Steve Ballmer Goes Search Dunking!

Here is a video of part of a longer interview with Microsofts Steve Ballmer at Web 2, he is asked about how Microsoft Search is coming along against the competitors like Google. The answer he gives is fantastic and delivered in only a way Steve Ballmer can!

Social Importance

Theres been a lot of talk (myself included) for about 6 months now in the improving prominence of Social Media. Everyone seemed to warm up to the likes of Facebook in 2007 here in the UK. And we now have Social Media panels at the likes of SES and SMX conferences now. I had been a member for over 6 months on Facebook with no volume of interaction with it. But suddenly in a 6 week period around June/July time there was an explosion of interest and everyone wanted to be your friend!

I think the market can see the value and requirements to be as Search Marketers looking at strategies to integrate a social product as a string to the bow and be able to offer advertising insight to tap into a new market place.

I have always been trying to quantify the value of taking the time to position some marketing solutions and some statistics published yesterday by Hitwise really hit home the culture change here in the UK.

For the fist time last month, UK visits to social network websites was more than visits to web-based email services. The Hitwise chart below shows, a line for social networks, which includes Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, accounted for 5.17% of all UK Internet visits, compared to 4.98% for Email, which includes Hotmail; Yahoo! Mail and Gmail as the main factors.




















This gives some real concrete information that Social has had a very speedy growth within the UK market and all projections say it will continue to climb as the mentality it seems is to drop your friends a quick Facebook message rather than send them an email these days.

For me the ironic thing is that you get an email notifying you when you have received a Facebook message.

So on that basis email can never die! ;0)

Google Analyst Day 2007

Thought I would throw this one up on the blog. It is the Search and Apps Overview at Google Analyst 2007 day. It is a bit of a long video at 67 minutes but well worth a watch. The vid gives some great insight into the history and theories behind Google. Where they are today as well as looking to the future developments.

It is the 3rd year of the Analyst Day and it has an all star line up on the speakers front.