Latest News from Search Journal

Commercial and OpenSource OCR Softwares

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

SimpleOCR is the popular freeware OCR software with hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. SimpleOCR is also a royalty-free OCR SDK for developers to use in their custom applications. If you have a scanner and want to avoid retyping your documents, SimpleOCR is the fast, free way to do it. The SimpleOCR freeware is 100% free and not limited in any way. Anyone can use SimpleOCR for free–home users, educational institutions, even corporate users. Our own freeware OCR application provides acceptable accuracy for those who just need to convert a few pages and can’t justify the cost of commercial OCR software. Developers can use the command-line and SDK versions to integrate SimpleOCR with their custom applications.

Apps.gov Cloud Computing Site Now Offers PHASE 2 Products

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Apps.gov is an online store for government agencies that are required to use the GSA schedule. The site was designed to help them to find, purchase and use SaaS and other cloud computing services with the knowledge that they have already been screened, and government prices negotiated. All applications available on the site, including the full PHASE 2 portfolio, are GSA approved for use by federal agencies.

Introducing SherpaTools for Google Apps

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

As Cloud Sherpas continues to help businesses and organizations adopt Google Apps, we have found that many customers, regardless of location or industry, request a common set of additional management controls and end user features for their Google Apps environment. Until now, the response to most of these inquiries was that organizations had to develop custom applications that work with Google APIs to achieve their goals.

Wired MIR

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:45:00 EDT

Kooaba's mobile image recognition (MIR) technology will be used in the November edition of Wired magazine (US) to link print advertisements to online content. Kooaba claims this as a US first. Oddly enough Wired online are also running a vstory on augmented reality (AR) here. The advantage of using Kooaba's MIR technology rather than tags as the page-to-promotion link is that MIR can leverage

Y! Scalable Storage and Delivery Services

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EDT

Building internet products has never been easier ¬- or more challenging. When Yahoo! launches a new product, it needs to scale very quickly to serve our several hundred million users worldwide. This poses new infrastructure challenges because our applications must handle tens of thousands of requests per second spread across our global network of datacenters, and load spikes that could be an order of magnitude higher. Chuck Neerdaels will also talk about Yahoo!'s Cloud Storage and Delivery stack and how it is purpose-built to solve the business and technical challenges of Internet-scale computing.

Google and Twitter Make Social Search a Reality

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:45:00 EDT

Last week Google officially announced their newly formed partnership with Twitter. The officially statement indicates this partnership will allow social media updates on Twitter to appear in Google’s search results. Google also demonstrated their new Social Search feature at the Web 2.0 conference to really get Internet marketing consultants excited. Although this new feature isn’t [...]

Baidu Announces Third Quarter 2009 Results

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:00:00 EDT

Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu" or "the Company") (Nasdaq: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009(1).

Life after Bankruptcy

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EDT

Filing bankruptcy is never an easy decision for many people. But when a person is over burdened with debts then the there is no alternative left for him or her. Many believe that filing bankruptcy is the end of life which is not true. There is life even after that and here are a few points which can make it easier.

Bringing Cloud Computing Down to Earth with Ultra Low-Cost Endpoints

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EDT

Cloud-based computing infrastructures deliver broad-based functionality to end users in far-flung locales but too often the destination device remains a PC. At the Cloud Computing Conference and Expo, Stephen Dukker will explain how developments in virtual desktop technology are creating a new generation of ultra low-cost endpoints such as network monitors, set-top boxes, next-generation netbooks, and kiosks. These devices can deliver a full multimedia experience over the cloud, and enable subscription-based and application-specific computing services.

Google Analytics Set Up. Now What?

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:37:00 EDT

Visitors: Many people still focus on hits, which the number of times a particular file is pulled from a server. But it is more relevant to pay attention to the pages that people who come to your site actually see. Some people also still pay attention to page views. This is also inaccurate, 1000 page views is irrelevant if the same person loads a page 1000 times. You care how many unique people look at the page. This is the visitor metric. Google analytics give you a decent amount of visitor related data. Bounce Rate. Bounce rate is a metric of how many visitors come to you site, look at 1 page for a short time, then go somewhere else. It is a measure of how dull and irrelevant your pages are. A high bounce rate is bad, but you will never get to a 0% bounce rate. Google analytics also gives you bound rate per page, so you can find your worst offender.

