMS SEO
December 14, 2010, 11:18 amMany website owners use CMS to generate their sites - so Search Engine Watch Fourms has added a special place for you to get and share information about optimizing them, Hopefully you will find it a handy reference. I have reached out to Joost deValk aka Yoast to help out, so the information will be very accurate and invaluable to those new or...
Why Google Needs The Manipulative Web
December 14, 2010, 11:07 amRoss Hudgens on Google's ideal world of compelling content that magically ranks by its greatness vs. a reality where manipulative tactics rule the SERPs: "In these two environments, one where sites are chosen mostly by variance and other sporadic factors, against the other – one where SEOs are forced into manipulative link practices – it is my...
Google's Acquisition of Zetawire brings Electronic Wallets Nearer #NFC
December 14, 2010, 10:57 amBill Slawski: Will Google be bringing us electronic wallets in the future? One of the technologies that Zetawire has an expertise in is Near Field Communication, or NFC. Near field communications is being built into the “Recommended on Google” window stickers available to businesses listed in Google Places. If you place your NFC enabled...
Can Microsoft Compete with the iPad?
December 14, 2010, 10:52 amReports indicate that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to unveil some new slates from Samsung and Dell at CES next month that are designed to compete with Apple's incredibly popular iPad. The company has not confirmed, and the sources of the info are unnamed, but evidently trusted by the New York Times, which reports : The Samsung device...
Finding Answers Online: Social Networks Vs. Search Engines
December 14, 2010, 10:32 amNow more than ever, people are flocking to the Internet to find information. Newspaper circulation has gone down at a rapid rate, while the era of smartphones, tablets, and the Internet continues to grow.
In February 2010, Search Engine Land reported that there are 34,000 Google searches per second. That is a lot of people looking for...
Chrome notebooks for business
December 14, 2010, 10:11 amToday we launched the Chrome notebook Pilot program. Chrome notebooks will be great for businesses, schools and government agencies - especially Google Apps customers - because they deliver a faster, simpler and more secure computing experience, with lower total cost of ownership than traditional PCs. Learn more on the Official Google Blog and...
Film on Social Networking Wins Award
December 14, 2010, 10:06 am'and the winner is, "The Social Network!" The movie is about, of course, social networking, and talks about the road to success by two friends who began a website that grew exponentially on the Internet. That success however was short-lived as one friend sued another for $600 million. The pitfalls and questionable motives about greed, .
Chrome OS to Merge with Android, Pundits Say
December 14, 2010, 9:55 amThere's a fun, potentially contentious debate afoot now that Chrome Operating System has been released on the Cr-48 test flight notebook . Pundits are coming out swinging against Chrome OS, predicting its outright demise, or possible merger with Android, Google's other operating system. With nearly one quarter of smartphone market share in the...
SEO copywriting tips in Haiku
December 14, 2010, 9:55 amI'm often telling folks to have fun with their content. Whether you're a B2B or B2C, there are many ways you can get your point across - and establish your expertise - without sounding boring, Today, I thought I'd take my own advice. Below you'll find common SEO copywriting tips - written Haiku-style. Enjoy! SEO copy Is more than keyphrase...
How to Make People Give a Damn About Your Business
December 14, 2010, 9:40 amThere's been a lot of talk about "story" here at Copyblogger lately. Actually, they've been talking about story for about four years, but you might not have realized it. As a content marketer, or even just a blogger who's trying to figure out the basics, you're writing a story. Every day. With every word you put in front of your readers. So far,...
iPhone Game Developers Releasing Higher Quality Titles
December 14, 2010, 9:25 amThe Nintendo DS was once a giant in the portable gaming world, and enjoyed a long lasting time by itself atop the portable gaming mountain. That was until a little device called the iPhone (and iPod Touch) released. At first Nintendo tried to distance themselves from the iPhone by saying it really wasn't a " gaming system ". This worked for a...
Optimize Press Releases For Customers, Journalists And Bloggers
December 14, 2010, 9:25 amMore WebProNews Videos You can put out press releases and just sit there and hope your stories get picked up and/or read by customers, but it helps if you optimize them for those who are most likely to be interested. Nida Haque, Marketing Manager of PRWeb spoke with WebProNews recently about press release optimization. "Do your keyword research,"...
eBay Enjoys "Busiest Mobile Shopping Day Ever"
December 14, 2010, 9:09 amIt apparently took eBay a little while to tally the numbers and write up the press release, but Sunday was a great day for the company. eBay saw mobile shoppers flock to the site, establishing December 12th as the busiest mobile shopping day ever. An official statement from the company declared, "In the U.S. mobile gross merchandise volume (GMV)...
Kodak Launches Facebook Photo Album App
December 14, 2010, 9:09 amKodak has introduced a Social Photo Album Creator for Facebook that lets people combine photos from the site and work with others to make an album together. There are three steps to using the Social Photo Album Creator : 1.Create an album from your Facebook photos. 2.Invite others to participate and add their pictures to your album. 3.Visit...
Has your website the right reading level for Google?
December 14, 2010, 8:36 amThis week, Google introduced a new advanced search feature that enables you to filter search results by reading level. Which reading level is required to read your web pages and does this influence the position of your site in Google's search results?
Adobe Launches Site Search Tool to Keep Visitors from Leaving Your Site
December 14, 2010, 8:18 amAdobe has introduced a new tool for site search powered by Omniture , aimed at helping marketers anticipate visitor search intent and promote relevant products and content. It's called Search&Promote . The real goal of the tool is to cut down bounce rates. "Since search is the primary form of navigation on many websites, it is often the first...
Google Launches Global Advertising Tools
December 14, 2010, 8:13 amMany e-commerce sites turn to Google when it comes to advertising their business. With a huge share in both the organic searches and successful PPC advertising fields, Google is the natural choice. Now, Google is extending its reach even further by launching a set of tools designed to support advertising across national borders. The scenario .
Six Pieces of the Smart Marketing Puzzle
December 14, 2010, 8:07 amMarketing may sound boring to some, I mean' who cares about facts, figures, data and trends. It's a business, however, much like any other business - except maybe more cutthroat in today's online presence. Marketing plans are at the front-line of a very competitive war. Only, in this war no one gets to surrender. In a world of hostile takeovers,...
Facebook Memeology: More Empty Social Chatter
December 14, 2010, 8:02 amWow. If there is one thing I can take away from these end of year lists of trends etc. is that social media is truly a mile wide and about a ¼ inch deep. In other words, what gets the most attention in places like Twitter is very shallow. All of the talk of the social media revolution and passing information along that will change the world blah,...
SEOgadget Keyword Tools are Now Open to Public
December 14, 2010, 7:46 amSEOgadget.co.uk has announced a new keyword tool beta to make the keyword research process more actionable and (hopefully) enjoyable experience. According to the announcement, "Getting clear visibility on keyword search volume and opportunity data is painstaking and time intensive, but it's such an important part of the initial and ongoing process...
Getting Started Social Media Advertising on Facebook, YouTube & LinkedIn
December 14, 2010, 7:36 amAs consumer use of and time spent on social media sites increases , the opportunities for effective advertising become more attractive to companies in search of customers to connect with. We've given the advice that to grow a social network , a company should participate and engage with communities of interest. That's still great advice, just as...
U.S. November Retail Sales Surpass Forecasts
December 14, 2010, 7:18 am"The National Federation of Independent Business's sentiment gauge rose by 1.5 points to 93.2, the highest since December 2007, as more companies projected sales will grow."
YouTube Introduces Its Own Trends Offering
December 14, 2010, 6:44 amThe trend today seems to be about what's trending. Of course, part of the interest in this is how trending is defined then carried out as we discussed yesterday regarding Twitter's take on trending . Google in its usual fashion has created videos to help us understand the service. The first one is pretty entertaining (while being mildly...
What's New in SEO for December 14, 2010
December 14, 2010, 6:24 amWe have compiled the latest news and updates from the big three, Google, Bing and Yahoo as it relates to SEO and the search engines overall. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH GOOGLE: Webmaster Tools' Holiday Update Google has announced updates to it's webmaster tools. Now when you visit the search queries feature, you will find new tab titled, "Top Pages"...
GNU Founder Warns of Loss of Data Control In The Cloud
December 14, 2010, 5:10 am"Google's new cloud computing ChromeOS looks like a plan "to push people into careless computing" by forcing them to store their data in the cloud rather than on machines directly under their control,"
The 12 Days of Distilledmas
December 14, 2010, 5:01 amHappy Holidays everyone! Here is a little Distilled treat designed by Leonie for you all. Enjoy!
Asia's Largest Digital and Social Media Event Heads to Mumbai
December 14, 2010, 4:05 amIt's no secret that the world is going digital. Your books are digital, your music is digital, and your funny cat videos are digital. The internet is no longer something people do, it's the pipeline through which people do everything else. The time for digital marketing has arrived. Come January 2011, Mumbai, India's financial and business capital...
19.2 Million Spanish Internet Users watched 2.9 Billion Online Videos in October 2010
December 14, 2010, 4:05 amcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from its recently launched Spanish comScore Video Metrix service, indicating that 2.9 billion videos were viewed online in Spain in October 2010.
Building Deep Links Into E-Commerce Product Pages
December 14, 2010, 3:29 amPosted by Everett Sizemore There are tons of ways to build links into the home page or blog/article pages of an e-commerce website. But most e-commerce SEOs suffer from the same problem: It's not so easy getting links into categories or product detail pages (PDPs). The e-commerce SEO's conundrum: The pages that generate revenue are the ones you...
Viral Video Content Ideas
December 13, 2010, 11:17 pmViral video campaigns online can easily take your business and put it into a whole different light when it comes to how your audience views you. When done right they can massively produce a serious amount of links pointing towards your website but you have to take the time to plan them correctly. Here are some ideas on different topics you could...
Is Google Ageist, Or Do The Kids Think They Know More Than Their Parents?
December 13, 2010, 8:07 pmI realize that some of the information Google is offering at TeachParentsTech provides invaluable simple instructions to bring people up to speed on online things many take for granted, but their presentation does seem a little ageist. Why not just call it Tech For Dummies? Click to read the rest of this post.
YouTube Removes Time Limit for Some Users
December 13, 2010, 6:43 pmYouTube made an interesting move this week that appears to be a portent of things to come. Only a few months after raising the maximum video time from ten minutes to fifteen, they're now removing the cap completely " but only for the privileged few. To see if your account has been selected, log in and click the upload button. Chances are you're...
State of the Yellow Pages Industry
December 13, 2010, 5:33 pmThis is an up to date report on the state of the yellow pages industry. The inference is that their struggles are due to lack of usage, particularly among the younger demographic, and low sales volume due to search localization. It represents HUGE opportunity for the SEO industry as billions of dollars that were previously spent on the yellow...
Google Webmaster Tools Adds Redirect Links, Search Query Info
December 13, 2010, 5:09 pmWebmaster Tools has added some major improvements to the information they provide on search queries and inbound links to redirected pages. You can now see if a link to a redirected pages has been passed - but not the juice passed - and drill deep into search queries to individual pages, the Webmaster Tools blog reported . Click to read the rest of...
How a Search Engine Might Handle Nicknames and Given Names
December 13, 2010, 4:53 pmMr "Patent", Bill Slawski, introduces a Yahoo patent that you as an SEO should know about. It might also apply to handles and user names. He delivers a best practice, too: "The process described in this patent may help when you’re writing content for a page on a website that involves an individual, and that person often goes by a nickname....
Gmail App Learns 44 New Languages
December 13, 2010, 4:33 pmThe HTML5 version of the mobile Gmail app hasn't exactly been friendly towards non-American users to date; English (and indeed what Google calls "U.S. English") was the only language in which it was available. Now, however, Google's addressed the problem in a big way. Today, there are 44 new languages on the figurative table, and that should...
Google Earth Pro 6: Measure your world in 3D
December 13, 2010, 4:23 pm( Cross posted from the Google Lat Long Blog ) We're excited to announce a new addition to the Advanced Measurement Tool Suite in Google Earth Pro : you can now measure in 3D! Pro customers recently ranked Area Measurement as one of the most valuable Google Earth Pro tools, so we wanted to add more to the package. In a continued effort to mirror...
Twitter Releases Top Trends of 2010 for Various Categories
December 13, 2010, 4:18 pmTwitter launched its year-end top trends list today. The top overall trends for 2010 were as follows: 1. Gulf Oil Spill 2. FIFA World Cup 3. Inception 4. Haiti Earthquake 5. Vuvuzela 6. Apple iPad 7. Google Android 8. Justin Bieber 9. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows 10. Pulpo Paul Twitter also broke down the top trends for several categories. ...
How to Create an Extended Action Tag: Part 4 in the Atlas Blog Action Tag Series
December 13, 2010, 4:03 pmBy now you should know all the great reasons for working with extended action tags. Remember ? You can monitor factors of your advertising campaignlike revenueto measure your return on investment (ROI), track non-quantitative categories that make sense to you, and then pull reports on all this data. So, lets get started. First, youll need to...
Mobile Digg Improvements
December 13, 2010, 3:37 pmHey guys, A few days ago we released an improved and streamlined version of m.digg.com. Our mobile experience has left something to be desired for a while now and this is our first attempt at making it easier and more fun to use. Visit digg.com on your mobile device (or simply go to m.digg.com on any device) to see the improved mobile site. If you...
YouTube Launches "Trends" Site To Track Popular Clips
December 13, 2010, 3:27 pmUpwards of 35 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute, making it impossible for anyone to view a fraction of whatever good stuff is available. Even trying would be a waste of time. YouTube's launched a new site called YouTube Trends to highlight the popular clips, however. This isn't a matter of two or three editors picking out...
ä½ å¥½, नमसà¥à¤¤à¥ and bonjour to better mobile web Gmail
December 13, 2010, 3:27 pm(Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog ) There are many ways to get your Gmail on your phone. The mobile webapp version of Gmail (which you can get to by going to gmail.com in your browser) is the best way to get the most Gmail features on your iPhone or Android-powered device. Features such as search, stars, labels and threaded conversations...
Google Lets Advertisers Use Seller Ratings Extensions in Mobile Ads
December 13, 2010, 3:11 pmGoogle announced that its extending its Seller Ratings extensions for AdWords ads to mobile. These let advertisers show users when they have positive ratings, which can of course inspire clicks. "Everyday consumers are using their phones to search Google and a growing number are turning to mobile to complete a variety of purchases," says Anna...
Enter to Win a $500 Gift Card When You Bing and Decide on Facebook
December 13, 2010, 3:06 pmI have a confession to make: I havent even started my holiday shopping yet. Here we are just 2 weeks from Christmas and I havent made a single purchase. I have a pretty good idea what Id like to get for my husband and son, but its a bit more challenging to predict the preferences of people that I dont spend as much time with. What, for example,...
Google Still Rules as the Most Used Social Media Login
December 13, 2010, 2:09 pmIn an average day, I log-in to no less than twenty different websites. Some of these are blogs I work on. Some are communities I follow. Then there's Amazon, eBay, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter. Each place has its own username and password and some make me change my password on a regular basis. Firefox remembers most of them for me, thank heavens,...
Groupon: We're the Savior for Small Businesses
December 13, 2010, 2:04 pmLegend has it that Groupon turned down a $6 billion offer from Google , which if accepted would have been Google's biggest acquisition to date. Time will tell if this was a smart move or not, but Andrew Mason, Groupon's CEO seems fairly confident in the company's future. Mason recently appeared on Charlie Rose , who asked him about the offer. He...
Google Launches Site Aimed At Helping People Learn About Tech
December 13, 2010, 1:49 pmGoogle has introduced a new website called TeachParentsTech.org aimed at helping people teach others about computer basics. The Google Blog offers more details. TeachParentsTech.org lets you select from more than 50 basic how-to videos to send to mom, dad, your old college roommate, your neighbor or anyone else who could use a little help...
Tutorial: How-to Add/Embed Video On A LinkedIn Profile Page
December 13, 2010, 1:35 pmEasy to follow tutorial from Grant Crowell on how to add video to your LinkedIn profile. If you didn't even know you could do such a thing, this tutorial is for you!
Blekko Beta is Open for Business
December 13, 2010, 1:13 pmBlekko has been talking about its new structure for a while now, but its doors are finally open and searchers can decide for themselves if Blekko really has something unique to offer. Founders of Blekko are quite confident that their structure will provide many with precisely what they're looking for: a way to circumvent the .
Amy Adams Next Role, John Boehner's Tears, Octomom's Housing Crisis: What's the Buzz
December 13, 2010, 12:57 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Amy Adams (Searches increased by 3,831%). "The Fighter" star will be headlining "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made," set to appear in Thanksgiving, 2011 . John Kerry (+2,690%). The Massachusetts senator attended Elizabeth Edwards' funeral. Figgy pudding recipe (+690%). Now bring us...
Google Prevails in Patent Complaint vs. Paul Allen
December 13, 2010, 12:32 pmMicrosoft co-founder Paul Allen believes that most of the Silicon Valley tech giants have built their businesses around technology that he owns the patents on. A Seattle district court judge disagreed, and Friday dismissed Allen's complaint against 11 corporations, including Google and AOL. Click to read the rest of this post.
‘Google Loves You’, ‘Santa’ & Other Myths
December 13, 2010, 12:18 pmLisa Barone's wake up call: (1) Life isn’t fair. It doesn’t even pretend to be. (2) Google doesn’t care about your Web site, your business or your plans. (3) There is no Santa Claus. That’s an important thing for businesses to realize. Stop using Google as a crutch. Or worse yet, your mommy.
How Google Hotpot Is Different from Places
December 13, 2010, 11:50 amWhile initial versions of Hotpot were released in mid-November, Google's heir to Places is only now starting to see a ramp up in popularity. It's unsurprising, since we have reached both the phase where users have experienced and explored the Hotpot features, and where Google has launched additional marketing campaigns. But how, exactly, is Hotpot...
Google Mobile Instant Is Globally Available After Just 35 Days
December 13, 2010, 11:50 amGoogle is good at unleashing products quickly when it wants to, and it has certainly tried to focus more and more on a global market, but even with those precedents their recent announcement is impressive. In a display of surprising speed, Google has created versions of Instant Mobile for all twenty-eight languages spoken in countries where Google...
Google Latitude App For iPhone Launches
December 13, 2010, 11:45 amStarting today, iPhone users may begin enjoying a lot more lunches, coffee breaks, and random shopping mall sit-downs with friends. The Google Latitude app for iPhone was officially released this morning, and it promises to keep users informed of their (consenting) pals' locations at all times. We won't delve too deep into how Latitude works...
Exact Match Domains: How Google Might Solve The Problem
December 13, 2010, 11:44 amThere’s recently been a lot of pubstubhubbub about Google’s overuse of exact match domains in the SERPs. They rank too highly, they say. They’re spam riddled pumpernickel, they say. They’re SPAM (sites placed above mine) period, they say. And mostly, they’re right. There’s more to the debate, of course, says Ross Hudgens, and provides...
Will your gifts arrive on time? Use Bing to find out.
December 13, 2010, 11:40 amAccording to Hitwise ² , retail related searches are up 36% over 2009. With the holidays in full swing, many shoppers are holding out for last minute deals and looking for the cheapest way to ship their gifts. Bing Search data indicates that the US Postal Service (USPS) has received twice as many queries as United Parcel Service (UPS) this year....
Need Better Data? Pay More Attention to Your Web Forms!
December 13, 2010, 11:10 amA UX-must-read from the desk of Graham Rhind: "Web forms are an essential part of the strategy of any organization that has a Web presence. Getting customers to our Web sites, then keeping them there is challenging enough. Once we accomplish that, we need to open a channel of communication with our customers. Web forms are often the channel of...
Jackson Hewitt Offering Online Discount Shopping
December 13, 2010, 11:03 amTax preparer Jackson Hewitt has launched an online Discount Shopping Network that offers cash back rewards from more than 800 retailers, including Target, Sears, Kmart, Best Buy and Staples. The Discount Shopping Network is part of the first phase of the company's roll-out of MyTaxManager, a new online tax management tool. By visiting MyTaxManger...
YouTube Rewind: Top Searches, Videos of 2010
December 13, 2010, 11:02 amMore than 700 billion YouTube videos were viewed in 2010, and users uploaded more than 13 million hours of video (35 hours of video is uploaded every minute to the site). So what were people searching for and watching the most in 2010? Click to read the rest of this post...
Microsoft and Others Join FairSearch Fight Against Google (Update: Google Responds)
December 13, 2010, 10:52 amUpdate: Adam Kovacevich, Google Sr. Manager, Global Communications and Public Affairs offered us the following statement:
"I'm not sure there are any surprises here. Microsoft is our largest competitor and lobbies regulators against every acquisition we make; Foundem hasn't liked where they rank in Google results and has been...
Social Networking Increases Your Stress Level
December 13, 2010, 10:48 amCan participating in social networking really increase your stress level? Isn't it supposed to be fun, enjoyable and gratifying? How then is it stressful? A recent survey conducted by Galaxy research reported that over 63% of the respondents felt that social media was a big contributor to their stress levels. The survey also indicated that .
Google's Gmail 2.3.2 Released for Android
December 13, 2010, 10:42 amIn September of this year, Google separated its Gmail application from its core Android OS, allowing it to update the program without relying on a full system. Now, it has released its first independent application update with version 2.3.2. According to the Google Mobile Blog , this program was released on the Android market on December 9, 2010....
Initial Google Netbook Reviews Surface: Part 1
December 13, 2010, 10:42 amWhile most users and businesses will have to go through the application process to petition for a Google netbook, some major tech bloggers have already received their own Google Cr-48 Notebook " the Chrome OS system that Google announced officially earlier this month. The report from Search Engine Land gives us some unique insights into the...
Google Reflects on Its Contributions to Computer Science Education
December 13, 2010, 10:42 amThis year's Computer Science Education Week (CSEd), the second annual event of this name, has seen a huge increase in both attention and sponsorship from last year, including notable support from Google. Now, as CSEd 2010 draws to a close, it's the perfect time for Google to reflect on what it's added to the industry on the whole. Google did just...
Everyone Is Rushing To Stop FTC's Do Not Track Registry, Why?
December 13, 2010, 10:22 amThe impact of a Federally regulated Do Not Track registry has search engines and other online advertising vendors scurrying to self regulate. What steps are these online players implementing and why is the question. Click to read the rest of this post.
Bing Feature Update: Find and book flights faster with Bing
December 13, 2010, 10:17 amTired of filling out forms when booking flights online? With improvements to natural language search arriving in Bing, you no longer have to manually select your airport, destination, dates or other options to conduct a flight search. Just type what youre thinking into the search box, and let Bing do the work. For example, entering flights from...
Top 10 Twitter Trends of 2010
December 13, 2010, 10:06 amAfter analyzing 25 billion tweets that have been sent so far this year, Twitter this morning revealed the top 10 overall trends, as well as trends in eight categories (news events, people, movies, television, technology, World Cup, sports, and hashtags). Google Android was a hot topic overall this year, while Google Instant was a top trending...
Google creates, indexes, and ranks millions of doorway pages with scraped content
December 13, 2010, 9:49 amViolating its very own quality guidelines, so Aaron Wall reports, Google launched literally megatons of thin cookie cutter pages at deskbar.google.com. Following the tradition, Google's Webspam team is now up to penalize this subdomain. Or maybe they just hang, draw and quarter the webmaster who forgot to add a line...
Should Google Be Able To Prioritize Its Own Content In Search Results?
December 13, 2010, 9:29 amDoes Google have the right to place its own content over others' content in its search results? If the company deems it better for the user that way, Google certainly thinks so.
Do you agree with Google? Let us know.
There has been a great deal of discussion around this in the media recently, and a great deal of complaining from other...
Facebook Wrestles With Free Speech and Civility
December 13, 2010, 9:26 amFacebook’s decision in the WikiLeaks matter illustrates the complexities that the company grapples with, on issues as diverse as that controversy, verbal bullying among teenagers, gay-baiting and religious intolerance.
LinkedIn Adds New Data Center
December 13, 2010, 9:10 amDon't expect LinkedIn to introduce its own version of the fail whale (as Google recently did with a " whale fail " image) anytime soon. This weekend, LinkedIn added a new data center, ensuring that the professional networking site will stay in working order. Stefan Apitz , LinkedIn's senior director of operations, explained on the corporate blog...
How to Find the Gold in Your Business
December 13, 2010, 9:00 amI was talking to a concerned client recently. After taking my advice, his traffic and blog comments had started to decrease. We'd had three or four sessions, and he'd diligently done all I suggested, and he was implementing and enjoying himself and excited about his business. But that graph kept trending downward. And it was starting to get to...
Healthy, holistic measurement of your SEO copywriting success
December 13, 2010, 8:59 amGreetings! Glad you're here, as today we're going to be discussing how to measure our SEO copywriting success. Even after all our market research, competitive analysis, keyword research and per-page strategizing, Title and meta description optimizing, killer copywriting and content marketing, there is always room for improvement and refinement....
Online Holiday Spending Nears $22 Billion
December 13, 2010, 8:54 amU.S. online holiday spending has reached $21.95 billion during the first 40 days of the season, an increase of 12 percent over the same time period as last year, according to the latest report from comScore. The most recent week (week ending Dec. 10) reached $5.15 billion in spending, an increase of 11 percent versus the corresponding week last...
Microsoft and Others Join FairSearch Fight Against Google
December 13, 2010, 8:39 amThe FairSearch.org coalition, the group comprised mostly of travel sites and formed to block Google's acquisition of ITA Software, has added some new members. These include: UK-based Foundem, Paris-based Level...com, Singapore-based ZUJI, and most notably, Microsoft. The coalition is urging the Department of Justice to challenge Google's proposed...
Twitter Top Trends 2010
December 13, 2010, 8:28 amWell, I was sure holding my breath on this one and now I can breath easy. Twitter has released its Top 10 Trends list for 2010. Now that Twitter has gone about explaining just how their trends feature works this list makes sense '' I guess. Twitter is pretty sure though that it has the pulse of the 8% of America that has a Twitter account...
Free SEO Report : Easily Create SEO Competitive Reports
December 13, 2010, 8:13 amFree SEO Report (gotta love the domain!) is a new easy-to-use tool (which launches today) that generates in-depth competition research reports based on your keyword. The tool works a follows: Give the service your keyword and domain you want to rank for. Confirm your registration from within an email message (for first-time users only); Wait for...
Toyota Shareathon Tweet-to-Enter is Social Media Magic
December 13, 2010, 8:08 amIn spite of loving free stuff, social media users are not willing to jump through hoops of fire just to get a small gift certificate. That's why when Toyota began their Toyotathon Shareathon promotion on Twitter, people recognized their formula as social media magic. With simple to follow rules, a large enough gift card ($500), .
The Launch of Jumo
December 13, 2010, 7:52 amRemember the social networking craze that surrounded Barack Obama when he was running for President? There was one person responsible for escalating his campaign to the height of awareness in the social networking world, and that was Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Well, Chris has launched another what-looks-to-be-promising online site as he...
Once Again: Should Google Be Allowed To Send Itself Traffic?
December 13, 2010, 7:45 amGreg Sterling sets the records straight. He analyzes the European Commission's anti-trust investigation against Google. He concludes "When any single company becomes too powerful or gains too much control over a market segment governments should look carefully to see if any manipulation or bad behavior is going on. However, in my mind the...
Conquering Your Fears of Social Media
December 13, 2010, 7:26 amThere's a lot of reasons people and organizations are afraid to engage in social media. And while some of these reasons may be justified, none of them are impossible to overcome. Coming to terms with these fears and setting realistic goals that minimize potential risks isn't a bad place to start. But the truth is: there's actually more to lose by...
Video: Interview with Pushkar Sane Chief Digital Officer at Starcom Mediavest Group Asia
December 13, 2010, 6:19 amFollowing on from our discussion with Barry Cupples from Omnicom about consumer behaviour online, and the importance of data in generating meaningful and impactful digital campaigns, we chatted in Hong Kong to Pushkar Sane who is the Starcom Mediavest Group's Chief Digital Officer in Asia. In this interview, we talk about the trends he's seeing in...
Mark Cuban Underscores Need for Google Anonymous Support Group
December 13, 2010, 5:26 amSo I've had this nagging feeling in the back of my head, like a snake licking the base of my skull. From the inside. I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but then I read Mark Cuban's column from Dec. that asks " Am I Living the Google Lifestyle?" Cuban tells this brief anecdotal process: As I installed my Logitech Google TV box I checked my...
