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Software giants Adobe have today moved the new answer to multimedia desktop fusion from the development stage into the mainstream.
‘Adobe Air‘ is designed to allow access to programs that previously would have only worked in an internet browser to work on the desktop. For instance, the BBC is working on a newsticker that will sit on the desktop rather than have any need for a browser window to be open.
To quote Adobe:
- ‘Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system runtime that lets developers combine HTML, Ajax, Adobe Flash®, and Flex technologies to deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) on the desktop. Adobe AIR allows developers to use familiar tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3, Flex® Builder™ 3, Flash CS3 Professional, or any text editor to build their applications and easily deliver a single application installer that works across operating systems.’
According to Adobe this makes the following possible:
With the Adobe® AIR™ runtime, you can deliver branded rich Internet applications (RIAs) on the desktop that give you a closer connection to your customer.
Adobe AIR uses the same proven, cost-effective technologies used to build web applications, so development and deployment is rapid and low risk. You can use your existing web development resources to create engaging, branded applications that run on all major desktop operating systems.
The benefits are extensive. By using Adobe AIR as part of your RIA strategy, you can boost productivity, extend your market reach, enhance customer satisfaction, improve customer retention, lower costs, and increase profits.’
At the moment to application is free to download and is already being used by the likes of Ebay, The New York Times, Nikelodeon, Nasdaq and Yahoo.
This probably will not mark the end of the web browser as we know it just yet, but it will certainly increase the development of desktop widgets and alter the way users interact with the web.
As far as search goes, it is certainly worth keeping a very close eye on. This could be web 2.0 with a vengeance.
DAK
Spotted this today. Excellent video. Made me smile.
Miracle of miracles, Microsoft today launched a new campaign to be far more liberal with the release of over 30,000 documents, previously only available to those working within partnership programs.
‘Interoperability by Design’ sees a remarkable turnaround in previous policies held by the software giants as they promise not to enter into litigation with developers who use the shared code for new applications. To quote:
Microsoft irrevocably promises not to assert any Microsoft Necessary Claims against you for making, using, selling, offering for sale, importing or distributing any implementation to the extent it conforms to a Covered Specification (“Covered Implementation”), subject to the following. This is a personal promise directly from Microsoft to you, and you acknowledge as a condition of benefiting from it that no Microsoft rights are received from suppliers, distributors, or otherwise in connection with this promise. If you file, maintain or voluntarily participate in a patent infringement lawsuit against a Microsoft implementation of such Covered Specification, then this personal promise does not apply with respect to any Covered Implementation of the same Covered Specification made or used by you.
This move towards open source developers will surely be welcomed by many, who have in the past been nervous about working under the Microsoft Trade Secret agreements.
Many applications are being opened up to some extent including the .net framework.
General Manager Tom Robertson offered this video explanation:
http://msstudios.vo.llnwd.net/o21/msstudios/0802/32351/Robertson_Interop.asx
Are Microsoft edging towards Google’s stance on sharing development information? Possibly, although there will of course not be full access to major programs, it does seem like a serious olive branch being placed before the independant development community.
DAK
The New York times dealbook reports today that ‘In an escalation of its fight for Yahoo, Microsoft will authorize a proxy fight at the Internet company this week’….’Unless Yahoo quickly reverses course and enters into talks, Microsoft would then seek to nominate a slate of directors to Yahoo’s board by March the 13th, the final deadline for nominations, and pursue a lengthy campaign to oust the board.’
After internet giant Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s earlier offer as ‘undervalued’ this move is thought to be a less expensive attempt to influense shareholders and ultimately wage a proxy fight against board members than raising the initial $44.6 billion bid.
‘We sent them a letter and said we think that’s a fair offer. There’s nothing that’s gone on other than us stating that we think it’s a fair offer,’’ Bill Gates, Microsoft’s chairman, is reported to have toldthe Associated press in an interview on Monday.’Thet should take a hard look at it’ he concludued.
Microsoft seems to be hinting that it will attempt to lock-up Yahoo in any way it can. Unfortunately for Yahoo, all it’s directors are up for nomination this year as it does not have a staggered board and, as Dealbook note ‘…per section 3.3 of the by-laws, in a contested election, directors are elected by a plurality of votes cast’.
The rest of the internet world keeps watching as the giants slug it out. Who knows what will happen next?
It can all be a bit daunting when we first realize the importance of optimizing our site for search engines.
After all by this stage we probably have just finished designing our first website and were feeling quite proud of our new baby.
The truth is, designing a site is just trhe first step on a long and often tricky road to dominating search results (SERPS : search engine result pages).
First of all we need to make our site easy to read, not just by humans but also by search engine robots or ’spiders’.
If you are not sure how to do this, visit the W3c Validator Service and enter your site’s web address.
Unless you are a design genius, the chances are there will be a number of errors showing, depending upon the DOCTYPE you are using.
Try to reduce these as far as possible. Clean code is always best.
Next you will need to make sure that your page title is relevant to the type of search terms you would like your page to show up for in Google and other major search engines.
Your page will benefit from a few well placed META tags, although these are not as critical as they once were. A ‘keywords’ tage and more importantly a well written’description’ tag are probably still worthwhile. There is plenty of information available on the web if you are struggling with these. We do intend to have more articles later on that will describe META syntax in more detail.
