Posts tagged Google
What SEO can do for you
Apr 28th
In this guest post, Techistan’s Susan Kennedy explains why your SEO strategy commands your constant attention.
Wikipedia defines search engine optimization as the procedure of raising the levels or traffic quality (traffic being visitors) to a website from the natural unpaid search engine rankings. In reality there are a lot more facets to it than just that.
SEO is generally split into two camps:
1) Page optimization;
2) Off page optimization.
Search engine optimization must be continually worked on. But why would you need to do that? To stay ahead of your competition by coming higher than them in the rankings list.
No matter what you think of them, Google are the king of the search engines. Everyone wants to get to the top of them. According to the Cornell eye tracking study the site listed in the No. 1 position in Google gets 50% of the clicks. The site listed in number 10 gets a meagre 2%. More clicks = more traffic. More traffic = more sales. That is if you have what the customers are looking for. Read the rest of this entry »
Google changes the way it works with agencies
Apr 27th
As the advertising industry has grown and evolved, so too has Google’s relationship with advertising agencies.
The search engine giant has said on its blog that it has made changes to help advertisers with its AdWords platform.
Google is also making it easier for advertisers to find certified agency partners to work with them on digital advertising.
The site is retiring its long-standing Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program and replacing it with a new Google AdWords Certification program for those managing AdWords accounts on behalf of advertisers.
The new program provides agencies and their employees with more up-to-date, comprehensive, strategy-focused training and certification on the latest tools and best practices for managing AdWords accounts, including:
•New training materials to help agencies better understand recent changes in search marketing and AdWords functionality, available via webinar series, learning center, or on-site training at Google
•More challenging certification exams to test practical application of knowledge and best practices (rather than simple recall of knowledge)
•Advanced-level exams to highlight competency in search, display, reporting and analysis
•A redesigned Certified Partner badge, which includes a “Click to Verify” element so advertisers can view the partner’s profile page for additional information.
Google Certified Partners can opt in to Google Partner Search, an online, searchable directory that helps advertisers identify Certified Partners that meet their criteria.
To show up in advertiser searches through Google Partner Search, agencies must opt in and fill in details about their core attributes and capabilities. Searches can be filtered by location, agency experience within a particular budget range, the types of services provided and the industry verticals an agency serves.
Advertisers can then evaluate the list of Certified Partners that meet their criteria and contact the partners who seem best suited to their needs.
Google has also introduced new pricing.
MARKETING NEWS BITES: Gizmodo raided, Google fined for defamation and digital music sales save the day
Apr 27th
A round up of news from around the web:
It has now emerged that Gizmodo bought the stolen iPhone that it claimed to have found in a bar for $5,000. Gizmodo got a huge scoop and some 3.6 million visitors to its site, but they are now facing criminal and possibly civil liability issues. The police have now raided a Gizmodo editor’s home and have seized property. TechCrunch
Google has been fined $8500 in Brazil after an anonymous internet user posted defamatory messages on one of its sites against a priest, calling him a “paedophile”. A court in the state of Minas Gerais ruled in favor of the 54-year-old priest, identified by his initials J.R., after rejecting Google’s argument that the US web giant was not responsible for what users posted on its Orkut social networking site. O Globo Daily
Israel has ended its ban on Apple’s iPad tablet computer, imposed over concerns its wireless signal could be disruptive. Israel’s Communications Ministry says that after a technical review, officials have decided to allow the popular device into the country. Israel banned iPad imports earlier this month, after fears that the powerful gadget’s wireless signals could disrupt other devices. AP
Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga and Take That helped the British music industry to grow in value for the first time in six years, according to official sales figures. Record labels, which have faced a slump in CD sales and a long-running battle against internet piracy, experienced a rise in income from music sales from £916 million to £929 million in 2009 – the surprise increase marks the first time that the growth in income from digital services has outweighed the decline from sales of CDs. The Times
Although three-quarters of marketers use third-party mobile networking applications, most do not create their own customized apps or use mobile advertising, according to a new survey from SocialMediaExaminer.com. As mobile smartphone usage rates dramatically increase, so does the potential for specifically aiming marketing programs at smartphone users. A sizable majority of marketers (75%) currently employ third-party mobile networking apps, such as Facebook on the iPhone, to interact with their fans. Marketing Vox
