Google Lively - Hangout and chat in 3D
By Find2k | July 10, 2008
Hello All,
I am glad to welcome another brilliant product from Google – Lively: Hangout and chat in 3D
Welcome aboard! You’re about to embark on a chat experience in which you can communicate and express yourself using avatars in your very own space. Choose an avatar and use it to make friends and chat. Create rooms, decorate them to your liking, and make sure to invite your friends over.
There are 3 things available for you here:
1. Create
2. Communicate
3. Share
In Create you can select your avatar, change your clothing, and create your own room… well till this point every feature reminds me of Yahoo Chat…
But not anymore look at these features - You can select your avatar, change your clothing, create your own room and add furniture to your room
Explore!
Some objects are more than what they seem! You can try to find them on your own, or hover over Room Info to highlight objects that have hyperlinks, animations, or comments.
In Communicate below are some basic tips on how to express your self. But don’t take our word for it; get out there and have fun!
Chat with others: If you see another avatar in the room, it’s always nice to strike up a friendly conversation; you can chat by writing in the text field at the bottom of the viewing window. To keep track of conversation and actions in a room, click the Chat History button to pop out the chat window and keep track of what’s going on.
Perform animations
Sometimes a picture really is worth 1000 words. You can make your avatar perform different animations — like laugh, high-five another avatar, or dance — with a couple clicks of the mouse, just right-click on your avatar and select an action from the menu that appears. Add contacts: Keep track of your friends - We hope that you’ll be making friends here. If you meet a person and want to add them to your contacts, click on their avatar. A dialog will pop up and you should choose Invite Contact. This will send a pop-up invitation to the other person, who can accept or reject the contact request. Keep track of your friends, If your contacts are in a room, click the room name to join them. If a contact isn’t in Lively at the moment, their name is grayed out.
Summon your friends to join you
In Share you can Share your room, so you’ve got your room set up but you’re feeling a little lonely? The first step is to make sure your friends know your room’s URL. You can also modify your room properties; now that you’ll be having friends visit your room, check that you’ve set everything up the way you want. Decide whether you want visitors to be able to add new furniture to your room, move objects around, or if you’d prefer to keep everything left just the way you like it.
You can also Share your opinion about a room, In addition to real-time chatting, it’s easy to leave comments in a room. Now, any visitors who look at the room info will see your comments listed.
Check out Lively and don’t forget to tell us your comments and feedback.
Topics: Google, Internet Marketing, New Updates on Google, Search Marketing | No Comments »
Google Keyword tool with Search Trend Numbers
By Find2k | July 9, 2008
Good News for all the the guys and gals in Online marketing…..
Let me present you a known, reliable and accountable keyword research tool after Overture and wordtracker, who is still treate as the best among the competitors.
So here it is Welcome the New ever Google AdWords Keyword Tool with with search volume data…now the days are gone when you have to keep staring at the Green bar and try to figure out which keyword is better than others based on the trend bar.
Now, Based on advertiser feedback, and Google’s commitment to provide useful tools and information to the advertisers, they have now added search volume data to the Keyword Tool.
Have a Look at the screen shot of new keyword tool below
Hear from them…
Now, when you use the Keyword Tool to search for relevant keywords to include in your keyword list, you’ll be able to see the approximate number of search queries matching your keywords that were performed on Google and the search network. These approximate numbers are intended to provide better insight into keywords’ monthly and average search volumes than previously provided by the tool.
You can view the new statistics by looking at the Keyword Tool’s Approx Search Volume columns. Search volume data can be useful to you in several ways, including:
- Account structure: You may want to create a new ad group around high-traffic keywords that you find particularly relevant. Closely target ad text and a specific landing page to the small, narrowly-focused set of similar keywords you’ve found through the Keyword Tool.
- Budget planning: See how much traffic is available to your keywords so you can better plan your budget.
- Keyword choice: Search for and select the relevant keywords most likely to return quality leads within your budget.
