September 2007 - Posts
If you are a web designer or web application developers, consider yourself challenged. I spoke with Bill Cullifer of the
World Organization of Webmasters yesterday and
he told me about their new effort - the
Web
Pro Community Challenge - an opportunity for industry professionals to gain
industry recognition, win prizes and more importantly give something back to the
community by designing, developing and promoting a fully functional web site
and/or web application for a designated non-profit organization.
Website
Magazine will be featuring the winner(s) in a future issue of the publication. Learn more at
WebProChallenge.com - the challenge ends on November 9th so get started today.
Saying that podcasting is dead may be a little dramatic, but when a media giant
like Yahoo shuts the door on its own podcasting portal, it does not instill a
lot of confidence in the sustainability of the practice.
Podcasting never caught on as many predicted it would - possibly due to the
meteoric rise of online video. However, according to Edison Media Research, the
audience for podcasts has grown 18% in the last year and awareness of podcasting
has grown even more, increasing from 22% in 2006 to 37% in 2007. The data may be
a little old (March 2007) but why would Yahoo kill a service that supported a
practice that was doing well? Yahoo will be closing down its podcast site on
October 31st, 2007.
If you're broken hearted about the death of
Yahoo! Podcasts, here are a few other sites to find podcasts or promote your
own audio show:
PodcastDirectory.com -
Podcast.net -
PodcastAlley.com -
PodFeed.net -
PodcastZoom.com
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This company is dead. I didn't kill it. Don't blame
me. It was dead when I got here. It's too late for prayers. For even if
the prayers were answered, and a miracle occurred, and the yen did this,
and the dollar did that, and the infrastructure did the other thing, we
would still be dead.
OTHER PEOPLES MONEY - 1991 |
Most online video advertisements have taken the form of pre-roll - usually a 15 or 30-second ad before your selected video plays. One of the advertisers' fears is that users won't watch these ads. And that's not an irrational fear. Tabbed browsing makes it easy to start the video in one tab, click over to another tab for about 30 seconds while the ad runs (check your email perhaps), then click back over to see your video. And if you get distracted for more than 30 seconds it's okay - you can always drag the progress bar back an inch and still see the entire video.
So the question many ask is,
how long is too long? When I look down at the progress bar while a pre-roll ad is loading, I can tell if it's going to be 10, 15 or 30 seconds. Depending on the length of the ad, I make my decision whether I will navigate somewhere else for a bit or suffer through the ad. It's a pertinent question for advertisers. Would they rather 10 or 15 seconds of exposure or a possible full 30 seconds of zero exposure?
CNN.com and their advertisers have found a slick, if not sneaky solution. Check out this
pre-roll ad to a video of a safari close encounter. When the pre-roll ad loads, the progress bar clearly indicates that you're about to see a 15-second ad. But are you? Watch closely. The 15-second progress bar stops at 15 seconds, but the ad rolls for another 15 seconds. It's a 30-second ad wrapped up in 15-second packaging. And it worked. I sat through the 15 seconds, then realized I had been duped. But, at that point I was already locked in so I sat through another 15 seconds before watching a lion try to eat some safari vacationers.
Shop.org, the digital division of the
National Retail Federation, has asked members of the U.S. Senate to support a permanent extension of the ban against multiple and discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The Senate Commerce Committee is expected to consider a permanent Internet tax moratorium in an Executive Session today.
“
Permanently extending the Internet tax moratorium will broaden the reach of technology and help eliminate what remains of the “digital divide,”” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org, in a letter sent to members of the Senate Commerce Committee. “
The moratorium helps to ensure that all Americans have affordable access to the Internet and can connect with those businesses that can best serve their needs.”
Advertising that taps into consumers' passions is likely to deliver greater online engagement which leads to brand loyalty and advocacy, according to new research from Yahoo and MediaVest. The study, “Passionistas: The New Empowered Consumers,” tracked the online behavior of consumers with specific passions including health, sports, food and entertainment, showing that Passionistas spend significantly more time engaged in activities related to their passions than the average consumer.
- For every one minute a typical Internet user spends online with the same content, Passionistas spend six minutes.
- Passionistas will visit a website related to their passion three times more than a typical user.
- Passionistas search online for information about their passion 184 percent more than typical users and conduct more than 100 related searches related to their passion per year.
