Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Google News Has Major Redesign - Personalization, Sharing and “News Stream” Offered

"Today, Google News is undergoing its first major redesign since being launched in 2002. Gone is the default “section” view, replaced instead by a “news stream” view of stories. Creating a personalized collection of stories has been made easier, as is the ability to share stories with friends and others via email, Twitter, Google Buzz or Facebook. Let’s dive in and see what’s new."


Improved keyword diagnosis

'Are my ads showing? If they aren't, why not?'

Whether you have ten keywords or ten thousand, making sure your ads are showing is a top priority. Now you can get detailed diagnostic information for multiple keywords at once by using a new keyword diagnosis option on the Keywords tab.

To get started, open the 'More actions' menu on your Keywords tab (at the account, campaign, or ad group level) and select 'Diagnose keywords.'"


The 5 Types of Blogs

"There are several types of blogs that you can consider when starting your blog site. We will be concentrating on five in this post.�"

SEM Synergy - User Behavior and Digital Asset Optimization

"Considering the way users are dividing their time between numerous digital platforms of varying levels of engagement, it’s important that businesses consider how to optimize a range of digital assets. Steve Plunkett, directory of search for advertising and PR agency M/C/C, shares a synergistic digital asset optimization strategy, including optimization of media sometimes overlooked. He talks to Virginia about PDF optimization, television interview optimization and press release optimization. He also shares a recommendation on using location-based services like Foursquare as a marketing channel for businesses."
SEM Synergy - User Behavior & Digital Asset Optimization

Google’s Gingerbread Details Leak

"Even with the launch of Froyo right around the corner for many devices out there (“right around the corner” is a relative term), those who follow Android enough know that the next build of the Google mobile Operating System is already in the works within the Android team. Codenamed “Gingerbread,” as soon as the masses learned about it, the questions already began. And while we know that the User Interface is going to get an overhaul, there were still plenty of questions left unanswered. Well, things are starting to clear up."


Google’s Gingerbread Details Leak: 1GHz Processor Minimum | Android Community

5 Traits A Blogger Must Have for Longevity!

"hen you contemplate starting a blog site, there are a lot of considerations that you need to factor in like content, design, which theme to use and what images to use. There are so many things that make up a writer’s to do list and sometimes when we get so overwhelmed with personal and work responsibilities, at one point in our day, we might ask ourselves, “Why am I doing this?”� There are occasions when no matter what you do, inspiration seems to allude you. But in the end, no matter what, if you are a true blue blogger at heart, you will push on."


5 Traits A Blogger Must Have for Longevity! | Bit Rebels

Lost Inside Google Wave? 5 Waves To Make Your Life Easier

"If you are brand new to Google Wave (aren’t we all?) and a bit confused, then you are going to love this post. The goal here is to point you in the right direction on the wave to get updated content and help.

Please keep in mind you must be logged into your Wave account in order for the links in this post to connect you!"

SEM Synergy - Online Radio - WebmasterRadio.FM

Tune in today at NOON pst to here Me interviewed about Digital Asset Optimization for PR and SEO by Bruce Clay's Virginia Nussey on Webmaster Radio.


About SEM Synergy

Search Engine Marketing formulated for Web 2.0, Learn how SEO, PPC, branding, design and analytics are all parts of a much larger whole every week on SEM Synergy. Hosted by Bruce Clay, president and founder of the international SEO and SEM company Bruce Clay, Inc., SEM Synergy features industry experts discussing how the various fields of search engine marketing work together for a successful, multifaceted campaign. SEM Synergy will feature developing topics and industry news, answers to listener questions and our favorite experts and voices in search talking about what they know best. SEM Synergy offers SEM professionals of all levels a one-stop weekly digest for news, SEO tactics and trends, along with input from high-profile experts. Be sure to log on to SEMSynergy.com for show notes, event calendar, contact info and more."

Facebook Trembles As Google Prepares A “Killer” Social Network

"Over the past few days the rumor mills have been buzzing as news emerged that Google is working on a potential “Facebook killer”. This comes only days after we published about Facebook’s search strategy which could eventually become a direct competitor to Google. One thing is increasingly clear: this year could soon shape up to be more about Facebook versus Google in contrast to last year’s “Facebook versus Twitter” theme."

Facebook Trembles As Google Prepares A “Killer” Social Network

Google's Android Market recommendations

"I’m sure Google’s got a lot of great minds working on this problem already, but it kind of surprises me how popular Android is getting with such a crappy Market. As the number of Android handsets in the wild continues to grow, Google needs to keep up with the heart of their mobile platform — the Android Market."

Google's Android Market recommendations | ZDNet

Advertising - A Quest to Learn What Drives Consumer Decisions

"AS Madison Avenue focuses more intently on trying to influence consumer behavior, one of the world’s largest agencies is starting a unit that will tap into research from academics in the field as well as the work of its own employees."

Advertising - A Quest to Learn What Drives Consumer Decisions - NYTimes.com

Search Marketing Trends for Small Business in 2011

"Even though Search Marketing presents an attractive opportunity to grow online sales, many businesses are too busy running their companies to stay on top of future trends. To that end, here are three search marketing trends worth paying attention to:"

Search Marketing Trends for Small Business in 2011 - Online Marketing Blog

Social Media "Power Friending" Tips

There was a day when Twitter was just a tiny site with a 140-character blank box. Today, the messaging service is now home to more than two billion tweets per month. The company's CTO Dick Costolo recently announced that they're signing up 135,000 new registrations a day.

