AccuraCast Blogs Marketing

Megaupload promo video

2012-01-27T13:16:00.000Z

This is without a doubt the video of the week, whether you like it or not. After being removed from YouTube due to pressure from Universal music, this Megaupload promo video of very dubious quality got incredibly viral thanks to the large number of big names from the music industry (P Diddy, Will.i.am, Kanye West as well as the most talented spouse of the planet, Kim Kardashian) appearing in the clip. Funny that some (all?) of these lads belong to the lobbies that are destroying the FREE INTERNET and fighting piracy in the name of MONEY.

Evaluating Google+ “Search Plus Your World”

2012-01-25T14:47:00.002Z

Google recently launched “Search Plus Your World”, a system of using data from your Google+ account to provide personalised search results, with Google placing more emphasis on who you are when you are when conducting searches. However the key question is whether or not the results generated from this are more effective than those generated via a standard search.

Many doubt that it will be highly effective as it only uses information from an individuals Google+ profile as opposed to integrating Facebook and Twitter that are updated far more frequently and would therefore be likely to return better search results.

A key feature of “Search Plus Your World” is the addition of 'People and Places on Google+', which offers relevant people and pages based on your search and Google+ account. As with the search results generated through “Search Plus Your World”, the people and pages suggested do not include Twitter and Facebook that are in most cases updated far more frequently. For example searching for Football via “Search Plus Your World” offers Rio Ferdinand in 'People and Places on Google+', however he has not updated this page since November 2011. However Ferdinand uses twitter daily and therefore would be much more relevant and beneficial to users as a search result.

To determine the effectiveness of the “Search Plus Your World” feature, I have selected several search terms and conducted searches through “Search Plus Your World” whilst signed into Google+ and without signing in.

Marketing: I began by conducting a search for the term 'Marketing', the first difference I noticed was that when signed into Google+ the images returned in the search results were from my Google+ account. However these were not highly relevant to the search term and were slightly unnecessary, the images returned when signed out were much more relevant to the search term entered. Whilst signed into Google+ “Search Plus Your World” did return some highly relevant and useful search results by including posts made by friends on Google+ regarding the topic, as friends with similar interests had posted about marketing, these results were more relevant.

Also the people and places offered whilst signed in where extremely different to those found when not signed in, with those found whilst signed in appearing to be more relevant and more closely linked to my Google+ profile. For example when signed out one person in 'People and Places on Google+' was a digital analyst who had “studied the effects of emerging media” on areas such as business and marketing. Whereas when signed into Google+ more relevant people were offered including a marketing consultant and a specialist in social media

Spain: Following this I searched for Spain, which demonstrated how effective the “Search Plus Your World” function can be as posts and links to articles and videos on Google+ appeared amongst the search results as opposed to simply appearing above them. Therefore the most helpful and popular sites such as Wikipedia and the dedicated page to Spain on the Lonely Planet website appeared first and results generated through Google+ followed. This was effective as the search evaluated the relevance of Google+ posts compared to existing search results and this was reinforced by searching for other places including London and England.

London Underground: This search also demonstrated how useful the integration of Google+ into the search can be, not signing in and conducting the search returned several pages with extremely similar results. The majority of results offered information on train times, maps and travel information, which are necessary yet the search returned few results with current news and opinions on the topic.

However whilst signed into Google+, the search results returned included links to articles and posts regarding the topic made by friends on Google+ as well as the previously mentioned sites. The feature was extremely effective and beneficial here as it displayed information regarding the general topic and included posts and articles created by Google+ friends that were also relevant to my interests.

Weather: Searching about the weather however revealed some of the problems of “Search Plus Your World”, when signed into Google+. It returned posts from friends regarding the weather made via Google+, however the issue was that these posts were made weeks and months previously and appeared as the first search results, above current news regarding the weather. Therefore by using information from my Google+ account, the search generated placed news from months ago above current information.

After conducting these various searches I feel that “Search Plus Your World” can be extremely useful but also unhelpful when signed into your Google+ account. It would appear that this is largely dependent on the searches made and the content available from your Google+ account as it seems that “Search Plus Your World” can interpret unhelpful data as relevant to your search.

One hour per second!

2012-01-24T14:05:00.001Z

YouTube's managers claimed that the amount of video uploaded to the Google-owned site had grown ten-fold since 2007.

A new website, onehourpersecond.com, has been built in an attempt to visualise the volume of content uploaded over set periods of time.

YouTube now receives 60 hours of uploads per minute and 4 billion views per day. That's one hour per second!

5 Social Media trends to watch in 2012

2012-01-23T13:08:00.000Z

Here there are some key Social Media Trends fro 2012: convergende emergence, the cult of influence, social sharing, social television and the micro economy.

MegaUpload bust: the Cyber-war can start

2012-01-20T17:17:00.000Z

Shocking news for the millions of film lovers as the FBI have decided to shut down MegaUpload, website specialised in movie contents with the largest database available online for free. Kim Schmitz, founder of MegaUpload, after being arrested in his home in New Zealand could now face up to 50 years in jail due to infringement of copyright. Soon after the news got spread, the hacker group Anonymous have started one of the biggest series of attacks to the RIAA's site, Universal Music Group, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, EMI and the US Copyright Office. How far will this war go?

