Last week saw our office block receive its delivery of the Yellow Pages. In the past, the massive mounds of yellow information were quickly snapped up from the foyer, however we have noticed over the past few years that the mountains don’t get moved (where are you when we need you Usher?). A week later and the stack sits as strong as it did on delivery day. It’s blatantly obvious that people are no longer making their fingers do the walking, so we figured we’d list the top 5 ways of getting some use out of the Yellow Pages (as using them for information is pretty much redundant now).
A Monitor Stand
This old standby for how to use the phonebooks has become much more inefficient, as the phone books are now half the size they used to be. Back in the day, you could get away with using a single half of the yellow pages to prop up your monitor/laptop, but now you’ll need everything from A-Z to save the neck cramps. Still, this remains the most practical use for anyone that is dismayed by the senseless culling of trees that is apparent when only 10% of the delivered books seem to get snapped up by building tenants (we’re assuming it’s those with new PCs).
Increase Grip Strength
As much as we all love working on our Captains of Crush and wrist rollers, if you want to demonstrate your grip strength in the office, you’ll need something thick and useless to tear: enter the Yellow Pages. By standing on your desk, tearing phone books and screaming at passers by, you can cement your position as the office grip expert (and also nut job… nobody will touch your lunch in the company fridge again!)
Pulling pranks on room mates that leave their door unlocked
Words can’t begin to describe how awesome this stunt is. Just watch the video.
Of course you must rally the troops afterwards and ensure it all ends up in the recycling and not the rubbish bin.
Kindling
It’s coming into summer, and the team at E-Web Marketing enjoy a BBQ as much as anyone else. Rather than getting the old gas burner out, how about getting the genuine smoky flavour from a wood grill? Getting these started isn’t always the easiest task, however by tearing up the Yellow Pages, you’ll be able to get any fire started. Tip: Once you’re cooking, try chucking a whole copy on and it’ll burn like a log through the night.
It’s a better read than Twilight
Although The Oatmeal is a little more passionate in their dislike for Twilight, some members of the E-Web team have read Twilight, and wholeheartedly agree that reading the Yellow Pages is more interesting.
Some uses that are no longer so viable:
Door stop – the books no longer have the weight in them to hold a door open, though torn in half they can still be used as a viable wedge. At least we can at least take solace in the fact that less tress are being killed now.
Flattening out creased pages – the large, smooth, surface of these books used to serve as an excellent way to flatten out creased pages by placing between A-K and L-Z. But again the weight just isn’t there anymore.
Finding business services – HA!
I am sure there are many more practical uses for the books - this was just the first list that came to mind. If you are as frustrated as we are to see these stacks of books sitting there on door steps and in foyers - only to inevitably be taken away again and sent who knows where - then please feel free to leave a comment with what you do with the Yellow Pages. Best comment receives an enormous supply of kudos from mother nature.
Normally our blog posts are based around some awesome new piece of technology that Google is unveiling which will make everyone’s online life easier, however this post won’t be of the same vein.
At the moment, when you are logged into your iGoogle account, Google will record your preferences in searches, and give you results that match your previous searching patterns. For example, if in the past you have made searches for Belvedere, a town south of Cairns, then Google would give you results based around that, rather than the Vodka. This is all well and good, but what about if you were stinging for a drink, but don’t know what the Belvedere Vodka bottle looks like? You would have to trawl through a whole bunch of irrelevant results to get what you want.
In the past, this has been easy to get around- just log out of your iGoogle account (or put &pws=0 at the end of the URL string) and you would get more accurate results based on global search trends. Google is now looking at abolishing this, so all uses will get personalised results, based on past browsing cookies, regardless of whether they want it or not.
We firmly believe that manipulating the results for the users based on their past searches is a flawed paradigm, and until Google gets out of it, they will be stuck down the wrong path. In the past, people may have only wanted to search for certain fields that they were experienced in, however with the rise of information available, such limited searches we believe doesn’t harness the full power of the internet.
Google themselves have come out and said that around 20% of all searches are unique (although that was years ago, so we feel that number is lower now), which would indicate that people are using many terms and are searching for a number of topics. By limiting what people will find based on past data, users will not be able to expand their knowledge base.
Compared to the past, users are now much more savvy on how to get the most out of their searches, and know how to expand to relevant searches. When Google added suggestions, we felt that it added a huge benefit to the user’s experiences and knowledge based. This seems to be heading in the wrong direction.
We’re a fun-loving bunch here at E-Web, and whenever there is an opportunity to have fun while raising money for a good cause, we are all over it. You could almost say we put the fun into fund raising!
You may have noticed throughout the month of November, men were spouting strange growths on their upper lips. “Movember” signals the rebirth of the classic moustache- although not currently a fashion trend, in Movember it signals support for research into depression and prostate cancer.
Thanks to the fantastic support of our fellow staff members, clients and supporters, E-Web managed to raise $1256 for the most worthy charities! On top of that, the number of questions from friends/family members of “what is that on your face?” really did raise the profile of the charity, and we feel that you can’t put a dollar value on promotions like that!
