To level the social playing field, a group of engineers at Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace built a tool, dubbed “Don’t Be Evil”, which works to expand the realm of Google’s social search. Visitors to the tool’s website, focusontheuser.org, are greeted with a simple question: “How much better would social search be if Google surfaced results from all across the web?” This is basic idea behind “Don’t Be Evil”.

The “Don’t Be Evil” tool is publicly backed by Twitter and Facebook, whose profiles and pages aren’t given the same priority as Google+ content. The “Don’t Be Evil” tool allows users to remove Google’s bias by injecting other social network profiles and pages into places were Google+ results are hardcoded. This includes the right-hand column reserved for “People and Places on Google+”, Sitelinks, or links to website subpages that appear under Google listings, and Google+ suggestions in the Autocomplete search bar.

To use the tool, users can visit focusontheuser.org and add the “Don’t Be Evil” button to their browser’s bookmarks. After running a Google search that features heavy Google+ integration, clicking the “Don’t Be Evil” button will re-load the results with more inclusive social media linking.

focusontheuser.org

Focus On The User and the “Don’t Be Evil” button indicate a growing amount of vigilance from the Internet community regarding Google and their potentially anticompetitive implementation of Google+. Google understands the importance and value of social media, and is actively working to increase its prominence in the social arena. However, contenders will not make it easy for the search giant to leverage its existing properties and hide competing third party content.

The Controversy Surrounding Search Plus Your World

Google recently rolled out a substantial update to its search results that it is calling “Search Plus Your World”. Results pages now stress personalized results, and pull from a number of third-party social sites, including: Quora, Flickr, Twitter, FriendFeed, WordPress, and even LiveJournal. The service has only been available for a number of days, and is still being rolled out to all users; however, that has not stopped users from questioning its validity. Many have already spoken out against the updated results pages, with Twitter saying it is “bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users”.

While Google views the “Search Plus Your World” update as being beneficial to users, many see it as an unwanted integration of the Google+ social network. Twitter has spoken out to say that the new search results reduce the value of its service by hiding tweets and real-time updates. Matt Cutts, distinguished engineer at Google, was quick to defend the update with anecdotal evidence of its usefulness; however, users may not immediately understand its value, and media companies may see it as an anticompetitive move. With Google already fighting allegations of antitrust violations, the update may hurt the company more than it helps.

Indoor Mapping: Making Directions Fun

Google Maps is bringing forth a new offering: Indoor Mapping. If you find yourself lost in a commercial location (like a shopping center), Google Maps can help you find the exits or other location specifics. Furthermore, the tool will highlight location “hot spots”, which are the areas most popular to visiting customers.

Insight: Beyond being a fun offering, this feature is also a way to help businesses, big and small, provide more interaction with customers at no cost. Applications, such as Google Map Indoors, are quickly changing the landscape of interactive communication, making necessities (such as getting directions) an opportunity for fun.

Social Media 2012: 30 Predictions

Since its October 2009 founding, Social Media Examiner has grown into a valuable resource for guidance into and updates on the online networking arena. Now, at the start of 2012, their experts provide predictions for the coming year, including opportunities for both continued growth and evolved offerings. Amongst the expectations are that: businesses will continue to become more strategic in their social media efforts, unique and real time content will become essential, and YouTube will stage a comeback amongst existing platforms.

Insight: While social media has been growing in popularity over the past few years, “smart networking” will be emphasized more than ever during 2012. Across the board, businesses and marketers have learned the importance of leveraging multi-faceted social media strategies, aligning both online and offline efforts. Likewise, general users are expecting more and more from their networking activities, resulting in consistently evolving platforms and messaging options.

Web Tricks and Solutions, Using Just CSS

W3Designing rounded up this collection of links, showcasing websites that experiment with CSS to create endless possibilities – from graphic images to animation using only CSS. The sites covered show a range of creativity and highlight tips on how to create amazing tricks, such as “depth of field” and a JavaScript-free toggle-button.

