01/30/2007
Good news if you're creating original content which is popular on YouTube. According to co-founder Chad Hurley, YouTube will soon be offering a revenue share to creators of popular videos. The BBC reports, "The system would be rolled out in a couple of months, [...] and use a mixture of adverts, including short clips shown ahead of the actual film." Revenue sharing will only be available for non-copyright infringing videos, and its unclear exactly how much money per video play will be offered.

YouTube Advertising

01/29/2007
RSS Does Not Equal Blogs
Many assume that RSS is only for syndicating the contents of blogs, nothing could be further from the truth. Blogs and online journals have rocketed to popularity in the last few years, and many bloggers use RSS as a means to distribute and syndicate their blog posts. Subscribers receive information each time the blog is updated. However this is NOT the only use for RSS. RSS can deliver any kind of content, including forum posts, discount coupons, newsletters or press releases. Blogs are just one type of information syndicated by RSS feeds.

RSS Does Not Equal Blogs

01/27/2007
Wikipedia has been the recent target of spammers. Why? Because Wikipedia is considered a credible source or authority site by many large search engines. This means if you have a link from Wikipedia it is worth a lot. As a result Wikipedia has been struggling with spammers, attmepting to post external links. What is the solution? Wikipedia has added "no follow" to its external links. The "no follow" command means that the sites linked to from Wikipedia do not get any of Wikipedia's "link juice".

01/26/2007
A new search engine strictly for educational RSS feeds has been launched. The new search engine, aptly named Educational Feeds contains RSS feeds grouped by subject and it also has a search feature. Universities, colleges and classes with feeds or podcasts are encouraged to submit their listings free of charge.

01/24/2007
Microsoft recently unveiled a new web site called Windows Vista Test Drive designed to allow business users, consumers, and the merely curious to find out what running Microsoft's latest operating system might be like without actually having to install it.

01/23/2007
The best blogs and feeds are those that contain unique, fresh, compelling, content. So where do these prolific posters get their ideas? I talked to a handful of bloggers to determine where their inspiration originated for their content.

Not surprisingly, ideas for blog posts or RSS feed items originate or are influenced by other web content. The following are venues for finding your online muse:

How do you get ideas for blog posts and RSS feed posts?

01/22/2007
Buying a house is all about location, and proximity to good schools is one of the big factors in choosing where to live. Today we launched nationwide schools search on Yahoo! Real Estate. Users can search and browse local schools via an interactive map interface, and refine and sort their search by school district, distance, grade level, or school type (e.g. public, private, charter).  

My question why are the results not available via RSS feeds?

01/20/2007
In a marked shift from the past, Microsoft plans to sell its new operating system through a new channel: the Internet. Microsoft is using the shareware marketing method for vista!

01/19/2007
FeedForAll v2 has been released. This new software application is incredibly easy to use, it has built in wizards that walk users through RSS feed creation, podcast creation and creating podcasts for iTunes.

RSS is a great way for small businesses to communicate with their customers. The website has a lot of educational tutorials and articles to help new users navigate their way through using RSS.

01/16/2007
This TIME magazine article takes a stab at explaining the Long Tail and how it applies to internet marketing.

01/16/2007
According to Search Engine Roundtable DMOZ is back open again and awaiting submissions. It is likely that being listed is still onerous but atleast there is activity!  

01/16/2007
Internet bloggers will be allowed to cover the criminal trial of former White House staffer Lewis (Scooter) Libby alongside reporters from traditional media outlets, a court spokesman said on Thursday.

This gives bloggers a level of credibility that may, or may not have been earned. How does one discern who is a credible journalist if they are not from a traditional media outlet? This raises interesting questions, while in the past blogs were viewed as unvetted tabloids stories, some bloggers have discovered the "truth" prior to traditional reporters. But how do you pick and choose which bloggers are credible? How do you choose which bloggers should be given access?

