Meet Google Buzz, Not the Same as Yahoo! Buzz

Meet Google Buzz, Not the Same as Yahoo! Buzz

Will Google’s version give Facebook and Twitter a run for their money?

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China: Censorship Accusations are Groundless

China: Censorship Accusations are Groundless

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out against Chinese Internet censorship at a speech she gave at The Newseum in Washington, DC. China’s not too happy about it.

China said Clinton’s remarks had no basis. They also said that the accusations of censorship hurt U.S.-China ties.

This week, China put the brakes on their lending practices. The U.S., of course, has relied tons on lending from the Chinese. The new lending limits have rightly been attributed to other economic factors, but for the Chinese government it’s coming at a great time to wage this Internet war.

Google News keeps spreading as rapidly as kudzu

Google News keeps spreading as rapidly as kudzu

Google News is like kudzu, which is known as “the vine that ate the South” because of its out-of-control growth in the Southeastern United States. Although I’m from New England, friends like Stacy Williams of Prominent Placement, which is headquartered in Atlanta, tell me that kudzu is called the “mile-a-minute vine” in her neighborhood.

According to the Nielsen Company, there were 15,895,000 unique visitors to Google News U.S. in November 2009, and 4,817,000 to Google News France, 3,082,000 to Google News U.K., 2,727,000 to Google News Germany, 2,424,000 to Google News Spain, and 2,328,000 to Google News Italy that month.

According to comScore, there were 99,761,000 unique visitors to Google News worldwide in November 2009, and 21,216,000 to Google News U.S., 8,020,000 to Google News France, 5,567,000 to Google News U.K., 4,481,000 to Google News Canada, 4,461,000 to Google News Germany, 3,066,000 to Google News Spain, and 2,981,000 to Google News Italy.

Although they used different sample sizes and research methodologies, both market research firms report that the audience for Google News is huge.

According to Google News, “We have more than 40 regional editions of Google News in many different languages.” But when I count the full list of available editions, I find 71.

Well, 71 is “more than 40.” But you get the feeling that even the folks at Google News can’t keep up with its kudzu-like growth.

If you check Newsknife, you’ll see that the folks there are working overtime to keep up, as well. On January 2, 2010, Newsknife reported, “During 2009, we sighted 2501 sites there for the first time, bringing our total to 11,742 sites.” That’s a long, long way from the 4,000 news sources that Google News started with in September 2002.

We’ve reported on the advent of YouTube News, Google Fast Flip, and Living Stories at Google News.

Well, Fast Flip is now available on the Google News homepage. And five dozen publishers, including include Tribune Co. newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, McClatchy Company newspapers such as the Miami Herald and the Kansas City Star, the Huffington Post, Popular Science, Reuters, Public Radio International, POLITICO and U.S. News & World Report are included.

So, what does all this mean to marketers?

Like any rapidly changing field, the spread of Google News and its recent mutations represent an opportunity or a threat to marketers. If you want to know just how big an opportunity or threat it is, then ask your PR people, “What are you doing differently today than you were in September 2002 when Google News was launched?”

If they have a good answer, then ask, “What are you doing differently today than you were in May 2007 when Google launched universal search?”

And if they have a good answer, then ask, “What are you doing differently today than you were in June 2009 when Google News and YouTube teamed up to help news publishers build a bigger audience for their video content?”

I had to face similar questions last week as the special guest of Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey (SWMS). Whitmore knows all about press release optimization and universal search. He wanted to know if there was any “new news” to share with his subscribers, who are tech PR pros.

No I can’t share my entire presentation, because you need to be a SWMS subscriber to see and hear that. But Whitmore, who was a colleague of mine at Ziff-Davis back in the 1990s, did agree to provide the last eight minutes of our editorial teleconference for free to Search Engine Watch Blog readers.

So, check it out for yourself. And if you think your PR people should know about this stuff, then email them a link to this post. Or, write about it in your own CMO blog. Or check out the chicklets below and Stumble It, Add to del.icio.us, or Tweet it on Twitter.

But make sure your PR people get the message. The times they are a-changin’ — and public relations need to change at the same rapid pace as Google News.

