MG Seigler commenting above on Google’s latest announcement to closely integrate Google+ features into search results. Starting now, search results will be more closely tied to your Google+ profile. The rub is that very little of your Facebook, Twitter or other connections or content will be integrated into these results. To me and a lot of other users, this feels like Google is shoving their Google+ social network down your throat and essentially forcing you to use it or suffer with poor search results. As a marketer, that means you better get on the boat now.
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You’re going to use Google+ and like it
But when they use that natural monopoly to start pushing into other verticals, things get gray. Travel, restaurant reviews, etc, etc. We see more of it each year. But this, at first glance, seems decidedly worse. Google is using Search to propel their social network. They might say it’s “not a social network, it’s a part of Google”, but no one is going to buy that. They were late to the game in social and this is the best catchup strategy ever.MG Siegler
Never turn down $6 billion
The daily deals website, which is expected to fetch a $20 billion valuation upon its stock-market debut, canceled its investor roadshow and is reevaluating plans for an initial public offering in the face of stock-market volatility, said a person familiar with the matterShayndi Rice - Wall Street Journal
So, is it really stock-market volatility or could it be that investors don’t believe Groupon’s business model can hold water in the long-term? Let’s not even consider their crazy CEO or shady accounting practices.
My wife and I have one rule: If someone offers you $6 billion, you take it.
Google Hack: Put a little tilde in it
Next time your Google search involves general terms like free, inexpensive, facts, etc, use the tilde (~) operator. By placing a ~ in front (no space after) of your generic term, Google will search both for that specific word and for the word’s synonyms. It will also return searches for the term with alternative endings. The tilde operator works best when you apply it to general terms and queries with many synonyms.
Ex: [~inexpensive] also matches “cheap,” “affordable,” and “low cost.”
Ex: [~walk] also matches “walkers” and “walking.”
via StackExchange
6 Google+ extensions to enhance your experience and up your geekiness
All Google+ extensions and apps below require the Google Chrome browser. You can find me on Google+ here.
- Replies and More – Adds a drop down next to share with additional sharing options like Twitter, Facebook and Email. The extension also allows you to easily reply to the author and mention other users in your comments. Also try Extended Share.
- Comment Toggle – Hides any comments to posts within your stream and makes them available when you actually want to see them.
- Move 2 Picasa – Exports all most of your Facebook albums/photos to Picasa. I’ve had hit and miss success with this app, so just be aware of that going in. Start Google Plus is an alternative that I’ve used, but takes a little time to move a large amount of photos over.
- Start G+ - Automatically post to Facebook and Twitter when you share something on Google+. Additionally, it puts your Facebook and Twitter streams inside your Google+ feed. The only downside is that you cannot reply to or like a Facebook or Twitter post within Google+. This extension is far from perfect, but it will do until Google adds these features.
Blogger takes on Tumblr
I don’t use blogger, but these new templates seem pretty slick. If you’re looking for a good looking site without all the hassle, I’d strongly consider these. Read more.
5 or 6 billion reasons why Google loves Groupon
But if there is one thing that explains Google’s affinity for Groupon is its pay-for-performance model. Groupon doesn’t get paid by merchants unless it delivers customers to their doors in the same way that Google does not get paid by search advertisers unless it delvers clicks to their websites. Through its online-to-offline coupons, Groupon has figured out how to track that last mile in local online commerce between the ad and customers showing up at a store.Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch
Couple that with local search and maybe a dash of Google Latitude and you can have thousands of tiny Groupons at the exact point where users are located.
Find me on Google+
