1/29/2011
"Like" it or not, online ads are getting personal
Is the future of online advertising one of incredibly targeted advertising based on your interests, online activities and Facebook "likes," or is it one dictated by robust privacy controls that keep those details out of the hands of marketers?
Increasingly, it seems to depend on who you ask.
In the past week, both Google and Mozilla (the organization that makes the Firefox browser) have introduced ways to opt out of so-called behavioral advertising -- industry speak for ads that target users through the use of cookies that can track your internet browsing and shopping history, among other activities.
Google's solution is an extension for its Chrome web browser that lets users proactively block certain advertisers from serving them behavioral ads.
Mozilla's approach would bundle a "do not track" feature with its browser, but require websites and ad networks to agree to recognize such requests from Firefox users. Microsoft has previously announced its own plans for letting users opt out of such ads. These efforts come at a time when the Federal Trade Commission is considering a formal Do Not Track list that would work much in the same way in the online marketing realm as the Do Not Call list works in telemarketing.
They also come at a time when the social media world is moving in the direction of highly personalized ads based on your activities, relationships and profile information.
Facebook has just rolled out a feature called Sponsored Stories that lets marketers repurpose activities such as "liking" a fan page, checking into a retail store or interacting with a branded app as advertisements that users see when they log in to the social network.
And this happens automatically -- any time you interact with a brand on Facebook, your action could be used as an ad that entices your friends to do the same. For the moment, there's also no way to opt yourself out of being featured. Facebook's not alone in this type of targeting, however. Business-focused social networking site LinkedIn has added the ability to target ads based on job titles, company name and group level, features that the company says have resulted in three to four times more clicks than standard ads during initial testing.
Meanwhile, research firm eMarketer predicts that Twitter will bring in $150 million in revenue this year, driven largely by the Promoted Tweets and Promoted Trends ads that the company introduced last year. Much like Facebook's Supported Stories, these ads showcase users talking about a given brand, with advertisers paying upwards of $100,000 per day for the privilege.
The next logical step in all of this, it would seem, is for the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to utilize this data outside the walls of their own sites and either create their own ad networks or license their data to third parties that want to enhance their personalization capabilities.
Of course, that's even further at odds with proponents of "do not track," who are already highly critical of ads that, among other things, "retarget" you based on shopping sites you have visited.
But it seems all but inevitable that personalization is here to stay and is only going to get more intimate. Sure, a small percentage of internet users may use tools that opt them out (if such options even become available in meaningful ways), but the vast majority will continue shopping, browsing and "liking" things on the Web without a second thought. Legislation could conceivably force advertisers to offer more in-your-face alerts about when you're sharing information that could be used in ads, but you can bet that user experience designers will be ready to create prompts that get users to click "continue," as has been the case with endless terms of service agreements and, in more recent times, Facebook applications.
Of course, that's only if it gets to that point -- most of the key players in this debate are all spending big in Washington to make sure any new regulations are as unrestrictive as possible.
Soon-to-be former Google CEO Eric Schmidt caught flak in December when he told CNBC that, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." While that might be a short-sighted way of looking at the current debate on online privacy, it does represent a reality of where things are headed, especially within the advertising realm. As users, the smartest path for now may simply be to heed Schmidt's advice.
Fuente: CNN tech / Adam Ostrow
Google Changes Algorithm To Penalize Site Scrapers
Google updated its search algorithm this week to help reduce webspam in its search results.
These changes were made in response to increased criticism of Google and its search engine results. The criticism has been partly inspired by the emergence of newer forms of webspam alongside traditional webspam (pages that consist of lots of keywords and phrases without context or meaning that “cheat” their way up to higher search ranks).
The latest webspam outbreaks commonly come from content farms and sites that syndicate content. Earlier this month, Stack Overflow‘s Jeff Atwood pointed out that in the last year, some content syndicators have routinely began outranking Stack Overflow on Google. In other words, the syndicates are outranking the originals.
In Stack Overflow‘s case, the problem was bad enough that a community member built a Google Chrome extension designed to redirect to Stack Overflow from spammier syndicates.
Matt Cutts, principle engineer at Google and head of the webspam team, responded to some of the criticism in a blog post and said Google would be “evaluating multiple changes that should help drive spam levels even lower, including one change that primarily affects sites that copy others’ content and sites with low levels of original content.” On his personal blog, Cutts confirmed that those changes have indeed gone into effect.
Cutts writes that this was a “pretty targeted launch” and that the “net effect is that searchers are more likely to see the sites that wrote the original content rather than a site that scraped or copied the original site’s content.”
These changes were made in response to increased criticism of Google and its search engine results. The criticism has been partly inspired by the emergence of newer forms of webspam alongside traditional webspam (pages that consist of lots of keywords and phrases without context or meaning that “cheat” their way up to higher search ranks).
