Search Engine News Updates: August23-31-2010

Filed Under (Search Engine News Updates) by eBrandz Writer on 01-09-2010

Welcome to another weekly edition of Search and Social updates — packed with announcement, alliance, disputes and axing down services or products, from Silicon Valley’s tech leaders like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, Bing and others, as well as many more interesting Search Engine Optimization news from across the web…
Intel Pays US$7.68 Billion For McAfee To Combat Hacking And Virus Threat

Chip maker Intel Corp., after 18 months of close collaboration with security software provider McAfee Inc., Intel finally announced that it would acquire McAfee for $7.68 billion to address the growing threat of hacking and viruses in an all-cash deal, or $48 per share…

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Facebook Snaps Up Mobile Check-In Network “Hot Potato” To Enhance Places

Barely days after introducing its location-based Places service, Facebook over the weekend announced that it has snaffled up “Hot Potato,” a Brooklyn-based company with a mobile app that combines news feed and location-based features that lets people use smartphones to let friends know what they are up to at any given moment…

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Google Previews Chrome Web Store For Developers

Google over the weekend announced that they have made available a developer preview of its “Chrome Web Store,” which enables access to Web applications. The new “App Store for the web” has been unfolded in a developer preview, allowing developers to get their hands on the new business…

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Google Releases New AdSense Option For Developers To Monetize iPad Apps

Internet search engine titan Google recently announced that they are releasing a new feature for its Mobile for AdSense apps, optimized for the iPad in a nod to the growing number of iPad apps as well as the growing usage the extremely popular tablet that has no true Android competitor right now, which lets developers in the U.S. and Canada, who are participating in the beta program, to monetize their iPad apps…

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Google Experiments With New “Streaming Search Results” Function

The Internet is swirling with talks about search engine giant Google is experimenting with a new manifestation of its search engine that rejiggers results pages as you type your query, in real-time, according to a video captured by a UK-based SEO…

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Google Finally Acquires Visual Shopping Comparison Site Like.com

Last week, the silicon valley was abuzz with search engine giant Google in apparent discussion to bundle up its arsenal with a visual shopping site and, finally on Monday the company announced that it has acquired visual search company Like.com, which specializes in visual search technology that lets people hunt online for bargains using pictures of clothing…

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AOL Gives Parents Tool To Monitor On Kids’ Social Networking Activities  With Safe Social

Have you ever wish that you could become an invisible being in your house to watch for what your kids post on Facebook and other social media sites? Well AOL, in association with SocialShield, is launching AOL SafeSocial, a $9.99-per-month service that empower parents to monitor their kids’ online activities without having to be a “friend.”…

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Google Earth 1.1 For Android Goes Underwater

Most of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, which we land-lubbers have a difficult time exploring on our own. Google Earth enthusiasts who own smartphones powered by Google Earth for Android adds an ocean layer to its application for surveying our planet…

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Google Introduces Free Voice Calls Via Gmail

Internet search engine giant Google has just invaded Skype’s territory Wednesday with the introduction of a new service that delivers Voice over Internet Protocol to Gmail and make phone calls over the Web to landlines or cellphones and links the service to Google Voice app. Currently, only users in the US will be able to make calls from inside their Gmail account…

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News Corp. To Merge Fox Audience Network With MySpace

Big changes are underway at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. troubled digital division. Following the departure of Fox Audience Network President Adam Bain, News Corp has announced it now intends to merge its online advertising network, Fox Audience Network and social networking site, MySpace unit…

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Nokia, Intel Focus On 3D Holographic Mobile Tech

US computer chip behemoth Intel and Finland’s Nokia, the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer, said Tuesday that they are developing a first joint research center that will focus on developing 3D interfaces and virtual reality experiences for use on mobile devices…

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Google Launches New Homepage For “RealTime” Search Of Tweets, Buzzes

Another day, another service has been unfolded from the house of world’s most popular search engine leader. Google Inc. on Thursday strengthened its efforts to make its Web-search results timelier, for users who want to sift through news, comments, further embraced the world of tweets, status updates, and on-the-fly posts with a website devoted to finding “real-time” content as it hits the Internet…