“Being passionate today means digital content sharing and influencing others’ brand perceptions and purchase behaviors,” said Mark McLaughlin, Vice President of Audience Strategies at Yahoo!, “Marketers who build their campaigns from the start with the goal of tapping into passions are inviting consumers to get engaged and create an authentic dialogue.”
Additional findings from the study support the conclusion that Passionistas are more open than others to advocating brands that appear to share their passions:
- 53 percent said they would try a brand they had not previously considered if it were associated with their passion, versus 41 percent of typical users;
- 49 percent said their opinion of the brand would be more favorable if associated with their passion, versus 34 percent of typical users;
- 46 percent said a brand has greater credibility if associated with their passion, versus 34 percent of typical users;
- 43 percent said their opinion of a brand is more positive if they sponsor an event related to their passion, versus 30 percent of typical users.
“Brands that stimulate conversation among passionate consumers will be rewarded through the credibility that comes from trusted word of mouth,” said Jim Kite, President of Connections Research and Analytics at MediaVest. “Accessing Passionistas online also offers the ability to track this valuable group’s media consumption habits, enabling brands to optimally – and accountably – leverage their advocacy power.”
Microsoft is releasing an
update to Live Search. Improvements will be to core search technology and deeper advancements in the vertal search areas of entertainment, shopping, local and health (where up to 40 percent of searches fall).
Some of the more noteworthy improvements to the core search platform include:- Fourfold increase in index size
- Improvements in understanding query intent ("intent" relates primarily to spelling errors, stop words, punctuation, and synonyms)
- Enhancements to core algorithms (incorporated click-stream data to inform ranking and relevancy)
- New Web data extraction model (the technology extracts information from multiple channels - welcome universal search)
- Expansion of rich answers (provides specialized responses to queries on Weather, images, sports, stocks, maps, quick facts from Encarta, etc.)
According to the official statement: "
With this update to Live Search, our engineering focus is on the areas that matter most to our 185 million consumers who use our service every month. We have made dramatic progress in delivering a better search experience to our customers,” said Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of the Search and Advertising Platform Group at Microsoft. “
We know what kinds of things consumers are searching for, and we have invested in those key high-interest verticals, including entertainment, shopping, health and local search. With the core platform in place we intend to win customers and earn their loyalty one query at a time."
Version 2.3 of WordPress (named Dexter) is now ready. The latest release
includes some impressive enhancements which fully support the social shift
currently happening and an important URL handling improvement.
From the
official announcement: "The entire team is really proud of this
release, and I’m happy that this is our second on-time release under our
new development
schedule. The grand experiment of a more agile WordPress with significant
features in the hands of users more often is working."
New key WordPress 2.3 features include:
- Native tagging support: This allows bloggers to use tags in addition
to categories on posts. 2.3 also includes importers for popular plugins such as
the Ultimate Tag Warrior, Jerome's Keywords, Simple Tags, and Bunny's Technorati
Tags.
- New updated notification: This lets bloggers know when a new release
of WordPress or when any plugins has an update available. The feature works by
interacting with Wordpress new API service which compares loaded plugins with
the current plugin database.
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- Canonical URLs: This feature cleans up those
messy URLs by enforcing your no-www preference, redirect posts with
chanced slugs so a link never goes bad, redirects URLs that get cut off
and much more. In the end, it could help overall SEO efforts.
- Pending review: Perfect for multi-author blogs, authors may
submit a post for review by an editor or administrator - before authors
were forced to save a draft and notify editors manually that a draft was
in the que.
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These days everyone knows that they need an online presence to get the most out of their business. But sometimes the challenge of lack of expertise can be daunting and prohibitive.
Your Web Department offers a customizable, yet easy-to-use website builder that includes domain registration, hosting and support all under one roof.
Launched in 2006, Your Web Department attempts to offer an all-in-one solution for those that want to get online but may not have the technical skills, or resources to hire a Web developer. Features included in their offerings are blogs, forums, e-commerce functionality (able to integrate with PayPal and other systems), slideshows, email and list management and other features.
Prices start at $49 per month for a basic site (SOHO Starter Website) and go up to $399 per month for "Big Biz Website." At first glance, if your resources allow it, the "Small Biz Website" ($99 per month) appears to be a good place to start. This option offers 2 gigabytes of bandwidth, 10 email addresses, a press release manager, form manager and two optional upgrades - the most important of which look to be an online catalogue for up to 500 items and a shopping basket for e-commerce, compatible with PayPal and support.
