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How to Break a Framed Redirect

posted on March 4, 2008

Framed redirects are one of my biggest pet peeves on the web. You click on a link to visit a site, the site loads, and the URL in your address bar is different than what it should be.

Technically, a framed redirect works by loading a hidden framed page on top of a second framed page which displays the target content.

Imagine clicking on a link for Amazon, pulling up the Amazon website, but seeing the URL amazonblackhataffiliate.com in your address bar. You would be able to browse the entire Amazon site, make purchases, etc. but the URL in the browser bar would always display amazonblackhataffiliate.com. This is the experience of surfing a site through a framed redirect.

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HitWise – Google Gets 66% of Searches in February

posted on March 4, 2008

February was a strong month for Google – the number of searches to the site was up one percent to equal 66.44% (to be exact) of searches in the U.S. I believe this is a new high, because according to HitWise, Google reached their highest share of searches in December 2007 – at 65.98%.

Again Google takes the majority and the other search engines don’t come close. Yahoo! Search had almost 21% of searches, MSN Search got almost 7% (so if you could perfectly combine the two top competitors as Microsoft hopes, you’d be closer to 30%).

Ask.com had 4.16% of searches. As far as the long tail, it was really long – every other search engine (46 total) together accounted for just 1.87 percent of U.S. searches last month.

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Radically Transparent Presentation & Book Signing at SXSW 2008

posted on March 4, 2008

I have two reasons to be excited about my trip to SXSW Interactive this week.

First, this will be my first trip to SXSW and I hear it’s a blast.

Second, I’ve been invited to speak about my new book Radically Transparent and do a book signing!

If you’re planning on getting to SXSW this Friday, I hope you’ll stop by and catch my presentation at 4:30pm. I promise it will be both entertaining and educational.

I just hope Austin doesn’t stop being weird before I get a chance to visit! :-)

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Yahoo to Release Bookmarking Site for Cell Phones

posted on March 4, 2008

Rather than compete against Google on search, Yahoo is looking to find their niche by innovation on cell phone services. They announced a new bookmarking site for cell phones called OnePlace that will be released in a few months.

The service goes beyond bookmarking by suggesting content related to the information you bookmark. The site is akin to del.icio.us but formatted to make it easier to navigate on small screens. Here’s the twist – the bookmarks are based on where you are located and your friends’ preferences.

You’ll also be able to bookmark sites from your PC and sync them on your phone. For example, you can import what you’ve marked on other sites to automatically add it to OnePlace.

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Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, and Jack Welch More Admired Than Eric Schmidt?

posted on March 4, 2008

Fortune magazine has released it’s list of "America’s Most Admired Companies" and Google places a distant fourth in the list.

What’s interesting is the companies ahead of Google. While you could argue that Apple deserves its #1 spot based upon its brand and products, there might be some other factor at play–the CEO Halo Effect.

Let’s take a look:

  • Apple – who hasn’t heard of Steve Jobs? Who doesn’t wish they were Steve Jobs?
  • Berkshire Hathaway – quick name 3 companies owned by Berkshire Hathaway? OK, now name the CEO? I bet Warren Buffett comes to mind easier than Acme Brick Company, Fruit of the Look, or even, GEICO.

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Google Gears for Mobile Better than Web Version?

posted on March 4, 2008

Over at the Google Mobile Blog, they’ve announced the release of Google Gears for mobile.

It’s only available for IE Mobile on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices, but they already have Zoho and Buxfer as Google Gears providers.

With Google Gears for mobile integrated into mobile Zoho and Buxfer, you can now access these web applications even when your phone is disconnected from the mobile web. Stuck on a plane? No problem — you can still read your docs on your mobile with Zoho Writer Mobile offline. Want to buy that new plasma TV, but can’t remember how much is in your account? Check your balance with Buxfer’s mobile web application, even if there is no cell phone signal.

Here’s what caught my eye…

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Vodafone Sends a Message with Otello Image Search

posted on March 4, 2008

By David Snyder

While Bill Gates is banking on natural language search, the folks at Vodafone are throwing their hats in the empty ring of image search.

Vodafone demonstrated their search engine, Otello, at Cebit 2008 in Germany. The technology works by sending MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) images via mobile device instead of entering words or phrases.

Otello takes the image, retrieves information having to do with the image, and sends it to the user’s cell phone. Vodafone is hoping that the search engine will catch on with users that do not have normal keyboards on their mobile device.

Let’s clear it up.

This is not an image search in the sense of Google Images, where you enter words and data and find correlating images. In this search technology the pictures are the queries.