The other day I clicked a link on Twitter to a blog post everyone was talking about. I did like everyone else and read the post and then left a snarky comment. But then unlike most everyone else, I right clicked the margin and selected “view source”. Why did I do that? I am not really sure, I honestly did it without thinking. Looking at other people’s code has become something of a habit for me. I find myself sometimes getting more out of analyzing the blog’s HTML, than the post itself!
by Cup of Joe: You Aren’t a Drunk Monkey, So Don’t Act Like One!
posted on October 31, 2009
by Anchor Weighs in on Click Fraud
posted on October 30, 2009
I. Am. Hilarious. Anchor Intelligence has just released its Q3 09 click fraud data—and it’s down, contrary to what Click Forensics reported for the same period. Anchor saw worldwide click fraud drop almost four percentage points from Q2, to 23.2% of all clicks in Q3.
Interestingly, Anchor found that malicious, “attempted” click fraud had fallen off in this period—dropping from 22.9% of all clicks in Q2 to only 18.6% of all clicks in Q3. Accidental, “innocuous” click fraud rose slightly (0.4 percentage points) to 4.6%. (Anchor measure all attempts at click fraud, not just charged clicks. The labels they use reflect the motivation behind the attempts.) They also noted some geographic shifts in click fraud:
Search Engine Watch says that Anchor also observed click fraudsters getting more creative:
Facebook Changes Privacy Policy
posted on October 30, 2009
Two months ago, Facebook responded to Canada’s inquiry into the privacy practices of the most popular social network in the world. The (somewhat surprising) result was Facebook changing the way that third-party apps could access users’ personal information and how long they retained user data.
And now those changes are going live. With the info in clear, non-legalese language in the privacy section of the site, Facebook is giving users 7 days to comment on the new policies.
The major changes include “how users can delete their profiles, how long ‘backup copies’ of personal data get stored, and how some of their new data partnerships with companies like Nielsen might impact the ads users see.”
by Washington Post Co. Posts a 69% Increase in Profits
posted on October 30, 2009
I am still rubbing my eyes to see if this is one of those sleep-deprived, delusional, mirage type things that can play tricks with you. Nope, it’s real but you don’t need to peel back too many layers on this one to see that the newspaper side of the Washington Post Co.’s business is actually keeping that number lower. At least you can think that the paper can be propped up by the other media holdings for the time being.
In a bit of irony it’s the New York Times that reports
The company, which owns Newsweek magazine, Kaplan education services and television properties along with its namesake newspaper, said Friday it earned $17.1 million, or $1.81 per share. That compares with net income of $10.1 million, or $1.08 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Google Feeds Its Spiders
posted on October 30, 2009
Just in time for Halloween, Google has given us a chance to put together a very timely and pithy headline (although I have to give credit where credit is due – hat tip to Andy). So how exactly is Google doing this and what the heck does it mean? In a nutshell, it’s a way to move toward a kind of ‘simulated’ real time search because the idea is to use its RSS/Atom feeds to identify and index new content more quickly. Is this replacing the traditional crawling technique of forever? There is no consensus on this aspect but it is obvious that Google is fully on board the real-time search train that is leaving the station as we speak.
by Are There a Lot of Dumb People Using Google?
posted on October 30, 2009
Google is always testing and tweaking its search interface. More recently, the search engine has tested a minimalist homepage design.
Well, apparently that homepage might be a little too simple for the search-challenged, as the latest version adds the rather obvious “Press Enter to Search” text.
I know that I’m not representative of the average search user, but I’m shocked that the average user might not know to simply click “enter” in the absence of any “search” button.
Let this be a reminder to all web site owners. If the most popular–and easiest to use–web site in the world has to point out the obvious, you shouldn’t take for granted that your visitors will know how to use your site.
Facebook Continues to Can Spam
posted on October 29, 2009
As far as Internet business goes it would be hard to imagine someone having a worse year than Sanford Wallace. Who you ask? Mr. Wallace is the Spam King who had a judgment made against him last year in a suit filed by MySpace for $234 million. Now add Facebook to the list of people who basically own Mr. Sanford, Facebook. Just so you know, while I say he is having a bad year it doesn’t mean I am not thrilled to see this kind of Internet low-life get what he deserves. Mashable tells a little more about Mr. Wallace and how deep he is into this now.
Today Facebook reported they’ve been awarded $711 million in damages by a San Jose, CA court against Sanford Wallace, the notorious “Spam King” that MySpace also successfully went after last year to the tune of a $234 million judgment.
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