Tag Archives: Web 2.0

Yahoo Says It’s Focused on The Future, SEO Company Queryclick.com Says It Should Keep Searching

With the search sphere becoming ever more social, Yahoo’s CEO Carol Bartz promises the struggling company still has its eye on the future – despite falling profits and rumoured downsizing. SEO experts Queryclick.com claim Yahoo is wise to keep an eye on the future, but shouldn’t ignore search.

Last week, the CEO denied rumours that the company – whose stocks were lower at the close of business last Tuesday than they were at the beginning of the year – is considering merging with AOL. Instead she claimed that Yahoo is focused on the future, and that many of the issues the company faces are image based, and only a problem for technological and financial centres.

She said the average user, outside of Silicon Valley and New York, knew what the company stood for, and that part of her role was to educate people that the company is not a Google, it is a Yahoo.

A spokesperson for SEO company Queryclick.com commended Bartz for her stance, and suggested this was the right way for her to approach the criticism. They said: “Yahoo has been in what looks like a difficult position for a long time, but much of this is related to how well the company performs in comparison to Google.

“If you take the Mountain View giant out of the equation, you see a company that still has a lot of things going for it; brand loyalty, a search partnership with Bing and a lot of valuable user data.”

It could be these three areas that will see the company drag up its market value and re-establish its place among the big boys of the online world.

In the wake of the news that Facebook will launch its own alternative to email, Bartz also hit out at those questioning Yahoo’s ability to stay relevant in the face of the continuing online revolution. Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Bartz claimed that rather than simply follow in Facebook’s targeted-ad-footsteps – as while Yahoo has a lot of user data, it is not aggregated in the same way – Yahoo would be concentrating on making sure publishers were able to offer users the right kind of content.

Via EPR Network
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BT Brings Video Marketing To Small Businesses

BT Tradespace, the UK’s first business social networking site, has launched Version 2.0 of the social business network to enable small businesses to create and use video and other social media tools to market themselves and grow their businesses online.

With research revealing that people spend longer on websites with video, BT Tradespace will give small businesses the tools and advice they need to easily record and upload video content onto their online profile to display products and engage with customers. Internet video is also on the rise and is predicted to be over 60 per cent of all consumer internet traffic in the next three years.

Members of BT Tradespace will be given a special offer when purchasing a range of video camcorders. Businesses can get further information at http://flip.bttradespace.com

The complete revamp of BT Tradespace introduces a range of new features to ensure that small businesses can extend the reach of word-of-mouth online, get noticed by customers through influencing their search engine rankings and create more sales on and off the web.

Ivan Croxford, general manager of Digital Marketing Services at BT Business, said: “Online video advertising is continuing to grow as more and more people are using engaging video content to help get their unique personalities across online. We are now giving businesses on BT Tradespace a simple, effective way to market themselves using video.”

Tradespace V2.0 will offer further benefits to small businesses to help grow their online reputation and establish stronger relationships with their customers, partners and suppliers. These include the addition of BT ServiceSmart, a new customer service tool designed to help members improve their customer service. Customers can ask questions or report a problem so that businesses can resolve any queries through the community.

Members can also use keywords for every item they add to their online profile, which helps them to achieve a higher ranking on search engines allowing consumers to find them more easily. Additionally, businesses can track visitors to their BT Tradespace profile using Google Analytics.

Croxford, added: “More and more small businesses are boosting their online presence in an effort to increase their turnover. BT Tradespace is all about making online an accessible and effective sales and marketing channel for businesses, helping them grow their customer base and in return their business.”

Other benefits to members of BT Tradespace include online fans, testimonials and business recommendations and BookItNow, which allows businesses selling services to accept appointments in just a few clicks. Secure transactions using PayPal will also be available to enable businesses to quickly set-up an online store using both images and video to display goods and services.

Businesses using Tradespace will have access to more than 4.2 million stock photos and illustrations so businesses can personalise their online profiles and now also have the opportunity to set-up or join communities to connect with others, share ideas and get advice on a diverse range of topics.

Via EPR Network
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A Free Trial Security Scanner That Identifies Security Weaknesses In Web Applications

GamaSec has launched a free trial option of its web vulnerability scanner, which allows companies to check for Cross Site Scripting (XSS), SQL injection, Code Inclusion etc.. ) as well as site exposure risk, ranks threat priority, produces highly graphical, intuitive HTML reports, and indicates site security posture by vulnerabilities and threat exposure

Security Scanner

The GamaSec Free trial of Web Vulnerability Scanner (WVS) is available immediately at: https://www.gamasec.com/gsf/FreeTrial.aspx

According to the Gartner Group, “97% of the over 300 web sites audited were found vulnerable to web application attack,” and “75% of the cyber attacks today are at the application level.”

Everyday there are thousands of new internet users online. Despite the fact that more people all the time are making purchases on the internet, there are a great deal of consumers who remain uneasy about the process and because of that are timid about the internet. Consumers are becoming more and more smarter, more savvy and more guarded about what can put them at risk. Online customers need to be confident that their personal information is safe and that their privacy will be upheld at all times.

