In fact, Google has been drawing a great deal of criticism, and general observation this week regarding its increasing “Bingness”. A very large percentage of the articles written this week about Google’s new image search, not only make comparisons to Bing, but mention it in the title.

Some question why Google is trying to become more like Bing, while it already controls a much larger part of the search market. Others think the changes are for the better. After all, it’s not like Google has changed its algorithm to match Bing’s.

Still, “It seems that almost every time that Google makes an improvement in its aesthetic appeal, it looks more and more like Bing, notes  Converseon’s Mike Moran. “Remember the short-lived attempt to customize the Google home page recently which has since been removed?”

You can get up to a thousand images in one scrolling page, and the pages will have page numbers so you can keep track of where you are. This has been a feature lacking from Bing’s image search (though it does at least display a number for the range currently displayed…such as 377-416 of 6,400,000 results).

Google is also providing larger thumbnail previews on the results page, with a hover pane that appears when you mouse over a thumbnail. This includes more info and other features like “similar images.”

“Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it,” explains Google Images Product Manager Nate Smith. “Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.”

Finally, you can use Page Up/ Page Down to scroll through pages quickly.

Some webmasters have taken issue with Google’s new image search design, complaining that it puts their ads further away from being clicked. “The main issue from a webmaster perspective, as noted in WebmasterWorld, is that when you click on an image, it doesn’t take you to the site,” writes Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable. “Instead, it keeps you on Google, overlays the image in large format on top of your grayed out web site.”

“So any ads on your site won’t be clickable after the first click from Google. Users are instructed to either go back, click on the web site with the image or click on the actual image source file,” he explains. “I should note that clicking anywhere on the background web site will take you to that web site.”

Remember, the new design did come with a new ad format too. The format is called (appropriately) Image Search Ads.
“These ads appear only on Google Images, and they let you include a thumbnail image alongside your lines of text,” explains Google Images Product Manager Nate Smith. “We hope they’re a useful way to reach folks who are specifically looking for images.”

Advertisers can review specific performance metrics for their ads on Google Images. They are priced the same as standard AdWords ads with cost-per-click pricing. More on these here.
As far as Google’s recent design choices, it is pretty clear that Bing has had some kind of influence on them. The question is whether or not this is a good thing.

Taken from an original article in Web Pro News.

Windows Phone 7 has loads of other great features

The browser is Internet Explorer, it won’t be as fast as Mobile Safari. It’s got multitouch powers right out of the box. Naturally, you’ve got multiple browser windows, and you can pin web pages to the Start screen, like any other decent mobile browser.

The Outlook email app makes me question how people read email on a BlackBerry. It is stunning. I never thought I’d call a mail app “stunning,” but, well, it kind of is. It’s the best looking mobile mail app around. Text is huge. Gorgeous. Ultrareadable. Of course, it’s got Exchange support too.

The Marketplace is where you’ll buy apps.

Naturally, Bing and Bing Maps are built into the phone as the default search and maps services. They’re nice, smartly contextual, and very location-oriented. Bing’s also used for universal search on the phone, via a dedicated Bing button.Bing Maps is multitouchable, with pinch-to-zoom. It’s rich, with built-in listings with reviews and clever ways of searching for stuff.

Although there is some way to go until the final release, the beta is considered to be stable and safe enough for daily use.

Mozilla is aiming to engage up to 4 million users in an interactive process to shape the final release. Feedback opportunities are prominent in the user interface, with users encouraged to submit their thoughts to the developers.

The popular browser is undergoing many changes, both visible and under the hood. The Windows release has seen the most apparent refinements, with tabs moved above the address bar as well as a single Firefox button to replace the menu bar.

Universal changes include a Smart Location bar, updated add-ons manager, replacement of the bookmarks bar with a bookmarks button, support for high definition WebM video, extra privacy protection and crash protection against media plug ins.

For web developers, the main feature to embrace is the new HTML5 parser – which has full support for drag and drop, audio, video, file handling, and in-line SVG and MathML support.

Taking the beta for a spin, one enhancement is immediately apparent – the speed. Taking a leaf from the book of Chrome, the rendering of web pages is instantaneous and video sites such as YouTube load up in record time.