Nielsen’s “State of the Media: The Social Media Report – Q3 2011”

2012-01-19T11:30:00.000Z

The power of Social Media continues to have an influence on the public with everything they see and purchase. A study conducted by the Nielsen group revealed some interesting insights on the usage of social networking sites based on geographic and demographic information.

Findings also showed 4 out of 5 active Internet users visit social network sites and blogs as Tumblr penetrates the social media market by increasing its users nearly three times in comparison to the previous year.

Who will win the battle?

2012-01-18T13:19:00.000Z

I was doing some research yesterday when I suddenly realised that Wikipedia was not working: I got into a panic!
Yesterday, Internet users have had a small taste of what life would be without Wikipedia and other websites that risk to be negatively affected by new anti-piracy regulations coming from the US.

This is, in fact, the result of two acts, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act), which aim at regulating the entire web, imposing a stricter form of control over online piracy. However, if on one side there is a large number of lobbies in favour of the acts, including the much criticised Tycoon media guru and pie-lover Rupert Murdoch, there is a large slice of businesses and personalities from the Silicon Valley which, backed by the White House, have strongly criticised the potential new laws.

The fact that Wikipedia took part in the protest, together with other players of the likes of Boing Boing and Reddit, represents a very strong signal for the congress men and lobbies, who seem to be losing the battle on its very first phases: 162 million unique visitors have experienced the Wikipedia blackout while 8 million Americans have managed to look up their congressional representatives on Wikipedia and started to protest over the new acts.

The first comforting results could already be seen yesterday when some of the congressional representatives were 'forced' to change their approach, pushing for structural changes in the acts. Protests through the Internet seem to have a much bigger and more effective impact than any other street demonstrations. Who will win the battle?

Is Duolingo going to change the Internet?

2012-01-11T10:43:00.000Z

Luis Von Ahn already changed the course of the Internet with the introduction of the Captcha, and later he made it more efficient and useful by introducing the Re-Captcha, which uses the human effort to digitalize books when people types the Captcha. Now he is introducing a new and extremely smart system to translate the whole Internet into different languages while offering the users free language classes. Do you think it will work?

Facebook is responsible for divorces in The UK

2012-01-03T10:04:00.004Z

A study realized by the website divorce-online, showed that Facebook is responsible for 1/3 of the all the divorces in the UK. The study reports that 33% of the 5.000 interviewees said that inappropriate Facebook messages exchanged between people of the opposite sex and ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend, where the main troublemaker. United Kingdom wasn't the first country to report Facebook related divorces, The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers said that Facebook is responsible for 1/5 in the USA.

Google Zeitgeist: 1 year in 3 minutes

2011-12-19T15:46:00.004Z

I suggest all of you have a look at this video made by Google, which shows, in less than 3 minutes, a summary of memorable events that have taken place in 2011, based on the most popular searches conducted by users during the past 12 months. Pretty cool: 1 year of our life in less than 3 minutes!

A new bug on Facebook?

2011-12-16T15:48:00.002Z

Prior to the launching of Facebook's Timeline your private pictures (pictures restricted only to some groups of friends, or to friends of friends) were absolutely inaccessible to the public. It's a basic principle of privacy, and hence, one of the main worries of Facebook. With regards to this subject, lately it seems that Facebook is having serious privacy issues, which reached its peak with the publication of some Mark Zuckerberg's private pictures. Before Timeline's release, even if you would send the link of a picture to a person that wasn't allowed to see it, he or she would just see a message from Facebook stating they don't have permission to see the content. Something like this:

This content is currently unavailable. The page you requested cannot be displayed at the moment. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may have expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.

Since the launch of the Timeline I found that this has changed. A bug or not, the fact is that now when you send the link of an album to a friend or person that is supposed not to be able to see it, Facebook still displays the message mentioned above, but when you send the link of an individual picture, he or she will be able to see it. Even without login in to Facebook.

This is an image in one of my albums. I am supposed to be the only one able to see this picture:

This is an image of the public link, which can be viewed from any Facebook account, or even without logging in to Facebook:

Give it a try: Go to one of your pictures or a picture of a friend, and click on "View Image" or an equivalent button, so that you see a page with only the picture, whose URL should end with an .jpg extension. Copy the URL and logout from Facebook, and when you paste the URL in the browser you will still be able to see the picture.

What do you think, is this a bug or something done in purpose?

P.S.: Just to clarify. I know that in the picture you can see the "Fontana di Trevi", which is in Rome, and the album title says "GREECE Santorini & Mykonos 2010". We were visiting Rome in my trip to Greece while we were waiting for the connection flight.

New Google Map Maker

2011-12-15T10:49:00.006Z

With this new tool you can add your favorite places, create and share different routes and also to design the buildings you already know. Once Google accepts your contributions, the whole world will see them on Google Maps and Google Earth. You will add roads, edit places and revise other contributions in your city.

