Back in February, we noted a sort of creepy feature of Google Latitude that was annoying some users: Location Alerts. The beta feature actually launched alongside the Location History feature the previous November, but it didn’t get a lot of attention at the time. Then people started getting emails notifying them where their friends were — without asking for such emails. Yeah, a little creepy. So it shouldn’t be too surprising to hear that Google has quietly killed the feature. The only place Google noted this is on this page on their support site. As they write: The experimental Location Alerts (beta) app was retired in December, 2010. Retiring features is always a tough decision, but part of building experimental features is picking the best ones on which to focus. Rest assured, we’re continuing to develop apps such as Location History as well as the Latitude API to enable the developer community to create even more ways for you to use Latitude. While it may have sounded like a good idea on paper, the execution of the feature was bizarre. You would get emails notifying you where your friends were if they opted to use the feature. That lead to users getting weird emails like this: Subject: Location Alert: Peter XXXX was nearby! Google Location Alert Peter XXXXX (XXXXXX@gmail.com) was within 800 meters of you in San Francisco, CA at 7:15 PM. Check Google Latitude to see where Peter is now. It’s not quite: “Peter is looking in your window RIGHT NOW”, but it’s not that far off either. There was a way to stop getting these alerts, but it was a really weird feature to make opt-out. It was also a bit weird because they would only send the alerts when your friend was somewhere they’re not normally at. There are at least a dozen scenarios where that could be troublesome. Google recently released a Latitude iPhone app, and says the service now has 9 million active users — which we find a little suspect, but the service is deeply integrated into Android.
via TechCrunch
peace.
The Words of the Year via @nytimes
There are buzzwords and there are great words. (Retweet.)
Vuvuzela is a great word, one of the best to enter American popular culture in 2010, though it sounds nothing like an actual vuvuzela. A vuvuzela sounds like a long, droning moan, a sound full of garbage and tennis balls.
- The vuvuzela’s long, plastic barrel provided Americans with the junk shot of sounds this year, the sort of noise you could hear even through a containment dome placed over a gushing underwater oil well owned by BP. (Though if you take a vuvuzela to the airport, you’re going to get an enhanced pat-down, sure as we could be entering a double-dip recession.)
Close your eyes while someone blows a vuvuzela and you can see all this clearly, as if it were playing on a spill-camover your Web browser at work. Open them and it’s just a World Cup game highlight (speaking of great words: Uruguay vs. Ghana).
And the oil kept coming, all summer long, and with it new words — top kill, static kill, bottom kill — that meant failure, until at bottom they didn’t. (There may be put-backs for mortgage bonds. It doesn’t work so well with oil.)
Everyone was glad that the fish kill wasn’t as bad as it might have been. Dispersants may have worked. But the blowout preventer did not.
Refudiate is almost a better word than vuvuzela, because it’s not so much a real word as a neologism, one much of America attributes to Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, who used it in a Twitter message in July. (She took a real shellacking for that.) The Oxford University Press called it the word of the year.
But refudiate was not Ms. Palin’s word first, even if she unpacked the portmanteau all by her lonesome. David Segal of The New York Times had it in print in late June, in an article about people who sell marijuana for a living. They are not easy to interview.
“Simple yes-or-no questions yield 10-minute soliloquies,” he wrote. “Words are coined on the spot, like ‘refudiate,’ and regular words are used in ways that make sense only in context.”
It’s like a halfalogue, talking to those guys.
Speaking of, did you see “Inception”? (Can Ms. Palin refudiate a claim that she took the word refudiate from a sleeping marijuana salesman?) Did you i-dose on Justin Bieber videos (I’m a Belieber!) or contemplate becoming one of the Hollywood star whackerswho sent Randy Quaid around a bend and up to Canada to seek asylum? Did you weep along with HungryBear’s double rainbow on YouTube, then seek double rainbows yourself?
Most important of all, did you stand for or against the ground zero mosque near the ground zero Century 21, some blocks away from ground zero itself but almost directly next door to a bar?
G.Z.M. was a big word for 2010, until it was not. On that subject, there was quantitative easing as soon as the midterm elections were over.
QE2! — Sam Sifton
The Angry Birds Finally Get Some Help via @mashable
Asking a smartphone owner if she’s ever played Angry Birds is like asking a kitten if he’s ever coughed up a ... Read more
"Why The Kids Don't Blog And Grandma's On Facebook" via @fastcompany
Here's a fun stat for you: "fastest growth on social networking sites like Facebook has come from internet users 74 and older." Not too surprising given the normalcy of teens being early technology adopters. Facebook is affecting all aspects of the way we use the web... times are a'changin!
