Top US Web Brands: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Bing, Youtube & others

Google, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN, youtube, Microsoft & others are the top US web brands. Google is the top most US web brand used primarily for search purposes. People are spending more time on facebook for sharing, posting, games & others. Yahoo & Bing are the other 2 search engines people usually look for information. Youtube is the top video sharing site with billions of views a month. There are other top brands also like Apple, wikipedia, ask search network & others. With social media sites like Twitter, facebook, youtube & others, the landscape of the internet is changing. Myspace which used to dominate the social media space earlier is facing a downward trend in visitors.

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Google Algorithm Update – War on Content farms?

Google has made a massive algorithm update. Though the updates are regular, this time it is a massive one affecting almost 11.8% of the queries. Content farms are pages which have low quality content. Automated softwares which get content from other sites & post it in a page. Google has launched a war on this & has updated the search results. This will help increase the rankings of the sites with original & high quality content. This is initially launched in US & will be implemented globally overtime. This is an important step towards providing high quality search results.

VW’s The Force – Top Superbowl Video Ad on the web

VW‘s The force has garnered 20 million views to become top online superbowl ad on the web. The ad is about the 2012 VW passat. In the ad star wars darth vadar style kid is used. Such kind of views give the brand an easier way of reaching the customers and also increases visibility for the brand. 

is your search firm a white hat or black hat SEO?

After the NYtimes investigative report on JC Penny’s dirty search secreats, the question of white hat or black hat seo is being discussed a lot. There is also a middle line of grey hat seo, where the mix of White hat & black hat seo is used. Search engines have published a set of best practices confirming to which is like a white hat seo. Anything unethical & against the search engines guidelines is black hat. Search engines are refining the guidelines regularly, drawing a clear line between white & black hat. JC Penny has also fired its search firm over the methods the firm has used. Google also penalizes the sites found to be using the black hat methods.

Mobile OS Wars – Apple iOS, Google Android & Windows Mobile OS

With Nokia going for Windows mobile OS, the stage is set for a battle among google, Windows & Apple. Nokia which has seen a declining market share in the recent days, has announced windows mobile OS based phones. Google’s android is being included in most of the phones nowadays. Fearing this, Apple seems to be going for cheaper iphones. Also Hp has purchased palm, with this Palm OS is also going out of picture. RIM’s OS is used on RIM Blackberry phones. These 3 mobile OS will govern the mobile world in the coming days. There is a fierce competition between Apple & Google. Apple’s app store is a USP for Apple with billions of downloads. Compared to this google’s Android app store is far behind.

The NYTimes Story on JC Penny’s Dirty Search Secrets

NY times has a great article on how JC penny ranked for a wide range of words in the top position & the little secrets of search. Google has been policing the Search engine optimization world since it went live. Black hat SEO techniques can be used to gain top rankings. JC penny has ranked for a wide variety of words in Google. Several sites have been linking to JC penny site through a wide variety of keywords. After the issue broke out, rankings of the site has gone down in Google. Also the company has fired its SEO consultant company.

Apple iPad’s The Daily “Newspaper”

iPad only newspaper The Daily has been launched by Mudroch. This is the first newspaper on iPad & this will open up a host of new digital marketing activities. Already several companies have planned for their ads. This newspaper is a subscription based & is updated once a day. The first story was of Egypt’s problems which is currently going on. This is a bold move & provides easy access to target those who dont go for newspaper.

iPhone Coming to Verizon Advt

For years, buzz has been going on about iPhone coming to Verizon. Finally, the day has come & will be available in Feb. Verizon has a made nice video about it & has gained a spot in top 10 videos.

Successful Facebook Ads – CPC & CTR for Various Sectors

Facebook ads have revolutionized the social media space. More & more companies are joining the online promotion through serving ads on Facebook. With more than 500 million members, facebook provides a great place for advertisers. As can be seen from the chart, CTR is highest for Tabloids, blogs, Media & entertainment sector. This is due to the high number of members in the younger age group. While the CPC is highest for healthcare. internet & software of which facebok is a part of has a low CTR. This chart shows up some interesting trends. URL: http://www.businessinsider.com/embed?id=4d4719accadcbbd84a110000

With Speak2Tweet, Tweet by just making a Call

The ongoing protests & subsequent blocking of internet in Egypt has enabled a new service called Speak2Tweet. Google, Twitter & Saynow, a company acquired by Google have developed an application called Speak2Tweet. In this, any one with a voice connection can call the 3 international numbers & leave a message. This will be tweeted with a #egypt automatically by the system. People can also listen to these messages at twitter.com/speak2tweet. With countries blocking social media sites, this represents a radical new way of communication with the outside world.