Top 10 Social Media "Power Friending" Tips : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum

Flash and the HTML5 Video Tag

"There's been a lot of discussion lately about whether or not the HTML5 tag is going to replace Flash Player for video distribution on the web. We’ve been excited about the HTML5 effort and tag for quite a while now, and most YouTube videos can now be played via our HTML5 player. This work has shown us that, while the tag is a big step forward for open standards, the Adobe Flash Platform will continue to play a critical role in video distribution."
YouTube API Blog: Flash and the HTML5 <video> tag

Big Potential for In-Store Mobile Marketing

"Mobile shopping from in-store is just beginning to achieve its promise. Most shoppers are not yet accustomed to turning on and logging in to a retailer’s mobile app when they enter one of its stores.

Likewise, retailers are just starting to launch mobile commerce offerings, let alone offer capabilities targeted to in-store shoppers."

Big Potential for In-Store Mobile Marketing - eMarketer

Sitemaps : One file, many content types

"Site owners have been leveraging Sitemaps to let Google know about their sites’ content since Sitemaps were first introduced in 2005. Since that time additional specialized Sitemap formats have been introduced to better accommodate video, images, mobile, code or geographic content. With the increasing number of specialized formats, we’d like to make it easier for you by supporting Sitemaps that can include multiple content types in the same file."

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Sitemaps: One file, many content types

How Does Google Work?

"This image might need updated in the years to come, but it does a great job laying out how Google works when you type a query into their search engine. Search is so easy to do that it is hard to appreciate how complex it is unless you take a look under the hood. Which is exactly what this graphic does :D"

How Does Google Work? | SEO Book.com

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Will “Google Me” Be A Worthy Facebook Challenger Or Will It Be DOA?

"Let’s take “Google Me” seriously as a social networking site, successor to Orkut and overall Facebook challenger. As everyone by now knows Digg’s Kevin Rose started a wave of coverage when he asserted over the weekend, in a Twitter post now removed, that Google was working on a Facebook competitor."

Will “Google Me” Be A Worthy Facebook Challenger Or Will It Be DOA?

My iPhone 4 is a lemon, oh my!

"Say what you will about the iPhone 4, but mine’s a lemon. Reviewers have called it “the best smartphone,” “worth upgrading” and “game changing,” but they’re all bogus superlatives that don’t apply to mine. Sure, it looks great, it’s all shiny and gorgeous, but what good is a phone that can’t make phone calls?"

My iPhone 4 is a lemon, oh my! | ZDNet

Four Great Reasons Your Facebook Profile Should NEVER Be Public

"With all of the Facebook privacy changes that have come around in recent months, you'd think that people would be more aware of whether or not their Facebook profiles are set to be publicly visible by default. Facebook profiles that are publicly visible can be viewed by anyone - even people who aren't on Facebook. Many users who followed Facebook's 'recommendations' for privacy settings may have inadvertantly set their Facebook profiles to be publicly visible - a huge mistake."

Four Great Reasons Your Facebook Profile Should NEVER Be Public | Facebook blog and news

30 Handy Cheat Sheets and Reference Guides for Web Professionals

"Cheat sheets and reference guides are useful for both beginners and advanced web professionals.
They can be used to help you remember syntax or as a tool to aid in memorization.
In this post, we aim to cover the reference guides for all of the most commonly used platforms, software and coding languages.
Below you’ll find a compilation of the 30 most useful and well-organized cheat sheets, checklists and reference guides."


30 Handy Cheat Sheets and Reference Guides for Web Professionals | Webdesigner Depot

6 Brilliantly Designed Mobile Sites

"It’s true: the mobile web is taking over the world, and by 2015, many predict it will be larger than desktop Internet use. It’s no wonder everybody’s racing to build mobile versions of their websites.

Some are simply better than others, though. While many companies just build stripped-down versions of their current sites with a few links and maybe an image, others have taken the time and energy to really think about the advantages of mobile and truly become destinations that can be accessed on any platform. These well-designed mobile sites provide a glimpse into what we can expect in the future."

6 Brilliantly Designed Mobile Sites

Neiman Marcus to be completely mobile by fall: senior exec

"Neiman Marcus will be completely mobile by fall as part of its multichannel contact strategy to drive long-term growth, according to the company’s�top executive�who keynoted the Luxury Interactive 2010 Conference.

During a keynote at the Luxury Branding Conference, the company addressed three key parts of its multichannel integration. The mobile site will let consumers buy designer products via their handsets."


Neiman Marcus to be completely mobile by fall: senior exec - Mobile Marketer - Database/CRM

How about an iHype ‘tax’ to save the news?

"The pesky problem of paying for the news could be resolved rather fast if publishers and broadcasters just charged Steve Jobs a nickel a word for all the free hype they provide to sell his iParaphernalia."

Reflections of a Newsosaur: How about an iHype ‘tax’ to save the news?

Facebook Search - Myth or Madness

"The web is swirling with conjecture that Facebook is going to roll out a search product to take Google on head on. Interestingly, this follows rumors that 'Google Me' was a new product launching to compete with Facebook. Some industry pundits believe that the search product�launch�is�imminent�and one that will differentiate itself by incorporating 'like button' recommendations and open graph technologies into the algorithm that displays the search results. Others think that the current on domain Facebook search implementation is so shoddy that Facebook will first fix that before moving onto something grander."


Practical Lessons from the B2B Search Elite

"Last Wednesday, the first B2B Search Strategy Summit was held in San Francisco. The conference was chaired by Mary O'Brien, of Overture/Yahoo and PPC Summit fame.

The premise was simple (and long overdue): bring together the top minds in B2B search for a day of focused discussion and networking. I was excited to attend, and honored to be asked to speak on the case study panel."


PubCon Final Early Bird Rates

"Only three days remain to register at the lowest early-bird rate for our professional Austin PubCon Masters Group search and social media training program, which will take place in Austin on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at the downtown Radisson Hotel and Suites, a day-long two-track slate of intensive educational training programs.
Wednesday, June 30 is the final day to take advantage of our best early-bird registration bargain for this powerhouse training program, with prices increasing to standard pre-event rates on Thursday, July 1 and running until July 15, when full-price rates begin.