Next take a long careful look at the text on your page that can be viewed by those reading it. Make sure that you have a few well-chosen keywords that fit in with you title within the body of the text. Earlier on in the page content is best of all.
If you do not have much text on your page consider adding a few paragraphs at least. Sites with very little content on their front page often are not given as much weight in SERPS as those that do.
If you have a few images on the page then within the coding of the page give them ‘alt’ tags. These are descrition tags that tell a search engine what the picture is about. You may have seen this in action when browsing other pages. When you hover your mouse over an image on a page a little text box appears with a description of the image.
When you are happy that all the above has been achieved, then submit your site two the big three search engines. Google, Yahoo and MSN, To do this in Google just open Google and in the search box type ‘addurl google’. You will soon find googles page for submitting your webpage. Don’t forget to add the ‘http://’ before the www.yourwebpage.com.
To submit to Yahoo you will need to open a free account first, log in, then follow the same proceedure as above, except with ‘addurl yahoo’.
MSN are at time of writing offering a free submission service as well. Just follow the same proceedure as before.
So far, so good.
Next you will need to publicize your site and make it look more desirable to Google et al.
The way to do this is by obtaining a fair number of one-way good quality back links to youe site.
How to approach this will be covered in Part 2.
Here’s a slightly old video of Stundubl.com ’s Todd Malicoat at SES San Jose December 2007.
I like it because Todd gives a really succinct summary of what link baiting is all about.
So you want to make money via internet marketing and affilliate marketing on the web?
This video snippet is by Jeremy Schoemaker (aka Shoemoney) who is one of the best known and highly successful internet marketeers.
Not what you were hoping for? The truth is, of course, that making a living from the internet takes a lot of time and effort, Oh sure it can be done, but it is rarely achieved overnight.
Those who use Google Adsense and other Affiliate marketing schemes need to realize that building up a successful business it is a gradual process. We have blogs that only really started producing income after three years or so, having been almost dormant before that.
So never be too impressed by those who claim they are going to make you millions overnight. It aint going to happen.
Here’s an interesting video that features Jeff Dean. Jeff gives us a bit of history and a behind the scenes look at Google: Behind the Scenes at Google
What’s All the Fuss About?
Search Engine Optimisation / optimization (SEO) is one of those terms that most people who run a large company website will have heard about at some time or another.
What does SEO do for us? Search engine optimization ensures that the website that we have spent thousands of pounds on is visible to all the major search engines. Secondly and perhaps more importantly SEO allows our potential clients to find us more easily when surfing the web.
How Does Your Website Grow? – Organic vs. Pay Per Click
When browsing a major search engine such as Google we might sometimes glance to the right of the screen to see the heading ‘Sponsored Results’. These are paid for entries (charged per click). Many companies spend enormous amounts of money on these sponsored listings.
On the other hand in the main results section of the search engine we see what are known as the ‘organic’ results. These pages appear without the need to pay the likes of Google, Yahoo or MSN each time a click is made. The difference between the two is huge in terms of the traffic that can be achieved through the results.
For one thing, the majority of people prefer to click on organic results, most reasoning that the site must be an important one if it is near the top of the results pages.
Secondly, and of great significance, the organic result is always visible, whereas the sponsored result will only be visible for as long as you are able to pay for it. A large multi-national company in a highly competitive sector may well be able to afford hefty amounts of money (e.g. £40,000 per month) to ensure that their site is always visible. For the majority however, far smaller amounts are generally all that is available.
So organic is always preferable. The big question is – How do we achieve good organic results?
It’s Black and White – Isn’t It?
SEO is a constantly evolving business and has often been described as a bit of an art form due to itscomplexity. A good SEO company needs to keep abreast of the ever-changing nature and inherent subtleties of the internet.
There are many ploys that are used by SEO operatives that are classed by the search engines as ‘Black Hat’.
At SEO clinic we always endeavour to use ‘White Hat’ protocols as some of the more questionable techniques are likely to get your site penalised in terms of ranking, and in some cases even banned altogether from search engine results.
Be very wary of any company who promises instant or seemingly amazing results. You know the sort of thing: “Get your site listed on the front page of all the major search engines” or “We will submit your website to 50,000 search engines”.
Such claims are a sure sign that this company are [A] Happy to lie to you, and [B] Probably Black Hat.
How Long Should It Take to See Results?
The old proverb “All good things come to he who waits” is highly appropriate in the world of SEO. Measured gradual ranking improvement over a course of a few months will be far better long term than a quick-fix spamdexing approach.
Oh yes, you might be able to get quick results by using the Black Hat methods, but it is highly unlikely that the result will last for long, whereas a gradual rise through the ranks often leads to good long-term results.
So in conclusion, it is hard to say exactly how long it will take to get massive improvements. This depends upon the level SEO work a company chooses. Gradual improvement in page rankings should start to be seen after a week or two, but big results will take a few months, so patience is required.
In the mean time, many companies choose to use pay per click campaigns in order to keep some traffic moving towards their site.
How do you measure any level of success? Progress in organic ranking and tracking of PPC campigns can be measured accurately using web page statistic packages such as the excellent ‘Google Analytics’.
DAK
