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Now, there is yet another expansion move from Google. Perhaps Digg will change hands very soon to Google for $200 Million. While Microsoft had been busy with Yahoo, Google is capturing another crowd base.

Can you guess what would be Google’s next acquisition move?

Before coming to this point, let’s take a look at what does this deal have for us?

I don’t think - we would see some major changes in Digg, just like You Tube. Google would get involved in the development process of this website and in coming months we may see some different interfaces or developments. This is the common development scheme that Google follows with the acquisitions. Just think about the stages of development of FeedBurner and you would have the answer.

BTW, are you still roaming around Digg?

Why? There is a common saying that Digg visitors are not directly convertible into business. Could you convert them? If your answer is negative, why are you wasting your time out there? Just look around and you would surely find some websites in your niche that would serve the similar purpose. And more importantly, traffic from those websites is your target audience. And if you do not have any similar website in your niche, why don’t you start one? Yes; I mean it - getting visitors won’t be a problem. If you do not want to start one, it is better to join a forum in your niche - 100 targeted visitors are better than 5000 general visitors.

If you look at Google’s acquisition trend - you would find that Google is acquiring websites that cater to general visitors. Google would not acquire Sphinn - Digg is a better choice for the amount of members. The same is true for You Tube or FeedBurner. With every acquisition, Google is actually grabbing a big share of internet traffic. And who knows it better than Google that visitors = money.

So, what would be Google’s next acquisition move? Any idea?

Is there any difference between journalism and blogging?

Ok, journalists would not like to share their traditional position with a blogger unless they are into it. However, by nature blogging is nothing but social journalism and thus for the same reason, it is different from traditional journalism. There is another difference between traditional journalism and blogging - a blogger does not have a press pass to step into any or every event.

Things are changing in some fronts. For example, some business organizations do not hesitate to call bloggers in their traditional press conferences. And if the business organization has web presence and wants to create some buzz in the online market, they directly approach the bloggers - it is very common. And more importantly, if the business organization’s size is not very big or if they do not have a news worthy event that could interest the traditional journalists, they often move towards blogs (didn’t you try it!!).

But why traditional journalism holds such a place?

The main reason is that people trust them. It is in human nature to believe anything written and if the document is a published material, there is nothing like that. People would love to use them as reference. However, if you tell the same story, they are less likely to believe your words and might even ask “where did you read it” unless you are already an established authority on the topic.

Is this one of the reasons of the popularity of blogging! Yes; and there should not be any doubt about it.

What else?

1.    The most common and widely published reason is that Blogs allow a general person the opportunity to publish their thoughts. But that’s not all. A blog actually offers you the opportunity to challenge (no more explanations - think about it).

2.    Self publications - what can be more satisfactory but the reason that people from different parts of the world are reading your blog and communicating via comments. You are actually becoming a world citizen in no time.

3.    Expression of power - I would like to call it power of expression that a blogger enjoys - knowingly or unknowingly.

4.    Being social in another community: What else should I say about it?

I would not like to add “earning money” or “networking” or other similar terms to this list. The main reason is that, these are not primary or core reasons for someone to start his or her first blog. To the most these are secondary stages.

Do you have anything else to add to this list?

Do you use Google AdSense to monetize your blog?

Than you have already got a mail from The Google AdSense Team regarding the retirement of Google AdSense’s Referral program. Though Google had acquired DoubleClick (and DoubleClick acquired Performics - the original company in 2004) months back, the integration took some time.

And now we have a new platform ConnectCommerce.com - “the reporting and tracking platform that powers Google Affiliate Network“. (BTW, now you have another Google blog to follow). And, this platform would soon be integrated into Google accounts.

Somehow, the way, Google is advancing by acquiring smaller brands, perhaps after someday, you would not need to move beyond Google for any service you want. Perhaps, someday Google would start selling domains directly. Perhaps someday you would sign into internet via Google and after living the Socio-virtual life with Google, you would go back to the table to have dinner supplied by Google while watching the Galaxy as shown by Google. Google = one click stop

Google is growing faster than you can think - it is growing its roots in every vertical. And if you think carefully, Google knows much more about you than you would have ever imagined or I should better say even your lawyer or personal secretary never knew. And more importantly, it knows your habit - your search pattern and your needs.

And who can be a better middleman after having so much of personal information!

But, who is growing on the other end to challenge Google? Is there really any competition? How can followers be competitors!

