Internet Marketing & SEO

China to Overcome USA in Internet usage

Monday, January 21st, 2008 | Internet News | No Comments

Chinese Internet Users Up to 210 Million

NEW YORK (AP) — The Chinese government said Friday its Internet population has soared to 210 million people, putting it on track to surpass the U.S. online community this year to become the world’s largest.

The official China Internet Network Information Center, also known as CNNIC, said the online population grew 53 percent, from 137 million reported at the same time last year. According to the government’s Xinhua News Agency, China is only 5 million behind the United States online, a figure consistent with some American estimates.

China still lags the United States in many respects, however.

Xinhua placed China’s online penetration rate at 16 percent — the point Americans were at in the mid-1990s. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 75 percent of American adults are now online; penetration is even higher when teens are included. (China’s stats cover Chinese 6 and older.)

“We’re two countries at very different points along the adoption curve,” said John Horrigan, Pew’s associate director. “China is approximately 15 years behind.”

Several other differences between the two markets mean Internet penetration has different meaning in China and the United States.

First, cybercafes serve as the main entry to the Internet for many Chinese unable to afford a computer at home. One-third of Chinese Internet users surf through cybercafes, according to Xinhua, while Pew found that 93 percent of U.S. Internet users have access at home.

Also, China is notorious for censorship. Although the government promotes Internet use for education and business, it tries to block the public from seeing material it deems pornographic or critical of communist rule, including new rules promulgated this month covering online videos.

And China’s government imprisons people who mail, post online, or access politically sensitive content from within China. Reporters Without Borders says 50 Chinese “cyberdissidents” are currently in prison.

Nonetheless, China’s online growth is significant.

“Users do a lot to shape the Internet and not only by directly posting content but (by) their behavior,” Horrigan said. “It tells other people what the demand is. As you get more Chinese, that increases demand for Internet content in Mandarin and other Chinese languages.”

Horrigan also said many Chinese users are accessing the Internet through mobile devices, offering China “a distinct opportunity to shape the Internet” with usage everywhere.

Quotation
“God help the world when China awakes”
- Napoleon
Some Facts
China has about a 90% literacy rate.
Standard Chinese or Mandarin is the most prevalent but there are plenty of dialects.
SEO in China is at a fairly low standard. Competition is sparse so its a good time to get into the market.

Tags: 210 Million, China, Chinese Internet Users, Internet usage, Internet Users, Overcome, Up to, USA

Google Toolbar PageRank Update : January 2008

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 | Google | 1 Comment

Today we are having our first Google Toolbar PageRank update of 2008. At least there are dozens and dozens of reports that PageRank scores on the 72.14.25.x data center has been updated.

In any event, for many Toolbar PageRank is a prestige thing. So congrats if your PageRank score went up. Sorry if it went down.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Tags: Google, Google Toolbar, January 2008, PageRank Update

AdSense referrals will be retired

Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 | Google Adsense & Adwords | 1 Comment

Are you currently displaying a referral unit for AdSense on your website? Then read on, because there are some upcoming changes to the referral program that you should be aware of. But first let me clarify that only referral units promoting AdSense will be affected by this change; referrals to other products and services remain unaffected at this time. This change to referrals promoting AdSense will differ depending on your location, regardless of where your users are located.

- If you’re in North America, Latin America, or Japan, the pricing structure for AdSense referrals is changing.

About a year ago, as an experiment, we changed the pricing structure for AdSense referrals so that when a user you referred to the program earned $5 within 180 days of sign-up, you would also earn $5. When that publisher earned $100 within 180 days and removed all payment holds, you’d receive $250. We have decided to conclude this experiment and return to the original pricing structure. As a result, we’ll soon no longer be offering the $5 bonus or $2000 bonus, and the payout for referring a user who generates $100 with AdSense in the first 180 days will return to $100.
› Continue reading

Tags: AdSense, AdSense referrals, referrals, retired

Facebook proves problematic for police

Sunday, January 6th, 2008 | Facebook | 1 Comment

The two teenaged suspects cannot be named, but they have been identified online on the networking site

CASSANDRA DRUDI AND OMAR EL AKKAD
On the first day of this year, a 15-year-old Toronto girl was busy cleaning up her bedroom in preparation for her coming sweet 16 party, her lawyer says.

