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Google vs. Bing | Is There Really a Winner?

Joel Ellegood — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:48:52 +0000

Yes, I’ve seen the commercials. Bing has a lush background with waterfalls and sunsets. It’s a decision engine.

Google is the old pioneer of search with that boring white interface. It’s a search engine.

Is there really a difference? This is what I’ve been asking myself.

Now that Bing has taken over Yahoo Search, they’ve positioned themselves as a direct competitor to Google….instead of being “that other engine.” Google still holds the market share lead between the two.

Regardless of market share, world wide searches, t.v commercials or any other metric we can look at. Those aren’t important. There’s only one way to find out who wins this race: start searching.

For the sake of this article, I decided to search the phrase “google vs. bing.” I was sure to use quotations for phrase match for the most accurate listings.

Google Results

Search Listings: 1,780,000

I didn’t see any other listings such as videos, or blogs until I selected “More Options”

The first listing showed up as – www.bing-vs-google.com/….not surprising

The next two listings were from Mashable…two articles about google vs. bing. Since Mashable is a SEO haven, again, not surprised.

Bing Results:

Search Listings: 5,060,000

Bing suggested “google vs bing” videos without changing any additional settings.

Same top four listings as Google, even there’s about 4 million more results. This doesn’t mean anything since most people don’t go past page two, or in most cases, page one.

No “Wow Factor” like some suggest.

This mini test was not to prove one better over the other….I actually wanted to prove my own point. Bing is not a decision any more than Google is a better search engine than Bing. I don’t think we’ve quite came to the Web 3.0 Semantic Web generation yet…where the bots are deciding for us.

Nice try Microsoft.

How to do web development in your Mac

Arun2839 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:08:40 +0000

It’s been a long time since I wrote. Well, I’m back. Last week I switched from Windows 7 to Mac OS and the first thing I did was to set up a development environment (call it a localhost setup). It is necessary because we need to develop websites locally before uploading to the server. Besides, we need to keep working even when we’re not connected to the internet. Hence I started looking for a way to setup localhost.

There wasn’t much information available online so it took me quiet a long time to figure it out. I was using XAMPP setup for years and was happy to find a XAMPP for Mac. But once I installed it on Mac, I was disappointed to find the complications.

Every time I tried to run the servers, I kept getting an error message that said another MySQL server already running. After a few hours I discarded the idea of XAMPP. A friend suggested MAMP as an alternative, which worked like a charm!

The abbreviation “MAMP” stands for: Macintosh, Apache, Mysql and PHP. With just a few mouse-clicks, you can install Apache, PHP and MySQL for Mac OS X!

Here is my quick post on how I did it.

Download the MAMP installation here. Unless you want advanced options, go for the free basic version (it worked for me perfectly)
Extract the zip file and double click on the dmg file to mount the disk.
Once the MAMP icon is shown, drag it into the applications folder in your mac
Look for MAMP in spotlight/finder and run it from the applications folder.

Click on “Start Servers” link.

And you’re done! Now put any html/php file inside the /Applications/MAMP/htdocs folder and you can view it at http://localhost:8888/your-page-name. If you click on the “open start page” link in the MAMP control panel, you can see a page on your browser which has link to PHPMyAdmin. That’s where you create/edit/manage your databases.

In my next post, I’ll write how to setup a web development environment in a PC(Windows OS). Setting up popular content management systems like Wordpress & Joomla is easy. I’ll write about it in my upcoming posts.

Did you find this post useful? Did you face any difficulties in setting up localhost in Mac? Let me know in your comments and I’ll do my best to help you. Cheers!

5 Winning Tips on Getting RSS Subscribers For Your Blog

Joel Ellegood — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:23:32 +0000

Many times when starting a new blog, people have this “if I build it they will come philosophy.” Well, this is true to a certain extent.

Post enough content and you’ll pull in some traffic through the search engines.

Keep posting and eventually there will be steady stream (no guarantee of how large or small) of visitors arriving daily. If this is your goal, than so be it.

I do have one question. Is this the end game you have in mind…a mediocre blog with limited reach dedicated to targeting the search engine walk walk ins?

Of course not! That’s why you’re on Meta Fever (even if it’s by chance) trying to educate yourself. There are a number of ways you can go about pulling in more traffic and gaining influence with your readership: one of these is attracting followers via RSS (Really Simple Syndication.)