The beta does not include all the intended features of the final release – the Mac and Linux releases have yet to adopt the new menu layout and the synchronisation and privacy controls features are yet to be seen. Mozilla claims that it is going to squeeze even more speed from the engine for the final release later in the year.

Taken from an original article by Sebastian E Payne

What are the benefits?
For small businesses, there are many benefits to adopting Cloud Computing, particularly, the cost and flexibility.

Low initial investment
Cloud services usually offer a low initial investment or a free trial, allowing you to try the application and make sure that it does what you need, before you spend money. In contrast, traditional software needs to purchased and installed on your computer before it can be assessed, which takes time and money.

Software that grows with your business
You don’t need to pay for a large amount of software features that you don’t need. Cloud services tend to have several pay plans, allowing you to start with a basic package and roll out more services as your business grows and needs more sophisticated software systems. If you need more features, you pay more for them when you need them.

Reduce your spend on IT.
Cloud Computing services are hosted by the company supplying them, so there’s less need for you to have your own servers, software and dedicated IT support staff, which reduces your overheads, something that’s very important in the current economic climate.

Flexibility in working
Cloud Services are accessed securely through a web browser giving you and your staff access to vital business information anywhere, anytime, from any computer (MAC or PC). This makes implementing a flexible, mobile working system much more simple.

No need to worry about backing up your data
All the data you enter into a Cloud application will be..looked after by the service provider, so you don’t need to worry about having to back-up the data on your computer in case it is lost, damaged or stolen. Service Providers will…store your data in specialist “data centres”, where there is very low risk of it being damaged, and it is available for you to access whenever you need it.

There are no trees on The Cloud !
Since The Cloud is a digital environment, your company can reduce its carbon footprint effectively, something we are all encouraged to do.A virtual office allows you to produce less paper and means less printed emails or meeting minutes moving about the building.
By using eBrochures rather than printed sales material, suddenly you can apply the digital benefits accross your entire business.
Our eBrochures represent an extreemely cost effective way to reproduce your sales material, which can then be distrubuted and read by millions of users without any of the Rainforest – or any other forest being destroyed in the process.
Did you know that one tree only makes 16 packs or 4 boxes of printer/copier paper ?

How many trees were destroyed this year just to make paper for your sales material tht is still in your cupboard or has been discarded into landfill as unwanted by your potential customers and exisiting clients ?

Why not make your "Business Resolution" for next year to reduce the amount of paper used and dicarded and instead offer digital eBorhcures.
You’ll be also suprised at how much cost saving you can make v a large print run…. then you’ll have made the company more profitable by helping to lower its overheads whilst "saving the planet".

For once, truly a "win – win" situation.

For more details please contact eBrochures For Everyone

or visit their website at eBrochures For Everyone

Part of this article was based upon an original article written by Andrew Mulvenna

Google has launched the latest beta of its Chrome web browser. This release includes bookmark sync.

"For those of you who use several computers — for example, a laptop at work and a desktop at home — you’ve asked for a way to keep your Google Chrome bookmarks in sync across multiple computers," explains Google.

"Today’s new beta release allows you to do just that! You can keep your Google Chrome bookmarks synchronized and up-to-date across the multiple computers you use, without needing to manually recreate your bookmarks every time you use a different computer."

"Once you’ve activated Google Chrome bookmark sync on each of your computers, any changes you make to your bookmarks will appear on all synced computers in just a few second (For those of you who are curious, this bit of magic is made possible by the same XMPP-based servers that power Google Talk)," the company says.

Google also says that this version is faster. Specifically, Chrome’s performance has improved by 30%, based on Mozilla’s Dromeao DOM Core tests. That is compared to the most recent stable release. It’s actually improved by as much as 400% since the first stable release.

Taken from an original article by Chris Crum

You sit down to write an article then you hit a stumbling block,
what should you write about?
The post really has to be relevant to your business but you also want to make it interesting to other people, to keep visitors coming back to see what you have written.

After doing research into your article and then writing the blog entry, you reflect on how long the process has taken. You then begin to think “have I really this amount of time to take out of my working day?” If not how many times am I going to blog each week, when for a while it could only be a few people looking at what I have written.

But having said that, there are many benefits to be gained from writing a blog.

We know all to well how time consuming writing and managing our blog is but don’t just take our word for it. Here are some thoughts from Adam Parker, he suggests you consider the following five questions before launching into the serious time investment of writing a blog.

