Sergey Brin On Newspapers, Breaking “Page’s Law” & Bing As Name Of Microsoft’s New Search Engine

"Google cofounder Sergey Brin turned up at a session for the press at the Google I/O event today and took questions on Google’s relations with newspapers, cited hopes of breaking “Page’s Law” of software sluggishness and even one about what he thought about the expected name of Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing. Below, a summary of his remarks, along with some video"

Sergey Brin On Newspapers, Breaking “Page’s Law” & Bing As Name Of Microsoft’s New Search Engine

Local Search Ranking Factors

"Much has happened in the world of Local Search since last year's edition of the Local Search Ranking Factors was published. We've seen a major quantitative study of Google Maps, detailed interviews with the heads of both Google Maps and Yahoo Local, the launch of a number of new portals, and just in the last few weeks, Google's introduction of the Local 10-pack for generic keywords."
Local Search Ranking Factors Google & Yahoo Local SEO Best Practices

Part 3: How to Hire an SEO (types, titles) and SEO Salaries

"An In House SEO is much more involved in office politics than a contracted SEO, since that’s where they are all the time. The In House SEO needs to be successful at penetrating cross-functional teams, educating those teams, and getting them to buy-in to SEO and fully implement it. Here are some qualities to look for in your In House SEO:"

Part 3: How to Hire an SEO (types, titles) and SEO Salaries

Mysterious virus strikes FBI

"The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service were forced to shut down parts of their computer networks after a mystery virus struck the law-enforcement agencies Thursday, according to an Associated Press report."

Mysterious virus strikes FBI Tech News on ZDNet

- see what happens with social media.. the FBI joins and now they have virus... hmmmmm

Let's Fix #followfriday Please

"I remember when Follow Friday (aka #followfriday) first started making its way around Twitter in January by @micah (Thanks to the Twitterers today for helping me remember it was Micah Baldwin). I thought it was a great idea at the time, as it is often hard to understand where you need to go to find new valuable people to follow on Twitter. If I really enjoy following X Twitterer and X Twitterer suggests I follow Y&Z Twitterer, I just might listen and click through and check 'em out."

A digital girl, the blog. By Julia Roy: Let's Fix #followfriday Please

HASHTAGS - Steal This Idea: Google Reader & Twitter Hashtags

"Your collection of tweets about an event becomes your own executive summary, bringing you up to speed with what was important.
Having those collections of quotes and info-points available at all times, searchable, is a valuable source of reference.
You do know Twitter Search spans the last 30 days only, right?"

Steal This Idea: Google Reader & Twitter Hashtags Search Engine People Toronto

The Social Data Revolution(s)

"In 2009, more data will be generated by individuals than in the entire history of mankind through 2008. Information overload is more serious than ever. What are the implications for marketing?"

The Social Data Revolution(s) - Now, New, Next - HarvardBusiness.org

Google Values MySpace Deal At $75 Million/Year Or Less

"The last $75 million payment on the $900 million Google/News Corp. search advertising deal will be paid to News Corp. a year from now. That deal has accounted for about a third of News Corp.’s online revenue from MySpace and some of its smaller Internet sites, and the looming end of that particular gravy train is causing more than a little consternation for new Digital Media chief Jonathan Miller and his new MySpace exec team."

Source: Google Values MySpace Deal At $75 Million/Year Or Less

Learning, and Profiting, from Online Friendships

"A question: If you have 347 followers on the Twitter microblogging service, what are the chances that they'll click on the same online ad you clicked on last night? Advertisers are dying to know. Or, say you and a colleague exchange e-mails on a Saturday night. Can managers assume that you have a tight working relationship? Researchers at IBM and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are investigating."
Learning, and Profiting, from Online Friendships - BusinessWeek

Yahoo eyes acquisitions, social media

"Yahoo Inc is looking to buy companies that will allow it to become a bigger player in social networking and revamp its family of products, Chief Technology Officer Ari Balogh said on Wednesday.
'It's a good time to be buying now,' he told the Reuters Global Technology Summit, pointing to valuations that have come down from levels six to nine months ago."

