search that listens to you
Siri is a new search and "getting things done" tool for your magical iPhone. Whatever you need, just say it outloud, and Siri gets you on your way.
Like a personal assistant in your pocket. Not sure if "fill out my expense reports" will work, but if it involves search, Siri is there for you. From @mtlb & @thebeancast
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:44 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
google as big brother
Artist Stéphane Massa-Bidal has created a series of posters that make you look at Google's authority and access to our lives in a new way. Trust. in. Google?
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:35 AM
0 comments
Monday, February 15, 2010
google is stalking you
Google has added re-targeting to the ads they serve up on search. Re-targeting?? There are ads on my search engine?? What does all this mean? Braniac Ben Kunz explains it all at Thought Gadgets.
Realize this: if you're an advertiser, you'll want to chat with your media buyer, as a whole new world of opportunity has just opened up. If you're a consumer, the ads you see will begin to look extra creepy. Like ads for stuff you searched for yesterday. (Kind of like Facebook, isn't it?)
Labels: adindustry, google, search
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:02 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
search that does the cutting and pasting for you
Factery Labs is a new search tool that combs through your results and places the relevant content on your results page. So you don't have to page through thousands of pages and click on hundreds of links to see if it's what you're looking for.
Made by some smarty pants with a boat load of search experience, it's in "alpha developer sandbox" mode now, and will be an interesting tool to watch. How could this not be awesome, with a robot in the logo?? Thanks, Dan!
Labels: search
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
swarmy seo = brand damage
Think you have nothing to lose by gaining results with search engine optimization? Some less than scrupulous SEO firms use swarmy tactics - which, as Ben Kunz points out, can actually end up damaging your brand, when readers come across it.
Ben points to the case of FinalFootwear, who it appears has someone placing spammy SEO links on their behalf across the blogosphere. Internet users are more savvy now - and see spammers for what they are - so when they see FinalFootwear spamming the comments in a blog they regularly read, it damages their brand. (Who wants to spend money with a known spammer?)
The sad thing is (we hope) that FinalFootwear is likely unaware of their spam generation. They probably hired a firm to optimize their search for them. Proof that you need to do research, work with reputable firms, and that your actions have real consequences on the internet. Tricking Google is a tricky business.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
0 comments
Monday, January 11, 2010
google's most favorite places
Google has a new program that allows retailers and businesses to register as a Local Business Center. Google then sends the more popular Local Business Centers window decals with a custom QR code.
Visitors to the store can scan the code with their mobile device to learn about the business, post reviews, get information, coupons and other marketing juice. Wow. Google really is everywhere. From @webmetricsguru.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
0 comments
something to annoy your cubicle neighbors with
Yahoo! yodelizer. There is nothing else to say.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM
0 comments
Thursday, January 07, 2010
what do all the kids want?
There probably isn't anything here that will surprise you, but now when you put this slide in your PowerPoint presentation, you can point to an actual list of what kids were searching for in 2009.
I'm just glad that Taylor Swift made the top twenty. From @derickson.
Labels: google, search, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:58 AM
2 comments
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
get your google goggles on
Google Goggles looks to be a pretty sweet new mobile app. Take a pic with your mobile phone, and instantly search based on the results of your pic.
It works on locations, objects and data, which opens some Googleicious opportunities for retailers, brands and other businesses. The day where you can snap a photo and then see someone's Facebook, Twitter and other social profiles may be just days away.
Development opportunities are going to be endless. Let's go.
Labels: augmented reality, google, search
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:31 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 07, 2009
bing does maps
Microsoft's search engine Bing is getting all mapalicious. You'll love the "bird's eye view" of your house, or the house of that person you're stalking.
MarketingVox points out some of the social overlays that they've added, that definitely make the Bing map worthy of watching.
Labels: bing, search, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:20 AM
2 comments
Thursday, October 22, 2009
find all of your lost tweets
It's official: both Google and Bing announced deals with Twitter to make tweets searchable. Bing's version is live now. Hooray for the internet.
Labels: bing, google, search, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:31 AM
1 comments
Friday, September 04, 2009
blogging will end the recession
Yet another survey for you to summarize in your PowerPoint presentation to the board. Now you'll increase your interactive budget by gazillions of dollars.
A survey of 1531 HubSpot customers (half that blogged, and half that didn't) shows that businesses that blog see 55% more visitors, 97% more inbound links, 434% more indexed pages. Nuff said.