Sign up today for our lowest Austin PubCon Masters Group rate of all. What is the training about? Watch the following video for an overview."

5 Social Media Hacks for Authentic Automation

"One of the big dilemmas facing those increasingly using social technology as a business tool is the balance between authentic participation and automation for time saving sake.

On one end there are certainly tools and services that can actually take care of all of your social media participation and automate the process of posting your content to every known social network."

Search Engine Marketing Made Easier

"For any size of business, small or large, search engine marketing (SEM) can be a complex challenge. There are a number of choices that need to be made up front, such as choosing the appropriate keywords and search engines for your business, before even getting into how to track and improve upon your results. While larger companies may have the resources to hire – internally or externally – professional SEM assistance, many small business owners may not. So, they manage SEM on their own."

Optimizing Your Site for Search Engine Marketing

: "For millions of websites, publishers, and online businesses, search is still the king. While social media may have the media's attention and Twitter and Facebook are garnering a lot of the hype, search still trumps them when it comes to driving traffic and being discovered by potential new customers."

5 Search Engine Marketing Trends That Impact Your Business

"Many small businesses have implemented a variety of online marketing efforts to attract new customers and increase overall sales. As a $16 billion industry, Search Engine Marketing represents a substantial opportunity to connect with customers at the moment they are looking for products and services to buy."

Bing vs. Google - 5 Real World SERPs Analyzed

"The question I aim to answer here is, is there any reason to specifically optimize for Bing, and does it appear that there are specific optimization techniques to focus on for Bing?"

Monday, June 28, 2010

Why Twitter Offers Enhanced Facebook and LinkedIn Integration

"Twitter is ringing in the changes big time these days. First, it opted to cash-in on the popularity of FIFA 2010 World Cup by creating a dedicated Twitter site for the sporting extravaganza. Next, it started tweaking its system in order to improve the overall stability and reduce downtimes."

What do Google, Facebook, Windows, the iPhone and sliced bread have in common?

"Google is the most used search engine in the world. Facebook is the largest social network the world has ever seen. Windows still runs on the vast majority of computers worldwide. The iPhone is second to none to any other single mobile phone or handheld device in modern times. And sliced bread has yet to be improved after its initial conception proved well enough."

Why Info-Rich Ads Help Local Businesses Generate Leads

"In today’s changing media environment, local businesses are looking for new ways to reach the consumer. In addition to placing ads in traditional outlets like the print Yellow Pages—which still have significant consumer reach—local businesses are increasingly adding websites and social networking pages, online videos, iPhone and iPad apps and other popular advertising tools to their marketing strategies. Their hope is that by taking advantage of new digital and mobile offerings, they’ll be able to reach new customers, generate leads and stay ahead of competitors who are slower to adapt."


Paid And Organic Search

"You rank #1 organically for your brand keyword search, and you’re trying to determine if and how much you are willing to pay for a paid ad on your brand keyword search. The goal then is to understand how the clickthrough rate (CTR) of the organic listing is affected by the presence of the paid ad. You’ll do this by looking at how the CTR of the organic listing changes with and without the presence of the paid ad. The CTR rates I am referring to need to be normalized for search volume. I’ll explain what that means below, but that was the tricky part that I didn’t get before, the elusive reality about which Matthias enlightened me."


Gmail now supports all Microsoft Word docs

"Google has added Docs support for Microsoft Word (.doc and .docx). When you receive an attachment with a document in one of these formats, you now have the option to open them in Google Docs. I could have sworn this feature already existed, but apparently that functionality only worked with other document types.

The new feature works in the vanilla Gmail, as well as in Google Apps (all editions). To use this feature, simply click “View” at the bottom of a message that contains one of these documents, and you will be whizzed off to the Google Docs viewer for your attachment."


How To Rank #1 In Facebook Search In 60 Seconds For Any Term

"Want to jump to the top of Facebook’s search results for any term? I’ve figured out how to accomplish this in under 60 seconds since currently there are few people competing for placement within Facebook’s search results. While not all the techniques explained are recommended, hopefully this will give you a better idea as to how Facebook Search works. Let’s get started! A few minutes ago, I used one of the tools created by Cameron, one of our engineering gurus, to generate 9 Open Graph objects."

Should Google worry about Facebook social search?

"In a word, yes. It’s not quite as dramatic as All Facebook makes it out to be. They call Facebook’s Social Graph-based search “a full scale attack on Google on all fronts at this point.” I’m inclined to believe that it’s more of a wakeup call for Google in terms of really needing to tackle social and semantic search, not a harbinger of doom for the search giant."

An iPhone wish list looks more like an Android feature list

"What do iPhone users want most? According to the results of a survey released today, the top four things that U.S. iPhone users want most are already available from Google’s Android.

The survey, conducted by interactive research firm Vision Critical, lists a choice of wireless network (39 percent) as the number one thing that smartphone buyers in the U.S. would most like to have in the Apple iPhone. Android devices, of course, are available across multiple wireless carriers while the iPhone can only be used (without jailbreaking) on AT&T in the U.S."

Is Google About to Launch a Facebook Killer?

"Should we brace ourselves for another round of tech news headlines with the word 'killer' in them? According to Digg founder Kevin Rose, Google is about to launch a social profile service called, aptly, 'Google Me.' Rose stated on Twitter earlier today that he heard a 'huge rumor' from a 'very credible source' that Google is about to unveil what is apparently a Facebook competitor, no other details forthcoming."

Why doesn't Google Places allow access by multiple users?



How important is the frequency of updates on a blog?



How do you protect your blog from hackers?