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MySpace Acquires Social Chat Startup Threadbox To Boost Messaging

News Corp.’s MySpace, the struggling social-networking site, attempting to make a reappearance has finalized a deal to acquire certain, unspecified assets of social messaging platform Threadbox. whose real-time messaging application has been branded as a more useful Google Wave, VentureBeat reported…

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Free iPad Scammers Hits Facebook And Twitter

Every generation has its fair share of people who are ingenuous enough to believe that there is a free lunch — only to find out the painful way later on that they have been conned. A bout of spam disguised as a free iPad offer is compromising the accounts of social network users on Facebook and Twitter…

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Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen Sues Google, Apple, Facebook, Others Over Web Patents

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen on Friday, triggered a patent shot across the bow of several prominent technology companies, suing 11 major Web-based firms, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, YouTube and eBay, charging them with infringing patents filed more than a decade ago, which he owns…

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Google Gobbles Another Pseudo Swedish Social Startup Ångströ

The Internet search engine giant Google, striving to counter the growth of Facebook, continues to determinedly pursue social-networking capabilities, this time with the acquisition of Palo Alto-based startup “Ångströ,” an outfit that built all sorts of apps that hook into “social” sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn…

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Adobe Tweaks Photoshop.com’s Free Web Tools, Abandons Sign-Up Requirement

Adobe over the weekend unleashed several updates to its free online editing applications at Photoshop.com, including the preference to edit photos without signing up for an account, giving users another incentive to BitTorrent the real McCoy…

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Microsoft Reverts Back Windows Live Sync To Live Mesh, Ups Storage

Hold onto your breaths, Windows Live enthusiasts; software maker Microsoft over the weekend has decided to make a bunch of changes to its Live Sync service including reverting that decision, and the combined program will now be called Windows Live Mesh before it is released in final form this fall, and raise Mesh’s storage limit to 5 Gbytes of free cloud storage…

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Google Preps To Offer Pay-Per-View Movie Rental Service On YouTube: Report

Google’s YouTube video-sharing website is in discussion with Hollywood’s leading movie studios to unfold a global pay-per-view video service that could be introduced by the end of the year, thrusting it head-to-head with Apple in the race to dominate the digital distribution of film and television content, the Financial Times reported on…

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Google Renews Licensing Deal With AP For Hosting News Stories

After months of ongoing discussions, search engine giant Google and the Associated Press announced on Monday they have resolved a deadlock over extending their licensing deal, which allows it to host full-text news articles from the US news agency on Google sites such as Google News…

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Microsoft Breaks Into Google’s Unwalled Garden, Unfolds Bing App To Verizon Android Users

Late last year, when Microsoft introduced a downloadable application for the iPhone from Apple, it set off some sensation in the tech world. Android owners who have been longing for a new mobile search option can now rejoice as the tech world was buzzing again with an announcement by Microsoft’s search group, Bing. The software maker on Monday announced the launch of its first Bing for Mobile Android app for Verizon customers…

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Google Scoops Up “SocialDeck” Fifth Company This Month

Barely days after acquiring Angstro, search engine giant Google Inc. continues its pattern of shopping spree by scooping up the social games start-up SocialDeck Inc., the latest in a series of acquisitions aimed at helping the Internet search titan build a social-networking service to compete with Facebook Inc…

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The crux of reputation management on social media

Filed Under (Social Media) by eBrandz Writer on 01-09-2010

Social media acts as an effective platform for consumers and users to publicly voice their opinions, air views and post comments – both negative and positive. This obviously can both help and hurt a company. You may like it or not, the networking populace need not always have to justify the statements made or even explain the motive behind them. Read the rest of this entry »

Importance of landing page SEO

Filed Under (SEO) by eBrandz Writer on 30-08-2010

Let us find out in this post why landing Page SEO is recommended and how it helps you in making your site both user friendly and search engine friendly. Consider what if the visitor has still not made a buying decision yet. Maybe he or she is searching for a related service/product. This is where the benefit of a dedicated landing page – optimized for full user experience – is felt.

