There’s a lot of hype in the social media realm over the dozens of new tools and dashboards that help you keep an eye on what people are saying about your company. Indeed, online reputation monitoring and management is quickly becoming a must-have for your marketing strategy. It is every business owner’s dream to be able to keep tabs on their brand name. Now, they can swoop in and clean up after a dirty situation. Likewise, they can reward or thank people for good mentions. Social media is growing at an enormous rate, but it still makes up only a relatively small portion of the Internet. There are billions of websites and blogs that also like to talk about things. Many of those sites have a reach comparable to or larger than the social mentions that are happening around your brand. Reputation monitoring goes beyond social media: you should be monitoring the whole Internet. Before you spend money on expensive – Read the full article
As mentioned here last week, 2011 is about to bring lots of hotness on the World Wide Web. One of the things that we mentioned was the emergence of HTML5, a new markup revision of the HTML standard, and which is expected next year to extend its reach even wider. While HTML5 is still under development, developers, programmers, and tech companies are already adopting a number of its features. Even some of the world’s most popular websites are enabling support for HTML5. How fast it will replace Adobe Flash – if HTML5 will replace it at all – remains to be seen, but just in case you’re keen on checking out what the HTML5 buzz is all about, we’ve compiled a list of websites whose HTML5 features you can test-drive – right now. Dive into HTML5 Authored by Mark Pilgrim, this book explains and demonstrates HTML5 in a no-BS language that’s easy to understand. In the introduction, Pilgrim notes how – Read the full article
Search giant Google and social media giant Twitter both recently released year-end reports that indicate how the world searched – and tweeted – in 2010. Google Zeitgeist 2010 The annual Zeitgeist report, which represents an aggregation of the search terms that people have typed into Google Search over the past year, offers insight on 2010’s fastest-rising global search trends, in categories that include news and events, people, entertainment, sports, consumer electronics, food and drink, health, maps searches, and even humanitarian aid. Here are some of the search terms that you will find in the Google Zeitgeist 2010. For the complete list, visit the Google Zeitgeist 2010 home page. 10 Fastest Rising 1. Chatroulette: A Russian-based chat website that pairs random strangers from around the world for webcam-based conversations. 2. iPad: Apple’s tablet computer, which was released in April 2010 and generated sales of 3 million units in 80 days. 3. Justin Bieber: The 16-year-old Canadian pop singer who released his – Read the full article
Cloud computing is one of the fastest-rising technologies on the Web today. There are a number of large businesses and corporations who have already adopted the “cloud” to replace their existing computing platforms – and small businesses aren’t far behind. What is cloud computing and what can it do for you? Simply put, cloud computing is a set of computing resources delivered online. It’s also an emerging model for delivering information technology services, one that offers scalable and virtual resources. (Geek speak alert! Don’t worry; we’ll break it down for you.) The term “cloud” is used as a metaphor for the Internet, which basically serves as a hosting environment for applications like E-mail, productivity, file backup and storage, and more. Previously, all the data and applications of a user were stored and hosted by a hard drive on a computer or a set of servers at the IT department; with cloud computing, there isn’t going to be any need for – Read the full article
Growing even more rapidly than China’s booming economy, online advertising revenue has surged throughout 2010 – and this rapid growth rate is projected to last at least for the next several years. Industry trade paper Adweek reports that online advertising buys in the U.S. are poised to exceed $25 billion in 2010. According to revised numbers from online research firm, eMarketer, the year-over-year increase in online advertising is forecast to come in at 13.9 percent, after all is said and done over the holiday season. Total revenues will total $25.8 billion by the end of the year, they predict. eMarketer raised its estimates for U.S internet advertising several times over the course of the year, Adweek reports. At the beginning of 2010, eMarketer forecast modest growth (i.e., modest growth, that is, in terms of online advertising) of 5.5 percent. That estimate had doubled to a projected 11 percent growth rate by May, and has grown from there. The latest revision of – Read the full article
Google offered another preview of the upcoming Chrome OS Tuesday in a media event in San Fransisco, introducing a fourth option for operating systems – after Windows, Mac, and Linux – while opening the doors to the new Google Chrome Web Store. The event also launched the Chrome OS pilot program and highlighted the search giant’s ongoing efforts to build “an operating system that is essentially a browser, (which helps) make computers faster, much simpler, and fundamentally more secure.” An open-source, lightweight operating system, Google Chrome OS leverages the Internet by delivering a speedy operating system in which all applications are Web applications (instead of hard drive-based). It is scheduled for release in the middle of 2011. Chrome Web Store and Cr-48 Chrome Notebook Along with these developments, the company introduced the Google Chrome Web Store, which features apps, extensions, themes, and collections for users of the Google Chrome OS. Developers have already started uploading apps, and one of these – Read the full article
It is no secret that Google has become a dominant influence in the way the Web is accessed and used. The word “Google” itself has become a verb, and people will often begin their web sessions with Google, even if they know the exact URL of the site they want to access. From E-mail to search to maps to shopping, Google dominates the Web experience of millions of Internet users. Google, however, is not just a passive player. The search engine giant extends its influence over every aspect of the Internet it touches and has aspirations to reshape the whole Web in its image. The purpose here is not to determine whether those goals are good or bad, but to highlight the many ways in which Google has already changed the web and what might be on the horizon over the next few years. Searching for Anything and Everything Google’s bread-and-butter is still search, and they have systematically nurtured their – Read the full article
Are you ready for 2011? As the Internet transforms, so should you. The rate at which technology evolves only means that, no matter how far along you’ve come with your Internet marketing program, there will always be something new to explore. There’ll always be something new to add to the mix. It is in this light that Lakeshore Branding takes a look at a number of online marketing trends expected to take off next year. We present this hoping that you’ll turn these expectations into opportunities – and the opportunities into tools to drive your business. HTML5: As the next major revision of the HTML standard, HTML5 is expected to emerge next year – and beyond – as that which will change the chemistry of the World Wide Web. Under development for much of the last few years, HTML5 will nonetheless continue to usher in the next generation of web development and programming. It will be supported by more browsers, – Read the full article
