SmartBox Dental Marketing - What We Do



SEO for Dentists

Lots of guys will tell you about what they're going to do, or how they're going to do it, or what they could do.

Not to sound cocky, but we prefer just to do it (and then show you what it looks like).

Here's two of of our clients with live results from Google showing their rankings:


We'll be rolling out more case studies in the coming weeks to our website from other clients, stay tuned.

Considering the facts:
  • 97% of consumers use online media to research products and services in their local area
  • According to Google 90% of searchers won’t look past page one of the results page
  • 86% of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally
  • 85% of local searchers will follow up with a phone call or visit to the listing that stands out best
  • 84% of all searches on the internet are routed through Google


AOL Extends Google Search Deal +5 Years

AOL announced they have extended their search deal with Google for an additional five-years. This includes Google powering AOL’s organic and paid search results. The deal also added in that Google will power search on mobile search, in mobile apps and content. Also, all of AOL’s video content will also be on YouTube as part of this new extended deal.

In summary, the new five year deal includes:
  • Search Products: Google will provide AOL with additional features and enhancement to its leading Web search products that will improve the consumer search experience across AOL’s network of sites.
  • Advertising Products: Google will provide AOL with best-in-class ad formats, giving AOL consumers a better, more relevant ad experience.
  • Mobile Search: As AOL renews its focus on mobile apps and content, the companies will work together to expand the alliance to cover mobile search.
  • YouTube: AOL and YouTube have agreed to a content partnership that will bring AOL’s video content to YouTube. Global Focus: The alliance is international in scope and will provide improved experiences to AOL’s worldwide audience.
Tim Armstrong, AOL’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said:
Today is another important step in the turnaround of AOL. AOL users will be getting a better search and search ads experience from the best search company in the world – Google. After nearly a decade-long partnership in search, we’re looking forward to expanding our global relationship to mobile search and YouTube. All aspects of our partnership will be improved by this deal.
Eric Schmidt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Google said:
We’re excited to deepen our partnership. This agreement combines Google’s expertise in search and advertising with AOL’s strength in online content. It’s particularly exciting to see our relationship expand into video and mobile. These areas are now at the heart of users’ online experiences and at the core of both of our businesses.


Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed

If you want something done, perhaps you would ask a professional to do it. Someone who costs a lot but is worth more than they charge. Someone who shows up even when she doesn't feel like it. Someone who stands behind her work, gets better over time and is quite serious indeed about the transaction.

Or perhaps you could hire a passionate amateur. That's a forum leader doing it for love, not money. An obsessive in love with the craft. A talented person willing to trade income for the chance to do what he loves, with freedom.

Please, though, don't hire someone who just thinks it's a job. This category represents the majority of your options, and this category is what gives work a bad name.


-Seth Godin

Re-Targeting Advertisments

The New York Times is reporting on a new kind of web ad that takes products you were looking at purchasing on one site and continually advertises them in front of you at subsequent sites. After looking at shoes at Zappos, a mother in Montreal noticed the shoes followed her: 'For days or weeks, every site I went to seemed to be showing me ads for those shoes. It is a pretty clever marketing tool. But it's a little creepy, especially if you don't know what's going on.' The spreading ploy is called 'retargeting ads' and really are just a good demonstration of how an old technology (all they use are leftover browser cookies) are truly invasive and privacy violating. Opponents are clamoring for government regulation to protect the consumer and one writer mentioned a consumer 'do not track' list — adding that retailers really show little fear of turning off customers with their invasion.

Yahoo’s Results Now Come From Bing

Yahoo just announced the transition from Yahoo Search powered results to Bing powered organic Yahoo search results is now complete. The search ads are still from Yahoo but the free, organic results are now powered by Bing in the U.S. and Canada.

Shashi Seth, Senior Vice President of Yahoo! Search Products, said ” I am proud to announce that the transition of organic search between Yahoo! and Microsoft is complete.” He then told everyone to check out the Bing blog to see what they had to say.

Bing said:
Today I am happy to share that Bing is powering Yahoo!’s search results in the US and Canada (English only for now, the other languages will come in the weeks and months ahead).
So what’s next? We continue to work hard on the migration to adCenter, and are optimistic about completing this phase later this fall. As we have said all along, our primary goal is to provide advertisers with a quality transition experience in 2010, while being mindful of the holiday season.
This is a great milestone for Bing and Yahoo! and our customers, and we are happy to report the transition has gone smoothly and we feel great about the progress our search alliance has been making over the summer.
Shashi Seth of Yahoo also added, “we are also working hard on finalizing our revenue model for the Yahoo! Search BOSS program going forward, and will be offering other search-related tools for publishers in the months to come.”

The full transition began about a week ago and is fully live now.

You can confirm this yourself by conducing a search at Yahoo and scrolling to the bottom of the page. At the bottom, there should be a “Powered by Bing” line in really small font:

Ahh but not so fast.  What does this really mean to you?