Remember, the Keyword Tool also provides several other keyword-related metrics that can help you select highly relevant keywords to improve the overall performance of your campaigns. You can easily view data on advertiser competition, search volume trends, estimated average CPCs, and estimated ad positions for keywords.
To learn more about using the Keyword Tool, please see this article from the AdWords Help Center
Now the very obvious question will be: This data is for what time range?
Answer is: The Approx Search Volume [Previous Month] column shows search volume statistics for the last calendar month. The Approx Avg Search Volume column shows average monthly search volume over a recent 12-month period.
Here are a few more details to keep in mind other than the date range:
- Search volume fluctuation: Web traffic is influenced by seasonality, current events, and a number of other factors. The level of search volume on your keywords, therefore, is constantly fluctuating.
- Location and language targeting: If you access the Keyword Tool from within an ad group, the search traffic statistics will factor in your campaign’s country and language targeting (if you target a region or city, only the country will be reflected). If you use the standalone or external Keyword Tools, your country and language selections will influence these statistics. Learn about the different versions of the Keyword Tool.
- Match type: The Keyword Tool’s statistics vary depending on your selection from the Match Type drop-down menu. If you select Broad or Phrase, the tool will factor in certain variations of your keywords that could potentially trigger your ads. Learn about keyword match types.
You can find search volume statistics in the Keyword Tool’s Approx Search Volume [Previous Month] and Approx Avg Search Volume columns. These statistics show the approximate number of search queries matching your keywords that were performed on Google and the search network.
Search volume data can be helpful in several ways:
- Account structure: You may want to create an ad group around a single high-traffic keyword that you find particularly relevant. This would allow you to closely target ad text and a landing page to that term.
- Budget planning: See how much traffic is available to your keywords so you can appropriately plan your budget.
- Keyword choice: Pick the keywords most likely to return quality leads within your budget.
Topics: Google, Google Adwords Updates, Internet Marketing, New Updates on Google, Search Marketing | No Comments »
Google AdWords is Rocking!!!
By Find2k | July 7, 2008
Google have taken almost every aspect of Online Media Buying till now, Google was a search engine but now it seems like a one-stop Marketing shop for the advertisers.
Google AdWords was just proving online campaign ads for advertisers and soon they started showing ads on publisher’s networks by giving some share of money on CPM and CPC basis. After that they started Image ads and than Video ads to attract online user, and than they thought that the users love more techie stuff and than they started Gadget ads and Mobile ads options for the advertisers.
And now believe me or not, Google have started capturing Offline market as well by allowing advertisers to advertise via TV ads, Print ads and audio ads.
Google Rocks….
Look at some posts from Google AdWords Blog itself…..
Announcing Google’s official traditional media blog: About a month ago, we gave you a quick overview of Google’s offline advertising offerings: TV, Print, and Audio Ads — all of which fall under the umbrella of what we call ‘traditional media’. Today, we’re pleased to announce that the TV, Print, and Audio Ads teams have launched Let’s Take it Offline, the official blog to help you get the most out of your offline ad campaigns. Our traditional media blog will keep you up-to-date on the latest feature launches, product updates, tips, and industry findings.
We hope you’ll visit the new blog regularly to learn more and stay abreast of our offline advertising products.
Audio, and Video, and Print, oh my God…..
Google AdWords has come a long way since its launch in 2000 — gone are the days of only serving simple text ads on search results and various pages across the Internet. Over the years, we’ve introduced a number of creative formats for advertising online, and now you can even use your AdWords account to create campaigns that will reach customers when they aren’t online.
Here’s a quick overview of all the AdWords ad types available:
Online
- Text ads: When displayed on Google, text ads are four lines of text: a title (25 characters), two lines of ad text (35 characters each), and a URL line. The format of text ads on partner sites may differ. For example, your ad text may appear on a single line, or it may look like the ads on this page.
- Image ads: Appearing on select content sites in the Google network, images ads are just that — graphical AdWords ads. Unlike traditional online graphical ads, image ads can be matched to a page’s content. See examples of image ads and placement options.