Yahoo eyes acquisitions, social media Technology Internet Reuters

Android 'a revolution'

"Android, Google's mobile operating system, doesn't generate revenue for the company, and likely never will--at least in the direct sense. But Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, thinks Google and the world will benefit from any device created with the intent of getting more people onto the Internet, and isn't shy about explaining why the open-source approach chosen for Android holds the most promise of reaching that goal."

Google's Rubin: Android 'a revolution' Digital Media - CNET News

The Next Frontier In Search Marketing

"It may be hard to believe for tech types like us, but in 2008 newspaper advertising still consumed almost $35 billion of U.S. advertising spending while TV took in double that amount. If I were a CMO, would I be spending so much on avenues that are so wishy-washy, unmeasurable and downright ineffective?"
The Next Frontier In Search Marketing - Forbes.com

How many search keywords can I target per page?

"I'm sometimes asked this question, usually by someone savvy in search marketing. After all, it's expensive to create and optimize pages for search, so you'd want to amortize that investment over as many keywords as possible right? Actually, no. The number of organic search keywords I recommend you target per page is one.
Surprised? A lot of people are, and I admit to perhaps being more extreme than some on this issue. Still, I will stick to this advice because I think it's the right way to approach the problem, even if you end up compromising later."

How many search keywords can I target per page? - Search Engine Guide Blog

Google Rolls Out Maps Ad Unit

"Google is giving geo map developers a new option to earn revenue from their Google Maps API implementation. Dubbed Maps Ad Unit, this new Google Maps feature is part of the AdSense for Maps portfolio, which allows developers to overlay AdSense units over a Google Map which they have embedded on their sites."

Google Rolls Out Maps Ad Unit

Hackers 'destroy' flight sim site

"Flight simulator site Avsim has been 'destroyed' by malicious hackers.
The site, which launched in 1996, covered all aspects of flight simulation, although its main focus was on Microsoft's Flight Simulator."
BBC NEWS Technology Hackers 'destroy' flight sim site

Google Updates Its Blog Search Algorithm

"In an email conversation, Google’s Jeremy Hylton — head of the search quality group in Google’s New York office — explained how the changes impact the “clusters” of stories that appear on the blog search home page.
“We’re doing a better job of choosing the blog posts to include in clusters,” Hylton says. “We’re also working on changes to expand the number of posts we consider for clustering.”
One of the algorithmic changes is aimed at making sure the home page clusters reward the freshest and most authoritative blog content. Within any cluster, Google wants to find the posts that people are talking about the most."

SearchEngineLand.com

Google Wonder Wheel?

"Google's Searchology event was held May 12; as usual, the company rolled out a few interesting new features that you may or may not use and that may or may not impact how you tailor your Web site and content for Google."
MediaPost Publications What's A Wonder Wheel? 05/15/2009


- actually the wonderwheel is the coolest thing... still doing all my testing.. but i think it gives insight into lots of things that no one has figured out yet... (or at least anyone who is going to blog about it.. i'm not..)

2009 Web Marketing Awards Preview

Learn more about the web's premier web design competition

read more | digg story

30+ More Non-Google SEO “How to” Online Marketing Resources for 2009

"Shopping search engines or shopping comparison sites like BizRate, Shopping.com or NexTag seemingly exist for ages, some lost steam along the way like Kelkoo did. According to Google Trends their traffic peaked around the Christmas season of 2007. Nonetheless you still can’t ignore them in ecommerce no matter what you sell. Sadly there are only few resources dealing with optimization for shopping search, some of those there are stem from several years ago. They were published as early as 2003 or 2004. They’re still valid though so I included them."
30+ More Non-Google SEO “How to” Online Marketing Resources for 2009 SEOptimise

Twitter Still Headed To The Moon With 17 Million U.S. Visitors In April

"Looking at Twitter’s visitor growth charts every month is like watching a rocket go to the moon. ComScore released its U.S. numbers for April, 2009 today and it shows Twitter reaching 17 million unique visitors in the U.S. during the month, an 83 percent increase from March when Twitter had 9.3 million domestic visitors. While Twitter nearly doubled its audience in April, its monthly growth rate did temper down from the 131 percent growth in March."