Insight: These websites demonstrate that designing for the web medium can be highly technical without compromising creative integrity. Every designer starts with a white page and from there develops wonderful creative solutions, such as transforms, transitions, shadows, border radiuses, gradients, web fonts, and hovers. With more Webkit properties created, designers find themselves less limited in design choices and have more to offer for a satisfying web experience.

LG to Produce Integrated Google TV

Due to the rocky initial launch of Google TV in 2010, LG is taking the cautious route to this year’s relaunch. While LG is producing televisions with integrated Google TV technology, it is also promoting a new round of its Smart TVs. While both Smart TV and Google TV will have app ecosystems, it is unlikely that the same app will function on both systems – a potential problem for developers. LG appears to be positioning itself with an easy out in the event that Google TV again fails to gain traction. However, if it’s a hit, the company will be in on the ground floor.

Insight: Along with the cessation of analog broadcasting, the seamless integration of the Internet within televisions is a boon for TV manufacturers, and a potential bust for cable providers. Furthermore, if Google can integrate its advertising targeting capabilities into Google TV, how broadcast media is targeted and purchased may alter drastically.

The Complex Conversion Funnel of Toy Purchases

A new collaborative study by Google and Compete, investigating the complexity of e-commerce decision-making, used toy shoppers as an example of how multiple media play into the conversion process. The study found that customers responded to traditional media, search ads, and display at different points of the acquisition process, and also found online shoppers are increasingly using multiple screens to complete conversions. The study found shoppers exposed to TV ads and circulars turn to online resources within a week, and nearly 1/5 of toy shoppers use mobile to shop, with search being the number one activity of these mobile users.

Insight: Google and Compete’s study reinforces the importance of integrated online marketing for retailers, who may not see a connection between search, display, social, and mobile marketing. While the study emphasizes the importance of search to retailers, it stresses that a more holistic approach, involving traditional media, search, display, mobile, and social, will be the most effective in driving customers through the conversion funnel.

Why Personalized Search is Unrealistic (For Now)

Former Bing Product Lead, Mark Johnson, explains the economics of social search integration in an interview with Fast Company contributor Austin Carr. Google and SEO industry leaders tout the value of social media in search; however, because search engines rely on pre-caching query results, personalization may at times prove too costly. Social integration and personalization would require calculating every single query on-the-fly. When these marginal costs are increased in scale to the search volume that Google handles, its business becomes significantly less lucrative.

While the former Bing Product Lead doesn’t see the integration happening on a large scale today, he admits that a unification of social and search is inevitable. Because of the value of social data, Google and other search engines will learn how to leverage it in a way that’s beneficial to the user and cost effective. Stefan Weitz, Director of Search at Microsoft, says of the marriage of social and search: “It’s not 10 years, not five years away, it’s just a couple years away — tops — where social is literally so imbued into the experience that it’s just another ranking factor like anything else”.

Reasons Why Clients Should Consider a Redesign

Smashing Magazine points out five reasons why clients should consider having their websites redesigned. Causes for considering an overhaul include: a decline in website traffic, customer feedback, and outdated styles. In addition, a major watch-out is the concern of maintenance fees exceeding the cost new site investment. Any or all of these aspects should be the focus of ongoing website attention in order to make sure your interactive presentation doesn’t fall behind the curve.

Insight: When considering a website redesign, always start with a few key questions. Does the current website still adequately represent my brand, as well as my customers needs/goals? What level of ROI (return on investment) should I expect from my site, and how does it weigh against the cost of update? Does this website still fulfill everything that we need it to do? Never hesitate to ask these questions, and make sure you work with web experts that will facilitate answers to help find the solution that’s best for you.

Louis CK: Online Pioneer

Comedian Louis CK decided to try and answer a question that has been asked since the days of Napster – if content is made available online, is it possible to make money? To find the answer, he produced a video of two recent shows full of new material, built a website to distribute it, and charged $5 for the DRM-free content. In doing so, he bypassed many of the fees, restrictions, and limitations inherent of a DVD release. Only a few days after the content was made available on the website, over 110,000 copies have been sold, providing the comedian with over $200,000 in profits.

