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Archive for the 'Web News' Category
Mar. 27th 2009
For students at any level, writing an opinion paper is high on the list of assignments that determine what your final grade will be. In an age when resources are, literally, at your fingertips, the quality of your research is going to depend on your ability to navigate the web links. This article will provide a brief map that will help you use web links most effectively to find the information you need. The first thing you need to know is what categories of information are available.
Categories of Information Available via Web Link
1. Reference Materials
Perhaps you’ve already been thinking about how much you already know about the topic you’ve chosen. If your own knowledge is skimpy, however, looking at background information, brief articles about issues, or even overviews will help you define the problem and determine where it stands in society. One thing you’ll be able to pin down is the vocabulary specific to the topic. You’ll probably also be able to figure out who the stakeholders are on the issue. Some places to find these: encyclopedias, political sites, summaries, and sites that have to do with this issue. This may be a good place to find some useful summaries.
2. News Sites
These are sites that will inform you about how relevant your issue is. There will be information, for instance, about legislation on the issue, if relevant. Also, where is the issue being dealt with in the world? Web links to news sites can help you maintain relevance. A discussion of an issue that is no longer relevant anywhere in the world is not likely to be very effective.
3. Law and Legislation
If there are laws relevant to your topic, you certainly want to include that information. Also, there are always good pro-and-con arguments in the debates that occurred before the law was enacted. You can use legislative sites, databases, and guides to find this information.
4. Data
Refutation is an important segment of any opinion paper. You are going to need data not only to back up your position but also to refute the opposite one. You can find these in scholarly journals, white papers, conference proceedings, and research papers. Also look for statistical sources and government reports.
5. Advocacy Sites
Don‚t shy away from looking at the opinions of others when you are determining what your own is. A good place to find these is on the web sites of groups that advocate a particular position. Look also at web links to newspapers and magazines and go to their opt-in pages.
Jan. 21st 2009
In contrast to the doom-and-gloom forecasting in the media, Microsoft recently announced the results of a study of more optimistic small business owners (many of whom, we assume, engage in Internet marketing and advertising). Commissioned by Microsoft Live Small Business and Elance, the study found:
“…nearly 60 percent of small-business owners believe that 2009 will be as good or better than 2008, while 37 percent are worried about 2009 but believe their businesses will weather the current economic storm. Despite it all - and staying true to their entrepreneurial spirit - 86 percent of business owners state that they are happier running their own business over working for someone else.”
Jan. 20th 2009
The ears of Internet marketers and advertisers perked up when Microsoft recently announced it had inked a deal with Verizon to deliver mobile search and advertising. The agreement, which runs for five years, will hit the consumer market in a few months via Verizon Wireless feature phones and smartphones.
According to the company’s press release:
The addition of Microsoft’s mobile search and advertising services enhance the long-standing strategic Verizon-Microsoft relationship. Under the five-year agreement, Microsoft will manage search and display advertising on Verizon’s Mobile Web service, creating a one-stop integrated way for advertisers and ad agencies to reach mobile consumers.
There was no word about the terms of the agreement, but the press release went on to say:
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said, “Mobile search and mobile advertising offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and growth, and Microsoft is in a unique position to deliver a fully integrated, voice-enabled solution for Verizon’s customers. We are confident that our advanced mobile search and mobile advertising technologies will help consumers get the most out of their mobile computing experience and help advertisers reach consumers who are on the go more effectively.”
Jan. 19th 2009
Some who follow Internet marketing would say that former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang overstayed his welcome, but it looks like he’s finally vacated the chair for good. Yahoo! recently announced that Carol Bartz will take over the CEO spot. She comes from Autodesk, where she was Executive Chairman and, prior to that CEO. In a statement issued by Yahoo, Chairman Roy Bostock said:
“We are very excited to have Carol Bartz leading Yahoo! into its next era of growth. She is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that the Board was looking for, and we are thrilled to have attracted such a world-class talent to Yahoo!. She is admired in the Valley as well as on Wall Street for her deep management expertise, strong customer orientation, excellent people skills, and firm understanding of the challenges facing our industry. Carol meets all of the criteria we set for the search and is the only person to whom we offered the job. The Board is united in its view that her energetic and decisive leadership style, coupled with a proven track record of driving growth, operational excellence and shareholder value, is exactly what Yahoo! needs to get back on a path toward achieving its full potential.”