Twitter Still Headed To The Moon With 17 Million U.S. Visitors In April

Smashing Optimization Silos

"A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the often-prophesied friction-free online advertising ecosystem, the one where efficiency would equal ever-increasing value of inventory. While improvements in targeting technology have progressed rapidly, the value of display inventory has steadily, and steeply, declined overall. Indeed, so much so that it's become commonplace on the conference circuit to hear speculation on a permanent depression in display pricing, even for ostensibly 'targeted' inventory."
MediaPost Publications Smashing Optimization Silos 05/13/2009

How To Optimize For Conversion In Organic Search Results

"In the past, SEO success was measured by rankings of target keywords; then the focus moved to traffic; today we have moved into the bottom-line era: organic traffic should be measured by its impact on revenue. This post is based on a presentation delivered at eMetrics San Jose 2009. It is about ways to integrate and improve SEO and website usability (using web analytics) and create a synergy that will improve the conversion rates of websites."

How To Optimize For Conversion In Organic Search Results

The Real Power of Twitter

"I've experienced something with Twitter that I don't hear many people talking about. The real power of Twitter isn't in easy mass-marketing, driving a few more links, Diggs, Stumbles, or Sphinns, or even in branding and making a name for yourself. The real power of Twitter is in transforming online connections into real-world relationships."

SEOmoz The Real Power of Twitter

Watching Twitter's #Fixreplies Firestorm

"What a fun morning I'm having on Twitter search, looking for tweets containing the hashtag #fixreplies. Oops, wait a minute ... since I logged onto the site, a minute and a half ago, 230 more replies have come in with that hashtag. Oops, make that 276. Now make that 326."

MediaPost Publications

Twitter taking the Social out of Social Discovery

"The most trending topic on twitter right now as I am writing this post is #fixreplies. It is shocking to me that after weeks of proclaiming that twitter is all about social discovery, we see the biggest Bonehead Decision that twitter could have made. There are posts from around the industry talking about Twitter putting a Muzzle on your friends."
Twitter taking the Social out of Social Discovery

Google Faces Class Action on Trademark Trouble

"In papers filed this week in federal court in the eastern district of Texas, software development company Firepond seeks class-action status on behalf of all Texas trademark holders whose names have been used to trigger search ads. Google has been hit with other trademark infringement lawsuits stemming from paid search, but this appears to mark the first time the company has faced a potential class-action suit about the issue."

MediaPost Publications Google Faces Class Action on Trademark Trouble 05/13/2009:

Google Searchology 2009: Search Options, Google Squared, Rich Snippets

"Google Search Options. Marissa Mayer referred to this as a handy “toolbelt” that lets you slice and dice your search results. You can do a search such as [cfl light bulb] and look above the search results for a “Show options…” link. Click on that to get a ton of useful ways to power search. You can see web results with images, like this:"

Google Searchology 2009: Search Options, Google Squared, Rich Snippets

Google Is A Scraper Site, Says National Association Of Realtors

"With support from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the Indianapolis Metropolitan Board of REALTORS® (MIBOR) has forced some of its members to stop allowing certain MLS listings to be crawled and indexed by Google because Google (and other search engines) is considered a “scraper” site.
This is the latest episode in a long-running battle over who controls home listings that are part of the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS. Some of the affected real estate professionals plan to ask the NAR to change its opinion on search engines at its national convention this week."

Google Is A Scraper Site, Says National Association Of Realtors

Google Search Now Supports Microformats and Adds “Rich Snippets” to Search Results

"Today at Searchology, Google has launched a search results enhancement called “rich snippets” that uses meta data from web pages (from microformats such as hCard, hCalendar, and RDF) to display additional details (both content and meaning) about pages in the results. This initial launch supports reviews (with sites such as Yelp) and people (with sites such as LinkedIn). They will be adding more sites and categories over time."
Google Search Now Supports Microformats and Adds “Rich Snippets” to Search Results

Greece Bans Google Street View, Google Says ‘No, You Didn’t’

"Privacy is Greece’s main concern, just as it’s been with the other villages, towns, cities, national governments, and other organizations that have lined up against Google Street View. Greece’s Data Protection Authority (DPA) announced on Monday that it’s banned Google from taking photos in Greece, and that it wants more information about how long Google will store the images it takes and what Google will do to make sure residents know their privacy rights."

