Their new faster and smarter web indexing system sounds exciting with the promise of more improvements in the months to come. It wouldn’t surprise me if they are planning to deliver search results before we’ve decided what to search for.

You can read the full story over at the official Google Blog using the link below:

Official Google Blog: Our new search index: Caffeine

Some background for those of you who don’t build search engines for a living like us: when you search Google, you’re not searching the live web. Instead you’re searching Google’s index of the web which, like the list in the back of a …

Publish Date: 06/09/2010 1:00

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html

Following on from yesterdays article about web search for beginners I thought this list of 10 web search resources might be helpful for anyone keen to search more effectively.


Google hardly needs any introduction. As the undisputed ‘King of Search’ Google offers an incredible amount of advanced web search features. Everything from current trends through to collected news archives that date back to the mid 1800s.

Business.com describes itself as the leading online destination for business buyers looking for B2B solutions. Great for finding how-to guides for buiness related topics. With almost 8 million unique monthly visitors this is a resource that obviously mean business.

WorldCat enables you to search the collections of libraries both in your community and around the world. Find books, music, CDs, videos, article citations and more. WorldCat allows you to search multiple libraries at once and makes resources available in a number of languages.

Yahoo is the second most popular search engine and offers a long list of web search features including mobile web search. You can find news, images, video, maps and much more using their impressive range of advanced search features.

Allthe Web uses Yahoo’s index and news search capabilities to provide fast up to the minute information from around the world. Their interface enables you to search millions of multi media files and offers a collection of advanced search features supported in over 30 languages.

Technorati was founded as the first blog search engine and is the leading source of information for finding out about who and what is most popular in the Blogosphere. Like most search engines it offers much more than search, but if you’re looking for a blog Technorati will help you find it.

AOL Search which is enhanced by Google, offers a wide range of search options. So many that you could get lost trying to find the best one to use. They have their own mobile index and some advanced web search features that allow you to construct your own search criteria.

AltaVista is another leading provider of search services with a number of advanced web search features to make finding information easier. It was one of the first search engines to offer multilingual search capabilities and continues to add quality and relevancy to search.

Ask.Com is a search engine enhanced by a number of specialty searches including a thesaurus, currency converter, encyclopedia, maps and more. Formerly known as Ask Jeeves it offers a long list of advanced web search features that allow you to set your own preferences.

blinkx claims to have more than 35 million hours of video indexed and fully searchable. That’s a lot of video! It provides a large index of media content and makes this huge collection available to viewers around the world.

There are more advanced ways to use web search using syntax to refine search queries but this article focuses on the basics. It’s helpful to start with an understanding of how search engine results pages are displayed so let’s look at the two most popular web search providers.

Yahoo Web Search Results Page

Yahoo comes a strong second in the race to become the most popular provider of search results. Here’s a snapshot of their search results page.

Photo: Stefan

Google Web Search Results Page

This is a snapshot from Google’s search results page, they continue to dominate as the most popular search engine and offer a wide range of advanced search options.

The search box is where you type the search phrase that you’re using and the menu above it can be used to choose a category that will narrow your search.

The sponsored results are advertisements that people have paid for and are separated from the main results that appear on the page.

The left navigation area offers additional tools, filters and search terms related to the one you’re using.

The search results that appear in the middle of the page represent relevant web pages and show the title, description and web address which is highlighted in a different colour.

Basic Web Search Tips

There are lots of ways to search the web and search engines are constantly working to provide more accurate results. Here are a few simple tips to help you get more accurate results.

1. Choose the most appropriate search term you can think of and as few words as possible. Use descriptive or unique words that help define what you’re looking for. Terms like ‘Corgi registered gas fitter’ or ‘vegetarian cat food’ state exactly what you’re after.

2. If you are using web search for something a bit more obscure use “quotation marks” around your phrase. This tells the search engine to return results of pages that use your phrase exactly the way you’ve written it.

3. Although Google and Yahoo currently dominate web search there are hundreds of other search engines that specialise on specific subjects. You can use web search to find these various search tools.

4. Look out for words that have more than one meaning. Combine them with descriptive words to get more accurate results. Words like brushes or wheels can have several meanings so be specific. For example ‘Acrylic paint brushes’ or ‘Alloy car wheels’

5. During the last couple of years search engines have been providing improved local web search features that make it easier to find local businesses. If your search is area specific add the town, city or village to your search term.

6. The use of Brand names and Company names will also help you to narrow your search and find results that are likely to be what you’re looking for.


We’ve come a long way since the days when the local phone book, Yellow Pages or the nearest library were the main resources for finding things. Web search has become a multi billion pound industry with the common theme of trying to make it easier for users to accomplish their tasks and get things done.

