Netizen

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Facebook's Ad Space Is Different

I have never doubted Facebook will make gobbles of money. And I have been perfectly comfortable with their scaling the service first. Scale it first, worry about revenue later. None of Facebook's early investors have come across as impatient. Zuckerberg himself came out a few days earlier saying he is in no hurry to take the company public. That perhaps is a nod to the bad shape economy, but also to the fact that with or without the economy Facebook is not ready yet.

Facebook Faceoff Firefox

Facebook is different from Google and it is different from Twitter. Facebook came after Google and before Twitter in the genealogy of things tech.

I think the Facebook site is pretty nifty in terms of technology, I mean look at that font size. But Facebook's number one contribution is not the technology, it is the social graph, as the Facebookers like to call it. It is not search like it is for Google, it is not the stream like it is for Twitter, it is the social graph.

Facebook does not compete with Twitter. Facebook is better off taking the social graph concept to new levels. Okay, so I can stay in touch with my friends through Facebook regardless of if they are in the same town or country or not, but can I deepen my existing friendships through Facebook, can I have social concentric circles? Not all friends are equal. Some are inner circle friends, some are not so inncer circle. Can I have that on Facebook? Can I have a core of status updates meant only for immediate family?

Fractals: Apple, Windows 95, Netscape, Google, Facebook, Twitter

In digging through the data and making sense of a user's social connections and social activities, Facebook stands to create that special ad space. Google's attitude is, if you did a search on smartphones, maybe I should show you ads on smartphones, and you will click on one of the ads and make me some money. Facebook's attitude will be, you have been interacting with Iqbal and 10 others more frequently than with any of your other 500 Facebook friends, and Iqbal just bought a smartphone, I think you will too if given the opportunity, what if I show you an ad for a smartphone, or better, what if I get Iqbal to show you an ad for the very smartphone he just bought? Let him brag about it. Let me stay out of it.

What Should Facebook Do

That is lucrative ad space. Facebook will keep getting a better and better idea of any user's social graph over time. And the better it is, more defined its ad space is, and more lucrative that ad space. It is new and it is different. It sure is early stage. But once they get onto it, I think they are going to be minting money. Facebook is going to take the idea of online shopping to a whole different level.

TweetDeck, Power Twitter, Twitter Globe, Better Than Facebook

I for one can imagine Facebook becoming bigger than China. It might take a few years, but it will get there. It is okay if it takes more than a few years, if it takes a decade, that's fine too.

Microsoft, Google, Facebook: NY Tech MeetUp Has Arrived

My long held Facebook fantassy has been that it should not just be a place where you keep in touch with people you are already friends with, it should also be a place where you meet new people to become friends with. Facebook added a Like button. How about adding a Hello button? We might not know each other, but what if I want to say hello?

The Unfacebook
Facebook

And how about Facebook Enterprise? Could the site offer team building tools?

Facebook needs sociologists, and ethnographers and anthropologists and social activists as much as it needs programmers and technologists. It is a social graph company not a tech graph company.

In The News

Learning, and Profiting, from Online Friendships BusinessWeek Companies are working fast to figure out how to make money from the wealth of data they're beginning to have about our online friendships ...... For social scientists, Watts says, this flood of data could be as transformative as Galileo's telescope was for the physical sciences ..... Tailoring offers based on friends' responses helped lift the average click rate from 0.9% to 2.7%. Although 97.3% of the people surfed past the ads, the click rate still tripled. ....... Friendship data promise insights into not only the marketplace but also the corporation. Researchers can trace the hidden networks ........ One key laboratory for IBM is its internal social network called Beehive, in which nearly 60,000 ........ Each new friend plugs an IBM worker into another sphere of knowledge and human contacts. ...... while each of us likely will switch jobs seven or eight times in our careers, we continue to build a network of friends that can sustain us. ...... LinkedIn's Hoffman ..... has 1,864 contacts on LinkedIn. ..... the contacts outside of our close friendships are more likely to lead us to new opportunities. Their networks have less overlap and extend into different areas. ........ trading information, creating alliances, doing favors ....... the value in online friendship is poised to grow.
Netbook Sales Keep Quanta Competitive
'Super Angels' Shake Up Venture Capital
Unemployment Up in 44 States
Jobs: What a Rebound Will Look Like
America's Backdoor Layoffs
Help Wanted: Why That Sign's Bad
The U.S. Has 3 Million Job Openings
Unemployment: Worse Than it Looks
Is the Jobs Panic Justified?
Layoffs Flood a Weakened Unemployment System
Unretired: Retirees Are Back, Looking for Work
The Coming Pink Slip Epidemic
Unemployment: How to Slow the Bleeding

