Twitter is a Cash Cow in the Making

by Joe Hall

We have been talking a great deal lately about how Twitter should be monetizing their service. Most of this talk comes after news that Twitter secured $20 million in venture capital, to push its total valuation to $250 million. It wasn’t long ago that Twitter started looking for a product manager to define a revenue stream. This is a smart move for a company that has relied solely on venture capital from day one.

Andy recently wrote a post detailing his thoughts for a Twitter subscription program. This is an idea that even Twitter’s CEO Evan Williams has spoken about in the past.

We’ve though about it. We had to do some thinking about that to raise a bunch of money, but it’s not actively in development right now. The broad strokes on the matter are obviously Twitter is being used for a lot of commercial purposes right now, in addition to social purposes. We think that works pretty well. We think there’s a lot of companies that we’ve talked to that seem to be getting a lot of value out of it. If that continues, if that becomes a rich world for users and the companies, we think we can extract some revenue from that.

While I think that a subscription based program of some kind would be a good idea (one I would probably subscribe to), I think that implementing that alone would miss Twitter’s full potential completely.

Twitter’s Full Potential

As Seth Godin states, Twitter is a protocol. What’s a protocol? A protocol is a set of “rules determining the format and transmission of data.” The Twitter Protocol is made possible through Twitter’s overwhelmingly open API. Because of it we can integrate Twitter into just about anything.

So, Twitter is a protocol, whats the big deal? Protocols control the flow of information. Those that have become masters at information control have built insurmountable wealth as a result.

Here’s two real world examples at how the Twitter Protocol could bring on lots of wealth.

URL Control: Many Twitter users use some type of URL shortening service to make their URLs more manageable with in 140 characters. At the moment Twitter is integrated with the infamous TinyURL. If Twitter brought URL shortening in house they could not only brand out going URLs, but they could also control them. Think about every link that leaves Twitter to places like Amazon.com or eBay.com, now think about those links all of the sudden turning into affiliate links. Or how about all of the links that point towards Google SERPs, now think what it would mean if they changed into links that integrated the AdSense for Search program. Are you seeing were I am going with this?

Twitter as a payment gateway: Back in June of last year, Nate Westheimer proposed the idea of Twitter becoming the next big payment processor, by monopolizing on the mobile communications industry’s need for a mobile payment processor like PayPal. I still think this is a solid idea and I am shocked that not many have talked much more about this. Westheimer tells us that combining Twitter’s carrier free social messaging service with a payment processor could put the company in a position to define the mobile standard for payment processing.

The true power behind popular protocols can almost never be predicted, mostly because they are defined by how they are used. This means that as Twitter grows it will have to remain observant of emerging trends of its users, so that they can wield their protocol in ways that allow them to prosper with the aide of their users. For myself, I am excited to see the future.

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Social Media Mistakes

By Jennifer Horowitz in Featured

With so much talk about social media these days, everyone is jumping on board and trying it out. We are seeing some common mistakes out there and I thought it was important to address these mistakes to help eradicate them in the future.

Don’t get me wrong, there will be a learning curve - we all went through it (and I met some great people that helped me, and that I helped along the way) but the key is to learn up front to minimize errors!

So, here we go…

Mistake One: Completely Ignoring Social Media

Believe it or not there are still some people out there that are ignoring social media. They may be unsure of how to participate or maybe they just don’t have time to get involved. No matter what the reason, this is a big mistake. Social media continues to grow in popularity and in importance to internet users - the exact users you are trying to reach.

Mistake Two: Bare Profiles

If you don’t bother completing your profile people won’t be able to get to know you. It is also a sign to other users that you aren’t serious about participating on that site. Many spammers don’t bother to complete their profile and a blank profile has become a red flag.

Your profile should include a custom background when possible, a photo, contact information, and a list of interests to help people get to know you better.

Don’t be afraid to show some personality and let people really get to know you and your company and what you stand for.

Mistake Three: Faking It

We’ve all seen companies being ripped apart for trying to fake it in the social media world. They either hire someone to pretend to be them (it’s OK if staff, colleagues or team members participate, but to hire an unknown to play you, not cool!), or they make up personas or even fake customers posting positive feedback.

