Facebook is an interesting phenomenon as it is still not clear where they will make money. The 270 million plus users have got analysts figuring that where there are that many people gathered, there must be a way of squeezing massive amounts of money from them. The problem being that there is no tangible product; the ads on Facebook are not effective as users are there to socialise, as opposed to shop and there is no fee for membership. So the question remains, how does Facebook capitalise on its success?

To date it has been devouring venture capital and other private equity finance, still searching for an answer to the question of profit. This still has not adversely affected the valuation of the company which was stated at an estimated 10 billion, although during an internal valuation as part a legal proceeding, the company was valued at USD 3.7 billion. The CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that there is a structure in place to make Facebook profitable by 2010, although nothing on how this will practically happen.

There have been escalating rumours that Facebook is soon to become a publically floated company. These rumours were fuelled by Facebook’s search for a chief financial officer being focussed toward someone with public company experience. Opening its doors to the public is somewhat an inevitability; however the company would still need to find a profit from somewhere in order to deliver a return.

The investment by DST is not a purely financial one. They are also investing their experience with Russian language social network platforms which command 70% of all page views on the Russian speaking internet and all of their social network sites turn a profit. In theory, all they would need to do would be to apply the same business model of the existing sites to Facebook, just on a larger scale.

This could include revised advertising strategies, upgraded premium services which would be charged for or even some kind of annual membership fee. With 270 million daily users, a registration fee of a dollar or pound per year would go some way to covering operating costs and they would not run the risk of having to introduce more tangible advertising techniques which could be intrusive to the user experience.

More aggressive advertising might have to be introduced in the event of Facebook being publically floated and there not being a return on investment, as the company will have to answer to their shareholders. That sort of advertising was one of the factors that drove people from Myspace to Facebook in the first place, so any dramatic changes which affect users could jeopardise the basis of all this investment – the 270 million daily users.

The money is going to be used to buy stock and develop technologies such as video chat. Resources will also be delegated to developing the market in China and India. The DST investment will see Facebook safely into 2010, however by then it really needs to have a business model in place, as this venture capital private equity is not limitless and business partners such as Microsoft who own 1.6 % of Facebook and DST will be expecting a return at some point.

Facebook’s rapid growth has to be accounted for in the resources available. It is that simple. Although most users see the social network platform as a free service, the fact is that massive amounts of revenue are required to keep it running, and currently there is not enough revenue coming in to maintain it.

There have been several bids to finance Facebook in the past, most recently at the beginning of this month, private equity firms offered funding that would take the value of the site to USD 4 billion, however the offer was turned down with Facebook CEO claiming that they do not need it. As an SEM professional it is easy to see why people would get the impression that Facebook needs the cash.

The platform spent years as an internal college networking platform, then as an inter university platform and finally release to the public in 2006. The site is built with usability not profits in mind. Currently the standard advertising space is going for a pittance and attracting a poor level of client; money making schemes and get thin quick programmes.

Some might say it was a brave decision to remain independent, as the investors will be looking for a return on that investment, meaning that the user experience will be compromised in the face of commercialism. However this was the reason that many shifted from Myspace to Facebook and the money men can expect to see a drop in the unique users if they turn the platform into a billboard.

Considering the recent facelift of Facebook, turning the updates into a real-time micro-blogging system, one might suggest that it is somewhat Twitter-esque. Twitter are demanding a huge increase in numbers, however once again the curse of profitability is looming in the not too distant future.

Twitter are beginning to integrate advertising into their platform and there are murmurs of a potential acquisition by none other than Google. With their focus on search and ads, God only knows what Google have in store for Twitter. Now at the mercy of shareholders Google has metamorphosised into a corporate entity and you could equate Twtitter to the early, innovative years of Google.

With access to constant stream of updating information Google could potentially apply search algorithms to information posted on the social media site, selling the information to advertisers. Questions are being asked on blogs across the net about the integrity of Google’s conduct in various areas of digitized data management, but one thing is clear – they are completely focussed on profit.

The evolution of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter is unprecedented and the privacy laws are sure to be tested. The more independent the platforms the more user focussed they will remain, however they are not registered charities and need to do more than just cover costs.

Hopefully is they do decide to go the way of Google, then another innovative social network solution will spring up that will learn from the lessons and integrate earlier a business model that compromises between usability and profit.

