Monthly Archives: September 2013

SEO Companies Fined for creating fake reviews

The New York Attorney general announced a crackdown after an investigation into businesses-SEO/ Marketing Firms and small businesses that create fake reviews and post them to sites like Yelp and Google.

SEO

The investigation ultimately caught 19 companies and has agreed to stop publishing fake online reviews and will also pay penalties ranging from $2,500 to almost $100,000 as part of settlement announced with the New York AG’s.

As most SEO’s know, reviews can not only make or break a company and persuade a potential customer into purchasing your product or not, but search engines also use review data to help them determine which companies should be displayed in the search results and more specifically in the business listings.

Although the investigation was targeted only at companies operating in New York, Yelp believes it will have wider implications, this shows that fake reviews are legitimate target of law enforcement. When it comes to SEO, a lot of people get duped and tricked into ranking schemes with false promises and tactics that end up hurting their business and going against the search engine terms and conditions.

SEO takes time and to do it right, one can’t expect results overnight. Little by little, the fake online review industry is cracking.

Precisely how valuable is your big data?

For digital marketers and analysts, probably their biggest data source in terms of volumes of data they use on a regular basis is their web analytics system. But a lot of web analytics data at any one point in time is froth and generates very little value at all, and here’s why.

If you look at the visitors who visit your websites or use your apps then they’ll fall into one of three groups:

Anonymous visitors:

These are the visitors about whom you know very little. They have probably visited your website once or twice.  There’s not a lot to know about them as there isn’t enough data to make any sense from.  There will be limited information on which channel they came in on, for example, and what they looked at, but not much necessarily to give you a full picture.

Observed visitors:

These visitors have visited more frequently, so there’s more data and more history, and potentially more to learn. Even though you don’t know who these people are, you can begin to build up some kind of profile in terms of patterns of behavior and content consumption.

Known visitors:

These are the visitors who you really care about because you have some kind of relationship with them. That relationship might be quite tenuous because all you have is an email address, or it could be quite deep because they’re gold card carrying loyalty members.

Just as it is important to think very carefully about your geographical location and how you should move forward, the same is true for thinking about what makes you special and unique.  What are your strengths?  What makes you special in your region or area?  What incentives can you offer that help you stand out?  By pausing to answer these questions, much of your keyword strategy will come into sharper focus.

Website visitors are most likely interested in buying your products or services. By visiting your website, they already know who you are and what you offer. The problem is, only 2-3% of website visitors bother to identify themselves, which means you’ll never know who the other 97% of your visitors are. The SEO Company in Bangalore solves this problem, enabling B2B small/medium businesses and enterprises to identify anonymous website visitors, increasing new sales opportunities from the companies that are most likely to buy your products and services.

Social SEO-Why the right type of interaction matters?

Even with great SEO, you need to push your messaging out to the public. That’s one place where social media comes in. Your fans are your fans on social sites because they want content from you that matters, that they can relate to, and that they can share with others. They want to be a part of the brand experience. They want updates about sales and new products, but they also want to feel valued.

People love to talk, and conversing with your fans about neutral topics, such as sports, weather, current events (politics excluded, unless that’s your brand equity), work, and entertainment can help you get to know them on a different level. So, be sure to branch out from your standard product or company promotions on your social networks and start to have real conversations about everyday types of topics. Getting your fans engaged will make them look forward to visiting your social profiles as well as sharing posts with their friends, enabling you to extend your social reach.

Latest version of Android Operating System KitKat

Sundar Pichai, head of Android division at Google, on Tuesday revealed on Twitter that the next version of the company’s mobile operating system will be called Android KitKat.

Android KitKat

Since Android 1.5, Google has named each version of the OS after a sweet.

Android 1.5 was cupcake.

Android 1.6 was Donut.

Android 2.0 was Éclair.

Android 2.2 was Froyo

Android 2.3 was gingerbread

Android 3.0 was Honeycomb

Android 4.0 was Ice Cream Sandwich

And Android 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 have been called Jelly Bean.

Google announced the new version of Android just minutes after Apple sent out invites for an event on September 10 where it is likely to launch the next version.

For KitKat name Google has tied up with Nestle, which makes KitKat chocalates. The head of Android, Sundar Pichai, posted a picture of the new KitKat symbol at the Google headquarters on his Google+ page, pictured above, although no details on what the KitKat 4.4 operating system update will contain have yet been announced.

KitKat also released a tongue-in-cheek video of its “Chief Break’s Officer” discussing the new features of the KitKat 4.4 chocolate bar.

The packs will lead consumers to the website www.android.com/kitkat where they will have the opportunity to win prizes including a limited number of Google Nexus 7 tablets, and credits to spend in Google Play.

A small number of Android robot-shaped KitKat bars will be offered as prizes in selected markets.