The truth is if you can’t invest the time to create an authentic social media profile, you shouldn’t bother creating one at all.

Mistake Four: Trying to Sell Users Instead of Listening

Social media isn’t about you selling, selling, selling. You are here to network, build trust, listen to what customers and prospects have to say. You want to hear customer concerns, to learn about them, to find out what gets them excited, what they like about your product, what they still want, etc.

Remember to be a good social media participant, which means listen before you speak. If you don’t, you risk being written off as yet another company that doesn’t know how to use social media and who is only interested in promoting themselves. Remember, you always have to add value to the communities you’re participating in - just remember its value for your customers, not yourself.

Mistake Five: Recycling

Don’t recycle old content and marketing materials on social media sites. Start new conversations, create new information to share. Granted, you’ll have some content that falls in the “oldie but goodie” category and that’s OK to share. Just try to keep things fresh.

Mistake Six: Launching, then Ignoring

Social media is similar to search engine optimization in that you can’t just set it and forget it. You need to participate and remain active, otherwise you have wasted your time initially setting things up.

If you want your customers to stay engaged, you have to keep producing great content yourself. Keep writing Blog posts, creating widgets and being active in the community. Social media is real work but when done properly it’s worth the effort.

So review your social media practices and make sure you aren’t making any of these mistakes. If you are, change course quickly and get yourself back on track.

---

Jennifer Horowitz is the Director of Marketing for EcomBuffet.com. Since 1998 Jennifer’s expertise in marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has helped clients increase revenue. Jennifer has written a downloadable book on SEO and has been published in many SEO and marketing publications. Jennifer is the editor of the popular Spotlight on Success: SEO and Marketing newsletter. Follow Jennifer and stay current on SEO, marketing, social media and more. http://twitter.com/EcomBuffet

140it: Condense Ur Text For Twitter When It Won’t All Fit

by Jason Kincaid on January 26, 2009

While Internet slang and abbreviations have become second nature for some technophiles, many of us have trouble converting our words into the pseudo-gibberish sometimes required to make long messages fit into the 140 character limit set by Twitter. 140it, a new service put together over the weekend by the guys behind Yipit, is looking to help. The site will instantly convert whole sentences into condensed text, making common substitutions (like ‘r’ instead of ‘are’), using bit.ly to shorten links, and swapping company names for their StockTwits symbol. The service does its best to retain coherence, cutting extra spaces first and only cutting vowels as a last resort, according to one of its founders.

While there are a few other services like TweetShrink and Twonvert that do the same thing, those sites require you to visit their homepages - something that is easy to forget and usually more trouble than it’s worth. 140it offers a bookmarklet that will immediately make the conversion as you enter your Tweet on the Twitter homepage (see the video below for a demo).

I personally detest using abbreviations unless they’re absolutely necessary (they make my head hurt). But in those cases when I just can’t make everything fit, 140it will come in handy.

140it Demo from Vinicius Vacanti on Vimeo.

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Get Instant Digital Pictures with Polaroid PoGo Camera

Polaroid rolled out PoGo Instant Digital Camera at CES 2009 making it the first portable digital camera and instant printer combination available in the U.S. and Europe. It’s the same Polaroid experience that we all know and love, but it’s digital.

The camera is the second product in the Polaroid PoGo line of products. Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer is first and the camera uses the same ZINK Paper and ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology that the printer uses. Just as you would normally do with pictures from your digital camera, you can crop, edit, and zoom in on your pictures on a 3-inch color LCD screen before printing them.

The ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology replaces ink cartridges and ribbons with the ZINK paper, which actually has the ink embedded into it. It takes 60 seconds for the camera to print a 2 x 3-inch photo. The printed pictures are immediately dry to touch and are durable and smudge and water-resistant.

The camera weighs 10 ounces, measures 4.7-inches wide, and is 3-inches tall. Users also have the option of printing with or without borders. The camera also contains a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

The Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera will be available in March and is set to cost $199. Ten-packs of ZINK Photo Paper are priced at $4.99 and 30-packs for $12.99.