Why The Kids Don't Blog And Grandma's On Facebook
BY DAVID ZAX
Teenagers are abandoning blogs, while members of the "G.I. Generation" are flocking to Facebook. These are two of the findings in a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which put out a similar "Generations" report last year.
The central finding of this year's report is highly intuitive: Across the board, Americans are using the Internet more. Email, search engines, health information, news and podcasts, product sites, travel sites, banking sites--all were accessed more, by the old and the young alike.
But it's in the nuanced parsing of generational information that's the real meat of the report. One of the major findings of the report is that "millenials," sometimes called "Generation Y"--aged 18-33--are more likely to use wireless internet, laptop, social networking sites or participate in virtual worlds. But there were some corners of the internet use that older folks, from Gen X on up, were more likely to use: online banking, for instance, or government websites.
A few other intriguing bits from the report:
• the percentage of adults who watch video online jumped from 52% in 2008 to 66% in 2010.
• over half--51%--of adults listen to music online. That figure was just 34% in June 2004.
• 53% of adults have used classified sites like Craigslist--a number way up, from 32%, back in September 2007.
The most delightful findings come at the tail ends of the curve. One of the only activities that decreased in popularity was blogging. Only half as many teens currently operate their own blog now, compared to 2006. Have our teenagers suddenly become less vain and navel-gazing? Unlikely: Pew speculates that Facebook status updates have become the preferred means of self-casting for the young.
And finally, the most delightful finding of all: the fastest growth on social networking sites like Facebook has come from internet users 74 and older. Usage quadrupled since 2008; whereas only 4% had ventured onto sites pioneered by the likes of Time's Person of the Year, fully 16% do now. If Grandma hasn't friended you yet, she will soon.
A story worth reading...
I heard a story recently I thought I would share with you...
A number of years ago a salesman had gotten lost and drove up to a house to ask for directions. He got out of his car and walked up to the porch where an elderly gentleman was rocking in his rocking chair and an old hound dog lay stretched out near by. As he approached the dog lifted his head and let out a moan. A moment later the dog again lifted his head and moaned. The salesman began to ask for directions when the dog’s moaning interrupted him. He almost got his question out when the dog moaned again.
Finally the salesman asked, “What’s wrong with your dog?”
The old man looked down at the dog and then to the salesman and said, “He’s lying on a nail.”
“Lying on a nail?”, asked the surprised salesman.
“Yep”, said the old man, “It bothers him enough to complain about it, but not enough to do anything about it.”
Doesn’t that seem to be the way with some folks? They’ll complain about something, but they won’t do anything about it.
We don’t have to have the same outlook. If something is bothering you then it is probably bothering someone else too. Take that step to do something about it. You can affect change.
Tom Cuthbert
Remember Ringtones?
Here's what a dying tech trend looks like. Ringtones were super-hot in the middle of last decade, as everyone started to get cellphones, and have since fallen in popularity. Note the diminishing spikes around Christmas, which peaked in 2004.
One odd thing on this chart, via Google Trends: A sustained increase in interest in ringtones in the second half of this year. What could be causing this? According to mobile music Thumbplay, it might have something to do with the rise of search from smartphones, especially Android phones. But that's just a guess.
"66% Of Groupons Are "Profitable" For A Business" via @alleyinsider
Groupon is a runaway success, generating revenue at $2 billion annual run rate. But is it sustainable? To answer that question, Utpal M. Dholakia, a marketing professor at Rice University, surveyed 150 businesses that used Groupon. Of the people he spoke with, 66% found Groupon to be "profitable." In his study, profitable means the Groupon generated enough additional sales to justify the initial discount. In other words, it's looking at the long term implications of using Groupon for a business. The vast majority of the companies that had successful Groupons said they would do it again, so it appears that Groupon has a sustainable business on its hands.
"Do you really know who your best salespeople are?" (via @HarvardBiz)
by Lynette Ryals, Iain Davies, and Open
CEOs are investing more than ever in their sales forces, but results aren’t improving. To understand this disconnect, we observed 800 sales professionals in live sales meetings. We discovered eight sales types. The bad news is that only three of them—accounting for a mere 37% of salespeople—were consistently effective. What’s more, some of the behaviors of the remaining 63% actually drove down performance. But there’s good news, too: The eight types represent behavioral tendencies, not set-in-stone personalities. Managers can effect changes in their current salespeople and recruit better team members in the future if they understand the eight types.
