Alert Blog Reviews

If you are Twitter you have to be feeling a bit dizzy by now. 2009 has been a year of tremendous growth, more than a little success followed by more than a little criticism. There are always questions hovering over why Biz did that or if Jack really meant that or if Evan is saying something that isn’t supposed to be public or whatever. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is flying around at a rapid rate. Google has come up with nearly forty innovations in the past 70 days alone. Some of which involve the real time search genie that Twitter represents. Well, while not innovating at Google-like speeds (who does that anyway) there are some things emerging from Twitter like their announcement yesterday about a new ‘business’ feature. On the Twitter blog we read The feature we are beta testing is called ‘Contributors’ – it enables users to engage in more authentic conversations with businesses by allowing those organizations to manage multiple contributors to their account. The feature appends the contributor’s username to the tweet byline, making the business to consumer communication more personal; e.g. if @Twitter invites @Biz to tweet on its behalf, then a tweet from @Twitter would include @Biz in the byline so that users know more about the real people behind organizations. Here’s a picture or it for you. Now all of this was couched in very non-committal terms. Now, in its beta form, twitter is allowing what appears to be a form of sub-accounts for a business. In other words, if you have Skippy, Biffy, Buffy and Irv all tweeting on behalf of your company the tweets will all come from your company but the actual contributor will get a byline mention. The idea being to show the variety of people that are tweeting on a company’s behalf and giving that account more of the various personalities. Makes sense. The blog promises several other non-specified changes but is very cautious in how these are presented. In other words, there will not be a ‘ask for forgiveness rather than permission’ approach to new ideas at Twitter. Maybe they aren’t as willing to work out their issues as publically as Google does. This feature is one of several in development; some of them will be visible to regular users and some of them will not. Our goal at this time is to get basic feedback from business users and ecosystem partners. The beta will be released to a limited subset of folks for some time so that we can get an idea of how the features work from a system perspective. After we kick the tires a bit, we’ll do a full launch to all business users and ecosystem partners. Stay tuned! Who knows but one thing is for certain. The upcoming year will be critical for Twitter as it really needs to establish what it intends to be when it grows up and what it’s going to do to keep everybody aware of “What’s happening”.

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Twitter Developing Specific Features for Business

Just in time for Halloween, Google has given us a chance to put together a very timely and pithy headline (although I have to give credit where credit is due – hat tip to Andy). So how exactly is Google doing this and what the heck does it mean? In a nutshell, it’s a way to move toward a kind of ‘simulated’ real time search because the idea is to use its RSS/Atom feeds to identify and index new content more quickly. Is this replacing the traditional crawling technique of forever? There is no consensus on this aspect but it is obvious that Google is fully on board the real-time search train that is leaving the station as we speak. ReadWriteWeb reports According to a post on Google’s Webmaster Central blog , Google is now discovering web sites by automatically scanning RSS and Atom feeds. This new process will help Google more quickly identify web pages and will allow users to find new content in search results as soon as it goes live. While not exactly “real-time,” using feeds to identify updates to websites is an arguably faster method than the traditional crawling techniques Google has used in the past. And Google may get even faster in the near future – the post also notes that the company may soon explore using mechanisms like the real-time protocol PubSubHubbub to identify updated items going forward. This is pretty nifty. Of course, the obvious question is how do you rank these new entries into whatever keyword clustered group the page belongs in? Just because they are the newest or freshest entries into a space by no means determines their relevancy and quality. In fact, one could argue that real time could be a real pain in the butt because it could simply end up meaning that whoever is first is best. That’s not a good result. It’s kinda like saying that the kid in school who runs the 100 yard dash the fastest get the prize for Best Science Project. There is no correlation between speed and quality. It happens on occasion but it is more rare than one might think. Real time may be more suited for news and not for research. It’s too early to tell but these are questions that will be cropping up regularly moving forward. The bottom line is that Google is going to be using all of its considerable resources to try to harness the new push to real time results. Once everything is gathered however then the fun really begins. If I could be so bold as to make a suggestion I would like to see a “real time” search option and “traditional” one. I’m not sure there will be a real clean way to present real time results with those that are actually the best result without making the SERP’s a complete usability train wreck. What are your thoughts on this one? Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

