Google Goggles

Ryan    Uncategorized     Google Goggles, Microsoft Tag, QR Codes

If you haven’t heard about Google Goggles, go check it out. If you’re not feeling up to doing any clicking or searching at this time, to explain it in a nutshell, its basically a search tool that utilizes the camera on your iPhone or Android to recognize visual characteristics of objects (digitally) and then will proceed to lead you to more information about whatever it was you took your picture of. Subjects could be anything from book titles, to foreign languages, to landmarks, or even just a simple logo. How crazy does this sound to you? Technology wise, this concept is pretty revolutionary. From a marketing perspective, its pretty extrordinary. read more

The Age of Promotion on Twitter

Ryan    Uncategorized     Promoted Tweets, Twitter

I stumbled across a tweet from HootSuite yesterday reading:

Hoot! New Blog post: HootSuite Syndicates Promoted Tweets and Trends from Twitter http://ow.ly/19hP6C

With all of the talk and rumors going on regarding #NewTwitter, its no wonder that everyone who has a stake in Twitter, is making 100% sure that they don’t miss a single beat when it comes to integration. HootSuite is right there… and I’m pretty sure Twitter is praising their pro-activeness.

Because I began writing this post yesterday, and I cannot concentrate on anything related to whatever it was I was trying to write about, I have to cut this entry short right here.

Spider Traps

Ryan    Uncategorized     Infographic, SEO, Spider Traps

After looking around from some cool infographics, I came across this uncanny representation of spider traps that can often lead your search engine optimization astray. Although Elliance.com created this in 2008, for some reason, I feel there are a lot of sites today that still face some of these issues:

Fun times right?

Google Trends in Universal Search

Ryan    Uncategorized     Google Trends, Pop-Term SEO, Universal Search

Today, news outlets have been reporting on a tragic event that occurred at Rutgers University just a few days ago. If you haven’t heard the latest news, check it out here. Basically, a college student was caught having sex with another man.. while his roommate proceeded to film him and distribute across the internet via Skype and Twitter.

As the story progressed, news started spreading on the two people who were actually accused of creating the whole mess in the first place: Dharun Ravi and Molley Wei. Wanting to get the full scoop myself, I proceeded to Google search Dharun’s name, and guess what I stumbled upon?

A Google Trends result right on page numero uno! Talk about Universal Search!

With the added Hotness descriptor of ‘Spicy’, and an actual trend rank (in our case, 24), does knowing search trends in your Google results page make your search experience all the more better? While you might think a comparison to Twitter Trends might be in order, the thing I’m most interested in is that trend line and the association with time.

Twitter has a trending topics section and although you might think it is full of junk, it can sometimes point you in the direction of breaking headlines, tweet trends, or just a sponsored result. (What’s new?) Because Google’s Trend addition in search does not necessarily consist of top trends like Twitter, but only the specific trend (or two) associated with your search term, the benefit of the actual information is much more different than finding headlines. Google Trends assumes you already know the headlines!

Going back to that trend timeline, with the added advantage of seeing the popularity of your search term across time, you should now be able to understand the affect of noteworthy news and headlines as they play into people’s search habits! Why the exclamation point you ask? If search engine optimization and marketing gurus understand the behavioral relationship of search and time (even more than they do now), the importance of real-time search will undoubtedly grow exponentially. There was a time where we relied on Twitter, News, or Blogs to reach real-time searchers, but if our speed to publishing continues to increase, I’m sure there will be a vast amount of additional material you or I could possibly stumble upon. If you can pump out a 12 page eBook on how the new Facebook movie relates to something going on in Dharun Ravi’s life in a day or two… I bet you could get a big chunk of readership just from the trend in popularity the two topics yield. I’m not saying this is a great idea, but those who are really into content as a means to drive traffic… what other crap can you think of writing about on a day like today? Why do you think bloggers often use pop-culture to attract viewership? Why do you think I’m writing about this certain topic?

Maybe a new aspect of Search Engine Optimization for today’s marketing experts should be the value of pop-term usage and the power that mass search can yield. Has anyone coined the term “Pop-Term SEO” yet?

TechCrunch Sold to AOL

Ryan    Uncategorized     AOL, Content, techcrunch

I saw the above headline this morning and couldn’t help but giggle. With businesses getting sold left and right these days, it was only a matter of time when content giant AOL finally got their hands on another significant entity.

Although I can’t say for sure whether someone got the short end of the stick on this one, I can say that this really reaffirms the notion of AOL’s instinct on a content based business strategy.

Back in the day, when AOL was all about dial-up internet access, people were pretty accepting of the fact that AOL was THE gateway to online freedom.. when really, it wasn’t freedom they were experiencing, but a highly structured ad and content experience constructed around programmed website viewing. They were pretty darn profitable! But as with most companies, the glory days soon became extinct as more ‘open’ sources for internet access became available. They were essentially outdated soon after they gained notoriety.