"Angry Birds: More Than 12 Million Copies Sold" via @techcrunch
I admit it... I'm a fan! Angry Birds: More Than 12 Million Copies Sold
TECHCRUNCH | DECEMBER 8, 2010
TECHCRUNCH | DECEMBER 8, 2010
In an on-stage interview at Le Web 10 in Paris, Rovio CEO Mikael Hed talked about one of the most popular games ever to hit mobile phones all around the world: Angry Birds.
Read more: http://pulsene.ws/tkaW
"Here's A Deals Service That Could Blow Groupon Away"
Groupon may have blown its chance by passing up Google's acquisition offer last week. A new deals site called Offermatic, which launched today after four months of beta testing, has the potential to make daily deals sites look stale.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-a-deals-service-that-could-blow-groupon-away-2010-12#ixzz17RaHc06U
Instead of one random discount per day, Offermatic offers users multiple discounts from major retailers. Those discounts are based on the user's actual purchasing history on a credit card or debit card.
Spend a lot of money on new gadgets? Look for deals from Best Buy and Radio Shack. About time for your quarterly wardrobe update? Expect to see deals from The Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch.
To sign up, consumers have to register a debit or credit card with Offermatic. Cards from most major banks (BofA, Chase, Wells Fargo, and many more) are supported, but an online banking password might be required to get started--a possible barrier for customers who have only used their credit cards to shop. Discounts are applied directly back to the card, so there's no coupon to track or rebate to send in. Saving money is "almost passive," says Offermatic CEO Faisal Qureshi.
Offermatic earns commissions from merchants each time a customer buys one of the discounted products. Merchants don't pay for leads or impressions--only for actual purchases.
The company has 75 of the top 100 U.S. retail merchants offering deals at launch, and Qureshi expects others to jump aboard once they see how Offermatic presents a much better marketing vehicle than daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial.
That's because instead of throwing out a random deal to the entire Internet, retailers can offer targeted deals to customers who are already spending money in that category. It's almost like the hyper-precise targeting of Google AdWords has come to the physical world. Qureshi claims that merchants are seeing average conversion rates of 14% or 15% during beta testing. By way of comparison, a great AdWords campaign might get a conversion rate of 10%.
What about piracy? Qureshi admits there's a core of skeptics who will never participate. But Offermatic doesn't actually store any sensitive data on its servers; it only stores the user's log-in credentials. The actual data--credit card numbers and purchase history--is transferred securely to Yodlee, which has years of experience managing sensitive personal data for personal finance sites like Mint.com.
The biggest problem, says Qureshi, will be building the consumer user base and merchant participation in lockstep. If there aren't enough shoppers, merchants will quickly lose interest and stop participating. If the shoppers come too early, they won't see enough deals to recommend the site to their friends.
Offermatic has spent the last four months figuring out how to strike that balance--for example, by focusing on big national merchants so customers are almost guaranteed to get at least one offer when they sign up. Today, they'll begin to see whether all that testing has paid off.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-a-deals-service-that-could-blow-groupon-away-2010-12#ixzz17RaHc06U
"U.S. Online Advertising Expected to Grow 14 Percent in 2010" via @techcrunch
Online ad spending is expected to grow nearly 14 percent this year in the U.S. to $25.8 billion, according to a revised forecast by eMarketer. Its last forecast in May projected about 11 percent growth to $25.1 billion. The market research firm also expects U.S. online advertising to keep growing at double-digit rates through 2014, when it estimates the total will reach $40.5 billion.
Obviously, these estimates are moving targets, and will be revised again, but they do give a sense of where expectations lie today. eMarketer arrives at its numbers by looking at other research estimates and coming up with its own meta-estimate. As a percentage of total media spending, the online component will grow from 15.3 percent in 2010 to 21.5 percent in 2014 (based on total media spending of $168.5 billion in 2010 and $188.5 billion in 2014).
Lump in the burgeoning growth of Groupon-style local advertising , and these estimates could end up looking too low. Below is a chart of eMarketer’s estimates from May for comparison:
Information provided by CrunchBase
Dialup? Are you talkin' dialup? "AOL Wants To Merge With Yahoo And Spin Off Its Dialup Business"
I had AOL dialup service... in 1996! It's hard to believe that there are still dial up customers in a world where wifi is so ubiquitous and 3G and 4g are commonplace.
Now excuse me while I go put "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" into my Betamax player :)
SAI: SILICON ALLEY INSIDER | DECEMBER 5, 2010
http://pulsene.ws/rXzW
AOL is "actively exploring" a breakup, which could include spinning off its legacy dialup business, and merging its advertising ... Read more
SAI: SILICON ALLEY INSIDER | DECEMBER 5, 2010
http://pulsene.ws/rXzW
AOL is "actively exploring" a breakup, which could include spinning off its legacy dialup business, and merging its advertising ... Read more
Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? How about an "Electronic Computer Brain"?
