Netizen

Monday, July 30, 2012

The Commandos Behind Facebook's Growth

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

If you are like me you though the massive growth happened on its own.

Chasing Facebook's Next Billion Users

The growth team was formed in late 2007, when Zuckerberg decided expansion was so important that it warranted a unit with its own resources. The site was approaching 100 million members, but its growth rate had cooled. ..... the growth team struck a deal with Google to let the search engine show Facebook profiles in its results. They also launched a feature called “People You May Know” ....... a companywide push to create a translation tool that let users in Spain, France, and Germany navigate the site in their native languages. Within two years of its creation, the team had expanded Facebook’s roster of users sevenfold, to 360 million. ..... a key to building more active members is spotting what she calls “magic moments.” That’s when a new user moves from thinking, “‘What the hell is this Facebook thing all about’ to ‘Aha! I understand, this is cool,’” says Gleit. Facebook tries to get users to experience this moment as early as possible by helping them find friends effortlessly. ...... her job entails wrangling with other teams at Facebook to highlight features on the site that improve engagement ..... “The next billions of people, we believe, are going to come through mobile” ...... governmental barriers like in China, and occasionally Vietnam, or competitive barriers like VKontakte in Russia ..... Quora, online storage company Dropbox, and Twitter now have their own growth teams

I was going to say Facebook's next billion will come from China. Zuckerberg's marriage to a Chinese woman, was that strategic?

The Red Hot Mobile Space

The official online color is: #A4C639 . 한국어: 공식 온라인 색은: #A4C639 . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Funny how Windows and the Mac operating system never went to war like this. HP and Dell should have been at loggerheads back in the days.

Apple vs. Samsung: Shaping the Mobile Battlefield

On July 9, a British judge named Colin Birss ruled that Samsung’s tablet computers were unlikely to be confused with Apple’s iPad because they’re “not as cool.” ..... a globe-spanning courtroom free-for-all over who invented what in smartphones and tablets .... the struggle for domination in the booming $312 billion mobile device market ..... Google’s open approach threatens Apple’s pitch to consumers that its exclusive, “walled garden” offerings are different and better. ..... a marathon bout, or perhaps cage match. Having fought over the past two years on four continents ..... Apple will try to convince jurors of one essential idea: Samsung is a copycat. .... Android phones manufactured by Samsung and other companies—all of which Apple has also serially sued in numerous forums worldwide—offer consumers a more flexible, open operating system with greater product choices at a variety of price points as an alternative to Apple’s single, expensive, and closed-system devices. ...... Samsung’s filings indicate that it will acknowledge that it closely studies its rival’s products. ..... Samsung said in its pretrial filing that Apple must prove that an ordinary consumer would be “deceived” into buying a Samsung tablet or phone, thinking that it was made by Apple. .... Apple’s Cook and Choi Gee Sung, the former CEO of Samsung, had tried and failed to settle the case in court-ordered mediation. ..... Samsung being one of Apple’s main suppliers of flash memory chips, display screens, and other components.

This reminds me of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. This fight is a waste of the two companies' resources.

Massive Power Outage In India

Hydroelectric dam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When about a third of the people in a country the size of India (US + Europe + Africa) lose power, that is massive.

What the India Blackout Says About India's Frailties

Even for India, though, the blackout that began in the early hours of Monday was extraordinary. Nearly 360 million people—more than the population of the U.S. and Canada combined—lost power across seven states in northern India when excessive demand and a shortfall in hydro power overwhelmed the electricity grid. The worst blackout in a decade started at 2:32 in the morning, leaving people sweltering in their homes and stopping service on trains and subways in Delhi..... Slightly more than 12 hours later, power resumed in the capital...... The less-than-normal rainfall has put strains on India’s hydroelectric power supply, which accounts for 19 percent of the country’s 205 gigawatt generation capacity ..... The blackout “is symbolic of the infrastructure bottlenecks of the country” ...... The government wants to spend $400 billion over the next five years on power-sector investment, adding 76 gigawatts of capacity by 2017. That’s on top of the 85 gigawatts of power India has added in the past 10 years.

The real solution might be on the moon.