“Companies don’t realize the danger their web sites are under and are therefore reluctant to invest in web vulnerability scanners. Consequently, security officers don’t have the tools to protect their websites. The GamaSec free trial scanner will give security officers access to a professional security tests of web applications and detects Cross Site Scripting, SQL Injection and other web application vulnerabilities and produces recommended solutions that can fix or provide a viable workaround to the identified vulnerabilities, when you need them, not when it is already too late,” said Avi D.Bartov, GamaSec CEO.

GamaSec vulnerabilities scan requires no installation, no set-up, no hardware purchases, no software development, and no IT security expertise. Customers do not need any special training to use it.

About GamaSec Web Vulnerability Scanner
GamaSec web application scanner crawl the entire website, analyze in-depth each & every file, and display the entire website structure. The GamaSec Scanner built from the ground up on a completely different technology backbone than its competitors; GamaSec goes beyond signature-based tools to find more “real” vulnerabilities.

Via EPR Network
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LipstickRocks.com – The Networking Organization For Professional Women In The DC Area

Network. Network. Network. That’s what everybody is saying these days, but how? One solution is LipstickRocks.com, a networking organization for professional women that offers both an online community as well as regular networking events in Metro Washington, DC.

LipstickRocks.com - The Networking Organization For Professional Women

LipstickRocks, LLC hosts regular theme events for business-savvy women to meet and empower each other and grow professionally. The virtual community on LipstickRocks.comis for professional women in multiple industries to connect and share information. The website is easy to navigate and offers search engine optimization, which is a powerful Internet marketing tool that boosts the user’s web presence. LipstickRocks.com‘s web presence is multiplied by new advertisements on twitter.com, facebook.com, and meetup.com.

Regular meetings provide an opportunity for women to bring friends and co-workers to mingle with other professional women, most who are already on the LipstickRocks.com website. Women come to promote their business, glean from each other, and provide practical advice. Many m embers of LipstickRocks sponsor these networking events to strategically promote their businesses. Premium members of LipstickRocks enjoy other privileges including discounts on advertising, web design, hosting, member-to-member discounts, and consultations.

Most sponsors and business partners actively give back to the community. A percentage of all purchases from LipstickRocks go to charities, such as the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure for breast cancer research. The total amount contributed will be tallied up and displayed on the website at the end of the calendar year.

Via EPR Network
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Bizwiki.com – Change The Way Local Search Works By Enabling Its Users To Build Up The Most Detailed And Up-To-Date Index Of Business In The United States

A new website called Bizwiki.com has launched across the USA today, promising to change the way local search works by enabling its users to build up the most detailed and up-to-date index of business in the United States.

Bizwiki.com

In a break with traditional Yellow Pages websites, Bizwiki invites business owners and representatives to get involved in adding and improving their records with everything from contact details to prices and opening hours, completely free of charge.

“We put up an early Alpha-version of Bizwiki.com to test it on the web in December 2008, and already traffic levels have grown to several hundred thousand users per month!,” said Bizwiki co-founder Matt Aird. “There is definitely a strong demand for the sort of information a Web 2.0 business site can deliver, and the increasing amount of users on the site provides a compelling motivation for businesses to get involved in adding and editing their listings.”

“Today’s launch is officially a fully-functional beta, but we already have several hundred thousand pages on the site, with more being added each day. We’ve tried to take ideas and concepts from some of the most successful user-created websites in the world, such as Wikipedia and the Open Directory Project, and improve them to where the ‘anyone can edit’ principles of a wiki can be used in a business-environment. The biggest single difference is probably that our site is built in a consistently structured format, allowing us to rapidly scale-up the amount of information and also give our users an easy way to search the site.”

The Bizwiki difference:

• It’s free – Unlike many established publishers that charge for inclusion, Bizwiki is free to search, free to edit and free for companies to list on.
• It’s editable – The ‘anyone-can-edit’ approach is a challenge to frequently the out of date records of conventional printed Business Directories.
• It’s a wiki – The wiki approach allows far more depth of information about each business to be compiled than anything conventionally available.
• It’s structured – Bizwiki is built using structured data, allowing reusability of information, bulk updates from chambers of commerce or webspiders, and an easy search experience for users.

Bizwiki was built by industry-veterans with years of business directory and meta-search experience behind them, including Keith Hinde, Matt Aird, Craig Sefton and Arthur Jenkins who between them have helped develop directory and search products for Infospace, local directory publisher Thomson Directories, TradePage and Webcrawler.

To try the new Bizwiki site, or even add and edit a business record, visit http://www.bizwiki.com.

Via EPR Network
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LoveSilverDoor Is Now The SilverDoor Page On Twitter

LoveSilverDoor is now the SilverDoor page on Twitter, the micro blogging site taking the world by storm. Twitter was formed in San Francisco in March 2006 and since then has grown into a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices.

“We decided to take a page on Twitter to u p d a t e our followers on any special offers, promotions or even last minute availability.” Marnie Delaney-Parker, Head of PR and Marketing at SilverDoor said: “Twitter enables companies to communicate to their clients on any news that may be relevant or even just daily life within that organisation.”

Silverdoor sees Twitter as the ideal way of connecting with potential clients to quickly inform them of any company news or new promotions, such as the offer of complimentary parking, broadband and a welcome pack on arrival including a bottle of wine which is available through the Vizion Apartments, one of Silverdoor’s serviced apartments in Milton Keynes.

