Mozilla CEO: Ties with Google 'complicated' since Chrome

December 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Mozilla Corp. has a "reasonable" relationship with longtime partner Google Inc., but it's gotten complicated since Google launched its own browser, according to Mozilla's chief executive.

"We have a fine and reasonable relationship," John Lilly, Mozilla's CEO, said in an interview last week. "But I'd be lying if I said that things weren't more complicated than they used to be."

Responding to questions about Mozilla's take on the upswing in browser competition, Lilly also knocked another rival, Microsoft Corp., for dismissing attempts to boost browser performance as merely a "drag race."

"It's a pretty good time to be a browser user," said Lilly. "There are more smart people hacking on browsers than in a long time. But when I hear Dean [Hachamovitch, general manager of Microsoft's Internet Explorer] say JavaScript performance is for crazy guys to worry about, then that worries me."

[ Read Entire Article ]

100 top sites for the year ahead

The online world has changed dramatically even since we last drew up a list of 100 useful sites in December 2006. In the interim, there has been a revival of the browser wars - with Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari making surprising inroads into the Windows monopoly, and offering a new vision of what browsing can be like.

Many of the sites listed here were not available when we did our last list; although longevity is a mark of pride online, it is difficult for companies set up in the 1990s to reinvent themselves quickly enough to take advantage of new technologies. Although of course rapid change brings casualties too: it's possible that with all the economic turbulence going on that some of the sites here won't be around in a year from now, or that their now free services will have become paid-for. That doesn't diminish their usefulness, though; it just underlines their determination to survive.

...

So here are our 100 revised best sites to see you through the next couple of years. They're organised roughly along those lines.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Stress Busting Help from Applecore Interactive

It's that time of the year again, when everyone seems to have a little more stress in their lives than usual. Well, we have a remedy for you! Check out the following ten very addictive and interactive online games, including several from Applecore Interactive:

1. Core Pong
   
2. Snapper De-Stresser
3. Drum Kit
4. Air Balls
   
5. Sand Pile
6. Make Simple Music
7. Bubble Wrap
   
8. Three Dimension Stress Release
9. Tom and Jerry
10. Brain Wave
    

Applecore Interactive Celebration

Highlights from the Applecore Interactive celebration - new brand launch, ISO 9001:2000 certification and 10 years in business!

Top 10 Most Overhyped Tech Products

Blogs gush about them. PR campaigns blow millions on them. News anchors announce their arrival like they’re members of state. And the rest of us suffer when they utterly fail to deliver. They’re overhyped tech products, and unfortunately, we’ve run across quite a few of them through the years. Here are a few of our favorites… or at least, the ones we most bitterly remember.

Segway Personal Transporter

SegwayBy the way its inventor Dean Kamen and folks like Steve Jobs (who seems to have a blessing for hyperbole) talked this thing up, you would have believed it was the solution to all the world’s problems. And some people did. But instead of defying gravity, producing limitless energy or any of the other things people had dreamed up for “IT,” the thing basically, well , moved. Like an electric wheelchair. But standing up. Guess we’ll have to wait a few years for Kamen’s fusion reactor.

Palm Foleo

Before the Asus Eee hit the states and shook up the market for ultra-portable, low-cost PCs, Palm was building up the same concept with its Foleo PC. In theory, it had a number of concrete features that push it to the front of the pack, including zero boot time, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a full QWERTY keyboard. We say in theory, because the Foleo went off radar during the summer it was supposed to debut, then finally slipped beneath the waves for good when Palm formally announced its death in September. Thanks for getting our hopes up.

[ Read Entire Article ]

10 Futuristic Concept Laptop Designs

Technology grows too fast and to keep ourselves synchronized with the modern trends, we must take into account every progress whether that may be of past or of the future.

Compiled below is a list of the most futuristic concept laptop designs, some of which have won achievement awards while the rest are just too cool to know about.

Take a look and let us know which one of these do you think will most likely embrace reality in coming times.

1. Canova Dual Screen Laptop



[ Read Entire Article ]

Applecore Interactive Demo Reel

A taste of some of the award winning work that Applecore Interactive has produced over the years.

The new Applecore Interactive!

The new Applecore Interactive homepage has launched!

Check out our Creativity, Strategy and Technology at www.applecore.ca

Juggling Instructions

1. Start with two balls, one in each hand. Throw a ball from one hand to the other in an arc type toss.

2. When the ball reaches its highest point throw the next ball in a similar arc such that their paths do not cross.

3. Continue juggling until you are comfortable. Then start with two balls in your strong hand and the last ball in the other hand. Using the same directions above throw one ball from your strong hand up in an arc. When the first ball reaches its peak, toss the ball from your other hand. When that ball reaches its peak toss the third ball. At this point you should have already caught the first ball. Continue in this pattern throwing the balls back and forth.

4. A tip: when you do start with three balls, don’t worry so much about catching the balls as focusing on throwing them at the right time in a nice arc.

