Google Starts a Venture Capitalist Fund
pIf you didn’t think a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090225-131442″Google had enough dominance in search/a, try this on for size: the search engine giant has started a a href=”http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/googles-newest-venture.html”venture capitalist fund/a. The areas they seek to invest are:/p
ul
liConsumer Internet/li
liSoftware/li
liClean-tech/li
liBio-tech/li
liHealth care/li
/ul
pGoogle says more industries could be added in the future as their interest determines. Google says it will follow the best practices of “top-tier, financially focused venture capital firms” and place Googlers at the center of the effort./p
pWill Google be successful? I’m sure a lot of you have opinions on the matter. Let ‘em rip in the comments./p
pemRelated Reading:/embr /
a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090122-160936″Google Beats Wall Street Estimates for Q4 2008, Despite Profit Drop/abr /
a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/080612-121518″Google’s Schmidt Talks Yahoo, Newspapers, ‘Don’t Be Evil’, and iPhone/a/pdiv class=”feedflare”
a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=P00Scp-hQsc:VREZOiz0b7c:yIl2AUoC8zA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA” border=”0″/img/a a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=P00Scp-hQsc:VREZOiz0b7c:7Q72WNTAKBA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA” border=”0″/img/a
/divimg src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/sewblog/~4/P00Scp-hQsc” height=”1″ width=”1″/
Technorati Tags: blog
Read the rest of this great post here
Using Aweber Web Forms to Track Conversions for Email Newsletters
While I’ve delayed the start of the 31 Day Challenge until next week I wanted to show you a glimpse behind the scenes of my signup process using one of the features that Aweber gives those using it’s email newsletter system - Web Forms.
The idea is simple - Aweber lets you make up as many signup forms for your email list as you like.
In launching the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge I have so far set up 5 lists. Let me explain each one in the order that I set them up:
Andrew Goodman to Guy Kawasaki: You are Ruining Twitter!
pAt a href=”http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/newyork/”SES New York/a last week, I was amazed that the buzz generated by Guy Kawasaki’s keynote about “Twitter as a Tool for Social Media” lasted more than 24 hours. Well, now it’s a week later and everyone’s still talking about the implications of what the author of Reality Check and Founding Partner of Garage Technology Ventures said in his bully pulpit./p
pspan class=”mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image” style=”display: inline;”img alt=”Andrew Goodman at SES San Jose 2008.jpg” src=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/Andrew%20Goodman%20at%20SES%20San%20Jose%202008.jpg” width=”400″ height=”300″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” align=left hspace=10//span For example, check out Andrew Goodman’s latest post in Traffick: “a href=”http://www.traffick.com/2009/03/is-guy-kawasaki-singlehandedly-ruining.asp”Is Guy Kawasaki Singlehandedly Ruining Twitter? (Part I)/a.” Goodman says, “I’m relatively new to Twitter, but then again, I’m not slow :), so I have seen these kinds of trends come and go. Mostly, since the late 1990’s, what we’ve seen are spammers in various channels tell us that they’re the cool ones and not really spamming.”/p
pAnd then as quietly and calmly as someone who is about to take you to the woodshed, Goodman adds, “I’d love to be able to make the point that it’s not about the man, it’s about the tactics. As honorable as that might be, it’s impossible to separate the two… as you’ll see.”/p
pYou’re going to have to read Goodman’s next 17 paragraphs for yourself. I haven’t seen this kind of outburst by a mild mannered Canadian since Molson ran its extremely popular ad, “The Rant”, in 2000./p
pHowever, let me give you one small sample: “If everyone listened to Guy […] Read more »
Technorati Tags: blog
31 Days to Build a Better Blog - Delayed 1 Week
This is just a short post to let those waiting for the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog project to start tomorrow that I’ve had to delay it until next day.
This isn’t an April Fools prank (beware, some bloggers have started theirs early this year) but a genuine thing that has been the result in a number of unforeseen circumstances.
I probably could have launched it tomorrow but it wouldn’t have been at the standard I wanted to achieve. I’d rather launch it well late than poorly on time. My sincere apologies to those who this is inconvenient for!
While it doesn’t have the same ring to it as 1 April the new start date is 6 April (next Monday) and it’ll run through until early May (yes it’s still 31 days long).
I’ve emailed those who have registered for the challenge to let them know but wanted to spread the news here just in case any missed it.
PS: if you’re still not signed up you can read about and join the challenge here. We’ve now had over 6700 bloggers register so despite the delay it’s going to be an amazing journey of learning together.
