Government Services
Proprietary data, global reach and complete accountability for federal, state & global government agencies.
Learn More
Posts Tagged ‘Google’
Tues News: 2/23 (Sexy Edition)
Michael Block | February 23rd, 2010
Whoa, this is sure to be a popular version of the Tues News, am I right? Maybe not. After all, what’s sexy to a search marketer and what’s sexy to you (we call you guys “normies”) may not align. Still, just because Wpromote is a respected corporation doesn’t mean we can’t comment on the world of sensual goings on online. I won’t keep you all in suspense anymore; let’s get going! Apple recently dashed the hopes and dreams of aficionados of sexy imagery by banning all sexual content from the app store. Although this may come as a boon to parents and watchdog groups, this comes as terrible news both for males aged 5 to 95 as well as developers of apps that don’t actually contain sexual content but could possibly be used in conjunction with sexual content. For example: an application called Wobble allowed a user to make parts of a static image appear to wobble, as the name might suggest. Of course, the application was often used on parts of the female anatomy to liven up beach photos, but that was the choice of the user, not the creators of the app; you could also use it on a photo of Jello, if you so chose. This presents problems of hypocrisy, as MG Siegler of TechCrunch writes. Safari is probably the most popular application for viewing pornographic photos and it’s a product of Apple! Of course, Safari isn’t going anywhere–neither are apps from companies like Sports Illustrated or Continue reading…
Tues News 2/16 (What You Don’t Know Edition)
Michael Block | February 16th, 2010
Thank you to Amanda for saving my buns by providing the links today. With Presidents’ Day on Monday and with me leaving for New York to take a new Google test, I’ve got quite the busy week for myself. However, whereas that may have prevented a Tues News in the past, steadfast Wpromoter, Amanda Moshier won’t let that be the case this week. She even threw in an extra link! The theme, as I understand it, is “what you don’t know,” spurred by the recent SNAFU with Google Buzz. We were going to go with “the privacy edition” except that I feel like privacy is coming up as an issue week after week. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well then, let’s get going! Okay, so if you didn’t hear by now, everyone is really, really upset with Google. It turns out that if you had a Google profile and you enabled Buzz, there was a chance that people could see the Gmail addresses of your friends. As it turns out, that’s not a good thing, since many people who use Gmail often use it as their personal account and nobody knew about this until it was already happening. In a world where people get fired for receiving emails with the F-word in them, the privacy and separation of one’s personal email is sacrosanct. Hey Google, next time you rush a product, maybe make sure it’s good enough that people won’t notice this sort of gross oversight! [MarketingPilgrim] Who are Continue reading…
Tags: augmented reality, facebook, Google, google buzz, online privacy, search marketing
Posted in Tues News | 4 Comments
Google Buzzing. Twitter Fretting?
Michael Block | February 9th, 2010
Just about a month ago, I editorialized on the Wpromote blog about Google’s response to Yelp’s refusal to be purchased by Google: Hell hath no fury like Sergey and Larry [Google's founders] scorned. Keep in mind, all you innovators out there, that if Google offers to buy you out, what they are really saying is, “Don’t make us do what you do, only better!” Remember MapQuest? Yeah, neither do I. Well, it looks like Twitter may be getting similar comeuppance. Google just announced Google Buzz and you can learn about it in the video above or in the TechCrunch article hot off the presses. This move by Google is significant for a number of reasons: It’s built into Gmail and tons of people already use Gmail. It’s an outstanding parry to Facebook’s decision to try their hand at email (which would compete directly with Gmail). If you have Facebook and Gmail, one could argue that Twitter may be on its way to irrelevancy. Let’s speak to #3 because it’s a pretty bold statement. By the way, if you want to come off as a jerk, refer to your own statements as “bold.” It’s wicked-effective. Anyway, let’s think about the things that people use Twitter for: Updating peers on what they’re doing: Facebook and Buzz now have this covered. Sharing with peers things like pics, articles, memes, etc.: Facebook and Buzz now have this covered. Updating non-peers on the points above: Facebook and Buzz can have this covered (depending on privacy Continue reading…