Will There Be a Mass Exodus?

Leaving Facebook at this stage might seem a bit extreme, but with a campaign calling for a mass exodus at the end of this month and the relationship between facebook and some of its business partners such as Zynga at an all time low, it does seem likely that more people will move away.

It is unlikely that the anticipated number of people leaving Facebook will slow down their quest for world domination but here’s some of the news from around the web.


Why I am leaving Facebook « Kevin Townsend

That is why I am leaving Facebook. If anyone were to ask my advice, I would have to suggest they do the same for reasons of privacy, civil liberties, and security; and a simple rejection of arrogance. If anyone wishes to connect with me …

Publish Date: 05/05/2010 15:31

http://kevtownsend.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/why-i-am-leaving-facebook/


Zynga games like Farmville may leave Facebook for Zynga Live …

So all of this begs the question . . . what if Zynga does leave Facebook and starts their own Facebook-like social media+games portal aka “Zynga Live”? Would that be enough to make YOU switch from Facebook to the Farmville-supported …

Publish Date: 05/14/2010 11:28

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2010/05/14/zynga-games-like-farmville-may-leave-facebook-for-zynga-live-social-gaming-network.htm


Facebook privacy settings: What you need to know

Facebook is making major changes to its privacy settings – giving you the opportunity to share your personal information with “everyone” on the internet. But is that wise?





Lisa Barone the Chief Branding Officer of Outspoken Media offers her take on the big debate!

By aribadler at 05/15/2010 12:55


Leave a comment to share your thoughts about Facebook and its privacy policy, especially any positive aspects which appear a little thin on the ground. Are you going to leave Facebook?

There are also people that seem to shy away from social media often because of misconceptions they have about the value of social media or sometimes due to irrational fears.

Understanding The Concept of Social Media

If you are still reading, and I know you are, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins has written a very good article about social media over at Mashable.com. He asks the question Just What is Social Media, Exactly?

In order to use social media effectively and attract a steady flow of paying customers you need to devise a strategy suitable for your brand and your target market. Whether you like it or not, your brand is public and more people will be attracted if your brand has a voice with personality.


In the past I’ve used a variety of avoidance techniques that have prevented me from learning how to use social media effectively. I’ve also made the big mistake of adopting the ‘fox in a chicken yard approach’ too!

Karl Havard who is the managing director of a company called Somatica Digital uses the release of one of Radiohead’s past albums as an example of how powerful social media advertising can be if it’s used correctly. He describes his top ten tips for brand engagement via social media in another good article.


The key to using social media to attract customers is to become a real member of a community. This means adding value, engaging in conversation, asking questions, answering questions and trying to reflect who you really are to people that you can help and also learn from. In this way you can generate interest in you and your brand which ultimately leads to a steady flow of paying customers


As always I’m keen to know your thoughts so tell me how you use social media to attract Potential customers. If you haven’t read the two articles above, you should.

It isn’t so long ago that some of us were laughing at the brave people who walked around carrying painfully large phones that were produced in the early days of the mobile. Well it doesn’t seem so funny now does it? Those people were actually ahead of the game.


If you use the internet regularly you’ve probably noticed that mobile web is evolving at lightning speed. It is estimated that by 2015 a large percentage of web search will come from mobile devices and this has implications for us all.


Business owners who plan to promote their company online, people who enjoy the convenience of e-commerce, web designers, music lovers, children (and some adults) who love games and those of us that use the web for search.

Mobile Web Development

Last year alone around 1.2 billion phones were sold and it seems as though mobile web phone providers are offering apps for just about anything. This has led to a massive growth in mobile web development, mobile web use and mobile data.

Most big internet companies have strong initiatives to promote mobile web development and as accessing the web via mobile devices becomes increasingly popular mobile web promises to bring a wealth of new opportunities.

At my web design company nbd we’ve been trying to get to grips with HTML5 and CSS implementations for mobiles as this fits well with our web standards background. There is plenty of choice for designers, in fact mobile web is so fragmented at the moment it takes some figuring out.

This fragmentation is largely due to the variety of different devices and operating systems being offered by competing companies. The success of apps for Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Nokia’s Ovi app store have made other operators realise that they need to compete and the rapid growth of mobile devices looks set to continue.

Mobile Web Trends

Current trends show that gender division among internet-enabled mobile devices has a clear tilt towards male usage with a high percentage of iPod touch users also under the age of 25. As the applications for business improve it seems likely that this tilt towards younger male users will spread to the older market.