Statistics that will blow your mind

Apple’s 2008 Fiscal Q4 was one of the best quarters in Apple’s history posting revenue of $7.9 billion and net profit of $1.14 billion. A total of 6,892,000 iPhones and 11,052,000 iPods were sold during the quarter…which is more iPhones than every previous quarter combined (6.1 million) and the most iPods ever sold in a non-holiday quarter.
www.technologyexpert.blogspot.com

August 26, 2008 Mark Zuckerberg founder and CEO of Facebook announced they had hit a huge milestone: 100,000,000 people around the world are now using Facebook. www.facebook.com

Blogs allow millions of people to easily publish and share their ideas, and millions more to read and respond. They engage the writer and reader in an open conversation, and are shifting the Internet paradigm as we know it. There are over 175,000 new blogs every day and bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day…or over 18 updates a second. www.technoratimedia.com

A web server survey for October 2008 indicates that there are 182,226,259 websites online, which reflects growth of 948,000 over September 2008. www.newsnetcraft.com

Q. How many emails are transmitted daily around the world?
A. About 1.2 billion are sent from non-spam sources. If you count the spam/phishing ones, it’s about 75% more…or 2.1 billion daily. www.wikianswers.com

It is estimated that YouTube consumed as much bandwidth last year as the entire Internet in 2000; and that over 13 hours of video are uploaded every minute. In March of this year, bandwidth costs were estimated at approximately $1 million a day. In April of this year, there were more than 83 million videos on YouTube. www.wikipedia.org

Can you juggle!?

???

1-800-GOOG-411

http://www.google.ca/goog411/

The First Interactive Election in History

With the flurry following the election results of the past week, it's no wonder that many industry insiders are pointing out the importance of social media in Barack Obama's campaign. These snapshots of social media stats, taken Nov. 3, 2008, show the figures behind each candidate's online standing:

Facebook

Obama: 2,379,102 supporters
McCain: 620,359 supporters

Obama has 380% more supporters than McCain

MySpace

Obama: Friends: 833,161
McCain: Friends: 217,811

Obama has 380% more supporters than McCain

YouTube

Obama: 1792 videos uploaded since Nov 2006, Subscribers: 114,559 (uploads about 4 a day), Channel Views: 18,413,110
McCain: 329 videos uploaded since Feb 2007 Subscribers: 28,419, (uploads about 2 a day), Channel Views: 2,032,993

Obama has 403% more subscribers than McCain
Obama has 905% more viewers than McCain

Twitter

Obama: @barackobama has 112,474 followers
McCain: @JohnMcCain (is it real?) 4,603 followers

Obama has 240 times more followers in Twitter than McCain

[Stats taken from the Web Strategy Blog by Jeremiah.]

Even just glancing at these statistics make it clear that Obama dominated the social media stratosphere. And given that the 2008 election had a record turnout, with media coverage that looked more like the Oscar pre-show, it seems clear that using this kind of platform grants access to a wide, diverse group of individuals who are ready and willing to listen.

There's a lesson about the future of interactive marketing in all this. The success of the Obama campaign, and its seamless integration of social media with other, more traditional campaign tactics, serve as a excellent reminder of the growing importance of social media, and how many companies must learn to embrace these new trends if they want to get their message heard, like Obama...or be left behind surrounded by unheard, mixed messages like McCain.

It’s a celebration!

Applecore Interactive has successfully passed the QMI external audit and has been officially recommended for ISO 9001:2000 certification!

We are the first company of our kind in Newfoundland & Labrador to receive this designation, and join a very elite list of web design companies across Canada and North America with the ISO 9001:2000 certification.

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ISO (International Organization for Standardization) - http://www.iso.org/
ISO 9001:2000 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9000
QMI – SAI Global - http://www.qmi.com/registration/iso9001/

Ocean View Hotel

Located ideally inside Gros Morne National Park, the Ocean View Hotel (http://www.theoceanview.ca/) was in the process of reinventing itself as the premier accommodations of Rocky Harbour, NL, making the change from motel to hotel and incorporating a complete re branding. With its prime location and excellent record of service, the hotel needed a website re-design that would better reflect their fresh new image. The upgrade involved an elegant, more professional interface, a content overhaul and the development of an online booking system that would ease their guest’s ability to plan their stay.

You can check out the finished product here.

Using Annotations in YouTube Media

YouTube has long been a major centre of social media for organizations.

This year they unveiled Annotations, an interactive way for users to be engaged throughout their videos. Any videos uploaded by an organization contain the ability to display speech bubbles, notes, tags, or links to other YouTube videos as per that organization’s wishes. These Annotations can be dynamically placed anywhere on the viewing area of the movie for any desired duration. This presents a greater ability to inform or reach viewers.

More than just the added benefit of informing viewers, this new service provides the ability for users to completely interact with the video they are watching. For example:


In this video, the viewer is actually able to play the game and select an outcome.

Possibly one of the best features of this added service to YouTube is its ease of control. To edit Annotations go to the Edit video page or My Videos page as shown below and click “Annotations” under the listed video.



This will bring you to a page with four Annotations options, (Speech Bubble, Note, Spotlight, and Pause Annotation), a panel for editing your Annotations, and a preview video.



The owner of the video is able to drag Annotations around on their video, change the duration of the Annotations, and even insert links from that Annotation to a relevant YouTube video, like with the Shell Game video above.

Types of Annotations

Speech Bubble – This should be pretty self-explanatory. It is a speech bubble you can place in a video to make figures in that video look like they are saying something to the audience.

Note – This is for describing the video or providing a tidbit of information relevant to the video.

Spotlight – This works similar to tagging systems in photo galleries. The owner of a video can put a highlightable box over any figures in the video and when the viewer hovers over that box they see who or what is in that frame.

Pause Annotation – This will pause the video for any duration of your choice. A pause timer will appear on the video to allow the viewer to gauge how long the video will be paused for. This can be done to provide time for the viewer to read text or select a link.

Online Video Market Evolves, Begins Morphing Into New 'Storytelling' Device

YouTube and related technologies alerted the marketing world to a powerful new tool that speaks to the heart of what marketing has always been about: the art of conversation between brand and client. Applecore has always operated from the philosophy that in order to mobilize audiences or change behaviour, as a marketer it has to target hearts and minds – cognitive and emotive – simultaneously. Online video has provided us with one of the most effective methods of achieving this.

