Ending the Myth of Online Anonymity, Once and for All

Posted on January 19, 2010 in Search Engine News

anonymous In the past few years, a tremendous amount of conversation has taken place about how safe our private information is on the Internet. I have always believed – and shared with everyone I meet – that everything we do online is findable, searchable, liable and forever.

In early December 2009, Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave an interview to CNBC. The moment I saw the interview, I was relieved to finally hear it come from the big horse’s mouth.

The myth of being anonymous on the Internet is dead. We need to stop assuming that our actions online exist in a virtual world where we can remain safe and anonymous.

Governments from across the world, in countries like US, China, India and Brazil, have asked for and even subpoenaed information from the search engines to track citizens doing everything from espionage, terror, murder, etc. And guess what? Search engines comply.

In fact, the internet has made it way too easy for people to get into trouble. Here are the top 3 culprits:

Email

This is by far the biggest way people slip and get hurt. It’s not just the average daily user that gets hit by bad decisions and lack of privacy. Politicians, Presidents and CEOs from Fortune 500 companies have fallen victim to the contents of their email accounts. Email accounts are easily “hackable.” Sensitive information should never be shared with email. Ever.

Precaution: Never use email to send out anything sensitive or controversial. Examples:

What you think of as a joke might be very, very offensive to someone else.
Emails + Office Romance = Guaranteed to end badly.
Emails have been produced as evidence in SO many trials for all kinds of crimes, including embezzlement, infidelity, violent crimes, etc.
The insecurity of your information becomes especially relevant when you opt to use Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, etc. Remember, they own all your information and it’s free for a very good reason. Anyone who has noticed that advertising has become especially relevant to them (yes, based on the content of your emails) knows what I am talking about. Also, the recent China – Gmail hacking fiasco shows that determined hackers can break into anything, anytime.

Search Engines

Everything you ever search for can and will be used against you… this almost sounds like a Miranda style warning. Unfortunately, nobody tells you this until it’s too late and you have gone too deep down the rabbit hole. All search engines keep some data on their users. According to a CNET Study, these are the main facts for each search engines.

Ask.com
Ask.com is the most protective of user privacy but sadly has a very small market share. Ask.com was the only engine in the CNET study that said it would not record what users type into its search engine. Ask.com also said it did not engage in behavioral targeting, which refers to the practice of offering advertisements based on previous searches.
Google
The 900-lb gorilla of search engines avoids behavioral targeting. After 18 months they perform a partial anonymization of users’ Internet Protocol addresses. Google also has shortened the lifespan of its cookies from expiring in 2038 to expiring two years from the last visit.
MSN
Microsoft is better on the anonymization front. Users’ internet addresses and cookie values are “permanently and irreversibly” disassociated from the search terms after 18 months. But Microsoft does engage in behavioral targeting,

Search terms have been used to convict dissidents in China, wireless hackers, and murderers. The legal can of worms that your search engine history can unload upon you keeps getting bigger everyday.

Precaution: When you use search engines, configure your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.) to not permit them to place cookies on your computer. For advanced users: Route all your connections through a proxy server, such as Anonymizer, Tor or Black Box Search.

Social Media

I am in a perpetual state of shock about how much people reveal about their lives on Facebook! Social Media networks are a crucial stop for a large percentage of employers researching potential hires. All those “I hate my job, hate Tennessee, hate the parents and the whole world” status updates and Tweets are going to come with a heavy price. And you can bank on the fact that those risqué photos you took and posted on Facebook are eventually going to be viewed by more than just your “friends.”

Precaution: Be social without being too risky. Choose your friends wisely, and keep a tight hold on your privacy setting on channels like Facebook. A simple “think before you post” philosophy will go a long way for you. And remember what Grandma taught you back in the days of print media: “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want published on the front page of the newspaper.” Because when you post descriptions of your behavior on the internet, that’s pretty much what you’re doing.

In the end, we are all responsible for our actions. Once you post things online, the proverbial arrow has been shot and nothing short of a miracle or sheer luck will help you get it back.

Google Kicks Off 2010 With "Click to Call" PPC Ads

Posted on January 5, 2010 in Mobile Marketing, Search Engine News

Google announced today that they are offering “Click to Call” ads to be displayed on mobile phones. We have always been very bullish on mobile phone marketing. It looks like things are finally setting up for the US market.

The Scoop

Your location-specific business phone number will display alongside your destination url in ads that appear on high-end mobile devices. Users will be able to click on your phone number just as easily as they click to visit your website.

Questions & Answers (From Google):

How will phone numbers appear in my ads?

Based on the customer’s geographic location, the closest phone number and business address will appear as a fifth line of ad text when the ad appears on mobile devices with full HTML browsers (eg, iPhone, Android, Palm WebOS).

Where will I be able to see the results?

You’ll be able to view calls from your ads in your AdWords account. From your Campaign Summary page, to to the “click type” segment option under the “Filter and Views” dropdown.

How will I be charged for phone calls I get from my ad?

The cost of a click to call your business will be the same as the cost of a click to visit your website.

What actions should I take?