- Video ads: Like image ads, video ads appear on content sites in the Google network, but are user-initiated. That means a user must click “play” to watch your ad. Think of video ads as a type of commercial on the Internet. Watch examples of video ads.
- Mobile ads: Available as text or image ads, mobile ads appear on mobile websites, and direct users to your mobile website. Mobile text ads can also appear when users search Google from a mobile device. If you’d like to run mobile ads, you’ll need a mobile website. Learn more about where mobile ads are available.
Offline
- TV ads: That’s right — TV ads! Through your AdWords account, you can launch a television campaign in minutes. Google TV Ads is available to advertisers located in the United States, billed in U.S. dollars. Watch a demo to learn more.
- Print ads: Place your ads in newspapers across the United States. In fact, you can choose from more than 750 newspapers, and set a price that matches your budget. Learn how other advertisers have used Print Ads by reading our success stories. Google Print Ads is available to advertisers located in the United States, billed on credit card postpay.
- Audio ads: Broadcast you message on over 1,600 radio stations across the U.S. Audio ads are just like traditional radio commercials, but they’re easier to buy and manage. Google Audio Ads are available to advertisers located in the United States, billed on credit card postpay. Listen to examples of audio ads, all of which were created using the Google Ad Creation Marketplace.
We invite you to experiment with the various ad formats available — advertisers often find that offline ad formats are a great complement to their online campaigns, helping them reach new customers. You can find more information about each ad type in the help center.
Please give your comments 
Topics: Google, Google Adwords Updates, Internet Marketing, New Updates on Google | No Comments »
Google Improved Flash indexing
By Find2k | July 1, 2008
Everytime someone shows me a flash site for SEO, my reply use to be like… this is not right as google crawlers can’t read Flash files… But I got an answer finally to this issue as Google have now found a way to index Flash content as well.
Read it from the Horse’s mouth: From the Google Blog itself
Improved Flash indexing - Monday, June 30, 2008
We’ve received numerous requests to improve our indexing of Adobe Flash files. Today, Ron Adler and Janis Stipins—software engineers on our indexing team—will provide us with more in-depth information about our recent announcement that we’ve greatly improved our ability to index Flash.
Q: Which Flash files can Google better index now?
We’ve improved our ability to index textual content in SWF files of all kinds. This includes Flash “gadgets” such as buttons or menus, self-contained Flash websites, and everything in between.
Q: What content can Google better index from these Flash files?
All of the text that users can see as they interact with your Flash file. If your website contains Flash, the textual content in your Flash files can be used when Google generates a snippet for your website. Also, the words that appear in your Flash files can be used to match query terms in Google searches.
In addition to finding and indexing the textual content in Flash files, we’re also discovering URLs that appear in Flash files, and feeding them into our crawling pipeline—just like we do with URLs that appear in non-Flash webpages. For example, if your Flash application contains links to pages inside your website, Google may now be better able to discover and crawl more of your website.
Q: What about non-textual content, such as images?
At present, we are only discovering and indexing textual content in Flash files. If your Flash files only include images, we will not recognize or index any text that may appear in those images. Similarly, we do not generate any anchor text for Flash buttons which target some URL, but which have no associated text.
Also note that we do not index FLV files, such as the videos that play on YouTube, because these files contain no text elements.
Q: How does Google “see” the contents of a Flash file?
We’ve developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way that a person would, by clicking buttons, entering input, and so on. Our algorithm remembers all of the text that it encounters along the way, and that content is then available to be indexed. We can’t tell you all of the proprietary details, but we can tell you that the algorithm’s effectiveness was improved by utilizing Adobe’s new Searchable SWF library.
Q: What do I need to do to get Google to index the text in my Flash files?
Basically, you don’t need to do anything. The improvements that we have made do not require any special action on the part of web designers or webmasters. If you have Flash content on your website, we will automatically begin to index it, up to the limits of our current technical ability (see next question).