Twitter Publishes its Top Trends of 2010 From 25 Billion Tweets
December 13, 2010, 4:52 am"An astounding 25 billion Tweets were sent in 2010. We analyzed all those Tweets to identify the year's Top 10 Trends,"
Gawker Hacked, Huge Problem For Users With One Password
December 13, 2010, 4:08 amIf you have a Gawker account and use the same username and password for all your online activity, you better hurry and change them as hackers accessed the Gawker servers making off with about 1.5 million username and passwords, Gawker admitted. "This weekend we discovered that Gawker Media's servers were compromised, resulting in a security breach...
December's Linkscape Update and A Look at the Web in 2010
December 13, 2010, 3:17 amPosted by randfish The Linkscape web index updated this past Wednesday, December 8. You can see new link data for sites and pages via Open Site Explorer , the mozBar , the Web App and Linkscape Classic . This is also one of our freshest and fastest index updates (from the prior update on November 16 , it's only been 22 days), so the links you'll...
How to Do SEO Cheap
December 13, 2010, 1:13 amPosted by Kate Morris Most respected SEOs will tell you there is no such thing as cheap SEO. You get what you pay for in respect to hiring an SEO consultant. And that remains true. Whether you are hiring an agency, independent consultant, or hiring in-house, the best SEOs are going to know the value of their skills and its impact on your business....
As Google Shows More of Its Own Content, The Critics Cry Foul
December 13, 2010, 1:02 am"Google Inc. increasingly is promoting some of its own content over that of rival websites when users perform an online search, prompting competing sites to cry foul."
Gawker Media Properties Usernames and Passwords Hacked
December 13, 2010, 12:40 amOur user databases appear to have been compromised. The passwords were encrypted. But simple ones may be vulnerable to a brute-force attack. You should change your Gawker password and on any other sites on which you've used the same passwords."
New SEO Best Practice: Whining
December 12, 2010, 11:55 pmIt appears as if it’s not just the poor businesses in Europe but now sites of all different kinds that have a funny view of Google as a search engine. I say funny because they apparently have decided that in order to get ranked (or retain rankings that they have lost) they need to implement the latest technique in SEO which is complaining about...
Community-run music label DFTBA thrives
December 12, 2010, 11:20 pmIn this post, we're turning the floor over to the proprietors of DFTBA, a community-owned and run record label whose moniker stands for "Don't Forget to be Awesome" (not too hard for these guys). On their label's second anniversary, they announce a significant milestone and predict a promising future. Somehow in the last hundred years "musician"...
Common Link Building FAQ Questions
December 12, 2010, 11:10 pmI think there are still many un-answered questions when it comes to the variety of search engine marketing practices and efforts but I think overtime people will realize the true meaning of search engine optimization and the proper steps needed to get it done correctly. Here are some common link building FAQ questions I still see asked to this...
Google Launches MILLIONS of Doorway Pages
December 12, 2010, 9:22 pmI mentioned this in our last post but it probably deserves a post of its own. ;) Google has long claimed that search results inside search results are a poor user experience. They also claim their use of your content is fair use because it is only for ranking and distribution purposes. Take a look at Google's deskbar subdomain.
What Does a Spammer Do?
December 12, 2010, 9:07 pmSearch engines are powerful because they are an editorial filter which encourages relevancy. But frequently we are marketed to that any errors or omissions on the part of search engines are not due to bad algorithms, but rather do to unscrupulous spammers . Webmaster guidelines are arbitrary & ever-shifting, and preached like gospel. The 'or else'...
SNL Risks Wrath Of WikiLeaks Hacktivists
December 12, 2010, 6:33 pmGuess Saturday Night Live is counting on the hackers from 'Anonymous' - the group that has attacked Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and others - having a good sense of humor. The sketch involving Julian Assange in prison is below.
The year of APIs and the reshaping of the payment ecosystem: Part 2
December 12, 2010, 4:29 pmIn a recent post , we discussed the need for open payment platforms as the lines between commerce and payments continue to blur. Integration with other online functionality is poised to drive transactions across a number of use cases: first in peer-to-peer payments, whether person to person or business to business, and eventually in...
So That's Where Putin's Thrill Was
December 12, 2010, 1:55 pmby Mike Krumboltz The Internet is full of bizarre videos. But with all due respect to kittens who climb Christmas trees and babies who dance to Beyoncé , this clip from Vladimir Putin is a whole other level of weird. At a recent fundraiser for children's-cancer research in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Russian prime minister and former president...
When’s the Best Time to Publish Blog Posts?
December 12, 2010, 12:40 pmData from Dan Zarella of Hubspot about when is the best day of the week, time of day to publish a blog post, if you are looking for the post to retweeted or shared on Facebook.
U.S. Online Holiday Spending Approaches $22 Billion for the Season, Up 12 Percent vs. Year Ago
December 12, 2010, 12:12 pmcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 40 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, more than $21.95 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The...
How To Block All Facebook Widgets & Buttons Throughout The Web
December 12, 2010, 10:11 amThere may be actually more than one reason for you to want to block Facebook widgets you see on almost any webpage you land on. In this article, Ann Smarty walks you through how it can be accomplished.
Pandia Search Engine News Wrap-up Dec 12
December 12, 2010, 9:02 amGoogle launches ebook store There is a lot of Google news this week, with a special focus on the launch of the Google Ebook store. The idea that ereaders and tablets will be a passing fad is definitely dead, and Google wants to compete with Amazon, selling ebooks. Given that Google has spent a lot of time and money on scanning books, the chances...
Is WikiLeaks the Beginning of a New Form of Media?
December 12, 2010, 8:29 amAs WikiLeaks continues to release classified diplomatic cables, and fights to remain online and solvent, it’s becoming increasingly clear what’s happening has less to do with WikiLeaks itself, and more to do with what seems to be a new form of media emerging: not a news or journalism entity specifically, but a kind of media middleman that...
Procter & Gamble moves from soap operas to social media
December 12, 2010, 8:04 amProcter & Gamble (PG), whose sponsorship and production of daytime TV dramas helped coin the term "soap operas," has pulled the plug after 77 years. Instead, the maker of Tide detergent, Ivory soap and Olay skincare is following its customers online with a big push on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Swedish Bombing Information: Email Warning, Twitter Response
December 12, 2010, 5:20 amOne person died and two were injured when two bombs exploded in Stockholm Sweden yesterday just minutes after the national news agency TT and Swedish security service Säpo received an email containing an audio attachment criticizing "anti-Islamic cartoons and the war in Afghanistan," the New York Times reported The content of the email had not...
Venezuelan Govt Wants To Regulate The Internet
December 12, 2010, 5:05 amThe Venezuelan Vice President Elías Jaua has asked his country's government to pass a law that would allow regulation of the internet and create one central access point for all distribution of the internet. "The bill also proposes allowing the government to restrict access to websites if they are found to be distributing messages or information...
Google Goes… Phone?
December 12, 2010, 3:19 amTelemarketing was never a part of Google business strategy. The idea was to spread the information, get recognizable and make the clients come to them, asking for services. That’s were the sales managers stepped in, offering a variety of products, bargain deals and impressing the customer.
However, according to latest news, this has recently...
A Social Media Chaplain? Sure, Why Not?
December 11, 2010, 11:10 pmOccasionally I like to bring to our readers attention something very different that will create some thought or reaction. Since it's a Sunday, what better way than to bring you an interview with Jon Swanson who takes as one of his titles, Social Media Chaplain. Now most people have heard of hospital chaplains, fire department chaplains, police...
Ring, Ring Google Calling: Starts Telemarketing Local Businesses
December 11, 2010, 4:16 pmGoogle has a 300 person phone room dialing for dollars, selling local businesses their Boost and Tag services, Greg Sterling reported . Click to read the rest of this post.
Twitter, Google Maps Used In UK Student Protest
December 11, 2010, 3:25 pmSeems protesters love using Twitter to coordinate their group movements - but the U.K. students who rioted over the tripling of university fees Friday added Google Maps to their efforts. Click to read the rest of this post.
Microsoft, Twitter Breakfast Starts Rumors Of Merger
December 11, 2010, 2:23 pmThe CEOs of Microsoft and Twitter had breakfast Friday morning starting the rumor mills of what impact a merger of the two companies could have on the web and the search industry. Click to read the rest of this post.
Search Week in Review for Dec. 11, 2010
December 11, 2010, 11:28 amHere's a roundup of this week's columns and news stories for the week of Dec. 5 to Dec. 10, as reported by Search Engine Watch , as well as search news and tips from around the web. Click to read the rest of this post.
Malware Found In Ads Served By DoubleClick
December 11, 2010, 10:22 amOnline security company Amorize has found malware in ads served by Google's DoubleClick ad serving platform, Wired reported . "The malware infects users who visit a page where an infected banner ad is displayed. It's installed as a drive-by download, meaning that users don't have to click on the ad to be infected, they just have to visit a website...
Cup of Joe: Don't Start Celebrating! You're Not Out Of The Woods, Yet!
December 11, 2010, 7:58 amI think one of the hardest things for every entrepreneur, is to know when they have peaked. Too often I see entrepreneurs experience a quick boost in traffic, media attention, and sales at the beginning, and as a result they assume that they have reached the top. They end up getting lazy and spending money like there's no tomorrow. This happens a...
Cup of Joe: Don’t Start Celebrating! You’re Not Out Of The Woods, Yet!
December 11, 2010, 7:44 am
I think one of the hardest things for every entrepreneur, is to know when they have peaked. Too often I see entrepreneurs experience a quick boost in traffic, media attention, and sales at the beginning, and as a result they assume that they have reached the top. They end up getting lazy and spending money like there’s no tomorrow. This...
Google Chrome Releases New Netbooks for Testing
December 11, 2010, 4:11 amGoogle Chrome held a conference in San Deigo on December 7th, with its central focus being the direction that Chrome was moving. In addition to talking about the immense success they've seen so far (Google Chrome has tripled in the last year) and officially opening the Chrome Web Store (a site where users can buy .
Starting an eBay Store
December 10, 2010, 10:42 pm"WebmasterWorld Members discuss the pros and cons of starting and running an eBay store."
Howard, Oprah, and Kelly Ripa: Buzz Week in Review
December 10, 2010, 7:34 pmby Michael Krumboltz There is no such thing as royalty in the United States. But don't tell that to Howard Stern, the king of all media, and Oprah Winfrey, the queen of daytime television. Both pseudo-monarchs made big waves in the Search box this week. Stern announced a big new business deal and Oprah opened up about her relationships. Bow before...
Link Building Tip - Make the Most of What You Have
December 10, 2010, 6:16 pmFor most sites, increasing your inbound link counts is important. But one aspect of link building that is often overlooked is not actually link building, it is making the most of the links you already have. Have you ever stepped back and taken a look at your links? Often times when we do site audits we find opportunities to significantly improve...
Rumor: Steve Ballmer, Dick Costolo Met For Breakfast
December 10, 2010, 4:53 pmBrace yourself for another round of rumors about acquisitions, partnerships, and funding possibilities. Steve Ballmer and Dick Costolo supposedly met for breakfast this week, and it's a rare person who will imagine all they discussed was the fat content of donuts. To be fair: no one's claimed that they observed the CEOs of Microsoft and Twitter...
Will Brands and Verticals Become More Dominant in Search?
December 10, 2010, 4:53 pmMore WebProNews Videos WebProNews recently chatted with Tim Mayer , who left Yahoo back in August after serving as s VP of Search Products, VP of Search Business, and VP of North American Audience. "I think we're seeing a much more competitive search environment," he tells us. "We've had Bing aggressively enter the marketplace, and Google's been...
Is it Time to Say Goodbye to Counting Clicks?
December 10, 2010, 3:52 pmClick. That's the sound of another consumer moving from the webpage they're on to your page via a display ad they found in the sidebar. Hooray! Unfortunately, these days, the sound of the click, click, click is less of a tap dance and more like the lazy snap of a pleased beatnik. ComScore says that the average click rate on a display ad is 0.1%....
Staying Safe Over the Holidays
December 10, 2010, 3:47 pmby Mike Krumboltz The holidays are a time for families and friends to come together. But they also mark a time when parents and pet owners should be extra careful. For as fun as this time of the year can be, there are many ways in which children and pets can injure themselves. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) hosts a stellar article that...
Will Google's Chrome OS Succeed?
December 10, 2010, 3:16 pmThe biggest news in tech and business that wasn't related to Wikileaks this week, was probably the unveiling of Google's new operating system - Chrome OS. Earlier this week at a special Chrome event, the company highlighted a number of new things they're doing with the Chrome browser (which has grown by 300% since January, according to Google),...
What is the Google Holiday Conspiracy?
December 10, 2010, 3:11 pmThe moon landing, the J.F.K. assassination, Area 51, and Google's holiday update. What are we talking about? Why, the greatest conspiracy theories of our time, of course. But what, exactly, is the Google Holiday Update Conspiracy? For the last few years, Google has released a major update to their search engine functioning just as we .
The Most Watched Videos and the Rise of the Video Ad Dollar
December 10, 2010, 3:00 pmWith only a few weeks left in 2010, it looks like the trailer for Twilight Eclipse will take the title of Most Viewed Video of the Year with more than 220,000,000 hits. Every week, AdAge posts a list of the most popular viral videos. Since they're primarily interesting in brand marketing, they don't include movie trailer and game trailers because...
US To Host World Press Freedom Day: WikiLeaks, Pentagon Papers Similarities Keynote?
December 10, 2010, 3:00 pmDuring a week when censorship of WikiLeaks' publishing of US government cables is being discussed and people suggest the founder Julian Assange be killed, UNESCO announced the US will host World Press Freedom Day next year.
Meanwhile, Daniel Ellsberg stated: "Every attack now made on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was made against me and the...
Google is Improving Its Image Indexing Algorithm
December 10, 2010, 2:54 pmEverybody knows that since the introduction of the new Caffeine index, Google is able to update its site indexing within hours and even minutes. Long gone are the days when we were shown some outdated “caption” of the website content that turned out as no longer present on the page. Different was the case with images, as Google Image Search...
Twitter Bulk Unfollow Tools-My Quest to Un Follow
December 10, 2010, 2:33 pm
Twitter LOVES twitter spam. Is there an official name for twitter spam? Twam (OK I will trademark that)?
Why do I say this? Because I found it shockingly difficult today to find a tool to Bulk Unfollow on Twitter. I have been in quite a dog fight today. In theory what I am trying to do should be simple. I would like to bulk remove spammers and...
CT AG Hits Google With Civil Investigative Demand
December 10, 2010, 2:14 pmThe tension over Google's collection of sensitive WiFi data has risen again. Today, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued a civil investigative demand requiring that Google share the information gathered by its Street View cars. Blumenthal defined the demand as being the equivalent of a subpoena, meaning Google should have little...
Sort Google Results By Reading Level
December 10, 2010, 1:59 pmA Google Web Search product manager announced a new Google search filter for reading level on the Google Web Search Help Forum. "Sometimes you may want to limit your search results to a specific reading level," the company explains. "For instance, a junior high school teacher looking for content for her students or a second-language learner might...
SEOmoz Pie Eating Contest Live at Noon Pacific Today!
December 10, 2010, 1:49 pmPosted by Jamie As 2010 comes to end we've got a lot to celebrate at SEOmoz, so today we've decided to take a little break and do something completely silly: we've decided to have a pie eating contest, and you can watch it live today at noon. Pie Eating Contest Live Stream Watch the contest and chat live with other viewers: Noon Pacific Time,...
The Secrets Behind Blekko's Search Technology
December 10, 2010, 12:50 pmBlekko has a refreshingly different interface to search, and a generous data-sharing philosophy, but what I didn't realize was how innovative its underlying technology is. Last week I sat down with CEO Rich Skrenta and CTO Greg Lindahl, and they took me on a fascinating tour of the system they've built.
AG to Google: Hand Over Street View Data
December 10, 2010, 12:42 pmAfter being stonewalled by Google, Connecticut's Attorney General and Senator-Elect Richard Blumenthal is now taking legal action to force Google to reveal the data the company's Street View cars collected off unprotected wireless networks. Click to read the rest of this post.
Tweet your favorite thing about Bing to win a new Windows Phone!
December 10, 2010, 12:21 pmLast month, we finally got our hands on the elegant, intuitive Windows Phone 7. The experience spans the common things we all need to get done every day. Not surprisingly, what excites us most is what the team has done with Bing on Windows Phone 7. Now we want to hear from you! Tweet what you love about Bing to @Bing to enter to win a...
Google Joins the Site URL Clipping Providers
December 10, 2010, 12:21 pmGoogle offers so many services these days that it's difficult to keep track of them all. This is especially true with poorly marketed services. This isn't likely to be because of a failing on the part of the search engine giant " merely a decision to focus marketing efforts elsewhere. Such is the case with .
About Extended Action Tags: Part 3 in the Atlas Blog Action Tag Series
December 10, 2010, 11:49 amHi again, everyone. Were moving right along in this blog series on action tags. In the last post, I showed you how to create an action tag. And, yes, at the end, I said Id cover how to create an extended action tag. But, come to think of it, I need to tell you first why you should care about extended action tags.
Google Brings Desktop Version Of Docs To iPad
December 10, 2010, 11:44 amMany people have pointed to the iPad as a replacement for laptops, or at least netbooks. Google Docs, meanwhile, is supposed to take on programs like Microsoft Word. And now the two newcomers can work together more effectively, as Google's moved to bring the desktop version of Google Docs to the iPad. A post on the Google Docs Blog explained,...
Google NORAD Santa Tracker Gears Up for Christmas Eve 2010
December 10, 2010, 11:34 amGoogle has a record of contributing positively to important Government efforts, and this year's holiday partnership with NORAD is no exception. NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has been hard at work tracking Santa Claus for over fifty years now. They began in 1955 while they were still known as CONAD (Continental Air Defense...
Four More Google Employees Become ACM Fellows
December 10, 2010, 11:34 amThe Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), America's first learned society of computing, has nearly a hundred thousand members. However, it only has about five-hundred "fellows." Fellowship status is rewarded only to "outstanding ACM members for their achievements in computer science and information technology." This year, those receiving...
New Google Search Feature: Reading Level
December 10, 2010, 11:29 amGoogle has launched a new advanced search tool that filters results by reading level. Based on how Google evaluates the website, it will annotate the results for three reading levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Click to read the rest of this post.
Google Voice Lets You Send Calls From Santa
December 10, 2010, 11:24 amGoogle has introduced a new feature to its voice service that allows people to send and receive free personalized calls from Santa. Users can visit sendacallfromsanta.com and choose from a number of options to send unique, often humorous , customized phone calls to anyone in the U.S. Users can also send the messages from Santa via email, Facebook...
AdWords rules, and so can you!
December 10, 2010, 11:19 amDo you stay awake at night wondering where your bids are? Do you plan your vacations around fluctuations in click volume? Have you taken AdWords for Mobile as your +1 to a family wedding? Managing an AdWords account to its full potential takes time - time that you could spend managing other important parts of your business. That's why we've...
Anonymous Focuses Cyberattacks on Amazon and PayPal
December 10, 2010, 11:13 amAnonymous, the group of vigilante hackers launching cyberattacks against groups who have hindered the Wikileaks website, have already succeeded in slowing or downing a number of major websites. Now, their attacks have focused in on two of their long-term targets: Amazon, who shut down Wikileaks hosting, and PayPal, who stopped allowing the...
Bing's National Tailgating Competition Targets Sports Lovers
December 10, 2010, 11:13 amWhile Bing has been able to spread its influence to the Yahoo! U.S. search engine and is doing decently in its own right, shifts like the Yahoo! Japan/Google partnership make it more and more clear that Bing must find appropriate niche markets if it's going to survive. The group that Bing is targeting currently? Sports fans. In an attempt to...
Google Sponsored Computer Science Education Week 2010 Draws to a Close
December 10, 2010, 11:13 amDecember 9th was the birthday of American computer scientist Grace Hooper. Timed to coincide with this is Computer Science Education Week (often dubbed CSEd), an event established by the Computing in the Core Coalition. However, this year the event has received a bundle of additional sponsors, not the least of which is Google. As detailed on the...
Aron Pilhofer and Jennifer Preston on the new shape of social in The New York Times’ newsroom
December 10, 2010, 10:54 amGood article on the evolution of how The New York Times is approaching social media in the newsroom. An expanded Interactive News division will take a "journo-hacker" approach to better incorporating tools and technology into the process.
Google Rolls Out Foreign Language Search Features Globally
December 10, 2010, 10:48 amCombining the capabilities of Google Translate with Google Search has long been a feature of international search experiences " but somewhat in the background. Not anymore. Google this week rolled out a feature across the non-English speaking world, which gives users the option to extend their search to other languages with the results presented...
Anonymous Wikileaks Avengers: We Don't Want Your Credit Card Info or to Prevent You From Shopping
December 10, 2010, 10:48 am"Anonymous" is an "Internet gathering" of people that has perpetrated Operation Payback, which took down MasterCard.com, Visa.com and others , because of how they've handled their relationships with Wikileaks, has issued a press release in attempt to clarify what it is trying to do. Anonymous paints itself as non-threatening to consumers, and...
Social Media Research: Blogging, Twitter And Facebook Use Trends Inside US Corporations - 2010 Update
December 10, 2010, 10:45 amAre top US corporations embracing social media technologies? The new research study on 2010 Fortune 500 companies and their use of blogs, Twitter and Facebook seems to positively confirm this trend.
Photo credit: Kheng Ho Toh and Dmitriy Shironosov
Each year Fortune Magazine compiles a list of the largest US corporations, which are named the...
Google Tests NFC Tech, Holds Hotpot Contest In Portland
December 10, 2010, 10:32 amNear Field Communication (NFC) technology is not mainstream. Indeed, the average consumer probably hasn't heard of it yet. But Google's going to give NFC and its new Hotpot service a push in Portland, encouraging local businesses and consumers to get involved. On the NFC end of things, the plan involves Google Places Business Kits with...
Google Trends Show Hot Election Issues and Candidates
December 10, 2010, 10:22 amSince most informed American citizens decide to get educated on political issues on the days preceding (or day of) the election they're voting in, search engine trends weren't able to tell us too much about the issue heat map until after the election was finished. Additionally, the search engine searches show what issues people cared .
8 iPad Apps for Brilliant Writing
December 10, 2010, 9:56 amWhile I was up late one night reading the Copyblogger archives (yes, I know I need to get a life) , I stumbled across a great post discussing some brilliant writing tips. The post inspired me to write " but since I was on my iPad at the time, how was I going to capture my brilliant insights on my mobile device? More and more people are using...
Google Let’s You Dumb Down Your Search Results With “Reading Level” Filter
December 10, 2010, 9:47 amThe feature lets you filter or annotate the search results by reading level. The reading levels include basic, intermediate and advanced. For a searcher, this will allow them to find more tailored content for their research level. For example, if you are in an introductory course on biology, you may want to select basic or intermediate results...
Cast Your Vote For The YouTube Symphony Orchestra
December 10, 2010, 9:25 amYouTube has narrowed down finalists for its second YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 to be held at the Sydney Opera House and is calling on users to vote on the best musicians. Users can vote on the remaining 336 finalist from 46 countries over the next seven days to determine who will be going to the Sydney Opera House from March 14-20 to perform...
Survey Finds Only 8% Of Online American Adults Using Twitter
December 10, 2010, 9:05 amTwitter has over 175 million members, yet a recent survey has found only 8% of American adults use the social network, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. One wonders if this survey by Pew will have an impact on the amount of money companies spend to attract users of Twitter.
Facebook's Ads: Relevant or Missing the Mark?
December 10, 2010, 9:05 amI've always seen a great deal of potential in Facebook's advertising offering. The premise is that ads are highly targeted based on users' profile information. Theoretically, the more a user adds info about the kinds of things they like, the better idea Facebook has about what they are actually interested in, and can serve ads accordingly. To be...
Facebook Announces Hacker Cup
December 10, 2010, 9:05 amComputer engineers interested in a free trip to Palo Alto, some cash, and perhaps a job offer should pay attention. Facebook's announced something called the Hacker Cup, and top competitors will receive at least those first two prizes for sure. Tim Stanke explained the goal and the setup in an official Facebook Engineering Note . He wrote,...
Facebook: It's Good To Be The King!
December 10, 2010, 8:18 amBelow is a chart that shows the dominance that Facebook has worldwide as the leading social networking site. The chart was brought to my attention by Robin Wauters of TechCrunch . The next chart shows the place and show networks for each area of the world. So let's try something a little different today. Rather than you read about my take,...
Facebook: It’s Good To Be The King!
December 10, 2010, 8:12 amBelow is a chart that shows the dominance that Facebook has worldwide as the leading social networking site. The chart was brought to my attention by Robin Wauters of TechCrunch.
The next chart shows the place and show networks for each area of the world.
So let’s try something a little different today. Rather than you read about my take,...
Edmunds.com Finds Users Prefer Minimalist Site Design
December 10, 2010, 8:03 amAutomotive information site Edmunds.com tested four possible redesigns for their homepage and found users much preferred a simple minimalist homepage similar to the approach used by Google. "Site visitors were shown one of four Edmunds.com home pages, each created using a different design strategy. One prominently featured dramatic car photos,...
Google's Penalties For Link Schemes Aren't Always So Obvious
December 10, 2010, 8:03 amBarry reports an official statement on Google's webmaster forum: Even when Google does take action, it might not be that they completely drop the site form the index. However, Google did say the action they do take is "pretty strong" in order to "preserve the quality of our [Google] results."
China Blocks News Sites Prior To Dissident Getting Nobel Peace Prize
December 10, 2010, 7:48 amThe Chinese government does not want its citizens watching dissident Liu Xiaobo get his Nobel Peace Prize today, so they have blocked news sites such as CNN, BBC and the Norwegian state broadcaster NRK. Liu is serving an 11-year sentence for "inciting subversion" - criticizing the government, the UK Guardian reported. Click to read the rest of...
2 Ways to Instantify Your Firefox Address Bar
December 10, 2010, 7:47 amWith Google Chrome, FireFox smart keywords and multiple addons, searching from the browser address bar has become the common searching experience. But is there any way to give your browser address bar "instant" feel? Actually, there are two ways. Here are 2 tools to search from FireFox address bar and see instant results as you type: 1. Instant...
Top Trend of 2010: Privacy on the Web
December 10, 2010, 7:24 amFrom Facebook to WikiLeaks, Google Street View to an app called I Can Stalk U, 2010 has been a tumultuous year in online data privacy. Let's look back at some of the major privacy stories of the year.
Holidays, Charity and Daily Deals
December 10, 2010, 7:24 amIn an interesting look at the daily deal phenomenon that has everyone chattering in the recent past, some researchers have taken a look at whether daily deals influence how people do two things related to giving (at least in theory): holiday shopping and charitable giving.
First, eMarketer reports on data from another daily deal player, Eversave....
Predator Targeting Sorority Pledges On Facebook Arrested
December 10, 2010, 7:17 amThe morning news reported the predator targeting sorority pledges through Facebook chat was arrested. The Today Show, that reported on the story last week , announced the arrested of the man who had been 'terrorizing' the women. "The first communications seem harmless, yet are obvious attempts to gain trust. Subsequent chats get creepy, with...
Google Brings Priority Inbox to Android
December 10, 2010, 7:17 amGoogle announced the launch of Gmail for Android 2.3.2, which brings Gmail's well-received Priority Inbox feature to mobile. "While Priority Inbox on your Android phone doesn't have all the features offered in the desktop version of Gmail, we think this is a good start and plan to add even more functionality moving forward," says Paul Westbrook...
More consumers let their smartphones do the shopping
December 10, 2010, 6:56 amNearly 60% of people anticipate mobile sites will run as smoothly as or better than sites they visit on their computers, the Gomez study showed. Meeting the challenge has been difficult. Consumers ranked the performance of mobile sites of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend's 15 largest retailers as "tolerable," compared with the retail websites...
Facebook Announces 2011 Hacker Cup
December 10, 2010, 6:30 am"Registration opens December 20th with the three online rounds occurring throughout January 2011. World finals to follow."
TripAdvisor Blocks Reviews, Says Google Places Doesn't Benefit Users
December 10, 2010, 5:23 amTripAdvisor has confirmed that it is blocking reviews from appearing in Google Places results. In a statement, TripAdvisor said: Click to read the rest of this post.
How Twitter Measures Trends
December 10, 2010, 3:45 am"Topics break into the Trends list when the volume of Tweets about that topic at a given moment dramatically increases."
YouTube Now Offers Longer Videos To Selected Users
December 10, 2010, 1:45 am"Just click the 'Upload' button at the top of the site to see if your account qualifies. And remember, if you're uploading a video that was previously rejected for being too long, go into 'My Videos' and delete the old video before uploading it again."