From Matt Singley.
Labels: blogging, search, social media, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:04 AM
0 comments
Thursday, August 20, 2009
who are you on the internet?
The Personas project by Aaron Zinman analyzes your name on the internet and creates a handy bar graph showing how your persona is represented online.
It's not entirely accurate - especially if you have a common name or only a little Google juice, and that's exactly the point. The project attempts to shed light on the importance of a digital history, and the mischaracterizations that could be caused by the inability to separate data from multiple owners of the same name. Genius.
From Maura McGreevy
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
google testing search made from lightning
Those crazy engineers at Google have concocted an even faster search infrastructure. You can be the first in your cubicle zone to test it out. We think it's made from cheetah's, old race car engine parts and lightning.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
Monday, July 27, 2009
forget Twitter, try searching Flickr
What with the kids and their fancy Twitter toy, everyone seems to have forgotten about Flickr as a search engine for basically anything. (I swear I have that ad downstairs in an old magazine.) Here, I used the keywords retro toys. Because the great wild card in search isn’t what search engine you use, rather, it’s what tags people put on images, every click a winner! (By the way, for even better searching and thumbnail fun, try the Flickr-specific search engine compfight.com.)
(Image via.)
Labels: search
posted by mtlb @ 12:03 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
people are tweeting about you
We've posted before about Convo Monitor and other useful Twitter tools. Steve Rubel points to another one: Backtweets.
When people post urls on Twitter, they're usually shortened and therefore not picked up using normal Twitter search. So how do you know if people are tweeting up your site?
The folks at Backtweets have figured out some secret magic to search through the actual urls of tweets. I found a bunch on BrandFlakes that I didn't know about before.
Genius. And useful.
Labels: search, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM
0 comments
Friday, June 19, 2009
real time search...now
Anything that happened yesterday is old, old news. You need to know what's happening now. Who is posting about your brand? Who's trashing you? What's happening?
BrianSolis points to an awesome new real time search engine - Collecta, which scours the internets for your keywords in real time. So you can be all about the now.
Super impressive.
Labels: search, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:34 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
what do you really think of bing??
It's easy to hate on search engines because of their brand image. Plenty of people trash Bing because of it's Microsoft association. And others have given up their Yahoo love. But can you really tell the difference? Really?
Try searching with Blind Search - which blindly shows you results from Yahoo, Google and Bing. You don't know which is which until you decide what you like best. Fun.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
2 comments
Friday, June 05, 2009
everything changes all the time
You might need to rethink your web metrics as search engines evolve. Online Media Daily has a good post on the effect of Microsoft's new Bing engine, and the results it has on your analytics.
Keywords shmeewords. Just create loads and loads of awesomeness and the world will come to your doorstep.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:03 AM
0 comments
Thursday, June 04, 2009
search gets squared
Because you're cool, you already knew about Wolfram. You've played with Microsoft's new search tool Bing, and got bored.
But did you know about Google Squared? It's search that puts everything into nice and neat tables for instant comparison. Cool idea.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM
0 comments
Thursday, May 28, 2009
because you needed this
How many times have you said to yourself that the world would be a better place if I only had a search engine that neatly organized both Google and Twitter results together?
Rejoice! Your day has come. Meet Twootles. Your two favorite things - Google and Twitter, nicely wrapped together in one sweet package. From @BenKunz.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
a game changer in search
If you haven't already checked it out thanks to the buzz on Twitter and tech blogs, you'll want to keep an eye on Wolfram.
What sounds like the name of a zombie-producing weapon from an 80's scifi movie is actually a technology that could change everything on the internet.
What will Wolfram do, exactly? It seems to be a search engine that puts together real answers to requests, in an artificial intelligence kind of way. Let's say that you wanted to know what the weather was like on the day that JFK was assassinated in Texas. With current search technology, you can pull together the date and location and then search weather history, and pull the answer together. Wolfram will apparently do this for you, at the first request.
It's launching...soon. In the future, when the world is taken over by search engine spiders and they eat humans for food, don't say that we didn't warn you.
Labels: search, technology
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:09 AM
1 comments
Thursday, April 30, 2009
give yourself some sweet google juice
Have you set yourself up in Google yet? Google's added a profiles feature that allows you to document your details. The ultimate directory where everyone can find you. Customized to your delight.
