October 28, 2009
Confirmed: Google to Roll Out Music Search
Last week, rumors swirled that Google would launch a new music search. Earlier today, Greg Jarboe covered Hitwise data examining how important music is to search.
Now, we've gotten confirmation that the rumors are true and data don't lie. Google is, indeed, rolling out a new music search. This update will roll out over the next day to all U.S. users.
Why the focus on music? Google says two out of the top ten searches in the U.S., according to Insights for Search.
When you get the update, you'll be able to sample music directly in the search results. Google is partnering with MySpace (which owns iLike) and Lala to provide the samples. You can search via artist, song title or even small parts of lyrics you remember.
Google is also partnering with Pandora, imeem and Rhapsody. You'll see links to these sites where you can discover new music.
Here's a screenshot per the Official Google Blog:
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 28, 2009, 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Hot Rumor: Google is Launching a New Music Service
According to a blog post by Heather Dougherty, Director of Research at Experian Hitwise, Google is expected to launch their music service today. So, she took a closer look at the tons of data that Hitwise collects to see can be seen.
Here are some highlights:
-- Out of the top 1,000 search terms that took place on Google last week, 6 percent were music-related (which includes bands, music services and content).
-- Last week, Google sent 1.48 percent of their total visits to the Music category and of those visits, 95 percent of the downstream traffic to Music websites were returning visitors (that had visited Google in the past 30 days).
-- Google was the top referral website to the Music category accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total traffic to the category last week, 5x more than 2nd ranked Yahoo! Search and 6.3x more than MySpace.
-- Last week, 15 percent of the clicks from the search term portfolio of Music that includes the names of over 900 band and artist names resulted in a visit to a Google property, especially YouTube, among the Top 10 websites to receive traffic.
-- Last month, 71% of all searches took place on Google.
Speaking of music, VEVO, a music and video entertainment hub being launched by YouTube and Universal Music Group later this year, just landed AT&T as an advertiser. Oh, and VEVO just got an undisclosed investment from Abu Dhabi Media Company, which is backed by the people from the United Arab Emirates.
Is there a connection? Is YouTube an independent subsidiary of Google? You betcha.
I spoke with Bill Tancer, General Manager of Hitwise, and author of the best-selling book "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters" at SES Chicago 2008. He was about to spot search engine user behavior patterns and the shopping patterns of the affluent long before they were common knowledge.
Bill Tancer on Search Patterns at SES Chicago 2008
So, when the folks over at Hitwise tell me how music plays on Google, I listen. I listen very closely. They hear things before the rest of us.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on October 28, 2009, 6:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Tweet This: 19 Percent of Internet Users Use Twitter
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 19 percent of Internet users now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others. This represents a significant increase over previous surveys conducted in December 2008 and April 2009, when 11 percent of internet users said they used Twitter or another micro-blogging service.
Three groups of Internet users are responsible for driving the growth of this activity: social networking site users, mobile Internet users, and adults under age 44.
In addition, the more devices someone owns, the more likely they are to use Twitter or another service to update their status. Fully 39 percent of Internet users with four or more internet-connected devices (such as a laptop, cell phone, game console, or Kindle) use Twitter, compared to 28 percent of Internet users with three devices, 19 percent of Internet users with two devices, and 10 percent of Internet users with one device.
The median age of a Twitter user is 31, which has remained stable over the past year. By comparison, the median age for a LinkedIn user is now 39, down from 40, while the median age for a Facebook user is now 33, up from 26 in May 2008.
According to Pew, it will become more difficult to track status updating as an independent activity as social network updates feed into Twitter and vice versa. For now, it is clear that a "social segment" of internet users is flocking to both social network sites and status update services. This segment is likely to grow as ever more internet users adopt mobile devices as a primary means of going online.
Cindy Krum, CEO of Rank-Mobile, interviewed Mark Jackson, CEO of Vizion Interactive, about the Twitter panel discussion at SES Toronto 2009.
Twitter is no Google - Mark Jackson, Vizion Interactive at SES Toronto 2009
At SES Chicago 2009, Jackson will be speaking at the "SEO Through Blogs & Feeds" session, and Krum will be speaking at the "Cool Mobile Apps, Augmented Reality - It's a Brave New World!" session.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on October 28, 2009, 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Barry Diller Willing to Sell Ask.com, But No Deal in the Works
Yesterday, on the IAC earnings conference call, CEO Barry Diller said that he'd be open to selling Ask.com. The media took off with the comments as if they were new and a deal was imminent. It's not.