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The winner of the Website Magazine
iPhone giveaway
is...
Mr. Brian Crowley
Manager E-Commerce at Godiva Chocolatier
Congratulations Brian - the iPhone is on its way! Website Magazine will
be running similar giveaways in the future so stay tuned - just make
sure you're subscribed to the weblog (RSS
feed) to receive notification!
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This post isn't actually related to Web success, but if
I didn't mention this you would have to punch a hole in my man card. I'm
a dad too so safe Web browsing for Web kids is certainly on my radar and will definitely be a priority for me in the future.
Children's Educational Network (CEN) has partnered with the Miss America
Organization (MAO) to create the world's first
Miss America Kid Safe
Browser. The Miss America Kid Safe Software is built using CEN’s
proprietary technology and prevents children from surfing inappropriate
web sites, as well as protecting them from online predators.
The
software is being offered free online.
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"One of my goals, as Miss America 2007, is to heighten the awareness for
protecting our children on the Internet. It is critical for parents to police
their children's keyboards because of the danger of being approached by online
predators. Now I am in a position to offer a solution for free of any cost that
includes an animated version of me that will provide Internet safety tips to
children on a daily basis,” says Lauren Nelson, Miss America 2007.
This is by no means the first kid-safe browser but it could be a real winner as
it's definitely the first with this kind of support.
Domain marketplace
Sedo announced today that the domain name Iraq.com is currently available for sale via auction on
GreatDomains.com. As part of the transaction, SEO will donate a percentage of its brokerage fees to
UNICEF, an organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of children around the globe.
“
Geographic domains are in high demand, and Iraq.com will offer its buyer an array of commercial, political and social opportunities like few domain names can today,” said Matt Bentley, chief strategy officer, Sedo. “
We are anticipating a lively auction for Iraq.com as the auction comes to a close later this week.”
The auction will take end until Thursday, September 27, 2007 on Sedo’s premium domain marketplace,
GreatDomains.com. The current asking price is $600K - pocket change. If any Website Magazine reader buys Iraq.com, I will gladly do a write up in the print magazine about your plans for the domain.
One of the biggest problems facing the emerging mobile marketplace is the lack of a uniform user experience. Different devices, providers and browsers all add to a disjointed user experience, what many point to as the reason the mobile Web has yet to realize its potential. Yahoo is taking a big step to facilitate the user experience - at least from an advertising perspective.
Yahoo has announced that all of their mobile properties will comply with new mobile advertising guidelines set forth by the
Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) EMEA.
From Micahel Bayle, GM, Global Monetization, Connected Life, Yahoo, "We worked closely with the MMA to develop guidelines that benefit our global
advertisers and consumers alike and will continue to do so as the industry
develops best practices for additional mobile marketing practices and formats
such as games, video and search."
The guidlelines were created to help ensure that mobile ads are displayed properly on a multitude of mobile devices, creating a better platform for advertisers and, arguably, a better user experience.
According to a recent survey of 311 marketing executives, conducted by
The McKinsey Quarterly, 83% of respondents used email as a marketing tool. That's well ahead of display ads (73%), paid keywords search (63%) and branded sponsorship (48%). Video ads, while certainly climbing, came in at 33%.
What's interesting to note are the responses to future online marketing spending. In terms of increase in spending, paid keyword search led the way with a 71% increase projected over the next three years - followed by email (51%) then branded sponsorship (69%). Projected future online marketing spend is dominated by video, with a whopping 74% increase expected over the next three years.
Google has published some new guidelines for landing pages, making suggestions (warnings) for appropriate landing pages. An FAQ section in the AdWords Help Center has helped Google determine what is appropriate and what merits demotion in rankings or even bans from the AdWords program. From the official blog post:
Types of websites that will be penalized with low landing page quality
scores:
- Data collection sites that offer free
gifts, subscription services etc., in order to collect private information
- Arbitrage sites that are designed for
the sole purpose of showing ads
- Malware sites that knowingly or
unknowingly install software on a visitor's computer
If we receive
user complaints about ads for the types of websites listed above, the
advertisers of those websites may not be allowed to continue running AdWords ads
for those websites.
