Archive for the ‘Web News’ Category

Google has announced their virtual assistant software, their answer to Apple’s “Siri” that took the mobile world by storm with the iPhone 4s.  Here’s Google’s official page.

Here’s a good article about it from Business Insider – view article

The big question will be “What’s Next”?

Clicks Are Out, Engagement Is In as Video Service Goes Longer-Format to Conquer the Couch - From Ad Age Digital -

YouTube is getting smaller in a metric that used to mean everything: views.  Since December, views on YouTube have dropped 28%, and March views are only slightly above what they were a year ago, startling for a site accustomed to breakneck growth.

Click here for full article

Great article from Inc. Magazine - The most successful people in business approach their work differently than most. See how they think–and why it works.

Click here for full article

For the first time in U.S. history, marketers are projected to spend more on online advertising than on advertising in print magazines and newspapers.

According to a study released Thursday by eMarketer, online advertising is expected to generate $39.5 billion in sales this year — a 23.3% increase from 2011 — compared to a sum of $33.8 billion on print.

Click here to read the full story

Google is taking the initial steps that will drastically change the web search playing field.  They are putting the pieces in place so that search results they render for viewers will incorporate answers to their questions, rather than a list of sites where the viewer might be able to find the answer.  We believe this is driven by the wildly successful Siri module included with the latest Apple iPhones – click here for more info.  With Siri, the user can ask a question such as “what are the best hamburger restaurants close to me?”, and it will give them a list of the restaurants with directions to each.  The user satisfaction with Siri is off the charts and Google has taken notice.  There is a great blog post in the Harvard Business Review about this effort and what it will mean.  Click here for that article.

You can be sure that Biz Tools One is on top of this trend.  We are here to help you with the transition of your site and marketing to make the most of these changing trends.  Please contact us if you have any questions or need more information regarding improving your website’s visibility in today’s world.

Here’s a great article from Harvard Business Review to improve your productivity in 2012. They include:

• Stop checking your email so often!
• Break from the norm with business promotions & customer contacts
• Reduce your reading to the essentials
• Eliminate work that is not worth the hassle
• Deliver what your customers want

Full article can be viewed here: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/five_things_you_should_stop_do.html

Twitter, it is a-changing again. The microblogging service unveiled a new version of its online interface Thursday, with a focus on simplifying the design and making the service easier to use. The new look will roll out on the website in the next few weeks, but it’s available now at Twitter’s mobile website, along with a just-updated Twitter app for iPhone. (The Android app has been updated, too.) The company says it’s “working on updates for other apps, such as Twitter for iPad,” but makes no mention of the Twitter client for Mac.

Click here to read the full article

Starbucks customers apparently are finding buying via mobile as addictive as the company’s coffee.

Less than a year after Starbucks launched an app that allows mobile payments, it has hosted 26 million such transactions on iOS, BlackBerry and Android, according to the chain. One in four Starbucks card transactions is now executed via a Starbucks card and a portion of those are done through mobile.

Click here to read the full article

Internet users in the United States watched more online videos in October than they ever have in a one-month time span.

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Here’s an interesting article on a study done by EyeTrackShop on how people scan a Facebook page.

Click here for article