The Washington Post posted an interview with the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer today that touched on topics such as Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo and the future of advertising. What I enjoyed most was the segment on the Future of Advertising where Ballmer, in his animated way, discussed Microsoft’s plans for the future and their continuing contest with Google.
“Spam Spam Spam Sausage and Spam!” The words from the hilarious Monty Python sketch play unbounded in my mind every time I hear the word “Spam”.
Unfortunately these days the inedible version of Spam is far from funny as it clogs our Internet and wastes our valuable time filtering through garbage email. Some of these emails just happen to be scam Spam about a “Yahoo Lottery” that claims the recipient has won the Yahoo Lottery and these emails go on to request everything from social security numbers to credit card information in order to claim said prize. Well in case you didn’t know there is no such thing as a Yahoo Lottery and Yahoo has had quite enough of hearing about it. Today Yahoo pronounced on the Yahoo Anecdotal blog that the company has decided to go after these spammers without mercy. Read more…
Google celebrates many holidays with pizazz by presenting a themed logo. On Memorial Day Google has not opted to provide a themed logo as long as I can remember, yet as Search Engine Journal depicted today many of the other search engines do a decent job of theming their logos.
So what is it with Google? Obviously no one in their right mind would have any problem with honoring active members, veterans and resting military personnel.
Last night I uploaded a new article to Search Engine Guide on 4Q which is an excellent free survey tool you can easily add to your website in order to improve the website and your marketing intelligence.
The scivy on 4Q can be found in my exclusive Search Engine Guide article: Free Survey Tool Fuels Marketing Insight.
by Ross Dunn, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
I am just on the way out the door but I caught this (opens in PDF) excellent news release by Nielsen/NetRatings stating that “one in four members of UK social networks use their phones to network.” Now considering that Europeans tend to be dramatically ahead of North Americans in cellular adoption this statistics release seemed worth of attention.
Here is a chart that really drove home the popularity of social networking via mobiles (click the image for a larger version):
Whats the point? Nothing all that fancy, this is just more great evidence of the power of social marketing; and it seems the more evidence to convince skeptics the better.
Marketing Sherpa is my favorite site for catching up on the latest case studies on user behavior online; followed by another excellent publication called Alertbox. Marketing Sherpa’s latest article does us all a service by illustrating how important it can be to have more transparent pricing for prospects visiting your website.
First ask yourself the question that Marketing Sherpa asked its respondents:
“Can you recall a technology/business purchase where a vendor got the sale (or the inside track) because they were more open than other vendors?”
The response (see the larger image):
The web is afire with the news that after its latest bid attempt to takeover Yahoo failed, Microsoft decided to back down. My desktop news widget is going wild with this news… updating every 30s or so with more updates from Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Forbes, Information Week, CNet News, etc; hot news indeed. All those big time journals aside it appears that BoomTown’s Kara Swisher was the first to break the news. Read more…
In follow-up to my most recent posting I just completed my article on How to Simply Create Your Own Mobile Website and it is now posted exclusively at my favourite search engine resource; Search Engine Guide.
Here is the introductory paragraph for a little taster:
“Mobile web browsing is gaining popularity and acceptance thanks to the extensive proliferation of iPhones and other mobile appliances with surf-friendly interfaces. As a result it is becoming more and more important to offer a mobile-friendly alternative to your current website. The reality is, however, that many website owners seem to have no inclination to spend money on a medium that (as far as they know) is unproven and could generate zero income. Fortunately there is a way for every website owner to create an alternative to their website and not only is it exceedingly simple but it is FREE. Now no one has an excuse to ignore this growing medium!”
by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
In the past I have written articles about the growing importance of creating a mobile website. I am currently in the process of creating yet another article with an update on the basic methods of creating a mobile website based on StepForth’s own work so that hopefully more people will take the time to do so. During my writing I came up with some burning questions:
- Once I have a website how do I ensure mobile users find it? The obvious answer was a redirection of some sort but what kind?
- Is there a simple answer to the most popular programming languages online? Read more…
This morning I arrived at my desk to find a very welcome message from my friend and colleague Eric Lander. Apparently Google made a colossal boo-boo and exposed the quality score and max bids for some advertisements. As far as I know this is a first. Check out Eric’s article at Search Engine Journal.
Below is one of the screenshots of the leak from Eric’s article