In a world of keyword clouds and content searches video has been standing in the back row, depending on clever content creators to direct traffic to the magical movie. Video tagging and content-rich descriptions are the beginning of overcoming this minor hurdle. In short, video is changing, video makes for powerful conversation and online video is growing.

At the recent OMMA Video conference in Los Angeles, the following article was released:

A year or so after the online video advertising marketplace emerged in earnest, experts on both sides of the table say it remains a vital but messy, complicated and often difficult-to-evaluate business--although it clearly is the future of what Madison Avenue has historically considered its dominant, persuasive advertising medium: television. Those were the conclusions of speakers and panelists participating in the OMMA Video conference here on Wednesday...

[ Read Entire Article ]

Economic Uncertainty? Grow Out Of It!

Depressed along with the markets? Don’t be—it’s time to grow out of this crisis and into your next opportunity.

At a recent conference in Seoul, Sir Richard Branson said, “There are enormous opportunities when there is a crisis. In a situation like this, it’s absolutely essential to conserve cash. I think companies that do have cash owe it to their country and the people in the company to actually invest that cash in order to grow out of the crisis.”

Obviously our entrepreneurial solutions of the past 8 years got us to this point, so why wouldn’t the same tricks turn things around? The cowardly response is to cut: cut staff, cut training, cut marketing or anything else that would allow only the bare bones of an operation to continue.

The creative mind looks for opportunity.

Internet marketing offers a creative way to thrive in a crisis. Search engine marketing allows you to say exactly what you want to say to whom you would like. You reach a highly motivated person looking for your solution. and can additionally measure every result and change mid-stream if it fails to show results. If they don’t play, you don’t pay.

Invest in your website’s content management system (CMS) : By creating a CMS you take control of your content. No delay at the marketing department, the designer, the printer or publisher. You say what you need to say immediately. The cost? Only your time.

Online video has become the tool of the masses. Created with any variety of technology—a cell phone, a pocket camera or, if you like, a high definition camcorder with studio lights— and edited on the fly. Continue the brand conversation with your audience in the social web-o-sphere – on your website, YouTube, Facebook, Google Video. The opportunities are endless.

If you're worried about rivals poaching your clientele, you have an advantage: you already know your customer. Continue the conversation online through e-marketing. You control this distribution channel and the cost is minimal. All these online marketing endeavours are measurable, they are flexible, lean and nimble.

Still asking ‘why?’ Maybe you should try asking ‘Why not?’

In tough economic times, you’ll see some of your competition disappear. That’s only natural: in Branson’s words, the best always survive in a crisis. It is time to find the ‘E’ in creative, and outlast them all.

Using Social Media to Reach People Who Don't Use Social Media

1. Develop Relationships with People Who Bridge The Gap Inside Other Organizations

You may want to target senior executives, older people or others who just aren't very likely to read your blog posts, Twitter messages, etc. but chances are - those people have co-workers, family and others in their lives who would.

2. Use Web 2.0 Tools to Learn About Real Life Public Events

There may or may not be relevant events in your field that are attended by non-social media users and are listed on sites like Upcoming.org and Eventful.com. It's worth a look and worth subscribing to the RSS feeds for those searches.

3. Make Your Blog an Email Newsletter and Promote it Elsewhere

If your target audience doesn't read blogs or participate in social networks, they probably do like email. This is an easy thing to do and can prove quite effective for non-technical audiences if framed in a non-threatening way.

4. Look Harder, Your Audience Probably is Using Social Media That You Aren't Aware Of

There were 5 billion videos watched on YouTube just by people in the US in July. There are people in your industry using LInkedIn, we guarantee it. Where are people talking about you or your industry online?

5. Use the Internet to Make Yourself Smarter In Real Life

The best way to use social media to reach people who don't use social media is probably just to use social media to kick more ass. You may be the only person in a meeting that reads blogs (unlikely, really) but that doesn't have to be what people notice; the fact that you know more, sooner, about your shared interests (as a result of reading blogs) well will be a big help.

[ Read Entire Article ]

How tough times will boost online marketing

Kelsey Group, a search and directory research firm, is predicting a boom in online marketing by home- and trade-services businesses. Today, just 33% of these businesses have Web sites, but Kelsey says that will nearly double by 2010. "Web sites will be viewed as a cost-effective alternative; a channel that didn't make sense in a booming market will fast become a necessity," the firm said in a news release. It suggests home-services businesses pay attention to consumer referral and community sites like Angie's List and ServiceMagic.

[ Read Entire Article ]

The Five Biggest Digital Marketing Cliches

Once upon a time -- say, 2002 -- digital spending was a negligible portion of total marketing budgets and we lived in a world where few marketers would dare go "beyond the banner." Fast-forward to 2008, and in some cases we have the opposite problem. Digital spending is still too low, but in the spirit of wanting to appear current, some marketers have rushed to embrace any and every new digital tactic.

This has resulted in a scenario where some digital tactics are dangerously close to "jumping the shark." Everyone is doing them, so they're not original anymore. They generally are not done well (i.e., in a way that builds brand equity, awareness or sales), and they may be so commonplace that rather than making a brand seem current or hip, they have the opposite effect.

Here are my top five:

The Social Network Page
The offense: In 2006 every brand had to have a MySpace page; now they have an equally urgent need for a Facebook page. The result is usually the equivalent of an online ad hidden within the vast reaches of a social network, adding little value to consumers or the brand.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Why you can't afford to stay dumb about SEO

Entrepreneur Anita Campbell, who launched a media and information service, says her business success depends on customers finding her Web site, so she has had to become an expert in search-engine optimization. Even if you hire SEO consultants it pays to learn the basics, she says. At the same time, don't be afraid to spend money on Web professionals to improve your marketing and sales. She wishes she had.