Here are some thoughts from Adam Parker, he suggests you consider the following five factors before launching into the serious time investment of writing a blog.

Do you enjoy writing?

This might sound obvious but it’s crucial. If you find writing a real chore then blogging probably isn’t for you. Personally I have gained a lot of pleasure from it, which is perhaps surprising given my accountancy background!

Do you enjoy reading?

Perhaps less obvious, but in actual fact this is even more important and should be where you start before you put pen to virtual paper. You are about to embark on a conversation in a community and so listening to what other people are saying is vital to ensure that you are being relevant and also because like conversations in the real world you may find great opportunities to develop ideas.

Have you got something interesting to say?

One reason I haven’t posted too many times is that I have tried to limit my posts to when I had something I thought was genuinely worth saying. Around one in three of my posts have actually required a significant investment in time for research and analysis that can be measured in days in some cases. But unsurprisingly it is these posts which have ended up receiving the highest readership. No pain, no gain.

Are you only going to talk about yourself?

While perfectly reasonable to some extent, I mean this is your blog after all; talking about yourself all the time in any situation is unlikely to maintain people’s interest – unless you are a celebrity. Try and limit the occasions you talk about business, and when you do, try and ensure they are still likely to be of some value to your community. A quick search confirms that I have mentioned RealWire in less than a third of my posts and only a handful are specifically related to us. Otherwise your subscriber figure may never rise much above friends and family.

Will you stick at it?

The benefits I stated at the beginning are unlikely to start to accrue for quite a while. For a long time you might feel like you are just talking to yourself and in this may in fact be true! Continuing to put the effort in when no one seems to be listening is potentially discouraging. But stick at it and you should find that your blog becomes a valuable addition to your online public relations activity. Remember it’s a marathon not a sprint.

Taken from an original article by Adam Parker.

Having said all this, the conclusions from this article are, having a blog is good as Google and other search engines visit your site more regulary as you have updated content. But do please remember if you are new to blogging you might find it easier to start of small, don’t try for the multi-blogging entries each day, go for once a week and then build up to daily entries.

The deals mark an end to the exclusive UK arrangement between O2 and the US technology firm, which has been in place since 2007.

Vodafone says users can register an interest online, with the handsets becoming available to customers from early 2010.

Orange said its customers would be able to buy the phone "later this year" but did not specify a date or pricing.

Vodafone is one of the biggest mobile operators in the world with an estimated 300 million customers world wide, making it the second largest carrier after China Mobile.

The agreement sees both Orange and Vodafone selling both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

A spokesperson for Vodafone said the firm was "delighted" at securing an agreement with Apple and that the phone was going to be primarily for existing Vodafone customers.

This is a different model from that adopted by O2, which used the iPhone as an incentive to attract new customers.

Exclusivity

O2 has offered the handset in the UK since its launch in 2007. In February, it said it had sold more than one million of the handsets.

The launch of the latest iPhone 3GS in June significantly boosted sales, with many stores running out of stock.

The phone has also allowed the firm to win subscribers from other networks, according to analysts.

Dave McQueen, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media told BBC News said that the smartphones – which have the ability to surf the web and send e-mail – has put a burden on the O2 network.

"IPhone users to tend to use data quite extensively – perhaps more than anticipated," he said.

O2 will continue to sell the handset in Britain, alongside iPhone rival the Palm Pre.

The Palm phone, described by some as an "iPhone killer", will be available exclusively to O2 from 16 October.

O2 said that it always knew that its exclusive deal was for "a limited period of time".

In countries where exclusive deals still persist, such as the US, some customers choose to "unlock" their phones using third party software so they work on an unlicensed network.

However, Apple has warned that the practice can cause "irreparable" damage to a handset and has engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse, releasing periodic software updates which prevent unlocked phones from working correctly.

This story was taken from an original article first published on BBC Technology news.

IT outsourcing is more popular in 2009 than it has ever been. Many companies are choosing to…..

outsource to an IT provider, rather than maintain an IT department. But how do you choose a reliable supplier? If you aren’t an IT fanatic yourself, how do you know whether your systems are up to scratch or not? Whether you’re being given appropriate advice? Or whether you’re getting value for money?

