theEweekly Wrap - New Bing features, Google court case and paid online news

Friday, November 13, 2009 by Tom Mason

Bing's busy week

Microsoft search site Bing announced a raft of changes this week. Aside from revealing a potentially lucrative partnership with computational search engine Wolfram Alpha, the fledgling Microsoft venture also publicised a number of brand new features. The major Bing news of the week came as the search engine unveiled a new video portal. The obviously named Bing Video replaces the Microsoft Video site and features content from the likes of YouTube, Hulu and US television network ABC. Bing also rolled out a new layout for its search engine results pages. The 'Advanced Hover Preview Feature' gives users the chance to view pictures of a website featured in a user query, as well as the inclusion of popular 'deep links' on listed sites.

Google goes to the bar

Google is back in court again. When it's not batting away lawsuits regarding the controversial book-scanning scheme, the search engine giant is regularly summoned by the law to defend its Google Maps application. This week, a Swiss data protection commissioner decided to pick a fight with the search engine after privacy concerns over the 360-degree map service. Hanspeter Thuer argued the current protection employed by Google to conceal the faces of those featured in the service was insufficient. He said: "Numerous faces and vehicle number plates are not made sufficiently unrecognisable." The move could see the maps service blocked from Switzerland until the ruling is complete. Google said it was 'disappointed' by the decision. Or, in three of the national languages of Switzerland, enttäuschen, décevoir and deludere.

Murdoch moves with the times

News kingpin Rupert Murdoch launched a scathing attack on the search industry this week as he accused Google and their ilk of stealing content. Murdoch, owner of News International (the company behind The Times and The Sun newspapers), blamed search engines for the decline in revenue across the print industry as a whole. "The people who simply just pick up everything and run with it – steal our stories, we say they steal our stories - they just take them," he said. "That's Google, that's Microsoft, that's Ask.com, a whole lot of people ... they shouldn't have had it free all the time, and I think we've been asleep." Murdoch, speaking to Sky News Australia, focused his rage of the news aggregation feeds offered by Google, Bing and all. He went on to say that all News International publications would deny Google access to content following the conversion to a subscription-only model in 2010.

Social mess

A date to add to the diary for all social-networking aficionados: The long-awaited Twitter and Facebook features are set to be released on the Xbox Live service on November 17th. The new additions will allow gamers to surf their favourite micro-blogging sites as well post photos and videos from games directly to the sites.

Cutts' Christmas cheer

Mr. Matt Cutts, liked and loved in equal measure by the search industry, has let slip some news about the release of the Google Caffeine update. Cutts, Google's head of Webspam, revealed that Caffeine – an update which slightly alters the way the search engine indexes web pages – would be released in 2010. Why the delay? According to Cutts, Google doesn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas by plummeting sites out of the rankings before the seasonal shopping rush. He wrote on his official blog: "I know that webmasters can get anxious around this time of year, so I wanted to reassure site owners that the full Caffeine roll out will happen after the holiday. [We want to] minimize the stress on webmasters during the holidays." Well, it's a better present than a pair of socks.

Google Caffeine out of the sandbox

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Richard Frost

Google Caffeine is on the verge of being rolled out for real searches.

In August 2009, Google unveiled a preview version of a "next-generation architecture" dubbed Caffeine that it had been secretly working on for several months. Web developers and power searchers were encouraged to provide feedback on the update, described as the first step towards improving Google's indexing times, relevancy and comprehensiveness.

Google Caffeine set for rollout

Now, Google has closed the initial testing phase and indicated that Caffeine will go live at one data centre, which would affect a small percentage of regular users. Here's the (brief) message greeting visitors to the Google Caffeine test page:


But Matt Cutts, head of Google's webspam team, was quick to offer reassurance on his personal blog that the search engine would not be transformed overnight. Having stated that "most searchers wouldn't immediately notice any changes with Caffeine", he added that the full launch will be postponed until after the holidays.

Google plays the waiting game

There are two reasons for this delay, he explained. Firstly, it will enable Google to collect feedback and improve Caffeine gradually. And secondly, it will minimise the potential for stressing out webmasters over the holiday period – a peak time for online sales.

