EricEwe.com

If you don’t have a Mobile website, you might want to put in on your 2012 marketing plan. Here are some facts that Google published:

More kids know how to use a smartphone than tie their shoes!

More Americans own a mobile phone than have a passport.

20 million U.S. households no longer have a landline.

2/3 of mobile users use their phone’s backlight as a flashlight.

The most commonly texted “word” is simply the letter “R”.

Here are six basic fundementals on developing a successful mobile website on a shoe string budget.

Checklist for creating a mobile website

1. KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid
You don’t need to have neon blinking animations, or flying pigs on your mobile site. Present the mobile users with what they are looking for in as little clicks, or touches as possible. You don’t need an eleborate website,but plan on using icons/text wisely. Ensure that your mobile site will work on all major mobile OS (Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, BlackBerry’s OS).

2. Relevant Content
As for content, a good starting point is to look over your analytics and pull out the highest traffic pages and skim it down. Nobody is interested in reading a technical document on a 4.6 inch screen, nor do you need to have all of the website’s content on the mobile site. Ensure that clean site codes and to reduce load speed.

3. Utilize mobile phone features and technology
Being that you are targeting smart phone users, be smart about it. Most smart phones have GPS tracking, camera, and voice commands and one should look at utilizing these features to interact with your user. A good example would be to serve up your store location info that is closest to them, or if you have a site-to-store like WalMart, then make it easier for the person to order via their phone and have it delivered to the store. Don’t forget to intergrate your Facebook, Twitter and other social media aspects.

4. Input device limitation
This goes back to No. 1 and knowing that you are working with fingers with a maximum of 4.6inch screen, or a scroll sensor. Use icons/text links that are spaced our so that you make it easier to navigate and to prevent accidental clicks. Avoid drop down menu, hover over, and flash as those might not be compatible with all devices.  Don’t overcrowd the screen with lots of text/icons, which makes it hard to navigate. Keep scrolling options from top to bottom as most mobile users prefer to scroll in one direction.

5. Drive the message Home
You are developing a mobile website for a reason – sales, lead, web presence! Make it easy for a person to convert with concise call to action. Streamline your conversion funnel and have your phone number clearly displayed as the last thing you want is for the person to leave your mobile site to Google for your phone #.

6. Test, Test and Update
What is the latest and greatest might drop off the cliff when things are moving quickly. Mobile searches have grown by 4x since 2010 (source: Google), and you want to be at the forefront as opposed to having your competitors lead the way. So test every quarter and tweak accordingly.

Here are some mobile websites that gave it some thought, and I am sure there are hundreds of good mobile sites out there.

• eBay http://mobileweb.ebay.com/
• Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw
• Safelite http://m.safelite.com/
• Lennoxhttp://touch.lennox.com/          
• Audible http://mobile.audible.com/

Please share your comments/feedback in the reply box.

I just got a noticed in my Gmail that Google settled a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz which pertained to user privacy. Google Buzz was sure an expensive application for Google to release. The lawsuit preliminary statement states it all.

1. This is a class action lawsuit, brought by, and on behalf of, a nationwide class of
individuals whose privacy rights were violated by the actions of Google Inc. (“Google”) through
its Buzz program.
2. Google automatically added the Google Buzz service to the accounts of all users of Google’s “Gmail” service.
3. Google Buzz made private data belonging to Gmail users publicly available without the users’ knowledge or authorization. This information included some or all of the following: personal contact information, place of residence, occupation, and a list of the users’ frequent email contacts.
4. Google Buzz searched for and acquired pictures, video, text and other data that
users had posted to websites such as Picasa and YouTube. Buzz automatically sent those posts to the email accounts of the users’ frequent email contacts without the users’ knowledge or authorization.
5. When launching its Buzz service, Google failed to provide users with clear information detailing the nature of the new service, including the automatic application of the
Buzz program and its provisions for default disclosure of personal information and default
sharing of posts previously made to other websites.
6. Google has publicly admitted that its Buzz program presents privacy concerns,
and Google has made several waves of modifications to the program. However, Google’s
modifications do not go far enough to address the problem. Furthermore, Google’s actions have already caused damage because the Buzz program disclosed private user information the moment Google launched the service. The bell of breached privacy cannot be un-rung.
7. Google’s public disclosure of private user data violates users’ rights under the Federal Wiretap Act, the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Federal Stored Communications Act, and California common law.

