Google Dots DDoS? Weird Stuff!

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August 8  |  News  |   Ryan Clark

There has been an influx of reports via Google Webmaster Central just in the past few hours about a Google spider called Dots running amok. Large sites are having major issues with this today and it’s knocking them out of commission it seems. There hasn’t been much of an official word yet, but there is some explanation in this Google Groups post.

Here are some current reports:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=342f2c0683b51628&hl=en
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=02d8d96a5e00f08d&hl=en
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=6dd38e35376e723e&hl=en
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=69504edf1bb1b1d7&hl=en
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmastears/thread?tid=1ef5e9959bb406c1&hl=en
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=60654365bce34a1d&hl=en

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Foursquare Brand Pages Are Here! Get Marketing

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August 3  |  Brand Building  |   Ryan Clark

Foursquare just dropped the announcement that everyone can get their band pages up and running, and get up you should! Foursquare is still seeing a lot of growth due to a great idea, partnerships and a wicked platform. Brand pages allow for more user interaction and allows your fans get your updates and check-in deals via Twitter and Facebook as well…it’s just more streamlined and easier to take all in. While this won’t be for every business, those in the service industry should be jumping all over this right now.

Besides the benefits from a branding stand point, I wanted to let everyone know that you do get a few links out of it. This means a link to your homepage, as well as Twitter and Facebook! This type is a link is great in my books because it’s as natural as it gets, and you can only build the authority of you brand page. There are tons of great brands already on board like Tiffany & Co, NASA and Scanwhiches. I decided to take my favorite as an example so you can see what’s going on visually.

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Article Marketing That Doesn’t Suck: Infobarrel Does It Again

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August 2  |  Brand Building  |   Ryan Clark

It’s no secret that most content/article marketing these days is dropping in quality at a rapid pace. This is surely not the case for a lot of content hubs out there, especially with InfoBarrel. By now I imagine most of our readers have heard of them, are using the site and or have planned to. While a lot of content farms got hit in the Google Panda update, Infobarrel keeps on thriving due to its strict content policy and quest for quality. This site is a gem among ugly ass stones my friends!

Why am I writing about the site again? Well they recently added a feature that will further their quality standards to new heights. If you’re citing a reference you can now implement the location as well as bibliography information. This is quite unique and super helpful for those serious writers looking to keep their content thriving in the SERPs.

This is the kind of good stuff all content hubs should have, but only the best of the best will adapt and continue to rank hard. You can choose from many different sources to attribute including books, encyclopaedia’s, magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, websites and reports. Linking out to credible sources is a must in my opinion, and this should really go to adding more authority to their site. If you’re not writing awesome content on here then you’re really missing out! Forget about the link benefit and go for the juicy traffic that you can score from their authority ranking power.

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Social Travel’s Most Exciting Players: Airbnb and Tripping.com

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July 30  |  Social Networks  |   Simon

So I’ve been researching the current state of social media and mobile marketing in the hotel industry for a series of posts, when I started to relapse into a state I know all too well. My breath was getting shallow, hands clammy, one moment hot, then next cold. The same symptoms I’ve suffered from writing for hotel and travel clients. While I always swear that I’ll quit each time, I again found myself in the grip of an addiction I can never truly shake- Googling travel plans!!! …and It can happen to anyone, even you!

You could be at your office, just working away at your computer, not worried at all. But all it takes is just a few simple words to set it off, sending you spiralling out of control. It could be a co-worker could innocently ask if you have plans for the “Long Weekend” or you check Facebook and see an inflammatory post reading “Cabo in a week!!! Whoo!!”  Before you even realize it, you’re Googling for inclusive vacation deals until the janitor turns off the lights.

First I’m browsing a few white papers on the hospitality industry, I blink and find myself hypnotized by  Airbnb’s search. Did you know you can search for both “wireless internet” and “tree house” and get results? I start to hyperventilate as I realize I could be in a tree house in Morocco and still work. The problem is what am I actually going to do there and how am I not going to eat all my work time figuring it out.  I’m allergic to those expensive, boring tourist tours that just drag out all day, if only I knew someone there to show me around… That’s when I discovered the answer to this problem with Tripping.com.

Long distance connections and travelling is where many see the greatest value in online social networks. What finally convinced me to sign my soul over to Facebook a few years back was tagging along last minute with a few friend’s journey through S. E. Asia. This made keeping up with everyone you meet travelling the area, during and after a true benefit of Facebook.  While there are plenty of social travel sites out there now, after a cold shower, I thought I’d focus this energy into sharing the two I’m the most excited about.

Airbnb.com

Airbnb inc. made headlines yesterday by joining the billion-dollar start-up club after a $112 million round of financing. Airbnb has already gained notoriety in the start-up world, with TechCrunch using the phrase “The Airbnb of ______” to describe other social sharing networks/collaborative consumption start-ups.  For those not familiar with Airbnb, it is essentially a vacation rental site, but takes it further. Airbnb uses the concept of peer-to-peer travel and goes way beyond couch surfing. Rental spaces range from beds, rooms, apartments or houses to castles, tree houses, igloos, private islands. There are even have listings for whole villages and a country up for rent. While this all grabs headlines, where Airbnb really stands out from the range of vacation rental sites is its social aspects.