Greece Bans Google Street View, Google Says ‘No, You Didn’t’ - Search Engine Land

How To Optimize For Conversion In Organic Search Results

"In the past, SEO success was measured by rankings of target keywords; then the focus moved to traffic; today we have moved into the bottom-line era: organic traffic should be measured by its impact on revenue. This post is based on a presentation delivered at eMetrics San Jose 2009. It is about ways to integrate and improve SEO and website usability (using web analytics) and create a synergy that will improve the conversion rates of websites."

How To Optimize For Conversion In Organic Search Results - Search Engine Land

Top Ten reasons why you should enter 2009 WebAwards

Top Ten reasons why you should enter your website into the 2009 WebAwards

10) If you wait until after the May 31st deadline, you'll have to pay a late fee.

9) Your mom will be so proud of you when you win.

8) You will receive important benchmark data for your entire industry and where your site ranks in each of the seven judging criteria.

7) Think of the PR opportunities - industry publications, blogs, websites, by-lined articles, podcasts, press releases, interviews - the sky is the limit.

6) A best of industry plaque containing your award winning site will look great on the wall in your office.

5) The WebAward logo on your site is like receiving the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for Web development. Your clients and prospects will be impressed at your independent industry recognition.

4) If you don't win, we won't tell anyone - and you still get the feedback.

3) An inbound link from webaward.org will help your site's search engine rankings because you will surrounded by other top sites in your industry - something you just can't buy!

2) A Webaward looks impressive on your resume - just in case...

1) Winning a WebAward will help you keep more of your budget from the bean counters in Finance. They like measurable results and nothing demonstrates excellence better than winning a WebAward!

Winning accolades in the 2009 WebAwards - the Internet's premier award recognition program, is a great way to stand out from others in your industry. But you won't get anything if you don't enter! Time is running out so enter today!

Entering is easy. Simply create a nominator account or log into an existing account from past years. This password protected area will allow you to enter multiple sites, edit the information up to when the judging begins and receive updates, results and feedback on your entries throughout the competition.

Get WebAward insider tips on Webmaster Radio

WebmasterRadio.FM, the premier free, 24/7 Internet business radio network focused on the B2B marketplace is pleased to present a half hour interview with the president of the Web Marketing Association, Bill Rice and two judges of the annual WebAward, David Clarke and Steve Plunkett The interview provides the inside scoop on the 2009 WebAwards, its judges and scoring system with three experienced participants in the annual award competition, Bill Rice, David Clarke and Steve Plunkett. During the interview, Rice, Clarke and Plunkett outline what judges are looking for, how scoring of competing sites takes place and the benefits of participation for both competitors and judges.

The show will initially air on www.WebmasterRadio.fm on Wednesday May 13th at 5:00 pm EST and then be available online in the Specials channel.

Trade Show Drawings

In the last issue of Interactive Briefing, we made available a number of leading conferences in a drawing we held. By all accounts each of the conferences were extremely interesting and great networking opportunities. Here are the winners who received full conference passes.

ad:tech San Francisco - Carly Helgeson, Project Manager, The Clorox Company
Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference - Adam Kleinberg, CEO, Traction
DPAC III - Levi McConnell, Director of Interactive, PACE Advertising/WPP
Social Media Summit - Laura Buchanan, Organic Inc.

Look for more opportunities to attend top industry conferences by reading Interactive Briefing!

24-7 PressRelease.com

Our newest sponor, 24-7PressRelease.com has created a special offer for Interactive Briefing readers. Next time you have a news release you want posted to the Internet, go to www.24-7pressrelease.com, create an account and upload your release. Use the coupon code "webaward2009" to receive a $20 discount off our $89 package.

A special thanks to 24-7 Press Release for doing a great job distributing the Web Marketing Association's releases and for this special offer!

We still Need Your Help

We need your help in spreading the news about our WebAward call for entry to other Internet Professionals. The Web Marketing Association is a volunteer organization and our greatest marketing asset is you, our newsletter readers.

