Cuil.com

And we have another search engine - cuil (pronounced as cool - very wannabe I must say). I don't know how relevant the sites are, but it doesn't matter because the User Interface (UI) is terrible.

Why try and re-invent the wheel? If Google (and Yahoo and MSN) display results in a certain way, why try something this different? If something works, use it to work for you. Few people complain of the way search results display on Google. Its easy to browse. Here it's so difficult to pick which link I want to click on. Yes maybe if Cuil believes that their results are so great that no one will have to search the search results, then great but then why both giving so many results instead of just a handful of the most relevant ones?

Well I don't think any new search engines will surpass Google anytime soon.

'Banner Buying'

Purchasing display advertising is very different from purchasing search words.


One is totally automated with no human interaction. The other is totally dependent on people (in most cases).

For one you try to find loop-holes in a system where as in the other you try to find trigger affecting a person.

In one you call all the shots and then make changes based on the market. In the other there is a huge handicap because very little is really in your hands.

One is strongly based on relationships (people management plays an important role) while the other is based on logic and strong analysis.

In one changes and optimization is fast and effective. In the other it takes longer and is definitely more painful.

In both the game is of demand and supply but the way you play around with the two is different.


Usually clients objectives from the two activities is quite different. Their expectations are different too. I am biased toward search and will always be but it's interesting to do all kinds of online marketing activities.

I do wonder how the display game works abroad. Maybe I'll get to know someday.

Brilliant Website, Brilliant Content

The world is full of amazing things. And it's so wonderful that these amazing things are available to people on the internet.

Came across Live Science a few days ago. It has tons of content but still everything is segregated nicely.

This is one of the reasons I love the internet. Offline I might have found 2% (by chancing up on it) of the information I find on the site. Science generally interests me if it is not highly technical and this site is perfect for a 'light read' on what is happening in the world of science.

The internet is this great library where everyone can find what they are looking for. I am not saying you will find every little bit of information on the internet but the internet is open to all. No one has to trudge to a city library to find information. Or dig up old news papers. Or do extensive research; to find where the information can be found. (Hail Google)

I love the internet.

Net usage by Indian

An average Indian internet user visited internet 25 times during May 2008 and was online for 28 minutes per visit, according to a study by US-based internet research firm comScore Networks. Those between the ages of 15-24 were the heaviest internet users among all age segments, spending nearly 12 hours online per month, the study states.

Google Sites ranked as the top property in India (Google Search (up 38 per cent to 17.1 million visitors), social networking site Orkut (up 39 per cent to 9.3 million visitors), blog platform Blogger.com (up 102 per cent to 7.3 million visitors), and video site YouTube (up 131 per cent to 6.3 million visitors)). Followed by Yahoo sites which ranked second.

Rediff was the top local portal with 9.2 million visitors.

To read more visit - AlooTechie

Interesting Advertising?

I usually read my AlooTechie updates on my Google Reader itself so when I went to the website today to read a full article, I was surprised to see that when I move my mouse around, a tyroo tag follows me around.

Not sure if this is a sponsorship or if it is advertising. I think I might have even seen it before but I am not sure. It's an excellent branding opportunity (though it can get 'in your face' after a while). Of course since the box is something that hovers around, it can't do much other than 'branding activity' and that too it's no good for an unknown brand because the space is small, and the background quite light etc (I am sure there are limitations set for something like this).

[Click for larger image]

The Google Content Network & Informative AdWords Videos

The Google Content Network is apparently the largest global advertising network.

Everyday Google serves over 4 billion page-views of ads globally. These reach around 705 million unique users every month.

To learn more about the content network (via a video), please visit - www.youtube.com/user/GoogleBusiness.



Google has a series on YouTube called the 'Advertiser Education Series'. The number of videos up there is limited but I'm sure the number of videos will increase.

You can also visit the Google Business Channel on YouTube.

AdSense v/s AdWords

Found the below funny. It's a screen-shot of the links for 'Google Advertising Blogs'. Being a user of AdWords and not AdSense (and thinking of how Google rips off advertisers), I find it hilarious that the AdSense blog is translated into more languages than the AdWords blog. Of course they want more sites in the network so it makes sense to have the AdSense blog in more languages (and I hear a voice in my head saying 'Google is evil. They want to rule over the world).

