Google Instant: An SEO Game Changer?

Google Instant has been around for a while now, and I’ve been thinking for some time, this new advance out of Google Labs could be a game changer. In the past, Search Engine Optimization meant “owning” your search terms. Using tools like Google’s AdWords paired with content strategies to catch the eye of the Google crawlers, you could move your page up the search results.

Now with Google Instant, the first step (owning your search term) has changed a bit. While Google’s bot attempts to fill in your search based on a variety of factors (from what I can tell – geographical location, search history/habits, etc.) your search term is no longer required. Plus, even if the bot fills it in perfectly as you type it will be constantly re-assessing potential terms, and I don’t know about you, but I find myself watching the results as I type and occasionally end up stopping to explore the web before returning to complete my search.

This means, if the search term you’ve decide to “own” is on the way to a larger search, and people are as mezmorized by this as I am you could be getting some of their ADD traffic! Possible? Probable?

Does Instant search have the ability to work like StumbleUpon? Maybe so. Has anyone experienced strange traffic in the last couple of months? What are your thoughts, could this be possible? Leave a thought in the comments!

Break Out Adventure

The Problem

I, like many of my fellows, love my iPhone, but sometimes I just wish it was a bit more convenient to use. For example, when in New York City or DC there are 10 million* WiFi networks. When walking around, my iPhone pops up with a little notification every time I use an app that accesses the Internet:

Stop! I don’t want to join your network!

To turn off these pop-ups I can either disable WiFi or Disable the Notifications in the WiFi menu… However, either option requires me to go to Page 2 of my Home screen, tap Settings, scroll to and tap WiFi, then tap to toggle Notifications to Off or toggle WiFi to Off.

The whole process is simply arduous. Especially when an Android phone can put a toggle right on the home screen. This is just one example of the hoop-jumping iPhone users subjected to proprietary software. There are other examples, but I think we all get the point.

A Solution

JAILBREAK! Get that iPhone out of Apple’s exclusive grip: now without legal ramifications (instead only violates Apple’s terms and conditions).

The Wayback Machine

As a kid, I watched Peabody and Sherman go back in time and check out twisted history, it was always entertaining, and while silly, the idea of twisted history similar to how we look at the Internet.

In the Internet sea there are few rocks. Have you ever been exploring the Internet in search of a page that you absolutely know exists and you just can’t seem to find it?

The internet is constantly changing. It’s in the Internet’s DNA. Everything is updating and re-evaluating, deleting and adding. Google or Bing are really amazing resources to show you what the internet has now, but what about what the internet had back then? Do you even know how to look back in to Interwebs’ past?

This week, I was auditing Bloom Grocery’s social media and website, however, near the end of the week-long project, Bloom updated their outreach. This update, aside from adding exactly what I was recommending, changed their website. What does one do? How do we go back? This is where Archive.org’s Wayback Machine is useful.

Is Twitter A Step Back?

http://www.pcweenies.org

As social media becomes more and more accepted as “just plain media,” there are more and more tools and platforms to use this new social mediascape. In July 2006, Twitter launched to lukewarm fanfare, and gradually increased in popularity. As Twitter becomes the half-brother of Facebook – often mentioned as an aside – we start to study it for societal influence and opinion formulation. I love Twitter, I use it every day, every hour even, but isn’t Twitter a step backward?

What is Twitter about? It’s kind of like conversing on a train. It’s about sending information out into the public timeline and sharing that information with whomever wants to listen. You can talk to me, but random people chose to listen in, or shut you out, listening and creating their own conversation.

In comparison…

What is Facebook about? Facebook is like being invited to a private party. It’s about connecting a real person who has added interests, information, photos, purchasing decisions and using this as a digital representation of their personality. It’s like a suburban backyard BBQ, next to a shopping mall. I don’t even see the next party over unless I’m out looking for it, networking style.

Augmented Reality is Simply, Simple.

One of my favorite programs of the rarely used pieces of Android or iPhone software is called Augmented Reality (AR). The idea is to use the devices’ internal cameras to overlay digital information on real life video.

A popular example is the Yelp app. Yelp has been able to perform AR since the iPhone 3GS, but with the new iOS4 it’s even quicker and more precise.

To use it, open Yelp and switch to the Map view of the nearby Yelp reviewed establishments, touch the Monocle button and simply hold up your phone as if to look through it. The map becomes a video display of what is “behind” the phone, with the Yelp reviewed establishments overlain complete with names and star ratings. Plus, if you turn, the phone knows the direction you’re facing adjusting your “Monocle” accordingly.

Image courtesy Technologizer.com

Having the “Employ Me” talk

Interns of the world hold many positions and have a variety of skills to learn, but inevitably there comes the day when you want to have “the talk” with your employer. I’ve been at Discovery for a couple of months now and I feel that it is about time to start considering ways to bring up the employment question. Is there a chance I could be working for them after August?

According there are a few tips for turning internships into jobs.

BP Might Care, But Probably Not

If you haven’t heard of it by now you’re probably living under a rock. BP Global PR on Twitter is an extremely popular parody account. Started by an anonymous person on May 19th, the account is definitely a parody, though it gives no indication of being so. Currently it has over 179,000 Followers and tweets rather humorous PR-like statements regarding the BP Oil Spill.

This brings into question, as a PR professional, how can you control a message in this situation? Is it even possible?! The account has been up for a month now, is still active, and seems to be prospering. On the other hand, BP_America the official BP account on twitter (for… America… wanted to point that out just in case) has only 16,000 followers and is mostly an object of ridicule in the Twitterverse.

My old blog!

I’ve migrated, but Blogger’s not a big fan of migration, so here’s a link to older posts going back to 2005.

Cheers,

Trace