5% LESS organic traffic from Bing + Yahoo to your website.  This means Google will continue to dominate the market with near 80-90% market share for the foreseeable future..

Eye Tracking Study Shows Importance Of Search Snippets

A new eye tracking study done in Spanish by Mari-Carmen Marcos and Cristina González-Caro at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and published July 2010 (Spanish PDF over here) was translated by Ani López reveals some new insights into searcher behavior.

The study shows that the search snippet, often the meta description from the site, is an extremely important factor for searchers. The study included 58 people of both genders and wide age range and tested informational, navigational, transactional and multimedia types of searches. The searches were done on Google, Google Images, Yahoo and Yahoo Images with a total of 22 tasks per person.

Here is the outcome of the study:


As you can see, the snippet is fixated over more than the title or the URL. Meaning the searchers spent more time looking at the snippet than the title or URL of the search result. This may imply that having a nice snippet, which is sometimes pulled from your meta description, is critical in increasing the chances of someone clicking on your search listing, instead of your competitors.

Google Doubles Pace Of Acquisitions In 2010

Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt said he has doubled that pace because “the opportunities are there.” Schmidt added, “We can afford it. We’re in a mode of investment for the long term.” Just this year, Google has acquired 17 companies including Aardvark, reMail, Picnik, DocVerse, Simplify Media, Episodic, PlinkArt, Agnilux, LabPixies, Bump Technologies, Global IP Solutions, Simplify Media, Invite Media, ITA Software, Metaweb, Instantiations, Slide.com and Jambool.

Google Updating Search Results As You Type

Rob Ousbey documented on video how Google is testing a feature where the search results on the page are updating as you type your search query. This is a form of search query refinement and Google Suggest that dynamically modifies the search results on the page as you type.




Official: Google Now Lets One Domain Dominate Search Results

Prior to this week, Google would only show up to two results from the same domain on a single search result page. Now, Google has confirmed what many are seeing, where a single brand dominates a single page of Google’s search results.

This is not a bug, this is not an anomaly, it is an intentional change to Google’s ranking algorithm. Google said:

Today we’ve launched a change to our ranking algorithm that will make it much easier for users to find a large number of results from a single site. For queries that indicate a strong user interest in a particular domain.

What I find interesting is the last statement by Google:

We expect today’s improvement will help users find deeper results from a single site, while still providing diversity on the results page.

Remember, Google’s Peter Norvig who said, “for the second one [search result], you don’t want something that’s almost the same as the first. You prefer some diversity, so there’s where minority views start coming in.” You prefer diversity. Google is clearly saying that a result from the same site can still be diverse and different enough, even if there are ten results, all from the same site.

On the reputation management front, this is a clear winner for those with reputation management issues.



Thought for the day



Use Infusionsoft? Checkout our One Click Opt-In Script!


We're finishing up developing this for our business, and I'll be making it available to the Infusionsoft community.  It's actually live on our website right now in final testing.


-Colin Receveur


Data use on cell phones up 50%

For the first time, the majority of cellphone users access data services. That’s driven a 50 percent increase in the average data use across all users.
A forthcoming study by Validas shows 53 percent of all cellphone subscribers are data users, up from 42 percent last year. The average data usage per subscriber is not 145.8MB a month compared with 96.8MB a month last year. Most of that is simply the result of more data users, though it does suggest those with data capabilities are using slightly more each month.
There’s a lot of attention paid to AT&T’s iPhone data plans, particularly the withdrawal of unlimited plans, but it turns out that the device doesn’t rack up the most data use on average. Instead Verizon’s users have the higher average data use. The study shows the average Verizon smartphone owner uses 428MB a month, compared with 338MB for the iPhone.


Google Mobile Search Market Share Near 100%

Let’s be cautious about running too far with these numbers, but Royal Pingdom (using data from StatCounter) has reported/estimated Google’s global mobile search market share to be almost 100%.
Google is clearly dominant in mobile search across smartphones (and feature phones). However these numbers may not be completely accurate. For example, the chart above shows PC and mobile search market share according to StatCounter. But while the general PC search share numbers may reflect selected markets (e.g., UK) they’re not accurate for the US and a number of other places around the world.

I’ve conducted mobile user surveys and seen plenty of third party data over the past two years that suggests the case isn’t quite this lopsided. At least a year ago mobile search market share was tracking the desktop generally though was somewhat more skewed in Google’s favor.

It’s quite possible that Google’s lead has accelerated — especially as Android devices have sold better and better — but I’m somewhat skeptical it’s this extreme. And Google itself doesn’t want this sort of a lopsided market because it will lend fuel to the anti-Google “monopoly” arguments gaining some momentum in pockets around the globe.

Separately the WSJ reported that Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Android could become a $10 billion market for Google annually:

“If we have a billion people using Android, you think we can’t make money from that?” Schmidt asked rhetorically. All it would take, he said, is $10 per user per year. Among other things, Google might earn such sums from selling access to digital content from newspapers.