Here is the email I received:

Subject: Important Information about Google Buzz Class Action Settlement
From: Google Buzz

Content:
Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an exception to let you know that we’ve reached a settlement in a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz (http://buzz.google.com), a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.

Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz users and recently reached a settlement in this case.

The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users’ concerns. In addition, Google has committed $8.5 million to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more people know about privacy online, the better their online experience will be.

Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the agreement on January 31, 2011. This email is a summary of the settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or comment, are available at http://www.BuzzClassAction.com.

——————————————————————–
This mandatory announcement was sent to all Gmail users in the United States as part of a legal settlement and was authorized by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Google Inc. | 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway | Mountain View, CA 94043

When Google made enhancements to the “Related Search” algorithms back in June 2008, it promised to be faster with better tangible results.

Over the Halloween weekend, Google released an improved version of the ‘Related Search’ functionality without much fanfare. There is little mention in search world other that a thread on webmaster world with 8 posting as of today. Google Extended the ‘Related Search’ results by adding these three categories (Brand, Stores, Type) immediately after the search box.

When I searched for a generic and broad term of “paint”, Google enhanced the related search by serving some of these suggestive brands, stores and types which linked to other search results on Google.
Related searches for paint:
Brands: Behr Benjamin Moore Sherwin-Williams ICI Valspar
Stores: Home Depot Lowe’s Ralph Lauren Walmart Ikea
Types: automotive spray exterior chalkboard car

What does this mean to the consumer?
It definitely help web users if they have the vaguest idea as to what they are looking for and the “brand, stores, types” should help the user with their search experience by slicing the information to small bits and pieces. Note that this only occurs for broad terms such as “paint”, searching for “red paint” does not yield the “brands, stores and types” related search functionality.

What does this mean to the businesses?
In this example, I would be ecstatic if I run Home Depot’s online division. Google picked me as one of the winners when it comes to the word “paint”? If a user would to search for “paint” and click on “Stores: Home Depot”, Google would serve information and deep link to Home Depot’s Paint category page.

What does this mean to Google
It would help the web user with more options as this only works for broad generic keyword searches. At that same time, we can argue that Google is favoring the big retailers and squeezing out the smaller players. Going to the paint example, these companies (Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, Ikea) would be getting much more exposure, but if I worked for Sherwin Williams, I would be wondering, what about us? Don’t we live, breath paint?

Also, most traffic would leave Google once they click on the search results, but with the “Brand, Stores, Type” feature, it would help keep the traffic on Google while improving time spent on site and pages/search queries served for Google.

As a whole, I think this functionality is a big improvement but being a marketer, my question is “How do I get listed as one of the “Stores”? Preferably as the first link.

This functionality is not affected by a web user’s geographic location as I tried a few zip codes but it still served the same results. It is also not affected by a Google Product Feed, nor does it matter if it is an eCommerce website as “Ikea” was listed too and it is not an eCommerce website when searching for “Paint”. Here are some of the other broad terms I search for which had the “Google Related Searches with Brand, Stores, Type”

Search Term: DIGITAL CAMERA
Related searches for digital camera:
Brands: Olympus Canon Sony Nikon Kodak
Stores: Best Buy Amazon Overstock Walmart Circuit City
Types: waterproof slr touch screen underwater compact

Search Term: BLU RAY
Related searches for blu ray:
Brands: Sony Samsung Panasonic Pioneer PlayStation
Stores: Amazon Best Buy Walmart Target Circuit City
Types: netflix laptop network dvd 3d

North Carolina’s Department of Revenue had ordered the online retailer to provide full details on nearly 50 million purchases made by state residents between 2003 and 2010. NC is looking to collect taxes from NC residents that did not pay tax for that item that they purchased off Amazon.

Amazon.com filed a lawsuit stating that the lawsuit says the demand violates the privacy and First Amendment rights of Amazon’s customers. Amazon has no offices or warehouses in North Carolina, it’s not required to collect.

Last year, Amazon discontinued its affiliate program in North Carolina, which provides referrers with a small slice of the transaction, after the state legislature enacted a new law that would have used that program to force the company to collect sales taxes. 