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Ensure Privacy and Security with WebAround

Do you use a webcam frequently? If so, we have a product to tell you about that you might be interested in. Do you ever worry about what people might see behind you? Are you appalled at what you see behind other people? A couple of nurses were not satisfied with their neurosurgeon’s surroundings and created a backdrop called a WebAround.

A WebAround is a round, collapsible webcam backdrop designed to give webcam users more privacy. It is simple and portable and makes webcam users feel more comfortable about their surroundings. A WebAround is 40 inches in diameter and about 15 inches when folded. It is made of a lightweight nylon material.

Maybe you work from home and would prefer the rest of the office didn’t see your messy house. Or, maybe you have to use your webcam while you’re traveling and in a restaurant or something and need a backdrop to block out the environment. Another scenario could be that you simply want privacy and consistency with your background.

The WebAround is available in Grey, Emerald Green, and Ocean Blue. Each WebAround is $29.95 and can be ordered from their site.

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AURA by Motorola

At a glance the Motorola AURA will reminded you of the Motorola V70 in the past, a handset that broke new ground when it came to design. The AURA is inspired by high performance racing engines, featuring a circular display (a world's first where mobile devices are concerned) that is able to serve up 16 million colors in 300 dpi resolution, protected by a Grade 1, 62-carat sapphire crystal lens to keep things scratch-resistant.

The AURA features a cool swivel form factor and a high-resolution, circular main display that is covered by a glass lens similar to those found on high end watches. It gives the display, and the rest of the phone, a very rich look.

The AURA has a number of different watch faces that can be used as the standby screen,

This hand-sculpted cell phone is also equipped with Stereo Bluetooth connectivity to keep your hands on both wheels while you're driving despite carrying out a conversation over the AURA.

In terms of raw capabilities, the AURA sports a 2 megapixel camera and works on all four of the major GSM/EDGE network bands used throughout the world. It has 2GB of built-in storage space for tunes and photos

CrystalTalk voice-enhancement technology creates a superior audio experience as well. Other high end features include Internet connectivity, a fixed-focus camera, and a music player.

The Motorola Aura is gorgeous, an obvious marvel of engineering, and it costs $2000. It's almost impossible to end a sentence describing the Motorola Aura without mentioning that it costs $2000.

Get Rid of Clumsy Cords with Powermat

Are you tired of all the power cords and adaptors that go along with charging your devices? If so, Powermat could be the answer to your needs. As demonstrated in this video by Powermat’s President Ron Ferber, the company revealed a line of products at CES 2009 that allows you to charge 3 to 6 devices on a single mat. Powermat charges electronic devices such as ipods, phones, mp3 players, cameras, and even laptops.

Powermat applies the principles of magnetic induction to produce the wireless power. The device includes a very thin mat with a receiver that connects to the appliance you need to charge. The Powermat plugs into an electrical outlet and users can place their gadgets on the mat to charge. All your appliances are capable of being charged simultaneously as the mat and receiver work together.

At this point, the Powermat has 5 different mats that are targeted for different living spaces. They include: home, bedside, desk, travel, and PC. The mats are available in white or black.

To be completely honest, we realize that the Powermat is not entirely wireless since it has to plug into an electrical outlet. It is still a very innovative product on the way to becoming completely wireless and actually could already be incorporated into furniture and walls.

Release date for the Powermat is set for this fall. The mats are priced at $100 and the cases/docks for each device will cost $30.

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Speed Test: iPhone 3G vs. T-mobile G1

Swiss Army Knife with USB Drive, Laser Pointer and More

CES 2009 truly brings new meaning to the trite expression: “they’ve thought of everything.” In this show’s case, it seems that these companies truly have. Who would have ever thought to put a USB drive, laser pointer, and Bluetooth remote control into a Swiss Army knife? Well, the makers of the original Swiss Army Knife, Victorinox Swiss Army did just that and called it Swiss Army Presentation Pro.

