SMX East – What you missed.

We’re well into October and SMX EAST 2009 is in the books.  If you missed it (or you spent too much time hungover from the “charity” parties to go to any of the sessions) here’s a link to what you missed.  (thanks to the trusty live blogging coverage by the outspoken wonder-blogger Lisa Barone)

Youtube hits 1 Billion views per day

Celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Google acquiring Youtube, the user generated video site is now reporting over 1 BILLION views per day.  To mark the milestone, Youtube.com has even created a new logo to brag about its remarkable numbers.

In addition, Chad Hurley, Youtube’s co-founder and CEO would like to thank YOU, the user:

“Today, I’m proud to say that we have been serving well over a billion views a day on YouTube. This is great moment in our short history and we owe it all to you.”

Google adds “Quick View” to PDF’s in Search Results

As a way to bypass downloading and opening PDF files in Adobe Reader (or compatible PDF reader) Google has added a “quick view” feature to it’s search results.  The new feature opens the file in your browser and acts just like a normal PDF reader with features such as zoom, paging, print and search.  Not all PDF files can be open this way, however, those that can’t, still have the “open as html” button previously used by Google.

Google gets (more) serious about Cell Phones

Google and Verizon announced on Tuesday that they are partnering to create and distribute Android cell phones.  The partnership, one and a half years in the making, is a huge breakthrough for Google as Verizon is one of the largest carriers and distributors of cell phones in North America.  An unconfirmed report also claims that one of the first phones to be hitting Verizon’s stores is the HTC Hero (hitting shelves, reportedly, in November).

Facebook>Myspace>Twitter (Infographic)

The Chicago Tribune released an interesting chart on Wednesday showing unique visitors by month for the three big social networks: Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.  The graph shows the tremendous growth of Facebook, the significant decline of Myspace in the past year, and the advent of Twitter (which still has some catching up to do).  The graphic also points out the revenue sources of the big three, most notably, Twitter’s “Premium Corporate Accounts” due some time this year.

Yahoo!’s Patent for Human Edited Search Algorithm approved

Yahoo! applied for a patent which combines automated and human edited search results about 7 years ago.  Tuesday, that patent was approved.  In the patent, Yahoo! describes how it claims that combining an automated algorithm with human editors, the results will be more accurate:

Ranking by human editors reviewing search results provides more relevant ranking than automated processes and even search users, because human editors possess better intelligence than the best software and more clearly understand distinctions in pages, and human editors focus on areas of their expertise. For example, a human editor would more easily spot a page that is irrelevant but contains terms designed to get a high ranking from an automated process.

What this means for Yahoo! search, however, is likely very little, since the results will be powered by Microsoft for the next 10 years or so.

The Lighter side of Social Media:

• An interesting new site called ijustmadelove.com uses Google Maps to show where people have “made love”.  Here’s a more in-depth description of the site.
• Similarly, here’s an info-graphic that show’s the various “uses” of Google Earth.  How unfortunate, yet regrettably (probably) true.
• Here’s another Google suggest screen-shot, I could have gone without seeing…people are sick…especially guys.
• One more reason to not friend your parents on Facebook…ouch.
• Finally, since it’s October and Halloween is right around the corner, instead of cute, here’s 20 SCARY tatoos for your enjoyment (scary for a variety of reasons).

See you next week!

Google Wave: Now in Beta!

Google Wave now in Beta

Google released it’s newest (and most ambitious) product to beta testing this week to 100,000 lucky participants.  Google wave is an online collaboration medium that incorporates email, wikis, blogging, and everything “web 2.0″ into a single UI.  Reviews are starting to emerge, and it looks like for us “techy” folk, this could change the way we work and communicate online.  Some reviewers, however, have criticized that with the overwhelming number of features and a complicated UI could be a detriment to it’s success to the every day consumer.

“There is so much that it can do, but past 100,000 users, if you want grandma to use it, Google needs a clear adoption path and to be able to communicate why people would want to use it.”

One thing is for sure:  this product is one of the most anticipated releases of a Google product we can remember.  It’s features have many people foaming at the mouth just to get a sneak peek.  Could it change the way we communicate and collaborate online?  Time will tell.

Reddit attacked by comment bomb…just kidding.

