Mission E-Commerce

Moments after Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told senators “we get it” in regard to regulatory scrutiny, the search giant’s rivals refuted the point.

“Google doesn’t get it,” said Thomas O. Barnett, a lawyer for Expedia, which fought Google’s acquisition of flight data provider ITA Software. “Google won’t even admit reality.”

Barnett said the company is expanding its market power, growing in mobile phones and mobile search, in particular. And it’s using that power to direct users to its services, rather than penalizing rivals who are direct competitors.

Some of the more direct criticism came from Nextag Chief Executive Jeff Katz. He testified that Google’s results for product searches favor its own sites, not competitors such as Nextag.

“Google doesn’t play fair,” Katz said. “Google rigs its results.”

That gives consumers reasons to not use Nextag, since most start their searches with Google.

“They are quietly, deftly, and assuredly moving us aside,” Katz said.

Similarly, Yelp Chief Executive and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman criticized Google for directing search queries to its properties. And he said it’s motivated by the bottom line.

“They prefer to send consumers to the most profitable sites on the Web: their own,” Stoppelman said.

Earlier this year, Stoppelman engaged in a public tussle with Google over scraping reviews from Yelp’s site to use on its competing service, Google Places. He accused Google of running Yelp’s local business reviews on Google Places without compensation. At the time, Google responded that sites like Yelp benefit from Google’s referral traffic.

Google’s outside laywer, Susan Creighton, testified that Web surfers can switch from Google to a competing service anytime. If Google doesn’t deliver results consumers find useful, it’s “free and instantaneous” for them to look elsewhere.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked Stoppelman if he would start a company such as Yelp today, given Google’s current market power and business tactics.

“There’s no way I would start fresh,” Stoppelman said. “I wouldn’t even consider it today.”

At TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco today, TechCrunch editor Erick Schonfeld took the stage to chat with Facebook’s Product Director for Ads at Facebook Gokul Rajaram about the social network’s advertising operations. For background, Rajaram was known as the “Godfather of Google Adsense,” and joined Facebook last year through the acquisition of his company Chai Labs.

Rajaram says that Facebook ads are based on the premise that people want to discover what people are doing, and provide a social discovery experience. For example, brand messages paired with social context (i.e. likes) leads to 68 percent ad recall (meaning people actually remember the ad). And these ads results in four-time higher of a likelihood for viewers to purchase the product advertised.

He explains that majority of page views have social ads or sponsored stories on them, and says that these social ad formats are the foundation of ads going forward for Facebook. As you may know, the social network recently launched sponsored stories, which turns status updates, Likes, checkins and application activity on Facebook into advertisement for a brands.

Schonfeld asked about a possibility of creating an AdSense for advertisers on Facebook. Rajaram says it’s something they are thinking about, but the network has no immediate plans for a similar product. Pricing of ads on Facebook is directly correlated with the value of the ad. This value, he says, can be determined by brand awareness impact, clicks and more.

Rajaram says there’s a misconception that social ads are silos. The best campaigns have an engagement component with loyal fans. In terms of targeting, he says that advertisers see significantly high performance when enabling in-depth targeting (unsurprisingly).

To help advertisers track conversions, Facebook is deeply integrating with third-party conversion tracking systems.

Click here to learn more.

Written by: Lee Odden

Recently I spoke with Content Strategist, Margot Bloomstein, who was conducting research for an upcoming publication about Content Strategy intended for a variety of audiences. In particular, we discussed productive interactions and exchanges between Search Engine Optimization professionals and Content Strategists.

Organizations advance their reach and engagement goals through content and Strategists work to audit, develop strategy, plan, create and maintain that content. Ahava Leibtag provides an excellent and practical approach at CMI in her post, “Creating Valuable Content” which outlines how content should be: Findable, Readable, Understandable, Actionable and Shareable.

SEO and content strategy intersect in more ways than optimizing web pages with keywords. My take on Margot’s question, “How does SEO and content strategy interact?” starts with understanding customer segments, behaviors and preferences for information discovery, consumption and sharing. Knowing what customers care about and how those concerns and interests manifest as searchkeywords and social topics folds very well into the keyword research practiced by professional SEOs.