Other serviced apartments which have already received a LoveSilverDoor tweet include the Buxton Street Apartment in Newcastle and the Keel Wharf Apartments in Liverpool. This was to promote that both of them are offering complimentary coffee all day and a drinks reception four evenings per week. Discovery Dock Apartments and Chichester Street Apartments in London, with their offer of complimentary gym and pool access are also amongst the first announcements talked about on Twitter, however Silverdoor is looking to fully embrace the speed and ease with which Twitter allows companies to provide information to their customers and clients in real time.

“It’s an easy way to give clients a quick reminder of what we have on offer and it’s good to embrace modern communication methods”, said Chris Gee, Sales Director at SilverDoor.

About SilverDoor
SilverDoor international serviced apartments was incorporated as a limited company in March 2000 under its original name of Hotdigs. At the beginning of January 2006 the company changed its name to SilverDoor. The company was formed and continues to be led by managing director Marcus Angell.

SilverDoor boasts an impressive client portfolio which includes many FTSE 100 companies such as Cadbury, MAN Group PLC, ICAP and Serco Group as well as relocation and hotel booking agents.

SilverDoor offers serviced apartments in over 170 locations globally such as London, Paris, New York, Abu Dhabi and Toyko. SilverDoor has also just added to its portfolio with additional new Farnborough serviced apartments and a selection of serviced apartments in Basingstoke as well as new serviced apartments in Maidenhead.

Via EPR Network
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Sir Alan Sugar Voted Most Inspiring Business Figure In The Country

BT Tradespace, the business social networking website, has revealed that Sir Alan Sugar has been voted the most inspiring business figure in the country, according to a recent poll conducted with BT Tradespace users.

The 62-year-old founder of Amstrad and star of The Apprentice scored 34 per cent in the vote, well clear of Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, who came in second with 25 per cent.

Ivan Croxford, general manager of BT Tradespace, said: “People admire how Sir Alan rose from a humble background and relate to the no-nonsense style he shows during his TV appearances.

“He speaks in a language the public can understand and is very focused on what the consumer wants.

“He is a good illustration of how business people have crossed into mainstream popular culture and The Apprentice has definitely helped raise his profile and popularity.”

Users of the 350,000-member BT Tradespace site also voted Victoria Beckham into joint third with lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox (both 11 per cent), pipping Marks and Spencer executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose.

The result is further evidence of how the former Posh Spice has transformed herself from a pop singer into a global entrepreneur with fashion, cosmetic and women’s accessory lines.

Ivan Croxford, general manager of BT Tradespace, said: “Victoria Beckham has proved to be a very shrewd businesswoman with a keen sense of what consumers want.

“She has skillfully combined her celebrity status with a drive and determination which has helped to take the Beckham brand in completely new directions.”

Croxford added: “The survey choices show how the celebrity and business worlds sometimes overlap.

“Leading business figures are becoming household names and showbiz personalities are increasingly pursuing business ventures to exploit their star status and enhance their income.

“Sir Alan Sugar epitomises this trend and is a good illustration of how businesspeople have crossed into mainstream popular culture.”

Other stars featured in the poll include Kate Moss, Myleene Klass and Gary Barlow, each of whom received 3 per cent of the vote.

About BT Tradespace
BT Tradespace.com is a 350,000-member social networking for businesses online community which enables businesses to set-up their own free website to sell products and services and connect with other people effectively – both building business and customer relationships.

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BT Tradespace, The Business Social Networking Website, Has Marked Its Second Anniversary By Signing Up Its 350,000 Member

A recent review of the site found that there has been a 400% year-on-year growth over the past year, with an average of up to 500 members joining each day since the launch.

In the past two years, nearly 3,000 different communities have been set up by BT Tradespace members to share information and expertise. The most popular BT Tradespace communities include a group for people who run home-based businesses and a community where new or seasoned entrepreneurs can leave advice, ask questions and share top tips.

The site is a dynamic online community for sales and marketing and offers a comprehensive directory of SME products and services. It allows members to use the latest social media tools – podcasts, videos and blogs – to promote themselves and engage with customers, partners and suppliers.

Free and easy to join, BT Tradespace also offers a secure and safe online marketplace trading platform where consumers can buy goods.

Ivan Croxford, general manager, BT Tradespace, said: “These figures show that social networking is not just a passing consumer fad, businesses are embracing it too, because of the obvious benefits it holds for companies of all sizes.

“The internet opens up a global marketplace for SMEs, helping them to compete and prosper in times of mounting economic difficulty. BT Tradespace offers a fantastic platform to exploit the full potential of the web by encouraging an ongoing open and honest dialogue with customers, colleagues, suppliers and partners”.

BT Tradespace research shows that three quarters of smaller companies see the web as a strategic business tool, and 45% make a quarter of their sales online. Social networking extends this playing field by offering SMEs the opportunity to compete with bigger firms, connect with niche audiences and target local markets.

Croxford explained: “The success of BT Tradespace reveals that companies are now realising that to prosper in the digital age, they must embrace the opportunities offered by the web and start using social networks to their full advantage”.