Share This
MySpace Mobile Application to Support Microsoft Windows Mobile and Silverlight
pA new MySpace mobile application set to debut this summer will support Microsoft Windows Mobile as well as Microsoft Silverlight. Silverlight is technology similar to Adobe’s Flash that powers rich media./p
p”We are pleased to bring MySpace users the benefits and flexibility of Microsoft’s platforms,” said Aber Whitcomb, chief technology officer of MySpace. “Our relationship enables app developers to use Silverlight to create engaging MySpace apps and allows Windows Mobile users to have a more personal MySpace experience on their phone.”/p
pMySpace already has mobile applications for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Sidekick, Palm, and Nokia.br /
embr /
Related Reading:/embr /
a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/081013-114814″MySpace Launches Self-Service Ad Platform/abr /
a href=”http://searchenginewatch.com/3629501″Facebook MySpace Connect: Good Idea or Social Media Catastrophe?/abr /
a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/080325-103540″Google, Yahoo MySpace Team Up for OpenSocial/a/pdiv class=”feedflare”
a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=BTMUv8_rawg:bTLDPEg8UjY:yIl2AUoC8zA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA” border=”0″/img/a a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=BTMUv8_rawg:bTLDPEg8UjY:7Q72WNTAKBA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA” border=”0″/img/a
/divimg src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/sewblog/~4/BTMUv8_rawg” height=”1″ width=”1″/
Technorati Tags: blog
Read the rest of this great post here
Technorati Tags: blog
Search Drives 5th Consecutive Record Setting Year in Internet Advertising
pDespite the economic decline of 2008, internet advertising reached $23.4 billion, setting a new record high. Records have been set for five consecutive years, according to data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers./p
pSearch grew 19% a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/080516-095855″over 2007/a, maintaining its role as the driving force behind the continued (yet slowed) growth in internet advertising. /p
pMeanwhile, digital video is on the rise, more than doubling revenues from $324 million in 2007 to $734 million in 2008./p
pThe fourth quarter of 2008 was the first time a single quarter surpassed $6 billion./p
p”We are seeing an ongoing secular shift from traditional to online media as marketers recognize that ad dollars invested in interactive media are effective at influencing consumers and delivering measurable results,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “In this uncertain economy, where marketers know they need to do more with less, interactive advertising provides the tools for them to build deep, engaging relationships with consumers–the experience marketers gain from this will deliver dividends especially after the economy turns around.”/p
pspan class=”mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image” style=”display: inline;”a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/iab2008adrevenues.jpg”img alt=”iab2008adrevenues.jpg” src=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/iab2008adrevenues-thumb-600×392.jpg” width=”600″ height=”392″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //a/span/pdiv class=”feedflare”
a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=il0CyQwrSLE:UbtUvznsisQ:yIl2AUoC8zA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA” border=”0″/img/a a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=il0CyQwrSLE:UbtUvznsisQ:7Q72WNTAKBA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA” border=”0″/img/a
/divimg src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/sewblog/~4/il0CyQwrSLE” height=”1″ width=”1″/
Technorati Tags: blog
Read the rest of this great post here
Technorati Tags: blog
Report: Jonathan Miller to Run NewsCorp’s Digital Unit
pAOL’s former Chief Executive a href=”http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN2829069520090328?rpc=44″Jonathan Miller has been approached by NewsCorp/a to head up their digital unit, according to reports. Miller is under a non-compete agreement with AOL, but that expires within days. The a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/080804-113038″agreement prevented Miller from joining Yahoo!’s expanded/a board, a compromise with investor Carl Icahn last summer during the Microsoft acquisition aftermath./p
pCurrently, Miller is a partner at investment firm Velocity Interactive Group. He left AOL in 2006. Last fall, it was a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/081203-114918″rumored that he wanted to buy Yahoo/a, but it turned out he was raising funds for Velocity, not a Yahoo purchase./p
pNewsCorp is the parent company of MySpace. They also have an investment in fast-rising online video site, Hulu./pdiv class=”feedflare”
a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=_jGX4Q2GEdk:kny87WszgK4:yIl2AUoC8zA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA” border=”0″/img/a a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=_jGX4Q2GEdk:kny87WszgK4:7Q72WNTAKBA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA” border=”0″/img/a
/divimg src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/sewblog/~4/_jGX4Q2GEdk” height=”1″ width=”1″/
Technorati Tags: blog, news
Read the rest of this great post here
Google AdSense Says Goodbye to YouTube Video Feature
pGoogle will a href=”http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunsetting-video-units-feature.html”no longer be offering YouTube video ads in AdSense/a. Apparently, the feature hasn’t performed as well as AdSense had hoped. Publishers may still get video ads if they accept image ads on their sites or if the produce video content and use AdSense for video./p
pMeanwhile, if publishers still want to feature YouTube videos, they can, of course, embed videos directly on their site. They can also create playlists to feature multiple videos./p
pWhat do you think of Google killing YouTube video ads? Let us know in the comments.br /
embr /
Related Reading:/embr /
a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090310-075958″Google AdSense Releases News Widget/abr /
a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090306-120235″AdSense Publisher Sues Google - And Wins/abr /
a href=”http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090305-105743″Google AdSense Allows Feed Ad Review/a/pdiv class=”feedflare”
a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=UU1KeZBWMK0:zS4m3uUg4Q8:yIl2AUoC8zA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA” border=”0″/img/a a href=”http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~ff/sewblog?a=UU1KeZBWMK0:zS4m3uUg4Q8:7Q72WNTAKBA”img src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/sewblog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA” border=”0″/img/a
/divimg src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/sewblog/~4/UU1KeZBWMK0″ height=”1″ width=”1″/
Technorati Tags: blog
Read the rest of this great post here
Blogs and Email - How to Get the Best of Both Worlds
Today Hendry Lee from BlogBuildingU explores the power of combining blogging with email.
Most people think email is dead, at least for marketing. A few years ago when blogging was just reaching mainstream, some aggressive marketers claimed that blog would replace email in its marketing role.
But that never happens.
I don’t know what it is about such news, but every time someone claims that an older technology is about to descend in replacement of something shinier, people flock to it as if their businesses are going no where without it.
Regarding blog versus email, obviously the dust has settled down. Now it is time to look carefully what you could do with them to get the most out of your business.
It is true that email comes with its own problems. Bounce back, phishing, spam filters, authentication and reputation are just a small list of the issues.
Still the fact that email leads all other channels by a wide margin in terms of performance is something every blogger should not overlook. Just as a comparison, 80.4 percent of more than 3,000 survey participants chose email as a strong advertising performer, compared to 56.8 percent who chose search.
How Email Can Help
Consider this scenario. First time visitor arrives at your site. Usually she knows very little about you, if at all. The current page, or perhaps the homepage, is your chance to make the first impression. It is obvious that you should make every possible entry page counts.
Once she’s done with the first page, perhaps she is […] Read more »