In this video, Martin Kuster and Charles Elsener of Victorinox Swiss Army explain how this knife is now equipped with business necessities but still serves the same purpose that your grandfather used it for. The typical functions of a Swiss Army knife include a blade, scissors, nail file with screwdriver, and keyring. The more modern functions include a laser pointer and a Bluetooth remote control for Windows-only PC or laptop presentations.

On top of all that, it also has a removable 32 GB USB drive. This drive has secure data encryption technology that allows users to protect important files and presentations since the only method of access is through the owner’s fingerprint. Other features include: ECC and BCE error correction and AES and DES encryption capable.

This Victorinox Swiss Army Presentation Pro is currently in mass production and is scheduled to be available in the U.S. by the middle of May. The price starts at $169.95 for 8 GB of storage and goes up to $329.95 for 32 GB of storage.

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Getting Top-Rated Content With Blogs and Feeds

As search has evolved, so have searchers. They are no longer looking at corporate websites as the authority, but they are instead looking at their peers and other searchers who have had similar situations to theirs. Searchers want reviews, blogs, and social interaction. So why not take advantage of these free digital assets?

In this video, Sally Falkow of Expansion Plus Inc. explains how the use of blogs and feeds is a very smart strategy for businesses to adopt in this economy because it is inexpensive and gets search results. Also, universal and blended search allows the first page of search results to display all these digital assets. It’s not just ten blue links on the first SERP but blogs, feeds, images, video, news, and so much more.

Research shows that a searcher’s eyes are naturally drawn to an image or video before they look at a regular blue link. In other words, if you are not utilizing these assets then “you are missing an enormous opportunity.”

Sally suggests creating a content strategy that allows you to use digital assets that match your brand image. One method for doing this is storyteller marketing. Sally says, “Every brand has a story.”

Determine what your brand stands for, find out how people perceive your brand, and realize whether or not your brand keeps what it promises to keep. You will find a story somewhere among those answers. Strengthen your story using digital assets and you will be amazed at how your content and brand will rise.

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Stay Connected with GiiNii Mini Movit

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One product that produced a lot of hype at the recent CES show was the GiiNii Mini Movit. The mobile Internet and social networking device allows you to stay connected any time and anywhere. One of the most intriguing elements of this device is the fact that it is carrier-independent. Dennis Sones, the Chief Marketing Officer of GiiNii, told Mike McDonald the Movit permits free calling wherever you find a WiFi hotspot.

Other features include:

- Skype-enabled
- Built-in microphone and speaker to make Skype calls
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 pixel touchscreen
- Easily accessible touch keyboard
- Address book
- Front-facing camera (used also as a webcam) and video functionality
- Built-in lithium battery (lasts 6-8 hours)
- Easy access to social networks
- 256 MB of internal storage
- MicroSD slot

The Movit is Android-based and contains an open source platform. An exact price for the device has not been revealed, but GiiNii representatives did say the cost would be lower than the iPod touch. GPS Obsessed reports the expected price to be $149.

GiiNii Movit is set for release during the third quarter of this year and will be available at Walgreens, Walmart, Amazon.com, Target, and zbezt.com.

Now for your thoughts - some speculate that Movit poses a threat for the iPod touch and the iPhone. What do you think? Is this a device that will shift the focus away from Apple?

iPhone,Nokia,Motorola,Blackberry,
Find The Latest iPhones

Why eBay Keeps Getting Shoppers

By Chris Crum

You can hardly talk about eBay without bringing out the disgust in all of the people who feel they have been wronged by the eCommerce giant. This group is comprised mostly of sellers who feel eBay has treated them with anything but respect, particularly since changing feedback policies in early 2008 (of course that's not the only thing they don't like. See my top ten list of seller frustrations).

Although buyers have had their own fair share of complaints about eBay as well, it still continues to be one of the leading places that online shoppers go to purchase goods, although retail comparison site JiffyPrice recently showed that Amazon has lower prices on many items that are available for immediate purchase.