A source familiar with the matter said there are currently no talks about an Ask.com acquisition or spinoff. Diller's comments were made in response to constant questions that IAC receives regarding their willingness to sell Ask.com. Their response has always been the same.
So why did everyone run with Diller's comments as if they were new? The "buzz" is probably more of a reaction to the recent Microsoft-Yahoo! deal plus the fact that IAC has, in fact, sold or spun off a bunch of companies in recent years. It's kind of what Barry Diller does.
Actually, Ask.com is a cash cow for IAC. This is something that often gets lost in the "search wars." The conversation is always framed about stealing search share from Google. But you don't have to have a ton of search share to be profitable.
If Diller is going to sell, it's going to need to be a sweet deal to make up for losing one of IAC's top three revenue-generators. Google probably has too much antitrust scrutiny right now. Microsoft has cash to burn, and it wouldn't be the first time speculation has been made about Microsoft buying Ask. Plus, in case you didn't notice, Bing imitated a lot of what we saw in Ask 3D. You have to think that adding 4% search market share all at once has crossed Steve Ballmer's mind. It would be a nice cherry on top of the deal struck with Yahoo!
So, yes, there's a likelihood that Ask.com will probably be sold at some point, but there's always been that chance.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 28, 2009, 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google AdWords Offers Keyword Translation, But Should You Use It?
Google AdWords has added support for Google Translator Toolkit. This means you can now translate your keywords and have ads appear to global audiences in their language.
However, Search Engine Watch columnist Andy Atkins-Krüger warned about the pitfalls of keyword translation in an August post entitled Translating Keywords Should Never EVER Happen. Atkins-Kruger made the good point that while serving up ads to audiences in their language is important, simple translation is risky.
The reason is that this planet is so culturally diverse. Even countries that share the same language often have their regional nuances. Language in and of itself does not contain a culture.
The best way to serve up foreign language ads is through human translation by someone who understands the culture of the country that's being targeted. While Google's intentions appear to be good in offering this new feature, it should be used with great caution.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 28, 2009, 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Google Maps Launches Navigational Feature for Android 2.0
If you keep up with mobile tech news, you know that a bunch of Android devices are coming out soon. They'll soon be running Android 2.0 and with that will come a new feature: Google Maps Navigation.
Google Maps Navigation brings GPS navigation to Android. It will provide turn-by-turn directions, 3D views and automatic rerouting. It will also have, of course, powerful search features. Those search features include:
Search in plain English - This helps you when you don't know the exact address. You can search the name of a business, for example.
Search by voice - Hands-free is the safest way to search while driving.
Search along route - Find what you need along the route you're driving. Think food, coffee, gas, accommodations, etc.
Google Maps Navigation also provides some robust information including:
- The most recent map and business data
- Satellite view
- Street View
What do you think of Google Maps Navigation? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 28, 2009, 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Google: We're Launching Similar Image Search, Too
Just hours after GazoPa announced its similar image public beta test to the public, Google announced that it was releasing its similar image search out of Labs. Now, anyone could have experimented with the similar image search while it was in Labs, but you can only run one Labs experiment at a time. And a new experiment, Social Search, was added to Labs yesterday.
We're used to seeing Google release updates, products, major news, etc. in reaction to Microsoft or Yahoo! but saying "Me, too" to a smaller site just seems weird. Not everything that Google has done in this light has been ready (cough, Google Squared, cough). So, how does similar images fare?
To try it out, go to Google Image search. I used "pumpkin" to test it out since that's the keyword I used with GazoPa earlier. Thankfully, Google returned images of pumpkins. GazoPa only returned one or two even with keyword search.
The red circle in the graphic above highlights the "Find Similar Images" link, which I hope is self-explanatory. Sure enough, images of pumpkin similar to the one I clicked on appear in the results.
Unfortunately for GazoPa, Google is already light years ahead in similar image search. That doesn't mean GazoPa could never make inroads, they just have their work cut out for them.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 28, 2009, 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