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• Google’s News Experiment Gets 24 More Publishers (mashable.com)
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• Google Fast Flip pulls in more news outlets (theregister.co.uk)
• Google Adds News Flip to Google News Home Page (seroundtable.com)
• Fast Flip in Google News (mt-soft.com.ar)

SES, an opportunity to meet and greet an international marketing community.

SES, an opportunity to meet and greet an international marketing community.

One of the best things I find about international SES conferences is just how much you can learn about the cultural and political differences in attitude to marketing. As a formal marketing student you learn very quickly about performing an environmental scan. This is not specifically about whether your viewed as a “green” marketer but more about variables within the marketing environment you can control and those you can’t.

In the micro environment you have full control over your marketing efforts. But the macro environment has the variables that you need to monitor in order to be able to adapt your marketing campaign to specifics. These include cultural, political, economical, legal and, of course, environmental in the green sense, to name a few.

If you’re monitoring these variables and flexible enough to adapt your campaign to incorporate these differences you’re much more likely to succeed in your international marketing campaigns and product launches.

At Search Engine Watch today, guest contributor Bas van den Beld shares his notes from SES, Berlin in November of last year.

It’s interesting to note his references to Germany’s “love hate” relationship with Google. As well as his notes on the difference between SEO tactics at times and also Germany’s approach to social media.

I was at the show and gained a huge insight into the German search marketing space. Incidentally, leading German search marketer, Thomas Bindl of Refined Labs, who fronted the Berlin conference, has recently published a mini case study in conjunction with Google.

Amongst other things, “Using Long Tail Keywords For Efficient Conversions” shows that:

• 31% of all conversions require more than one click-through

• The conversion rate is closely linked to the chosen match type

• The longer and more specific the search terms (keywords)
the higher the click-through and conversion rates

The SES international community is huge. And certainly the networking opportunities at all SES conferences provide fabulous opportunities to become totally aware of the unique marketing environments in specific geographic territories.

For those in the US who want to know more about the UK marketplace, SES, London is just around the corner. And if you’ve already registered, as so many have, be sure to sign up for the networking meet and greet on 15 Feb.

For those outside of the US wanting to break into it, it’s not too long to wait for SES, New York - meet up details coming soon.

And for those of you who prefer a little California sunshine with your digital marketing learning, there’s OMS, San Diego complete with a full day two track SES forum. This special forum brings some of the industry’s leading practitioners together for a unique day of search engine marketing wisdom.

StumbleUpon Unveils Most Stumbled Sites for 2009

StumbleUpon Unveils Most Stumbled Sites for 2009

StumbleUpon has had quite a year. They bought themselves back from eBay and launched a URL shortening service, among other things. Now, they’re revealing the most stumbled sites for their historic year that was 2009.

Here they are, broken down by category:

Arts

Jim Jarmusch Quote - 278K Stumbles
Aled Lewis Illustrations - 253K Stumbles
Pepsi Logo Response - 229K Stumbles

Bizarre/Oddities

99 Things You Should Have Seen On The Internet - 471K Stumbles
Scary Good Facepaint - 374K Stumbles
Slightly Warped Curiosities: Gibraltar Airport - 352K Stumbles

Food/Cooking

26 Cakes Perfect for Geeks - 290K Stumbles
Pasta Pie Recipe - 231K Stumbles
Hasselback Potatoes Recipe - 231K Stumbles

Environment

Air Traffic in 24 Hours - 130K Stumbles
Free Heat from Old Window and Soda Cans - 113K Stumbles
Think About Your Morning Latte - 112K Stumbles

Humor

Cheat Sheet for Travelling Back in Time - 472K Stumbles
Life Summarized in 4 Bottles - 439K Stumbles
As Luck Would Have It… - 369K Stumbles

Music

8 Tracks Mix: Songs that Make You Feel Better - 368K Stumbles
Gizmodo: Proof That Birds are Secret Composers - 313K Stumbles
Fun With Rap Music - 298K Stumbles

Photography

Peter Funch Street Photography - 410K Stumbles
Stunning Wildlife Camouflage - 356K Stumbles
14 Rare Color Photos From the FSA-OWI - 341K Stumbles

Science

Robot/People Art by Kacie Kinzer - 230K Stumbles
Photographs of and from the Hubble Space Telescope - 219K Stumbles
Default Password for Roadside Led Signs - 184K Stumbles

Travel

12 Most Amazing Pools in the World - 196K Stumbles
9 best Train Journeys in the World - 172K Stumbles
Anderson Cooper’s Blog: 28 things I wish I’d known before I started traveling - 165K Stumbles

Video Games

Ball Droppings - 292K Stumbles
Amazing Mario Level - 214K Stumbles
Canabalt - 192K Stumbles

Google and Bing Duke It Out Over Webmaster FAQs

Google and Bing Duke It Out Over Webmaster FAQs

Last week, while you were doing your last minute shopping, Google and Bing were going head to head - over their Webmaster FAQs.

