Archive for October, 2007
Today at the eMetrics Summit in Washington, D.C., Google announced new features to its Google Analytics web service such as site search reporting and event tracking, and an updated version of Urchin software. This enhanced feature set makes essential Web 2.0 information more accessible and comprehensible, and enables Google Analytics users to better understand their users and to act on reporting information in more sophisticated ways.
Users can enable site search to identify keywords, categories, products, and trends across time and user segments, thereby helping them measure the effectiveness of their websites and their marketing dollars. Site search aggregates data about how searches affect site usage, e-commerce activity, and conversion rates, by tracking internal search patterns. This best-of-breed feature will soon be available worldwide, and it works with Google Custom Searchâ„¢, GSA, Google Miniâ„¢ and many other non-Google site search products.
With Web 2.0 features also spreading on the Internet, measuring their success is increasingly valuable. Event tracking, which launches in a limited beta at the eMetrics Summit, enables Google Analytics users to measure visitor engagement with a site’s interactive elements, such as Ajax, Javascript, Flash movies, page gadgets, downloads, and other multimedia Web 2.0 experiences. Google Analytics users who are attending the eMetrics Summit can sign up for event tracking at the Google Analytics booth, and users should note that when they add event tracking, they must update their page tags from “urchin.js” to “ga.js”.
For those who prefer a software version of web analytics, Google Analytics is introducing Urchin Software in limited beta worldwide. Urchin Software is an update to Urchin 5 software, and a free 90-day trial of the beta version of Urchin Software can be requested from an authorized reseller: http://www.google.com/analytics/support_partner_provided.html.
Urchin Software will be available for a discounted price to users of Urchin 5, and will include many improvements including tools to assist in migrating configurations and data from previous versions of Urchin. Once the new software is out of beta, it can be purchased through an authorized reseller, who often offers comprehensive support and consultation services as well.
Users all over the world rely on Google Analytics to optimize their businesses and understand their customers’ needs. To better serve them, Google Analytics has added six new languages, bringing the total number of supported languages to 25. The new languages are Czech, Hungarian, Portuguese (Portugal), Thai, Filipino, and Indonesian.
October 17th, 2007
Yahoo! and WebMD (Nasdaq:WBMD), the established leader in online health information, today announced exclusive, multi-year search and advertising distribution agreements. Under the new agreements, Yahoo! will power sponsored search across the WebMD network of consumer sites, including WebMD Health, MedicineNet, eMedicine Health and RxList. In addition, WebMD will extend its advertising reach to include WebMD users across Yahoo! properties and services. WebMD will be the only significant online health publisher to represent Yahoo!’s advertising inventory.
With online advertising spending in the health and pharmaceuticals category expected to top $1 billion next year(1), this agreement provides both Yahoo! and WebMD with additional reach and targeting that will benefit advertisers and consumers alike. Yahoo!’s robust ad platform coupled with effective targeting capabilities will enable advertisers to reach an even larger engaged audience and consumers will receive more relevant and timely health-related marketing messages. Additionally, should WebMD choose to make its inventory available to a third party advertising network, Yahoo! will have the opportunity to extend its advanced advertising products across the WebMD network of consumer sites on competitive terms.
“This strategic agreement dramatically extends WebMD’s ability to uniquely reach health-involved consumers across the breadth of both WebMD and Yahoo! properties,” said Wayne Gattinella, President and CEO of WebMD. “We’re pleased to bring Yahoo!’s world class sponsored search capability to WebMD users as they seek credible health information on our network of consumer sites.”
“Yahoo! couldn’t be more thrilled to power sponsored search for WebMD’s users. WebMD is the premier destination for health information,” said Todd Teresi, senior vice president of the Yahoo! Publisher Network. “This agreement ushers in a new era of collaboration and value creation for marketers seeking qualified audiences, consumers demanding relevant experiences, and for our collective organizations as we look to build upon our unique strengths.”