BT Tradespace member Tabitha Potts, who was voted runner-up as ‘Mum-Entrepreneur of 2009’ at the Women’s Business Mastermind Awards, believes the site has been an invaluable tool for trading and marketing her company. She said: “I have had 10,000 hits on my BT Tradespace page and some of these have clicked through to my main site generating sales.

“The site has a very nice clean interface and I regularly blog and upload videos. This has worked wonders for my search engine rankings so customers can find me much easier on the Internet.”

Lyn and John Hill created a Tradespace page to support their online business HedgePig, commented: “After just one month using the service, our BT Tradespace site had received over 1,600 hits. This corresponded with our main website, seeing a substantial rise in visitors and sales, resulting in a monthly turnover increase of around 20 per cent. We now feel confident in taking our business to the next level and offering a wholesale business-to-business service.”

Businesses can get free advice on how to build a successful online presence at the week-long BT Business Experience event being held from 29 June to 3 July 2009. The event taking place in central London is specifically created to show businesses how the very latest technology and business thinking can help them manage their costs, market their business more effectively and make them more competitive especially in the current environment.

About BT Tradespace
BT Tradespace.com is a 350,000-member online community, that enables businesses to sell products and services and connect with other people effectively – both building business and customer relationships.

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BestTV, A Global Provider Of Internet TV Platform Technologies And Video Streaming Systems, Has Provided The Integral Video Streaming Software For Modern Entertainment Entity, AMOS

bestTV

BestTV has partnered with AMOS (A Matter of Substance) to provide a premium Video-On-Demand (VOD) service on an internet TV platform.

AMOS is a contemporary entertainment company producing visual media across the music, film and television industries. AMOS solely uses premium 1080i HD footage from around the globe to create a first-class viewing experience.

The site broadcasts its media assets in HD format with the option to switch to lower bandwidth if the user is on a slower internet connection.

Utilising V-Wareâ„¢ (Best TV’s superior internet video platform) AMOS’ web team has connected the V-wareâ„¢ search engine to the video catalogue so all videos are indexed and can be easily searched via the built in search engine facility.

The AMOS webmaster can upload videos to the V-wareâ„¢ platform via an intuitive and easy-to-use Video Management System (VMS). The technology utilises Adobe Flash Player 10 for optimal video streaming of High Definition video content.

Additionally BestTV has provided AMOS with a total Content Delivery Network (CDN) solution so videos can stream optimally to global viewers.

View beautiful contemporary arts videos in high definition and learn more now at http://www.amostv.com/online/. 

For more information on BestTV and its premium internet TV platform services, visit http://www.best-tv.com/.

 

About:
BestTV provides a unified software platform that accelerates and streamlines the launch and management of Internet-TV ventures. Our V-wareâ„¢ platform seamlessly integrates the components required to launch and manage Internet-TV ventures and monetize on multimedia assets, incorporating a wide variety of Internet-TV applications such as Video on Demand (VoD), linear TV, user-generated content (UGC), and live broadcasting.

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Affiliate Marketing Agency bigmouthmedia Announces Jason Dale And One Little Duck as the Winner of the B.A.B.E. Award

The bigmouthmedia affiliate blogging excellence award (the B.A.B.E. award) was founded as a way to highlight the importance of the affiliate community within the United Kingdom and to reward those who contribute the most to it.

Affiliate marketing is most productive and effective when affiliates are empowered to contribute significantly and safely to merchant sales. Successful affiliates are rewarded with commission on sales, leads and actions but bigmouthmedia launched the blog competition to extend the reward structure to those affiliates who help others.

Jason Dale’s One Little Duck blog was first nominated by the affiliate community – receiving nominations through the affiliate agency’s voting form and mentions on Twitter – and then selected as the final winner by bigmouthmedia’s judges.

“One Little Duck is a great blog,” said Jen Brain, senior affiliate manager at bigmouthmedia, “We thought Jason provided useful reading for affiliates of every level. The blog is community focused and integrates with Affiliates 4 U’s ‘back me’ voting system for individual blog posts, MyBlogLog f r o m Yahoo, the ShareThis widget and sports a good collection of recommended WordPress plugins.”

On winning the award, Jason Dale said: “I’m still in shock but I am very pleased and truly honoured that One Little Duck has been chosen as the B.A.B.E Award winner, especially as there are many high quality UK affiliate bloggers. Thanks to the judges and nominators, as well as to everyone who reads One Little Duck. A big thanks also to bigmouthmedia for the awards initiative. I hope it will become an annual event and that more affiliates are encouraged to share their experiences with others via their own blogs”.

The competition allowed affiliates to step up for nomination by talking about the award on Twitter. Bigmouthmedia recorded several hundred tweets and retweets about the competition as affiliates spread the news.

About bigmouthmedia 
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search engine optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

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BT Tradespace And Libersy Aim To Help Small Businesses Capture Business Opportunities From Social Networking

BT Tradespace is introducing a new online booking and payment system, BT Book It Now, aiming to help small businesses capture business opportunities f r o m social networking.

bttradespace

Based on the Libersy online booking software, Book It Now is available for free to all BT Tradespace members. It is the first e-commerce solution for companies in the service industry, such as hairdressers, restaurants, sports clubs and consultants, to integrate the PayPal payments system directly into an online bookings platform within a social network environment.