High Position need people like you to join our award winning Internet Marketing team. Despite the recession we have a range of IT Jobs in Essex available. Based at the Octagon in Colchester, Essex it is our job to help our clients gain maximum visibility on the internet.

We work to make sure our clients websites appear at the top of the Google, Yahoo and MSN search results listings. This process is called Search Engine Optimisation and we are good at it. We have picked up a number or prestigious clients such as Sony, Hillary’s Blinds and Haart. Despite the economic downturn we continue to thrive. Check out our current IT Jobs in Essex below.

Search Engine Marketing Jobs

The reason for our success is the quality of our staff. Our office is full of vibrant, hardworking people that are passionate about the job they do. There is a buzz around the office and our people are encouraged to be innovative and find new ways to improve our services.

As a result we want people that want to turn up to work and use their skills. So if you are hardworking, enjoy working on websites, are a keen coder or a copywriter then get in touch with us we have a wide range of Search Engine Marketing Jobs. Previous experience is not required and qualifications are not essential however, we do expect you to be able to demonstrate your skills and you will preferably have a portfolio of work to show us.

There are six main areas of our workforce. Please send in your CV for any of the following Search Engine Marketing jobs in Colchester:
SEO technicians – A good understanding of HTML and CSS plus good communication skills. Would suit someone that enjoys coding websites as a hobby. Training provided. Geeks welcome.

• SEO technicians– A good understanding of HTML and CSS plus good communication skills. Would suit someone that enjoys coding websites as a hobby. Training provided. Geeks welcome.
• Paid Search– Excellent Copywriting Skills and an eye for Marketing. Net savvy and switched on about business. Training provided. Tea making skills essential.
• Copywriters – Excellent copywriting skills. 3000 words per day.
• Design and Web Build – knowledge of any of the following languages; PHP, Coldfusion. Databases.
• Linking Assistants– An interest in the internet. Flexible Hours. It would suit a woman looking for an admin job coming back to work after having a child.
• Sales– Strong Sales background. SEO is a consultative/ technical sell.

If you would like to be considered for a role at High Position please send your CV to jobs@highposition.net We look forward to hearing from you!

The application is a generational leap from Google maps and satellite software which shows 360 degree rotation of streets in selected cities and 290 degree vertical panoramic views. It is based on a series of photographic images taken from one of many camera mounted cars that have been up and down streets in major cities across the globe.

The marketing push was so successful that Google Maps UK measured a 41% increase in hits in the UK and US Google Maps measured an unprecedented 84% increase. The application allows users to view static images of specific roads which they can then rotate within the aforementioned parameters, showing live still images at the time the photograph was taken.

The massive surge in traffic might be accounted for by the novelty value of the software and genuine practical value is tough to predict. One practicality regarding the intricate nature of the images is that Google has been forced to remove an undisclosed amount of images in response to privacy complaints.

Under EU law, any internet service provider is not responsible for their content however if a complaint has been made then they are responsible for removing the offending content. The offending content in this case ranges from images of individuals being sick in the street, to a man snapped walking into a sex shop.

After only one day we are seeing the advanced nature of the images backfiring somewhat and the full affects will not be seen for some time. Despite the faces being blurred, if someone has been identified or feels that the photo is offensive in some way then the image has to be removed which leaves Google Street View potentially open for some serious editing over the coming months.

Industries which are worst affected such as the financial services industry have been making widespread redundancies in these aforementioned areas, leaving many sales and marketing professionals out of work. The elaborate marketing budgets of the last decade seem to be evaporating and return on investment is the new focus.

Despite the seemingly hostile economic environment there has been an overall growth in search engine marketing [SEM]. The growth has been maintained across the two main sections of SEM, paid and organic search, with CPC rates not showing any signs of receding and search engine agencies busier than ever for organic search; this was compounded by the healthy fourth quarter results for Google.

Due to the measurable ROI marketers are beginning to strategise with search engines in mind and many are choosing to outsource their SEM to third parties as opposed to training or recruiting in house. Although this might seem like good news in the short term for SEM agencies there are some projected pitfalls that could occur.

As paid search delivers faster results and is an extremely simple concept [every time a user clicks on an advert you pay a set amount for that click] it shows much more popularity with the corporate crowd. On the other hand, organic search is a gradual process which involves a certain degree of understanding about how search engines create results.