What next? As AOL’s commitment to staying relevant turned into a fight towards staying successful, new strategies in search and advertising led to where they are today. Positioning themselves along the lines where Yahoo and MSN are, AOL focused on content, and with the acquisition of TechCrunch, its quite obvious that they’re looking to stay there.

Do you think there is a certain point where a company can talk about stuff too much or own too many content outlets? I suppose we should ask corporate giants like News Corp, Disney, Viacom, or Time Warner… whoops! Maybe AOL thinks they’ll be up with the big brother Time Warner sometime soon. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Designing by Function Over Form

Ryan    Uncategorized     Modernism, Web Design

A little over a year ago, Andrea and I finally were able to close on a house in one of central Phoenix’ historic districts. Along the journey, we stumbled upon a couple of modern houses designed by the architect, Ralph Haver. After walking through and experiencing some of the noteworthy aspects of the houses, we kind of started having this love affair with modern architecture. Well I did at least… Andrea said she had always been a fan.

That being said, and for some odd reason, I began thinking about and researching modern architecture last night after Andrea fell asleep. What was the purpose? What was the benefit?.. and after an hour or so, I realized above all else, adherence to the idea that functionality over form was the primary rule of thumb great architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra pushed themselves (possibly not knowingly) to design to. Function over form… it is an interesting concept, but I think a very important one to this day. When typed into a Google image search, two primary things pop up: buildings and cars. That makes total sense… but what about the design element as a part of other less obvious things, like web design?

Today, as I try to piece together the influence of function over form in the online design realm, and as you might already have guessed, the impact of modernism has played a hugely important role in web design and site architecture.

Long gone are the days when we had singular pages with centered text and centered images. From animated gifs, to scrolling marquees, and flashing titles… early pages were incredibly eye catching, but totally useless when it came to functionality. Why spread your content on multiple pages when you can have just one very long page?

This didn’t last though. As websites grew into bigger and bigger entities, the role of functionality and usability started to become a major issue. Bring on the internet’s industrial revolution! Sites like Amazon.com and Ebay, just to name a few, began utilizing a form of navigation allowing users the capability to leverage universal navigation panes to get to different pieces of content/products with just a single mouse click (or two). Ever since, designers and developers have been utilizing technologies to hone in and improve upon design standards to create the easiest, fastest, and most flexible form of displaying information on a rectangular screen. Function over form? I think so, but we’ve trained ourselves to be more accepting of functionality since we don’t really have a vested need to make pretty what it is that we own… like houses, buildings, or cars.

With the modernist approach to web design we have already encountered and continue to use today, its important to understand that this process will never end. As new mediums of display and access to content evolve, so will the ways in which we need to display it. Personally speaking, I think the page design that we are so used to (image above) is getting old and dated! Is there a new and improved way that we can display data that doesn’t look like 2, 3, or 4 rectangles on top of a big rectangle? Or does that sound like blasphemy? I suppose its all about the process of turning art into functionality. Don’t forget about that little thing called search engine optimization.

Value of an Online Degree

Ryan    Uncategorized     Online Degrees, Online Universities, Saturday Night Live, University of Phoenix

I think a cool infographic every now and then adds a bit of color to any blog. Especially when you haven’t touched your theme in a while. Check out this gem from eLearners, a large lead generation company for universities:

Personally speaking, I have no qualms with online degrees. I figure, if your school is accredited and your degree is accredited, then that piece of card stock you have in your tight kung-fu grip is well deserved. Accreditation is a touchy subject however.  Just look at that third pie-chart down. That being said, with the little time people have for themselves this day in age, and with the hugely growing need for professionals with college degrees or even advanced college degrees (as President Obama has pointed out), there is going to have to be a portion of us that that have a diploma from an online school.

Saturday Night Live also joined the discussion over the value of an online degree last season:

Although this doesn’t really truly define the value of a degree at University of Phoenix 100%, it does represent a common mindset people have about the school and about other online universities. Schools therefor have an obligation to reconstruct this message.

Think of a company that makes metal chopsticks. Once they realize people will also buy plastic chopsticks under a larger profit margin, would it be in their best interest to begin making plastic chopsticks if they knew they could be more profitable? Would it be worth the time to discontinue their metal chopsticks?

The problem here is whether or not the company is built completely off of profits and numbers or off of ethics and morals. A company can be as profitable as they want, but if there are no ethics, the value of their product diminishes. School, and especially online universities magnify this concept since the value of their product is ultimately valuable to the buyer. When those plastic chopsticks start to look dingy next to someone else’s shiny metal chopsticks… something has to be done!

New Twitter, Better Integration

Ryan    Uncategorized     Twitter

Earlier this month, Twitter revealed that they would be pushing out a new and enhanced version of Twitter to its users over the following couple of weeks. While there have been a few redesigns here and there within the Twitter site, it looks as if this one could be drastically different from all those others, as well as a giant step towards integrating more media.