Here are the important aspects related to a landing page:

  • Apart from optimizing for specific user action, the landing pages allow easier tracking/analysis of visitor actions, for subsequent modifications.
  • The aim of any landing page is principally to optimize the overall user experience while visiting a website, especially that of a first time user.
  • This in itself is a good enough reason for applying them in a SEO exercise. After all, there’s hardly any point aiming for higher ranks sans failure to convert.

The effectiveness of a site’s landing pages is brought into play, especially by utilizing:

1. Keyword-rich content: By narrowing the focus to a specific or niche area, it is possible to use more keyword-rich headings, text, and links. Here I am not referring to generic keyword stuffing; rather underlining the importance of a content page that is focused essentially on a tightly defined subject niche. Thus, it becomes possible to develop the content better from the point of users who are interested in niche topics and related subject matter.

The idea is not simply to capture a large number of key term variations or related phrases. The effort is also made toward driving the traffic forward into utilizing either that page or (other) targeted pages within the website to achieve desired call to action.

Make it a point to keep the pages dynamics by featuring RSS feeds from within the website – latest articles, forum discussion topics and product lists – based on that keyword niche area.

2. Links: If you are keen to maintain higher ranking, it becomes necessary to launch a link development campaign at some point. However, a website with links merely to the index page can get top-heavy and look unnatural.

And this is where your site’s landing pages establish their value. Setting them up means it becomes easier to spread links around immediately to make the homepage/deep pages ratio that much more natural.

Also make use of varied anchor text to each targeted page. Ideally speaking, we do not want different confusing versions of the key terms in our links leading to these landing pages; rather go for different words or phrases utilized in different ways.

You may make use of both generic and product/service specific keywords, to draw the attention of search engines and drive traffic to the site. Users will find valuable inputs related to the domain, and will be encouraged to visit the site, and can be provided with a relevant call to action.

Be vigilant about your brand identity online

Filed Under (Social Media) by eBrandz Writer on 26-08-2010

A peculiar problem can arise if proper social media monitoring is not done by a company to protect its brand identity online. Unfortunately, many of them are not alert enough about this aspect, which may create needless confusion in their customers’ minds. If the problem is not addressed in time, it can even affect the business credibility and loss of revenue. Read the rest of this entry »

It is unwise to avoid social media for fear of criticism

Filed Under (Social Media) by eBrandz Writer on 25-08-2010

Many businesses are still averse to engaging with their both existing and prospective customers on an array of networking sites and similar such forums, without realizing that they are putting themselves at a major disadvantage. Read the rest of this entry »

Search Engine News Updates: August16-20-2010

Filed Under (Search Engine News Updates) by eBrandz Writer on 24-08-2010

Welcome to another weekly edition of Search and Social updates — packed with announcement, alliance, disputes and axing down services or products, from Silicon Valley’s tech leaders like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, Bing and others, as well as many more interesting Search Engine Optimization news from across the web…
Google Gears Up To Acquire Visual Search Site Like.com

It appears that Internet search engine giant Google is on the verge of discussion to acquire visual search and e-commerce site Like.com for more than $100 million, according to a report in Techcrunch…

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Facebook Acquires Web Publishing Startup Chai Labs Founded By Former Google Adsense Executive

Embarking on yet another acquisition drive, Facebook has gobbled up a small firm called “Chai Labs,” the startup which was co-established by a former Google AdSense exec Gokul Rajaram, and lends a hand to other firm build search-friendly websites revolves around specific topics for around $10 million, reports Kara Swisher over at All Things Digital…

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Gmail Hijacked By Hackers In China, Directing Users To Phishing Site

What has been described as an sophisticated act of malice, Internet users in China are facing a phishing attack — Google’s Gmail service in China has been hijacked by hackers, which is redirecting users of the service to a bogus phishing website to steal usernames and passwords, according to reports from various sources…