We’ll see where her leadership takes the company, and wish her well.
Jan. 6th 2009
If you have an ecommerce site and engage in Internet marketing efforts, then you know that the holiday season was fairly brutal for etailers as well as for retailers. comScore (www.comscore.com), a company that specializes in online metrics, recently compared online holiday spending to retail holiday spending (as reported by MasterCard), and found a number of interesting trends.
Overall, online spending showed significant year-over-year increases in three categories: sport and fitness (up 18%); video games, consoles, and accessories (up 14%); and apparel and accessories (up 4%). This is especially interesting in light of an overall decrease in apparel spending of 19% to 21%.
According to a comScore press release:
“For an online holiday shopping season that recorded a disappointing 3-percent decline in sales, a positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallet,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Clearly, 2008 was an extremely challenging time for many retailers, and the beginning of 2009 may not be much better. But when the consumer economy eventually does rebound, e-commerce is poised to benefit from its emergence as an important consumer sales channel.”
Jan. 5th 2009
Those interested in Internet marketing always have their ears to the ground when it comes to anything having to do with Microsoft. Over the past week, rumors have been flying that the giant will be laying off 17 percent of its workforce - or about 15,000 people - in the coming year. It now appears that the layoffs are just that - rumors - although the word is that contractors are receiving notices of non-renewal.
Microsoft is scheduled to release its second quarter financials on January 22, so it’s safe to assume that any drastic plans will be announced around then.
Dec. 30th 2008
If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably a bit leery about undertaking a paid search campaign such as Google AdWords. Even if you’ve engaged the services of an Internet marketing company, you may think that paid search beyond your means. If so, you’re not alone - at least according to the results of a study recently released by Microsoft adCenter.
The company’s press release said, in part:
The findings indicate that a majority of the small businesses surveyed invest in developing Web sites, but fail to take even the simplest steps to enhance their online business presence. The study revealed that 59 percent of small businesses with Web sites don’t currently use paid search marketing, and of those, 90 percent have never even attempted it.
Surprisingly, seven in 10 small-business owners who participated revealed that they would rather try to do their own taxes than start a paid search marketing campaign.
It went on to say:
Despite the lack of investment in paid search marketing, the weakening economy and increased competition, nearly nine in 10 (86 percent) small-business owners surveyed felt that they could be missing opportunities to grow their business, while three in four believed prospective customers could be searching online for the type of service their business offers. Although most do not embrace the practice, the small-business owners who use paid search marketing are very satisfied, as 72 percent reported an increase in sales inquiries and 68 percent consider their paid search marketing efforts successful.
Among the participants’ chief concerns, most cited the common misconceptions of cost, time and complexity as major hurdles to conducting search marketing campaigns for their businesses. Other key insights included the following:
* Nearly nine in 10 (89 percent) feared keywords may become too expensive.
* Eighty-one percent questioned if paid search marketing is the best use of their marketing budgets.
* One quarter of respondents believe paid search marketing is too complex.
* Twenty-one percent thought it would be too time-consuming.
* Thirty-five percent felt they would need an agency to help set up a search marketing campaign.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft’s take is that more small business owners should engage in paid search campaigns. Nonetheless, those who are experts in Internet marketing outline a number of equally effective, less expensive strategies that can achieve the same results.
Dec. 29th 2008
In our increasingly interconnected world, many people are concerned about their online privacy. Companies that serve those who participate in Internet marketing campaigns understand the need for (at minimum) aggregated information about users, but those same companies also need to be sensitive to the consumer concerns.
Yahoo! recently announced a new initiative in the form of a 90-day data retention policy - one that it hopes achieves the proper balance between accessible information and privacy. According to a statement released by the company:
This new policy strengthens Yahoo!’s relationship of trust with its 500 million users world-wide and enhances its longtime leadership on privacy.