The guys around the office are pretty proud of our work in growing some excellent “flavour savers”, so we have decided to put together some photos to display our work in all our glory. Faces have been removed to protect the innocent. When looking at these photos, the most important thing to remember is that our SEO skills are much better than our moustache growing skills!
A little while ago we reported that Microsoft was thinking outside the box, and looking at using the Family Guy show and creators to promote their new Windows 7 in a different way. This lasted all of less than 2 weeks, with Microsoft announcing that they are pulling out of the partnership.
After making the decision to align with the edgy show, what would cause the Microsoft executives to baulk? How about:
“riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest”
We congratulated Microsoft on attempting something different, as they have long held the reputation of being a few steps behind the cutting edge advertisers, however this isn’t likely to change. After their reputation took a massive hit with the epic fail that is Vista, it’s going to take an out of the box solution to kill some of the upstart operating systems.
In the ever changing realm of SEO, there are always a number of differing opinions: Links vs Content? Underscores vs Dashes? Are no follow tags valuable? One of the more controversial questions was always “what is the validity of Pagerank in determining ranks?”. Google has now come out with a definitive answer: it doesn’t matter.
Without going into too much detail, Pagerank was originally used as a determinate of how relevant a page was based on the number of inbound links. When Google was younger, inbound links were the primary method of determining quality, so the Pagerank was seen as an important measure.
As Google became more advanced (future Skynet anyone?), the shift went away form inbound links (which are easy to fake) towards having good site structure and quality content. As such, the value of Pagerank lessened as time went on. Amongst SEO experts, it is generally considered that Pagerank is more of a relic of past ages, rather than a legitimate measure of value.
Although Google has been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on Pagerank, it was still included in the Webmaster Tools, sending mixed messages. Google has since changed this policy, and has removed the Pagerank tracking from Webmaster Tools.
“We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. [...]
We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it.”
Although SEO has not always been acknowledged by Google, it’s good to see that the giant is making it easier for people to manage their online marketing.
In previous blog posts we have looked at how advertising may have to change in the wake of viewer’s watching habits changing. To help launch the new Windows 7, Microsoft have enlisted Seth MacFarlane and the Family Guy crew to create a specific show which will have product placement instead of ads.
Microsoft has been mocked for some of their initial Windows 7 ads (which featured an awkward Tupperware style party for Winows 7), however this attempt is outside the box, and has potential to succeed. The show will not stop for ads, however will feature an undetermined number of references and cut away sections to the Windows 7 product.
Microsoft has said that they will have their own copywriters and marketing people involved in the writing of the episodes, I’m sure to ensure that the Family Guy staff keep on target, and don’t use Windows 7 as the target of too many parodies.
Whether this works or not remains to be seen, however we applaud Microsoft for thinking outside the box, and attempting something different. For more information, check out this post.
With all the talk that has beengoingonaboutcompetitors to Google’s crown, it’s excellent to see that the reigning super-heavyweight champ is not resting on its laurels, but adding new features. Whether these features continue the Google dominance, or signal desperate times will remain to be seen.
Last week Google announced nine new options in their Search Option. We’ll briefly examine each of them.
Past Hour and Specific Date Range
Obviously named, these two additions allow for you to limit your search results on a chronological basis. One example of when this could be useful is when you are looking for the latest sports results, or other breaking news. For the specific time period searches, it would allow you to find information if you know when it was posted. Considering how poor the majority of in-site search boxes are (we’re glaring right at you Wiki…) this gives you another option.
More Shopping Sites and Fewer Shopping Sites
Again, Google isn’t getting creative with the names: these two options give you exactly what you’d expect. If you select More Shopping Sites, not only will you see more commercial sites, but you’ll see prices displayed in the search results. If you click Fewer Shopping Sites, Google will filter out commerce sites. How this is executed remains to be seen, as some ecommerce sites are notorious for offering prices that are much cheaper than the actual prices, to get people in (mail in rebates are an example of this). Just because people are researching also doesn’t mean that an ecommerce can’t give them the information they are after (with a price).
Visited Pages and Not Yet Visited
Everyone has those times where they go to a great site and forget to bookmark it. By using Visited Pages filter, you’ll be able to see what pages you have seen before, so if your research is interrupted, you can go right back to where you have been. Not Yet Visited also can help you filter out any sites that you’ve seen in the past if you know that your questions haven’t been answered yet.
Books, Blogs and News
These filters allow for you to only get information from the appropriate source. Google has been investing heavily in their Google Books program, and this allows you to further focus your searches based on the source of the information.
The aspect that we find most impressive is that Google is not forcing any of these options onto users, as they have done in the past. The fact that Google is automatically adjusting user’s results based on their search location is disappointing, as people may be looking for regional results that are now harder to attain, as Google forces regional based searches onto users. As Google continues to make the correct information available to you, they will continue to remain the number one option in search.