YouTube Increasing Upload Limit from 10 to 15 Minutes

Since YouTube's launch, the longest video you could upload was 10 minutes. No longer!  Google reports that in the near future, that limit will rise to 15 minutes.

UK Government departments spend £6m on search engines

Four government departments spent almost £6m ensuring their websites appeared on search engine results pages in the last two financial years, according to newly released figures.

The Department of Health was the biggest spender, running up a bill of £4.4m in "paid search" fees.

It said the money was spent supporting campaigns on smoking and the flu pandemic.

Organisations can pay search engines to ensure their websites appear at the top of users' searches. They are often charged for each person who accesses their sites via the link.

The Department for Communities and Local Government spent over £750,000 promoting campaign websites including those for Home Information Packs, Eco Towns and Energy Performance Certificates.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change spent more than £309,000 last year. The Department of the environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) spent almost £500,000.

Goodbye Yellow Google AdWords Background & Hello Purple Backgrounds

Google has begun rolling out a new background color for the AdWords listings on Google’s search results. The new color is a pale purple, as opposed to the current pale yellow. Google has been testing the pale purple since May of this year and last week we have seen it ramp up in the number of people seeing it.
The RKG Blog has a comment from Google, which Google confirmed to us, that Google is indeed replacing the yellow with the purple background color. More and more users will see the new purple color and by the end of this week, all Google search properties should see the change.
About three years ago, Google switched from blue to the yellow background colors, with a change to how on-click events occur. You can see a picture of the old blue background colorsover here.
Here is Google’s official statement:
Starting today and ramping up to 100% globally by the end of this week, we’ll be changing the background color for ads that appear above the search results on Google.com as well as our local domains. The ads, which currently have a pale yellow background, will change to have a pale purple background. This change is part of the ‘look and feel’ update to our color palette and logo that we made back in May of this year to keep the Google results page looking fresh and modern. This is purely an aesthetic change to our ads and won’t have any impact on the way we target or serve advertisements on Google.com.
Here are pictures:




Write Your First Email Line Like a Tweet to Grab Interest

You notice it when you're reading email, but not so much writing it. Most email clients show just the first 50-75 characters of a message in the inbox view. Write your first line to that limit, and you'll likely get noticed.

It's a tip offered up by web PR consultant Steve Rubel, who notes that an eBook author reached through his own crowded inbox and managed to get a click-through with a first line that grabbed him. Rubel dubs it "Tweetifying" of your email's lead sentence, but it's actually about half a 140-character tweet. The idea is the same, though—let the character limit guide you to a punchier first impression.

Facebook claims half a billion members

The popular social networking site known as Facebook has achieved yet another significant milestone: 500 million members.

An obviously pleased Mark Zuckerberg celebrated the occasion by launching a new applicationdubbed "Stories," which allows users to share their Facebook related tales and read hundreds of others.

"Our mission is to help make the world more open and connected. Stories or examples of that mission and are both humbling and inspiring," the young CEO wrote in a blog post commemorating the momentous event.

"I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started 6 years ago."



So what is next for Facebook? Will the site be able to claim the unimaginable figure of 1 billion users within the next few years?

Well, Bob Metcalfe, co-inventor of Ethernet and founder of 3Com, told Mercury News that FB's continued success could result in a "New Web Order" which may eventually threaten Google.

"Do you think it's easier for Google to add social or Facebook to add search? My answer is that it's easier for Facebook to do search. I'm very optimistic about Facebook...So, Google, look out," said Metcalfe.

"Now, you would expect the exponential growth to turn into an S-curve as it caps out. But...even it falls short of a billion, it figures to maintain an orbit at lofty altitude. The network effects and prospects of user engagement will continue to grow, as individuals make more connections to other people or games, businesses and causes."

Jeremiah Owyang, a social media consultant with Altimeter Group, expressed similar sentiments.

"They've still got a ways to go before they reach saturation...Facebook's potential market size is as large as the online communication market itself."

Google Maps Adds Built-In URL Shortening

Sending someone a Google Maps URL can be a pain, because they tend to be very long. To remedy this, Google has integrated their previously mentioned goo.gl URL shortening service into Google Maps, so you can shorten links right from the map.

The feature is still in Google Labs, so you'll need to turn it on by clicking the green flask in the top right corner of the Maps page and enabling the "Short URL" feature. After refreshing the page, clicking on the "link" button will no longer give you a mile-long URL, but a concise link that you can paste into Twitter or send in an email. It does disable the embedding feature, but if you don't tend to use that anyway, it's a pretty handy little feature for figuring out those last few summer vacations.



Google May Use Mouse Movements to Influence Search Rankings

How Google decides what sites come up first on any given search is a closely-guarded secret, a formula that changes regularly to keep people from gaming the system. But it may get a lot harder to predict.

A new patent filed by Google on Tuesday would allow Google to analyze information about where on a page users hover their mouse cursor, presumably showing the search giant what people were sort of interested in by didn't actually click through on.