The latest webspam outbreaks commonly come from content farms and sites that syndicate content. Earlier this month, Stack Overflow‘s Jeff Atwood pointed out that in the last year, some content syndicators have routinely began outranking Stack Overflow on Google. In other words, the syndicates are outranking the originals.
In Stack Overflow‘s case, the problem was bad enough that a community member built a Google Chrome extension designed to redirect to Stack Overflow from spammier syndicates.
Matt Cutts, principle engineer at Google and head of the webspam team, responded to some of the criticism in a blog post and said Google would be “evaluating multiple changes that should help drive spam levels even lower, including one change that primarily affects sites that copy others’ content and sites with low levels of original content.” On his personal blog, Cutts confirmed that those changes have indeed gone into effect.
Cutts writes that this was a “pretty targeted launch” and that the “net effect is that searchers are more likely to see the sites that wrote the original content rather than a site that scraped or copied the original site’s content.”
1/26/2011
7 internet sins that could make you go viral with your friends
When trapped within the confines of a particularly dreary workday, a carefully chosen GIF, cat video or gallery of terrible My Little Pony tattoos can act as a ray of luminous sunshine, breaking through the dark cloud structure of your mood and touching your black heart with the playful soul of levity.
Thank the nondenominational higher power for the internet, right? Yeah, unless everyone's laughing at you.
Memes and viral videos are an increasingly integral part of our web culture -- hell, The Cheezburger Network (of LOLcats fame) just scored $30 million in funding and 4chan founder Christopher Poole (aka "moot") joined New York City seed fund Lerer Ventures as a venture adviser.
So, this week, in honor of the growing legitimacy/lunacy of this particular internet culture, we're asking you to take a closer look at the FAILs, Rage guys and videos of dudes getting hit in the junk that you so admire.
Now tell us, what's at the root of many of those stimulating shareables? Fumbles, travesties, the hot, red-faced soul of human folly. In short: Most of these people are being laughed at.
Not to suck the delicious marrow from the bones of these meaty morsels and leave you with a dry, dusty skeleton, but inherent in these memes and vids is an instructional manual on how not to act online -- if you're looking to avoid public humiliation, that is. So, next time your boss catches you surfing YouTube at work, just tell her you're trying to better yourself. We're sure she won't fire you for that. Without further ado, here are seven online sins that will make you go viral with your friends:
1). Poor spelling/grammar
Last week, a hilarious video titled "dotdotdot" featuring a gamer's enraged rant went viral -- after a voiceover actor and a designer brought the words to life, that is. Granted, the comment was likely penned by a 13-year-old, but a very important lesson can be gleaned from this vid: No one will take you seriously if you use nonwords like "beacuase."
Many a browser underlines spelling errors in bright, glaring red -- take heed, or everyone will (rightly) laugh at you.
2). Vanity
Yes, it's great to have self-esteem! We know because our school nurse had copious posters proclaiming as much.
Still, tweeting incessantly about how you're a "rock star" or posting to Facebook Photobooth picture after Photobooth picture of yourself looking seductively into the webcam will, ironically, result in your friends feeling the inverse about you. Heed the lesson we learned from many a prideful teen lifecaster: Attempt to be beautiful on the inside, or be prepared to face the trolls.
3). Irritating fanboyism
Remember that "Leave Britney Alone" kid? Yeah, that's what you look like when you get into vitriolic fights in the comments section about how your Droid Incredible is so much better than the iPhone 4.
4). Being stupid
Before being allowed to compose a status update, one should be forced to read Failbook in its entirety. Especially people who are friends with their parents on Facebook.
5). Being a sad sack
The Sad Keanu meme (pictures of Keanu Reeves holding various objects like sandwiches and cupcakes, looking sad) went so incredibly viral in part because Reeves' alleged melancholia seemed so ridiculous: Who could possibly look so unhappy while holding a cupcake?
So, before you respond to an e-mail detailing exciting weekend plans with an Eeyore-esque comment about how you have a pounding headache and you're not sure you can have fun at a concert when animal testing is still going strong, think of Keanu, and the wise words he uttered in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure": "Party on, dudes!"
6). Getting really, really ridiculously angry
It's pretty easy to use the web and various social media tools as an outlet for your overwhelming rage: "WHY IS THE SUBWAY SO CROWDED ON TUESDAY MORNINGS!!!!!!!!!! SOME CHICK'S HAIR WAS LODGED IN MY MOUTH THE WHOLE TIME! I HATE NYC!!!!!"
However, the question becomes -- in the wake of such a message -- does anyone really care about your (totally justified) ire?
Well, take a look at Rageguy -- a comic character that grew popular via 4chan -- who basically just screams "ffffuuu" when something goes awry. He may be funny on the internets, but we wouldn't want to hang with him in real life.
7). Being adorable
Wait, how did that get in there?
Awwww, we want to stare at it all day! (Claps hands!)
