Masterlink Interactive Blog

The Apple “It’s Only Rock n Roll” Event happened with Steve Jobs appearing in public the first time this year. With the fan-fare came the expected release of the new iPod, iPhone, and iTunes releases. In the interest of full disclosure, I am an owner of the new 3Gs. With Obama being a Blackberry customer, the smart phone revolution is in full swing!

I can never avoid the temptation to go see how each of the searches engines fare in comparison to new news. The first thing I look at is the displayed text on the search results page to see if there are any relevant terms. After which I click on some of the links to see if I gain anything of use. Using the keyword “iTunes” in this case would theoretically contain relevant terms such as “iTunes 9” or possibly “iPhone OS 3.1”. The next thing I look for are the dates to see how fresh the content is. This may require me clicking into the link to check, as well. The third thing I look at is the layout combined with the variety of relevant items. The last one seems to be superfluous, but in all honesty, who really wants to see a single, vertical column of nothing but Wikipedia links?

I always start with Ask.com. Jeeves may have left (but he’s back in the UK!), but I think many of us remember AskJeeves fondly. Besides, as far as traffic goes, Ask is still competitive with Bing.com. Either way, it quickly becomes clear why Ask is no longer considered a “major” search engine.

The term “iTunes” returned a somewhat barren, but clean results page. Each of the links had a “binoculars” icon that allowed a mouse-over preview of the link. Without the “binoculars” I would have been discouraged as the only relevant terms discussed were iTunes 8, which sounds like slow indexing to me.

There was an image mid-way down the page with a couple relevant-looking links. I clicked on both of them and realized they were forum pages for their Q&A (beta) tab. A few of the links on the main search result page did wind up discussing iTunes 9, the iPhone. They were scant on details and they did not include the latest relevant terms. Most of the links were a month or two old.

What I did like is being able to find the listings of numerous songs provided in iTunes along with easily accessible iTunes download pages. The “binoculars” icon is a nice feature. The Q&A Tab could grow into something more like Yahoo Answers over time.

Unfortunately, I find Ask slipping faster and further behind in the search race. Next week I’ll see how Bing stacks up in comparison.

According to the Search Engine Journal, Google is currently in negotiations to begin offering paid movies and shows on YouTube. Hulu and Apple are already knee-deep in paid content. Amazon is now offering paid videos online, and Yahoo is exploring the possibilities. How long will it be before Microsoft gets into the game? Begun the video wars have.

Some of these services draw you in by giving lots of free content. Some just have a good pricing scheme. Each one of them is stepping directly into the “streaming” content that Blockbuster and Netflix have already pioneered via rental service agreements.

Rentals sound great until users look at their monthly bills and realize they’re being nickel-and-dimed to death. The word “subscription” is being thrown about wildly. After all, these companies have to pay for the infrastructure and bandwidth to support the viewings.

Many web companies have tried to use advertising to avoid this outcome. Still, they’re all finding that it just can’t support everything as Joost found out the hard way. They’re going to keep the site running, but they’re joining Crackle in being one of the numerous video application providers.

This all comes down to the question over whether free online video content will eventually join the horse-drawn cart in the dustbins of history. If this comes to pass, video stars such as Thunderf00t, communitychannel, hotforwords, and even the lovable Fred Figglehorn.

Even if the signs are on the horizon, the winds of change won’t blow in overnight. So, in the meantime, let’s all enjoy the free video content throughout the internet.

Google Chrome, while still in beta, has been slowly finding its way onto increasingly larger percentages of existing computers. Google Wave has been released to developers and may practically re-invent the way we work on the internet. Twitter Search has forced Google’s hand into pushing for more real-time searches and the unveiling of Google Caffeine. Google OS has been announced for release in a couple years.

Bing has single-handedly saved Microsoft search from plunging into the depths of internet obscurity, while reversing the decreasing revenue trends that normally spell death for a search network. Microsoft has also pulled off a coup almost two years in the making by assuming the role of Yahoo’s search engine. Microsoft has issued a widespread beta release of their version of the Content Network.
<
This winner-take-all chess match should also determine if the desktop machine will remain the preeminent computational workhouse with cloud-computing a serious option.

We get it guys. You’re two technology behemoths that are in a no-holds-barred, fight to the death to see who will define Web 3.0. Well that’s just it isn’t it? It won’t be Microsoft or Google that get to decide the internet’s advancement. The users get a seat at the big-kid table, too. If the user didn’t get the say, then Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter would have never entered our common geek vernacular.

Not a day goes by without the two juggernauts beating their chest about something or other. Meanwhile, they’re still behind in the real-time search field, and Facebook just got FriendFeed for their part. The last-time I checked Ask was still pretty competitive with Bing in search volume. Apple is quickly eating up the mobile devices department with its own iPhone. Firefox is making huge leaps and bounds in the browser wars.

It’s fun to watch while big companies go head-to-head. The only winner can be the consumer. Still, let’s not take our eyes off the ball, and remember what counts; the user.

You can advertise on search networks, popular blogs, video sharing sites, social networking platforms, television, radio, newspapers, and phone books. Let’s not forget smart phones, billboards, magazine, newsletters and even weekly church bulletins. There are so many places your potential customer could be found, and you only have so much advertising budget to go around.

You’re not sure where to put your next advertising dollars. I get it, as do all marketers. We live in a state of constant media “noise”, and we ourselves are fighting for a seat at the table. We want your dollars. You aren’t even sure you want to spend them, but business has been tight lately. Your sales force has had more time on their hands, and you’ve had to let a few people go.

Well, if you’ve gotten this far you’ve probably already found a good solid source or two for marketing. Perhaps you’ve reached the point with them that you can’t squeeze any more out of those sources. Maybe they have even become less dependable outlets for advertising. So, what’s the next step? How do you make that big investment that saves your company?

As an employee of an agency our goal is gain as much of your advertising dollars as possible. It only makes sense to do that. The smart companies “test the waters” as they say. They often give a smaller, short-run contract to agencies like mine. They usually do this with two to three agencies, sometimes simultaneously to gauge success. If the results are lacking for an agency they have not invested or lost much. If the results are great then the company rewards that agency with a bigger and longer contract.

Be one of the smart companies. Test the waters. Make the agency prove they deserve your dollars. That way you never have to fear the big investment.