Last Sunday, Mashable reported that an apparent attacker has figured out how to use Javascript to use your account to put comments onto Reddit.  The XSS (cross site scripting) reportedly spread itself by adding rogue comments using your account when you hover over a comment containing the hacked code.  Users were warned to turn off Javascript before entering the website while the exploit was present.

Mashable.com later reported that the site was NOT attacked: and the exploit had been fixed:

“As it turns out, the hack in question is due to Reddit not stripping certain pieces of code from its comment boxes, which can be used to execute a malicious script using an XSS (cross-site scripting) vulnerability.” … “Some Redditers decided to have some fun by pasting code in the comments, but Reddit was quick to fix this problem, and now the code is replaced – in typical Reddit fashion – with the words “i am a terrible person”

Google adds “Hot Trends” OneBox to search results

Danny Sullivan reported this week that Google has added it’s Hot Trends feature as a OneBox to the bottom of search results when appropriate.  The results can be seen for anything that is currently a hot search term and includes a graph of the trending topic.

RJ Pittman, director of product management for consumer search properties at Google, had this to say about the new OneBox feature:

“The idea behind the [Hot Trends] OneBox is to not only provide you with search results as you’d want but also extra meta data on how popular the search is and whether it has peaked in interest, plus the number of sites that are creating chatter and buzz about this particular topic or person, to give a relative hotness rating as well”

This move is not surprising as Google has taken a real interest in competing in the real-time search arena.  This is only a small step in this area, however.  It will likely take much more for Google to compete with Twitter’s real-time Search engine.

Google SideWiki – Another reason to allow comments on your blog?

Last week, google released another new product called SideWiki.  The tool appears as a browser sidebar and allows you to read and contribute comments and/or information to any single web page. Google’s purpose for the application is to allow “you to contribute helpful information next to any web page”.  But Mack Collier of SocialMediaToday.com suggests that its use is more likely to be a replacement for blogs and websites that do not allow comments.  In his argument, he uses Seth Godin’s blog as an example; specifically the post relaying the release of Brands In Public which (if you remember) caused a bit of a stir in the blogosphere.   Seth’s blog does not have comments enabled, and as a result, the SideWiki content for his post is full of negative comments about the product.

Looks like another product that Google had good intentions for, but is going to be used for an entirely different purpose.  In any case, it’s just one more reason for bloggers and webmasters to allow comments on their sites so they can better control and manage potentially damaging opinions.

The lighter side of Social Media:

• Glen Beck forces the owner of glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com to come forward to defend the ownership of his website.  If you’re in the mood for a good laugh, read the lawyer’s response to Mr. Beck’s copyright claim.
• Remove your site from Google or I’ll sue. This is a letter that must be read to believe!  If you are an SEO by trade, or simply own a site where google rankings are important to you, this is a must read.
• Facebook doesn’t lie. Here’s just one more reason that letting people know what you’re up to can get you into trouble…especially if you try to lie about it.
• Last but not least: your cat picture of the week.  For all you cat lovers.

Perhaps we can help...

We’re BACK!  It’s busy-busy-busy, over here, but the web won’t wait for anyone, so let’s just get right into it, shall we?  A lot has happened since the last weekly wrap-up, so here’s the best of it:

Google’s Fast Flip – the Jury is out

Jury is out for Google’s new Fast Flip product.  Essentially Google News on crack, Fast Flip features high definition screen shots of news and magazine articles with a handy “flip” feature to scroll through the stories…the front page anyways.  Just a few clicks and you’re directed to the source of the article.  While the product is a fun way to scroll through the news, and has people calling Google an innovator…again;  many agree it’s more of a toy than a useful way to read the news.  Publishers, however, have something to rejoice about from this new product as Google is actually sharing ad revenue with the content developers.  Will it be a success?  Time will tell.  If not, Google can always continue it’s conquest of products that are.

Meanwhile over at Yahoo!…

Continuing to lose ground in the search (and other) markets, Yahoo! will launch a $100M ad campaign starting September 28th in an attempt to regain some of its share.   “It’s Y!ou” is their new slogan, and is a branding effort focused on the recent changes to Yahoo! products that are more customizable and include more comprehensive integration with the social web.  Other tag lines you can expect to see include: “The Internet is under new management: Yours” and “The Internet has a new personality: Yours”.

Google: No-follow or else!