Set up your own profile now, or check out John Jantsch's version for an excellent example of how to do it well. Do this today, and maybe people will find your profile before they find those naked pictures of you from that frat party.
Labels: google, search, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:12 AM
0 comments
Thursday, April 23, 2009
another slide for your social media powerpoint presentation
Hey, guess what: People are listening to their friends more than paid search ads. Duh. But you need a nice study to refer to, or a chart for your PowerPoint presentation, right?
Here's all of the nitty gritty details that you'll need to convince your boss to hire the most awesome agency to do the most amazing social media campaign. Enjoy. From Engaging Brand.
Labels: marketing, search, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
all of your tweets now in your browser
Brand Managers: here's a handy tool to monitor what's being said about you on Twitter. Convo Monitor lets you create multiple "stacks" each that monitor a keyword or search term within Twitter.
So you don't have to launch Tweetdeck, or any of the Adobe Air tools that allow multiple keyword monitoring. It's kind of like TweetGrid, but all new and shiny. From Steve Rubel.
Labels: mashup, search, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM
0 comments
Thursday, April 02, 2009
smart google ad
Google's running a really sweet two page ad in this week's Advertising Age Magazine. 7 things you can do in the next 7 days to improve your bottom line features seven tasks that each take 10 minutes or less, and might improve your business. And yeah, they all use Google products.
Here's the list:
1. Save money the old fashioned way - don't spend it. (Promotes Gmail.com/videochat)
2. Capitalize on trends, before they're trends. (Promotes Google.com/insights/search)
3. Capture the sales you're missing. (Promotes Google.com/local/add)
4. Know what works...and do more of it. (Promotes Google.com/analytics)
5. Get more from the content you already have. (Promotes YouTube.com)
6. Find the people who want to find you. (Promotes Google.com/adplanner)
7. Find new and better keywords. (Promotes Google.com/sktool)
7a. (Bonus) Collaborate more efficiently. (Promotes Google.com/apps/teamwork)
Nice presentation of a suite of products in a time that most marketers could be using them.
Labels: adindustry, ads, google, marketing, search
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
how to brag about your google results
Put it front and center on your business card. This is a cool card for a printer in Texas. Would be an amazing card for an SEO vendor.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:46 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
cool new way to search people
CV Gadget is a cool new search engine aggregator that you can use to Google yourself. Times ten.
From Sopan's mom. (Really!)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
1 comments
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Let me google that for you
How many times have you been annoyed by your stupid friends who IM you with ridiculous questions that they could answer themselves if they just Googled it?
Well today's the day you can point out their ridiculousness. Thanks to the Let Me Google That For You tool. You do the search, and then send them a link where the search animates in front of their eyes. And they'll learn how to use Google, in the process!
This may be the best thing ever invented. So hot. So awesome. You could use it daily.
Labels: google, pop culture, search, viral, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
5 comments
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
black is the new black on search
Here's a cool fun tool to check up on twitter, blog and news chatter about...anything you want. It's called Perspctv. Not the easiest word to say out loud, but I predict you'll like it, nonetheless.
Oh - and just like TweetDeck, it's got a nice black design scheme. Because black is the new hot on the internet. From Cassondra, via Twitter.
Labels: mashup, search, social media, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:06 AM
0 comments
Monday, November 10, 2008
google's coming. get out your costumes
Street with a View is billed as the first ever artist collaboration with Google's Street View team. Google came to Pittsburgh, and artists Robin Hewlett and Ben Kinsley set up an art installation along Sampsonia Way.
The view includes a marching band, a fake marathon road race, a garage band, and yes, a sword fight.
There's a even a video documentation of the event taking place. Pretty cool if you've ever wondered what a Google Street View photo capturing session looks like. From swissmiss.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM
0 comments
Thursday, November 06, 2008
navigaya. once you start, you won't stop.
This is so incredible. The more you play with it, the more you'll be impressed. Spend 15 minutes exploring this search, video viewing, internet surfing tool/experience thingamajig that I can only explain as addicting. They call it Navigaya.
Maybe it's the hypnotic music mix. Maybe it's the beautimungus video background. Maybe it's the portal to everythingness. Navigaya is here to solve all of the world's problems. Perhaps Obama made it. Or perhaps Navigaya created Obama. Whatever - rest easy, because Navigaya is here. From Hip Young Thing.
