Google to provide More Accurate Traffic Updates

September 5th, 2009

On its quest to provide a more reliable traffic update thru its own service – Google Map, Google recently announce that they are using location-enabled mobile phones to access real-time traffic data.

Using Google Map’s My Location, users send anonymous data thru their GPS-enabled phones to Google describing their speed in moving in a given area. By combining these bits of data with others, Google provide these information back to users to inform the updated traffic layers.

In this way, Google needs user’s cooperation to get accurate data though it didn’t require much effort. Google said that users will just have to turn on their Google Maps before driving and as more people participate on this data transmission, a more accurate traffic report will result.

One catch on this is the users privacy. With this, Google assured that all information sent to Google thru this process will remain anonymous and will permanently delete the data once captured for traffic update purposes.

Also, Google said that this service will be available not only to iPhone and iPod Touch users but also to other smartphone platforms.

Adsense Expanded to Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine

September 4th, 2009

Do you handle a site in Lithuanian, Latvian or Ukrainian? Then you should rejoice because you can now have Adsense into your sites. If you have not applied for an account, now would be the right time. Get those blogs up and get the content rolling and get your Adsense account now.

To do this, simply visit Adsense at adsense.google.com and apply for an account. When approved all you need to do is generate an ad code and place it on your site and Adsense will immediately populate it with relevant ads. Adsense is one of the greatest ways to monetize a site and it is working for both beginners and experts.

Information on Adwords’ Mouse over Effects

September 3rd, 2009

The complaint on misleading ads has always existed. Some ads are formatted in such a way that it will provide real information only to find out that it leads to a useless website. This happens when the titles and descriptions of ads are misleading and the owner of the website advertised is merely concerned about hits.

With this concern, a member of Webmasterworld thought about having information show up as a person hovers over the text link. This will give the person enough time to think if the site is really worth the visit.

My problem with that is that advertising is meant to lure or bait people. Not in a bad way, but the idea is to create interest and then have people take a look. Words are formatted in such a way as to encourage interest. If more information about the site is going to be shown in the mouse over, it will only be formatted in such a way as to reinforce the original ad. So it is a pretty useless idea if you will ask me.

Google Wave to be Launched

September 2nd, 2009

As Bing has been developing some new ways to capture the audience, Google will not be left behind. They are also working in their rooms to create new applications that will capture their market. One such application is Google Wave.

In this age, multitasking has been second nature to us. In fact, having all things in one secure place is better than having them in multiple areas. This is what Google Wave will do. They will integrate all the important communication and documents in one place.

When I saw the preview, it reminds me a lot of Google apps. It is like creating a place in your browser where everything is integrated. But Google Wave is so much more. It can let people communicate and work together while sharing important texts, photos, videos and more.

The goal of Google wave is common workspace. Online jobs are normal nowadays and projects must be collaborated on an online setting. Google wave does just that. But this does not mean that you should also be online for the wave can rewind back so you can see what has happened. Like Google Docs, editing is done in real time so participants can easily communicate and tell the others what they think. It is a very convenient tools for different types of projects.

Facebook versus Canadian Privacy Law

September 1st, 2009

The world’s most famous social site is facing criticism in Canada. Facebook, being the most successful networking website that provides various features for its users to enjoy such as millions of applications, faces the Canadian Law – the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

The investigation came upon request last year after a group from the University of Ottawa called The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic to look of Facebook’s privacy policies.

Anne-Marie Hayden, spokesperson for Canada’s privacy commission, said that Facebook was doing something to address this concern upon request of the Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart to the company to submit proposal and timeline regarding their policies.

The five-year-old Canadian act affects Facebook’s almost 12 million users from Canada since the company keeps user’s personal information indefinitely, even if they closed their accounts on the said website.

To address the said problems, Stoddart suggested that Facebook should clarify its privacy policies, to make it easier for Canadian users to remove their profiles and to curb the amount of personal information that Facebook collects from its users. Giving the company a 30-day period to implement the suggestions, Facebook said that in order not to face the same liabilities in the future, they will also introduce a number of new features addressing privacy concerns.

Is Twitter Created For Commercial Purposes?

