WebiMax Blog

Microsoft Advertising adcenter is evolving, and the latest changes move the platform closer to Google Adwords in an effort to make terminology and functionality similar to what marketers are using with Google. Ultimately, this is a good move for Microsoft, paid search, and those marketers managing pay per click campaigns and it shows that Microsoft is realistic in their understanding of adcenter's place in paid search. The reality is that Microsoft's advertising platform is second to Google's Adwords, and acknowledging this allows Microsoft to use this fact to their advantage.

There has recently been some interesting news that has dropped on the international front regarding search engine optimization and social media. Russian search engine and purported Google rival Yandex announced a partnership with the social media site Twitter that would allow public posts from the micro-blogging site to be included in Yandex's Blog Search results.

Are you Pinterest(ed) yet? The biggest news from the past few weeks has centered on the social media site Pinterest, and its huge potential value to SEO marketing for companies. Are you a business owner who is just starting to get familiar with this newly popular technology? Feeling stumped as to how you can best apply this new social media tool to your company's SEO campaign? Take a look below at other businesses that are effectively utilizing Pinterest to market their businesses online.

This month, Google+ passed 100 million users. And analyst Paul Allen (Google+ unofficial statistician) predicts that by the end of 2012 the number of Google+ users will exceed 400 million. Who are these people? Many of them are your customers, partners and media professionals. And now with Google+ Your Business, Google is attempting to make it easier for you to connect with them, for free.  Read more

It would be blasphemy to say it in China but the sensational start of Jeremy Lin’s rise to superstardom overshadowed the important U.S. visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping last week.  Read more

Facebook has designed Timeline to look the same on mobile devices as it does on PCs, although without the ads. Lieb said Facebook is also testing ads that appear like status updates on the news feed, yet remain in view longer, so they don't get pushed down and out of sight right way. The ad could start as a friend's "like" or other social activity, and only be seen within a friend's network, she said.  Read more

Web entrepreneur Ken Wisnefski is concerned that Facebook's users will not appreciate the addition of mobile ads in March.  Read more

WebiMax

Vice-President Xi Jinping's visit to the US this week has attracted a lot of expected attention from government officials, the media and the American public.  What was totally unexpected was the dramatic entry on the sports and international scene of New York Knicks basketball player Jeremy Lin, a Chinese-American born in Palo Alto, California, to parents from Taiwan. The 23-year-old point guard has led the Knicks to seven straight victories since being inserted into the starting lineup two weeks ago.  Read more

Who's who in [insert your brand's name] -ville?  Knowing users' levels of clout was a major factor influencing former 'gamification' engagements.  Brands enjoyed user participation but did not know too much about its Badgeville 'citizens' otherwise.  Who is who is becoming more important in 'gamification' as a player's level of social 'clout' is crucial info for brands to identify.

There are a lot of online marketing options these days.  Social media alone hosts a party of solutions.  We know (through SEO best practices and a series of 2011 Panda updates) the production of content is important.  We also have come to understand (especially considering the popularity of social media) that the dissemination of content is also integral, elongating the reach of marketing initiatives, offering a better chance to secure consumer relationships.

Twitter caused waves last month when they announced they would be instituting a per-country take-down policy regarding controversial or banned content tweeted by its users. Many are showing their disapproval about the restrictive nature of this policy and predicting its relative impact on its users and the future of the platform. According to the announcement coming via Twitter's blog, the take-down policy is reactive in nature. They describe it stating, "We will withhold specific content only when required to do so to what we believe to be a valid and applicable legal request."

Industry leaders in reputation management discuss the many pitfalls and advantages of an agressive brand management campaign. Not only as a defensive strategy but also as a proactive influencer to build reputation authority.

Sometimes the best way to enhance the user experience of a website's service is to integrate it with another site's content. At least, this seems to be the case with the new collaboration between Kayak, a hotel search website, and TripAdvisor, a site that allows users to submit their own reviews of hotels and other accommodations they have stayed in while travelling.