With 74 per cent of all service bookings made in the evenings, BT Book It Now aims to provide businesses with the tools needed to serve their online customers round the clock. Customers can log-on at their convenience and check for available times, book appointments and pay instantly using the system.

“Social commerce is clearly on the rise and we are always looking for ways in which we can help the BT Tradespace community make the most of this upward trend,” said Ivan Croxford, general manager at BT Tradespace.

“It’s not only important to be able to display your services, it’s also vital to interact with your customers. BT Book It Now is just one of many value added services that we aim to introduce for members to help them do just this and we’re delighted to partner with Libersy on this particular one.”

“BT Book IT Now offers a unique online system for UK consumers and businesses,” said Karin Loeffen, founder and creator of Libersy. “Businesses can use the booking system to obtain more clients, use their time more efficiently and increase their revenues through BT Tradespace and PayPal. For small businesses it’s often difficult to take time off, because they fear missing opportunities. Thanks to this system, that’s now a thing of the past.”

Book It Now is available f r o m BT Tradespace in three packages, free, basic and advanced. The basic package gives customers the additional ability to support a range of services and accept full or partial payments for them.

With the advanced package, customers can select different staff and rooms and businesses can tailor information that they request f r o m customers to their needs. They can also create a link to their booking system on their own web site and third party search portals as well as on their BT Tradespace profile with the “Book It Now” button.

About BTTradespace.com
BTTradespace.com is a 350,000-member online community, which enables businesses to sell products and services and connect effectively with other people – in order to build business and customer relationships. BT Tradespace provides social networking for businesses and free website set-up.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale. In the year ended 31 March 2009, BT Group’s revenue was £21,390 million.  British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. 

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Bigmouthmedia Has Welcomed The Launch Of Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine For Introducing Renewed Competitive Impetus And Consumer Choice To A Marketplace Currently Dominated By Google

bing

Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency praised the new service, due to be unveiled on the back of a reported $100million promotional campaign, as a potentially crucial landmark in the online search sector’s development. Citing Microsoft’s pan-European approach and collaboration with key agencies in advance of the launch, bigmouthmedia believes that Bing  could add a refreshing new dynamic to the industry.

“Competition is always welcome. It has been some time since the search industry had a realistic alternative to Google, and if Microsoft’s new engine can provide that then it will be of obvious benefit to both digital marketers and consumers alike,” said bigmouthmedia CEO Steve Leach.

“Only time will tell how successful Bing will be, but if Microsoft can show the average household searcher that there really is an alternative, then this could be a pivotal moment in our industry’s evolution.”

Praising Microsoft for its willingness to work closely with key SEO agencies in advance of the launch, bigmouthmedia expects the Redmond giant to get a number of things right. While services such as Yahoo do not treat large parts of Europe as distinct territories, Bing is expected to see its European launch followed by the introduction of a range of country-specific services. Similarly, it is expected that we will also see Bing evangelists active in Europe and not just the US.

Bigmouthmedia’s initial assessment of the new service is that in its initial incarnation Bing will do enough to generate coverage and interest but be familiar enough not to scare users away. Microsoft also clearly understands the importance of searcher confidence in relation to the perception of good search results.

“While the search sector is excited by the prospect of a new service, only time will tell if Bing is to have a permanent impact. The industry has seen numerous new engines launched over the years – including several by Microsoft – and it’s fair to say they haven’t been hugely successful,” said Andrew Girdwood, Head of Search at bigmouthmedia.

“There are some tough questions that Microsoft has to answer. Just how are they going to get average household searchers to try Bing for the first time, and how long will the company be willing to support their current Bing strategy if progress is slow? Until we know the answers, the jury will still be out on this one.”

About bigmouthmedia
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search Engine Optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, Affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

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New Research By bigmouthmedia Reveals Changes In Search Behaviour As Users Abandon Brand Name Searches In Favour Of A More Sophisticated Approach To Searching For Goods And Services Online

Despite online shoppers using the search box to access brand sites and browsers like Firefox and Chrome offering a single bar for both navigation and search, navigational keyword usage in Europe is down this year. Conducted by bigmouthmedia’s international offices in Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, France and the Nordics region, the research simultaneously reveals a growing tendency amongst users to employ increasingly complex search terms when looking for information online.

According to the survey, the steady increase in numbers of consumers using the web for entertainment has seen the percentage of keywords accounted for by navigational search fall, while the vast majority of European consumers now use two and three word search phrases to deliver more targeted results when surfing.

“Over the past few years consumers have become far more savvy about search, and as the recession drives people to hunt for the very best available deals, we’re seeing them adopt a sophisticated approach with the majority now employing more complicated phrases to find their way around the web,” said Andrew Girdwood, Head of Search at bigmouthmedia.

The research demonstrates a range of differing approaches from country to country. Web users in Italy, Great Britain and Germany were found to demonstrate the most complex search behaviour, topping the table for four-word phrases, while almost a quarter of consumers in France and Spain still rely on a single keyword when tracking down information, goods and services on the internet.