You can help by:

Emailing other professionals or site owners and ask them to participate in the WebAwards.

Blog about the WebAwards. Either on your blog or industry blogs, write about our call for entry or your experiences with the WebAwards. You can point them to our blog posting for the Call for Entry.

Post our link on your Facebook Wall and/or LinkedIn profile. It let's your friends and colleagues know you're a leader in the online marketing community. When you see a post, let everyone one know you like it.

Tell others within your organization. It is difficult to maintain contact with past participants via email. People change responsibilities, email addresses change and companies merge. Make sure the correct people within your organization, including offices in other cities know about the WebAwards. The more awards your organization wins, the more recognition you will receive.

There are only a few weeks left to enter, but with your help we can have the most successful WebAward competition ever!

Bill Rice
President
Web Marketing Association

Open Letter To Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Brian Cuban has some logicial opinions about FaceBook Spreading hate speech.

read more | digg story

Google integrating Twitter?

Twitter-like functionality into search product...

read more | digg story

Should Search Engines Refer Searchers to Other Search Engines?

"Do you have a favorite search engine? Is there a particular reason why you use the search engine that you do?
Do you use more than one search engine regularly? Have you switched from using one search engine regularly to another one?
If you ran a search engine, you would probably want to understand why people shift from one search engine to another, either temporarily or permanently. And you might be interested in seeing if you can identify why and when these shifts take place, and a way to predict when such a changeover might happen."
SEO by the SEA

SEMPO Partners With Yellow Pages Publisher Yellowbook

"SEMPO announced an educational partnership this morning with yellow pages publisher Yellow Book, a division of the UK based Yell. According to the press release put out, the SEMPO Institute “will be providing distance learning education for Yellowbook’s media consultant sales team.”"


SEMPO Partners With Yellow Pages Publisher Yellowbook


- great so those pushy phonebook sales people are now selling links? Google???

Google: We're good for journalism

"Google is under attack for profiting from content produced by newspaper executives, magazine publishers, and The Associated Press, but the company's Marissa Mayer on Wednesday sought to convince the U.S. Senate that Google adds to journalism, too.
The most recent attack, by Forbes.com Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller, decried 'the parasitical nature of its business model' and asserted that Google makes about $60 million a year directing people to the Forbes site."

Digital Media - CNET News

Cybercriminals promoting malware-friendly search engines

"The cybercriminals behind the ongoing blackhat search engine optimization attacks hijacking swine flu related queries in order to serve scareware, have re-introduced an old social engineering tactic - the use of fake and malware friendly search engines."

Zero Day | ZDNet.com

MySpace Suicide Case Sparks Dubious Laws

"There's no question that the Megan Meier tragedy left many people outraged. But this widespread indignation has also spurred some very questionable legal and policy decisions."

MediaPost Publications - Cyberbulling Law

Award winning websites - WebAwards 2009

"Website awards are a great way to recognize talented individual and team efforts in outstanding Website development and generate internet marketing exposure for the award winning Web site. The international WebAward Competition is the premier Web site award program available today."

Award winning websites - WebAwards 2009

Facebook’s E-mail Censorship is Legally Dubious, Experts Say

"The Pirate Bay released new Facebook features last month, the popular social networking site took evasive action, blocking its members from distributing file-sharing links through its service.
Now legal experts say Facebook may have gone too far, blocking not only links to torrents published publicly on member profile pages, but also examining private messages that might contain them, and blocking those as well."


Epicenter

YouTube River Diverted Into The Google Social Ocean As Well

"It’s pretty obvious that Google is getting ready to fully cast its social net over its web properties. It’s been doing things like tweaking the developer’s side of iGoogle to be much more social, separating your contacts from Gmail to be used for all of Google, and overhauling and promoting Google Profiles."
Tech Crunch

Google: American phenomenon and antitrust target

"Google is more than a fabulously successful company -- it is a cultural phenomenon facing increasing U.S. government scrutiny despite its chief executive's campaign support for President Barack Obama.
The No. 1 Internet search company and provider of text-based search ads is finding size attracts attention from antitrust enforcers still party to a settlement with personal computer operating system giant Microsoft Corp."