Do-It-Yourself Google Books — A Million Dollar Idea for Amazon?

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:59:00 EDT

Harry Lewis has a terrific post about a $300 do-it-yourself book scanner he saw at the D is for Digitize conference on the Google Book settlement. The plans are available at DIYBookScanner.org, from Daniel Reetz, the inventor. There are lots of personal uses for home-digitized books, so — I ...

A Financial Pro Charts the Way to a Great Online Business Presence

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:11:00 EDT

Dean Piccirillo Makes a One-Person Blog-powered Website Look like a Major Corporate Presence Online Building a solid business blog-powered website is challenging for all of us. But it’s even more difficult for anyone who lives in the financial services universe. Because financial services professionals must adhere to strict compliance regulations, they must be very careful [...]

Salon.com Editor Tells Journalists: Social Media is More than Article Sharing

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT

Salon.com Editor-in-Chief Joan Walsh today told journalists that too often, writers and websites rely on social media technology to simply spread articles across the internet, instead of spending time developing relationships with readers. Speaking at the Online News Association Conference (ONA) on a social media panel, Walsh told fellow journalists that social media is fundamentally about relationships.

Personal Branding on Ulitzer: Always Be Social

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EDT

We no longer live in a push society, where advertisers push their messaging onto the consumer. The evolution is that social media is fast becoming a place where brands must become part of the conversation versus just deliver the message. Certain consumer brands, like Coca Cola, realize the relevance of Social Media, whereas, other segments are taking longer to find ways to engage their audiences. An exception to this is, Michael Dalesandro, a local Chicago business owner, his travel company WhereIveBeen.com embraces the conversation and understands the importance of always being social.

SEO.com Offers Marketing Makeover to a Recession-Hit Company

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:30:00 EDT

SEO.com is doing its part to help boost the struggling economy. The Internet marketing company today announced its Ultimate Web Marketing Makeover, which will give one organization the chance to emerge from the recession via a comprehensive Internet marketing campaign. "We've been fortunate to experience great growth during the recession and now we want to give back and help another business have similar success," said Dave Bascom, chief executive of SEO.com.

Google News Changes Its Navigation Menu

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:15:00 EDT

Google News rolled out small changes to its user navigation today, which I realized as I lost my menu options which have been there for the past eight years on the right upper corner of the page. I usually do a daily search on keywords "advertising industry" then I change my result set display. Default for news results is "Sorted by relevance" but sometimes I would like to see my news results as "Sorted by date" and "Show duplicates" and a "Reset" option.

Rapid Low Cost Upgrade to Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:15:00 EDT

To help existing Exchange customers take advantage of the powerful new capabilities in E2010, Azaleos is expanding its market-leading Managed Exchange Services and offering a limited time free upgrade program. New Azaleos customers will be eligible for a free basic upgrade, which includes the installation and configuration of E2010 infrastructure, and the migration of 500 e-mail boxes. The new Azaleos remotely managed service for Exchange 2010 will be available with the general availability of E2010 in November. Customers who take advantage of this upgrade offer can begin to design a customized E2010 system and plan their migration.

Can Companies With Less, Do More? Ballmer Thinks Yes

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EDT

"For years, we've talked about how information technology enables companies to do more with less," writes Microsoft supremo Steve Ballmer in his latest "Executive Email" to Microsoft customers and analysts. "But during this economic reset," Ballmer continues, "IT provides business leaders with the answer to a slightly different question: read more

Internet Explorer Aussi Rapide Que Chrome!

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:33:00 EDT

ZDNet France nous annonce une excellente nouvelle : Internet Explorer, dans toutes ses versions 6, 7 et 8, peut maintenant rivaliser en performances avec Chrome pour l’exécution de JavaScript ! Internet Explorer : le miracle ! J’avais encore en mémoire...

