About 5.7 million U.S. households will become new high-speed Internet customers this year, a 12 percent decrease in subscriber growth compared to 2008, according to a new forecast by market research firm Pike & Fischer.
Google Maps Street View Helps Find Kidnapped Child
You’ve probably read stories about the police using YouTube to catch criminals. One guy even accidentally ratted himself out for mentioning his own YouTube videos. Now, Google is sharing a story in which the cops used Google Maps Street View to help find a kidnapped child from Massachusetts all the way in Virginia.
The Year in Social Media: 2008
In what will likely be my final year-end list of 2008, I have compiled one more taking a look at the year in social media. This follows my articles looking at the year in online video and the year in online music. Like with those, I dug through our archives and picked out a number of highlights from the social media industry.
Bad Times Call For Better Marketing, Not Less
If it seems like some companies are trimming fat just in anticipation of hard times, you may be right. In fact, that seems like the conventional wisdom. Among the most tightened budgets is marketing, but when consumer dollars are fewer and farther between, it’s probably not a good idea to let them forget about you altogether.
Verizon Taps Microsoft For Mobile Search
Verizon has tapped Microsoft to provide search services for its mobile phones.Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said on Wednesday that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would formally announce the deal later today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Reuters reported.
Rumor Puts Anonymous Group In Line To Buy Yahoo
Fair warning: this is an unsubstantiated, nonspecific, and not entirely easy to swallow rumor. Today isn’t April 1st, however, and the rumor seems to have gotten the attention of a leading tech reporter and at least a few stock traders. So (for the umpteenth time) consider the possibility that Yahoo is on the path to getting acquired.
Do Your Customers Trust You?
Making a purchase online, especially a substantial one, can be a nerve-wracking process for a consumer. The primary problem, aside from price, is trust. Shoppers negotiate their relationship with the vendor in much the same way they negotiate relationships with any stranger: by seeking information. What an online vendor lacks (and what becomes a disadvantage) is one-on-one interaction with the customer. As such, the customer must put forth additional effort to find out about a product for sale. Making this task easier can make all the difference in closing a sale.
Retailers Increase Paid Search Spend
Multi-channel retailers increased their U.S. paid search spend in Q4 08 by 12 percent compared to Q4 07.Consumers continued to convert online at a steady rate, although they spent 10 percent less on average per transaction compared with the prior year, according to a report from SearchIgnite.
Got AdWords Ideas? Checkout the AdWords Wishlist
Last week, Google used its Google Moderator product to call upon users to give them ideas for improving Google Mobile. It allowed people to submit ideas and vote others up or down. This would give Google an idea of the ones that were most in demand.
Yelp Review Leads to Defamation Suit
A California man named Christopher Norberg is in the middle of a legal dispute with a chiropractor for posting a negative review of his services on the site Yelp.com. The dispute stems from a billing experience, which Norberg referred to in his review, and the chiropractor filed a defamation suit. It is now a classic example of where the line between free speech and defamation should be drawn.