So Yahoo and Bing have joined hands to take on Google. So has the playing field for search domination leveled off just a bit you think?

After establishing the Search Alliance between Yahoo and Microsoft, Yahoo had quickly begun transitioning Bing results into Yahoo results. So now, in the US and Canada for English results only, Yahoo search experiences are now powered by the Microsoft platform. This change in other markets will come fairly soon given the speed at which the transition is happening immediately after the public announcement was made.
 
Yahoo will be displaying mostly organic results from Bing. And initially Yahoo will only deliver English-language searches via Bing. As both partners work together to leverage each other, it is not unrealistic to expect that they will soon cover more markets and include other language searches.

Google continues to dominate the search usage market with greater than 60% of users using Google Search.  So has the competitive landscape evened out a little bit with this search alliance between Yahoo and Bing. Or has Google monopoly on search gotten stronger with the search alliance between Yahoo and Bing? Will new players crop up to pick up smaller usage shares in the US and Canadian Search markets?

We're all waiting to see how this plays out….

Whatever search engine you personally prefer, the recent August statistics released by comScore prove that Google has an impressive 65.8 percentage of US search market share under its belt. This compared to Yahoo’s 17.1 percent and Bing’s 11 percent.

But Google did lose a little ground when these results are compared to its 66.4 percent search market share in June.

So how is the search market share calculated?

ComScore calculates these numbers using a methodology called “Explicit Core Search”. This method excludes contextual links and slide shows. Yahoo and Bing recently added contextual links and slideshows forcing comScore to calculate metrics using another method also called “Total Core Search”.

And how do slideshows and contextual shortcuts make any difference?

A single click on a slideshow triggers a series of sites to load automatically and each slide is counted as a click. When users hover over some words in articles contextual links pop up and are counted as clicks too.
 
This different technique of searching was reflected in the Total Core Search statistics. Google accounted for about 61.6 percent of the market share while Yahoo was at 20 percent and Bing followed with 12.6 percent. This difference in patterns prompted comScore to change its methodology and offer two distinct fields, called Explicit Core Search and Total Core Search.

Experts have backed this change in methodology. This is because explicit core search tracks only those searches in which users entered specific queries to get results, unlike when you enter one query and get a cascade of links, all counting as queries.
 
With Yahoo joining hands with Bing, it remains to be seen if they are successful in leveraging their combined strengths to fend off Google and obtain a larger search market share.

Social networking means "public conversations" about you, your company, your brand or your products and services. Public conversations are great when they are positive. Negative conversations; not so great!

However, not going online is not the way to avoid negative conversations. Remember, they're happening; whether you are online or not. So why not proactively monitor those conversations, participate in them, and ensure that you influence how they continue?

The first step towards Reputation Management is knowing that someone's talking about yourself. So first keep track of the conversations around you. To do so,  go to Google Alerts today and sign-up to receive alerts about your name, your company name, or your products and services. Google Alerts delivers emails with alert results to you or you can go to Google Reader to read them.

I personally prefer getting emails once a day because that way I can quickly scan through them and know if something jumps out at me.

Google Alerts can be setup for other reasons too. You can monitor Request for Quotes (RFP's) in your industry or you can create a Google Alert to stay abreast of a favorite topic or person. Perhaps you are a Lady Gaga fan or perhaps you just want to see all the conferences that are happening in 2010 so that you can plan to participate; whatever your interest, Google  Alerts allows you to keep stay abreast of things that are important to you. And that's called Conversation Monitoring.

(Disclaimer: Google didn't pay me to write this promotion about Google Alerts)
 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means preparing your website for Search Engines. With Search Engine Optimization,a company website can be found in the "organic" or non-paid rankings of search engine results for various keywords. Not all keywords will result in your website being on the 1st or 2nd page of leading search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

I say that a website without Search Engine Optimization is like a car without gasoline. It's dead in the middle of the Internet superhighway, going nowhere, bringing no one to it, and doing nothing of much. When a website is optimized, it becomes the gasoline that allows the website to run on the world wide web.
 
Social Media Marketing on the other hand is a strategy used to share content, invite interactions, and communicate key messages about your company to get visibility. With Social Media Marketing you get a "buzz". Popular websites like Facebook and Twitter allow quick sharing of content which drives traffic and brand visibility.
 
To get succesful online, you cannot choose one or the other. When done properly, Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing can help you maximize your online investment and increase your visibility.

Businesses doing only one or not doing anything with their websites have no chance of being found.

Google's CEO says newspapers will find a new way to make money. Not everyone agrees. We all know what's happening with the newspapers. They are losing advertisers and circulation has dropped year over year. So many journalists are out of work and are trying to find a new career for themselves. 

Along with Google, social networks like Facebook, popular blog sites, and others are taking the lions' share of advertising dollars that used to be spent on newspaper and magazine advertisement.

Google's CEO (at the annual American Society of News Editors conference) said that "newspapers are vital to democracy". I agree to that statement totally. I also feel that the pleasure of sitting at the kitchen table on Sundays with the papers cannot be replaced by sitting in front of the computer reading the online news. It's just not the same.

But what I don't see is how newspapers can revive themselves with the popularity of online media and the continued migration of more and more advertising dollars from print to digital media. Google's CEO thinks there will be a way for newspapers to survive with a new business model.

