New Google AdPlanner GUI

Dear reader,

This morning I was delighted as I was greeted with an e-mail from Google stating they had just renewed the Google AdPlanner interface.

Google AdPlanner is a service with which one can define the most suitable websites for advertising to desired target group. You can also build media plans with the websites that best respond to your target group demographics.

If you’re a site owner, you can add information on how to advertise on your site and with which formats, to ensure potential advertisers will find the relevant information from the tool they’re using to build their media plans. You can also share Google Analytics data to let those potential advertisers know what your site would be worth for them.

The new GUI is a lot easier to use, resembles AdWords a lot and is far less buggy than the previous one. Now go try it and dazzle your Marketing Managers with data!

Passed Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) test

Dear Reader,

Google Analytics IQ test

I’m congratulating myself for having just passed the Google Analytics Individual Qualification test. I thought the test was almost easy in the end although my score was (only?) 86% right (75% correct answers needed to pass). Most of the questions were not very hard and even though there were 70 questions in all, I had answered them in approximately 30 minutes not counting a couple of marked questions that I reviewed after completing the rest. The test has a 90 minute time limit.

The video tutorials on the Conversion University Help page were really helpful and most questions were actually almost directly taken from the video material. The test has been available from the beginning of March 2009 and I’m now the 819th to be certified.

Just another search engine?

Dear reader,

Oparla

Another search engine has popped into existence. Oparla is about to launch on 14th of April. Oparla is supposed to have a unique social search software. Although I don’t think it is entirely unique after what Google has been doing previously, what IS unique is that Oparla will have a daily prize draw for registered users, giving out up to £1.000 for simply doing a search.

Oparla’s GUI is also unique – it shows search results in a table by default. While a table doesn’t allow for much text for descriptions, etc, it certainly saves vertical space and allows for more search results to be displayed on each page. Fortunately, Oparla also offers a ‘classic view’ for those who do not wish to learn how to cope with the ‘list view’ tables.

Microsoft’s analytics solution to close

Dear reader,

On March 12th the Microsoft AdCenter Analytics team announced that the beta testing phase of the product will end and the development program will close. This is unfortunate to hear as I was really looking forward to Microsoft’s response to Google Analytics and the (hopefully) upcoming Yahoo! Web Analytics (former IndexTools).

Kumo vs. Google

Dear reader,

Quick note: This week Cnet published a screenshot along with an internal memo on Kumo, Microsoft’s upcoming new search engine. The new search engine is also going on Microsoft’s internal testing phase this week. Although I doubt Kumo will eat Google’s market share anytime soon, it will be interesting to see what Microsoft has to offer that Google doesn’t or if it will just be a rebranded Live search.

BR,
Webgrizzly

Watch out for the Twitter strategist spammer

Dear Reader,

I just recently got hit by a Twitter spoofer using the name (albeit twisted) of Jeremiah Owyang. Judging from the comments mr. Owyang has received on his blog, there are variants asking for money and/or credit card numbers out there so watch out.

Jeremiah Owyang is a well-known web strategist whom I enjoy reading, so even though I was already following Jeremiah on Twitter and thought the name looked funny, I went to the spammers profile.

Google Japan penalized by Google

Dear Reader,

Funny things happen in the cyberworld. Google Japan did a campaign paying for bloggers to link and blog nicely of them in order to boost the campaign. The result? Mother company Google penalized them by lowering the PageRank of Google Japan from 9 to 5.

New search engine to harness librarians as a source for web page trustworthiness!

Dear Reader,

It has been quiet for some time in Webgrizzly’s camp. Or maybe more like deathlike silence.

Nonetheless, here’s some good news. A new search engine is on its way. So where’s the good news, one might ask? The good news is that this time its results won’t be based on popularity but on trustworthiness! At least this is what Reference Extract is aiming for and something that I wholeheartedly welcome as a bright idea in the otherwise link popularity driven search result world.

RefEx’s (as it is abbreviated) idea is perhaps still in its infancy, as only librarians are currently thought to be trustworthy enough to determine the relevancy of any one link and thus how well it will do in the engine’s results. While I don’t think librarians are defaultly any more trustworthy than others and suffer from same defects as most , I believe this is a step in the right direction as, to make it loud and clear, internet is currently full of shite — and has been, for most of its lifespan. We need a search engine that can deliver a bit more trustworthy results than the otherwise great Google. And maybe this will even trigger some changes in Google’s, Yahoo!’s or Live’s camps, which would be much welcomed.

Links:
Planning Reference Extract -blog
An article in ARS Technica covering Reference Extract

BR,
‘grizzly

Google Chrome content rights

Dear Reader,

Yesterday I posted an entry on the new web browser by Google, Chrome. Today I found out through various other blogs that the Terms of Service for Google Chrome are quite intriguing as the user is supposed to give Google rigths to distribute and reproduce any content that is submitted through their browser! Not surprisingly, this has launched an avalanche of responses on the web.

Read the contents of chapter 11 below or the whole terms of service here:

11. Content license from you

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above license.

As has already been speculated, I also hope and assume that these terms of service are replaced with a less extreme TOS soon.

Google Chrome – a new player for the web browser market

Dear Reader,

Google Chrome

Google accidentally published a comic explaining some of the functionalities in their new web browser, Chrome. After realising this, they hurried to write a blog post about the browser and are launching it today. The browser makes some use of the technology of Firefox and Apple’s web kit. It also seeks to enhance the web surfing experience by being able to process multiple processes at any one time, in different tabs.

See also how the Mozilla CEO commented on their partner’s new, competing browser.