Friday, May 22, 2009

Netizen Is No Spam Blog

A Google robot flagged my blog, a Google human unflagged it. All's well that ends well.

Google: Tweet Me Baby One More Time

Best Way To Increase Traffic To Your Blog

Mark Penn says in his famous Wall Street Journal article that at 100,000 unique visits per month, a blogger hits 75K in income. There is a suggestion that there is a direct correlation between how much traffic you get and how much you make as a blogger. So how do you go about increasing traffic for your blog?

There are three kinds of traffic:

Search Traffic
Referring Sites
Direct Traffic

If you focus solely on content creation and engage in no other marketing effort, all your traffic is going to come from search engines. If you become inactive for any length of time, you are still going to get residual traffic. Most of that likely might be search engine traffic, except if you get residual traffic of the other two kinds from your previous marketing efforts.

It is fundamental that you use Google Analytics or a similar tool to see how much and what kind of traffic you are getting. The tool also tells you of the keywords people use to feed the search engines to end up at your site, and what pages they visit. This helps you discover your niche, and to create ever more content for that particular niche. For me right now that seems to be Android.

More specifically "donut android" and "cupcake android." For those two phrases my blog for now shows up on the first page of Google search results. That is prime real estate. The reason I have to hone in that niche makes sense at many levels to me.

When I write new blog posts on Android, content creation and marketing are not two different activities. They are one and the same.
Android is no cottage industry. It is not some sub sub sub topic. It just might end up being the top technology news for this year.
Android so totally fits into my IC vision and my startup. The more I learn about Android, the better for me. I don't mind getting paid to learn. (Google's Newest Venture: Google Ventures) I plot every day to go back to working on my startup full time. Android is fundamental to the IC vision. The ground - operating system - itself has to move for the vision to become reality.

I feel lucky that the topic in technology that I find most fascinating right now is also my blog's prime niche according to Google Analytics. And I got told of that niche right after my first Android blog post. I find that amazing. My respect for Google's algorithms grew. And when Google gave me the number two spot after my first Donut Android blog post, my respect for the search engine really grew. (Taking The Number 2 Spot On Google Search For Donut Android)

Search engine traffic I think is the best kind, but working on the other two does not take away from your search engine traffic, quite the opposite, so don't ignore the other two either.

If I am a tech blogger, it makes sense that I visit TechCrunch, for example, or Mashable. And if I am going to visit anyways, why not participate in the comments sections? It takes but a few seconds. And because your name gets hyperlinked to your blog, those comments sections start sending a little traffic your way. What is there to complain?

Contrary to the stereotype, blogging is a social activity. You have to belong to blogging and online communities around your interests. You have to forge friendships in the blogosphere. And forging friendships with bloggers who are not so big name increases your chances of them putting you on their blogrolls. After traffic, those backlinks are what jack up your google rank. Those backlinks are key. And content creation alone will not do the work for you, especially during the early stages when you are still wondering how you hit 1,000 page hits a day.

Twitter is micro-blogging. And there is another: that would be the comments sections of other blogs. Got to participate.

Twitter is another great place to socialize. Don't just have a list of people you follow and followers. Got to make some time and visit their profile pages and respond to some of their tweets. These are real living, breathing people. Get to know some of them, or many of them if possible.

And there is direct traffic. Feedburner lets you put a box at your blog that gives visitors the option to subscribe to your blog with their email addresses. Seth Godin claims that mailing list is how he gets most of his traffic. But he probably became a star blogger first. But before you become famous and other people know you, when you are a small fish blogger, there are people you know. Once in a while it is okay to send out emails to people you know sharing a blog post or two with them. Look Ma, no hands!