That said, you should be aware that Google is now able to see the text that appears to visitors of your website. If you prefer Google to ignore your less informative content, such as a “copyright” or “loading” message, consider replacing the text within an image, which will make it effectively invisible to us.
Q: What are the current technical limitations of Google’s ability to index Flash?
There are three main limitations at present, and we are already working on resolving them:
1. Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript. So if your web page loads a Flash file via JavaScript, Google may not be aware of that Flash file, in which case it will not be indexed.
2. We currently do not attach content from external resources that are loaded by your Flash files. If your Flash file loads an HTML file, an XML file, another SWF file, etc., Google will separately index that resource, but it will not yet be considered to be part of the content in your Flash file.
3. While we are able to index Flash in almost all of the languages found on the web, currently there are difficulties with Flash content written in bidirectional languages. Until this is fixed, we will be unable to index Hebrew language or Arabic language content from Flash files.
We’re already making progress on these issues, so stay tuned!
Topics: Google, Internet Marketing, New Updates on Google, Search Marketing | No Comments »
Google Affiliate Network
By Find2k | July 1, 2008
Google Affiliate Network - Making affiliate marketing more productive
As per Google’s announcement: They are retiring the pay-per-action beta
As part of Google’s integration of DoubleClick, the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate network is now part of Google. To consolidate our offerings, we will be phasing out the AdWords pay-per-action beta in the last week of August 2008. As an alternative to pay-per-action advertising, Google offers two products that allow you to manage your advertising on a CPA (cost-per-acquisition) basis: the Conversion Optimizer and the Google Affiliate Network.
The Conversion Optimizer is an AdWords bidding feature that lets you specify a maximum CPA goal for ads on the Google search and content networks. It uses historical information about your campaign to automatically adjust your CPC bid for each auction to help you meet your CPA goal. In addition, the Conversion Optimizer is now supported in both the AdWords Editor and the AdWords API. You can learn more on the Conversion Optimizer homepage.
The Google Affiliate Network, previously known as DoubleClick Performics Affiliate, has been in operation since 1998. Through the network, advertisers can open their ads to all publishers in the network, or select specific publishers that match their criteria. You can set a CPA for your entire campaign or establish custom payment schedules for specific publishers — such as a higher CPA for a particularly optimal placement. The Google Affiliate Network is currently a separate product from AdWords and AdSense. As with AdSense, publishers must apply and be accepted into the network.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Google Affiliate Network, please visit Google Affiliate Website
Now Amazon have to watch out for Google.
Earlier today, Google launched an affiliate ad network. Or, rather, it rebranded Performics, the affiliate ad network that came along with its purchase of DoubleClick, as the “Google Affiliate Network.” As with other affiliate networks such as Amazon’s, participating Website publishers get paid a fee for each referral that results in a sale. Existing advertisers include Bank of America, Barnes & Noble, Citi, Target, and Verizon.
The service isn’t yet integrated into Google AdSense (publishers and advertisers still have to set up separate accounts), but that would be a logical next step. An integration with AdSense could add a contextual element to the affiliate ads placed through the network. The more relevant Google can make those affiliate links, the more that consumers will actually click through and buy (in theory).
Google also continues to experiment with a pay-per-action advertising program, which is still in beta. At some point, it might make sense to consolidate that effort into the Google Affiliate Network as well.
Update: Google will actually be phasing out the PPA program at the end of August as part of the integration with DoubleClick.
More experts said:
If you use the Pay-Per-Action advertising feature in AdWords, it is officially time to rethink your strategy.
Today, Google announced that they will be disbanding the Pay-Per-Action beta test at the end of August. In the past year I’ve really grown to like, and even rely, on this conversion source.
When PPA was first announced in early ‘07, I was skeptical. Since that time, I’ve implemented Pay-Per-Action in a number of my AdWords accounts. Some have not performed well, but I’ve had plenty of accounts thrive with their PPA campaigns. And I’ll be perfectly honest, I’ve become really comfortable using PPA.