October 16th, 2007
Google announced today that it will host an Analyst Day meeting on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 in Mountain View, California. Presentations by Google’s management team are scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time) and conclude by 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time).
This event will be made available via Webcast at http://investor.google.com/webcast. The Webcast version of the presentation will be available through the same link for approximately two weeks following the presentation, after which time Google will include the Webcast in the “archive” section of the Google Investor Relations website.
October 16th, 2007
Yahoo! today announced significant display advertising agreements with Cars.com, Forbes.com and Ziff-Davis Media. These agreements represent the continued build-out of Yahoo!’s network of premium publishers, which will benefit advertisers, publishers and users. These relationships enable marketers to reach their target audiences with high-value inventory on Yahoo! and across the Web, improving reach, frequency and relevance.
“Yahoo! is developing a new marketing ecosystem where premium publishers can deliver relevant marketing messages to their users on their owned and operated sites, or on Yahoo!’s sites, while also giving marketers the ability to reach their desired audiences across the entire network,” said Todd Teresi, senior vice president of the Yahoo! Publisher Network. “When you put the breadth of Yahoo!’s owned and operated properties together with these vertically-focused leaders, advertisers will be able to reach a high-quality audience with greater relevance and scale.”
Cars.com
The alliance between Yahoo! and Cars.com, one of the nation’s leading online destinations for people in the market for automobiles, creates increased opportunities for advertisers to reach a highly qualified, specific audience of in-market consumers interested in purchasing cars. This alliance gives advertisers the ability to extend their access to those consumers on both Cars.com and the Yahoo! network, creating highly valuable inventory for both partners.
“It’s exciting to partner with Yahoo! to give our advertisers the ability to reach their target audiences not only on Cars.com, but also on the breadth of the family of sites and services on Yahoo.com,” said Mitch Golub, President of Cars.com. “This alliance with Yahoo! will significantly enhance our ability to sell a lot more advertising inventory.”
Forbes.com
The Yahoo! - Forbes.com relationship gives Forbes.com the ability to extend the reach and frequency of targeted display advertising to its consumers across Yahoo!’s network of leading Web sites. This will enable Forbes.com to continue delivering to advertisers qualified business decision-makers wherever they appear across the Yahoo! network. Additionally, Yahoo! will include some Forbes.com display inventory as part of Yahoo!’s finance package to advertisers looking to reach users interested in finance, including key business leaders. Forbes.com will continue to sell its own inventory to its advertising partners on a stand alone basis.
“Yahoo!’s network of publishers offers an intelligent and cutting-edge opportunity to monetize our premium unsold inventory at Forbes.com,” said Jim Spanfeller, president and Chief Executive Officer, Forbes.com.
Ziff-Davis Media
The Yahoo! and Ziff-Davis Media relationship will provide advertisers with additional opportunities to communicate with, and engage some of the most involved and influential technology and video game buyers who are active across Yahoo!’s network of premium Web properties. These audience extension opportunities will enable marketers to further support their strategies to create a voice with influential consumers.
“Extending the reach of our PCMag.com Network and 1UP.com network audiences via Yahoo!’s extended network of Web properties creates more opportunities for advertisers to reach these valuable, proven buying communities,” said Jason Young, Chief Executive Officer, Ziff Davis Media. “It’s an incredibly compelling proposition that’s a win for Ziff- Davis Media, Yahoo!, and marketers alike.”
These important relationships with Cars.com, Forbes.com and Ziff-Davis Media are the latest developments in Yahoo!’s strategy to create the largest and most effective network of premium publishers online. The advertiser - publisher ecosystem will transform how advertisers engage with customers on and off the Yahoo! network. Yahoo! provides significant added value to these publishers, and all the companies participating in its growing network of premium publishers.
October 15th, 2007
Virtual explorers can now discover and watch YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) videos while they traverse the globe. Starting today, a YouTube layer will be available in the Featured Content folder of Google Earth (http://earth.google.com).
