I once wrote about a lot of Google “secret” features (and part 2), including an ad-free Google search.
Continue reading Google search without ads and other options
Digg is banning users because they digg too often
A member in one of my discussion lists just got his account banned by Digg.
What was the reason you say ?
Your account was banned for the rate of Digging activity you’ve engaged in. We’ve determined that the time in which your Diggs happen, it isn’t possible to actually read the stories. Please read each and every story before you Digg or bury a story. Once you agree that you will Digg/bury more responsibly and read the stories, we will unban your account.
Recently, the Digg staff, trough their automated algorithms, is watching if a user is reading a story, by counting the time the user stays on that particular page, and the time it takes him to press the Digg button.
As another member in the discussion list said :
That’s funny. I have a feeling this is going to bite them in the ass.
I agree … This algorithm tweaking and fear of SPAM is going way to far … I mean, come on guys, banning users for voting stories too often ?
I would really love a response from someone at Digg.
PS: Noupsell has a really good personal explanation and clarification for this situation, at the Digg page.
PS2: Apparently, the Digg community catalogues this post of mine, as SPAM :)
“dig_count”:”31″,”area”:”Upcoming”}, {“type”:”report”,”itemid”:”2071615″,”date”:”2007-05-23 13:41:42″,”timestamp”:”1179927702″,”reason”:”Spam”,
Dreamhost asking clients to block GoogleBot
Yes, it’s quite true. DreamHost representatives are asking their clients to block GoogleBot trough the .htaccess file, because their websites were “hammered by GoogleBot”.
Dreamhost representatives are also guiding their clients to make all their websites “unsearchable and uncrawlable by search engine robots”, because they cause “high memory usage and load on the server”.
PS: This is NOT a rumor. Multiple people are already complaining about Dreamhost asking clients to block search engine spiders. A post in QuickOnlineTips confirms this too.
Initial news bit via Zoso.
Google tests new search results layout
Google has played with the interface layout a lot, over the years.
Now it’s settled with the tabs in the upper left part :
They also enhanced the bar that displays the number of searches and other information, to make it more appealing, with a gradient.
How to get a link from an .edu domain (part 2)
Just go to the Harvard H2O Playlist Beta project, register an account and make a “Playlist”. Then point a link towards that page.
That way you get Wedding Favors and Lord of the Rings Online Guides and Exploits and not :
H2O playlists are more than just a cool, sleek technology — they represent a new way of thinking about education online. An H2O Playlist is a series of links to books, articles, and other materials that collectively explore an idea or set the stage for a course, discussion, or current event.
But wait there’s more : Dirspace directory (no offense intended to the owner, but that’s how directories “get” that SeoMoz PageStrength ?) and Viagra (of course through ezinearticles.com).
And this on top of my other posts about .edu spam:
Blogger’s Choice Awards: SeoPedia
SeoPedia is in the Blogger’s Choice Awards.
If you like what I write go ahead and give me a vote on the Best Marketing Blog, Best Blog Design, Best Business Blog and Best Geek Blog without breaking the rules :)
There are only 106 more votes to go guys.
So what’s up with this contest ? Not only can you nominate your favorite blogs within a slew of unique categories but you can also vote and comment on others that have already been submitted. In turn, others can also vote and comment on the blogs you’ve nominated.
Votes will be displayed on the site in real-time, so you can see who’s leading within each category at any moment!
The voting for Blogger’s Choice Awards 2007 will end at 11:55pm on October 19. Winners in each respective category will be recognized at a one-of-a-kind awards ceremony on November 10, 2007, at PostieCon in Las Vegas, NV. After the ceremony, the results will be posted at BloggersChoiceAwards.com.
Ionut Chitu / Google Operating System: Most read Romanian
Did you know that Ionut Chitu’s Google Operating System blog is the most read Romanian website on the Internet ?
He has even more readers then Darren Rowse:
or Brian Clark:
Congrats Ionut, once again. Seeing that you have been blogging out of passion (and not the desire to make money), and you’ve been doing that for a little over an year, you should receive the award of the year for the best “natural marketing”.
This post’s ideea started from Alex.
Update: I think Ionut is actually in the Top 10 bloggers worldwide, with close to 40K subscribers. I’m not talking about news websites like TechCrunch or GigaOM, but individual blogs, written by only one author.