Improving Content "Share-ability" - Whiteboard Friday
December 10, 2010, 12:40 amPosted by Aaron Wheeler I don't know about you, but I have an incredibly short attention span. Well, actually, I do know about you - I read about 1/16th of those articles about human attention spans, until I got bored and watched Conan's rendition of Oprah's secret plan for world domination. Oh, Conan! Now there's a man who knows how to share his...
Has Internet Marketing Made the Meet and Greet Obsolete?
December 9, 2010, 11:59 pmThere was a time when marketing men were like politicians. They had to shake hands and kiss babies, take district reps out for a lunch meeting and have dinner with the guy who could open up new territory but those days have gone the way of the piano lounge in the airplane. Now, we video conference with the reps, connect with customers by email and...
Pictures of the Cr-48
December 9, 2010, 11:33 pmMBegin in the forum writes: I ran home for lunch today and was VERY pleasantly surprised to find a Cr-48 Chrome OS Notebook at my doorstep!! -Thanks Google! I took a few quick pics and I'll post more about my experiences later... Feel free to bug MBegin with questions in this post's comments, just in case he finds time to get around answering...
Google Places Shunned by TripAdvisor, Underscoring Groupon Miss
December 9, 2010, 11:28 pmSo Google missed out on getting local deal provider Groupon one week ago today. I submitted that this was a good thing because of the price tag, but things can change. This week word came from Tnooz that TripAdvisor was blocking its reviews from appearing on Google Places, where content from Priceline.com, UrbanSpoon, CitySearch and other local...
Google Introduces Social Sitelinks
December 9, 2010, 11:28 pmGoogle recently announced the arrival of social sitelinks to its search results. Google's social sitelinks include your friend's name, profile photo, and a links to their profile/content on social websites, such as Twitter, YouTube, or MySpace. Click to read the rest of this post.
Local SEM Has Changed, Have You Noticed?
December 9, 2010, 11:03 pmLocal SEM or search engine marketing got you confused lately? Things are certainly not the same as they were 2 or 3 years ago? The local search marketing game is changing folks and technology can be blamed on that. Chances are in the next three years it will change even more so don't get too mad. Just hop on the horse and try to hold on.
Update on PayPal site status
December 9, 2010, 10:01 pmYou may have read that PayPal is one of the sites that has been targeted by supporters of WikiLeaks, who want to bring our site down because they disagree with our business decision to stop working with WikiLeaks. I want to let you know that all PayPal sites are fully operational. Any reports to the contrary are simply untrue. We can confirm that...
Kelly Ripa on Crutches
December 9, 2010, 7:06 pmby Mike Krumboltz When people have questions that need answering, they go to the Search box. And over the past few days, one question has been especially popular - " Why is Kelly Ripa on crutches? " Wonder no more. Here's the scoop on why the perky daytime talk show host is limping through life for the next three to six weeks. Long story short,...
Google and NBA.com Team Up on Live Results
December 9, 2010, 7:03 pmGoogle has joined forces with NBA.com to bring real-time game scores, schedules, and standings to Google's search results. Last month, Google struck a similar deal with NHL.com.Click to read the rest of this post...
Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Delicious
December 9, 2010, 5:44 pmI hope you are one of those few fortunate people who have never had to hear the word "cancer" used in a diagnosis from your family physician, suddenly changing your life and your understanding of the disease. Not being one of those fortunate people, I think it's important to take time to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Judging from the...
Google Slides To Third Place In Chinese Online Ad Market
December 9, 2010, 4:47 pmIt's a pretty well-known fact that Baidu's beaten Google in China, and all of Google's efforts to reverse that fact haven't accomplished much. Unfortunately for the company, those efforts also failed to hold off another rival, as a new report puts Alibaba ahead of Google in the online ad market. Owen Fletcher wrote earlier today, "In a breakdown...
MySpace Lets Celebrities "HiJack" its Site to Attract Users
December 9, 2010, 4:11 pmMySpace introduced what it's referring to as " MySpace Hijacks" today. This is where curation of featured content on the site is taken over by celebrities, as if they had "hijacked" the site to bombard you with stuff they like. "On the heels of the newly redesigned Myspace, Hijacks is one of many content-focused initiatives supporting Myspace's...
Free Shipping is the Battle Cry This Holiday Season
December 9, 2010, 3:46 pmFree shipping! Online retailers are shouting it from the rooftops and it could be the key to staying out of the red this holiday season. ComScore worked the numbers and discovered that unlike last year, the percentage of transactions with free shipping continued to rise after Black Friday. Last year, free shipping orders dropped to 45% late in...
Google Adds Features to Keyword Tool
December 9, 2010, 3:12 pmGoogle has announced a few updates to its Keyword Tool, including three new ways to filter and refine your keyword list. Click to read the rest of this post...
Google Instant Goes Mobile Globally
December 9, 2010, 3:10 pmGoogle announced today that Google Instant for mobile is now available globally - in 28 languages and in 40 countries. You have to have an Android 2.2+ or iOS4 device to use it though. If you have one of these devices, you can simply go to google.com in your mobile browser, and it tap on the Google Instant link beneath the search box to enable...
Google Takes Aim at Microsoft Exchange with "Message Continuity"
December 9, 2010, 2:54 pmToday Google introduced a new service called Google Message Continuity, which Microsoft must be incredibly thrilled about. The service, powered by Postini, is described as a way to bring "Gmail's reliability to Microsoft Exchange". "If you run Microsoft Exchange 2003 or 2007, Google Message Continuity is a new email continuity service that can...
Review Roundup: "The Tourist"
December 9, 2010, 2:54 pmby Claudine Zap Two of the hottest stars. A romantic setting. A fast-paced, action-packed plot. The ingredients seem to have the makings of a hit. But " The Tourist " has critics grousing that it's a bad trip - the stars have no chemistry, the plot is weak, and Johnny Depp's performance is his worst yet. What went wrong? Let's see what the reviews...
Google Zeitgeist 2010: The Year's Top Searches
December 9, 2010, 2:44 pmAs you would expect, Google has gone above and beyond the typical top 10 list of queries with Zeitgest 2010 , Google's look at the year in searches. This year, they introduced HTML5 data visualization and a wrap-up video in addition to revealing the fasting rising searches in numerous categories based on the billions of Google searches conducted...
Video: Unboxing the Google Cr-48 Chrome Notebook
December 9, 2010, 2:19 pmMarketing blogs don’t get to do a lot of “unboxing” videos, but thanks to a free gift from Google, I get to be one of the first bloggers to get my hands on the new Google Cr-48 Chrome Notebook.
E-Reader Sales Set To Double This Year
December 9, 2010, 2:18 pmE-reader sales are on track to total 6.6 million units in 2010, up 79.8 percent from 2009 sales of 3.6 million units, according to a new report from Gartner. In 2011, global e-reader sales are forecast to surpass 11 million units, a 68.3 percent increase from 2010. "The connected e-reader market has grown dramatically during the past two years,...
YouTube Nixes Video Time Limit For Some Users
December 9, 2010, 2:18 pmSome YouTube content creators will soon get the opportunity to test their artistic abilities - and their audiences' patience - more than ever before. YouTube announced today that it will let select guideline-abiding users upload videos of any length. The previous limit, which will still apply in many cases, was 15 minutes, so this represents a...
Does a Perfect Link Profile Look Too Perfect? Why You Shouldn't Ignore Nofollow Links!
December 9, 2010, 2:08 pmYesterday I read a very good article on Problogger which looked at 10 tips for a flawless link strategy . There's some great ideas in there for anyone looking to strengthen their website's reputation in Google. But' It did lead me to ask the question; does a perfect link profile look too natural? The above quote may be true, but in this case I...
Google Insights Show 5 Popular Holiday Gifts
December 9, 2010, 2:08 pmWhile there are plenty of gift guides to be found on the web, Google is able to offer something more than a prediction of hot gifts for the season; they can tell us what's actually popular, right here and right now. The Google Insights tool allows searchers to examine data for keyword, and thus product, search trends. From time to time, they also...
Social Media's Been Around for Centuries. It's Not About the Tech.
December 9, 2010, 1:27 pmConnecting with people shouldn't be about what social networks you're using. It should be about connecting with people. Yes, you need to look at where your audience is at, but you shouldn't be using Twitter just for the sake of using Twitter if you're not using it to communicate to the right people. In fact, we covered a report today indicating...
Social Media Has Been Around for Centuries. It's Not About the Tech.
December 9, 2010, 1:13 pmConnecting with people shouldn't be about what social networks you're using. It should be about connecting with people. Yes, you need to look at where your audience is at, but you shouldn't be using Twitter just for the sake of using Twitter if you're not using it to communicate to the right people.
In fact, we covered a report today...
Colombia Internet Audience Increases 31 Percent in Past Year to Rank as Fastest-Growing Market in Latin America
December 9, 2010, 1:11 pmcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from its latest study on Internet usage in Colombia. The report found that Colombia is the fastest-growing Internet market in Latin America, growing 31 percent in the past year to reach 11.8 million unique visitors in September 2010. comScore will...
What to buy your SEO for Christmas
December 9, 2010, 12:18 pmWhatever you celebrate (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, etc.), there is always that nagging question of what to get for your local friendly SEO. (It is a nagging question, I think …) I mean there are guides for personal trainers, mailmen, and even hairdressers, but what about the SEOs? We deserve some seasonal happiness too,...
New Documentary on the History of Search Engines
December 9, 2010, 12:10 pmSearch engines, at least as we think of them today, haven't been around for more than two or so decades. However, thanks to the way the Web has exploded in popularity, methods of searching were thrown on the fast-track of technological evolution. There's more than a little bit of complexity to the history of search .
Has Wikileaks Begun a Cyberwar?
December 9, 2010, 12:10 pmThe struggle for freedom of information on the Internet has just reached a new level, as supporters of the infamous site Wikileaks launched a series of cyber attacks that they called "Operation Payback." Reports by Reuters , as well as just about every other news groups paying attention today, stated a slew of websites were "attacked" by a group...
An Intro to the Google Chrome Web Store
December 9, 2010, 12:10 pmBrowsers are becoming more and more central to how we use computers " a fact that Google is relying on for their upcoming line of Chrome OS netbooks. However, well past just hoping that the functionalities of browsers continues to expand, Google has released a full-fledged app platform and web store for Chrome. The official opening of the Chrome...
Google Voice's Newest Celebrity Client: Santa Claus
December 9, 2010, 12:10 pmEver since Google retired their Goog 411 service, they've been promising that their voice team is pursuing enticing new avenues. One of them seems to be tracking down celebrity clients to promote their service, including one of special note: Santa Claus himself. As reported on the official Google Blog , Santa has picked up a Google Voice number...
DOTW: Has AdWords/PPC Become Too Complicated for the Average Person/Small Business Owner?
December 9, 2010, 12:02 pmWith any technology, as more features are added, it often becomes harder to use. Google's AdWords continually adds new features, as does MSFT AdCenter. If you know what you're doing in these products, you can put together some amazing online marketing campaigns. But this week's "Discussion of the Week" asks: Has it become too much for the average...
The Revolution Will Be Streamed -- Operation Payback: Protest or War?
December 9, 2010, 11:42 amAn argument that the online actions taken by Wikileaks supporters are a groundbreaking form of social protest.
Using Negative Keywords to Help Qualify Traffic in Microsoft Advertising adCenter
December 9, 2010, 11:29 amIf youve been in the search engine marketing (SEM) game for a while, youre probably pretty familiar with negative keywords and how useful they are in maintaining good return on investment (ROI) . If youre not already using negative keywords to qualify your audience, youre running the risk of exposing your ads to people whore not really interested...
Amazon Offers Nielsen BookScan To Authors
December 9, 2010, 11:29 amAmazon.com said today that authors who use its Author Central service can now view Nielsen BookScan's weekly geographic sales data for their print books for free. Author Central is a free service that helps authors promote their books and reach more readers. Also announced today, Author Central has added a feature that shows authors past history...
Microsoft Admits Facebook Acquisition Attempt
December 9, 2010, 11:29 amLast month, Groupon reportedly demonstrated to Google that not everything's for sale, and it's now more certain than ever that Facebook did the same thing to Microsoft a few years ago. A Microsoft exec confirmed this morning that his company once tried to acquire Facebook. Fritz Lanman, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and Acquisitions at...
How To Act Blackhat And Get Away With It
December 9, 2010, 11:22 am"The internet isn’t a zero sum game – so let your links add up as high as possibly can." and more words of wisdom about link building under the hood from Ross Hudgens.
Google.ie 2010 Zeigeist - a.k.a Top Searches in Ireland
December 9, 2010, 11:19 am.. continuing on our Google Zeitgeist serie of articles , here is Google.ie - i.e. The Google Ireland network most popular search terms in 2010 - Ireland Fastest Rising chatroulette gmail hotmail glee fb tv3 player world cup 2010 gerry ryan rte player ryanair.
Dine Out with Restaurant Comparison Quick App
December 9, 2010, 11:18 amLast month, we gave you a sneak peek of the new Yahoo! Search Restaurant Comparison Quick App in beta testing. Today we are officially rolling it out for all our users. The Restaurant Comparison Quick App consolidates key comparison points like price, distance, cuisine type, atmosphere, and ratings in a single side-by-side view. When you search...
Six Easy Ways to Eliminate Pesky Duplicate Content
December 9, 2010, 11:13 amby Stoney deGeyter Yeah, yeah, the search engines are getting smarter about duplicate content... blah, blah, blah. It's no longer the problem it once was... yada, yada, yada. Google will get it all sorted out for you. Whatevs. I don't care how smart the search engines are, it's no excuse for laziness. Sure, a maid may clean up your living room for...
Just Who Do You Think You’re Talking To? Owning Up To Women
December 9, 2010, 11:11 amWhether you open TweetDeck to Tweet your latest offer or are update your company’s Facebook page, chances are you’re talking to a woman.
He Wants to Draw a Cat for You
December 9, 2010, 11:08 amby Mike Krumboltz Steve Gadlin has a dream. He wants to draw a cat for you . The Web developer, father of two, and part-time feline doodler put his talents on discount site Groupon with an offer that a surprising number of people couldn't refuse. For a modest sum, Gadlin would draw you a customized cat (stick-figure-style) and mail it to you....
Hollywood Says 'Humbug' to Holiday Movies
December 9, 2010, 10:53 amby Claudine Zap Hoping to take in a holiday movie from Hollywood? This year, you're out of luck: Movie studios are saying "humbug" when it comes to seasonal flicks. According to a story in the Los Angeles Times , there are many reasons movie moguls are going Scrooge. There's the crowded marketplace for one - what the article calls " irrational...
Does a Perfect Link Profile Look Too Perfect? Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Nofollow Links!
December 9, 2010, 10:50 amPerhaps you shouldn't always strive for perfection when link building, a few imperfect nofollow links might help to make your link profile appear more natural.
Google Releases End-Of-Year Zeitgeist
December 9, 2010, 10:37 amAround the end of November and start of December, Bing and Yahoo released lists summing up the top searches of 2010. Now, a little closer to the end of the year, Google's followed suit, and there's plenty of data for people who are interested in that sort of thing. A quick note: we're going to stick to the U.S.-centric lists here. But there are...
Amazon UK Listing Wikileaks Cables for Sale on Kindle
December 9, 2010, 10:37 amThe Next Web discovered that someone is selling the infamous Wikileaks cables at Amazon UK to be read on the Kindle. This is interesting for a variety of reasons. Reason 1 Amazon Web Services recently stopped hosting the cables, claiming Wikieaks was violating its terms of service. A statement from the company said: Amazon Web Services (AWS)...
Google Seller Rating PPC Program Spreads to Western Europe
December 9, 2010, 10:37 amOver the course of 2009 and 2010, Google AdWords (the Google pay per click advertising system) launched several extensions designed to allow sellers increased opportunities in the search results. These range from allowing product pricing and pictures to be displayed directly below ads to showing off a Google Checkout image to let buyers know...
What is an Internal Link Hub?
December 9, 2010, 10:25 amMichael Gray explains the concept and handling of link hubs: Topical pages that function both as (deep) entrance --for example aimed at social media users-- as well as link juice distributors within a site.
Duplicate content: causes and solutions
December 9, 2010, 9:58 amThe concept of duplicate content is as old as the search engines themselves, and SEO's have been fixing it since day one, but we apparently still need to do more about it. That's why Joost de Valk decided to take some time and write a guide to help you learn what it is, how to identify and how to solve it. Read, bookmark, reread.
How to explain SEO copywriting to clients
December 9, 2010, 9:51 amDo your clients think that "SEO copy" is a bad word? Unfortunately, I'm not surprised. An article called, A 3-Step SEO Copywriter Confession by Kelly Watson joked, "As an SEO copywriter I often get lumped in with keyword spammers, blog content aggregators and overseas article writers. Sound a little familiar'? Clients - both small and large...
Treating Information Architecture Like Social Media Can Help You in Search
December 9, 2010, 9:20 amMore WebProNews Videos WebProNews recently sat down with Ted Ulle, the Senior Search Analyst for social media consultancy firm Converseon to talk about information architecture. If you're not familiar with the concept, Wired's WebMonkey site has probably as good a simplified definition as I've seen anywhere: the science of figuring out what you...
A PPC Marketer’s Code Of Conduct
December 9, 2010, 9:13 amGreat post by Josh Dreller - If you're not already following these ' unwritten rules ' , you're setting yourself up for disaster.
How The World is Searched- Cool New Google Tool
December 9, 2010, 9:07 amI was reading my morning twitter feed and found an interesting new toy called how the world is searched. It looks like it might be a snap shot of 2010 Google Insights. Just some nice eye candy. Enjoy.
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Mark Zuckerberg Pledges Majority Of Wealth To Charity
December 9, 2010, 9:05 amCritics of Mark Zuckerberg should consider taking the day, week, month, year, or even decade off. Zuckerberg, whose net worth was calculated to be $6.9 billion as of September, has pledged to donate the majority of his fortune to charity. Zuckerberg did this by taking the Giving Pledge , something organized by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda...
Scammers Targeting Amazon Retailers With Fake Receipts
December 9, 2010, 9:05 amCyber criminals are using a hacking program to create fake receipts for items sold through Amazon.com and its retail partners, in an effort to receive refunds or new products, according to security firm GFI Software. The free program available online allows scammers to create an HTML receipt for phantom Amazon.com purchases, said Christopher Boyd,...
Guest Blogging Tips: Link Baiting vs. Guest Posting
December 9, 2010, 8:55 amThe growing importance of content as a link building tool has made the life of a link builder much easier, a lot more fun, and much more diverse. There are so many things you can do with content that will result in links, whether it’s on your own website or on third party websites.
Google Zeitgeist 2010: Justin Bieber + iPad + Chatroulette = Oil Spill
December 9, 2010, 8:49 amAs is tradition for this time of year, Google has released its annual Zeitgeist -the most popular search queries for 2010. Sure, there are other search engine "top query" lists, but we all know that Google is the king of search. Something different this year: Google has an interactive map of searches and a pretty engaging video that sums up the...
Is Twitter Redefining Trending In Response To Pro-WikiLeaks Hacking?
December 9, 2010, 8:49 amTwitter seems to be changing the explanation of how their Trending Topics are chosen following the hacking of sites that have given roadblocks to WikiLeaks . Mastercard and Visa were among sites facing serious DDOS attacks yesterday following their involvement with WikiLeaks. Click to read the rest of this post.
Blog Posts To Read for December 9, 2010
December 9, 2010, 8:49 amBelow you will find our favorite blog posts that are related to SEO, search engine marketing and social media marketing from this past week. Please feel free to visit each, we hope you find them as helpful as we do! How Do You Socialize an Already Social Brand? This is a great post about how to continue to grow your brand in social media. Making...
What's the Perfect Time to Make an Offer?
December 9, 2010, 8:39 amIn advertising we used to have a saying: "Everyone hates advertising until they have to sell their own car." Sometimes we all encounter readers who get mad at us for "selling too much." And sometimes you have to ignore those readers. They might just not be your customer . Or they may be those people who hate all advertising, as long as they're not...
Google Instant Goes Mobile
December 9, 2010, 8:08 amIt was just a couple months ago, back in September, that Google launched its "instant" feature. Google Instant was meant to be more than simply a "search as you type" feature " it was the "search before you're even done typing" revolution. In the brief time since its launch, the results have been solid for .
Zeitgeist 2010: How the world searched
December 9, 2010, 8:08 amIn the search team we talk a lot about that people are always looking for new things with Google. In fact, about 20% of our queries are new each day. As it gets to be the end of the year, it's a great time to look at what searches we all have in common. In the 2010 Google Zeitgeist , we've gathered the most popular and fastest rising queries from...
'Tis the Shopping Season - Online Retail Research with Carat
December 9, 2010, 7:58 amWith holiday decorations going up earlier each year, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, it can be tempting to think that the peak of the shopping season has passed. However, I wanted to take a moment to share some findings with our partners and friends that clearly indicate that shopping behaviors have fundamentally changed in recent...
Google Product Development: Buying Company, People, Quicker Than Building Team
December 9, 2010, 7:58 amIt seems Google wants to get into markets quick and the company is willing to pay for a company and its experienced people, rather than build a product and team from scratch, SVP of Product Development for Advertising Susan Wojcicki explained at the D: Dive Into Mobile event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. Click to read the rest of...
How to Create Web Content that Motivates
December 9, 2010, 7:53 amSince the Internet was invented, it has been used to provide information, improve communication and sell to consumers. The Internet has become the biggest marketplace in the world. Whether it's digital or solid products, every business starts by making a website. Out of all the millions of websites out there, how many do you see .
Report: 6% of American Adults Using Twitter
December 9, 2010, 7:42 amTwitter mentioned in a blog post about how its Trending Topics work that its users are sending over 95 million tweets a day. A report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals some more interesting information about Twitter usage in America. For instance, 8% of adult Americans that use the Internet use Twitter. 2% use it on a typical...
Ad Text Optimization - What to Test (and When)?
December 9, 2010, 7:27 amWhen you tell someone new to paid search marketing that they'll be getting instant feedback, that they'll have a sea of data at their fingertips, and that the ability to test test test everything you do are powerful advantages to the channel, they invariably want to know "so what, exactly should I test?
The Philosophy of Crap Content
December 9, 2010, 7:27 amfrom No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre All of us have visited to ugly looking websites littered with ads and unreadable content'and we've likely cursed their existence since the intentions of the webmaster are so obvious (get a bunch of people to click on the ads). We know this strategy works since the web is littered with these derivative sites (and...
Wikileaks Drama Forces Twitter to 'Explain' Trending Service
December 9, 2010, 7:12 amApparently, Twitter would rather not be the target of Wikileaks supporters who have been taking down sites around the globe if there any indication of a slight against the document leaking entity. Who wouldn't? People have been wondering aloud for some time as to why certain things that are "popular" are not seen as trending in Twitter (an example...
Chromedroidpad
December 9, 2010, 7:01 amUsing open source technologies from Google, could someone create a tablet that would let you add both Chrome Web Store apps/ web apps in general, as well as Android Market place apps, and you as user wouldn't even need to bother much about which comes from where as you'd only see a single merged Store, and apps would all be added to a nice...
Wikileaks Drama Forces Twitter to ‘Explain’ Trending Service
December 9, 2010, 6:57 amApparently, Twitter would rather not be the target of Wikileaks supporters who have been taking down sites around the globe if there any indication of a slight against the document leaking entity. Who wouldn’t?
People have been wondering aloud for some time as to why certain things that are “popular” are not seen as trending in Twitter...
Android Devices Being Activated Around 10 Million Per Month Rate
December 9, 2010, 6:41 amEarlier this week it was reported by Fortune that the growth of Android devices had stalled in the 200,000 per day range . In the "Hey, we can't be perceived as growing at just ridiculous speed but rather at ludicrous speed " (gotta love Spaceballs) world we live in, Andy Rubin, Google's Android leader, tweeted yesterday. Fortune then did an about...
Twitter Explains How Trending Topics Work
December 9, 2010, 6:41 amTwitter has taken the time to explain a bit about how its Trending Topics work, following accusations from the Blogosphere that the company was blocking terms like #wikileaks and #cablegate, which Twitter says it was not and is not. The company did apparently block the account of Operation Payback, however. Operation Payback is the group of...
Google: Canonical Tag Slower Than 301 Redirect
December 9, 2010, 6:01 amThe canonical tag, used to inform search engines a page has a different location, is slower for Google to pick up on than if they used a 301 redirect.
John Müller from the webmaster team explained that Google would first have to crawl and index the first page to understand that there is a canonical tag on the page. Once they crawl it and...
Google's Mayer Touts Contextual Discovery Search at Le Web
December 9, 2010, 5:16 amAutonomous search. Serendipity engine. Call it what you will, but that's not what Google is calling it anymore. Google's future plans to make its search engine more actionable by delivering results to user unbidden is one of the company's core missions in 2011. And it's not called contextual discovery. And it's far more interesting to me at this...
Can So-Called "Content Farms" Maintain Quality and Reader Trust?
December 9, 2010, 5:07 amSometimes sites like Demand Studios, Yahoo's Associated Content, AOL's Seed.com, and Suite101 are called names like "content farms" or "content mills". You can call them whatever you like, but the fact of the matter is that they're attracting a lot of writers and producing a lot of content, which is appearing in a lot of search...
Why Groupon said no to Googles $5billion Overture
December 9, 2010, 4:55 am"Confirming lots of speculation, a source close to Groupon board members tells us that anti-trust concerns ultimately forced Groupon to turn down Google's $6 billion offer. This source says the view on Groupon's board was that a Google-Groupon merger would draw more regulatory scrutiny than any other deal Google has ever done."
8% of online Americans use Twitter
December 9, 2010, 4:50 am"Eight percent of the American adults who use the internet are Twitter users."
Tripadvisor Blocks Reviews from Google
December 9, 2010, 4:16 am"TripAdvisor confirmed the move today in an email, stating that while it continues to evaluate recent changes to Google Places it believes the user does not benefit with the experience of selecting the right hotel."
Twitter's Huge! Or is it?
December 9, 2010, 1:30 amIf you had to guess, what percent of American internet users would you say uses Twitter? 30%? 15%? 10%? According to the latest report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, the answer is 8%. Eight! How can that be? Twitter is one of the most popular social media services. Famous people Tweet every day. Twitter is used to...
Twitter’s Huge! Or is it?
December 9, 2010, 1:24 amIf you had to guess, what percent of American internet users would you say uses Twitter? 30%? 15%? 10%?
According to the latest report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, the answer is 8%. Eight! How can that be? Twitter is one of the most popular social media services. Famous people Tweet every day. Twitter is...
How Do Tweets Influence Search Rankings? An Experiment for a Cause
December 9, 2010, 12:49 amPosted by Danny Dover Last week Rand Fishkin covered the new ways social media is impacting traditional SEO . While many SEOs had assumed this was happening already, this announcement marked the first time this new type of content endorsement (links within Facebook and Twitter) was actually confirmed as a ranking factor by search engines...
Secret Cable: China Said To Coordinate Google Attack
December 9, 2010, 12:47 amIndeed, a second cable from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing suggested that the country's propaganda expert on the Politburo Standing Committee, Li Changchun, had his own motive to support the Google attack. He reportedly had done a search of his own name and discovered critical information about himself on the Google website.
Social Media, Smart Phones and the Judicial System
December 9, 2010, 12:41 amThe explosion of blogging, tweeting and other online diversions has reached into U.S. jury boxes, raising serious questions about juror impartiality and the ability of judges to control courtrooms.
Mobile Networks Want Apple, Facebook, Google, To Pay For Bandwidth
December 8, 2010, 11:15 pm"As mobile and Web companies add videos, music and games, operators including France Telecom SA, Telecom Italia SpA and Vodafone Group Plc want a new deal that would require content providers like Apple and Google to pay fees linked to usage."
Blog Link Building Items to Test
December 8, 2010, 11:06 pmOh the old holy grail of search engine optimization, the link (besides content, of course!). Getting a link to your blog post can take some serious work especially if you have found yourself smack in the middle of an extremely competitive industry. How will you stand out? What will you do that is different from others in your space? It takes a...
Google The Answer Engine
December 8, 2010, 9:49 pmWhere is Google headed? Are they aiming to really become the first one and only one stop resource, an answer engine that will give you all you need to know when you type a query without having to visit any websites?
Google's Keyword Tools Keep Getting Better :)
December 8, 2010, 9:44 pmWhen Google switched to their new keyword tool a lot of advertisers were ticked off by how it went from being quite granular & focused to being more broad and presumptuous. It defaulted from allowing you to drill down in a specific area to assuming that you wanted to buy a broader basket of keywords than you asked for, which particularly doesn't...
