Google has had an ongoing problem with providing fresh content and until the launch of the “Freshness” algorithm earlier this week they didn’t have a solution – only a series of quick fixes.

During 9/11 when there was a massive number of searches for “world trade center” related terms nothing showed up except outdated informational pages about renting office space and tours. As a result they had to add links directly from their homepage to news sites to divert users away from using their search features.

On the more recent side of the war in Afghanistan we saw better but still flawed search results from Google when news broke about the death of Osama Bin Laden. Google began putting “Google News” in search results years ago to provide up-to-the-minute content at the top of search results that were tied to current events but this fix is only a band-aid on a larger issue.

If you look at the screenshot below (source: Search Engine Land) you will see that while Google News provided people with fresh content the actual algorithmic search results below were about the White House Correspondents Dinner and one of President Obama’s past budget speeches although the user intent was clearly focused on what had just gone down in Pakistan.

Google started to get into a bit of a rut with its search results, pushing down the actual results with Google news, Twitter updates, and other additional features to liven up the search results pages but not the actual search results themselves.

Earlier this week Google announced an actual fix to the problem of outdated content- a “freshness” algorithm update was launched on Monday building off the infrastructure established by the Google Caffeine update. Caffeine did not change the actual search results, it was a new way to collect and index information on the web.

Caffeine was designed to radically change the way that Google indexed content, giving them the ability to quickly index frequently changing content. The update that Google released on Monday is an algorithmic change that will utilize this high-speed indexing system to provide fresh search results.

What impact does this change have? It allows Google to respond to three separate scenarios where fresh content is necessary for a good user experience, impacting 35% of all search results in the process. Quoting from their announcement:

• Recent events or hot topics. For recent events or hot topics that begin trending on the web, you want to find the latest information immediately. Now when you search for current events like “occupy oakland protest”, or for the latest news about the “nba lockout”, you’ll see more high-quality pages that might only be minutes old.

• Regularly recurring events. Some events take place on a regularly recurring basis, such as annual conferences like “ICALP” or an event like the “presidential election”. Without specifying with your keywords, it’s implied that you expect to see the most recent event, and not one from 50 years ago. There are also things that recur more frequently, so now when you’re searching for the latest “NFL scores”, “dancing with the stars” results or “exxon earnings”, you’ll see the latest information.

• Frequent updates. There are also searches for information that changes often, but isn’t really a hot topic or a recurring event. For example, if you’re researching the “best slr cameras”, or you’re in the market for a new car and want “subaru impreza reviews”, you probably want the most up to date information.

This is a seismic shift in the SEO world, but it wasn’t unexpected. It has been clear for many years that Google wanted to move in this direction for those of us that were prepared the changes have provided a nice boost to organic search traffic.

Regardless of industry there are ways to provide fresh content whether it be starting a company blog, releasing a new product line, or finding some other way to engage your users.

Through this update Google has made it clear that if you don’t start paying attention to your content, you will be left behind.

Talk about a back fire. Only one month into the company split of Netflix (into Netflix – Streaming and Qwikster – DVD’s), the once skyrocketing video entertainment powerhouse has lost over 1 million subscribers. Also, they have employed a more than backwards business strategy. Netflix CEO is effectively eliminating his core business prospects from the funnel, making it more difficult to convert new users. If Netflix remained as just Netflix, cross selling opportunities or possibily upselling opportunities would have remained from DVD to Streaming. Now, a user of Netflix DVD is automatically enrolled in Qwikster DVD, not only losing brand loyalists, but also making it more complex to be signed up for both services. Two companies. Two contracts. Too many issues. Without the brand Netflix for the DVD business, there is an increased concerned that users will become brand agnostic and switch to a different provider.

Check out the articles here

Today Google acquired Zagat, the trusted and influential source for consumer-survey based reviews.  According to Google’s blog, Google plans to collaborate with Zagat “to bring the power of Google search and Google Maps to their products and users, and to bring their  innovation, trusted reputation and wealth of experience to our users.”

The partnership between the two strong brands seems to be a great fit.  By combining their resources and platforms the two companies are able to offer new ways for consumers to express their opinions and make informed decisions.  I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for a Zagat rated restaurant on Google Maps next time I’m looking for some good eats in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

5.9 Magnitude earthquake from the Virgina area felt here in NYC.  Very surreal experience to feel the aftershock.

Hope all are well.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is looking for ways to put a stop to the rioting in London.  One solution that is currently being explored is barring suspected rioters from using social media and other communication devices.  Theresa May, the Home secretary, met with executives of Facebook, Twitter, and Research In Motion (maker of BlackBerry) to seek ways to prevent rioters from using these mediums to organize more trouble.

Cameron said, “when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them. So we are working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these Web sites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.”

Facebook has said it has removed “credible threats of violence” from the site.  However, they have also noted that social media has been used in positive ways such as mass cleanups of the riots.