Movie Posters

2011-12-14T10:00:00.013Z

A movie poster needs to grab people's attention, probably it is the first contact that they will have with movie before the trailer. The poster needs to cause an impact to be remembered and also to help the client to understand what the it is about. On this Post you will find 3 different posters, and each of them with a tutorial to create one for yourself.

1) Lord of the Rings Tutorial

2) Indiana Jones Tutorial

3) Pirates of Caribbean Tutorial

More than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from Google's Android Market

2011-12-08T10:42:00.006Z

More important than the amount of the downloaded apps is the incredible growth of the last year. The rate per month is one billion app downloads per month.
To celebrate that, Google offers some apps for only 10 cents each. Let's go shopping! You have until the 16th of december to buy them.
What will happens in 2012? Sure it will be amazing!

High speed photography

2011-12-07T09:54:00.003Z

Taking a simple picture is an easy job, but a high speed photograph is not. The high speed technique demands a skilled photographer, that will be able to capture the exact moment of the scene. This type of photography is an exercise in patience and requires a lot of trial and error. Enjoy the photos below!

François Dorothé

Romain Laurent

Raphael Duck

Merry Christmas [Lego Stop Motion Video]

2011-12-05T18:47:00.000Z

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers :)

We attended the Google Engage Event in Shoreditch, London

2011-12-02T13:46:00.001Z

What if...?

2011-12-01T10:39:00.003Z

This is what the world would look like if...

The four stages of "Getting" Twitter

2011-12-01T10:23:00.005Z

This infographic shows how you get different stages when you start using Twitter.

There are four stages. The first one is about the skepticism. In the second one, the user tries to enjoy and understand Twitter. After that, the user says "Ohhh, so that's what Twitter is about!" and finally, in the four stage starts the addiction to Twitter.

Facebook joins the Smart war

2011-11-24T12:17:00.004Z

It seems like Facebook will be the next big player to join the SmartPhone war thanks to a deal with HTC which will enable the big F to launch its first SmartBook or FacePhone, code name: Buffy. The guys from Facebook have realised the importance of mobile connectivity, which has enabled an exponential growth of mobile devices, and decided to grasp a slice of the fatty cash cow by entering in partnership with one of the best brand in the SmartPhone market, HTC. As you probably know, HTC relies on the powerful and highly flexible Android operating system, which is thought Facebook will be able to redesign in order to perfectly integrate it to its social network and deliver a brand new SmartPhone which will be far different from other Android ran devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy.

It looks like we will have to wait at least one year before we can get hold of the new FacePhone/SmartBook. Hope it will be worth waiting for!

Screensavers, the future of art?

2011-11-24T11:56:00.005Z

As of yesterday, anyone who likes Hirst’s work can buy one of his limited edition spot paintings for as little as £7.50 under a new digital collectors’ scheme that has plans to transform the affordable end of the art market.

Each edition of screensaver is numbered with a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist. The site allows users to follow artists, browse and acquire works, download them to digital devices and screens, send editions as gifts to friends, and to start their own collections. All of the work is designed for mobile phones, iPads, computers and television screens, with the ultimate vision being that once internet-enabled, flat-screen televisions are an everyday norm, large numbers of people might choose to use them to display a limited edition Hirst or a neon by Tracey Emin rather than a black screen when they are not using them to watch television or browse the internet.

The launch of the service provided by s[edition] coincides with the announcement of the presence of the piece of art which represents most the work of Hirst's "For The Love of God". It will accompany the major retrospective dedicated to the artist in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall from April 4 - June 24 2012.
Is this another "coup" from Hirst or a step forward in the world of Art?

Do you know where are your Twitter followers located?

2011-11-23T10:53:00.002Z

With TweepsMap, you can analyse your Twitter followers presence. You can measure the effectiveness of your Social Media campaigns and know if your followers are engaged or not. It shows where they’re located by country, state or city.

You need to authorize TweepsMap API, and it generates color-coded map. Twitter red birds represents the largest number of followers, and yellow represents the second largest number.

Facebook: The Other Job Board

2011-11-22T09:48:00.004Z

Facebook is an unique social network that allows you to connect with your friends, family, being possible to like and share their thoughts, pictures. Companies use facebook most likely to share content and vacancies.

Check this video from Peggy McKee telling you how to use Facebook and look for a job.

Good Luck

Where can I upload my work?

2011-11-21T09:59:00.005Z

Today's post is about where you can share your graphic art.

When your graphics are finished you should share it with friends and future employees. My tip is to share it on an online portfolio.

There are many websites that you can upload your work, but an easy one is carbonmade. This colourful site its very understandable to use, when registered, you are able to upload 10+ projects and 30+ pictures, giving you plenty of space to upload your work.

Carbonmade lets you choose your profile's name, change the background colour and the font style and size and reorganize everything over and over with no limit.

Have fun and good luck!

The power of Social Media

2011-11-18T10:04:00.005Z

For those who still don't believe or just ignore the strength that social media can have on our society, here is a video that shows how a small village buried deep in the Swiss Alps valleys can become more popular than...Lady Gaga. Plain and simple.