March 16, 2007

March 15, 2007

  • Google Plusbox Makes Life Harder For Marketers

    Google loves to experiment with features and UI (User Interface) by providing different features to a limited sub-sets of users. Recently you may have heard that Google is starting to integrate alternate content into search results using something called a plusbox. For example, they’re testing adding Google Finance information inline with some results.

    I happened to find one of these in action (for my employer Tucows no less) when searching for software on Google. Here’s what a Plusbox looks like closed:

    And here’s what it looks like open (i.e. after clicking on the ”+”):

    This raises an interesting challenge for marketers in publicly traded companies like Tucows. Now you have to worry about the impact of your stock performance on the perception of searchers. You also have to pay extra attention to those normally bland and generic descriptions of our company because it may just end up (like ours did) representing your company in Google!

    I’d be interested in feedback from others who might be starting to think about this kind of stuff. And may I also say publicly — Damn you Wikipedia! Tucows has been the number one result for “software” longer than Google has existed. Now we’ve been bumped by the collective hive intelligence! 🙂

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on March 15, 2007.

March 14, 2007

March 13, 2007

March 12, 2007

March 11, 2007

February 28, 2007

  • Can You Imagine The Internet In 2020?

    Leona “Flackadelic” Hobbs posted this must-see CBC news segment about “Internet (no “the” in sight) from way back in October 1993:

    Now that you’ve had a good laugh at what we thought about the Net 13 years ago, watch this must-see video from 2007:

    Can you imagine how laughable our view of the Net in 2007 will look in 2020? My guess is it will look even sillier than that CBC piece!

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on February 28, 2007.

February 26, 2007

  • Can You Really Make A Viral Campaign?

    At the Consumer 2.0 Conference last week I had the pleasure of spending some time with Steve Wax from Campfire. The firm was the subject of a really interesting Fast Company article in November 2006 and I found Steve’s ideas very refreshing.

    Campfire — founded by Steve and a few of the guys behind the Blair Witch Project — does these really complex online events/games/virals like Art Of the Heist: Steve made me stop dead in my tracks when he said (roughly) “people have to stop saying they’re going to ‘make a viral video’ because you can’t decide whether it’s going to be viral or not. It’s the same as saying ‘I’m going to write a hit song’ or ‘produce a hit TV show’ — it just doesn’t make sense”.

    I’ve always said that viral marketing was the conscious use of word-of-mouth as a marketing tool but I really see Steve’s point. You can try to be viral, but can you really say something “is viral” before it has in fact “gone viral”?

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on February 26, 2007.

February 18, 2007

  • Where Marketers Are Spending Their Online Dollars

    Those nice folks over at eMarketer published an article (summarizing MarketingSherpa research) a few weeks back that I meant to let you know about. What Works, and What Doesn’t, in Online Marketing gives us the 411 on how US marketers felt about their online buys for 2006:

    Even more interesting from my perspective are those same marketers’ projections of how they’ll spend money this year when it comes to “emerging” tactics such as blogs, feeds, video, podcasts and the like:

    Personally, I’m happy to see ads for mobile devices and feeds already on the decline as I think they are (still and maybe always) problematic channels. Do you see anything that surprises you?

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on February 18, 2007.

  • Great Sign-up Forms Are Hard To Find

    I recently signed up for a very interesting new online photo service called Picnik. The site is definitely worth a look — particularly if you are a Flickr fan like I am — but even if you don’t want to explore, take a gander at this lovely sign-up page:

    I love the simplicity of it and the way they’ve kept the voice of the site consistent and appealing.

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on February 18, 2007.

February 15, 2007

  • Web Pioneer Christian Gerard Dead At 36

     

    I’m so sorry that we have to announce another death in the community. Christian Gerard, Founder and CEO of Webfeat — one of Toronto’s oldest web shops — died last month at 36 years old. Leigh Himel waited until the family made it official to pay tribute to Christian and it was through her lovely post that I learned that Christian had died. Others who knew him have been adding their comments there as well.

    We wish Andrea Gerard and all of Christian’s friends and family much love as we celebrate Christian’s life with them.

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on February 15, 2007.

February 14, 2007

February 11, 2007

  • Introducing The Big Assed Ad Unit

    I’ve long been a proponent of a “go big or go home” approach to display advertising. Last week I realized we weren’t practicing what I preached here at One Degree. When we announced our Whole Site Sponsorship package a while ago we offered leaderboards at the top and bottom of all pages and a “big box” ad mid-page on longer posts. That “big box” is 336×280 pixels — i.e. the standard IAB Large Rectangle. Now my goal in offering sponsorships on One Degree was for sponsors to “own the site” for the month they sponsor. In hindsight, I think going with the biggest IAB size was overly limiting. Therefore, I’ve created a new Ad Unit I’m calling the Big Assed Ad Unit — 500X500 pixels and up to 100K in file size. Big Assed Ads! Woot! I asked this month’s sponsor Cornerstone if they’d like to give it a try and they jumped at the chance. Here’s what it looks like:

    I’m not suggesting others take on this size (although it wouldn’t bother me) but I think it makes sense given the way One Degree is built and the goals of our sponsors.

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on February 11, 2007.

February 6, 2007

  • A Personal Apology To Albert Lai

    At Democamp 12 tonight Albert Lai gave the gathered crowd an update on what’s been happening with Bubbleshare since he organized and presented at the very first Democamp over a year ago. At the end of his update, Albert offered a free steak dinner to anyone who could say who tipped One Degree to a possible Bubbleshare sale to News Corp.

    I was surprised that Albert seemed to be upset about our publication of the rumor before getting confirmation from him. In hindsight, this was indeed a silly thing to do. I got the tip from a good source who was not a competitor or in any way related to the business Albert and Bubbleshare is in and I just accepted it at face value that I had a scoop. I did ask Albert for confirmation or denial — after posting the rumour — and didn’t hear back. When we finally got official word of a deal it was with a different acquirer we posted about it immediately. Albert, I apologize if this caused you or Bubbleshare any hardship or frustration. No harm was intended. It was just a case of an amateur journalist getting caught up in the thrill of it all.

    Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on February 6, 2007.