"This goes to show how much savvy consumers can save by a very quick bit of shopping around," says JiffyPrice Founder Niall Thewlis. "However, most consumers don’t have the time to compare prices with umpteen different online retailers before making a purchase. We’ve simplified matters greatly, so that shoppers can quickly compare the price of an item between only Amazon and eBay, the two giants of online retail, in just a couple of seconds. We include only these retailers because they’re the ones that most people have used in the past and feel comfortable buying from."

Well that is one possible answer to the question. People feel comfortable buying from eBay (not everyone granted). Why do they feel comfortable? Because of the brand that eBay has established over the years.

Frustrated eBay sellers continue to flock to other sites to sell their goods, but none of them (Amazon excluded perhaps) carry the brand power that eBay does, and therefore can't possibly attract the number of customers that it can.

While not all eBay sellers are unhappy with the site, it seems that the core of them are. It is interesting to see a site that is driven by users continue to thrive despite the boycotting of many of those users who have helped it thrive in the first place. That is brand power.

There are plenty other sites out there that could compete with eBay, based on the testimonials from users who urge fellow ex-eBayers to use them. Yet we don’t really see any of them emerging as a real threat to eBay. eBay is to online auctions what Google is to search. Whenever someone cleans out their closet, they’re encouraged to sell their stuff on eBay by their friends or family. I haven’t often heard “eBay” used as a verb like with “Google,” but it might as well be one. “I have Sinbad’s autograph. I wonder how much I could get for that on eBay.” Statements like that are commonplace (minus the Sinbad part).

Because people think about eBay as a place to sell stuff from their own closet, they also think there is a good chance to get some cool stuff that came out of somebody else’s. And they’re often right. This cool stuff could just as easily be listed on another site as well, but eBay is the first name that comes to mind. If any other competing site wants to truly leave a dent in eBay’s market share, it’s going to have to so some really effective marketing

eBays Wanting Its Sellers Back

By Chris Crum

Makes Feedback and Payment Policy Changes

Early last year, eBay inflicted some damaging policy changes that sent many sellers running for the hills. Now, they apparently are changing the rules to remove negative comments left by customers towards the sellers.

A couple months ago I talked to a number of eBay sellers, and all but one of them told me that eBay's feedback policy was their biggest frustration. It now seems that eBay has decided to hear the howls of disgust from its users that have been going on for the majority of the past year. Ecommerce Journal reports:

The move to change the Feedback policy was prompted by numerous requests made by the cross-border sellers who received negative comments from customers while there wasn’t actual fault with the merchants. Now eBay will be removing feedback if: the listing meets the Customs Requirements and/or the seller receives a negative or neutral Feedback comment, which references customs delays or customs fees. Merchants in turn are obliged to advise the buyers that import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility.

There was also a lot of frustration about eBay's payment policy. Many were enraged by the favoritism showed to eBay-owned PayPal. eBay will reportedly now be adding Moneybookers and PayMate as acceptable methods of payment starting next month.

eBay users have been quite vocal in their displeasure with the famous auction site. It seems unlikely that many of them that have been so passionate will be willing to go back to eBay just because they finally acknowledged these issues. But the brand power that eBay carries does pull a lot of weight. Are you (or were you) an eBay seller?

Microsoft Releases Tag, Its Second iPhone Application

by Robin Wauters on January 8, 2009


At CES, Microsoft has introduced its second iPhone app after dipping its toe with the release of Seadragon Mobile last month. The name of the application is Microsoft Tag, and it enables users to instantly access mobile content, videos, music, contact information, maps, social networks, promotions, etc. simply by pointing the device’s camera to a custom tag.

If this makes you think about the principle behind QR codes, you’re not the only one. Like QR codes, Microsoft Tags are unique two-dimensial codes that can be used to open URLs or multimedia files. The big difference is the tech behind it: Microsoft Tag is based on a whole new technology developed in-house by Microsoft Research called High Capacity Color Barcodes (HCCBs), and offers a significant twist.

Microsoft Tags are smaller than QR codes and uses triangle shapes and colors to store data instead of square pixels. Actually, Microsoft Tags doesn’t actually store any information, except for a unique ID which can fetch more data stored on Microsoft servers. This allows way more information to be attached to tags than with QR codes.

