It’s Unofficial: OOXML Wins
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
No one would joke about this – not even on April Fool’s Day.
While it won’t be official until Wednesday when the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) announces the final vote tally, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) issued a press release Tuesday morning stating that its Office Open XML (OOXML) file formats have “unofficially” made it into the winner’s circle.
That is, OOXML has garnered enough switched votes among national delegations to make it a co-standard for document interchange with the OpenDocument Format (ODF).
For its part, the ISO told InternetNews.com in an e-mail Tuesday that it will not issue its official announcement of the results until Wednesday, April 2.
(Read the full post about ‘It’s Unofficial: OOXML Wins’…)
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
New gDay algorithm threatens future of search marketing
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
New gDay algorithm threatens future of search marketing
There’s very few questions Google has not been able to answer and, equally, there have been very few loopholes that SEOs have not been able to exploit. However, hot on the heels of techcrunch, I have discovered that the latest update from developers in Australia threatens to change all that.
Google’s new MATE technology is designed to view relevancy as an entirely self consistent timeline, rendering link building a thing of the past. It simply wont be possible to exploit the rate of change of inbound links pointing to a site as it’s relevancy will have already been historically determined.
So what is an SEO to do?
(Read the full post about ‘New gDay algorithm threatens future of search marketing’…)
Microsoft Promises Full Web Browser For Mobile
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said on Tuesday it would offer full Web browsing for mobile phones this year, following the footsteps of Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, which has won praise for the way it displays Web sites as they would appear on a computer.
Microsoft said at CTIA, the annual U.S. mobile show, that it will make Internet Explorer Mobile available to phone makers in the third quarter with the first phones to go on sale by year’s end.
Microsoft has been gaining ground with its operating system for smartphones with computer-like features such as e-mail, but it faces stiff competition from the likes of Apple, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Palm (NASDAQ: PALM).
(Read the full post about ‘Microsoft Promises Full Web Browser For Mobile’…)
ChaCha Refocuses Business Model on Mobile Text Search
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
ChaCha Refocuses Business Model on Mobile Text Search
Almost two years ago, ChaCha launched a service that enabled users to conduct a live chat with a “search guide” to aid in search engine queries. That service flopped, but they believe that their mobile text service can still be a hit. Now, ChaCha is refocusing its business to center around its mobile business.
Users can conduct a search query using text or voice. A few minutes later, a text arrives with the answer. I decided to give it a try myself this morning. I texted to ask what ingredients are in a Java Chip Frappuccino.
(Read the full post about ‘ChaCha Refocuses Business Model on Mobile Text Search’…)
Risk Astley and More April Fools Day Goodness
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
Risk Astley and More April Fools Day Goodness Happy April Fool’s Day everyone, or, as we can it in Israel, Monday! But it does give me the opportunity to be awake (hopefully) before everyone else and report on how the various search engines and websites you generally trust are messing with you today. YouTube is rickrolling everyone today. If you’ve never been rickroll’d, buy a computer and exit the safety bunker you’ve been living in for the past ten years. Go to YouTube today and just try not to get rickroll’ed. LiveJournal is following suite by adding Rick Astley to their Advisory Board. They even gave him an LJ page! Google is partnering with Richard Branson to create Virgle, which will aim to populate Mars. (Read the full post about ‘Risk Astley and More April Fools Day Goodness’…)
Microsoft to Stay Firm in Original Yahoo Offer
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
Microsoft to Stay Firm in Original Yahoo Offer
According to published reports, Microsoft is unlikely to raise its bid for Yahoo. It seems that Microsoft doesn’t think Yahoo’s recent projected revenues provide any reason to raise purchase price from the original $31 per share offer. The bid included cash as well as stock and the original $44.6 billion buyout price is now valued around $42 billion.
In early March, reports surfaced that the two search players had met to discuss generalities of the proposed acquisition. So far, there has been no second date, and some moves by the two companies have shown potential incompatibilities for the pair.
(Read the full post about ‘Microsoft to Stay Firm in Original Yahoo Offer’…)
Facebook and CareerBuilder Team Up to Target College Grads
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
Facebook and CareerBuilder Team Up to Target College Grads
Graduation is on the horizon, and Facebook is making the most of its college-heavy demographic by teaming up with CareerBuilder. The partnership will primarily target college grads in an attempt to assist them during their job search. Recruiters have traditionally experience difficulty in reaching this particular market, despite the various channels for job listings available.
