Blog Ryan

Here we go. Stories that caught my eye over the last few days:

• What Happens When Corporations go 2.0? [Micro Persuasion]: Steve points out how someone took the logos of some of the world’s biggest companies and made them web 2.0. Cool stuff. I like the logos for Wal-Mart, Levi’s, Visa, and Pepsi.
• Napster Buys AOL Music [Tech Crunch]: Well, looks like Napster figures if they lose money faster they might be able to find someone to buy them out. Already losing more than $10 million a quarter, Napster lays our $15 million for AOL music. If you can’t make money, make it up on volume? I thought we proved this wrong when the first internet bubble burst.
• DMOZ comes back to life: [Various sources] Can’t stand DMOZ but they still factor into some things SEO. Several sources are reporting that DMOZ is trying to come back to life.
• Best SEM Conferences: [Online Marketing Blog] Lee Odden is starting a discussion on which SEM conferences are the best to attend. There are several conferences that I hadn’t even heard of. My favorite is Pubcon. I’m going to be at Affiliate Summit later this week for the first time so we’ll see how that goes. I’d like to hit a Search Engine Strategies in ‘07 as well.
• Sponsored Reviews to Launch Soon: [Various sources] Many people are reporting the impending launch of Sponsored Reviews. This paid review space seems to be getting more crowded. Positive reviews are coming out talking about this hybrid model launched by parent Text Link Brokers.
• PR Newswire Links Press Releases to Technorati: [David Sifry] Looks like PR newswire will be linking press releases to Technorati that will allow users to see the discussion surrounding a particular press release.

It’s cold this morning. Bone chilling cold. Butt cold. -32 C cold. That is -25.6 farenheit. That is cold. I don’t care who you are, that’s coooold. So despite the cold, there is still a fair bit on the radar today:

• What if Google made a Yahoo like start page: [Google Watch] Steve Bryant made a mockup of what Google could look like if they went for a Yahoo style portal look. I think it looks pretty good to be honest. I think if Google would give us the option right along the top of Google.com, Personalized Home, or Portal Home it would be nice. Anyway, I saw the post a couple days ago and dismissed the thought…but I’m liking the idea the more I think about it. Nice job Steve.
• Everyone’s Related: [Tech Crunch] Michael Arrington gives us the rundown on a new project by ex-PayPal exec David Sacks. He apparently is looking to create a family tree for the world. Sounds like an extremely ambitious project. Having done some genealogy before I think he has bitten off a pretty big bite this time around.
• A Few Last Lessons on Blogging: [Pro Blogger] Tony Hung has some great tips on what it takes to survive and thrive as a blogger. If you are interested in getting more involved in blogging (which I am) I’d suggest you read the post and look to implement some of his ideas. I know I will be.
• Google Radio Advertising Moves Forward: [Tech Crunch] Looks like Google is finalizing a deal with CBS that will deliver as much as 15% of their radio inventory. Google appears to be sweeting the deal with a payout to CBS regarding YouTube content.
• PowerReviews Takes on Amazon: [Read/WriteWeb] Nice profile on the attempt of PowerReviews to gain a mass database of user reviews. I like the idea.
• Attack of the mini-Googles: [CNN] Interesting look at some of the up-and-comers in the search space. I like the concept (don’t like the name) of Mobissimo. Not in love with the way results are displayed, but I like the idea.
  Minus 950 Penalty: [SEO Roundtable]. Here we go again. The beginnings of discussion of the alleged minus 950 penalty. Worth following. No need to panic…yet.
• 12 Ways to Get Involved: [Greg Hartnett]. If you don’t like politics don’t read this post. If you do, or feel you should get more involved, Greg has some good ideas. If you aren’t willing to do anything, don’t complain.
• Optimizing for Google Base: [OneBoxer]. The concept of optimizing GoogleBase for Google OneBox results is new to me, but worth a read for any that have a chance of showing up in OneBox results.

Now I’m back to trying to stay warm for the rest of this cold front. Brrrr…

Made a trip to the eye doctor today. Everything checked out good which made me happy. I’d been experiencing some “visual fatigue” which is what prompted my trip. Basically after sitting in front of the computer all day I would, at times, have trouble focusing. He gave me a list of eight tips that you can implement right away to reduce eye strain and make computer work more comfortable:

1. Position your computer monitor five to nine inches below the horizontal line of sight so that when you look straight ahead, you look just over the top of the monitor.

2. Sit far enough away that you can’t touch the monitor without leaning forward. A good minimum working distance is about 24 to 26 inches.

3. Set computer monitor contrast at moderate to high.

4. If you have a window, position the computer so that the window is off to the side, not directly in front of, or behind the desk.

5. If you use a laptop frequently, get a separate monitor and/or keyboard.

6. Implement use of prescribed office glasses (if applicable). Note: Powers will vary depending on your prescription, eye teaming and focusing (accommodative) abilities.  Your abilities and visual demands are assessed during your regular eye exams.

7. Put a note that says “blink” next to your computer screen. [Jeremy Palmer uses Workpace RSI Software for his reminders]

8. Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something at least 20 feet away.

Hope this helps any of you that may be experiencing eye strain or have wondered what the optimal computer placement may be .

I’m going to start off with something light today.