If you’d like your ads to show location-specific phone numbers when displayed on mobile devices, make sure that your campaign is targeting iPhones and other mobile devices with full HTML browsers, and that you have included phone numbers with your business addresses in the locations under your Campaign settings. If you would prefer your ads not show phone numbers, simply remove the location extensions from your ad campaigns or un-check mobile devices under the Campaign Settings tab.

What’s Next?

Let the campaign testing begin. Yahoo might have flunked at everything search, but they do have a very good mobile marketing platform that they use in Japan. Google’s success factor depends on wireless and data connectivity of phones, willingness of advertisers/owners to test out the new platform, and the tracking and reporting of these ads.

Ask any search engine marketer, and he will tell you how hard it is to convince clients to spend on PPC, let alone test out a new service. A few early adopters will decide the future of this service. We are looking forward to testing this out on our clients. Stay tuned for results in the coming months…

Evisionary’s Top 10 Posts in 2009: Did You Catch Them All?

Posted on December 27, 2009 in Analytics, Hospitality & Travel, Online Branding, Search Engine News, Search Marketing, Website Design & Usability

With 2009 coming to an end, it’s a good time to round up the top 10 posts of the year. Here are the posts that were most read, discussed, and emailed in ’09:

We plan to send some awesome content your way in 2010, so stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

The End of the SEO Rankings Era, aka The Rise of the Universal-Social-Mobile Search Trinity

Posted on July 23, 2009 in Mobile Marketing, Search Engine News, Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Universal Search

The SEO industry and their clients used to live and die by their rankings. But this ranking race is changing drastically as each day goes by. What is killing the ranking mania that has ruled search engine marketing for so long? Who is the rankings dragon slayer?

Answer: The Trinity of Universal Search, Social Media, and Web-Enabled Phones.

Universal Search

This is something amazing that has happened right in front of our eyes (for those of us awake and watching). From nowhere, the Google “Golden Triangle” got covered with Map Listings, You Tube Videos and Shopping RSS Feeds, completely pushing down the traditional SEO rankings way below the fold. Result? Even your #1 ranking for a competitive keyword is not going to help you get many clicks. Now users can choose from a smorgasbord of information that Google has laid out for them. Their Map Listings provide a website URL, phone number, directions, and reviews in one neat package.

Social Media

All of us have friends, and our friends are usually full of information on at least one topic that they are passionate about (no matter how dull they are). With the gargantuan increase in the use of social media, your friends and their friends are now connected and forming a pool of collective information. A great vacation, a crappy airline, a great deal on socks…everything is being discussed online between friends, acquaintances, and near strangers. Web searchers have more sources of information than ever, and many of these sources now are people they know and trust.

Example: You see a great review of a hotel/restaurant on tripadvisor.com or zagat.com. But then your close friend “tweets” about the terrible time he had at that establishment. Who are you more likely to trust? This is your big vacation, and the word of your buddy is always going to have more influence than “independent” review websites or even Google, who is just aggregating reviews from different websites into its SERPs (search engine results pages). Therefore, the great reviews about your business on review websites, even your top rankings and detailed map listings are no match for the guy who talks to his friends online about you.

Mobile Phones

For those of you following my writing on this topic, you know I have been very bullish about mobile phones. The growth in mobile phone internet usage has been tremendous. 2012 will usher in over 1.2 billion 3G phones on the planet…wow.

Mobile phone searches have one thing in common: a small screen. This translates into a very slim chance of getting clicks for #1 SEO rankings. Google is in the middle of a massive push to sell AdWords ads. That’s what brings them money, and they have a lot less real estate to sell on the tiny mobile screens.

Guess what else is on the phone? Your friends! They can answer questions through SMS, MMS, Email, Messenger Chat, and even a phone conversation. All this open communication further dilutes the ranking power that is still on the minds of so many owners and marketers.

And the winner is…

Conversions!

I have always considered conversions to be the true metric of online success. I have seen clients and SEO agencies lose their heads over every change in their Google rankings. This obsession with rankings is a waste of time and money, and becoming more so every day.

When it comes to the e-commerce and travel sectors, the conversion factor is huge. Their volumes are big, and even a minor tweak in conversions translates into increased revenue. Yet the search engine marketing industry is still very heavy on selling rankings: Castles in the air, without doors or windows. This is where I draw the line with our agency. The ranking-obsessed are given a cup of tea and shown the door.

Unfortunately, many SEOs have figured out that it is relatively easy to convince prospective clients to follow the simple formula “higher rankings = more traffic = more sales.” If making a sale is your goal, this is the easiest strategy to lay down. But it’s not a good one. Successful web marketing today demands a much more sophisticated approach.

Here is what I found in a fortune cookie once: “Beware what you wish for. Pick conversions over rankings and you will always be a winner!”

Google Selling Snow Cones?

Posted on July 17, 2009 in Search Engine News

img_gogola This logo on a food stand caught me off guard on my recent travels through Mumbai. Seems pretty funny considering the fact that Google recently allowed a bidding free-for-all on branded keywords.

With Google expanding its influence in Asia, it is going to have to deal with an array of trademark issues like these.

These entrepreneurs, located in a popular new shopping mall, were creative enough to include the TM on the sign, and also post a menu that resembles a Google SERP.

What are you doing to protect your business trademarks and logos?