Users will be able to place a CareerBuilder app on their profile page. If successful, this could be a great first step in Facebook building trust with users again. Last year, the social network blew it when its Beacon platform accessed user preferences for advertising - without user permission.
(Read the full post about ‘Facebook and CareerBuilder Team Up to Target College Grads’…)
SEW Experts: Should Your SEO Strategy Target the Head or the Long Tail?
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
SEW Experts: Should Your SEO Strategy Target the Head or the Long Tail?
If you’re focused on ranking for that one major keyword, having a deep Web site full of great content is necessary to achieve authority in the eyes of the search engine. In today’s Organic Search Engine Optimization column, “Should Your SEO Strategy Target the Head or the Long Tail?,” Mark Jackson shows that, whether or not you intended to do it, you’ll be optimizing for the long tail in order to achieve your goals.
SEW Experts: Small Business SEM Takeaways from SES NY
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
SEW Experts: Small Business SEM Takeaways from SES NY
Search Engine Strategies New York had something for everyone, including tips for small business marketers. In today’s Small Business Search Marketing column, “Small Business SEM Takeaways from SES NY,” Carrie Hill shares some of the pointers she found for SMBs.
No Signs of Recession in The Chip Business
Autor admin | 01.04.2008 | Category SEO
Semiconductor sales are slowing, but they are still growing according to two separate surveys released on Monday. Gartner found sales rose 3.8 percent in 2007 to $273.9 billion, while the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported a 1.5 percent increase in February over the prior year.
The growth is coming in specific areas for different companies, Gartner noted. For example, Intel’s 10.7 percent growth to $33.8 billion, to lead the market, was led by strong sales in mobile processors, which has been the fastest growing market for computing for some time now.
Toshiba rose from number six to number 3 in revenue which increased 20.8 percent in 2007 to $11.8 billion thanks to sales of integrated circuits for Sony’s PlayStation3 console, NAND flash and CMOS image sensors for mobile phones.
Gartner said that in the current economy, chip customers would do well to track customer usage and find out where the sales are going, since some markets will be stronger than others. “Periods of uncertainty, like the current one, often create ideal situations to strengthen product and application portfolios without paying inflated prices,” said Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner in a statement.
RELATED ARTICLES
Will Rambus’ Big Win Hold Up?
Intel, STMicro Memory Spin-off Finally Official
For more stories on this topic:
The market feeling the most pain would have to be the DRAM market, which saw a decline of $2.4 billion in revenue year over year, or 7.1 percent, due to the huge oversupply even with the increasing demand for more memory. One company defying that is Hynix Semiconductor, which saw 2007 revenues grow 19.1 percent.
Hynix did this by aggressively adding capacity, but in doing so, the market was plagued with oversupply throughout 2007 and consequently steep decline in average selling price. As such, Gartner said “Hynix must take most of the blame for the market’s unprofitability in the second half of 2007.”
Meanwhile, this past February saw a modest gain in chip sales of 1.5 percent over February 2007 to $20.44 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Sales declined by 4.9 percent from January, but that’s typical of normal seasonal patterns in the industry at this time of year.
The SIA noted that even though demand for DRAM rose 40 percent year-over-year in February, prices still declined by 43 percent, which goes completely counter to the basic rule that prices increase along with demand. What that means is supply is outstripping demand, which is growing at a phenomenal rate, and it has done so for some time now.
John Greenagel, a spokesman for the SIA, declined to point fingers like Gartner but did say there is too much supply. “Unit shipments are up dramatically year-over-year. When the units are up, that means they are going into end products somewhere. That means there is a market for end products, but that means there is such a supply problem that the industry has no pricing power,” he told InternetNews.com.
“There’s a lot of people in the DRAM business cranking out an awful lot of products,” he added. “When a customer can get all the product they need from any number of suppliers, it’s going to be a buyer’s market. It’s a great deal for consumers right now.”
Despite all the talk of trouble in the U.S. economy, thus far it hasn’t manifested in the electronics market. Greenagel said he’s waiting to see the next report from the Consumer Electronics Association which would show whether there’s been a decline in gadget purchases, but so far he said there are no signs of decline in product sales.