Microsoft Tags are available for the iPhone as well as Windows Mobile, J2ME, Blackberry, and Symbian S60 phones. The application can be accessed by visiting Gettag.mobi using your mobile phone browser; for the iPhone, search for ‘Tag Reader’ in the App Store.

Microsoft Tag: Microsofts own 2D barcode



12 iPhone 3G Tricks That You Might Have Not Known

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Have you made any money with eBay Classified Ads

Have you made any money with eBay Classified Ads yet?

CAN YOU MAKE MONEY WITH EBAY'S CLASSIFIED ADS?

Dear friend,

Ever since eBay changed the rules on digital downloadable products I've been wondering whether to give their Classified Ads a go.

I've heard plenty of people making good money from Classified Ads, but I wasn't sure they were for me until I read this great new ebook called Auction Classified Cash.

It's a great little guide which gets right to the point, (no fluff here thank goodness!). It will take you by the hand of how to set up your Classified Ads whether you are using eBay's sell your item page or through Turbo Lister, and also the types of classified ads that make the most money.

I was really pleased to see some examples of real life ads that are currently making money as well.

Since Auction Classified Cash came out I've been happy to report that I'm now much more confident to place a Classified Ad on eBay and so far have been impressed with the results I'm getting.

The $9.95 fee for placing an ad on eBay has already more than paid for itself.

This book is great for beginners and intermediate's alike. Go and check it out for yourself.

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Testimonials I purchased this e-book a few days ago, and I must say this is the best book on eBay Classifieds I have read. I purchased a couple more expensive, highly marketed e-books on the subject recently and I was very disappointed. This book is the only one you will need and it is so reasonably priced. Don't even think twice about this purchase, just get it! Andrew I have just finished reading your recently updated guide "Auction Classified Cash" and I must say it's sheer "class". This is one of those rare guides that delivers on it's promises, even a complete newbie could have a Classfied Ad on eBay and bringing them in cash in literally under 5 minutes. Not only that, but you don't even need to own your product to make money using your guide either, you even show people how to make money using OTHER PEOPLES PRODUCTS! I love the way you haven't limited your guide to eBay only, in fact you have over-delivered by giving instructions on using both Aweber and Clickbank, truly remarkable. I also love the automation of your whole system, all anyone needs do is set it up, leave it to run and let the classified ads work their magic. You have taking months of learning out of the equation for most eBay eBook Sellers, I wish I had found your guide weeks ago. If anyone is confused about using Ebay's Classified Ads format, your guide will teach them everything they need to know AND a few secrets too! When Ebay changed they way we could sell ebooks, many people simply gave up, you have breathed new life into selling ebooks on eBay and I hope many people will follow your teachings. I can and will recommend your guide without hesitation and I know anyone following your guide will enjoy great success using Ebay Classified Ads. Sally Neill

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

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The MacBook Wheel, a revolutionary new laptop that does away with the keyboard. They say
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The VideoGames Finder

Google Explains Click Fraud

Click fraud is a very complex issue. Unfortunately, much of the information available has been misinterpreted due to that complexity. In this video, Shuman Ghosemajumder of Google gives some information that will hopefully clear up that gray area.

For starters, click fraud is driven by 2 major incentives:

1. Attacking advertisers - when an advertiser tries to hide one of his competitors
2. Inflating affiliates - when an AdSense publisher tries to fraudulently increase his own revenue by generating false clicks

Methods of click fraud stem from simplistic techniques to sophisticated techniques. Simplistic methods include manual clicks such as when a fraudster personally clicks ads on his own computer. It gets a little more sophisticated when a fraudster organizes botnets and uses them for click fraud. Click farms, which consist of individuals or organizations that try to hire people to click on ads continuously, fall somewhere in the middle of the simple and sophisticated click fraud techniques.

Shuman does point out that: “the impact of invalid clicks at Google is minimal.”

Google detects click fraud through simple rules and statistical anomaly detection. Google’s simple rules consist of certain rules they have already defined as what they classify as an invalid click. Since some simple rules can be easily broken, statistical anomaly detection is more effective because it looks at specific activities on websites and compares the expected behavior to the observed behavior. This data gives Google a better understanding of how to detect invalid clicks.