Insight: Like Radiohead’s In Rainbows digital download album release, Louie CK’s direct-to-consumer experiment further erodes the wall between content creator and content consumer. After the initial investment to generate the video and the structure to distribute it, Louie CK profited by providing his fans what they desired at a fair price. In the process, he also created a case study for an emerging business model.

Touch Typing on the iPad

A common complaint about the iPad is the lack of feedback from the virtual keyboard. The constant need to look from the keyboard to the rest of the screen (not including the pressure of unintended auto-corrections) has limited iPad typing to short messages. However, two inventors from Seattle appear to have found a solution – the TouchFire. The TouchFire is a thin piece of silicon that overlays the virtual keyboard and attempts to mimic the ‘feel’ of a standard keyboard. The TouchFire provides the feedback and orientation to which typing fingers are accustomed.

Insight: Originally designed to slow typing, the fingers have adapted to the feel and orientation of the QWERTY keyboard over the past century. By providing familiarity of touch typing, the TouchFire improves the usability of the iPad tablet as a long-form content creation device.

Retail Progress: How We Pay at Starbucks

According to this article from Mashable, Starbucks’ customers are lead adopters of new purchase formats, as 25% of the retailer’s sales being completed by either Starbucks card or mobile app. Amongst those who have downloaded the app, 91% have proceeded to use it,  with a total of $110 million being reloaded to Starbucks’ cards through its use. According to Adam Brotman, SVP and general manager of the brand, convenience is the key, as customers have embraced this “faster, easier way to pay.”

Insight: Starbucks’ customers may display a natural affinity for the adoption of new technology and related behaviors; however, the brand has paid special attention to making the process as seamless as possible. Not only was the mobile app developed as a feature, but the corporation also ensured that all retail locations had the scanners needed to support its use. Through creation and promotion of its mobile app, Starbucks has been smart through all stages of the execution process.

Taking Advantage of the IE Tab on Chrome

While there are many IE-emulating engines available, Google Chrome users will find the IE Tab especially useful. This feature helps streamline workflow for designers using the Chrome browser to test IE specific styles and implement fixes. As this tool enables testing in IE 6, 7, 8, and 9, it comes as no surprise that the IE Tab add-on is one of Chrome’s top ten most popular extensions.

Insight: For Mac users, the IE Tab in Chrome helps designers and developers by reducing the number of applications, such as Parallels, needed to aid in the testing of IE browser versions. This tool is especially valuable for teams who are developing products and sites on an ongoing basis, as near-constant testing and updates will be needed to consistently improve features and overarching presentation.

Introducing Picozu

Built on Javascript, HTML5, and CSS3, Picozu is the newest application for web-based drawing and photo editing. Supporting brushes, filters, layers, batch processing, and more, the app focuses on successful feature bundling, while attempting to avoid “memory hogging”. Picozu does not rely on Flash and can be used from any mobile device with a touch interface. Just remember to use a modern browser, such as Firefox 5, Google Chrome, Safari 5, or IE9.

Insight: Supporting multiple features in a streamlined format, Picozu simplifies design multi-tasking and enables greater digital creativity. In addition, allowing use from mobile devices, while not being Flash reliant, only further increases its value as a potential design toolkit value. Consider checking Picozu out for your next creative project.

Googlebot Sees the Web Through the Eyes of Chrome

A recent guest post on the Distilled SEO blog speculates that Googlebot, the search spider crawling the Web and populating Google’s index, can analyze visual representations of pages for more intelligent indexing. Based on Instant Previews and search results, Googlebot is executing and indexing JavaScript, and is also able to identify, extract, and visually represent content.

Insight: Google’s ability to execute JavaScript and apply analysis of content “above the fold” indicates that it sees the Web more like Chrome, as opposed to a text-only browser like Lynx. The ability to understand a page’s layout and analyze “above the fold” content gives Google and its users an idea of what they can expect when they land on a page. Additionally, this gives Googlebot a comprehension of usability and user experience, indicating that it may be a larger part of the algorithm than previously thought.