August 31st, 2009

After we have written about the article about Twitter turning commercial at the latter half of this year, a question sprung up in my mind. Is Twitter really created for commercial purposes?
The main use of Twitter is to keep people connected. It lets an individual share a slice of his or her life with other people through short but frequent messages. It lets people see what is going on in another person’s life. But then with it being commercial nowadays, does this mean that Twitter lost its personal touch?

The great thing about Twitter used for businesses is that it lets businesses reach out to their audience in a more personal way. This is unlike the recorded messages in answering machines or formal emails. Twitter can reach even in an informal manner. But with a lot of people entering Twitter with business as the primary reason, I am now seeing Twitter turn into an impersonal, alienating medium.

But I guess it is inevitable. Sooner or later, businesses will enter Twitter anyway. But I guess this post is just a simple call to use the medium wisely. It is not a ready audience. I do not like Twitter to turn like my spam box in the future.

Twitter Turning Commercial

August 30th, 2009

Twitter Cofounder Biz Stone has already released information that Twitter has been making improvements on the site with the goal of making it commercial. More and more businesses are using Twitter by the day and they thought that they should monetize on this by helping businesses get more out of Twitter with a fee.

This is where the premium accounts will come in. Twitter will now be providing businesses certified accounts so that their business names will not be taken by someone else. They have done this for celebrities and they will do this for businesses as well. Another is to set up an analytics system which will let people know how a certain account is faring on Twitter.

But as Biz Stone has said, these are just ideas. They will probably release a trial version so they can fully assess which features are the market willing to pay for. But we can expect the features to come out later on this year.

Social Media Promotion for Your Business

August 29th, 2009

I was inspired to create this post when I read Lee Odden’s “Social Media Marketing Basics: Facebook & Blog Promotion”. It is all about using social media to reach a target audience. Before, the utilization of social media as a promotion tool rarely comes by. But today, social media has been more important than ever especially for businesses.

Here are some reasons why you should use social media for your business.

1. It helps you get a target audience

The thing is, social media is a very useful tool for targeting specific audiences. The special filter systems can easily track the people that you want to target. The problem here is how you are going to do that because different social media companies have different ways of filtering people’s characteristics. What you should do is get to know the social media or hire someone to do it so that you will know how to approach the audience.

2. It helps you launch your new products and services

Social media is a fast paced tool. It is not like the other tools out there that require resources to be able to send a message. If you have a set of Facebook fans or Twitter followers, then you can simply send these people a message about the new improvements in your company. No need to launch new television advertisements.

3. It helps you addresses questions and concerns quickly

As much as any business needs a customer support system, social media can be used as a tool to address concerns and problems. If someone needs help, they can simply tweet or message the concerned company and they can conveniently reply using their accounts.

These are just some reasons why social media is crucial for your business. But the best part is you can address a lot of things without the hefty price tag thus saving your business some money.

AOL sues Advertise.com

August 28th, 2009

For fairness in business legalities, AOL sued its rival company Advertise.com for infringing rights for the sites Advertising.com and Ad.com.

According to the papers filed at the federal district court in Virginia, AOL says that its rival confuses customers for the site’s name Advertise.com as they might think that this affiliated with the AOL brands Advertising.com and Ad.com.

Though AOL may have the point in suing Advertise.com, the name is still generic to be trademarked. This is the defence of Advertise.com on its lawsuit filed against AOL in California.
But to AOL, if the generic defense of Advertise.com will win their lawsuit, their logo will still continue the battle as Advertise.com has similar logo with that of AOL brands.

Facebook sells Online Stuff via Virtual Store

August 27th, 2009

Now that Facebook grows larger and larger every day, the world’s most popular social networking site has just gotten even better!

Facebook recently released its virtual store for the developers. From now on, Facebook users can buy not only virtual goodies but also real gifts from the virtual store! This newest innovation in networking sites make it possible to developers to make money out of millions of Facebook users at the same time giving these users the benefit of buying online without the hassle of looking for their items in other real stores.

Facebook says American Greetings Interactive, GreetBeatz, Someecards and Real Gifts are the first four third-party application developers to enter the virtual store. Payments on the Facebook virtual store are made thru credit card, PayPal, Offerpal Media and SuperRewards.