According to the Official Google Blog, over 100,000 people will today receive their invitations to preview Google Wave. If you haven’t yet heard of Google Wave, it’s a mix of email, instant messaging, twitter and more. You can see it in action in Google Wave Developer Preview at Google I/O 2009. So what is it? To be honest I don’t … Read More
Cybercrime opportunity and lessons learnt from Norton
The anti-virus companies are the unsung heroes of the modern PC. Back in the day when “normal, everyday people” were only starting to think about buying a PC for home use, the anti-virus companies were ramping up their marketing efforts. And by the time PCs for the home had become a norm, anti-virus software had been transformed from a paranoid-geek’s … Read More
AdWords workaround for the long ad approval process
If you’re using AdWords, you have most likely run into the dreaded ad approval queue. Does the following sound familiar? Weeks after creating your new AdWords ads, you phone Google to ask why it is taking so long for them to become active. Google say, “The amount of time it takes for your ad to be reviewed may vary depending … Read More
Google Waffle and the art of quantity hype
Google have announced their new DoubleClick Ad Exchange, yet are somehow managing to drown the pertinent facts with an overwhelming quantity of waffle. The Official Google Blog published a post entitled The DoubleClick Ad Exchange: growing the display advertising pie for everyone last Friday, yet the first nine paragraphs of the entry are little more than lengthy yabbering. A total … Read More
Create AdWords image ads in no time
We’ve recently been seeing quite good performance with image ads, both animated and static. The problem is the time it takes to have another ad created to your specific needs. It only takes a few seconds to create a new text ad, yet when it comes to creating a new image ad, this can often take a lot longer. Display … Read More
Facebook breaks the rules: positive cashflow… and early!
From Mark Zuckerberg’s blog: “As of today, Facebook now serves 300 million people across the world. It’s a large number, but the way we think about this is that we’re just getting started on our goal of connecting everyone. We’re also succeeding at building Facebook in a sustainable way. Earlier this year, we said we expected to be cash flow … Read More
Elevator pitches that work
I’m sure you’re already familiar with the concept of an elevator pitch. You’re in an elevator, someone asks you what you do, and you have 15-20 seconds to tell them. It often surprises me how many people can’t describe their business in such a short time span, and of those who do, it’s incredible how many get it wrong. Let’s … Read More
Unhappy is noisier than happy
From the UK’s SC Magazine: “Barclays Capital Securities and Barclays Bank have been fined £2.45 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to provide accurate transaction reports and for serious weaknesses in its systems and controls in relation to transaction reporting.” Barclays fined £2.45 million by the Financial Services Authority for failures in transaction reporting. ‘Serious weaknesses in … Read More
LeGarrette Blount leaves his stain on Google
I personally find Google Trends, in particular the Hot Trends, fascinating. It’s a real insight into what really interests the US at any given time. And a quick check this morning shows the top five listings dominated by the American “sportsman” LeGarrette Blount violently losing his temper. Whatever’s left of LeGarrette Blount’s career and credibility will be forever tainted by … Read More
Barclays Bank’s 25 year process for driving away customers
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve been a customer of Barclays Bank for more than 25 years. And when I moved our company back to the UK, I set-up our business bank account with them. We have many years of history, and for a long time the adage of ‘better the devil you know’ has kept me with them. … Read More