What were we saying again?
Thank the nondenominational higher power for the internet, right? Yeah, unless everyone's laughing at you.
Memes and viral videos are an increasingly integral part of our web culture -- hell, The Cheezburger Network (of LOLcats fame) just scored $30 million in funding and 4chan founder Christopher Poole (aka "moot") joined New York City seed fund Lerer Ventures as a venture adviser.
So, this week, in honor of the growing legitimacy/lunacy of this particular internet culture, we're asking you to take a closer look at the FAILs, Rage guys and videos of dudes getting hit in the junk that you so admire.
Now tell us, what's at the root of many of those stimulating shareables? Fumbles, travesties, the hot, red-faced soul of human folly. In short: Most of these people are being laughed at.
Not to suck the delicious marrow from the bones of these meaty morsels and leave you with a dry, dusty skeleton, but inherent in these memes and vids is an instructional manual on how not to act online -- if you're looking to avoid public humiliation, that is. So, next time your boss catches you surfing YouTube at work, just tell her you're trying to better yourself. We're sure she won't fire you for that. Without further ado, here are seven online sins that will make you go viral with your friends:
1). Poor spelling/grammar
Last week, a hilarious video titled "dotdotdot" featuring a gamer's enraged rant went viral -- after a voiceover actor and a designer brought the words to life, that is. Granted, the comment was likely penned by a 13-year-old, but a very important lesson can be gleaned from this vid: No one will take you seriously if you use nonwords like "beacuase."
Many a browser underlines spelling errors in bright, glaring red -- take heed, or everyone will (rightly) laugh at you.
2). Vanity
Yes, it's great to have self-esteem! We know because our school nurse had copious posters proclaiming as much.
Still, tweeting incessantly about how you're a "rock star" or posting to Facebook Photobooth picture after Photobooth picture of yourself looking seductively into the webcam will, ironically, result in your friends feeling the inverse about you. Heed the lesson we learned from many a prideful teen lifecaster: Attempt to be beautiful on the inside, or be prepared to face the trolls.
3). Irritating fanboyism
Remember that "Leave Britney Alone" kid? Yeah, that's what you look like when you get into vitriolic fights in the comments section about how your Droid Incredible is so much better than the iPhone 4.
4). Being stupid
Before being allowed to compose a status update, one should be forced to read Failbook in its entirety. Especially people who are friends with their parents on Facebook.
5). Being a sad sack
The Sad Keanu meme (pictures of Keanu Reeves holding various objects like sandwiches and cupcakes, looking sad) went so incredibly viral in part because Reeves' alleged melancholia seemed so ridiculous: Who could possibly look so unhappy while holding a cupcake?
So, before you respond to an e-mail detailing exciting weekend plans with an Eeyore-esque comment about how you have a pounding headache and you're not sure you can have fun at a concert when animal testing is still going strong, think of Keanu, and the wise words he uttered in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure": "Party on, dudes!"
6). Getting really, really ridiculously angry
It's pretty easy to use the web and various social media tools as an outlet for your overwhelming rage: "WHY IS THE SUBWAY SO CROWDED ON TUESDAY MORNINGS!!!!!!!!!! SOME CHICK'S HAIR WAS LODGED IN MY MOUTH THE WHOLE TIME! I HATE NYC!!!!!"
However, the question becomes -- in the wake of such a message -- does anyone really care about your (totally justified) ire?
Well, take a look at Rageguy -- a comic character that grew popular via 4chan -- who basically just screams "ffffuuu" when something goes awry. He may be funny on the internets, but we wouldn't want to hang with him in real life.
7). Being adorable
Wait, how did that get in there?
Awwww, we want to stare at it all day! (Claps hands!)
What were we saying again?
Twitter podría alcanzar en 2011 150 millones en ingresos publicitarios
El sitio de microblogs Twitter podría obtener ingresos publicitarios de 150 millones de dólares este año, tras los 45 millones que alcanzó en 2010, según un estudio publicado el lunes por la firma eMarketer.
Para el año 2012, los ingresos podrían alcanzar los 250 millones de dólares, de acuerdo con el estudio.
"Uno de los motivos para esta fuerte previsión al alza es el futuro lanzamiento de una plataforma publicitaria autogestionada", al estilo de las que ya existen en Google y Facebook, explica eMarketer.
Twitter recibió el mes pasado unos 200 millones de dólares de financiamiento adicional por parte de fondos de inversión que deberían ayudar a gestionar su crecimiento. Según información de prensa, esta toma de participación valoriza el sitio web en 3.700 millones de dólares.
Para el año 2012, los ingresos podrían alcanzar los 250 millones de dólares, de acuerdo con el estudio.
"Uno de los motivos para esta fuerte previsión al alza es el futuro lanzamiento de una plataforma publicitaria autogestionada", al estilo de las que ya existen en Google y Facebook, explica eMarketer.