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Yahoo Japan Scoops Up Location-Based Mobile Ad Firm Cirius Technologies

Struggling to compete with its rivals, Internet pioneer Yahoo Japan has scooped up location-based mobile ad firm Cirius Technologies, the Japanese mobile ad network firm backing the AdLocal mobile ad network, is now part of Yahoo Japan…

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Bing Leaps Over Yahoo In The Search Market: Chitika

Interestingly, current statistics from ad network Chitika revealed that Bing overtook Yahoo to claim second spot in the US search engine market as long ago as January this year, and merchants may want to plan paid search campaigns accordingly…

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Spain Sues Google Over Privacy Violations In Street View

Spain has become the latest country to penalize search engine giant Google over alleged privacy violations made during mapping for its “Street View” feature. A judge in Spain initiated an investigation over complains whether Google unlawfully gathered data from unsecured wireless networks while gathering photographs for its photo-mapping service Street View…

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Yahoo Goes HTML5, Optimizes Mail For Apple’s iPad

If you are tired of using the Apple iPad default mail client, you can now rejoice as Internet pioneer Yahoo in an attempt to offer “the best possible communications experience across all the devices” in use by Yahoo Mail users, the company on Tuesday unleashed an updated, HTML5-optimized version of Yahoo Mail for the iPad…

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Yahoo Commences Transition To Bing Search In US, Kills SearchMonkey

After Microsoft’s unsuccessful bid to acquire Yahoo and a later flirtation that led to a more limited partnership — Yahoo said Tuesday that beginning this week, searchers on Yahoo will start to see a little “Powered by Bing” message at the bottom of the results page, as the two companies begin to switch over its search backend to the Microsoft platform…

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Yahoo Search Engine Gains Market Share, Google Drops

Google has long commanded the Internet, while it still holds onto its first-place spot in the U.S. search engine market last month, but recently, Yahoo made a surprising, though slight advance as Google lost ground and Yahoo gained back some U.S. market share last month. This finding is according to comScore Inc…

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Google Revamps Gmail For iPad With New Stacked Cards Interface

Barely a day after Yahoo unleashed a revamped version of its iPad web Mail app, internet search engine titan Google as part of its Iterative Web App series, announced today on the Official Google Mobile Blog a new version of its Gmail web app for the Apple iPad and it features a “Stacked Cards Interface,” making it easier to view multiple messages…

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Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger Gets Chatty With Facebook

Redmond, Wash.-based software giant Microsoft on Tuesday updated its Windows Live Essentials beta with improvements by integrating Facebook chat with MSN Messenger, empowering users to send instant messages to Facebook friends who are logged into the social-networking service…

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Google Releases Universal Addon: Search For Gmail, Docs And Sites Quickly

Ever wanted to search not only your E-mail, but your presentations, spreadsheets and documents? One of Google’s great promises is that it would make finding stuff a lot easier, thanks to a Gmail Labs experiment, Gmail users now have the option of searching their Docs and Sites files along with their messages…

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Google Offers New Face Movies Feature In Picasa With Picnik Integration

In an attempt to deliver the best to its users, search engine titan Google who values web apps above else, this week released the latest version of Picasa, its photo management and editing software. The latest release delivers several new features, but a cool facial recognition feature for slideshows is sure to get the most attention…

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Facebook Launches Location “App” Takes Aim At Google

Another day, another fascinating yet controversial Facebook feature. Facebook is attempting to stop the progress of a number of smaller rivals by unveiling a service to allow its members to tell their friends exactly where they are at any given time…

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Keys to creating search engine friendly text

Filed Under (SEO) by eBrandz Writer on 17-08-2010

Tagged Under : , , , ,

Search engines aim to provide their users with quality material that is informative and dynamic in nature. Meticulous research for identifying authentic information sources is involved in the whole process. From this point of view, a good copy will benefit your website rankings. You should keep in mind certain basic things to enhance the site visibility online. Read the rest of this entry »