To consolidate our offerings, we will be phasing out the AdWords pay-per-action beta in the last week of August 2008. As an alternative to pay-per-action advertising, Google offers two products that allow you to manage your advertising on a CPA (cost-per-acquisition) basis: the Conversion Optimizer and the Google Affiliate Network.
Google’s decision is based primarily on their integration with DoubleClick. That system offers more in-depth cost-per-acquisition based advertising systems, and Google feels the need to consolidate. PPA will officially die the last week of August. What respite has Google offered to those of us who are using Pay-Per-Action? Google says to try the Conversion Optimizer and the Google Affiliate Network.
Conversion Optimizer is really just a bid management tool within AdWords that lets you “aim” for a defined cost-per-acquisition. The Google Affiliate Network is actually a DoubleClick product that is completely separate from AdWords or AdSense. In other words, you can throw convenience out the window!
I’m sad about the impending loss of the Pay-Per-Action beta, but I suppose I will learn to deal with this loss in time. However, I admittedly will have to think fast about how I’ll replace the leads I’m generating with PPA!
Wow… The topic seems to be too hot for the Search and Online Marketing…..
Please do let me know your views too.
Topics: Google, Internet Marketing, New Updates on Google, Search Marketing | 1 Comment »
Bill Gates Goodbye to Microsoft
By Find2k | June 30, 2008
It was a Friday. Gates Says Emotional Goodbye To Microsoft full of emotions when Bill Gates delivered his final speech to the Microsoft employees in an auditorium at Microsoft’s headquarters campus.
Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft 33 years ago, decided to devote his full-time attention to philanthropy. “My life’s work really is about software and working with incredible and smart people,” Gates said with tears in his eyes.
Bill Gates was overwhelmed by the news that Microsoft’s software-development-tools business has passed $1 billion in sales for the year. He said he still remembers the day when he along with Steve Ballmer used to wonder if any software company would be able to achieve such a figure. Microsoft is expected to have total sales of more than $60 billion in the fiscal year that ends Monday.
According to Gates, Microsoft is still way behind from its competitors in Internet search and Advertising, but they are up with new innovative formulas and a dedicated team of smart people so that they can deliver a better product.
Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer had once dreamed of a computer on every desk and this dream has led them to worldwide employee strength of 91,192 employees.
“But if anybody’s wondering when we’re going to have 1,80,000 people, stop wondering,” Ballmer said.
Gates felt proud of being able to provide internet accessibility to blind people which is a result of groundbreaking improvements made by Microsoft over the years. In the end Bill Gates said that the most cherished memories that he’ll take from his time in Microsoft is the fun he had coming to work every day.
Microsoft’s billionaire founder Bill Gates will relinquish control of day-to-day operations at the software giant on Friday.
Some moments…..
In Bill Gates’ send-off from full-time work at Microsoft on Friday, Steve Ballmer and Gates reminisced about their friendship, careers and the development of the software industry.
If the earliest part of their friendship was any indication, you might have guessed they would have turned into a decent tag team in a wrestling ring instead of geeky software moguls.
You see, 34 years ago, a mutual friend said the two energetic Harvard undergraduates, traveling in very different circles, had to meet. They hooked up for a man date of sorts — taking in a double feature: “Singing in the Rain,” still Ballmer’s favorite movie, and “A Clockwork Orange.”
Then came the physical altercation.
As Ballmer recounted Friday, the two were living at Radcliffe, in Currier House, which Ballmer described as a “weird place.”
“Bill and I were as weird as you got in this weird place in many ways,” he said.
“We come back from the movie and we’re both kind of dancing and playing Gene Kelly, and some guy just wrestles me to the ground … and Bill’s trying to like beat him off,” Ballmer said to roaring laughter at the send-off (because wouldn’t you expect it to be the other way around?). “It was really quite a weird place.”
Some more views from the Online space…..
Why people call Bill Gates a PC Genius and a Internet Fool?