Tags: facebook, gmail, Google, google buzz, social marketing, Twitter
Posted in Google, Internet News | 2 Comments
Tues News: 2/2 (Groundhog Day Edition)
Michael Block | February 2nd, 2010
Today is Groundhog Day, which means that the world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, came out of his hole to give us a prediction. Well, it’s bad news, unfortunately, as Phil saw his shadow and doomed us to another six weeks of winter. That’s bad news, however, much like in the movie Groundhog Day, starring the irreproachable Bill Murray, it’s just more of the same. Phil, you see, has seen his shadow in ten out of the last eleven winters! It seems that life is imitating art with this sort of repetition. Well, repetition and “business as usual” seem to be the order of the week in the field of search marketing as well. This time, I’ve brought you three stories of what feel like old stories but are actually hot off the presses in honor of Groundhog Day and the eponymous movie. Let’s get going! Microsoft can’t make money online. No, this story isn’t from when Microsoft created the inferior adCenter after breaking away from Overture. No, this story isn’t about Microsoft failing to purchase Yahoo. This story is about how after the big push for Bing, the gains don’t seem to have outweighed the losses. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing, Microsoft still lost over $2 billion last year. Hey, Microsoft! Maybe if you made adCenter about half as good as Google AdWords, you wouldn’t be in this mess! But no, don’t listen to me; it’s not like I’ve been saying this forever. I just Continue reading…
Tues News: 1/26 (Funny Edition)
Michael Block | January 26th, 2010
Whenever I talk about my job as a search engine marketeer, I often am met with blank looks. It’s not because I’m a rocket scientist and the language I’m using is too difficult for mere mortals to comprehend. It’s also not because I’m a giant bore (I hope!). My guess is that a lot of people just don’t know very much about SEM and, therefore, find it boring. But it’s not all so banal! Sometimes, marketing, even in the search engines, is hilarious! This week, in the Tues News, I will show you exactly what I mean with three funny links to brighten up your wintry afternoon. Let’s get going! This first link is one of my favorites in quite a while. Danny Sullivan, the Big Cheese at SearchEngineLand, is one of the smartest guys in our industry, especially for SEO. I’ve even written about him before in the Tues News. Anyway, he had some sage SEO advice for Bill Gates this week that I found to be really funny. Bill’s blog isn’t getting any love in Google but, perhaps more embarrassing, it’s getting even less love from Bing, a Microsoft property! It just goes to show you that all the money in the world won’t buy you a blog that search engines care about. [SearchEngineLLand] Who doesn’t love web comics? I know I do! In fact, I read about six ongoing web comics on a daily basis (during my free time, not during work, of course). One of the Continue reading…
Tags: apple, Bing, Google, Internet News, SEO, social marketing, Twitter, Viral Marketing, web comics
Posted in Tues News | 4 Comments
Tues News: 1/12 (A Little Bit Creepy Edition)
Michael Block | January 12th, 2010
The world of search marketing and the Internet in general is a diverse place. There are good guys (kiva.org), bad guys (swoopo.com) and ugly guys (dustindiamond.com). Still, the vast majority of the sites that you deal with fall somewhere in the grey areas**. The most helpful sites, such as Wikipedia, can often lead you astray with bad information. Google is an amazing tool for almost every aspect of your life but you know for a fact that Google probably knows more about you at this point than your Nana. Sure, Ebay no longer has the sketchy stigma it had a decade ago but that doesn’t mean that people have stopped getting ripped off. The Internet may be a wonderful place but, when you really stop to think about it, it can be pretty creepy! This week, in the Tues News, I’ll address three sort of creepy developments in the search engine marketing world that might surprise you. Let’s get going! By now, you know that Google got the cold shoulder from Yelp when it offered half a billion dollars to purchase the restaurant-rating megasite. Well, as the old saying goes: Hell hath no fury like Sergey and Larry scorned. Keep in mind, all you innovators out there, that if Google offers to buy you out, what they are really saying is, “Don’t make us do what you do, only better!” Remember MapQuest? Yeah, neither do I. Google is responding to Yelp’s refusal to be bought by inventing their own Yelp Continue reading…
Tags: facebook, Google, Internet News, online privacy, search marketing, yelp
Posted in Tues News | 6 Comments