It's a crazy idea, one that may have some merit. But then again, it may not. If you're doing any typing, for example, the chances are good that your cursor is just left in some random spot on your screen. Does that really mean anything? If anyone can derive some usable info from what is sure to be an insane glut of data, it's Google.

NYC's Sexiest Billboard Doesn't Care For Dumphones


See that beautiful model there, frolicking with a few of her friends? No? Well, your smartphone can. This billboard—and two others like it—is one giant QR code that in this case gives particular significance to augmented reality.

Calvin Klein has occupied that particular billboard space, over a prominent corner on Houston Street, for quite some time. But whereas before it might have looked like below.

Through the end of the day it's just a bunch of big red and white blocks. Unless, of course, you have a smartphone that can read QR codes (there are plenty of apps for that). Then you're treated to a steamy 40-second ad.

QR codes have been hugely popular in Japan, but haven't caught on in the US yet other than as a means to link apps in the Android Market. But Calvin Klein and augmented reality enthusiasts are both hoping the same maxim holds true: sex sells.

Add "Scam" to Your Searches When Checking out a Business, Product, or Web Site

People often turn to services like Yelp or Amazon to see what people think about a business, product, or web site, but to cut straight to complaints that may not have made it everywhere, reader MrYdobon adds one word to his searches.

Google is part of our digital brains, and we trust that part to know when something is a scam. Google bill gates email, and you'll find links to Urban Legends and Snopes at the top. Google kevin trudeau, and you only need to look a few links down before you unearth the controversy surrounding him. But googling only keywords won't help when a scam is new or knowledge about it isn't widespread.

Instead, I search my keywords plus the word "scam". For example, search "some business name" (with quotes), and you'll primarily find pages hosted by the business. However, if you Google "some business name" scam (with quotes), you'll find—in addition to this comment—information you would want to consider before doing business with that business (info Gawker readers are well familiar with).

Note: Just because you get hits when googling keyword + scam, doesn't mean the controversy you find is valid. Google won't rate the quality of the information you're reading for you. You still have to do that yourself.

Disclaimer: I make no claim that Kevin Trudeau or the Bill Gates Email are actual scams or scam artists. Rather, this post is using these as examples in which a Google search can produce pages with controversial information about them.

Google Tags - "Highlighting" Your Business


Local customers already search Google for the products and services you offer. By creating a free business listing, you can make sure they can find you. When you add a tag to your listing, you can highlight what you most want your customers to see.

For example, you can add a coupon for new customers, highlight a video overview of your store, or even link to your menu. You decide what what's most important about your business and make sure it stands out.

Signing up and selecting your tag takes less than 5 minutes. All you need is a verified business listing and a valid credit card -- just visit your Google Places Dashboard and look for the link to enhance your listing.

  • You can easily and inexpensively highlight your listing on Google from Google Places.
  • Potential customers in your local area will see what you think is most important or unique about your business.
  • You can track the effectiveness of your tag with your Google Places dashboard.
  • You will be charged a low $25 flat monthly fee, with no bids and no keywords required.
  • There is no additional work or ongoing management needed.


I'm on the Map, are You?





This unique bar code on the lower right of the sticker (known as a QR code) lets customers - and potential customers - instantly learn more about a business, by visiting a mobile version of the business' Place Page on any supported phone. Here's more on how it works and what you can do with it:
  1. When you see a QR code, use your phone's application to scan it. If you're scanning a QR code on one of the window decals that Google has sent to thousands of U.S. businesses, you'll quickly be taken to that business' mobile Place Page on Google, where you can:

  • Read reviews to see what other users think about the business
  • Find a coupon that the business has posted to their Place Page
  • Star the business to remember to check it out later, or to remember to visit again
  • Leave a review right after you leave the business. What's a better time to write what you think, than when you've just visited?
Ready to try it? You can try scanning this code from your phone right now.  Seriously.  Give it a try.



The Importance of Copywriting in Web Design

As designers, we rightfully spend our time focused on aesthetics. We are pixel pushers who firmly believe with the strongest conviction that attractive websites are fundamentally better websites.

We build our mockups with “lorem ipsum” so we can go back and write something better when we have the time. Deadlines approach and still we put off the text until the last possible second. Finally, as our various GTD apps inform us that the time has come to submit the artwork, we hash out some quick text to throw onto our beautiful creations and send them off, without a visual blemish yet still marred by the subpar copy that appears on every page.

For many of us, this is simply how we’re programmed. We’re visual beasts that thrive on good design. The problem of course is that the neglect of solid copy will often cause the finished product to suffer as much or more than a poor design. Unless designers are your target market, your user base will be populated largely by individuals that don’t speak design. Show them Dribbble.com and they’ll wonder aloud why anyone would ever create such a service.

Sure, they can often interpret what is ugly and what isn’t similarly to how we can, but only on an intuitive level. What they really notice is how the website feels. Whether it’s smooth or clunky, easy to navigate or impossible. This is what is meant when designers say that great design is transparent. If your users notice your interface too much, it’s probably because they hate it.