If you are interested in the mobile application ecosystem you can find detailed reports at Distimo an innovative app store Analytics Company based in the Netherlands. They also offer a useful analytics tool for mobile developers that will allow you to compare the progress of app stores worldwide. Another good place to find analytics and data about current mobile web trends is at AdMob who are one of the world’s largest mobile advertising networks.

Whatever you think about accessing the web via mobile devices (and I’d like to hear), the growth of mobile web has certainly added another dimension to the web and looks like becoming a major part of our internet usage.

So why isn’t everyone using them?

Think about how you respond to large chunks of written content when you visit a web page. It’s probably not long before you stop reading and skip ahead in search of compelling headings. The chances are you’ve probably jumped ahead already without even reading this sentence.

Most site visitors avoid reading too much written content, instead preferring to scan through a page looking for instant gratification.

How Can The Use Of A Video Presenter Improve Your Website?

Video presenters are capable of:

1.Quickly engaging website visitors in a direct and dynamic way.

2.Delivering your message 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

3.Helping to improve site performance and encourage user interaction.

4.Demonsrating the functionality of your product(s) or service(s)

5.Helping to generate inquiries that are easier to convert into real customers.


These are just some of the benefits a video presenter can provide. As web video is the most popular and interactive media tool on the internet, the introduction of a presenter means that visitors are more inclined to find out what your site offers. The percentage of people likely to then proceed to a firm enquiry is empirically high.


If you found this useful you might want to read more about the benefits of using a  video presenter and how easily they can be added to your website.

It is the 20th anniversary of Photoshop and the recently released CS5 and CS5 Extended have an incredible range of new features to help photographers, print designers, video professionals, cross-media designers, Web designers and interactive designers. You name it, CS5 seems to have it.

Although Photoshop CS5 and CS5 Extended both represent terrific value, priced at around £467 and £668 respectively they might be a little bit out of some peoples reach.


There are two powerful alternatives to Photoshop that I can recommend, both available at no cost.

Gimp Image Editing Software

Gimp is a GNU image manipulating software that includes a large number of photo retouching and image editing tools. It has many of the functions associated with Photoshop and can be used across several platforms but on the downside can be more challenging to use.

Picasa Image Editing Software

Picasa is another powerful piece of software provided by Google. It can be used to manage and edit images, create slide shows and make movies. Although more limited than either Photoshop or Gimp it does offer a host of cool features and easy to use editing control that means there is much less of a learning curve.

There are a number of other alternatives to Photoshop but I doubt if you’ll find any that are free and better than these two at the moment, let me know if you do.

If so then the new Google AdWords Certification Programme could help you get better value for your money this way in the future.

PPC campaigns using AdWords or other major Pay Per Click services such as Microsoft adCenter or Yahoo Search Marketing can be a cost effective way to quickly drive targeted traffic to your site.

Mastering the techniques needed to make such campaigns cost effective can be quite a learning curve which is why many business owners choose to hire ‘experts’.


Google have announced today that they are replacing their AdWords Certification Program with a new improved version and aim to create a globally recognized stamp of approval for those who manage AdWords accounts.


The new Google AdWords Certification Program includes:

• New Training Materials
• Company Certification
• Individual Qualification
• More Challenging Certification Exams
• A redesigned Certified Partner badge

In theory this should improve standards and make it easier for advertisers to find people better qualified to manage AdWords campaigns. They will be able to evaluate the list of Google Certified Partners via Google Partner Search.

I’m sure many people will continue to fall victim to unscrupulous marketers who provide poor PPC management services, but at least this is a move to help more internet savvy business owners make a more informed decision.

Good web designers arn’t cheap but the one you know is really cheap and comes armed with a big portfolio of his past success.

He is adamant that he can get your site up and running quickly and seems confident he can soon have your site on the first page of Google.

As if this wasn’t enough, he’s throwing in a logo design, content management, e-commerce functionality, as many re-designs as it takes to make you happy.

And the real deal clincher, he will even take care of the ongoing site maintenance.

You haven’t discussed marketing in any great detail, but that doesn’t really matter because the masterpiece he’s about to create will attract its own visitors.

He plans to use a combination of striking images, colours and flash animation to make the site visible to your target market and he knows a way to announce the launch of your site to every search engine on the planet with the push of a few buttons.

As luck would have it he’s multi talented and once you’ve advised him of your written content requirements, he plans to craft some copy that sends your visitors wild with excitement as they scramble for the buy button.

Being fortunate enough to know such a guy you can more or less start counting the profits. That is of course if you live in cloud cuckoo land!

Just about anyone can learn to design a good looking website but there’s a big difference between someone who combines their basic knowledge of html and CSS with delusions of grandeur and web designers who can apply the right blend of skills needed to produce a professional site that will best accomplish a particular purpose. Look out for the man above and if you see him coming run.