It’s Christmas Eve! Santa Claus is on his annual trip of delivering presents to good little boys and girls around the world. Time also for our annual tradition, telling you how to track Santa using the internet, by smartphone and even through good old-fashioned voice telephone calls. NOTE: If you’re looking for the latest information […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google+ Is Slowly Invading Google’s Main Search Results Google+ content is slowly — but very surely — expanding its footprint inside of Google.com’s main search results. The latest integration comes via […]
With a wide array of new features and upgrades, Android 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”) launched last night in Hong Kong. The new version of the operating system unites Android for tablets and smartphones, though there are not yet any Ice Cream tablets. Honeycomb, which proved to be tablet-only, was largely a failure. (Android boss Andy Rubin says […]
It’s perhaps one of the strangest product pitches I’ve heard. Asked on stage at Web 2.0 Summit by John Battelle about his Bing search engine, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer encouraged the audience to try Bing because, well, it’s pretty much the same as Google. The Ballmer 70/15/15 Challenge “I would issue you all a kind […]
When you first begin using Siri it’s not entirely clear what you can do with it. (It’s also not clear how to access it.) Yesterday Danny wrote up some initial thoughts/criticisms of the Siri local search experience. In this piece I’m going to offer some general thoughts comparing Siri (on an iPhone 4S) with Google […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Rolls Out Another New Deals Product Bing has put considerable effort in the past several months into building out its deals content. First Bing introduced third party deals via its […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Marketing solutions at Search Engine Land Understand Your Web Visitors Without Using Cookies Multi-site Management: Challenges and Solutions Holistic Marketing: Fitting All the Pieces Together What’s the Secret to Video SEO? […]
Beyond some of the processing and other technical upgrades in the new iPhone 4S, the standout feature of the new device is the Siri “Assistant.” It’s an expanded and enhanced version of what’s behind the existing Siri iPhone app, which is being shut down on October 15. And while Siri is not a “voice search […]
It’s inevitable that in the not too distant future there will be more mobile internet users that those accessing the internet on a PC. And today research firm IDC forecast that day will come in the US in 2015: By 2015, more U.S. Internet users will access the Internet through mobile devices than through PCs […]
What a way to start the week. The company that once said it would never build its own mobile phones, Google, wants to buy mobile phone maker Motorola Mobility. The technosphere has gone into 5G coverage over the news. Here’s what I’ve been finding interesting and some thoughts. Patent Protection A big part of this […]
According to the latest comScore data, Android handset penetration grew almost 6 points since last quarter and now amounts to 40 percent of the US smartphone market. Number two Apple gained modestly, and RIM, Windows and Nokia were all in negative territory. Samsung, the largest Android handset maker, also had the greatest overall share of mobile […]
On Sunday the New York Times ran a lengthy article about Microsoft, the search underdog. Directed at a very mainstream audience there was nothing new in the piece for readers of Search Engine Land. However it did raise some interesting questions, directly and by implication. For example: How many years does Bing (and Online Services) […]
Perhaps the best thing about the new and improved Android market is movie rentals. For others it may be books and still others may like the easier app discovery. For me it’s movies. The online Android market has had movie rentals but they haven’t been available directly on the phone until now. The new Android […]
ComScore came out with May mobile data for the US market this afternoon. The story line is largely the same as we’ve been hearing for the past several months. Android is up, everyone else is down and the iPhone is holding or slightly growing in its second place position. (However total iOS reach is greater […]
Shashi Seth, SVP of Search & Marketplaces at Yahoo believes that mobile apps are like websites in the early days of the internet and will only continue to multiply just as websites have done — seemingly exponentially. Regardless of whether the analogy is 100 percent accurate everyone agrees that app discovery has become a big […]
Practically every day some research firm somewhere in North America or Europe releases a forecast about how many widgets will be sold next year, or how large a given market is going to be in five years. And every day the overwhelming majority of those forecasts are poised to turn out wrong. In most cases […]
Yesterday during the SMX Advanced session called “Up Close with the Bing Business Portal,” Microsoft’s Andy Chu took a couple of minutes to announce a range of feature upgrades for the Bing mobile site (m.bing.com) as well as their expansion to the UK version of Bing for mobile browsers. Among these upgrades, a “Share on […]
One of the most interesting things out of Microsoft’s demo of Windows 8 yesterday that future tablets could easily be turned into fully functional Windows computers, since the OS is the same. But how about Windows 8 phones? Could you do that too? Would you interpret a smile from Windows president Steven Sinofsky to be […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: How To Fix Common Analytics Mistakes In Multinational eCommerce SEO One of the major headaches in multinational campaigns is solving the many web analytics issues thrown up as a result of […]
This morning Microsoft officially unveiled “Mango,” its anticipated Windows Phone update with a dizzying array of upgrades and new features and developer tools. Microsoft emphasized the speed of its mobile browser, a range of new local search capabilities, Bing Vision (visual search like Google Goggles), “a smarter approach to apps” and new group messaging and […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Maps Vs. Bing Maps: Summer Vacation Planning Showdown Wouldn’t it be great if there was one mapping service that offers everything you need to plan a trip to somewhere you’ve […]