For those of you who know what that is, I’ve compiled a guide of the top 5 ways to finding new RSS subscribers for your blog.

# 1 – If You Got it, Flaunt It – Yep I said it. Do exactly what the old saying says. Too many times bloggers forget to stick their RSS sign up prompt or icon above the fold, letting readers know this option is available. Should you be displaying ads, newsletter sign ups or RSS….if you want readers to know it’s there, stick it at the top of the page!

# 2 – A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – Yes, you can go crazy posting buttons and images all of your blog. In some cases it will start looking more like a Nascar than a website; buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, MySpace are everywhere. But, when it comes to RSS start by using the standard RSS looking buttons. Just Google “rss button” if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

# 3 – RSS What? If you’re not writing for Tech Crunch or Nerd World, the truth is a lot of people don’t know anything about RSS. Odds are some of you reading this post don’t know what it is. That’s OK. When writing on a non-tech or online marketing related subject, I would reccomend writing a post or having a link explaining RSS, and how it will make blog reading more efficient. Don’t stick a button up there just because you see other blogs doing it. Writing a post explaining the concept will also help build trust with your readers. It shows you care. And, I hope that’s the case.

# 4 – Give The Feed Equal Rights: Of course not all communication is created equal, but start including your feed in forum posts and e-mail newsletters (should you have one.) Even if the reader doesn’t know what it is, it will prompt a measure of curiosity and, who knows, they may Google it and hop on the bandwagon. If you have business cards, include your RSS URL…put it right along side anything you would normally stick the root URL on.

# 5 – Paid Advertisement: I’ve heard stories where bloggers have spent a couple bucks on Ad Words campaigns touting their RSS feeds. It worked too! Someone who becomes a subscriber to your blog is more likely to be a loyal reader. To avoid wasting money you want to clarify in the ad they are clicking on an RSS feed..and watch what happens. This is not only unique (not many would risk it), but it allows people to avoid the normal clutter associated with some sites.

I hope the above tips point you in the right direction on your quest to build RSS readership. As always, should you have any comments, questions or life confessions…please feel free to drop me a line.

Good Luck!

The Value of Content Takes on New Meaning

Joel Ellegood — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:35:12 +0000

By now I’m sure you’ve heard of eHow or Cracked and quite possibly Golf Link. These are all subsidiaries of mega content producing giant (wow that’s a mouthful) Demand Media.

Basically, Demand specializes in creating online content (comedy, how to articles, training videos) at the cheapest possible price. Essentially, they are the Wal-Mart of online content production.

When deciding which content to produce, they don’t have a bunch of editors sitting in a smoked filled room mulling over topics…instead, a state of the art algorithm is utilized to review traffic patterns, hot search trends and keyword bid rates. Besides interpreting the data, this process all but removes the human element out of subject selection.

The key part about Demand’s business model is what I want to take a close look at. Even though you can develop a software and world class system to pick the topics, someone or something has to create it, right? In this case it’s a someone. Most of Demand’s someone’s (or better known as freelancers) earn up to $15.00 per article, and $20 per video…with other contributors participate in their revenue sharing program based on ad sales.

I think it’s a scary thing to see how much content has been devalued. And, I know these aren’t New York Times quality op-ed columns Demand is trying to produce. The user demands quick answers, which, in turn, demands quick replies (content).

The state of today’s content can easily be paralleled with today’s food industry. Yes, when driving down your city’s main drag you’ll see McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Red Robin (any mass produced food you can think of)…but, drive a little further and there’s a Macaroni Grill, drive some more and you may spot an Olive Garden hang on a little longer and, what do ya know, Ruth Chris Steakhouse.

Here’s the lesson: hamburgers will never be a substitute for the people who want steaks. As long as some want steaks.

Neither will Demand Media take the place of Politico or the Wall Street Journal. There will always be a group of people who want more. Don’t think for a second these companies will take the place of thoughtful commentary…and turn all content in a vat of fried grease.

Still, the market has to demand it. If everything turns into a Tweet or a Wall Post than, heck, if that’s what society wants…let em’ have it. I heard someone say once, “people choose their own reality.”