In Gartner’s 2009 outsourcing study, it was reported that many companies are developing outsourcing strategies to help them through tough times, but that organisations need to regularly assess their service levels and contract terms to achieve greatest return on investment. Allie Young, Vice President of Gartner, explains: “The well-educated buyer and provider will have the advantage. The potential for outsourcing to address immediate cost pressures as well as long-term recovery goals will be unprecedented… Many organizations that are not outsourcing will consider or move aggressively to outsource their IT or business processes to focus on their core business.”

What to ask your prospective suppliers

Once you’ve decided that you want to outsource, ensuring that you ask questions of the companies you approach based around the following 10 subjects should give you a headstart.

1) Company Size

How many engineers does the company have? How many full-time members of staff? Where are all these staff members based? Do they sub-contract or outsource any work? If so, what? If they are a very small company or a one-man band, what happens in the event of a crisis at another client’s premises? Do they arrange cover if they are sick or on holiday?

2) Payment Structure

What exactly is it that you are paying for? Are you entitled to unlimited support or do you pay per unit? Are there any extra/hidden charges?

3) Response Times

Will you receive guaranteed response times in the event of an IT issue? What hours of the day can you call them?

4) Network Safety

Will your network be monitored 24/7? If your website or email goes down in the middle of the night or at the weekend, will anyone know about it? Or be able to help?

5) Other Clients

Do you get the feeling the supplier understands your business? Do they have any other clients in your industry?

6) Accreditations

What accreditations does your supplier have?

7) Points of Contact

Who will they be? Will you be given access to a dedicated account manager as part of your contract? Have you met him or her and do you trust them?

Stability

How long has the supplier been in business? Are they financially stable?

9) Value Added Services

What services does the supplier offer in addition to the ones you are in talks about? Network design? Bespoke software development? Disaster recovery and security consultancy? Who are their clients for these extra services?

10) References

Will you be offered the chance to speak to any of their existing clients to find out first-hand about the services they provide?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a piece of software that allows people from within (and outside) an organisation to get a view of customer profiles, buying patterns and other useful customer-centric information. Its’ primary purpose is to facilitate a better understanding of the organisations’ customers’ from the products or services that they purchase, the main contacts within the customer base to trends and preferences.

In simple terms, CRM software computerises the process of gaining and a retaining a customer, selling to them, and tracking the ongoing relationship with them.

The future of CRM

CRM is here to stay because of the many benefits that such a system can deliver.

If anything, the use of CRM is set to expand especially with the onset of better mobile technologies (3G) and the use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s). More specific CRM software is being developed so than rather taking a ‘one size fits all’ approach there are different solutions according to market types and size of companies. Naturally the demands of a lawyers’ practice is vastly different to a manufacturer of motor components and the needs a small garage differs to that of a multi national company split over many locations.

Why CRM?

The purpose of CRM is to be able to track a customer’s lifecycle; from the initial lead (or source of contact) through to the sale and thereafter for support, services and future sales.

An integrated CRM system eliminates the need for keeping information about a customer in several places. Tracking a customer’s lifecycle in a potentially haphazard or disorganised way may lead to poor sales results because leads are not followed up promptly, up and cross-selling can be difficult, and customer loyalty can decrease if support requests or complaints are not dealt

with in a satisfactory way. A good example is when a sales person speaks with or meets a potential client, the information gained and the actions agreed upon are entered into the CRM system to remind individuals when specific dates or milestones have been reached or when action is required.

As a result, companies are likely to achieve greater revenues and margins through improved processes.

Benefits of CRM

- CRM helps your organisation get a better insight into the behaviour of customers’, such as when they typically buy, what they buy, discounts offered and so forth.

- It will help you improve your customer service because it allows individuals, whether sales technical or support personnel, to have access to all the correct information required to deliver a good service.

– It allows users to maximise sales opportunities because they can spot potential trends early on, allowing them to ‘cross-sell’ other products and services and ‘up-sell’ existing products, as well as improve closing rates.

– It helps you to profile customers’ in order to analyse particular market sectors.

– It will allow senior personnel to gain a better view of sales activities.

– It allows both sales and service departments to see the status of a sale, an outstanding service call, or a complaint that needs to be resolved.