For advertisers wanting to take proactive measures to prevent click fraud, Shuman advises keeping the return on investment (ROI) as the central focus. Research and gather as much data as possible, test everything, and track all results. If you apply these actions and your ROI drops for no reason, you have a good reason to suspect undetected click fraud and should file a claim.

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Bounce Rates Count

By David Leonhardt (c) 2008

Of late there has been a lot of discussion about bounce rates and whether or not the search engines count these in their algorithms. As far back as late 2007, there were reports that webmasters were seeing a difference in their rankings for major keywords within a few weeks of drastically changing their bounce rates. However, none of the tests and reports seem to be complete enough or repeatable enough to constitute proof.

As a result, there are plenty of naysayers who believe that such things as bounce rates are not now and probably won't ever be part of the search engine algorithms.






I am of the opposite view; bounce rates will certainly be part of the search engine algorithms and probably already are.

What I would like to do here is share with you some of the common naysayer objections and refute all but one of them. But first, for those who are scratching their heads about what bounce means, we are referring to people leaving a website. A bouncy website is the opposite of a sticky website, one where people stay a long time.

Objection 1: There is no definition of "bounce rate".

Response: This is the flimsiest of arguments. A bounce is when someone leaves a website, going back where they came from.

Objection 2: I don't like how Google Analytics defines a bounce.

Response: Sadly, Google doesn't ask me for advice, either. But cheer up, the bounce rate in Google Analytics might not be the same as they use in their algorithm, just as the little green bar is not necessarily the PageRank they use in their algorithm.

Objection 3: Many sites don't have Google Analytics turned on, so Google would have very incomplete data.

Response (scratching my head in confusion): What does Google Analytics have to do with anything? This is about Google (or Yahoo, or MSN, or Ask, or some other) tracking their own traffic and how their own users move about and - most importantly - how their users return to their website.

Objection 4: What is the threshold for a bounce? After 5 seconds? After 10 seconds? After 15 seconds? This is a mess! (This is often part of the how-do-we-define-a-bounce debate.)

Response: A bounce is a bounce, whether it takes a person one second or one hour to bounce back, it is a bounce. How the search engines choose to treat bounces with varying lag times is another matter. Let's be clear; they won't tell you, just as they won't tell you how many links on a page they index, how many they follow and how many they count in their ranking algorithms. Furthermore, it is a moving target. Just like every other algorithm input, bounce rates and bounce lag times will not be treated in the exact same way one day to the next.

Objection 5: What if people quickly click on an external link and leave my site? They found the site useful because they found a useful link on it, but they bounced.

Response: That is not a bounce, that's a referral. A bounce is when someone hits the back button.

Objection 6: What if the user quickly closes the window?

Response: That could be any number of things, but it is not a bounce. Who can guess how the search engines might treat that, or even if they treat it at all. However, it need not be considered a bounce unless the search engines believe it should be.

Objection 7: Doesn't a bounce mean the person has found what they want? Can't a bounce sometimes be good?

Response: Sometimes, perhaps, but rarely. After 5 seconds, a person has no time to read a page. After 30 seconds, they might have found something useful. So lag times matter. More importantly, the search engines can determine what a person does next. If a person returns to the search results and clicks on another link, that is a sign they did not find what they want. If they return to the search results and conduct a similar search, that might also be a sign they did not find what they want. If they return to the search results and conduct an unrelated search, that might be a sign that they found what they want. Search engines can weigh various bounces in light of the user's next action.

Objection 8: For some searches, people look for multiple sources, such as comparing prices, comparing products, seeking varying opinions, etc. Too many sites would be penalized if all those bounces were to be counted in the rankings.

Response: This is an example of false logic. If someone clicks on one website, then bounces, clicks on another website, then bounces, clicks on another website then bounces...all the high-ranking websites for that particular search query would be equally affected. Nobody would suffer a ranking disadvantage because rankings are relative.