Now that I’ve mentioned the negative aspects of the New Content Society. I will say this. I thank God for a quick answer when I need it. Thank God for Wikipedia or eHow when I want some stupid fact fast. And, I may be stretching it when I say these mediums will replace the troughs of integrity reporting. But, the care and diligence taken to fact check and compile information, I think, has began to dwindle.

This “if a blog says it, I must believe it” mentality has overtaken many. Of course, Meta Fever is a totally different story.

I do know this.

If the only people vetting the government and keeping big business in check are the freelancers who get paid $15 / an article, as the Beatles so eloquently said, Let It Be.

Paid Backlinks DIY SEO

Michael Smith — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:02:49 +0000

Everyone need backlinks for their website!

I have spent the last 4 months working with a top notch development team to produce www.PaidBacklinks.com and now the moment has finally come that PaidBacklinks.com is live.

PaidBacklinks.com is special because I see it DIY SEO tool that will help build much needed one-way backlinks to your site. If you don’t know backlinks are the fuel of search engine optimization.

PaidBacklinks.com allows you to effortlessly boost your search engine ranking and acquire relevant one-way backlinks spread across multiple Class A-B-C IP’s addresses.

At the core of the PaidBacklinks.com system is a massive blog network that grows by leaps and bounds each day. Currently there are 2,000 individual blogs with almost 200,000 individual pages.

The best part is all the links placed are do follow links, so the links help kick the search engine spider into action ultimately resulting in faster indexing and better rankings.

Every user gets to try 10 free backlinks so it’s a no risk sign up to see the technology live and in action.

Let me know what you think!

Now Go Get Backlinks!

Twitter Continues to Spur Hati Relief Effort

Joel Ellegood — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:58:40 +0000

Not only does Twitter help you keep track of your latest lunch cravings or shopping rampages, but now it can be said the popular social networking tool saves lives.

With users ranging from civilian volunteers and military personal, Twitter has played a large role in helping connect victims and survivors with family members around the globe. Within hours of the quake, developers created applications to track missing people (which can be updated in real time) and to map the disaster.

One of the best examples is the ability to send live updates of when relief is coming, and the current situation facing rescue works. Check out this Tweet from some volunteers on the ground: “Can see an aircraft carrier, presumably the Vinson, heading in towards PAP [Port-au-Prince],” they wrote. “Should be there soon.”

Another example is the ability for charities like World Vision to communicate their progress: http://twitpic.com/yvdqo Moment of joy. 2 girls came up & smiled at me nervously, looking at my camera & laughing -Steve, WVStaff in#haiti.

Some of the other major Twitter users on the ground include, @RAMHaiti, @tilionel and @carelpedre. Feel free to follow them, I’m sure they would be grateful.

Some Other Notable Tweets From the Front Lines:

fighthunger, #Haiti Update: another earthquake of 6.1 on the Richter scale this morning – the largest aftershock since Tuesday http://wfp.org/haiti

RT @CRSNews CRS Haiti reports everything “ok” at operations base after 6.1 aftershock this morning http://ow.ly/YAbB

WorldVisionUSA,http://twitpic.com/yve23 They r the reason I do this work. They break my heart when I c them in dire circumstances -Steve, WVStaff in #haiti

MSF_USA PL RT @CNN #Doctors Without Borders desperately needs meds on planes being diverted from #Haiti http://bit.ly/8wRkD8

hopeforhaiti, Here are our priorities: 1. Get the people back to their homes 2. Fix the clinic and reopen it–this should take… http://bit.ly/8egKKB

Now that Google is posting live Twitter updates, one can see responses roll in by searching, “twitter hati updates.”

As you can see, a week after the quake volunteers are still working to get relief in the hardest hit areas….and the 6.1 aftershock has not helped matters either.

For databases and tools to keep track of missing people, and to see geotargeted relief efforts, you can use apps like PersonFinder, or visit HaitianQuake.com, and some are using Open Street Map.

And, of course you can donate $10 by texting Give10 to 20222…this campaign is sponsored by Direct Relief International. A one-time charge of $10 will be added to your phone bill, or deducted from your pre-paid balance.

Bing Promises To Clean User Data After 6 Months

Michael Smith — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:36:41 +0000

Bing is looking better and better every day and now that they are promising to purge their user data every 6 months makes them even more appealing.

