Pay-Per-Click is often advertised as a turnkey solution—you put in a certain amount of advertising dollars and you get a certain amount of traffic back. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. You can get more bang for your buck with PPC by avoiding some common mistakes:

The Internet has long been a haven for anonymous discourse. And in this way, it has seemed like the web’s forums, chat rooms and social bookmarking communities have been a grand experiment. The question: "What would happen if no one was accountable for what they said online?” For many publishers and user communities, it seems, anonymity has opened the doors to the darker side of free speech. From the piteously banal to the downright offensive, numerous web denizens are working diligently towards proving that free, anonymous speech on the Internet is perhaps a failed experiment. Of course, the comment abusers and forum trolls are far from the majority—but like a table of smokers in a crowded diner, their presence is strong enough to make the room a whole lot less comfortable for the rest of us.

Because of the scourge of anonymous, childish or even hateful commenters, many major online publishers are moving away fro ... Read more »

In order to promote its new Chromium-based operating system, Google Chrome has launched a new Google Chrome Web Store. The Google Chrome Web Store, which has been likened to the iTunes App Store for iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads, is a repository of trusted apps, extensions and themes that can be installed directly into Google Chrome or Chrome OS. The premise of the Google Chrome Web Store is that more and more users are eschewing traditional local based applications—such as Microsoft Office, iTunes and Windows Explorer—for cloud-based services, such as Google Docs, Gmail, Rhapsody and Picasa. Google argues that, because the bulk of the computing experience occurs online, computers should be streamlined for accessing these web-based services.

This concept is embodied in Google’s own Google Notebook, an unbranded laptop that runs Google Chrome OS. Google Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system based on Linux a ... Read more »

A giant gingerbread man statue has recently been spotted on the lawn outside of the Google offices. What does this mean? As history has shown, the arrival of a confectionary mascot on Google’s premise means that an update to their mobile operating system, Android, is in the works. The last update, Android 2.2, codenamed "Froyo” followed the previous version, Android 2.1 Éclair. This means that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is undoubtedly on the horizon.

Google, however, is being strategically coy, saying nothing but "We’ve been baking something.. and it’s pretty sweet.” So, for now, practically everything that’s been published about Android Gingerbread has been pure speculation. Many hopefuls are rubbing their hands together in anticipation of an Android tablet to challenge the iPad. Others are licking their chops in expectation of the Google Nexus Two, to be released sometime in early November. But for now, no o ... Read more »

Google released Google Goggles for Android phones back in December 2009 to much fanfare. The visual search app allows smartphone users to run searches by taking pictures of objects that they see. Google Goggles then analyzes the image for text and items that it recognizes. For example, Google Goggles can recognize the Eiffel Tower in a snapshot of the Paris skyline. Google Goggles will highlight the objects that it recognizes and offer up more details, such as history, location and a description. If the object is a consumer good—such as a book or DVD—Google Goggles can run a product search, telling you more about the item as well as comparing costs across several online vendors.

Originally, Google Goggles was only available on Android phones. Google and Apple’s relationship has been notoriously troubled, as evidenced by the recent controversies over the Google Voice app and the alleged discrimination against Googl ... Read more »

Google Instant search takes its already established "suggested searches” feature to the next level. Whereas Google’s predictive technology has always given search suggestions based on your typing, you can now see results as you type search terms. These render instantly in the results page without requiring you to press enter or load a new screen.

Google Instant Search rolled out to selected geographic regions last week. Once it’s available in your area, it’ll be automatically activated in supported browsers. If you’d like to disable it, you can do so by clicking the arrow just to the right of the search box.

The introduction of Google Instant Search set the Internet marketing community abuzz, particularly among owners of websites and companies that rely on search engine marketing (SEM) and pay-per-click advertising. Some alarmists have (perhaps prematurely) sounded the death ... Read more »

From Google, Verizon and the FCC to BlackBerry in India, we’re seeing technology companies interfacing with policymakers more than ever today—and for good reason. Technology—particularly mobile and web technology—factors heavily into almost every facet of society, from education and research to commerce and national security. But one of the greatest strengths of cutting edge technology has been the exaggerated survival of the fittest vetting process. If a new gadget, application or web service didn’t provide a killer solution for its users, it died. So far, it’s been the classic "build a better mousetrap” challenge in overdrive. And this new pervasiveness of technology and big tech companies threatens to undermine the reign of innovation.

That’s because when an industry begins deeply affecting the economy and the worldwide social fabric, it means that the government has a duty to regulate it more heavily. And once ... Read more »

In most cases, a hyper-secure email protocol that made it impossible for anyone to read a message except for the sender and intended recipient would sound like a good thing. But if you’re a government in charge of sniffing out terrorists, it’s your worst nightmare.

That’s the debate that’s been raging overseas recently in regard to the quintessential business smartphone: the BlackBerry. As the trusted sidekick of many a high-powered executive for years, demand for highly secure email encryption system is understandably high. Should a hacker get access to proprietary data, trade secrets or insider information on investments or stock trades, it could compromise an entire business strategy and even unsettle an entire industry. That’s why BlackBerry’s corporate email service is so popular. It’s so secure, not even the government can intercept conversations.

That’s all well and go ... Read more »

Google and Verizon’s recent joint policy proposal to the FCC has many critics questioning whether or not the search giant is living up to its motto of "Don’t be evil.” The controversy arises over Google’s perceived wavering in its support for "net neutrality.” Google, however, argues that it has made a compromise that amounts to an overall victory for proponents of net neutrality.

What is Net Neutrality?

Net neutrality refers to the prohibition of discriminatory practices regarding access to Internet content. Concerns have arisen over whether or not an Internet service provider (ISP)—such as Verizon, Comcast or Time Warner—has the right to limit bandwidth or access to certain websites. For example, Comcast recently came under fire for "throttling” BitTorrent speeds such that the peer-to-peer file sharing protocol was rendered unusable to many Comcast subscribers. Net neutrali ... Read more »

Headlines exploded earlier this week with warnings that a major security flaw existed in the iOS 4 operating system, the latest mobile operating system being used on Apple’s iPhone. According to numerous alarmist reports, the Mobile Safari browser has a security loophole that allows programs full access to the phone’s data—including settings, programs, contacts and sensitive data. Potentially malicious programs can gain access by causing a stack overflow when Safari opens a PDF file. Once this occurs, programs surreptitiously embedded in the PDF file are then able to install programs, change settings and practically overhaul the iPhone’s operating system as it sees fit.

That’s all hypothetical, however. No such iPhone virus that exploits this security flaw has been reported in the wild. So, how does the media know about this vulnerability? It’s all thanks to the jailbreaking community.

... Read more »