You’ve probably heard that Wikipedia are planning to introduce a new editing process, to reduce the visibility and impact of vandalism. Wikipedia represents both the best and worst of online behaviour, with over three million articles in English, contributed by more than 10 million users. But there have been abuses of the open system over the years, and Wikipedia’s new … Read More
My thoughts on broad match keywords
I have always known the risks involved with using broad match terms in Google AdWords. Before there were search query reports, I would use the raw log files to see what people were actually searching for, and was often shocked at what I would find. An example of this outrageous irrelevance would be if I were to have bid on … Read More
Selling in an age of uncertainty
We live in an age of instant access to an endless amount of information. The internet means that we can find anything we want in the blink of an eye. But finding the truth is as hard as it’s ever been. Most of us at some point have gone looking for medical information online. It’s not a good idea. Those … Read More
Google don’t get everything right – screwing it up in style
What ever happened to Google Knol? Actually there’s a reasonable chance that you don’t even know what Google Knol is, and just by clicking the link won’t tell you much either. And clicking on the help link will take you to a page that uses a video to explain what a knol is. Nice irony. If you take a step … Read More
AdWords ads have moved!
The more observant or caffeinated of you will have already noticed that the ads displayed alongside Google’s search results have moved closer to their natural counterparts. On a lower resolution system you might not have noticed, but whereas the ads used to be on the far right side of my 1680 x 1050 screen, they are now nestled quite cosily … Read More
The Value of Post Purchase Follow-Up
My wife and I purchased a new car in December of last year. Prior to our purchase, we did a lot of research into what car would best fit our needs and provide us the most value. Once we decided on a specific make & model, we then began visiting different car dealers in order to find the best price … Read More
17 million Brits won’t use the internet?
The BBC News Magazine have a bewildering article on The internet’s conscientious objectors, that suggests that as many as 17 million people in Britain are not using the internet. “Non-users are “becoming less and less likely to want to be engaging with technology such as the internet,” says Ellen Helsper, who has been a leading researcher with the Oxford Internet … Read More
Greed, haste and desire kill sales
In an age when people’s private information has become a commodity, some companies have decided that it’s reasonable to force their customers to share their data. I recently called a support phone number for a well known supplier of network hardware. To open a ticket, they needed to know the name and model of the product, where and when I … Read More
Recession: The beginning of the end or the eye of the storm?
At this year’s Software Industry Conference, myself and Sharon Housley (NotePage, Inc.) co-presented a session on Marketing in a Recession. The session went well, yet the feedback we received was fascinating. It turned out that most of the people who attended the talk believed that the worst of the recession was now behind us, and that we had taken our … Read More
What do you mean you haven’t heard of Baidu?
From Wikipedia: “Baidu is the leading Chinese search engine for websites, audio files, and images. Baidu offers 57 search and community services including an online collaboratively-built encyclopedia (Baidu Baike), and a searchable keyword-based discussion forum. In October 2008, Baidu ranked 9th overall in Alexa’s internet rankings. In December 2007 Baidu became the first Chinese company to be included in the … Read More