Objection 9: Can't I just set up a bot to visit all my top competitors and leave their site after varying numbers of seconds to make it appear that their sites are all bouncy.

Response: Yes, you can. And you can get very creative. I have even heard of couriers in China travelling from one Internet café to another to click on a particular site as a means of increasing its rankings. I have no answer for this, other than that the search engines will have to control for this, just as they have found ways to control for automated link-building.

So have no fear. Good websites that provide what their visitors want or who help them find what they want will prosper. Sticky SEO looks at conversions and stickiness as integral elements to SEO.

Cheap sites that do a lot of link-building - bouncy SEO - counting on large volumes of traffic to offset poor conversion rates, will suffer - because the search engines will stop sending them that traffic.

It's just a matter of time. Or perhaps it has already started.

About The Author
David Leonhardt is a professional SEO consultant who doesn't shy away from fearless predictions. David is the author of the Sticky SEO book that advises on how to optimize websites for algorithms that include user actions, such as bounces.

Understanding How Net Neutrality Affects Search Marketing

Although network neutrality is an issue that could affect everyone, it seems that people are either not concerned or simply unaware of its potential. One industry that seems to be completely blinded by its capabilities is surprisingly, the search marketing industry. In the above video Cindy Krum of Rank-Mobile discusses what would happen to search marketers if net neutrality is not preserved.

According to the nonpartisan and nonprofit advocacy organization Common Cause, the definition of net neutrality is as follows:

“Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be able to access any web content they choose and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or limitations imposed by their Internet service provider.”

If net neutrality is not preserved, sites that we use and depend on everyday such as Google and Facebook would not be here. If you remember, the Federal Communications Commission recently cracked down on Comcast for throttling content from BitTorrent and ultimately called it a matter of free speech.

Now, how does all this affect search marketing? If you have a lot of rich media content on your site that is being throttled by broadband providers, you will have to pay more in PPC because it will decrease your quality score. Also, if your content is throttled, the load time will be slow. Your load time affects SEO and PPC meaning that it will drive your costs in PPC up and drive your rankings and SEO down. Does it seem relevant now?

Ironically, the Wall Street Journal published a report today saying Google no longer supports net neutrality. While citing undisclosed sources, the Journal accused Google of approaching major cable and phone companies with a proposition to get preferential treatment for both incoming and outgoing traffic from its sites.

The newspaper went on to report that one major cable company “in talks with Google” said it has been hesitant to make a deal in fear of violating the FCC guidelines.

Richard Whitt of Google’s Washington-based telecom and media counsel responded to the accusations on Google’s Public Policy Blog saying the report was based upon a misunderstanding regarding edge caching. The flexibility of edge caching allows broadband providers to implement network upgrades but does not give them the privilege to “hamper user choice, competition, and innovation.” This practice of edge caching does not violate any net neutrality laws.

Whitt wraps up his post with the following statement:

“Google remains strongly committed to the principle of net neutrality, and we will continue to work with policymakers in the years ahead to keep the Internet free and open.”

In summary, educate yourself on these issues and support legislation to protect net neutrality.

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Shopping Search Tactics for the Holiday Season

Although retailers are struggling this holiday season with the current economic issues, recent comScore data shows that shopping search engines are thriving and are performing better than last year.

“Cyber Monday saw significant visitor gains at most of the top retail resources, led by Shopzilla.com sites with nearly 2 million visitors (up 98 percent versus the November base period), followed by Yahoo! Shopping with 1.9 million visitors (up 81 percent) and Google Product Search with 1.1 million (up 59 percent).”

These numbers further prove that consumers are browsing around online comparing prices and searching for the best deal. In the above video Greg Hintz, the General Manager of Yahoo! Shopping, gives four tips retailers need to know as they optimize their campaign.

1. Optimize your data feed.
2. Make sure your data feed provides relevant, comprehensive, and fresh data.
3. Use factual language instead of “marketing” language.
4. Include all product specifics.

When you move on to Yahoo! Product Submit, Greg points out that the primary factor is relevancy. Other factors to look at are merchant rating since higher rating produces a higher ranking. Also, remember to take advantage of comparison-shopping sites.

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