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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sues everyone

Aug 27th, 2010
by Eric.
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Apparently Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen owns the patents to a lot of the Internet
as we know it today. He is suing Google, Yahoo!, Apple and a slew of other big time
players for patent infringement. The suit was filed today in Seattle and claims
that several companies have, and continue to infringe on the patents owned by Interval
Research Corporation, a company founded in 1992 by Paul
Allen and David Liddle to perform advanced research and development in the areas
of information systems, communications, and computer science. At one point they
had more than 110 scientists, physicists, and engineers working for them.

Here are the patents

July 17, 2001 – United States Patent No. 6,263,507

“Browser for Use in Navigating a Body of Information, With Particular Application
to Browsing Information Represented By Audiovisual Data.”

March 7, 2000 – United States Patent No. 6,034,652

September 7, 2004 – United States Patent No. 6,788,314

“Attention Manager for Occupying the Peripheral Attention of a Person in the Vicinity
of a Display Device.”

June 29, 2004 – United States Patent No. 6,757,682

“Alerting Users to Items of Current Interest.”

Here are the claims

The claims are basically the same. Google, Apple, and nine other companies stand
accused of:

  1. “making and using websites, hardware, and software to categorize, compare,
    and display segments of a body of information”

    Does this mean that Paul Allen owns the patent to the idea of a search engine,
    or search engine results pages?

  2. “making, using, offering, providing, and encouraging customers to use products
    that display information in a way that occupies the peripheral attention of
    the user”

    Ok. So now Paul Allen owns the patent to inline advertising on web pages?

  3. “making and using websites and associated hardware and software to provide
    alerts that information is of current interest to a user”

    Well hmmm. I knew it had to be one of those Microsoft guys that owned the patent
    to the ever annoying pop up window advertisement. Thanks Paul!

Posted in: In the news.

Google Real Time Search now has it’s own page.

Aug 27th, 2010
by Eric.
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Google is now directly competing with the likes of TweetDeck and HootSuite with their new dedicated  real time search page. You can enter a search term or phrase and are presented with the results derived from Twitter and various other Social networks.

They have a nifty little movable time line that will allow you to look at information on a minute by minute basis. For managing you brand online this could be a useful tool. You can also dissect the results geographically and find out exactly what they are tweeting about in Chicken, Alaska.

Your move Bing.

Posted in: Marketing, New Products, Website Marketing.

The Social Network: The Story of Facebook

Aug 25th, 2010
by Eric.
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Check out the trailer for the new movie “The Social Network”. This is supposedly the story of Facebook.

You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

Posted in: Social Media.

The new Google Chrome Tablet

Aug 18th, 2010
by Eric.
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google-tablet

As expected, Google will be releasing a new tablet sometime at the end of November. Hmmm, just in time for the holiday season. The thing that has people talking is that the new Google tablet will come loaded with its Chrome web-based operating system, not Android. Supposedly HTC is the manufacture and Google is said to be in talks with Verizon. It is also rumored that the tablet may be free with a new contract.

Posted in: New Products.

Jack Nicklaus incredible 100 foot putt!

Aug 16th, 2010
by Eric.
1 comment

Posted in: Web Design.

Three common mistakes made when creating online offers

Aug 10th, 2010
by Eric.
1 comment
    1. Complicated offers
      Don’t make them think. Keep it simple and easy to grasp, quickly. The more complicated your online offer is, the less likely the user will be to click.
    2. Vague or generic offers
      Be very clear about your online offer. Give enough detail, but not too much. You want to entice the reader, but still give them a reason to click.
    3. Too good to be true
      Credibility is essential, especially on the Internet. If an offer sounds too good to be true then it usually is.

      Posted in: Marketing, Website Marketing.

      Online Marketing: Analyzing Your Competition

      Aug 10th, 2010
      by Eric.
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      When creating your online marketing campaign there are several key points to consider. Specifically in this document we will look at analyzing your competitor.

      You must analyze and understand your competitor’s plan of action, their focused keywords and their success rate for those keywords. There are many free online tools that will allow you to find out who your competitors are for specific keywords. The information you can get includes search count, ratios, competitive results and more but depends on the provider you choose.

      Here are a few things to consider when analyzing your competitors:

      1. Page rank check and their rank distribution through the text navigation link (Note avoid java script for links)
      2. Find out anchor text of inbound links
      3. Back Link Checker, Yahoo Site Explorer for checking link popularity and find out inbound links
      4. Use Alexa to check traffic referrals from other sites
      5. Use keyword ranking tool to track positions of your competitor in search engine by SERP tools

      Posted in: Marketing, Website Marketing.

      Google now in to social games

      Jul 28th, 2010
      by Eric.
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      Google Logo    

      It seems that search and advertising are not enough for the Internet giant Google. They now want to control online gaming. They are reportedly in talks with several of the bigger social game makers and have already invested up to $200 million in the hit online game Farmville by social game maker Zynga. What could be next? Rumor has it that Google will unveil a new social media platform named “Google Me”. They have the reach and with Gmail they have a huge built in user base. This will be fun to watch.

      Posted in: Social Media.
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      Our new website has launched

      Jul 21st, 2010
      by Eric.
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      Well we did it. It took a while and several people put in a lot of hard work, but we got it done. Thanks to all of you who put work in on this project. We all appreciate your help very much.

      Posted in: Web Design, Website Launch.

      Four ways to load your website with traffic boosting content

      Jul 19th, 2010
      by Eric.
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      If you’ve ever wondered how professionals load up their websites with content so quickly, here it is. I’m going to show you the top 4 ways to get high quality content on your website for free or close to free and in just a few minutes.

      #1 RSS Feeds

      RSS Feeds are probably the number one way to get new content on your website instantly. RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and describes a technology that allows web sites to syndicate and distribute their content on the Internet. You’re likely already familiar with news syndication sources like Reuters and the Associated Press. RSS parallels this concept and brings it online.

      Content syndication provides an ideal solution for the cost and time conscious website owner. You can load your site with current, relevant content and reap significant rewards.

      #2 Static Article Syndication Sites

      One of the tried and true methods for building a name online is to write and publish your own articles. Thousands of writers submit articles each day to article syndication sites.

      The trade off is simple: publishers are granted permission to re-print the authors article as long as the article remains unchanged from the original and the authors by-line is kept intact. The publisher wins by getting free content and the author wins when someone sees their by-line and clicks on their URL.

      Do an Internet search for “reprint articles” in your favorite search engine and you will find plenty of websites with several articles on several different subjects.

      #3 Hire a Copy Writer

      When you hire a copy writer, you can have custom content created for your site. Your writer will pump out articles on any topic you specify and you get to put your name on the finished product!

      The best way to hire a copy writer is to have them bid for the project. This allows you to negotiate the best deal for your budget if expense is an issue. There are several websites out there where you can hire a professional copy writer. Use your favorite search engine and perform a search for “copy writers” and you should come up with hundreds of results.

      #4 User Generated Content

      There is no better way to develop a sense of community among the visitors to your website than by allowing them to contribute their own thoughts and ideas. You simply edit the content for style, grammar and length and then toss in a few of your own comments to add some flow to the presentation. This takes a minimal amount of effort and you can produce a great publication that people want to read because they get to see themselves in print.

      Posted in: Web Design, Website Marketing.

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