General
This is where things that don't quite fit anywhere else go. If you've already checked everything else out, don't forget this section.
The Conference You Have to Attend: SearchFest
Written by Neil Patel on March 2, 2010 | 2 comments
On Tuesday March 9, SearchFest is going to take place in Portland. If you own a business, here are the top 5 reasons you should attend and if you don't own one... well there are still some good reasons for you to attend it.
My Home at Olive 8
Written by Neil Patel on December 3, 2009 | 55 comments
It's been a while since I posted and updated you about my life. For the past year or so I have been living in Seattle and most recently, I just bought a place at Olive 8 by Hyatt. I know the name of the building name sounds weird, but it's that way because it is a hotel.
Here are some pictures of what it looks like:
The building
Lobby
Restaurant
Game room
Indoor pool
Living room
Bedroom
Bathroom
Kitchen
The view
In addition to the pictures above, the hotel offers me (as a condo owner) a lot of cool amenities, such as valet parking (I am bad at parking), room service (I hate cooking), maid service (I don't know how to clean), and use of their state of the art gym.
I know you are probably wondering how I could afford such a nice place... well there are 2 main reasons:
- Olive 8 has some great deals. So if you want to live there with me, Andy and a few other awesome .com guys, you should hit them up.
- I have some great sponsors. Without them, I would have never been able to pimp out my place. They paid for everything from my bedroom furniture to my bathroom TV.
And for those of you who are wondering who sponsored my place, well it was these 14 great companies: Online Poker, Nerdy Shirts, Shoemoney Capital, Revenue Enhancement Group, Train Signal, Chitika, Get Ads, Globalizer Network, Device Doctor, Driver Library, Buddy TV, John Chow, Five Q Enterprises, Big Door Media.
The Micropreneur Academy
Written by Neil Patel on July 19, 2009 | 38 comments
My friend Rob, just luanched the The Micropreneur Academy. Here is a bit more information on it.
DocStoc Charges Out Of Beta With DocCash
Written by Neil Patel on May 13, 2009 | 24 comments
If you are looking to make money on the web, but aren't too technically savvy, DocStoc has just released a cool new product that lets you easily make money. Through their new program, DocCash, every time you upload a document to DocStoc you will get 50 percent of the ad revenue DocStoc earns.
You Have to Talk to People to be Successful! Who Knew?
Written by Neil Patel on April 15, 2009 | 54 comments
Almost everyone on this planet wants to become successful, there is no doubt about it. You can't blame people for wanting this. Success in wealth can take you places you've always dreamed of going and buy you things you always wished for. Success in contribution allows you to feel the joy and happiness in others feeling fulfilled. Success in spirituality allows one to explore areas of their mind that bring them closer to enlightenment. Since there are several different areas of success that people want to indulge in, it's no surprise they're willing to do whatever it takes to get it.
iNetMania Now Available for Download on the Apple App Store!
Written by Neil Patel on April 6, 2009 | 6 comments
Do you love Monopoly? Then you have to check out iNetMania, which is kind of like a Monopoly type of game for Internet companies.
All Advertising Agencies Luanches
Written by Neil Patel on March 26, 2009 | 44 comments
If you find yourself looking for a great advertising agency, All Advertising Agencies is a site that helps businesses find and contact advertising agencies based on the specific kinds of services they are looking for, their industry, budget and location. By providing just the relevant agencies, All Advertising Agencies allows businesses to rapidly filter out most agencies, and spend their time narrowing down the right match from a smaller pool of possibilities.
IM Spring Break
Written by Neil Patel on March 22, 2009 | 24 comments
Getting bored of those dull Internet marketing conferences? Most of them are packed with great information, but if you have been to any of them, you'll realize that they can be boring.
Affiliate Theme Revolutionizes The Affiliate Industry
Written by Neil Patel on March 17, 2009 | 20 comments
Have you seen those big checks on the web from affiliate marketers showing how they made thousands, if not millions of dollars? I know I have, and every time I see one of those checks I always think about how I too could make that kind of money through affiliate marketing.
Ineternet Marketers Charity Party at SES NY
Written by Neil Patel on March 4, 2009 | 5 comments
If you are going to attend SES New York, or live in New York, you HAVE to attend the Internet marketers charity party! Unlike most parties, you won't just have fun, but you will also be saving lives.
Docstoc Launches DocShots
Written by Neil Patel on February 22, 2009 | 9 comments
For all of you bloggers and website owners out there, you have to check DocShots.
Catchup - 12/22/08
Written by Neil Patel on December 22, 2008 | 20 comments
Jeremy Schoemaker is giving you a once in a lifetime opportunity to get your brand out there while supporting a good cause. During Affiliate Summit Jeremy will be wearing one person's brand on his t-shirt during the conference. If you want your brand on his t-shirt, make a bid for it on Ebay.
Marketing Through Giveaways
Written by Neil Patel on November 18, 2008 | 39 comments
Marketing doesn't always have to involve using methods like search engine optimization, email marketing, or banner advertising. Instead of using expensive methods of marketing you can also market your company by giving your product away for free to select bloggers.
Are you going to Pubcon?
Written by Neil Patel on November 10, 2008 | 119 comments
If you are going to Pubcon, there is a lot going on. DK, over at Purpose Inc is organizing a fight club, dinners, drinks, and a poker tournament with hot chicks.
Go over to the schedule page for more information. There are events that are going on today as well as the rest of the week.
Email Publishing Now On Docstoc
Written by Neil Patel on October 31, 2008 | 18 comments
Docstoc just rolled out an email feature that easily allows you to upload documents online.
'My Documents' Hits the Web
Written by Neil Patel on September 4, 2008 | 36 comments
My Documents is something we all use. Whether you have a PC or a MAC, you are probably using some sort of documents folder. The major problem with storing your documents on one computer, is that you can't access them from another computer?
Free ThinkTank Ticket
Written by Neil Patel on September 4, 2008 | 23 comments
A while ago I wrote about the ThinkTank 2008 and why it is a conference that you have to attend. I know it maybe a bit expensive, so here is your chance to attend for free. Jeremy Schoemaker is throwing a conference where he'll give one individual a free pass, plane ticket and a hotel.
5 Reasons To Attend Think Tank 2008
Written by Neil Patel on August 6, 2008 | 17 comments
From September 26 to the 28th, a new conference called Think Tank is taking place. If you haven't signed up yet, I highly recommend doing so for the following reasons:
Search Engine Strategies San Jose
Written by Neil Patel on July 31, 2008 | 806 comments
Is anyone attending Search Engine Strategies San Jose? If so, leave a comment and hopefully I will see you there.