Focus on great content creation.
Find your niche, and create great content for that particular niche, but also constantly be diversifying. You don't want to go out of business when one rainy day Google revised its algorithms and your blog ended up in Siberia.
Blogging is a social activity. Be in a habit of visiting other blogs and participating in their comments sections in meaningful ways.
Strive to generate a band of loyal visitors, people who want to lap up every blog post you put out because, oh, you are just so wonderful.

Google: Tweet Me Baby One More Time
Taking The Number 2 Spot On Google Search For Donut Android
Hitting Number 4 For Google Search Results on Cupcake Android
The Big Money Is Not In Blogging
Google Analytics Says I Am Paul Krugman Friend, Cupcake Android Expert
What Does Your Resume Look Like Today?
Content Is Queen, Marketing Is Princess
Content Is Queen
Blogging: Monkey Business?
Blogging = Learning + Teaching + Churning + Entertaining
Spamming Om Malik

Digg Button, Twitter Button For Your Blog Posts
Blogging Several Times A Day
Blogging Tips
A Blogger Is Also An Editor
Blog Daily
Where Have You Placed Your Ads?
Sites That Pay You To Blog

On The Web

SEOmoz | 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic
The Best way to increase traffic to your site
Whats the best way to increase traffic? - Authority Blogger Forum
What's the BEST way to increase traffic to your blog? // Blogging ...
Blog Traffic - 15 Tips to Increase Blog Traffic
WikiAnswers - What is the best way to drive traffic to your website
Web Site Marketing - Lead Generation and How to Increase Traffic ...
How to Use Blog Sites To Increase Traffic To Your Blog | eHow.com

The Android Architecture

Image by dannysullivan via Flickr

Just take a look.

All your stuff is saved. Contacts you add on your Android phone are automatically saved in your Gmail account that you are used to accessing over your laptop. So you can lose that mobile phone and not lose anything. Get a new phone, sign in, pick up where you last left.
You can take your photos and videos from your mobile device straight to your online destinations, in Google's case Picassa and YouTube. You don't have to download them to your desktop and then upload them online. That right there is further liberation from the desktop. And of course the editing happens online.

Many human beings come with a pair of legs. We move around. A lot. The mobile space was always very important. Technology is catching up. But it would have been a minor disaster to realize the mobile space was a whole different silo from the big rectangle of your laptop.

That seamlessness from the mobile space to, what will we call it, the immobile space is key. It has to feel like one continuum. When mobile and not so mobile, we are still dealing with the same ecosystem of information and people.

The Android architecture has that seamlessness in mind. That seamlessness is at the heart of the Android vision. That is also why the architecture is open. You have the Open Handset Alliance. Android is open source. It is free. Just like Google search is free. The business model perhaps is to create a vibrant mobile space, get people to start using the basic services like Gmail and calendar, and then cash in in the mobile ad space which promises to be huge measured by any yardstick.

On The Web

HowStuffWorks "Google Android Architecture" the Android OS as a software stack. Each layer of the stack groups together several programs that support specific operating system functions. ..... the kernel ..... memory management programs, security settings, power management software and several hardware drivers. ...... libraries. ...... the media framework library supports playback and recording of various audio, video and picture formats .... runtime layer includes a set of core Java libraries -- Android application programmers build their apps using the Java programming language. ....... A virtual machine is a software application that behaves as if it were an independent device with its own operating system. ..... The Android OS uses virtual machines to run each application as its own process. ...... no application is dependent upon another. .. if an application crashes, it shouldn't affect any other applications running on the device. ..... simplifies memory management. ........... the application framework. ....... programs that manage the phone's basic functions like resource allocation, telephone applications, switching between processes or programs and keeping track of the phone's physical location. ...... Think of the application framework as a set of basic tools with which a developer can build much more complex tools. ........ the applications ...... the user interface.
Android The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.
Android Architecture
Ideas 2.0: Google's Android Architecture
Code Beach: Android Architecture Overview
Google Android Architecture Overview : iPhone Killer
Curiosity is bliss: Google Android architecture
Android Architecture Overview (Android forum at JavaRanch)
Android An Open Platform For Mobile Devices
HyperFuture » Blog Archive » Android architecture video - Part 1 of 3

Android Netbook

Android revolutionizing the mobile space and then sturdily moving into the Netbook space is kind of like Gmail coming offline into the Outlook space. The lines are blurring. The competition is heating up.

