As high speed internet continues to penetrate other countries, many U.S. companies are now focusing their efforts on this world wide market. Google’s India site is now the twelfth most popular site in the world, and Baidu.com, a search engine in China, is even better at number nine. Companies can see huge sale increases from people buying their products from all over the world. Problems are created, for internet marketers, like TK, as people from various countries search quite differently.
Andy Atkins-Krüger explains some of these differences and there importance to SEO experts, in a Sept. 23, 2009 article, “Do Accents Really Matter in International SEO?” . He points out that in German and French searches many words require “diatrics”, the little accent marks above or below some words. International search engines treat these words differently. Some ignore them all together, but most have to take them into account as many will actually change the meaning of the query. Also, many searchers will not use the required diatrics in their search words, creating some often missed opportunities for marketers. Many marketers will make the mistake of ignoring the diatric, or ignoring the word without the diatric, hence, missing out on placing their website in front of potential clients.
The author is now hiring employees from diverse backgrounds, or educating current employees on international search trends, so these opportunities are not missed. TK sees the same trend of international search engine marketing increasing over time, and will now consider the cultural background and linguistic ability of the next person we hire. Many of our current clients are already starting to request more international search engine optimization, and these are rather small companies. They see the potential of worldwide customers, and as a business owner, increasing my knowledge of the online searching trends will become increasingly important.
Some of our clients recently have asked us to explain Cloud Computing as a concept. I found this decent video from Ken Colbourn, who gives the basics and some examples. He also explains some pros and cons.
Giving up some privacy, and placing your data in the hands of some company that you may or may not know much about. Also, if you don’t have access to the internet, then you don’t have access to your info. The pros include the fact that anywhere you DO have the internet- you’ve got your data. Also, you don’t need to spend lots of money maintaining the hardware. Companies (e.g. Google) is doing this for you, and most the time they offer many of these services free (google docs) or for really low cost.
If the term ‘cloud computing’ is new to you, enjoy the video, above, and enjoy the benefits of the cloud.
A few days ago we posted about Bing going visual with their visual search, well Google is getting into the game as well. CNN posts a nice video that gives you a sample.
I like the direction this leads. The more visual search becomes, even more people will use it. Search engine marketing will just continue to grow in importance and complexity…but with it, will be a more enjoyable, effective experience for the end user.
We at TK have long mused wither Facebook would ever really try and get into the search business. Imagine, if you will, doing a search on FB for a local plumber and getting web results that integrate with your friends from FB. It could deliver results that had your friends searches and input as a display factor. So, if 10 of your friends had clicked on Action Plumbing and given it a thumbs up (or Google’s Digg like placement button) then it will show up more prevalently on your Facebook search. That way, your friends kinda recommend what you see as search results…helping you make decisions based off their digital recommendations. Phew!
Well, if that scenario where to play out…the beginning steps may have been taken.
Facebook is now showing Bing results at the bottom of each search (has been for awhile, I know), beneath their stuff. Does it mean Facebook and Bing and going aggressively after Google (Bing already is)…well, not necessarily as we’ve described above. But it could be the start…we’re just saying…
Bing is bringing in the cool features with their new Beta of Visual Search. As one who is always looking for the next best thing on the horizon, this may have some potential.
Essentially, you start your search with a page that shows you the main categories, hot topics, ect.
You can start with one of the pictures on display or use the category menu on the left. For instance, if you click on ‘Shopping’ (one of the sections that will really benefit from this, IMHO) you see a display of shopping categories. Click on ‘Books’ and you are shown a really cool display (cover-flow style, almost) that you can scroll through.
With lots of additional features, I’m excited to see if the new look and feel will catch on. I think with new internet adopters, they will be pleased with the clean, futuristic feel of search. Those that have been using Google for a long time will probably find it cumbersome and ‘trinket’ feeling. Either way, I’m excited for the different approach and hopes it gets Google thinking about better ways to display their results.
This post has nothing to do with SEO, SEM or internet development, it’s just about something that’s pretty cool. The University of Washington is developing a contact lens with an internal LED. Allowing the viewer to have ‘enhanced’ site, not just 20/20 site. More advanced options will include all kinds of great information, like health information, scrolling captions…the possibilities are endless. Still a ways away, but the concept and potential is exciting.
Google just announced, in a lengthy 8 page pdf (see below) plans to launch a new micropayment process that will allow content developers to put some of their premium content behind a paywall. Many believe this has the potential to save newspapers, or at least infuse the cluttered internet with higher quality, “Pay-Per-Veiw” content. I’m interested to see if Google can develop a significant revenue stream outside of advertising, and think this may have potential to do so. It also brings up a question about them moving away from one of their ideological mantras to make all information free and available to the masses. Clearly, going public has facilitated a slightly different view. All being said, I think it’s a good move for them, and a capitalistic move for online information.
Okay, it’s official, Facebook has reached critical mass. A couple young girls in Australia got caught in a drain and instead of dialing 000 (their version of 911), they posted their predicament on Facebook. It was promptly seen by a friend and they were rescued by the fire department. They were only 10 and 12 years old, and used this alternative via their mobile phone rather than calling the police, reflecting a new generation of communication.
We at TK have always said to go where the people are…evidently they are on Facebook, even when in grave danger.
Perhaps when Twitter has reached the same level of adoption these types of situations could be avoided all-together, as friends would receive a minute by minute update of every intricate detail and be able to intervene:
“Floating paper boat down rain gutter…”
“Oh, no! Boat goes down large, menacing drain…”
“…thinking…”
“Lowering little sister into deep, dark storm drain…this should be fun!”
Where WERE you Twitter! Little girls are in DANGER!
Every SEO sees Wikipedia as the ultimate seo’d site. It show up everywhere and gives so much content to Google, that they are almost impossible to compete against. However, we also know the reputation they have for faulty information (preception is strong, although reality begs to differ, see Wikinomics).
Wikipedia is making a concerted effort to change that perception. As the web’s 6th most visited site, and credibility always taking jabs, they are releasing a new color coded system. The system will color sentences or edits and the more reliable the author and longer the text stays on the site (allowing vetting by others) the more the color will fade over time.
This video from CNN tech illustrates some of the jabs and shows what Wikipedia is doing about it. The color coded model is pretty cool, and wikipedia will have to do A LOT of PR to change the persception…this is another great step.
Reading about Bing’s new Bing & Ping feature, I had one of those ‘duh, why didn’t they think of this earlier?’ moments. But, then again, I didn’t think of it either.
What is Bing & Ping? Simply, the addition of Twitter and Facebook sharing icons beneath all (or at least most) search results that allow a searcher to quickly redistribute a search result. Just like you see at the bottom of this post, and most well made blogs. It will look like this:
I like it. Obviously, bookmarking sites will be begging to be included as well. Facebook and Twitter seem to be the only social sites that have survived the markets test of longevity (relative here), buzz (both get tons), and user adoption (the obvious winners so far). Bing can hence, confidently add these two icons to their search. I can see both Delicious and StumbleUpon making their case to Bing- claiming to be the winner in their social space. Maybe when we have a declared winner, Bing will expand their share buttons.
I predict this is just the beginning of the blend between search and social sites- stay tuned, they will blend more and more, I’m convinced. In the meantime, we’ll wait for the official launch of Bing & Ping.
