There is little doubt that there are many powerful people who would be quite happy to shut up the found of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. He has been the cause of a few headaches for high officials and this means that there are probably people who would do willing to go to extreme lengths to stop him causing more trouble.  This is why the recent shenanigans in Sweden seem very suspicious. Last Friday he was accused of rape and there was an arrest warrant put out for him; this was followed the next day by the removal of this accusation. Now Assange himself is claiming that this is all part of a carefully orchestrated smear complain.

You wouldn’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to smell something fishy going on here. Wikileaks has already released a ton of information that many government officials would like to keep quite. They are likely terrified about what else is going to appear on this website. There are many people who would be very happy to see Assange have his name muddied. He doesn’t even have to be convicted because if you throw enough mud you can be sure some of it will stick.

Wikileaks is one of the prime examples of how the internet can benefit all of us. Those of us who are tired of being misled by governments, or being treated like children who don’t need to know anything, welcome the website.  If this website is making some secretive government types nervous, then so much the better.  On the other hand, it could well be that Assange has broken the law and if this is the case he should be punished – it all just seems a bit convenient though. It will be interesting to see how this story works out.

There have been attempts to bring the internet to the TV in the past but nobody has managed to do this successfully. This is a real shame because the ability to have the internet on such a big screen is a tempting idea. Now Google are set to release a new type of TV that will allow viewers to mix the best of both types of media. This is all very exciting stuff and could completely revolutionize the way we watch television.

The idea behind Google TV is that people can move flawlessly between both types of media and be able to use both simultaneously. So if you are a football fan not only can you watch the game but you will be able to shrink the TV picture and surf the internet to get all the facts about the game you are watching. If a new player impresses you with their skills you can find out all about them by searching their biography while at the same time continuing to watch the game. The possibilities are endless here.  I often find that my interest is piqued by something somebody says on TV and this new technology will allow me follow up on this without having to exit the TV program.

Another great benefit of Google TV will be that it will mean we can now watch internet video in a full-screen format. Personally I find that these days there is probably a lot more interesting video on the web anyway so the idea of a high quality picture gets my vote. I can’t wait to see what happens when Google TV becomes a reality. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for this technology. Despite all the fuss surrounding the iPad at the moment it could be something like Google TV that really impacts our lives the most.

The President of the US has become the latest critic of Apple when he mentioned the iPad during one of his speeches over the weekend. To be fair though, he didn’t just choose Apple for criticism and there wasn’t a single mention of Flash. No, President Obama was more concerned with the fact that devices like the iPad are making information a distraction. He argues that instead of knowledge being a way to empower us it has just become yet another form of entertainment.  In other words, the dream that the internet might liberate us all in the age of knowledge might actually be making us dumber than ever.

Thinking about it, President Obama might actually have a point here. It would be wrong to blame Apple for the problem but there certainly seems to be a lot of ignorance out there in the cloud. The problem is that instead of allowing people to share knowledge and experience the internet has developed into thousands of echo chambers where people gather in their own little groups and just reinforce each other’s ignorance. The majority of people seem to have little interest in verifying facts and instead of using the internet as a way to discover the world they want to be told how to think. They select a few sources they trust and put their faith in this. In a way it is understandable, most of us don’t have enough time to research things ourselves. That is why in the States you can have somebody like Sarah Palin being accepted by many people as an expert on everything – a very worrying state of affairs.

Obama is probably speaking the truth, but it is doubtful that many people are listening. They are all too dependent on other people to tell them how to interpret his words.

On January 31, 2009 the entire internet arena was full of confusions and amusements when surfers around the globe received error warning when they browsed the internet. This was a problem with Google and all webpages showed this critical warning when they tried to access sites through Google. This severe problem lasted from 4 to 5 hours and all the internet activities where stalled during this period of time.

The more interesting fact was Google’s advisory pages suggested the usual steps to troubleshoot the issue or it contained the reasons for problems. But it was not acceptable just because these advisory notes were meant only for infected and malicious pages. Everyone was perplexed to think the whole of internet pages, doesn’t matter whichever the site is infected and malicious ones. There was no reason to think for common man Google had some problems which are technical and this was the hot news.

In their blog, Google made it very simple to justify as a simple human error. They continued, stating that they have a program which tracks the updates regarding malicious sites and this program is not an automated one. Instead, this program is maintained by humans and that was simply a human error.

One of the latest news from the world of search engines from US is that, Yahoo is capable of engaging internet users more than what is possible by Google. The number of users is always the top for Google as compared to Yahoo.

The average hours spend on Google by visitors is around 1. 18 hours where as Yahoo managed to keep visitors on the site for an average of 3.33 hours. The reason behind why yahoo can keep visitors interested in their site than Google is something that has to be investigated, but it clearly paves light to better search results, better customization and lot other factors.

When the engaging of Internet Company is considered, Yahoo is never the leading, since AOL has taken that place. The study has shown that, the time spend for internet is increasing with age. People having job and other opportunities for internet usage and falling under the age group 35-49 is found to have more usage for internet. The studies have taken the most recent results from the world of search engine in the month of July. The impact of Yahoo on people is of course a surprise when Google continues to be the giant in the search engine market.

The most important positive impact of Google is its ever green dynamism and endless enthusiasm about offering some new experience to the users, keeping in synchronization with the ever cherished tradition that a rolling stone gathers no moss. We have seen Google to come out with various utilities like Webmaster Tools, Analytics, Local search, Google Map and perhaps the latest addition is Google Merchant Search.