– It enables sales management to track performance by individuals according to the number of leads received and generated, how long it takes them to close a sale and the average order value per sale.

– It can also be used to help determine a company’s marketing strategy.

Taken from an orginal article by Ben Weiner
Ben Weiner is COO for Conjungo.

It’s frequently said that we all now need to be adopting social media in order to survive – let alone grow and prosper! In fact, it seems that if you are not "LinkedIN" these days then you should "Facebook" the facts that you are basically a "Twitter" and there is no "MySpace" left for you.

But if we take away all the hype and general guru-induced hysteria, what are the real pitfalls and opportunities presented to your business through social media?

Social media – by which I mean the array of websites that now allow people to interact as opposed to simply read content – is just another communication channel by which you can reach your target audience, and your clients can potentially reach you.
Nothing magical about that. It’s just an extra way to communicate.
But the big danger – and there is one, make no mistake – comes from all the generalisations we’re presented with. Generalisations are your enemies where social media is concerned. But specifics are your friends. So the secret to leveraging this new channel is to consider your business very specifically.

Go fish where the fish swim.
Think about your target audience – where exactly do they go online and which sites or communities are they part of?
Scratch beneath the obvious answers that you assume to be the case and you may well be surprised. Do some research. Ask your customers and prospects. Your competitors probably won’t have done such research, so there is an immediate opportunity for you to steal a march.
It’s amazing
how many people simply guess about which networks and places they need to be part of. Be different – ensure that you are investing your time wisely.

Make time.
It is easy to be seduced into thinking that social media is an instant fix to increasing sales and only takes a few minutes a day.
After all, how hard can it be to write 160-character message on Twitter?
The reality is that social media – done well – is very time consuming.

Being an active part of online communities means
that you need to participate, think up interesting and engaging content ideas, as well as keeping up to date with the ever-changing landscape.

Remember that social media for business is a very different experience to using it as a bit of fun with your friends and family. So someone will need to make time. That might be you, or it might be your marketing team or an outside agency. But someone has to do invest the time!
After all you wouldn’t want to do it badly would you?

A poor attempt is worse than doing nothing.
Embrace this – it’s important! Social media is already littered with debris from businesses that have "had a go" and experimented. Whilst mostly they lose interest and move on to the next wiz-bang marketing idea, their social media footprint and their online reputation lives on – permanently.

You’re almost certainly cautious and professional about what you say in public and online. You protect your all-important reputation. But the impression created by a half-hearted attempt at social networking can be easily overlooked. All your mistakes, all your ill-considered comments and hastily-written reactions and postings will be visible for ever. So if
you’re not sure what you’re doing or you can’t make the time needed then you are almost certainly better doing nothing rather than experimenting and learning in public.

It’s an additive.
Social media marketing doesn’t replace your existing marketing campaigns – it compliments them and enhances them. And the differences between marketing and selling apply to social media too! So for the vast majority of businesses social media will be about long-term brand development and marketing. NOT selling! Of course, there are a few very notable exceptions – take DELL for example. But these
were carefully thought-out and specific to their business. But we have already decided to not think in generalisations…

Once you understand the opportunities, you may even decide that just surviving the threat of social media is not enough – and that you want to join the ranks of business owners who go onto thrive and grow using it!

So how do they do it?
The businesses that grow using social media are the ones that have adapted their existing marketing skills to this new communications channel.
So don’t see social media as a sales forum, see it as a barbeque!
A ‘virtual barbeque’ that is. A social event. A place to mingle and chat leaving your card with people and igniting sparks of interest in your personality.
The businesses that use social media most profitably are the ones that took the time to listen first and understand the culture and etiquette of social media rather than turning up in the wrong outfit and suffering a huge, and public, social gaff.

One thing is for certain – there’s a party going on. And a large number of the people who are important to your
business are already there. The big question is: Will you be joining them?

Top Tips

Social media is simply another marketing channel – the same rules apply
Don’t generalise – be specific!
Do your research first – fish where the fish swim!
Doing it badly is worse than ignoring it – so make time or employ a specialist
Your mistakes and experiments will live on publicly – so don’t ‘learn online’!
Your customers are already at the party – you need to join them!

Taken from an orginal article by Ed Stivala
Ed Stivala is a director of web strategy agency n3wMedia.com