An interesting overview of the past and where technology is today with the internet and how it might stabilize itself

When you begin a link campaign, whether you’ve inherited one or you’re starting fresh, it’s obviously a good idea to get a sense of where things stand. There are tons of articles and tools out there that exist to help you do this, and that’s fantastic (and much nicer than what we had a few years back.) The problem that I see with all of this is the time that you can waste getting utterly bogged down with your analysis.

There comes a time in most businesses where manufacturers look around at various opportunities for growth and struggle with them due to channel conflict. According to Wikipedia, channel conflict occurs when manufacturers (brands) disintermediate their channel partners, such as distributors, retailers, dealers, and sales representatives, by selling their products direct to consumers through general marketing methods and/or over the internet through eCommerce. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_conflict) In the case of Ad Words, Google is the manufacturer and as you can see below, they are now also the advertiser who is in the business of re-selling mortgage refinance leads.

People don't often make rational decisions. In fact, the capacity for abstract rational thought is only a recent evolutionary addition to our brains. We've mainly gotten by on our emotions and gut feelings. We may think we're approaching something rationally, but most of the time we use after-the-fact rationalization to justify our intuitive and emotional decision making.

Sometimes it’s difficult for non-marketers to reasonably gauge the overall success of branding programs, because they have neither dashboard nor perspective to use as benchmarks. This post suggests easy-to-identify measurements to serve as general indications of the marketing department’s success in building a brand (henceforth referred to as [brand]) to top of mind with the general search and social media public.

I’m sitting in a room at Google waiting to hear more about Google Chrome OS. You can watch the webcast along with me if you like. For starters, here’s what Google announced about Chrome OS back in July. At that time, Google called out “speed, simplicity and security� as the key ideas behind Chrome OS. Google released Chrome a little over a year ago with a novel idea–a comic book to describe the features and design decisions behind Chrome.

What are two of the biggest obstacles companies face in link marketing? Developing linkable content and making people aware of it. Here are some insights from my experience that will make it easier to overcome those obstacles. First let's look at linkable content. Content could be anything from an interactive tool, to videos, to user-generated content. Don't limit yourself to thinking content is just written words by a writer.

The economy, unemployment, war, H1N1, Jon and Kate, Tiger Woods and Michael Jackson dominated the headlines this year. It was a year that mixed pop cultural minutiae with the harsh realities of our political and economic landscapes. Clients, friends, family, and strangers all can't wait to close the book on 2009 and begin again with renewed hope in 2010.

When holiday cheer is in the air, I get in this state of mind where I hear jingle bells everywhere and the whole world is aglitter with tinsel. I have this constant stream of carols looping through my head and an urge to flavor everything with peppermint. But the holidays aren’t always a happy time for all.

The Google Retail blog has been good at passing along juicy little nuggets of data regarding the holidays. The latest does not disappoint. And it explains why you can't find a parking space at the mall.