Move Over Black Friday: Introducing Cyber Monday

For a few years, Cyber Monday has been heralded as the post-Black Friday source for digital deals; however, this year’s event is adding up to be the biggest online sales day of 2011. For November 28th, online sales surpassed the billion dollar mark with electronics, such as flat-screen televisions and digital cameras, leading the way. In addition, unlike their brick-and-mortar counterparts on Black Friday, Cyber Monday retailers appeared to pull off the day without a glitch.

Insight: Cyber Monday proves that customers no longer view online as a secondary retail option, but a viable (and often preferred) contender to in-person purchases. More and more businesses should and will consider the advantages of an online presence – not only an opportunity, but a potentially mandatory investment.

Ditching Email in Favor of Social Media

Atos, a French IT firm, recently announced its “Zero Email” plan, which seeks to replace internal emails with social media communication. Comparing spam to environmental pollution, the company claims employees spend more time clearing junk mail than reading valuable messages. Atos’ CEO, Thierry Breton, says spam is “fast polluting our working environments and also encroaching on our personal lives.” Atos plans to be free of internal emails by mid-2013.

Insight: Email is a 40-year-old technology that some say has reached volumes of 90% spam. Citing high spam rates and the popularity of social networking with its employees, Atos looks to be on the vanguard of companies ditching email for new technology. While Atos hopes to be one of the first companies to successfully do so, many will note unsuccessful attempts by other companies in recent memory, such as Google Wave, an ambitious approach to reinventing email that was ultimately shuttered in 2010. Social media may prove to be more practical, and Atos may be one of the first to finally rid itself of email messages.

Delivering Security in an Interactive World

On fjhqjv.com, this blog’s author delivers a thought-proving first line: “When you get right down to it, most security is based on the honor system.” Nowhere is this more true than in the ever-evolving world of interactive technology: phones, computers, tablets, and more. The article points out that most hackers aren’t necessarily more skilled in the art of programming, but rather, just more dedicated to the mission of finding cracks of which they can take advantage. In response, developers and technology providers (such as Apple) must remain consistently alert to these individuals’ efforts, debugging and updating in order to effectively block any exploits.

Insight: No developer or technology provider can be completely immune to the ill-intent of a focused hacker. However, efforts can be made – both during and after program launch – to stay one step ahead. The best adage to consistent follow is: “If you find something that appears to be a weakness in logic or behavior, let someone know about it.” This call-to-action is not only for developers, but for both broader project team members and end-users as well.

Why Icon Fonts Are Better Than Icon Images

CSS-Tricks has created an interactive demo page explaining how both the use of CSS and browser display can be improved using icon fonts. Made specifically for the web, they are based entirely on symbols and icons and are treated as fonts. Now, icon fonts are likely to be used more and more frequently because of the benefits of moving away from using too images to mockup web layouts.

Insight:  As opposed to using image editing or vector-based software for updating icons, designers are now able to easily make adjustments with CSS. Ultimately, icon fonts are the web equivalent of WingDings fonts used on desktop computers. In addition to improving page loading time, icon fonts also allow users to toggle with settings, such as font size, color/hue/saturation, and text shadow all through stylesheets. There is no doubt that designers will continue to push for wider use and support of icon fonts.

A Programmer’s Code of Conduct

In this article, blogger Christoffer shares his thoughts on valuable insights and directives in Robert C. Martin’s The Clean Coder. The book provides professional developers with a code of conduct, which if observed, will improve one’s odds of work fulfillment and success. Per the blog, take-away lessons to be embraced include an emphasis on being a team player, understanding the the domain of every project, remaining calm in hectic situations, and consistently practicing the art of web development.

Insight: Both Robert C. Martin’s book and Christoffer’s review can serve as the jumping-off point for a valuable discussion amongst programmers and their teams. As a profession dictated by highly-specialized skill sets and often tight deadlines, web developers must find a way to construct every project for not only effective completion, but personal fulfillment as well. To use the blog author’s words, this book “provides worthwhile and interesting information on what it means to be a professional software developer.”

Does Your Website Reflect Your Brand?