AffiliatePrograms.com Launches New Website
Written by Neil Patel on May 21, 2008 | 11 comments
AffilatePrograms.com just launched their new website. If you visited the site in the past, it pretty much looked like a directory with a forum. But now with their new design they have made a lot of improvements.
Webmaster-Talk.com and Earners Forum Merge
Written by Neil Patel on April 12, 2008 | 102 comments
I am not sure how many of you are into forums, but Webmaster-Talk.com and Earners Forum have just merged to create a better community. Now users have access to an enhanced marketplace, informative articles, blogs, interviews, and valuable tools.
Triple your income by attending Elite Retreat
Written by Neil Patel on January 31, 2008 | 5 comments
One of the best conferences I attended last year was the Elite Retreat. Many people were skeptical of a conference that charges $5000 for 2 days, but ALL of the attendees felt that they got their moneys worth.
Why You Have To Attend Search Marketing Expo
Written by Neil Patel on January 23, 2008 | 10 comments
As many of you already know, last year Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman kicked off the Search Marketing Expo (SMX). The conference series started with SMX Advanced in Seattle and it was a hit. Compared to most conferences, people actually came away learning new information as well as actually being happy with conference food for the first time (no more boxed lunches).
Are you are Shoeperstar?
Written by Neil Patel on December 16, 2007 | 9 comments
Shoemoney is throwing a contest called Shoeperstar where one lucky winner is going to get an all paid expense trip to SXSW, plus $1000 in spending cash.
Come to Vegas and party like a rockstar
Written by Neil Patel on October 24, 2007 | 9 comments
Shoemoney is throwing a contest where one lucky winner will get to hang out with Shoemoney, Dax Herrera, Rebecca Kelley, Greg Hartnett, David Dellanave, and me. The contest is simple... all you have to do is write a blog post about why you should win the Roll With The Rockstars contest and post your link in the comments.
So do you want to hang? Then you better start writing!
Comedy Central Takes Control of Its Content
Written by David Chen on October 22, 2007 | 2 comments
For months, sites like Rawstory and Crooksandliars have been taking content from The Daily Show, re-purposing it for their site, and getting it onto the front page of Digg and Reddit. With Comedy Central's (CC's) recent launch of their official Daily Show website, CC has made it incredibly easy to view and submit their content to a host of social networking sites. Today we take a look at the new site.
Who's going to Blog World Expo?
Written by Neil Patel on October 20, 2007 | 13 comments
On November 8th and 9th I will be at Blog World Expo. I will be speaking on advanced money making techniques on the 9th. If you want to learn about making money via blogging or just anything about blogging I highly recommend attending the conference. People like Brian Clark, Shoemoney, Greg Hartnett, and Matt Mullenweg will be there.
So anyone attending?
The Importance of Blog Action Day
Written by David Chen on October 15, 2007 | 9 comments
Today is Blog Action Day, and thousands of blogs (including Pronet) have chosen to participate by both bringing attention to the environment and donating the day's revenue to a green cause. What would happen if thousands of blogs decided to focus on one issue for one day, in an attempt at spreading awareness and raising money for good?
Win a Free Social Media Marketing Campaign from Pronet Advertising
Written by Neil Patel on October 14, 2007 | 9 comments
You are probably reading this blog because you want more traffic and links from social media sites like Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and any other social site out there. The sad thing is even by reading this blog there is no guarantee that you will do well on the social web, but instead you just improve your odds of success.
Chicks Digg SEOs
Written by Neil Patel on October 6, 2007 | 7 comments
I am not sure who is on the SEOShirts team, but I just got a cool t-shirt from them.
DonorsChoose.org - Do Something Good Today
Written by Muhammad Saleem on October 3, 2007 | 1 comment
DonorsChoose.org is a site that facilitates philanthropists in providing students with resources that the public schooling system would otherwise lack. In a break from our general scope of coverage, we encourage you to take a moment and do something to fund someone's future today.
What are your plans for October?
Written by Neil Patel on September 27, 2007 | 5 comments
Next month I will be traveling a decent amount because there are some great online marketing conferences that are taking place.
Product Isn't Always Enough
Written by Muhammad Saleem on August 15, 2007 | 9 comments
It's true that in most cases a good product is unique and innovative and self-sufficient enough that the maxim 'build it and they will come' stands true, but there are many other instances in which your products success can be prevented or limited because of things that are our of your control. Let's look at an example.
Flickr Video Is Coming, But Where is it Going?
Written by MG Siegler on August 6, 2007 | 9 comments
Internet video has obviously been a hot property for quite some time now and while it might not be sustainable, we continue to see new entrants into the field. The latest soon-to-be entrant will be a big one, Yahoo's photo site Flickr.
Startups: Private Beta Invite Authenication Problems
Written by Chris Hemphill on July 17, 2007 | 5 comments
While it is incredibly beneficial to use an invite-based system while your startup is in beta, the system is highly susceptible to spammers. Here are a few things to look out for.
The Importance of Picking The Right Host And How To Do It
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 4, 2007 | 8 comments
Picking the right service to host your website on is incredibly important. Imagine you get Dugg, or Reddited, or Slashdotted and you deplete the alloted server resources, not only will you rack up an exorbitant amount in overage charges but you miss out on incredibly important exposure, and new subscribers/readers.
The Pronet Advertising Quality Pledge
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 2, 2007 | 3 comments
In an effort to further improve the quality and credibility of the content on Pronet Advertising, we have established a code of conduct and a set of rules that will regulate all new content written on the site.
3 New Writers at Pronet Advertising
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 2, 2007 | 1 comment
Over the past 6 months or so, Pronet Advertising has seen healthy growth in traffic, RSS subscribers, as well as the site's Technorati rank. In line with the site's rising importance and as more and more people rely on the site for the latest in social media and online marketing news, reviews, and commentary, we are expanding our already great stable of writers to better serve you. Here's a look at the first batch of 3 new writers.
Your Corporate Image Online - What Not to Do
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 1, 2007 | 3 comments
The reason why I write about how companies are managing their corporate profiles online is because based on this we can learn and apply lessons to our own companies. Just like yesterday we covered how Dell is successfully engaging disgruntled consumers and addressing their woes, today we will look at how Microsoft is doing the exact opposite.
Vanessa Fox Gets Screwed
Written by Neil Patel on June 26, 2007 | 12 comments
I was analyzing Vanessa Fox's blog (which I highly recommend subscribing to) today and it seems that she is being screwed by social media sites. Not in the sense that they are intentionally doing bad things to her, but her blog doesn't seem to get any social media love.