Girdwood added: “Clearly, the way that users approach the search landscape is changing. As consumers continue to become more comfortable with the technology and the sheer volume of online information proliferates it will be interesting to see how this trend develops over the next few years and how it may force many big brand companies to reassess their digital marketing strategies.” 

About bigmouthmedia 
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search engine optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, Affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news along with a series of bigmouthmedia tools to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

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Logo Design Made Easy With Laughingbird’s Popular Logo Creator Software

The impressive software suite, “The Logo Creator,” by Laughingbird Software (www.laughingbirdsoftware.com) allows people of all skill levels to design unique logos for their businesses. The logo maker software also lets business owners make page headers and buttons, and other design features needed for websites, corporate material, and more.

logo design

The Logo creator software offers an easy-to-use interface, and a large number of design options, perfect for corporate logos for small business ventures or the entrepreneur wanting to sell logos to interested clients. The logo package is affordably priced as well, allowing anyone to create eye-catching designs in a short amount of time. Its wide array of features and reasonable price have made The Logo Creator the #1 best selling logo maker on the Internet.

The Logo Creation Suite 5.0 includes logo software packages that can be purchased online and downloaded instantly. Each logo set can be used on its own, or in combination with another package to make the process of designing a logo, and other graphic elements, straightforward and quick.

The logo sets available include the Alphabet Logo Edition, Web 2.0 Logo Edition, Corporate Logo Creator, Entertainment Logo Edition, Mascot Logo Collection + Mascots2Go Collection, Sports Logo Edition, Real Estate Logo Edition, Travel Logo Edition, Church Logo Collection, and The Mega Pak Collection. Other products include the Business Card Creator, the Presentation Creator, the Ad Creator, the Web Graphics Creator, and the Avatar Creator.

The Corporate Logo Creator lets individuals create unique corporate logos for websites, blogs, and businesses. The package includes more than 80 professional templates ready to be personalized by adding custom images. Or use one of the 200 built in logo objects that come with the software to put together a logo, header, or button in a matter of minutes.

Essentially, the Logo Creator Corporate Logo Edition makes it possible to add as much or as little detail to the logo design as required. Business owners and webmasters can work at their own pace and build a logo that represents their company’s vision perfectly.

For more information about The Logo Creator, contact Laughingbird Software or visit http://www.thelogocreator.com.

About Laughingbird Software: Since launching in 1998, Laughingbird Software has been a top player in the realm of software and design. The Logo Creator Software is the company’s most popular product, receiving accolades from consumers and industry professionals across the globe. Laughingbird Software creates logo maker software products for small and large business owners, such as the Corporate logo creator, which makes it easyfor anyone to achieve professional results for an affordable price.

Via EPR Network
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Melonbytes Is The World’s First Experience Encyclopedia

Look out, Twitter — social networking has taken on a new face. MelonBytes is the world’s first Experience Encyclopedia — an online community where users share experiences f r o m their lives through stories, photos and videos. It’s a way for people to learn about one another — and about life — through the unique perspectives of individuals f r o m all over the world. Whether it’s an exciting travel narrative or an intimate story about a first kiss, MelonBytes helps us become aware of the remarkable moments that make up our daily lives.

MelonBytes creator Scott McCarter is a Waterloo-based web designer with a truly innovative approach. “I want MelonBytes to help people understand what it’s like to live the life of someone else: to see what they see; feel what they feel; and experience what they experience,” he says. He has taken extreme measures to protect user privacy on the site, keeping last names and emails unpublished and allowing users to update and edit privacy s e t t i n g s at any time. “I know what a huge priority security is for everyone using social networks,” says McCarter. “I want people to feel they can share anything they like, without having to worry about censoring their writing.” 

Experiences are grouped together based on similar content, and are easy to find through a traditional keyword search, through topic categories and authors’ personal attributes. Features like a random experience button, a handy MelonBytes toolbar and “My MelonBytes” link buttons are added bonuses.

With an innovative concept and an already-dedicated user community, MelonBytes is poised to be the next big breakthrough in social networking. It’s only a matter of time before millions of users are vying for space on the site’s central “featured experiences” section, sharing their stories with a captive global audience.

Start sharing at www.melonbytes.com.

Via EPR Network
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Entrepreneur Ken Appleby Found Out The Hard Way That If You Want To Build An Online Business You Have To Work At It

After years of old-school marketing strategies failed, he had to make a change to make success. Today’s Marketer has to leverage his time even more than yesterday’s. Especially considering the current economic recession. Today’s Marketer has to use the Internet. Videos, E-books, Web 2.0, YouTube, and press releases will get you well on your way to making real money online.

It’s simple: where does anyone go to find a way to make extra income? Google. We type in, “Home Based Business,” or something to that end and we get bombarded with people trying to sign us up. Ken Appleby found that it’s much more effective to learn for free first, than to sign up with the promise that he’d be making $30 000 in his first month. Investigate what it will take to make it to the next level, and you’ll find that it’s not rocket science, but a plan, and it’s steady execution.