Technology | Reuters

Mother's Day Paycheck

As a mother we have tons of responsibilities and duties to take care of throughout our day. We wear a ton of hats as a mom. And, much of the time moms feel they are taken for granted. We work hard and there isn’t a payday at the end of the week.

Virginia Patient Records for Sale..

'Hacker' threatens to expose health data, demands $10M

read more | digg story

Search Is Still, And Always Will Be, About People

"Here at Search Insider, we spend a lot of time talking about people: who we are, how our brains work, what motivates us. Last week, for example, I explored the connect/disconnect cycle of human social behavior. My esteemed colleague Gord Hotchkiss unraveled why it's so much easier to persuade people face to face."
MediaPost Publications - Search Insider

Will the IAB's Social Media Metrics Definitions Help Crack The Engagement Code?

"Social media and online advertising wonk that I am, I spent part of the morning looking at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's just-released social media metrics definitions."

MediaPost Publications Will the IAB's Social Media Metrics Definitions Help Crack The Engagement Code? 05/06/2009

Lower Bounce Rate - High Bounce Rate

"You probably found this post because you have a nice website that nobody seems to like.
If you have an Ecommerce site, then having a high bounce rate is understandable.
Google views a bounce as a visitor who visited 1 page, and didn’t visit any other page on your website. If they stayed 1hour on the page they landed on, and didn’t visit another page, then that would be considered a bounce.
Everyone seems to ask the wrong question about reducing the bounce rate."

Lower Bounce Rate High Bounce Rate

Flower retailers get aggressive for Mother's Day

"Floral brands are waging a fierce flower battle for this year's Mother's Day.
Spending on Mom is expected to drop 10% to $14 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.
But the trade group says flowers remain the most popular gift. Florists will peddle their petals with aggressive marketing this week as the lead-up to the Sunday holiday."

Flower retailers get aggressive for Mother's Day - USATODAY.com

10 Things You Can Do To Optimize for Image Search

"Image search is probably one of those very few opportunities that are still somewhat easier to cash on in the search marketing field. While it is true that traffic from image search might not convert as well as traffic coming from web search, for certain industries they work pretty well. Also, with all major search engines offering Universal search a well optimized might just get your website a wild card entry to he Google first page for some highly competitive keyword."

10 Things You Can Do To Optimize for Image Search

Microsoft Must Buy Twitter (MSFT)

"Microsoft (MSFT) is about to finally consummate a search deal with Yahoo -- and that's great. But if Redmond really wants to carve into's Google search business over the next 10 years, it needs to offer whatever it takes -- $800 million? $1 billion? more? -- to buy Twitter right now."
Microsoft Must Buy Twitter (MSFT)

Search Marketing Isn’t an A La Carte Menu - It’s a Seven Course Meal

"SEO, paid search, social media, analytics, display advertising, affiliate marketing, user experience optimization…the list of practices under the search engine marketing umbrella goes on and on. But it’s not always easy deciding which of these to engage in. After all, how do you know what will be the most effective and lead to the greatest ROI? How do you know where to put your focus? Unfortunately, the answers aren’t always clear."
Search Marketing Isn’t an A La Carte Menu - It’s a Seven Course Meal Keyword-Driven

NEWS CORP. STUDIES WEB CONTENT PLATFORMS

"Media companies have had a hard time getting consumers to pay for content online, but Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is attempting to leverage its worldwide news-gathering operation to get them to do just that."

NEWS CORP. STUDIES WEB CONTENT PLATFORMS - New York Post

Selecting an SEO Firm: The What, How, and Who

"Buying into SEO is a difficult process. Without at least a basic understanding of SEO, it's really tough to tell the difference between someone who knows their stuff and someone who talks a great game without backing it up with results.
Many companies looking for SEO help -- even those with a decent understanding of SEO -- try their best to shop around, but they always end up with two simple questions:
What is this firm going to do for me?
How much do they cost?"