Labels: creativeinspiration, Flash, search, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM
2 comments
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
what google looked like in 2001
If you haven't already played with this, it's fun. Google, based on their search index of 2001. It's funny to see things that didn't exist back in the day. A search on "microblogging" brings zero results - versus the 1,340,000 results of today. Google yourself!
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
internet kills newsprint, and then captures it for history
Now that the internet has eliminated the need for paper newspapers, some people want to read them on their screens.
Google has just launched an initiative to put every newspaper on the internet. The old, printed ones. And they're going to be searchable, indexed and readable in their original formats.
Now you'll be able to search, zoom in and view newspapers from long ago. Just like old people used to do in libraries, with something called microfiche (sounds like a disease for puppies, doesn't it?)
This is a pretty impressive tool. It's fun to explore, and gives you one more reason never ever leave your home. Or to even open the door. Just stay where you are.
Labels: google, publishing, search, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
1 comments
facebook lets google into the walled garden
Since its launch, Facebook has been sealed off from search engines, protecting its users' data from showing up in Google searches. Some love this, some hate it, and people refer to Facebook as being a "walled garden".
Well, the garden just installed a gate. Don't worry - your drunken frat party pics aren't likely to show up in a Google image search. Yet. As of this week, Facebook has allowed search engines to see Facebook groups, wall posts and discussion topics. Events are also reportedly viewable by the search spiders.
That's going to drive massive traffic to Facebook, but it's also an opportunity for brands who are using these tools to promote their events and products. Interesting. From Steve Rubel, via Twitter.
Labels: facebook, google, search, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
0 comments
Monday, August 18, 2008
the single best google theme ever
Google just approved the first Plaid Google theme. Over 4000 people already agree that it's nearly the best thing they've ever seen in their entire lifetime.
Add it to your Google page and stare at the Plaid design factory every time you search the internet. My desk is the 2nd window from the left on the top floor. If they didn't have this damn mirror glass installed, I could wave, and see what you're searching for.
Labels: google, plaid, search, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:58 AM
2 comments
Monday, August 04, 2008
search can be beautiful
Tired of all the Cuil hype? Check out Viewzi, a search engine that supplies results in a visually inspiring manner, while giving users several options to review their results. I'm not sure how long this has been around, but it looks to be a pretty cool tool. Thanks Rob!
Labels: google, productivity, search
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:04 AM
4 comments
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
yes, google does know everything. everything.
The Googling shows what you can do with Google's "My Maps" tool. A tool so good, it knows everything about you. Everything.
Labels: google, search, social media, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
google: now we can see everything. except facebook.
The Google gods have just announced that they've engineered some magical potion that allows their search engines to see text in Flash. This is a big deal for Flash developers, because up until now, if your site was built in Flash, it was pretty much invisible to the search spiders.
An awesome development that is a great step in the right direction. Now really important content like the text from the Mentos Kiss Fight will finally be viewable for the world to see.
(And don't worry. Your drunken rants in Facebook are still completely invisible from the Google gods.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
0 comments
Thursday, June 05, 2008
let peter gabriel pick out your music and movies.
That dude Peter Gabriel has been up to some really good stuff. Personally, I think he should be punished for having anything to do with Genesis, but since forgiveness is in vogue, we'll look the other way.
Now he's created The Filter, a site that helps you identify what music and movies you might like.
This would be cool for picking out movies, I guess. So now when my wife gives me that look like "Are you serious? we're really going to watch Night of the Comet??" I can look back with a straight face and say "What? Peter Gabriel picked it out. He says we'll really like it."
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
three search engines walk into a bar...
Sounds like a cute promotion for a company's services...until it goes on way too long, and is mis-handled in the blogosphere.
There's a back story here, that's FAR more interesting. Trust me. Read the comments to the post over at Make the logo bigger, for the real entertainment.
Here's the thing - if you're going to produce a promo piece using other people's intellectual property (like songs), and use logos without permission, in an off-brand way (like Microsoft and Yahoo), you might want to be careful about throwing threats around. Not that that's what happened - I'm just just being hypothetical, of course.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM
5 comments
Thursday, March 13, 2008
the single best business card at sxsw. maybe ever.
I've got pockets and pockets full of business cards. At a conference like SXSW, there are a lot of cards attempting to be great. Many try so hard to be "creative" that they just end up blending in. Or look like an invite to a party.
