Search Engine Experiment: loocsixela

We will be discussing Search Engine Marketing later in the semester. To prepare for this I would like to conduct a quick search engine experiment. I would like each of you to blog the keyword loocsixela; but I want you to hyperlink that keyword to http://www.packers.com/. Thus the keyword becomes the anchor text linking to the Greenbay Packers site. Like: loocsixela

Feel free to also include the keyword in the subject header, or repeated throughout the blog entry etc. Feel free to use the keyword in multiple blog entries, and on your blog template. The student whose site ranks highest on the keyword search for loocsixela, in google, by May 10 (when we discuss search engine marketing) will receive the book: "The World is Flat".

Quick Update

I hope Spring Break is treating you well. As I am planning the content for the remainder of the semester it makes sense to discuss "Internet Economics" issues before the Marketing Mix (Product; Price; Place; Promotion). We will thus be discussing Internet Economics on Wednesday, April 5, and begin Product issues on Monday, April 10.

I will be sending you e-mails with respect to your mid-term grade and project work before class on monday.

Podcast Links from Dana at Pheedo

For those interested in exploring Podcasting, the following are links that Dana noted during his presentation from a resource document he had created:

• Apples' iTunes
  
• Digital Podcasts
  
• Podcast Alley
  
• The Podcast Bunker
  
• podCast411
  
• All Podcasts
  
• audio.weblogs
  
• penguinradio
  
• podcast.net
  
• podSites
  
• Pocketcasting.com
  
• indiepodder.org
  

Example Exam Questions

The following are examples of questions that might be used for the mid term.

The developing world can clearly benefit from internet access. Keys to adoption include all the following except:

a. cheaper PCs
b. cheaper broadband connections
c. more reliable power sources
d. basic literacy education
e. all the above are important to further adoption in the developing world

The following are examples of internet fraud except:

a. click fraud
b. Nigerian Scam
c. phishing
d. Bush fraud
e. all the above are examples of internet fraud

A referrer URL is:

a. The web address of the page a browser first accesses on the site
b. The web address of the page that precedes the first page of the site that was accessed
c. The web address of the page a browser accesses after viewing the site
d. A link the browser uses to exit the web site

Subscribe to "search output"

As noted in the syllabus, you are required to subscribe to a keyword (phrase) output from a blog search engine. How to do this is covered in the Marketing Research notes. As I get ready to see the Arctic Monkeys next weekend in Philadelphia (I hope) I subscribed to the keyword phrase "Arctic Monkeys". Two recent blog entries cover this US tour, their San Francisco stop and LA stop.

As you can imagine, without blog search and subscription I would most likely not have seen these reviews.

Topic 5 and 6: Marketing Research and Personalization

are available: Marketing Research and Personalization. We will be covering both today (wednesday).

Arctic Monkeys and Buzz Marketing: 2%

As I mentioned in class today, I am offering an extra credit assignment for the best blog posting that connects the Buzz Marketing presentation we received today from Mark Hughes, with the success of the Arctic Monkeys. You may want to explore their Wikipedia entry and their own site.

The blog postings will be reviewed after May 8. All team members of the winning post will receive the extra credit, which will be 2% added to your class grade.

Monday: Guest Speaker

On Monday we have a guest speaker, Mark Hughes, who is author of Buzz Marketing and was Vice President for Marketing for Half.com (which was purchased by eBay for $300 m). To put half.com on the 'map' Mark was instrumental in the renaming of the town Halfway (OR) to half.com, for one year. Renaming towns to acquire corporate dollars has continued.

Mark's presentation will be on Buzz Marketing, and to get some background you can read chapter 2 from his book.

Class Survey

Please take five minutes to complete the following class survey. Thank you in advance for your feedback, we will discuss this survey on wednesday of next week.

Example post commenting on posts from the "Required Blogs"

I thought I would link to Steven Schluter's excellent post following the announcement of Microsoft's new search engine. This is a great example of satisfying one of the posts required for your blog assignments. Now lets see if this search engine is truly an innovation.

Adding Content to your Template

As part of your blog project, you are required to add content to your template. Some of you have begun this process, examples include:

• Scott Kagan
  
• Craig Koestler
  
• Stephanie Webb
  

To learn how to do this access how to edit the template.

Skype Schedule continues: Naked Conversations Notes

Quick update: our Skype schedule continues today, with Toby Bloomberg, who runs Diva Marketing, and is highlighted in our Book as a consultant who gets it! I have also posted notes for chapters 5 - 9 of Naked Conversations along with Toby's presentation "Blogs: A Marketing Tool".

Topic 4: Law and Privacy

is available: Law and Privacy Issues. We will be covering this material on monday (today).

Search 8 Notes

are here. They are not absolutely final, but good enough, and include some questions I want you to consider for class and while reading the chapter.

Wikipedia reaches one million articles

congratulations to wikipedia and to you for your contributions to this milestone! Found at slashdot!

Phishing Example

here is a Phishing example, I received just after class today. (Note: when placing my mouse over the URL you could see it was an image, and pointed to a non-paypal site: http://24-236-128-36.dhcp.bycy.mi.charter.com:81/paypal.com/index.php?MfcISAPICommand=SignInFPP)

Subject header: Paypal Email ID PP321

Text:
Dear PayPal Member,
Your account has been randomly flagged in our system as a part of our routine security measures. This is a must to ensure that only you have access and use of your PayPal account and to ensure a safe PayPal experience. We require all flagged accounts to verify their information on file with us. To verify your Information at this time, please visit our secure server webform by clicking the hyperlink below:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login

Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the footer of any page.

To receive email notifications in plain text instead of HTML, update your preferences here.

www.PayPal.com Email ID PP478

Hindsight is ...

Gates predicted, back in January 2004, that spam would be resolved by 2006. He notes a couple of methods that may resolve spam. We realise this has not been the case, yet. Thanks slashdot.

On a related note, I found this article that describes the cost of internet fraud, both the direct cost and indirect costs associated with the business processes used to manage fraud. I found this article from a good old google search.