by Frank Reed on July 3, 2009
At the end of the day all of the ramblings and musings about Internet marketing are fun. That’s really all they are. They are not truly important. If any life were to hang in the balance because of what I or any other Internet marketing pundit writes then there is something really wrong with the world.
It’s the eve of the 4th of July. It’s an interesting holiday for me. I have a pretty fierce patriotic streak so the real importance is obvious. As for the way the day is celebrated, it can’t get over fast enough for me. Any time it is the purpose of a “holiday” to mix alcohol and explosives there is legitimate reason for concern. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I am just like everyone else in that my impulses often are not ready for prime time but some of the acts of incredible stupidity performed in the search of an “OOOO, AHHHH” after an explosion boggle even this simple mind. Based on that ‘worldview’ I tend to lay low and pray for a passing of the holiday with no emergency room visits.
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by Frank Reed on July 3, 2009
If you are even a casual Frank Thinking visitor it is pretty obvious where I stand on business and the government. Less is more. Less government allows for more success. Well, we are not exactly in the day and age of government stepping aside on anything. Oooops, I just burped …… will I get taxed on that?
Back in October of 2008 Google reached a settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers that has drawn attention from monopoly theorists and general anti-business forces since its inception. As I have stated before I am not a Google apologist but if it wasn’t for them there wouldn’t be a lot of the only business that is still working during this time of tax and spend.
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by Frank Reed on July 3, 2009
While it comes as no surprise that spam and porn are part of the Internet it is interesting to see just how much more obvious it is on everyone’s darling Twitter.
There are a ton of opinions and angles to this and they can be found over at Marketing Pilgrim in one of my posts for today.
by Frank Reed on July 2, 2009
Internet advertising’s honeymoon may be ending sooner than anyone would have thought. First, the moronic governments of North Carolina and Hawaii take money out of their own citizen’s pockets by picking a fight with Amazon. Smart move. Now not only do you not collect taxes from affiliate marketers’ income made through Amazon in the respective states but the money that was coming into the state via those affiliates dries up completely. That means nothing spent with local businesses in your states. Just plain stupid. Thanks Gov. Perdue. Looks like now the tax payers of NC will have to pay for a guide dog for you since it must be hard to see where you are going with your head ‘you know where’.
Now the federal government thinks that it needs to monitor the tracking practices of companies. While there are certainly privacy issues that are critical for everyone the online advertising industry is attempting to police itself before the fed gets it’s greedy little hands on the industry for more control. Get the details over at Marketing Pilgrim.
by Frank Reed on July 2, 2009
The earliest of the early results are in for June US search numbers. They are provided by a company out of Dublin, StatCounter, and have been covered by Reuters. To read the headline, one would think that Bing has made a dent in the Google empire.
Here’s my quick take. I think that Microsoft should do a quick re-branding effort and instead of Bing they should rename their decision engine Bong because you would have to be high to think that Microsoft is going to impact Google’s dominant market position with its offering.
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by Frank Reed on June 19, 2009
Google never does anything that is privacy related without having a little push from some influential sources like, say, a government. As a result, the Google Street View service in Germany has provided the option for anyone who is included in Street View to have their raw footage, not the ones wit blurred faces and license plates, but the actual image completely removed from their archives.
There are some implications for all involved and they are explored in some detail today over at Marketing Pilgrim with my post “Google Street View Changes Image in Germany”.
by Frank Reed on June 19, 2009
Social networking is huge. That’s the easiest thing to say. It’s what a company does with it that can make a lot of difference for their brand and for people in general. Staples is utilizing Facebook to get some of the stuff they sell (school supplies) in the hands of kids who may not get them otherwise. How are they doing it? Through Facebook and enlisting other kids to help these kids.
On the surface it looks like a winner for a lot folks. I have written about it over at Marketing Pilgrim with the post “Staples Uses Facebook to Help School Kids”
by Frank Reed on June 19, 2009
We live in a society that values technology. The faster and more efficiently we can get something done the better it is. I have even seen some attitudes that the less interaction with human beings the better. The attitude is that if you can just build systems and processes that get things done quickly and efficiently and move people through to where they get what they want and get out it’s good.
In some cases that may be true but I don’t think that’s the norm nor is it a standard that will be aspired to. Why not? Because ultimately, the vast majority of people want to work with people. Do I have empirical evidence for this? No. I do have personal evidence of it though when I am frustrated by automated phone trees and online systems that don’t work. I hear that from others as well. I look at this a bit more over at Mike Moran’s Biznology blog with a post called “People Never Get Old on the Internet”. See you there.
by Frank Reed on June 18, 2009
Facebook’s self proclaimed land rush for vanity URL’s is past the initial stage of the people in the know getting their vanity URL’s locked down. What is interesting is that despite over 200 million users only 9.5 million URL’s have been claimed to this point. So roughly 5% of all Facebook accounts had enough knowledge and concern to stake their claim.
Among those, however, are those not looking out for their own interests other than trying to make a buck. These folks are the new age domain squatters but the opportunity is so much more pervasive. In most cases, there is no need to buy anything or provide any proof of anything either.
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by Frank Reed on June 18, 2009
Google has unique troubles that many companies could only wish they had. While most companies struggle to make any money Google gets digs from the media for only growing 6% in Q1. Let’s consider that’s complaining about one of the few times that anyone can use the phrases “Q1 ‘09″ and “growth” in the same sentence. Still not enough.
Another problem they have? Too much talent. Break out the violins! Well, there is a problem with attracting the best and the brightest. Over at Marketing Pilgrim, I take a look at this phenomenon and how Google is trying to keep the best and the brightest on campus to keep the innovation coming.
