November 4, 2009
Digg Trends: Experimenting with Users Choosing Homepage Stories
Ok, so technically Digg users do choose homepage stories by voting up submitted links. But Digg Trends is an experiment in being a little more explicit.
Users who see the test might see a submitted story at the top of their screen. Their will be a countdown clock, showing how long until a story is set to appear on the homepage. The user can say whether or not they think the story belongs on the homepage. Here's a screenshot per the official Digg blog:
Digg has set up a Twitter account for the experiment. Follow @digg_trends to see which stories are trending.
What do you think of the Digg Trends experiment? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on November 4, 2009, 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google News Offers Customization via New Sections
Alex Chitu over at Google Operating System noticed a new feature in Google News. Look to the top right corner and you'll see a link for "Add a section."
Clicking on "Add a section" takes you to a directory of news sections that you can use to customize your Google News experience.
Update: You can also create your own sections and either keep it private or make it available for public consumption. Here's how you do it: First, click the "Create your own section" button in the right sidebar (when you're on a sections page):
On the next page, choose a title for your section and then add relevant keywords. As you do, news related to those keywords will appear on the right. This will help you know if you're choosing the right keywords. Finish filling out the form. If you check the box for public view, you'll need to add a description and select a category.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on November 4, 2009, 1:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Updates Friend Connect to Match Up Content, Ads with Uses Interests
Google has released updates to Friend Connect that will help the tool be more, um, friendly to both web developers and their site visitors. They're using the interests that users note in their profiles to help deliver a more personalized experience.
Custom newsletters - Friend Connect now offers newsletters. You can select to send them to your entire Friend Connect audience - or send newsletters according to interest.
Google Ads - If you have AdSense on your site, Google Friend Connect will now use the interests of a Friend Connect visitor to help serve up more relevant ads.
Personalized Content Gadget - Google will use, once again, user interests to show content throughout your site that's relevant to those interests.
What do you think of these Google Friend Connect updates? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on November 4, 2009, 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
AOL Ad Revenues Decline by 18% in Q3 2009
Time Warner has reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2009 and the news isn't so pretty for AOL. Overall revenues declined 23% to $777 million.
The decline resulted from an 18% decrease in advertising revenues as well as a 29% decline in subscription revenues. Time Warner said the decline in ad revenues was due to lower paid search and display ads on AOL Media, reduced ad sales on third party sites and foreign exchange rates.
AOL averaged 102 million U.S. unique visitors per month and 44 billion domestic page views, which translates to 144 pages per unique visitor.
Last spring, Time Warner announced plans to spin off AOL. And recently a Board of Directors was named for the soon-to-be-independent company.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on November 4, 2009, 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Go to SES Berlin or SES Chicago for Eight Days A-Learning
During the past seven weeks, I've shared seven compelling reasons for going to either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. For those of you who want to join in the chorus, they are "seven tracks amazing, six booths astounding, five brand new things, four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."
This week, I'll share an eighth great reason -- and it isn't "eight maids a-milking."
You should attend these events for "eight days a-learning."
SES Berlin starts on 23 November with one day of "workshop" and continues 24 and 25 November with two days of "kongress." Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 runs December 7 through 11. It starts with three days of conference sessions, which are followed by two days of training.
If you think no one can possibly cram eight days of learning into two events a couple of weeks apart, you'd be wrong. Andy Atkins-Kruger, Mike Grehan, Bill Hunt, Motoko Hunt, Anne Kennedy and Richard Zwicky, among others, will be at Search Engine Strategies Berlin and SES Chicago 2009.
Yes, yes, these road warriors are speaking at both events. But when they aren't speaking, they'll be sitting in other conference sessions learning. That's one of the secrets of their success. In fact, they'll learn more in eight days than many of us will learn in a year.
That's why I like interviewing well-traveled people for the SES Conference Expo's channel on YouTube. It's like interviewing the philosophers in The School of Athens, one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael.
And I know that no one would confuse the Crowne Plaza Berlin City Centre, where Search Engine Strategies Berlin is being held, or the Hilton Chicago, where SES Chicago 2009 is being held, with the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, where The School of Athens decorates one of the walls. And I'm pretty sure that speakers at these two events won't be walking around wearing togas.
But there is much to learn from the industry's top search experts, including representatives from the search engines themselves. Here are some samples of some of the speakers who you will find walking around these events.
At SES Chicago 2008, Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Andy Atkins-Kruger, the founder of WebCertain. Andy discussed his favorite speaker and also talked about the state of search in Europe for 2009.
