E-Life

I just learned today that Yahoo has just updated their Master Terms & Conditions & Program Terms for their advertising programs. Interestingly the previous link is not so easy to find. You’ll see the title of the page is “MASTER” Terms and Conditions. It is different than the Terms of Service under small business and search engine marketing pages:

"OPTIMIZATION. In the U.S. only, for those advertisers
not bound by an Insertion Order, we may help you optimize your account(s). Accordingly,
you expressly agree
that we may also: (i) create ads, (ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii)
optimize your account(s). We will notify you via email of such changes made to
your account(s), and can also include a spreadsheet of such changes upon your
written request. If you would like any of such changes reversed, please reply
to such email within 14 days of the change(s), and we will make commercially
reasonable efforts to reverse the change(s) you specifically identify. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, you remain responsible for all changes made to your account(s),
including all click charges incurred prior to any reversions being made. It is
your responsibility to monitor your account(s) and to ensure that your account
settings are consistent with your business objectives."

Huh?!?! Are you kidding me? The way it reads to me is Yahoo can “optimize” accounts and make changes without so much as asking me. Not only that, I’m responsible for the changes I did not make. Ok, Yahoo will send me an email detailing the changes they’ve made, but how detailed will the explanation be? Plus, how long will it take for me to figure out exactly what they’ve done? Not to mention the money that Yahoo will be collecting until they, per my request “reverse” the changes they made. Plus no refund will be given? This just sounds like a recipe to openly screw advertisers.

Yahoo you really should rethink this one. Is this a sneaky way for you to boost your revenues? Employees as well as customers are leaving in droves already. Something like this has the potential to increase the exodus. As if Yahoo doesn’t have enough problems already..

I can just say Wow!

-

Recently a new browser was released called “Blackbird”. It is supposed to be a browser developed for the African American community. I’ve noticed that our website has been getting a lot of hits from people looking for the browser. I just wanted to clarify that the browser is not connected to Blackbird e-Solutions in any way. Blackbird e-solutions was founded and the name registered in early 2005. Check out Our Story.

I also discovered that the White American community has in turn responded by creating there own browser called White Bird. What’s next an Asian American, Native American… the list could go on..

Using the location-based social network Brightkite you can now let all your Facebook friends know exactly what your doing and where you are. Brightkite’s recent integration with Facebook using Facebook Connect allows Brightkite users to automate their location updates to Facebook. The integration was made official last night with the Brightkite blog announcement.

Users can update their Brightkite status from a computer, on their phone using SMS or email or with a mobile application. Now, you can set this to immediately update your Facebook status.

How do you make it work?

1. On Brightkite visit your Account Settings, click on the Sharing tab.
2. Authorize Facebook by clicking the link next to all 3 steps.
3. Choose your Facebook cross-posting options and click save.

Brightkite developers promise that this is only the beginning of their Facebook integration plan.

Facebook Connect released only last May has gained a lot of traction with other web sites and applications. Some examples are Twitter (microblogging) and Digsby (instant messaging application)

A couple of weeks ago I posted a question from LinkedIn Answers: Google Universal Search Renders 90% of websites useless in 2009. A bit extreme? What do you think?

I received some good answers and I wanted to share them here too. But, first a bit of a disclaimer. It seems that there has bee some talk about Universal Search recently and many SEO and Online Marketing Companies are playing it up as something new. This really isn’t true. At Google the idea was first discussed in 2001. Back in late 2006 when I was working for Google, they started experimenting with it and finally injected it into search results in early 2007. Here’s a couple of links that support this (Thanks for the linksJim.):

Official Google Blog (Universal Search: The best answer is still the best answer.)
Search Engine Land (Google 2.0: Google Universal Search)