For the sake of my journalist friends and peers I hope that someone figures out a way to do so soon.
 

So Twitter's growing and recent statistics show that over 60 percent of Twitter registered accounts are from outside the US. Not surprising if you've been playing on Twitter and have seen the growth in your own non-US followers.

In addition to the fact that Twitter is available in several languages such asFrench, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish, I think that it's growth can be attributed to it's simplicity and accessibility.
 
If you are a US business owner, you are wondering how this can help you if over 60% Twitter users are outside your "target" market.
 
So then let's take a look at the numbers.

Assumptions:

1. Twitter has 50,000,000 (50 million) users
2. Twitter has ~ 60% users outside of the US so US based Twitter users = ~ 20,000,000 (20 million)
3. Twitter's active users are approximately 21% so US active* Twitter users = ~ 4,200,000 (4.2 million)
   *Active users are those who follow at least 10 people, have 10 followers, and have at least tweeted 10 times

Based on the above assumptions as a US business owner, you have access to 4.2 million users through Twitter. Agreed that every state has a different number of Twitter users.

But let's just assume that each state had an equal number of Twitter users.

That means that if you want a "local" audience, you have access to 84,000 Twitter users in your state alone. Drill that down further and especially if you are in a metro-area, you can safely assume that your audience is at least 50% of the 84,000.

Now think about how much money you are spending on the "local" yellow pages, direct mail, and local advertising campaigns. Then compare the "cost" of those traditional methods and then compare the cost of doing online marketing using experts (like us).

Have you arrived at the same conclusion that Ford, Dell, and other companies have arrived at?

It's a fact! Social networks provide GREATER REACH at LOWER COST.

It's time to move beyond the excuses like "no-time", "no-money", "no-skills" and it's time to outsource your social media campaigns to companies like ours who provide hassle-free management, lower cost implementation, and results. We've got your Internet Marketing needs understood and have finessed solutions that work.
 

Your kids want a gmail ID? They'll need to be at least 13 years of age to do so. That's the new change over at Google after the buzz over the launch of the "Buzz" social networking platform.

Google is also helping parents with tips on protecting teens with a video posted on YouTube about safely using Buzz.

There continues to be a growing concern about privacy, or lack there of, on social networking sites. Social networks increase our vulnerability to criminals, bullying, sexual predators and other predators. Companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter will need to continue educating users on how to be safe while networking online.

I don't know what it is that makes people want to "tell-all" on social networks. Why oh why do you have to tell people about thing that are best kept secret? And when you are looking for a job, social networks may become your biggest enemy if you love to tell all.
 
You know that Facebook is one of the biggest social networking sites with over 400 million active users. And you should know that employers are leveraging the power of social networks to find out more about potential and current employees.  So what are some "don'ts" on social networking sites like Facebook?

• First impressions can be lasting: Hide those photos that show you totally drunk or behaving inappropriately. Ask your friends NOT to post pictures of you online without your permission.
   
• Quit whining online: Complaining about how tough life is, what an ass your boss is or how difficult it is to work at your current employer is not going to win you any brownie points with potential future employers.
   
• Beware what your status updates share: Ummm obviously you don't want to be constantly updating your status during work hours. Nor do you want to talk about missing deadlines due to planned parties or vacations. Bosses don't like stuff like that and neither do prospective employers
   
• Use your privacy settings:  Make privacy setting updates your priority. Check and recheck who can see what information on your profile so that you are protected.

Beware and be smart. If it can land you in jail or unemployed, don't post it online.

Since Google Buzz's launch a few days ago, most people opined that Google's newest plan to engage in the social networking arena was to give Facebook and Twitter a run for their money. But Google VP of product management, Bradley Horowitz, assured critics & others that that was not their plan. Hmmmm…..

He said that Google's Buzz is focusing on creating "conversation" which is missing in most other social networks.

Double hmmm!
 
Horowitz emphasized that for Google's  Buzz conversation and engagement was the focus and it wasn't just about checking or updating status like people do on Facebook or Twitter. Google also plans to create services around that engagement and interaction.
 
OKAY! So the Buzz is different according to Google. But I just don't see the difference yet; at least not from the standpoint of engagement. I engage with people on Twitter. I do a lot more engagement with people on Facebook than I do on Twitter. I've checked out Google's Buzz and I see the same kind of opportunity to engage. Except now I can stay on the Buzz and also email people.

Anyone want to enlighten me as to what I'm missing that's so special about the Buzz that it fills a "market need"?

NetWitness, a Northern Virginia security firm found that between 2008 to January 2010, over 75,000 computers in 2,500 or so firms across the US and the world were attacked by cyber criminals. NetWitness states that these attacks targeted corporate data, credit card information, and other sensitive information at health and technology companies in 196 countries including the US, Mexico, and the Middle East.

A NetWitness engineer discovered the intrusion last month and learned that the hackers lured employees to download infected emails or software which when downloaded allowed the hackers to take over the computers, scrape the passwords, and use that data to login other systems.

What this report highlights is the need for more robust security software for companies and individuals. The hackers are getting more and more sophisticated and its time for all of us to really get focused on online security.