Archive for December, 2008

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Twilight Zune? How to Unfreeze a Zune…

December 31, 2008

Buy an iPod?

Microsoft Zune

Microsoft Zune

Based on today’s search traffic, it appears the recent gift giving season keeps on giving (problems) to those fortunate enough? to have either received or bought themselves a Microsoft Zune over the holidays.

The 12 most common Zune related searches being conducted today according to Google are:

1. Zune
2. Zune Freeze
3. Zune Frozen
4. Zune Problems
5. Zune 30gb
6. Microsoft Zune
7. Zune Crash
8. Zune Support
9. Zune 30
10. Zune Troubleshooting
11. How To Unfreeze a Zune
12. Zune Locked Up

I can only guess the three Zune search phrases that don’t indicate a Zune problem were queries ran by possibly frustrated new Zune owners who hadn’t yet realized they were in need of Microsoft Zune Support.

If you are having problems with your Zune, click through to Microsoft Zune Zupport.

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Posted in Microsoft, Zune | 1 Comment »

Watch The New Years Eve Times Square Ball Drop Live on The Web

December 31, 2008

TimesSquare.com will be showing the 2009 New Year’s Times Square Ball Drop festivities live starting at 4:00 PM EST today.

The Times Square site will be providing a exclusive live video stream of the Ball Dropping in Times Square from Mogulus.com that will run on the web until 12:15 AM on January 1, 2009.

Times Square Ball Drop Live 2009

Times Square Ball Drop Live 2009

Watch the Ball drop live in Times Square this New Year’s Eve on the web from your desktop and laptop via TimesSquare.com or Mogulus.com to participate in what one day will be considered the infancy of live internet television.

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Posted in Live Internet Television, New Years Eve, Times Square Ball Drop Live | Leave a Comment »

Google Coupon Search Subscription Results

December 30, 2008

Today while searching for skiing conditions here in Keystone, Colorado I noticed a subscribed links result for Coupon Search while logged into my iGoogle account.

Google Find Coupons

Google Find Coupons

Several years ago Google launched Google Coop which let Google users subscribe to feeds from publishers who met Google’s publishing guidelines.

As far as I can tell, less than 100 publishers have participated in Google Coop which now appears to be called Subscribed Links.

Google Coop never really caught on but at the time I did subscribe to several feeds from technology information publishers.

I don’t recall subscribing to Google Coupon Search but the subscriptions list within my iGoogle account indicates I have.

Subscribed Links

Subscribed Links

According to Google, subscribers to Coupon Search can:

Search Google for coupons from local businesses. Easily find and print coupons that can help you save money at restaurants, hotels, dry cleaners, and other businesses in your neighborhood.

Google Coupon Search

Google Coupon Search

While within the search results for Keystone skiing conditions, I clicked on the Google Coupon gadget and found several pages of printable coupons available from businesses in and around the Keystone area.

Google Printable Coupons

Google Printable Coupons

Clicking on any one of the printable coupons results produced the printable coupon Google promised.

Printable Coupons

Printable Coupons

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Posted in Coupon Gadget, Google Coop, Google Coupons, Printable Coupons, Subscribed Links | Leave a Comment »

iGoogle Themes for Causes

December 29, 2008

iGoogle has added a new batch of custom themes for iGoogle user’s called “Themes for Causes”.

There are 25 different iGoogle Themes for Causes available at this time.

iGoogle Themes for Causes

iGoogle Themes for Causes

Some of the more popular iGoogle Themes for Causes are those from the World Wildlife Federation, Alliance for Climate Protection, the Rainforest Action Network and Clean Air-Cool Planet.

Surely there will be more Cause related themes added to the list of  iGoogle theme options as other causes become aware of the branding opportunity iGoogle offers cause related brands to further reach and connect with their respective audiences.

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Posted in Audience, Causes, iGoogle | Leave a Comment »

New Year’s Resolutions

December 28, 2008

Its quickly becoming that time of year again – the time when people begin to reflect on their past year’s accomplishments while looking forward to and setting goals they want to achieve in the new year.

Google Trends Insight for Search illustrates just how predictable and recurring searches for “New Year’s Resolutions” are year after year.

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions

Not surprisingly, searchers don’t appear to have any interest in New Year’s Resolutions at any other time of the year other than around the end and beginning of each year.

Based on the Google’s Search Volume Index, searchers from the state of Utah appear to have the highest degree of interest in New Year’s Resolutions followed by searchers from Kansas, Iowa, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Minnesota and Missouri.