Maybe there is another more logical reason but whatever. If you don't think it's funny then sorry about wasting your time.

[Click on the image to make it larger]

Keywords and Placement targeting together on AdWords content network

Am still a little confused on about the whole thing. I can't understand how this is going to work in the back-end or how it's going to help advertisers because contextual (keyword)-targeting and placement targeting are two totally different products. Meaning in contextual I am paying CPC but not competing with other advertisers for the whole ad space which I would be doing in placement targeting.

I think I will just have to test it myself and see.

In case you don't know what I am talking about -

We've (AdWords) combined keyword-targeted and placement-targeted campaigns into a single online campaign type. Starting today, you can target keywords and placements together in the same ad group. By doing so, you combine the benefits of contextual targeting with placement targeting: use keywords to show your ads only on contextually relevant pages, then use placements to set specific bids for, or restrict your targeting to, sites you value differently from the rest of the content network.

For more details visit - http://adwords.blogspot.com/2008/07/use-keywords-and-placements-together-on.html

Adwords Updates

If you want regular AdWords updates, you should subscribe to the Inside AdWords Blog.

The Adwords Editor

The Adwords Editor is a brilliant tool and anyone not using it already should download it and get started. Unless the account is very small and internet access is no problem at all.

Google regularly upgrades the Editor and I like that the latest version allows you to download statistics for only some campaigns and ad groups if you like rather than the whole account. Many times you end up working only on a couple of campaigns and getting most recent stats is a pain because the download takes too long. With this feature, making optimization changes is now easier.

(In the past though I have seen data discrepancies between the Editor and my online account. Haven't checked most recently but will do so soon)

It's great that at least some feedback users give to the Adwords team, gets implemented.

A Twitter Mistake

I'll keep this short cause this should be educational rather than a rant.

People are on twitter because they want to know (in short) what is happening with other people, what other people are experiencing, thinking, saying etc. People are not on twitter to find links to your blog or only to know what your latest blog entry is about. If they are that into your blog, they will follow your blog.

If you must use Twitter to drive traffic to your site/blog, then that's not the only thing you should Tweet about. Most people follow a lot of people and if all they get from your tweets are links to your latest articles, they will stop following you.

Twitter is a great place to -
1) Show people you are real (if you are one of those BIG people on the web)
2) Share things that fascinate you or catch your interest
3) Connect if your 'followers' - network
4) Increase your fan base - create buzz
5) Generate traffic obviously - but this should be done in a manner where your follower gets something in the tweet itself rather than having them go to your blog, where they figure that the post was something they weren't interested in.

So please don't go to Twitter and spam your followers. They won't be your followers for long.

Internal Search

It's funny how even many advertisers who are using search to generate traffic, forget the important of a search box.

If I could give solid advice to a website owner, I would say 'Have a search functionality on your website' (unless the website is really small and easy to navigate).

In todays day of abundance (read next link or your competitor), loosing a relevant visitor who came to your site but left, without completing an action you wanted, because he was unable to find exactly what he was looking for is unacceptable.

If you have a site that has content, create a search functionality for the site. Honestly, I don't know how much it would cost and I do understand that using google search for website might not look professional but I think in the long run it would be worth it.

Rediffmail users can add news feeds from Orkut, Facebook

Rediffmail will allow users to get news feeds from social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook in their mailboxes itself.

Read full article at - alootechie


This is actually very interesting mainly because everyone knows that social networking is big - especially in India.

While I doubt any email service provider would benefit from higher stickiness (unless more time spent might = more ads seen/clicked) but this does becoming a feature (not being provided but other email service providers) which could be highly sought after and might therefore increase the demand for a RediffMail account.

How your brick and mortar store can help you with the essentials for your e-commerce website.

A visitor to your website is like a customer walking to your brick and mortar store. This means that whether or not you provide more, you must provide a few basic essentials on your website.

A customer (especially a new one) would leave your store if he did not like what he looked at or rather the way things were presented. A customer would leave if he could not quickly navigate and find what he is look for (unless he is window shopping – yes I do realize this would be an oxymoron as men usually don’t window shop – okay enough of lame humour).