What are the core activities that today’s Internet Marketer performs? He (or she) leverages his time. You have to complete a task once, and let the product of your work show over and over again. For instance, this press release was written once, but now Ken Appleby can help the aspiring Guru to achieve his dreams over and over again each time this article is read. You must put yourself on YouTube. If you’re camera-shy, good luck to you. Make videos that show the world that you’re flesh-and-blood. Show them you genuinely want to help them. Discard doubt, it’s useless. Every time you have a doubt about what you’re doing remember this: you are the captain of your ship. Choose to ignore any automatic negative thought and decide to push on through. Use the many free avenues of advertising and start driving traffic toward your websites. Getting set up with websites is easy to do, and people who are willing to help can show you how. All these tasks aren’t difficult to complete, but once they are completed, they make a presence and personality for you that will pay dividends for a long time.

Why is this article entitled, “Newbie to Guru in only 10 days?” The reason is simple. Because if you commit yourself to putting these steps into action- if you enlist the help of someone who’s done it before and is willing to guide you, you can make many marketing moves that will lift you up quicker and higher than you ever thought before.

Via EPR Network
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A New Kind Of Online Memorial Is On The Horizon. Physical Burial Sites For Deceased Loved Ones Are Considered Sacred And Are Respected As Such

Increasingly, the general public has expressed the belief that this sense of respect and reverence should extend to online memorials as well as physical ones.

The majority of online memorial sites are run like any other public site. Sometimes a nominal fee is charged to list a memorial, though many offer the service for free. Problems arise with the overall respectability of these memorials.

These free sites offer little or no opportunity to personalize a memorial, resulting in a cookie-cutter page that says little about the person it is supposed to represent. In most cases, advertising is displayed alongside memorials and anyone can access the pages. The result is an impersonal and distracting page, which does not adequately reflect the kind of reverent atmosphere a memorial should have.

Memorial sites such as http://www.thingsneversaid.com strive to create and preserve an atmosphere, which promotes reflection and respect for the life each memorial is dedicated to. Farhad Dan Ahdoot came up with the idea for Things Never Said while reflecting on losses in his own life. About the inspiration behind the site, Mr. Ahdoot stated, “I believe that sometimes great things can stem from great losses; that’s my hope for this site.” He goes on to express the desire that anyone who has felt the sting of loss will be able to share their memories with the help of a site dedicated to showing the kind of love and respect each memorialized individual deserves.

Everyone knows what loss feels like and the toll it can take on family and friends. The healing process often begins by being able to share feelings and express mutual respect for the lost loved one. Finding an online site that believes respect should be as apparent in online memorials as physical ones may make the difference between having a place where you can truly reflect on a lost loved one, or just another page to attract Internet traffic.

For more information on ThingsNeverSaid, online memorials or places that can help you through the grieving process, please visit www.thingsneversaid.com.

About ThingsNeverSaid.com:

ThingsNeverSaid.com was founded on the belief that expressing the sentiments you never had the opportunity to say to your loved one during life will get you on the road to recovery after their passing. The compassion of the site creators comes through in each page, offering the grieving a place to find comfort, support, and help. In building their site, they have striven to include resources and information to help the bereaved through the grieving process.

Via EPR Network
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Trackthisnow.com is a unique website that tracks news articles on any topic across the world in real time

Trackthisnow.com is a unique website that tracks news articles on any topic across the world in real time. The service at the moment tracks 236 countries world wide and presents it on a view of the world map. Using the service is simple. You can enter a keyword and trackthisnow.com will track a graphical representation of where news stories on your chosen topic are appearing, overlayed onto a world map. You can then click on the countries on the map to see the news from them. Tracking happensat the click of a button without the need for the user to login or go through any other formalities and delays.

“The novelty of this site is the topic specific global search that it launches with instant results, rendered in a crisp format for a quick and easy view.” Says Gauri Narayan, Co-Founder of trackthisnow.com.

Right now, the service tracks news in every country in the world but plans are on to enable tracking at the city level as well. The site uses web 2.0 to find news from different countries and uses Google Maps for plotting the coverage. The software is currently tracking in access of over …??……… publications across 236 countries. This number is expected to rise in the next development phase of the website in December 2008.

Here is what some of the initial users of trackthisnow.com have to say about the website;

“Since the news is always the most recent, it is particularly useful when you want to track something on a daily basis”David Friedman, UK

“It’s a great tool for people like us to keep track of the latest developments and trends in the global context; making comparative assessments, studying the impact and planning ahead.” – Vidur Kohli, India

“I work for a digital marketing firm and I find this site so user friendly. It’s the quickest way I’ve found, to discover what the entire world feels on any given topic. Excellent.” Thiago Meister, Brazil

“I discovered this site 3 days ago and I have already been on it 15 times. Just to show its quick, easy and ever so relevant. Great asset for people like us involved with public affairs and diplomacy.” – Sharath Saxena, India


Via EPR Network
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Correct in-text contextual linked words via LinkedWords’ contextual platform help small to mid level sites gain web visibility and attract truly targeted traffic

Launched back in the middle of 2006 LinkedWords has essentially proven over the past years to be very effective vehicle in helping web sites get contextually linked on a content area level so that Internet users and smart robots discover their information in context. Since then the contextual platform has rapidly grown from 30,000 uniques per month back in its early days during 2006 to over 1 million unique visitors per month these past months of 2008.