Twitter recibió el mes pasado unos 200 millones de dólares de financiamiento adicional por parte de fondos de inversión que deberían ayudar a gestionar su crecimiento. Según información de prensa, esta toma de participación valoriza el sitio web en 3.700 millones de dólares.
1/21/2011
La TV quedó relegada por internet en los EEUU, Europa y China
El consumo de contenidos web desbancó a la televisión y demás medios convencionales por primera vez en dichos territorios. Visitar redes sociales, la actividad más realizada. El estudio sobre consumo digital fue realizado entre cerca de 50.000 usuarios, de 16 a 60 años de edad, en 46 países.
La televisión sigue siendo el medio preferente en Latinoamérica, Asia, Oriente Medio y África, mientras en la India sigue siendo el clásico periódico de papel el más utilizado, por delante de la televisión, la radio e internet.
Del total de consumidores entrevistados, el 61% señaló que accede a diario a internet, el 54% consume televisión todos los días, el 36% escucha la radio, y el 32% lee periódicos a diario.
Según Jordi Ferrer, responsable del estudio Digital Life presentado en Madrid, la explicación sobre la preferencia de internet en los países más desarrollados, se debe a que "el medio digital responde a más necesidades que cualquier otro medio".
El informe analiza las actividades e intereses de los consumidores en internet, y revela que se dedica mas tiempo a las redes sociales -4,6 horas a la semana- que al correo electrónico, -4,4 horas- y a las páginas web, con 3,9 horas semanales o la lectura de noticias, 2,7 horas.
Respecto a las redes sociales, el estudio muestra que la media de amigos por usuario es de 120, aunque en Latinoamérica se llega hasta los 200, siendo los brasileños los que más amigos adjuntan a su cuenta, con 231.
En el caso de productos comerciales, el estudio concluye que en las redes sociales hay un promedio de cuatro marcas incluidas como amigos, y su presencia es considerada intrusiva.
En este sentido, cuatro de cada diez internautas consulta en la red antes de comprar, pero el 74% de ellos hace sus adquisiciones por la vía tradicional.
Digital Life completa el retrato del consumidor digital con seis perfiles diferentes: el influyente, el funcional, el buscador de conocimiento, los conectados a redes, los comunicadores y los aspirantes.
Un 23% se reconoce como "influyente", aquellos que participan y actúan en redes sociales, escriben en blogs y consideran que internet es una parte integral de su vida.
Ferrer aseguró que este perfil se concentra en los países "recién llegados a internet" como India o los países de Oriente Medio y norte de África.
Dos de cada diez dicen ser "comunicadores", usuarios activos en las redes sociales; un 17% siente que pertenece al perfil de "buscador de conocimiento", aquel usa internet para informarse y un 15% es "aspirante", ya que desea tener un espacio propio en internet.
Por último, un 13% dicen ser "funcionales", aquel internauta que usa internet como herramienta útil, y un 12% se encuadran en "conectados a redes", que consideran que internet ayuda a crear y mantener relaciones.
Fuente: EFE
La televisión sigue siendo el medio preferente en Latinoamérica, Asia, Oriente Medio y África, mientras en la India sigue siendo el clásico periódico de papel el más utilizado, por delante de la televisión, la radio e internet.
Del total de consumidores entrevistados, el 61% señaló que accede a diario a internet, el 54% consume televisión todos los días, el 36% escucha la radio, y el 32% lee periódicos a diario.
Según Jordi Ferrer, responsable del estudio Digital Life presentado en Madrid, la explicación sobre la preferencia de internet en los países más desarrollados, se debe a que "el medio digital responde a más necesidades que cualquier otro medio".
El informe analiza las actividades e intereses de los consumidores en internet, y revela que se dedica mas tiempo a las redes sociales -4,6 horas a la semana- que al correo electrónico, -4,4 horas- y a las páginas web, con 3,9 horas semanales o la lectura de noticias, 2,7 horas.
Respecto a las redes sociales, el estudio muestra que la media de amigos por usuario es de 120, aunque en Latinoamérica se llega hasta los 200, siendo los brasileños los que más amigos adjuntan a su cuenta, con 231.
En el caso de productos comerciales, el estudio concluye que en las redes sociales hay un promedio de cuatro marcas incluidas como amigos, y su presencia es considerada intrusiva.
En este sentido, cuatro de cada diez internautas consulta en la red antes de comprar, pero el 74% de ellos hace sus adquisiciones por la vía tradicional.
Digital Life completa el retrato del consumidor digital con seis perfiles diferentes: el influyente, el funcional, el buscador de conocimiento, los conectados a redes, los comunicadores y los aspirantes.
Un 23% se reconoce como "influyente", aquellos que participan y actúan en redes sociales, escriben en blogs y consideran que internet es una parte integral de su vida.