Keyword Glossaries and Editorial Plans aid in planning relevant content that is inherently optimized for customers and target audiences.  Specific keyword optimization is appropriate as well, but the end content product becomes much easier to find, consume and share if there’s empathy with customer needstranslated into topics and keywords from the start. Readers of this blog know that I’m a fan of optimizing for customers before search engines and that you can certainly do both.

An Editorial Plan outlines content types, topics and the keywords they’re optimized for. It indicates where and if the content will be re-published and re-purposed. The plan also shares what channels of distribution will be used to promote the content and share it via the social web. There very well may be an augmentation of the search optimization effort for the social web that emphasizes popular and relevant social topics vs. search keywords.

Planning, creating, optimizing, promoting and engaging with content on topics that customers and target audiences care about is where modern SEO has evolved:Content Marketing Optimization.  SEO expertise, which also includes knowledge of how search engines crawl and index websites, content management systems, the impact of how websites are coded and organized, provides a powerful ally to Content Strategists when goals and objectives are in alignment.

I think the publication Margot is researching will provide valuable insight not only for SEO, but any other element involved with an organization’s content from web developers & designers to copywriters and marketing executives. In case Margot reads this post, what tips would you share on how your area of expertise best interacts with Content Strategy?

Read more here

In the midst of Web 2.0 many useful websites exist that allow users to interact and become published writers.  Yelp.com is a perfect example of how the internet and Web 2.0 create an outlet for people to comment about their favorite and least favorite local businesses.  As with any other E-commerce website, the owners of the site must constantly evolve to maintain their optimal reputation.  The article below describes some current changes that the website is making and how these changes can effect the users of the website as well as small businesses working with the website.

By: Steven Musi

The shine appears to be fading on the daily-deals marketing model.

Click here to read more.

Biz Stone, the Twitter co-founder who left his daily duties at the microblogging site to restart Obvious Corporation, the company that gave life to Twitter, revealed details of the incubator’s first project today.

The company’s first project is Lift, an “application for unlocking human potential through positive reinforcement,” Stone wrote in a blog post today titled “Unlocking Potential.”

“It’s important never to delude ourselves into thinking that technology changes the world,” Stone wrote. “People are responsible for change–technology just helps out.”

Stone said little else about the app but did reveal a little about how the company would operate.

“Our plan is to build something extraordinary together,” Stone wrote. “The Obvious Corporation will assist the talented Lift team with strategy, design, funding, recruiting–in general, we’ll be helpful wherever possible.”

Lift is currently in private alpha, but the site invites people to sign up to receive more information when it’s available.

Along with former Twitter CEO Evan Williams and former Twitter product chief Jason Goldman, Stone announced in June that the trio was teaming to restart the Obvious Corporation to develop “systems that help people work together to improve the world.” Obvious was the company Williams formed after the trio left Google in 2003 to buy back several failed companies, including Twitter, from investors in a former project.

In just one month, Google+ has captured 25 million visitors, making it the fastest site to reach such numbers, according to data out yesterday from ComScore.

Google’s socially networked audience is likely even higher now, as the 25 million mark is through July 24, more than a week ago, as noted in ComScore’s report.

Growing at around 1 million users per day, Google+ has outshined Facebook, which took three years to grab 25 million people, and Twitter, which took a little more than 30 months to reach that level, ComScore said.

Drilling down by region, Google+ has seen more than 6 million users in the U.S. and 3.6 million in India. Canada and the U.K. each have around 1 million users, while Germany has drawn in more than 920,000.

An earlier ComScore report, released July 21, showed that the social network reached 20 million users in its first three weeks.

Related links:
• Developers believe Google+ can beat Facebook
• Google+ traffic dropping already?
• How Google+ can keep tech’s fashionistas buzzing

The amount of time people are spending on the site has been growing in spurts, according to the ComScore report. The average number of days per week that users in the U.S. visited Google+ rose 39 percent in the week ending July 17 and 11 percent the following week.

Despite the surge in users, one report has seen traffic to the social network tapering off. Data released by market researcher Experian Hitwise on July 27 found fewer people in the U.S. had visited the site the prior week and that they were spending less time there.

Google+ saw 1.79 million visits for the week ending July 23, a decline of 3 percent from the previous week’s 1.86 million, Experian Hitwise said. The average user spent 10 percent less time on the site–5 minutes and 15 seconds, down from 5 minutes and 50 seconds the week before.

