Ask.com Goes Back to Q-and-A
Ask.com hasn’t exactly nailed down the whole search thing, but it seems to have finally realized what users know it as: a Q-and-A venue. The new service, which is in invite-only beta right now, already looks quite mature and hosts more than 500 million indexed questions and answers, the largest such database in the world. It also purports to have experts offer the answers, which might not make it the fastest source of answers, but shows that it aims to be the best. One major question is: Can it scale? (ReadWriteWeb, paidContent.org)
Foursquare and CardStar Team Up
CardStar, a mobile loyalty card application, is hooking elbows with Foursquare to enable users to not only check out with their iPhones, but check in on Foursquare at the same time. This could be a game-changer. (ReadWriteWeb)
Branded vs. Keyword-Rich Domain Names
So, you have to come up with a domain name – what are the differences between making it a branded domain and one rich with relevant keywords? If you’re an affiliate marketer, making a keyword-rich domain name makes a lot of sense, since you’re not really concerned about building a brand so much as driving traffic to your site. (Search Engine Journal)
Brands Still Not Prevalent on Twitter
According to a study from 360i, just 10 percent of tweets come from businesses, and only 12 percent mention a brand – and most of these mention Twitter. The message to brands is clear: showing up just isn’t enough. (AdAge.com)
More than Four out of Ten Doctors Using Smart Phones Choose the iPhone
It’s not a recommendation, but 94 percent of doctors use smart phones, up from 59 percent in 2006. Of physicians using smart phones, 44 percent use the iPhone, while 25 percent use BlackBerrys. (CNET)
Disney, GameStop Get into the Social Gaming Fray
Disney acquired Playdom for $763 millioin, while GameStop bought Kongregate for an undisclosed sum. (MarketWatch)
Five Ways to Make Sure Subject Lines Aren’t Wasted
You only have up to around 50 characters to grab and hold the attention of your readers, so why squander the opportunity? Read the newspaper, remember your objective, remember where you’re “from,” get to the point (quickly) and make it personal. (MediaPost)
SEO Portraits
How many different kinds of SEOs are there? According to this post, at least 13. Among them are the SEO Newbie, SEO Link Merchant, Grey Hat SEO and Viral SEO Ninja. (SEO Book)
Facebook Beefs Up Authorization Process
Want to change your password or log in from a location that’s a bit far from your usual place of Facebook browsing? Facebook has some more intricate authorization processes now. The most interesting change is the use of friends’ profile pictures. (Inside Facebook)
Yelp Attacks, Gets Attacked
Yelp is set on not getting left out of the local-deal craze. A comment thread indicates that a deal was seen on Yelp, something that signals a warning shot at Groupon and the growing mound of other competitors lining up. Google Places isn’t out of the fray either, as its new Android app will compete with Yelp’s directory of local reviews. (TechCrunch)
Facebook Doles Out Free Credits
There’s no better way to grease up a potentially poorly received offering than to give some of it out for free, and Facebook is happily going that route. It recently started to randomly give users anywhere from 10-25 Credits. This might help to educate users about what they’re all about. (ReadWriteWeb)
Twitter Testing In-Line Photos Media?
Is Twitter testing out in-line photos and videos on its website? The option, which seems to be a bit shy, is located in the “Settings” menu and is called “Twitter Media.” It shows a checkbox asking the user if he/she wants to see photos and videos from everyone by default. This is nothing new, however, as Brizzly has been doing this for some time now. (TechCrunch)
SEO Infographics
If you’re more of a visual learner, check out these 12 helpful SEO infographics. They cover the value of SEO vs. PPC, the SEO hierarchy of needs, an SEO checklist and long-tail SEO, among other juicy topics. (Econsultancy)
Google’s New Ad Shows Success of Content Farms
No, Google didn’t create an ad in order to show just how well content farms are working, but its latest “Brother and Sister” spot indirectly shows as much. Five sites that incorporate user-generated content are highlighted in the 54-second ad. Google has inadvertently reminded us that content farms and their questionable helpfulness are entrenched and here to stay. (TechCrunch)
Search Clicks, Once Removed
Inventory shortage can be due to the lack of searches for your favorite keyword phrases, capable competitors, your quality score or universal search. Traffic from sites once-removed from search engines are an often overlooked source. Take a look at comparison shopping engines, vertical directories, general directories/Internet Yellow Pages and other contextual networks. (ClickZ)
Search CPC in June
Automotive CPC have shot up in June compared to May and June of last year, while Retail and Finance have also fared quite well for themselves. (ClickZ)
Paul Ceglia Could be a Rich Man
Facebook is saying that Ceglia’s seemingly ridiculous contract is “likely” forged, but unless the company can come up with strong evidence in its favor, Ceglia could find himself with a nice boost to his bank account. (CNET, ReadWriteWeb)
Should Facebook Allow You to ‘Dislike’ Stuff?
