Posts Tagged ‘News’
Cyveillance says that it has uncovered a search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning campaign that has affected more than 260,000 websites.
The scam targets Google search by getting browsers that are linked to sites that attempt to download malware onto their machines. The company said that the common string albums/bsblog/category has been posted in many URLs of several blogs. This inputs several results that lead to malicious sites.
“Readers can simply copy and paste the destination URL into your browser to direct it to the desired Website; you would be taken to [a] boring but otherwise harmless blog posting like those pictured earlier in this discussion,” the company explained. “The attack only happens when the compromised blog site determines that you arrived by way of Google by checking the HTTP referrer.”
Cyveillance said that the infected sites utilized rogue blog publishing to automatically generate new posts with titles like “las vegas rental no credit check” or “uninvited song lyrics alanis morrissette morissette.” These poisoning campaigns are detrimental to legite SEO operations.
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SAN FRANCISCO — Google has agreed to acquire AdMob, a fast-growing start-up that developed technology to place ads on mobile phones, for $750 million in stock, the company said Monday.
Google said that the acquisition would help the Internet search company to speed up efforts to develop more effective tools for creating and placing mobile ads on smartphones and other devices, a small but rapidly expanding market.
“We see mobile as a huge growth opportunity for us,” Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management at Google, said in an interview. “We see an opportunity working with AdMob to really accelerate our efforts in an important industry for Google.”
The all-stock deal is modest for Google, given its roughly $177 billion market value. But it is the third-largest in its history, behind the $3.1 billion deal for the advertising specialist DoubleClick and the $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube.
Ms. Wojcicki said AdMob, which specializes in placing banner ads on mobile phones, would help cement Google’s forays in display advertising, an area where it has lagged rivals like Yahoo.
As Google’s core business of selling text ads has been slowing, the company has been looking for new areas to expand. In particular, Google is hoping to replicate its success in selling Web ads in the mobile arena. Google, which already sells ads on mobile phones, offers a wide variety of mobile phone applications and makes the Android software that some handset makers use to power their phones.
Smartphones, like the iPhone and Android devices, represent a disproportionate amount of the company’s mobile business so far.
Founded in 2006, AdMob calls itself the “world’s largest mobile advertising marketplace.” The company, which has received $47 million in financing from venture capitalists and other investors, refused to disclose its revenue. But Omar Hamoui, the company’s founder and chief executive, said that sales had more than doubled in the last year. The company’s headquarters are in San Mateo, Calif., not far from Google’s. It employs about 140 people.
Google said it hoped to close the acquisition in the next several months. Ms. Wojcicki said she expected the acquisition would be approved by regulators.
“We would not be surprised if there is some regulatory review,” she said. “We think that mobile advertising is a very competitive area and we don’t see a lot of regulatory concerns.”
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“There is tremendous interest in the whole category,” said Phil Greenough, Greenough Communications, a company helping marketers and brands get the most from green communications. “There is a pent-up demand for information – from the investor level, government level and the business opportunity level.”
For Joe Consumer, the key is doing the right thing. Does a company have a green product? Does a company use green shipping materials? Are companies doing their part to leave a green footprint?
“Particularly for people coming into their 20′s,” Greenough said. “They are much more away of the environment and as they make decisions we’re finding that the interest level is in the ‘green footprint’ and understanding the impact for products and services.”
A recent Generate Insight study found that, while all consumer demographics are at least somewhat interested in going green, Mature consumers (89%) are the group which always recycles, followed by GenX (consumers between 26 and 40; 69%) and Boomers (67%). The study also revealed that many younger consumers currently feel that green products are inconvenient or require too much effort.
Which leads us to the “Don’t's” portion of this article. Greenough suggests:
• Don’t make claims that are untrue because consumers will discover the truth
• Be authentic – “Even if you’re not making a big splash,” Greenough says, “it is more important to be true than to dress [a product] to be different than it really is.”