TripAdvisor Tells Google Places to Go Take a Hike
December 8, 2010, 8:22 pmAs Google creates a thin review layer to displace some of the directories they are driving into bankruptcy , some of the wiser middle men are telling Google to go get stuffed. TripAdvisor reviews disappeared from Google Place pages due to a technical issue,
Google Places blocked from using TripAdvisor reviews
December 8, 2010, 8:04 pmTripAdvisor has decided to restrict its reviews from appearing in Google Places. The company also confirmed the earlier technical problem running, purely coincidentally, as the same time as its limitation exercise.
Video & Guest Post: The Bing National Tailgating Championship tackles Phoenix
December 8, 2010, 7:20 pmAfter a week off for Thanksgiving, The Bing National Tailgating Championship was back in full swing this past Sunday. Four teams descended upon Arizonas University of Phoenix Stadium where they battled it out for tailgate supremacy. Congratulations to The Arizona House of Cards team who will proceed to the national finals in Dallas/Fort Worth on...
Google Apps Marketplace - Project Management highlights, 11/30/10
December 8, 2010, 7:05 pmEditor's note : This is the latest in a series of posts on apps in the Google Apps Marketplace that have caught our eye here at Google. We'll do this every so often as we see things we'd like to share. Look for the label " marketplace highlights " and subscribe to the series if you'd like to stay tuned. Today, more than 3 million businesses and...
Popular Financial Planning and Tax Keywords for 2011
December 8, 2010, 7:05 pmJanuary marks the beginning of the tax season, and with it comes an increased interest in financial planning. Thats why Ive compiled a list of popular keywords searched on Bing for both the financial planning and tax sectors. I recommend adding these keywords to your adCenter campaigns for maximum coverage in 2011 as advertiser competition is...
Internet Explorer 9 Will Offer Do Not Track Option
December 8, 2010, 6:19 pmYesterday, Microsoft announced that they're taking steps to assure user privacy with a new Do Not Track option in Internet Explorer 9. The announcement comes on the heels of a highly disputed recommendation from the FTC that would make tracking an opt-in only scenario. Experts have complained that asking web users to turn on the ability to track...
Superfast, Secure & Searchable: Google Chrome OS Open for Public Beta
December 8, 2010, 5:48 pmGoogle has opened their new web based operating system (OS), Chrome OS, for limited public beta. The new 'waitless' operating system promises to be extremely fast and extremely secure. Click to read the rest of this post.
Fundamentals of PDF Optimisation for Search
December 8, 2010, 5:32 pmThe words PDF and optimisation rarely sit side by side before the eyes of a webmaster where their news feeds are, more often than not, churning out articles established around other practices in search engine optimisation like building links and engaging in social media.
Chief Household Officer: Using new media know-how to run your family
December 8, 2010, 5:17 pmAsk any working parent and they'll tell you they have two jobs; the day-job, and the one that takes up all the other hours of the day - that of "Chief Household Officer." Today's multi-tasking CHOs are full-blown owner/operators of their households, employing all the same methods as corporations"from programming the daily calendar to Tweeting the...
In-depth SEO Q&A Discussion
December 8, 2010, 4:53 pmBack in August (feels like an age ago) I met up with Dave Cain of Nottingham SEO company Angel SEO to record a long Q&A discussion on all kinds of SEO topics. Dave has split the video up into sections and is publishing them on his blog. The most up to date place to view them is the SEO Q&As page.
Here are the first three:
In the first...
Yahoo Tests New Local Site for Mobile Users
December 8, 2010, 4:21 pmYahoo has launched the new Yahoo Local for Mobile experience in beta. "At Yahoo!, we're all about harnessing the massive power of the web and the ever-expanding capabilities of connected devices to create engaging and personally relevant mobile experiences for our users," says Irv Henderson, VP of Product Management for Yahoo Mobile and Connected...
MasterCard.com (and Visa.com) Taken Down By Wikileaks-Supporting Hackers?
December 8, 2010, 4:17 pmUpdate 2: The group (Operation Payback) credited with bringing down both MasterCard.com and Visa.com has had its Facebook Page removed for violating terms of service.
Update: Visa.com is now down as well. MasterCard.com is still down. (As of 4:30pm Eastern)
Original Article: MasterCard.com is down. It's reportedly been down for hours now....
The Effect of Activating Google AdWords Sitelinks
December 8, 2010, 4:16 pmPosted by Petter El Fakiri This post was originally in YOUmoz , and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc. Around one year ago Google announced that sitelinks could be added to Google AdWords ads....
Updated Statement about WikiLeaks from PayPal General Counsel, John Muller
December 8, 2010, 4:16 pmMedia reports today regarding a statement made by our vice president of platform, mobile and new ventures, Osama Bedier, at the LeWeb conference in Paris, have created confusion about PayPal's decision to permanently restrict the account that was raising funds for WikiLeaks. We want to set the record straight. As a global payment service that...
Budget Survey Sees Big Drop In 2011 Online Ad Spends
December 8, 2010, 4:11 pmA White Paper on marketing budgets for 2011 suggest a drop in online banner advertising, digital magazines and microsites is coming, while spends for search engine marketing will remain the same. Click to read the rest of this post.
Yahoo Testing New Local Design
December 8, 2010, 4:11 pmYahoo is testing a new version of Yahoo Local featuring "rich hyper-local content" in limited beta. Promising a truly personalized experience in announcing the beta, Yahoo hopes this service will help users discover and contribute to local news, deals, and events in their neighborhood. Click to read the rest of this post.
Facebook Adds More Privacy Controls to Mobile
December 8, 2010, 3:14 pmIn August, Facebook brought its privacy controls to browser-enabled mobile devices. In October, the company added a dashboard to give users a way to see and control the ways applications use their information. Now, Facebook is making these same controls available on mobile phones, so users can update and manage the info they share from wherever...
Skype Your Facebook Friends
December 8, 2010, 2:28 pmFew things are better than connecting with friends and family, especially when you're far apart. Skype provides a great way to communicate with people no matter where they are. And starting today, it's also making it easier for you to connect with your Facebook friends. When you install the new Skype version 5.0 for Windows and sign in with...
Google Spam Czar Matt Cutts Calling For Questions From Webmasters
December 8, 2010, 2:17 pmGoogle's head of spam detection and correction Matt Cutts is calling for questions he will answer on upcoming videos, he announced on his blog . Questions should be submitted to the Google Moderator page , Matt noted. "I won't be able to answer every single question, but I'll tackle several popular ones plus a few of the more interesting...
Google Instant "Preview" is Unleashed
December 8, 2010, 2:12 pmGoogle is well known for its dynamic approach to search engine ranking. The company so rarely sits still that it's difficult for optimizers, webmasters, and competitors to keep up. So, it should come as little surprise that, despite the fact that Google Instant is still only a recent shift in the search engine, that a .
SEO Strategy for Content Marketers
December 8, 2010, 2:12 pmHub & Spoke Content & Social Media Publishing While there's plenty of great Search Engine Optimization advice being published daily on blogs and industry websites, there's not as much from a content marketer's perspective. Having been in the SEO game for over 10 years, I know there's a tendency to give recommendations that focus on web pages,...
Google Street View Adds Images Of Romania
December 8, 2010, 2:07 pmArmchair explorers with nice monitors should be glad to know that another portion of central Europe is now accessible through Street View. This afternoon, Google announced that photos of Romania have gone live, and there are definitely some impressive sights to see. Octavian Iercan, Operations Lead of Street View Europe, gave several examples in...
Twitter Should Be Getting More Useful at the Geographical Level
December 8, 2010, 2:07 pmTwitter is making it easier for developers to tap into Places data, which should fuel more interesting functionalities around locations in a lot of apps. In a Twitter API Announcements Google Groups thread , Twitter Developer Advocate Matt Harris said the company's been working with partners like &E Television Networks and History, Apontador,...
Online Holiday Spending Tops $17 Billion
December 8, 2010, 2:07 pmU.S. online holiday spending has surpassed $17.5 billion in the first 35 days of the November -December shopping season, up 12 percent, according to a new report from comScore. The most recent week saw four individual days eclipse $800 million in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.028...
Pro Wikileaks Group Knocks Mastercard Offline, More To Come
December 8, 2010, 2:02 pmA clandestine group that supports Wikileaks is taking responsibility for the DDOS (distributed denial of services) problems Mastercard has been experiencing today, the New York Times reported . "The group, which calls itself Anonymous, explained in a statement that the attacks were an expansion of what it calls Operation Payback, an anti-corporate...
Hollyood Says Humbug to Holiday Movies
December 8, 2010, 12:35 pmby Claudine Zap Hoping to take in a holiday movie from Hollywood? This year, you're out of luck: Movie studios are saying "humbug" when it comes to seasonal flicks. According to a story in the Los Angeles Times , there are many reasons movie moguls are going Scrooge. There's the crowded marketplace for one - what the article calls " irrational...
Google Voice Reaches Out to All
December 8, 2010, 12:35 pmGoogle Voice has been a prominent part of Google services for quite some time now, but it's getting increased attention and focus from the voice recognition team. While there is a certain tragedy to this since the "freed up hours" come from abandoning Goog 411, it also means that Google is able to be more .
Track Who’s Tracking You
December 8, 2010, 12:08 pmAn advanced analytics hack that allows you to track outbound clicks on your website (with the express purpose of finding out how successful your Twitter Follows and Facebook Likes are performing).
What's at the intersection of marketing and technology? Boston
December 8, 2010, 11:47 amby Josh Bernoff Boston has always been a center for technology, but for the last 15 years or so, our eyes have glanced furtively and enviously at Silicon Valley. Clearly, Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area are the epicenter of technology startups, including the ones that have gotten huge in the Web era (eBay, Google, Facebook, . . . )....
The Social and Search Engine Connection
December 8, 2010, 11:37 amYour social networks maybe more valuable than you think. Chris Crum on WebProNews recently posted a useful article on how you can apply Facebook and Twitter to your search engine marketing plan, explaining how search engines are now using the social sites in determining organic rankings. Everyone knows social networks are hot, with millions using...
Chrome Extensions for YouTube
December 8, 2010, 11:37 amI'm a movie buff, and love getting excited for upcoming releases by checking out trailers on YouTube . It's easy and convenient to watch the trailers online, but I've often wished I could get closer to the theater experience in my browser. So I did some research, and found a few really handy Chrome extensions that can make your YouTube viewing...
Google Chrome OS Netbook Released for Free in Pilot Program
December 8, 2010, 11:27 amYesterday, Google hosted a San Diego based event focused on their Chrome OS and the Chrome notebook. While rumors have been flying about what exactly would be announced, especially since Google's media invitation on December 3rd included the line, "we plan to share some exciting news about Chrome." That news has now been released and is publicly...
More Than Half Of Americans Say Best Deals Are Online
December 8, 2010, 11:24 amNearly three-quarters (74%) of Americans feel that the easiest way to complete their holiday gift purchases is online, while 87 percent favor brick-and-mortar stores, according to research firm StrategyOne.
When it comes to finding the best deals overall, Americans are divided — with 52% stating they found the best deals online, while 48%...
South Korean Regulators Go After Facebook
December 8, 2010, 11:22 amA person might imagine that South Korean authorities would have better things to worry about right now, what with North Korea on the (maybe literal) warpath. Nonetheless, the Korea Communications Commission has found the time to declare Facebook in violation of data privacy laws.
Martyn Williams reported this morning, "Facebook is in...
Searching For (And Sharing) Quality Content On The Web
December 8, 2010, 11:22 amSometimes sites like Demand Studios, Yahoo's Associated Content, AOL's Seed.com, and Suite101 are called names like "content farms" or "content mills". You can call them whatever you like, but the fact of the matter is that they're attracting a lot of writers and producing a lot of content, which is appearing in a lot of search results for better...
Monetizing Windows Phone 7 Gaming Apps with Advertising
December 8, 2010, 11:17 amToday, Microsoft Advertising released an update to the Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 to allow ad enabled mobile gaming apps. The Ad SDK is a single download that contains the Dynamic Linked Libraries (DLLs)/Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) used to develop mobile apps using either the XNA Framework or Silverlight.
Google Opens New Pittsburgh Office
December 8, 2010, 10:41 amPeople who enjoy gawking at Google's "creative" workspaces now have on more area to look over. This morning, Google officially opened an office in Pittsburgh, and the 40,000-square-foot environment is hard to mistake for any other company's property. Below, you can see one of the more zoomed-out pictures Google provided. Other highlights include...
How to Turn a Loss into Something Positive
December 8, 2010, 10:31 am* The UK SEO community was so inspiring during the last several days. After the sudden death of Jaamit Durrani , one of the most popular UK SEO specialists the community has proven that even a huge loss like this one can have a positive impact. The way people have come together to support Jaamit and his family and to spread the love all over the...
Netflix In New Streaming Deal With Disney
December 8, 2010, 10:10 amNetflix and Disney-ABC Television Group have reached a new licensing agreement that will allow Netflix to stream episodes from the ABC Television Network, Disney Channel and ABC Family. Under terms of the agreement, Netflix will not be allowed to stream current shows earlier than 15 days after the initial broadcast. TV content streamed from...
U.S. Online Holiday Spending Surpasses $17.5 Billion for First 35 Days of the November-December Shopping Season, up 12 Percent vs. Last Year
December 8, 2010, 10:05 amcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, more than $17.5 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The...
3 Misconceptions About Google Places & SEO
December 8, 2010, 9:50 amMatt McGee writes, "I’ve come across a few of what I’d call misconceptions about Google’s changes and how they impact both the search results and how small/local businesses should adjust their approach to the new search results."
The 6 Elements of an Influential Web Experience: IMfSP Radio #5
December 8, 2010, 9:29 amWhat makes one website highly persuasive and engaging, while others are ignored or quickly abandoned? If you took a poll asking your site visitors what's missing from your site, they might not even be able to articulate it. And that's exactly the point. What influences us isn't necessarily at our conscious level of experience. Today, we'll discuss...
EU Doesn't Get Digital World
December 8, 2010, 9:24 amI think most of you know how we have felt about the EU / EC's attempts to investigate Google as a monopoly based on complaints by a few whiners in the search space . Well, it is refreshing to see someone who doesn't have a US accent talk about the EU's apparent lack of understanding of the digital world of business. Matthew Lynn of Bloomberg gives...
EU Doesn’t Get Digital World
December 8, 2010, 9:19 amI think most of you know how we have felt about the EU / EC’s attempts to investigate Google as a monopoly based on complaints by a few whiners in the search space. Well, it is refreshing to see someone who doesn’t have a US accent talk about the EU’s apparent lack of understanding of the digital world of business.
Matthew Lynn...
New IE Browser To Include Tracking Turn Off Option
December 8, 2010, 9:08 amThe new Internet Explorer Browser - IE9 - will include an option to turn off tracking , perhaps in a move to address the coming "Do Not Track" registry the Federal government is planning. However, the motives and methods Microsoft is using for this could use a little examination. Is it a complicated process that may pass government muster but be a...
Google SVP Labels Local Ad Market Her "Biggest Focus"
December 8, 2010, 9:03 amSusan Wojcicki is often credited with creating AdSense, and for years, she's been in charge of all Google's advertising products. A significant shift may be occurring within the company, then, as Wojcicki recently said that the local advertising market now receives most of her attention. Wojcicki told Spencer Ante yesterday, "That is my biggest...
Link Building Strategies Without Linkable Assets
December 8, 2010, 8:58 amHugo Guzman discusses link building tactics for sites without link friendly (=compelling) content.
Amazon Set To Expand Kindle For The Web
December 8, 2010, 8:47 amAmazon.com has expanded its Kindle for the Web to allow anyone with access to a browser to buy and read Kindle books. Retailers, authors, bloggers and website owners will be able to offer Kindle books from their own sites and earn referral fees through the Amazon Associates Program for sales made through their site. Amazon said its expanded...
Salesforce Continues Big Week of Announcements
December 8, 2010, 8:47 amSalesforce continues to make big announcements as it hosts its Dreamforce event. So far, the company announced Database.com , Chatter Free , and the pending acquisition of Ruby platform Heroku . Now, the company has introduced Force.com 2 with five new services for building apps. These services are Appforce, Siteforce, VMforce, ISVforce and...
The AdWords 8.5 Editor is Out
December 8, 2010, 8:47 amGoogle released its first version of the AdWords Editor long, long ago, but (as with anything Google does) improvement is consistent and frequent. Such is the case with the newest version of the AdWords Editor, which was released on November 4th. As with previous iterations, 8.5 is fully compatible with both Windows and Macintosh systems. .
Find what you need with the right search queries
December 8, 2010, 8:37 amNo matter which search engine you use, the quality of your search results depend on how you formulate your search query. A bad search query delivers inadequate search results. And studies show that even the fabled "Google Generation" don't know how to phrase their searches. An easy way to learn about the structure of solid, more complex search...
Cracking Local Ad Market Is Top Google Priority
December 8, 2010, 8:06 amGoogle's local ad performance is one of the top priorities for the company according to Susan Wojcicki, who is a senior VP overseeing the advertising business at Google (and Sergey Brin's sister-in-law). With the Groupon deal being a thing of the past Google is on to the next way to crack this critical market. It's actually interesting to see a...
Differences between Google and its Local Competitors
December 8, 2010, 8:06 amImagine if you could travel back to the days when Google was still a young upstart in the search engine game, when making your way to the top of the rankings was a comparatively quick and simple process. How would you take advantage of the chance to get in early with the global search superpower to-be? The fact is that the same opportunities are...
Google Nexus One Receives an OS Update and an Heir
December 8, 2010, 8:06 amThe Nexus One was one of Google's most prominent contributions to the smartphone market. The impressive specs were present and accounted for, but more important was the fact that this phone came unlocked " and was thus available for all the major cell phone carriers. Now the Nexus One has received an OS update with an impressive assortment of...
MasterCard.com Taken Down By Wikileaks-Supporting Hackers?
December 8, 2010, 7:46 amMasterCard.com is down. It's reportedly been down for hours now. It would appear that supporters of Wikileaks (hackers) are taking credit, as MasterCard stopped processing payments for Wikileaks support. Alan Bentley, SVP International of global security firm, Lumension tells WebProNews, "The hacker attack on MasterCards website following its...
Google Goes Local: How to Use the Recent Changes to Google's SERP to Your Advantage
December 8, 2010, 7:25 amGoogle claims that over 20 percent of all searches are for local businesses, places, etc. With the changes Google has made to their SERP's they are clearly favoring local search results. The Changes Google Place pages now appear like full search results, with the Map moved to the far right. When Google determines the search term is definitely...
Salesforce Acquiring Heroku - Major Platform for Social Apps
December 8, 2010, 7:10 amIt's only Wednesday, but it's already been a huge week for Salesforce. The company is hosting its Dreamforce conference , and has already introduced a free version of its "Facebook for the Enterprise" Chatter product, and launched Database.com to go head to head in the Database space with Oracle. Now, Salesforce has announced that it is acquiring...
Turn WordPress Blog into Minimalistic Business Card - Tips in Self-Branding
December 8, 2010, 7:04 amShortly after starting my SEO career and creating my online moniker, I have registered annsmarty.com domain name. I have never been able to find a good use of the site though - speaking about myself has never been something I've been good at. So I just kept it to occasionally share some professional news about myself and linking to friends. Then,...
Google Map Spam creeping into the hinterlands
December 8, 2010, 5:42 amIn his funny but also somewhat disillusioning piece "Illusory Laptop Repair – A Most Elegant Google Places Hack", Mike Blumenthal explains a way to create virtual Places pages for shady purposes on Google.
Google + 1 Share Button Exposed, Looks Silly
December 8, 2010, 5:42 amThis goes out to all of you who think I'm an unabashed Google non-basher. There's been a lot of talk in the last two weeks about the Google Me social network layer cake Google refuses to confirm but everyone knows is coming in 2011. I've steered clear because most of it dealt with silly semantics such as what it's called. Google Me. Emerald Sea....
SEO content marketing roundup, week ending December 8th
December 8, 2010, 5:21 amIn this week's latest and greatest web writing news, it 'tis the season to tune up, make a plan, take stock of 2010, and note the forecasts for 2011: content marketing will become ever more critical, SEO and search will increasingly integrate social signals, and social media marketing will continue its expansive growth (but despite the rumors,...
Does the 70/30 SEO/PPC split still apply?
December 8, 2010, 3:04 amThere used to be a great image used by many of the presenters on the SEO circuit and beyond which suggested a ratio of between 80/20 and 70/30 clicked on organic search results over that of paid search results. This post goes onto explain is this still the case and if not why the search landscape has changed so much over the last 5/6 years.
Mastercard Site Hit By 'Hacktivists' Over Wikileaks
December 8, 2010, 2:30 am"It has pledged to launch denial-of-service attacks on websites it sees as anti-Wikileaks."
Submit webmaster video questions for December 2010
December 8, 2010, 12:59 amIt's that time again! Next week I'll record some new webmaster videos. I created a Google Moderator page where you can post questions or suggestions and vote topics up and down. I won't be able to answer every single question, but I'll tackle several popular ones plus a few of the more interesting questions. Please submit questions that lots of...
Google Shows Chrome PCs, With Shipments In 2011
December 8, 2010, 12:59 am"The Web-centric computers, intended as an incursion into territory dominated for years by Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc, will ship around the middle of 2011."
Google Places SEO: Lessons Learned from Rank Correlation Data
December 8, 2010, 12:18 amPosted by randfish In early June of this year, SEOmoz released some ranking correlation data about Google's web results and how they mapped against specific metrics. This exciting work gave us valuable insight into Google's rankings system and both confirmed many assumptions as well as opened up new lines of questions. When Google announced their...
Device Evolution
December 7, 2010, 11:37 pmWatching evolution is fun, especially when it happens right around you, and happens so fast. A mutation we saw yesterday was a new animal scientists gave the name "Chrome OS Notebook", but it's surrounded by other smart animals of all kinds and shapes. What do they fight for? Their nature are our offices, living rooms, cafes and parks; their food...
What Really is SEO?
December 7, 2010, 11:01 pmHere is the official definition of SEO from Wikipedia. Search engine optimization could mean different things to different businesses but let's all get on the same page and discuss what it isn't. SEO is NOT: ⢠Magic ⢠A myth ⢠A fad ⢠Pixie dust ⢠Science ⢠A magic pill that solves all of your business and sales...
Controling Your Ad Distribution in Microsoft Advertising adCenter
December 7, 2010, 6:13 pmGiven some of the questions popping up in our forums and elsewhere around the web, it seems we havent done the best job at fully explaining the new search ad distribution options that recently rolled out with the Fall 2010 adCenter release . To.
One in Three Consumers Follows Through on Social Media Recommendations
December 7, 2010, 6:08 pmEmpathica, Inc wanted to know more about how consumers were using social media in regard to brands so they sat down and interviewed 15,000 people from both the US and Canada. Okay, they didn't actually sit down with all those people, but they asked the questions, the people answered and they published a nifty new report called The Empathica...
Google Groups Gets a Facelift
December 7, 2010, 5:17 pmThe Google Apps team announced announced a redesign of Google Groups . If you're an avid user of Google Groups, you'll find the link to preview the new interface on the main Groups page. The new interface features a more streamlined look and feel as compared to other Google products. More importantly, the redesign includes complete compatibility...
Anti-Domestic Violence Group Joins Facebook Advisory Board
December 7, 2010, 4:51 pmTo be clear: there have been no recent headline-making complaints on the subject, and no signs that Facebook's poised to change anything. But it looks like Facebook might soon be better-equipped to alter or improve its privacy features, as the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) has joined the social network's Safety Advisory Board....
Word of Elizabeth Edwards Stirs the Web
December 7, 2010, 4:41 pmby Claudine Zap Elizabeth Edwards , who died of breast cancer, was many things: political wife, author, health care activist, cancer patient. But perhaps most poignantly, she was a mother. When the estranged wife of the presidential candidate John Edwards learned she had breast cancer, back in 2004 , she drew strength from the tragedy that no...
Bing Adds Shopping Mall Maps to Local Results
December 7, 2010, 4:05 pmBing is now including Bing shopping mall directory maps in Bing Maps. "Have you ever driven to a mall, parked at one of the big department stores, then discovered the store you needed to go to was on the other side of the mall? What about experiencing the frustration of not knowing where in the mall is the store you need and the mall directory is...
Does the Rise in Social Media Marketing Equal a Rise in Holiday Sales?
December 7, 2010, 3:08 pmThere's no doubt that this is the year of the social media holiday marketing blitz. More folks than ever are using Facebook, Twitter and other sites to encourage holiday shopping. According to eMarketer, 27% of retailers said they'd spend most of their marketing budget on social media, up from 18%. And 75% said they had a social media strategy...
IE9 Will Have a "No Tracking" Feature
December 7, 2010, 2:51 pmThe next major milestone of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) will let users determine who tracks their movement and behavior online, in response to increasing calls for additional consumer control.
Why 'Social Rank' Will Die In 2011
December 7, 2010, 2:46 pmBoth Google and Bing have stated that they utilize social signals as a part of their organic ranking algorithm. The idea behind it is that if you’re an authoritative Twitter account tweeting out links that some organic value should come from it. The more authoritative the Twitter user the more value a tweet will be worth.
Google Shows Off Chrome OS, Launches Pilot Program
December 7, 2010, 2:42 pmAt a special Chrome Event today Google made some announcements regarding Chrome's usage and strides in its performance . They also launched the Google Chrome Web Store , announced earlier this year at Google I/O. The main thing everybody was really waiting for however, was the launch of Chrome OS. Well, we got that to some extent. Google...
New Sphinn Editors Coming Soon … Interested in Joining Us?
December 7, 2010, 2:26 pmPublic service announcement: Sphinn is planning to add new editors after the holidays. If you're interested in joining the editorial staff, you can let us know now. We've posted more details on the Sphinn blog, so please read that and give it some thought!
An update on Chrome, the Web Store and Chrome OS
December 7, 2010, 2:16 pmOn the Chrome team, we're constantly amazed by the speed of innovation on the web. We designed Chrome to make the web shine, and we hope our upcoming efforts will help support this vibrant ecosystem even more. By making the web faster, helping people discover great apps, and making computers more fun to use, the next year of computing should be...
Google's Header-Title Swap and Why It Matters
December 7, 2010, 2:16 pmGoogle has a longstanding tradition of deciding what's most useful for searchers to see. If the description you've written for your site isn't from the segment of your page relevant to the search term used, the search engine giant is likely to pull content from that segment to show to users. No one complains much .
Google Completes AdWords Birthday Tribute
December 7, 2010, 1:49 pmOne month ago, Google invited marketers to create short videos in celebration of AdWords's tenth birthday. Now, the company's finished piecing together a YouTube-centric tribute of sorts, and the creation might also act as free advertising for more than a few companies.
People who head to http://www.google.com/adwords/birthday will wind up...
Google's Chrome Web Store Rolls Out Today
December 7, 2010, 1:42 pmGoogle announced the opening of the long-awaited Chrome Web Store today. The store was first announced at Google I/O earlier this year.
A developer preview was made available in August, so developers could upload apps and experiment with packaging, installing, and integrating payments into them. Now the rest of us get to see the fruits of this...
Google Instant Coming to Chrome
December 7, 2010, 1:20 pmAt a special event for Chrome today, Google announced that its browser is up to 120 million users, representing 300% growth since January of this year. In addition to that, the company announced Google Instant for the Chrome omnibox. You can type a single letter, and it will load an actual site in the browser - not just search results like what...
Jane Lynch Dissed, WikiLeaks Cut Off, Brooke Mueller Checks In: What's the Buzz
December 7, 2010, 12:39 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Playstation phone (Searches increased by 17,407%). A video appears to show the rumored gadget: A PSP Go and mobile rolled into one. Brooke Mueller (+5,635%). The estranged wife of Charlie Sheen checked into a rehab facility . The mother of twins has struggled with sobriety and is...
Microsoft's IE9 Privacy and Security Settings
December 7, 2010, 12:28 pmEarlier today, Microsoft announced upcoming plans for IE9 that include enhanced privacy and security settings, among other things. It is important to note a couple of things about how we view this as it relates to our advertising business. First, and most importantly, Microsoft has a long-held belief that people should have choice and control in...
The Good. The bad. Treat your customers well & Google will rank you better!