Publishers and Authors Ask to Delay Google Hearing to Negotiate New Settlement

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:15:00 EDT

Publisher and author associations sought today to cancel a key hearing in the Google Books case to allow private negotiations with Google over digitizing books online. Consumer Watchdog warned that important issues affecting copyright law should not be negotiated behind closed doors. Notice of the motion was filed in U.S. District Court today after the Department of Justice raised objections to the proposed Google Books deal late last Friday. The nonpartisan, nonprofit Consumer Watchdog had also filed an amicus brief opposing the settlement. A hearing was scheduled before Judge Denny Chin on Oct. 7, but the publishers and authors associations said they are negotiating a new deal with Google and claimed it would make no sense for a hearing until that is reached.

Positive Word of Mouth and Your Brand - Part 3

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:45:00 EDT

This is part three of a five part series on the importance of personal branding in garnering positive word of mouth. In our hyper-connected society, word of mouth has become “world of mouth” and recommendations truly craft your online and...

SMBs Predict Recession Will Last Until Spring 2010, Finds Amplify Research

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:39:33 EDT

The majority of Small & Medium-sized Business (57%) owners think that the UK recession will last until at least next Spring, according to a survey conducted to online communications specialist Amplify.

Personal Branding on Ulitzer - How to Promote an Event

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EDT

An event marketing professional uses strategy to develop a program; either by buying into a sponsorship of a large existing program (like the Olympics OR like the Vans Warped Tour) or to develop an event that meets the target demographic of the client. Promoting an event is a completely different skill set. One particular event marketer has been pulled into projects requiring her to act as a promoter of events. This blog details the practices and process of promoting an event.

Why Web 2.0 Won't Work Inside Enterprise

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EDT

I am writing this post with the hope that you will prove me wrong – you will point out all the fallacies in my argument. These are the collections of views that I have come across, on why web 2.0 concepts and tools are not much of use inside an enterprise. There are fundamental differences between how an organization works and the basic principles of web 2.0. Every organization has a clearly defined hierarchy. Goal setting and responsibility allocation is normally top down. Most activity has a clearly defined deadline. Incompatibility – Structured approach in [...]

Where the Hell's All This New Media Heading?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:15:00 EDT

I'm In Langley, WA this coming Saturday September 19th to speak about the media play for cloud computing at New Media 2012. I like the agenda and set up. Each speaker gets five min to make their case. Then comes a panel discussion. The line-up includes people from the telecom world, gaming, visual media and journalism. Here's the speaker list:

Native 3D Support in WebKit Arrives

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:45:00 EDT

The latest code for WebKit, the Browser engine that powers Safari, Chrome, Android and WebOS for the Pre, now supports the new WebGL 3D rendering. The standard is based on OpenGL ES 2.0 and is managed by the Krohnos Group who manage OpenGL the 3D engine used by all groups not using DirectX. You can expect Google, Apple and Mozilla to include WebGL into their browsers over the next year. This could be the first serious move to support 3D since VRML in the late '90s.

Show Report: 2009 Jewish Bloggers Conference

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EDT

The 2009 Jewish Bloggers Conference has ended. It was something of a mixture, with many signs of improvement, but the conference still has a ways to go to reach maturity.

It was good enough

Do We Really Need Twitter or Not?

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:00:00 EDT

Do you need it or not? Most socialites using twitter would quickly tell you that repeated messages from the same user is quite annoying. The average business person is thinking, How do i get one and which one is the best for my company. To fully understand the answer you would have to define your objectives. Twitter has a nifty search feature which allows you to not only search for basic market segments but further allows for an advance target demographic down to a particular city, country, person.

Google Books Metadata: Google Responds

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EDT

There's a terrific colloquy between Google and Geoff Nunberg in response to Geoff's critique of Google's handling of the metadata attached to the books Google is digitizing (which I blogged about here). It's fascinating for its content, but also very cool as a conversation between a company and ...

True Knowledge Not a Google Killer – and That’s Good

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:00:00 EDT

Every time a new search engine pops up, bloggers, journalists and analysts get all worked up about its potential (or otherwise) to be a ‘Google Killer.’ I’ve written about this before, and really can’t understand the apparent obsession with ‘killing’ a company that’s continuing to do remarkably well at meeting the needs of millions. It’s not perfect, of course, and there’s always room for more innovation/competition, but does Google need to die in the process?