Brand Monitoring, Social Analytics, Social Insights

"Social data is overwhelming. � More customers, buyers, and consumers are creating content everywhere they go. �Companies cannot scale to match this in a 1:1 basis, and most companies are in early phases of the 8 Stages of Listening. ��Earlier this year, I made clear investments in researching the Social CRM space and Mobile Social space (report forthcoming), it’s clear that Social CRM is starting to get wind under it’s wings, and mobile/social is certainly happening at consumer level. �So what do I see happening next? �Two trends, social analytics intelligence, and social business value networks, which I’ll discuss at a later time."


Optimizing User Choice - The Continuing Adventures Of Opt-Out Man

"As Facebook controversies and the ongoing legislative and regulatory debates over privacy move the issue of personal data control onto the front pages of newspapers and Web sites, consumers are engaging with the issue in a new way. In the past I have done periodic passes of the opt-out processes in place at the major content and ad network providers, but it seems appropriate this time to approach the process from a typical consumer perspective. How would a concerned user try to get a toehold on the data collection problem and attempt to opt out of something -- anything -- from a cold start?"


Friday, June 25, 2010

Exploratory data analysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Exploratory data analysis (EDA) is an approach to analysing data for the purpose of formulating hypotheses worth testing, complementing the tools of conventional statistics for testing hypotheses[1]. It was so named by John Tukey to contrast with Confirmatory Data Analysis, the term used for the set of ideas about hypothesis testing, p-values, confidence intervals etc. which formed the key tools in the arsenal of practising statisticians at the time."

Yes, Google’s Bots Understand Code

Google indexes the web’s billions of web pages at lightning speed using Googlebot, a web crawler that collects links and documents from webpages and turns them into the searchable content you find on Google Search.

Yes, Google’s Bots Understand Code

Social Media Increases “Cuddle” Chemical Production in the Brain

"Sometimes referred to as the “cuddle” chemical, oxytocin — a hormone produced in the brain — stimulates feelings of trust and security, reduces anxiety levels and may even produce positive sexual side effects. It sounds like a miracle drug, so how does one get their hands on it? Perhaps, simply by tweeting."

Google Remotely Deletes Android Apps With 'Kill Switch'

"This week the engineers at Google remotely activated the so-called Android 'kill switch,' a technology which allows the company to remotely remove applications installed on users' phones."

yay google!

Using PPC Ads To Fine Tune Your Organic Ad Copy

"Having a “testing” environment for organic ad copy has, until recently, been a bit tricky. It can take some time for updated Page Titles and Meta Descriptions to show up on Google, especially with small sites that aren’t crawled and updated on a regular basis. Getting around this time delay meant writing your Page Titles and Meta content and “hoping” it worked, with an eye towards changing it in a few weeks or months if time and budget allows."


Facebook and Twitter users spend 1.5x more online than the average Internet user

"Leading metrics firm, comScore, released its Q1 U.S E-Commerce Spending Report recently, finding that online retail spending approached $34 billion in Q1 2010, which represents a 10 percent boost compared to last year. The surge symbolizes the first time that growth rates hit double-digits since the second quarter of 2008."

Facebook SEO Ranking Factors

"In March 2010, usage of Facebook’s internal search engine jumped approximately 48% to peak at 2.7% of U.S. searches.� Though April and May U.S. search share dipped, these numbers are still rather substantial given Facebook search’s obvious people-focus and legendary limitations.� That said compared to Google’s monolithic 63.7 percent of American search share, Facebook’s internal search usage does not seem like a big deal."

YouTube Hits All-Time Highs In May, ComScore Says

"May was a banner month for YouTube. ComScore’s latest video rankings report shows that the site hit all-time highs with 14.6 billion videos viewed and more than 100 videos seen per user. Needless to say, YouTube remains the dominant player in video rankings, with 43% of online videos being seen on the site, according to comScore."
YouTube Hits All-Time Highs In May, ComScore Says

Microsoft Bing upgrades its health service

"Microsoft’s Bing search engine has upgraded its Bing Health service, making it a more direct competitor with HealthLine and WebMD."

Politicizing IT failure in Australia

"Government IT tends to be large, expensive, and fraught with risk. The scale of waste that arises from failure makes these projects a healthy target for politicians seeking to gain political advantage against rivals. As a result, politicians sometimes attempt to use failed government projects to their own political advantage."

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Space Invaders

"Every time I see something that has to do with Space Invaders I get all fuzzy inside. Maybe it’s the memories that come crawling back or just the natural geek inside me that reacts. I just love it. And I am not alone in doing so. Someone in France decided that enough is enough and dreamt up this crazy idea about bringing our beloved Space Invaders guys into the real world for us all to see."

Personalized Search



Google Search Privacy : Plain and Simple



Google Search Privacy : Personalized Search



Bing Has A New Look, Now Hosts Deep Content In Search Results

"While Bing is throwing a star-studded party to announce changes to its entertainment-based search results, there are several other changes that deserve a close look, not the least of which is the amount of deep content — including full articles with thousands of words — that Bing is now hosting in its search results. More on that in a bit."

Bing Has A New Look, Now Hosts Deep Content In Search Results


Samsung and T-Mobile launch three new QWERTY phones, including the Smiley

"T-Mobile announced three new messaging focused Samsung feature phones today for immediate availability; the Gravity 3, and Gravity T. Yes, you see that correct the second phone listed is the or phone currently known as the Smiley. These three phones range in price from $19.99 up to $74.99, with mail-in rebate and two-year agreement. All three support Exchange email (WOW) and T-Mobile Social Buzz (a new integrated social networking application)."

Samsung and T-Mobile launch three new QWERTY phones, including the Smiley | ZDNet


IE9 adds key HTML5 features in new preview release

"Microsoft has just passed an important milestone on the road to shipping Internet Explorer 9, releasing a third Platform Preview for download by the public today."