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Google Feeds Its Spiders

Blog World & New Media Expo is essentially a must for bloggers. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, Darren’s running a “quick n’ dirty” competition for a free weekend pass . We’re drawing the winner on Wednesday, so if you want in, hurry up. (And yes, you need to be prepared to pay for your own transportation to Las Vegas, NV as well as your own hotel accomodations while you’re there. But the pass gets you into the conference and a couple of the parties, so it’s totally worth it! Value: $495) You can also still purchase tickets, and get a 20% discount by using the promo code PB20 at checkout. Here are some attendee reactions from previous years . I’m personally a huge fan, as I went last year. It’s a lot of fun, and there’s nowhere else you can get this up close and personal with so many industry leaders! We’re also holding another competition where you can win a place at dinner with Darren, myself, and a few of Darren’s blogging/social media friends on Wednesday night at the beautiful Fiamma Trattoria over at MGM (Dinner graciously provided by Fiamma and @TasteMGMGrand ). For this, you need to be already planning to attend Blog World, and must be available for dinner on Wednesday night (10/14/09) at 6pm. Details here . Hope to see you there! © 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips . Going to Blog World Expo? Want To? How About Dinner With Darren? Related posts: Are You Planning to Attend Blog World Expo 2009? Twitter as Dinner Conversation: A Guide to Using Replies 5 Tips to Employ Online Networking in the Real World

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Going to Blog World Expo? Want To? How About Dinner With Darren?

By Fredrickus Williford of CalTweet – Follow him @blackmediaprop With Twitter implementing the new “report for spam” button that has been buzzing as a trending topic around the Twittersphere this article is right on time. Stalkers beware: Twitter isn’t therapy it will only increase the number of people you’re following. After reading below you will understand that the first step to improving your Twitter behavior is to admit that you have a problem and slim down on the people you’re following. Here’s 5 reasons why Twitter builds a healthy appetite for stalking: 1. It encourages you to follow people you are already clearly obsessed with. Early warning signs of a stalker to be. 2. It gets fans one step closer to celebrities & high profile internet entrepreneurs. Twitter has to be the only social network that celebrities actually use themselves… at least that what appears to be going on behind these famous Twitter handles. 3. Service is down just as much as it is available. It goes down (very often) without notice and forces you to find other ways to keep up with the people you stalk follow. 4. The fact that you have to constantly type in the person your @mentioning creates a recurring cycle in your brain of repetition of the person you’re stalking following on Twitter. 5. Last but not least. After so many @mentions and DM’s to the stalkee with no signs of them knowing you exist it forces the follower/stalker to find other means of getting the stalkee to acknowledge there 140 characters of Twitter love. That’s where the All NEW “report @insertstalkername for spam” will come in use. Make sure you read over the above reasons and make sure you’re not at fault or showing early warning signs of becoming an e-stalker. If all else fails we know who to blame. Hint: Tweet-Tweet. © 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips . 5 Reasons Twitter Creates Stalkers Related posts: 10 Reasons To Use Your Real Name As Your Twitter @Name 3 Ways to Recognize Bots and Spammers on Twitter 6 “REAL” Reasons Why Followers Follow

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5 Reasons Twitter Creates Stalkers

Apparently Twitter is all search-dealt out. After deals to bring real-time info to Bing (now) and Google (later) , Twitter was not the last of the big three’s choice for real-time search. (But does it matter if Yahoo’s deal with Bing goes through?) Instead, Yahoo, almost a week behind the others, plans to go real time with OneRiot , according to TechCrunch’s sources. I know what you’re thinking. Who? Good question. OneRiot tracks trends on the real-time web. You can search several social sites’ updates from OneRiot, or you can use their toolbar to add real-time content to any web search. A search on one of their listed trending topics brought up seven news articles, all of which were listed as first shared on Twitter. They have the ten most recent stories on their main page—and when I checked, 90% were from Twitter. Hooray for catching that other 10%, Yahoo. Danny Sullivan (or someone purporting to be him) commented on the TechCrunch article, calling the possible deal “lame.” He points out that Twitter APIs (and several other real-time startups) are free, and Yahoo should have gotten in on that action while it could. What do you think? Will Yahoo deal with OneRiot, or will they jump on the Twitter bandwagon with free APIs?