Mixx.com had reportedly been slapped with a Google penalty for not using the no-follow tag on external links.  This came out after Mixx added the tag to all links including its Popular Stories page much to the objection of the community there.  They’ve since removed the use of no-follow on MOST links from the Popular Stories page, but it’s use is still present even if seemingly random and few and far between.  This isn’t the first time Google has bullied a site into using no-follows on external links (with little to no editorial control) and it probably won’t be the last…

In similar news, Twitter has added the no-follow tag to its “trending topics” links while also adding robots.txt commands to disallow the indexing of most of its subdomains – mainly m.twitter.com which currently does not include use of the no-follow tag on external links.

Seth Godin’s new product ‘Brands In Public’ isn’t well received.

Seth Godin is causing a virtual uproar in the blogosphere with his new service brands in public “the UNOFFICIAL brand discussion” site.  Since Seth announced this new product a few days ago, people have called it everything from slightly shady to brandjacking.  The website acts as a one stop shop for online brand/reputation management and features feeds from a variety of sources covering virtual buzz on a number of popular brands.  The core objection, however, is the fact that (at it’s launch) pages have been pre-populated for a number of well established brands, and are only available to be managed for a fee of $400/month.  Seth promises companies who have these pre-populated pages may opt-out (to have the page removed) for no charge, but many believe that the damage is already done.

UPDATE: Seth announced today he is taking down the pre-populated pages. (all 200 of them)

Beware the twitter worm

A social virus is on the loose and it attacks your twitter account.  The twitter worm reportedly sends you a DM from one of your tweeps with the message: “rofl this you on here:” with a link that redirects you to a “dummy” login page.  Unsuspecting users who enter their information will soon have their account hijacked so the worm can further spread itself among the Tittersphere.  You have been warned.

Unofficial Twitter app store

Via mashable: OneForty.com is a twitter app store that features about 1300 3rd party tools and services along with screenshots, reviews, and the like.  With the continued rising in Twitter’s popularity and hundreds of new 3rd party apps & tools out there, this is a place that brings it all together. If you’re thinking “why didn’t I think of it first?”  right now, you’re not the only one.

The Lighter Side of Social Media

• Ebay GOLD: A man on listed his used car on Ebay for $500, but little did he know that the 1963 LeMans Tempest (a classic car) was worth much more (even in its rusted condition).  The final bid went for over $226,000.
• This is a VERY FUNNY (however inappropriate) video (NSFW…sort of) of a well done -spoof- music video…enjoy.
• Newspaper FAIL:  the editor should have known better than to run these stories in the same issue (let alone the same PAGE).
• And for your “awwwww” cravings here is the saddest dog alive.

SEE YOU NEXT FRIDAY!!!

Hello everyone, we just wanted to do a quick post to let anyone that checks out the blog that we are here and things are going well. We have really been slacking on the blog, but for good reasons.  The fact of the matter is that we have been REALLY busy with work for clients, and they come first even before our own blog. We are going to try to be sure we start getting at least a post a week, and we will also be back doing the social media weekly wrap as soon as possible. If you do see this thanks for coming back, and we hope you keep coming back because we will be getting some new stuff up on here very soon.

Welcome to our website and blog! We are officially open for business and ready to take on the world of SEO and Social Media!

For those of you who don’t know us, we are two former link ninjas & SEO specialists: Todd Heim and Shawn Rosko. We’d worked at WeBuildPages with Jim Boykin for about 3 years a piece; and now (after a brief 3 month hiatus) we’re ready to start taking on clients of our own.

Ok, I know what you’re thinking: “Yet another WBP ’spin-off’ company. And this time the name is even cheesier than the original!” And, yes, we have a LOT to live up to. Being in the company of: Todd Malicoat (aka Stuntdubl), Rhea Drysdale & Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media, Christina Gleason (fka QualityGal), Patrick Sexton, and Justilien Gaspard leaves very little room for error. But we’re up to the challenge!

We’ve been honing our skills for the past 3 months and have some very interesting new linking strategies that are already showing promise. Shawn, meanwhile has been killing it on social media. His brand new blog will probably see around 100k visitors this month while he networks in the social arenas.

There’s so much we want to share, and this blog will be our portal! Make sure you stay tuned (that means subscribe to our RSS feed)…2009 is going to be a very good year!