Ferrer aseguró que este perfil se concentra en los países "recién llegados a internet" como India o los países de Oriente Medio y norte de África.
Dos de cada diez dicen ser "comunicadores", usuarios activos en las redes sociales; un 17% siente que pertenece al perfil de "buscador de conocimiento", aquel usa internet para informarse y un 15% es "aspirante", ya que desea tener un espacio propio en internet.
Por último, un 13% dicen ser "funcionales", aquel internauta que usa internet como herramienta útil, y un 12% se encuadran en "conectados a redes", que consideran que internet ayuda a crear y mantener relaciones.
Fuente: EFE
Facebook será ahora accesible desde los celulares básicos
La red social lanzó una aplicación para quienes no tienen un smartphone, como iPhone o Blackberry, que funcionará en más de 2.500 teléfonos de 14 países. Los usuarios de dispositivos de Nokia, Sony Ericsson o LG podrán acceder a una versión simplificada de la red social, y tendrán una descarga gratuita de datos durante los primeros 90 días.
"Queremos que la gente tenga una gran experiencia móvil, tenga el celular que tenga. Los teléfonos inteligentes ofrecen mejores características para compartir con amigos, pero no son los que usa la mayoría de la gente de todo el mundo", dijo en el blog de la compañía Mark Heynen, director de productos móviles de facebook.
La aplicación incluye una pantalla de inicio "de fácil navegación", una opción para sincronizar los contactos y otra para "desplazarse rápidamente" por las fotos y las actualizaciones de amigos.
Por ahora, está disponible en la República Dominicana, con el operador Viva, en Sri Lanka (Dialog), en Ucrania (Life), en Polonia (Play), en Singapur (StarHub), en Arabia Saudí (STC), en Hong Kong (Three), Túnez (Tunisiana) y Rumania (Vodafone).
Además, llegará "próximamente" a México (Telcel), Brasil (TIM), Canadá (Mobilicity), India (Reliance) y Bulgaria (Vivacom).
"Queremos que la gente tenga una gran experiencia móvil, tenga el celular que tenga. Los teléfonos inteligentes ofrecen mejores características para compartir con amigos, pero no son los que usa la mayoría de la gente de todo el mundo", dijo en el blog de la compañía Mark Heynen, director de productos móviles de facebook.
La aplicación incluye una pantalla de inicio "de fácil navegación", una opción para sincronizar los contactos y otra para "desplazarse rápidamente" por las fotos y las actualizaciones de amigos.
Por ahora, está disponible en la República Dominicana, con el operador Viva, en Sri Lanka (Dialog), en Ucrania (Life), en Polonia (Play), en Singapur (StarHub), en Arabia Saudí (STC), en Hong Kong (Three), Túnez (Tunisiana) y Rumania (Vodafone).
Además, llegará "próximamente" a México (Telcel), Brasil (TIM), Canadá (Mobilicity), India (Reliance) y Bulgaria (Vivacom).
10/31/2010
Facebook holding mobile event next week
The much-rumored and quickly denied Facebook phone could finally be unveiled next week--or at least something new relating to using the social network on mobile devices.
Earlier today the company began sending out invites to members of the press for a mobile-focused event next Wednesday at its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.
Back in September, rumors began swirling that the company was working with device manufacturers on a Facebook-branded handset. A Facebook spokesperson quickly responded by saying that it was flat-out false, and that "building phones is just not what we do."
Recent numbers made public by the company had said more than 150 million of its 500 million active members use the site from their phones. Facebook maintains both a mobile-friendly version of the site, and native software applications--both of which could end up being the focus of Wednesday's event, among possible hardware developments and partner tie-ins. CNET will be on the scene to bring you the news.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20021267-248.html?tag=mncol;title#ixzz13xzCJmCE
Earlier today the company began sending out invites to members of the press for a mobile-focused event next Wednesday at its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.
Back in September, rumors began swirling that the company was working with device manufacturers on a Facebook-branded handset. A Facebook spokesperson quickly responded by saying that it was flat-out false, and that "building phones is just not what we do."
Recent numbers made public by the company had said more than 150 million of its 500 million active members use the site from their phones. Facebook maintains both a mobile-friendly version of the site, and native software applications--both of which could end up being the focus of Wednesday's event, among possible hardware developments and partner tie-ins. CNET will be on the scene to bring you the news.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20021267-248.html?tag=mncol;title#ixzz13xzCJmCE
10/25/2010
Apple goes shopping Adobe?
You may have seen many rumors about super acquisitions in the technology world that have not passed it, rumors, but if the buzz that went through the internet today is confirmed, we will see in the coming months the explosion of one of the biggest bombs in history.
With 51 billion dollars in cash, it took Steve Jobs declares during a conference last week that Apple is keeping the money in order to use it in a “strategic opportunity” for some market analysts began to speculate about what are the targets of the company.