December 7, 2010, 11:42 amLast week's New York Times' article took the example of well referenced and indexed website with very poor customer satisfaction. In a nutshell, the article said that one can generate a lot of bad reviews and unhappy customers that translate in many unique outbound links (links pointing to your website), which will result in greatly improved...
eBay Adds Milo Shopping Results To RedLaser App
December 7, 2010, 11:27 ameBay has added local shopping results from Milo, its most recent acquisition , to its RedLaser barcode-scanning application, now available on the iPhone and Android. With the integration of Milo, shoppers on RedLaser can find out, through a single scan, which local retailers have an item in-stock along with the best price. Shoppers can scan...
Feds To Push More Online Copyright Crackdowns
December 7, 2010, 11:18 amWhite House intellectual property czar Victoria Espinel told a conference Monday that there will be more domain seizures for online copyright infringement, Politico reported.
"We are going after the piraters and counterfeiters," Espinel said at a Brookings Institution conference on Internet policy, adding that intellectual property infringement...
Google Exec: China "Heart Of The Future Of The Internet"
December 7, 2010, 11:18 amDespite hacking incidents, harsh criticisms, various threats, and all other sorts of unpleasantness, Google still has high hopes for its operations in China and the country in general. One exec described it today as "the heart of the future of the Internet," and another revealed that the company's revenue in China has...
Ask.com Passes the Torch to Google Engineers
December 7, 2010, 11:17 amAsk.com has been sticking to the shadows of the search engine world for a long time, and not in a good, stealthy kind of way. The group has simply lacked any spotlight, despite a number of good efforts. Now, after the failure of its most recent endeavor, Ask.com seems to be passing its search engine .
Making The Most Of The Holidays
December 7, 2010, 11:11 amThe holidays are fast approaching and with them the short window of vast opportunity for many online retailers. As an SEO we get inundated with panicked requests for rankings before the holidays. Of course that's not going to happen at this point (at least I wouldn't start organic SEO campaigns now for the holiday season) so what can you do to...
The Decor My Eyes Fiasco & Local Reviews Tactics
December 7, 2010, 10:54 amFrom Chris Silver Smith's post - "This past week, marketers the world over watched the “Decor My Eyes fiasco” unfold with horrified fascination... The fiasco underscored the importance of reviews, particularly for local businesses — read on and see some tactics that can help you."
The 7 Habits Killing Your Personal Brand
December 7, 2010, 10:49 amLisa Barone outlines the pitfalls of managing your own personal brand - and why authenticity, consistency and putting your best (positive) public face forward win the day.
Salesforce Launches Chatter Free, Announces Database.com
December 7, 2010, 10:41 amBack in the summer, Salesforce announced the general availability of Salesforce Chatter , the company's cloud-based enterprise "social collaboration" app and platform, which a representative for the company once called "Facebook for the Enterprise." In September, the company released Chatter Mobile , and announced Chatter 2, which includes a...
TigerLogic Launches A Real-Time Facebook Newspaper
December 7, 2010, 10:25 amData management firm TigerLogic has introduced PostPost, a real-time personal social newspaper that collects and curates posts shared by a user's Facebook friends into a newspaper style layout. To access PostPost, users can login in using Facebook Connect, and all shared links, pictures, videos, articles from their Facebook friends will be...
Facebook Plans Hiring Spree In Ireland
December 7, 2010, 10:25 amAny member of Facebook's HR department who happens to be based in Ireland is going to have a busy year ahead of him (or her). A new report's indicated that Facebook intends to add 100 employees, thereby increasing the size of its Irish workforce by about 50 percent. Jemima Kiss wrote earlier today after speaking to Director of Online Operations...
GA As Networking Tool
December 7, 2010, 10:25 amTalk about organic...Read about incredible organic growth below, and how Analytics helped enable it. We love to share these types of stories because they show practical usage cases of finding success with analytics. Enjoy. Turning a hobby into a full-time job isn't always an easy feat. Zach Weiner started drawing comics in high school and he never...
8 Incredibly Simple Ways to Get More People to Read Your Content
December 7, 2010, 10:04 amYour precious words. You know they've got to be right to attract the audience you want. You've slaved over them, carefully crafting each phrase. You finally hit "publish," and what happens? Nobody reads them. No comments, no tweets, no sharing on Facebook. It's enough to send a writer into deep depression, and wipe out motivation to keep producing...
8 ways to keep writing when you're running on creative fumes
December 7, 2010, 9:49 amIt started last Thursday. I woke up and immediately noticed that I felt "off." I spent a good half of the weekend on the couch, remote control in hand. And working out today was no fun. No, I'm not sick. I'm running on creative fumes. I've been writing so fast and furious that I can feel my body screaming, "Uh, can we have a little break here?"...
Online Holiday Shoppers More Satisfied With Price
December 7, 2010, 9:18 amShopper satisfaction with online retailers during the holidays indicates they are more satisfied with prices this year than they were at the same time last year, according to a new report from ForeSee Results. Customers' ratings of prices this year (72.1 on the study's 100-point scale) are more than half a point higher than they were in 2009;...
Morgan Stanley Raises Google Price Target By $30
December 7, 2010, 9:18 amGlobal financial services firm Morgan Stanley has a lot of confidence in Google. This morning, the organization added Google to its "Best Ideas" list, and also upped its price target on the search giant by an impressive $30. That second change takes the price target Morgan Stanley's established from $700 to $730 and signals some high...
Google Announces Tools and Resources to Help Businesses Go Global
December 7, 2010, 9:18 amGoogle made some announcements aimed at getting businesses to use Google to reach a global audience. These include a new resource site for doing just that, and a new tool called Global Market Finder, designed to help businesses identify markets with high demand for their products or services. "Imagine you're a men's tailor in Bangkok, and you...
Single Security Software License Used 774,651 times!
December 7, 2010, 9:13 amA single license for Avast security software has been used by 774,651 people after it went viral on a file-sharing site, the company told PC Pro UK. The company said it was sold as part of an order from Arizona and when they discovered the pirated use wanted to see how many times it would be used. They have now contacted the current users offering...
Google Chrome Operating System
December 7, 2010, 9:09 amToday Google announced the release of their new operating system Google Chrome OS.
This is the follow up to the Google Chrome Browser which has had some success reaching about 10% market share. (based on data from http://marketshare.hitslink.com/).
The Google operating system is an open source alternative to Linux, offering a very fast and...
How To Filter And Override Your Location Extensions In Google AdWords
December 7, 2010, 9:08 amIf you're running Google AdWords campaigns, then you have probably heard of (and are hopefully using) ad extensions. If you aren't familiar with them, you should be. Ad extensions enable you to enhance your paid search ads by connecting additional types of information, such as product information, addresses, click-to-call phone numbers, etc....
Anatomy of an SEO Audit Part 4 - The Sweet Spot
December 7, 2010, 9:08 amWhen performing an SEO audit, one of the most challenging issues comes when reviewing the competitive landscape. Quite often it can seem overwhelming - competitors who have thousands, tens or even hundreds of thousands of pages already in place. Sites with tens of thousands of inbound links, some coming from thousands of root domains. This is even...
YouTube's Becomes Serial Kitten Killer, Deletes Many Kitten Videos
December 7, 2010, 8:57 amDuring a recent clean up YouTube suspended a number of accounts and deleted hundreds of cat videos by mistake, an employee at the company admitted. While the accounts were reinstated many of the videos were lost. "The suspensions were revealed by "Liz" at YouTube Support, who said that people have complained about their accounts being banned...
Chrome Notebook Dropping Caplock For Search Button
December 7, 2010, 8:57 amEndgadet has a picture of a soon to be released Acer Notebook that uses the Chrome operating system with hardware restrictions that appear to drop the caplock button for a search one, Neteye reported . Click to read the rest of this post.
How to get 33% more visitors for your website
December 7, 2010, 8:36 amYour revenues are fine? You don't need more traffic? You're not interested in new website visitors? If you ignore the Bing/Yahoo alliance in your search engine optimization campaigns, you might be missing a lot of visitors.
Whats New In SEO For December 7, 2010
December 7, 2010, 8:32 amWe have compiled the latest news and updates from the big three, Google, Bing and Yahoo as it relates to SEO and the search engines overall. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH BING: Bing Feature Update: Bing shopping introduces a better way to browse Bing announced that it has updated its shopping to allow visitors to browse via "virtual aisles" just as...
Twitter Accused Of Censoring Wikileaks
December 7, 2010, 8:27 amTwitter has been accused of censoring Wikileaks hashtags, according to TechEye, researcher Bob Murphy found through independent tracking that the hashtag was "on average, it is nearly 3 times as popular as any of the other terms" but not showing in the Twitter Trending topics. Click to read the rest of this post.
Onsite Search, Deals Boost Holiday Web Sales
December 7, 2010, 8:27 amGoogle Commerce finished a report that shows online shoppers place a big premium on the ability to do site searches and finding deals. 77% of people surveyed said they used on site search while doing their shopping. "This Cyber Monday, online retailers seemed to be focused exclusively on offering great deals and promotions. Yet when provided with...
Google's New AdSense Interface
December 7, 2010, 8:21 amIt was Google's unique ad interface which allowed the company to grow to such an immense size and market-share. This is due to more than just what you find in the search results " it's also largely because of the AdSense model. AdSense, or giving webmasters the ability to put ads on their own site .
13 Characteristics Of Successful Digital Schmoozers
December 7, 2010, 8:11 amThis is a guest post by David Siteman Garland, author of newly released book Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business . Digital schomoozers. You know the type. They have REALLY engaged social networks. It seems no matter what they post, their readers and followers respond and engage with...
Wake Up Call to Email Marketers
December 7, 2010, 8:06 amSeveral months ago, Google launched Gmail Priority Inbox . It was very well received. "Gmail has always been pretty good at filtering junk mail into the 'spam' folder," explained Google software engineer Doug Aberdeen upon the product's release. "But today, in addition to spam, people get a lot of mail that isn't outright junk but isn't very...
Duplicate Content and Ways around It
December 7, 2010, 7:55 amWhat Is Duplicate Content Duplicate content is a forbidden practice in Google World, and probably every other search engine realm. If you're unaware of what that phrase means, it refers to content, or even a close resemblance to content, that is used on a second site after being posted on a first. The benevolent intent is to prevent outright...
Andy Rubin Shows Motorola Tablet Running Android Honeycomb
December 7, 2010, 7:45 amGoogle Android chief Andy Rubin graced the stage at Dive: Dive into Mobile Dec. 6, talking all things mobile with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Rubin, whose team launched the Samsung Nexus S earlier in the day, said 172 phones are now running Android, an amazing number of gadgets for a platform less than 3 years old. He complimented Apple for...
New Google Maps for Android to Render 3D Street Level
December 7, 2010, 7:40 amLocal is the new black . Sounds corny but it's true. Now that I have that out of the way, let's take a look at just how Google is taking local to new levels of interesting with their Maps 5.0 app for Android, which is soon to be released. Gizmodo reports Google has just unveiled their new, refreshed Maps 5.0 app for Android, launching soon. What's...
Are Your Marketing Results At Stake?
December 7, 2010, 7:30 amI’m old enough to remember when all you needed to do to persuade an executive about an issue was to show him some data in a spreadsheet. “The computer is always right,” they thought, so they went along with whatever you presented. (OK, I am older than dirt.) Now people quickly started to realize that you could manipulate a...
2010 Predictions - How Well Did I Do?
December 7, 2010, 7:04 amLast year I made 10 predictions for PPC in 2010 . I got a few of the more obvious things right, and few things wrong and I completely failed to predict some quite important changes. Here's how I did: 1. CPCs will rise This one was spot on (and also a complete no brainer). 2.
Google Launches Global Market Finder, and Ads for Global Advertisers
December 7, 2010, 6:59 am"Global Market Finder helps you answer the question: who are my potential customers overseas?"
Google Wave Lives on as Apache Wave
December 7, 2010, 6:54 amEarlier this year Google made an unexpected move when it announced it would shut down Google Wave as a standalone product. Since then, despite a lack of mainstream use, it has become clear that Google Wave has a loyal fan base, and Google has made efforts to open source much of the code behind Wave. Wave lives on to an even greater extent now, as...
When is social search coming? What? It's here?
December 7, 2010, 6:36 amby Mike Moran
Not long ago, there was a lot of discussion about whether Facebook was taking over the hearts and minds of the next generation, where Google has owned the previous one. Much discussion ensued about whether using a search engine to find things would be easier than asking your friends. As usual, the future is more complex than we...
Could A Mere $183 Million Spell Trouble for Groupon?
December 7, 2010, 6:33 amYesterday, I took a look at whether Groupon's decision to pass on Google's ridiculously generous offer of around $6 billion for the 2 year-old company was a good move . One thing that wasn't looked at was the investment that was made in the competing deal site, LivingSocial, totaling $183 million ($175 million from Amazon and $8 million from...
Security Issue In Google Website Optimiser
December 7, 2010, 5:01 amDavid Whitehouse over at Dave Naylor's blog reports a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) issue with Google's Website Optimizer. It seems many experiments are lost in cyberspace.
Twitter & Facebook links affect SEO on Google and Bing
December 7, 2010, 4:37 amFew days ago Google and Bing have confirmed that Social Media links affect the search engine results. Both of the search engines answered that not only they do take the Facebook and Twitter shares into account but also that they evaluate the authority of the author and the quality of the post. In this article we focus on the differences...
The Rich Get Richer: True in SEO, Social + All Organic Marketing
December 7, 2010, 2:32 amPosted by randfish Many years ago, one of the search marketing industry's early great minds, Mike Grehan, wrote a seminal piece that's been referenced and influenced ever since - Filthy Linking Rich . Mike's point was well encapsulated in a few sentences: The Mathew effect, when applied to networks, basically equates to well connected nodes being...
SES London 2011 Features Sessions on Search and Social Marketing
December 7, 2010, 2:16 amSES London 2011 is just around the corner. It will be held Feb. 21-25, 2011, in a new location. And it will feature a number of significant changes to the conference agenda that reflect the new branding of SES as "The Leading Search and Social Marketing Event." Click to read the rest of this post.
Link Assistant SEO PowerSuite Review
December 7, 2010, 1:04 am***This is a paid product review of the SEO PowerSuite Software. SEO is and will continue to be an integral piece of the Search Engine Marketing puzzle. As new components continue to be added to the search marketing mix, the importance of SEO continues to remain. Having the base of great SEO is a necessity that cannot be ignored. Link Assistant...
Google Wave To Live On As Apache Wave
December 7, 2010, 12:45 am"During the summit, it became quite clear that there is a healthy community of startups, independent developers, and industry partners enthusiastic to continue development of the Wave Federation protocols and Wave in a Box product."
Get Too Aggressive with Your Online Marketing and it Could Hurt!
December 6, 2010, 11:06 pmBeing an online marketer requires being somewhat aggressive but what happens when you are too aggressive? One thing you do not want to happen is anger your industry leaders if you are just starting out in the search space because you could find yourself on the losing end of a battle. Being proactive and aggressive with your marketing is perfectly...
Google Giving Military Families Phone Call Credits To Reach Out During Holidays
December 6, 2010, 9:13 pmGoogle announced they will give military families a $10 credit towards calls made using Google Voice or phone calls within Gmail. "These international call credits can be used to make calls with Google Voice or from right inside Gmail, and will provide families with roughly 30 minutes of call time to Afghanistan, 60 minutes to Iraq, or hundreds of...
Google Launches New Site, Tool For Global Marketing
December 6, 2010, 8:58 pmGoogle unveiled two new products to help businesses expand to international markets, the Official Google Blog posted. The site, Google Ads For Global Advertisers , "will serve as a central hub for Google's tools and tips for businesses looking to expand to foreign markets", while the tool. Global Market Finder , "helps businesses identify markets...
Bleeding Edge Reverse PR SEO Strategy
December 6, 2010, 8:27 pmHere's a sure-fire way to get ranked high in Google. Piss people off. Reportedly , DecorMyEyes founder Vitaly Borker was arrested and charged with defrauding customers, and making repeated and violent threats to customers who attempted to return defective goods. Not a fan of "How To Win Friends And Influence People", then :) This bit will interest...
Arrogance About Your Google Ranking Can Land You In Jail
December 6, 2010, 7:56 pmVitaly Borker - the owner of DecorMyEyes.com - the subject of a recent New York Times article titled " A Bully Finds A Pulpit On The Web " "was arrested Monday and charged with cyber-stalking, making interstate threats and mail and wire fraud." the Los Angeles Times reported. Click to read the rest of this post.
temporary duplicate post, please ignore
December 6, 2010, 7:51 pmOpen = Good For years Google has championed the concept of an open web. Some took it as an altruistic sign, while others thought it was a convenient angle to commoditize complimentary business models . Google pushed for net neutrality but made wireless connections an exception . Why would they do that? Could it be they are invested in disrupting...
Is Google Changing Quality Score Rules Again?
December 6, 2010, 7:22 pmWhat is Google up to with the quality score rules? Check it out ...
Six Social Media Trends for 2011
December 6, 2010, 7:12 pmDavid Armano speculates on what we can expect as far as trends in Social Media for 2011. The article at the Harvard Business Review looks at the landscape covering Google, Facebook, LBS, tablets and social media schizophrenia. What trends do you see developing for 2011?
The Cancellation of Terriers and The Importance of First Impressions
December 6, 2010, 6:50 pmFX has canceled the TV show Terriers . You're probably not too crushed by the news. It's safe to say that the majority of the people who will read this blog post never even heard of the show before today since less than a million people watched the premiere. A million may seem like a lot but 13.5 million people watched the Lost finale, so in TV...
Other Coupon/Local Deal Sites Bought, Groupon Passes On Google Historic $6 Billion Offer
December 6, 2010, 5:48 pmThe interest by Google has seen a scramble of people entering the space and other companies in the general space being acquired; what TheStreet is calling the Groupon Halo Effect . "On the heels of the announcement that Amazon(AMZN_) is investing $175 million in Groupon's #2, LivingSocial.com, and that eBay(EBAY_) is buying Milo.com, local...
Flaw In Google Instant May Impact Your Adwords Spends
December 6, 2010, 5:39 pmOne addition to the new Google interface may be causing Adwords advertisers unwanted increased spends, when people double click on the entry they are sent to a PPC ad if there is one occupying the top spot over the organic listings.
If anyone double clicks when instant is running the top ad automatically loads costing the advertiser the price of...
Google Building East Coast Tech Mecca? NYC Office Building Bought for $1.9 Billion
December 6, 2010, 5:33 pmWebpronews confirmed this morning that Google's NYC office, located in the historic Port Authority HQ in the 'meatpacking' district of New York will be bought for $1.9 billion. The purchase is notable as the building is huge, an entire avenue wide - of which Google currently occupies only a few floors, so many have speculated that Google is...
Report Indicates DST Won't Lead Twitter Funding Round
December 6, 2010, 4:24 pmDigital Sky Technologies, the Russian investment firm that's pretty well poured money into Facebook (and also funded Groupon and Zynga), apparently won't be providing Twitter with any cash in the near future. A report's indicated that Kleiner Perkins will instead be the organization leading a new round of funding.
"[S]ources close to...
Report: Brand Perception Suffers in 2010 for Google, Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace
December 6, 2010, 4:23 pmWebProNews received some interesting findings from YouGov BrandIndex, indicating that it has not been a good year for public perception of social media brands (which in this case includes Google, Yahoo, Bing, and AOL, in addition to more obvious brands like Facebook and MySpace).
"2010 was a tough year for public perception of the top...
The Freedom to Tweet
December 6, 2010, 4:22 pmYou would think that your Facebook and Twitter accounts are your personal spaces and you should be able to say whatever you'd like to, wouldn't you? After all, why would anyone care or think twice about your babbling tweets or your mundane status updates? Well apparently sports athletes don't have the freedom to say whatever .
Google Launches eBookstore: Buy Books, Read Books, Shelve Books in the Cloud
December 6, 2010, 4:06 pmIn what looks like a swipe at Amazon and Apple, Google have launched an eBookstore. In reality, Google is doing what it currently does better than web search - pushing web standards and increasing use of the internet - as anything Google does to increase use of the internet, pretty much increases their bottom line too. Click to read the rest of...
New to Microsoft Advertising adCenter? Join the QuickLaunch Program for Free Help From Search Experts
December 6, 2010, 4:06 pmThere are two types of people in this world: those who read the instruction manual before diving in to explore a new gadget or project, and those who prefer to only refer to it after theyve tried to figure things out for themselves first. Regardless of which category you fall into, if youre new to Microsoft Advertising adCenter, then you might...
The Need for a Flexible Employee Social Media Policy
December 6, 2010, 3:41 pmMore WebProNews Videos How strict are you when it comes to employee social media use? Have you taken the time to develop a social media policy? Guidelines for staff to follow? Deb Schultz, a partner with the Altimeter Group shared some advice on things to consider when crafting such guidelines in a recent interview with WebProNews. "One thing...
Rise in Mobile Pushes Rise in Global Ad Spending
December 6, 2010, 3:20 pmThe United States accounts for 5% of the world's population but 34% of total worldwide advertising. That means we're the largest ad market but it doesn't mean we're the only market. According to a new study by Ad Age , China is one of the fastest growing countries in regard to advertising dollars. With 20% of the world's population,
Borker Arrested: Alleged 'Bully' Online Retailer Arrested in New York
December 6, 2010, 3:15 pmRemember the jerk who claimed in the NYT to have boosted his Google rankings with negative reviews and openly communicated bad customer service? It seems the NYPD just took the fun out of his business.
Google's Media Empire
December 6, 2010, 3:15 pmFor years Google has championed the concept of an open web. Some took it as an altruistic sign, while others thought it was a convenient angle to commoditize complimentary business models . Google pushed for net neutrality but made wireless connections an exception . Why would they do that? Could it be they are invested in disrupting that market...
Google Adjusts AdWords Alcohol Policy
December 6, 2010, 2:23 pmGoogle has made changes to its advertising policy on alcohol for AdWords. The company now allows ads to promote the sale of hard alcohol and liquor. Over two years ago, Google revised its alcohol policy from not allowing alcohol ads to begin permitting beer, champagne, and wine ads. A couple months later the company revised its policy again to...
eMarketer Forecasts Big Increases In Online Ad Spending
December 6, 2010, 2:03 pmThe Dow didn't get off to a great start this week; it's been in the red for most of the day so far. A new report predicts that the lingering effects of the recession will benefit the online advertising community, though, with U.S. marketers eventually spending $40.5 billion in 2014. The years leading up to 2014 should be profitable ones, too. As...
Amazon Launches DNS Cloud Service
December 6, 2010, 2:03 pmAmazon Web Services (AWS) has launched Amazon Route 53, a Domain Name System (DNS) in the cloud that allows businesses to direct Internet traffic to web applications. Amazon Route 53 can be used to route end users to multiple AWS services including Amazon EC2, an Amazon Elastic Load Balancer or an Amazon S3 bucket, and to infrastructure outside of...
eMarketer Predicts Big Growth In Online Ad Spending
December 6, 2010, 1:49 pmThe Dow didn't get off to a great start this week; it's been in the red for most of the day so far. A new report predicts that the lingering effects of the recession will benefit the online advertising community, though, with U.S. marketers eventually spending $40.5 billion in 2014.
The years leading up to 2014 should be profitable ones,...
Ross Off to Florida, Affcon 2010
December 6, 2010, 1:42 pmIn case you haven't heard the news, Ross Dunn is on his way to Florida to speak at AffCon 2010 . He'll be broadcasting live on Webmaster Radi o on Dec 10 at 11am EST. At first I was quite jealous. Here he is, off to escape sub-zero temperatures of a Canadian winter to go bask in the sun and put on a nice tan bring back home, while I sit here in my...
Google Groupon Failure Follows Yelp as Second Local Miss
December 6, 2010, 1:27 pmDing dong, the Google Groupon deal is dead, the wicked Google Groupon deal is dead. La la la, la, la, la. Google has purchased 42 companies in 2010, including Phonetic Arts and Widevine Friday, but for the second year in a row Google whiffed on locking up a popular Internet startup that would have beefed up its local search and advertising...
11 retailers that have embraced social applications
December 6, 2010, 1:22 pmJust in time for holiday shopping, here's my list of 11 retailers who've been creative with social applications. What I like here is the diversity - we've got bricks and mortar, online only, direct sellers, and a wide variety of social applications. Thanks to analysts Sucharita Mulpuru and Diane Clarkson for suggestions. Best Buy Best Buy has...
Christmastime on eBay.com
December 6, 2010, 1:06 pmFinding ways to offset the high costs of holiday giving can be quite a challenge, especially for large families. The cost of the gift(s), along with shipping, insurance and other expenses can drive up your gift investment so high that you may have second thoughts before you actually give it to the intended. Wouldn't it .
Are You Treating Your Followers Like Human Beings?
December 6, 2010, 1:01 pmWebProNews recently spoke with Patrick OKeefe, the owner of the iFroggy Network , who had some interesting things to say about how fans can tarnish your brand when responding to your critics. He also shared some more general thoughts about how to treat your fans/customers in general. "People want to be treated like they're human," he said. "They...
Comprehensive 2010 SEO Guide to Keywords
December 6, 2010, 12:53 pmBrent Rangen of Optimize Guyz shares 2010's top keyword research tools, including tools for social media and YouTube.
Katy Perry's Gig, Unabomber's Land Grab, Ben Roethlisberger's Nose Job: What's the Buzz
December 6, 2010, 12:51 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. "Chelsea Lately" (Searches increased by 11,910%). Chalk Chelsea Handler up to Team Aniston. The E! talk-show host called Angelina Jolie a " homewrecker " on her comedy tour. Katy Perry (+1,681%). The singer may not be suitable for "Sesame Street." But a racy bit on "The Simpsons"...
Top Branded Facebook Fan Pages
December 6, 2010, 12:03 pmNovember was a turbulent month for the Top 50 branded Facebook fan pages, with lots of growth among the giants and an unusual level of movement in the bottom half of the chart.
Using their home field advantage, Facebook increased their grip on the number one spot, adding 5 million fans since October, which is more than many of these top pages have...
AdSense Policy webinars are coming to Asia and Australia
December 6, 2010, 11:59 amHave you ever received a policy notification from AdSense? Do you sometimes worry about your account security? Are there any particular policies you still don't quite understand and want to know more about? In order to help you better understand our policies, the AdSense team will be holding a series of online seminars in Asia and Australia,...
The Many Looks Of the MySpace Logo
December 6, 2010, 11:49 amAs if to offer visual proof that it's trying hard to find it's place in the social media universe, MySpace is using several different new logos simultaneously. Just weeks ago the "space" was deleted (see left), but yesterday at the top of an official press release, it was reinserted. And if that's not confusing enough, MySpace created a...
Google Won't Face Criminal Charges in Australia Over Street View
December 6, 2010, 11:49 amGoogle may have breached Australia's Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act, but the Australian Federal Police won't prosecute, saying the chances of a successful prosecution are "low." Click to read the rest of this post.
Android Gingerbread Makes Official Debut
December 6, 2010, 11:49 amSoon enough, lots of children will set out plates of cookies for Santa, and just in time, the mobile operating system named after a cookie associated with Christmas is going to arrive. Google introduced Android 2.3 (AKA "Gingerbread") this morning, along with the Gingerbread SDK/NDK and the new Nexus S phone. Gingerbread's been eagerly...
Salvation Army Launches iPhone App
December 6, 2010, 11:28 amThe Salvation Army has launched a new free iPhone application in an effort to improve its fundraising for its Red Kettle Campaign. Developed by Charity Dynamics, the Online Red Kettle iPhone app allows people to do their own fundraising campaigns on behalf of the Salvation Army. Virtual bell ringers are an essential part of The Salvation...
Sometimes Your Biggest Fans Can Be Damaging to Your Brand
December 6, 2010, 10:57 amMore WebProNews Videos Social media is great for monitoring your online reputation, but it also opens up doors for hurting it. That's not just because your brand is vulnerable to criticism. Sometimes, even your most loyal fans may unintentionally damage your brand. Patrick O'Keefe, owner of the iFroggy Network brought up some good points on this...
Google eBookstore Launches
December 6, 2010, 10:22 amGoogle's ebookstore - named Google eBookstore , as it turns out - has gone live. Google launched the site with a certain amount of fanfare this morning, discussing the numerous ways in which it offers advantages over existing ebook-buying options. To start with, Google claims to have the world's largest ebooks collection, with over three million...
Yahoo Launches Random Acts Of Kindness Campaign For The Holidays
December 6, 2010, 10:22 amYahoo is asking its users to come together this holiday season and make a difference through simple acts of kindness. The campaign, called How Good Grows, encourages people to do random acts of kindness and update their online status to get others to join in. The kindness.yahoo.com website allows people to post status messages that can be shared...