In attempting to restrict use of social media, the British government was met with protest by free-speech campaigners.  This case is an brings up some interesting questions.  How much responsibility is in the hands of these social media companies?  Is the government approaching a violation of British citizens’ basic freedoms?  Read the full article here.

A new 3D technology called Unlimited Detail showcases how their technology will greatly improve in all genre of 3D. Using point cloud data, it can improve the amount of details by 100,000 times than the current standard. Point cloud data give artists unlimited freedom on how much details they can put into their 3D models. This technology eliminates the limitation on polygon count given to the artists and eliminates the need to create multiple detail levels of the same model. This will be the next break through in 3D technology. Check out the video.

Last month the UN humanitarian agencies declared a famine in Somalia. A two year long drought in the Horn of Africa has left an estimated 12.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has begun airlifting food to affected areas, and has raised around $1 billion for the region since November 2010, but UN official Valerie Amos, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, has declared, “It is not enough.”

People across the internet have been taking action in an effort to bring relief to the disaster. Bono, of U2, along with ONE brought 10 bloggers to Africa to connect with mothers in late July where they were exposed to the unfortunate conditions in Kenya. The bloggers are now sharing their experiences ONE’s blog.

iTunes has released George Harrison’s The Concert for Bangladesh and all proceeds will go to the George Harrison fund for UNICEF, benefiting children affected by the drought and famine.

World Vision, a charitable organization, has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for many years. They have provided clean water, education, food and other long-term assistance to communities in need. You can donate to the relief effort through World Vision here.

It’s nice to see people across the internet making an effort to help.

This is very interesting. France has officially banned the names of the top two social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, from being mentioned on radio or television…UNLESS, they are part of a news story. Dating back to a 1992 decree that says, “mentioning services by name is an act of advertising,” France has taken a stand against both of the social giants.

As described by Christine Kelly, a spokesperson for France’s Counseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA), “Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition. This would be a distortion of competition. If we allow Facebook and Twitter to be cited on air, it’s opening a Pandora’s Box– other social networks will complain to us saying, ‘why not us?’”

TechCrunch sums this up nicely, “Instead of referring to specific social networking pages, like saying ‘Find us at Facebook.com/Audi’ or follow us on ‘Twitter.com/Pepsi’ brands will have to skirt around the issue, saying things like ‘Find us on social networking sites!,’ or directing viewers to their community pages and hoping that viewers will just pick up on where to go.”

France has a history of trying to regulate language used on air. According to the Toubon Law,  the French government can mandate the use of the French language in official government publications, in all advertisements, and in all broadcast audiovisual programs, with some exceptions (most notably, private non-commercial communications).

Some say the French government is going overboard in terms of restricting “the spread of American culture” which some bloggers attribute to traditional French protectionism, similar to how in 2003, the French banned the use of the word “email” in all government communications and publications.

In all, the true nature of the ban is not clear, but Facebook and Twitter are certainly making their way across the globe. Think about the earned media the two companies get every day, in every advertisement featuring one of their “brand pages.”

You never know, maybe France does support smaller social networks…or better yet, maybe France is launching their own social network (unlikely), where you have to be French to partake. Didn’t Facebook start with the promise of exclusivity?

Is the world obsessed with Facebook? Thank you to OnlineSchools for this infographic, check it out:

Via: Online Schools

Amazon Kindle has finally opened up its platform to advertisers. So now, there are two versions – ads, or no ads. However, as is the case with Pandora or with any “lite” version of an app where the ad supported version is free for download, the Kindle will still cost people money. Amazon is decreasing the price for the Kindle by $25, if the consumer is okay with seeing ads on a regular basis. I’m not impressed. $25 is a nice % discount, but it is not enough. As an advertiser, I love that there is another platform for me to reach my target market, however as an avid reader who has not gone Kindle yet, this will not convert me.

Back to me as an advertiser. While I commend Amazon for opening up an additional advertising touch point and another revenue stream, in order for an advertiser to get an ad into a Kindle, there are hoops to jump through. First, there is a minimum spend. This is partly due to the “hype” of advertising in the Kindle along side the operational cost of reformatting content to fit the platform and for measurability (impressions and clicks). While this may be common place, the minimum spend is not so minimum, and in most cases is equal to the maximum spend that most advertisers are willing to shell out for one publisher overall. The other issue is lead time. In a digital ad world where creative versioning based on learnings is happening in real time, Kindle advertising requires over a month to load. Not very progressive, and a huge deterrent for DR advertisers. Excuse me, Amazon, can you please address accountability. How can you segment my ad (demo, contextual, genre)? How many people will see it? What happens after the click? Can we use 3rd party validation?

While the platform is still new, take it as you will, I do have faith that these pain points will be fixed in due time – however, I am not sold just yet.