A North Carolina legislator said at the time that the state would be able to force online retailers to collect even retroactive taxes; tax officials have reportedly sent letters to online retailers in the last few months saying they’re required to pa

I was browsing one of the tech sites and I stumbled upon this company – Swoopo.com. Pretty interesting and lucrative business model  – NO DOUBT!!!

Basically, they are an auction company which sells directly to consumers. Swoopo started in Germany and is making an impact in US. They focus on electronics like LED TVs, SLR Cameras, laptops, ipods, top end cell phones like the Nokia N97, etc

This is how their business model works.

1. Like eBay, you need to bid and be the highest or last bidder when the auction closes.
2. The highest bidder will pay for the item price at the close of the auction.

Simple and straight forward huh? So what’s the catch?

1. The bid increments are predetermined by Swoopo. I have seen mostly increments of $0.06 per bid.
2. In order to place a bid, you have to buy credits at $0.60 per credit.
3. As opposed to having the auction end at a predetermined time, it is always a moving target as to when the auction will close. See # 4 below for moving target details.
4. Every time somebody submits a bid, it will add 15seconds (sometimes 20 seconds depending on the item) to the auction closing time.
5. The key to winning is to be the last person bidding on the item when the countdown timer is zero.
   i.e. Assuming that I am looking at bidding on an Apple iPhone 3Gs. The countdown timer to the auction is 7 seconds when I submit my bid, it will add 15 seconds to the countdown timer making the timer 22 seconds. The goal is to be the last bidder when the timer is zero. It will cost me 1 credit which is $0.60 per bid.

Here is how it gets super duper lucrative: -

I was observing an auction for a Nokia N97 cell phone. Retail price on Nokia.com is $571, with the retail price of $699 but who pays retail.

The last bidder who won the item was Racer13 with 432 bids plus $119.76 for the item.

Auction ended on Oct-28-2009, at 12:34 PDT

By their calculations which I verified, Racer13 paid $373.56 for the phone (@ $0.60/bid X 432 bids  + $119.76 for item). He got a pretty decent deal as you can pick up a Nokia N97 for about $400 on eBay.

On the flip side, Swoopo made a killing selling this auction.

When I was looking at the auction, there were about a dozen people actively bidding on it. This is based on my unscientific observation.

If Racer13 paid 432 bids to be the winner, it would be safe to say that those other dozen or so bidder might have utilized 1/2 of the total # of bids that Racer13 used.

Total bids for that item:
=Racer13′s bids + 12 other competitors bids which is half of Racer13′s bids*
=432 + 2592
=3024
*Avg 216 bids per bidder X 12 bidders = 2592 bids

Total amount collected by Swoopo for the Nokia N97
=Item sold + (total bids X $0.60 per bid)
=$119.76 + (3024 X $0.60)
=$119.76 + $1814.40
=$1934.16

I would think that if you buy the N97 phone at wholesale the price, you might be able to get it for $270-$300. Making $1934.16 from $300 item, that is a 6X return and that ain’t too shabby.

Now, eBay would be kicking themselves while saying “Why didn’t I think of that?”

If you think that Swoopo is for you, you can sign up and test it out with 3 free bids, expiring 12/31/09. CLICK HERE

I have been working with Google since they were a fledgling company that was trying to claim market share from Overture/Yahoo and one of the beta testers for Gmail. When a company grows so fast, sometimes they will get sloppy.

Here is a good example, I signed up for a new MCC account for the Google Pay Per Click aka Google AdWords, the MMC confirmation email goes directly to the SPAM FOLDER in my GMAIL. I think there are simple things they overlooked….”to have Google emails not go into spam for Gmail accounts”.

 See email I got below which went into GMAIL SPAM.

Hello Eric Ewe,

We’re delighted that you’ve joined the Google Advertising Professionals Program. Using the components of this program – including online training and qualification, as well as marketing materials designed for your needs – you can more efficiently manage client accounts, extend your AdWords expertise, and attract more prospects.

