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iPhone 3GS Drives Blog Buzz In June Apple was the top hardware manufacturer site in May 2009, with 55.7 million unique visitors and an average time spent per person of 1 hour and 14 minutes, according to a new report from Nielsen Online. Excitement surrounding the new iPhone 3GS sent blog mentions up 1,226 percent week-over-week on June 8, the day of the announcement. After the initial announcement, buzz dipped but picked up again after the phone became available on June 19, with blog mentions more than doubling compared to the prior week.
More than a third (37%) of online U.S. adults own a game console, while 10 percent plan on purchasing a new console in the next 12 months. Game console brands also proved popular online destinations in May. Among game console brands, Nintendo had the largest unique audience with 2.2 million, while Sony Computers Entertainment was the fastest growing, increasing 16 percent year-over-year.
Among the current game consoles, Nintendo Wii was the most popular console owned by online adults, with 14.3 percent. Playstation 2 continues to be the top console owned, despite being an older console, with 17.3 percent of online adults in possession of one. Publ.Date : Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:16:47 -0400
Facebook Takes Off In Brazil, India Facebook's scoring some big gains in the world's second- and fifth-most populous countries. New stats indicate that the social network's growth rate has started imitating the upright angle of a hockey stick in both India and Brazil. Justin Smith reported, "Facebook nearly doubled in Brazil during May alone. Its growth has continued in June, and today Facebook has just crossed the 1 million active user mark in Brazil for the first time ever - up 100% in the last 45 days." As for the Indian side of things, he wrote, "Facebook exploded in May and June, doubling from 1.6 million to 3.2 million monthly active users in the country in the last 60 days." And this second achievement is interesting for one other reason: Facebook actually made six Indian language versions available in early May. So it might be seeing a fast and big payoff if there's any sort of causation effect. Also, looking at the development as a whole, we noted while covering the Indian languages release that Orkut is popular in India and Brazil, so all of this recent growth appears to represent a serious challenge to Google. Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:35:36 -0400
Facebook Talks new Privacy Features WebProNews just sat in on a conference call and webcast with Facebook, where the social network's upcoming changes to privacy settings were discussed. These were designed to give users more control over what they share with whom. Are you looking forward to privacy changes with Facebook?Share your thoughts.
The features were discussed a bit last week, but were elaborated much more in this discussion. The company made clear up front that the changes were not related to talk of a Facebook payment system, and have nothing to do with advertising or info that Facebook will make available to advertisers. Users still have control over what info is shared with advertisers. Here is the slideshow that was presented:
Facebook says its mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. The new privacy controls enhance this and will allow people to share with as narrow or as broad of an audience as they want. Facebook discussed the new features as broken down into three principles: 1.Control 2 Simplicity 3 Connecting
The changes were initiated by pain points that users made known to the company. The company acknowldged that privacy settings can add up and pile up over time, and not always be as clean a process as one would like. They wanted to simplify this. Control Facebook says when people can easily control the audience, they share more and more meaningfully. There is definitely something to that statement. It's a relevancy issue just as much as it is a privacy one. Certain status updates may be more appropropriate for a certain group of people. Facebook has removed regional networks. The company says that these generated a lot of confusion and reduced user control. People were joining networks that they were not sure who all was in. It is a fragmented user experience. They say something like 50% of people don't even join them. They also said the concept doesn't really fit into the new model.
Simplicity The new settings make privacy more simple. You can choose between the same set of privacy options throughout different features. There is a single set of privacy controls wherever you are on the site. If you make a change in one place, it stays consitent throughout the entire site. There will be a universal lock icon (as shown in the top image), so that you always know where you can adjust settings. They are consolidating six different privacy pages. For each setting, there is a question mark so you can tell exactly what each thing is for. As far as sharing options, you can: - share with everyone - share with friends and authenticated networks - share with friends of friends - share with your friends (like always) - customize who all you are sharing with when you have specific pieces of content for sharing with a specific audience Connecting During the connecting part of the dicussion, they talked about the transition period, which is definitely important, considering how upset some users got after the big redesign of Facebook. They are testing six different transition tools that users will see when the settings roll out. Basically, the company is just testing different ways to give users the ability to opt in to settings. They want to make sure that people really understand the changes that are happening.