This same metaphor of transparency applies to copywriting on the web. It’s worth noting that the average user is in fact trained in reading and writing far more than design, though still only as much as a standard education supplies. To these users, we’ll call them “normal people” as opposed to we visual freaks, browsing the web is a reading experience. Evaluating a service involves skimming the sales pitch and reading the list of features as much or more than evaluating the visual layout of the elements on the page. They’ll even hire a designer based as much on what he says about himself as what appears in his portfolio. If you have strong copy, they won’t notice or evaluate it too much, they’ll be far too busy being convinced of what it’s saying.

Read more at Design Shack...


Italy, 4th of July, and Marketing Auto-Pilot

You know you have a well run, competent organization when you can schedule time off, take a trip and not have the walls crumble while you are gone. Sure, you might get an occasional phone call or email asking a question from someone in your office who is just trying to be efficient, but it's nice once in a while as well to know you are missed.

The other benefit to having such an organization is that it is humming along smoothly and your business can afford the salary you take to plan a nice trip. Some of that comes after a few years of hard, ground grunting work. Some of it is due in part to the things you put in place that run automatically.

I'm happy to say the SmartBox Web Marketing has grown to this point. Over the 4th - and for about a week before - we were lucky enough to get away from the grind and go to Florence, Lucca and Pisa plus a few small towns in between. The sights were magnificent, the food was better than I needed it to be and we had a great time. 

But the trip made me realize and appreciate what goes on behind the scenes in any office. This becomes especially clear if a business is struggling a bit due to hard economic times or a lack of understanding of how things could be better and automated.

Marketing is a huge undertaking for any office or medical practice. In dental, chiropractic and medical offices it's not uncommon for this essential element to be left on the back burner...a kind of "I'll get around to it sometime" type of approach. Unfortunately it is the lifeblood of any practice. Sure, the medical professional went into his or her specialty thinking they were going to be a dentist, chiropractor or physician but the truth is that there is a business side to the practice as well and that means marketing...knowing what works, how to get the new, big cases through the door and being able to make smart decisions on how to effectively spend advertising dollars.

There lies the rub...so many are busy running the practice that marketing and a good working knowledge of marketing gets pushed back or even ignored. Some practices just do what colleagues are doing; newspaper ads, radio spots and brochures. The successful ones, however, break the mold and change with the times. They move forward either on their own or hire the experts to do it for them.

The medical community hasn't caught on to the vast array of benefits a good web presence can bring. That's obvious by the fact that only about 20% of practices have a web site. But even in doing something like planning a trip it becomes obvious websites have their place in this day and age. Booking flights, reserving hotels even looking for the best places to eat once you are there are carried out every millisecond by local consumers. The same is true of potential patients looking for medical specialties. The numbers of people looking online for that medical office that can fulfill their needs is growing rapidly and now surpasses the good ole' Yellow Pages.

SmartBox Web Marketing has thankfully grown to the point where I can take the occasional trip and enjoy time with my family. I owe a lot of that to the fact that I have a great staff and a well run office. I also owe a lot of it to my web presence. We are seen by countless practices who are jumping on the proverbial band wagon and are looking to build their book of business, especially in the big case area.

Web marketing makes sense for the medical community to do the same. How else will the savvy, tech friendly internet user of today find you? How else can you get the broad appeal your message will have on a well maintained and promoted web site? Brochures can't give your readers all of the information seen on a website. Yellow Page ads, radio spots and newspaper ads can't begin to get your total message out there. And when the site is well promoted and set up to deliver your message automatically the big cases do come.

Technology firms 'more trusted than traditional media'


Technology giants such as Google, Apple and Microsoft are now more trusted than traditional news media, a study has found.

American researchers also found that people now trusted the technology heavyweights more than social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

According to the new study, the majority of people rated online privacy as one of their major concerns when using the internet after both Google and Facebook were hit by rows over people's private details being disclosed on the web.

The study, of more than 2100 people, found nearly half they trusted the big three technology firms Apple, Google and Microsoft" completely" or "a lot”.

This was compared to eight per cent trusting Twitter and 13 per cent saying they had more faith in Facebook.

But all of the companies rated higher than traditional media, the research concluded.

One in five young adults, aged between 18 and 29, said they had higher trust levels in Facebook.

Meanwhile, 15 per cent of young people said they trusted Twitter.

The traditional media received little sympathy from the public with only eight percent of all adults and six percent of young adults saying they trusted them.

John Zogby, CEO of Zogby International, a market research company which conducted the researchsaid big companies have had the time to build brand equity, while Facebook and Twitter do not have the corporate identity.

Asked how important online privacy was to consumers, Mr Zogby said it was huge.

"I think to a great degree, its all about privacy," he said.



Coming Soon: Web Ads Tailored to Your ZIP+4


Routers from Juniper Networks such as this MX960 will soon include Feeva's zipcode tracking software, assuming ISPs want it.

