Credit scores have long had major impacts on people’s lives; they’ve affected consumers’ options in terms of buying cars and houses, and sometimes, even in terms of securing jobs. And in the future, if Google has anything to say about it, they may influence what ads individuals see, too.
With the assistance of Compete and around two million consumers who opted into the project, Google’s apparently been interfacing lists of FICO scores with the Google Content Network. This has led to some impressive targeting opportunities.
YouTube Gets Serious About News
Over the weekend, YouTube made a couple news-oriented announcements. It would appear that the site is looking to become more of a resource for news content than ever before, and that means news from established publishers as well as amateurs.
Publishers Invited to Become YouTube Partners
Corporations Lag On Adopting Social Media
Social networking has increasingly become more visible in the workplace, and its functionality is being leveraged by companies globally, according to a new survey from Frost & Sullivan.
A majority (80%) of respondents said they personally use Web 2.0 technologies to connect and share with friends and family while at work. More than half (54%) said they use social media for professional purposes such as connecting with colleagues, generating leads, and working on projects.
Amazon Ends Relationship with North Carolina Affiliates
North Carolina residents who are Amazon Affiliates recently received an email telling them the company would be ending its relationships with them due to the North Carolina state legislature getting ready to, as Amazon puts it, "enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme."
What the North Carolina government is proposing would apply sales tax to purchases made through online affiliates based in NC. It has not yet passed.
Facebook Up to Those Twittery Ways Again
Facebook is already the big boy of social networks, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that the company really feels threatened by Twitter. Just look at some of the things they’ve done in recent memory.
Can a Redesign Affect Your Search Engine Rankings?
Google’s Matt Cutts has an interesting video up (one of many) on the Google Webmaster Central YouTube channel that deals with switching to a new content management system and how that can affect search engine rankings. Someone asks:
We are changing a farily large HTML site to CMS. What are the essentials to keep in mind so that we do not lose our search rankings?
Matt Cutts Answers Questions About Directories and Ranking
As you may know, Google’s Matt Cutts frequently answers questions from Google users on the Google Webmaster Central YouTube channel. There are a couple recent ones in which he addresses questions about directories and how they contribute to a site’s rankings.
The first question is:
Will Google consider Yahoo! Directory and BOTW (Best of the Web) as sources of paid links? If no, why is this different from another site that sells links?
Facebook Status Updates Going Public
This week, Facebook announced some coming changes to your status updates. Soon, just like with Twitter, you’ll have the option to make them public—but not just to everyone on the world’s most popular social network, but everyone around the world. (You know, with Internet access.)
IAB Gets New Chair, Vice Chair
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced that its Board of Directors has elected Chairman and Founder of 24/7 Real Media as Chairman. In addition, Neil Ashe, President of CBS Interactive was elected Vice Chairman.
The organization is comprised of over 375 media and tech companies, who are responsible for 86% of online advertising in the US. It’s core objectives are to:
Reasons Twitter Should Start Charging For Their Service
I am going to write something that is likely to be unpopular. Today I experienced a "perfect storm" of sorts regarding the Internet and the idea of free is good. This apparent entitlement mentality that is pervasive among Internet users that everything should free is going to potentially ruin a lot of good opportunities. Of course, all of this is in my opinion so you can take it for what it’s worth. At least reading it is free, right?