Will Weblogs ruin Google's search engine?

A Stanford University student Adam Mathes played a joke on his friend Andy Pressman. Mathes' goal: Make Pressman's Web site the No. 1 Google search result for "talentless hack." The method: Encourage as many people with Web sites as possible to link to Pressman's site using those words. (Like this: Andy " talentless hack" Pressman.) The prank worked. A year later, Pressman\'s Web site is still Google\'s No.1 search result for the phrase. Mathes even invented a name for his joke: "Google Bombing."
Before Google, search engines ranked Web pages primarily by examining the content of each page, with decidedly mixed results. Google improved upon this system by taking into account the links that connect the billions of pages on the World Wide Web. If lots of Web sites link to Slate, for example, Google takes that as a vote of confidence in Slate, and moves Slate higher when it sorts a search for the word "slate."

Google coming from web to real world

I was just reading some news while I got hold of this one...All of you Adsense users and the net crawling people must be familiar with the Ads by Google..These are coming in Paper form as well now...so what you mignt see in future are ads on your Tech magazines as "Ads by Goooogle".
In its first significant expansion beyond the internet, Google has bought advertising in a handful of technology-industry magazines and resold chunks of the space to merchants already participating in its booming internet marketing network.
Despite all its technological prowess, Google remains highly dependent on online advertising. Internet ads, mostly text-based links that appear alongside search results and other related web content, accounted for virtually all of Google's $712 million profit through the first half of this year.Ironically, Google doesn't advertise to promote its own brand and services.

Harry Potter becomes `Harry Puttar`!

He’s making a children’s film, and it’s called Harry Puttar. “But it’s not really a takeoff on Harry Potter. It’s my version of Home Alone,” says the young NRI producer of Harry Potter-meets-Home Alone-meets –Bollywood.
You could call him ‘Anees In Wonderland’. Meet Harinder Singh Kohli, better known as Lucky Singh… Harinder a London-based film producer and entrepreneur with 25 animation films to his credit is now making a feature film in Hindi.
“I grew up watching Hindi films. And I often wondered why there was so little for kids. Harry Puttar is my homage to my childhood.”
The South Indian maverick producer Dr Murli Mohan is also a part of the film. Does Lucky foresee any copyright problems with the makers of Harry Potter? “Not at all. We’ve already got the title. Puttar is an accepted word in Punjabi. Why should that create a problem?”

Bulk Email Marketing

There's alot of misconceptions out there about bulk email marketing and I want all of my visitors to be aware and beware of them.
First, the definition of bulk email marketing varies depending on who you ask. Some people refer to it as mass marketing, direct marketing, or opt-in marketing of a product or service to 2 or more people simultaneously via their email address. People who prefer that definition are usually the senders of the email. Others refer to bulk email marketing as SPAM. Those people are usually the recipients of bulk email marketing.
SPAM has grown to be the universal term to describe any unwanted, unethical, or unproductive activity performed on the Internet. In the case of bulk email marketing, SPAM is any unsolicited commercial or junk email.
Commercial email does have its benefits for both businesses and consumers.Getting labeled as a "SPAMMER" can get your business in a whole lot of trouble. It can get all of your company's email addresses blocked from sending any email of any kind to entire email networks (AOL, MSN, YAHOO, etc.). It can get your site blocked by those networks as well. It can get your site banned from the search engines. Finally, it can get your site kicked off of your host's servers.With this information in mind you should really think twice before you send out any advertisements using email. There are many companies online that sell lists of thousands of email addresses claiming that the owners have knowingly and freely "opted-in" to receive unsolicited emails.

Adsense and Affiliate programs

Google's new adsense is creating alot of interest and many publishers have decided to run with them instead of affiliate program banners. This will begin to hurt some affiliate merchants and certainly the affiliate networks will feel the pain.
But will it be the end of affiliate programs? I think not. I do however predict that in the future we may see more affiliate programs that look for closer ties with their affiliates. I would expect merchants to seek out affiliates that are more like real partners rather than just banner publishers. There are more likely to be more affiliate programs that allow for affiliates to use their own branding.

Want to Create a Free Website? Think Again.

This article may sound a little harsh to some. It's not meant to be as I am just stating the facts from personal experiences. I don't think many people realize the number of disadvantages that go along with free websites. That's why I've written this article.
Don't make the same mistake I did.I vowed to never go the "free route" again. Creating your site from scratch with its own dot com name is affordable and definitely worth the small investment.
It amazes me how many people try to build serious websites with free web host providers. Granted, we all love things in life that are marked "free", but it doesn't always make sense to go that route if it will cost you more in the long run
Parking your site at a free host is like building a house on sand. It may be quick and and it may seem easy at first, but I can almost guarantee you it won't last long.

Disadvantages of Free Web Hosts
1. Limited web page space2. Can't add interactive features (chat rooms, message boards, games, online ordering etc.)3. Search engines often ignore them A Huge disadvantage! (Although NOT with me)4. May have banners and/or pop ads on your homepage and/or all of your pages5. Long and hard-to-remember web address (instead of yourdomain.com)6. No guarantees of site availability and longevity7. No branded emails addresses (you@yourdomain.com)8. Poor help and support options (if any)9. May not be free forever
Advantages of Owning Your Own Dot Com Name
1. Easy to remember website address (yourdomain.com)2. No banners or popups3. Easier to get listed in search engines (Google, Yahoo etc.)4. You have more control over the look and feel of your website.5. Multiple branded email addresses (you@yourdomain.com)6. Plenty of web page space for site expansion7. No worries of site being removed unexpectedly8. Looks more professional and often easier to get listed with search engines (Google)9. More flexibility for design and functionality10. Help is readily available.

How to Find What You Need Online

" ... The Internet is exploding with empty dazzle, sites that direct you to nonexistent links, send you down fruitless paths, and generally don't help you get where you want to go … Several studies have found that somewhere between 60 and 80 percent of people searching for information on the Web failed to find what they were looking for ... "
And we thought the Internet was supposed to be the mother of all information, the answer to all our information needs. Instead, it frustrates us most of the time—60 to 80 percent of the time. How ironic.Still, by knowing how to properly search the web, we can flip that statistic upside down: we can find what we're looking for 60 to 80 percent of the time. Here are five tips for more successful web searches. By using these principles, you're highly likely to find what you're looking for online—in the first page of results.
Add and Arrange Words to Make Your Search as Specific as PossibleUse Quotation Marks Around PhrasesUse Operators and WildcardsWhen General Search Engines Don't Work, Try Directories, Specific Sites, or LibrariansChoose the Right Search Engine for the Job