Posts by: Byrne Hobart
The “Kony 2012” video has gotten tens of millions of people briefly, marginally interested in a semi-retired warlord whose current troop strength numbers in the hundreds. It’s a noble effort to solve a comparatively small problem—essentially everyone who can do anything about Joseph Kony is aware of him, and has been for years.
Whatever…
Google Updates Google is already using their new privacy policy to offer search across devices; a desktop search (for a restaurant, for example) will be connected to the mobile search experience (giving users a shortcut to the restaurant’s location and hours, for example). This shouldn’t have a measurable revenue impact in the short term, but…
Google Updates Google’s new privacy policy is now in effect. Expect the sky to fall, or for all of your ads to be slightly better-targeted. Danny Sullivan points out that although Google+’s numbers don’t look good, Google is forgoing lots of revenue to promote the service. That’s telling. This Google search screenshot is making the rounds. The…
Why Office for the iPad Makes Sense
The Daily claims—with screenshots to prove it!—that Microsoft Office is coming to the iPad. Dan Frommer reasonably points out that this would be a smart way for Apple to get into enterprise, and it would not exactly be a brilliant strategic move for Microsoft to be…
In a case study on journalistic objectivity, someone whose paycheck is derived from an established media paradigm lashes out at the business model of competitors that are eating his employer alive.
Irony is alive and well: this writer’s chosen means of digging into his competitors: their conflicts of interest.
The article doesn’t have to…
MG Siegler asks why bloggers post such repetitive, superficial analyses. Tom Limongello wants to know why there isn’t a “startup blog” rather than mere tech blogs. Nick O’Neill discovers that Forbesgot a ton of traffic for repackaging a far better NYT story.
These posts are all asking the wrong question: if we can recognize quality (or the lack…
Google Updates SEOmoz analyzes how Google handles local results. In most cases, Google puts Places results ahead of local organic results, but generally behind at least a few national results. This is something worth tracking over time, though; Google has shifted their local-versus-national and Google-owned-versus-web leanings several times in the past. Google is truncating results…
Pinterest has been growing absurdly fast (despite a laid-back work culture. It’s gotten to the point that marketers are doing a find/replace on their old “How to use Twitter” blog posts.
So it’s inevitably time for some sort of weak backlash. This time, the problem is their revenue model. They have one: they’re modifying links to…
Bing Hates Santorum, Too
Danny Sullivan notes that Rick Santorum’s “Google Problem” is a “Bing problem,” too. The standard argument here is that the “Spreading Santorum” site is obviously and explicitly an attempt to manipulate search engines. The whole point of such campaigns is to create links and online activity that make the manipulated…
Facebook’s S-1 was a disappointment. Not that the company isn’t impressive—far from it—but the S-1 mostly reveals that Facebook has already been a de facto public company for at least a year or two.
The revenue and net profit numbers we’re seeing are in line with existing estimates, the engagement numbers are largely trending in the…
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