Your internet service provider knows where you live, and soon, it will have a way to sell your zip code to advertisers so they can target ads by neighborhood. If your local pizza joint wants to find you, they will have a new way to do that. National advertisers will be able to market directly to neighborhoods with like characteristics across the whole country using demographic data they’ve been gathering for decades.

As websites continue to push for higher advertising rates, similar to what print publications command, this technology could allow them to boost their rates slightly. Every bit counts.

Juniper Networks, which sells routers to ISPs, plans to start selling them add-on technology from digital marketer Feeva that affixes a tag inside the HTTP header, consisting of each user’s “zip+4″ — a nine-digit zipcode that offers more accuracy than five-digit codes — delivered in coded form that is readable by participating ad network partners (updated). Juniper hopes to sell the software to ISPs starting this summer, having announced a partnership with Feeva earlier this year.

“Our technology fundamentally changes the industry,” Feeva vice president of advertising solutions Mike Blacker told Wired.com. “Nobody can deliver accuracy at the neighborhood level online or accurate demographics.”

Why is that so important? Advertisers have been gathering demographic information about zip codes for decades, yet lacked a reliable way to harness that data in the online world. IP-address detection is only accurate within 25 miles or so, and cookies that track users’ surfing habits don’t tell marketers about users’ location. Neither system meshes directly with all the demographic data marketers gathered about neighborhoods in the offline world.

Of course, privacy is a potential issue, but Feeva claims its software doesn’t tell marketers anything about web surfers except for their nine-digit zip codes. All their other personal information remains safe with their ISP.

“[This technology is] unleashing the underlying foundational data that [marketers] happen to have, but translating it into a language that [they] can use in such a way that the consumer is not in any way stripped of their privacy,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, advisor to Feeva and head of marketing giant Publicis’s future unit early last year, well before Feeva will begin marketing this product to ISPs.

Even federal regulators who scrutinize other ad firms over their targeting practices are apparently okay with this, in part because the zipcode is encoded and can only be ready by “trusted third parties.” That might reassure privacy advocates that personally identifying information is not at risk here (unless you’re the only person in your nine-digit zipcode, which would only happen in an incredibly remote region).

“The privacy folks in Washington love what we are doing,” claims Blacker, “because we never see any personally identifying information, we don’t track online usage like behavioral [advertising does], and we only aggregate at the neighborhood level.”


Feeva was founded in 2005 at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Incubator, and has a patent that "enables demographic information and user preferences to be distributed to any website or online advertising or media server."

The system cuts ISPs in on the advertising game in a new way, without them having to expend much effort. They can add Feeva tags to the HTTP headers that already tell online advertisers a person’s IP address, referring URL, language and browser, and they can do it using the same aggregation routers that already authenticate whether a given subscriber is paid up and should be allowed to connect.

ISPs have something not even Google has (something of a rarity these days) — the user’s zip+4 – and they can use it to take a chunk of the market currently dominated by that advertising behemoth, by charging ad networks for that valuable zipcode information.

“ISPs love Feeva, because we help them participate in the ecosystem instead of being just dumb pipes” said Blacker, “and letting Google make all the money from their expensive infrastructure.”

Of course, one big reason the internet matters at all is that it was not instantly co-opted by the same corporations in charge of other forms of media. We largely owe that to routers that are “dumb,” in the sense that they treat each bit passing through them the same regardless of where it’s coming from or where it’s going. Smart software that sits on routers threatens to undermine that system, by shooting bits through faster to certain users, or serving only specific subscribers a certain piece of content.

Assuming Juniper succeeds in selling Feeva’s software to ISPs, another potential use of its technology will be to go beyond the zip code and authenticate individual users with a higher level of certainty than a username and password could ever provide.

For instance, HBO could partner with an ISP to verify, at the network level, that a certain user subscribes to HBO, and so should be allowed to watch its programming for free on Hulu. Users might be annoyed that they can’t use a username and password to watch the channel from a computer outside their homes, but content providers will appreciate the way this system can prevent users from sharing accounts.

Juniper Networks, which says its current customers include the top 100 service providers globally, plans to start offering the Feeva add-on to ISPs in July or August.

Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/06/coming-soon-web-ads-tailored-to-your-zip-4/all/1#ixzz0rgWBhY2H

How Does Google Adwords Really Work?

If you are using Adwords but you are not exactly sure how it works, then you need to watch this video…If you are still not using Adwords, then you really need to watch this video!

Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, explains in a simple way how Google Ad Auction really works. You’ll see- it’s really about good thinking for better results for your prospects AND for you.

You have to realize that if you have a website but no strategy in place to bring people to your site…well, you’re really wasting your time and money.

Pretty much like having a phone number but not giving your phone number to anyone…you won’t get many calls…same for your website!