Beyonce’s current website has everything a music artist would need – embedded music videos, links to buy albums, press releases, etc; however, as her career has evolved, Beyonce has become much more than a music artist, and apparently, she feels her site doesn’t reflect this personal evolution. Beyonce has recently approached the ad agencies on Madison Avenue to have them pitch ideas on how to update her presence online to better incorporate her films, fragrances, clothing line and endorsement deals. Adding pressure to the agencies, Ms. Knowles will be a hands-on client looking for a new site that is “daring and forward-thinking”.

Insight: Sometimes, brands view a website as an item on a checklist that is finished upon launch; however, the central role of the web in today’s world demands a consistent (if not constant) appraisal of a brand’s web presence. As technology and globalization shift markets, a brand’s position within the market can alter, and its web presence needs to adjust accordingly.

New HTML5 Elements Allow for Better Semantic Use

This Smashing Magazine article explains how web developers and designers can use up to 30 new elements to mark up code for the web and applications. HTML5 semantics allow for better site optimization, global accessibility, and improved functionality. While some of the older presentational elements and/or attributes are no longer needed (align, center and frame), there are some elements that have been redefined to become semantic (small, i, b). In addition, with new elements such as <audio> and <video>, developers can now draw their audio and video files from different sources, streamlining the upload process and cutting down on page load times.

Insight: These new elements offer numerous benefits, including allowing users with any browser type (including IE6-8) to acquire content. Likewise, as opposed to using divs to create the overall structures of web pages, this approach to semantics use will give more meaning to marking up websites . Ultimately, with a better defined use of elements, HTML5 enthusiasts will be able to make their sites more efficient, interactive, and accessible.

How to Use the New LinkedIn Company Pages

While a well-established social networking platform, LinkedIn has often been under-utilized by businesses seeking to build connections and encourage communications success. In response, Social Media Examiner has put together some basic tips for making sure that one’s company page is enabling successful engagement. The author’s recommendations include: create a complete overview page, actively pursue followers, provide added value updates, network with other companies/groups, and consistently monitor/focus platform efforts.

Insight: As with many social media tip sheets, focus remains on the basics, as these simple efforts often represent the biggest missed opportunities. Regardless of whether using LinkedIn, or another networking platform, companies should be dedicated to presenting a complete and consistent voice with which potential followers and connections can interact. In the end, failure to maintain one’s social media efforts can be more harmful than having no presence at all.

Tactic Versus Strategy: Valuing Your Mobile App

On the Harvard Business Review blog network, author Jason Gurwin explains that while a mobile app can prove to be tactically valuable, it should not be considered a strategy in-and-of itself. According to a report from analytics firm Distimo, 91 of the top 100 brands boast having a mobile app (which is up by 40 from a year and a half ago). However, many of these apps fall short in providing any real customer value, focusing instead on serving as advertising alone. In response, Mr. Gurwin reminds us of a couple of important tenants: understand how the mobile app will align with your other marketing efforts and “Make it something that you would want to use.”

Insight: While it may be tempting to adopt the mindset of “If I build it, they’ll download it.”, one should not fall victim to launching a low-on-value app into the already saturated marketplace. Before investing in app creation, take the time to understand the needs of your customers, and align your promotional goals with those desires. By starting strategically, you will increase your opportunities for mobile app success, leveraging the full value of your overarching marketing efforts.

Five Brands That Have Crafted SoMe Success

Recognizing social media platforms as sources for both “personal connection and dialogue”, Mashable Business has profiled five companies that have successfully crafted their networking voices. While each has a unique approach and profile, all have achieved consistent brand presentation and subsequent customer engagement. These accolades have been bestowed upon: Tory Burch, DKNY PR Girl, Kate Spade, Lucky Magazine, and Esquire Magazine.

Insight: All of the praised brands are notably part of the fashion and style industry. While these selections may reflect the writer’s taste and partiality, they also attest to the category’s ability to infuse personality and unique taste into anything and everything. Likewise, although social media is finding success across almost every demographic, these brands will find particular value amongst affluent young adults, who spend both time and money on conversation-driving technology.