IE9 adds key HTML5 features in new preview release | ZDNet


Motorola Droid X review - bigger, badder, better

"There are three smartphone gunslingers in the mobile industry: Apple, HTC and Motorola. (Sorry, Palm.) With the Droid X, Motorola reasserts itself at the top of the mobile food chain. (More on this later.) Though the U.S.-only phone’s carrier, Verizon Wireless, has done a lot of trash talking about the Apple iPhone and its exclusive carrier, AT&T, the Droid X is perhaps most notable for leapfrogging, once again, inter-conference rival HTC."

Motorola Droid X review: bigger, badder, better | ZDNet

Oracle Introduces Agile Customer Needs Management

"Oracle's Agile Customer Needs Management software platform allows customers to capture and prioritize product ideas, product requirements and customer feedback from a variety of internal and external sources. The software integrates social tools such as the ability to tag, review and leave comments for other users. Oracle's steady releases throughout 2010 seem part of the company's plan to become the largest IT systems vendor in the world, with products designed to provide functionality at each level of a typical enterprise stack."

Oracle Introduces Agile Customer Needs Management - Enterprise Applications from eWeek


10 Database Security Threats Every IT Administrator Should Know

10 Database Security Threats Every IT Administrator Should Know - Database from eWeek: "High-profile data breaches have put the spotlight on database security. Still, security can be a headache for database administrators, and the digital aspirin they need —patches—can be tough to administer. As a result, long work days are in store when attackers sneak their way inside. Database security firm Application Security has taken a look at the most common configuration issues and security vulnerabilities plaguing DBAs, both by category as well as specific vulnerability. We have highlighted some of the major issues here, and you can click on each for more information. A complete list can be found online on the Application Security blog. As it turns out, some of the biggest threats to your enterprise database are not zero-days, but the vulnerabilities you already know."

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

HOW TO: Help New Users Stay Engaged on Twitter

"If you’re a Twitter evangelist, the scenario is probably familiar. You explain to friends and family how much value and fun can be had in 140 characters. They sign up, test the waters for a few days, derive no use value, and promptly abandon their accounts.

To remedy this, we’ve outlined the common missteps of new users and some ways you can help prevent them from becoming part of the Twitter quitter trend."

HOW TO: Help New Users Stay Engaged on Twitter

HUGE: Twitter Lets You Automatically Follow Your Facebook Friends

"Twitter is announcing that it is launching major upgrades to its Facebook and LinkedIn applications, bringing added functionality and integration between Twitter and two of the world’s largest social networks.

The new Twitter app for Facebook, of which a preview version is available here, not only allows you to syndicate your tweets to the world’s largest social network, but now has a feature that allow users to see which of their Facebook friends are also on Twitter and choose which ones they want to follow."

HUGE: Twitter Lets You Automatically Follow Your Facebook Friends

iPhone Photo Geotagging – Who knows where you sleep? | SEO | SEM | Internet Marketing | Jack Leblond

"Geotagging your photos on the new OS4 allows the iPhone (and various other tools and websites) to sort your photos by location.� When you open the photos app, you’ll notice two icons at the bottom – “Albums” and “Places”.� Selecting “places” will provide you a map, similar to this one that I grabbed from my phone."

iPhone Photo Geotagging – Who knows where you sleep? | SEO | SEM | Internet Marketing | Jack Leblond

Watch Out For These Unsavory Affiliate Tactics

"Many affiliates offer an honest additional marketing channel that is necessary for your marketing mix. However, there are affiliates who are looking for ways to beat your system, beat the search system and hide when you try to find them.

Here are specific things you should watch out for:"

Watch Out For These Unsavory Affiliate Tactics

5 Steps to B2B Marketing Success

"Major shifts are taking place in B2B marketing that started a few years ago but have accelerated in recent months – in the marketplace as well as inside vendor organizations.

Prospects and customers are becoming more sophisticated and better informed than ever before. They are tuning out a lot of the marketing noise they receive which makes it harder for marketers to reach audiences the old fashioned way. Customers are are in the driver’s seat today. This has profound implications on marketing and the way companies engage with prospects."

Everything Technology Marketing: 5 Steps to B2B Marketing Success

Chevrolet Charges Volt Ad Campaign Using Microsoft Kinect's Gesture Interface

"Reach out to an image on the television screen and wrap both hands around what appears as a steering wheel to test drive Chevrolet's Volt electric car. The General Motors brand kicked off an advertising campaign that taps Microsoft's controller-free Kinect add-on, announced earlier this month, for the Xbox 360. The video game allows consumers to act as stunt drivers through jumps and barrel rolls, using their bodies to control the car in the video game."


MediaPost Publications Chevrolet Charges Volt Ad Campaign Using Microsoft Kinect's Gesture Interface 06/23/2010

Google Voice - One more step toward owning everything

"As with most Google services, I fully expect that Google will retain my data for a long time. In most cases, I want them to. I don’t want my email to get dumped, nor do I want important voicemails to disappear as they do with Verizon after a finite number of days. I’m even OK with Google offering me targeted ads based on my emails. If I must have ads to support the consumer version of the service, they may as well be for something I want. And Google, go ahead and index everything of mine…I want to be able to search it lighting fast."

Bing Banks On Deep Contextual Search With One-Stop Entertainment Hub @SEWatch

"Bing sure knows how to deliver on its promises. In our June 10 SEM post, we did tell you that a show was slated to take place in Los Angeles for another Bing announcement. That sure was the place to do it (you'll see why in a second), and the search arm of Microsoft rolled out the red carpet - no less - for the launch of its new born: Bing Entertainment, a deep contextual search engine. Here's what it's all about."


