Do You Like What Your Facebook Friends Post?
Last night Facebook announced a new feature for users who share content on the social network. Now when you post content, your friends will be able to let you know if they like what you’re posting by simply clicking a button.
Social Network Users Prefer Opt-In Ads
The majority (71%) of social network users have two or more profiles on different sites and 26 percent have four or more profiles, according to new research from InsightExpress.
Among social network users who have created only one profile, 46 percent are on MySpace and 36 percent are on Facebook. Those who have two or three profiles can be found on MySpace (78%), Facebook (71%), Classmates (22%), and LinkedIn (11%).
How is Google Weighing Forum Results?
There is an interesting thread going on at the WebmasterWorld forum looking at whether or not Google favors forums in search results. Matt Cutts tells me that he can neither confirm nor deny this. The thread is started by someone with the handle "bouncybunny," who posts:
Once it was directories, then blogs, now forums… maybe.
I have no empirical evidence for this, but it seems to me that Google is increasingly returning results from forum posts…
Alleviating Google Latitude Privacy Concerns
Google’s recently announced Latitude service has sparked a bit of concern among privacy advocates and the generally paranoid. I spoke with a Google Spokesperson about this.
Google Latitude is a feature in Google Maps for mobile and iGoogle that allows you to share your location with your family and friends in real time.
Stanford Takes Up Case Against AP
Well, if Google (or any number of other cost-conscious corporations) isn’t going to do something about overreaching copyright enforcement, it may be up to nonprofits and legal scholars at our best law schools. First up, a pair of acronyms, next Congress for encouraging them.
Some Bright Spots For Ecommerce In January
January was a month of casual browsing, with limited purchases at online retailers, according to a report from marketing firm Coremetrics.
The number of online sessions in which consumers browsed a Web site, viewing at least one product page, stayed largely flat compared to December 2008. The number of sessions in which consumers actually completed an order was down 21 percent.
Can Your Business Benefit By Letting Users Hide Ads?
Contrary to what advertisers might like to believe, not everyone wants to see their ads. This is why televsion advertisers don’t like TiVo. Advertising is how a lot of online businesses make their bread and butter though, and without ads, they simply could not generate enough revenue to stay alive. At least one online business believes that allowing users to turn off ads might actually be in its best interest.
Former eBay CEO Wants to Be Next California Governor
Everybody knew it was coming, but today, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman announced her announced she has formed an exploratory committee that will see her running for Governor of California in 2010. Whitman is a fifty-two year old Republican, and aims to replace John Matrix himself – Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Google Gets in Sync
Google introduced a beta version of Google Sync today. This allows Google users to sync their Gmail contacts and Google Calendar events to their iPhones or Windows Mobile devices (with Google’s own Android, all the data is automatically synced).
Did Bill Gates Really Release Mosquitoes on a Crowd?
I’m still trying to make out whether this is an elaborate hoax or if Bill Gates has finally lost his mind, but numerous reports and tweets (including one from Evan Williams himself) indicate that he has just unleashed a bunch of mosquitoes on the crowd at the TED conference, say