Here Comes Another Bubble - by Richter Scales
A nice video explaining the new bubble in formation…
Bubble Curry!
Better be Bing; Microsoft’s New Search Engine
Filed under: Internet Industry, Search Engine Marketing, Web 2.0
Now there’s some definite competition that Google will soon start noticing. With the launch of Bing, the online search space is going to get hotter… at least I think so, for obvious reasons.
For quite some time Google and Yahoo have not delivered the most relevant results and the SERPs show up almost bombed with keyword spam. Things have gotten better though over a past few months but Bing just made it to the first slot in the que of “Evolving Search Engines”.
Microsoft was up to something ever since they were turned away by Yahoo in their bid to acquire the world’s second largest search portal. Now they have bounced back with bang sized Bing!
How is Bing going to make a difference?
1. Results are Transparent - I won’t argue that their results are better, because no one can actually prove it including the other two guys. Bing’s results provide a better access to information - in addition to the description text, it allows you to sneak into the webpage before actually clicking it.
If you use this feature, you are sure to get less BS on the page you land on.
Although it is a good attempt to make search experience better, yet BE CAUTIOUS of over-relying on this tool because it still needs a lot of improvement in order to give you an accurate snap shot of the most relevant text.
Search Engine Optimizers beware and stop using keyword spam - the search engines are evolving into better thinking machines.
2. Image Search just got better
Just try using the filters on the left; they are a handy set of tools which had made searching for desired images easier.
If you hover on an image, there is an option to see similar images. This feature is awesome - I don’t know if they are using some image matching algorithm but it really works.
I tried it and it showed me the image of the same hotel stored on various other websites. Although not 100% precise but the other images shown had a few similarities like water and greenery.
The filters will speed up the work for designers who are continously in need for images that match their concepts.
3. Best Video Search
Bing’s video search is just amazing… The filters are a great help here and Play on Hover is one of the best thingsthat could happen to Video Search. The relevance, accuracy and precision of the results are also better than Google and Yahoo (sorry guys but it is like that).
All in all it is a good package for any searcher and its easier to search with Bing. On the same note, job of search engine optimizers will become harder because Bing soon will be counted with a bigger market share than Yahoo (unless they really bounce back with a better search solution). So MSN Search (Bing) will now be in every SEO action plan and hey whats going to happen to Live? I’ll write about this soon.
Bing Curry!
Internet is Alive; It is learning being YOU
For quite some time I have been living with a thought… a thought that makes me feel that “something” or “someone” is watching me and everyone else who logs on to the Internet.
For a thought again, couldn’t that someone or something be the Internet itself? Yeah, why not?
After all, every website or web application we use has a capability to learn about us. Don’t Agree? If not, then lets try and understand what Internet is. To an end user, Internet is email, search engines, social networks, e-commerce and access to information. What an end user does not know is that all these utilities on the web are enabled with a mechanism that captures information about them.
The new Internet - It has a Brain and it Learns
In today’s Internet scenario, data about the users is collected, stored, interpreted and acted upon.
This data or information is not confined to one’s email address, name or telephone number. Internet learns a lot more than that about you.
Who does the thinking here?
In earlier days, webmasters or website owners did the thinking (and they continue to do so). They study and analyze the data captured about their visitors. This data helps them in understanding user-behavior, visitors’ likes or dislikes, visitor demographics etc. In the days of today, various automated software applications do the data capturing and its interpretation.
Internet is trying to become the courteous host at a party. A host who not only takes care of your likes, dislikes or interests but also tries to dress like you, talk like you and tries to be as close to you as possible.
A series of web-enabled software applications are keeping an eye on you; these applications collect information like your:
- your browsing history
- your geography or location
- your what you like on Internet and what you don’t
- what you search
- your age group
- your gender
- your Internet speed or the bandwidth
Intelligent thinking algorithms (or software with artificial intelligence) do the interpretation of this data and come up with conclusions like:
- what type of ads should be shown to you
- what kind of news headlines should be shown to you, whether politics or technology
- which search results should rank higher for you
- the list is endless
There’s a lot more to these conclusions when someone knows so much about you. It becomes very easy for a host at a party to make you feel comfortable once he or she knows you well. Internet or the web Utlities we use are doing the same - they are learning who and what we are and they are trying to become our friends, because we are comfortable being friends with people who are like us and we like them back.
Internet is an economy within itself; advertising and e-commerce fuel that economy and every user on the web is a consumer. By learning about us and how to be like us (the consumers), the creators of the web or the owners of web utilities (the sellers) are trying to maximize their share in the Internet economy pie.
The thought which initiated this post isn’t over yet. This post so far accrues from only a small part of that thought. I will try to write more on this very soon, after all I have resumed writing after a month or so.
P.S. - Don’t feel bad after reading this post because whoever or whatever is learning about us is only trying to be our friend because if it was otherwise, the end result will be the collapse of the Internet economy and people who’re vacationing in space with that money will definitely not want that 
Just sip the curry, there’s nothing to worry!
Google can create or destroy the Internet
It is said that Google is the universe, it is the first page on the Internet - does that not sound a little scary? What if Google refuses to work for just one day? I am sure that would mean a loss of billions of dollars in just over a day. The guys from SouthPark (the TV show) showed us the aftermaths of Internet bring unavailable in their episode titled, “Overlogging”. That was for fun, what if it becomes real?
According to post by Courtney Mills on SearchNews, an error that occured on Google literally stopped everyone’s access to the Internet; at least the share of Internet routed through Google. As per the article,
This occurred at about 6.30am PST on Saturday. During this period all search results in Google were being flagged as malware with a message stating - “This site may harm your computer“.