State Search Interest New Year's Resolutions

State Search Interest New Year's Resolutions

Conversely, relatively few if any searchers from Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have expressed any interest in, ie. searched for the term – “New Year’s Resolutions”.

What if any conclusions can be drawn from regional search interest or a lack thereof  in any one particular word or phrase like “New Years Resolutions”?

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Posted in Google, Google Hot Trends, Insights for Search, New Years Resolutions, Search Volume Index | Leave a Comment »

Hawt Post

December 27, 2008

Each day, 100 WordPress blogs out of millions receive the Top Post designation.

Top Posts are the most popular blog posts ranked according to a special WordPress.com formula.

As far as I can tell, the most popular daily blog posts also get placed on the WordPress.com home page under the Hawt Post position..

This Search Marketing Communications blog had the 27th most popular WordPress Hawt Post on – of all days… Christmas Day 2008.

Hawt Post Christmas Day

Hawt Post Christmas Day

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Posted in Hawt Post, Wordpress.com | Leave a Comment »

2008 Amazon.com Holiday Best Sellers

December 26, 2008

Amazon.com has published its 2008 best sellers list (based on units ordered November 15th – December 19th) in addition to noting its 14th holiday retail sales season was its best ever.

December 15, 2008 was Amazon’s peak sales day.

On December 15th (Two Mondays before Christmas and not Cyber Monday – Max Monday?),  Amazon processed orders for 6.3 million items, which was a record-breaking average of 72.9 items sold per second.

Accordingly, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com said, “We are extremely grateful to our customers,” and “We wish everyone happy holidays and the very best for the coming year.”

From Amazon.com:

— In toys, top sellers included the Eyeclops night vision stealth goggles, Blokus classic board game and Wild Planet’s Hyper Dash.

— Top sellers in consumer electronics included Samsung’s 52-inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color, the Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation) and the Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, XP Home, 6 cell battery), sapphire blue.

— Nintendo Wii dominated the top sellers in video games and hardware including the Wii console, the Wii remote controller and the Wii nunchuk controller.

— In DVDs, top sellers included “Wall-E,” “The Dark Knight” for Blu-ray and “The Dark Knight.”

— Top sellers ordered from Amazon Mobile web and TextBuyIt include Monopoly Here and Now World, the Nintendo Wii and “Wall-E” (three-disc special edition + digital copy and BD Live) for Blu-ray.

— In software, the top sellers included Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Norton Antivirus 2009 and Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition.

For their complete list of 2008 best sellers visit Amazon.com.

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Posted in Amazon.com, Online Retail Sales, Online Retailers, Online Sales | Leave a Comment »

Search before Google?

December 25, 2008
Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Merry Christmas!

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Posted in Google, Search, Searching | Leave a Comment »

Find Restaurants and Stores Open on Christmas Day

December 24, 2008

Looking for stores like Walmart to see whether they are open or not on Christmas Day but don’t know where to start?

Trying to find restaurants like iHop on Christmas?

Simply type your location and a business name or category into the Google Maps search box and local results will appear on the map, complete with store hours, addresses, telephone numbers, reviews, and more.

Search Google Maps to get a list of local stores and restaurants to call before you leave to verify which ones are open for business on Christmas Day.

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Posted in Google Maps | 2 Comments »

Santa Search and Norad Santa Tracker

December 23, 2008

Searching for Santa?

Search no further than Google Earth this Christmas.

Google Earth Santa Tracker

Google Earth Santa Tracker

In anticipation of the 2008 Christmas Santa searching and tracking season, The Google Lat Long blog reviews Google’s history with NoradSanta.org and the evolution of Santa Search over the last several years.

NORAD – an acronym for North American Aerospace Defense Command – is a joint organization of two countries in North America – the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty and defense for North America except Mexico.

I am sure when it was founded in 1958, NORAD’s founders probably did not envision the day would come when the world would be filled with billions of interconnected computers and mobile phones whose owners could each track Santa’s location from the comfort of their home or car with a digital 3D map product called Google Earth… yet indeed today we can.

With Google providing the equivalent of a Santa Radar and a Santa Cam via desktop computers and mobile phones combined with Santa sighting commentary offered in six languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese) children and adults worldwide should be able to get all of their “Where is Santa?” questions answered on Christmas Eve December 24, 2008 unlike at any other time in history.

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Posted in 2008 Santa Tracker, Google, Google Earth, Google Maps, Norad.com | Leave a Comment »

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