Pronet Advertising Star Blogger Search
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 25, 2007 | 2 comments
We at Pronet Advertising are committed to bringing you the latest and most important in social media and new media news, reviews, commentary, and marketing strategies. But we can't do it alone and that's why we're looking for more great bloggers to join our stable.
News Corp./Yahoo: A Potential Conservative Web?
Written by MG Siegler on June 21, 2007 | 26 comments
With the rumor confirmed that News Corp. is looking into acquiring a sizable stake in Yahoo! in exchange for MySpace, I can't help but wonder if such a deal would bring about a kind of "conservative web", in contrast to today's largely liberal variety.
Lessons I learned While I Was Away
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 11, 2007 | 10 comments
I wanted to apologize for being away for so long but as loyal readers, you no doubt remember that life often gets in the way of bloggers. And even this time, I haven't been away without good reasons.
The Secret to Making 6 Figures a Year
Written by Neil Patel on June 7, 2007 | 8 comments
You probably have a 9 to 5 job that sucks and doesn't pay well. There is nothing wrong with doing what you love, but if you are trying to make money I recommend doing affiliate marketing through Azoogle. In the past I posted about making thousands of dollars from affiliate marketing and it seemed that many of you wanted to know the secret... so here it is
Free iPod Video
Written by Neil Patel on May 29, 2007 | 8 comments
Today on Pronet I added a social stock prediction widget to the sidebar. I usually like to keep the design clean, but for roughly 2 weeks there will be a widget on the site that allows you to predict stock prices for Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Interactive Corp, and News Corp. Whoever has the highest score at the end of 2 weeks will be given a free video iPod from Jambaz (the creators of the widget).
How-To Make Believers out of Detractors - Steps to Success
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 26, 2007 | 1 comment
After hearing from Guy Kawasaki this past week and talking to Tim Ferriss about his road to success, I came away learning something incredibly important: how to make detractors believe in your products or services, and how to make them believe in you.
Tim Ferriss - Social Media and The Social Proof - Part 2
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 23, 2007 | 8 comments
Here's the second part to yesterday's interview with Tim Ferriss.
A Marketer is No One without a Programmer
Written by Neil Patel on May 19, 2007 | 4 comments
Lately, many companies who have requested my marketing services for their new product or web application feel that I can work my magic and make it so their sub-par product does really well. In reality, this is impossible. Marketing can only be successful when you have a genuinely compelling product. Sites like YouTube, Skype, and Flickr all did well because of all the programming and product development that went into building great services which enabled great marketing to do its trick.
Branding Yourself for Success - QuickSprout
Written by Neil Patel on May 7, 2007 | 2 comments
Personal branding is something I get a lot of questions about. People often ask me what they should do in order to get an established name out there and be seen as a major influencer in their industry. The reason they want this is because the second you accomplish this, the opportunities will come your way and you'd be amazed at the kind of business or money that just lands in your lap.
Technorati Updates User Interface, Adds Authority
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 5, 2007 | 6 comments
Technorati has made several changes to their site and the way they display information about the sites that are indexed by them. Here's a look at what's new.
Pronet Advertising - Technorati Top 100 Blog
Written by Neil Patel on May 4, 2007 | 16 comments
I was browsing through the Technorati Top 100 list today and it seems that Pronet Advertising is on it.
How to Create Passionate Customers
Written by Neil Patel on April 30, 2007 | 2 comments
The other day I wrote a short post on passionate customers which was about a funny beer commercial. The problem with many online companies is that they don't think about creating passionate customers when they should be; so here are a few ways you can do so:
Why I Love the SEO Community - J. Schoemaker
Written by Neil Patel on April 27, 2007 | 8 comments
The most thoughtful person I have met in my SEO life is J. Schoemaker (Shoemoney's wife).
March's 'Most Frequently' Visited Sites
Written by Muhammad Saleem on April 20, 2007 | 1 comment
Before you actually read this article, try to make an educated guess about the top 1-5 sites visited most frequently by US internet users in March 2007. While many of you will make the same guesses, the results are going to surprise you.
Elite Retreat Strikes Back
Written by Neil Patel on April 18, 2007 | 1 comment
Are you kicking yourself for missing the last Elite Retreat? If not you probably are now because many of the attendees walked away learning how to make $5,000 to $10,000 a month. Instead of regretting it, you can now attend Elite Retreat.
Unique Visitors May Not Be So Unique
Written by Muhammad Saleem on April 16, 2007 | 5 comments
When website visitors are tracked, either for the purpose of calculating audience size or to keep track of the number of advertisements you are serving, one of the most interesting metrics to look at (at least traditionally) is the number of unique monthly visitors to your content. According to a study released by ComScore today, however, your unique visitors may not be unique at all.
See You at SES New York
Written by Cameron Olthuis on April 6, 2007 | 4 comments
Neil and I are leaving to Search Engine Strategies NY on Sunday morning. We'll be arriving at the conference hotel probably sometime around 6 on Sunday evening. Once we check in I'm sure we'll quickly make our way to the bar so we can begin the week's festivities.
Jason Calacanis Challenge Update
Written by Neil Patel on March 28, 2007 | 12 comments
On Monday I blogged about the Jason Calacanis challenge and how he received a 21% increase in traffic with only 10% of the changes being made so far. Many people have been wondering what the 10% of the changes were and some have even blogged that it could have been a fluke.
Serphing out of beta
Written by Cameron Olthuis on March 28, 2007 | 3 comments
We're bringing Serph out of beta today. We first mentioned our reputation management tool; Serph, a couple of months ago and we're now ready for it to be open to the public. We appreciate everyone who used Serph during our beta period and those who provided feedback and brought our attention to various bugs.
Search Engine Smackdown: The Video Game
Written by Neil Patel on March 27, 2007 | 15 comments
Bored? Be bored no more because we have created a video game that will keep you entertained and teach you about the search industry. Search Engine Smackdown is a fun game where you can be the Google founders (Larry & Sergey), Yahoo founders (Jerry & David), or Microsoft founders (Bill & Paul) and duke it out with each other in a wrestling ring. Here are some screenshots:
Calacanis - SEO's Next Evangelist?
Written by Neil Patel on March 26, 2007 | 59 comments
I've been getting quite a few emails asking about the Jason Calacanis challenge so I thought I would update you guys on it today.
Google Reader Still Could Be So Much More
Written by MG Siegler on March 22, 2007 | 4 comments
When Google unveiled the 'Trends' statistical page for Google Reader a few months back, many people, including yours truly, postulated that it could be the first step towards a new killer-app; a kind of Digg-meets-Del.icio.us-meets-Google News.