When Facebook rolls them out, users will sign on to the site, see a transition tool, then they will be asked about settings. Once they provide their preferences, they will get a confirmation. Of course, settings will always be able to be adjusted on a post-by-post basis via the publisher box. With regards to the "everyone" option, this is divided into two distinctions - minors and adults. The new privacy settings and controls are still in the testing stages and will be rolling out soon. You're probably wondering if info will be indexable by search engines. Facebook says "It's certainly something we've talked about, but it's not like that at this time." What do you think of the new privacy options? Do you intend to be more open or more private with your updates? What will be your default setting? Please share. Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:09:13 -0400
Gmail Adds Drag and Drop Capability Gmail is consistently rolling out new features for your emailing pleasure. Just a few months ago Gmail added some keyboard shortcuts and some new buttons to make labeling simpler. Today, Gmail is adding even more to their labeling arsenal. In regards to email, are you a label or folder fan?Tell us.New labels location With the upgrade to Gmail you'll notice that your labels have a new home. Instead of your labels having their own section, now they've been grouped with your Inbox, Drafts, Chats and other "default" labels. New label features Gmail now only shows you the labels you use the most, and automatically hides the rest. If you ever find yourself needing a label that is hidden by Gmail just simply hit the "more" link to see the rest. Gmail adds drag and drop I do believe this is going to become one of my new favorite features of Gmail. It will allow me greater Inbox maintenance. Drag and drop essentially does the same thing as "Move to", with fewer steps. In addition to moving messages, you now have the ability to drag labels onto messages. The best part about the labels is that with the new changes they're becoming more folder like... and we all know about folders vs. labels argument. In regards to folders vs. labels, Todd Jackson, Gmail Product Manger, told WebProNews the following... "An interesting aspect of this launch is how it relates to the folders vs. labels question. We've always felt that labeling and searching are the easiest and most efficient methods for navigating email - yet we still had users who wanted folder-like functionality. This new version of Labels offers the best of both worlds, largely removing the need for a labels vs. folders debate." With the new changes to the labels within Gmail this means the end of Right-side Labels. A post on the Gmail blog explains the reasoning for the early lab retirement... "This is the first Labs feature we're retiring. (The idea behind Labs was always that things could break or disappear at any time or they might work so well that they become regular features. More on that soon...) Now that labels aren't in their own little box and take up much less space, moving them around the screen didn't seem as important. We realize quite a few of you used and liked Right-side Labels, so if you feel strapped for left nav screen real estate without it, try turning on Right-side Chat in Labs instead." So, how do you feel about the new changes? Tell us. Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:43:49 -0400
Bing Gaining On Google, Yahoo Different data-tracking firms almost always report different statistics, and this has led to a fair number of confusing did-it-or-didn't-it-gain-share situations. Bing seems to be solidly in the black, however, as new StatCounter info supports the idea that the new engine is doing well. Doubters may remain - and in the long-term, may or may not win the argument - but comScore and Hitwise (and StatCounter, for that matter) had already suggested that Bing's gaining on Google and Yahoo. The latest report adds a nice bar graph to the evidence pile. As you can see, it seems that Google's consistently losing share (0.59 percent between April and June). Yahoo's down from its April levels, too (0.23 percent). In fact, of the top three search engines, only Microsoft's offering cornered more market share in the last couple of months. And although a rise of 1.02 percent doesn't sound like a lot, if you look at the figure with respect to Microsoft's starting point of 7.21 percent, it represents an increase of 14.1 percent. Data-tracking firms that used to be on Microsoft's bad side are liable to get invited to corporate parties if these sorts of trends continue. Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:36:50 -0400
Google Launches New, Cheaper AdWords API Google has launched a new version of the AdWords API. The company says this version offers more speed, scale, and flexibility to developers at a lower cost. The AdWords API lets developers build apps that interact with the AdWords platform. With the API, users can: - Automatically generate keywords, ad text, and destination URLs - Integrate AdWords data with their inventory system to manage campaigns based on stock - Develop additional tools and applications to help them manage accounts With AdWordsAPI v2009 comes a revised set of terms and conditions. "This change includes a more comprehensive explanation of our policy regarding the commingling of data, and also redefines the required minimum AdWords functionality for third party developers," explains AdWords API Product Manager Doug Raymond. A list of the required and optional features can be found here. The new version also comes with a new rate sheet. "We've lowered the cost of v2009 for the average developer by approximately 20% through reducing the unit cost of our most commonly called operations -- add criteria, add, and set adgroup," says Raymond. The new version of the API is still in beta, and Google is asking developers to sign up for access. Documentation can be found here. Raymond says that over the next few months, Google will introduce new features and additional AdWords functionality to the API. Look for things like partial failure acceptance, asynchronous calls, keyword tools, and MCC & reporting functionality. Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:15:25 -0400
Boston Globe Rolls Out Digital Newspaper The Boston Globe announced today the launch of GlobeReader, a new digital version of the newspaper that can be read offline or online. With GlobeReader the content of the Globe is downloaded daily to a subscriber's desktop, laptop or netbook, in a format aimed at resembling the look and feel of the print version of the Boston Globe. A preview edition is currently available to Globe subscribers. Plans for further expansion are in the works.