“Airbnb is to space what eBay is to stuff” is how co-founder Brian Chesky describes his company. This sparked interest with investors, not just by the comparison to eBay’s success, but also to its seller and buyer reviews.  Airbnb not only lets travellers review the hosts, it lets the hosts review the travellers.  With Airbnb, each traveller and host has to introduce and interview each other online before both can agree on the booking. This means, like with a host, a traveller has to keep a good reputation to keep participating in Airbnb’s service.  They even let fellow travellers vouch for each other to help build trust and smooth out the introduction stage Airbnb added Facebook connectivity in May, which has created 59 million connections in three months. This feature allows a LinkedIn-style degrees of separation, letting you see hosts and travellers through you FB friends. Now you can message a related FB friend to learn more about your potential host or guest.  This all goes to strengthen the vitally important community aspect of Airbnb.

Visit Airbnb.com

 

Tripping.com

Tripping.com is a new social travel site that is similar in features to Airbnb, but offers a service that can actually compliment Airbnb.  Tripping’s features include comparable community and trust building features between hosts and trippers, offering reviews both ways, along with peer reviews.  Facebook connectivity also links you with and through your Facebook friends to tripping members. For safety reasons, Tripping asks for extra validation from members through a video Skype call to show their passport and proof of address to match their account info. They also have an emergency hotline for trippers that is currently in beta-testing.

I find when travelling, having a friend or friend-of-friend at your destination is always a great advantage. Having someone who can give you the real tour of a location beats any cookie-cutter guided tour. A personal tour by a local gives you the chance to meet their local friends and gets you into the local culture. This is how you’ll get off the beaten path to see the best local restaurants, bars, clubs and all the little secrets of the area. Of course it’s a challenge to have connections located everywhere you want to go. This is where Tripping.com comes in.

You can either act as a host to your area or a tripper when travelling. What the host does offers their time to show the tripper around and can also offer to have them stay over.  There is no charge for this service, what everyone gains is the experience to share their lives and culture. While this sounds cheesy in print, the value you get from travelling and sharing culture is truly priceless, making is a much appreciated gift to receive. It’s also a great feeling to share your home and culture and to learn a different perspective on both from a traveller. Hosting also gives you a connection to the tripper and opening up their local area to you as well.  And of course there’s nothing wrong with treating you host with drinks, dinner or gifts for their time, as you would for a foreign friend hosting you.

Visit Tripping.com

 

If you’re an avid traveller or wanting to start dipping your toes in international water, make sure to check these two social travel sites out.  And in case you’re still lie awake at night worrying about your online privacy, get over it, it’s the future now, so connect to both through Facebook. Just seeing the lists of hosts you’re connected to that I can contact for an introduction can’t be more appealing.  I plan to try out both services in the near future and I will let you all know how much fun I had after! If you’re planning to visit Vancouver, BC, hit me up on tripping.com and I’ll show you the town.

Connect with me on Twitter: @S_Gerard

 


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Whitehouse Twitter Drops The LOLZ

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July 29  |  Link Bait Tactics  |   Ryan Clark

While the Whitehouse will rarely answer a tough question, the jokes were certainly a flying this week via their Twitter account. Their Twitter team went a little viral this week when they they dropped the rickroll on Twitter user Wiggsd, and I imagine he loved it! A lot of people were annoyed that this happened, while I think it’s fun an a prime example of good social media participation. I imagine all the news brought them in a hefty amount of followers this week in hopes of catching more lolz.

whitehouse rick rolled

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Dos Equis Man On Rollerblading

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July 27  |  Viral Marketing  |   Ryan Clark

If you’re wondering why you don’t really see anyone rollerblading any more then we have the answer for you. Well not quite, but the Dos Equis most interesting man in the world sure does. I just love the ads this company puts out and I honestly don’t think they will ever get old! While the Old Spice company is falling flat on its face with Fabio handling the summer ads, the ad agency behind the Dos Equis commercials keep bringing the LOLZ.

 

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Dejan SEO Presentation via Pesa Internet Conference

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July 26  |  Link Building Videos  |   Ryan Clark

Here’s another presentation by those Australian boys over @DejanSEO, this time at the Pesa Internet Conference. Luckily for me, I didn’t have much time to write today and they just uploaded this making my life a little easier today. The video starts off with some basics of SEO then gets into some link building talk and other metrics. These guys always put on a good speech so if you have an extra 30 minutes on your lunch break today, give this a watch while you nom away on your food.

 

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Chip Torres – Crazy Awesome Computer Store Commercial

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July 25  |  Brand Building  |   Ryan Clark

There are an endless stream of commercials out there, some good, some bad. Some are so bad that they’re amazing and that brings us to my commercial post of the day. My Spanish isn’t so hot, but Chip was kind enough to lay down the English words for this one of a kind computer store commercial. Thanks to Reddit and our marketing team, we hope to bring some more attention to Chip’s talents and his knack for the craziest tech gear south of the border!

 

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