Is Google planning to join the micro-blogging revolution?

Could the might of Google combine with the relevancy of Twitter in some way, soon? Rumors abound that Internet giant Google is working on some form of micro-blogging search engine. These rumors have leaked from the savvy folks who run an unaffiliated blog that focuses on Google’s operating system.

Google has long been rumored to be interested in the micro-blogging revolution and who would bet against them coming up with a viable platform, given that everything they touch seems to turn to gold. Apparently, their new micro-blogging search service would sort it’s results by relevancy and integrate them into Google’s web search engine. It will be possible to identify trends within these micro-messages and present the results through one of their recognizable and successful formats.

Twitter is, of course, the major player in the micro-blogging world. Whilst twitter is considered to be on the cutting edge in terms of social acceptance and “hipness”, the organization has not really come up with a compelling business model. If Google’s search-based business model is integrated in some way with the Twitter model, it could suggest considerable potential for advertising dollars.

Twitter has it’s own search engine, which is accessed through “search.twitter.com”, but this just trawls it’s users pages, rather than being also linked through and to sites that are referred to by its “tweeters”. Third-party, Twitter-plugin search engines also exist, including Tweetmeme, One Riot and Twitpipe.

Google’s new initiative is expected to work by ranking each micro-blog by relevancy. Results will appear in search based on frequently used keywords and will be integrated within Google’s main search engine. “Real-time information is important, and we’re looking at different ways to use this information to make Google more useful to its users”, according to a Google spokesperson.

A more direct quote, giving us insight into the company’s plans, emerged from search products guru Melissa Mayer. “We are interested in being able to offer, for example, micro-blogging and micro-messaging in our search, particularly in blog search and possibly in web search”. It is likely that Google sees micro-blogging search as a further opportunity to ensure that third-party content steers users into its arms.

Do we need another micro blogging site?

Adam Toren

Tweeters ask - is anybody out there?

Social networking site Twitter has by most standards seen explosive growth. Classified as a micro-blogging network, Twitter has become one of the buzzwords of the last year. Some studies, however, question whether the users of the service, quaintly referred to as “Tweeters”, are as active as was once thought. These naysayers tell us that just 10% of Twitter users generate more than 90% of the content — this according to a Harvard study of some 300,000 users.

The concept behind Twitter is quite simple. Users communicates their thoughts, feelings or actions in short bursts of text, up to 140 characters at a time. This communication utilizes text messaging streams, e-mails and cellphone networks to bounce from user to user.

Twitter has, by popular agreement, seen explosive growth. Research from Nielsen Online tells us that visitors to the Twitter site have increased by 1282% to over 7 million in the year ending February 2009. By the summer of 2009 this figure is expected to grow past 10 million. In comparison, the very popular social networking site Facebook has grown by “just” 228% during that same period.

The Harvard study estimates that the median number of lifetime tweets per user is just one, a striking finding. Bill Heil, a graduate from Harvard who carried out this work, thus concludes that Twitter is a broadcast medium rather than a way to conduct an intimate conversation with friends. Further conclusions indicate that men had 15% more followers than women, despite there being more female users, or Tweeters, than male users. Heil further observed that very few people use the service to publish information, and that the vast majority prefer to be passive consumers.

Despite the claims by the service provider that Twitter is a way to communicate and stay connected, it appears that this communication might be one way, or for the majority of people, very brief. The Harvard study also found that more than 60% of Twitter users in the United States did not return to the service the month after they joined up.

Whilst the majority appear to be one-time visitors, at the other end of the spectrum there are some “super users” in the network that can have hundreds of thousands of followers. As an example, actor Ashton Kutcher currently has more than 2 million followers.

Are you still returning to Twitter? Let us know about your Twitter experiences.

Matthew Toren

Anonymous blogging — right or wrong?

The blog, a contraction of the term weblog, has exploded in popularity over the last few years. It seems that everyone has a blog, and this can be used as a medium to express all kinds of opinions, as well as to disseminate information and items of entertainment. Many bloggers do so on a daily basis, or even more frequently, posting ad nauseum about their passion. One of the dictionaries defines the blog as “a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and links”, and there are many of them — estimated to be over 112 million blogs published through the medium of English alone according to Technorati. A majority of bloggers do so under a pseudonym, which raises the question — is it okay to be an anonymous blogger?

To answer this question, one has to consider why people blog in the first place. To those of us who live in the free world, it is in many cases just an expression of this. It is simply okay to do so. People often blog to “get it off their chests”, to express their opinion, amazement, outrage or, sometimes, neutrality on a given subject. Many people reckon that blogging is a healthy pastime and an extension of their rights in the free world. Others, however, reckon that the ability to hide behind a pseudonym allows people to attack others, religions, beliefs, political causes and that these bloggers should make sure that their postings are placed under their real name.

Recently, one prominent political blogger “outed” another blogger, causing quite an uproar. The outed blogger maintains that he wanted to remain anonymous as his political opinions differed from his family’s. He also maintains that posting under one’s own name can have far-reaching consequences in a professional environment, or in the realm of education, where blogging is particularly virulent. It is further explained that blogs, once written and published, have a lengthy shelf life, and can be referred to by prospective employers in the private sector and in academia.

In addition to the use of a pseudonym there are other ways to make sure that your blogging identity can be protected. If you are worried about technological ways to “out” you, consider becoming part of a private network. You can do all your blogging via a proxy server if you want to, which means that your IP address, which is basically the address of your computer, cannot identify your location and possibly point to you as the user. There are even more anonymous proxy network setups available should you wish to extend the use of your invisibility cloak.

Whilst arguments can be made on both sides of the fence, in a free world those who blog anonymously should do so with impunity. If they have honorable reasons for doing so - such as the protection of their family’s security, or to guard against discrimination - then they should be allowed to continue, just so long as they honor and respect other people’s beliefs and especially the beliefs of those people who do blog under their own names!

What do you think of anonymous blogging? Leave your response in a comment - Anonymously if you like!

Matthew Toren

Turn Blogging Into Revenue With BlogProfitz

The following post has been sponsored by the owners of BlogProfitz.com:

Blogging and affiliate marketing are two of the most talked about ways to make money on the Internet. Up until now, the two activities have been separate and apart from each other. But a new revolutionary service combines the two to enhance reader value. Aptly named BlogProfitz, the service provides two distinct advantages to bloggers: It increases traffic to your blog and provides a means of generating revenue.

1. Increasing Traffic. The goal of any blog is to attract readers to it. With BlogProfitz, you have the choice of enhancing your blog by adding YouTube videos, RSS news feeds, articles and other content from its extensive database. You choose the kind of content to display by entering select keywords or subject topics and BlogProfitz instantly posts them to your blog. Internet studies show that the more valuable and frequently updated information you have available on your blog, the greater the likelihood people will find it and become avid readers of it.

2. Generating Revenue. Whether you blog as a hobby or to make money, you can significantly increase your blog income with BlogProfitz. The service gives you access to thousands of affiliate products. And all the products are targeted to your blog’s niche or subject area, so you can provide your readers with a shopping experience in an area of interest to them. BlogProfitz is integrated with Amazon, eBay, Overstock.com, Hotel Club and other affiliate programs, so a reader can browse your web store, see the products and read their descriptions, click to buy and make the purchase directly from your blog. You make money by receiving a commission from every sale.

The innovators behind BlogProfitz took special care to ensure that its service is easy to use. It can enhance any new or existing Wordpress blog in less than five minutes. The system features a dashboard that’s easy to follow and is complemented with video tutorials on getting started

BlogProfitz is unique because it makes your blog more powerful by building traffic, boosting your blog’s search engine optimization, and increasing your reputation and authority in your niche topic. It can quickly convert your blog readers into natural revenue streams by combining blogging and affiliate marketing. In doing so, it can quickly give you a competitive edge among other bloggers, which is one of the keys to success when trying to attract readers.

There’s no limit to the number of blogs you can enhance with BlogProfitz. And on each blog, you can sell different products by choosing from the various categories on BlogProfitz. In total, there are over 24 million products to select from, conveniently sorted by category.

With its capabilities, BlogProfitz brings the art of blogging to a whole new level. Consider it the evolution of blogging, and its name is BlogProfitz Affiliate Blogging.

Adam Toren

Do User Numbers Disguise Problems at Social Networking Sites

Following on from the last post it got me thinking that these are interesting times for social networking sites to say the least. I for one am anxious to see how Facebook, MySpace and Twitter address the revenue-generating issue.

What’s interesting about the whole social networking topic is that all of the sites attract an incredibly large number of visitors. We’re talking consistent off the chart numbers. It’s an audience ripe for any form of revenue-generating scheme. But here’s their little secret. None of them are making any money directly from their service - it’s FREE. Yes, you read that right, despite the sheer volume of users to these sites, not one of them is profiting from this traffic. In fact, all of them are losing money. So it stands to reason that sooner or later, the issue of profitability has to be addressed.

Twitter alone has millions of people following tweets, but it doesn’t make a penny on any of them. Its predecessors, Facebook and MySpace, are stepping up to the plate to compete. Facebook is in the process of adding similar real time update features to its platforms and you can bet MySpace, under the direction of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., will begin actively looking for ways to generate revenue.

With ad revenues far below expectations, the social networking sites need to turn inward to see how they can make money from their own platforms. There’s no denying that Twitter, Facebook and MySpace provide value. The next step is to create a pricing structure based on this value.

In Twitter’s case, its creators have even greater options. They could either sell out to the big search engines or sell their infrastructure to other sites who want to build off their technology.

The popularity of these three social networking sites is testament to the creativity of their creators. They have taken the mainstream by storm. But one has to wonder how long it will be before others move into cyberspace with the next version of social networking. That’s why it’s critical for Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to start generating revenue. Any further delays could cause them to lose dedicated users and their niche in the social network arena.

With Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, their continued success comes down to two key questions: How much do you value social networks? And how much are you willing to pay for this value? Use the comment link to respond.

Matthew Toren

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