The successful formula seems to be simple yet very effective: the higher the number of small to mid level sites’ content areas contextually linked in LW’s platform – the higher the number of contextually targeted unique visitors shared among those web sites linked in.

The results: More than 4.5 million contextually targeted unique visitors have effectively been shared among the web sites contextually linked in during the entire 2007. This year the figures seem even better and the site is currently on track to surpass the 10M uniques mark for the entire 2008. Small to mid level sites are really benefiting from having their web sites, pages and content areas contextually linked in LinkedWords’ massive contextual platform built upon 38 Million English words, phrases and whole sentences organized into semantic structures from contextual paths to deep meaningful categories.

What does LinkedWords do after all?

LinkedWords (LW) is an innovative contextual platform built upon millions of English words and phrases organized into contextual categories, paths, and semantic URLs whose mission is to maximize contextual linking among web sites across the Web. Since its launch in June 2006 LW’s concept has essentially proven to be very effective vehicle in helping web sites getcontextually linked on a content area level so thatInternet users and smart robots discover their information in context. Correct in-text contextual linked words (hyper links) help our platform, 3rd party sites and semantic search engines all direct relevant Internet users to the web sites contextually linked in.

1)
Once your site is contextually connected with LW’s platform (by hyper-linking strategic words and phrases in the texts of your site to the same words/phrases at LW within the appropriate categories and contextual paths) it helps us send you targeted traffic from what the platform’s reach is – 4.5M for the entire 2007 and 5M for the first 4 months of the 2008;
2)
It also helps contextually connected web sites through LW drive precisely targeted traffic among themselves by connecting content areas with the same context around Web anytime other sites link to the same words/phrases at LW from within the same or highly relevant context;
3)
It guides software agents and algorithmic robots discover (your) information in context. Contextual categories, paths, semantic URLs and in-context hyper-links are format that can be read, understood and used by software agents, thus permitting them to find, classify and organize your information in context on Web;
4)
It helps common users find relevant information (could be yours) on-demand, in the context of the subject they are reading around the Web, by clicking on the same contextually… linked words! Visitors coming from static in-context hyper-links inside meaningful text contextually relevant to your content are highly likely to be targeted at the highest precise level possible;
5)
And the last but not the least, it is FREE for your web site to contextually connect to the LW’s platform and start getting targeted traffic, today.

Ok, but how do I contextually link my site to LW’s platform? After getting familiar with how it’s done you can browse or search the 38,050,000+ English words-, phrases- and sentences-based pages and categories organized into contextual paths, find the strategic ones for your web site / content and get then contextually linked with. Small to mid-level web publishers looking to improve the visibility and increase the targeted traffic of their web sites can make as many as possible contextual links through LW’s platform. Alternatively, practical examples of already linked words can anytime be seen on the site’s home page.

The last, but not the least, LW is all about contextual information therefore to assure best results make sure 1) the context of your page, in which you make your linked words, matches the contextual path to the words/phrases you make the contextual links to at LW’s platform, and 2) you link only words/phrases that grammatically belong to and are organically found within sentences inside your text and these linked words are surrounded by meaningful content otherwise no contextual connections can be created, which yields no results and is ground for deletion. Proper contextual paths/categories and in-text linked words yield better contextual results. If no words or phrases are found for your specific content, or they are not in the right contextual paths/categories, you can always create your own words and phrases in the most appropriate paths/categories to match your page’s context.

You can find out more by visiting us at the following web address: linkedwords.com

Via EPR Network

Via Web 2.0 Innovations

Via LinkedWords’ Blog

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Take11 provides a web service for online cataloging of videos and dvds

Every technology has limitations and drawbacks. In the case of home entertainment systems, a drawback is the need to organize and manage a collection of videos and dvds. Even when many videos are borrowed, rather than owned, we’d like to be able to track what we’ve seen, make a wish list, assign our own ratings, and create notes about particular movies. Ever stand in a video store with dvd in hand and wonder whether you already own that particular title?

The solution is a system for cataloging—but the system must be easy to use; that is, it must take advantage of what we already know. Software developers Mitch and Jim Haileare creating such a system—a web site called Take11.com where users can catalog their video collections.

Take11 is a web service: there is no software to buy, download, or update. Anyone who can use a web browser can use Take11. If you have a web-enabled mobile phone, you can access Take11 remotely, such as from your local dvd store. To add to your collection, you input just three or four key terms, and Take11 will fill in many details: actors, director, studio, running time—even a cover image. You can then add your own tags, comments, and ratings. As the number of Take11 users grows, so will its database, and this will allow users to explore other collections and search for little known gems from the film industry.

Take11 has just been released for public beta-testing: the developers need users who will explore the site, test features, and give constructive feedback. Anyone who regularly watches videos at home should give Take11 a look.

About the Developers
Mitch Haile earned a degree in computer science from The College of Wooster. He has been employed by Motorola and several Silicon Valley startups. Currently he is a freelance software engineer based in Boston.

Jim Haile earned an engineering degree from Vanderbilt and a PhD in engineering from the University of Florida. He has twenty-four years experience teaching science, engineering, and computer programming. Currently he resides in upstate South Carolina, where he is a freelance technical writer, editor, and web developer.

Their site is in public beta testing and developments can be followed on Twitter.

 

Via EPR Network
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