Facebook Apps: The Best of the Best

Originally posted on the American Express OPEN Forum, this Mashable article highlights the 4 Facebook page apps that are essential to the improvement of with-fan communication. As there are currently over 100,000 applications available for the social network, deciding which should be used to encourage successful dialogue can be daunting. In the end, the four highlighted apps focus on leveraging Facebook posts on Twitter, using iFrames for custom landing page creation, collecting visitor information, and automatically posting updates from specified feeds.

Insight: Amongst the apps highlighted, the two main values emphasized are personalization and cross-platform alignment. Whenever possible, organizations should own their pages as much as possible by customizing presentations and embracing opportunities to extend conversations off-line. Likewise, when leveraging social media, tying together efforts from multiple platforms can same time, as well as increase the individual value of each post, tweet, or other announcement made.

Google+ Pages for Businesses Go Live

Partnering with a number of household brand names, Google has unveiled business pages for the Google+ social network. Business pages feature a ‘Page’ badge to distinguish them from personal profiles, and also limit messaging capabilities to suppress spam. While pages do not have clean vanity URLs, they are accessible through Google’s ‘Direct Connect’ feature, which directs a user to a page through a custom Google search; for example, searching for [+Android] connects to the official Android page.

Business pages for Google+ put the social network in a better position to compete with Facebook and offer the ability for brands to plug into the social service. Still, though, it is unclear whether users are interested. Google hopes to increase interest from users with brand partnerships including Angry Birds, FC Barcelona, Fox News, and Good Morning America, while enticing businesses to sign up by offering better search opportunities than Facebook, more page customization, and enhanced social analytics. Though Google+ and the new business pages offer interesting features, their success depends on public buy-in, which has not yet been strongly voiced.

Interactive Design Helps Keep Us Informed

Made in the Free World’s Slavery Footprint app uses HTML5 and CSS Animation to create an interactive website that explains how our consumption of goods in any part of the world may require the hard labor of someone who potentially reaps no benefits. The website takes the user through a series of questions using form fields and animation to visually communicate exactly how our consumption of food, products and any type of goods may be tied directly to the abuse and exploitation of people who see little to no compensation for their hard work.

Insight: Released by a non-profit organization, the Slavery Footprint app presents potentially dense and disturbing information in an informative and attention-catching way. The mix of animation and questions offers users an engaging opportunity to learn at an individual, more meaningful level. Ultimately, this app is a good example of how smart design can help make potentially polarizing topics approachable, encouraging education, entertainment, and overall use.

6 Best Practices for Modern SEO

Search engine optimization is an ever-evolving discipline whose best practices can change from day to day. Those that have been practicing SEO for some time will recognize the items in Mashable’s list of ’6 Best Practices for Modern SEO’, which focuses on trends that have emerged over the past year. Included are recommendations for local search optimization through Google Places, integration with social media marketing, and micro formats that provide rich snippets to search results.

Search engine optimization requires ongoing adherence to algorithmic changes, which ultimately aim to provide the best quality results for Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. As the algorithms progress and become more advanced, search engines use new kinds of data to meet the needs of today’s Internet user. Staying informed of today’s newest tactics will ensure a future-proof SEO campaign that works to increase search traffic and rise above competitors in competitive results.

Crowdsourcing the News

Whether called “citizen journalism” or “collaborative journalism”, technology is changing how we report and consume the news. In this TED presentation, the evidence attained from smartphone video and social media sharing assisted professional journalists in uncovering the actual circumstances in two separate cases of death. For journalists, “collaborative journalism” requires allowing others to act as their eyes and ears for gathering information, and for the consumer,  ”collaborative journalism” demands the move of individuals from passive to active news creation, such as the images of the 2011 Japanese earthquake.

Insight: Technology, through the ability to generate and share information quickly, is empowering ordinary people. Whether a government or brand, it is essential to provide correct information, even though it may be negative, in a credible and effective way. Attempting to cover up or change the facts of a story will only inflame the blowback when the truth is eventually uncovered (as modern technology allows on a more and more frequent basis).