However, there is one spot where Google is yet to step in - direct content generation. Google is still dependent on you and me to develop content. (Though Google is already into crowdsourcing with Google Code, it is yet to try its hands to develop something like Wikipedia.) But still you need to depend on Google to offer you the best information in the web and thus obliquely it is very much into content production.

Webmasters often (or always?) say that I need more visitors - how to get that?

Bloggers often (or always?) say that I need more visitors - how to get that?

Say for example, in one fine day I offer you 500% extra visitors - what would you do with them? What would be your net result? Are you sure that you would be able to retain them for a long time? And more importantly, does more traffic mean more business (unless AdSense is the only source of your income)! Do you really have any plan about how you can earn from this huge rush?

Lets talk about Fred - the new (or old!) you tube superhero. His video has already got 3,464,006 views, 27,144 ratings and 26,789 comments. And Fred is not a one show wonder. Almost all his videos have become super hits - at least in respect to visits, votes and comments.

But does it really fulfill any goal for Fred? Perhaps, it does - He has already grown into a really BIG mini star. But is YouTube is smart enough to cash in on Fred? And it is not that Fred has done great for a single video - he is doing great in all the videos with around 250,000 subscribers to his channel (a lot of TV channels have less amount of regular subscribers).

May be the geeks have their own views on this issue, but it does point out a few things very clearly -

1.    You can gain a lot from word of mouth publicity.

2.    Quality content (in any form) is important to keep the subscriber’s base growing.

3.    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (fill in the blanks…. if you wish)
But there is another point - Do you really think that Fred would have done great if he did not publish his video on YouTube (platform)? Do you really think that he would have received similar response if he had published his videos in his own website in a distinct corner of the internet?

But now, as Fred has become a mini celebrity, perhaps it is time for him to start his own channel - the time is ready for him to get into business.

Is there anyone ready to sign him up for a real venture?

What is your name? Bill Gates?

Cool; would you like to book a domain like www.bill.gates/ and would you like to publish your retirement plans at www.bill.gates/retire-plans.html?

If you are Bill Gates, you can have it; but you will have to wait until the second quarter of 2009 and you must prove that you are Bill Gates and you have a well established brand name to book that domain.

And it is not a joke. We are moving into a new era - ICANN has approved a recommendation from the global stakeholders to introduce new TLDs to the Internet’s addressing system. And this is what they call the “Biggest Expansion in gTLDs Approved for Implementation“.

This decision is not finalized in one day. It has undergone major discussions and planning for last six years.

However, you cannot have any TLD you wish. You must have an established brand that you would need to put forward as an application to the ICANN (responsible for the global coordination of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers like domain names). Your application and brand equity will be properly evaluated by ICANN before allowing you the domain name. Perhaps, they would try to ensure that, none but McDonald’s get the domain name http://www.mc.donalds/. It is not just about first come - first serve. And to add to this, anyone can place objection during the evaluation process (BTW, ICANN will not be the only decision maker when someone places an objection).

So, those who are planning to earn some more money from domain trading, should be a little bit disappointed (domain trading is a big business and you can still do well from regular TLDs like .com or .net) to loose such a big opportunity.

How much would it cost?

This would cost you a lot more than premium domain names. According to Dr Twomey, it may cost you something around a six figure amount ($$$,$$$) to book such a domain name. And this is not a big deal for established brands.

By 2009, we will have more than just 21 TLDs to fight for. But don’t you think it would make a common man’s web browsing more critical? At present, we have a naming convention and people are used to it. Won’t it be more confusing as far as recollection is concerned? And what if the same name exists for two brands in two countries - which would get the domain name?

Usually, when we hear about a site selling for $100,000 or even $50,000, we are astonished and wish we can earn that much as well. So I was flabbergasted to find out that Consumer Search sold for $33 Million last May 7, 2007 from Blogging Experiment. At first I thought it was a joke until I saw the press release from the New York Times that explains in detail how, why, and where the ConsumerSearch.com site was acquired.

Typically, when you imagine a website worth $33 million, you imagine something unique, eye-catching, and use the latest cutting-edge technology. But looking at ConsumerSearch.com, it looks as if it is the usual “Adsense” website. Also, it looks as if their reviews are borrowed from someplace else. It is hard to imaging how the site can be worth that much until you look into its stats.

The site is basically getting 1.7 million hits per month which is astonishing when you consider that it has no real information on it. It just goes to show that even a simple website like this can generate tons of money. ConsumerSearch.com has been around for 7 years at the time when About.com acquired it.