Just as a reminder the reason I asked the question is because I saw the statement on an advertisement from a web design and marketing company. Really, I think it is just a scare tactic to create an urgency in potential clients. I do agree with it at some level though. With the continuing increase in computing power and broadband internet connections, what you can do online is becoming more and more complex and powerful. The fact that we can now so easily embed video, audio, better images and social function in websites, means that we now have the ability to make things more interesting. Using these tools can create what is called “stickiness” (Online Marketing Glossary), which is measured by the amount of times a visitor returns to the site and how long they stay. Plus, if you create something that is popular and people start telling their friends this can create a viral reaction. Which can help you get traffic and links to your site. Which in turn will most likely help your ranking in the search engines. However, there are plenty of sites that rank very well and have very high traffic volume without any of these bells and whistles. Think CraigsList, Wikipedia or even LinkedIn. So, as the link above from Google’s blog says; “Universal Search - The best answer is still the best answer.” So, a combination of engaging media and interesting/relevant content will give your site stickiness, help get you in search engines and give your site relevancy to stay there.
Though using marketing to create a sense of urgency is not a bad, I would have to warn against companies claiming that without adding media your site is dead in the water. It sounds like they are just chasing the latest trend.

Now to the answers from LinkedIn:

Broad statements seeking to secure business by scare tactics. And, it’s interesting
that they’re saying the problem will be more evident in 2009, when this was rolled
out in 2007, according to these two links, one from Google:

http://searchengineland.com/google-20-google-universal-search-11232.php

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/universal-search-best-answer-is-still.html

Actually, my experience with real estate websites indicates that 95+% are
useless (if useful means that the generate business). It’s been that way for
several years, and will probably be that way for a few more.

If useless means they will not be found by searchers (no matter how good the
site at generating business once they find it), then there’s a lot of qualification
necessary to glean truth. If you say that only first page (top ten) results
are really effective, and that anything other than first page is useless, then
99.99999+% of sites are already useless.

The second link I gave above is on the official
Google blog, and I think it says it all: "Universal Search - The best answer is still the best answer." I
think that the content of a page, text primarily, will continue to be the major
component of search algorithms.

It’s a lot like "super sizing" and "get it now." We
want immediate gratification and easy results. As long as that’s the case,
companies
that promise it, whether they can do it or not, will get a bit of business.
I just keep on trying to write content for my sites that visitors want, need
and search for. Of course, I also do a bit of video, some podcasting, and anything
else I think my visitors might value.- Jim Kimmons

The bottom line: It’s an ad and you must consider it that way. it’s trying
to create a response from you, as all good ads should. Contextually, parse
this out. It’s an ad. It’s self-serving. It’s playing a scare-tactic game to
make you think you have to have this service or perish. it’s trying to manipulate
your emotions, and doing a reasonably good job of it. As a marketer, heck…
I respect all those tactics. Not a bad effort. But I would not use it as an
indicator of reality or driver of action/decisions.

And it’s very true what others have said here. I’m
sure well over 90% of all sites are already "useless" by this
metric (i.e. getting noteworthy placement/big traffic from Google).

To me the more important metric of utility is need fulfillment.

On a macro level, as noted, Wikipedia obviously
fulfills a lot of needs with virtually nothing but text. Or how about,
say… THIS site. LinkedIn
is a very
well known, highly trafficked site that - so far as I’m aware - has little
in the way of podcasts, blogs, video, etc. Not even much in the way of photos
(tiny little profile pics don’t really count eh?) This very Q&A board is
about the most advanced it gets. And yet, I derive far more value from LinkedIn
than from many more "media" rich sites like Facebook or YouTube for
example.

A more micro example? One local real estate website utterly fails my need
despite having videos, virtual tours and a blog - because it won’t let me search
for houses by school district, which is my primary need. Another local real
estate site gets all my traffic despite being plain-Jane with just listings
and photos, because it meets my need - I can search by school district.

Finally, dose of reality: Whether Google cares to
admit it or not, there is a tail-wagging-dog effect in my opinion. No site
that goes viral and starts
getting word of mouth and good press fails to start showing up well in relevant
Google searches. Are their search algorithms just THAT good, or is there a
bit of "help?" Hmmmm… - Kristian Chronister

-

Yesterday I read a post over on TravelZoo.com about blogging:

Your Company is Going Under, and You Could Have Stopped It. — For the full post.