If you're old enough to remember, some prime-time television stars (Roseanne Barr) were credited using only their first names.  I'm not really sure how one 'officially' reached such plateaus of stardom regarding 80's television, but if you're exceptionally 'down' in today's pop culture and social media world, Facebook will dial-up your account asking you to confirm your 'alternate' identity (a nickname, brand name, well-known moniker or otherwise).

Kenneth Wisnefski discusses “Image Jacking” with Richmond Morning News.  Hear more

Facebook's new deal with Bango shows its efforts to make some money on those who use Facebook on their mobile devices. Webimax founder and CEO Kenneth Wisnefski joins Alisa Parenti in Money, Markets and More.  Hear more

Operations become more dynamic when they expand into international markets, complete with new and different structures and regulations. I touched on this over the last two days regarding Google Maps in France and the Street View functionality in Germany. Essentially, nothing stays the exact same from country to country and Google, maybe more than any other company in the tech industry, is experiencing this in a big way. Just recently, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) made weighty accusations against Google alleging they interfered with the commission's antitrust investigation regarding potential limiting of access to local search engines on Android. Moving beyond this tension, Google engineer Matt Cutts made a presentation to roughly 80 South Korean government officials, lawyers, webmasters, and journalists in an appeal to allow Google's bots to crawl prominent government websites.

Cinderella

As I discussed in my last post, Twitter is quickly becoming an essential tool in SEO marketing campaigns. A new service, Chirpify, only serves to validate that, and takes the advertising – and selling – of a business's products or services to the next level.

A new website with a very off-color description of Mitt Romney could create a serious image problem for the Republican presidential candidate. Reputation management experts call it “image-jacking” -- and Google says it's out of the company's hands.  Read more

The New York Knicks' young point guard has nearly melted search engines and Twitter over the past week despite other big stories, such as a possible war with Iran, the struggling economy, U.S. presidential election and Tuesday's release of the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.  Read more

When Boxer Floyd Mayweather wrote on his Twitter account Monday that ‘Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he’s Asian,’ and then later followed up with a tweet saying, ‘I’m speaking my mind on behalf of other NBA players. They are programmed to be politically correct and will be penalized if they speak up,’ I thought it made sense to ask some of the 76ers what they felt about Mayweather’s comments rather than let him speak for them.  Read more

In the wake of talented singer Whitney Houston's tragic passing the night of February 11th, 2012, there is one thing stood out conspicuously: the use of social media in spreading the news of her death, and in allowing fans from all over the world to express their condolences.

Happy Valentine's Day, valued WebiMax readers.  Are your customers headed, straight as an arrow, toward your site's services and products, not just today, but each day of the year?  Search engine optimization facilitates a love connection and the endless search for brand attention.  Brands engineer goods and services to meet the needs of valued customers.  Online marketing helps align and spark brand-consumer connections.

Innovation can lead to profitable small and medium business (SMB) growth starting in 2012. This year can be a rebound year for SMBs if business owners commit to innovating and focusing more on client-retention. The key problem is that most business owners are reluctant to move forward due to pressing economic concerns including the financial markets, credit ratings and unemployment; however, it’s the lack of focus on key internal areas that are keeping them in a hover pattern.  Read more

In yesterday's post, I described how the initial resistance of Google's Street View in Germany could, at least in part, be attributed to the country's more private culture. Looking at its acceptance, the raising of concerns by Google Maps' audience had a considerable positive impact. Engagement to some degree did occur, according to the Time Magazine/Worldcrunch article, or at least Germans opposing the service had a vehicle to show their opposition made possible by the head of Hamburg's Data Protection Authority (DPA). In the article, the head of this authority stated that giving people the opportunity to disapprove "diffused the situation and helped Street View gain acceptance." Thus, creating a forum which allows people to voice concerns is sometimes all that is needed.

How's your brand getting attention today?  There are in-house and external ways to beckon attention.  Seek search engine optimization information; vendors offer an array of choices, addressing technical, social, and copywriting needs.  Do you want ongoing commerce from customers once you have their immediate attention?  While SEO offers opportunities to drive traffic to your site, your company has the power to make your brand a 'regular hangout,' enjoying endless attention.  That's what you want, right?