• Be real – don’t make the Wal-Mart mistake of using ‘fake bloggers’ to push traffic or sales
“Everyone is trying to understand, at a high level, what the trends are. People are looking for the innovations that will make change. [Green businesses] have to show leadership through innovation, that is what grabs the consumer and then they can make decisions about how to live a more green lifestyle.”
But, is there a true marketplace for green products and businesses? Greenough insists that there is – but the green must come with a value proposition. Consumers will use green products if the product leaves a better green footprint, saves them money or benefits the environment.
Which brings us to the “Do’s” section of this article:
• Make time to really explore the issues so you can speak to them
• Give the clients value from the green product
• Use social networks – “There is a lot of consumer generated content. At the core. . .is a story. Understand your story and make it commanding. You’ll start to build an awareness for the company/brand.”
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ROHNERT PARK, CA –I just couldn’t help but post this once I saw it over at Fail Blog. This did happen basically in my back yard. Rohnert Park is about 5-10 minutes away. Up close you can’t really see what all those soda cases make but once you take a step back you will see who is about to eat the super mushroom! Thanks to InAdaWords for the write up below.
“A Pepsi representative (and Super Mario fanatic it seems) tasked with creating an eye-catching display for the recent Labor Day weekend sale at the Rohnert Park Safeway in northern California constructed this giant Super Mario-themed installation piece made out of 12-Pack soda containers!
According to the fellow who spearheaded the Nintendo-themed display (his name is Ryan; his YouTube page can be found here), the entire project took him and two other workers four hours to complete!
In the end, a thousand 12-Packs of soda were used to create the giant-sized Mario and 1-Up Mushroom.”
YouTube Video:
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In an announcement making some waves in the SEO world last week, Yahoo announced that they would be ending their paid inclusion program. SearchEngineLand.com points out access to Yahoo’s paid inclusion sales page has been redirected to their advertising.yahoo.com.
“Both the “Search Submit Basic” program that charged an annual fee per URL and the “Search Submit Pro” cost-per-click program will end as of Dec. 31, 2009.”
Yahoo’s paid inclusion has faced some criticism from those who believe including paid ads in an organic search makes the results biased. At the press conference announcing the Yahoo/Microsoft deal in July the company said “we’ll decide on that later”. Well it looks like they decided.
This may turn out to be a good thing for PPC on Yahoo. With paid inclusion gone advertisers will be looking for that same traffic and those ad dollars could shift to PPC. Any kind of uptick in PPC would be a benefit to domain owners parking with Yahoo. We’ll see.
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It was only a matter of time: the iPhone swine-flu app.
Researchers in Boston released a new application yesterday that lets users track and report outbreaks of swine flu and other infectious diseases in their areas.
Dubbed “Outbreaks Near Me,” the free app uses the Global Positioning System and maps to pinpoint illnesses in an area and keep people informed about how diseases spread.
Users can set alerts to be notified of new outbreaks nearby – and even if someone with the app who is sick enters their area. They can also submit photos of sick people and at-risk locations.
“We aim to empower citizens in the cause of public health, not only by providing ready access to real-time information, but also by encouraging them to contribute their own knowledge, expertise and observations,” said HealthMap co-founder Clark Freifeld, a Ph.D. student at the MIT Media Lab.
MIT partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital to design the new application.
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A Novato man accused of ramming an ice cream truck in a freeway robbery attempt could face up to five years in prison under charges filed Thursday, while a second suspect was released without charges.
Joseph Victor Denatale-Watson, 24, was arraigned on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, reckless driving and hit-and-run driving, said Deputy District Attorney Linda Witong.
Denatale-Watson’s bail was set at $250,000. A plea hearing is pending.
The alleged robbery attempt occurred Tuesday night on Highway 37 near the Petaluma River Bridge, when a self-employed ice cream vendor was driving his 1973 Chevy truck on eastbound Highway 37.