01/08/2007
The 10,000 users lost their expiring .com domains when they were unable re-register after an underseas earthquake limited Internet access.

complete article

01/08/2007
There’s been a surge of publicity lately about copyright violations on the Internet — primarily with music and video postings at social sites like YouTube and MySpace. Though copyright challenges are nothing new, when multi-national, multi-media corporations begin seeing their works being used (or misused) in popular venues, they tend to get more attention than a “little guy” who has his work used without permission.

According to its site, Numly allows authors and artists to register their digital works as copyrights.

01/08/2007
Driven by a strong rise in holiday spending, U.S. retail Web sites collected $102.1 billion in 2006, marking a 24 percent increase over last year, according to a report released friday.

01/07/2007
The founder of retail website Amazon has advertised for engineers to join his private program aimed at opening the galaxy to more human exploration.


Jeff Bezos posted his hiring offer at www.blueorigin.com, the website of the Blue Origin 9 company he is financing with the goal of making spaceflights more affordable for the masses.

complete article

01/03/2007
Top 10 Winners Predicted for 2007

1. Content Filtering
With web content and syndication growing at a rapid pace locating information is becoming more of a struggle for web surfers. The abundance of content has made filtering critical to time management. As a result, content filtering and solutions that help with content filtering will be winners in 2007.

2. Pesonalized Search and Vertical Search will be a winner in 2007
Search 2.0 will be all about filtering and personalized search. Niche portals with targeted focus will play in vertical search and authority sites will gain even more traction.

3. Social Bookmarking and Social Networks
Social bookmarking is the new black. The collective voice has not only gained momentum but it has also attracted the most savvy web marketers. While there is still power of the collective voice, social networks and social bookmarking has gained attention, the masters behind these networks will need to stay a step ahead of the spammers to stay in the game. The danger is that the crowd, will become upset that a small group is profiting from the collective voice. The "crowd" will likely to manipulate the collective voice in 2007.

4. RSS
RSS is about choice and users choosing the content they wish to subscribe. RSS' adoption will reach significant numbers and even the naysayers will be unable to ignore its success in 2007.

What is Hot and What is Not in Technology

01/02/2007
Each and every year people around the world mark the first day of the New Year with resolutions. They resolve to do a wide variety of things, and while few resolutions are actually kept, the tradition is a hallmark of the holiday each year.

Experts suggest that people should make lifestyle changes rather than resolutions. I am a bit more pragmatic. Tackle a task you know that you can succeed at. Do not bite off more than you can chew, and you will be one of the few who manages to keep their resolutions. Here are a few suggested resolutions for webmasters and small business owners:

small business and webmaster resolutions

01/02/2007
The year 2006 has been full of news about Google and the way it ranks web sites. Alexa has put together a 2006 guide to search engine optimization in 2006.

All You Need to Know about SEO in 2006

01/02/2007
Take the super hero quiz and find out who you most resemble! I'm happy to report I am Wonder Woman - "You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character". Enjoy!

01/01/2007
For the most part in 2006, the world escaped Natures wrath, but people were far less kind to their neighbors. 2006 is scarred not by the winds and oceans but by political turmoil across the globe. The Middle East quagmire is the epitome of how wrong things can go, with the war in Lebanon, infighting in Palestine, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and Iraq's sectarian violence the deepest scars of 2006 were self inflicted with man being his own enemy. Of course, the Middle East is not alone with it's own self-destruction. Genocide in Chad and Sudan show how truly intolerant the human race really is. North Korea's impatience and nuclear activity have disrupted Asia. In fact, few areas of the world were left unscathed by man's ambitions in 2006.

Again technology has brought the tragedies of war and the personal stories of families from the farthest corners of the earth, to the door steps of the west. Citizen journalism and Internet propagation has added a complex layer to the stories. The growth of YouTube, Blogs, Podcasting and RSS have personalized the media and given listeners and watchers a personal connection to the reports.

More on Reflections 2006 and Predictions for 2007

12/29/2006
Okay we are on the eve of a new year. Make a resolution to learn something new. Here are some ideas:

RSS - learn more at RSS Specifications
Podcasting - learn more at Podcasting Tools
Social Bookmarking - tackle Digg