Interview with Nitobi Inc., the RobotReplay creator
A few weeks ago, RobotReplay was created, one of the most useful analytics tool in the web today.
In a few words, RobotReplay is what I reckon, the most convenient accessibility and usability workshop in the world, for free, anytime, anywhere. Basically, RobotReplay records all the sessions of your visitors, and shows you what every visitor did on your websites, from scrolling, clicks, completing of forms and selecting text.
The most important thing is that the end result / report is NOT a video but the page itself, and a little bit of javascript, so the bandwidth you save is from 1000% to 5000% perhaps. All you have to do to start monitoring your users, is to put a simple one line of javascript in every page of your website.
The guys from Nitobi Inc, the creators of RobotReplay, were happy enough to answer a few questions for me, clearing up a lot of aspects about RobotReplay but not only.
Continue reading Interview with Nitobi Inc., the RobotReplay creator
After BMW, VW is spamming Google
Although it’s not fresh news, I thought it’s ok to mention that Barry reported VW to be hiding content in invisible DIV tags. We all remember the BMW Spam.
Kevin Gough, Sr. Product & Marketing Manager at Google “contacted the VW team” and asked questions. Now how many times will a Google representative kindly ask you some questions whenever someone else spams ? Let me tell you: never :)
SEOmoz Web 2.0 Awards
SEOmoz has just uncovered the Web 2.0 Awards.
41 categories, 25 judges, over 200 websites, a must see.
Via Manafu.
99 Ways to properly market your web startup
Jeff has just written what I consider an excellent post about 99 ways to brand and market a web startup.
Jeff is the owner of Aviva Directory.
Read it and learn. Then head over to my 101 Web Marketing Tips. Combine the knowledge, and you’re one step ahead.
The New Rules of Marketing & PR! (I am in the book)
David (Bio) has just finished his new book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR (Amazon buy link, without any affiliate code), featuring the foreword by Robert Scoble.
Apparently, I’m in it, and I will receive a copy of it from David as soon as possible. I will post a review of the book after I read it :)
What made me really happy, were a few words which reflect a state of mind that so many people in the publishing world either do not know, don’t want to know or refuse to believe it:
In the blog world, when someone writes a great post, you link to it. It’s a virtual pat on the back and acknowledgement that the effort was worthwhile. And it recognizes the original idea.
The best reward available today for a blogger or a publisher owning his own piece of real estate on the web, is a natural link.
Continue reading The New Rules of Marketing & PR! (I am in the book)
PayPal for Romania: Now available, send only
PayPal now allows users from Romania to register an send only account (Personal / Premiere / Business). That means you can only send money trough Paypal, with funds fueled from a Credit Card.
If you want to receive money (or to have any other type of Paypal merchant services) you will have to wait.
Via Sandossu (with an additional check by me, just to be sure).
Update: The official PayPal Press Release about the expansion to 190 markets worldwide. From it, we learn that PayPal currently has 143 million accounts globally. In the first quarter of 2007, PayPal’s total payment volume was over $11 billion. So we can estimate an aproximate total of $45 billion sales for 2007.
Update 2: Everyone can see what are the services supported for his country, in this very easy to use interface.
Breaking: Google Analytics gets a major interface upgrade
Google Analytics just upgraded the interface we were all getting used to, with a new enhanced BETA version.
Neither the Google Blog or the Google Analytics blogs have any posts yet, for this new interface facelift.
From the FAQ Section:
Many accounts already have access to the new version. If your account does not yet have access, you won’t have to wait long. Over the next several weeks, we will be migrating all existing Analytics accounts to the new Google Analytics interface.
Any insights ? How do you guys find the new interface ?
Update: The official Analytics blog published the news just now.
A new blog on the superhighway
My future wife, Ramona, just launched her new blog.
She absolutely insisted (and now I will get a spanking because she’s asleep and she doesn’t know), for me not to post what I posted now, because she wants to be read only if the readers want to read her. Well what did you thought girl ? That they will read you because of me ? Well who the heck am I to influence people ? Matt Cutts ? :)
You’re already a star Ramona, in Valcea and not only, so you don’t need me or anyone else :)
Getting back to the point, she will blog mostly about TV, public relations, trips she or we both made, or will make, as well as personal stuff.
PS: She will only write in Romanian, and has already written a few words about her blog and herself.