The Q1 smartphone sales figures that were released yesterday by Gartner show that Android has surged and now leading all other smartphone operating systems. These numbers are Q1 sales figures and not reflective of overall market share but the show the direction the overall market is going. Gartner said “Windows Phone saw only modest sales […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Boasts Of $64 Billion In Economic Impact In conjunction with National Small Business Week, Google is trying to burnish its image by touting the economic impact that its programs, including […]
I had a chance lunch with a person with close connections to Nokia about a week ago. Naturally we began talking about the outlook for the Microsoft-Nokia Windows Phone deal. He was hopeful but mindful of the risks for both companies. Our conversation eventually turned to a discussion of Nokia’s mapping division Navteq and what […]
Over the past week there were rumors that Google and Facebook were both interested in buying Skype. Then Om Malik reported that Microsoft was really the one interested and the Wall Street Journal confirmed yesterday that Microsoft would be paying a remarkable $8.5 billion for the company, making it Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date: At […]
According to a tweet from Michael Gartenberg Bing is going to be the default search engine on RIM BlackBerry devices. Apparently Steve Ballmer took the stage at BlackBerry World 2011 and announced that Bing and Bing Maps would be “integrated at the OS level” on BlackBerry handsets coming later this year. Bing for Mobile offers […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google: 50 Percent Of Those Exposed To Mobile Ads Took Action Google today released findings of a smartphone-user study that the company did with Ipsos OTX at the end of 2010. […]
Photosynth is one of the many cool-but-underpromoted-and-unknown aspects of the Bing Maps experience. That could change soon thanks to the launch this week of a Photosynth app for iOS devices. With the Photosynth app, users can create panoramic images inside the app — no additional stitching software required — and upload them directly into Bing […]
In the past Microsoft has been accused of orchestrating third party legal complaints against Google like some behind-the-scenes Cardinal Richelieu or puppet master. But now Redmond has come out of the shadows and joined the list of companies that have filed formal complaints against Google in Europe. “Microsoft is filing a formal complaint with the […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google’s Android To Dominate Globally In 2011: Report Tech consulting firm IDC has predicted that Google’s mobile operating system will become the dominant mobile platform this year, achieving a global market […]
Tech consulting firm IDC has predicted that Google’s mobile operating system will become the dominant mobile platform this year, achieving a global market share of 39.5 percent. The next in line would be former global leader Nokia with 20.9 percent. Apple comes in at 15.7 percent. Windows Phones to Overtake Apple (via Nokia) These figures […]
We don’t know yet whether the much-discussed deal between Nokia and Microsoft will yield the hoped-for results for both companies. But one thing is clear: it has already helped create a perception that there are now three mobile platforms that matter and Windows is one of them. The other two are of course Apple’s iOS […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: US Lawmakers Voice Concerns Over Google-ITA Deal Add a few US legislators to the list of parties that are airing concerns over Google’s plan to purchase air travel software provider ITA. […]
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Today, as widely expected, Nokia adopted Windows as its smartphone software. Its other mobile operating systems, Symbian and MeeGo, will not entirely disappear but Nokia will be building and distributing Windows Phones as its primary competitive offering to go head-to-head with the iPhone and Android. That could […]
A number of reports out underscore how strategic mobile is now for Google’s business. The first, from IDC, says that there were more smartphones shipped in Q4 than PCs. Think about that. And earlier analyst reports found that tablets (read: iPad) have cut into PC sales. The PC era is now officially over. PCs will […]
The latest mobile data from comScore are out, showing Android handsets continuing to outpace others in the market. These new figures obviously pre-date the release of the Verizon iPhone, which is coming this weekend. More interesting will be seeing what these figures look like in March. Reportedly Apple has prepared two million CDMA iPhones for […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results Google has run a sting operation that it says proves Bing has been watching what people search for on Google, the sites they […]
Microsoft announced second quarter earnings yesterday, which beat Wall Street’s expectations. The company reported a lot of good news about its revenues, profits and products, including Windows (PC) 7, Kinect/Xbox and Office. However Online Services, which houses all Microsoft’s online operations including MSN and Bing, posted a $543 million loss. That’s up from $463 a […]
Perhaps this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) should be renamed “AES” for Android Electronics Show — given all the handsets and tablets featuring the Google mobile OS that are being shown and rolled out. And today Google provided a sneak preview of the tablet version of Android (3.0), dubbed “Honeycomb.” The screens and the video […]
Online metrics firm comScore released some new (October) data about the US mobile market. One of the headlines is: 60.7 million people in the US own smartphones. That, according to comScore, is 25 percent of the total mobile subscriber base. Android continues to be the largest gainer on a percentage basis among the major smartphone […]