But Brian Shaler is different. Brian Shaler has reinvented. His card is pictured above. You're probably thinking that the back of the card has all of his contact information, laid out in a clever way. It doesn't. Just his name, backwards.
At a party, I was talking to Brian, and someone came up to complain. "C'mon Brian - I need a real card. I need a card with your email address, or something."
Brian's response?
"You have everything you need to contact me, on that card. If you can't find me by using that card, then we really don't need to communicate." (Or something to that effect, probably said more eloquently.)
Genius. Absolute, pure internet genius. And he's right. I'm not even going to link to him. If you want to get in touch with Brian, you have his business card, above.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
20 comments
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
search marketing results tanking?
Brainiac Ben Kunz has an excellent post about how Google's paid search results are heading down, fast. If search is a part of your marketing campaign, this is a must read.
It's also proof that you want people smarter than you, like Ben, watching that side of your business. Who else pulls charts showing the search results from terms like "office supplies" and analyzes them in detail? Exactly.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:12 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
how to make ad words creative
The oldest nerd art technique comes back, in the form of Google ad words. These ASCII art Google adwords ads are awesome.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM
0 comments
Friday, February 15, 2008
twitter: always engaging.
I know you're saying "if you love it so much, why don't you marry it?" in response to my love affair with Twitter.
Joseph Jaffe shares the timeline of Tweets from Ryan Kuder, who was in the process of getting laid off at Yahoo. Amazing.
Labels: search, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
find, embed, link all of your favorite music.
Check out this amazing music search engine, SeeqPod. Search for just about any song in the world, and listen to it immediately. Get the song's lyrics, the artist's MySpace page, tour dates, and even embed it into your blog. Setup a playlist, and share it. Pretty cool.
I've chosen to embed your favorite Rick Astley song above, because I know how much you love to rock out on a Wednesday morning.
Found through Jesse Kanner, via Facebook
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
social media good for search engine optimization
Junta 42 has an interesting experiment showing the importance of using social media for search engine optimization. We'll be the first to tell you that this isn't (and shouldn't) be your only reason for participating in any social media - but it's nice to see proof of its impact.
Labels: search, social media, strategy
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM
1 comments
Monday, December 17, 2007
google's most searched stuff
Mmmmmmm. Gooogle. Check out this chart of the most searched stuff through the year. A neat little picture of what was important in 2007.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:50 AM
0 comments
google launching their social network...slowly?
When I logged into my Google RSS Reader this weekend, I was prompted to complete a profile. And to start adding friends. Looks like this might be the first stage of the Google social empire. Christmas is coming.
Labels: google, rss, search, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:10 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
oskope makes visual search fun.
Oskope has just launched a visual search engine, that's pretty cool. I can't imagine using this for a research paper, but it's awesome for finding photography. Or a new shirt. Found on Brand Aid.
Labels: photography, search
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
0 comments
Monday, September 17, 2007
great. another social network.
Too much time on Facebook? Or Twitter? Or Pownce? Or Virb? Too much free time and not enough social network time? Then you'll be happy to hear that Yahoo just launched their own social network. Somewhere in between a Facebook and a MySpace.
Labels: search, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM
0 comments
Thursday, September 06, 2007
facebook could easily replace blogging
Please join Facebook today. (Look me up, once you're in.) This is getting more relevant by the minute. Some of the awesome web 2.0 evangelists (like Robert Scoble) are now posting videos exclusively to Facebook. I've just viewed about six videos that I'd LOVE to share with you, and can't. Until you're in Facebook.
I've only become a user recently, myself - and I've been doing more observing than actually participating. But I'm going to make a genuine effort to change that.
Yesterday, Facebook made what will prove to be a pretty massive announcement. They're opening up the site to search engines. Or at least their member profiles. (Members can choose whether or not they wish to be seen.) I imagine this trend will only continue. Why not have the entire monster crawlable?
Oh yeah, and it looks beautiful on the now-less-expensive iPhone. And the new touchscreen iPod.
So come on in. All of your friends are waiting.
Labels: facebook, google, search, social media, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
1 comments
Friday, July 13, 2007
sweet mother of google
Check out this blurry, hard to read, over compressed video of a bunch of Google Easter eggs and fun. Like Gooogle L337. Or Gothic Google. Or Google Igpay Atinlay Or Loco Google. It's Googlicious.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:19 AM
0 comments
