Halloween ‘09 From Google, Yahoo, Bing & Others

Today is Halloween and the search engines have logos up for the special day. Before I post the logos, here are some posts from others in the community on Halloween. Matt Cutts of Google had a holy costume. Google Blogoscoped noticed Google added trick or treat to their robots.txt file. Bing has [...]

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Asian, Arabic and Russian Characters In Domains Soon: What Does It Mean

ICANN announced it will start allowing domains to be registered using non-Latin characters (English etc.) starting Nov. 16. The news was released during a meeting in Seoul on Friday, Reuters reported.

The news is important as it will see the registration of thousands if not millions of language specific domains. Previously, all domains were basically in English - not quite appropriate for a world wide web.

As the Independent noted:

"Considering it is known as the "World Wide web", the internet's reliance on the English language has long been maligned as a hangover from the web's beginnings as a communications tool for the US military."

"100,000 new characters are expected to be added, in a multitude of languages including Mandarin, Russian and Hebrew," according to the Independent.

No doubt there will be a stampede to register domains like the Oklahoma Land Rush of the the appropriatedly named "Unassigned Lands."

This move also shows a loosening of US control over ICANN and "most striking about the development is the symbolic shifting of power underpinning the web, which comes at a time that America's economic power around the world is diminishing. With Chinese web users now outnumbering their American counterparts, commentators will see this change as another step in the gradual de-Americanisation of the internet."

Yahoo! @ ad: tech

Join us along with the best and brightest in digital advertising, Nov. 4 to 6

Another week, not just another conference in New York.

If AdWeek is the stately Rolls Royce of advertising conferences, ad: tech is definitely James Bond’s Aston Martin, complete with picture phone, ejection seat, smoke screen and laser beams hidden in the fenders. At ad:tech, the best minds in the next generation of digital advertising—brands, agencies, publishers and service providers—come together to share knowledge, network and do business. In keeping with the James Bond theme, this conference even boasts a keynote by an actual Knight of the Realm.

And, of course, we’ll be there. (Hey, we invented this industry, remember?)

What: ad: tech, New York
Where: Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street, New York, NY
When: Nov. 4 to 6, 2009
Why: Because your business is worth it!

Yahoos to look for and listen to include:

Wednesday, Nov. 4

3:10 to 4:00 p.m.
Ramsey McGory, V.P., U.S. Partnerships
“So Many Networks, So Little Time”: Ramsey and other experts offer actionable advice on how to best leverage digital networks.

Thursday, Nov. 5

2:10 to 3:00 p.m.
Becca Paoletti, Director, Video Strategy
“Online Video Industry Forum (hosted by the IAB Digital Video Committee)”: Becca and fellow panelists offer insights on where digital video is headed, and how you can get the most out of it.

4:10 to 5:00 p.m.
Dave Zinman, VP and General Manager, Display Advertising
“What’s Wrong (and What’s Right) with Digital Display Advertising?”: Dave and others share insights for advancing digital media to drive business results.

4:10 to 5:00 p.m.
Dev Patel, VP, North America Region Custom Products and Solutions
“The Science of Targeting”: Dev and friends show how you can turn data into scalable, actionable insights.

And there will be lots more going on. Be sure and swing by our booth in the Exhibit Hall and pick up your decoder ring (or maybe just a flashing Yahoo! bouncy-ball).

Business Wire Conducts Video Interview of Warren Buffet

Last month, after watching HostingYourParty, which told people how to host a Microsoft Windows 7 House, I asked: If you create something so bad that it goes viral, is it a public relations disaster?

Today, after watching "Warren Buffett is Bullish on America's Future, but Says That a Full Economic Recovery Will Take a While," I'll ask a different question: If you create something so good, is it a video marketing triumph even if it doesn't go viral?

In the video, Cathy Baron Tamraz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Business Wire, a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, interviews Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Okay, so not every company has the "Oracle of Omaha" as its chairman. But every company has a chairman, CEO or president who their customers, stockholders and the media want to hear from.

Yes, yes, you can always insert a quote from Le Grand Fromage in your next press release. But, imagine inserting a video interview as well.

You'll find the Business Wire press release was posted yesterday. It is entitled, "Warren Buffett is Bullish on America's Future, but Says That a Full Economic Recovery Will Take a While."

And attached to the press release is the video below.

So, even if 590,000 people don't view it in the next three days, I still found it compelling.

Oh, speaking of 590,000 views, that is what a demonstration of Google Maps Navigation (Beta) has received in the past three days. You can see it below.

Google Maps Navigation (Beta)

Okay, okay, so most companies don't have brand names that are verbs as well as nouns. But every company has products that its customers, shareholders and other stakeholders want to hear about.

So, do these videos have anything else in common? They aren't funny, which also makes me think: Why isn't your company using video marketing?

I Vant To Suck Your Bing

Here’s a post for a relatively slow Friday afternoon: two ads for Bing that vaguely tie in with Halloween. Halloween is generally speaking a children’s holiday. So first comes a “Bing Goes the Internet” video featuring elementary school children. Years from now this may qualify as a pop-culture nostalgia moment: And then a more sophisticated and [...]

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Bing Adds NFL, Flight Information To Mobile Browser

Bing has announced a couple additions to its mobile browser today: expanded NFL information and airline flight status reports. The NFL feature works by typing in a team or player’s name, and provides stats, scores, and schedule details. Bing also says you’ll get “eal-time updates on the plays” while a game is being played. The flight status [...]

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Despite PageRank Dropping In Webmaster Tools, Google Pushes Toolbar PageRank Update

Fifteen-days ago, Google dropped PageRank values from Webmaster Tools and the search community took that as a bold statement. The statement was clear, webmasters “shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much,” said Google. Last night, Google pushed out a Google Toolbar PageRank update, despite making that bold statement just a couple weeks ago. [...]

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Reminder: Google sessions @ ad:tech NY next week

Outside.in Expands Its Hyperlocal Search Capabilities

While real-time search gets all the attention these days, there’s also increased interest in hyperlocal search. Where real-time search answers What’s happening right now?, hyperlocal search answers the question, What’s happening right here? It’s like local search on steroids, you could say. Outside.in has, for several years, been somewhat like a clearinghouse of hyperlocal information and [...]

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Search In Pictures: Yahoo Mascot, Google Sleep Ball, Google Kirkland Office

In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more. Yahoo Hong Kong’s Mascot: Google Sleeping Ball: Tough Google Security: Google Russian Ad: A Tour of Google Kirkland:

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