[ Read Entire Article ]

How Much Do Top Bloggers Make?

The media world is changing and its jobs are changing too. The rise of the blogger is an often-told story, but are the lucky few bloggers who do it for a living well paid? We did a survey to find out.

We asked 20 top-tier tech bloggers and social media consultants to tell us how much they get paid, by the post, by the hour or by the month - however their rates are set. Half of them told us, on the condition that we wouldn't disclose who they were or where they worked.

The end result is an anecdotal overview of what some of the top tech bloggers and social media consultants are making. These aren't the founders of big blogs, these are their employees and people who get work writing, doing trainings or consulting for tech companies.

There are a handful of people in tech blogging that make even more than this but the vast majority of people who get paid to blog get paid far less. To be honest we have no idea what it's like outside the Web 2.0 world. (Honestly, is it raining?) We hope that no one will be too angry with us if these numbers lead their employees to feel newly shortchanged and protest. These folks are at the top of their field.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Corporate Blogging for Self Defense

I have recently been discussing with clients and the blogosphere why it is important for companies to author blogs.

This evening, in lieu of the last week of economic turmoil on Wall Street, I did a quick search on Google for the term, "CEO".

The top articles returned were very negative in nature. What can a company do to counter the onslaught of negative press and foster an image of customer service and relations?

Step one: set aside a tiny amount of your marketing or public relations budget to start and maintain a blog.

Step two: discuss relevant corporate issues and bring your customers and concerned interests one step closer to the board room.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Windows 7: Microsoft's secret weapon against Google

October 27, 2008 (Computerworld) With the first public alpha release of Windows 7 due today at the Microsoft PDC2008 conference, the outline of the new operating system is taking shape. What you won't see when that alpha comes out is the way that Microsoft will try to use Windows 7 as a Trojan horse in its war against Google.

Google's domination of the search market continues unabated, but Microsoft hasn't given up on it. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently said that his company is willing to lose "5% to 10% of total operating income for several years" to fund its ongoing attempt to make inroads into the search market. Much more than search is at stake. Google wants to replace Microsoft's desktop-based applications, such as Office, with its cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs.

So where does Windows 7 come in? What new features can Microsoft possibly introduce that will help it overtake Google in search and retain its domination of productivity software such as Office?

Microsoft's secret weapon in Windows 7 is not what features the operating system has, but instead what features it doesn't have. Microsoft is stripping Windows 7 of some of Windows' best built-in applications, and it's making them available only as downloads on its Windows Live site.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Avalon Dental

Found in the bustling centre of the Avalon Mall, local dentistry office Avalon Dental (www.avalondental.ca) wanted to increase their online presence by developing a welcoming, informative website. The challenge lay in creating a website that matched their state-of-the-art facilities, which included designing their logo, as well as developing an appointment request system, a functional Q&A and a comprehensive list of services. The result was an intuitive, streamlined interface that was easy to navigate and put the focus on what mattered: their business.

Have a look at what came out of our collaboration.

Ever wonder if your website is what is considered “user-friendly”?

Ever wonder if your website is what is considered "user-friendly"?

Well, this simple checklist should be right up your alley. Tackling key points like website navigation, content, branding, and testing, it’ll give you great insight into how to make sure your online home has a lasting impact on its users.

Interact with us if you’re ready to take the next step in maximizing your user experience and virtual relationship!

Attention Internet shoppers: Retailers are sharpening their hooks

Shoppers, start your search engines! You are about to be presented with a whole range of new websites, products and systems designed to get you shopping online.

E-commerce is growing by leaps and bounds, in Canada and internationally, which is one of the reasons why next week, world leaders in e-commerce will gather in Amsterdam for the first Global e-commerce Summit. In fact, in a tightening economy, e-commerce is seen by many as a way to keep people shopping by offering convenience and, ideally, lower prices.

With a decade or so of experience under their belts, retailers are now working to improve the online shopping experience in at least four ways -- product, price, service and payment -- and in so doing entice more Canadians to spend their money at online stores.

Online shopping, for Canadians, has often meant cross-border shopping. Many of the bigshopping websites were American, and we had to deal not only with shipping issues but also customs formalities.

U.S. retailers have begun to respond by setting up shop here. One example is Newegg.com, an online retailer of electronics and household appliances. Their all-Canadian website, Newegg.ca, went live this month.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Google Earth brings virtual tourism to iPhone

SAN FRANCISCO--Google already has customized some of its Web sites for display on the iPhone, but now the company also dived headlong onto Apple's highly regarded mobile phone with a full-fledge application, a handheld version of its Google Earth geographical software.

Google Earth lets people virtually fly around a 3D view of the world made from satellite and aerial imagery mapped onto the planet's mountains and valleys. The iPhone version reproduces this core experience, downloading imagery from Google's servers as the perspective shifts and dotting the map with landmarks, photos, and other information.

"The idea of having Earth on a mobile device is something people dreamed of back to the Keyhole days and before," said Peter Birch, Google Earth's product manager, referring to the satellite imagery company Google acquired in 2004. "This is the first opportunity we've had to be able to deliver a great experience."

[ Read Entire Article ]

Google for Webmasters Tutorial: Ranking

Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond

Steve Outing wrote a very good article at Editor and Publisher on Friday about the need for cultural change inside the newpapers around the US (found via the wonderful CyberJournalist.net). That article got me thinking that people in many different industries probably hear many of the same objections to new, social media and online tools. ("It takes too much time, conversations online are insipid" etc.)