MARKETING NEWS BITES: Google’s new ads, Facebook drives more traffic and 3D TV arrives
Apr 23rd
A quick round-up of this morning’s news from around the web:
Google has released two new ads on YouTube to showcase some features of its web browser, Chrome. Extensions and Translate are two components that flesh out users’ browsing experiences while simplifying online actions at the same time. The spots were created by agency BBH. Mashable
According to StatCounter’s GlobalStats research arm, Twitter now generates almost 10% of social media driven global hits to websites, while Facebook still reigns supreme as the primary source of traffic to global websites with almost half (48%) of ‘Social Media hits’. Surprisingly, the number two social media traffic generator is not Twitter, but StumbleUpon with almost a quarter (25%). The data for March 2010 is said to be based on 13 billion page views across the global StatCounter network of member sites. Techcrunch
Google has snapped up chip maker AgniLux, sparking talk of the internet giants building its own server processors or even considering launching its own tablet. However, CEO Eric Schmidt reiterated several times through his speech at the Atmosphere Cloud Computing conference that Google was not looking to make the hardware for Chrome OS devices, merely offering the operating system. Tech Radar
A home viewing revolution stars today with the first 3D television hitting the shops. The Samsung 40-inch 3D-TV is now on sale at John Lewis. Daily Express
And Microsoft has seen its profits leap by 35% in the first three months of 2010 – as its Windows 7 operating system continued to prove popular, becoming the best-selling operating system to date. The software giant made a net profit of £2.6bn and said it had also seen “strong growth” from its Bing search engine business and XBox Live. BBC
MARKETING NEWS BITES: Apple demands ‘stolen’ iPhone be returned, Facebook advertising, Google and Skype
Apr 20th
A quick round-up of this morning’s news from around the web:
The Gizmodo iPhone scoop has ended in a formal letter being issued by Apple. asking for its phone back. Gizmodo’s editor-in-chief Brian Lam said he’d do it, as long as he received an on-the-record request for the phone. The official letter from Apple’s lawyers reads: “It has come to our attention that GIZMODO is currently in possession of a device that belongs to Apple. This letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple.” The letter was signed by Bruce Sewell, senior vice president and general counsel at Apple. Forbes
Facebook is denying claims that its new content-sharing button will allow it to serve advertising based on its users’ web history. The social network is launching a new content sharing button this week, which other websites can embed onto their pages, but it will not be used by Facebook as a behavioural advertising targeting tool, the site claims. Telegraph
Attackers who breached Google systems last year gained access to computer code for the software that authenticates users of Google’s email, calendar and other online programs. The code was contained in a repository that contained code for Google’s online applications and was also breached, this person said. The disclosure comes as much about the nature of the attacks and the perpetrators behind it remain unclear. The Australian
Apple’s fiscal second-quarter profit surged 90% as the company again reported higher Macintosh computer and surging iPhone sales. Shares of the electronics giant surged 8% in late trading as the results were much higher than the company or analysts had projected. A main driver of growth for the quarter was the company’s popular iPhone, which sold 8.75 million units, more than double from a year earlier, helped by expanding international sales as Apple adds more carriers. The Wall Street Journal
Mobile and fixed-line operators have shown little interest in improving the voice quality of phone calls, but the internet phone company Skype came out with a compelling reason for them to do so this week. Speaking at the eComm conference in Silicon Valley, Jonathan Rosenberg, Skype’s chief technology officer, said its users were talking for almost 50 per cent longer on calls delivered in high-definition quality. Financial Times
Make your own Google ad
Apr 14th
Following the huge success of its ‘Parisian Love’ campaign (which also played during the Superbowl this year), Google has launched a video creation tool that will allow web users to create similar videos.
The search engine giant has said that it is humbled by how much people liked the ad and although making videos out of Google searches isn’t exactly on par with Hollywood film-making, it can end up being just as entertaining.
On its official blog, Google explains: “All you need to do is type in your Google searches, pick some music and — presto! — you’ve got your very own Search Story to share with your friends or showcase on our YouTube channel.
“And who knows, if people really like your Search Story, it may end up in a place you never dreamed.”
Here’s a video ‘how to’ guide:
Microsoft’s social phone – one for the kids?
Apr 13th
Microsoft has today launched its new Windows phone – the KIN. But the launch signals so much more than just another handset in the telecoms sector.