"GlobeReader is another important step toward our goal of being able to publish The Boston Globe on whichever platform our readers and advertisers value, and builds on the success we've seen with other platforms such as mobile devices and Kindle," said Susan Hunt Stevens, SVP digital. Features of the GlobeReader include:
It's organized into sections familiar to Globe readers.
The navigation is easy and clear.
Scanning for stories or photos is fast.
Articles are set in the same type font as the paper and the page design is understated and clean.
Readability features include adjustable type size and screen size. The Globe's new digital newspaper is powered by Adobe Flex and Adobe Air, part of the Adobe Flash Platform. While online GlobeReader users can search Boston.com for more features such as slide shows, videos and interactive graphics. "Leveraging Adobe AIR, the new GlobeReader showcases the future of digital publishing and helps The Boston Globe to deliver a highly readable experience with a closer, more consistent connection to subscribers regardless of what computer operating system they use," said David Wadhwani, general manager of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe Systems. Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:28:30 -0400
Twitter Uncomfortable With 'Tweet' Being Used In Third Party Apps Looks like Twitter is not looking the other way as much these days. TechCrunch reports that there is some concern at the social networking company that developers are using the term ‘Tweet’ too much. Twitter, in fact, is claiming that the use of that trademark in the naming of any third party app is something they are ‘uncomfortable’ with. Here is an e-mail that was passed along to the TechCrunch folks relating to the subject. Hi, Twitter, Inc is uncomfortable with the use of the word Tweet (our trademark) and the similarity in your UI and our own. How can we go about having you change your UI to better differentiate your offering from our own? Thanks, The original reason for the e-mail was apparently around a developers attempt to have a UI so similar to Twitter’s that it may have been confused for the real deal. In the hashing out of that information the above e-mail was sent and the questions are starting to flow. Apparently Twitter has applied for a trademark . Commentor Rich Hill stated I just checked the US Patent Office and Trademark website and “TWEET” trademark has been applied for on April 14, 2009 but has not yet been finalized. The link that was given for the trademark application had expired so if you want to find the application visit the US Patents and Trademarks Office and conduct the search. So what’s in a name? For the people at TweetDeck, Tweetmeme and many others apparently there is a lot. How will this eventually affect them? Too early to tell and only Twitter can determine just how far they may go to protect the trademark once it is finalized. I have to wonder that if they thought the term was so valuable why did they wait until April of 2009 to trademark it? Seems that the more we learn about Twitter and it’s business practices (or lack thereof) you wonder what other landmines are out there for them to step on? Well, we’ll just sit back and keep tweeting while we can still use the term tweet without having to tweet the Twitter legal folks to see if our use of tweet is OK by them. Holy tweet. Comments Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:49:13 -0400
What Matthew found was that there was a significantly larger number of new registrations in April - the month Oprah joined, which caused a well-publicized surge in new Twitter users. So naturally, the next month didn't see as many new users flocking to Twitter, but it was still i decent increase from the month before Oprah joined. Daines has now shared a new graph with me, which seems to suggest Twitter is still growing just fine. June shows that new registrations are right at what they were in April, when Oprah joined, which means that there are quite a few new people.
We should be able to get a really good idea of Twitter's growth when we can take a look at July's numbers in a month. At that point, we can see which direction the trend goes. I think we're going to see growth though. Take a look at this other graph Daines shared with me, which shows the number of tweets. It looks like there is a lot more tweeting going on.
"Looks like the total tweets chart shows that the claim last month that Twitter traffic had come to a stop was not quite accurate," says Daines. "The total tweet numbers are not exact, but should be within a few hundred thousand." So, do you think we will consider to see significant Twitter growth as the year goes on? Or do you believe Twitter as already peaked? Share your thoughts. Publ.Date : Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:17:13 -0400