Bing Banks On Deep Contextual Search With One-Stop Entertainment Hub @SEWatch

Google Android Music download

"Google until the end of 2010 will provide users the ability to download music through the same search engine. Wall Street Journal said, citing anonymous sources familiar with the talks between Google and the representatives of the music industry.

In 2011, the company plans to take the next step in the development of its own music service. It is expected that it would provide service online music subscription, like Last.fm."


Wiseandroid.com | Android users will be able to download music directly through the search engine Google

Video SEO: A Technical Guide - Yoast - Tweaking Websites

"Video SEO consists of 3 parts: indexation, ranking and click through optimization. While I might cover #2 and #3 in a later article, I’m focusing on the technical aspects of Video SEO for this article, and thus on the methods of getting your video’s indexed. I’ll focus mainly on Video SEO for Google, as I haven’t really looked at other search engines so far in testing."

Video SEO: A Technical Guide - Yoast - Tweaking Websites

Monday, June 21, 2010

Facebook Privacy - What You Need to Know

"Even the most active of users on Facebook are confused about Facebook's privacy policies. One minute Mark Zuckerberg announces a 'Like' button that publishers could place on their web pages, then the next minute we're seeing privacy rights groups like the ACLU calling out Facebook for their blatant disregard and self-serving policies regarding users' privacy. So what's the real deal? Here's what you need to know."

Facebook Privacy: What You Need to Know - Search Engine Watch (SEW)

Facebook Location Features Confirmed and Coming Soon

"Mark Zuckerberg confirmed to press in London today that Facebook will indeed be launching location-based features in the near future.

According to several reports, the young CEO told attendees at a local Facebook Developer Garage event, “We are finishing designing our application soon and hope to offer it soon.”"

Facebook Location Features Confirmed and Coming Soon

Mark Pasetsky: Should Social Networking on Facebook Be Allowed in the Office?

"Facebook. Twitter. Foursquare.

Walk through the office and I bet you'll spot one of your colleagues updating their status.

Is this a good thing?

Many in management would argue this is a colossal waste of time and ask what good could come out of their employees aimlessly socializing on these time sucking networks?"

Mark Pasetsky: Should Social Networking on Facebook Be Allowed in the Office?

A Turning Point In The Field Of SEO

"We are at a turning point in the field of search engine optimization (SEO)—a positive turning point. For those of us who have been around for a long time, it’s an interesting (and very good) time to be involved in search. But it must be daunting for those outside the industry, or just getting started with their careers."

A Turning Point In The Field Of SEO

What Google Thinks of Your Site

"To get first place placement for your most important keyword terms, it helps to take advantage of the inconspicuous report card provided by Google which let you know if you've appropriately designed your site's information architecture, internal navigation, and text linking to aid in your SEO success."

What Google Thinks of Your Site - Search Engine Watch (SEW)

Google To Launch Newspass Paywall

"Google has the blogosphere and the media buzzing after a report from Italian daily La Repubblica announced that the company is readying to launch a paid content format to be called 'Newspass' by year end."

Google To Launch Newspass Paywall [Report] @SEWatch

Feelin' geeky? How about a Google command line tool?

"This tool provides a quick and dirty way to do a bunch of things — uploading or downloading pictures from your Picasa account, searching for contacts, or even uploading videos to YouTube. Nothing you can’t really do using your browser, but it’s certainly going to be a hit with those people who just prefer using command lines for everything — and believe me, that’s not a small community."

Feelin' geeky? How about a Google command line tool? | ZDNet

Your Browser in Five Years

"What will your Web browser look like in 2015? Five years doesn't always bring dramatic change to some technologies--today's desktop PC, for instance, isn't that different from its 2005 predecessor--but browsers are undergoing major changes that will alter our day-to-day computing lives."

Your Browser in Five Years - PCWorld

What’s a Facebook Fan Worth?

"Digital consulting firm�Syncapse and research companyHotspex have come up with an empirical formula that puts an average value of $136.38 on the Facebook fans of the site’s 20 biggest corporate brands. Most of that value comes from how much the fans will spend on the brand’s products, with additional dollars coming from customer loyalty, recommendations and earned media."

WebMetricsGuru � What’s a Facebook Fan Worth?

In Social Media, Engagement Has Its Rewards

In order to connect with prospects online, we must do so where they’re already active. New research reveals that doings so, may have a strong effect on the decisions and activity of your customers. In February 2010, market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey along with iModerate Research Technologies, surveyed over 1,500 individuals online as well as conducted one-on-one discussions to contextualize social media behavior.

In Social Media, Engagement Has Its Rewards

Friday, June 18, 2010

Koman Coulibaly - How the U.S. Was Robbed In The World Cup - TIME NewsFeed

Who was the Ref that robbed USa Soccer?
Koman "sleepy eyes" Coulibaly. Enough said.

Forget about Jim Joyce, the ump who created a firestorm by stealing a perfect game from the Detroit Tigers. He’s a saint compared to this guy."

Koman Coulibaly: How the U.S. Was Robbed In The World Cup - TIME NewsFeed

6 Tips For Experimenting With Web Video

"Making the shift into web video can be exhilarating, and the web makes it affordable and feasible to test our your video strategy. For filmmakers, it’s still an undefined territory and a developing environment, in which you can test out new ideas and techniques with respect to production, distribution, and audience engagement."

6 Tips For Experimenting With Web Video

Discovering Web User Types & Habits Via Search Queries

"In earlier times, we read books and sent handwritten letters carried off and away by fast ponies. Before that, scribes recorded information into scrolls. Before language, there were grunts, body language and even telepathy. Gone are the days when humankind built enormous temples with columns and carved statues covered with symbols. Murals in pyramids and caves told stories. Most cultures retold stories, created mythology, wrote poetry and parables, and taught songs to generation after generation."