Andy Atkins-Kruger, WebCertain, discusses SES Chicago and SES London 2009
At SES San Jose 2009, John Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed Thomas Bindl, CEO of Refined Labs, about SES Berlin 2009. Thomas talked about the history of SES in Germany and says the current speaker line-up is the best the conference has seen so far, including coverage of such topics as social media, PPC, organic, etc.
Thomas Bindl, Refined Labs, previews SES Berlin 2009
At SES San Jose 2009, I interveiwed Mike Grehan, the newly-anointed VP and Global Content Director at SES, SEW, and ClickZ. Mike talked about the search world's attempted transition into social media, and the challenges this poses for traditional search engine marketers and organic search engine optimization professionals.
Mike Grehan, the new VP and Global Content Director, ties social media to search, SES San Jose 2009
At SES San Jose 2008, I interviewed Bill Hunt about his new book, Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web site. Bill will be the keynote speaker at SES Berlin 2009.
Greg Jarboe interviews Bill Hunt about his new book
At SES London 2009, I interviewed Motoko Hunt, founder of AJPR, LLC, about mobile search. Motoko saids mobile search is exploding in Asia, with the creation of the mobile web back in 1999.
Motoko Hunt, AJPR, LLC previews mobile search panel at SES London 2009
At SES London 2009, I interviewed Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner & Founder, Beyond Ink, about search getting "all the credit." Anne said the clicks are there and we know that different people come from different places in their buying cycles.
Anne Kennedy, Beyond Ink, on the importance of search at SES London 2009
At SES San Jose 2009, John Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed Matt McGowan, VP Publishing, Incisive Media, about upcoming SES shows at Chicago and Berlin. Matt says after having SES shows in various cities in Germany, including Hamburg and Munich, it was time to schedule one in Berlin.
Matt McGowan, VP Publishing, Incisive Media previews SES Chicago and Berlin '09
And at SES San Jose 2008, Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Richard Zwicky of Enquisite, about click fraud. Richard stressed the importance that ad networks place on users to file claims whenever they have identfied network errors and/or possible fraud.
Richard Zwicky, Enquisite, discusses click fraud
Next week, we'll look at more reasons for going to either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. In the meantime, just keep singing "eight days a-learning, seven tracks amazing, six booths astounding, five brand new things, four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."
Posted by Greg Jarboe on November 4, 2009, 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Twitter Now Habla Espanol
Twitter is now available in Spanish. My rudimentary Spanish skills were able to detect this announcement posted on the Twitter blog - and yes, in Espanol. Ok, it helped that I saw the headline in English before I read the news in my RSS reader, but I digress.
I could deduct from the official Twitter post that they were very grateful to their translation volunteers for helping them to push out this update.
Also, if you go to your Settings link on Twitter.com, look for the language menu and select Spanish if you want this update.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on November 4, 2009, 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
MSN Redesign Relies on Structured Data from Bing
After looking pretty much the same for almost a decade, one of the top three internet starting points is finally getting a facelift. MSN is debuting its new look, which you can preview here, and Bing is playing a central role in the overhaul - though it won't always be so obvious to the user.
MSN will be relying on structured data gathered from Bing to inform content featured on the new homepage. This includes new modules for local news and all of MSN's shopping will be powered by Bing. MSN will also rely on data about what people are searching for to publish timely content across their network.
Currently, MSN drives 45% of Bing's traffic. Time spent on content, such as the type MSN provides, has grown 24% since 2003. Considering that the other two of the top three internet starting points are Yahoo! and AOL, which have redesigned in the past year, it's no surprise that MSN wants to hang out at the top - and leverage that position to drive Bing's growth. MSN experiences 100 million U.S. users per month, and has grown by 10 million in the past year alone.
One of the reasons content is so hot is due to social networking. MSN is integrating a social module into the redesign, where users will able to access their Facebook and Twitter feeds. This is part of a strategy to make MSN an "information dashboard for your life" for its users. (Sounds kind of similar to Yahoo!'s lastest Y!ou marketing campaign to get users to make Yahoo! their "home on the web.")
Of course, social integration also makes sense when you consider Microsoft's search partnership with Facebook< and it's recent announcement to integrate Twitter into Bing search results.
Cosmetically, MSN is switching from a blue background to white. There are dashes of color, reminiscent of the new Zune software, which is quite slick. The navigation has been de-cluttered, with 50% fewer links.
MSN Homepage
MSN Local Edition
Facebook integration
What do you think of MSN's new look and strategy? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on November 4, 2009, 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