San Diego Meetup
Written by Neil Patel on March 12, 2007 | 8 comments
Every month Cameron hosts a small meetup in San Diego called Refresh SD. I am not sure how many of you are in LA, Orange County or San Diego, but if you would like to meet Cameron and I and learn about the latest online trends come to Refresh SD.
Bad Bad Buzz
Written by Aneil Weber on March 8, 2007 | 11 comments
Comcast's image is anything but Comcastic. They have been lambasted on numerous fronts because of their poor customer service and seemingly unethical mode of operation. To further confound their situation, they have been radio silent about most of their issues and seem to have a "don't wanna know" and "don't wanna care" attitude about it.
Monetizing Your Blog with Auction Ads
Written by Neil Patel on March 6, 2007 | 9 comments
Auction Ads is a new service that has been launched by MediaWhiz and Shoemoney Media. With Auction Ads you can place eBay listings on your website and get paid for driving traffic. It is pretty easy to use and you can see an example of an ad below.
Early Notice: Social Media Conference Later This Year
Written by Neil Patel on February 20, 2007 | 4 comments
Search Marketing Expo, Danny Sullivan's new conference series, and Pronet Advertising are going to be hosting a social media conference in New York on October 16th and 17th. We know this announcement comes a little early, but we just wanted to give an early notice, so you could mark your calendars and join in on the fun!
Copyblogger on Rush Hour
Written by Cameron Olthuis on February 13, 2007 |
Brian Clark from Copyblogger fame will be joining Neil and myself for the second episode of Rush Hour tomorrow. We will be discussing the role that copywriting plays in social media and viral marketing campaigns: writing good content, headlines, descriptions, calls to action and more.
50% Off ReviewMe
Written by Neil Patel on February 12, 2007 | 2 comments
This month we are offering a special at ReviewMe where all reviews are 50% off. The best part about this deal is that 100% of the payout goes to the blogger. So if you haven't tried out Review Me yet, now is the perfect time.
Neil Patel, The Wizard of Buzz
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 11, 2007 | 7 comments
Our very own Neil Patel was profiled on the Wall Street Journal today for his influence in Social Media, primarily on Digg.com.
A Good Example of Targeted Marketing
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 9, 2007 | 3 comments
The following picture of an advertisement in Harlem is an excellent example of targeted marketing.
Open Challenge to Jason Calacanis
Written by Neil Patel on February 8, 2007 | 59 comments
It seems a lot of commotion has been created due to a post that Muhammad did on Why Socially Driven Sites Hate SEOs. Jason Calacanis picked up the story and did a whole rant on why he thinks SEO is bullshit...
Rush Hour: Our new podcast
Written by Cameron Olthuis on February 5, 2007 | 12 comments
Neil and I have a new radio show on Webmaster Radio called Rush Hour that will air on Wednesdays at 1PM PST / 4PM EST. The show will focus on social media and social media marketing.
Text Link Ads and Us
Written by Neil Patel on January 31, 2007 | 6 comments
Text Link Ads is a company Cameron and I have loved since they started. They provide a great service to bloggers by helping them make more money from their blog and they help businesses increase their traffic through text links. Due to our passion for Text Link Ads and because I have known Patrick Gavin (one of the co-founders) since I was in "diapers" we decided to become the new evangelists for them.
Serph's Up
Written by Cameron Olthuis on January 29, 2007 | 28 comments
Last spring we started developing Serph, a tool that helps you find what other people are saying on the web right now. For a couple of months now we have slowly been inviting a handful of people into our closed beta for testing and feedback. As of yesterday we have officially gone from a closed beta to a more "open" beta.
Please welcome Muhammad Saleem
Written by Neil Patel on January 29, 2007 | 12 comments
I am proud to welcome Muhammad Saleem to the Pronet Advertising team. I have been good friends with Muhammad for quite some time now and we have both had great conversations with each other about social media. You may have read some of his blog posts on social media at The Mu Life or seen him on some of the popular social media sites. As a top 20 Digger and as a Netscape Navigator Muhammad has a lot knowledge and will be sharing his experiences on Pronet.
Downtime can be entertaining
Written by Neil Patel on January 27, 2007 | 8 comments
Don't you just hate it when a site you trying to visit is down for maintenance? It usually causes users to get ticked off, especially if it ends up happening too often. This actually happens to Crazy Egg more often then we'd like because of the constant upgrades and tweaks we do. Due to this we decided to create a Crazy Egg maintenance game.
Elite Retreat San Francisco
Written by Neil Patel on January 22, 2007 |
A few weeks ago I blogged about my trip to Shoe Money University where I learned how to make money through PPC arbitrage. It seems that a lot of you are interested in making money from arbitrage and trying to get into the whole online marketing space.
Thanks everyone
Written by Cameron Olthuis on January 5, 2007 | 14 comments
I'm proud to say that Pronet Advertising has won the award for Best Social Media Optimization blog of 2006 in the Search Blog Awards that was put on by Loren Baker from Search Engine Journal. We are really honored to win this award and would like to thank everyone who voted for us. We look forward to stepping it up another notch in 2007.
What I learned at Shoemoney University
Written by Neil Patel on January 4, 2007 | 29 comments
As many of you already know I am currently a senior in college and have around 9 classes left. Some people think I must graduate even if it takes me a couple more years to finish and others say I should drop out. And then there's Jeremy Schoemaker who told me to drop out of my current college and attend University of Nebraska, Shoemoney (UNSM); so I decided to take Jeremy up on his offer and attend his university for a few days. Here are some of the things that I have learned from Jeremy...
AdBrite launches InVideo
Written by Cameron Olthuis on January 4, 2007 | 5 comments
I've been checking out this new video advertising service from Adbrite that Shoemoney blogged about last night. Basically it is a video hosting service that offers a customizable video player that you can brand with your own logo. The player also comes with non-intrusive ads; if the user hovers over a little text link in the top left corner there's a small ad that drops down, split screen style, on top of the video.
2007 Predictions
Written by Neil Patel on December 29, 2006 | 4 comments
I have just been tagged by Allen Stern and Cameron Olthuis to share my predictions for 2007. So here goes:
Happy Holidays
Written by Neil Patel on December 23, 2006 | 10 comments
Happy holidays to everyone, from all of us here at Pronet Advertising. For the next few days kick back, relax, and have some fun. Spend some time with your friends, family, and colleagues, but don't get too carried away with those Christmas corals.