Pete Cashmore of Mashable fame explores this question and asserts that Zuckerberg is only teasing users when he says the company will consider adding a “Dislike” button to the site. The driving reason why Facebook will never add this button is that it does nothing that the “Like” button does – namely, build strong relationships between itself and brands, and between users. (CNN.com)
Firefox Tab Candy
Firefox’s fancy new tabs incorporate features similar to the ones found in Safari and IE and involves zooming in and out, in addition to grouping. Watch the short video to get a first-hand look at the project, which can be downloaded in alpha mode. (Aza on Design)
Does Size Really Matter?
When it comes to e-mail lists, yes, it does. Quality still matters, of course, but to many, quantity matters more. So, what do you do? Admit and accept it, first off. Then control and own it – meet your goals and objectives. Lastly, live and love it. (MediaPost)
10 Interesting Facebook Tidbits
Did you know that it was Al Pacino’s faded face that was in Facebook’s original home page banner? Did you know file sharing was an early functionality on the early version of the site? Did you know there’s an app to see what’s on the Facebook cafe menu? Read on to read the rest of the 10 fascinating Facebook facts listed here. (Mashable)
RockYou Hops on the Credits Bandwagon
RockYou has made Facebook Credits its exclusive currency for the next five years. Not all developers are enthralled with the idea of signing on to use Credits, thanks to Facebook’s 30 percent cut. (Inside Facebook)
20 Blogs Every Entrepreneur Should Read
Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist, Wise Bread and Venture Hacks are just a few of the 20 blogs every entrepreneur should be reading. (Business Insider)
Debunking AdWords Myths
Google is setting out to slay all misinformation about AdWords. To start, the search engine sheds some truthful light on the myths that “Spending money on Google AdWords will influence my website’s ranking in Google’s free search results” and “Google AdWords has declined my credit card.” (Inside AdWords)
Keyword Research
Keywords are the foundation of every SEO campaign, so getting strong keywords is, well, key. Brainstorming, using a keyword tool and using a three-tier approach (broad, focused and laser focused) are some of the steps involved in effective keyword research. (Search Engine Journal)
10 Tools for Getting Web Design Feedback
Getting feedback is essential for designers, so here are some tools to help you share your work and get reviews. Critique the Site, Reviews and Critiques – SitePoint, Bounce and Usabilla are among them. (Mashable)
KISSmetrics
There are a lot of analytics options out there, but there may be good reason to give KISSmetrics a long look. The platform is based on the conversion funnel, which shows how many users drop off at each step of your sign-up process. The thing that sets it apart is that in addition to tracking clicks and events, KISSmetrics tracks users and their habits even before they’ve joined your site. (TechCrunch)
In-Text Ads Work
According to a study from comScore, in-text advertisement (you know, those “annoying little ads that pop up when someone moves a cursor over a hot-linked piece of text in an article”) work quite well at boosting recall of slogans and searches on major search engines. Fewer consumers think of in-text ads as cluttering Web pages, compared to interstitials, video ads, rectangle ads and banner ads. (MediaPost)
Microsoft and Yahoo Start Partnering
Microsoft and Yahoo are beginning “shadow tests” to see if customers’ keyword-based search ads show up as they should via Microsoft’s platform. Also, Bing results are being tested in Yahoo! Search. (seattlepi.com)
Online Gamers, Women Buy Virtual Goods
A recent study from PlaySpan and VGMarket finds that about three out of every four online gaming fans have purchased a virtual good using real money. About 64 percent have made at least one purchase each month, while 9 percent say they have purchased virtual goods every day. Also, the average female spent $55 on first-party purchases within social network games, compared to just $30 for males. Social networks are leading the way as a venue for these purchases. (VentureBeat, CNET)
Google Injects $4.25 Million in Trada
Google invested $4.25 million in Trada, a crowdsourced platform that makes it easier for small businesses to purchase search ads. The new money from Google and others will enable Trada to expand its territory into display, video and mobile ads. (ReadWriteWeb, NYTimes.com)
DoNanza is the Kayak of Freelancing Jobs
DoNanza is trying to be the most comprehensive site that connects employers and freelancers. It doesn’t see itself as competing with the likes of oDesk and Elance, but rather as a company that completes them. The company’s recent report finds that Facebook job postings are more frequent and lucrative compared to Twitter postings. (VentureBeat)
Flipboard Makes a Splash
Flipboard, the free iPad app that is the “world’s first social magazine” is getting some buzz. The app essentially aggregates pieces of content and information to present it all in a visually pleasing and more social way. (Wired.com, paidContent.org)
Ways to Get Ahead via LinkedIn
LinkedIn is more than it used to be, which means there are more ways to utilize the site to advance your career. Among the 10 ways to get ahead on LinkedIn are to set your URL, complete your profile and keep talking. (Econsultancy)
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