The following types of websites are likely to merit
low landing page quality scores and may be difficult to advertise affordably. In
addition, it's important for advertisers of these types of websites to adhere to
our landing page quality
guidelines
regarding unique content.
- eBook sites that show frequent
ads
- 'Get rich quick' sites
- Comparison shopping sites
- Travel aggregators
- Affiliates that don't comply with our
affiliate
guidelines
Please note that all of the above information, along
with further details regarding
landing page
quality may be found in the AdWords Help Center.
Wibiki has launched a free, easy to use server based adblocker. What's so
interesting about another adblocker you say? Lots actually. Lots and lots. With
Wibiki, users can block ads and can choose either replacement content, such as
posting boards and free personal widgets, or just leave the space white. Pretty
revolutionary.
"Users can block ads safely with no fancy software and actually use the blocked
ad space. I can share my posts with my buddies without having to go to other
websites or my email. We have built a Public Timeline Twitter widget as an
initial demonstration of what we plan to offer. Our goal is to offer users what
they want and help them reduce unnecessary site hopping across the various
social networks," said Michael Gill, a software engineer of Wibiki labs.
In addition, Wibiki has a block and unblock choice for its users. When in
blocked mode, all ads known to the server are not seen by users. When in
unblocked mode, users can see a posting "biki" board where they can view recent
community posts. A "buddy" board feature allows friends to have a private
message board to share their special interest links.
"We have discovered new space for users to work with on the Internet. We look
forward to working with the advertising community to help reduce "adblindness"
which hampers the value proposition for today's online advertisers. At Wibiki,
we believe in a simple motto ... the users rule," stated Shant Hovnanian of
Wibiki.
Widgets you say? Widgets. Google unveiled their
interactive widgets this week but so has Amazon. You may want to take notes.
Amazon Widgets (sixteen so far) allow you to feature products from Amazon on your website, blog or social networking pages. There are some really impressive widgets that would be perfect for any existing affiliates. My favorite was the tag cloud and the slideshow widget (seen below). It took me a total of three minutes to create and include these Amazon widgets on the Website Magazine weblog. Amazon associates will earn up to 10% on referrals from these widgets.
Amazon.com Widgets
Hitwise released new search share numbers and Microsoft took a hit. August saw a two percent drop in search share for Microsoft, down to eight percent - a drop from June's ten percent figure.
Yahoo saw an increase to just under 23 percent (up from their low of 20.7 percent in April) while Ask rose from 3.21 percent to 3.49 percent. Must be that
snazzy new commercial they're running.
Have you ever entered a false age, name or location when signing up for a website? Do you think that doing so would keep Big Brother or hackers from knowing too much about you? You're not alone.
A study out of the UK and conducted by
emedia's RapidResearch service reveals that 31% of UK social networkers have entered false information about themselves because to protect their identities.
This is fairly significant. Especially on the heels of a MySpace announcement that they will start targeting ads based on user profile information. An advertiser could think they are hitting their target audience, but perhaps as many as a third of their ads could be missing the mark.
Another interesting tidbit from the study shows that 87% of respondents think social networking sites can be used for business purposes. However, of those, just 11% reported doing just that, while 67% contact old friends and reinforce existing friendships. It seems that, at least in the UK, social networking is still overwhelmingly a social activity and not so much a business tool.
Many pundits will tell you that social networkers despise advertising and will revolt when their networks attempt to place ads on thier pages. Well, MySpace is about to do just that, and the reaction will be nothing of the sort.
MySpace announced that they will place targeted contextual advertising on members' profile pages very soon. The system will analyze profile pages and serve up ads based on information contained within. There are also plans to allow smaller advertiser to target MySpace users as well. MySpace predicts an 80% jump in click-through rate.
So will there be outrage? Will social networkers unite in protest? No. First, advertising already appears on user profiles and login pages. Second, people are in too deep - the amount of effort spent networking, building friends, messaging, dating and customizing pages will far outweigh the annoyance of a few ads. And third, targeted online advertising is everywhere and this demographic of Internet user is used to seeing them. Social networking has evolved from a private way to keep in touch with friends to a public sphere. These pages are no longer little private corners of the Web, but fully indexed Web pages. And users know it. And just like any other Web page, they expect to see advertisements.
