Monthly archive for January 2010
Google Analytics IQ Raises Pass Mark
Posted Wednesday 27th January 2010 by Allison
Google has announced that it is raising the bar in its Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) test and that analysts must now gain 80% to pass. The previous pass mark was 75%.
The new pass mark won’t affect anyone who is already Google Analytics qualified that achieved a score of less than 80%, but they will still need to score at least 80% when it comes to renewing their qualification after 18 months.
Google has decided to raise the bar because an increasing number of businesses all over the world are relying in web analytics
Save Your Life? There’s an App for That
Posted Tuesday 26th January 2010 by Ben J
It seems that social media and modern search technology have been instrumental in helping to locate and rescue survivors of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, but there have been more direct benefits of the equipment as well.
Aid worker Max Woolley was buried under rubble for over 60 hours and used an iPhone app and the on board light to treat his wounds and stop himself from going into shock while awaiting rescue. The Pocket First Aid and CPR app is created by the American Heart Association and is available from the iTunes App Store for £2.39. The app instructed Woolley to tie a belt around his wound to stem the bleeding and avoid falling asleep to prevent the onset of shock.
Google Really Wants Your Business
Posted Friday 22nd January 2010 by Chris_A
Google is beta testing a new innovation within Google Adwords which is called Re-Marketing. As the title suggests it is a way that Google can re-target existing visitors from your site to boost your sales through your pay per click campaign.
When you visit a site via one of the sponsored listings in Google your machine is tagged, if you fail to convert anything from the site an advertiser can then choose to target you throughout your browsing experience via the Google Content Network. You can then be offered other packages or deals from the same site that might tempt you back to complete a conversion or sale.
Site Speed To Influence SEO Success in 2010
Posted Friday 22nd January 2010 by Craig H
A recent round table discussion in Manchester has identified speed as a major factor in improving SEO results in 2010. At the talks were leading figures from UKFast, Oomagoo, CSI Media as well as High Position’s Commercial Director, Terry Heffernan.
While creating high quality, unique content was held up as an ongoing aim, it is the speed at which that content is delivered that will be of significant importance this year, according to participants.
The future of analytics
Posted Wednesday 20th January 2010 by Allison
Analytics has continued to grow substantially despite the recession, according to new information released by Econsultancy.
In the firm’s Web Analytics Buyers Guide and its Online Measurement and Strategy Report, it reports that the analytics market for 2009 was up by 9%, and is now worth £85m in comparison with £78m in 2008.
The report also unearthed some interesting findings about how analytics is being implemented on a macro scale in the UK, and how marketers are realising both the importance of analytics and how website data relates to profit.
Facebook ReTweets Again
Posted Tuesday 19th January 2010 by Ben J
Following on from last week’s privacy bombshell, Facebook have sneakily rolled out a new feature which could potentially further impinge on user privacy – their version of Twitter’s popular ReTweet function, the Via feature.
The ReTweet or Via functions allow for a user to share another user’s post or link with their own friends list, giving the link or item a potentially bigger readership. On Twitter, this is simply done by typing RT @username before copy and pasting the post in, while Facebook’s new Via feature works by clicking ‘Share’ from an item posted in your news feed and a line saying “Via *Friend*with a link to their profile appears. Researching users as far afield as America, Europe and Australia has led us to believe that this new feature is live for all users. Give it a go yourself.
Google Has Your Number
Posted Monday 18th January 2010 by Chris_A
It’s been a busy period for businesses over the Christmas and New Year period. The recession clearly hadn’t hit public spending as much as everyone initially thought, with many companies reporting acceptable to good Christmas sales. The first decade of the noughties has come to a close and it’s amazing to think how far the internet, and especially Pay Per Click advertising, has come.
However, it hasn’t taken long for Google to launch a new piece of innovation for their PPC service. Barely two weeks into the new decade and already Google are promising to further enhance their sponsored link service for next generation mobile phones.
Brand Protection Using PPC and Ethical SEO
Posted Friday 15th January 2010 by Kerry
According to a recent article in The Times consumer fears over fraudulent online retail are growing. This is understandably having an effect on legitimate sites, with many companies seeing a marked decrease in sales. The way to combat this trend is to provide brand protection using ethical SEO and PPC. By boosting the profile of legitimate companies through brand protection, it is possible to flush out the proliferation of illegal sites that are taking money from online consumers and not delivering the goods.
Google To Pull Out Of China?
Posted Wednesday 13th January 2010 by Allison
Search giant Google may pull out of China due to recent discoveries and rows about censorship in the country.
Google’s latest findings have led the company to announce that it will no longer censor Google.cn, its Chinese search engine, even if this means it will have to withdraw business from China completely.
The decision to remove censorship in the country has been sparked by Google’s discovery of attacks on its own corporate infrastructure that originated in China and had the purpose of stealing intellectual property from Google.
Is Public the New Private?
Posted Tuesday 12th January 2010 by Ben J
That’s what Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg would have you believe. Whether it’s a genuine reflection of what he sees as the new social norm or another attempt at copying and competing with Twitter, Zuckerberg went on the record at the Crunchies awards saying that “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people”. Consequently, Facebook will be an agent of what he sees as this societal paradigm shift.
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