Vote for Pronet and your wildest dreams will come true
Written by Cameron Olthuis on December 20, 2006 | 8 comments
We need your support. We've been nominated for the best social media optimization blog in the 2006 Search Blog Awards that are put on by Loren Baker from Search Engine Journal. We are up against some very tough competitors and could use every vote we can get. Our blog has been around for less than a year now so this is our first nomination for any kind of award and we are very flattered. It is great to be recognized for all the hard work and hopefully this is the first nomination of many to come.
5 Things You Don't Know About Neil Patel
Written by Neil Patel on December 15, 2006 | 10 comments
Andy Beal recently tagged me to share 5 things that most people don't know about me. So here goes...
SES Chicago Recap
Written by Cameron Olthuis on December 8, 2006 | 24 comments
SES Chicago was a blast. We had the chance to network with a ton of new people and also had a great time hanging out with old friends we've made over the last year while attending other conferences. Some of the things that stood out from the week are...
SES Chicago
Written by Cameron Olthuis on December 2, 2006 | 1 comment
Neil and I are both leaving very early in the morning for SES Chicago. We'll be meeting up at the Chicago airport around noon and then heading over to the Hilton where we'll be staying for the rest of the week. Neil is speaking on the Social Media Optimization panel and I will be speaking on Linkbait & Viral Search Success. Both of our sessions are on Wednesday. Beside that we plan on hanging around during the day and catching a few sessions here and there. In the evenings we can probably be found at the parties or the hotel bar. Hope to see you all there.
MuseStorm makes widgets easy
Written by Neil Patel on December 1, 2006 | 8 comments
Widgets have been a hot topic lately and it seems more and more companies are getting into it due to their effect on website traffic and brand recognition. Although widgets sound like a great thing for everyone to have, the problem with them is that not everyone has the technical know how to create them. Because of this a company called MuseStorm recently launched into private beta looking to solve this pain for publishers.
Happy Thanksgiving
Written by Neil Patel on November 23, 2006 |
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from all of us here at Pronet Advertising. We especially want to say thanks to all our readers because without you we wouldn't be where we are today. We also want to say thanks to all of our families, friends, and colleagues.
Using Web Applications to Foster Customer Loyalty
Written by Ryan Fujiu on November 21, 2006 | 4 comments
There has been a great deal of interest in the psychology of customer loyalty and its implications on market strategy. Across industries, loyal customers are seen as a metaphorical "gold mine" and are an essential component of long-term success.
Please welcome Ryan Fujiu to our Pronet Advertising team
Written by Neil Patel on November 21, 2006 | 6 comments
I'm proud to welcome Ryan Fujiu to our blogging team at Pronet Advertising. Ryan has been working with ACS for some time now developing Calwineries; a social network built around California Wine. Although relatively unknown in the Internet community, he understands how online marketing works.
Going to Pubcon
Written by Cameron Olthuis on November 11, 2006 |
Neil and I will be heading to Pubcon in Las Vegas on Monday. Neil is going to be participating in the Ad and Landing Page Site Reviews session on Tuesday so if you're coming to the conference make sure you check out the panel. Besides that, we'll be checking out some of the other conference sessions and hanging out at the parties at night. Maybe even sneak in a game of poker or two.
Interview with Greg Hartnett
Written by Neil Patel on November 3, 2006 | 1 comment
Greg Hartnett is one of the few individuals who has been in the online marketing space for quite some time. He is well known in the industry as a blogger, speaker and entrepreneur. Due to the experience he has gained from running many successful companies I decided to do an interview with him.
Interview with Chris Pirillo
Written by Neil Patel on October 26, 2006 |
I recently did an email interview with Chris Pirillo who is a well known blogger and entrepreneur. I asked him a few questions regarding linkbait, blogging, his conference and the web. He had some very interesting things to say and I am sure everyone will enjoy the interview.
Catchup - 10/16/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on October 16, 2006 |
- Blinkx.tv to Power Microsoft Video Search
Microsoft will be using Blinkx technology to power video search within MSN and Live.com.
Interview with Lee Odden
Written by Neil Patel on October 12, 2006 |
For quite a long time I have been reading Lee Odden's blog and have had the privilege to meet Lee in person at a few conferences. Lee has been in the industry for 9 years and he has a unique approach on PR and SEO. Because of this I asked him a few questions through an email interview. Here are the questions and his answers.
When will people realize, you get what you pay for!
Written by Cameron Olthuis on October 11, 2006 | 7 comments
You wouldn't let your nephew be your accountant, so why would you hire him to build your website? That's pretty much the question Todd Malicoat is asking with his latest post titled "You wear a suit to work, but let your nephew design your website?"
What's your blog juice
Written by Neil Patel on October 11, 2006 | 3 comments
Have you ever wondered how popular your blog is compared to other blogs in your industry? You might be able to figure this out by doing a simple backward link check, but that only shows you a small part of the full picture. Why not compare traffic or even RSS subscribers to get a more complete picture? Today Text Link Ads released a tool that compares the popularity of your blog to others by taking multiple variables into account.
Best practices for online customer communities
Written by Cameron Olthuis on October 9, 2006 | 3 comments
Communispace, a company that builds private communities for corporations, put out a press release for the 10 Best Practices for Online Customer Communities. Private label social networks and communities that are built around brands & products are starting to become more commonplace as companies begin to realize just how powerful they can be.
Catchup - 10/6/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on October 6, 2006 |
- Google Buys Birthplace Garage
Google has purchased the garage where the company developed after its initial birth at Stanford University. Actually, they've purchased the home of Google vice president of product management Susan Wojcicki. Before she became a Google VP, Wojcicki rented the garage attached to her home to Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Do customers want to be your friend?
Written by Cameron Olthuis on October 4, 2006 | 7 comments
Does your company have a MySpace page? If so, are you "friends" with your customers? Did they friend you or did you friend them? If you do not own a company are there any companies that you would want to be friends with?
Verizon puts all issues on the table
Written by Cameron Olthuis on October 2, 2006 | 1 comment
Steve Rubel points us to this Mediapost article that reports Verizon is getting ready to launch an "all issues on the table" blog for consumers. First of all I think this is great because like Steve says...
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Written by Neil Patel on October 1, 2006 |
I usually do not make off topic posts, but October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Every year, breast cancer claims more than 40,000 lives. By the age of 90 roughly 1 out of 7 women will be affected by breast cancer and roughly 1 out of 1000 men will be affected by it. So if you would like to participate in the National Breast Cancer Awareness month you can educate others, donate money to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, participate in Pink for October or do something unique like Derek Punsalan over at 5ThirtyOne has.