Under the new policy, Yahoo! will anonymize user log data within 90 days with limited exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations. Yahoo! will also expand the policy to apply not only to search log data but also page views, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks.
“In our world of customized online services, responsible use of data is critical to establishing and maintaining user trust,” said Anne Toth, Yahoo!’s Vice President of Policy and Head of Privacy. “We know that our users expect relevant and compelling content and advertising when they visit Yahoo!, but they also want assurances that we are focused on protecting their privacy.”
It went on to say:
To protect users and our business partners, there will be some specific and limited exceptions to the anonymization policy. In order to fight fraud and preserve system security, Yahoo! will retain system specific data in identifiable form for no more than 6 months — but only for this purpose. Yahoo! may have to retain data for longer periods to meet other legal obligations.
Dec. 17th 2008
As the result of an article recently published by the Wall Street Journal, the concept of net neutrality is once again making headlines. This is a major issue for those engaged in Internet marketing and advertising efforts, so it’s definitely worth revisiting.
For the uninitiated, net neutrality is the concept that broadband services shouldn’t be able to give some Internet users the edge over other Internet users. The analogy that’s often used is that service providers are like phone companies, in that phone companies can’t (and shouldn’t) let people pay a higher rate so that their calls go through more quickly than calls from people who pay a normal rate.
On the other side are those who say that the exponential increase in bandwidth used over the past couple of years requires infrastructure upgrades, and that the way to pay for those upgrades is to allow some people to pay more for faster access or for some companies to pay more to have their content delivered to end users more quickly. An analogy for this argument is one of freeways versus toll roads. Theoretically, toll roads will get you from point A to point B more quickly.
The problem with the toll road analogy is that access to the Internet is perceived as a choice or a luxury. Those who favor net neutrality (not favoring some content over other content or some users over other users) see the Internet as a necessity. Dividing society into information “haves” and “have-nots” doesn’t serve us well, since it disenfranchises people and stifles innovation.
After all, one of the great things about the Internet is that, theoretically at least, it’s a level playing field. We all know that companies with money have more influence and generally come out on top, but there are many enterprises that have taken traditional business models, turned them upside down, and made it online.
There are many other issues related to net neutrality that are more technical in nature, like edge caching and colocation, but what has been making the news are rumors that players like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have changed their positions from supporting net neutrality to supporting “pay to play” schemes.
Yahoo and Microsoft haven’t weighed in, but Google posted a blog entry in response to the WSJ article that reiterates their support of net neutrality. To quote, “Google remains strongly committed to the principle of net neutrality, and we will continue to work with policymakers in the years ahead to keep the Internet free and open.”
Dec. 16th 2008
Those who are in the forefront of Internet marketing are often the most vocal in their criticisms of Yahoo, noting that the company is frequently a Johnny-come-lately to trends sweeping the Internet. Well, the company is finally hopping on the social networking bandwagon, and recently announced major changes to Yahoo Mail, My Yahoo, Yahoo Toolbar, and Yahoo Updates. Here are the highlights from the company’s press release:
* Yahoo! Mail - Yahoo! Mail’s smarter inbox focuses on streamlining access to a user’s most relevant and useful information. The new Welcome Page surfaces email messages, information and activity from people users care about most, and the integration of relevant third party applications will allow users to be more productive, all from within their inbox.
* My Yahoo! - My Yahoo! users can enhance their personal start pages by adding applications created by third-party developers. These interactive “apps” will range from productivity tools to games, and will infuse My Yahoo! with new social relevance. A new My Yahoo! Theme API lets third-party designers create and share their own look and feel for My Yahoo! pages, giving users access to an even wider range of creative backgrounds and styles.
* Yahoo! Toolbar - The new Yahoo! Toolbar will provide constant access to essential online tasks and up-to-the-minute news from the sources that matter most.
* Yahoo! Updates - In addition to surfacing friend updates in the new Yahoo! Toolbar and Mail, Yahoo! will begin sharing relevant updates within Yahoo! Music and Yahoo! TV. Yahoo! The Yahoo! Updates platform is also available as an open API, allowing any site on the Web to submit activities into it.
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