In a bid to pry away market share from leader Apple and its iPhone, and close second Google’s Android, Microsoft has come up with a different approach to its challenger handset. It’s going social.
Everybody knows that social media has changed the way we communicate, especially young people.
Kids are leading the world’s transition to digital media. Recent research from the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that (somewhat obviously) kids aren’t afraid of technology because they’ve grown up with it.
So if you want to get a sense of where the world’s media habits are headed, it makes sense to watch what kids are doing (more specifically, kids ages 8 to 18).
Microsoft knows this. It knows kids want their social lives on tap – at the touch of the button. And the KIN should capitalize on this.
And, it’s not about apps, it’s about connecting to existing networks.
According to Microsoft, the KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with new experiences it calls the “Loop”, “Spot” and “Studio”. Read the rest of this entry »
Google makes its first acquisition in the UK
Apr 12th
Google has made its first acquisition in the UK, and it’s not the kind of heavy -hitter you might expect the giant to snap up.
Visual search company, Plink, is just a two-man start-up, based out of Oxford. It’s founders Mark Cummins and James Philbin are now both joining Google to work on Google Goggles.
Publically launched just four months ago, the site shot past 50,000 users in just four short weeks.
The company’s first product, PlinkArt, enables users to identify paintings and artworks with just a snap from their phone’s camera. Once recognised, users can read information on the artwork and artist, share their favourite pieces with friends, or even order a print to hang on their wall.
“We started Plink to bring the power of visual search to everyone, and we’re delighted to be taking a big step towards that goal today,” said Cummins and Philbin in a posting on Plink’s company blog.
“Google has already shown that it’s serious about investing in this space with Google Goggles, and for the Plink team the opportunity to take our algorithms to Google-scale was just too exciting to pass up.” Read the rest of this entry »
Digital TV everywhere. Google, Apple and Yahoo will slug it out
Mar 29th
There’s been a lot of talk lately about Google TV, Apple TV and Yahoo! TV. While there are many out there touting its arrival, consumers are already watching TV through their computers, the future is upon us.
Some years ago, I remember seeing a story on 60 Minutes about the future of TV. Living in Australia at the time, in an outback wayward town where we only had four TV channels, seeing this story and Liz Hayes explaining that we’d soon have over 200 channels available to us, through HD (whatever that meant) seemed somewhat futuristic.
Yet, all those ‘beyond 2000’ predictions seemed to have integrated themselves perfectly, and somewhat under the radar.
Back then, I though 200-odd channels were exciting. I wanted to watch CNN and all those American reality shows…like the one with the people stranded on an island. Now days, the reality is much better.
Being the proud owner of a new 27-inch iMac – the screen which adorns my lounge room TV unit – I now watch TV digital through my computer screen.
Alway being connected is no longer a luxury, it’s a normalcy. No wonder the internet giants are looking to cash in.
Google has tied up with Intel, Sony and Logitech for a project which is currently called Google TV. Under this, all the involved companies want to create a technology to make navigation of web applications easy through TV.
It’ll be competing with Yahoo!, which has already launched a ‘Widget Engine’ for TV sets at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year that will allow consumers around the globe to connect to the internet via their TVs.
The search company will begin shipping the widgets by the end of Q1 2010.
The race is on.
Twitter users – addicted and more engaged than ever
Mar 26th
Despite reports that Twitter growth has slowed considerably and that many users are either inactive or have given it up, there still appears a good proportion of web users out there that are addicted to the micro-blogging site.
According to data from HubSpot, Twitter’s growth is slowing dramatically – its growth rate falling to 3.5%.
However, Twitterers are more engaged than ever. Global news navigator www.OneNewsPage.com polled its users this week with the question: “Did you try and leave Twitter but found you couldn’t give it up?”
Out of 300 replies, 42% agreed they had tried to quit Twitter but couldn’t give it up.
Dr Marc Pinter-Krainer, CEO of One News Page, said, “Twitter clearly has some addictive qualities for those who get beyond firing off a few tweets and abandoning it shortly afterwards. They join the likes of comedian Stephen Fry and singer Lily Allen who came back after publicly announcing on Twitter that they were off.”
According to a recent report from The Retrevo Gadgetology title ‘Is social media an addiction?’, about half of Facebook and Twitter users say they check the social networks after they go to bed at night or first thing in the morning.
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