However, Google has again given away very little about the details of the Caffeine update. It could turn out to be a major overhaul of how the search engine operates, which would obviously have serious implications for webmasters and SEO marketers. Or it could just be another one of Google's regular search updates, which for some reason has been given more publicity than the rest. To be honest, it's difficult to know until real users finally get their hands on the new-look Google.

In the meantime, Google is continuing to encourage feedback on Caffeine. All we can say is watch this space.

Hold the front page - can print newspapers adapt to the online world?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 by Tom Mason

Rupert Murdoch, owner of News International, has been known for his occasional outbursts. Murdoch, whose papers include The Sun, The Times and The Wall Street Journal, has said that, once his papers start charging for online news, he will stop content appearing on search engines like Google or Bing.

While Murdoch has been known for his loathe-hate relationship with the search engine giant – once describing the aggregated content on Google News as a "parasite" - Google was not the only search engine to face his wrath. In an interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch laid the blame for the recent decline of News Corporation's profits squarely at the door of every search operator.

"The people who simply just pick up everything and run with it – steal our stories, we say they steal our stories - they just take them," he said. "That's Google, that's Microsoft, that's Ask.com, a whole lot of people ... they shouldn't have had it free all the time, and I think we've been asleep."

You can watch the full interview – all 37 minutes of it – here.

The plight of News International is not unique. Newspapers across the world are facing a decline in advertising, a drop in profits and a fall in readership. Murdoch's comments – as incendiary as they might have been – resonated with those bosses in the same position.

A recent study by Dharmash Mistry, a former Emap executive, said that in order to match their current digital advertising revenue, newspapers merely had to convert four per cent of their online audience to a paid subscription tariff.

The question facing many newspapers – both regional and national – is how to accomplish this.

Technological innovation

The decline in circulation sales has seen many publications try to reach their audience through other ways. A number of newspapers – most recently, The Manchester Evening News – have re-tuned their content for mobile phone readers.

Indeed, this year, the UK Association for Online Publishers revealed that 85 per cent of British media declared mobile web presented the biggest opportunity to financial growth.

Furthermore, a number of media outlets now offer exclusive content via the Apple iPhone App store. By paying a small one-off fee, users can have access to a range of exclusive content on the go.

The Manchester Evening News iPhone Application

"Mobile phones give newspapers a great way to broadcast their content to a wider audience," said Mark Baker, online marketing manager for theEword.

"A person may not have the time, or inclination, to buy a newspaper in the morning. Users are more likely to read their news via their mobile – it gives them the chance to quickly find and digest the stories relevant to them."

A number of different methods are being trialed for the use of paid-for mobile content. Ericsson is currently expanding its Web Pin Opt-in mobile payment system, an application which gives users the opportunity to pay for mobile content directly from their mobile phone bill. Time will tell whether or not this proves to be a success with readers.

Tailored content

One of the main issues facing those considering a paid-for subscription service is that of content. How can you persuade a reader to part with their money for information they can read for free elsewhere?

While Murdoch is attempting to stop the 'hemorrhaging' of his news stories to other sites by considering legal action, other publications have decided to attract users by narrowing their market or choosing to concentrate on a specific demographic. Many business and financial publications have found success in this area. Crain's Manchester Business gives users the opportunity to read its hyper-local business coverage for a yearly sum of £84.

Michael Hirshorn wrote last year in an American newspaper that: "Journalistic outlets will discover that the Web allows (okay, forces) them to concentrate on developing expertise in a narrower set of issues and interests, while helping journalists from other places and publications find new audiences."

Social media

A number of newspapers have been quick to harness social media as a way to direct users to content. The Guardian Newspaper has 39 active Twitter accounts, covering a wide range of different topics – ranging from Guardian travel to Guardian USA. Each profile highlights different articles which users can read on the Guardian website.