Yesterday I posted cartoon parody about the Google Toilet which comically depicts the intrusion that Google has in our lives. As my wife watched the video late last night she remarked, “it’s funny, but true.” I shook my head in agreement and we moved on for the evening.

So today when I saw the announcement that Bing was purging its user data after 6 months I was intrigued immediately.

The request for Microsoft / Bing came from the an advisory board in the E.U.

Hendrik Speck, a professor of computer science at the University of Applied Sciences in Germany noted that “Google and other engines are starting to realize that consumers around the world are placing an increasing value on privacy and that can have business consequences.”

Harry Reid and the Online Ad Attack

Joel Ellegood — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:07:53 +0000

The 2008 Presidential election changed the political landscape forever. Not only did we see a historical election unfold, with a Cinderella candidate if there ever was one…but, the Obama campaign harnessed something more powerful and effective than anyone had ever seen: the online ad

Yes, Howard Dean was one of the first to pioneer the online grassroots approach, however, the Obama Campaign shattered all records raising over a half a billion dollars in the 21 month contest. Of course running ads and receiving online donations are entirely different things. Still, the rise of online campaign activity will be the largest medium for candidates to express their message.

Just ask Senate Majority Leader, (D-NV) Harry Reid.

After making what some seem to think as racially insensitive statements about Barack Obama, you would think things couldn’t get worse for this guy.

Think Again.

If you’ve spent any considerable time on news and opinion sites the past few weeks, I’m sure you’ve seen The Great Reid’s picture plastered everywhere.

Slogans like, “Kick Harry Reid Out of Office” have heated up since his” off the record” comments surfaced. Even though the Democratic Primary is not till June, by his opponents have increase hoping to gain some momentum…especially after the recent events.

Other ads spotted around cyberspace include, “Defeat Harry Reid Once & For All,” and “Tark” wants to “Retire Harry Reid.” (Referring to his primary opponent Danny Tarkanian.)

Should Ted Kennedy’s former seat fall back to the Republicans in today’s election, that will be another problem for Reid to deal with…it will result in a lost of his super majority in the senate. That’s another conversation.

Also, when you Google, “Nevada Senate Race,” text ads by opponents are also being displayed.

From a online marketer perspective, any online advertising a candidate can do will beat out TV advertising 10 fold. If you could reach someone looking for information on the Nevada Senate Race, not only is this a cheap method…but this visitor is far more likely to sign up for updates or make a monetary contribution.

The Obama campaign used similar methods to refute claims tying him with terrorist Bill Ayers, and groups saying he couldn’t produce a valid birth certificate.

I haven’t seen any ads from the Reid campaign disputing the claims made about the Senator. As the race heats up, and it becomes clear re-election will be no walk in the park…you should expect to see all news and political sites plastered with them. Not only going on the offensive, but countering existing claims.

Gelaskins.com DIY iPhone Skins

Michael Smith — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:37:47 +0000

A good friend introduced GelaSkins.com to me over the weekend. What is Gelaskins.com you ask? It’s a great place where you can upload your own artwork, photos, or choose from pre set designs / artwork and get a custom skin for your iPhone.

GelaSkins doesn’t just customize skins for your iPhone, but they have templates for over 30+ different cell phones, iPod and various MP3 players, Laptops, gaming controllers (I am thinking a cool COD skin here), and even your Kindle.

The interface is easy to use. To create a custom skin just for you click “Create Your Own > Start A New Project” and you are taken to a page where you can then select a device.

Next choose your art (upload from your hard drive) and then lay it out.

I did use GelaSkins (and purchased) an amazing MetaFever.com custom iPhone skin.

One really appealing element is that they take paypal.com. I don’t know about you, but I hate reaching for my wallet to whip out a credit card.

The cost is $14.95 for a custom iPhone skin and then $3.95 for their basic shipping (takes 15 days). That brought the total to a whopping $18.90 for a really cool custom skin for my iPhone.

Google Toilet?

Michael Smith — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:28:24 +0000

Worried about Google invading your personal life? So are we, I wanted to share this satirical video a friend shared about the Google toilet.

MetaFever.com

Google vs. Bing | Is There Really a Winner?

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