Bill Gates, who for years was the richest man in the world, is also one of the smartest. But even he couldn’t figure out how to beat the Internet-how to transition his grand old monopoly software company, Microsoft, into a business that thrives on the Net. And so he begins his retirement today from Microsoft as the PC era’s biggest winner, and the Web era’s most spectacular casualty.
It’s pretty well known by now that the Internet, for all its world-flattening glory, is a destroyer of businesses without parallel. How many companies roared along for decades, minting money, only to see the Internet eat their business plans? We live in a media age and the media industry is Exhibit 1 in the murder trial. Newspapers, magazines, music, television, movies — all of the traditional models are dead or dying as bloodied moguls everywhere scramble to survive. But the Net has brutalized old-line business across most industries-retail, tele-com, financial services and the technology industry itself, is, ironically, no exception.
Few companies not born on the Web have figured out how to thrive there. (Apple, with its post-PC iPhone could be the shining exception.) As Gates turns his attention full time to philanthropy, I wonder what will be left of the great company he founded, Microsoft, by the time Gates picks up a Nobel Prize for Peace. Clearly, a business with $26 billion in cash reserves isn’t exactly at death’s door. And Microsoft continues to be enormously profitable, thanks to its operating system monopoly. Thanks, that is, to Gates’s genius.
But big, complicated operating systems such as Microsoft’s latest, Vista, aren’t necessary in the Web Age, where applications are delivered for free and on demand — often without users even being aware of it. The Net is where the money is, and it’s the one place that Gates-like so many others-hasn’t left his mark.
He saw the Internet missile coming of course. But by the time he sounded the alarm, it may have been too late. (Read his famous “Internet Tidal Wave” memo, sent to the troops May 26, 1995, over a year after the browser company known as Netscape launched.
Gates was always more accustomed to being a disruptor than being disrupted. At the age of 25, he licensed a primitive operating system, PC-DOS, to IBM for $80,000 rather than sell it outright, a move that’s usually ranked as one of the Greatest Business Moves of All Time. Gates figured that many PC makers would copy IBM’s open architecture, and make their own PCs; they’d need to license an operating system, too. PC-DOS soon became MS-DOS, an operating system for all IBM clones, and Microsoft was on its way to becoming the one thing that billions of PCs around the world would have in common.
From 1980 until 1994, when Mosaic/Netscape emerged, Gates played a scratch game, parlaying his little “Micro- Soft” company into an empire that defined the PC Era. By opening up Windows to third-party developers, he created a platform that made many developers rich, and built out an eco-system that put a desktop in almost every home.
But there is no greater blinder than success, even for a visionary like Bill Gates. By the time he realized the tech world was quickly shifting from PCs to the Network that connected them, his moves were limited. A fiercely competitive man, he reached for the obvious lever, and attempted to tie the late-starter Internet Explorer browser to the monopoly he created, the Windows operating system. The move was mercilessly effective and beat back rival Netscape, which immediately saw its commanding share of the browser market disappear.
It was also illegal. With Netscape crying foul, the Feds successfully pressed an anti-trust suit against Microsoft. The PR damage-Gates acting insolent on the witness stand, showing a convenient a lack of memory about key business decisions-turned out to be short lived and is all but forgotten as Gates remakes himself as a philanthropist. But the court’s decree forced the great general to march cautiously into the future. He may have won the Battle of the Browser but he would start to see major casualties in the Internet War.
Gates built or bought all manner of things to conquer the Net, but few managed to be anything more than also-rans in the innovation game. In 1995, he launched a gated online service, MSN; a Web-based email client, Hotmail was purchased in 1997; a search engine, MSN Search, launched in 1998 using a third-party product as its core; a chat client, Messenger was released in 1999; and last year it bought an online advertising platform, aQuantive and became a significant, though minority investor, in social network Facebook.
While Microsoft is exponentially larger than Google — number 44 on the Fortune 500 list versus Google at 150 — Google’s web business (advertising mostly) is growing so fast, it’s poised to rival Redmond’s operating system revenues by 2010. And that’s the problem. As more and more of what Windows does moves up into the cloud-into Google’s always-on, give-’em-whatever-they-want-for-free servers-what becomes of the company that Gates built?
