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Friday, July 25, 2008
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Knol: Google vs. the Internet
Yesterday, Google opened Knol to the public. Knol, which is a Squidoo-like user generated content site, strays from their mission statement of organizing the world’s knowledge by also producing and publishing that content. However, beyond being evidence of Google potentially losing focus, there a more disturbing aspect of Knol has emerged for web publishers. There is some evidence that Google is giving preferential treatment to Knol pages.When Knol launched, Google reps told Danny Sullivan that “the authority of Google’s domain wouldn’t give Knol any additional trust. Knol pages will be scored based on the links and PageRank pointing to individual pages.” Or in other words, Google won’t give special treatment to Knol pages. That’s important, because it will go a ways toward helping keep spammers away from Knol.
However, today, Sullivan took a look at a sample of 30 Knol pages and found that about a third of them were ranked on the first page of Google results for the words in which they’re titled. “You can spin that both ways. It’s proof that being in Knol is NOT an automatic ride to the top of the search results,” writes Sullivan. “But then again, knowing that 33% of your stuff will rank within a day is a pretty good track record.”
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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Four ways Google could destroy Digg
With news that Google is alleged once again to be close to acquiring Digg, some may suggest that the future of the popular social voting destination is assured. But looking at Google’s list of acquisitions, it is anything but. Here’s four ways Google could destroy Digg as we currently know it.
StagnationWhile Digg is a popular service is its current form, any site that doesn’t evolve over time to keep the interaction fresh risks losing favor, particularly in a competitive space. Feedburner was acquired by Google for $100 million in June 2007, and the notice of the acquisition is still sitting on the front page. In over 12 months nothing much at all has changed at Feedburner, with the exception of some users getting to display Adsense ads in their feed. No Google login integration, no fresh services, nothing much at all really. Feeburner has one advantage: a near monopoly in third party feed support, and many of us use it by default, and that’s the only reason it hasn’t blead users post Google. Feedburner also proves that the price of the acquisition doesn’t matter in Google pergatory, so despite a rumored $200 million price tag, Digg could easily suffer the same fate.
Jaiku was acquired by Google in October 2007 and since that time has remained unloved with no promotion or even reasonable support. When microblogging first came of age last year Jaiku was talked about as the No 2 in the space after Twitter, today, outside of a core few users, few use it, and even if you wanted to use it, they stopped accepting signups post Google acquisition. Not long ago it went down for a couple of days, and there were so few people left using it that hardly anyone noticed. It was rumored that Jaiku was acquired for the IP to be used in Google’s mobile endeavors, but we haven’t seen anything in that regard either. Microblogging would seem to be a natural service for Google to be in, and yet as more and more services enter the space, Google sits and does nothing with a platform that would have been booming if it hadn’t been acquired. The Digg lesson is that companies acquired by Google can be ignored and even forgotten. There is one thing for sure: Digg will never get the same amount of attention in Google as it gets now.
Unloved
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Monday, July 21, 2008
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Google knocks Microsoft off top of Britain's biggest brands
The internet search engine Google has been named as Britain's top "superbrand", after it beat Microsoft for the premier spot, according to a YouGov survey published today.
The search engine, which came third in the same consumer poll last year, took pole position in a list of 500 brands available in the UK, beating Mercedes-Benz, the BBC, British Airways and Royal Doulton.
Since Google was founded in 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then students at Stanford University, it has become one of Britain's most familiar names, launching Google Earth and acquiring YouTube, the popular video sharing site, in 2006.
According to Hitwise, which compiles a list of the top four leading UK search engines by volume of searches, Google.co.uk had a 73% share of users in May, significantly ahead of its rival Yahoo! which made it to number 75 in the YouGov poll.
Microsoft, despite its fall to second place, still looms over rival Apple, which despite its high-profile launch of the iPod and iPhone, narrowly missed a place in the top 10.
In the poll Sony took 10th place, beaten by BMW at seven, Bosch at eight, and Nike at nine.
Surprising omissions from the top 100 include Tesco, which only managed 300th position, showing a fall of 230 places from last year, and Sainsbury's, which fell 194 places to 232nd position. Fastfood retailers such as McDonald's and Burger King also showed significant falls on last year.Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Council, a brand valuation consultancy that commissioned the poll, said: "Lifestyle brands, particularly those in the technology sector, have considerably more sway with the public than everyday staples such as the supermarkets, which now seem further than ever from the affections of the British people.
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
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The Google paid link dilemma
Most of the discussions about paid links focus on the issue from a webmaster or SEO's point of view.
In this post I want to have a think about the issue from Google's point of view.
The reason Google doesn’t like paid links is obvious and understandable from its point of view.
Google quite simply doesn’t want websites to be able to buy their way to the top of the search engine rankings.
It isn’t a question about relevance because nobody buys their way to the top of the search results for a phrase that isn’t related to their site.
Once Google has made a stand and said that it doesn't like paid links, the next issue is to take action against the people who are buying and selling those links.
In the past year we have seen Google handing out penalties to link brokers, link buyers and link sellers but so far we haven’t seen Google exhibiting an even hand against any of these groups.
Why have some sites been given minus 50 penalties while others are left alone?
The main issue Google has here is that the abuse is so widespread that it is totally powerless to fix it.
Imagine if Google was to hand out penalties to all the link buyers in the UK finance industry – the result would be the top 20 sites for each niche all being removed from the index.
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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Online ads intrusive, annoying, but effective
You see them on just about every Web site. They lurk at the side or the top of the page. Some are static, others blink, flash, even float across your monitor. Some pop up, blocking your view of the Web site you're trying to visit or sticking around after you've closed a site.
Online ads are everywhere, and while they might seem annoying, they're often effective. Isn't it time you considered online advertising for your small business?Sure, you may find an ad intrusive, but perhaps you remember the name of the company in the ad, or -- if the ad is appealing enough -- you actually click on it, going to the advertiser's Web site.
Moreover, Internet advertising is often cost-effective. With online ads, you can get detailed information on how many people have seen your ads (impressions) and how many have clicked through to your Web site. In fact, with some types of Web advertising, you pay only when someone clicks through to your Web site, meaning you're definitely getting attention for your bucks.
Even if you dislike the type of ad that pops up or floats across a Web page, it's a good bet that there's lots of other online ads that you -- and others like you -- are actually glad to see. Keep in mind there are lots of different advertising opportunities on the Web -- many of them extremely affordable for small businesses.
Two of the best choices on online advertising options for small companies are portal/directory ads and search-engine marketing:
Web portals/directories listings: Let's say you're looking for environmentally sensitive products. You want to find solar-powered heating, energy-efficient lights or recycled building materials. When you come across a Web site with lists and descriptions of environmental products you can buy, you're thrilled. You don't care that these companies have paid to be listed; you're just glad to have all these resources in one location.
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