Mike Andrew Consulting

Microsoft slams new Google policy

mike — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:23:09 +0000

Microsoft has taken out full-page newspaper adverts to criticise changes to Google’s policies. Google has touted the changes it announced last week as a simplification of detailed but obtuse policies and a way to provide a better user experience. However, Microsoft’s adverts say the changes allow Google to internally merge the data it collects on

Google reveals action over Mosley

mike — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:04:49 +0000

Google has removed hundreds of web pages relating to former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley’s sex life from its search results index, Britain’s Leveson Inquiry on press standards has heard. But the internet giant said it dealt with requests for material to be excluded on a country-by-country basis, meaning articles and videos might remain accessible

Twitter to censor itself in some nations

mike — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:28:16 +0000

Twitter has refined its technology so it can censor messages on a country-by-country basis. The additional flexibility is likely to raise fears that the short-messaging company’s commitment to free speech may be weakening. It comes as it expands into new countries in an attempt to broaden its audience and make more money. But Twitter sees

Facebook forces users to change profiles

mike — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:18:59 +0000

Facebook will start requiring people to switch to a new profile format known as Timeline, making photos, links and personal musings from the past much easier to find. Timeline is essentially a scrapbook of the user’s whole life, compared with a snapshot of today found on Facebook’s traditional profile page. Once activated, Timeline replaces the

McDonald’s Twitter promotion backfires

mike — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:25:05 +0000

A McDonald’s Twitter promotion backfired after customers hijacked the hash-tag #McDStories, using it to share horror stories instead. The fast food giant launched the 24-hour promotional campaign last week to promote its use of fresh produce, inserting paid-for tweets into the streams of Twitter users. But things went wrong after the corporation changed its promotional

‘Downturn Shoppers’ Look to Digital for Savings

mike — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:17:38 +0000

Price-conscious consumers do more online research, download coupons and compare prices in-store via smartphones Despite some bright spots on the economic horizon, shopping remains more of a battle than a pleasure for financially skittish consumers. Some of them cope by using digital tactics to help save money. A SymphonyIRI Group MarketPulse survey on how the

Marketers Follow Users to More Social Sites

mike — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:45:17 +0000

Marketing efforts spreading beyond Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Social media sites beyond Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are seeing significant boosts in usage, both in the US and elsewhere in the world. And where users go, marketers will follow. Research from social marketing software firm Awareness Inc. indicates US marketers plan to do just that this

US lawmakers abandoning online piracy bill

mike — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:42:54 +0000

Five days before a critical vote, US senators are abandoning an anti-piracy bill after an outpouring of online opposition to tinkering with internet freedoms. Senate Democratic leaders still plan to vote on Tuesday on taking up the Protect International Property Act and supporters are scrambling to make changes before then to answer some of the

SOPA blackout: Bills lose three co-sponsors amid protests

mike — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:05:53 +0000

In case you missed all the news on the proposed bill to Stop On Line Piracy, or SOPA as it has become known, is a bill that was introduced into the US house of representatives in October last year. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders

China web users hits 513 million

mike — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:23:29 +0000

The number of internet users in China has surged past 500 million as millions of new web surfers go online using mobile phones and tablet computers, an industry group reports. The popularity of the internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government