I decided to make a list of the Top 10 Objections to New Online Tools and What You Can Say in Response. I surveyed my nearly 1300 friends on Twitter and got all kinds of thoughtful replies.

Below is that list; I hope you'll find it useful and leave comments helping to extend the conversation further. In my mind I'm thinking of everything from RSS and wikis to Twitter, Facebook and blogging. Online tools that leverage social connections.

Last month we wrote about an initiative called The Working Group where people trying to bring about innovation in big companies. Many readers probably know about Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang's fantastic blog, where he explains social media in a business context, often in a format you can take directly to the boss. There are lots of different resources available online to help the intrepid early adopter and I hope this list will be one of them.

[ Read Entire Article ]

A Guide to Business Development 2.0

At least once each day I get a call from someone trying to sell me outsourced development services. It's difficult to not be frustrated with these calls and it is increasingly hard to be polite, because they come so frequently. Yet, more than frustrated, I am just puzzled. Does this tactic still work? Who in this day and age would give business based on a cold call? These companies could definitely use a dose of business development 2.0.

Because of these calls, for a while I have been thinking about the impact of the modern age on business development. In the good old days, it all boiled down to the salesmen with the big rolodexes who could close the deal. But clearly, the rules have changed. How does business development work this days? What makes sense and what does not? In this post we take a look.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Is Your Snazzy New Site Cloaked in Invisibility?

Imagine spending millions of dollars to come up with an amazing product, then cloaking it for invisibility. Perhaps the U.S. military can find good reason to do that, but for any company hoping to capture major market share, invisibility is tantamount to business suicide.

So why is it then that so many bleeding-edge, ultra-cool websites -- products in and of themselves -- are designed to be invisible to search engines and ultimately potential customers? Why is it that companies spend oodles of money to end up with a site that can only be found by employees, friends and family?

I'm a believer that "findability" is a usability issue. If your site can't be found by a motivated user in search of your product or service, it is a WOI (Waste of Investment), the opposite of ROI (you should know what that stands for). If a potential customer can't find it, it's useless to him or her. And if it's useless to a customer, well, you get the picture.

So why are many sites cloaked? The only reasons I can think of is a lack of knowledge about best practices for search or negligence on the part of creatives who believe designing for visibility somehow restricts doing great work. I know the latter is exactly opposite of the truth. Designing for visibility doesn't restrict creative excellence, it enhances it.

[ Read Entire Article ]

A list of companies that were blind-sided by social media

CNN falls for rumor –sinking Apple stock
A rumor created by community created news site iReport that falsified CEO Steve Jobs having a heart attack spread to mainstream media website CNN, and caused a dip in stock price. User generated content will always have the risk of falsified content.

Exxon Mobil Brandjacked in Twitter
The twitter community (myself included) was eager to embrace “Janet” a no holds barred up front in your face corporate representative that was ready to tackle the hard issues –sometimes without grace. Unfortunately, to the Twittersphere’s surprise and Exxon, Janet, is not an official company representative she claimed to be. Read the story to unravel the multiple angles to this unique case.

JC Penney brandjacked by fake “sex” Ad
We’re seeing more ads being created. In this case a ‘third party vendor’ (agency, I think) created this and submitted it to Cannes. JC Penney wasn’t happy and had it removed from YouTube. Unfortunately, blogs picked it up and it will never go away, video is here, I know you want to click.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Applecore Interactive participates in the 2008 Run for a Cure

Applecore Interactive participated in the 2008 Run for a Cure contributing to a total of $28 million raised nationwide.

An amazing stats based video on the information age

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=x7aVOMrlfkkijQwcLllwk6WjB5JE0zrF

Social Media Numbers

Did you know?
Revenue in the social networking sector has grown 191 percent in the past year. *

Did you know?
Facebook is the 4th most-trafficked Website in the world with more than 100 million active users. **

Did you know?
Two-thirds of companies see improved customer satisfaction from the adoption of social media and 64 percent report an improved reputation in the marketplace.***

Did you know?
Eighty-four percent of companies headquartered in North America believe as we enter a possible economic downturn we need to focus on new ways of communicating with customers which add real value and 80 percent agree that social media will allow us to add value to our customer interaction.***

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* This information was found on www.destinationcrm.com

** This information was found on www.facebook.com

*** This information is from a study conducted by Coleman Parkes Research in May 2008 on behalf of Avanade which included 541 phone interviews with top executives at the top 500 companies in Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, United States, Australia, Japan, and Singapore.

Linking out: Often it's just appying common sense

Creating outbound links on your site, or "linking out", is our topic for Day 3 of Links Week. Linking out happens naturally, and for most webmasters, it's not something you have to worry about. Nonetheless, in case you're interested about an otherwise simple topic that's fundamental to the web, here's the good, the bad, and answers to more advanced questions asked by our fellow webmasters. First, let's start with the good...

[ Read Entire Article ]

Importance of link architecture

In Day 2 of links week, we'd like to discuss the importance of link architecture and answer more advanced questions on the topic. Link architecture—the method of internal linking on your site—is a crucial step in site design if you want your site indexed by search engines. It plays a critical role in Googlebot's ability to find your site's pages and ensures that your visitors can navigate and enjoy your site.

[ Read Entire Article ]

Links information straight from the source

We hope that you're able to focus on helping users (and improving the web) by creating great content or providing a great service on your site. In between creating content and working on your site, you may have read some of the (often conflicting) link discussions circling the web. If you're asking, "What's going on -- what do I need to know about links?" then welcome to the first day of links week!