Yahoo (for the sake of the article, I’m going to drop the “!”… it’s too frustrating to keep that up) has announced today that their latest version of Yahoo Search has been launched today, with much fanfare. This fanfare has been accompanied by a $100 million ad campaign.
Rather than try and rehash their marketing copy, here are the key highlights directly from Yahoo:
• Intelligent Search Results – Allows you to explore results from key sites and narrow results using different types of SearchMonkey structured data. Over the past few months, even more enhanced results for product, local, entertainment, reference, social, and tech sites have been displayed automatically. With the new search page design, we have made it easier to see these riche results from an increasing number of sites.
• Feature-Rich Experience – Provides quick access to search features that make people’s online lives safer and easier, including Search Scan/SafeSearch (which helps protect you from viruses, spyware, and spam while you search) and Search Pad. Now it will be even easier to return to the research documents you have created while searching.
• Search Assist Expansion – With the new design, our powerful query assistance is still available directly below the search box, but we’ve also incorporated it into the left-hand column for quick access lower on the page, even when the Search Assist layer is hidden. You can use this column to easily explore and discover concepts related to your query. We have added Search Assist to the search box on every Yahoo! page in the U.S. with the launch of a new universal header.
After using search engine for a few quick searches, we’re still not impressed. There seems to be too great a reliance on keywords in the URL, and not enough of an examination of on-page content. Search engines are constantly evolving, so we don’t expect it to remain like this forever, however if this is their big launch, colour us unimpressed. On top of the average results, if you look at the search results, they appear in the exact same style as Google’s. So, Yahoo wants us to switch to another search engine that looks the same, but delivers worse results? Hmm, that would take an amazing advertising campaign.
In an attempt to convince us of switching over, Yahoo is dropping over $100 million on an ad campaign. This campaign will work around the rebranding of their new slogan: “It’s Y!ou”
Pause for a second to take in how painful a slogan that is to use. I’m sure someone with a massive marketing budget, powered by some awesome think tank came up with this. Regardless of personal thoughts about the slogan, Yahoo is not taking the beating on its back. They are doing everything they can to compete with Google.
The biggest issue with Yahoo vs Google is that they seem to be attempting to take Google head on, trying to be better than Google, at what Google does best. Bing on the other hand has tried a different tact, and is wooing potential customers by offering different results to Google, in a hope to help them in a different way. Unless Yahoo does something different soon, we question their ability to penetrate the market, and wonder whether Bing may not come in second in the quest for market share. As we have examined in the past, market share in online industries is a big money winner, and has the potential to make or break a brand in the future.
Google maps is looking at incorporating new technology into their already wildly popular system, which would allow users to see real time traffic issues, so they could avoid congestion.
This system has already been trialled in the US, with some success, especially in the traditional gridlock locations such as Los Angeles. With the rise in Internet capable mobile devices, drivers will be able to make adjustments on the fly to their route.
The technology to do this in Australia will be supplied by Intelematics Australia, a company that already has the technology. The initial roll out will cover roads along the East Coast, including regional areas.
The way Intelematic’s system works is through a wide range of sources, which include in road sensors and cameras throughout the covered areas. One of the advantages of this system is that it uses the traffic light controller data in each area.
As of today, Google has launched the product for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Included in these major cities are satellite areas such as Woollongog, Geelong, the Sunshine Coast and the Central Coast.
After playing around with the system this morning (it’s research boss, I swear!) the system has plenty of potential- you can plan your journey using the normal Google interface, and then have the traffic overlay. By dragging your route, you can avoid any congestion in planning your trip. Once on the road, you could use a mobile device (or at least get your navigator to do so) and see how the progress is coming along, and whether the traffic has cleared up.
In a completely unsurprising set of data to come from a recent US survey, the number of people using the internet to watch TV has risen by 20%. In addition to that, the numbers indicated that the amount of time watching traditional TV has also dropped by 20%.
The reason for this shift away from traditional television viewing behaviour could be from a number of factors, however the thought is that people are choosing to watch the shows they want, when they want to watch them. Rather than having to wait for your favourite show to come on (or possibly miss something waiting for it), you can use the official websites to watch the show.
The US television networks were late coming to the party, however are now starting to understand the viewers. In the past, users turned to illegal torrents or other P2P networks to get the shows they wanted, and the networks missed out on the advertising options. By offering the shows on the website, they can be sure that they users watch the ads, and can continue to woo the advertising dollars.
The lack of advertising was one of the biggest issues with the P2P network. The television networks made nothing from these viewings, and they also skewed their statistics. The latest challenge to arise is how they are going to advertise on this content. Do they use traditional ads within the showing, or do they sandwich ads on either side of the show? The number of ads that are shown traditionally on online showings is less than television showings: will this limit the cash that comes in?
Another point that is interesting is the impact on the television networks. If people are more willing to watch the episodes online, then the networks will be less likely to be able to sell add space, which will lead to less cash for the shows, which may lower production qualities. Although these are all speculations, there are always far reaching ramifications when large groups of people change their behaviour.