Among the names cited there are Adobe, Netflix, and even Facebook, which co-founder Mark Zuckerberg recently dined with Jobs, but the list does not stop there. Besides the giant Disney and Electronic Arts also included in the list, the most shocking possibility certainly talks about a possible purchase Sony. Although this deal seems very unlikely, it is important to mention that last year the creators of the Playstation family had a loss of $ 400 million and its market value today revolves around U.S. $ 40 billion, which would allow Apple still stay with a few bucks in the coffers to organize a party.
Does this mean that one day we will see an iPlaystation? Was very unlikely, but maybe people are just thinking with the head of a mere mortal, who can hardly imagine a transaction of this size and who are not prepared to experience a big change in the gaming industry. But who knows?
With 51 billion dollars in cash, it took Steve Jobs declares during a conference last week that Apple is keeping the money in order to use it in a “strategic opportunity” for some market analysts began to speculate about what are the targets of the company.
Among the names cited there are Adobe, Netflix, and even Facebook, which co-founder Mark Zuckerberg recently dined with Jobs, but the list does not stop there. Besides the giant Disney and Electronic Arts also included in the list, the most shocking possibility certainly talks about a possible purchase Sony. Although this deal seems very unlikely, it is important to mention that last year the creators of the Playstation family had a loss of $ 400 million and its market value today revolves around U.S. $ 40 billion, which would allow Apple still stay with a few bucks in the coffers to organize a party.
Does this mean that one day we will see an iPlaystation? Was very unlikely, but maybe people are just thinking with the head of a mere mortal, who can hardly imagine a transaction of this size and who are not prepared to experience a big change in the gaming industry. But who knows?
10/23/2010
5 Ways to Get a Job Through YouTube
Not only is it possible to use YouTube to get a job, but it’s becoming a more popular option, especially for the current crop of would-be-employees that grew up with web video. Some argue that video is a more personal tool for job searching, acting as a digital interview, while others see it as cold and alienating, as it lacks the face-to-face element. But YouTube isn’t just about video resumes — there are a variety of creative ways to hop online and get hired.
Even better, YouTube isn’t just for Millennials. Web video can be useful for professionals of any age looking to expand their audience or pick up new clients. With a little creativity, honesty and hard work, you can utilize YouTube to create a more effective (and more interesting) professional and digital image, rather than just falling back on the ol’ resume (digital or not). Read on for five ways to use YouTube to get a job. If you’ve landed a position through YouTube, add your story and tips in the comments below.
1. Promote Yourself
While this may seem a little obvious, amazing opportunities can come out of promoting yourself on YouTube. Tom Ferry is a real estate training coach with a best-selling book, Life! By Design. He hopped on YouTube two and a half years ago in order to grow his audience and to own the SEO in his field. Ferry has received speaking engagements and consulting jobs across the world by showcasing his talents in one or two videos each week.
“I believe in the theory of free, perfect, and now,” Ferry said. “Perfect, means short [and] easy. It’s a free twist to marketing. It’s never a concern of, ‘Gosh, if I put all my best content up for free, will people stop hiring me?’ … If I do put it up, people will see I’m a force.” For his book, he made a weekly video explaining each chapter and offering crib notes. Rather than give his book away, it became a New York Times Best Seller.
Ferry said that his audience has been steadily building, thanks to properly tagging his videos to maximize SEO and by constantly offering useful videos to his followers.
2. Post and Hope
This strategy may be the “Hail Mary” of getting jobs through YouTube, but it has proven successful in many cases. Perhaps the most famous YouTube discovery is Justin Bieber (yes, that Justin Bieber).
Bieber posted homemade videos of himself singing. He quickly jumped from hundreds of views to thousands. After he built up enough buzz, he was discovered by his now manager, Scooter Braun, and introduced to Usher.
While it helps to have boyish good looks and singing talent (like fellow discoveree Greyson Chance), this strategy isn’t just limited to teen idols. Create a channel and post videos that highlight your expertise. If you’re great at building fences, film that and offer some added value. Cultivating your fan base and reaching out to your fans can help build enough credibility or buzz to launch your career.
3. Build It
YouTube can help get you a job even if you don’t like putting your face on camera. That’s what happened for Stanford student Feross Aboukhadijeh when he created YouTube Instant on a bet to his roommate. Aboukhadijeh built YouTube Instant shortly after the launch of Google Instant to bring the same insta-search features to the video platform.
The CEO of YouTube, Chad Hurley, was so impressed that he offered him a job over Twitter. Aboukhadijeh, now an employee at YouTube, continues to add features to his design while finishing his degree at Stanford.
Not all of us can build a site that will get noticed by major execs, but Aboukhadijeh proves that creativity and hirability aren’t limited by your on-screen personality. Try programming, coding, sketching or designing something in your desired field. For example, create a new bird design for Twitter or better user interface for Facebook and post it online — you never know who’s watching.