I also left a comment so I wanted to share it here too. In the post Doug Karr looks at while companies are cost cutting one of the first things to come under the knife is marketing. He explains how more nimble companies are taking advantage of new technologies, blogging in particular, to promote themselves. Here’s an excerpt:

“After all, blogging was what your kids were doing. The mainstream ridiculed blogging
and tore it apart. Your marketing team dismissed it as a fad.

The marketing team you had to lay off.

Your ads are now gone and your staff is gone, and your boss is expecting results.
You’re out of ideas and out of money… and the lead generation funnel is dry.

Every time you search the net, you find your competitor in the top search
results. The blogs they started and the posts they had written are everywhere.
You find your competitor has built a following in the industry and has authority
in your space. Every conference has one of their ‘bloggers’ speaking at it.
You don’t even get an invitation.

Looks like they’re hiring… but they’re asking for blogging experience. Bummer.“

My comment:

“This is too true. Many companies fail to see the power of blogging. A well written blog that is actively updated and relevant to your company and industry, does a number of things:

- It produces fresh content for your site. (search engines love this)
- Brings traffic to your website.
- Creates material that others may want to link to.
- Establishes you/your company as an authority.
- It is a low cost way to get your word out.

There are many more reasons to blog, but that gives you an idea. What are
you waiting for? Get blogging!

Bryan Coe“

The fact is if you are not using today’s tools already, social media as well blogs, you may be missing opportunities to connect with future costumers and your current clients. So, what are you waiting for??

-

Search Engine Optimization and Social Media are still relatively young fields and many people don’t understand the jargon used in the industry. When working with clients, especially those not in the tech arena, I’m often asked what many of the SEO related terms mean. So, I decided to create a glossary to help educate clients. (follow the link below) It is far from complete, but definitely a work in progress. Please feel free to distribute the definitions, link to the glossary or share it with your clients and friends. If you have any suggestions, please a comment below or fill our our Contact Us form.

Glossary for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media & Online Marketing

I just posted this question on LinkedIn Answers.

Google Universal Search Renders 90% of websites useless in 2009. A bit extreme? What do you think?

I just saw an advertisement for a webdesign/SEO/social media marketing company that claimed this. The advertisement was implying that without adding media to your site it will now be useless. I think it’s a lot of marketing hype. But on the other hand integrating various types of media (i.e. video, rss, blogs, podcasts, images, social media functions, etc..) does have a great potential to help people find your site. What do you think?

You can comment here or LinkedIn. I’ll also repost the best answers here when they come in. View the question on LinkedIn Answers

This is a follow up to a previous post. Localize and Improve Your Sales

How important is marketing content (marcom) localization to increase visibility of products globally? How much is invested in translating the content and adapting it to the flair of the target audience?

Communication is an action that creates a common bridge from the semantic point of view ( a common-action). Filling the gap of language barrier is still a huge issue to tackle in marketing; recreating a totaly new content is a laborious work, rates should be adjusted accordingly and investment should be a priority for companies who want to go global. Pls give me your opinion on this - Maurizia Gregorio

My Answer:

Localization/translation is paramount when entering or operating in a foreign market.

For example; when sending out marketing material you have a very short amount of time to get the readers attention. If it is not concisely written in the target markets language you don’t have a chance.

Another issue with marketing is that different countries/regions view marketing in different ways. Something that gets a lot of attention and works well one place may not work well in another or even have legal implications.

First impressions are very important and if the reader doesn’t understand the message because of poor language, they are not going to believe that you can provide them with a superior product. Your brochure ends up in the trash. This is a huge issue because you have lost a potential
client before they even know anything about your product.

Furthermore, many companies don’t localize things such as software, websites or manuals. I’m sure most of us have gone through the frustration of trying to assemble or configure a new product and not been able to understand the instructions. If you had the choice between two essentially equal products, but one of them had a manual or instructions that you could clearly understand because it was written by a native speaker… which would you choose to buy?

I’m always surprised to see how many international companies use non-native speakers to translate their materials for foreign markets. Whether it is out of ignorance, arrogance or for cost reasons, in the long run having your products localized for each market where the company operates is extremely important. Simply doing this can drastically improve you marketing success, sales volume and
retention of clients! If you want to go global, get local!

Read the full discussion on LinkedIn Answers