I grew up around computers. My dad is an electrical engineer and I can still remember going to work with him on the weekends and staring at the giant computers! We even had a Commodore Pet as one of the very first "desktop" computers. (You had to have a really strong desk to support that baby!)
One of my earliest computer memories is when my dad bought me this "Electronic Computer Brain"! I saw this in the Huffington Post article (below) and laughed out loud! I remember getting this and assembling it when I was probably 6 or 7. There were short straws that would attach to the front to "program" it. It could do simple math problems and as the ad points out, could tell your fortune! Unfortunately it didn't tell me to buy Microsoft stock in 1985, but for $4.99 it was a bargain!
13 Vintage Computer Ads Show How Far We've Come
"What the heck is electronic mail?" isn't something you typically hear today. Even moms and grandmas are on Facebook, and if you hand any of today's kids a smart phone they'll be downloading episodes of "Yo Gabba Gabba" before you can say "don't drop that." Still, it wasn't too long ago that consumers were fascinated by the possibilities of computers, and these vintage ads prove that in a hilarious way. From those which show our former naivete of all things digital, to ads for hard drives that pale in comparison to an iPhone and cost exponentially more, we guarantee you'll get a kick out of these outdated tech-vertisements. Vote for your favorite!
Some Data-Miners Ready to Reveal What They Know
Some Data-Miners Ready to Reveal What They Know
ALL THINGS DIGITAL | DECEMBER 3, 2010
ALL THINGS DIGITAL | DECEMBER 3, 2010
Seeking to head off escalating scrutiny over Internet privacy, a group of online tracking rivals is building a service that lets consumers see what information those companies know about them. Seeking to head off escalating scrutiny over privacy, a group of online data and tracking firms are joining forces to build a service that lets consumers see what information those companies know about them. WSJ's Emily Steel reports. The project is the first of its kind in the fast-growing business of tracking Internet users and selling personal details about their lives. Called the Open Data Partnership, it will allow consumers to edit the interests, demographics and other profile information collected about them. It also will allow people to choose to not be tracked at all. When the service launches in January, users will be able to see information about them from eight data and tracking firms, including BlueKai Inc., Lotame Solutions Inc. and eXelate Inc. Additional tracking firms are expected to join once the system is live, but more than a hundred tracking firms and big Internet companies including Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. are not involved. The companies involved represent some of the most aggressive trackers of Internet users, many of which have been profiled in The Wall Street Journal's "What They Know" series about online privacy. It's rarely a coincidence when you see Web ads for products that match your interests. WSJ's Christina Tsuei explains how advertisers use cookies to track your online habits. "The government has told us that we have to do better as an industry to be more transparent and give consumers more control. This is a huge step in that direction," said Scott Meyer, CEO of Better Advertising Project, a New York-based start-up that is directing the Open Data initiative. The $25 billion Internet advertising industry is scrambling to make more transparent its widespread practice of collecting, selling and using Web browsing and other profile information about consumers, as part of a broader effort to ward off federal regulation. Online tracking is legal, and companies currently aren't bound by government rules to show people what they know about them. BlueKai trades data on more than 200 million Internet users, boasting the ability to reach more than 80% of the U.S. Internet population. The new Open Data initiative marks the first time consumers will have a one-stop-shop to see all the information these companies know about them. Web ads carrying the above logo will let consumers find out what information is known about them. Previously, a handful of Internet and tracking firms, including Google, Yahoo, BlueKai, Lotame and eXelate, made such information available on their own sites. However, few consumers were aware. "Not all consumers know who eXelate is, but if we can create a central portal where eXelate and all our lovely competitors can be in one place, it provides an easier way for consumers to get access to these tools," said Mark Zagorski, chief revenue officer at eXelate. A website, betteradvertising.com, will list online data and tracking firms that have collected or used information about a person's interests, Web browsing or other details. For the companies that sign up for the initiative, a person will be able to see what information they have collected, Mr. Meyer says. Users also will be able to access their profiles via advertisements that display an icon: a lowercase "i" encased in a triangle. Clicking on the icon displays more information about how the ad was targeted to a user and further clicks provide more information about how to see the information that the companies know about users and how to opt-out. A visitor can see, for instance, that eXelate has pegged them as a person interested in buying a hybrid or luxury automobile, with a household income of $60,000 and an interest in shopping for personal technology. That user can change the income bracket or remove it entirely from his profile. Users also can decide not to be tracked. The information displayed as part of the Open Data initiative also won't be shared and used for tracking purposes. However, some of the companies will show only broad categories in which they classify users rather than the minute details that they know. Better Advertising says it is not charging the data companies to be a part of the service, which is free to consumers. Advertisers ultimately will have to pay for the service that places the Open Data icon and information in their ads.