But Google has taken issue with such data from third-party firms, claiming that it’s based on the number of visitors and not the number of users and that it doesn’t doesn’t include mobile usage or navigation bar usage, two ways in which members interact with Google+ from other Google services, such as Gmail.

CNET asked ComScore analyst Andrew Lipsman to clarify whether the 25 million number is tracking all visitors to Google+ or actual users of the service.

“Visitors is technically what ComScore reports,” explained Lipsman. “If someone goes to the URL, they are a ‘visitor’ but not necessarily logged in as a ‘user.’ For all intents and purposes, users and visitors should be pretty close. For example, our reporting of visitors for Facebook matches up very closely to their ‘active user’ counts.”

Google itself has lately been mum about the numbers it’s seen for Google+, and a Google spokesperson was unable to verify ComScore’s figures. Google last released numbers for its social network on July 14 when it reported a total of 10 million users.

I’m occasionally a guest on WTOP-FM in Washington, D.C., and it’s been trying to convince guests to upgrade to USB Skype microphones instead of using lower-quality telephones for future interviews.

To help us pick the right ones, the good folks at WTOP, an all-news station that also broadcasts in Maryland and Virginia, have spent a month testing the best microphones to use with Skype in different price ranges.

Here’s what their engineers found, according to Ari Ashe, an evening producer and reporter for WTOP Radio. They rated the audio quality on a scale of 1, a cell phone, to 10, a high-quality ISDN link often used to transmit audio from one radio station to the other, which CNET uses as well.

Between $10 and $40, WTOP looked at the Griffin iMic+ and the Logitech USB H530, and concluded:

We highly recommend the Logitech USB H530 at this price point. It’s a no-brainer. Logitech delivers a great pack for the punch at about $35. We believe if you’re going to already spend $25, spend $35, because the the difference is that noticeable. The only shortcoming is that it is a consumer headset. A great one, but the broadcast gear is even better. On a scale from 1-10: Cell phone (1), Hard line phone (2), Logitech (6), ISDN (10).

In the $50 to $80 range, they evaluated the Beyerdynamic MMX2, Blue Microphones’ Snowball, and the Samson C01U USB microphone. They concluded:

For us, this is an easy decision. The Blue Snowball blows away the Beyerdynamic MMX2. At $60, it is a better overall microphone than the Beyer at $79. The only drawback is that you’ll need some headphones to plug into your computer with the Snowball. There will be some latency, which is essentially some overlap between the microphone and headphones where you may hear yourself briefly. However, it is a minor issue that is momentary. And with an old pair of headphones lying around, you’ll all set to go. You’ll run into the same problem with the Samson C01U, and the improvement, if any, above the Snowball, isn’t worth the price difference. On a scale from 1-10: Cell phone (1), Hard line phone (2), Logitech (6), Bever (6), Snowball (7.5), Samson (7.5), ISDN (10).

In the $90 to $120 range, they evaluated the Blue Yeti, the Audio Technica AT2020 USB, and the Audix USB12. Here is WTOP’s analysis and its engineers’ conclusions:

