|
|
|
|
|
|
- Among other things, a post today by my friend Scott Karp over at Publishing 2.0 has helped crystallized for me just how inadequate a lot of the terminology is that we're using for Web services and communities - and not just the obvious kind of cringe-inducing terms like "user-generated content." In his post, entitled Platforms Are The New Portals, Scott discusses Edgeio and a post that Keith Teare has written about the "de-portalization of the Internet."Scott says that "user-centric platforms" such as YouTube and MySpace are acting more like portals, and that Yahoo is an old-school portal because it doesn't create most of the content it aggregates, and because "it aggregates it by hand, so it's a closed system and therefore less efficient than the platforms." In Scott's view, Yahoo is a portal but YouTube is a platform, in that it allows people to upload things (VC Fred Wilson has written about Yahoo and "de-portalization" here). |
|
|
|
- Google has joined the Eclipse Foundation, which describes itself as "an open source community whose projects are focused on providing a vendor-neutral open development platform and application frameworks for building software." This puts Google in close proximity to some other big companies, such as Intel and Motorola, which are already involved with Eclipse. Intel and Motorola are "strategic members," though, while Google is just an "add-in provider member." Still, Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director of the Eclipse Foundation, told ZDNet that "we are, of course, thrilled that Google decided to join the Eclipse Foundation." "It was a nice gesture of support for the Eclipse community and it is appreciated," Milinkovich continued. |
|
|
|
- Maybe it's just meant to be "Digg-bait" (as Nick Denton at Valleywag likes to call it), but Jason Clarke of Download Squad has a long post up about Digg and how it is destined for failure.As Jason mentions in the post, Download Squad is part of AOL, which owns the revamped Netscape - a site that was essentially modeled on Digg - so perhaps it's an elaborate corporate hit-job. I thought Download Squad was all about cool software, but maybe I was wrong. In any case, Jason's criticisms are not really all that new. As far as I can tell, his two main points are: |
|
|
|
- WebmasterRadio.FM has released a fascinating, if not alarming, story series based on the issues of click fraud and terrorist fund raising that is sure to be the subject of many water cooler sessions. As the story unfolds we will know more but here is a snippet that describes the concerns/accusations against the pay per click industry:"The series starts with an interview with Clarence Briggs, CEO of hosting firm AIT.com. |
|
|
|
- Today at Le Web 3 in Paris we launched Socialtext Unplugged, the offline wiki.On my way here, I used it by clicking on the Unplug icon, downloading a collection of wiki pages, got on a plane and edited them offline. Landed, connected and synched up changes. While supporting the occasionally connected user is important (we already support the continually connected user with Miki the mobile wiki), how we do it may be just as much of interest. The blue Unplugged icon is similar to an RSS icon, which signals to a user there is a different way to use the content outside the browser. |
|
|
|
- When you search US-Google for IE7 (or Internet Explorer, IE, Internet Explorer 7*) you may see a Google-sponsored advertisement for "Free IE7 Download" on top, the snippet reading "Google recommends upgrading to the new, safer Internet Explorer 7". Clicking on it brings you to a special Google page with a download of Internet Explorer 7 that has a couple of add-ons, including the Google Toolbar, and Google search set as the default search in the browser. Nothing fishy going on here, but I think someone at Google management is very concerned people might download a Microsoft product that doesn't have any Google in it! And I bet Google is getting nice click-thru rates too, considering they're about the only ones allowed to use the word "Google" in their AdWords ads... perhaps increasing the likelihood searchers overlook the "sponsored link" disclaimer, thinking it's an official search results recommendation. |
|
|
|
- Gmail added a new feature that lets Google's mail site retrieve email from up to five additional email accounts in a single Gmail account.So long as your other email has POP access (like your work email, but not always your Hotmail), you can dump it all into Gmail, letting you manage all your email accounts from one place. If you love Gmail's interface, this feature is a godsend (although not all accounts have it yet). Get mail from other accounts Now Gmail can check for the mail you receive at your other email accounts. You can retrieve your mail (new and old) from up to five other email accounts and have them all in Gmail. |
|
|
|
- Google Base now has a podcast section, along with a special promo page asking podcasters to upload their ‘casts to Base.I'm not sure how much free space Google allows per upload, but 7,060 podcasts have already been uploaded, although a lot of that is spam (how is a flashlight or headphones a podcast?). In a sense, this is now Google's podcast search engine, letting Google have another vertical with minimal effort. For podcasters looking for free, reliable storage, Google Base is definitely worth checking out. |
|
|
|
- GigaOM Yahoo and Facebook: Deal or No Deal? Robert Young writing over at GigaOm says that Yahoo! should build a Facebook clone and target the 14-22 student demographic.Facebook is probably the site that I'm most excited about on the entire internet right now, well, after Zooomr I mean of course. |
|
|
|
- One cannot go an evening at a Search Engine Strategies conference without some type of revelry and Wednesday night was no exception. Clicktracks delivered an encore of sorts by having a party at B.L.U.E. |