When I Search Online for Pizza, What Do I Really Want?

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:45:00 EDT

Odd as it may seem, this question arose during my preparation for yesterday’s conversation with True Knowledge CEO, William Tunstall-Pedoe. You see, one of the demonstrations of True Knowledge’s capabilities takes the form of a local product search that looks – superficially – a lot like Google’s better known Local offering. Searching for pizza in Google returns [...]

Gmail Is In The Cloud and It Went Down

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EDT

There are arguments that digital signage already uses so-called cloud computing through SaaS services that do the hosting for DS networks. But the more precise definition for cloud computing is that of facilities and services that host applications that scale up or down on demand, can handle huge volume, and never go down. SaaS services uses cloud computing services as hosts. Well, Gmail is in the cloud and it went down. MOST DS platforms use forward and store routines that mean even when there is something wrong centrally, or broadband is out, the players will merrily play what they have stored locally until new updates arrive. So something wrong in the server cloud is not all that big a deal.

Google Books Metadata Meta-Wreck

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT

Geoff Nunberg has a fantastic post warning about the poor quality of the metadata attached to the books Google is scanning into its soon to be dominant-to-the-point-of-monopoly digital library. Apparently, the attempt to gather metadata automatically from the scans has resulted in the introduction of legions of errors. But the real problems are, as Geoff points out, that Google seems not to have a plan for dealing with this problem and that it has not opened up the metadata design process.

Ex-VP & President of Google Greater China Launches Incubator

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT

Dr Kai-Fu Lee, who resigned from Google as Vice President and President of Google Greater China on 4 September, 2009, released a statement today that he was launching "a business creation platform focused on establishing the next wave of Chinese high-technology companies." As founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of InnovationWorks, said the statement, Lee will be running what he believes will be the de-facto institution for launching the most promising technology ideas in China. "Our commitment is to mentoring and supporting the next-generation of Chinese entrepreneurs so that they can focus on building great products without distraction,” said Lee.

SEO - What Not To Do

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT

As I was doing my regular SEO optimization tasks here at Orchestra, I came across a site that literally made me laugh out loud. This site is a glowing example of what NOT to do when trying to attract traffic to a website.

Below you will see a screenshot of the site. Included is a blog title that has nothing to do with the content, content that is complete jibberish (albeit highly optimized SEO keyword jibberish) and even an embedded video of Miley Cyrus! Yes, what we all need is a little dose of popstar with our "... MS CRM valid to be glorious resolution for companies with a offices located in assorted commercial operation metros..."

Click the Title of the Post to check out the full image and the rest of the post.

Edward J. Zander Joins Awarepoint Board of Directors

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EDT

Awarepoint Corporation, a provider of ZigBee-based real-time location system (RTLS) solutions to the healthcare market, today announced that Edward J. Zander has joined the company's board of directors. Zander has spent more than 35 years in the technology sector. He has played a key role in shaping some of the major paradigm shifts in technology that impact the world today. These include the move from mainframes to minicomputers; minicomputers to workstations; PCs to networking and to the Internet; hardware to software; and the revolution in wireless devices and mobility.

Six Tips for Successful Online Marketing

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:15:00 EDT

Online marketing is under heavy pressure to be all things to a target market in the ways that market wants them to be—right now. Instant marketing, on-demand pressure and today's culture of constant change impact not just the speed, but the quantity of content you need to create continuously to lift engagement. There's no downtime anymore. Create a campaign, send it out, monitor real-time results, tweak your strategy, add new content to your website, blog, create webinars, podcasts and compelling events that engage buyers. Oh, and don't forget to give sales better conversational briefs, customer stories and buyer profiles that fit with those personas it took you painstaking hours to develop..

Social Networking Poll Shows Users More Vulnerable Than Ever

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT

The results of Bringing Social Security to the Online Community poll were released today, highlighting the vulnerabilities and concerns of social community members around cyber security and the precautions that they are taking or need to take to protect themselves. The online survey conducted by AVG and the CMO Council reveals that while the social networking community has serious concerns about the overall security of public spaces, few are taking the most basic of steps to protect themselves against online crimes.