Discovering Web User Types & Habits Via Search Queries

Twitter adds option to tweet location by name

"The new Twitter Places feature lets people tweet their specific location by name--whether it's the neighborhood tavern or the World Cup stadium in South Africa.
Unveiled Monday and launching in 65 countries over the next week, Twitter Places is the company's latest enhancement to its location-based tweeting service. People can now tag tweets with a specific location already stored in Twitter's database, add a new place, and see who else is tweeting from a specific area."

Twitter adds option to tweet location by name | Digital Media - CNET News

Google, Caffeine and the future of search - Telegraph

"Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Google’s search engineers meet to talk about the algorithm that forms the heart of the company’s multi-billion dollar business. They discuss the tiny tweaks, of which there are about 600 each year, that keep Google in its place as the world’s favourite search engine. These are the people who guard the company’s status as, in the words of ranking team head Amit Singhal, “the biggest kingmaker on this Earth”."

Google, Caffeine and the future of search - Telegraph

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Black Eyed Peas DJ Rocky Rock vs. "DJ Hero" Gamer Prod1gy X [VIDEO]

"What happens when the Black Eyed Peas’ DJ Rocky Rock sets up his pro DJ rig and faces off against a pro music gamer champion armed only with his copy of DJ Hero? This video, that’s what — oh, and some awesome beats, too."

Black Eyed Peas DJ Rocky Rock vs. "DJ Hero" Gamer Prod1gy X [VIDEO]:




SEO Competitive Intelligence Strategy

"These days, webmasters are more likely to work with the search engines, in the form of Adwords and Adsense. GoogleGuy is now the non-mysterious Matt Cutts, who helpfully announces indexing changes before they happen, even if he is still rather vague on detail."


SEO Competitive Intelligence Strategy | SEO Book.com

Regret That Last Tweet? Don't Rush to Delete.

"After Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made international headlines this week for dissing on his new iPhone in a Facebook status update, the media had a field day discussing his Apple-bashing. Zuckerberg's response?�He deleted the post. When users click the URL to view the post, all they see is a plain-Jane 'This post has been deleted.'"

Regret That Last Tweet? Don't Rush to Delete. | Twitter blog and news

What If the Customer’s Wrong?

: "Technology companies have been leading the pack, even getting the credit for lifting the country’s struggling stock market, because they offer new, cutting-edge solutions, often times to needs consumers never even had before the Information Age changed the game forever.

But I can’t help but wonder. Have businesses shifted their service strategies too far into the realm of pandering to be truly productive. After all, what if the customer is wrong?"

BruceClay - What If the Customer’s Wrong?

Yahoo Closes European Directories, Says US Directory Is Safe

"Yahoo has closed its web directories in four countries, and it seems no one noticed. It happened back in December, and Yahoo is now redirecting those directories to the country-specific web search pages."

Yahoo Closes European Directories, Says US Directory Is Safe

Why Twitter's new ads are ingenious

"Twitter this week began testing a new type of advertising: 'Promoted Trends.' Under the new system, brands can pay to appear below the 'Trending Topics,' the most talked-about terms on Twitter at any given moment."

Why Twitter's new ads are ingenious - CNN.com

Facebook Fans More Valuable to Brands

: "Fans of brands on Facebook spend $71.84 more on those brands’ merchandise over a two-year period than nonfans, according to a recently published whitepaper from Syncapse, a social technology company."


Facebook Fans More Valuable to Brands : eMarketing & Commerce (eM C)

How To Combine Brand & SEO

"Whilst we can't know exactly what aspects Google's algorithms will reward, it's not difficult to see brand factors becoming increasingly influential in search results, both directly and indirectly. Schmidt may be talking about a level of authority that the brand possesses, so is therefore trusted as an 'editor', but there may be something else going on, too."

How To Combine Brand & SEO | SEO Book.com

Image-conscious young adults rein in social networking

"What’s that? A young college grad lecturing her elders about online privacy?
It might go against conventional wisdom, but a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project is adding fuel to the argument that young people are fast becoming the gurus of online reputation management, especially when it comes to social networking sites.
Among other things, the study found that they are most likely to limit personal information online — and the least likely to trust free online services ranging from Facebook to LinkedIn and MySpace."


Image-conscious young adults rein in social networking - Business - TheState.com

Clickjackers seize opportunity to corrupt Facebook ‘Like’ buttons

Cybercriminals have found a new way to profit in the wake of Facebook’s drive to lower the bar on privacy.
They’ve begun spreading corrupted Facebook “Like” buttons. The end game: turn Facebook users into unwitting accomplices in a cutting-edge click fraud caper, according to Panda Security.

Clickjackers seize opportunity to corrupt Facebook &#8216;Like&#8217; buttons

Amazon Patents Social Networking System, Winks at Facebook

"The United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Amazon a patent for a “Social Networking System.” Amazingly enough, the description of the patent sounds, well, pretty much like any social network we’ve seen over the years, including Facebook."

Amazon Patents Social Networking System, Winks at Facebook

10 Products Apple Doesn't Want Consumers to Know About

"By�Don Reisinger on 2010-06-04
When it comes to Apple, there aren't many things that scare the company. It knows that it's a top-notch firm in the industry. It also realizes that when it comes to delivering products to consumers, it's among the best. But that doesn't mean that the hardware company doesn't cast a worried eye toward some competing products on store shelves."

10 Products Apple Doesn't Want Consumers to Know About - Mobile and Wireless from eWeek

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Dallas Uptown Cleaning & Maid Service

I've used them for house cleaning/maid service and also for cleaning my apartment to get my deposit back.






DISCLAIMER: I work with these people, they DO clean my house.