The Blue Yeti: Like the Snowball, this is from Blue Microphones. And again, like the Snowball and the Mikey, we are very impressed with this product. The Yeti delivers a sound that’s a small notch above the Snowball. It’s nothing a listener will notice, but one that any TV or radio professional will notice. The construction of this microphone is also a step up from the Snowball.
POSITIVE: Blue adds the bells and whistles to this microphone to make it worth your while. Unlike the previous microphones, which you’ll have to plug an old pair of headphones into the computer, the Yeti has a headphone jack on the microphone itself! A small feature, but a very handy one. No need to fumble for the computer. More importantly, we’ve found that this does eliminate a lot of the latency (hearing yourself talk in the headphones momentarily) that you’ll experience in the Snowball or Samson C01-U. You’ll also notice several knobs and buttons. Among them are dials that allow you to control the volume of the sound going into your headphones and the volume that your microphone sends the audio to the other Skype users. So, if we say you’re too loud, you’ve got a “Gain” dial that you can turn down on the microphone itself. There is a Mute button that you can push to cough. Finally, and most importantly, the Yeti delivers the goods! This microphone can deliver an ISDN-quality interview, if you do all other things correctly.
NEGATIVE: The bells and whistles can be confusing. Besides learning how to adjust your headphone and microphone levels, the Mute button is confusing. If it’s blinking, it’s muted. If it’s solid, it is on. In addition, there are four different microphone settings: stereo, cardioid, omni-direction, bidirectional. For our purposes, you want cardoid. There are uses for the others if you’re a musician or hosting a group interview. For WTOP, there’s no use. So when you get it, set the knob to cardoid (shaped like a heart) and keep it there. (Price: Market price is $150, but shop around for a better price.)Audio Technica AT2020 USB: Like the Yeti, the AT2020 USB delivers the goods on the microphone in a way that the others cannot match. It has all the attributes we want in a broadcast quality microphone and few, if any, vocal problems.
POSITIVES: It is rich, bright, full and sounds like you’re sitting next to the other person. It sounds almost like any satellite on TV or ISDN on radio. You will definitely impress your radio and TV partners with the Skype audio. It matches the Yeti step-for-step, and outpaces other microphones at all price points under $125 for audio delivery.
NEGATIVES: One small, one big. The small: Unlike the Yeti, the AT2020 USB does not have the bells and whistles. No knobs to adjust microphone or headphone volume. No mute button. No headphone on the microphone. Therefore, you will have to plug into the computer like the Samson C01U and Blue Snowball. And thus latency! The big: The AT2020 USB does not play nicely with Macintosh. We’ve had perfect success with Windows. However, we’ve run into compliance issues with Macs. We attempted to troubleshoot the problem with Audio-Technica and Skype, but no success. We have heard it works on some Macs, but we have not been able to verify it independently. (Price: Market price is $150…)

Audix USB12: Like the Yeti, the Audix USB12 has a microphone jack in the back of the microphone itself to plug in your headphones. Like the Yeti too, it has a microphone button that allows you to turn it on and off at will. However, unlike the Yeti, it does not have knobs that’ll control your microphone or headphone volume.
POSITIVES: It delivers the audio quality you would expect at this price point. It is better than the Snowball, Beyer and Samson. Like the Yeti, the Audix USB12 plays well with Windows and Macs equally.
NEGATIVES: Two big ones. First, the price. It is more expensive than the Yeti and AT2020 and it doesn’t deliver the goods to warrant the extra cost. Second, the “plosives”: also known as popping your “P”s and “B”s and distorting your “T”s. At this price, it’s unacceptable to have these audio distortions pop into interviews. Audix instructs the user to stand 6 or 7 inches from the microphone to prevent this. That should solve the problem. A mesh pop-filter from any music store like Guitar Center will also solve the problem. However, at this cost, you shouldn’t need to deal with these issues. (Price: Market price is $150…)

Our recommendations: Bottom line, you can’t lose in this category. We wish the Audix USBL2 didn’t have popping (“plosive”) issues. However, it isn’t a problem that can’t be fixed, if you really want to spend the money. At this price point, we’re going to do a split recommendation.
For Windows: We highly recommend the Audio-Technica AT2020 USB. The microphone consistently tested slightly higher than the Yeti on three blind audio tests with our professional staff that have been in the industry for several decades. I would agree with the results as well.
For Macs: We highly recommend the Blue Yeti. Almost as good as the AT2020 USB, it is Mac compliant and the bells and whistles more than make-up for the slight difference in audio quality. At the same price, we would also be okay if Windows users opted for the Yeti. You cannot go wrong with Blue, although you will also love the AT2020 USB on Windows.

iPhone users now will be able to spend even more time on their social networks straight from the mobile device with the addition of the Google + app.  As Google has become so integrated into the lives of modern day entrepreneurs, students, and technology junkies, now all internet users can feel that they are actually interacting with this internet super site.

Google has launched an iOS version of a Google Plus app for iPhones.  Users will be able to view the stream of posts of their followers as incoming posts as well as from people they follow and others in close geographic proximity.

A major difference between Google + and Facebook, is that users can easily interact with an exclusive circle of people that they have selected.  Users can publish to circles of people and even start chat rooms with their friends.

As Google + has just managed to reach more than 10 million people last week, this new app was announced today just in time for the flood of users.

To read more about Google + click here.