4. Be Creative
When 23-year-old Brian Freedman saw an ad to write financial articles for iGrad, a financial advice site for college students, he focused on a small side note offering to submit video instead. Freedman created a sample video on how to budget by using envelopes and was offered the job on the spot.
Freedman felt more comfortable speaking in front of a camera than writing a cover letter or traditional resume. YouTube allowed him to show his financial sense and on-screen personality to help him land the job ahead of other potential contributors. “Doing a video with YouTube is much more effective than a resume,” Freedman said. “It basically shows what you can do, what you are capable of.”
After nine videos, Freedman parted with iGrad to start his own channel taking a bluer (read: NSFW) approach to relationship advice. He was able to build his brand and draw in far more followers than with iGrad.
5. Enter Online Contests
These days, it’s not uncommon for a company or employer to host a video contest on YouTube to draw in potential candidates. For example, Dr. Pepper teamed up with Step Up Director Jon M. Chu to hold a YouTube Dance Contest to find a dancer to feature in an Ultra Records music video — check out the winner’s video above.
Video contests are so popular on YouTube that it has an entire page dedicated to contests ranging from short film contests to social good efforts. Keep an eye out for contests in your area of expertise and enter when the right opportunity comes along.
Final Tips
YouTube is a simple, snappy way to get yourself seen. Aside from the social media pop and pizazz, it’s quickly becoming an effective way to own SEO terms, build a brand, and find jobs. While some video proficiency helps, fancy film work and high tech cameras aren’t key to success. Approach YouTube with creativity, authenticity and consistency, and the results might just come your way.
Even better, YouTube isn’t just for Millennials. Web video can be useful for professionals of any age looking to expand their audience or pick up new clients. With a little creativity, honesty and hard work, you can utilize YouTube to create a more effective (and more interesting) professional and digital image, rather than just falling back on the ol’ resume (digital or not). Read on for five ways to use YouTube to get a job. If you’ve landed a position through YouTube, add your story and tips in the comments below.
1. Promote Yourself
While this may seem a little obvious, amazing opportunities can come out of promoting yourself on YouTube. Tom Ferry is a real estate training coach with a best-selling book, Life! By Design. He hopped on YouTube two and a half years ago in order to grow his audience and to own the SEO in his field. Ferry has received speaking engagements and consulting jobs across the world by showcasing his talents in one or two videos each week.
“I believe in the theory of free, perfect, and now,” Ferry said. “Perfect, means short [and] easy. It’s a free twist to marketing. It’s never a concern of, ‘Gosh, if I put all my best content up for free, will people stop hiring me?’ … If I do put it up, people will see I’m a force.” For his book, he made a weekly video explaining each chapter and offering crib notes. Rather than give his book away, it became a New York Times Best Seller.
Ferry said that his audience has been steadily building, thanks to properly tagging his videos to maximize SEO and by constantly offering useful videos to his followers.
2. Post and Hope
This strategy may be the “Hail Mary” of getting jobs through YouTube, but it has proven successful in many cases. Perhaps the most famous YouTube discovery is Justin Bieber (yes, that Justin Bieber).
Bieber posted homemade videos of himself singing. He quickly jumped from hundreds of views to thousands. After he built up enough buzz, he was discovered by his now manager, Scooter Braun, and introduced to Usher.
While it helps to have boyish good looks and singing talent (like fellow discoveree Greyson Chance), this strategy isn’t just limited to teen idols. Create a channel and post videos that highlight your expertise. If you’re great at building fences, film that and offer some added value. Cultivating your fan base and reaching out to your fans can help build enough credibility or buzz to launch your career.
3. Build It
YouTube can help get you a job even if you don’t like putting your face on camera. That’s what happened for Stanford student Feross Aboukhadijeh when he created YouTube Instant on a bet to his roommate. Aboukhadijeh built YouTube Instant shortly after the launch of Google Instant to bring the same insta-search features to the video platform.
The CEO of YouTube, Chad Hurley, was so impressed that he offered him a job over Twitter. Aboukhadijeh, now an employee at YouTube, continues to add features to his design while finishing his degree at Stanford.
Not all of us can build a site that will get noticed by major execs, but Aboukhadijeh proves that creativity and hirability aren’t limited by your on-screen personality. Try programming, coding, sketching or designing something in your desired field. For example, create a new bird design for Twitter or better user interface for Facebook and post it online — you never know who’s watching.
4. Be Creative
When 23-year-old Brian Freedman saw an ad to write financial articles for iGrad, a financial advice site for college students, he focused on a small side note offering to submit video instead. Freedman created a sample video on how to budget by using envelopes and was offered the job on the spot.