4 Scientific Tips that Help You Get More Blog Comments
December 6, 2010, 9:40 amOne of the most engaging features of the blogging platform is the commenting system. Many bloggers believe there is as much or even more value in the discussion than the posts they write themselves. Comments are a classic form of social proof for blogs, and blogs that attract lots of comments appear more authoritative. Comments are also a great...
AOL & Yahoo Plan Merger? Building an "Exclusive" on'Well, Nothing Actually
December 6, 2010, 9:25 amSometimes, merger and acquisition rumors are juicy, thrilling, with a sense of mystery. Other times, they're a lame duck and you wonder why anyone-let alone Reuters -would waste the time writing the story. Exhibit A: Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo Ooh, that's a BIG story, right? AOL, trying to reinvent itself and Yahoo,...
Google Turns Your Friends Into Sitelinks for Some Queries
December 6, 2010, 9:15 amGoogle has added social sitelinks to some search results. This means that for some social-related queries, you may see results for your own personal social connections as sitelinks underneath the main result. "Usually when you search for a social site like Twitter or MySpace, you're looking for information from your friends and social network,...
Google Acquires DRM Expert
December 6, 2010, 9:15 amA company that specializes in "DRM, video optimization, digital copy protection, and conditional access" will now be the property of Google. Late last week, Google agreed to acquire Widevine Technologies for an undisclosed amount. Widevine is no inconsequential startup. The organization's been around since 1999, and as of today, its customers...
AOL & Yahoo Plan Merger? Building an “Exclusive” on…Well, Nothing Actually
December 6, 2010, 9:09 amSometimes, merger and acquisition rumors are juicy, thrilling, with a sense of mystery.
Other times, they’re a lame duck and you wonder why anyone–let alone Reuters–would waste the time writing the story.
Exhibit A:
Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo
Ooh, that’s a BIG story, right? AOL, trying to...
Yahoo Hires a Time Inc. Executive
December 6, 2010, 9:04 amYahoo has been no stranger to difficulty over the last few years. In an attempt to pick up their search engine's market-share, Yahoo made a bid to combine forces with Microsoft, but with little major change showing thus far. The departure of many top executives, including Hilary Schneider, David Ko, Joanne Bradford, and James Pitaro, .
Discover more than 3 million Google eBooks from your choice of booksellers and devices
December 6, 2010, 9:04 amToday is the first page in a new chapter of our mission to improve access to the cultural and educational treasures we know as books. Google eBooks will be available in the U.S. from a new Google eBookstore . You can browse and search through the largest ebooks collection in the world with more than three million titles including hundreds of...
Online Holiday Spending Reaches $16 Billion
December 6, 2010, 8:59 amOnline spending for the first 33 days of the November-December 2010 holiday season has reached $16.8 billion, representing a 12 percent increase over the same time period last year, according to the latest report from comScore. The most recent week saw four individual days surpass $800 million in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the...
Online Marketing in 2011: 4 Things to Do Now to be Prepared
December 6, 2010, 8:54 amThis is the time of year that many of us are thinking about what we didn't do in 2010 and what we should do for 2011. Even professional online marketers have a long 'to do' list of things to improve their online marketing performance - made up of tasks to specifically improve ROI or something to save time and improve efficiency. For those of you...
Kicking Social Media Trolls Back Under the Bridge
December 6, 2010, 8:18 amDisclaimer: We are fully aware of the fact that this guest post may attract "trolls" - not the children's nursery rhyme variety of trolls that live under bridges, but the adolescent (irrespective of age) anonymous thugs that leave distasteful, disgusting and/or downright disturbing messages on an otherwise informative chain of user comments....
Google and Groupon: No Deal
December 6, 2010, 8:14 amOnline coupon site Groupon has rejected Google's offer, which was rumored to be worth up to $6 billion, plus performance incentives. Click to read the rest of this post...
Did Groupon Make the Right Decision? What's Google's Next Move?
December 6, 2010, 8:02 amAs you probably know, Groupon recently turned down Google's $6 billion acquisition offer. CEO Andrew Mason was reportedly concerned about the direction Google may have taken it in, as well as what would happen to its employees. A lot of people are surprised that Groupon turned the offer down, as it would've been Google's biggest acquisition to...
Why Social Media Will Never Replace My Website
December 6, 2010, 7:57 amA couple of weeks ago, Jon Henshaw and I were interviewed on the WebmasterRadio show State of Search . During our interview, we were both asked a question that was posed to the host of the show at a recent conference: Do you think that in a few years websites will cease to exist? To give you more context, the gentleman who asked the question...
Was Groupon's Rejection of Google the Right Move?
December 6, 2010, 7:52 amGroupon knock -offs breathed a huge sigh of relief as they category maker in online deals rejected the lavish offer of around $6 billion in total that Google put on the table last week. According to a Bloomberg article Groupon Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason, who started the company in 2008, had concerns about the strategic direction it would...
Was Groupon’s Rejection of Google the Right Move?
December 6, 2010, 7:44 amGroupon knock –offs breathed a huge sigh of relief as they category maker in online deals rejected the lavish offer of around $6 billion in total that Google put on the table last week.
According to a Bloomberg article
Groupon Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason, who started the company in 2008, had concerns about the strategic direction it...
Does Your Niche Dictate Your Risk?
December 6, 2010, 7:32 amMonths ago I wrote about why understanding your niche was so crucial for quality link building . Most of this piece dealt with issues such as target demographic, key terms to use, and content. However, the last two points that I covered have recently come up again and I decided to flesh them out a bit more, hopefully with more in-depth explanation...
F.C.C. Opt-Out Privacy Plan May Hit Some Businesses Harder Than Others
December 6, 2010, 7:30 am"If the vast majority of online users chose not to have their Internet activity tracked, the proposed 'do not track' system could have a severe effect on the industry, some experts say."
AOL Reportedly Considering Break Up to Attract Yahoo Merger
December 6, 2010, 7:11 amAOL and Yahoo both have new focuses on churning out content. This is one reason why some industry analysts have suggested that the two companies would be a good fit for a merger. It's made for interesting conversation , but there has never been any substantial evidence that the two companies would ever pursue such an endeavor. There's an...
Facebook To Make Profiles More Prominent
December 6, 2010, 7:03 am"We're rolling it out gradually and plan to get it to everyone by early next year."
Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?
December 6, 2010, 7:01 amFacebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways than one) to roll out the new Profile Page design. I say used 60 Minutes because I personally came away from the watching the interview with nothing new. In other words, it looks like Mark Zuckerberg has mastered the 'no event' interview and he...
Google eBooks eBookstore Launches In U.S.
December 6, 2010, 6:59 am"Google eBooks will be available in the U.S. from a new Google eBookstore."
Ireland's bad broadband penetration
December 6, 2010, 6:35 amAccording to the OECD latest figures, Ireland's broadband penetration is one of the weakest in the world. Out of 31 countries surveyed, Ireland ranks 22nd with 20.3 per cent of broadband penetration. The average is around 24.3 per cent for the 31 countries surveyed. Ireland currently has 907,859 fixed broadband subscriptions including DSL, cable...
4 Great Tips to Build More Links to Your Blog Posts'Based on Scientific Analysis
December 6, 2010, 6:14 amThis is a guest post by HubSpot's social media scientist, Dan Zarrella. It contains data from his upcoming webinar " The Science of Blogging " taking place on December 9th. Many marketers and small business owners see blogging, rightly, as an important aspect of their SEO efforts because of their ability to attract inbound links. And even beyond...
4 Great Tips to Build More Links to Your Blog Posts…Based on Scientific Analysis
December 6, 2010, 6:00 amThis is a guest post by HubSpot’s social media scientist, Dan Zarrella. It contains data from his upcoming webinar “The Science of Blogging” taking place on December 9th.
Many marketers and small business owners see blogging, rightly, as an important aspect of their SEO efforts because of their ability to attract inbound links. And even...
Linkbuilding tactics: Getting the attention to get your article into the wrap up posts
December 6, 2010, 5:44 amBas van den Beld goes into the depth of an interesting approach on chasing high quality links: Getting into the wrap pup posts can be very profitable, but it is not something which is done very easily. The influentials, the editors responsible for these posts, all take their jobs very seriously. So if you want to get in there, you will have to...
Bad days for Google 2
December 6, 2010, 4:57 amPandia continues its review of the trouble Google is facing policy and market wise. The market place A couple of years ago Google's (GOOG) plan of indexing all content everywhere and "everywhen" suddenly seemed realistic. Not only did it do a good job of indexing the open web, it had also started to index the hidden web (information hidden behind...
Marketing content with social media: tweet this!
December 6, 2010, 3:19 amWelcome back! Today marks our fifth and final post on leveraging content development opportunities - and hark! The choir of angels sings Twitter. It's far from breaking news that social media is a content marketing force that's only growing in its impact and reach, and while it won't replace a conventional blog, Twitter is a fantastic way to build...
Calling .Net developers!
December 6, 2010, 2:43 amMyspace has always been committed to open standards and the open Internet. The Myspace Developer Platform team is taking the next logical step and will be open sourcing our internally developed Myspace OpenSocial Gadget container. Now there will be a high quality and highly scalable .Net implementation of an OpenSocial Gadget container available...
What Are Your Best Tips for Link Builders?
December 6, 2010, 1:57 amPosted by Justin Briggs If you want to boost rankings, few things are as effective as link building. It's also the one of the hardest and most time consuming parts of SEO. I'd love to hear from others, so in the comments below share your best or most unique tips for link builders. Following are nine of my tips to help you as a link builder. You...
Create Online Conversations by Talking
December 5, 2010, 11:08 pmWe all know that social media and online conversations are very important when it comes to communicating your business message and building your brand online. Website marketing has changed over the years and businesses looking to make an impact online need to be able to communicate real time with their audience. That is the present and the future...
In Australia, Men Watch Twice the Amount of Online Video as Women
December 5, 2010, 8:59 pmcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its October 2010 rankings of the top video properties in Australia based on data from its comScore Video Metrix service. The report found that nearly 80 percent of Australia's Internet population viewed video online in October, with an average viewer watching...
Facebook Redesigns the Profile Page
December 5, 2010, 7:12 pmFacebook announced a redesign of user profile pages. Some changes include a new introduction at the top of the page that tells viewers where youre from, where you went to school, and where you work. "And since there's often no better way to learn about a person than through photos, the profile now includes a row of recently tagged photos of you,"...
Cyber Monday Hangover: U.S. Online Spending Growth Softens After Strong Early Week Performance
December 5, 2010, 3:10 pmcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 33 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $16.8 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent...
Pandas on the Rise
December 5, 2010, 2:44 pmby Mike Krumboltz Pandas are among the most endangered species on earth. But thanks to a breakthrough by scientists in China, the cuddly mammal may be seeing better days ahead. A buzzy article from the BBC explains that conservationists have "perfected the difficult task of reproducing pandas." This claim comes after the researchers announced that...
The year of APIs and the reshaping of the payment ecosystem: Part 1
December 5, 2010, 2:39 pmHi all - Patrick Gauthier, head of market intelligence here. I recently joined the PayPal team, and am responsible for identifying industry trends and providing insight into clients' needs. It has been over a year since PayPal shook the payment industry with the introduction of Adaptive Payments and the PayPal X platform, making it an opportune...
Oh What A Tangled Web They've Weaved: Wikileaks Game Card
December 5, 2010, 1:22 pmThe global impact of the leaking of 250.000 US government cables (communications between US officials) has been the topic of conversation all over the world for more than a week. But, most of it is confusing, so I thought a game card would be handy.Click to read the rest of this post...
AdWords #PPC Hack 53: Exploiting Google Instant
December 5, 2010, 9:30 amRecently, aimClear, along with a handful of industry colleagues, took a few spirited cracks at hacking Google Instant to see if they could somehow break it, to the PPC marketer’s advantage.The results were fascinating!
Pandia Search Engine News Wrap-up Dec 5
December 5, 2010, 8:24 amSorry for the absence. The Pandia editors have been out travelling (from experiencing the Korea conflict in Seoul to taking part in the Online Conference in London). Now we are back onhspace="4â³ track, however, with a new list of search engine relevant articles and posts from around the Web. Making Copyright Work Better Online Google Public...
Bad days for Google 1
December 5, 2010, 7:37 amGoogle has moved from being considered the innovative underdog to a dominant player. Both the European Commission and the US Federal Trade Commission are looking into its practices. But there is hope for Google yet. Google is no longer everybody's darling, i.e. the brilliant little creative kid with chubby cheeks who we forgive everything due to...
3 great safe search engines
December 5, 2010, 4:43 amTo find what you need on the Web, your search engine of choice sifts through enormous amounts of information on your behalf and comes up with a list of search results. Now your job starts: To sift through the search results for the most reliable information. Depending on your query, this can include wading through not only irrelevant sites, but...
What is Google Hotpot?
December 4, 2010, 10:12 pmThink of it this way – As we travel through a new type of landscape we are guided by signs as always. But the source of the signs and information is much different. Travelers are creating the guidelines and providing directions for the inquiring traveler. This is what happens with Google Profile. Users rate/review businesses, restaurants and...
Oh What A Tangled Web They've Weave: Wikileaks Game Card
December 4, 2010, 1:46 pmThe global impact of the leaking of 250.000 US government cables (communications between US officials and other world leaders) has been the topic of conversation all over the world for more than a week. But, most of it is confusing, so I thought a game card would be handy. Click to read the rest of this post.
Search Week in Review for Dec. 4, 2010
December 4, 2010, 12:30 pmHere's a roundup of this week's columns and news stories for the week of Nov. 29 to Dec. 3, as reported by Search Engine Watch, as well as search news and tips from around the web.Click to read the rest of this post...
Google To Filter Content Piracy Terms From Autocomplete
December 4, 2010, 12:01 pmThe Public Policy blog at Google outlined their new moves to protect copyrights including "prevent terms that are closely associated with piracy from appearing in Autocomplete."Click to read the rest of this post...
Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village [Video Spoof]
December 4, 2010, 10:32 amFinally! A way to opt out of Google. A hilarious video news spoof story from The Onion.
How Facebook Connect Freaks Me Out
December 4, 2010, 10:20 amDanny Sullivan tries to figure out exactly what data may or may not be accessed when all you want to do is log on to a site via Facebook Connect.
Tap Tap Tap - This Thing On?
December 4, 2010, 9:31 amOnly our 2nd new server in 11 years. We make the big move from Rackspace to LiquidWeb.
Groupon Says NO to Google's $6 Billion Offer
December 4, 2010, 8:22 amBig news this morning after a big week of Google Cloud Dev, Real Estate & Chrome OS news. Groupon , the group buying and crowdsourced discount service, has reportedly turned down a Google acquisition offer valued at $6 Billion ($5.3 billion w/ $700 million earnout). Groupon, which is said to bring in annual revenues of $2 billion ,
Cup of Joe: Are You Marketing For Sh*ts and Giggles?
December 4, 2010, 8:07 amRecently a new site launched that has had a lot of folks talking on social media. The designers are using an innovative scrolling design with high quality illustrations to entertain and sell their brand. Ben the Bodyguard is a soon to be released app on the iPhone and iPad that protects your phone from theft and your boss from reading about your...
For Mega-Site SEO, Structure is King - not Content
December 4, 2010, 5:46 am"With mega SEO it's about making small strides over time that grouped together have a really big impact," according to Derrick Wheeler, SEO for Microsoft.
PayPal statement regarding WikiLeaks
December 3, 2010, 10:58 pmPayPal has permanently restricted the account used by WikiLeaks due to a violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity. We've notified the account holder of this action.
Google Updates and SERP Changes - December 2010
December 3, 2010, 9:05 pm"WebmasterWorld's monthly SERP monitoring and update thread for December 2010."
Cyber Monday Explodes, Steve Martin Bombs, WikiLeaks Under Fire: Buzz Week in Review
December 3, 2010, 7:32 pmby Claudine Zap What a week: Shoppers started off with an explosion of sales, making "Cyber Monday" the biggest online shopping day ever. But Steve Martin bombed with an audience when he wasn't funny. And Amazon says bye-bye to hosting the whistleblower site WikiLeaks after its latest document dump. Those stories and more in your Buzz Week in...
Is Do Not Track Something to Worry About?
December 3, 2010, 6:20 pmThis past Wednesday, the FTC released a report stating that they were behind a "Do Not Track" program that would automatically stop all ad tracking unless the consumer opted in. The consensus from the government is that advertisers aren't doing enough to assure consumer privacy, so they're being forced to step in. As of this morning,
Mozilla Promotes Firefox 4 With Red Panda "Cub Cam"
December 3, 2010, 4:53 pmThe Chrome and Internet Explorer teams can talk all they want about supposed advances in speed, compatibility, and/or advanced features. Right now, Mozilla's software has an edge, as the organization's using two red panda cubs to promote Firefox 4. A post on the Mozilla Blog explained, "On June 14, 2010, two female firefox (a.k.a red panda) cubs...
The Hip New Hanukkah Songs
December 3, 2010, 4:38 pmby Mike Krumboltz With the exception of Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song," there aren't many hip tunes that celebrate the Jewish holiday. That appears to be changing. A parody of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" has gone viral, and leads the charge of catchy new Hanukkah ditties. The Maccabeats' new song "Candlelight" (sung to the tune of "Dynamite") is...
Google Cloud Picker Feature Discovered Prematurely
December 3, 2010, 4:02 pmIt has been revealed that Google is testing something called "Google Cloud Picker". It's apparently not something we're supposed to know about yet. According to those who spotted it, it appeared when they tried to insert files and images into Google Sites and Blogger. A screenshot is now making the rounds, showing that it is tied to Picasa, Maps,...
Gowalla Upgrade Adds Foursquare and Facebook
December 3, 2010, 3:41 pmLocation-based check-in services aren't as big as they appear to be from the hype, but still, companies are clamoring to take over the space. Foursquare has been the high-profile leader for awhile but there are folks that prefer Gowalla's interface and then there are those who don't leave Facebook for anything. That's why Gowalla has decided to...
Facebook Said To Rent Space On Madison Avenue
December 3, 2010, 3:31 pmGoogle and Facebook are often mentioned in the same breath these days, and now it seems that Facebook, like Google, may be interested in the New York real estate market. Rumor has it Facebook's leased some space at 335 Madison Avenue. This isn't quite as impressive as Google's $1.9 billion purchase of an entire office building, but Owen Thomas...
If You Talk to Me, Do I Not Talk Back? Google Acquire Phonetic Arts
December 3, 2010, 3:26 pmNo, it's not a Shakespearian app. It's Google's latest business development. Straight from the mouth of the company that put voice search on your smart phone, Google announced today they want your computers to talk to you. Or rather, Google-powered devices, more to the point. The Official Google Blog just announced Google's acquisition of...
Google Talks Local Search Relevance Factors
December 3, 2010, 2:24 pmGoogle is placing a great deal of emphasis on local in its search results these days. In fact in many cases, it would appear to significantly reduce the importance of ranking in the regular organic results . Google talked a little about how local search ranking works today in a blog post on its Lat Long Blog , which included the below video of...
Overstock.com Tops In Employee Satisfaction
December 3, 2010, 2:24 pmOnline retailer Overstock.com said today it has been ranked #1 for employee satisfaction in a Glassdoor.com survey commissioned by Forbes. The company received high ratings for its fun, relaxed work culture. CEO and Chairman Patrick M. Byrne earned a 92% employee approval rating, the highest of any retailer on this list. "This ranking is a very...
Super Tofu Boy: Downloadable Soon
December 3, 2010, 2:14 pmby Mike Krumboltz PETA is so often outraged that the animal rights group has become rather easy to ignore. It's only when their targets fight back that people sit up and pay attention. Such was the case this week when the makers of the hit videogame Super Meat Boy took a swing at the outspoken PETA. Super Meat Boy, a self-described " tough as...
Canada Puts a Spin on Facebook "Friending"
December 3, 2010, 2:14 pmEveryone knows about friends, likes and even groups on Facebook that support causes or sheds light on certain situations, but Canada has heightened its use of the social networking platform and continues to see exponential growth in a project that was started over a year ago. In a few days, the US and the world .
Android Comes Up On iOS In October
December 3, 2010, 1:53 pmA new comScore report concerning the state of the mobile market is out, and it should surprise exactly no one that Android's market share continues to rise. The rate of Android's growth is sure to displease some Apple fans, however, as it looks like Android may have eclipsed iOS in terms of smartphone subscribers. Google's share of the market...
Groupon No Lock for Google Amid Antitrust Fears
December 3, 2010, 1:27 pmI appreciate good Google acquisition stories as much as the next fellow, but the search engine really need to tread lightly with this Groupon stuff. In case you haven't been following the wickedly spinning rumor mill, Google has been in talks all week to buy local shopping Website Groupon, which e-mails millions of users daily discounts from...
Meet Ross Dunn at AffCon 2010
December 3, 2010, 1:27 pmIf you find your self attending AffCon 2010 in Miami Florida next week be sure to stop by and say hello to our very own Ross Dunn (here is Ross's LinkedIn profile ). Don't Miss the LIVE Show of SEO 101 at WebmasterRadio.FM You can catch Ross and his SEO 101 Co-Host John Carcutt at 11:00 am on Friday Dec 10 in the Grand Ballroom 3 for the SEO 101...
Notifications Leaked
December 3, 2010, 1:22 pmSince the introduction of v4, some feedback we've heard is that it's difficult to keep up with what your friends are doing. To address these concerns, we are happy to announce the initial release of our expanded notification options which will allow you to keep up with what's happening on Digg. This update is comprised of two parts: additional...
Winona Ryder's Role, Angry Birds' X-mas Edition, Steve Martin's Unfortunate Event: What's the Buzz
December 3, 2010, 1:07 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Steve Martin (Searches increased by 7,341%). Sorry, Steve. Apparently nobody wants to hear you talk about art . Winona Ryder (+2,862%). The 39-year-old plays an aging ballet dancer being pushed out of the spotlight in "Black Swan." Art imitating life ? Chuck Norris jokes (+447%). Chuck...
Monte Cahn Leaving Oversee in December 2010
December 3, 2010, 1:06 pmDN Journal is reporting that Monte Cahn is leaving Oversee upon the expiration of his contract, at the end of December 2010. Monte is the consummate businessman - savvy, personable, service oriented. Bon Chance, Monte!
Google Looks Toward "Star Trek Future" With Phonetic Arts Acquisition
December 3, 2010, 12:46 pmGoogle has acquired Phonetic Arts , a speech synthesis company based in Cambridge, England. The company works on technology that generates natural computer speech from samples of recorded voice. "In Star Trek, they don't spend a lot of time typing things on keyboardsthey just speak to their computers, and the computers speak back," says Google...
It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas: Google Launches Santa Tracking
December 3, 2010, 12:26 pmGoogle has teamed with Norad again this year to track Santa . Click to read the rest of this post.
Sales Through Google Product Ads May Tell What You Get For Christmas
December 3, 2010, 12:26 pmForget searching through your house, or shaking the wrapped gifts under the tree Google has released the best sellers through their products ads and some of these may be coming your way. Click to read the rest of this post.
How Did Goodzer New York Shopping Engine Fare On Holiday Sales Weekend?
December 3, 2010, 12:10 pmGoodzer, a local shopping search engine which finds 'nearby' shops that stock the products you are looking for and plots them on a map launched last week ahead of Black Friday. Caught up in the shopping frenzy in New York City, a visiting friend from London, was struggling to find every item they were looking for in the Black Friday sales, so I...
Japan Approves Yahoo-Google Search Deal, Microsoft Cries Foul
December 3, 2010, 11:58 amThe search world is really becoming complicated. Yahoo has a deal with Microsoft and Yahoo (Japan) has a deal with Google.
But Microsoft is protesting Google's alliance. Yahoo Japan is independent of Yahoo, as they only own 34% of the Japanese company.Click to read the rest of this post...
Ask, IAC CEO Barry Diller Steps Down
December 3, 2010, 11:56 amBarry Diller, founder of IAC which includes Ask.com, told the company he ran for over 17 years that he is stepping down as CEO. No he is not joining Jeeves in retirement, he said "I want to go back to what I am good at, which is looking for opportunities to grow the business."
"Greg Blatt, 42, the newly named CEO of IAC, who was formerly the CEO...
Editing Web Sites for Success: Know Thy Customer
December 3, 2010, 11:55 amOne of my most important jobs as an editor is to help my partners write for their customer. I work on everything from emails to error messages. Each piece of content I edit, I make sure that I ask myself a very important question: Who is my customer? This question is one you can ask yourself when you are developing content for your customers. A...
Can we talk? Better speech technology with Phonetic Arts
December 3, 2010, 11:50 amIn Star Trek, they don't spend a lot of time typing things on keyboards"they just speak to their computers, and the computers speak back. It's a more natural way to communicate, but getting there requires chipping away at a range of hard research problems. We've recently made some strides with speech technologies and tools that take voice input :...
Google Tech Lead Moves On To LinkedIn
December 3, 2010, 11:44 amGiven Google's hiring standards, it's a decent bet that even the janitors have more coding ability than the developers at some other firms. An impending personnel loss may be all that much worse for the search giant, then, as an employee with the title "Tech Lead" has decided to leave for LinkedIn. Today is Daniel Tunkelang's last day at Google,...
Americans Ignoring Internet Banner Ads
December 3, 2010, 11:44 amOnline advertising is considered a good way to target and reach consumers, but nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans say they tend to ignore Internet ads, according to a new survey from Adweek Media and Harris Interactive. Among those who ignore Internet ads, 43 percent say they ignore banner ads the most and 20 percent say they ignore search...
Bing Shopping Gets Improved Product Category Navigation
December 3, 2010, 10:57 amBing has made added some enhancements to Bing Shopping with the goal of making it easier for people to browse merchandise by category and sub-category, or as Bing describes it, by "browsing visual aisles like you would in the real-world". I don't know if it's quite the same as walking through a brick and mortar store, but it does seem to be...
Inclusion in Google News- Sad but True
December 3, 2010, 10:44 amI am sure many people out there have tried to get included in Google News. We have been successful in getting multiple websites included in Google news. Recently we have been working fairly hard to get busy blogging. We decided to attempt to get SEO Moves included in Google news. Just for fun I am going to include the thread of conversation I have...
comScore Reports October 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share
December 3, 2010, 10:21 amcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending October 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating...
Google To Roll Out Changes to Copyright Handling
December 3, 2010, 10:21 amGoogle is making some significant changes to how it handles copyright infringement complaints and piracy that will go into effect over the next several months. Google says it will act on reliable copyright takedown requests within 24 hours, will prevent terms that are closely associated with piracy from appearing in its Autocomplete feature, will...
eBay Finds Small Businesses Optimistic About Holiday Sales
December 3, 2010, 10:18 ameBay has released the results of its first U.S. Online Business Index (OBI), a new report that focuses on small business owners views across a variety of topics.
More than half (60%) of eBay small business owners surveyed said they are considerably optimistic about the future of their online businesses during the 2010 holiday season.
Nearly...
Google Decorates Search Results for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa
December 3, 2010, 10:16 amIf you search Google for Hanukkah , Christmas , or Kwanzaa , you'll see some special holiday icons in the left navigation and decorations between the organic results and ads on the right. Click to read the rest of this post.
Keith Olbermann and Twitter: Can His Job Be Saved?
December 3, 2010, 10:11 amWhat does an outspoken, lively, but controversial political talk show figure do when his radio program is suspended because of his political choices? He tweets about it, of course! Keith Olbermann's Twitter account may help save his job (not likely), and increase his popularity. The MSNBC talk show host was suspended from the station after .
Viacom-YouTube Appeal Set To Proceed
December 3, 2010, 10:10 amMore than four months after YouTube won a lawsuit filed by Viacom - and just one day after Google announced several new ways in which it'll try to aid copyright owners - it look like the legal fight is about to start again. Viacom is reportedly ready to move forward with its appeal.
Sam Schechner wrote this morning, "The New York-based...
The Rockstar Guide to Getting More Traffic, Fame, and Success
December 3, 2010, 9:28 amHave you ever been to a concert where the opening act was just awful? Maybe their music was okay, but there was something about the performance that undermined your ability to enjoy it. The group just lacked that special something that would make them stand out, that would draw you in. That quality they're lacking is called showmanship " and it's...
Google Offering Free $10 Calling Credit For Military Families During The Holidays
December 3, 2010, 9:18 amGoogle said today it is offering a free $10 calling credit during the holidays to military families in an effort to help them keep in touch with their loved ones serving abroad. The Gmail Blog offers more details. These international call credits can be used to make calls with Google Voice or from right inside Gmail, and will provide families with...