Google is officially in the interactive advertising game, launching an expanded test of Gadget Ads. These ads are interactive, incorporate real-time data feeds, can be targeted contextually, demographically and geographically, can be placed on any Web page and include detailed tracking information within each ad unit. They are built to include both cost-per-click and cost-per-impression models.
Some of the ad types include mini games, playable movie trailers and a very useful gadget from Nissan - type in your zip code and receive live traffic updates. Currently, the ads are available by invitation only. But look for that to change, and look for gadgets to spring up everywhere, on every Web page.
Will blurring the lines between useful gadgets and advertising work? Early testing shows that just 0.3 percent of those exposed to the Gadget Ads interacted with them. Not a strong start, but look for that to change. As the Web gets flooded with these ads and users learn that clicking on them won't open a series of pop-ups or start a malicious download they will become more accepted and more widely used. Besides, Google rarely swings and misses when it comes to Web advertising.
The Web Marketing Association has announced the winners of its tenth annual WebAward Competition for Web site development. More than 2,400 sites from 40 countries were adjudicated in 96 industry categories during this year's competition. Entries were judged (by yours truly) on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and use of technology.
A complete list of the winning sites can be found at the WebAward Web site at
www.webaward.org.
"
Many of the entries this year continued to show impressive creativity and technical innovation to win in this year's WebAward competition," said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. "
While some companies are constantly improving their Web efforts in small ways, others are making incredible leaps ahead. The WebAwards has always been a great way for Internet professionals to showcase their work and gain recognition and marketing opportunities for web development that sets the standard for the entire industry."
Web hosting provider
Hostway announced today that they will be offering preregistration for the .asia top-level domain. Registration for this new TLD officially opens for governments and trademark holders in October.
According to the
release: "While diverse in culture and language, the Asia/Pacific region is home to more than 60% of the world's population, according to United Nations estimates. It is exploding economically, making it the perfect time to launch a TLD to help businesses enter this dynamic marketplace."
“
Hostway has extensive experienced in launching new TLD registrations, having gone through the process most recently with .eu and .mobi,” stated John Enright, vice president of marketing and business development for Hostway. “
To be in on the ground floor with .asia was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.”
It may be an opportunity you don't want to miss out on either. Interested domainers can now
preregister for .asia domains at Hostway.
Harris Interactive, in conjunction with Tealeaf, a customer experience management software provider, released the results of its
third annual survey of online consumer behavior and transaction experiences. The survey indicated serious consumer frustration with issues they are encountering when using ecommerce websites. For the third consecutive year, about nine out of 10 consumers conducting transactions online (87%) have experienced problems.
More data from the highlights online consumer intolerance:- 42% of those who have experienced problems when conducting online transactions have switched to a competitor or abandoned the transaction entirely, and
- Another 52% who have experienced bad customer service from a company's contact center, following an online issue, have completely stopped doing business with the company.
Big news in the Web office suite wars today as Google added its presentation software to Google Docs. Users will be able to import existing files or create new files from the slide editor. Slides can be edited, shared, and published using the Google Docs interface, and multiple collaborators can work on a slide deck simultaneously.
Most interesting is that when it's time to share or present, participants can click a link to follow along as the presenter takes the audience through the slideshow. Slideshow participants are connected through Google Talk and can chat about the presentation as they're watching. The presentation feature of Google Docs is available in 25 languages. If you're a Google Apps customer you too will be able to access it as part of Google Docs.
This is pretty big news all around - not only can you edit existing files and create new ones online, you can also collaborate during the process. I don't think anyone saw that coming.
Google Presentation Software Screenshot
The next issue of Website Magazine
is right around the corner. One of the 'Net briefs I've been thinking about
including is an article on the many Live Support options available for website
owners.
During my daily Web travels today I stumbled across
xooChat which has released a feature that
enables website owners to
see what search term a visitor used when they came through on the site. It's
these type of features which really separate one live support vendor from the
rest. Website owners may want to review the article before investing in a live
support solution, but if you simply can't wait, xoochat has a special discount
running on a one-year subscription until September 30th - just $117, down from
$197 (a savings of $80).
Career Network Beyond.com announced the
Beyond Job Board, an on-demand,
fully-functional career portal solution available to anyone with a website that
is interested in launching their own job board within their existing community.