To get started with the program:
1. Log into the Google Advertising Professionals Program site at https://adwords.google.com/professionals/account/?hl=en with the Google Account username and password you used during the program sign-up process. Familiarize yourself with the various elements of the site – it’s where you’ll be tracking your online training and qualifications for the program, as well as accessing useful resources such as marketing materials.
2. Create a Company account, or ask the Administrator of a Company you want to join to invite you as a Professional member (this allows you to take full advantage of the program features and benefits).
3. Create a My Client Center (MCC) account, if you don’t already have one, so you can more easily manage multiple client accounts. Managing a certain amount of spend in your My Client Center is also a requirement for qualification in the Google Advertising Professionals Program, so you should take a moment now to set up your MCC account by visiting http://www.google.com/adwords/myclientcenter.
4. Link your MCC account to your new Google Advertising Professionals Program account so that your managed spend can be associated with your account. Read this FAQ to learn how: https://adwords.google.com/support/select/professionals/bin/answer.py?answer=148358&hl=en.
5. Start learning! Visit the AdWords Learning Center to begin training for the Google Advertising Professionals Program exam. Once you pass the exam and have achieved the minimum client account spending requirements in your My Client Center, you’ll be eligible for qualification in the program. Access the Learning Center at: https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/go/learningcenter?hl=en
6. Explore our Help Center, which is full of useful information about qualification, training, and more. Visit the program Help Center at: https://adwords.google.com/support/select/professionals/?hl=en
7. Take advantage of AdWords promotional coupons: Once you become qualified through the Google Advertising Professionals Program we will provide you with 20 coupons, in the amount equivalent to $100 each, which may be applied to new client accounts. You can use them as an incentive for new advertisers to try AdWords and sign up through your company. You will receive your coupons in a separate email from us within one month of qualifying as a Google Advertising Professional – please note terms and conditions apply.
Congratulations on your enrollment in the Google Advertising Professionals Program! We look forward to all the great things you’ll do as a member.

If you have any questions or comments, please click the ‘Contact Us’ link at the bottom of your program page after you log in.

Sincerely,

Google Advertising Professionals Team

You have received this email because you recently signed up for the Google Advertising Professionals programs.

I was in Seattle recently and I met up with some of my friends from college, most of them worked for Microsoft. Wait, I think it was everybody who worked for Microsoft and there were people from the server group, guys who were working on the long awaited Windows 7 to some guys working on the infrastructure of their internal applications. One thing I heard from them were “Microsoft and the new anti virus” and everybody was given a beta copy.

Recently, Microsoft entered into the highly lucritive anti virus industry. In 2006, the industry was estimated at $4 billion and growing at 13.6% from the year before and that industry continues to grow as computers become more affordable. The new software released on Sept 29, 2009 is called Microsoft Security Essential and the it is a free download. Yes, FREE. The Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. 

Reviews so far looks positive as it is simple to use, quiet and efficient. It is compatible with WIndows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and you must have a genuine Windows to run the program. One cannot run Security Essential with other anti virus applications. The Security Essentials public beta also took fourth place in a recent roundup of free antivirus software. In a tests conducted by AV-Test.org, the Microsoft Security Essentials beta detected 97.8 percent of malware.

For a free application, I give it two thumbs up!

Link to download Microsoft Security Essential

Today, Google sent out about 100,000 invitations to the Google Wave for the Beta users. The Google Wave project was revealed at the Google I/O on May 27 – 28, 2009 in Moscone Center, San Francisco and limited account were given to those who attended. On Oct 1, 2009, it was released to beta tested who did not attend the I/O. The Google Wave is basically a communication and collaboration tool that works with richly formatted photos, text, videos, maps, and more. According to Google Wave‘s website:

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

This created a buzz in the online tech and create a market for “entrepreneurs” who got the invite. Within minutes, ebay was flooded with Google Wave Invitations and some of the invitations were listed and sold  for $89.99.

Humm… so next time, be one of Google’s tester or be on their active list and you might be able to make a lot of dole.

I was one of the first few people who got a GMail invite when they were beta testing it and I could have sold mine for a fortune on eBay but it wasn’t in me. I did give out a dozen free invites to co-workers, friends out of the 100 invites I got. So, anybody for a free Gmail invite? 

$89.99/invite X 100 invites = $8,999 (Quite a nice change…)

The new Google Wave. 100,0000 invitations was sent out on 10/1/09

Adv: Send money internationally via Xoom

I was helping a company do a competitive analysis on a pro bono basis, and I came up with a short page for “intro to affiliate marketing”. I thought that I will post it here to give merchants (advertisers) an idea of affiliate marketing and an illustration of affiliate marketing.

