When most think of encryption, they think of computers using complex algorithms to hide data in ways that require a password or key. This is a very modern and simplistic view of a long and stories history behind encryption. Since the dawn of human communication we’ve had a need to be able to send messages without the risk of them being seen by the wrong people. Thus, encryption is as old as the written word in some cultures.

This graphic depicts some of the amazing forms of encryption that have been scattered through our history. Without computers, one needs to have a very creative mind to come up with many of these encryption styles such as the Alberti cipher pictured above.

Click to enlarge.

From: Seattle Chevrolet Via: Visual.ly

One of the least expensive forms of pay-per-click advertising on the internet is StumbleUpon. With prices as low as 5 cents per click, they are able to drive more traffic for the buck than sites like Google or Facebook. What’s more, ads have a chance of picking up “natural” stumbles that are free. In some cases, a good campaign with strong content can get more natural clicks than paid ones.

The challenge is with disclosure. On mobile apps, it declares when a stumbled piece of content is sponsored. On the browser toolbar version, it does not. As pages are served to users who click the “Stumble” button on their browser, advertisers using Paid Discovery have their pages mixed in with the organically-selected pages. There is no indication that the stumbled page was presented because someone paid for it to be there.

On May 30, the FTC will hold a public workshop to get feedback on how to revamp their 12-year-old online advertising disclosure guidelines. Social media and mobile marketing have changed the game from the banner and text ads that the old guidelines focused on and a revamp has been desperately needed for a while.

There is a good chance that StumbleUpon will not be addressed because they are one-off, exceptionally unique case. With other social media sites like Twitter and Facebook or other social news sites like Digg or Reddit, the advertisements are part of the websites themselves. StumbleUpon ads never actually appear on the websites; users rarely visit stumbleupon.com itself. The “ads” are actually the advertisers websites themselves. One does not have to click from a banner or link on StumbleUpon. They are served the page through the browser toolbar or mobile app.

StumbleUpon’s model will not be discussed because they aren’t on the FTC’s radar. You won’t see any ads if you go to their website and they aren’t a household name like other social media sites, but the reality is that StumbleUpon is relatively huge. The user base is extremely passionate and the number of pages served by StumbleUpon competes favorably with other social media sites.

In other words, their model is very likely safe, but should it be? Should they be forced to disclose when a page served is a paid discovery?

To understand just how big they are and how prolific Paid Discovery is, this infographic that they created tells the story nicely.

From: San Francisco Toyota Via: StumbleUpon

There will always be business listing errors online. People sometimes do not pay attention. Businesses move or shut down. Some businesses are asleep at the wheel and unscrupulous competitors sabotage their listings. It happens. It’s not surprising that around 20% of the listings on popular sites like CitySearch and Mapquest are inaccurate. What was surprising is that the most accurate data apparently comes from Foursquare.

Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley speaks during the 2011 Web 2.0 Summit (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

The location-based social network that lets friends, family, and stalkers know exactly where its users are (or claim to be) at any given time has an impressive 5% inaccuracy rate when it comes to the all-important address. The next most accurate has 3 times as many errors.

This graphic developed by Yext and posted by Dodge Dealers Seattle reveals some interesting data about where to find… data. While Yelp might not be the best at addresses, it is only a notch below Merchant Circle when it comes to phone numbers. Don’t go to Foursquare if you want a phone number, though. You have a 50/50 chance of getting nothing at all. They want you there. They don’t want you calling.

For this reason, Foursquare is technically graded as the least accurate, but remember that most of the data comes from users and they’re putting in the data while they’re already present. Phone numbers just aren’t their thing. It does show that crowdsourcing the information is good for going, bad for calling.

Via: Automotive SEO

Related articles

• Blackberry Foursquare app gets NFC support (slashgear.com)
• Tap it out: Foursquare for BlackBerry updated with NFC support (venturebeat.com)
• Foursquare Hits 2 Billion Check-ins, 20 Million Users (searchengineland.com)
• Data In, Data Out and Foursquare (amandapeyton.com)
• Foursquare Marketing: Tools for Brands Looking to Tap in to Check-ins (searchenginewatch.com)
• Foursquare Helps Businesses Stay Connected with Their Customers (arnoldit.com)
• Foursquare Brings NFC Check-Ins to Its BlackBerry App (sproutsocial.com)

This is the easiest part to of a consolidated social media brand messaging campaign, but it’s also one that is not well understood and rarely implemented properly. The standard practice is to have a message, send it out on Twitter and Facebook, and move on to the next piece of news. It’s a futile effort.

What’s better is to layer it. Depending on the timing of the posts and necessity of speed with the news itself, one should plan it out to hit the rest of the world over time and across as many channels as possible. The example in the link above has these assets with which to work:

• Hub story that covers everything but goes into detail about none of it, leaving links to this story and five others on different sites that go into more detail
• Six supporting articles on different sites that break down an individual component of the overall message
• Access to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other social media channels

Now that we know the components, it’s time to layer them out.

Because the hub story links to all of the other stories, they have to be published at once. This can cause logistical challenges but with experience it becomes much easier. Just because they’re published at once doesn’t mean they have to be promoted at once.

Start with the hub. Get it out on the usual suspects – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. If it’s visual in nature, put it out on Flickr, Pinterest, and even YouTube if you can make a supporting video.

If it’s newsworthy, get it on Digg and Reddit. If not, skip those; anything that is not of general interest could do more harm than good if posted on these sites. Regardless of the topic, get it out on StumbleUpon.

Once the hub story is out, support it with retweets, Facebook likes, and anything else you can muster. This is the “big launch” of the content so there’s no need to hold back. Be attentive, respond to comments on the networks and on the blog post itself, then get ready for the next one.

Once the attention dies down on the original post, start repeating the process one at a time (if there’s no deadline on the news itself) over an extended period of time. Don’t rush it unless you have to. Every new batch of exposure to the spoke stories will help to rejuvenate traffic and interest in the hub story.

The layers of your cake can be very delicious if you follow these steps.

This graphic depicts it all nicely. Click to enlarge.

From: Holiday Ford Via: Automotive SEO

We’ll see.

From: Yonkers Used Cars Via: CenturyLinkQuotes.com

Technology is getting both easier to use and harder to support at the same time. 2-year-olds are becoming tablet-savvy in ways that are changing the old joke about setting the clock on the VCR. Still, the intuitive nature of technology means an adjustment is needed in the IT help desk arena.

This is what the future of the help desk may look like. Click to enlarge.

From: Boston Nissan Dealers Via: Automotive SEO

The world continues to experience unprecedented population growth. It’s a self-perpetuated problem; the more people there are, the more people they’ll make. Birth rates are not slowing and as more people have babies while life is extended through medical advances, it’s starting to get pretty crowded out there.

This graphic shows a visualization of how the world of 7 billion people looks. Click to enlarge.

From: Toyota Boston Via: Visual.ly