The new layer enables users to zoom in on any location on the planet and view YouTube videos related to that place. For example, a trip to Maui offers videos of surfing, snorkeling and exotic sea life, while users who fly to Chamonix-Mont Blanc, France, can watch breathtaking videos filmed at the highest points of the Alps.
The integration of YouTube functionality into Google Earth offers a new way to experience destinations as seen through the eyes of YouTube users who have visited them, enabling people to watch, hear and feel what’s happening in locations theythank may never have otherwise visited. For instance, armchair tourists to Rome can now watch YouTube videos filmed at the Colosseum, providing a holistic experience and adding a new perspective for users who enjoy looking at the Colosseum and other noteworthy locations from above through satellite imagery, as 3D buildings created with SketchUp, and in user-contributed photos uploaded to Panoramio.
Here’s How It Works:
Users should download the newest Google Earth client, if they have not yet done so. Once in Google Earth they should open the “Featured Content” folder on the left hand side of the screen and click “YouTube.” Once clicked, icons of the YouTube logo will be visible on the globe. Users can either fly from place to place, exploring videos as they go, or they can search for a particular location and view the videos available there. Users simply mouse over the icon to read the title of the video, and clicking on the icon will open a pop-up bubble. Windows users can watch the video directly in the pop-up bubble; Mac and Linux users should click the link in the bubble to watch the video in their browser. To learn more about the YouTube user who uploaded the video or to view more of their content, users should click on the username.
October 12th, 2007
Google today announced the fifth generation of the iconic yellow Google Search Appliance™ hardware, version 5.0, which provides universal search capabilities for secure access to enterprise content systems—including EMC Documentum, IBM FileNet, OpenText Livelink, and Microsoft SharePoint. The company also announced significant improvements in reach, security and relevance, in addition to business search technology developments available at the new Google Enterprise Labs™ site.
“When we launched the first Google Search Appliance five years ago, we had a vision to make search inside of business as simple and effective as searching on Google.com,” said Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager of Google Enterprise. “By combining Google’s deep knowledge in search with more understanding and control for environments behind the firewall, we are helping businesses keep pace with the velocity of information.”
The new Google Search Appliance helps organizations gain from Google’s research and engineering in “universal search” (a term that describes how search technology can work across information silos to give the best answer every time a user enters a query). This notion is vital for businesses, where content often resides in separate repositories.
To help break silos and reach into more enterprise content, the Google Search Appliance 5.0 now includes an enterprise connector framework for access to enterprise content management (ECM) systems. This framework extends the already sizable reach into 220 file formats, file shares, intranets, databases, applications, and hosted services. The connectors, which are available under open source licenses, include:
- EMC Documentum
- IBM FileNet
- OpenText Livelink
- Microsoft SharePoint
Security has been enhanced to include:
- Support for Microsoft Windows Integrated Authentication (WIA)
- Secure crawling and serving of file system content
- Significant performance increases in the SAML-based Authentication and Authorization API
In addition, Google also announced Google Enterprise Labs, a site dedicated to improving the search experience inside businesses by providing early access to such search innovations as:
- Search-as-you-Type adds dynamic, real-time search by presenting suggestions and auto-complete queries while the user is typing. Search-as-you-Type is ideal for directory lookup, glossary terms, and search suggestions.
- Do-it-Yourself KeyMatch adds social search concepts to improve search results inside of business by allowing users to promote specific web pages for specific search terms, such as the CEO blog as the top result for CEO. Administrators have the option to monitor what’s been added and deleted.
- Parametric Search and Filtering allows for drill-down on search results leveraging semi-structured information and metadata.
The Google Search Appliance was launched in 2002. The number of customers have grown on average 100 percent year-over-year, and today more than 10,000 companies now rely on Google enterprise search appliances (Google Search Appliance and Google Mini) to help employees find business information. The new Google Search Appliance supports English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Chinese simplified, Chinese traditional, Japanese, Korean and Brazilian Portuguese. For more information, please visit http://www.google.com/enterprise/gsa/index.html.