The smartest move Gates could make right now is to get out of the way. (Steve Ballmer should, too; pursuing Yahoo is a pretty good hint that his master plan for the Web is, like Gates’s was, to try to buy Microsoft’s way into the game.) There are many smart and talented people inside Microsoft who know what to do. (Blow up Vista and abandon its next iteration, Windows 7, and start from scratch, is but one excellent idea.
That will probably work. And if not? Maybe we’ll see Gates return, a Nobel in his pocket, ready to wrestle with the Web once again.
Topics: Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing and MSN, Search Marketing | No Comments »
Google Ad Planner
By Find2k | June 27, 2008
Google Ad Planner is the answer to Online Media Buying, now Google have started using the Media Buying techniques of Double Click.. Way to go Google…
If you’re a media planner at an ad agency, you know that planning an online display buy can be challenging, particularly in scaling your campaign’s reach while keeping it relevant for your target audience. Plus, how do you keep track of the millions of sites out there that might be just right for your campaign?
To make your life easier, we’re introducing Google Ad Planner, a research and media planning tool that connects advertisers and publishers. When using Google Ad Planner, simply enter demographics and sites associated with your target audience, and the tool will return information about sites (both on and off the Google content network) that your audience is likely to visit. You can drill down further to get more detail like demographics and related searches for a particular site, or you can get aggregate statistics for the sites you’ve added to your media plan.
While Google Trends for Websites, announced last week, is designed for all users, Google Ad Planner is designed with media planners in mind. Using Google Ad Planner, you can quickly create media plans and export to a .csv file, which can be opened in most spreadsheet applications. Or, you can export to DoubleClick’s MediaVisor, which helps you manage all your other media planning, buying and campaign management activities.
Screen shot of Google Ad Planner
We hope you’ll find this tool useful and discover many relevant sites–small and large–that would otherwise be hard to find. As Ad Planner is a new product, it’s currently available by invitation only.
It looks like soon there will be Online Monopoly by Google
Topics: Google, Google Adwords Updates, Internet Marketing, New Updates on Google, Search Marketing | No Comments »
Google project of Keeping kids safe in a digital world
By Find2k | June 26, 2008
Google in the spirit of National Internet Safety Month, have welcomed Ernie Allen, co-founder and president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to the Googleplex last week to discuss child protection issues.
For those not familiar with it, NCMEC works closely with federal law enforcement across the U.S. to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation and to help find missing children. From serving as the clearinghouse for reports of online child pornography to issuing Amber Alerts when children go missing to reuniting families in the wake of Katrina, NCMEC is at the forefront of efforts to protect society’s most vulnerable members.
In a policy talk called “Beyond Milk Cartons: Keeping kids safe in a digital world”, Ernie provided an overview of NCMEC’s work and chatted with Googlers about the ever-changing landscape of child protection challenges shared by parents, educators, advocacy organizations, and technology companies like Google as we work to help families make smart choices online. Watch Ernie’s talk on YouTube.
Technology is an invaluable tool for addressing some of these challenges. In a recent example, a team of Google engineers dedicated their 20 percent time over the last year and a half to build cutting-edge software for NCMEC that uses image and video recognition technology to help NCMEC analysts more effectively sort and review incoming reports of child exploitation. NCMEC analysts sort through tens of millions of images in child sexual abuse investigations, and we’ve tried to leverage our expertise in organizing huge amounts of data to help make their important work more automated and efficient.
When it comes to keeping kids safe on the Internet, we believe that education for families, support for law enforcement, and empowering technology tools, like our SafeSearch filter and the NCMEC software, are all critical pieces of the puzzle.
Tackling online child safety issues is no small task, but we’ll continue our collaboration with organizations like NCMEC, along with other partners in schools, government and industry, to take collective strides in the right direction.