Location-Based Gowalla Game Now Serves Up Local USA Today News

"Business and vacation travelers can turn to a new partnership between USA TODAY and Gowalla to help make their summer sojourns easier to manage. And, perhaps, more fun, too. Tapping into the location-based mobile market, USA TODAY content will be presented to Gowalla users after they check-in with the service at most major US airports."

Location-Based Gowalla Game Now Serves Up Local USA Today News

How a 3 Month Old Website Received 958,373 Visits from Google

"Did you know that 20-25% of Google searches every single day are brand new? 1 in 4 search queries have never been typed in the history of the search engine – every single day. I knew of this statistic a few years ago but only recently did I try and leverage it. The result? In the third month after launching a new website, I received almost 1,000,000 unique visitors from Google."

How a 3 Month Old Website Received 958,373 Visits from Google

Twitter Adds More Context to Tweets With Twitter Places

"In an effort to bring more context to tweets and expand upon its location-based functionality, Twitter introduced Twitter Places yesterday, which allows users to associate tweets with specific places, and gives each place a dedicated Twitter page.� The new feature will be rolled out to users on twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com over the next week, so if you don't have the new functionality yet, hang in there -- it's coming!"

Twitter Adds More Context to Tweets With Twitter Places

Twitter Grows Up And Gets Serious

"Twitter is no longer a start-up with a service that many assumed was a fad that would quietly disappear, along with the company. Its user base is growing at a rate reminiscent of Facebook; it has a strong developer community and a nascent business model. All this is promising, but Twitter still has its work cut out."

Twitter Grows Up And Gets Serious

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Hackers zoom in on Twitter accts

"Next time you are unable to log on to your twitter account and a message pops up asking you to reset your password, beware! It may be one of the new wave of spam emails that try to deceive subscribers into clicking on a password reset instruction and expose computer systems to worm attacks."

Hackers zoom in on Twitter accounts-Internet-Infotech-The Economic Times

What's Happening with Twitter?

"What's the problem?
Last Friday, we detailed on our Engineering blog that this is going to be a rocky few weeks. We're working through tweaks to our system in order to provide greater stability at a time when were facing record traffic. We have long-term solutions that we are working towards, but in the meantime, we are making real-time adjustments so that we can grow our capacity and avoid outages during the World Cup."

Twitter Blog: What's Happening with Twitter?

How the World Is Spending Its Time Online [STATS]

"So… whatca doin’ over there on that laptop, denizens of the world? Well, according to a new study from Nielsen showing Internet usage in April 2010, 22% of the time, you’re engaging with social media.

Yeah, 22% might not seem like a mammoth percentage, but you have to take into account the fact that this finding is on a global scale. Also, a few more telling takeaways from the report:"

How the World Is Spending Its Time Online [STATS]

Social media - Value-added social media

"Social networking can obviously help online retailers with their marketing and merchandising efforts, but another area of opportunity is using Facebook for better inventory management, Nielsen Online vice president of industry insights Ken Cassar told attendees last week at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition."

Social media - Value-added social media - Internet Retailer

How much traffic do you think is generated by marketers searching for th...



What's your take on "addon domains"?

WebmasterWorld PubCon Conference Vegas 2010


"PubCon, the premier search and social media conference and expo will hold its multi-track Las Vegas event on November 8 - 11, 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada.

PubCon Las Vegas 2010, supported by the industry's leading businesses, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors involved in social media, Internet marketing, search engines, and online advertising, will offer a week-long look at the future of technology presented by many of the world's top speakers."

WebmasterWorld PubCon Conference Vegas 2010

Google Music is finally on the way

"If you thought iTunes was convenient, wait until Google unveils their Google Music service. This service will likely work great without an Android device, but it really shines with one.

If you own an iPhone, or an iPod Touch, you will know the drill. Download music on your home computer, then when you have some time, connect your phone and sync it up. Or, if you are on the go, you can browse the iTunes store directly from your phone and sync it up later."

Google Music is finally on the way | ZDNet

Comscore questions Microsoft, Yahoo tactics used to generate latest search gains | ZDNet

"The May comScore U.S. search market share data is out, and both Bing and Yahoo are showing gains over April, while Google is down slightly. But even comScore is questioning its own data.

Both Yahoo and Microsoft are including links on their respective Yahoo and MSN portal pages “that are search queries disguised as content,” according to a story from Business Insider. The pair also “have been stitching together image slideshows as search queries, too,” the post explains."

Comscore questions Microsoft, Yahoo tactics used to generate latest search gains | ZDNet

Twitter Places: How It Might Challenge Google’s Local Dominance

"One of the big, unanswered questions in the local search space is, Who’s going to do the best job of marrying location with real-time context. Twitter is hardly the first to try, but it may have the best chance to succeed. On Monday, the company announced Twitter Places, a new feature that’s being rolled out on both twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com to users in 65 countries over the next week."

Twitter Places: How It Might Challenge Google’s Local Dominance

Google Meta Description Usage Test

"Google Meta Description Usage Test

This page was created as a Usage Test to determine whether Google uses the Meta Description field in their evaluation of a page's relevance or purely as a description to display to people who conduct a search. If it turns out that they're using it in the evaluation, I expect people are going to once again just try to game the system."


Google Meta Description Usage Test - @AlanBleiweiss


Monday, June 14, 2010

Personalized Search - Join the SEO Dojo

Just some of the information you will find by training at the @SEODOJO


YOU SHOULD JOIN NOW.. (while it's still inexpensive.)
http://www.huomah.com/dojo/dojo-membership-plans.html

Snippets from The Library - http://www.huomah.com/dojo/the-Library/



Personalized Search
Personalized PageRank: a user sensitive affair





Marie Claire-Jenkins recently posted; 
10 research papers on Personalized Search

From Google

Patents

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Yahoo Patents -