He would leave if there was no assistance at hand when (and if) it was needed.

He may no necessarily need a person present there but would definitely require the information he was looking for. For instance a shopper picked up something for purchase, but before making the final decision he would want to know the price, warranty period, manufacturing country, etc.

A person may also leave without purchasing, after finding the product and picking it up, if the payment process was a problem, especially if the product were freely available elsewhere.

What does all of this have to do with your ecommerce website?

A lot. Most of these things need to be kept in mind when creating your website.

It is important to have the right kind of look and feel to match the taste of your Target Audience or the product/service you were offering. A dollar store in no way would resemble a store that sold luxury cars and visa versa.

Look and feel is also very important when trying to build creditability with the people visiting the site. Does the site feel ‘clean’ enough? Are there enough elements to make someone comfortable that this store can provide

[Had started this post long ago and left it incomplete. Am continuing it from here on. The below might seem sketchy but I just want to get it up first. So will edit it later]

Your site must be easy to navigate and people must easily find what they are looking for. Having a search box if you have lots of products is a must. Lots of customers when they enter a particular store know what they want to buy. A search box and/or easy navigation would get them to exactly what they want.

The navigation must also help people who are just browsing see that you have a variety of what they want (if you do). There shouldn’t be too many options for your visitor to get lost or confused.

There must be a simple check out process. The visitor must not have to go through ten thousand steps to make his payment. Many times a drop off happens at payment stage. There are multiple reasons for this – complicated process, errors, etc.

Guarantee and warranty details must be prominently be displayed. Not only to give people confidence but also close the sale faster (they don’t think you are fly by night and know they can always return the product so they are less worried if they are making a big mistake cause they know they can reverse it).

To be continued…

I finally have widgets on my desktop.

Decided to download Yahoo! Widgets today. I actually wanted to check out the Hitwise Desktop Widget and there was an option of getting it via Yahoo! Widgets or Google Desktop.

For once I decided not to go with Google. Already too much Google in my life.

Anyway I found that who ever created the website didn't read Steve Krug's 'Don't Make Me Think' (it's a brilliant book on web usability).

Look at the screen shot below. The 'Get It' button is on the top right. I actually ended up scrolling the whole page because I was wondering where the download button is. Now yes I do understand that it is a big button but some things in the page design are a little off. For instance there is obviously little or not consideration of banner blindness. Also the 'Get It' and the widget are not in the same box. By creating the 2 separate spaces, the design actually disconnect the 2. Ideally in place of the 'Share' button, the 'Get It' button should have existed.

UGC :)

Couldn't help but upload this. Bursting I say :)

Man I don't know how people keep up. My feel is that most will select a few of the above and stick to them. They will try more than one but be active only on one. Whether it is about video uploading and sharing, or blogging, or microblogging, or social bookmarking, etc.

I wonder if it would make sense then to start as a niche 'user generated content' site right from the word go....

It's all about sharing.

The internet is bursting.

It's just filling up.

Not with content or data or code...

But with sites and applications that are created for you to share your life with people.

Just came across FriendFeed (have heard about it before but never bothered to check it out). And behold another site that lets your friends know what is happening with you. What you are uploading onto the world wide web. What is of interest to you. What you are making time for.

Makes me obviously think whether User Generated Content is really that big a deal and whether most people 'grow out' of sites like Twitter and FriendFeed etc (if they aren't around for networking/business - building a brand name that is).

Anyway I will check it out. Let see if I can find anyone I know out there.

Google Affiliate Networking

Coming right up :)

I actually can't wait to see what the Google Affiliate Network would be like. While I have had limited experience with Commission Junction only, I still understand a little about how it works. Somehow though, since it is Google at the helm of things, I think they will have something more (I would assume at least on the reporting front) if nothing else.

Haven't figured out all the details but will do so in August.

My understand though is it will be a product different from Adwords and AdSense completely.

Google to crawl and index Flash pages

Website developers would be happy because they can now worry more about the aesthetics and not so much about the SEO friendliness of their website.

This will of course help searchers too as they might find more relevant links to their queries, which previously they would not have seen.

The reading of text and links is thanks to Abode technology that has been shared with Google and Yahoo. Yahoo as usual has 'other priorities' it seems.