AFFILIATE MARKETING DEFINITION
Affiliate marketing is an advertising channel in which advertisers (merchants) pay publishers (affiliates) only for results, such as a visitor making a purchase or filling out a form, rather than paying simply to reach a particular audience. This “pay-for-performance” model is in essence the modern version of the “finders’-fee” model, where individuals who introduce new clients to a business are compensated. The difference in the case of affiliate marketing is that advertisers only pay their publishers when the new client introduction results in a sale or a lead, making it a low-risk, high-reward environment for both parties. (Source: CJ)

MODELS
The two most common models are:
- CPA (Cost per action) – Commission paid based off the % of a sale, it is sometimes called “Revenue Sharing”. A company utilizing this model usually carries products for sale. i.e. Wal-Mart, Target, Buy.com which might pay 3% on the total sale.
- CPL (Cost per lead) – Fixed commission paid on each completed registration.
A lead generation model program might include companies that offer services like Match.com, LendingTree.com, DentalPlans.com which might pay $15 per registration.

MERCHANTS
Merchants are basically advertisers. They are looking to drive traffic to their website by working with affiliates. Merchants would push out banners, text links, dynamic rich media, RSS, email templates, etc to assist affiliates with the necessary tools and content so that affiliates are able to drive traffic to the merchant’s website.

AFFILIATES
Affiliates are publishers that will take the banners/content of the merchants and publish it on their website or other channels with the goal to help the merchant generate a sale/lead, and in return make a commission.

NETWORKS
It is basically the market place where the advertisers and publishers are able to meet and conduct business. It is like an eBay for advertisers and publishers where advertisers are able to push out offers, find new potential publishers while publishers are able to login, look for appealing offers, check their commission and communicate with advertisers.

TRADITIONAL MARKETING vs AFFILIATE MARKETING
In a “Traditional marketing”, merchants would broadcast their marketing message to consumers utilizing some of the online marketing vehicles. With this method, it can get relatively expensive to reach a particular audience and there is no assurance of ROI.
See illustration below for traditional marketing.

1. Merchants

2. Broadcast

3. Audience / Consumers

In “Affiliate Marketing”, merchants are able to partner with affiliate and broadcast their marketing message to a particular audience. At the same time, the affiliates are bearing the cost to reach out to audience with the goal of making a commission. See illustration below for the affiliate marketing model.

1. Merchants

2. Affiliates

3. Broadcast

4. Audience / Consumers

In the book, Stealing MySpace by Julia Angwin (published in 2009), it brought up lots of interesting facts especially in the earlier years. Here are some things that you might not know about that small company that started in Los Angeles, CA.

• Domain name (MySpace.com). The original domain name was bought and utilized as a free online file storage and at its peak, it saw 7.5 million registered users utilizing their service. They competed with XDrive which offered 100MB of free space, while MySpace offered 300MB. They folded and that domain was bought by DeWolfe of ResponseBase for $5000.
• Spam and trash. ResponseBase who developed MySpace did everything from spam, small trashy remote control cars which had a high return rate, useless eBooks which had lots of complaints. ResponseBase was also involved with spyware and unauthorized pop-up installation. ResponseBase was part of eUniverse which was later rebranded as Intermix.
• Rip Off concept. MySpace were no innovators. They copied Friendster, one after another application. They even copied some applications out there which resulted in them being sued and they settled out of court, to renaming some of their applications. i.e. hot-or-not. MySpace was developed to go after Friendster’s market, as they saw Google offering Friendster $30 million in Summer 2003.
• Ownership. MySpace was a side project for ResponseBase and ResponseBase was owned by Intermix. Intermix was bought my News Corp, not MySpace. News Corp was interested in acquiring MySpace but bought Intermix to get to it.
• Price. Intermix was bought for $580 million by News Corp. Unknown to the general public, some of the people who came up with MySpace pocketed $75 million over two years following the sale. DeWolfe and Anderson got $30 million for two year per person, which other shared $15 million over two year.
• Contender. Other than News Corp, Viacom was actively looking to buy Intermix due to the success of MySpace.