It looks like some politicians are starting to get the hang of this Internet thing. Two new YouTube channels have been established, and certain members of the House and Senate intend to use them as communications and outreach tools.
Microsoft Enhances adCenter, Offers Tips
The Microsoft adCenter team took the holiday break to put some "finishing touches" on some enhancements to the service. These enhancements include:
AOL Launches MediaGlow
AOL announced today the creation of a new business unit, MediaGlow that will centralize the company’s publishing efforts, with the goal of expanding its global reach in 2009.MediaGlow joins AOL’s advertising platform, Platform-A along with its social media effort, Peoples Networks to become the third core business of the company.AOL says over the past year its page views have increased 40 percent, engagement increased 20 percent and its audience grew to 70 million monthly visitors.
How Much Energy is Consumed by a Google Search?
Times Online ran an article citing several studies about Internet use and the consumption of energy. Information used for this report suggested that Google searches are responsible for a large amount of CO2 emissions. The article reads:
Bloggers Erase Lines Between Traditional and New Media
There’s little difference between a gadfly and a real journalist, and three New York City gadflies just proved there’s no difference between a blogger and a real journalist. The New York Times’ City Room blog chronicles the victories of three local news bloggers who had been repeatedly denied press credentials by the NYPD because they worked online or for “nontraditional” news outlets.
Working Toward Activity Stream Standards
In San Francisco last night, Six Apart (who recently launched data portability initiative Motion) hosted a roundtable to discuss the future of activity stream standards. In attendance were people from Google, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, Nokia, Plaxo, Comcast, and others.
Yahoo Autos Updated
It’s your call, folks. Is Yahoo trying to single-handedly save GM, Ford, and Chrysler, or does it just suffer from ridiculously bad timing? Either way, something interesting’s occurred, as the company has seen fit to freshen Yahoo Autos.
Top 5 Reasons the “C Word” Should Be Your Priority
I’m not going to tell you that "content is king." You already know that. There are reasons why your best bet for running a successful online business revolve around your content though. 1. Links
The Blogger SEO Burden
There is no question that blogging can help improve your search engine optimization efforts. Stephan Spencer, Founder & President Netconcepts talked about some of the reasons why in the following video, but he also said he favors some platforms over others for SEO purposes. Namely, he recommends WordPress or b2evolution as opposed to Google-owned Blogger.
Surf the Earth with Google and Your Wii
Showing an example of how developers can do some really cool stuff with the Google Earth API, Google Earth iPhone Engineer David Phillip Oster has created a program that allows people to "surf" any region on the Earth’s surface using the balance board for the Nintendo Wii. Oster used the Google Earth Browser plug-in and a javascript API, and the board transmits the person’s movements to the application using Bluetooth. See it in action: