What is Internet Sensei?

Internet Sensei is a search engine, powered by Google, that the Accession Media team maintains. This search engine only combs through websites with credible information about topics in internet marketing. These topics can range from email and search engine marketing to web design and search engine optimization. This search engine will also feature some cool tools and services that could help with your internet marketing needs. Another cool feature of Internet Sensei is the ability to get information in different mediums: articles, blog entries and videos.

How do I submit a site to Internet Sensei?

If you have a website that you think is Sensei-Material, we want to help you drive traffic to your site. You’ll find instructions to submit your site here. Once we check out your site, we’ll add it to the search engine and start sending visitors your way.

To check out this awesome and FREE internet marketing search tool.

When Google launched their new web browser, dubbed “Chrome,” a few weeks back, our initial thoughts immediately jumped back to “they are becoming the next Microsoft, they really want to rule the world.” After Google created the Wikipedia-like Knol, We wondered what their next target was – then came Chrome. Chrome is Google’s very own web browser. It is designed to be a new and innovative tool for the media driven Internet we now know. They described it in a comic about how it will change the Internet, and maybe they’re right. But there is no doubt that it’s a necessary move in Google’s march to dominance in the software space.

We had this review all set up in draft form the day after they launched the product. And a few of us even made Chrome our default browser on our computers. However, in the past few weeks we’ve also come across a few key weaknesses that have sent most of us crawling back to trusty old FireFox, begging it’s forgiveness. We even tried to buy a FireFox plushie to show our renewed devotion, but they were all out.

At first glace Chrome looks very clean, sleek, and light, but just wait till you try it. There is no doubt that it’s the fastest browser we’ve ever seen. It’s actually pretty amazing. Our first few hours with the new browser will certainly not be our last. Here are some more good points, and then some issues we’ve had as well…

Besides the unparalleled speed of Chrome, Google has taken all the best components of various browsers (Firefox, IE, Safari, etc…) and turned it into one, easy to use tool. They created the omnibox, which is a search box (defaulted to Google, duh, but change-able) and a web address bar in one. No doubt a very cool feature, however it of course comes with its own set of “privacy” issues.

The funny part about the privacy issues around the Omnibox is, in other areas of the software, Google has made it incredibly easy for the user to surf with as much anonymity as a browser can provide. The “Incognito” feature ensures that nothing about the session is saved, including cookies and passwords. It’s basically a little Internet Las Vegas - what happens in the incognito window, stays in the incognito window. Of course this feature has already been referred to as “porn mode” as it makes searching for private items completely confidential.

Chrome, like the Windows operating system, has its own task manager wrapped in with the usual developer tools (view source, debug JS, etc). This feature allows the user to see which sites are taking up the most memory and slowing down the computer. You can then kill just those sites without having to kill the whole browser session. A sweet feature for “power surfers” who have many tabs open at once. This feature is made possible by the core architecture of Chrome, which silos each “tab” into it’s own set of processes, rather than grouping all the browser windows into one “browser process.”

That’s all great stuff, but as we moved through the next few weeks, little issues came up that had a large impact on our usage. Keep in mind that the first issue revolves mostly around the fact that we are a web development shop…we are geeks…not the average web surfers. However the second is critical to anyone who uses web applications like Facebook…

1. We’re addicted to a few of FireFox add-ins. One is the Remember The Milk task list for Gmail. The others are FireBug and the Web Developer Tool bar. We use them all constantly - can’t live without them. This is the first reason that Chrome can’t be our primary browser just yet – to our knowledge no one has made versions of these add-ins for Chrome. Not to mention that FireFox add-in Stylish allows to us remove ads and other unwanted elements from the Gmail interface (ssshhhh).
2. In using a few key web applications we found that form submissions work intermittently. While certainly not a “key” application to our business…Facebook does not function properly in Chrome. There are a slew of issues reporting on Google’s bug tracking pages.

Aside from any other bugs, those are our key issues with it thus far that are keeping it from being our “go to” browser.

Now the real question: How does this browser link to any kind of revenue for its creator? Aside from the “Googasm” that bumped the stock when they launched it, the answer is surprisingly simple. Google pays the Mozilla Foundation (and maybe even Microsoft?) millions of dollars per year in Adwords click referrals (meaning: every time you use the built-in Google search box in FireFox, and then click an Adwords link after that search, Mozilla gets a cut of the revenue per click. Multiply that by billions of searches…you get the idea). What if Google were to put out a superior browser to take market share away from FireFox (certainly) and Internet Explorer (maybe?). They would save millions of dollars.

Aside from monetary advantages, could Google now launch cool new apps that only work in Chrome? Ergo – in order to get/use the cool new toy from Google, you have to first use their browser. It’s a fair possibility. Then, once they have you hooked on Chrome, they have a very efficient way to flirt, nudge, and even yank users into using their other products, like Gmail, for example.

To sum it up, Chrome is a great new browser and a very import step in the maturation of Google as the next generation global software powerhouse. The shear speed it offers vs. its competitors makes it our favorite “leisure” browsing tool of choice. However it isn’t ready for prime time just yet, as the Facebook issues prove out. Ton’s of people from many walks of life use Facebook – if Chrome can’t pass this simple test it definitely needs more work.

“Did you get a Mac?” I asked, looking at what looked like a Mac operating system on his screen.

Josh: “No. Its a desktop.”

Me: “But its not windows.”

Josh: “No. Its in my browser.”

Me: “What?!”

Josh: “Exactly.”

Jooce is a desktop on the Internet. It is defined as a “portable desktop” that can store pretty much anything, with no file limit. Photos, music, files, you got it. Its like a USB key that won’t get lost.

As a commuter to school, this tool will be my savior. No longer are the days where I need to email papers to myself, or copy and paste out of Google Docs and get frustrated wasting 5 minutes of valuable school time trying to reformat the paper the way I had it. It’s there as a file, all I have to do is download to whatever machine I’m on at the moment.

But wait, there’s more!

This funky Flash application comes with a music player so that you don’t even need to download your music files to listen to them. Click on it and it plays. Its that easy. You can still download it, but why bother, it’s there.  There is also an integrated instant messaging application that works with the usual suspects (AOL, Yahoo, etc).

Another very cool feature is that it has two different screens, one called the desktop, and one called the joocetop. The desktop is for your private files. Files that you don’t want to share with anyone. However, the joocetop has a mentality similar to myspace or facebook where your information is out there for the world to see. On your joocetop you can put music you want to share, files for people to download, or great pics that you can donate to friends. There’s even a YouTube link so you can post your favorite videos!

You may be asking, whats the catch? If there is one, I haven’t found it yet. Its a little bit slow on initial load, but hey, what do you expect for free?  If you haven’t already, you should definitely check it out.

Knol offers a nice opportunity for search engine optimization, because it allows you to write about what you specialize in and gives you recognition. In your Knols you can talk about what you know, and tell people to check them out. You get credit as being and expert in your field. And most importantly from the SEO side, the links you embed in your Knol, as of this writing, do not contain the rel=”nofollow” tag that nullifes the SEO importance of those links.

But please note; this is a LIMITED TIME OFFER! You must ACT NOW! Unfortunately, Knol will be better to the early adapters than the ones that come later. It’s an opportunity to write about what you know before others do - and connect yourself to something that could possibly develop a very high PageRank with high search results.

Currently, on almost any phrase you type into Google, a Wikipedia article comes up on the first page with very high PageRank. This begs the question of Google; will they start to index Knols and start to compete with other content sites for listings in their own search results (and we don’t care what Google says - Knol is a content site)? By indexing their own content they’re taking away from others and making their likelihood for revenue higher by keeping on Google products running Google ads. A blog posting at Pratical eCommerce suggests that:

“As Knol matures and grows, Wikipedia results will be gradually pushed down and/or out of top-end results. It’s a financial likelihood: a year from now, [there will be] a Knol article as one of the top five results in Google, with a Wikipedia result hovering somewhere below.”

Already we are seeing examples of Knol users trying to capitalizing off Wikipedia by submitting Wiki articles as Knols under their name to make the AdSense profit. They take one person’s hard work (or everyone’s one or two sentences as is often the case with Wikipedia entries) and copy and they paste it into Knol, thinking its okay as long as they admit that they pulled a C and P. Now the question of legality comes in. This blog tried to explain it, but with all the big legal words that both Wiki and Google lawyers used, its still kind of hard to find that fine line between what is permitted.  For sure though, AdSense revenue won’t pay for your lawyer fees if Wiki or Google sues you. At least Knol recognizes when a C and P has been pulled. It states on the sidebar the name of the site with similar content and the percentage that is similar.

So now lets trip beyond AdSense. Through Surfing tons of Knols’, I discovered that not only are people trying to capitalize off of AdSense, but they’re selling things on Knol too. Under an article for Lyme Disease, a Doctor discussed potential treatments and supplements to take to help with the symptoms of Lyme Disease. At the bottom of the Knol, you could buy them. It read something like: Supplement Ordering Information, Please Email your Name, Address, Credit Card, and Quantity Desired to sales@somemedicaldoctor.com. Something is wrong here. Could that make the real difference between Knol and Wikipedia? Knols aren’t as highly monitored as Wikipedia entries are?  Or is it just a matter of time before it is?  For sure something like this wouldn’t fly among the community of Wikipedia editors.

Similar to everything on the Internet, only time will tell how well Knol really does. It is still new and very rough around the edges, but if everyone clings tight to a subject they know about, these rough parts will roll out to a smooth rolling money ball for Google.  But the better question is; has Google gone to the dark side with this model?  Are they transitioning from the cute little company with the mission of “don’t be evil” into a classic multi-national, publicly traded, investor led monster that will do whatever it needs to in order to continue to meet and exceed the ridiculously high expectations its past performance has set?  Stay tuned…

For starters, Cuil’s index spans 121 billion web pages. They claim that they are 3 times the size of Google’s index, but there’s no way of knowing that for sure…

“Depending on whose figures you believe, Cuil is less than 20 billion pages away from getting the whole 141 billion shebang under its belt. But a recent Google blog post counters that number, stating that its engineers had noted a total Web page population of over 1 trillion, adding that their index was still the biggest—without actually stating how many pages it contains.” -PC Mag

A real advantage of Cuil comes in the form of their privacy policy, where it states that as of July 27th, they do not keep logs of user activity, nor do they collect any personally identifiable information. They state that they want users to feel comfortable using their engine, as opposed to other engines where users feel stalked and hunted.

Besides anonymous surfing, Cuil uses a different method of searching and displaying than Google does. Rather than display sites based solely on popularity, they display sites based on the web page’s content and organization of ideas. One suspects that they are trying to differentiate their model from Google’s PageRank which relies very heavily and analyzing both a page’s content, as well as the inbound links to that page. While this sounds good at first blush, how will Cuil tackle the problems of pages on irrelevant sites trying to attract irrelevant traffic?  If you can build a page on any given topic, this model makes me think I can rank on any given topic. A spammer’s delight perhaps?

The display or search results on Cuil is also done differently, listing sites in a magazine format (left to right, stacked) with pictures alongside of each site suggestion rather than the vertical list. This leads the SEO in me to ask “what is a number 1 rank on this page?  Number 2, 3, 4?”  This layout may actually benefit the site listed in 4th place for a given search term rather than the one listed second or third.  And interesting thing to ponder if Cuil catches on.

Still, there are some kinks that need to be worked out with this engine. As opposed to other search engines, Cuil does not correct spelling - something we’ve all gotten far too used to on Google and Yahoo.  A more obvious problem is that, more often than not, the engine brings up irrelevant images next to the sites they are displaying.

Competing with Google is not an easy task, especially when Google has so much to offer in comparison to everyone else. Google can produce multiple specific results, including images, news, shopping and video. Google also offers useful free tools like Google Analytics and Gmail, while Cuil has yet produce anything of that nature. In my opinion, Cuil, although new and “cool”, has a long way to go before they can really prove themselves.  However targeting users privacy concerns and making them a selling point, as well as the differentiation from Google’s legendary PageRank algorithm could be a good way to kick things off.

In the past, web designers faced challenges if they chose to develop a site in Flash because the content they included was not indexable by search engines.

…understatement of the year! So now all the designers will be jumping for joy since they will have a comeback to the old SEO speech they’ve been getting for years. While we’ve always sustained that Flash and SEO efforts can be harmonious, this news certainly takes it to a whole new level.

So I hear you asking - “doesn’t this put the SEO’s (YOU Josh!) out of a job?” Not hardly. It basically makes our lives a bit easier in that we can focus our SEO conversations on important stuff like content and links, and perhaps set aside the whole Flash vs. HTML religious war. Hallelujah!

However, one important point to remember…

At present, we are only discovering and indexing textual content in Flash files. If your Flash files only include images, we will not recognize or index any text that may appear in those images. Similarly, we do not generate any anchor text for Flash buttons which target some URL, but which have no associated text.

Also note that we do not index FLV files, such as the videos that play on YouTube, because these files contain no text elements.

The old best practices around having well-written, keyword-rich text information on your site still apply folks. Only now the text can sing and dance too!

Twitter is a tool whose functionality is somewhere between blogging and instant messaging. It’s the ultimate in fast (short) and easy communication between you and thousands of your friends. And once you have a group of people talking together, they are sure to start bitching about the products and services that they come into contact with in their daily lives. The smart companies are now joining the conversation.

I was able to find the following Twitter profiles that represent large, well known corporations..

• Zappos - online shoe retailer
• Southwest Airlines
• Comcast Cable
• JetBlue
• Delta Airlines
• General Motors
• Dell Computer
• Carnival Cruise Lines

If you dig into some of the conversation strings linked above you’ll see that these firms are doing three main things with Twitter…

• Promoting products and services to the Twitter community
• Reacting to negative customer situations in a friendly, personal, and helpful voice - if not with a solution, then at least with a sympathetic ear
• Proactively interacting with customers to improve their products/services, or avoid situations that will ultimately require them to react to negativity

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a newbie to Twitter, and at first I had no clue what was going on or why it was worth my time to participate. However, as more and more of my friends and business associates started Twittering, the more interesting and fun it became. In just the past few months Twitter has “crossed the chasm” - gotten past the “tipping point” - gotten through “the dip” - or whatever business B.S. phrase you want to use to say that it is being widely, adopted by many, and business is getting on board the train.

http://blog.mahindrausa.com/

The company is Mahindra Tractor, makers of various types of farm tractors. I read through a lot of the postings and I think it helps do what blogs are supposed to do…

• Identify with the customer: not only does Mahindra build tractors, they know what their customers are going through. Bad weather, back breaking work, less than stellar harvests, etc
• Spread the word: as a farmer - I’d much rather read about how this customer of Mahindra’s (that writes this blog) gets by working with their equipment than I would read their marketing and sales copy. It just feels more honest to me to hear it from a fellow farmer
• Gives me a reason to interact with the brand even if I don’t yet own a Mahindra: I want to come back and check in on the farming family - are they going through the same issues I am? The blog is obviously sponsored by Mahindra, but they don’t beat you over the head with it

I’m not sure if their ad agency put this together for them or if it was an in-house idea, but its a great one.