The nature of the two SEM disciplines create their own respective problems. The measurable nature of paid search sees companies piling in for competitive keywords, however the background search engine knowledge essential for organic search is not applied. This knowledge applied to keyword research can cut costs and raise traffic, something which many marketing departments do not take advantage of.

With more competition coming into the organic search marketplace there will be an increasing number of agencies looking to cut corners, which could have knock-on effects if search engines decide to tighten up in response. Shooting star SEO agencies could also give the industry a bad name by not delivering results which would call for some sort of industry self regulation specifically for SEM.

The scary thing to consider is that people actually sat down and made a conscious decision to target the keyword without providing any information on the subject of ‘radio surgery’ which is more than likely going to be utilised by someone researching the treatment of cancer. The post was approved by Google’s PR department and seemed to be a clear statement of Google’s intention to remain impartial in the face of money mad evil corporations… but was it?

Apparently much changes in 14 months, as a blogs have been lit up by chatter about Google’s shenanigans Japan. Google Japan have been marketing a new keyword widget in Japan and Asiajin blog reported that many of the blog posts looked remarkably similar. After further investigation it was apparent that the postings were part of a CyberBuzz campaign.

CyberBuzz is one of the busiest pay-per-post agencies in Japan and provide a service where they pay for blog posts which contain ad links at the foot of the post. Google have already posted an apology about this promising to be ‘more transparent’. The multi-billion dollar question still remains, why would Google use a practice in Japan that they outright condemned in the US?

The concise apology from Google Japan stated, ‘It turns out that using blogs on the part of the promotional activities violates Google’s search guidelines,…’. Although this is a translation from Japanese, I would hope that Google might know their own basic search guidelines a bit better than, ‘it turns out…’. Perhaps Google had completely outsourced the marketing of the widget to a third party, or a rogue member of staff took the law into their own hands.

There was no transparency in the apology to allude to why this happened and there have been no other reports regarding any other breaches in Google’s own search guidelines. This could pass as an isolated incidence however with Google maturing increasingly into a streamlined profit machine, further from its innovative origins and into the hands of shareholders, the web holds its breath.

In January 2009 Google announced that it was ceasing development on their Google pad, a similar application to Yahoo Search Pad, where users can save search clippings in an online file. It is unclear whether Yahoo’s decision or timing was at all based on the cancellation of Notebook, but it is a bit of a coincidence. The message on the official Google blog was familiar, as we have seen the same standard message a number of times over the last six months.

Responses to the Google blog statement from Notebook users have shown users are looking for alternatives and these might well be the people that Yahoo are targeting with Search Pad while it is in the testing stages. There are other applications such as Zoho Notebook, which is available as a plug-in through Firefox, which has a pre-established user base. It is not clear what the Yahoo version is are offering that Google and Zoho are not, however there will not be an answer to that until it has been tried and tested.

The Yahoo application sounds very similar on paper. It is used in conjunction with a Yahoo account and users can switch the mode on and off when required. When a specific keyword is being used the application automatically saves information regarding your search which can then be refined, reordered, saved and deleted to create a document which can be integrated into other applications such as Delicious.

The binning of Notebook has surprised a great many users as it was widely used compared to the other applications Google has struck off already in 2009. The repetitive message that appears on the official Google blog contains words to the effect of focusing on core business. If an application is not earning enough money, not corporately viable then it is in trouble. It is a far cry from the innovative principals that Google was founded on and it feels as if there is more to come.

The case is based around a video which was hosted on Google’s Italian language site in 2006. The video depicted a seventeen year old Italian student with Down Syndrome being harassed by classmates. The significance of the decision lies in the main executive on trail is the Paris based senior privacy counsel for Google, which according to the IAPP website is the first criminal action that has been brought against a privacy professional for the company’s conduct.

EU Law states that third party internet service providers cannot be held accountable for the content of their sites however must remove any material deemed offensive if complaints are received. The video was hosted on Google for two months until they received a number of complaints regarding the posting, including one from the Italian interior ministry. The video was removed within 24 hours of receiving the complaint and Google maintains that it has not done anything wrong.

The Italian prosecutors are treating Google as an internet content provider as opposed to an internet service provider, meaning that they have similar laws regulating them as a newspaper, magazines or television. Google rejects this concept exclaiming that the online platform is used as an application for users to upload video, making it impossible to screen them before they are published online.