October 11th, 2007
Because of its ability to separate design from content, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) has become an extremely important technology in web development. A single CSS document can contain information regarding the position of elements on all the pages in a web site as well as style information such as font, sizes and colours. In terms of building websites, CSS definitely represents the future.
Adobe Dreamweaver has long had support for the use of CSS and has responded to the growing importance of this pivotal technology. Dreamweaver’s implementation of CSS is all the more important since many of the people using the program are not specialist web developers and rely on Dreamweaver to guide them through the maze of technologies which drive web pages.
Dreamweaver CS3 is the first version of the program which assumes that the user will want to use CSS to control the layout of their web pages. To assist inexperienced and would-be web developers, each time a new page is created, the program allows the user to choose allocate a preset CSS layout to the page. There are about 30 such layouts and they come in single, double and three column varieties.
CSS page layout is based in the DIV element, an HTML container which can be used to hold an arbitrary amount of web content. The CSS rules control the appearance and positioning of DIVs on the page. Dreamweaver CS3’s preset CSS layouts create a series of DIVs containing placeholder text and basic formatting. The placeholder text, as well as the code underlying the page, both contain useful explanations of how the page has been constructed and a few tips on how to personalise them.
CSS works most efficiently when you can place all of your CSS code in one external file and link that file to each of your HTML pages. Dreamweaver CS3 still does not make it easy for inexperienced users to create CSS-based pages in this way. If the user creates ten web pages based on Dreamweaver’s preset CSS designs, each will have its own code embedded within the page itself. There is, however, a great feature for moving embedded code across to an external CSS file. You just select a series of CSS definitions, right-click and choose “Move CSS Rules” which is available in the “CSS Styles” section of the context menu.
Moving CSS code into an external file is not something a beginner would be expected to think of doing and is not something that Dreamweaver recommends to new users. So, in spite of the improvements, some familiarity with CSS is still required to get Dreamweaver to handle CSS efficiently.
It is also disappointing that Dreamweaver still automatically generates CSS styles called “style1”, etc. each time the user applies a font or colour to selected text. Surely it would be easier to simply remove these basic attributes and just let the user either apply a style to the selection or, if no styles exist, create a new one. Perhaps this will be introduced in the next release of this excellent program.
The writer of this article is a developer and trainer with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent computer training company offering Adobe Dreamweaver training courses in London and throughout the UK.
October 9th, 2007
As media becomes more and more fragmented, content providers and advertisers are looking for new ways to distribute their messages to the right audiences at scale. To better connect content providers with consumers and to give publishers new ways to further engage their audiences, Google today announced the availability of video units, the first offering for content distribution on AdSense. Video units enable AdSense publishers to display relevant, targeted video content within a customized, embedded player that’s ad-supported. Google is working with select YouTube content partners including TV Guide Broadband, Expert Village, Mondo Media, lonelygirl15, Extreme Elements, and Ford Models to supply the video content. The video units are user-initiated and will play only after a user has clicked to play the video.
The ads within the video unit are targeted based on a combination of the video content and the publisher’s site content. Advertisers are charged on a cost-per-click or cost-per-impression basis. Ads appear as a companion banner ad at the top of the video unit and as a text ad on the bottom portion of the video once the video begins playing. AdSense publishers and YouTube content partners will receive a share of the ad revenue.
Content distribution on AdSense improves the overall web experience by connecting consumers with more relevant information and entertainment on the sites they visit. This new program is a scalable and cost-effective way to distribute content online, creates a new revenue opportunity for publishers and content owners, and helps advertisers reach their target audiences in new and innovative ways. It will also allow AdSense publishers a unique way to enhance their sites with fresh, dynamic content.
Video units are now available in the U.S. for English language websites. Over the coming months, Google will expand the program to include other types of content to bring these benefits to content owners no matter their medium of choice.
For more information, please see: http://adsense.blogspot.com/.
October 9th, 2007
Next Posts
Previous Posts