[ Read Entire Article ]

Supercharge Your Web Site with Video

All smart entrepreneurs know that in order to compete today you need a robust Web presence. But not everyone has yet embraced online video, which (according to many Web gurus) can increase your site's traffic and boost your sales. To learn more, I talked to Benjamin Wayne, president and CEO of Fliqz.com, a company that helps small and mid-sized businesses integrate video on their Web sites.

Rieva Lesonsky: It's quickly becoming a YouTube world. How can adding video to their sites better help entrepreneurs compete and grow?

Benjamin Wayne: Video can help businesses in three ways: drive increased traffic, drive more interactivity and page views, and drive increased [sales] conversion.

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5 People and Things That Will Recession-Proof Your Small Business

1) The people you know now.

What professional communities, networks, and social groups are you part of?

2) The people you knew in the past.

Dredge up old clients, leads, colleagues, schoolmates, and other contacts you haven’t talked to in a while. Send them a brief hello and blurb about .

3) The strangers you don’t know yet.

Do you blog, Twitter, podcast, or use any other form of media to broadcast the contents of your brain into the vast world of the Web?

4) The things you need.

Are you connected in any way to products that people need, no matter what?

5) The things that hurt.

What is your client’s “pain,” and how do you address it?

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Applecore Interactive builds attractive, accessible standards – compliant websites

Applecore Interactive follows the three pillars of web standards to achieve attractive, accessible standards – compliant websites:

• Structure: using semantically correct structural (x)HTML for a documents structure
• Presentation: for all presentation and layout we use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) a language appropriate for implementing a web page’s presentational affects.
• Behaviour: the appropriate server-side or client-side scripting language to bring in dynamic behaviour and business logic

Ensuring the separation of these three pillars and bringing them together in a modern web development process we are able to ensure accessibility to the people who browse the web in alternative ways including portable devices and screen readers. The separation of structure and presentation delivers web content to people with physical and visual impairments in a structured way that allows them to browse a webpage with tools that are best suited to their needs.

This structured delivery also remains accessible to non-human internet users most importantly search engines.

The presentational aspects are more tightly controlled through one technology and therefore will work in all modern browsers and can be customized to work in non-standard and legacy browsers such as Internet Explorer 6 and below.

Working with the three pillars is future compliant.

Interactive marketing plays cupid as brands court king consumer

BANGALORE: As young consumers grow in influence, the use of interactive and experiential marketing is becoming mainstream, transforming from idea which brands just used to dabble in. Consumers, especially the youth, are no longer just a 'target audience', but partners that brands must connect with.

Take for example India's largest watchmaker Titan, which tied up with Radio One for a week, renaming the station Fast Track 94.3 FM, for their brand's 'Move on' campaign. Listeners were asked to come up with different ways to use the tagline, generating over 5,000 SMSes and 3,000 calls.

"Our interactive marketing budget will touch 20% soon," said Fast Track's marketing head Simeran Bhasin.

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As digit marketing booms, remember the basics

As the digital age takes further hold over the industry, John Sawyer's advice is to stick with the basics - and no matter how cool the technology, it's still the message that matters.

Quite often clients are so taken by emerging interactive marketing techniques and technology that they ignore that first they need a strong marketing and branding strategy. Then they can identify the tool that works best for their company and brand.

"This enthusiasm about this new technology gets them going in a certain direction, and we find out later it wasn't the right use of their resources," said Sawyer, the chief strategy officer at the Grey Matter Group in Grand Rapids.

"They forget about their objectives or their marketing strategy."

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Understanding Web Readers (and Non-Readers) − Creating Usable and Effective Web Content

Click here to view presentation

Microsoft CRM 3.0: Lemonade Stand

Newspapers need to reinvent themselves

It’s no secret that the rise of the Internet has hit the newspaper industry hard. A recent survey by Pew Research Center illuminates this fact, revealing that more than 50% of 259 papers surveyed reported significant layoffs of newsroom staff.

To combat this attrition, newspapers are fighting back by creating blogs and microsites that allow readers to focus their attention on specific topics, and journalists are being trained to create and upload video content for the Web. Niche online ad networks are also gaining popularity, whereby newspapers band together to sell ads online. Industry observers are suggesting that newspaper publishers should publish digital editions for PDAs and cell phones and also publish more Web-only content.

Source: Mediaweek

TV and Internet ads go hand-in-hand

According to the president of CBS’ research unit, the Internet enhances TV advertising. David Poltrack points out that while the Internet is an efficient medium for turning consumers into purchasers, it’s useful only if the consumers are already aware of the products. Simply put, consumers turn to the Internet to learn about products that they are already aware of.

That is where television advertising plays a key role. It is Poltrack’s opinion that, as a medium, TV is still unrivalled when it comes to developing awareness of a product, service or product feature. To leverage this connection between television-based awareness and internet-based information gathering, marketers need to coordinate the TV and Internet components of their ad campaigns.

Source: Advertising Age

Worldwide Online Ad Spending

Reaching for a bigger slice of the total ad pie

Several recent worldwide online ad spending projections indicate that the medium still has a lot of room for growth.

Worldwide online ad spending will reach $65.2 billion in 2008, according to IDC's "Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast." The research company predicted 15% to 20% annual growth through 2011, when spending would hit $106.6 billion.

IDC said that online ads would account for nearly 10% of all ad spending across all media in 2008, rising to 13.6% by 2011. Nearly one-fifth of Western European ad spending will be online by that time.

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2007 Canadian Online Advertising Revenue Climbs To $1.2 Billion

Online Ad Revenue Grows 38% Over 2006 levels, Quadruples Over Just 5 Years

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB) today announced that 2007 Canadian Online Advertising Revenues climbed to just over $1.2 billion for the year -- a 38% increase over 2006 actuals.

