Social networking giant Facebook has passed Google, the world’s most popular search engine, as the most-visited site in the United States in 2010, according to leading Internet research and competitive intelligence firm Experian Hitwise. Facebook received 8.93 percent of all US web visits from January to November 2010, while Google accounted for 7.19 percent. Rounding out the top five were Yahoo! Mail (3.52 percent), Yahoo!, and YouTube (2.65 percent). Facebook ranked only third on the list last year, trailing Google and Yahoo! Mail. In 2008, it ranked ninth, behind sites like Google, MySpace, and eBay. “Facebook” was also the most-searched term for the second straight year, followed by “Facebook login” and “YouTube”. According to Experian Hitwise, however, the combination of Google-owned sites like Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube still ranked ahead of Facebook properties, accounting for 9.85 percent of all US visits. Facebook received 8.93 percent, while Yahoo! properties came in third with 8.12 percent. The results of the study – Read the full article
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
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
Did you know that 20 percent of all searches on the Internet are for specific locations or businesses? Search giant Google did, and that’s why they changed Google Local to Google Places and began to display – for every search query that may be locally or geographically influenced – the local information for businesses, maps, and directions in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Right now, Google displays seven Places results for every search, as well as a map on the right side of the SERP that shows exactly where these seven places are. Obviously, Google Places pages help customers search these maps for local information while finding businesses within their area that are relevant to their search. Meanwhile, for small businesses, mom-and-pops, stores, offices, and other organizations with a physical address, Google Places is a unique local search tool that can drive and direct those who are searching to those who have something to offer or sell. Leverage this – 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
Google-Groupon Deal? Search giant Google is reported to be offering as much as $6 billion for leading e-Commerce coupon site, Groupon. According to a number of media sources, the deal’s initial payment will be worth about $5.3 billion, with the remaining $700 million to be used as an incentive for keeping Groupon’s employees. The deal, if it happens, is going to be Google’s largest acquisition yet, much bigger than its successful $3.1 billion bid for DoubleClick and the $1.65 billion price tag of the company’s YouTube deal. Launched in November 2008 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Groupon is a social shopping network that delivers daily deals to users in cities across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. While the price of the rumoured acquisition seems high – Groupon only has an estimated $600 million in revenue – industry observers say that the coupon site is the clear leader in a rapidly growing new category on the Internet. Its overwhelming success in – Read the full article
Instant just got mobile. It was only last September that Google introduced Google Instant, a search enhancement that allowed users to view search engine results as they typed. Promising better, faster results, Google Instant also saved a lot of typing and time – about 2 to 5 seconds per search, according to the company. As covered by our very own Brandon Zeman, as well as of guest writer Phyllis Roe, the new feature introduces new implications on SEO and gives rising importance to efficiency in search. Two months later? Google has taken Instant search to mobile platforms. In an announcement made Thursday on the Google Mobile blog, Google is rolling out the beta release of the search service for mobile phones, particularly the iPhone and Android-powered devices. According to the company, Google Instant on mobile is tied to a new implementation of AJAX and HTML5, which thus allows dynamic page updates and eliminates the need to load a new webpage – Read the full article