The Beyond! Job Board is free and easy to integrate. Visitors will gain instant
access to thousands of jobs and millions of resumes posted to the Beyond.com
Network of more than 15,000 web sites and online communities. Site owners can
select from a variety of custom options, as well as identify a specific region
or industry to create a targeted niche site, or choose to keep it general by
supporting all regions and industries. The owner can also establish appropriate
pricing options and track revenue earned through a variety of available reports.
“Webmasters and bloggers have needed a solution like Beyond! Job Board for a
long time,” said Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, Inc. “By offering this
software, we can encourage growth of these online communities and social
networking sites, while at the same time expand our presence in the niche job
board market. Together, we can provide employers with the alternatives they seek
from the traditional job board model.”
beyond beyond.com job-boards job jobs careerbuilder monster
Web marketers are all abuzz about BlogRush, a widget
that allows you to receive free traffic on your blog. Here is how it works; you sign up and provide the title, URL, feed URL
and categorize your site. Once you install the JavaScript code, your
weblog posts are automatically promoted on other blogs across the
Internet.
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The upside is that it's definitely free and you can get
traffic from the widget. The downside is that most bloggers will be
forced to include the widget in their sidebar, and we all know often
people click on links in sidebars. The other downside is that you better
be a darn good link-baiter as you'll definitely need to catch the
attention of end-users to get any significant traffic.
There are some helpful step-by-step video integration tutorials for
bloggers on WordPress, Blogger (blogspot.com), TypePad and Moveable
Type. I'm still trying to work out the kinks (we have some internal
issues displaying Javascript) and hope to have that issue resolved
quickly. Once I see how it works for Website Magazine, I'll provide a
full run down.
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Jumpbox has a deep (and growing) list
of server software. Their goal/mission is to make the deployment and management
of such software dramatically easier. They have been on my radar for a while now
and I caught an announcement yesterday that they have added the Twiki Wiki, a
popular open source wiki software to their collection.
Twiki Wiki is an open source
collaboration platform and knowledge management system. "With a JumpBox, setting
up TWiki Wiki for use by a small team takes just minutes instead of hours or
days," said Sean Tierney, JumpBox Co-founder and COO. "And because the JumpBox
interface is consistent across all applications, that same experience can be had
for content management, project management and blogging, giving users a complete
set of productivity tools."
In the coming months, the company will be aggressively adding to its library
of server software applications and its collections of CMS, CRM and Wiki
JumpBoxes. The complete JumpBox application library is available at
www.jumpbox.com. If you have a dedicated server and don't have the time or
personnel resources to deploy these popular open source, end-to-end web-based
applications, jump over to Jumpbox and experience the power of virtual
applications.
Blogs, RSS, Social - you hear about these topics everyday because everyone
(Website Magazine included) is talking about them, analyzing how to use them
effectively, finding ways to draw every possible amount of value from social
add-on functionality. But very few ever ask "why should we do this?" - following the crowd is not always the best course of action.
HRmarketer.com yesterday announced
improvements to its website which clearly shows how even smaller, niche
communities can leverage the power of socializing a Web enterprise for the good. Since its debut in 2002,
hundreds of HR vendors/suppliers have used HRMarketers.com to generate
publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved SEO for their company,
making HRmarketer.com a popular destination for those in
the human resource industry. The site is deploying an impressive list of enhancements and emphasizing the social networking capabilities to its audience.
I spoke with Mark Willaman,
founder and president of HRmarketer yesterday morning and while we agreed it's important to
understand the technical and usability challenges of deploying social networking
features (which we'll look at in a future article of Website Magazine), it's also important to understand why companies are deploying these
solutions and how they can ultimately benefit.
"Change is constant in the HR industry, and these new features are designed
to transform HRmarketer into an online community," explained Willaman. "Social networking is the future, and we’re making this
investment so our members can enjoy the latest interactive tools that will keep
them ahead of the technology curve." But there is much more to the story than jumping on the social media bandwagon alone.
Unique as a subscription-based service, HRMarketer must generate renewals to
stay in business. Anyone actively engaged in any web-based business an attest
that social features encourage more participation and give users a reason to log in.
When users use the site more often, this increased interaction will ultimately result in renewals.By deploying social media features you too will generate more site activity and build community which in the end will result in an uptick on the bottom line. That's something we can all get behind.
If you're like me you sign up for every Web-based service you come across.