At the same time, police say, a 17-year-old male - who turns 18 today - was stabbing another teenage girl to death at the 15-year-old’s command. However, allegations that the girl is a manipulative killer are fiercely challenged by her lawyer, who says his client is anything but.

Stefanie Rengel, 14, is the city’s first homicide victim of 2008. According to a Crown synopsis, she died at the hands of the 17-year-old, who was driven to do it by the 15-year-old girl, who was fuelled by jealousy. Both teens now face first-degree murder charges in Stefanie’s death.

Friends and neighbours of both the victim and the two suspects said she and the 17-year-old had been in a relationship that ended, and that the two suspects later began dating. The girl’s lawyer says his client was not at the scene of the crime and should never have been charged with first-degree murder. › Continue reading

Tags: Facebook, police, problematic, proves

Wikipedia Founder Brings Search Project

Sunday, January 6th, 2008 | Wikipedia | 2 Comments

The founder of Wikipedia says taking the online encyclopedia’s collaborative approach into the field of search won’t dethrone Google Inc. or another major search engine — at least not soon.

After months of talk and a few weeks of invitation-only testing, Wikia Search is to open to the general public next week.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says his goal is to let volunteers improve search technology collectively, the way Wikipedia lets anyone add or change entries, regardless of expertise.

“That reduces the sort of bottleneck of two or three firms really controlling the flow of search traffic,” said Wales, chairman of Wikia Inc., the for-profit venture behind the search project.

Engineers at Google and other search companies continually tweak their complex software algorithms to improve results and fight spammers — those who try to artificially boost the rankings of their own sites. Search companies have not disclosed many details to avoid tipping off competitors and spammers.

Wales’ approach would open that process. Initially, participants will help make such decisions as whether a site on “Paris Hilton” refers to the celebrity or a French hotel.

Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of the industry Web site Search Engine Land, has his doubts. Finding all the Web sites to index and staying ahead of spammers are huge undertakings, Sullivan said.

“I think he doesn’t really understand the scale of what Google has to handle in terms of the queries from around the world and the amount of traffic that flows to it and the attempts that are made to try to manipulate it,” Sullivan said.

Wales said the project would launch with about 50 million to 100 million Web pages indexed, a fraction of the billions available with major search engines.

Even as Wales tries to challenge search, Google has announced a project that could challenge Wikipedia. Google’s version, called knol, will differ from Wikipedia by identifying who wrote each article and giving authors a chance to share in Google’s advertising revenue.
On the Net:

* http://search.wikia.com

Tags: Founder, Project, Search, Wikipedia

Gates To Kick Off CES, And Big Push By Microsoft

Saturday, January 5th, 2008 | Microsoft & MSN | 1 Comment

Linux, Yahoo, AOL, and other companies and technologies will compete for attention at the annual display of consumer electronics.

When Bill Gates takes the stage this weekend at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it will be one of his last big appearances as chairman ofMicrosoft (NSDQ: MSFT). His presence as the opening keynote speaker makes clear that the consumer electronics industry, once focused on the latest gadgets and gizmos, increasingly relies on software.

Gates’ keynotes is likely to set the tone for the entire show, and judging by the volume of expected announcements next week, it’s likely that mobility will be a major topic of conversation. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, Smart Personal Objects Technology, and automotive business units also will be at the show. Windows Mobile 6.1 is expected to be released sometime early this year.

Meanwhile, some companies are using Microsoft software to power their own software and hardware, like Ricavision, which is coupling Bluetooth with Windows Vista's SideShow capability to display e-mail notifications and other information on a remote control.