On the Twitter Blog post from September 14th, they mention that because you aren’t always able to fit your entire life snapshot into 140 characters (or less), there will be a few upcoming features that will make their way onto the new user interface:

1. New Design – Cleaner timeline, rich details pane, infinite scroll, etc.
2. Media – Embedded photos, videos, etc.
3. Related Content – Details pane, related content, author info, etc.
4. Mini Profiles – Mini profiles without navigating away from original page.

With these new features adding an entirely new level of complexity to your tweets (which isn’t bad… don’t get me wrong) the end result will be a clearly better integration between what it is you’re trying to show and what it is you’re actually saying. With embedded imagery and videos you aren’t going to have to navigate away from Twitter in order to see your precious content, at least some of it. With internal links in and amongst other bits of content, people will also be able to navigate to new profiles and tweets from people who they’ve never seen before. It’s like the coolness of Twitter, all over again.

So what does this mean to you, me?

To you and me, the interface will be interesting. With so much new ‘stuff’ going on, I feel that the value of a single tweet will increase, as will the value of a individual’s profile. Is this a step up for the little guy? I should think so! What is more interesting to me, however, is how Twitter will utilize these new areas of real estate for their own Sponsored Content. Remember the whole issue on making Twitter profitable… do you see the opportunity Twitter is creating for itself in funneling ‘Related Content’ to you? BTW.. What exactly constitutes Related Content… a year from now? Remember when ‘Trending Topics” didn’t include Sponsored results?

Do you think you will see any kind of sponsored content or ad in these new features?

Mark Zuckerberg, Man of the Hour

Ryan    Uncategorized     Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Pirates of Silicon Valley, The Social Network

Today marked the rise of some interesting headlines dedicated to the hip, cool, and surprisingly mega rich, Mark Zuckerberg over at Facebook. Actually, I’m not surprised at all that he’s worth billions of dollars… after the little Microsoft valuation episode a year or two ago, I knew that the behemoth was worth a butt load of dough.

But while news of Mark’s clearly growing bank account made a few notable  headlines, the other major story that is gaining some airplay is the release of “The Social Network.”

If you haven’t seen the trailers, read the articles, or just don’t get out much, “The Social Network” is a movie chronicling the story that is Mark and his Facebook idea. How it came to be… who the major players were… all that good kind of drama stuff, all mixed in and amongst some crazy computer programing and web development shit. The classic romance.

I bet my best friend Tom over at MySpace feels a little under-appreciated.

But with the growth of Facebook, the actual success it has generated in making real money, and the people interesting in tapping into its client base, I suppose there is a real story going on for anyone that cares remotely or is interested. Heck, Andrea even said the movie looked good. If we can find a babysitter, I guess we can go check it out. Actually, I’m sure I’ll find some entertainment in it since I did enjoy the epic film, “Pirates of Silicon Valley.”

Any ways, Mark.. you’ve successfully wrestled your way to a net worth greater than one of these guys. Think you have the guts to take on numero uno? “Better Not Tell You Now!”

Bing Rewards Preview

Ryan    Uncategorized     Bing, Bing Rewards

I don’t know why I’m so late to the party, but I just found out about the Bing Rewards Preview. How long has this thing been out? Any ways, after downloading the Bing Toolbar and then singing in with my Windows Live ID (I had to do some guess and check on that one) I’m up and running and earning points from Bing like no other. Actually, I can only accumulate 1 point for every 5 searches I do up until October 2, with a limit of 8 points a day.. then what happens after that. I can’t wait to get my Bing Magic 8 Ball! Dumb.

Any ways, and really, the whole “We’ll pay you to use us” idea is not completely dumb. The idea is pretty ingenious though. When just a year or so ago, Bing was paying big bucks for big ad and marketing campaigns, today, they’re now paying YOU.. but not really those big bucks. Will this increase their market share? Will this have an effect on search engine usage? Signs Point to Yes.

Today, people are willing to do anything for anything free. While there is the Bing 8 Ball available for point redemption, there are also things like X-Box games, digital picture frames, and gift cards. Not horribly exciting stuff, but still, stuff I would use personally if I had them. And all for what? If I move all my searching to Bing for the next few weeks and shut out Google… will I convert? Probably not since all my applications, login access, documents, pictures, etc. are over there, but I bet there will be at least a few odd ex-patriots… a few.

One interesting thing I learned along the way however was Bing’s way of letting you know you’re not doing it right. Below is what displays when you do a search on Bing or in the Bing Toolbar:

And then below is what shows up when you do a search in Google:

Yeah, you’re not doing it right dummy!

Is that supposed to be the warning light letting me know that my ‘Gears of War’ won’t be coming any faster if I use Google? You bet. Either way you search though, while I wouldn’t suggest a new toolbar to use (Go to www.Bing.com if you want to search on Bing), the whole Rewards Program/Preview concept is kind of a big thing. It may not lead to a mass exodus, but I bet there will be some rifts in the market.

Oh by the way… do you think the Bing Rewards Preview will have any impact on Paid Search spend in Google? What about Paid Search Spend in Bing?