The downside of course is having to manage the staggering number of usernames
and passwords that come with being the perennial early adopter. Since
OpenID (which lets you create a single
username password for use on multiple sites) is slow to be adopted, we're
forced to find alternate solutions.
PassPack is an online password manager which I
found easy to use. Users are able to find information (usernames/passwords) by
searching, scrolling through the pages or utilizing a tag cloud style grouping.
Users can log into websites directly from their PassPack account and you can
access this online account, from well, anywhere online.
With nothing to download or install, it's definitely something to look into.
Yuwie is the first social network that pays its users to network socially. I
can only imagine what the purists of social networking are going to say! While
it should not be too long before someone makes the inevitable comparison of how
PayPerPost is to blogs what Yuwie will be to social networks, maybe we
should take a closer look before casting them aside.
While there are many social networks unveiled every day, Yuwie is going to
stand out because apparently, you really do get paid. All of the features of traditional
social networks are available - customizable profiles, blogs, message boards,
pictures, but what is interesting is that Yuwie will compensate you for any
actions you take (write a blog post - get paid, upload a picture - get paid).
Before you run off and create a bot that will automate this process, also know
that anytime you refer someone that becomes a user you will get paid for that
referral and earn a share of each action they take; uploading pictures,
writing blog posts.
Sounds interesting doesn't it?
Please take this survey and let us know what you think. Do paid social
networks equate to buying friends?
So you've got a collection of video stashed away or want to stream an event
live (broadcast) the content to your audience. You can obviously make a formal
decision to share your archived videos for free on YouTube or stream live video
on services like BlogStream, but what if you wanted to generate revenue from
this content and not give every single Web user access to these premium
offerings?
There is great potential to monetize on exclusive video content and you can
do it through pay-per-view Web broadcasting.
Affino is an interesting technology from
Emojo available for companies wishing to monetize their broadcast/video
catalogues online, whether live and direct streaming or archived content. The solution
supports a wide variety of business models including pay-per-view, on-demand and
subscription. The benefits are many but the primary catalyst for many businesses
wanting to deploy a solution like this (beside the obvious potential boost in revenue) is that they will be able to include the
broadcasting of media within a seamless, uniform dynamic interface that
encompasses editorial, community functionality and related commerce.
It looks like a strong service and may be worth investigating further if
Pay-Per-View Web broadcasting fits within your business model.
Today, AgendiZe entered into an
agreement with Yellow Book USA, a leading national yellow pages and online local
search company, to provide its nearly 700,000 local advertisers and business
customers with a powerful suite of tools that enables heightened interaction and
communication with today’s online consumers.
Yellow Book will deploy the AgendiZe call-to-action capabilities on
Yellowbook.com’s business directory listings,
including Click-to-Save & Share and Click-to-Call features. The AgendiZe
services went live in September 2007. This partnership reinforces Yellow Book’s
commitment to provide the most innovative online options for consumers and
advertisers.
“AgendiZe call-to-action tools have great
potential to deliver significant added value by making it easier for buyers to
connect to businesses,” said Alfred Chow,
Director - Yellowbook.com. “Ultimately, we
selected the AgendiZe suite because we were impressed with the depth and breadth
of its offering.”
According to a recent Business.com
survey of 201 B2B paid search and search engine optimization professionals,
fully 85 percent of respondents view proactively tracking competitor search
engine marketing tactics and performance to be an essential aspect of running a
successful search marketing campaign. 69 percent of respondents reported that
they “actively monitor” competitor search engine rankings, keywords and other information, and look for
changes over time. The survey results also show how competitor behavior
affects B2B search marketing tactics:
- 77 percent of respondents said
competitors have an important impact on the paid search marketing keywords
they buy
- 75 percent said competitors have an
important impact on the keywords they target for search engine optimization
- 65 percent said competitors have an
important impact on the sites on which they advertise
However, competition is not affecting online marketing budgets to the same
extent. Only 36 percent of respondents reported that competitor activities have
an important impact on their online marketing budget, and nearly one-quarter of
those who actively track competitors online said competitor activities have no
impact at all on their budget.
“B2B search marketing is a competitive, dynamic
arena, said Ben Hanna, vice president of
marketing for Business.com. “While seeing a
competitor ahead of you in search engine rankings can be a rallying cry for
improved search marketing within a company, it’s not
clear that this is enough to unlock a larger budget for search marketing
agencies, consultants or campaigns.