Catchup - 9/29/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 29, 2006 |
- Micorsoft Digital Advertising Solutions
Microsoft is announcing the launch of "Digital Advertising Solutions" and a media campaign to go with it. It's an effort to bring together Microsoft's various properties into a unified platform that gives advertisers ways to buy reach and audiences efficiently: Xbox, mobile, PCs and, maybe, TV.
Secrets to Beating the Sandbox
Written by Neil Patel on September 25, 2006 |
Many of you may have websites or blogs that are not doing to well on Google because they are in the Google Sandbox. If you ever wondered how to get out of the Sandobx, Andy Hagans from Text Link Ads recently wrote a detailed post on the "Secrets to Beating the Sandbox 2.0 REVEALED: The Ultimate Guide".
What is 9rules?
Written by Neil Patel on September 23, 2006 | 14 comments
Recently Paul Scrivens from 9rules announced that 9rules round 5 will be taking place on October 25th. Some of you may be thinking about entering your blog in round 5 and some of you maybe wondering what 9rules is all about. This blog and Cameron's blog both got accepted into 9rules during round 4 and ever since we have been discovering exactly what 9rules is all about. A lot of the people whom I've talked to see it as a blog network, but as a member here is how I see it...
Catchup - 9/22/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 22, 2006 |
- YouTube & Warner Strike Music Licensing Deal
YouTube and Warner Music have announced an advertising revenue sharing deal with will distribute and license Warner Music Group Corp's copyrighted songs and other material through YouTube. Under the deal, Warner Music has agreed to license its songs to the people who upload their videos to YouTube. Meaning that any video producer can now legally use Warner Music in their videos as theme or background music, or even produce alternative videos for Warner songs.
Interview with Todd Malicoat
Written by Neil Patel on September 18, 2006 | 2 comments
Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Todd Malicoat at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose. Todd is a well known expert in the field of Internet marketing who has worked both for himself as well as marketing firms. Because of his experiences and knowledge in Internet marketing, I decided to do an email interview with him.
Catchup - 9/16/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 16, 2006 |
Ask.com announced a new Germany research and development center to be headed up by Eric Heymann, former head of technology at Seekport, as director of global content acquisition today. The German R&D center will work closely with the Pisa, Italy, Campbell, Calif., and Piscataway, N.J. locations. Apostolos Gerasoulis, VP of search technology at Ask.com, said, "the expansion of our European research and development team will allow Ask.com to continue to develop and scale our world-class search."
Wikipedia dominates brand search results
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 12, 2006 |
Steve Rubel recently conducted a study that compiled the top 100 advertisers on AdAge, then he entered each of them in Google and tallied the results. What he found is that Wikipedia is showing up most of the time for brand searches, this will come as no surprise to any SEO or anyone else that spots trends in search results. But Steve finds a quite a few interesting things, one particular find is...
Catchup - 9/9/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 9, 2006 |
YouTube has taken a step in the serious direction of fortifying its management team and monetization efforts with the recruitment of Gideo Yu, Yahoo's Treasurer. Yu is now the Chief Financial Officer at YouTube.
Learning from Google's data centers
Written by Neil Patel on September 7, 2006 | 18 comments
Have you ever wondered how many data centers the search engine giant Google has, or why it is important to know each one? Currently Google has around 39 or more data centers. They can tell us a lot about how Google works; such as giving us an indication of when they are doing an algorithm update or when they are updating pagerank.
Getting out of the Google Sandbox
Written by Neil Patel on September 7, 2006 | 3 comments
Is your website getting no Google love when it should be getting a lot of love? In March 2004 the mysterious theory of the Google Sandbox came about, which is when Google puts new websites through a probation period where they do not rank well.
Catchup - 9/3/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 3, 2006 |
Google has deployed the first pieces of its upcoming Office suite. They've launched Google Apps for your Domain, a set of Google services targeted to small and mid sized companies. With the new service, companies can use Gmail, Talk, Calendar and Page Creator under a single control panel. Applications and data will be hosted by Google, for free, with ad support.
What's up with Google?
Written by Neil Patel on August 30, 2006 |
On August 24th it was reported that Google was updating backlinks on these two datacenters: 64.233.187.104 and 64.233.187.99. It is normal to see a backlink update on a few datacenters and then within a couple days the update is usually live on all of their datacenters. ...
Don't forget about your existing customers
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 30, 2006 | 7 comments
One of the first lessons that you learn in business is that it costs more to acquire new customers than it does to keep existing ones. Not only does it cost less but it is also easier to keep old customers. So when someone asks the question "Why do so many companies treat potential users so much better than existing users?" it really makes you think.
Danny Sullivan leaves Search Engine Watch
Written by Neil Patel on August 29, 2006 |
Danny Sullivan, the godfather of search, has just made an announcement that he is leaving Search Engine Watch. He might still continue to write on Search Engine Watch after December 1st, 2006 and the last two conferences that he will be attending are ...
Catchup - 8/25/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 25, 2006 |
- Yahoo Gains Search Market Share
comScore said that Yahoo!'s search share showed a modest, fractional gain for the second month in a row (but down vs. a year ago). Google, by comparison, showed a single point decline.
10 things Google knows about you
Written by Neil Patel on August 25, 2006 | 13 comments
Recently I was asked the question, "What does Google know about me?" This person was concerned with their privacy and was interested in knowing what Google knows about them, so I decided to do some searches. Here are some interesting results on what Google knows about you.
Conquering copyright infringements
Written by Neil Patel on August 24, 2006 | 6 comments
Copyright infringements can be a pain to deal with. With the Internet wide open people are able to steal content from other people's sites and acting like it is their own.
My thoughts on school & marketing
Written by Neil Patel on August 22, 2006 | 5 comments
Guy Kawasaki recently wrote, "Ten Things to Learn This School Year", and as a college student what he said really holds true for me. I am currently a senior in college and my major is marketing, so far it has not prepared me for the real world.
Catchup - 8/18/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 18, 2006 |
Internet search giant Google is reportedly planning to set up a server farm in India. This would be the second attempt by the Mountain View, California-based company, after infrastructure-related problems forced it to cancel an earlier plan which was scheduled for March this year. The company went on to set up that server farm in Taiwan.
Catchup - 8/12/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 12, 2006 |
Google and Yahoo have been quietly agreeing to deals that compensate some of the country's top news organizations for their content and help drive more traffic to their Web sites and that a major shift might be ahead in the relationship between old media and new Internet gatekeepers.