Shopping has been gradually becoming popular to different segments of people and many shopping or service comparison websites have been already launched. The people become suspicious at times about their reliability, which leaves the door wide open for the entry of a renowned brand like Google. What the user gains? Google defines the newly launched Google Merchant search in three simple steps. In Step 1, you compare providers using refined search, step 2 You select and Google will connect them to you while in Step 3, Google allows the providers to call you as per your preference and convenience. Google assures about maintaining confidentiality of your personal or contact information. Moreover the entire service is free for the users.

Now let us try to analyze the situation. As Google has launched the service, most of the providers will pounce to enlist themselves in Google Merchant Search. Surely simple organic search will not be adequate for them any further and a lot of thrust will be showered upon for content, keyword etc to find a better rank even in this high profile SERP. If we try to delve into the market scenario, there have been continuous attempts to threat Google and it’s popularity. Perhaps such a silent launch of such a phenomenal concept can be justified by the cherished tradition of software vendors that even Google has launched only a Beta version as yet. We need to wait for a few more days to watch the original version and we may witness is another blast over the Internet.

In order to comply with the private needs for websites Google plans to slowly do away with the search queries erasing them in a matter of a year and a half to two years. This came back to back with other group strategies which Google declared it wants to implement so as to improve its imparted services.

They will be opting for a new data retention policy which makes it virtually impossible for users to be attached to what they search for on net. The plan is that Mountain View Internet Company will cloud the information it collects about users who browse through Google. Google will thus purge mostly all private relevant information about the source of queries so that no one can trace the queries back to individual users.

Kurt Opsahl, an attorney praised Google’s decision declaring that it was heading in an appropriate direction. Previously AOL had made a high-profile blunder by posting 19 million search queries online as part of a research project. Unfortunately the information was used to identify some of the users arising in public outrage to be followed by a string of resignations within the Company.

Various foreign laws and cyber legislations in force enforce Google to log user information for up to two years in the legal context. Google said the reason for incorporating newer schemes were in response to the reviewed feedback from privacy groups and the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. Google said it believes in such regular updates which keep it off malpractices and disorders which are bound to creep into companies of its stature. It further reiterated that it wants to remove its deficiencies right from its roots instead of trimming just the shoots. Thus Google said, providing a transparent environment to users is all it is about.

Newsletter can be called as a reformation of the prevailing concepts of paper inserts, which all of us have encountered from time to time in our lives. What happens, when you get a paper insert, you just have a look and then throw into the dustbin or use it for waste purpose. You give a second look, only when you find something interesting for you, but the fact of life is, a paper inserts draws your glance at least for once.

In the realm of Internet, Newsletters are sent mainly to the people, who volunteers on their own. So, the probability of going through the complete newsletter becomes much higher. Experienced marketing gurus say that approaching an willing customer increases the probability of conversion by a sustainable amount. Again the success depends upon two vital factors: Identification of your target segment and the communicative messages. If the message becomes attractive and worthy, the visitor will surely click on the hyperlink, embedded in the email. Modern technology has even given you the unique opportunity to generate an inbound link to your website, when the person opens the mail. You will get plenty of Javascripts on the Internet to help you and off course most of them are free.

The success of newsletter primarily depends on the message that you want to communicate. Messages should be crisp and clear as remember that one normal internet surfer comes across thousands of messages everyday in a developed or developing country. So, your message should cut an ice in it’s appearance, which ultimately takes us back to the basic guideline of content development and your marketing capabilities. If you are asked at any point of time about your activities thorough out the day, you will surely start ranking them according to the gravity of the incidents. Remember any human being can not go beyond this psychic philosophy, which prompts him to reiterate the most attractive slogans on his own.

Decide on the message, you want to communicate and then implement the newsletter option in your website!

When you board a bandwagon of the Internet, you focus primarily upon two things – Quality and Retention. Quality indicates the filtration of traffic and Retention means your capability of retaining the skimming audience.

Your Billboard on the road crossing is visible to all sorts of visitors and in most cases the major chunk is beyond your target sector. Internet has been able to segregate the traffic to a great extent. A mid aged professional looking for Income tax saving options hardly bothers look at the gift shop, which sells a diamond pendant. The concept of filtration of traffic is partially done by the Internet users themselves, where they search based on certain keywords. This is also very apparent that a visitor looking for a particular product will hardly restrain himself in clicking on the 1st result displayed by the search engines, rather they will surely click on several websites to exercise their options.

Natural search engine results can bring a phenomenon change in your business, but not necessarily you need to occupy the number one position, because your filtered target audience will find you even if your position is slightly lower in the ladder.

Once you draw the attention of sustainable amount of visitors, your prime focus should be on retention. A normal visitor will allow hardly any time for your sales; rather your dramatic appearance should be able to catch his eyes instantly. If he finds attraction, then only he will be ready to spend a few more seconds, thus enabling you with the opportunity of retaining him slowly but inevitably.

The flowery marketing jargons fail to raise impact of the visitor any more, as people are aware of glimpse and glitter of the companies in this competitive age. Remember people hardly trust you and the visitors have become informed buyers in most cases. So, what you need to do? You need to focus on the features, which will precisely narrate how the product helps them, rather than furnishing your credential. If a visitor finds the requisite features, which help him out, then only he will be interested to know more about you and your portfolio.

You should define the tracks properly so that your quality visitors feel inquisitive about your entire product range and mainly on how your product is more suitable than the others. This is also true that whenever a company launches a product, the brand promotion technique emphasizes on the differences/ specializations in comparison with other products of similar nature. The content of the website should be able to portray them in a precise manner. A systematic presentation always becomes decent. Take the advantage of the technology and make the content appealing to the visitor.

Remember getting traffic is difficult, so never show the luxury of loosing them after getting them to visit you, moreover if the visitor becomes impatient or it raises his eyebrows, he may not come back again, as the first impression really matters.