Selecting an SEO Firm: The What, How, and Who - Search Engine Watch (SEW)

Privus Mobile and M/C/C Win Telly Award

Privus Mobile’s ‘Harry Sasquatch’ Commercial Wins Telly Award

Dallas – May 6, 2009 – Privus Mobile, America’s most popular Mobile Caller ID provider, was recently honored with a prestigious Telly Award. Privus Mobile was a Bronze recipient for its first television commercial, “Harry Sasquatch,” in the Telecommunications/Internet Service category. The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs; the finest film and video productions; and groundbreaking web commercials, videos and films. With over 13,000 entries annually, winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators and corporate video departments in the world.

The commercial, crafted by marketing firm M/C/C, depicts a man being harassed by a sasquatch on his cell phone. Whether at home, in the gym or hanging out with friends, the average Joe can’t seem to rid himself of prank calls from the hairy jokester. After downloading Privus Mobile’s unique Caller ID service onto his cell phone, the man can see Sasquatch’s information and decides against answering the call.

“The ‘Harry Sasquatch’ commercial is an excellent example of Privus Mobile’s Caller ID service, and we are thrilled to have it, and M/C/C, recognized for creativity and effectiveness,” said Privus Mobile President Greg Smith. “The true beauty of the commercial is that it really demonstrates how you can better manage calls to your smartphone. No more looking at that 10-digit number and asking yourself, ‘Should I or shouldn’t I?’ With all the familiarities of landline Caller ID service without the hidden charges, Privus Mobile is an affordable solution for call screeners, business professionals, students and anyone else who likes to know who’s calling.”      

Privus Mobile is now available to more than 225 smartphones on more than 30 international network carriers. Customers can download a free trial on Privus Mobile’s Web site at www.privusmobile.com or by visiting mobile marketplaces like Mobile2Day, Handango, Handmark and BlackBerry App World.  

·        To check out the Privus Mobile “Harry Sasquatch” commercial, click here.

·        Fans can find Privus Mobile on Facebook and Twitter.

About Privus Mobile

I D YOU LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Accudata Technologies, has launched the industry-first Privus Mobile service, which provides real Caller ID service to wireless handsets, giving users greater control over who they talk to and when. Privus Mobile is available for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices through Handango, Handmark, Privus Mobile’s Web site, Mobile2Day, the BerryStore and BlackBerry App World. 

I D YOU LLC, which is focused on providing the most comprehensive Caller ID service available, is headquartered in Allen, Texas. For more information, visit www.privusmobile.com.    

###

Rest in Peace, RSS

"It’s time to get completely off RSS and switch to Twitter. RSS just doesn’t cut it anymore. The River of News has become the East River of news, which means it’s not worth swimming in if you get my drift."

Rest in Peace, RSS

When Pay Per Click PPC Better Than SEO for Public Relations

"When search engine marketing enters the conversation in PR circles and vice versa, it’s usually search engine optimization, not pay per click that gets attention. However, there are numerous opportunities to use the on-demand visibility of Pay Per Click as a method to attract visitors to news related content."


TopRank | Online Marketing Blog:

Is your realtime really realtime?

"Do you remember your first Twitter or Summize search?
The first time I saw it I was floored. Immediately the strategist in me began to play out all of the scenarios for what this could mean to search. This new, expressed form of information - captured in the utterances and microblog expressions - has enormous timely information value. “Gmail is down” - “There’s a plane in the Hudson” - “Arrested” - “Just read a great book…” My brain began to churn, and all of my experience studying users’ information needs told me this is going to be big."

Is your realtime really realtime? « AltSearchEngines:

Keyword Research for Optimized (SEO)

"The core of search marketing is the mix of keyword phrases that people use to search for information on the web. Part of the value of Search Engine Optimization is to identify what searchers actually enter in the search box. If optimization efforts can focus on the phrases that are equally relevant and in demand, there’s a resonable expectation that the optimized news content will attract more visitors of the right kind"

TopRank | Online Marketing Blog:

What Google Can Do To Make The Web Less Of A ‘Cesspool

Allow marketers to own their brand names in search results without fear of being cannibalized by their competitors in some sort of perhaps unintended brand extortion

read more | digg story

The Social Connection

"Human beings are undeniably social creatures. Gamers are, too. So the gaming landscape is beginning to look very interesting as platforms become increasingly connected, and social networks become increasingly open. For example, Facebook Connect has opened up an API for the iPhone. The iPhone happens to also be seeing quite a bit of success with games. The two are already merging in some initial game efforts, but the growth potential is huge."