The Kelsey Group has released another round of mobile advertising predictions. This time they are predicting $33.2 million this year in mobile ad spend, and while growing at a 112 percent rate, $1.4 billion through the year 2012.
But this time, the predictions may be a little different. The big three of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have been preparing and releasing mobile applications for a while now. Yahoo has Yahoo Go for Mobile, Google offers mobile versions of Gmail, Maps, YouTube and Blogger and Microsoft is advancing on versions of mobile Windows Live, Hotmail, Search and Messenger.
What's more, the release of the iPhone and the many apps that have been developed for use on the device with the Web (Movable Type 4.0 just released an iPhone plugin for mobile blogging), and the recurring rumors of a Google phone seem to point to the increasing likelihood that mobile advertising is set to erupt. And while the big three slug it out, there will certainly be opportunities for the smaller companies out there too. Is mobile technology finally ready to deliver on its promise?
Online media company Zango announced the
availability of the "Slider" ad format today. Sliding ads onto the users'
desktop from the lower, right-hand corner of the screen in a non-intrusive
fashion,. Zango has been leveraging the new format to communicate Zango’s
internal value proposition to consumers who have download the desktop
application, but advertisers will want to take note from hereon.
I had the opportunity to speak with Zango's Senior VP of Sales Rip Warendorf
this morning about the new Slider format and he seemed upbeat - for good reason.
Zango, which has 20 million users worldwide (60% in the U.S.), must constantly
find opportunities to serve the right ad at the right time. After positive internal
testing, Zango believed the format would be a good fit for advertisers, and
early reports indicate that brand advertisers like it already. Warendorf said
that the average user will see 2 or 3 ads a day which will help optimize the
lifetime value of their customers.
“Most consumers are familiar with the notification that appears when they
receive a new instant message,” said Rip Warendorf, Zango’s senior vice
president of sales. “Zango’s Slider ad format enhances the visual appeal of
that messaging format and gives advertisers a new, consumer-familiar marketing
vehicle. We believe the Slider is a tremendous opportunity for the growing
number of brand advertisers shifting dollars to the Internet.”
An online video
demonstration of Sliders promoting Zango’s content catalog is available.
The popular, bicultural, Latino online social community QuePasa.com,
announced today the beta launch of a new and significantly enhanced version of
its existing website. But it's much more than a facelift or "elevación de cara en un Web"
of its existing site, the site now embraces social features.
"The new QuePasa.com is feature-rich and inviting," said Robert B. Stearns,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We intend to provide our audience and our
advertisers with an online experience that competes effectively with any social
network. The beta version of the new QuePasa.com is technologically structured
to be expandable and enable viral growth."
According to the release: The QuePasa.com social network is adding multiple photo albums with automatic slide shows, tagging,
commenting and drag and drop sorting, and a chat function that automatically
adds users' friends to their personal chat lists and tells users whether they
are available to chat at any given time. The site's new instant messenger offers
easy, immediate access to friends as well as to fully functioning, free e-mail.
Other advanced features at QuePasa.com include easy uploading,
playback, and sharing of videos and music, improved blogging, English-to-Spanish
and Spanish-to-English translators, search powered by Google, and invitations.
There is also an array of helpful services for daily life, including a U.S. jobs
channel, calendar, dictionary, loan calculators, daily lottery updates,
horoscopes, and games.
Most interesting is
that QuePasa is introducing QuePasa News Network
- the first bilingual, Latino-focused, online multi-media news network."Fueled by video contributions from QuePasa's "citizen journalists," QPNN.tv
empowers Latinos to upload reports covering human interest, breaking news,
politics, sports, and entertainment.
Yahoo has announced an exclusive partnership with Bebo to be the sole provider of display advertising on the social networking site in the UK and Ireland - those countries' most popular social site. The deal gives Yahoo instant access to more than 11 million users with the potential to further the deal to include the rest of the world's Bebo users, a total of approximately 38 million users.
Yahoo's popular Answers network will also be included in the Bebo site, along with a toolbar that allows users to monitor their social network while away from the site. It's a further stretch towards the expansion of Yahoo ads on non-Yahoo sites, following recent deals with Right Media and the anticipated deal with BlueLithium.
"It's a core step for us in building up