Even at this early stage it seems there are huge holes in the prosecution’s case. The EU regulations passed in 2003 clearly state that internet service providers are not responsible for content and Google conformed to the removal of the information in response to complaints. If Google is in fact an internet content provider then the server hosting the content is located in the United States so where does the Italian jurisdiction come from?

The plaintiff is an Italian individual and the Italian penal code makes special provision for cases involving citizens with disabilities; meaning that the public entity of Milan can make a civil case against Google. The case seems pivotal on how Google is interpreted, as a service or content provider. A decision against Google might compromise the freedom of internet service providers which will inevitably lead to a certain level of online censorship not seen before.

The young perpetrators of the documented crime have been prosecuted and each received a community service order. When decided to unwittingly upload their video it is doubtful they had any understanding of the potential ramifications theirs actions might have. The world watches the development of this legal battle in interest, however it is expected to be a drawn out process.

You might rightly ask: where does the search engine Google come into this? The answer shows a potentially sinister step in Google’s maturation as a corporate entity with the formation of Google Health. This is an online database where consumers can store their medical records for free. One begs the question: if the service is for free then how does Google plan to actually create revenue without utilizing the data of users to sell advertising?

Google Health is set up so that user profiles can be created which allows a central electronic repository to their medical records. Medical conditions and medication can be searched through an information service that provides information, leaving a trail of data that Google then amalgamates as it does with other applications. This data is theirs and cannot be traced to consumers but is still valuable to certain healthcare companies as it is reflective of what users are researching.

Google Health maintains a strict privacy policy on both identified and de-identified data, however a US consumer watchdog group has drawn attention to rumours that Google is part of a lobbying group attempting to work in certain loophole amendments into constitutional laws governing consumer privacy. One of the amendments comes in an economic stimulus package that clears companies to sell private medical information for the purposes of ‘research’.

It is essential to point out that the consumer watchdog provides absolutely no evidence that Google has been involved in any lobbying however if an amendment is passed then Google will have a database of information that could potentially be legally sold for great revenue. With Google’s anti-evil corporate stance and squeaky clean uber innovative image, consumer confidence might stretch to accepting Google’s rebuttal of the consumer watchdog’s claims but Google is looking increasingly corporate.

The fact of the matter is that there are powers at work in Washington trying to get this amendment pushed through and listed in Google Health’s partners are some of the largest health companies in the US. If Google are not involved directly in lobbying then it would be naive to think that one of its partners was not. Healthcare companies have an abysmal track record of consumer confidence and the thought of jump starting the economy by compromising constitutional rights is something you would associate with them; but surely not with Google?

If Google persists in keeping such corporate company then how long will it maintain its public image which essentially revolves around data and consumer confidence? How far can Google stray from its core business of search and ads before its main business becomes consumer data retention? One thing is for certain, the concept of data retention within our increasingly electronic existence is big business and some might say almost too self-regulatory and reactive.

High Position, which specialises in web design and search engine optimisation, recently moved into the former headquarters of insurance giant Royal London and found the building came with more than just a lick of paint.

Steve Dart, High Position’s Managing Director, said: “We found ourselves with more than we bargained for after discovering that the previous tenants had left 30 or so new chairs with writing tables attached. As many of us have children at the Colne Community School, we really wanted to help with the refurbishment of the sixth form and the spare equipment seemed ideal for the students.”

Nardeep Sharma, Principal of the Colne Community School, said: “Partnerships with the local community are important for us. As a school sixth form we encourage academic success through our teaching methods and quality of facilities. The donation of lecture-style chairs for our students from High Position will provide them with a taste of university-style learning. It is an exciting time for us, with the College undergoing a major refurbishment programme and we are pleased that High Position could be part of it.”  We are openly looking for other sponsors who are in a position to support the school through cash or goods/services.

High Position is continuing its growth strategy to strengthen its 40-strong team, which includes Head of Search Shaun Parker, Commercial Director Terry Heffernan – former IT Manager for GlaxoSmithKline, and Non-Executive Director Guilio Brunini, former Trade Marketing Director Yahoo! Europe, London and now CEO of BrandAmp.

With more than a decade’s experience in the search engine field, Colchester-based High Position has grown to become one of the UK’s most successful search engine marketing agencies with clients including Sony Europe, Lloyds TSB, Inchcape, Budget Car Rental, haart, Infospace, Hillarys Blinds and Denby.