The Netbook space is not a subset of the PC space. While the PC space seems to have stagnated, the Netbook space has seen some action. The Netbook is half way between the PC and what I call the IC, Internet Computer.

The beauty of a free, functional operating system is it brings the price down, and so you have Dell running up and down the street.

Will Microsoft counter with a stripped down version of Windows, one that might go for $10? Since we know they don't do free.

If all the operating system needs to run is a browser, how much stuff do you need, really?

On The Web

Skytone Alpha 680 Android-powered netbook spotted | Google Android ... Chinese manufacturer Skytone. ...... The Alpha 680 is expected to retail for around $250 and be available sometime in Q3 2009. ....... nice to see what appears to be progress on the Android netbook front.
Android Set for Netbook Leap? sees Android making the jump off of smartphones and into the netbook arena in the near future ..... Android taking between 10% and 15% of the netbook market within two years ..... Netbooks and laptops are a big growth area; they have higher growth potential than smartphones even ..... certainly within Android’s best interests to find its way onto as many devices as possible ...... In time, it will be interesting to see how many different gadgets are hosting Google's operating system
Freescale Android Netbook for $199, Coming Soon? | Android Central a summer 2009 availability and a price point of around $199.
ASUS coming up with a Google Android netbook? | GadgetMix.com!::.. ASUS has already allocated a team of engineers to work upon an Android-based netbook and they will able to fully develop the Android-based netbook by the end of this year. It will be interesting to see the place for such a netbook, where 90% of the netbook market is using the old and trusty Windows XP as their OS. One reason that folks at ASUS may be looking upto the Android platform is the fact that it is free. ...... there are plenty of linux custom distros which offer full firefox even in the instant-on OS.
Android Netbooks Tested By Google | Android Phone Fans They were even testing out Android on a netbook… LAST YEAR! ...... back in the day somebody had almost got Android running on a mini PC - this was a year ago or more ..... I wouldn’t discount the possibility of seeing a gBook of sorts that comes with all Google products. That means based on Android, Chrome Browser, Google Gears for using Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, Google Reader and all down the line. ....... who wouldn’t want a super cheap netbook running Android?
Dell Demonstrates Android-powered Mini 10v Netbook - Laptop News ... We've heard that many netbook manufacturers are planning to put Android on their netbooks, but Dell has gone a step further and proved that it's testing "something called Android." ..... three Mini 10vs running Dell's vanilla Ubuntu, Ubuntu Netbook Remix and, most interestingly, Android's Cupcake build. ...... Who doesn't want a "very nice, little, very small and very snappy little operating environment," which "actually runs very nicely," after all?

A sneak peak into Alpha 680, one of the first Android netbook ... Jan 2, 2009 Thought Android was just for mobile phones? Think again. Matthäus Krzykowski and Daniel Hartmann needed only four hours to compile Android for the Asus EEEPC 1000H netbook. .... The netbook market is one that Microsoft has not completely gotten seized, since most netbooks don't have the hardware to handle Windows Vista. .... leaves enough room for Google's Chrome and Android to make some noise ..... Google and Intel are already in cahoots in bringing Android to a netbook platform.
Android Netbooks on the Horizon? | Mobile Technology ...
The Coming Android Invasion the Linux-based Android could pose a real threat to Windows XP, which runs on the majority of netbooks, and to the forthcoming Windows 7

Donut Android: Android 2.0

Image via CrunchBase

Android
Taking The Number 2 Spot On Google Search For Donut Android
Hitting Number 4 For Google Search Results on Cupcake Android
Donut Android: Windows 95, Android 2009?
Cupcake Android Delay Reason: Donut Android
Google Analytics Says I Am Paul Krugman Friend, Cupcake Android Expert
Cupcake: Android 1.5

Sturdier build, richer experience, is that where we are headed with donut? I have been scouring for details, not many are forthcoming.