|
|
|
- I've been looking over what I've been putting on my link blog trying to see trends that are happening.One thing I realize? No one has a lock anymore on being "the source" for Web 2.0 information. If you want a complete picture you need to subscribe to more than one feed. |
|
|
|
- Starting Tuesday I am going to begin a multi part series in which expert Web Analytics Analysts from the industry will explain the "pains" they hear most about from their own clients.The expert Analysts will also explain how to tackle these pains by reveling their own strategies on how to deal with them. I will also be taking part in this series. This should be very interesting so stay tuned until Tuesday! Any Analysts that want to take part please email me: |
|
|
|
- Maybe Amazon invested so much money in Wikia, the company that runs the publicly edited Wikipedia, that founder Jimmy Wales started sounding like an end of the summer car commercial. Wales launched OpenServing today, which makes software, bandwidth, storage, computing power, content, and advertising open source. That means free.Ahem. That should have read FREE in large, comforting letters, as the Wikia press release came out looking like a fire sale circular: |
|
|
|
- Earlier today, an advertisement for Firefox appeared on Google's homepage. While that isn't really too remarkable, the ad featured an "optimized for Google" tagline, which is interesting. To complicate matters, an ad for an "optimized for Google" version of IE7 has appeared among certain Google search results, as well. News of the Firefox development appeared on the Google Operating System blog. "This time Google is more pushy," wrote Ionut Alex. |
|
|
|
- Stacy Williams is a long time search marketer in Atlanta and I've known her and partner/husband Matt for about 3 years.Stacy is a long time Search Engine Strategies speaker and is equally adept in the SEO and SEM fields. At Search Engine Strategies Chicago, Stacy had a few very interesting things to say about search engines making modifications to campaign creative, match type and ad status without notifying the advertiser. In this video interview, I asked Stacy to elaborate and she provided three specific examples. I hope someone from the search engines reads this and offers insight into why these things happen. |
|
|
|
- Last week's Search Engine Strategies conference was jam packed with information, networking, some fun and a little business too. What I like about conferences in Chicago is that it's only an hour flight from Minneapolis, so I can leave on the last day of the conference and get home at a decent time. These days with a growing family and the biz, I need all the productive time I can get. For anyone that reads this blog, you know we try to do our part and walk the talk on the social media front by offering photos on Flickr, videos, tags and bookmarks - and the SES Chicago conference was no different. We blogged 14 sessions, did 7 video interviews and posted 61 photos (so far). |
|
|
|
- I've casually known Laura Thieme of BizResearch for about 2 years but for some reason our paths crossed repeatedly at the recent Chicago Search Engine Strategies conference.First it was the in the speaker ready room, then the most excellent Vintage Tub and Bath SES Dinner (yeah Allan!) where I sat across the table from her team members Traci and Jessica, then again during the conference, then the ClickTracks party and finally on the last day of the conference when I asked her to do a short interview. Laura has been a speaker at SES for many years and will be teaching a college level course at a University Business School in Ohio next year. In this short video interview, I asked Laura about the need for consistent information and education on search marketing as well as her thoughts on gender distribution in the industry. |
|
|
|
- I've had a standing request for an interview with Bruce Clay for about a year now and we finally decided to just do a short one on video, which works for me and I think it will work for you as well.Bruce Clay is one of the best known brands in the world of search marketing and if you attend Search Engine Strategies, WebmasterWorld Pubcon or ad:tech conferences, you're sure to see him and his team on the exhibit hall and/or presenting to attendees. Thousands of people have used his SEO tools and participated in his company's SEO training programs. This year, the Bruce Clay brand has been elevated further with the blog post stylings of Lisa Barone and Susan Esparza via the Bruce Clay blog. |
|
|
|
- Online spending continues to increase at a record breaking pace. Cyber Monday the first Monday after Thanksgiving saw online sales reach an all time high of $608 million. The record was short lived. Last Monday, December 4 online sales shot to $647 million according to comScore Networks. That is $39 million more in online spending than on Cyber Monday. |
|
|
|
- China's top search engine Baidu launches blog search service on Thursday to aid bloggers in their navigation.Baidu, China's most popular search engine, unveiled their new blog search service as the number of Chinese bloggers reaches almost 20 million. Created in 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu, Baidu's mission is, "to provide the best way for people to find information online, including Chinese language web pages, news, images and multimedia files though links provided on our website. In addition to serving individual Internet search users, we also provide an effective platform for businesses to reach potential customers online." Baidu is the fourth most viewed search engine in the entire world, holding over 60 percent of the Chinese market. |
|
|
|
