EU Might Place Limit on Keywords

SEO really does change every. It will change especially for European advertisers if the EU goes through with restricting the use of competitors as keywords to generate sponsored links on Internet search engines. Companies buy Google Adwords for keywords of their rivals, so their own ads show up instead of ads for the search term. These restrictions will put a stop to this strategy. Read more about the case here.

Google Entertainment

As much as they deny it Google is entering the content game. This NY Times article reports that the internet giant is in talks with the N.B.A., working with Lionsgate movie studio, and adding a subscription service. Still Google holds that their main mission is to organize and manage content and not produce it. The Times also reports that Google has set aside $100 million for high-profile celebrities to manage their own Youtube channels in an attempt to get more "high-profile content."Although Google is not technically producing content yet, they have a vested interest in keeping media organizations in business.

Social Media Values

I love Slate, and obviously some of this piece is postulation, but it's a fascinating, short look at some of the stances taken by Google, Facebook, and Twitter amidst revolutions and censured information. All of these platforms have played parts (even if Malcom Gladwell doesn't agree) in the rapid spread of information and uprisings we've been witnessing. However, it hadn't occurred to me to analyze this from the role of the founders of these various organizations. Do you think that Zuckerburg is out for the profit more than Google is? Or maybe just playing it safer, politically?

The Black Hats of Search

This weekend the NY Times Business section had a fascinating article on SEO. The case study they use is with JC Penney in the last couple weeks. Their organic search ranks for terms like "living room furniture" plummeted after Google discovered the thousands of sites linking to Penney's website and suspected black hat practices. It goes over a lot of what we talked about in class and investigates the black hat link selling business.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html

Google Voice Number Porting

This article discusses the pros and cons of using Google as your primary phone. There are many interesting options available once you have switched, but it can get messy. I don't think I could ever part from my phone, but the article makes some nice points. What do you think?

Apps for the masses

Google just released a software tool to help people write applications for its Android smartphones. The free software, Google App Inventor for Android, will allow anyone, including non-developers, to create their own cell phone applications. As reported in the New York Times, Google has been testing this for a year in schools with sixth graders, high school girls, nursing students, and university undergraduates who are not computer science majors.

While Google App Inventor only works for Android phones, this kind of technology could potentially provide businesses with more cost-effective ways to build customized apps for their target audiences. Will this open technology be a viable competitor for Apple's more controlled iPhone apps?

Augment My Reality

One of my favorite programs of the rarely used pieces of Android or iPhone software is called Augmented Reality (AR). The idea is to use the devices' internal cameras to overlay digital information on real life video.

A popular example is the Yelp app. Yelp has been able to perform AR since the iPhone 3GS, but with the new iOS4 it's even quicker and more precise.

To use it, open Yelp and switch to the Map view of the nearby Yelp reviewed establishments, touch the Monocle button and simply hold up your phone as if to look through it. The map becomes a video display of what is "behind" the phone, with the Yelp reviewed establishments overlain complete with names and star ratings. Plus, if you turn, the phone knows the direction you're facing adjusting your "Monocle" accordingly.

Image courtesy Technologizer.com

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