For once, Google looked to be a half-step (or more) behind. Yahoo’s testing a “social” new homepage, Microsoft’s rolling out a “social” Windows Live update, and from the search giant, nada on this front. Except, it seems, for Friend Connect, which just might launch soon.
YouTube in HD – What A Concept
I have not seen any official announcements yet, but YouTube looks to be venturing into High-Definition territory, a place where its competitors are already residing. Meghan Keane at Wired writes:
Microsoft Discusses Updating adCenter Bids
The economy’s crashing, the holidays are coming, and businesses are growing ultra-competitive. It’s time to revisit online marketing campaigns, then, and Microsoft has released some tips on how adCenter users can decide if their bids need to be updated.
Google Makes Improvements to Ad Manager
If you are not familiar with Google Ad Manager, it is a tool that lets web publishers organize their ad booking. It lets you use data from past campaigns to estimate how many impressions you need to sell to make your goals.
Google Maps Used To Mark Pirate Attacks
Google’s been known to track all sorts of stuff, including search trends, wildfires, and the flu. Now Google Maps and Google Earth are being used to record the locations of what might qualify as an even more interesting thing: pirate attacks.
Holiday Shoppers To Spend More Of Their Budgets Online
More people will continue to choose to buy their gifts online this holiday season, citing convenience, time saving and price as the primary reasons for shopping on the Internet, according to a new survey from Nielsen Online.More than half (53%) of consumers say price is the reason to buy online, compared to 46 percent last year. Convenience is also a major factor for shopping online with 76 percent of consumers citing the ability to shop 24 hours a day and 74 percent saying it saves them time when they shop online.
Don’t Write Online Advertising’s Obituary Just Yet
Despite the prophecies of some online media moguls, online advertising isn’t looking that bad off. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP announced today that Internet advertising revenues have reached nearly $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008. That’s up 11% from the previous year.
PC Magazine Says Goodbye To Print
Since PC Magazine is for the tech crowd the announcement that the publication (can’t call it a magazine anymore I guess) would cease printing a hard copy and be a strictly online operation isn’t a surprise.
Attorney General Sues A Washington SEO Firm
An attorney general is suing a Redmond-based e-commerce service providing company, which had faltered on its promises of bringing up Web Traffic for a number of small businesses, driving many customers to file complaints. Attorney General Rob McKenna reportedly stated that, “When it comes to Internet search results, every small business wants to pull a high ranking. Merchants hoping to increase their online sales paid thousands of dollars to Visible.net and Captures.com but didn’t always receive the top listings and other services they were promised.”
Facebook, MySpace Beneficial To Teens
Teens who use social media such as MySpace and Facebook are not just wasting time, they are in fact developing important social and technical skills online, according to new research from the MacArthur Foundation.