Search Engine News Updates: August09-14-2010

Filed Under (Search Engine News Updates) by eBrandz Writer on 17-08-2010

Welcome to another weekly edition of Search and Social updates — packed with announcement, alliance, disputes and axing down services or products, from Silicon Valley’s tech leaders like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, Bing and others, as well as many more interesting Search Engine Optimization news from across the web…
Yahoo VP “Srinija Srinivasan” Leaves After 15 Years

Once considered the most influential person in online search and one of the original employee, Yahoo’s vice president “Srinija Srinivasan,” who helped launch the company over 15 years ago just last week announced that she will be stepping down from the company, the Wall Street Journal has reported on Wednesday…

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Google Acquires Social-Network App Developer Slide For $182 Million

In an attempt to keep the dissipating audience glued to its site, search engine behemoth Google Inc. over the weekend confirmed in a blog post that it has acquired social widget maker “Slide Inc.,” a deal that gives the Internet search leader a team of developers with extensive social-networking experience capabilities to compete with Facebook

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Yahoo Introduces “Infinite Browse” Search For News Stories

Attempting to encourage users to further engage with a Web site’s content may be an established practice, but new methods are always being tried. Yahoo is previewing “Infinite Browse,” a Yahoo News feature that adds relevant search content below news stories…

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Google Liberalizes Trademark Advertising Policy In Europe

Over the weekend, search engine behemoth Google Inc., for the first time said that it will liberalize its trademark policy from next month, allowing advertisers in Europe to link their advertisements with their competitors’ trademarks when bidding for online ads in a move that will…

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Google Prepares To Acquire Another Social Payment Provider Jambool For $70 Million

Mountain View, California-based search engine leader Google has reportedly been on an acquisition spree, just coughed out $70 million, but this time agreed to acquire San Francisco, California-based Jambool, and its Social Gold payment system, which empowers developers to build…

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Skype Files For $100 Million IPO Registration With SEC

Internet telephony giant Skype SA on Monday announced plans to raise US$100 million through an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., filed an S-1 statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the Luxembourg -based provider of Internet telephony…

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Google To Abandon Old AdWords Keyword Tool By End Of Month

Whether assessing the effectiveness of long-standing keywords or searching for new extensive phrases that may answer consumers’ queries and catch clicks, marketers consistently turn to Google’s Keyword tool. Now, the search engine leader on its AdWords Blog announced that its updated…

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Google Revamps Gmail Contacts, Now Makes Easier To Use

Ever since its launch the Contacts portion of Gmail seemingly has been ignored, but the search engine colossus Google on Tuesday announced that it is giving the contact management tool located inside Gmail an “overhaul,” a move based on constructive criticism from some of the Webmail application’s roughly 200 million users…

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Google To Administer TV Ads For DirecTV Networks

Google Inc., seeking to spread its wings beyond Internet advertising, on Wednesday said that it has endorsed one of the biggest partnerships Google TV Ads has been waiting for, is to administer television ads for several DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite TV provider…

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Twitter To Unwrap Official “Tweet Button,” Leaked Docs Suggest

Tech news site Mashable.com has unmasked confidential documents late Tuesday, which states that the popular micro-blogging site Twitter is gearing up to introduce an official “Tweet Button” that will let users share content from the web, and counting how many times a post has been…

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India Sets The Clock Ticking For BlackBerry Compliance By August 31

India became the latest government in a long list of national governments that have recently entered into the BlackBerry controversy Thursday by demanding that Research in Motion allow Indian law enforcement access to Blackberry Enterprise Service and Blackberry Messenger Service data by August 31., in the name of national security…

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Oracle Sues Google Over Java Use In Android Operating System

Setting the stage for a showdown of two Silicon Valley heavyweights, Oracle issued a press release late Thursday saying it has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Google’s popular Android operating system has infringed on copyrights and patents related to Java, which Oracle acquired along with Sun Microsystems earlier this year…

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Google Adds Voice Search With New Actions To Android Smartphones