Freedman felt more comfortable speaking in front of a camera than writing a cover letter or traditional resume. YouTube allowed him to show his financial sense and on-screen personality to help him land the job ahead of other potential contributors. “Doing a video with YouTube is much more effective than a resume,” Freedman said. “It basically shows what you can do, what you are capable of.”
After nine videos, Freedman parted with iGrad to start his own channel taking a bluer (read: NSFW) approach to relationship advice. He was able to build his brand and draw in far more followers than with iGrad.
5. Enter Online Contests
These days, it’s not uncommon for a company or employer to host a video contest on YouTube to draw in potential candidates. For example, Dr. Pepper teamed up with Step Up Director Jon M. Chu to hold a YouTube Dance Contest to find a dancer to feature in an Ultra Records music video — check out the winner’s video above.
Video contests are so popular on YouTube that it has an entire page dedicated to contests ranging from short film contests to social good efforts. Keep an eye out for contests in your area of expertise and enter when the right opportunity comes along.
Final Tips
YouTube is a simple, snappy way to get yourself seen. Aside from the social media pop and pizazz, it’s quickly becoming an effective way to own SEO terms, build a brand, and find jobs. While some video proficiency helps, fancy film work and high tech cameras aren’t key to success. Approach YouTube with creativity, authenticity and consistency, and the results might just come your way.
6 of the Most Memorable Google Doodles
On Friday, 21 May 2010, on the 30th anniversary of the arcade game Pac-Man, Google unveiled worldwide their first interactive logo. Anyone who visited Google could play Pac-Man on the logo, which featured the letters of the word 'Google' on the Pac-Man maze. The logo also mimicked the sounds the original arcade game made. The "I'm Feeling Lucky" button was replaced with an "Insert Coin" button. Pressing this once enabled you to play the Pac-Man logo. Pressing it once more added a second player, Ms. Pac-Man, enabling 2 players to play at once, controlled using the W,A,S,D keys, instead of the arrows as used by Player 1. Pressing it for a third time performed an "I'm Feeling Lucky" search. It was then removed on Sunday, May 23, 2010, initially replacing Pac-Man with the normal logo. Later on that day, Google released a permanent Google Pac-Man site, due to the popular user demand for the playable logo.
Google's August 29th logo celebrated Michael Jackson's birthday a couple of months after his death. The two Os in Google were replaced with two feet, en pointe, wearing patent leather shoes and shiny white socks below slightly-too-short trousers.
In 2009, Google marked the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street with a new 'doodle' featuring the programme's Cookie Monster. Users of Google in the UK, France and Canada were greeted with the hungry blue character's familiar 'googly eyes' in honour of the programme's four decades on air.
This doodle that appeared online in Sept 2010 was meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Flintstones.
On Friday, October 8, 2010, to mark what would have been the day before the 70th birthday of John Lennon, a 32-second "Video doodle" appeared on the google homepage. The "E" of google was shaped like a play button. The video was a simple animation that was accompanied by Lennon's song "Imagine."
On March 2010, the Pi Day, 3.14 was celebrated by math nerds and Google, worldwide. Having been conspicuously missing from Google's ever-growing repertoire of special-event doodles for years, Google finally relented and unleashed its inner nerd, not that it tried to hide it too hard in the past. And, perhaps to make up for all the years it skipped, Google went all out this time and showed off six common uses of the famous number. The Pi Day Google logo starts off with the formula everyone knows (?) for the area of a circle A = πr2, but goes on with some more advanced stuff. The two 'os' in Google are used to represent the sin(x) function over a 2π period.
Coolest Computer Mice
Sexy Body Mouse
How could work with a computer ever be a sensual experience? Well, with the Pat-Says-Now Body Optical Mouse ($29.90) you'll be touching and moving around a voluptuous body dressed in fancy lingerie... the whole day.
World of Warcraft Mouse
What's a World of Warcraft session without a dedicated WOC mouse? That was gaming peripheral makers SteelSeries' sentiments when they created the SteelSeries World of Warcraft Mouse ($99.99) for its 11 million devoted users. It would take three hands with all digits intact to match the number of buttons on SteelSeries' new World of Warcraft MMO mouse. That's right - 15 programmable buttons grace the rodent's funky cyborgish exterior, and each one of them was designed in conjunction with Blizzard specifically with WoW addicts in mind. The new mouse level's up its macros skillset by affording macros up to 160 characters long, with over 130 predefined commands for drag-and-drop macro creation in place. But you might find yourself spending the majority of your time grinding away at the light scheme. And get this: the world's first WoW mouse boasts no less than 16 million illumination choices with 3 intensity and pulsation levels. Not bad!
Hamburger Mouse
This is one burger at the deskop that won't drop any crumbs into your keyboard - the Hamburger Mouse ($19.95). Its deliciously ergonomic design has a guarantee of approximately three million clicks, probably one million more than you'll ever need in your lifetime, unless you're a sucker for point-and-click RPGs such as old school Diablo.
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