We don't seem to know when either. But the anticipation level is very high.

For me it is not just about the mobile phones, although Android seems to really want to open up the territory, for me it is even more about the Netbook space. I am eager to see how Android will reshape the Netbook space.

In The News

Sony Ericsson baking Donut Android phones Reg Hardware several Android phones based on the Google OS’ Donut edition ..... little’s yet known about the Donut update’s features. ..... Donut will feature greater multimedia support .... strong contenders in the entertainment category.

First Sony Ericsson Google phone to run Android OS 2.0 CNET News

Sony Ericsson Readying an Android 2.0 Handset Softpedia
A sneak peek at HTC Hero's software CNET News

HTC's 'Rosie' UI for Google Android operating system caught on video Mobile Burn

Android 'Donut' Build For HTC Hero Caught On Tape Gizmodo.com

HTC Hero: Android UI Customized By HTC Android Phone Fans - Phandroid.com
Samsung Bigfoot & Spico Android smartphones with OS 2.0 “Donut”? SlashGear

Android 2.0 “Donut” Android Phone Fans - Phandroid.com not only are these rumors, but they were Russian rumors translated into English and then went through my rough deciphering capabilities after a spin through the Google Translate machine ..... This would be hilarious if true considering the current version (1.5) has gained incredible popularity with the Cupcake name. ..... The radical difference, which is why everything is silent, that the new machines are built on the Android OS 2.0 code-named Donut. ..... “Acer” is mentioned as launching a Donut based Android Phone.
Google Groups: Android Platform

Samsung Spica and BigFoot Android 2.0 details leaked Slippery Brick

Samsung Prepping Two Smartphones Running Android 2.0 Brighthand The Spica ..... 3-inch QVGA touchscreens, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, 3 MPx cameras, and microSD card slots ...... The release of the next version of Google's OS isn't going to happen for about 6 months ...... support for additional screen resolutions: WVGA and QVGA ....... Only HVGA displays are supported by Android 1.5, while both of Samsung's upcoming models will reportedly have QVGA ones.
T-Mobile Delays Android 1.5 Update, Android 2.0 Spotted InformationWeek a first look at Android 2.0 will make you want to skip 1.5 altogether. ...... Android is trading cupcakes for donuts. ...... an HTC-customized version of Android, and its very slick.

T-Mobile Delays Android 1.5 Rollout & Why CupCake Is Now Defunct Google Android Phone News - GAB

GoMo Buzzwatch: US rollout of Cupcake update to Android mobile OS ... GoMo News

T-Mobile USA: G1 Cupcake Update Delayed 1 Week Android Phone Fans - Phandroid.com
Updates on Acer, Sony Ericsson, and Panasonic Handsets AndroidGuys “We are seriously considering developing an Android-based handset and entering overseas mobile phone markets in fiscal 2010.” ..... The term ‘near’ future is subjective so don’t go thinking 2.0 is right around the corner just yet. ..... With 9 out of 10 upcoming handset running Windows Mobile, the smartest phone they’ll release in 2009 will be Android.
Motorola Morrison Android handset T-Mobile-bound T3 a Motorola Android phone, the Motorola Morrison. .... the scheduled launch date is down as the start of November ..... the version most phone makers have been gearing their handsets to using. ....... Motorola has promised Android phones before the year is out and has been reported as seeing Android as its last shot at sticking with the big boys. ....... the Morrison looks to be phone equivalent of its supermarket namesake, solid and dependable and possibly a little cheaper than the competition. But we'll reserve judgement until we see the full details, a bigger picture and ideally, get hands-on with it.
HTC Hero's Android Build Caught on Video Softpedia
Android Cupcake, Donut, Eclair and Beyond… Android Phone Fans - Phandroid.com

Homer Simpson Approves of Google Android 2.0 "Donut" Mobile Magazine

Google Android 2.0 dubbed Donut Details Phones Review

Stunning Growth (900%) Predicted for Android Dialaphone

Samsung Galaxy. i7500 Android phone gets a name. Will launch in ... Unwired View
Google's Android Gets A Cupcake Forbes

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