Leadership Branding: Getting the Edge

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EDT

Is your leadership style in business or in life inspiring others to take sought-after action? Or are you struggling with your leadership role? Would you like to grow into a leader who possesses authentic passion and clarity about your role?...

Netscape 2.0? Andreessen Funds Browser Start-up

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:45:00 EDT

The now bald-as-Bruce-Willis ex-Netscape wunderkind-recently-turned-VC Marc Andreessen, roundly trounced by Microsoft and its Internet Explorer widgetry 15 years ago, is underwriting an early-stage browser start-up called RockMelt about which little to nothing is known other than its disruption-suggesting logo.

China Backs Off

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:45:00 EDT

PC makers aren’t going to be compelled to put that Green Dam Internet filtering software on their boxes in order to sell them in China, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper quoted industry minister Li Yizhong as saying in a turnabout Thursday that the program was always intended to be optional but the regulation was unclear when released in May by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Supposedly users were meant to install it themselves if they wanted.

Last Call: One Day Left in Search Engine Bug Battle

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:15:00 EDT

With roughly 24 hours left in the 3rd quarter Bug Battle, here is a brief summary of the results thus far. We've had more than 500 bugs reported, with more than 30 of them relating to the mid-competition addition of Google Caffeine to the Bug Battle mix. Remember, the software testing competition ends Friday, August 14th [...]

Rating: 5.0/5 (3 votes cast)

Wise Businesses Watch the Search Trends with Google Trends

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDT

A very wise business owner I know frequently talks about search volume and search trends when discussing Internet marketing and in particular search engine optimization. He is a data guy, an entrepreneur, and a highly technical individual who always looks beyond simple numbers to peek behind them or even in front of them. [...]

Proof Anchor Text Links from Unrelated Sites Are Gold Too

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:00:00 EDT

Google used to say something along the lines of getting links from sites relevant to your website (now Google says tell the world about your site)You see it doesn’t matter if your site has earned links from some industry respected, related by theme, sites around the world:

Microsoft Word Ordered Off the U.S. Market

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:15:00 EDT

A Texas judge Tuesday issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Microsoft from selling any Microsoft Word products in the U.S. that “have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML.” Microsoft, which means to appeal, must comply with the injunction within 60 days.

Adding Caffeine to the Bug Battle Mix

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT

The announcement of Google’s new engine “Caffeine” could not have come at a better time. In light of the current Bug Battle competition, we have decided to add Caffeine to the lineup of search engines to test. The competition is roughly halfway through (testing ends on Friday, August 14th at 11:59pm) with a running total of [...]

Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)

SEO for Professional Services Firms

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:30:00 EDT

About two months ago, I put together a post on the five ways professional services firms should use Twitter. From a readership standpoint, that post represents one of the all-time top five posts on Marketing Trenches. More importantly, we received a number of emails from professional services types praising the content and asking for more. If [...]

Social Media Marriage Occurs as Facebook Agrees to Acquire FriendFeed

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:45:00 EDT

The world of social media is a buzz today as social networking giant Facebook announces the acquisition of FriendFeed. As part of the agreement, all FriendFeed employees will join Facebook and FriendFeed’s four founders will hold senior roles on Facebook’s engineering and product teams. Since I first tried FriendFeed, I’ve admired their team for creating such [...]

Twitter Bedeviled Again

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:15:00 EDT

Twitter’s had problems again. On Tuesday at around 3 p.m. New York time the status page of its web site said it’s responding to site downtime. “We’re working to recover from a site outage and will update as we learn more.”

The Smell of Newsprint a Soon to Be Anachronism

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EDT

Will reading from ink on paper bring the same odd glances that those who still type (if any) on a typewriter now receive? There is something mystical about the experience of settling in with a newspaper. A park bench, a library couch, a kitchen table is transformed into a sacred place when holding the golden pages of stories. There is a thrill to seeing the rolled up print on the doorstep or a flat version on a bookstore shelf. My fear is that my sacred simple pleasure of reading a newspaper in print will be replaced by digital devices. Is this nightmare keeping you up at night too?