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YaToo: Y! Going Real Time

Big day yesterday. Bing announces it is getting Twitter results for its index ahead of Google announcing the same thing . I wonder if that is a balm for Mr.Ballmer that at least he one-upped Google on one occasion. But wait there appears to be yet another rabbit that Microsoft can pull out of its hat. Drum roll please. It’s Facebook! Ok, before we move on which is your favorite; Facebing, bingbook, MicroFace, In Your Face Google or something else? Your input is required . Microsoft is showing some chutzpah in getting aggressive by striking deals with the largest public provider of real search data (Twitter) and arguably THE largest, but not completely public, gatherer of information about what people are doing as you read this. The Telegraph reports Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, has confirmed its search deal with Microsoft’s Bing is expected to launch within two months and that Facebook isn’t making any money from the arrangement. Talking exclusively to the Telegraph at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco, Ms Sandberg said: “We should have our public updates integrated into a Bing beta within a couple of months. Unlike Twitter’s data stream, which is already totally public, we have to be very careful about making sure the correct data is streamed.” This is big news for the search and social media industries as the lines blur further and further. It’s a natural progression, in that it makes sense to be able to search what is being said in real time as well as index alk of this information. Why it hasn’t happened until this point is not about logic but rather it’s about business. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and write about how it makes sense and why isn’t anyone doing it but it’s quite another to make these things happen so there is business benefit to all involved. On that point it is interesting that Ms. Sandberg is trying to make it look like Facebook is taking the high road and saying that Facebook does not intend to make money from its data. Huh? Please don’t say that you think we are either that stupid or gullible. It’s the data that you have and the further reach of that data that will make advertisers come to you with their wallets open. OK so there may not be any fees attached for access but there are dollar signs attached to the move for sure. So this should be interesting for sure. Sandberg made sure to put aside any fears about the data privacy that has been one of the attractive features of Facebook will not be compromised. Facebook will only stream data from users who have set their privacy settings to “everyone on web”, which Ms Sandberg thinks will allay anyone’s concerns about breaches of confidence. “Only people who have agreed to share their updates with everyone on the web will have their updates streamed to Bing. This move is about giving people more choices about how they share their information,” she said. So will you make your information available to everyone? That is the real question here. Facebook has a shady history of TOS shenanigans so it will be important that those who are not savvy (which I venture is the vast majority of Facebook users) are educated as to whether they are or are not opted in to having their information on display for the entire world and not just their friends. I think that will be the real test of how this works or not. As for me, I am not sure whether I want the world to see everything I do on Facebook. I am doing nothing illegal or immoral (as for matters of taste that is up for debate) but I also like the fact that not everyone is looking at the stuff I put up there. So, let’s sit back and wonder how this will play out. Will it be a winner or just a really good press release? Your take?

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Facebook and bing – Perfect Together?

For many people, real time is the holy grail of search—and an area that the popular microblogging service Twitter has soundly beaten all the search engines on. Google’s struggling with it, and Bing’s last foray, in partnership with Twitter, was disappointing . But they’re not about to make that mistake again. Bing says if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. They’re partnering with Twitter to bring real time to searches. Bing describes the search engine: A real-time index of the Tweets that match your search queries in results. This feature makes it easier to follow what’s going on by reducing the amount of duplicates, spam, and adult content. Giving you the option to rank tweets either by most recent or by “best match,” where we consider a Tweeter’s popularity, interestingness of the tweet, and other indicators of quality and trustworthiness. Providing the top links shared on Twitter around your specific search query by showcasing a few of the most relevant tweets. Additionally, Bing automatically expands those small URLs (like bit.ly) to enable you to understand what people are tweeting about. Instead of showing standard search result captions, we select 2 top tweets to give users a glimpse of the sentiment around the shared link. And to see it in action (or you can use it here ): Interestingly, this comes at the same time as other real time search developments from Google . However, real-time indexing and actually accessing the real time information in Twitter can be two vastly different things. Bing wisely highlights the benefits this real time search info, using personal examples from their staff, most notably “Sean Suchter (my boss) and I avoided a closed freeway on a rainy Seattle day and made our flight home” and “Eric Scheel (principle program manager on the team) a photo-gear junkie, keeps up on early product reviews and owners’ tweets, which helped him decide on his next purchase” (although clearly non-RT search could do that). For now, the Twitter-enhanced results reside at http://www.bing.com/twitter , but they may be fully integrated with all SERPs later. A partnership with Facebook is also slated to be announced today. What do you think? Is this what you’re looking for in real time search? Will you use it? Do you want it on your regular SERPs, or do you like using it separately?

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Bing Goes Real Time with Twitter