Back from Northern California
Written by Neil Patel on August 10, 2006 | 3 comments
Today was the last day of our trip and I am on my way home as we speak. We had a fun time at WordCamp, Search Engine Strategies, and all of the parties that went along with it.
Interview with Guy Kawasaki
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 8, 2006 | 18 comments
Recently I did an email interview with Guy Kawasaki who is a well known blogger, venture capitalist, and an evangelist (not in any particular order). I asked him 12 questions regarding blogging, venture capital, and marketing.
Taking a trip up north
Written by Neil Patel on August 4, 2006 |
For the next 7 days, you will probably see light posting on Pronet because Cameron and I are on the road again to San Jose, California. We are going up to northern California for the Search Engine Strategies conference and Wordcamp.
Creative ads in strange places
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 1, 2006 |
BusinessWeek has come out with an article that showcases creative ads that are showing up in strange places. For each ad BusinessWeek gives a brief overview of the campaign and how it was created.
Top 100 brands
Written by Neil Patel on July 31, 2006 |
BusinessWeek recently published an article on "The Worlds Best Brands". They made a profile of the top 100 global brands and included some brief information on each brand as well as their value.
Catchup - 7/28/2006
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 28, 2006 |
Google Maps has rolled out a new mobile version offering real-time traffic information in 30 US cities. The service also offers directions designed for those who are walking, in addition to driving.
Google ads hit the airways
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 27, 2006 | 1 comment
We've known that Google was getting ready to put ads on the radio for awhile now, ever since the $102 million purchase of dMarc Broadcasting, an automated radio advertising company. Today Google actually began playing ads on a radio station in Detroit.
Google AdSense in desktop software
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 24, 2006 | 4 comments
A new software company, Spiceworks, is aiming to bring Google Adsense ads to your desktop. The startup is launching free software that will monitor the networks of small to medium sized businesses; they plan to make revenue from displaying Google ads on your desktop.
A collection of strange links on Google.com
Written by Neil Patel on July 24, 2006 | 32 comments
Although Google is a search engine, they are also a website. They, themselves, have millions of pages indexed, some are to services they provide and others are to random things on Google.
Catchup - 7/21/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 21, 2006 |
Part of the launch of the new Yahoo homepage, Yahoo has added some features to Yahoo Finance. Those features include new tools to manage charts, an improved "investors chat room" and financial video news.
Google, helping you download movies
Written by Neil Patel on July 20, 2006 | 4 comments
Have you ever seen or heard people talking about downloading movies off the Internet? It may seem like a complicated thing to do, but because Google has millions of pages in their index it is now easy to find and download movies.
HomeDepot.com to offer ad space
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 18, 2006 | 2 comments
Honestly, I'm not quite sure what to make of the news that Homedepot.com is going to offer ad space on their website. I can't figure out if this is a smart move or completely lame. On one hand it seems just flat out ridiculous to drive traffic away from a retail site. On the other hand I can see this as a benefit for Home Depot's customers.
Google's growing list of domains
Written by Neil Patel on July 17, 2006 | 168 comments
Have you ever wondered how many domain names Google owns? Currently Google owns 520 domain names. Their domain collection has been growing over the last couple years because of all of the companies they started and have bought.
Catchup - 7/14/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 14, 2006 |
Google is working on a health portal named the Google Health Scrapbook. From what I understand there will be a "directory" for patients, doctors, vendors and pharmaceutical each. Google "users will be able to log in with their own account information and do things such as add a new medical provider, check their medical records or pay their bills."
Making Fridays Fun
Written by Neil Patel on July 12, 2006 |
You may have noticed that every Friday, Cameron and I post about humor and news. Cameron usually writes a catchup with all the hottest Internet marketing news of the week and I write a couple of marketing related humor posts.
Confusing bloggers, Technorati style
Written by Neil Patel on July 9, 2006 | 2 comments
Technorati is a popular blog search engine with a large user base that loves them. They have a lot of neat features and capabilities such as custom profiles, watch lists, a blog finder and even an API.
Catchup - 7/7/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 7, 2006 |
Internet advertisers paid $800 million for bogus clicks on their marketing messages last year, shaking confidence in the industry and prompting many to reduce spending with Google, Yahoo and other Web sites. Advertisers say that 14.6 percent of all clicks are bogus.
Be different
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 6, 2006 |
Ideas are a dime a dozen. Lets face it, no matter how great and innovative you think your idea is there are lots of other people thinking about and probably working on the same thing. Guy Kawasaki has a great rule of thumb for this...
The forgotten search
Written by Neil Patel on July 3, 2006 |
With the number of websites on the web growing each day, internal search is becoming more and more popular. Ecommerce sites all the way up to blogs now have an internal search feature where anyone can search for content, products, and services within that website.
TechCrunch: Now with more sponsors
Written by Neil Patel on July 2, 2006 |
In the last few days Michael Arrington has added 2 new sponsors to TechCrunch to make up a total of 6 sponsored ads at the top right. The advertising rate has also been increased from $7,500 to $10,000 for these sponsored ads.
Catchup - 7/02/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on July 2, 2006 |
Google's long awaited payment service has finally launched. Google Checkout is a new system that allows merchants to process credit-card payments. Merchants that use Google Checkout will have a little icon displayed in their Google ads.
Marketing 2.0: Gathering a crowd
Written by Neil Patel on July 1, 2006 | 4 comments
Crowdstorm is a yet to be released new social shopping website that allows you to research products, read other people's opinions on products and see what's hot. A unique thing about Crowdstorm is the way they have been marketing their company.
Our valley trip
Written by Neil Patel on June 30, 2006 | 2 comments
In the last couple of days you may have noticed a lack of posts. Cameron and I took a trip to Silicon Valley to meet up with some random people, clients, and a couple 9rulers...
CNet missed one
Written by Neil Patel on June 27, 2006 |
CNet has released the Top 10 Google Apps, which is a listing of the top Google applications and their ratings. The list was pretty good overall, but there was one big disappoint...
Google Desktop Gadget Challenge
Written by Cameron Olthuis on June 27, 2006 |
Google has announced a desktop gadget contest. The contest runs for the next month and the winner will receive $5000, plus the chance to show the world their mad skills.
Catchup - 6/23/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on June 23, 2006 |
Last week there was spam site that managed to get over 5 billion pages indexed and ranked on Google within a matter of weeks. Shorty after someone outed the site Google yanked all the pages from their index. Kudos to Google for taking quick action, a big smack upside the head for letting this happen in the first place.
Are your employees evangelists?
