The simplest ideas are always the best. Ever since the demise of the good old arbitrage site (which could rake you in a small fortune) Google custom search has been growing in popularity with everyone trying to find the right way to monetize. Good examples of this crossover have come from the likes of Sputtr and now Groovle.
The Groovle concept is easy! Instead of that wasted white space on the Google homepage, why not adorn it with your favourite celebrity (here’s Paris Hilton obviously!) or football club. Or go one further and add your own pictures.
It’s all free to use, but Groovle get a revenue kickback from users clicking on the paid ads when they search. Simple, easy to use and i think it will be a hit! Give it a try, i would love to see the most creative use of this….
It looks like something from ‘Alien’ but it’s actually a giant spider web in a Texas Park!
Sweet, apparently it looked cool at first but its now caught so many mosquitos you can hear them screeching for miles away.
What’s the best bit? Spider experts say this is the result of ’social cobweb spiders’ who work together to create something so huge. Isn’t it great when communities just get along…
It’s a pain in the ass if you’ve got multiple social network accounts to access, but i’ve just installed Flock which is a new social web browser which is like Firefox on steroids!
It’s based on the Firefox platform so it works like a dream, but the cool stuff is in the detail; like i can add my accounts from youtube, flickr and del.icio.us and access them from my opening page. Firefox extensions also work with Flock.
You can also integrate your own blog so whatever you find, just right click on it and blog it immediately in a pop up window - that’s how i’m doing this - brilliant! I’m not easily impressed but i’m switching to this as my default browser- check it out.
All good things must come to an end! I’ve enjoyed the fast streaming of video content on YouTube for the past couple of years and it’s ad-free nature, but that all ends today.
Instead of a pre-roll (which everyone hates) Google have decided on an overlay that appears 15 seconds into the video and animates for up to 10 seconds then disappears. The overlay is clickable to display the ad.
These are being rolled out selectively across the network but it won’t be long before there’s a full take up. Ad’s will cost $20 CPM. Great? Not really…
The biggest problem I have with this is that they are profiting directly from user’s content, surely a portion of the ad revenue should go back to the user whose video it is overlayed on? Additionally the user should be able to have some say over the ad content that is allowed to appear on their material.
You’ve heard of Virgil Tracy, meet Virgil Griffith! Virgil is a student of CalTech that has caused uproar by developing a Wikipedia Scanner that reveals who edits Wiki articles, via a system where it scans the I.P address and cross-references it with the I.P. directory.
Brilliant! and there’s been some real shockers in there, for example:
- Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate;
- Apple edit Microsoft entries, adding more negative comments about its rival;
- The Vatican edits Irish Catholic politician Gerry Adams page;
- In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11″;
- Walmart changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce.
Classic! There’s a full list of interesting edits at Wired, but you should really try the Wikipedia Scanner for yourself, it gives a whole new insight into what companies really think.
The popularity contest that is the facebook phenomenon is opening easy doors for identity theft by Fraudsters.
Sophos, the IT Security company, undertook an exercise to see how willing facebook users are to give away personal information. Their research showed over 40% of Facebook users will divulge personal information - such as email address, date of birth and phone number - to a complete stranger.
Check out these smooth moves for your Friday night out. Watch how he pieces together a master sequence at the end. I think i even spotted an early version of the legendary running man…
I went to see Prince this weekend at the 02 arena in London (pics on my photo page), and i had a mixed experience! I found it a struggle to queue at every food outlet in the main area of the dome prior to the concert especially as i was starving, add to this, all the bars in the arena only serve either Stella or Becks Vier (so you’re either fighting or bloating) and this was shaping up to be a poor experience from the old dome.
His performance was as good as i expected if not better, the only one niggly thing was that he only paid homage to some of the classic songs by only playing a short burst of them then switching to something else. This happened for Little Red Corvette and Raspberry Beret ( 2 of my faves!) which he cut short to about a minute each!
Overall i would definately recommend going to see this show, just leave plenty of time to eat beforehand! Oh and did i mention you also get a free Prince CD?
People have an innate ability to always destroy things.
Wars, terrorism and the environment to name a few examples. This is the world we live in and we have to deal with this.
With the development of online social networks and communities, it has created a space to be more anonymous, so previously socially unacceptable actions now don’t seem that bad to the people involved. They can feel like they are not governed by the same rules and laws, this can also create an anarchic society, reminding me of Mad Max. Additionally, as the space has become more dominant with huge amounts of users and reach within the communities, it has also fuelled the egos of those involved, believing they have power and control to influence many. And they do.
This week has seen a big uproar with advertisers pulling their ads on Facebook because they are being shown against the BNP group. This is only getting airtime due to Facebook’s current popularity.
Showing on inappropriate sites has been a problem in traditional online display advertising that most advertisers don’t even realise. Due to display advertising blind networks you could be shown against any kind of site out there and the agency doesn’t even tell you where your ad is appearing. What a joke. However companies have been happy to do this for years, so don’t come crying now when you’re ad is shown up against a subject on a social channel like Facebook that you don’t agree with! I notice there has also been no comment from any of the media buyers on this - better to keep quiet or they might rumble the whole lot eh guys…
Also the BBC are reporting on ‘pro-ana’ (anorexia) groups on Facebook and Myspace commenting that they are now getting more reach due to the community base. This may be true but they don’t mention the community backlash this has been evoked with many ‘anti-ana’ groups being setup.
This brings me back to my earlier comment about the anarchistic nature of people. At some point, as it reaches critical mass, a social community without strict laws and policing will inevitably self-implode.
The paradise that was initially started with good intentions becomes a dark, harsh reality. This is also seen in the recent events on Second Life where corporate buildings have been bombed by the community, and avatars leaving the American Apparel store have been gunned down. This has led to a mass exodus of businesses leaving their space on second life including the closure of the American Apparel store.
Stricter rules and policing are needed by the social media sites involved such as Facebook and Myspace to control this. But this is very tricky. Myspace say they are working with anorexia help organisations to advise on the best approach to take. However the biggest problem is trying to censor or ban things such as BNP and ‘pro-ana’ appearing in these networks. Neither are illegal, and banning them just creates more awareness and goes against the whole internet ethos of freedom of information. Welcome to the real world…
The simplest ideas are always the best. Ever since the demise of the good old arbitrage site (which could rake you in a small fortune) Google custom search has been growing in popularity with everyone trying to find the right way to monetize. Good examples of this crossover have come from the likes of Sputtr and now Groovle.
It looks like something from ‘Alien’ but it’s actually a giant spider web in a Texas Park!
It’s a pain in the ass if you’ve got multiple social network accounts to access, but i’ve just installed 
All good things must come to an end! I’ve enjoyed the fast streaming of video content on YouTube for the past couple of years and it’s ad-free nature, but that all ends today. 
You’ve heard of Virgil Tracy, meet 
The popularity contest that is the facebook phenomenon is opening easy doors for identity theft by Fraudsters. 
I went to see Prince this weekend at the 02 arena in London (
People have an innate ability to always destroy things.
Also the BBC are reporting on ‘pro-ana’ (anorexia) groups on Facebook and Myspace commenting that they are now getting more reach due to the community base. This may be true but they don’t mention the community backlash this has been evoked with many ‘anti-ana’ groups being setup.