By EMILY STEEL
Internet and advertising companies typically gather information about users to target ads. A person's Web activities and location can be used to tailor the type of credit cards pitches they see, for instance.In a report on Internet privacy on Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission called for the development of a do-not-track tool system that would enable people to avoid having their actions monitored online—a move the online advertising industry opposes.
Better Advertising Project
... Read more
The Upside of Airports Scans...
Apple TV: Streaming and Renting From Devices
I added this to my Christmas wish list! I have a Samsung Blu-ray player and it works great to stream Pandora and Netflix. But the idea of AirPlay is appealing and I'm sure apps are coming. The Samsung interface is clunky and Apple's is easy. So... I'll add yet another Apple device to my home! Apple TV: Streaming and Renting From Devices
WALT MOSSBERG
WALT MOSSBERG
http://pulsene.ws/qWWN 
The revamped $99 Apple TV streams content from online, computers and portable devices, and allows you to rent TV shows and ... Read more
The revamped $99 Apple TV streams content from online, computers and portable devices, and allows you to rent TV shows and ... Read more
For Start-Ups, the Ultimate Goal: Becoming a Verb
From the New York Times
By NICK BILTON
Nick Bilton/The New York Times
When starting a new Web site or Internet service, most technologists are aiming to sell to a larger company or gain hundreds of millions of users. But for some there is an even bigger glory than cash: their company name becomes a verb.
It didn’t take long for Google to win this honor, as people began saying “let me Google that” instead of using the verb “search.” Microsoft hopes that its search engine, Bing, is on its way to this usage too.
And of course this idea goes beyond search sites. Take Twitter, for example, which has been verbified with the advent of the word “tweet.”
read full article here: http://pulsene.ws/pUaO
"Here's Google's Real Offer For Groupon: $6 Billion ($5.3 Billion Plus $700 Million Earnout)"
I remember being at a conference years ago listening to Mark Cuban speak. Someone asked him, "When Yahoo offered you $6 billion dollars for Broadcast.com did you negotiate?". His answer was, "Hell no! If anyone offers you $6 billion dollars for anything, take it!"
True then, true now... no wonder he's smiling :)
From Silicon Alley Insider...
Google hasn't bought Groupon yet, especially for the $2.5 billion chump-change reported yesterday, but it has put a whopping-huge offer on the table, says Kara Swisher.
Google has offered $6 billion for the Chicago-based company: $5.3 billion now, with a $700 million earnout.
That is an enormous pile of money, and Groupon should take it.
This price seems high, but Google is smart to be aggressive here. Its core business, search, is maturing, and as yet it has been unable to develop a second major growth engine. Also, because one of Groupon's biggest costs is buying Google AdWords, there should be significant synergy between the companies. And Google has $33 billion of cash sitting aroundburning a hole in its balance sheet.
That said, the integration will be very challenging. It's hard to think of two big companies that have more different cultures.
Google's DNA is engineering, Groupon's is sales and marketing. If the integration is handled well, the companies could complement each other by sharing these core competencies. If it is handled badly, however, the combination could be a disaster.
Ten Keys to a Killer Name for Your Company via @startuppro
Naming is an art... I feel pretty fortunate to have been involved with some very clever and creating people at the birth of my last few ventures. We selected Click Forensics, OPTIMAL iQ and Max Deal. Each meets the criteria outlined below in this excellent post by Martin Zwilling.
Ten Keys to a Killer Name for Your Company
Please don’t send me any more business plans with TBD or NewCo in the title position. Right or wrong, the name you choose, or don’t choose, speaks volumes about your business savvy and understanding of the world you are about to enter. Here are some key things I look for in the name, with some help from Alex Frankel and others: If you are still unsure of yourself, you should know that there are many dedicated firms, like Igor and A Hundred Monkeys, that can relieve you of $1M of your hard-earned funds to come up with just the right appellation. Hmmm. I wonder how much they spent on their own names? Marty Zwilling
First things first – your startup needs a name! This may seem a silly and frivolous task, but it may be the most important decision you make. The name of your business has a tremendous impact on how customers and investors view you, and in today’s small world, it’s a world-wide decision.
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