Google’s own website was no exception to this glitch either. As rightly put by Courtney Mills in her post, Google Broke the Internet!
- Source: SearchNews
Upon clicking a search result, the following page opened.
- Source: SearchNews
Global Piss Off - the untold Prophecy
The glitch reportedly, occured due to human error when an anti-malware update was executed on Google. As per the sources, Google made $5.7 Billion in the last quarter, so per hour it makes around $2.6 Million. Since the glitch happened during early morning hours, the loss is being predicted to be less than average earning that Google makes in peak hours.
This was just a 1 hour outage and just imagine a day without Google. This would mean over 500 million searches that day are jeopardized, leading to nothing. Total chaos that would be, a total entropy over the Internet for one complete day. That day will be remembered as the Global Piss Off Day. Maybe Professor Chaos (from the TV show SouthPark, played by our very own Butters) should try this out one day
Curry with certain entropy!
Indian Internet Services Industry - Truth the Funnier Way
I was about to start a post on Link Building but just then I got an IM from this guy who has been bugging me for over 2 weeks; appears to be some middle-man who was asking for content writing projects. Let me tell you this guy has pathetic English and is trying to pitch me for being my content provider. Lame!
Tips to avoid bad experiences with Internet services vendor (SEOs and Content Writers)
Today, I just thought I’d play along and try to chat with him in the same pathetic language of his. God I enjoyed and laughed; not at this person’s inability to communicate in proper English but the fact that this guy is trying to run a business that is purely language based and has been following up like crazy as if I’m a stupid who’ll fall for his garbage. It seemed to be more fun when I started with gibberish sentences of my own :D. I’ll tell why I chose to write about this funny incident after you read the conversation, which went on exactly like this - word by word:
————————————————–
freelancersrealm: Hello Abhishek
You there
me: hi
freelancersrealm: How’s u
me: me is fine // 
I got funnier right from the beginning
freelancersrealm: Actually we chatted before too but you was quite busy so cud not continue.
me: yes i was quiet busy so cannot able to talk at you
freelancersrealm: Hope you have some time Now!!
me: now i have the lot of time
freelancersrealm: Oh thanks
me: you go tell me what is your propsing?
freelancersrealm: Well I was looking for some work of content writing..if U can provide me ..
me: current time i have not a single project for outsource to you
freelancersrealm: Oh
me: you can send the few samples of of you work
freelancersrealm: no problem.
I send You before too but u did not notice i guess..
Well m sending again few sample of our latest work..
me: ok you can sending now
freelancersrealm: do give a look..at least
me: i will try look this time
freelancersrealm: Ok sure..
me: ok fine then ok
we chatted later one more time
bye ok?
freelancersrealm: Ok
just check your mail..m sending u few sample articles
me: ok
freelancersrealm: done!! do give a look ..
me: can you say to me about your experience in field of the content writer?
freelancersrealm: Well “wisden Writer” is writing contents from different clients from last 1 and half year..but Some of My Writers are doing it from last 2-3 years too..And you are added in my Wisden Writers ID as well..
This ID is for Writers…
our website is also just started..
www.wisdenwriters.com
me: ok
how much do you have experience of writing?
freelancersrealm: if You are talking about Me Only the Sir I dont write ..I have writers from different part of India
me: ok
you working with freelancer and get projects for them
Sent at 22:07 on Monday
freelancersrealm: yes..but most of the writers are our regular..
Sent at 22:08 on Monday
me: so you are work is to middle man in projects
Sent at 22:12 on Monday
freelancersrealm: Well Not just as Middle Man.I hv to arrange Everything and soon planning a based firm in delhi.
Sent at 22:13 on Monday
me: so what will your role is? in a content writing company
freelancersrealm: ”Founder”
me: ok those are fine
i will contacting you very sooner
bye ok?
freelancersrealm: Sure
Give us a chance at least to prove us
yes Bye
Tc
—————————————————-
Now that is not something surprising. I keep on getting such lame pitches and follow-ups. And I feel sad about what is becoming of the indian IT services and Internet industry. If such people go out and start pitching to international clients then God save us and those clients too.
Content writing is an essential part of any intelligently planned SEO campaign. If you screw your content you screw your chances of being on top of search engines, after all they’re not fools who say that, “Content is King“.
Tips to avoid sucker vendors - How to filter out the junk?
1. An SEO who cannot speak or write correct English - how would he/she understand the correct combination of the keywords or how would he/she go about optimising your website’s content? This is true for most of the SEO’s.
2. SEO’s generally give guidelines to writers. You as a buyer should review them too, just to make sure the content you will get will mean something to the readers. Don’t fall for gimmicks like keyword density and keyword repition. Approve of only what English grammer approves of.
3. There is no such thing as SEO content - there is either bad content or good content which is liked by readers. Knock off such SEO’s.
4. Content writing is about aligning the content to your business goal, i.e. your SEO and Keywords should align with your business goals not the other way round as suggested by most junk SEO’s.
5. Most of the good SEO companies will bundle Content Writing Services with SEO, because they understand that both of them are inter-related and crucial for the success of your organic growth plan. Must Read: SEO is not about Packages
If you are about to outsource content writing work to India then please do so but not to weirdos like this one. Be very careful with the vendors you choose to work with. Content writing and SEO are two sectors typically which have been plagued in India.
There are good and exceptionally very good Internet services companies in India (like eRACHNIDA - www.erachnida.com) who care about standards and quality but most of them are full of jerks who’ll take up your SEO project for $50 (INR 2500) a month and write content for $0.50 (INR 20) per 100 words. What do you get in return? An all expenses paid trip to “This-ain’t-what-I-wanted Island“; beware, be cautious, be smart enought to ask the right questions while talking to your vendor.