MediaPost Publications -Gaming Insider:

How Twitter Can Drive Your Bottom Line

"So, how many people are using Twitter? According to Compete data, 14 million people visited twitter.com in March, a 76% increase from February and a whopping 14 times more than March last year. And this doesn't count the twitterati who rely on software apps like TweetDeck or Seesmic. The site already attracts more people than Ticketmaster, WSJ and LinkedIn, and the term 'Twitter' had more queries than 'American idol' and 'IRS' across the top search engines last month. Like its social media predecessors, Twitter has captured the attention of consumers -- and marketers have to play catch-up once again."

MediaPost Publications

Serious Analytics

"Yahoo! Web Analytics now available for search and display advertisers
If you’re an advertiser in need of some serious analytics, you’ve probably been watching for our Yahoo! Web Analytics enterprise tool—and you’ll be glad to know that it’s now available for free to search and display advertisers supported by a Yahoo! account team."

Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog » Serious Analytics

The Google Search Challenger Blekko

"There are two characteristics of which I believe, that they are true especially well of American: Courage and the search for challenges.
Rich Skrenta has the two qualities. The 42-year-old Skrenta wants to go online with his new search engine blekko.com in probably three months. He presumably cannot line much up against Google. At least not at the beginning. But that’s not the question for Skrenta. His goal for launch day: That his 200 servers in his colocation in Sunnyvale stand the first rush."

The Google Search Challenger Blekko | Marcus Schuler:

Google becomes the first $100bn brand

"Google has become the first $100bn (£67bn) brand, according to a new report from research and marketing firm Millward Brown Optimor.
The company's latest BrandZ: Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands (PDF) places Google firmly at the top of the tree."

vnunet.com:

Microsoft Looks for World-Wide Online Sales Chief as Yahoo Talks Continue

"Microsoft is searching for a major executive to run its world-wide online sales, said several sources close to the situation, even as talks with Yahoo about a deal to partner in its search and display advertising businesses continue."

Kara Swisher | BoomTown | AllThingsD:

Microsoft Looks for World-Wide Online Sales Chief as Yahoo Talks Continue

"Microsoft is searching for a major executive to run its world-wide online sales, said several sources close to the situation, even as talks with Yahoo about a deal to partner in its search and display advertising businesses continue."

Kara Swisher | BoomTown | AllThingsD:

Disney's Hulu Deal Raises Questions About YouTube Model

Google is under increasing pressure to add more premium content to YouTube in order to attract advertisers - and revenue - from the site. But on Thursday, rival Hulu scored a big victory when Disney agreed to take a nearly 30% stake in Hulu and put full episodes of its ABC TV shows on the site.

SmartMoney.com

AP's Curley Has Fightin' Words For Google

"The AP and Google ( GOOG - news - people ) have been debating content and compensation issues for months. In an interview with Forbes on Wednesday, Curley warned that if Google doesn't strike the right deal with the AP soon, 'They will not get our copy going forward.'"

Forbes.com

Twitter Brings Search On Site To All

"Say hello to the new Twitter.com, it’s a lot like the old one, but with the two important features. Search works great because it’s all done on the page without any reloads. And perhaps the most useful feature is that you can save searches that you do over and over again. Also included in the right hand sidebar is Trending Topics, which keeps track of the hot items people are searching for across Twitter. Not surprisingly, right now Swine Flu takes up the top two spots, with Mexico a little below it."

TechCrunch

Using your Tax Refund for Family Fun

"people who receive refunds instead of dread their thoughts are consumed with trying to figure out what they are going to do with their tax refund. Should they save it? Should they pay-off a credit card? Should they put on an addition on the house? Should they invest it?
While all are fantastic ideas on traditional things to do with your tax refund. I’m going to write about something a bit non-traditional."

Malt-O-Meal® Blog | Shana Albert