From Facebook to $$$$

Equine Dentist Builds Relationships With Facebook

How do you turn a regional service business into an international destination for industry thought leadership?
Facebook.
At least that’s what worked for Geoff Tucker, an equine dentist based in Palm City, FL.
In a business driven by relationships, Geoff says that Facebook allows him to build new ones. “People do business with people who they’re friends with. Period,” he says. “And Facebook is a great way to get to know people. It allows people to see that I’m a person.”
As he builds these relationships using social media, Geoff is also expanding his company’s reach. He says it was his blog, his Twitter feed, and his Facebook account that helped him win appearances on Horse Talk Radio and HorseGirl.tv.
So what’s this done for his business? Geoff says that over the last year, Facebook alone has generated about 100 leads and 10-to-15 customers.


Researchers Create Social Engineering IRC Bot

Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology developed an IRC (internet relay chat) bot that acts as a 'man in the middle' between two unsuspecting users, modifies URLs passed between them and also is capable of steering the conversation. Not only does this work surprisingly well on IRC — they found a 76.1% click rate for potentially malicious URLs — but four out of 10 people on Facebook chat also clicked on links after the bot introduced complete strangers to each other. This would have worked even better if the bot were to clone existing friends' profiles and submit friend requests from those, say researchers.

Social Media Revolution 2



Twitter Buys Analytics Company

Twitter, which recently announced its Promoted Tweets advertising program, has acquired the maker of a cloud-hosted Web analytics application, Twitter said Thursday.

In April, Twitter launched with a limited number of partners like Starbucks and Best Buy the Promoted Tweets program, which is designed to let companies market their products and services on the popular microblogging and social-networking site.The Smallthought staff has become part of Twitter's analytics team, where they will integrate Trendly features and technology into Twitter's existing systems, as well as help develop new products.

As with all advertising services, a key to the success of Promoted Tweets will be Twitter's capacity to analyze the popularity and effectiveness of these ads so that campaigns can be evaluated and optimized.

The analytics for Promoted Tweets may be more challenging than for other online advertising programs for a few reasons, including the fact that the ad format for Promoted Tweets will be the same as the format for regular "tweets" and that Twitter's usage is going through the roof, with 2 billion "tweets" posted in May, according to Web monitoring company Pingdom.

"Every day millions of people use Twitter to create, share and discover information, and as we grow, analytics becomes an increasingly crucial part of improving our service," reads Twitter's announcement of its Smallthought acquisition.

New Google Search Index 50% Fresher With Caffeine

When Google started, it would only update its index every four months, then around 2000, it started indexing every month in a process called the "google dance" that took a week to 10 days and would provide different results when searching for the same term from different Google data centers. Now PC World reports that Google has introduced a new web indexing system called Caffeine, that delivers results that are closer to "live" by analyzing the web in small portions and updating the index on a continuous basis. "Caffeine lets us index web pages on an enormous scale," writes Carrie Grimes on the official Google Blog. "Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day." Now not only does Caffeine provide results that are 50 percent fresher than Google's last index, adds Grimes, but the new search index provides a robust foundation that will make it possible for Google to build a faster and more comprehensive search engine that scales with the growth of information online.

Microsoft Office 2010 Will NOT Support Windows XP

In short, Windows XP and previous operating systems are not supported. XP Mode is also not supported.

Here's the word straight from the horse's mouth (click to enlarge):



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Learn more about how it works at: http://smartboxwebmarketing.com/zetetics.htm


Military Taps Social Networking To Hunt Insurgents

The New York Times has an interesting article about the thousands of analysts based in the United States for the Central Intelligence Agency and the US military who are showing how the Facebook generation's skills are being exploited — and paying dividends — in America's wars. Analysts monitor enemy communications and scan still images from drones in Afghanistan, then log the information into chatrooms, carrying on a running dialogue with drone crews and commanders and intelligence specialists in the field, who receive the information on computers and then radio the most urgent bits to troops on patrol. Marine intelligence officers say that during an offensive in February, the analysts managed to stay a step ahead of the advance, sending alerts about 300 or so possible roadside bombs, paving the way for soldiers to roll into Marja in southern Afghanistan with minimal casualties. 'To be that tapped into the tactical fight from 7,000 to 8,000 miles away was pretty much unheard of before,' said Gunnery Sgt. Sean N. Smothers, a Marine who stationed as a liaison to the analysts. New analysts, who were practically weaned on computers and interactive video games, have been crucial to hunting insurgents and saving American lives in Afghanistan. The Air Force, which has 4,000 analysts, is hiring 2,100 more. For the most part, the networking has been so productive that senior commanders are sidestepping some of the traditional military hierarchy and giving the analysts leeway in deciding how to use some spy planes.