Publisher revenue from Online advertising in Canada has more than quadrupled over the past five years -- building from $237 million in 2003, to the $1.2 billion mark in 2007 -- and is quickly closing in on more established mediums.

Of the $1.2 billion, approximately $260 million or 21 percent of ad revenue was received by French Canadian Online properties, representing year-over-year growth consistent with the rest of the Canadian market.

In response to a variety of shifts in the industry (including a high level of merger and acquisition activity in the Canadian media market, and the continued penetration of Online Ad Networks into the Canadian Online advertising space), IAB Canada's 2007 Revenue Survey process was revisited, with the objective of assuring the elimination of any past and ongoing duplication of ad revenue from these sources.

Canadian Online Publishers obviously had no difficulty in adjusting to the revised ask, as IAB Canada's 2007 Canadian Online Advertising Survey garnered a response rate of over 90% for companies with anticipated revenue of over $5 million. "The industry can feel confident about all past and present numbers," says Martin Lundie, Partner, Technology, Communications and Entertainment Assurance and Advisory Business Services for Ernst & Young LLP (who analyzes IAB Canada's Survey data), "Firstly, because the factors we adjusted for in the 2007 Survey were not present prior to 2006; and secondly, because of the extremely high response rate. Surveys with a high response rate from respondents with the most significant size, provide a very high degree of accuracy and reliability."

Publishers applied the improved methodology to both 2006 and 2007 numbers, and as a result, the actual Canadian Online Advertising Revenue for 2006 has been revised from $1.0 billion to $900 million, with all segments revised accordingly below.

In actual millions of dollars, 2007 vs. 2006 Canadian Online Ad Revenue by Advertising Vehicle, breaks down as follows:

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Should Links Open in New Windows?

At first glance the decision to open links in new windows or not depends on the given site and the preferences of its visitors. Visitors of the sites with heavy linking are more willing to have links opened in new windows than open dozens of links in new windows manually. Visitors of less-heavy-linkage-sites are more likely to open some specific link in new window to remain on the site and continue to browse through it afterwards. However, this is not true.

Users also don’t like to deal with dozens of opened tabs and some visitors tend to quickly become angry with the disabled back-button. Furthermore, some visitors may not even realize that a new window was opened and hit the back-button mercilessly — without any result. That’s not user-friendly and that’s not a good user experience we, web designers, strive for.

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Few Shops Practice Paid Search Skills

Using paid search to market brands is so fundamental that it's self-evident. However, that's not necessarily the case when it comes to building agency brands.

Adweek found that few of the 56 agencies assessed in this year's Report Card evaluation have bought sponsored links tied to their names on Google. In fact, just five-- AKQA, Campbell-Ewald, DraftFCB, iCrossing and JWT -- have sponsored links on Google. The rest have no such links, though their Web addresses generally appeared at or near the top of each search.

Adweek also found evidence of smaller specialty shops "punching up" by piggybacking on the names of larger rivals to gain attention. For example, sponsored links for business-to-business specialists such as Stein Rogan + Partners and PJA Advertising + Marketing popped up after typing the names of better-known players such as Arnold, DDB, Young & Rubicam and OgilvyInteractive.

"Why not put ourselves out there as a viable alternative?" said Tom Stein, president and CEO of Stein Rogan + Partners, a 40-person shop in New York with a dozen clients. "It's a little bit of counter-marketing."

Of course, little guys have to do more to generate buzz, and typically on a shoestring budget. So, not unlike Alltel tweaking Verizon and AT&T in a TV spot, some smaller shops use the glare of bigger agency brands to raise their profiles. Within the sample, however, such a scrappy move was rare compared to a swath of inactivity. It's yet another example of agencies not always practicing what they preach to clients, despite the relatively low cost of buying search terms.

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Applecore Interactive is hiring!

Content Development Specialist

AppleCore Interactive is an award-winning interactive marketing communications agency known for its fresh approach. Its commitment to excellence and superior relationships with its clients has been fundamental to its success.

AppleCore is currently accepting resumes for a Content Development Specialist position.

Job Purpose:

The Content Development Specialist will make a valuable contribution to our Internet Marketing team by researching, writing and editing content for the web and interactive media (optimized for search engines). It will also require research and copy writing for printed media, such as promotional material and annual reports. Providing quality and relevant content is paramount to the overall success of a client’s website or marketing campaign. Clients vary, so candidates must be able to write according to the “language” of different industries. Attention has to be given to usability of online content, keeping in mind user psychology, structure and placement of information.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Content Development Specialist performs a wide range of duties including:

• Researching, writing, editing and proofing web content for client websitesportals from scratch.
• Writing, editing and proof reading copy for client websites, marketing materials etc. based on existing written materials supplied by clients.
• Proof reading, editing and writing content on a regular basis for ongoing maintenance of websites and other collateral material.
• Final review and check of web page content before publishing.
• Writing content for online newsletters, blogs, brochures, magazine articles etc.
• Inserting keywords and hyperlinks throughout copy as appropriate.
• Provide input into the development of client websites to ensure search engine optimization.
• An effective writing style that is fresh, consistent and user friendly.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or post-secondary education in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism or English; or relevant degree or certification
• Technical degree and/or MBA are a plus.

Experience:

• Two or more years writing experience would be considered an asset.
• Ability to write in a variety of formats and styles for multiple audiences.

AppleCore’s founding principle is to be a good place to work and a good place to do business. If you excel in a team-based environment, have a passion for excellence in interactive communications, have superior written and oral communication skills, strong internal motivation and project management skills, this may be the position for you.