Just one of The Guardian Twitter accounts

It is possible that social media could be used to complement a paid-for subscription service. Musicians often use the micro-blogging service to highlight new tracks or exclusive new material. If more publications decide to follow Rupert Murdoch's subscription model, perhaps we will see an increase in the number of papers using Twitter to attract subscribers.

theEweekly Wrap - Social age, MSN revamp and Sesame Street goes Google

Friday, November 06, 2009 by Tom Mason

Demographic principals

New research has revealed the average age of social networking users. The 2009 Pew Internet report has discovered the median age of account holders on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook. The study, conducted by Princeton Survey Research between August and September 2009, showed the average age of Facebook users has risen over the past 12 months from 26 to 33-years-old. The median age of Twitter users is 31. Interestingly, the report also shed some light into the participation of adolescents on Twitter. While a number of investigations have suggested minimal youth participation on the micro-blogging service, the Pew study discovered that those between 18-25 accounted for 37 per cent of users on site. The median age for a MySpace user is 26, while LinkedIn has an average age of 39.

A lick of MSN Paint

Microsoft has been getting a head start in the spring-cleaning stakes after taking a digital paintbrush to its consumer web portal MSN.com. The site, which is currently only available to a set number of US users, now boasts fewer links, a dedicated social media feed and a new layout. It will be rolled out globally in 2010. Lisa Gurry, senior director at MSN said that the site would allow users faster access to information. "More than half of people online start their sessions on sites like MSN and they told us they want simplicity - yet still want the latest information and their favourite services delivered together."

'S' is for search engine

Google, known for the occasional logo doodle on its homepage, has celebrated the anniversary of two iconic children's television programmes this week. Not content with featuring UK institution Wallace and Gromit on its homepage for the Aardman classic's 20th anniversary, the search engine has been celebrating the 40th year of Sesame Street. Google marked the birthday of the US children's show with a host of logos and a very special video on the Google blog.

Data protection action

Google celebrated the launch of Google Dashboard this week. The new service gives users the opportunity to view their personal data for a range of services, including Googlemail, Docs, YouTube and Web History. The Google Dashboard allows users to view and edit their protected data for each service, while also displaying the most recent activity on the account. "In an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control over their own data, we've built the Google Dashboard," said Alma Whitten, software engineer at the search engine company. "Designed to be simple and useful, the Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings. Today, the Dashboard covers more than 20 products and services."

Social media bible – religion meets Twitter

Wednesday, November 04, 2009 by Richard Frost

What to call a Christian version of Twitter? Chritter? Twistian?

No, Florida entrepreneur James Paris has settled instead on Christian Chirp. Adopting the tagline "The Christian alternative to Twitter", this microblogging site does everything associated with its established rival from status updates and direct messages to follows and apps. But there's a twist. Christian Chirp is aimed at one demographic and one demographic only – "a community of Christians".

Social media for the masses

Leaving aside question marks about the name, there's another potential issue with Christian Chirp. Does it go against the ethos of social media? Web 2.0 has been with us for a good few years now but its main characteristic remains the same – everybody can contribute.

Love it or loathe it, Twitter is open to all. People can tweet regardless of their beliefs about religion, politics, sexuality or whatever. It's not a communication medium where one ideology prevails, in the same way that other communication methods such as the telephone and email aren't exclusive.


Web 2.0 gets ideological

The last few years have witnessed an explosion in the number of ideology-based web 2.0 sites. On the religious front, we have the likes of BuddhistConnect, Oaktreeidea.com and Muxlim. Meanwhile, Conservapedia is a wiki that aims to counter perceived liberal bias in Wikipedia and "give due credit to conservatism and Christianity". Complaints have duly streamed in over its handling of topics such as homosexuality, Judaism and evolution. Meanwhile, media commentators have pointed out that people who disagree with Wikipedia articles are free to make changes anyway – after all, they're open to everyone.


Tweets or chirps?

The purpose of this blog is not to criticise specialist social media portals or their users, but to question whether they're really filling a gap in the market. In my experience, people who join these sites still spend the vast majority of their time on Facebook and Twitter because, put simply, that's where their friends are. Very few people have a social network built entirely round one aspect of their lives so they value the inclusiveness of general sites.

Facebook and Twitter let you keep track of all your friends, organisations and networks whether religious or otherwise. And in the final analysis, that's probably why they'll continue to dominate while specialist social media sites like Christian Chirp remain on the margins.