Facebook Growth By Age Group: Share of College-Age Users is Declining

With the U.S. now accounting for only about a third of all Facebook users, we are starting to see a gradual shift away from its original demographic of college-age users (18-25): 46% of all users are 18-25 years old, down from 51% in late May. The number of users in the 18-25 segment is growing, but at a slower pace than the other age groups. Among the major Facebook age segments, the fastest growing are teens (13-17) and young (26-34) to middle-age (35-44) professionals, with the growth in teens driven by non-U.S. markets. Also note the strong growth in the much smaller 45-54 and 55-59 age groups:

In the U.S., 51% of Facebook users are 18-25 years old, down from 59% in late May. But when one looks at other large and/or fast-growing Facebook markets, the share of the 18-25 age group is less than 50% in most of them:


And a breakdown of where all these new users are based out of..



AT&T Set to Cancel Unlimited Data Plans

Several readers have sent in followups to Wednesday's news that AT&T was eliminating its unlimited data plan. Glenn Derene at Popular Mechanics defends the new plan, writing, "Imagine, for a moment, if we bought electricity the way we buy data in this country. Every month, you would pay a fixed amount of money (say, $120), and then you would use as much electricity as you wanted, with an incentive to use as much as you could. That brings price stability to the end user, but it's a horrible way to manage electricity load." Others point out that this will likely engender more scrutiny from regulatory agencies and watchdog groups. A Computerworld article says that one way or the other, AT&T's decision is a huge deal for the mobile computing industry, influencing not only how other carriers look at data rates, but how content providers and advertisers will need to start thinking about a data budget if they want consumers to keep visiting their sites. AT&T, responding to criticism, has decided to allow iPad buyers to use the old, unlimited plan as long as they order before June 7, and Gizmodo has raised the question of "rollover bytes.

Amazon Seeks 1-Nod Ordering Patent

Amazon.com is famous for its patented 1-Click ordering system. But what about 1-Nod ordering? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is seeking a patent on a system that would let people make purchases with a nod, a smile or even a raise of the eyebrow. Bezos' invention — 'Movement Recognition as Input Mechanism' — envisions a computing device that could interpret certain facial expressions and enhance or potentially replace conventional input devices such as keypads and touch screens.

Does the Internet Make Humanity Smarter Or Dumber?

The Wall Street Journal is running a pair of articles asking whether the Internet is making humanity smarter or dumber. The argument for smarter is that the Internet is simply a change in the rules of publishing, and that the bad material is thrown away; the second story critiques the 'information overload' aspect of the Internet, claiming that we have traded depth of knowledge for velocity and span. What do you think? Does the Internet make you stupid?

Microsoft Cancels Bing Cashback Program

Yusuf Mehdi, Senior Vice President of Microsoft's Online Audience Business Group, recently announced, 'One of the principles we have here at Bing is to constantly experiment and learn. We do this to ensure we are keeping pace with new social and technology trends, and can continue to deliver great value for our customers and advertisers. As part of this "test-and-learn" mentality, we will be retiring the Bing cashback feature, which means that the last day you can earn cashback will be July 30, 2010.' From the look of the comments, Microsoft has at least 35 saddened users. eWeek does a follow-up attempting to explain the situation in more detail.

The Apple Broadcast Network

In 1959 5,749,000 television sets were sold in the US, bringing the cumulative total of sets sold since 1950 to 63,542,128 units. This number supported, through advertising, three national television networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS (a fourth, Dumont, folded in 1956) and numerous local independent stations. Now here are another set of numbers. As of April this year Apple sold 75 million iPhone and iPod touch units, devices capable of delivering video via Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. Add to that figure 2 million iPads and counting. By the end of the year Apple should have about 90 million smart mobile devices in the wild. That makes a proprietary amalgam greater than what the TV networks had in 1959 and one that easily serves as a foundation for a pending broadcast network that will be delivered not through tall radio towers, but through small wireless hubs and the Internet. Call it the Apple Broadcast Network. iAd is how Apple plans to pay for it.

Google Says It Generates $54 Billion for U.S. Economy

Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, generated $54 billion in U.S. economic activity in 2009 as businesses turned to online advertising amid the economic slowdown.
The Internet company helped generate revenue for advertisers, website publishers and nonprofit organizations, Google said in a report released today. For the first time, it broke down its economic impact in all 50 U.S. states, with California getting the biggest benefit at $14.1 billion.

“We make most of our revenue from the ads shown next to our search results, on our other websites and the websites of our partners,” the Mountain View, California-based company said in the report. “Through these ad programs, we help many others make a living, too.”

Google, which reported $23.7 billion in revenue last year, is looking for more customers amid competition from rivals such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. The Internet’s share of overall advertising spending is expected to rise to 17 percent in 2012 from 13 percent last year, according to ZenithOptimedia, a London-based ad buyer owned by Publicis Groupe SA.

The economic impact described in the report reflects the revenue generated by Google’s search engine and the ads that run next to query results, a program called AdWords. It also includes the amount Google pays to websites that run ads, as well as grants it makes to nonprofit organizations, the company said.

“We conservatively estimate that for every $1 a business spends on AdWords, they receive an average of $8 in profit through Google Search and AdWords,” the company said in its report.
The company said the overall estimates are conservative, leaving out economic benefits such as consumers being able to find information or the effect of spending by local Google employees.

 
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