Police said a group of men in a green Mercury Sable approached and rammed the ice cream truck three times, spinning it out and bringing it to a halt.One witness, who declined to be named, said an occupant of the Mercury videotaped the event, and another occupant threw a bottle of beer at the ice cream truck.
After the vehicles pulled to the highway shoulder, several men emerged from the Sable and demanded money from the ice cream vendor, witnesses told the California Highway Patrol. But the bandits fled when a witness stopped and told them police had been notified and were on the way, the CHP said.
Late that night, Novato police stopped a green Mercury Sable to investigate whether the driver was intoxicated. When police checked the Mercury’s license plate number with dispatchers, it matched the suspect vehicle in the Highway 37 incident.
Denatale-Watson was arrested at the scene, as was a passenger, 18-year-old Shane Evan Maynard of Novato. The ice cream vendor identified the men as two of the three suspects who attacked him, the CHP said.
On Thursday, Maynard was released without charges after additional investigation established he did not participate in the attack, according to the district attorney’s office.
The ice cream vendor was not injured in the incident.
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LegitScript, an online pharmacy verification service, and KnujOn, an Internet compliance company, have released a report analyzing Microsoft’s sponsored search results for Internet pharmacies displayed on bing.com. The report indicates that 89.7% of the Microsoft Internet pharmacy advertisements reviewed by the authors were fake or illegal Internet pharmacies.
Most of the Internet pharmacy advertisements analyzed in the report did not require a valid prescription. The authors were able to order a prescription-only muscle relaxant from a Microsoft-sponsored Internet pharmacy advertisement without any prescription.
Also, the authors ordered another prescription drug from a Microsoft-sponsored advertisement that tested positive as counterfeit.
Search engine advertising programs allow website owners to purchase visibility on the first few pages of search results, where online ads are listed as “sponsored sites.” Because Microsoft receives revenue when an Internet user clicks on a bing.com advertisement, it is generally accepted that online ads should not facilitate unlawful activity.
LegitScript President John Horton said, “We were able to purchase potentially addictive drugs without a prescription or any age verification via bing.com ads. We also received counterfeit medication. Microsoft profits from these illegal ads, which put Internet users at risk.”
The study also found disclosure gaps in bing.com’s advertising program, showing how an advertisement that appears to have been placed by a legitimate pharmacy links instead to a “rogue” online pharmacy.
“We urge Microsoft to fix this problem,” Horton and Bruen stated. “By continuing to allow these advertisements, Microsoft is facilitating prescription drug abuse and the proliferation of counterfeit drugs, both of which put our most vulnerable citizens at risk.”
The full report is available here.
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The driver who was killed when his vehicle crashed more than 200 feet off Point Reyes-Petaluma Road Thursday was identified as Harry Samuel Atkinson, 80, of Daly City.
According to Andrew Barclay of the California Highway Patrol office in Marin County, the CHP received the call reporting the accident at 12:46 p.m. Thursday.
Atkinson’s 2005 Ford Escape plunged 200 feet down an embankment on the 5900 block of the road, near the McEvoy Ranch.
Firefighters responded and used ropes to reach Atkinson and pull him back up the embankment, but he died after being airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
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Attessa III – 225 Ft. Motoryacht. Exterior and Interior.
Yacht Fast Facts:
- Owner: Dennis Washington, 88th on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans
- Size: 225 feet, 14th largest yacht in America; 71st largest in the world
- Features: Helicopter, movie theater, gym, massage room, Jacuzzis
More on the Attessa III:
Credits:
Vancouver Shipyards; North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. News. Boat International USA (Mar. ’06). Power & Motoryacht (Feb. ’06). Showboats International (Dec. ’05/Jan. ’06). P&M ( Nov. ’06) Showboats International Award – Best Refit/Reconfiguration – 2006. Boat International Award – Best Refit – 2006. Photos by Neil Rabinowitz.
ABOUT
My name is Kyle Kazak and I am the CEO and President of Kazak Media, a local Internet marketing firm that specializes in web design, local SEO, and pay per click management. We are located in Petaluma, CA, USA.