SEO Beats PPC & Social Media For Generating New Leads

Based on a survey of over 500 online marketing agencies, a new study known as the ’2011 State of Digital Marketing’ finds that SEO is the number one source of leads in online marketing. The findings show that organic search beat out Paid Search and social media marketing in both the B2C and B2B sectors. Despite social media marketing’s growing popularity as a method of reaching customers, the 2011 State of Digital Marketing Report shows that search engine optimization continues to hold the lead in return on investment.

Organic search continues to hold its value against other digital channels because customers can feel comfortable researching brands through an ostensibly neutral source. While those surveyed indicated that they are currently spending more on search engine optimization and Paid Search efforts, most online marketers intend to increase social media marketing budgets in the new year, ahead of SEO and PPC. Based on Google and Bing’s ventures into social, digital agencies need to focus on both as the two channels become more intertwined.

The Social Stock of the Fall TV Season

Bluefin Labs, a social-media analytics company that specializes in social TV, identifies the five new fall television shows with the highest social buzz per episode (primarily on Twitter and Facebook). Although yet to replace “American Idol”, Simon Cowell’s spinoff “The X Factor” is the program with the highest level of social media buzz per episode. It, along with BET’s “Born to Dance: Laurieann Gibson”, cater to an audience that is social media-saavy. FOX had three shows rank in the top five, although “New Girl” and “Terra Nova” have recently taken a hit due to a World Series-imposed hiatus. FX’s new, dark hit “American Horror Story” also ranks in the top five most buzzed about shows, even with its smaller, more niche audience.

Insight: Social media has expanded, and can measure, the metaphorical “watercooler”, where current TV shows are discussed. It will be interesting to see how these platforms influence the programming decisions of the networks.

Technology for the Real World

Regular Ted contributor, Malcolm Gladwell, tells the story of the Norden bombsight. The early analog computer solved the complex physics problem of how to drop a bomb on a stationary target from a moving airplane. The bombsight would take the altitude and speed of the airplane and tell the bombardier when to drop his bombs to hit the intended target. Intended to reduce the suffering caused by war by increasing the accuracy of bombs, the sight required a visual sighting of the target and slow, level flight. However, while the bombsight worked well under perfect conditions, war rarely supplies perfect conditions, and the accuracy of Allied bombs only improved marginally.

Insight: While Norden’s bombsight was an innovation in computing technology and a predecessor to today’s laser guided precision bombs, the results of his invention offer a lesson in designing for “perfect” conditions and not a real-world environment. Whether a bombsight or a website, building to the specifications and requirements of the of the end-user is critical to achieving ultimate success.

Introducing SlideRocket

SlideRocket is a new cloud-based presentation software that is changing the way users prepare for presentations. The “fast, elegant, feature-packed” offering allows for the easy addition of YouTube and Flickr content to slides. While there are still some minor reliability problems reported, a good basic version is available for easy adoption and use.

Insight: While popular adoption will likely take time, as well as developer fine-tuning, SlideRocket appears to be a potential long-term contender for PowerPoint’s market share. Not only does it have the potential to raise the bar on the general accessibility of presentation software, it may also forever change expectations as to what defines an elegant, high quality slide show.

When the Client Wants IE6 Support

Smashing Magazine explains the hiccups developers experience when supporting Internet Explorer 6-8. By many clients, basic functionality and successful access to content are sought across all browsers, regardless of a given browser’s inconsistency in style rendering, especially when used with modern standards such as CSS3. Developers are still encouraged to adapt to new standards and continue utilizing them as old methods phase out. When creating websites that appear exactly the same in every browser, additional (and often, unnecessary) development costs are required.

Insight: When provided data regarding browser adoption and use, alongside associated costs, clients are more likely to understand that paying more for ineffective browsers may not be worth extra resources. As the web is an ever changing medium, it is important to understand trends of visitor use, which should guide when browsers are no longer ”attention worthy”.  The total usage share of Internet Explorer has now dipped below 50% worldwide, making older iterations of IE less efficient amongst general users. In this case, the goal of supporting “every browser” is not only a time and cost consideration, but one of overarching to-visitor value as well.

