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Blog Backup Service Out of Beta, Contest Today

posted on December 15, 2008

Have you ever accidentally deleted a blog? I haven’t, but WordPress deleted mine for having one spammy link when I was a new blogger and didn’t know better. I never got it back.

Google accidentally deleted their own blog once. This is preventable. Blogged.com blog backup service is celebrating the end of their beta launch with the  “Be a Hero. Save a blog.” contest.

They will offer more blog services but for now you can get a free blog backup (for a limited time). All day today Dec. 15, 2008 they are running a contest. Every two hours they’re giving away either a 16GB iPod Touch, or a Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter Machine.

To enter, do one of the items below. If you do more you get entered more times into the drawing…but you have to enter today. Here’s how:

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Net’s Still Neutral (For Now)

posted on December 15, 2008

Net neutrality is officially a real topic again, I guess. Heck, it’s on the front page of net-neutralitythe Wall Street Journal this AM so it must be important, right? Sorry for the cynicism first thing on Monday but after reading a rather lengthy report on the threat to net neutrality that is being spearheaded by Google I feel like I may have actually gotten up on the wrong side of the bed after all.

I’ll summarize. Google is doing some behind the scenes negotiating to create an internet fast lane that would give those who could pay for it a real advantage in content delivery*. The telcos love the idea because it replaces revenue that is being lost due to their antiquated land line systems and their unwillingness to change with the times.

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Procter & Gamble Doesn’t Understand Social Media

posted on December 15, 2008

The New York Times recently ran an article by Randall Stross about Procter & Gamble‘s attempt at marketing on Facebook. While I will give Procter & Gamble credit for at least trying to engage social media, it’s pretty obvious that they are drastically failing.

Stross points out several examples of Procter & Gamble’s botched attempts such as the “Crest Whitestrips” fan page. In this example Procter & Gamble successfully lures around 14,000 Facebook members to become “fans”. However, under closer inspection it appears that the lure was in the way of free movie tickets and Def Jam concerts! They could have easily gotten just as many fans for any of their brands with a promotion like that.

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Inventory Up & Costs Down–Are Mobile Ads Worth it?

posted on December 15, 2008

By: Carrie Hill

According to an article in AdAge last week – the CPM for advertising on mobile phones is dropping. At work is the economy of course, but also the inventory and available inventory – which climbs exponentially as more phones are able to display ads – and more brands are striving to capture that market.

Consumers are using their phones for so many things – taking advantage of their addiction is smart marketing – if you can get them to click. Earlier this year the CPMs (Cost per 1,000 impressions) were around $20 – $30 – those are down to an average of about $15. As more people get iPhones and 3G enabled handsets -the ability to show them advertising increases. If the inventory continues to increase the CPM prices should continue to drop. It seems to be a gradual decrease with no singular event causing the decline.

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Please Show Your Thanks to these Advertisers

posted on December 14, 2008

We’d like to take the time to thank the fantastic advertisers that support Marketing Pilgrim. If you’d like to advertise with us, you can view our different advertising options here.

SMX West – if you attend just one search marketing conference in 2009, then you can’t go wrong with Danny Sullivan’s SMX West. Check out the early bird rate before it ends.

Text Link Brokers – increase your traffic and search engine rankings.

eduTextLink – offers advanced .edu link building services.

Sponsored Reviews – bloggers earn cash for reviewing products and services. Advertisers build buzz and links for your web site.

Promotional Currency – Make a minimum $5,000 promotion purchase and you could win big during the Super Bowl.

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Google Testing More New Features: Enhanced Listings, Pagelinks, and Spelling Corrections

posted on December 13, 2008

Man, I feel like my favorite search engine is going through puberty! So many awkward changes! Yep that’s right, it appears that Google is once again planning on changing the way it displays search results. Danny Sullivan reports on three changes that are currently being tested live. This news comes in just a few weeks after other major changes have been implemented.

Enhanced Listings

These are listings that contain price ranges and ratings of different products and services from businesses that include this type of information on their site. So far only Yelp, Citysearch, CNET, TripAdvisor and Download.com are a part of the testing phase. One would assume that when this feature launches to the public it will be available to any site that has reviews and price ranges with in content. Danny says that this feature is similar to Yahoo’s Search Monkey.

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Free Nationwide WiFi May Be Delayed Until Q2

posted on December 12, 2008

A few weeks ago, we reported that free WiFi may be coming to a city near you. The proposal, which is pending FCC approval, would auction public airwaves with a mandate for free WiFi nationwide. T-Mobile is one of the leading advocates against the bill, saying it would cause interference with theirs and others’ services. The FCC’s engineers have looked into the issue, and assure that this would not be a problem.

One of the top Democratic lawmakers has asked the FCC to delay voting on this proposal, and the FCC will vote on whether or not to delay it on Thursday.

Should the FCC delay action on the proposal, it will most likely decide not to take action on it until after February 2009. Why? In February, the FCC will be overseeing the transition digital television across the U.S and doesn’t want anything to divert its attention during this time.