Google Buying NY Office Building For $1.9 Billion
December 3, 2010, 9:18 amAn odd rumor that circulated in late October has now been confirmed. Search and advertising giant Google is getting into real estate, signing a contract to buy an extremely large office building in New York City for about $1.9 billion. Google's already a tenant in the building, but this move isn't a simple "why rent when you can buy?" scenario. ...
More expensive than sex.com: Google buys tall building
December 3, 2010, 9:08 amIn today's ClickZ column I finish up a series about marketing budget allocation decisions . In the course of this discussion, I have wondered aloud about the value of "marketing" related investments as diverse as vanity URL's and renting Class A office space. And I've claimed that "signaling bonus" can be at work/play: you not only get benefit A...
Groupon Dominates LivingSocial In Market Share, But Now Amazon's In The Equation
December 3, 2010, 8:58 amThere's a reason why Google is going after Groupon as opposed to one of its competitors. Not only is it the leader in its space, it's the leader in its space by a long shot. Experian Hitwise has shared some data comparing market share of visits of Group Coupon Sites, and Groupon is way ahead of its closest competitor, LivingSocial. A Google...
Viacom Just Wants Google to Stop "Robbing Banks"
December 3, 2010, 8:53 amJust when we thought the Viacom vs YouTube copyright infringement case was finally behind us , Viacom goes and gets all zombie on us-and raises it from the dead. If you need background on the lawsuit, we have a boatload of information on it , but bottom line is this: Viacom sued Google claiming its popular TV shows were being illegally uploaded to...
The TSA has become God’s gift to YouTube
December 3, 2010, 8:50 amAs the tools to capture the videos of people behaving badly are on the smart phones of more people citizen journalism is on the rise. Are there ways you can aggregate and use these videos on your site to drive traffic and links?
Viacom Just Wants Google to Stop “Robbing Banks”
December 3, 2010, 8:42 amJust when we thought the Viacom vs YouTube copyright infringement case was finally behind us, Viacom goes and gets all zombie on us–and raises it from the dead.
If you need background on the lawsuit, we have a boatload of information on it, but bottom line is this: Viacom sued Google claiming its popular TV shows were being illegally...
Facebook Looking to Beef Up Washington Presence
December 3, 2010, 8:37 amJust the title of the post alone should be enough to know that Facebook realizes that privacy will be the biggest issue that could get in the way of its continued success. What better way to manage this kind of concern than to hire people who can con, errrr, convince lawmakers and legislators that Facebook should get a pass on these concerns. Off...
Google's Social Layer May Be a Toolbar
December 3, 2010, 8:11 amThere have been a lot of rumors and a lot of speculation around a "social layer" that Google is supposedly adding to many of its products. Little has been known about Google's planned implementation and the functionality of this social layer, and a great deal of talk has been around the name itself. MG Siegler at TechCrunch, who learned this week...
The ItSpot App Will Help You Make a Deal
December 3, 2010, 7:55 amEverybody always wants to find a sweet deal, something they can brag to their friends about when they tell them how much they've saved, where they found it, etc. It's always a big boost to save money on something that you were going to buy anyway, right? The new app called ItSpot is a location-based .
How Search Engines Google and Bing Handle A Domain Name Change
December 3, 2010, 7:55 am"WebmasterWorld Members discuss a recent domain name changeover from old to new. Bing and Google scrutinized."
5 Alternative Google Search Plugins (FireFox)
December 3, 2010, 7:50 amAre you tired of Google as you see it with all its experiments and updates? Do you want to get things under control? Then you may want to try any (or all) of the following Google search modifications: 1. Google Informative Informative Google Search is a FireFox search plugin that takes advantage of Google's sidebar options to make the results,...
Clickbooth CPC : Can it Compete with Google AdSense?
December 3, 2010, 7:29 amClickbooth, a CPA/CPC affiliate network based in Sarasota, FL, has stirred up some news this week with buzz around their CPC offering for publishers who are looking for an alternative or compliment to Google AdSense. Clickbooth CPC , an IntegraClick project being led by former AOL Exec Tom Haney , is reminiscent of the IndustryBrains/AdHere and...
Facebook Proving to Be an Excellent E-Commerce Tool For the Holidays
December 3, 2010, 7:15 amIf you had any question about whether or not Facebook can be effective for e-commerce, you might be interested in new data the company has shared with us regarding the time period from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
"This holiday season, shoppers are calling the shots," Jillian Carroll of Facebook's Corporate Communications...
How Major CEO's Are Viewed by Their Employees
December 3, 2010, 7:14 amThis is a bit of a 'fun' post. The company that put it together the chart below is Glassdoor.com which is a job posting site that gets it's information from company employees. It also ran as the Business Insider's SAI Chart of the Day so it has to be accurate, right?! In a world (tech and Internet) where the CEO of a company often gets more...
Can Google TV on the Logitech Revue Turn You Into Kevin Bacon?
December 3, 2010, 7:03 amLogitech has a new ad for its Revue device (the set-top box/Blu-Ray player with Google TV) that has Kevin Bacon playing a guy that is a huge Kevin Bacon fan in what quite possibly is some of Kevin Bacon's finest work to date. Maybe this ad is just what Google TV needs to pick itself up after a disappointing launch. Logitech's description for the...
How Major CEO’s Are Viewed by Their Employees
December 3, 2010, 6:58 amThis is a bit of a ‘fun’ post. The company that put it together the chart below is Glassdoor.com which is a job posting site that gets it’s information from company employees. It also ran as the Business Insider’s SAI Chart of the Day so it has to be accurate, right?!
In a world (tech and Internet) where the CEO of a company often gets...
Usability Questions: Do We Really Need a Cancel Button?
December 3, 2010, 6:37 amAs more forms are being transferred to the Internet and away from paper copies, their online creators must take the time needed to assess which layout will be the most effective. One top layout issue generating a large amount of debate is the cancel button. Specifically, the issue of whether or not to include a .
Shoppers Spending More on Black Friday; Is Cyber Monday Now an Anachronism?
December 3, 2010, 6:27 amSearchIgnite have released research that also suggests that Cyber Monday, the day that online shopping is meant to explode when compared to traditional footfall traffic, could become a thing of the past. As research from other paid search platforms has indicated, shoppers are clicking aswell as hitting the stores on Black Friday, rendering the...
9 Step SEO Checkup Using Google Webmaster Tools
December 3, 2010, 3:27 amSeemingly simple things but definitely worth doing
Microsoft Advertising Unites Charities and Business to Bring 9 Million UK People Online
December 3, 2010, 1:33 amMicrosoft Advertising UK proudly announced today their participation in a ground-breaking partnership with RaceOnline2012 , Age UK and other not-for-profit organisations and companies (3 mobile, B1 Connect, BT, EuroPC, eBuyer, VCCP, Zoostorm and 3 Monkeys Communications) who have pooled their resources, technology, talent and time to help give...
Happy 1st birthday Google Commerce Search!
December 3, 2010, 12:47 am(Cross posted on the Google Enterprise Blog) It's Google Commerce Search's first birthday and we are celebrating it with Jack Kiefer, CEO of BabyAge.com, one of the top 500 online retailers in North America. Since implementing Google Commerce Search, BabyAge.com has seen searches rise 58% and search page views grow 64%, contributing to a 34%...
PPC vs. SEO: Sibling Rivalry at Its Best - Whiteboard Friday
December 3, 2010, 12:27 amPosted by Aaron Wheeler And now it's PPC coming into the ring... he is looking ready to rumble! Pumping his fists, he's showing off to the audience - looking to the left, to the right, and - wait, what's that!? The crowd is going wild! PPC just straight out dissed SEO, who's in the other corner, looking ready to strike! I tell ya, folks, I...
Article Writing Tips to Use
December 2, 2010, 11:20 pmGreat writing skills are one of those things that just takes time to acquire. With repetition over time your article writing skills will get better but in the interim try some of these approaches to strengthen your talents. Here is a list of article writing tips that I recommend that you consider using: Article Writing Tip#1 - Be Edgy Great...
Newspaper Ad Decline Slows, But There's No Reason to Celebrate
December 2, 2010, 8:31 pmWhen the news is as bad as it's been for newspaper advertising, any small ray of hope is welcome, like the slight decline in the decline. The Newspaper Association of America has tallied up the numbers for Q3 and came up with a decline in ad dollars of 5.39%. That's the smallest decline papers have seen since 2007 but is that a reason to...
Newspaper Ad Decline Slows, But There’s No Reason to Celebrate
December 2, 2010, 8:16 pmWhen the news is as bad as it’s been for newspaper advertising, any small ray of hope is welcome, like the slight decline in the decline. The Newspaper Association of America has tallied up the numbers for Q3 and came up with a decline in ad dollars of 5.39%. That’s the smallest decline papers have seen since 2007 but is that a reason...
Searching for the Perfect Gift: What's Hot on the Web
December 2, 2010, 7:24 pmby Claudine Zap 'Tis the season to frantically search for the perfect presents. Hey, you're not alone. Plenty of shoppers are hitting the Web to find their favorite things - to give. Here, we lay out the list. If there's a kid or two who have been mostly nice, there are plenty of toys to choose from. Some very happy children may get a set of "...
An Actor's Big Break: Part 2
December 2, 2010, 6:34 pmby Mike Krumboltz In Hollywood, you have to make your own luck. Just ask actor Erik Weiner. Several years ago, the struggling actor scored a (very) small role on "The Sopranos." His character had just one line ("Leon, take your break at two"), but he made the most of it. Weiner created an online video, "One Line on the Sopranos," in which he...
Happy 7th Birthday Search Engine Roundtable
December 2, 2010, 6:24 pmCongratulations, Search Engine Roundtable is 7 years old today! Without a doubt Barry Schwartz is the archiver of search related news and his site, Search Engine Roundtable , gathers it all from all sources - or as much as any 10 people could do - and is a great resource to our industry. Barry worked at Search Engine Watch and contributed to...
Shopping Enabled Wikipedia Pages New On Amazon
December 2, 2010, 5:58 pm"Hosted on the Amazon.com domain, they replicate Wikipedia's content but have added links to where a book can be purchased on Amazon."
Mobile Website Indexation
December 2, 2010, 5:38 pmSo you've built a mobile version of your website to target iPhone, Android, and Blackberry users. Congratulations! This can do wonders for creating increases in mobile traffic and subsequent conversions, especially when optimization includes local factors. The next step is to follow the appropriate steps to properly inform search engines of the...
Reese's Rising Star
December 2, 2010, 5:37 pmby Mike Krumboltz A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is one of the biggest honors an actor can receive. OK, so it's not exactly an Academy Award (or even a Golden Globe). But still, scoring one is a pretty big deal in a town that's, frankly, all about big deals. Reese Witherspoon is the latest A-lister to get the honor. The star of the upcoming...
Experian Hitwise Blog Post Highlights Data About LivingSocial
December 2, 2010, 5:27 pmBill Tancer, General Manager, Global Research at Hitwise, posted some interesting data today about LivingSocial and the Adoption Curve . Click to read the rest of this post.
Get the Google cop outta my shopping cart!
December 2, 2010, 5:11 pmNow Google censors commercial search results, applying "quality of customer service" filters. Google cannot and never will be able to create anything more reliable than a human's bullshit-detector. “FAIL” is printed in big bold letters all over Google’s (or any search engine for that matter) approach to rank search results by the quality of...
Turning Leads into Buyers: 4 Strategies for Increasing Marketing Response
December 2, 2010, 4:56 pmWhen should you ask for a sale and when should you just focus on helping? Few bigger questions are asked by professional marketers. While there is no absolute method for reaching a single prospect, as each seller is different and each buyer is unique, here are some useful strategies for increasing marketing response. Cultivate Prospects You get a...
Stable Chrome 8 Debuts
December 2, 2010, 4:46 pmChrome users who appreciate having the latest and greatest things (and doesn't that describe every Chrome user?) will be pleased to know that version 8 of Google's Web browser has debuted in stable form. Version 8.0.552.215 was announced earlier this afternoon, to be exact. Fair warning: don't expect this new release to revolutionize your online...
FBI Launches Online Tool For Recovering Stolen Art
December 2, 2010, 4:26 pmThe FBI has introduced a free online tool aimed at allowing people to search a database of thousands of stolen artworks and contact the agency if the have information about the items. The tool called the National Stolen Art File has about 7,000 images in its database and allows people to search a variety of categories, including books, bowls,...
OPA President: FTC Proposal Both Encouraging and Concerning
December 2, 2010, 4:26 pmAs you may know, the FTC released a report this week proposing a framework for balancing consumer privacy and innovation online, which includes (but is not limited to) a "do not track" mechanism in web browsers. Naturally, marketers have shown varying degrees of concern. Some are even calling the proposal a "Google Killer". Pam Horan, President...
Amuse or Awe? Academic Multimedia Grand Challenge for Classifying Images
December 2, 2010, 4:20 pmPeople love to check out multimedia search on Yahoo!, and we love helping them find what they're looking for, whether through web, image, or video search. One of the most interesting challenges in multimedia search is how to go beyond plain text and match queries to images so that users can more easily find the image they want. This was exactly...
eBay Buys Local Shopping Site Milo.com
December 2, 2010, 3:25 pmeBay took another step today toward becoming Amazon.com and away from the collectibles auction site we all fell for more than ten years ago when they bought Milo.com, a website that locates in-stock merchandise on the local level.
According to Business Insider, eBay payed $75 million for the company and they seem to think it’s a good buy. It...
Facebook Promotions No Longer Require Approval or $10,000
December 2, 2010, 3:19 pmFacebook has updated its policy on Promotions, Sweepstakes and Contests. It no longer requires written Facebook approval to administer a promotion on Facebook or a minimum media spend investment to support the promotion, which was previously the case (at $10,000). Facebook said earlier this year that it didnt have the resources to approve all...
Google Unveils Cantonese Voice Search
December 2, 2010, 3:08 pmThanks to a new product launch, as many as 65 or 70 million people should now find conducting Google searches from their mobile phones a much less difficult process. This week, Cantonese Voice Search debuted in Hong Kong.
A post on the Google Research Blog explained the need for this development. "People in Hong Kong typically...
The Fable Tablet Tells the Whole Story
December 2, 2010, 2:07 pmIt's amazing how much time has changed, and the things that kids got to experience twenty, even ten, years ago is drastically different from what they experience today. Whereas it used to be pretty exciting to go to birthday parties, play stick ball in the baseball field and even slide in the mud, kids these .
Will Location-Based Services Break Out in 2011?
December 2, 2010, 2:02 pmLocation-based services continue to get a great deal of attention as more services pop up, existing ones add features and integrations, and businesses find ways to take advantage of them. You can bet that this space is only just getting started. Over the next year, we're going to see a lot of innovation in location-based services/check-in apps. ...
Zynga Acquires Mobile Game Developer Newtoy
December 2, 2010, 2:02 pmZynga said today it has acquired Texas-based mobile game development company, Newtoy, makers of mobile games including Words With Friends and Chess With Friends. The Newtoy headquarters in McKinney, Texas will become The Zynga With Friends Studio. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. "The Games With Friends franchise is the best social...
Yahoo's Mergers And Acquisitions Chief To Split
December 2, 2010, 2:02 pmThe odds of Yahoo making any brilliant acquisitions in the near future - which were arguably already slim - appear set to decrease again. A report's indicated that Andrew Siegel, the head of corporate development (and therefore mergers and acquisitions) is leaving the company. Officially, Siegel's departure hasn't been confirmed. But word comes...
Conan Hearts Jeggings, Hanukkah Lights Up Search, Britney Spears Doesn't Make Our List: What's the Buzz
December 2, 2010, 1:51 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. NASA announcement (1,234%). Not to amp up the hype, but the space researchers promise their announcement will " impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life ." Hanukkah (+903%). Check out the video of the giant menorah in midtown Manhattan being lit on the first night of the...
Battle Lines Being Drawn Over Manhattan Declaration iPhone App
December 2, 2010, 1:42 pmApple CEO Steve Jobs is at the center of an online controversy again. But this time it is not of his own making. The pulling of the Manhattan Declaration iPhone app, which enabled users to sign the declaration supporting "principles that include "sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of...
Savvy Publishers, Marketers Riding Sudden Qatar Popularity
December 2, 2010, 1:41 pmSeems if you are quick and have some clout or thought about the possibilities a few months in advance, Qatar's winning of the 2022 World Cup host site could have been a traffic windfall for you too. As was noted in the previous article, Qatar is the Google trending topic of the day. And the smart publishers over at the Huffington Post were very...
Google + Bing Confirm that Twitter/Facebook Influence SEO
December 2, 2010, 1:31 pmPosted by randfish As of yesterday, both Bing and Google have confirmed (via an excellent interview by Danny Sullivan ) that links shared through Twitter and Facebook have a direct impact on rankings (in addition to the positive second-order effects they may have on the link graph). This has long been suspected by SEOs (in fact, many of us...
Meet the Decision-Makers: Microsoft Advertising Women and Moms
December 2, 2010, 1:26 pmIts well-known among marketers that women influence as much as 85% of household purchases. But how many times have you seen a commercial or advertisement that misses the mark (a certain controversial auto ad from last years Super Bowl may come to mind)? Here at Microsoft Advertising, we recently pounded the pavements of our MSN, MSNBC, Windows...
Bing Feature Update: Bing shopping introduces a better way to browse
December 2, 2010, 1:20 pmBecause sometimes you know exactly what youre looking for and other times youre looking for inspiration, this week we are releasing a better way to discover, explore and purchase on Bing shopping. Yesterday we told you about our new shopping list feature that lets you share products of interest directly to your Facebook Wall. This week, users...
Searches For Qatar Hot On Google As World Cup Locations Announced
December 2, 2010, 1:10 pmQatar, a small but oil-rich Middle Eastern nation, are topping Google's search trends today, following the announcement of their successful bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Google Trends showed today. Four of the top five trending results - including one misspelling - were about the country as it overcame the United States, Australia, South...
Panama City promotes open government with Google Apps
December 2, 2010, 1:10 pmEditor's note: Today our guest blogger is Richard Ferrick, Network Administrator for Panama City, Florida, one of the first governments in the country to adopt Google Apps for Government. Join Richard for a live chat on GovLoop this Thursday, December 2 at 2pm ET / 11am PT / 6pm GMT. Panama City, Florida is a beautiful resort destination on...
Google Earth Engine Puts Tons of New Satellite Data Online
December 2, 2010, 12:55 pmToday Google launched something called Google Earth Engine at the International Climate Change Conference in Cancun. Google describes it as a new technology platform that puts an "unprecedented amount of satellite imagery" and data online for the first time. "It enables global-scale monitoring and measurement of changes in the earths...
U.S. Senator Kohl Urges DOJ Review of Google ITA Bid
December 2, 2010, 12:45 pmIt's getting harder and harder for Google to do a big deal in the wake of its $750 million consummation of mobile ad maker AdMob. Against the backdrop of concerns that Google could buy Groupon for $5 billion or so, a U.S. Senator is asking the Justice Department to carefully scrutinize Google's bid to buy travel software maker ITA Software for...
20 LinkedIn Case Studies for Personal Branding
December 2, 2010, 12:35 pmI keep telling myself I need to spend more time with LinkedIn, and so I found this quite interesting. It's a good list of brief case studies on how people have used LinkedIn to grow their business and improve their overall online brand/marketing.
eBay Buying Milo.com (Now Confirmed)
December 2, 2010, 12:35 pmUpdate: eBay has now confirmed that it is true:
"Local commerce companies like Milo are blurring the lines between in-store and online shopping," said Mark Carges, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global products, eBay Marketplaces. "By making accurate, real-time, local store inventory and pricing available to...
The Staggering Success of 'The Walking Dead'
December 2, 2010, 12:34 pmby Claudine Zap It's not everyday that we can genuinely claim that there's a TV show out there "to die for." But the zombie horror TV series " The Walking Dead " has been a runaway, or shall we say, a stagger-away, hit with audiences and on the Web. With the season finale airing Sunday, searches have surged. Lookups include " the walking dead...
Small Biz Survival: Tools to get to know your customers
December 2, 2010, 12:15 pmNew tools allow you to keep that kind of small town connection even as your business grows or moves online.
Google.ch 2010 Zeigeist - a.k.a Top Searches in Switzerland
December 2, 2010, 11:58 amThis is a good index to set goals in your Google Analytics , for Google Adwords benchmarking exercise, your general country specific SEO works , i.e. your general SEM strategy Every year Google publishes via its Zeitgeist, the top searches people ran on a specific network such as the Swiss network - Google.ch . A quick analysis of the search...
Yahoo Japan-Google Deal Gets Regulatory Approval
December 2, 2010, 11:23 amA tie-up between Yahoo Japan and Google may sound unlikely for all sorts of reasons, but antitrust regulators in Japan see no reason to stop the deal from going forward. Earlier today, the Fair Trade Commission declared that the proposed partnership isn't anticompetitive.
A little background information: Yahoo Japan said in July that it...
RIM Buys Interesting User Interface Company TAT
December 2, 2010, 11:12 amBlackBerry makers Research in Motion (RIM) are buying a company called The Astonishing Tribe (or TAT). RIM CTO David Yach said the following in a statement on the BlackBerry Blog : Today we are pleased to confirm plans for The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) team to join Research In Motion (RIM). Were excited that the TAT team will be joining RIM and...
Introducing Google Earth 6"the next generation of realism
December 2, 2010, 11:12 am(Cross-posted on the Google LatLong Blog ) Today we're introducing the latest version of Google Earth , our interactive digital atlas. Now you can explore your childhood home, visit distant lands or scope out your next vacation spot with even more realistic tools. In Google Earth 6 , we're taking realism in the virtual globe to the next level with...
Top 10 Must Have SEO Extensions for Google Chrome
December 2, 2010, 11:07 amPosted by pmahler This post was originally in YOUmoz , and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc. Every few years I make a browser switch and my web use evolves sometimes for the better, and sometimes...
Should your SEO content marketing take a holiday?
December 2, 2010, 11:02 amI read a brilliant article yesterday called " Your customers aren't taking the next 45 days off." by Matt Heinz. His point was that now is the best time to market your B2B company. And I agree with him. But I understand if your automatic reaction is, "Heck no. Not now. All of my clients are on holiday." That's what I used to think too. I'd work my...
Billboard to Track Artists' Popularity On Facebook And Twitter
December 2, 2010, 10:56 amBillboard has introduced a new chart offering called the Social 50, which ranks the most popular artists on social networking sites. The Social 50 chart will track artists' popularity using a formula blending weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with weekly artist page views and song plays on MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and...
The Mexican Revolution on YouTube
December 2, 2010, 10:46 amNovember 20 will mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Mexican Revolution and we're looking forward to observing that anniversary on YouTube by celebrating a new revolution that's taking place in Mexico today: a cultural revolution that has pushed Mexican filmmakers onto a global stage. A number of the nation's most talented filmmakers,...
What I Want for Christmas from the Search Engines: The Franchise!
December 2, 2010, 10:31 amby Stoney deGeyter Here we are again, two years after What I Want for Christmas from the Search Engines: The Sequel and eight years since the original, What I Want for Christmas from the Search Engines . I'm back with a new Christmas wish list. I smell a franchise opportunity here! Let's start with some open items from the original wish-list and...
FCC Voting on Net Neutrality Dec. 21
December 2, 2010, 10:31 am"The Federal Communications Commission will vote on whether to adopt rules to preserve net neutrality at its December 21st open meeting, according to a tentative agenda released just after midnight on Wednesday," the Hill reported . The importance of the issue is such that there are only two items set for the meeting. The other is how to upgrade...
YouTube Annouces TrueView: Ability To Skip Ads
December 2, 2010, 10:31 am"TrueView Video Ads give viewers choice and control over which advertiser's message they want to see and when. And we charge advertisers only when a viewer has chosen to watch your ad, not when an impression is served," Google announced in the Inside Adwords blog. Click to read the rest of this post.
Unconfirmed Report Says eBay Buying Milo.com for $75 Million
December 2, 2010, 10:26 ameBay is acquiring Milo.com for $75 million according to a report from Silicon Alley Insider , which cites 2 unnamed sources. We've reached out to Milo for confirmation and will update accordingly. WebProNews has covered Milo.com a couple times in the past. Back in September when Google announced it was making public its documentation for Local...
Barry Diller Gives Up Role Of IAC CEO
December 2, 2010, 10:26 amLess than a month after IAC's Ask.com announced its decision to stop competing in the search market, another major change is taking place as Barry Diller gives up the title "CEO of IAC." Gregg Blatt, who previously served as CEO of Match.com, will replace Diller. Diller, an industry legend, isn't leaving the company, in any event; he'll now act...
Manila's Social Networking Guidelines Approved
December 2, 2010, 10:10 amSocial networking etiquette is often something that most people don't need any help with. They know what's acceptable and what's a no-no. But sometimes, there is an occasional blunder that makes it through the social screen and can be an embarrassment to the sender' or even the sender's employer. Recently, Manila, Philippines President, Benigno...
YouTube Announces TrueView: Ability To Skip Ads
December 2, 2010, 10:01 am"TrueView Video Ads give viewers choice and control over which advertiser's message they want to see and when. And we charge advertisers only when a viewer has chosen to watch your ad, not when an impression is served," Google announced in the Inside Adwords blog.Click to read the rest of this post...
Russian Search Engine Picks London To Float IPO
December 2, 2010, 10:00 amYandex, the largest search engine in Russia has chosen London to launch their IPO early next year, Reuters reported. The offering should raise the internet firm in excess of 1 billion pounds ($1,56 billion). Yandex has over 60% of the Russian search market - one of the few countries that is not dominated by Google which seems to have problems with...
Hulu CEO Interested In New Investors, International Growth
December 2, 2010, 9:18 amHulu's a nice service, but for everyone not living in America, there's a major problem: the site's been unavailable to them so far. Now, although there are no guarantees, it looks like Hulu's starting to explore ways it might open up to new audiences. Jessica E. Vascellaro and Sam Schechner reported late yesterday, "Hulu LLC wants to expand its...
Seattle Police Using Twitter To Recover Stolen Cars
December 2, 2010, 9:18 amThe Seattle Police Department has started a new Twitter account to tweet information about stolen vehicles with the hopes of helping victims of auto theft recover their property sooner. When a car is reported stolen in Seattle, employees in the Seattle Police 911 Center will tweet the color, year, make, model, body style and license plate of the...
How to Craft a Marketing Story that People Embrace and Share
December 2, 2010, 9:13 amYou're telling a story. Whether you know it or not, or intend to or not ' you absolutely are. Everything you do to market your business is another paragraph, page, or chapter in the story people hear from you. And the story people hear is the one they act (or don't act) on, and repeat (or don't repeat) to others. Now, it's not necessarily fatal if...
"Google Me" Social Layer Reportedly Called "Emerald Sea" Internally
December 2, 2010, 8:57 amIt's been widely discussed for months now: Google is working on some kind of social strategy that would presumably be the company's latest shot at trying to take on Facebook. Of course the company itself has never presented it this way, but the lines aren't too hard to read between. It was originally thought that Google was simply working on a...
25 reasons why I'll leave your website in 10 seconds
December 2, 2010, 8:54 amWhat makes people press the back button, shortly after visiting your website? Why do they bail out so quickly? And what can you do about it? For starters, evaluate your site with this checklist.
Blog Posts To Read Week of December 2, 2010
December 2, 2010, 8:52 amBelow you will find our favorite blog posts that are related to SEO, search engine marketing and social media marketing from this past week. Please feel free to visit each, we hope you find them as helpful as we do! Everybody's Doing It: How Social Media is Being Used for Business This post includes a great infographic on Social Media and how it...
Should Marketers Be Worried About New FTC Proposal?
December 2, 2010, 8:01 amThe online marketing industry has been shaken by a new report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC has issued the proposal of a framework for balancing consumer privacy and innovation online. The proposal includes a "do not track" mechanism, which the FTC says would likely be a persistent setting on consumers' browsers, so consumers...
Yahoo Unveils Top Searches Lists for 2010
December 2, 2010, 7:45 amIt's that time of the year again where year end lists happen before the end of the year so we are left to wonder just how accurate they are. Throw in the added bonus on this list, which lends the question "For what are people actually using Yahoo search for and does it matter to the business world anymore?" and there is something to at least think...
Local SEO: The New Marketing Trend
December 2, 2010, 7:40 amIf you're an avid shopper, online or offline, chances are you've looked high and low for local bargains on the things you buy. Retailers use the web to advertise their products to woo and attract shoppers and their checkbooks. They use marketing trends online to gauge the spending habits, preferences and searches of their demographic .