Media Usage Increases Amongst Affluent

Defined as Adults 18+ with an annual HHI of $100,000+, a recent survey, conducted by Ipsos Mendelsohn, shows that media usage has increased amongst the affluent over the past year. Over 98% regularly go online (over 30 hours in a typical week), and are doing so on an increased number of devices, such as smartphones, e-readers and tablets. The data showed increased usage of specific sites, including Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Pandora, indicating a growing desire for entertainment, social networking and shopping. Furthermore, usage of other media, such as Print or TV, is not decreasing, showing a growing desire for content in a variety of forms.

Insight: As the number of content channels increases, one is not growing at the expense of another. Conversely, the growing connectivity of users to content through an increasing number of devices, is increasing the consumption of content across media. Increased access to the Internet allows consumers to constantly be in contact with media, and, of course, this is not only limited to those meeting the survey’s definition of “affluent”.

World Series Slump

Is baseball still “America’s Pastime”? Ratings of the October MLB championship have steadily decreased since the late 70′s/early 80′s. The 2008 Series, which featured two “smaller-market” teams (Tampa Bay and Philadelphia), generated an average audience of just 13.6 million. Series featuring large-market teams can reach up to around 25 million viewers, but these figures are a far cry from the record set in 1978, when an average of 44.3 million viewers watched the Yankees and Dodgers. While 10 to 15 million viewers is a dream for many networks or programs, when compared to the investment for sports rights and the fall programming launches pre-empted by the games, these ratings can be viewed as disappointing.

Insight: With the ever increasing number of entertainment options available to consumers, few programs or events can capture the audience figures easily attainable only a few decades ago. Meanwhile, the cost for advertisers for a presence on these programs has steadily increased. Because advertisers drive how networks select programming, will traditionally large events, such as the World Series or Olympic games, soon no longer be cost effective to broadcast?

Occupy Google Reader

Google announced plans to rehaul its RSS-parsing application, Google Reader, which resulted in an unexpected backlash from its small group of enthusiastic users. Despite providing users with data exports of information accumulated through the service over time, Google’s plan to integrate social features into Google+ sparked concerns from users that prefer insular and isolated sharing versus integration into a social networking site. Additionally, Iranian users expressed concerns that the integrated service will be blocked in their country, pulling the plug on the product for certain international users.

Insight: Google’s decision to integrate Reader into Google+ reflects the company’s currently aggressive push toward social networking. In light of recent platform concerns, moving social features to Google+ is a reasonable solution that promotes adoption of the company’s social network. However, it will be telling to observe how the concern and issues expressed by Iranian users and other impact this transition.

Who Gets Hurt If Groupon Collapses

In preparation for the company’s initial public offering, this article from VentureBeat postulates what might occur if Groupon were to collapse, drawing a parallel to the subprime mortgage crisis of the late-2000s. According to VentureBeat, all stakeholders involved stand to lose if the Groupon machine stops running: consumers, small business, credit card companies, employees, investors, and even, the city of Chicago.

Insight: Should VentureBeat’s assessment of a Groupon collapse prove fact, there is a cause for alarm. If merchants begin to lose money and stop honoring deals, demand for Groupon will be suppressed, and ultimately, fewer merchants may be willing to sign on. With a business model predicated on using money from new deals to pay merchants from pervious deals, the company may not be able to endure if new merchant partners are more difficult to find.

Newest Job Recruiter Tool: Social Network Screening

In creating this infographic, Reppler interviewed 300 hiring professionals to learn how they use social networks to screen potential new hires. The study revealed that 91% of recruiters use social media sites when assessing job candidates. Amongst the networks used, Facebook (76%) and Twitter (53%) are the most popular, followed by LinkedIn (48%), which was initially established for professional networking purposes. In addition, 69% of the hiring professionals report rejecting a candidate due to the information found.

Insight: Within the marketing and online sectors, more and more positions are listing “social media experience” as a positive for potential employment; however, these platforms can act as a double-edged sword. Individuals should strive to be conscientious not only of the types of information and content shared through their individual pages, but also the profiles of those with whom they frequently exchange posts. In addition, it is important to always ask the question of “If I didn’t have context, how would I interpret this message?”.