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Bookmarketing from Facebook

posted on November 24, 2010

So how does a website capturing 25% of all US based traffic grow? They take over your home page of course!

Recently, many Facebook users (myself included) have been presented with a gray bar at the top of the Facebook website inviting them to make Facebook their home page.

Facebook is using a subtle trick that isn’t much a trick at all; however, Facebook’s approach at bookmarketing is no-doubt convincing tens of thousands of people to change their home page to Facebook today.

The instructions in the gray bar are easy enough to follow and low-and-behold it works, but what is the magical technology behind this? Is it some Facebook JavaScript or Ajax wizardry?

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Real-Time Social Classified Ads by Yakaz

posted on November 23, 2010

Paris-based Yakaz has recently launched a new real-time social classified ad system designed to quickly facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers. The Yakaz website offers visitors the chance to view and post to live classified feeds from across the country or in the city or state of their choice.

My initial test drive of Yakaz was a mixed bag of experiences. I started by trying to create an account directly through their web site. Everything seemed to go well, but going on 1 hour I still had not received my verification email, which pretty much left my account useless. I finally caved and used Facebook Connect to log onto the site. I’m sure this is one of those temporary glitches with a start-up, but if you’re impatient you can save some time by using your Facebook credentials.

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Foursquare Founder to Fall Foul of FTC?

posted on November 8, 2010

Last Year the FTC revised guidelines governing the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. As you may recall, the big news then was the addition of a rule stating that bloggers who accept free merchandise or services from companies they write about must reveal the terms of that endorsement to their readers or be found in violation of the law. Apparently someone forgot to tell Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley about this.

As discussed at CNNmoney.com, Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley recently speculated at a panel hosted by NYU, that “the next big thing” will be online social networks creating algorithms that account and weight users’ recommendations which marketers will be able to use to reward the most influential users for mentioning them (ahem… paid posts).

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Amazon iPhone App Offers Scan, Tap, Buy

posted on October 15, 2010

The latest version of the Amazon iPhone app (1.2.8) connects the offline world to online sales like never before by offering a camera based barcode scanner similar to those available on popular price comparison apps like Red Laser. The new Amazon app supports a more integrated offline-to-online shopping experience by supporting purchases directly inside the app and the ability to add items to your wish list for later purchase.

If you’re selling on Amazon, this is good news for you because you’re more likely to connect with potential customers as they engage with the real world. If you’re a brick-and-mortar retailer, you’re probably cringing at the thought of your customers scanning your products and then making the purchase with your competitor right there in your store. Ouch.

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Google Price Index–Real Time Data for Online Pricing

posted on October 14, 2010

Utilizing their vast collection of shopping data, Google is developing an alternative means of tracking inflation known as the Google Price Index (GPI). The effort is being headed by Google’s chief economist Hal Varian, and has the grand goal of providing more timely price index data.

The well known Consumer Price Index (CPI) provides a monthly measure of inflation based on pricing data gathered by hand from brick-and-mortar retailers along with other sources. The CPI data is published monthly and can be delayed by several weeks. Google’s method of utilizing online sources of pricing data offers a more real time reflection of pricing indexes.

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10+ SEO Bots & What You Need to Know

posted on August 10, 2010

A great bot army has descended on the Internet.

Tirelessly performing the bidding of its masters, this ravenous horde is invading our websites, taking our content, clicking on our ads and becoming our friends. Most of the time we don’t even know they are there, but they are and at one point or another you need to come to terms with bots.

A bot is an automated software application which typically performs tasks over the Internet. There is virtually an unlimited number of bots performing a dizzying array of tasks. In the world of online marketing, we see bots used to crawl websites, scrape content, check search rankings, automate social media and much more.

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75+ Local SEO Meetups…and Why You Should Attend!

posted on July 23, 2010

DSC_1443If you’ve been involved with SEO or online marketing for any length of time, chances are you’ve escaped the confines of your office and ventured out into the real world to meet like minded marketers. Perhaps you’re a conference regular attending events like Pubcon, SES, or SMX. If you’re like me and tens of thousands of other online marketers, you’ve also checked out your local meetup scene.

Meetups are gatherings of people who all share a common profession or interest. There are meetups covering almost every aspect of online marketing including SEO, SEM, Affiliate Marketing, Publishing, and Programming.

Most online marketing meetups are organized by local marketing organizations or specific individuals or companies looking to increase exposure for their own services. While motives may vary, most meetup organizers provide a valuable service for their local marketing community by offering insightful presentations, information sharing, and networking.