• Shawn Hogan showed a snapshot of an IRS tax doc that says if you steal something during the course of the year, you need to pay tax on it…what will the government think of next? Does that not make them complicit?
• Phil Bradley reviews the Zula meta search engine: [Search Engine Land]. Nothing real exciting about there.
• Danny talks about the tired debate of whether or not SEO is overrated: [Search Engine Land]. He does a good job summarizing the debate. Get over there and read it.
• Matt talks about an infrastructure update at the big G: [Matt Cutts Blog]. One takeaway from his post. Sites go supplemental because of a lack of pagerank. Give ‘em a link from your index and you can avoid the supplemental curse.
• eBay buys StubHub for a cool $310 million: [The Next Net]. Very interesting. Looks like they decided they couldn’t beat them head to head so they decided to buy them. Very nice pick up in my opinion.
• ABC shut down a blogger that was criticizing a radio personality and encouraging a boycott: [Media Matters]. Shame on you ABC. Maybe I’ll encourage a boycott of ABC, you going to send me a cease & desist?
• New features at Keyword Discovery: [Search Rank]. Includes support for returning plurals when you search for singular and singular when you search on plurals. Trellian has done a great job with Keyword Discovery. They are definitely my choice for keyword research. A tool you can’t do without, plain and simple.
• Microsoft Live Analytics: [Search Engine Watch]. Honestly I haven’t been over to SEW much since the mass exodus. That aside, the SEW crew runs down citings of Microsoft’s new free analytics program in the wild.
• Social Media Can Build Your Email List: [Proactive]. Sally talks about how effective social media can be in building an email list. Some great tips for anybody trying to build an email list.

I’m going to start listing some of the stories I’m following, as much for a reminder to me when I go back looking for a story as well as stories that I think you might enjoy following as well. I usually spend 1-2 hours a day staying current on the SEO/M industry. Here is what I’m following today.

How to find news for your blog - ProBlogger. As I venture from a blog reader to a blog writer, I’m trying to crystallize my thoughts, strategies and skills. ProBlogger is a great source, and this post helps clarify the importance of news on a blog.

WSJ: Newspaper ‘Open Network’ Coming - Screenwerk. The top newspaper publishers are coming together to try and form a network to capture some of the online advertising revenue.

Permission Marketing 2.0 - CopyBlogger. Again, an important blog to follow for all bloggers, but in particular for us new bloggers. Brian Clark discusses the power of building a list and RSS as a means of building ‘defensible traffic‘.

How Do Search Engine Robots Work - SEO Rountable. The folks over at SEO Rountable summarize a discussion going on at Webmaster World regarding the more technical aspects of crawling, indexing, and presenting the web.

The Future of Ask.com - Marketing Pilgrim. Andy breaks down a ZDNet interview of Jim Lanzone in his discussion of the direction of Ask.com.

Should Google Give Brand Owners a Cut - Search Engine Land. Danny Sullivan takes a look at a discussion from InsideGoogle on whether or not Google should give the owners of trademarks a cut of advertising revenue when competitors build on that trademark.

The San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting article about some of the 900 millionaires that were made when Google went public. Here are three that I found most interesting.

More than 100 of the original 300 employees have left the company following their new found wealth.
Google employee #53 Charlie Ayers is going to open a restaurant in Palo Alto specializing in organic local foods. He raised $2 million for his restaurant, mostly from former Googlers.

Olana Khan left Google to start a non-profit organazation Kiva.org that does micro-lending to entrepreneurs in developing countries such as Uganda and Ecaudor. (I found this one particularly interesting as Williams and I are launching our own non-profit.)

The other one that would be a dream of mine is the route Aydin Senkut took. He left Google in 2005 to form an angel investing company, Felicis Ventures. He has invested in 17 consumer-oriented Internet start-ups with an average investment of $50,000.

So what would you do if money wasn’t an obstacle anymore?

Checkout additional coverage at Search Engine Land, Marketing Pilgrim, and Google Blogoscoped.

I’d seen MyBlogLog on several blogs but never paid too much attention to it.  It looks like Yahoo picked them up for $10,000,000 today.  Lots of coverage of the buyout here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

I’m heading over to MyBlogLog to see what the fuss is all about.

I don’t really believe that, and neither does most of the sports world…but before you brush off that comment, think what would you have said had Boise State lost to Oklahoma 41-14. You would have said a team from the WAC going undefeated is a joke. They never deserved to be in a BCS game, they had a weak schedule and why do we even bother including teams outside of the power conferences. The fact is Ohio State did deserve to play in the championship game. If Boise State would have been blown out by Oklahoma they still would have deserved to play in their bowl game. They earned it. The fact is Ohio State went undefeated. Florida and Urban Meyer just flat outplayed them. I don’t know if Urban Meyer sold his soul to the devil, but whatever he has been doing over the last several years at Bowling Green, at Utah, and now t Florida seems to be working. He is a premier college coach…so that means he’ll try his hand at the NFL, fail, and be back in college beating up on schools again in a few years.

Seems the topic of the day is Google searching css files. The theories range from whether Google is searching for hidden text, or whether they are using the files to filter content from navigation. The fact of the matter is, Google is getting more and more sophisticated in determining exactly what a site is about and making things more difficult for the black hats. That doesn’t mean the black hats won’t find a way around the things that Google is doing, it just means only the best black hats will survive. I just hope that Google is taking a cautious approach on how they use the css files. Many designers use css to position the text of their images either off the page or make it invisible so that the text can appear exactly as they had intended. I’m hoping that if the purpose is to detect hidden links or text that Google doesn’t have the dial turned up too high. There are many legitimate reasons to render text invisible or off-page that is not meant to deceive the user OR the crawlers.