Google is actually taking a very good initiative to help the audience online. They are the giant in the online space and as they start taking such measures the Internet will be an amazing place to be at.
Way to go Google…..
Topics: Google, Internet Marketing, New Updates on Google, Search Marketing | No Comments »
Google agreement to provide ad technology to Yahoo!
By Find2k | June 24, 2008
On 12th June, Google announced a non-exclusive advertising agreement that will provide Yahoo! with access to AdSense for search and AdSense for content advertising programs on their U.S. and Canadian web properties. In addition, Google will work to enable interoperability between their respective instant messaging services allowing user’s better, broader communication online.
Google feels proud of the advertising technologies that they have built, which show users a relevant ad whether they are searching for a specific item or browsing the internet. This arrangement extends those benefits to Yahoo! and its many users, advertisers and publisher partners. Google currently provide similar services to sites like AOL and Ask.com as well as many other partners, and they work closely with all the partners to ensure that Google’s partnership drives their long term success.
Why did Google make this agreement?
Quite simply, they said: We think it is good for users, advertisers and publishers. By offering Google’s industry-leading technology to Yahoo!, the whole system becomes more efficient, and everyone benefits:
- Consumers will see more relevant ads when they are looking for information and browsing the web. And with interoperability between IM services, users will have easier access to even more of their contacts.
- Publishers currently in the Yahoo! Publisher Network will benefit from Google’s advertising technology, potentially increasing the revenue they earn from their sites.
- Advertisers will have new ways to reach their target customers online more efficiently.
We also think this is good for competition. The truth is, this kind of arrangement is commonplace in many industries, and it doesn’t foreclose robust competition. Toyota sells its hybrid technology to General Motors, even though they are the number one and number two car manufacturers globally. Canon provides laser printer engines for HP, despite also competing in the broader laser printer market. Google and Yahoo will continue to be vigorous competitors, and that competition will help fuel innovation that is good for users.
It is important to say what this agreement is not:
- This is not a merger. Rather, we are merely providing access to our advertising technology to Yahoo! through our AdSense program.
- This does not remove a competitor from the playing field. Yahoo! will remain in the business of search and content advertising, which gives the company a continued incentive to keep improving and innovating. Even during this agreement, Yahoo! can use our technology as much or as little as it chooses.
- This does not prevent Yahoo! from making similar arrangements with others. This arrangement is not exclusive, meaning that Yahoo! could enter into similar arrangements with other companies.
- This does not increase Google’s share of search traffic. Yahoo! will continue to run its own search engine and advertising programs, and the agreement will not increase Google’s share of search traffic.
- This does not let Google raise prices for advertisers. Google does not set the prices manually for ads; rather, advertisers themselves determine prices through an ongoing competitive auction. We have found over years of research that an auction is by far the most efficient way to price search advertising and have no intention of changing that.
We have been in contact with regulators about this arrangement, and we expect to work closely with them to answer their questions about the transaction. Ultimately we believe that the efficiencies of this agreement will help preserve competition.
The Internet is a healthy, competitive environment where content creators, advertisers and users come together to access information, communicate and create new business opportunities. We think this deal extends these benefits — it’s good for users, advertisers and publishers and good for the industry.
Topics: Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Yahoo India launches “Glue Page”
By Find2k | May 14, 2008
Yahoo has added a new cool feature called “Glue Page” to its search results page on Yahoo India. This page gives you extensive information available from the various sources on the net including the Wikipedia, YouTube, HolidayIQ, TrainEnquiry, Yahoo Answers, Yahoo Local, Flickr and Yahoo Images. That means if you are searching for Bollywood celebrity Sharukh Khan you don’t need to go to different sites to see his pictures, videos or read his filmography, you’ll get all these on a single page. Currently this new feature seems to work for some specific search queries such as Harbhajan Singh, Sharukh Khan, Iron Man, Mumbai , and not for all search terms. You can even switch to the classic search results page by just clicking a tab on the top of the search results.
Topics: Yahoo | No Comments »