Written by Cameron Olthuis on June 22, 2006 |
What does it say about your product when your employees use your competitors' products more than they do your own? Based on a post from Andrew Hitchcock, Phillip Lenssen posted some statistics that show Microsoft employees use Google 3x more than they use MSN.
Catchup - 6/16/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on June 16, 2006 |
comScore Media Metrix released May's monthly analysis of consumer activity of top online properties. The social networking phenomenon continued its stratospheric ascent, as MySpace.com reached new heights with 50 million visitors in May and YouTube.com nearly doubled its traffic from April, reaching 12.6 million visitors. It's amazing how fast these sites continue to grow, now they just need to figure out how to monetize the traffic.
9rules has welcomed Pronet
Written by Neil Patel on June 14, 2006 | 7 comments
I am so excited; I am now an official 9rules member. I am honored to be selected in the 4th round with Cameron and all of the other great bloggers that made it. If you are not too sure what 9rules is about
Catchup - 6/12/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on June 12, 2006 |
Yahoo has launched a customized version of Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2, which has Yahoo search built into the browser. It's good to see that Yahoo still has some fight left in them, I was beginning to think they'd thrown in towel for the search war. With the loyal following that Firefox has built I'm not sure yet whether this is a good move or not. What do you think?
Catchup - 6/9/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on June 9, 2006 |
New stats from Hitwise has put Google at 60% of the total search queries performed in the US. They put Yahoo at 22% and MSN at 12%. Google's share continues to climb while Yahoo and MSN are heading down the slope.
Catchup - 6/2/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on June 2, 2006 | 2 comments
By leveraging the AdSense API, sites can now allow members to create AdSense accounts and earn cash for content contributions. Members will even be able to track earning through the sites. Giant step forward for the social web.
Catchup - 5/25/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on May 25, 2006 | 4 comments
del.icio.us redesigned their homepage and added some new features. The homepage features a hotlist which is updated every hour to show the three most popular links at the moment. They will never show you the same link twice. So everytime you visit the homepage will see something new that's popular.
Catchup - 5/18/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on May 18, 2006 |
Google Notebook officially launched this week. With Notebook you can clip text, images, and links from the web. Notes are easily organized by creating multiple notebooks and dividing them into sections. Like most of the other services Google has launched lately, I personally think this one's a dud. I am however a big fan of Google Trends...
Catchup - 5/13/06
Written by Cameron Olthuis on May 13, 2006 |
Google and Nokia are teaming up to release an updated version of Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet. It will be fully loaded with Google Talk which will enable instant messaging.
Introducing Cameron Olthuis
Written by Neil Patel on May 13, 2006 |
We wanted to announce an exciting new addition to our team at ACS. Cameron Olthuis has joined ACS and will be blogging with me on Pronet Advertising. Cameron currently maintains his own blog and also participates regularly by commenting on many blogs in this industry.
Co-operating with Google
Written by Neil Patel on May 12, 2006 | 2 comments
The last couple of days I have been playing with the Google Co-op, which you might have heard of. It's been out for two days now so we have yet to see where it goes, but I thought I'd introduce a few features about it.
iPod Bloopers
Written by Neil Patel on May 10, 2006 |
You know you've got a strong brand when people are going through the trouble to make fun of it. Whenever a company makes a big impact with their marketing they always end up with a few mocks in magazines or on television. When this happens, it actually says a lot about the brand that is in the spotlight.
AT&T - Reach out and touch EVERYONE
Written by Neil Patel on April 26, 2006 |
Most of the billboards we see carry a message that we can all understand. "Real California Cheese" is pretty self explanatory and there aren't too many people out there who don't know what Cheese is. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this sign as I was driving on the 880 Freeway by the Oakland Coliseum
Google's Hidden Talent
Written by Neil Patel on April 23, 2006 | 1 comment
We've all surprised our friends with some random talent we have at some point. I guess I never realized that companies can do the same thing. Yesterday I was browsing through Google and found some "Specialty Search Engines" that they have released. They have U.S. Government, Linux, BSD, Apple Macintosh, and Microsoft search engines available.
Catchup - 4/14/06
Written by Neil Patel on April 14, 2006 |
Social search heats up: Microsoft and Eurekster in talks Eurekster is a community search engine. Microsoft is currently in the talks with Eurekster to either partner up or buy them out. Cuban sells blog search engine IceRocket, a blog search engine owned by Mark Cuban, sells out to Think Partnership Inc. Firefox Flicks A funny video clip of a Firefox ad. Firefox is holding a contest where people create 30-second ads that aim to bring Firefox to life for the millions of web users...So, you want to be a copycat
Written by Neil Patel on March 25, 2006 | 2 comments
The other day I was looking at our referrers and noticed that we were getting a lot of traffic from Extra.com. I checked out the site to see what the deal was and was rather surprised to come across an exact copy of our design! Check this out: I'll admit that I was a bit flattered at first but after thinking about this I became rather peeved. First of all, what gives here? I come across designs all the time that I admire, but copying...The Cost of Integrity
Written by Neil Patel on March 17, 2006 |
Business is business, or is it? You have to draw a line somewhere in the sand that separates the ethical companies from the unethical ones and as an SEO we have certainly had to draw this line. We were initially concerned that it was bad business practice to turn down business, but after about a millisecond of thought we decided that operating with integrity is a key value in our business and that regardless of the opportunity cost we would hold true to that value....Taxi Cab SEO
Written by Neil Patel on March 15, 2006 |
You're probably wondering the same thing as I was, what do taxi cab driver and SEO have in common? At first glance, nothing. At second glance, still nothing. So why did the taxi cab driver that took me to the airport from the SES conference say he was an SEO?
Will Google change offline media forever?
Written by Neil Patel on February 17, 2006 |
As reported by Eric Sass in an interview conducted with Patrick Keane who is Google's director of Advertising Strategy, Google plans on helping advertisers measure the effectiveness of traditional media advertisments.
Microsoft buys into mobile search
Written by Neil Patel on February 13, 2006 |
According to CNET's news.com,Microsoft has just acquired MotionBridge. MotionBridge is a company that specializes in mobile search.
Gmail Chat vs. Campfire
Written by Neil Patel on February 8, 2006 |
Google has just started to integrate Google Talk with Gmail. This announcement comes only a few days after 37signals briefly opened up Campfire, group chat for businesses, for testing.
Catch those thieves!
Written by Neil Patel on February 3, 2006 | 2 comments
Don't you hate it when you loose your wallet? I know I do. Every time I loose my wallet, the first thing that occurs to me is, did someone steal it? The sad thing about it is, usually you never find out. What if you never knew that your wallet was stolen? What about your website?