First, Bing took to their Webmaster blog to introduce the new, official Webmaster Center FAQ. They already had FAQ content in the help section and in the forums. The new FAQ compiles that content plus additional questions into a downloadable PDF document.

Three days later, Google said “Oh yeah? Me too” with a post about the FAQ on Webmaster Central. It has been compiled and maintained by high-participating users in the forums, affectionately referred to as “Bionic Posters.”

The good news for webmasters is that both Google and Bing are working to provide the best information for developing sites and getting them indexed.

More Sophisticated Online Pirate Attacks Expected in 2010

More Sophisticated Online Pirate Attacks Expected in 2010
A new report released on Tuesday by McAfee [warning: large PDF white paper] shows that social networking sites can expect an increase in sophisticated cyberattacks in the upcoming year. Adobe Reader and Flash will also be at risk, as well as bank security. Ominously, attacks targeting users, businesses and applications …

A Look Ahead at SES Conference & Expo Series in 2010

A Look Ahead at SES Conference & Expo Series in 2010

I know, I know. I’m getting ready to call it a year.

But this is also the time to look ahead at the upcoming Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo series in 2010.

It kicks off with SES London, which runs from Feb. 16-19, 2010. The keynote speakers are Avinash Kaushik, Bryan Eisenberg, and Jim Sterne.

Then, there’s SES San Diego, which will be held Feb. 25, 2010, in collaboration with the Online Marketing Summit.

Next, there’s SES New York, which will be held March 22-26, 2010. The keynote speakers include David Meerman Scott and Avinash Kaushik.

There’s a lot more — but check out the interview below with Matt McGowan, Vice President and Publisher for Incisive Media’s Interactive Marketing Group, which includes Search Engine Watch, ClickZ as well as Search Engine Strategies.

Search Engine Strategies (SES) 2010 calendar of events with Matthew McGowan, Incisive Media

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• Search Engine Strategies (SES) London (businessmedia.co.uk)
• Mike Grehan Named VP and Global Content Director for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ and Search Engine Strategies (prweb.com)
• Search Engine Strategies (SES) Offers SEM Training on November 5, 2009 and SES New York on March 23-25, 2010 (prweb.com)

@ericschmidt Tries Out ‘Poor Man’s Email’

@ericschmidt Tries Out ‘Poor Man’s Email’

Looks like Google CEO Eric Schmidt has adopted an “If you can’t acquire beat them, join them” attitude when it comes to Twitter. After calling the tool a “poor man’s email” last March, Schmidt began Tweeting last night.

And he’s already pulled a Sarah Palin. He started using @eschmidt0, then switched to @ericschmidt - an entirely different account. Unlike Palin, though, Schmidt’s followers seemed to have followed him to the new account. Of course, it’s only been a day, so that worked in his favor.

So far, Schmidt has a whopping 2 tweets. No word on whether or not it’s actually his executive assistant ghost tweeting for him.

Google Takes on Ask.com in Deals, Yahoo! in Times Square

Google Takes on Ask.com in Deals, Yahoo! in Times Square

Google has launched a new Deals page, almost two months after Ask.com unveiled their new Deals site. Google’s Deals page features the 900 retailers included in Google Checkout. The Deals site ain’t pretty either:

You can access the Google Deals site at www.google.com/checkout/deals.html

Meanwhile, Google is taking on Yahoo! in Times Square. You might remember Yahoo! is offering free Wifi in Times Square. Google wants people in Times Square to search via Voice by calling 888-376-4336. Answers to the queries appear on electronic billboards. This is part of a campaign to promote the new Motorola Droid, which uses Android.

The billboard campaign doesn’t run all day. You can find it going on from 12:30-2pm and 6:30-8pm most days.

(Times Square photo borrowed from the Official Google blog)

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