- Loren Baker from Search Engine Journal tells us it's that time of year again for the SEJ Search Blog Awards.He is taking nominations in the comments of the nicely redesigned (ala Chris Pearson) Search Engine Journal blog. Categories include: * Best SEO Blog * Best SEM Blog * Best Search Agency Resource Blog * Best Link Building Blog * Best Social Media Blog * Best Search Engine Corporate Blog (owned by the search engines) * Best Contextual Advertising Blog * Best Affiliate Marketing Blog * Best Search Engine Community/Forum Blog * Best Web 2.0 Blog * Best Search Linkbait of 2006 For me, picking just one blog for most of these categories was exceptionally difficult because: |
|
|
|
- For several years now I've been looking for something Bill Gates said. Unfortunately I had misremembered the actual words, and every time I found someone who thought they remembered it, they had the wrong words too and I'd come up dry yet again.Finally this week someone in a newsgroup pointed me to this: (from Bill's speech at Unix Expo October 9th 1996) Well, Microsoft stepped back and looked at that situation and said that the best thing for us might be to start from scratch: build a new system, focus on having a lot of the great things about Unix, a lot of the great things about Windows, and also being a file-sharing server that would have the same kind of performance that, up until that point, had been unique to Novell's Netware. |
|
|
|
- Trend blog PSFK figured out a great way to leverage crowdscourcing and social media to round up 2007 trend predictions. we'd like you all - and your friends - to submit a little video clip of yourself telling us one thing that will be 'big' in the next 12 months. Could be anything, but probably the first thing that springs to mind. All you do is video a clip up to 1 min long and add it to YouTube with the tag psfk2007. After 2 weeks we will go through them all, have a ponder and come up with a single film containing clips that illustrate some macro-trends that are reflected in what you are all saying in the videos. |
|
|
|
- I'm often sent media releases about new search engines or software that all claim to be a first in the industry for something.These "exciting concepts in search" rarely turn out to be anything but Google wannabes dressed in a more exciting skin. So my attitude to a Media Release about up and coming search engines Trexy and Turbo 10 was quite sceptical. But I have to admit, these two do have the wow factor AND it appears the technology kudos to create an impact. Trexy uses the trails created by other (anonymous) searchers on other search engines and stores them for access by new searchers. |
|
|
|
- Don Whiteside:... but anyone looking at these auctions already wants a Wii for themselves or someone else. Apparently jmontalvo7881 of Fairfax didn't want to risk anything however, and stuck in a gratuitous cleavage shot. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. photo courtesy of jmontalvo7881 Sadly there's no picture included for the vibrating remote. |
|
|
|
- Links:· If you gotta save money, Super 8 NYC is open over New Year's. Just bring your own bedding. [News 10]· |
|
|
|
- According to the W South Beach website, the hotel and residences are expected to open "at the end of 2007". Granted, that means the cast and crew has a whole year to finish this 511 unit development, but damn they have some work to do in that timeframe. When it is finished, and if we were the gambling kind we would pick 08 instead of 07, all units will face the ocean with unobstructed views, all units will have 9 foot ceilings, 5 1350 sq. ft bungalows will be for sale, and all condo owners will have the option of participating in the W Hotels rental program--Setai style--we are guessing. After the jump we have posted a |
|
|
|
- Many hotels boast that their amenities sport the latest technology, but a design firm, Gettys has partnered up with Hospitality Design magazine to create what they think is the real Hotel of Tomorrow. We've seen many versions of the Hotels of the Future so we're just adding this to the list.Here are some of the hotel's promised amenities: A touch-screen unit that lets you pick hotel rooms the way you choose airline seats. Nano-painted walls that provide on-demand electricity without cords or cables. |
|
|
|
- The Miami art show, Art Basel, has ended its weeklong celebration and now its time for all the hotel party reports to start rolling in. Today, we had a couple emails about pop artist Kenny Scarf's Astral Uber Cadillac party held at the Raleigh Hotel last Thursday. Apparently, the party was wild with interpretative dancers kicking off the party with what appears to be cave people doing the Lambada and ending with teddy bears being destroyed. Art Forum mag called it the funniest show of the week with a mint condition 1960 Cadillac transformed into a "den of pop culture" as the show's main focus, centered by the pool.The car features a tiara on top, florescent brains atop |
|
|
|
- We recently took a trip to the scene of Britney's pants-dropping night out with Paris Hilton, the Tryst nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas. While Tryst is commonly known by Vegas standards as a smaller, more intimate club, it is still a pretty large club by our standards and an opulent one at that. There's a dance floor that is half inside, half outside, leading out to the hotel's man-made 94-foot waterfall. Exclusive white leather booths, available with bottle service, surround the waterfall's lagoon, with some enclosed in the rock like a grotto. Back inside there's a stripper pole for anyone to use, not just hired go-go dancers, red velour booths and walls, and the most amazing bathrooms |
|
|
|
- `A Cambodian man has been stabbed by a sex worker in a brawl, after he refused her request to wear a condom, police said Friday. Suon Da, 25, was knifed twice in the abdominal area by Sa Rida, a 24-year-old sex worker, during the fight at a brothel in Battambang province Wednesday, said Koam Roeuy, [...](tags: crime sex) |
|
