The web is definitely having a new wave of innovation. Inquisitor doubles as an SEM keyword phrase search tool (it automatically gives you related and relevant keyword phrases relating to any search string you type) AND as a way to check out search results on multiple sites (Google, Yahoo, Technorati, Amazon, Digg, etc.) with the simple click of a sidebar button. check it out
(Thanks to Lee Odden’s Online Marketing Blog for the tip.)
The fight for “Net Neutrality” is no joke. As almost everyone knows, Congress and Big Business cannot be trusted. Even big time recording artists like Moby are getting into the act and doing what they can to help keep the Web as free and open as possible. Check out SaveTheInternet.com for what YOU can do to help including getting yourself better informed on this important issue. SaveTheInternet has videos and lots of other content to help you understand how CRITICAL Net Neutrality is and why you should care. Thanks!
Wow. Even when you think you know what’s happening out there, suddenly there’s another imporant milestone among what I might call “techno-megatrends” tracking. Beyond all the business Internet users who almost all of whom have broadband Internet connections… Amongst US Internet users at home, a full two-thirds now have broadband Internet connections. If you ask me, that’s pretty impressive. Things are continuing to change fast and, as usual, they are accelerating. No wonder there’s so much Internet video action these days. Here’s more details from the new Nielsen//NetRatings report.
Of course, I’ve been tracking Google Video and video podcasts… And certainly, I have spoken many times about the trend from broadcasting to narrowcasting… And I’ve even referred to special interest (or well-focused) websites as “microcasting”… But now the NYTimes has jumped on the term “slivercasting.” And, that’s fine.
But, what’s more, I tend to perceive an article on the front page of the Sunday New York Times Business section sub-titled, “As Internet TV Aims at Niche Audiences, the Slivercast Is Born” as something of a benchmark. It’s always nice to have a professional business perspective that includes real world examples (not to mention video clip examples) as a form of instantly credible support for the apparent conceptual trends. 😉
Bottom line, Internet video and Internet TV (what I used to call “The Video Web” in my old Videography column) are becoming more and more real, viable and important.
And, personally, I even have to admit that I’m wanting to trade in my iPod for a video iPod, especially now that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is available from iTunes, including a new Multi-Pass option that gives you the current episode plus the next 15 episodes for $9.99 (vs. $1.99 per episode.) Stay tuned!
It’s been proven that offering a live, realtime interaction via online chat applications like LiveChat can help convert browsers into buyers. Now, open source strikes again by making this kind of technology free via a new web-based app, ZaZaChat. As you might expect, it’s still in “beta,” so if anyone tests it, please let me know. Now that the price is right, all you need is the time and willingness to interact directly with your prospective customers. 😉
Now you can create your own wi-fi hot spot on the road, on the run and on the fly. The NYTimes’ David Pogue explains and reviews the top three models of a device that’s still in search of its own name. The device is referred to as a “portable hot spot” or as a “cellular gateway” or as a “mobile router.” Some people are even using them instead of their DSL or cable modem so that they can take their connectivity with them and share it with others almost anywhere.
I get asked on a regular basis “How much of the search engine traffic comes from Google as compared to the others?” Well, the first point is that the traffic to a particular site varies depending on its audience and its keyword positions at various search engines. For example, my ComBridges.com site gets a higher percentage of its traffic than what’s shown here from Google, while my MediaMall.com site gets less. That said, here’s a chart from a eMarketer article comparing 2004 to 2005 searches from the “big three.” And, if you don’t pay close attention to the changes in this market, you can see that the 80-20 rule applies here with about 81% of the searches being done on what are now the three main search engines (Google, Yahoo! & MSN). The other 19% is spread across a large number of much smaller sites.
I was talkin’ with an old media buddy about the CES show, and our sentiments were echoed in this Sunday’s “Media Frenzy” column in the NYTimes Business section, with this opening line: “Convergence is back…” In fact, it may be more accurate to say it’s finally here. And I’m talking about more than iPod video and related video sales by Google and others.
On another front, those who work in search engine marketing and search engine advertising (like Google AdWords and Yahoo Search advertising) know that local search is hot. Local businesses (from pizza parlors to car repair shops) are benefitting more from local search engine marketing than from those old fashioned and expensive yellow pages ads. 
Case in point, a friend’s petsitting business is getting 9 leads from free search engine rankings compared to 1 from a $300/month yellow pages display ad that she’s just discontinued. For those who want to learn more, this is the best e-book I’ve seen on the subject of Local Search. >
What was most kewl in the article referenced above, IMHO, was Spot Runner. This web-based application (“software as service”) uses pre-produced TV spot “templates” and computerized insertion techniques to help small local businesses get on cable TV as painlessly and inexpensively as possible. Impressive stuff. And there’s an opportunity there for video producers as well. At least I think so. I need to get into that service in more detail. Comments and experiences welcome…
Even as one who has blogged (see posts below) about kewl Web 2.0 applications and their Ajax programming, ah, er, platform, or whatever-it-is… I’ve not been the one to articulately define these trends or movements or whatever they are.
So I was pleased to find both a fine technical explanation of Ajax, as well as an illuminating and articulate (although technically sophisticated) social commentary on the development environment and buzz around Web 2.0.
Of course, if you are less technically inclined, it may be sufficient for you for me to say that Web 2.0 and Ajax are used to cook up spritely, user friendly online applications (for example, flickr and Basecamp) that “foster community and collaboration;” but they are more… much more… very much in the same way that open source programmers are so much more than just geeks. Afterall, making the world a place where people can get more connected, form communities, and collaborate even, is, afterall, making the world a better place. 😉
I remember a Steve Jobs presentation shortly after he took back the reigns at Apple where he projected an image of Michael Dell’s face on the bull’s eye of a target. He took aim and “bingo,” he “made it so.” According to this report in the NY Times, Jobs couldn’t pass up the milestone of Apple’s market cap passing Dell’s (at least for the moment) without a comment to his “team.” Amazing. The drama continues…