When a $17 Product is Worth $16 per Click
December 2, 2010, 7:28 amA curious phenomenon was brought to my attention the other day: Notice the estimated average CPC for a product that sells, on average, for between $10 and $40. How is this possible? Even if every one of the dozens, maybe even hundreds of sites bidding for this keyword convert their AdWords traffic at a perfect percentage, the profit margin would...
Google Search Results Fixed, Public Relations Nightmare Over
December 2, 2010, 7:11 amGoogle announced yesterday that it had changed the way it ranks search results so that unscrupulous merchants will find it harder to appear prominently in searches. The change was prompted by an article by David Segal in The New York Times on Sunday about Vitaly Borker, who claimed that he purposely shouted at and frightened some of his customers...
Video: Mobile Advertising on Windows Phone 7 - Film from UK Innovation Day
December 2, 2010, 7:10 amAs promised in our post about Advertising on Kinect for Xbox 360 earlier in the week, here's a two and a half minute film about the Windows Phone and mobile advertising segment of our Innovation Day . If you're interested in advertising with us across multiple mobile devices check out the Mobile Advertising page on our ad site.
Google Takes Steps To Make Copyright Work Better Online
December 2, 2010, 7:10 am"...we're announcing four changes that we'll be implementing over the next several months..."
Federal Agency Moves Email Completely to Cloud with Google
December 2, 2010, 7:09 amThe United States General Services Administration (GSA) is moving 17,000 employees and contractors to Google Apps for Government, reportedly replacing their use of several different versions of IBM's Lotus Notes and Domino Software. Microsoft isn't thrilled. "Though Microsoft is disappointed in the GSAs internal email decision, the news...
This Holiday, Money Really Will Buy Happiness For Paid Search Advertisers in Retail
December 2, 2010, 6:23 amThis week, all the large paid search platform providers are telling their Black Friday/Cyber Monday stories. Many are making predictions or offering advice on the trends they are seeing within start of the holiday shopping season based on the advertising budgets they are managing. Yesterday, Efficient Frontier told paid search marketers to...
Don't Forget The Importance Of Deep Linking
December 2, 2010, 5:19 amDeep linking is one of the most important aspects of any SEO strategy. Deep links can greatly increase your SEO effort, so don’t skip deep linking.
Coupon Crazy Sites
December 2, 2010, 4:59 am"There seems to be a site offering coupons for just about anything these days and WebmasterWorld Members decide to chew it over in a wide ranging discussion on the topic."
Browser History File Hijack
December 2, 2010, 3:59 am"Our study shows that popular Web 2.0 applications like mashups, aggregators, and sophisticated ad targeting are rife with different kinds of privacy-violating flows,"
Google Adds New Social 'Recent Update' Counts To Search Results
December 2, 2010, 3:07 amWhile doing some research for an article I discovered a new widget has been added to Google search results. The bar is pale blue starts with a increasing number followed by "recent updates from Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and more for" the searched term is inserted here. The number clocks along as you watch it and the link is clickable to...
Bing's 2010 Top Searches: Kim Kardashian Dashes to Top Spot
December 1, 2010, 11:32 pmOn Bing , celebrity searches were hot in 2010, and Kim Kardashian was the hottest of them all. Kardashian beat closest competitor Sandra Bullock by 20 percent. Click to read the rest of this post.
Optimize Your Website Sooner Than Later
December 1, 2010, 11:21 pmSearch engine optimization is something that allows your website to poke its head through the ugly clutter that exists online in the search space. Every day you see more and more junk finding its way into the pages of search results creating even more of a barrier between you and your audience. Waiting longer is not going to do anything for you so...
Organic SERP's Could Take a Page from the Ad Book
December 1, 2010, 11:11 pmIt was a wintry night in 2004 (guessing here) when my longtime Page Zero colleague Dean Towers poured the paid search advertising Kool-Aid and opined to me: "frankly I think the ads are way more relevant and compelling than the so-called organic or 'real' search results' when I look at the other stuff, I just see a mess of junk!" In particular,...
Yahoo Search 2010 Year in Review: BP, World Cup, Miley Cyrus
December 1, 2010, 11:01 pmThough the majority of Yahoo's top searches were for entertainment and celebrities, the BP oil spill was the top search for 2010. Just as it topped AOL's news search category, the Gulf disaster dominated online searches on Yahoo. Click to read the rest of this post.
AOL's Hottest Searches of 2010: Bedbugs, Tiger Woods, BP
December 1, 2010, 9:50 pmAlthough Tiger isn't the top golfer in the world, he still tops AOL's " Year End Hot Searches " list in the celebrity category. AOL released their list of top searches in the categories of health, celebrity, news, trends, shopping, and movies. Click to read the rest of this post.
FTC Online Privacy Plan Proposes 'Do Not Track' Option for Web Users
December 1, 2010, 9:26 pm"The F.T.C.'s proposal, a framework for commercial use of consumer data, would make consumer privacy the default position and would let Web users decide whether Internet sites and advertisers can build profiles of their browsing and buying habits as well as collect other personal information."
Ask.com's Top Questions of 2010: Users Prefer Dunkin' Coffee
December 1, 2010, 8:52 pmYes, Ask has joined Jeeves in retirement , officially bowing out of the search business last month in favor of concentrating on the question and answer service they returned to in July. However, those questions asked on Ask.com are from users searching for answers to their most pressing questions...such as where to get the best coffee under $10...
Search Engine Optimization 2011
December 1, 2010, 7:28 pmNot too long ago, Wired magazine ran an article by Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff entitled “The Web is Dead, Long Live the Internet.” In the introduction to that article the authors write, “Two decades after its birth, the World Wide Web is in decline, as simpler, sleeker services – think apps – are less about the searching and more...
Advertising on iPad: Clean and Simple is Key
December 1, 2010, 7:25 pmAppearing at Advertising Age’s Media Evolved Conference today, UM and Time Inc, presented their results of a biometric study on iPad advertising.
In order to test the effectivness of different types of advertising, EmSense hooked 180 iPad owners up to an EEG and eye tracking software then exposed them to ads embedded in different Time Inc....
Tips for Effective SEO Project Management
December 1, 2010, 7:10 pmI entered the world of SEO as an affiliate marketer working from the bedroom of my college apartment. Even as my career progressed, I still worked alone. But when I became an SEO consultant at Distilled, managing a project that might involve multiple people became an vital skill.
I’d like to share some tips on improving SEO project management,...
What Social Signals Do Google & Bing Really Count?
December 1, 2010, 6:57 pmGoogle and Bing social search features, Twitter and Facebook influence on search engine results explained by Danny Sullivan
SEOmoz Meetup / Presentation in San Diego, Dec. 21
December 1, 2010, 6:39 pmPosted by randfish The holidays are right around the corner (Hanukah actually starts tonight) and I'm excited to announce our second annual San Diego meetup is ready to rock. Tuesday, December 21st, I'll be in downtown San Diego jointly hosting a brief but substantive presentation on SEO with Jamie Smith of EngineReady, followed by some free...
Google: Complexity is Good!
December 1, 2010, 6:23 pmGoogle is growing *far* more complex. Page x can rank based primarily on the criteria for page y from that same site. So if you analyze the data behind the page which is showing up in the search results, in some cases you will be looking at the wrong data sets ! Google has typically displayed page titles in the search results. However there are...
Update to the Save interface
December 1, 2010, 5:48 pmYesterday we released a major change to our primary action on Delicious and (not surprisingly with a change of this scale) you all immediately responded by giving us some really great feedback on what you liked and what you didn't. With the release a few bugs slipped through so we've fixed those for you.
To What Degree Are Reviews Now Part of Google Rankings?
December 1, 2010, 5:00 pmOver the weekend, the New York Times created a bit of a hubbub in the Internet space by running a lengthy story about an online merchant who turned bad reviews into online ‘success’ with Google.
The gist of the story is that an online eyewear store was working hard to create ill will with certain clientele who would then write bad reviews of...
FTC Online Privacy Report Endorses Do Not Track
December 1, 2010, 4:53 pmThe FTC issued a report today that outlines their plan to deal with privacy issues on the internet. Even though online advertisers are working on a self-policing program,it looks like the federal government is going to have their say and their say trumps anything from the private sector.
The report states that industry efforts have been “too...
Google Responds to New York Times Article on Rankings
December 1, 2010, 4:38 pmGoogle says sentiment analysis is useless for search: "Google has a world-class sentiment analysis system (Large-Scale Sentiment Analysis for News and Blogs). But if we demoted web pages that have negative comments against them, you might not be able to find information about many elected officials, not to mention a lot of important but...
YouTube Takes Skippable Ads Live
December 1, 2010, 4:35 pmOnline video viewers, it's time to smile. The TrueView ad format has launched on YouTube, meaning users will sometimes get the opportunity to pick the least objectionable commercial or even skip all but five seconds of an ad before watching a clip. Note the word "sometimes." Users shouldn't get too happy (and advertisers shouldn't get too...
Online Holiday Shoppers More Satisfied So Far
December 1, 2010, 4:20 pmCustomer satisfaction with online retailers on Cyber Monday matched last year with 73.1 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index's (ACSI) 100-point scale, but overall satisfaction during the Thanksgiving holiday week and weekend was higher than in 2009, according to a new report from ForeSee Results. The figures are a composite of more than 130...
Should Content Providers Stop Allowing Anonymous Comments?
December 1, 2010, 4:17 pmFacebook product design manager Julie Zhuo contributed an op-ed piece to the New York Times, which calls for content providers to stop allowing for anonymous comments on their content, in an effort to maintain accountability for what is said.
This is not a new subject, nor an easy one, and despite Zhuo taking a clear stance on it, she does...
Chrome Gains Still More Ground In November
December 1, 2010, 3:28 pmPreparations for Turkey Day and the retail madness that followed apparently didn't prevent a lot of folks from experimenting with new browsers. The latest stats from Net Applications are out, and in terms of market share, Chrome scored another significant win in November. Indeed, Chrome was almost the only browser to make progress last month,...
Google Finally Releases Google Reader Android App
December 1, 2010, 3:28 pmGoogle has finally released an Android app for Google Reader, and as the company acknowledges itself, "It's been a long time coming." I couldn't agree more as a user. I already use a bookmark for Google Reader probably more than any app on my phone, so having an actual app for it should be pretty nice. I've often wondered why they didn't already...
Rosa Parks Still Causing Controversy 55 Years Later
December 1, 2010, 3:13 pmToday marks the 55th anniversary of the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the Montgomery, Alabama bus and it seems the remembrance is causing another controversy. Today is also World Aids Day and people are complaining that the Google Doodle commemorating Rosa Parks should have been one bringing attention to AIDs. Yahoo on the other...
Google Whips Up On-the-Fly Algorithm Change to Beat "Bad" Businesses
December 1, 2010, 2:53 pmYou probably read or heard about a New York Times article that was published over the holiday weekend that talked about a business that was intentionally creating poor customer experiences to boost their search rankings. It was hard to believe that such a thing would work, but it seemed to do so for one particular business, and Google quickly...
1,760 PlayStation 3s = One Super Computer
December 1, 2010, 2:52 pmby Mike Krumboltz To all those who think video game consoles are just toys, consider this: The United States Air Force has succeeded in combining 1,760 PlayStation 3 machines into one super-computer. The news, which we first saw on 1Up.com , led to flurry of Web searches on "playstation 3 supercomputer" and "ps3 airforce." The article from 1Up.com...
Buzz Blurbs: December 1, 2010
December 1, 2010, 2:17 pmby Mike Krumboltz ⢠Move over, Carrot Top. Larry King wants to try his hand at stand-up comedy after he retires from CNN this month. The announcement might sound like a joke itself, but King is serious. "I'm funny," he said to New York Magazine . "I'm going to do stand-up. That's what I love." ⢠Katy Perry hosted Tuesday night's...
eBay Mobile Sales Up 146 Percent On Cyber Monday
December 1, 2010, 2:01 pmeBay said today U.S. mobile commerce sales increased 146 percent year over year on Cyber Monday. The company said mobile shopping peaked between 5pm and 7 pm PST. eBay said because of the growth in mobile holiday shopping it expects to generate more than $1.5 billion in gross merchandise volume in 2010, compared to $600 million in 2009. This...
Google & Bing Are Looking at Links on Twitter & Facebook for Organic Ranking
December 1, 2010, 2:01 pmSearch and social go well together, and the search engines are finding more and more ways to use them together. In fact, the right combinations of these two elements could eventually dictate who has the most useful tools for users. It's become more and more clear over time that having a strong social presence is helpful in building a strong...
Yahoo Releases "Year In Review" Lists
December 1, 2010, 2:01 pmThe end of the year is almost here, and with it, so are the looks back at everything important that transpired in 2010. Yahoo's more than done its part, too, as today the company released well over a dozen lists covering popular searches in different categories. Out of respect for your time, we'll stick to the basics here - the official "Top...
How we doubled the number of video plays on our home page
December 1, 2010, 1:52 pmOn the average around 10% of visitors were watching a video on our home page (out of total loads, so this includes people who’ve already seen it). We thought this is too low and that there has to be a way to increase it. We found one.
Kenshoo Dissects Holiday Shopping Trends from Black Friday to Cyber Monday
December 1, 2010, 1:51 pmAs many search marketers in the U.S. retail sector will know, the holiday season simultaneously represents the biggest opportunity and threat to career success. Sales figures from the final months of the calendar year can literally "make or break" a company's annual performance. Kenshoo has created a barometer for examining online holiday shopping...
Reese Witherspoon's Star, World AIDS Day Marked, Snoop Dogg's New Song: What's the Buzz
December 1, 2010, 1:25 pmby Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Reese Witherspoon (Searches increased by 701%). The star of the upcoming "How Do You Know" will be also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today. World AIDS Day 2010 (+620%). In honor of the day, mega stars like Alicia Keyes and Serena Williams have signed off their...
Consumers in Brazil and Argentina Most Likely to Make Purchases Online, Females More Likely than Males to Buy Online in Latin America
December 1, 2010, 1:20 pmcomScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from a study of the e-commerce landscape in Latin America. The study, which surveyed nearly 800 respondents, looked at e-commerce activity across Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru as well as online banking behaviors, mobile activity and...
Now available with Google Apps: YouTube
December 1, 2010, 1:15 pmEditor's note: We recently launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. This series showcases what's new and how your organization can benefit. Welcome to YouTube With more than 1 billion subscribers and 2 billion video views per day, YouTube is one of the top destinations for watching,...
The Top 10 in Shopping Cart Software
December 1, 2010, 1:10 pmMost of the time as online shoppers, we may not give much thought to the technology that exists when we're making purchases on our favorite websites. If we're able to click and pay, we're a happy customer and all is well with us. That is, until there is a glitch or an inconvenience in the .
DOTW: What Should Google Do About Negative Activity Being Good for SEO?
December 1, 2010, 12:43 pmAn online retailer harasses customers, doesn't fulfill orders, and goes out of his way to practically ask for negative reviews on popular (and powerful) web sites ... then claims this has been great for business. And let's face it: That kind of behavior can (and does) attract inbound links, online discussion, social activity, and other forms of...
Google News Adds 'Most Shared' Feature
December 1, 2010, 12:28 pmA new feature on the Google News home page shows which stories have been shared the most by Google users and on Twitter, though it isn't clear if Google is tracking any other sources (e.g., Facebook). You have the option of viewing the most shared stories over the past 24 hours, past week, and past month. Click to read the rest of this post.
Nielsen Finds iOS, Android Tied In Terms Of Desirability
December 1, 2010, 11:42 amRoughly three years after its official debut, the Android operating system has more or less caught up to Apple's offering in terms of desirability, according to Nielsen. The research company declared Apple's iOS and Android tied today after surveying potential smartphone upgraders in the U.S. So we're not accused of a pro-Google bias: yes, the...
Quick worldwide Facebook stats
December 1, 2010, 11:27 amAccording to Internet World Stats there are close to 2 billion Internet users worldwide. According to same source there are around 520 million Facebook users or 7.6% of the total Internet population. Europe has the most Facebook users or just above 162 million, North America comes next with around 150 million. Asia comes number three with some 93...
Google Visualizes U.S. Budget Data with Public Data Charts
December 1, 2010, 11:27 amBack in March, Google launched a Google Labs experiment called Public Data Explorer . In the time since its launch, the company has used it to visualize data from the Census Bureau, Energy Information Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. Now, Google has utilized the tool to show data from the Office of...
Hanes Taps Facebook Users For Salvation Army Sock Drive
December 1, 2010, 11:27 amHanes has launched a Facebook campaign today aimed at donating 500,000 socks to The Salvation Army for the holiday season. Described as a virtual holiday sock drive, the campaign asks users to like Hanes on Facebook and click Help Hanes Donate, and the company will donate one pair of socks with an overall donation goal of 500,000 pairs.
Sorting out Syndication: Content Ads vs. Search Syndication Controls for 2010
December 1, 2010, 11:11 amNot long ago, Elizabeth Marsten of Portent Interactive wrote a blog post with the intention of giving her readers the skinny on adCenter Syndicated Search Partners, which she refers to as The Content Network of 2006. Ive got to give her credit, that title certainly would pique the curiosity of anyone looking for a satisfyingly snarky commentary...
Google Set to Launch E-Book Venture - Google Editions
December 1, 2010, 10:30 am"In recent weeks, independent booksellers, which are expected to play a big role in Google Editions, began receiving contracts from their trade group."
Dunkin Donuts Coffee and iPads Popular in 2010 Among Ask Users
December 1, 2010, 10:20 amIt's now December, and in the search industry, that means it's the time of the year that we get to look at the most searched things of the year. Bing shared its top ten searches the other day. Ask recently retired from true search, in order to focus on the niche its name suggests - questions and answers.
With that, the company has released...
Yahoo! Begins Monetizing Their 'Organic' Search Results
December 1, 2010, 10:15 amYou need to be from the United States (or have access to a US IP address) to see this ad, but Yahoo! is testing monetizing their organic search results. An ad in the "organic" results? A sponsored shortcut? Say it ain't so . And that is *before* Google releases their vouchers program & other ad options which will frequently extend AdWords ads and...
To Track or Not to Track: Should the Consumer's Decide?
December 1, 2010, 10:15 amFor many consumers, the sites that they visit online and the purchases they make are very private and personal for them, something that they're not interested in having shared. Whether they're making nominal, routine purchases like clothing or jewelry, or making high-end purchases like computers or cameras, they may not want their buying habits...
Online Holiday Sales Top $13 Billion
December 1, 2010, 10:10 amOnline holiday spending for the first 29 days of the season has reached $13.55 billion, representing a 13 percent increase over the same time period last year, according to the latest report from comScore. Cyber Monday reached $1.028 billion in online spending, up 16 percent versus year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history...
Bing Supplants Google As Conduit Partner
December 1, 2010, 10:08 amConduit - an organization that powers apps for more than 260,000 Web publishers - has been a partner of Google's for four of the six years the smaller company's existed. Big changes are underway, however, as Conduit has picked Bing to act as a partner going forward.
Ronen Shilo, Conduit's founder and CEO, wrote this morning on the corporate...
What Google Acquiring Groupon Would Mean For Both Companies
December 1, 2010, 9:35 amEverybody's waiting to find out if Google will really buy Groupon. We may find out very soon, as Groupon's board is supposed to be meeting today to come up with an answer. Groupon is all about local, and that's something Chris Tolles, CEO of local news powerhouse Topix knows a bit about. He offered some of his insights on a possible Google Groupon...
Freetards
December 1, 2010, 9:23 amThe Golden Rule The golden rule: If you don't have something nice to say... don't say anything at all. What the Golden Rule Misses That is a guiding rule which generally helps people prevent themselves from wasting time and/or causing an issue by offending someone. But there are a couple things that are missed by that rule: It is easy to tell...
Content Curation And Value: The Business Of Context
December 1, 2010, 9:17 amWhat is the real value of curated content? Does it live in the content itself or does it live in the context, in the curation of the content - the commentary, the opinion pieces, the conversations that the content itself generates?
Photo credit: Robin Good
In these two short video interviews I captured a year back, George Siemens and Gerd...
Google Editions To Debut This Month
December 1, 2010, 9:13 amA company best known for delivering search results and pushing ads should begin to sell digital books sometime in the next 30 days. A Google exec has gone on the record saying that an e-book store called Google Editions will launch within that window. A sort of historical note/forecast: when we first heard about Google Editions - which will put...
MapQuest Launches Free Gasoline Sweepstakes For The Holidays
December 1, 2010, 9:13 amAOL's MapQuest has launched a month-long Free Gas for a Year sweepstakes for the holiday season. MapQuest will be giving away free gas for a year to 31 people, one winner, everyday, during December. Starting today, people can enter the sweepstakes at www.freegas.mapquest.com and fill out the Free Gas for a Year form. Each day at 3:00 p.m. ET a...
Europe's Antitrust Hunt of Google Smells Like Microsoft
December 1, 2010, 9:13 amSearch engine experts are exasperated by the European Commission's pending witchhunt of Google for alleged anticompetitive behavior. While these folks may question the scrutiny, they need to be reminded of something Google discovered when the complaints came to light last February: Microsoft may be behind it . I'll circle back later. The complaint...
Your Staggeringly Unfair Marketing Advantage: IMfSP Radio #4
December 1, 2010, 8:58 amYou've probably had fantasies of winning an MMA world championship wherein the title match is between you and a skinny seven-year-old. Maybe you dream of writing a Booker Prize winning novel - with Sir Salman Rushdie working as your confidential ghost writer. Or perhaps you're determined to become the next President of the United States,...
PSA Video: Social Media Will Ruin Your Life'But Please Retweet This Anyway
December 1, 2010, 8:58 amThis parody public service announcement is hilarious and at the same time, disturbing. I LOL'd a number of times, and immediately thought "I'll blog this and get lots of page views, tweets, and Facebook shares." I don't know if that means I need to watch it again, or step away from the computer. One of my favorite lines: "What do you know, you...
PSA Video: Social Media Will Ruin Your Life…But Please Retweet This Anyway
December 1, 2010, 8:45 amThis parody public service announcement is hilarious and at the same time, disturbing. I LOL’d a number of times, and immediately thought “I’ll blog this and get lots of page views, tweets, and Facebook shares.” I don’t know if that means I need to watch it again, or step away from the computer.
One of my favorite...
How Do You Socialize an Already Social Brand?
December 1, 2010, 8:42 amFor many smaller businesses who have no real online reach or visibility, social media is a blessing that can establish the business rather easily once you connect with the right people. For other businesses, their brand is already so well known that they may feel that they don't have to step into social media at all. I've been working lately with...
Billion Dollar Bonanza: Cyber Monday Surpasses $1 Billion in U.S. Spending as Heaviest Online Shopping Day in History
December 1, 2010, 8:17 amcomScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 29 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $13.55 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday...
Google Confirms - Social Media Signals Are Used in Some Search Results
December 1, 2010, 8:16 amDanny Sullivan has published an excellent article and he's not just editorializing. He interviewed the two predominant search engines about their use of social media signals.
Groupon Adds Big Features for Businesses, Would Fit Nicely with Google
December 1, 2010, 8:11 amGroupon is been getting a lot of press since it launched, because it has become so popular in such a short amount of time. That press has been amped even more this week, as rumors of a possible acquisition by Google swirl throughout the tech web. While Google was likely privy to this information as it made its offer, now other businesses have...
Where 'o Where did my AdWords Reports Go?
December 1, 2010, 8:01 amIt's finally happened, the reports center is gone in AdWords and we are all reeling in horror right? Oh, Halloween was last weekend. Never mind. Don't worry, the data is still there, we just have to retrain our minds on how to access that information. As one industry friend, Dave Rohrer said "Yeah - years of going to Reports now has me clicking...
Excel Tools for SEO
December 1, 2010, 8:01 amSearch Engine Optimization is an activity that calls for a lot of tools. There is so much data, so many variables, and so much change, that if you tried to do everything manually over the long term then you would soon get overwhelmed. Thankfully there are a lot of free and commercial tools out there that can help a lot. What they don't offer...
Google Editions E Books Offering By Year End?
December 1, 2010, 7:41 amGoogle has been threatening to open their e book store for the past 18 months or so and the latest date has it coming to life by the end of this year. Considering the checkered history of having this rumor come to life, we will take a 'we'll believe when we see it' stance for now. paidContent reports Google's forthcoming e-books store now has an...
Google Instant Preview- Influence on User and Its Optimisation
December 1, 2010, 7:33 amWhy and how to start your Google Instant Preview Page Optimisaton. The article has been mentioned in a few blog publications. Hope you like it.
Google Instant Preview: The Visual Aspect of SEO
December 1, 2010, 7:15 amEarlier this month, Google added a new feature to their Search experience: Google Instant Preview . The feature, explained in detail on the official Google Blog , accelerates the search process and adds a visual aspect to the SEO job description. In order to activate Instant Preview, users must click on the magnifying glass nestled within each...
Bing Adds Facebook Integration to Shopping Search Results
December 1, 2010, 7:12 amBing has added Facebook integration to Bing Shopping in the form of shopping lists. Users can select items they are thinking about buying, add them to a list, and post that list to their Facebook Wall from Bing, and ask their friends what they should buy.
"We've taken this notion that you make decisions online using your social...
GOOG-pon: A Facebook-, Foursquare-, Yelp-, CityGrid- and-Everything-Else-Killer
December 1, 2010, 7:08 amDavid Mihm analyzes a possible Groupon acquisition by Google from a local search perspective.
Will the Real Social Media PR Consultant Please Stand Up?
December 1, 2010, 6:59 amWhen you search Google for "social media consultant" there are about 10,600,000 search results. Yeah, really. Go check and come back. That's more than two times as many search results for "marketing consultant" or "pr consultant" (about 4m each). Those industries have been around a lot longer, yet the hype has attracted even more content focused...
Groupon Intros Deal Feeds and Groupon Stores
December 1, 2010, 6:49 amWhile the rumor mill now has Google trying to buy Groupon for somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.3 billion (nice neighborhood considering Twitter is garnering $4 billion valuation talk for its next round of investment) the deal site continues to add more features. In Groupon's blog called Groublogpon (you read it right so it goes to show they are...
An Accessible CSS Content Hiding Method
December 1, 2010, 6:45 am"WebmasterWorld Members discuss the legitimate reasons for hiding headers whether for image replacement purposes or not."
The Googe Phone Mobile Wallet
December 1, 2010, 6:44 amIt seems that the incredibly innovative folks at Google are always coming up with ways to wow the internet community, and to try and always stay steps ahead in an industry where they are already dominant players. Being innovative and creative is always a good thing, especially when it delivers, is in demand and there .
Search Engine Optimization in an Increasingly Social World
December 1, 2010, 6:18 amEric Enge supplies food for thoughts: "SEO is changing rapidly, and one of the biggest forces driving those changes is the increasingly social nature of the web. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on the positive. Embrace the social web, feed it good stuff, and it will embrace you back.", he closes with "
This isn't meant as a "build and...
Google Earth Unwitting Star of International Relations, Again
December 1, 2010, 6:07 amIranian government officials have been outraged to discover that a Star of David, the symbol of Judaism, is on the roof of the Iran Air headquarters building. Upon discovering the image on Google Earth, Iranian officials demanded its immediate removal. Ynet News broke the story:Click to read the rest of this post...
A Recommendation for Google's Webspam Team
December 1, 2010, 3:28 amPosted by randfish First off, let me just say that there are a lot of people smarter and more experienced in scalably attacking web spam than I am working in the Search Quality division at Google and specifically on the Spam team. However, as a search enthusiast, a Google fan and an SEO, it seems to me that, all due respect, they're getting played...
Cyber Monday Sets Online Spending Records
December 1, 2010, 3:23 amThe reports are in and it appears people are doing their Christmas shopping early and online to take advantage of the bargains and save money, the Wall Street Journal reports . "Sales on Cyber Monday, the nickname for the Monday after Thanksgiving, rose 19.4% from last year, according to Coremetrics, which tracks the websites of over 500 online...
SEO content marketing roundup, week ending December 1st
December 1, 2010, 2:37 amThe Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping frenzy turn in plump numbers for online retailers in this week's latest and greatest web writing news, while plenty of tasty leftovers are served up in SEO, content, and social media marketing. It seems the discussion about SEO being dead refuses to die, Google's gobbled Groupon, and Facebook promises to be...
Count Down 2010 with Yahoo! Year In Review
December 1, 2010, 12:08 amWhat do BP oil spill, the World Cup, and Miley Cyrus have in common? They are among the most-searched topics on Yahoo! this year. Today, the Yahoo! Year in Review returns for a look at what set society in motion this year through the lens of what people are searching for on Yahoo!. On the 2010 Year in Review site, you'll find top 10 lists that...