Send your electronic resume to careers@applecore.ca

Applecore Interactive's continous strive for new heights and reaching the top!

Applecore Interactive is a proud sponsor of adventurer and Everest climber TA Loeffler and she has in turn carried AppleCore’s flag to many heights.

Here is a photograph of Applecore’s latest height: Mount Kilimanjaro – the highest peak in Africa.

In addition, the flag has been to the summit of Mount Denali (highest in North America); Aconcagua (highest in South America), Elbrust (highest in Europe) – close to summit, and Everest (camp 2).

Next year the flag will make another attempt to reach to top of Mount Everest.

The flag is a symbol of Applecore’s continuous quest to strive for new heights and reaching the top!

Applecore Interactive wins two IABC Pinnacle Awards in Electronic/Audio Visual/Interactive Communications

Local business communicators honoured at annual IABC Pinnacle Awards gala

ST. JOHN’S, NL - Local business communicators have once again honoured their own at the 6th Annual Pinnacle Awards. The Pinnacle Awards program was developed by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) - Newfoundland and Labrador Chapter to recognize excellence in business communications throughout the province. A total of 17 awards were presented at the awards gala on June 5, 2008, with winners receiving awards of excellence and merit.

IABC presented two prestigious individual awards. Caron Hawco, ABC of Caron Hawco Communications, received the 2008 Communications Professional Award of Excellence. This award recognizes a communicator who practices exemplary communications and encourages communication excellence in the activities and initiatives in which they are involved. This award acknowledges Hawco for her leadership, professional accomplishments and outstanding efforts to improve business communication in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Award of Excellence for Organizational Leader was presented to Frank Fagan, CEO of Bell-Aliant. The Organizational Leader is a prestigious award that recognizes an individual who is not an IABC member or communications professional, but who has demonstrated leadership, vision and commitment to excellent communications. Whether involved in private, public, not-for-profit sectors, the recipient of this award will have made contributions to business communications by initiating, supporting, and/or participating in effective, successful communications programs.

Sponsors of the 2008 Pinnacle Awards include: Presenting Sponsor – m5pr, Platinum Sponsor – Steele Communications, Silver Sponsor – CNW Group, and Bronze Sponsors – Fortis Properties, Johnson Insurance, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Mount St. Vincent University, Newfoundland Power and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation.

A complete list of award winners is attached

For more information contact:
Kathy Dicks-Peyton, ABC
2008 Pinnacle Chair
709-689-9279

IABC Newfoundland & Labrador 2008 Pinnacle Awards Recipients

Employee/Internal Communications
Award of Merit

Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association
Eastern Health

Issues Management/Crisis Communication
Award of Excellence

Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’ Union

Brand Communication
Award of Excellence

m5pr

Media Relations
Award of Excellence

Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association

Brochures/Special Publications
Award of Merit

Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association

Newsletters (print)
Award of Excellence

Memorial University
College of the North Atlantic

Award of Merit
Eastern Health

Electronic/Audio Visual/Interactive Communications
Award of Merit - two awards presented to:

Applecore Interactive

Writing
Award of Excellence
Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association

Graphic Design
Award of Merit

Eastern Health

Advertising (Traditional Media)
Award of Excellence

Memorial University
m5pr

2008 Organizational Leader
Frank Fagan, CEO of Bell-Aliant

2008 Communications Professional Award of Excellence
Caron Hawco, Caron Hawco Communications
-30-

For more information contact:

Kathy Dicks-Peyton, ABC
2008 Pinnacle Awards Chair
(709) 689-9279

21 Factors that Influence the First Impression of Your Website’s Visitors

When a new visitor comes to your website for the first time an initial impression will be formed pretty quickly. A good first impression will drastically increase the chances of that visitor returning again, and a bad first impression will be difficult to overcome.

This list looks at 21 factors that will influence your visitor’s impression within moments of arriving at your site. These are just some of the factors, not a comprehensive list. Feel free to list some others in the comments that you think should be included. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Load Time – Most of us are very impatient and slow loading pages will not make us want to return. On the other hand, pages that load quickly will encourage visitors to navigate through your site knowing that they won’t have to wait very long for each page to load.

2. Error Messages – If new visitors to your site are getting error messages and are unable to access your site, they’re not going to be impressed and they won’t be back. There are a number of different errors that can occur. BlogStorm recently published an article Why Businesses Need a Website that Works, which takes a look at one unsuccessful website with an obvious problem.

3. Colors – The look of your site will obviously be a factor in your visitors’ first impressions. The colors of your website can have a huge impact on the overall attractiveness of the site. Choosing the right color combinations can be difficult, but fortunately there are a number of online tools that can help. For a list of resources and links to some articles on the psychology of colors, see Find the Perfect Colors for Your Website.

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Choosing the Right Colors for Your Web Site

Do colors influence web site visitors? Several years ago, having a web page (as a business or as an individual), was an indicator of prosperity, and required a certain amount of financial power. Nowadays, almost everybody has one. They are easy to create (thanks to instant web page generators), even if they are not always works of art.

The main problem resides primarily in choosing the right colors for the web site. It is not always easy to properly assort the background color with the text color. The readability of a page can be influenced negatively if the color contrast is badly chosen. The background of web pages is white by default, like a sheet of paper.

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We wish you a Merry Christmas

A link to following YouTube video was sent out during the holiday season to all clients of AppleCore Interactive. As you can imagine, the team had a hilarious time making the film.

Test RSS Feed to AppleCore Facebook Page

Test RSS feed post to the in development AppleCore Interactive Facebook page. Stay tuned for more information and be sure to check us out soon on Facebook and add us to your groups.