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Just came across an article on Techcrunch that said that Google had just acquired Jotspot. They are clearly building quite a suite of online collaboration tools: Google Groups, Calendar, Spreadsheets and Documents, Video Sharing, Wikis.
A while back I added Feedblitz to this site - which allows you to keep up-to-date with the latest articles from Marketing Tom - on the day they're posted. If you want to keep up-to-date with the latest articles, just add your email address below or click the button (left):
I was just reading the Inside AdWords blog and came across some details of some seminars which may be of interest to some of my US-based subscribers. According to Inside AdWords:
a new series of AdWords Seminars being offered by search marketing professionals who are also Qualified Invididuals in the Google Advertising Professionals program.
Looking on the AdWords Seminars' page, I found that the last remaining venues are: Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco and New Jersey/New York. They will all be held in November and cost around $249 for a full day and $149 for an afternoon session (including a $50 Google AdWords Voucher). Better than spending money on a PPC consultant, I'm sure!
If you'd like to build a blog like this one, or simply want a couple of tips on how to make an effective blog, take a look at ten simple steps that you can follow to get the most out of your TypePad blog
I quite like the Draft a simple blogging policy, which offers some useful tips and links to Jeremy Zawodny's Yahoo's Employee Blog Guidelines.
There I was having a quite glass of Peroni lager when, on clicking through to a Times Online article about Al Gore (my wife and kids are away tonight!), I get hit with this (interstitial):
WOW impressive! This is personalisation at its best. However, if that wasn't enough, on trying to find this curious advert again I get served up with this:
Well, I'll certainly drink to that (the Dolce Vita that is!).
A basic rule when writing for the web is: Get Your Facts Right.
And Jeremy Zawodny lambasted her for it (very publicly)!
You may have heard about the Stern Review, which today is the main news item on the radio, TV and the web in the UK.
The world has to act now on climate change or face devastating economic consequences, according to a report compiled by Sir Nicholas Stern for the UK government.
And Prime Minister Tony Blair said:
"the Stern Review showed that scientific evidence of global warming was "overwhelming" and its consequences "disastrous".
Whilst the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown
"the UK would lead the international response to tackle climate change."
And the Environment secretary David Miliband said the Queen's Speech would now feature a climate bill to establish an independent Carbon Committee to:
"work with government to reduce emissions over time and across the economy".
Worryingly, the newspapers in the country that produces 25% of the world's pollution, didn't even lead with this story today!
I picked up my car yesterday from its annual service and the whole experience got me thinking about how streaming video could be used for business applications. The guy at Nationwide Autocentres said that the car had gone through around 150 checks and, unlike many main dealers, they do things like take the wheels off to do a complete check. I don't doubt that they do carry out these 150+ checks but it got me thinking about the possibility of 'adding more value' to their product by releasing a link to YouTube, Google Video or even an uploaded file on their own site of some or all of the 150 checks they carried out. That way I can see that they actually carried them out. It's not important that you see the clip, simply that you are able to view it if you want.
I am sure there are many other businesses which carry out routine checks which could quite easily be video taped and uploaded for clients to see. There are, no doubt, a number of logistical problems to doing this but, hey, nothing is impossible for the Google Generation!
I heard about Google's Custom Search Engine and thought it would be neat to create a mini (read: mini, mini!) search engine to search through the content of a few websites I have added.
Test drive it and see what you think!
Digit believes that the message from this ad is:
retouching in fashion campaigns is a 'bad thing'.
Whilst Brand Play thinks this:
Dove has decided to care about something else - a woman's self image. Whether they believe it or not (and I think they do), their communications of late have been charged with a message that has effected packaging, innovation, and advertising. Amazing what a little brand strategy can do for a decades-old brand that was until a few years ago... boring.
They're both right. See what you think
Following hot-on-the-heels of Internet Explorer's latest browser release, Firefox have just launched Firefox 2.0. A browser for the Web 2.0 age? Well, you'll have to download it to find out.
Here is what Firefox have to say about their key features:
Firefox 2 delivers helpful new features to make your online experience more productive.
Firefox continues to lead the way in online security, and now includes active protection from online scams to keep you safer.
Choose from over a thousand useful add-ons that enhance Firefox. It’s easy to personalize Firefox to make it your own.
Some of the online news sites have this to say:
Mozilla this week unveiled Firefox 2.0, the next generation of its Web browser that includes security enhancements and quite a few new features that make Web browsing a bit more fun and a lot more intuitive.
Washington Post
New features in this latest version of the open-source browser include
a spell checker for Web forms, antiphishing warnings, and improved
search and tabbed browsing capabilities.
MacWorld
Just read over at John Battelle's Search Blog that Google's Website Optimiser Team has just launched a new tool called, wait for it!, Website Optimiser. It is in Beta mode at present but they are looking for Beta testers to give it a test drive. Here's what Inside AdWords has to say about the product:
Over the coming weeks we'll be testing a new tool called the Website Optimizer that can help you find out which content will convert best on your site. Whether you define a conversion as a purchase or a newsletter sign-up, Website Optimizer allows you to experiment with different headlines, copy, and images on your site in order to find out which combination results in the most conversions. You can use this tool on your landing page or any page that represents a conversion.