The desk that keeps you standing I thought was pretty cool. Although a 40 minute workout goes a long way to help you out no matter what your chair. But this smart chair just keeps moving.

This $8,500 "Smart" Office Chair Never Stops Moving

chairs should instead encourage small but constant motions that are good for the body..... incorporates ergonomics and neuroscience to stimulate not just the body, but also the emotions. ...... custom-sized, carbon-fiber shells that wrap around each leg. They allow a generous range of movements—stretching, leaning, twisting—while supporting the spine ..... most LimbIC users prefer their feet to be suspended in air ..... They should feel weightless and bouncy, an effect achieved by stimulating different body points that send signals to the inner ear. The result: a feeling of happiness and increased creativity ..... extensively studied the limbic system, a part of the brain involved in emotions (including pleasure) and instinct .... customer feedback so far has been extremely positive ..... In concept, the chair acts as an extension of the body, adjusting subtly to the user’s movements, such as picking up the phone or using a mouse ..... You can even make dancing and skiing movement while seated .... “I could sit and concentrate for extended periods of time even with my acutely herniated disc,” one finance expert writes in a testimonial. “With other chairs, this used to be impossible.” .... “It doesn’t look comfortable. With a human in it, you recognize it as a chair, but without it you don’t.” ... “Most see it as an investment in their health and in themselves.”

The video is worth the watch.

I took particular note of this:

threw out traditional sitting rules such as the expectation that people should sit upright, with knees bent at a 90-degree angle. That science was developed in the 19th century

You mean the way I sit is fossil thinking?

Somebody put some thought into this new chair.

adMarketplace: Beyond Google, Yahoo, Bing

adMarketplace goes where Google, Yahoo and Bing do not go.

adMarketplace On Facebook, On Twitter.

adMarketplace is a technology company with the largest search advertising network outside of Google and Yahoo. The 8th fastest-growing private company in New York, adMarketplace delivers data-driven performance to the Internet's leading marketers through the only search syndication platform that adjusts bids by both keyword and traffic source.

adMarketplace Delivers Accountability shar.es/vW9XS
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) July 30, 2012

adMarketplace Delivers Accountability Syndicated search for the world beyond Google, Yahoo and Bing

Jamie Hill, CEO of adMarketplace. .... “When you’ve maxed out your efficiencies on the search engines, we’ll give you that extra 10 to 15 percent lift through our publisher network.” ..... adMarketplace’s data-driven technology platform is used to derive ROI from a wide range of global traffic sources. ...... type-in domain (where an Internet user types search terms into the browser nav¬igation bar instead of a search engine), toolbar search, opt-in email, rollover, contextual and mobile. .... The platform itself features tools for filtering, scoring and pricing, as well as a robust analytics suite. For large marketers, adMarketplace is offered as a managed service working with the company’s staff, and it is available as a self-serve service to advertisers of all sizes. ..... adMarketplace has seen its business increase 80 percent over the last year, and its headcount nearly double to more than 100 employees. On any given day, it may be serving upwards of 10,000 clients representing a range of vertical industries such as education, pharmaceuticals, insurance, auto, finance, legal and lead generation

Adam Epstein, adMarketplace: 27 Million And Counting

AdMarketplace - Wikipedia

Search Syndication is a sizable but often overlooked segment of the Search Engine Marketing industry. ..... adMarketplace was founded by James Hill in 2000. From 2003 to 2006, it was the exclusive search result advertising platform for eBay; when that exclusivity ended, the company opened its platform to all advertisers and publishers ...... The company is exclusively focused on search syndication advertising, placing text ads on web sites outside search engine result pages. ..... adMarketplace distributes text ads via toolbar search boxes, domain portfolios, email, mobile, rollover/in-text and type-in domains and has a proprietary data-driven technology platform comprising filtering, scoring, targeting, pricing and analytics. Its campaign analytics incorporate results based on both user behavior, including impressions and click-thrus, to conversion and even post-conversion data, such as sign-ups and purchases. adMarketplace’s pricing engine and analytics allow for real-time bid adjustment by ad placements, which the company claims results in a higher ROI

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