Sulekha to charge for Classified service

Source AlooTechie. Full article at - http://www.alootechie.com/content/sulekhacom-plans-switch-its-classifieds-services-paid-model

In case you don't want to read the article, the service won't moved to paid right away. The service will move to a full paid model after 6 months to 1 year.

Of course there is apparently a clarification in the comments section -

Sulekha.com Classifieds will continue to be free. We are implementing, however, multiple options where users can *choose* to pay either before they post an ad (for additional premium ad features) or after they have fulfilled their need (if they are satisfied with our services). We remain committed to serving the widest range of transactional needs for users across multiple cities for free…while providing ways for them to pay if they choose to.

I have to say that I don't like this news (full paid for all users). Maybe they should do some kind of split where corporate etc pay for the classified but individuals don't have to. Or maybe they can even charge by category. For instance if they know that lots of people search for travel agents but few search for language classes, then they should charge those listings which are created by travel agents. Or as stated there should be a paid service for 'premium ad features'. Well we will see what happens in 6-12 months time.

YouTube Embed Options

YouTube now gives users options to customize how videos look once embedded. These options include showing related videos, showing a border, size, etc.

It's quite interesting even if it isn't something necessary. It gives more look and feel freedom to users who choose to put up YouTube videos on their pages.

YouTube New Feature

Watched 4 videos on YouTube today but this was the only one where I saw this 'feature'. It is a bulb icon that says 'Turn down the lights' (marked in red) and when you click it, the page clears up and darkens out so the video really stands out (screenshot below).

It gives a good user experience. And the best part is that it is fast. You could turn down or 'turn up the lights' with great easy. Just click the icon and in a few seconds the page changes.

Facebook Statistics

Came across AllFacebook - The Unofficial Facebook Resource.

Still in the process of checking it out but whatever I have seen so far, it looks interesting. It has Demographic Statistics, Facebook Page Statistics, Application Statistics, etc.

Top 10 Video/Multimedia Sites

Imagine from MarketingCharts.com


The reason I added this chart is because I am very surprised. The data US only (source being Hitwise) and while YouTube is expected to be number 1, what surprises me a little is the huge lead it has over the number 2 site (Google Video not surprisingly). Even if over all market share isn't very high for YouTube, in relation to the others in the top 10 list it seems huge.

I'm dying to figure how they are going to monetize YouTube (PROPERLY not with some silly text ads).

Am also wondering how Hitwise collects its data. Will do a little reaserch on that.

Windows Live Messenger Advertising

I always find it a little annoying when I mouse over on the ad in the messenger and the ad expands. But being in advertising myself I accept it as something that will always be part of life on the internet (I am not so understanding with ads on other mediums though).

Anyway today I mouse over by mistake and the ad expands to double the usual size (wonder if MSN is calling it an 'innovation'). I wonder how much extra (if any) LIC paid for a 'bigger' ad. Why I bother to post it here is because this was doubly annoying than the normal sized expanded ad.


Anyway wasted ad. I already got my insurance done a while ago.

Quick SEO Analysis of a Website

Sumita forwarded me this link to http://website.grader.com. It is a great website to get a quick SEO analysis of a website (at least for lay people like me).

I think it covers a good number of parameters going beyond just the Google and Yahoo Index.

Creating Forms for Surveys/Polls

I don't know why I haven't heard of this before so in case you haven't either there is good news. You can now create a Form via Google Documents.

Details at - http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2008/02/stop-sharing-spreadsheets-start.html

Bye bye to sites like SurveyMonkey. Mainly because I can create the form and host it on my own website. (Of course no bye bye to SurveyMonkey if don't have a place to put up the form)

It's easy enough to figure out with a little playing around.

Goooooo Google.

(Of course you data gets capture in a Google spreadsheet)

Google is going to shut down their Radio Ad Service

First it was their Print Ad offering and now the Radio Ads (going off on May 31st). I don't think Google's model is fitting the more traditional forms of advertising.

Full story at -

Google's Traditional Media Blog - http://google-tmads.blogspot.com/2009/02/google-exits-radio-but-will-explore.html

AlooTechie - http://www.alootechie.com/content/google-shut-down-its-radio-ad-service-31-may


Google mentions that it is going to concentrate on online streaming audio though. Since I never used the Print Ads or the Radio Ads, I don't know what an advertiser might be losing out on. I don't even know what it was like to use the options and I guess I will never know. Ah well out with the 'not working' and in with more tools and mediums that will work. Or at least Google thinks are good enough to take a risk on.

Voice-based search launched in Mumbai

Finally Google's voice-based search has arrived in Mumbai (and Bangalore). Going to test it out soon :)

The product manager makes so much sense where he says that speech recognition technology is important for a country like India because people might not have easy access to PCs.

Wonder if we will see this service grow (and also the how of it's growth and impact) and when they will move to regional languages (which is going to be important in a country like India).


Source - AlooTechie

Google India has launched its voice-based local search service in Mumbai and Bangalore where users can call a toll free number (1 800 41 999 999) from any phone to search for local business and movie show-times and get the results by SMS. The company had earlier introduced this service in Hyderabad and later extended it to Delhi/NCR.

According to Google, if a user is looking for pizza delivery businesses he can just call and say ‘pizza’ and his area name like ‘Bandra’ in Mumbai or ‘MG Road’ in Bangalore to get listings near him.

“We are continuously working towards improving our speech recognition technology but it is still not perfect and it may not recognize you at times. We will transfer your call to an operator after 2 recognition failures and the operator will assist you with your query,” Rutvik Doshi, product manager, Google, has said.

“We believe that speech recognition and voice access to information is a very important technology for India because it helps us reach users who may not have access to PC or are on the move all the time,” Rutvik Doshi has added.

According to the company, Google Phone Search is free of charge and can be reached from any phone number - landline or mobile - in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The service is currently available in English, Hindi and Telugu.

It would also be interesting to see how something like this could be applied to even the internet.


When I was a kid and use to watch The Jetsons (I think that was the name of the cartoon), I use to love that robot the daughter use to have. I already dreamed of asking a question, or definition or translation of a word aloud and having someone (or something) answer back to me with a correct response. Maybe someday I will own such technology :D

'Web Search Strategies in Plain English'

The video is created by Lee LeFever of The Common Craft Store. I would suggest watching all the videos that interest you because they are in a very easy to follow format (apart from being creatively displayed - loved the drawing and cuts outs moving around the board).

Ads on YouTube

I don't end up watching YouTube a lot so I am not sure if these ad formats are new or not but I do find them annoying. The screenshot has ads at the end of the video which is still alright but there are a couple of videos where they show in the video pane itself (found a screenshot. See below). Sure it can be shut but it is quite annoying.


I think this is a silly way to make a little more ad revenue on YouTube. They should focus more on ads in video formats. Maybe not for every country but at least where broadband isn't a problem.

Which rises an interesting qustion about 'universality' of brands that are internet based. What if YouTube in the USA was very different from YouTube in Italy or Taiwan? Does it matter?