It sounds like it could be quite useful and they have even done a quick tutorial on why landing pages are so important for your website.
Shel Israel, over at Naked Conversations, writes about how last week he spotted David Cameron and his entourage in Edinburgh. Never one to miss a photo opprtunity, he stooped down to speak to a homeless man and:
he squatted to shake hands and chat with a street indigent as the tanned Cameron's web-camera rolled. The candidate then left the street guy without dropping so much as a pence in his direction.
What my camera did not catch was the ensuing sequence. As Cameron strolled away, he scowled, then wiped his shaking hand on the seat of his well-pressed pants.
I am currently writing this post whilst trying to get through to Northern Rock. Apparently the reason I have been on the phone for 20 MINUTES is not due to:
No, the reason they have problems answering the phone is due to their marketing team's efforts:
Thank you your patience. We are experiencing a high volume of calls due to our excellent, typical APR of 5.9%
Silly me! I should have known.
Today, I here that the US government is looking to ban this online:
but you can still go and buy one of these online:
Related Articles
Gun violence in America (Guardian)
Here is a story that is just breaking on what will be Google's biggest acquisition to date: YouTube.
And here are some blogs that are posting articles on it:
And It's Done - Google YouTube (John Battelle)
Google Acquires YouTube for $1.65 (Scobleizer)
If you're looking for a steer on what going on in the Internet, take a look at Fortune magazine. In their last two issues they have conducted interviews with the people behind two of the Internet's major players of the moment.
The first issue gives the 'the inside story of disorder, disarray, and uncertainty at Google.' and features an interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.
Andrew Goodman has a further take on Google's Supplemental Pages. I agree with him on everything in the article, hell he even references this blog, so why shouldn't I agree with him? Here's a taster:
Honestly, two-year-old posts from this blog should *never* go into supplemental. Why would they? Did something change? They were good enough to index before, so what's wrong with 'em now?
Andrew even uses Blogger, which is a Google product, and finds his pages shoved into supplemental - so what hope is there for people lek myself who use Typepad! He mentions duplicate content:
One reason content can find its way into supplemental can be "duplicate content". Sometimes we allow others to republish our stuff (though rarely). But that's not the only issue. I wish I knew what the real issue was.
Just to test how safe even Andrew's content was, I thought I would just do a quick check to see how many sites were actually duplicating the same content on Google's index. Here are the results:
www.searchnewz.com/
www.searchnewz.com/topstory/top_story.html
www.searchnewz.com/topstory/news/top_story_news.html
www.terrakon.com/search-engine-marketing-tips/
www.webpronews.com/?SHT=WPN-SW
findory.com/source?source=Traffick&ib=1
www.susannahutcheson.com/search-engine-news.html
www.kinja.com/user/artlung
www.interwebmarketing.net/current-topics/google-supplemental/
www.lisfeeds.com/feed.php?id=128
www.voipaction.com/index.php?ch=voip&fn=google&rstr=288
google-hacking.pl/
www.seodata.com/SEO-Penalties-Sandbox/reg-1-23_default.aspx
planet-google.com/
www.ilogger.cn/myread/
In total there are 34 indexed pages on Google - and the article was only written last week!!
I wrote an article a couple of days back on Google's Page Rank. Well, here's an interesting site that gives you the actual Page Rank from the Google index and not the snapshot that you'll find in the toolbar. According to Live PageRank:
Google updates its internal PageRank value continuously as the web changes and their index is updated. Only once every third month or so this value is exported to be displayed in the Google Toolbar.
Live PR reckons that:
what this tool does different though is that it makes sure it gets the current PageRank value for the exact URL entered. Where other future PageRank tools get it right most of the time, we make sure we get it right everytime.
Neat, if you believe in the value of Google's PR!
Last week, at the Labour Party Conference, Tony Blair talked about the Google Generation and how:
two thirds of the country has access to the internet. Millions of people are ordering flights or books or other goods on-line, they are talking to their friends on-line, downloading music, all of it when they want to, not when the shop or office is open.
This week David Cameron, at the Conservative Party Conference, took a pop at Tony Blair saying:
It's no good just talking about the 'Google generation', you've got to understand what it is that this generation not just wants but also how they want to communicate.
In a bid to tap into the soul of the Google Generation, Mr Cameron has decided to start Webcameron - his own personal blogging/video blogging site. Judging by the first instalment on 'David's Blog', it looks like someone from the Google Generation should offer him some tips on how to write a blog:
After the speech, discussing Webcameron
Posted by David on 01 October 2006
David Cameron talks about his first conference speech as leader of the Conservative Party, and discusses Webcameron with Sam Roake, head of Web Campaigning for the Conservative Party.
I suppose that someone from the Google Generation should let him know that blog articles should be written in the first person!
You may well have heard about Google's Page Rank and may be wondering how important it is in getting your site ranked on the great engine itself. Does Page Rank mean you'll get better rankings? Is it important to get links from someone with a PR of 6/10 or 7/10? Well, here are the top searches for the term "Does your page rank matter?" on Google - go figure it out:
Pagerank Explained. Google's PageRank and how to make the most of it.
GeniusShack » Blog Archive » Does Google Page Rank Matter?
In Your Web: Why Does Page Rank Matter in Mutual Linking?
PageRank: Google's Original Sin