Google on Thursday unleashed two new Android applications that let users dictate actions to their phones and link their phones with information from their desktop Chrome browser. The search engine giant announced the addition of “Voice Actions” to its Android 2.2 Froyo search capabilities, as well as introduced a new Chrome extension for Android users called “Chrome to Phone”…

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MySpace To Roll Out A Revamped “Facebook-Style” User Homepage

Attempting to regain its lost ground to Facebook and Twitter, dwindling social network site MySpace is geared up to unleash a complete redesign of its homepage. The revamped user homepage is focused around two information streams with lots of white surrounding space, abandoning MySpace’s trademark dark and busy backdrop…

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Facebook To Broadcast Live Announcements Video Channel

World’s most popular social networking site Facebook on Friday launched a new live video streaming channel called Facebook Live, intended to keep users updated on what is happening at the social-networking site. This is the company’s official live channel, broadcasting from Facebook Headquarters in Palo Alto…

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Tips for a perfectly optimized page

Filed Under (SEO) by eBrandz Writer on 14-08-2010

Tagged Under : , , , ,

There are certain SEO practices to follow for a site to benefit from the perfectly optimized pages. I shall be offering some handy tips to attain on-page, keyword targeting to near perfection. To begin with, let us understand the various important aspects related to HTML head tags for building a perfectly optimized page. Read the rest of this entry »

Search Engine News Updates: August02-06-2010

Filed Under (Search Engine News Updates) by eBrandz Writer on 10-08-2010

Welcome to another weekly edition of Search and Social updates — packed with announcement, alliance, disputes and axing down services or products, from Silicon Valley’s tech leaders like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, Bing and others, as well as many more interesting Search Engine Optimization news from across the web…
Google Earth Now Portrays Rain And Snow In Real Time

Musing over checking the weather and hoping for a novel method of doing so? Well, Google Earth is one of the most “impressive” applications in Google’s stable, which is meant to give its users a naturalistic view of the world through Google Earth — current weather conditions…

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Twitter Attains Milestone As Tokyo User Blows Past 20-Billionth Tweets

Twitter is catching up to McDonald’s–billions and billions of tweets. The micro-blogging site announced that a graphic designer based in Tokyo, Japan has just accomplished a fairly significant milestone on Twitter — posting the service’s 20-billionth message since the site’s inception in July of 2006, according to tracking service GigaTweet…

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Yahoo Reorganizes U.S. Ad Sales Force, Eliminates Replacement For Bradford

Six months after sales chief Joanne Bradford left for Demand Media, Yahoo Inc announced today that it was reorganizing its advertising sales force, finally filling the void left by her departure since mid-March, by distributing the responsibilities for its North American sales operations…

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Twitter Introduces New Suggestion Features To Find People With Similar Interests

Twitter, the ever-growing social micro-blogging service that has recently published its 20 billionth Tweet, recently unveiled a novel feature to keep users engaged on its site: a new tool called “Who To Follow,” which basically suggests other members users might want to follow…

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Gmail To Get A Significant Makeover

Gmail Account, well, the latest buzz about Gmail is that eagle-eyed Alex Chitu at Google-focused blog Google Operating System has just buzzed about some significant changes in Gmail that Google appears to be testing with some users. Yes, from the Gmail haven, news of…

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Bing Maps Gets Interface Makeover, Calculates Taxi Fares

Thanks to a new app, Microsoft has just unleashed a series of enhancements to its Bing Maps, which now boasts a shiny new interface that is a lot more streamlined than the previous one and aimed at improving readability and aesthetics that gives you a noticeably easier access to the service’s various functionality…

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Google Introduced Sign In To Multiple Gmail Accounts At Once

Users of several Gmail accounts, take note. Google on Thursday officially eliminated the pains of shuffling between multiple Gmail accounts. People with two or three Gmail addresses can now switch back and forth between their accounts quickly and easily without logging out…

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Flickr Makes Fresh Photo Makeover Live To All Users

The advent of high-speed web has enabled people around the globe to boast their parties, outings and other memories captured on a digital format. Barely three weeks after testing, Flickr has a surprise in-store for its users which will augment the photo sharing experience…

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