So the question is does it look like it would take a great deal of effort to build a site like ConsumerSearch.com? Well, do as they do and hire people to write everything for you. They pay writers $350 per category and when you multiply this by 330 (the number of categories in their website). Basically, you need to concentrate on marketing and promotions; if it becomes successful, you

Building a site like ConsumerSearch.com takes a lot of ingenuity though and it is quite apparent that their domain name helped a lot in giving them the credibility they need.

Sources:
The New York Times Archive
Blogging Experiment

There are various Make Money Online (MMO) niches that can benefit from some free advertising. And what better way to generate this kind of free attention than to post on online classified ads that are visited by thousands of visitors on a daily basis. Marketers who sell through the internet can take advantage of online classified boards because these can categorize your products and services accordingly. That way, their services will be viewed by relevant market and there is a high chance that these viewers will avail of the opportunities being offered. 

Meanwhile, marketers who aim to generate traffic to their websites can get divert some traffic from online classifieds as well. Placing their links to these sites can be extremely beneficial but take note that this is only good for the short term since the ads will be taken down sooner or later.

On the other hand, another notable segment that can benefit greatly from online classifieds is freelancers. Web owners are always looking for people with particular specialties including programming, legal services, writing, and human resources. Using online classified boards is definitely one of the best and one of the cheapest ways to make money online.

Some recommended online classified board we recommend include Craigslist, Backpage, GoogleBase, ListSomething, and GumTree among others.

With the amount of information available for your consumption everyday, it is unlikely that you are processing each piece of information as much as you should. In fact, your mind might actually feel fatigued as it gets exposed to too much information everyday. If you are working online, then this scenario is even more suitable for you because there is always the pressure to learn as much as you should in order to stay ahead of the competition.

But scanning through many articles a day and absorbing none of it may even be worse because it is simply a waste of time and effort. You need to prioritize. You should determine your goal, your purpose, and your niche in working over the internet. Once these aspects are determined, you need to prioritize these aspects. These means you should first look into new information that are relevant to your needs and business before you look into other information. That way, you will get the kind of information that is most beneficial for you.

You can utilize some tools that will enable you to get these kinds of relevant information. The first is to subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs and websites. The content will be delivered right at your “doorstep”. Meanwhile, you also browse through some available add-ons which can update you on the latest news and developments in the industry you are interested in.

A lot of people inevitably want free stuff and free advice but what they don’t realize is that sometimes, paying for a particular advice may end up benefiting them over the long term. This is because when a fee is charged, a person becomes accountable for his own success. He wants to recover his investment in a coaching program as soon as possible so he implements what he has learned immediately after the training. Most people don’t put value on something that has been given for free; it follows that if you get free advice, you won’t take immediate action because you won’t actually lose anything if you don’t.

As you can see, paying for coaching or training actually has its benefits. When an expert or an internet guru charges you for something, it does not mean that you should feel bad because you “lost” some money. Instead, think of the fee you paid as your investment. You are paying for valuable advice which can lead to your success if you properly implement it. Take note though, that there are also scam artists out there who claims to be a guru. It is important for you to choose an expert who is well-established in his field.

Only a small number of people actually compress their PDF files. This is because even though PDF materials are increasingly becoming popular on the web, PDFs are still designed to provide high quality output that leaves little room for speed. In fact, even PDF files that are specifically designed for the internet is weighed down by change histories, unnecessary fonts, and unoptimized images. It is important to note though that optimizing these files will improve display speed, save bandwidth, shrink the file size, and help stop user frustration. So how exactly can you optimize your PDF files? Below are some basic guidelines to get you started:

Don’t Use Refried Images

If your graphic needs to be included as bitmaps, prepare them with minimum dimension and maximum compressibility. Take note that inserting compressed JPEG files into the PDF and then distilling them might create “artifacts” because of recompression. It is recommended for you to use back and white images instead of the colored ones so that you will be able to use newer JBIG2 which is great for monochromatic compression.

Use Vector Images

As much as possible, you need to use vector-based images for files that will normally be turned into GIF files. Vector images will scale properly and their mathematical configuration will take up less space compared to bitmaps. Similar to bitmap graphics, you can also compress vector images; you need to use the ZIP compression in PDF to do this.

Minimize Your Fonts

For small PDF files, your font size will have a significant effect on the overall size of the file. Try to limit the number of fonts on the document.

Flatten the Forms

Acrobat forms can actually take up a lot of space. The new Acrobat 8 Pro has a feature that can flatten the form fields: Choose Advanced > PDF Optimizer > Discard option. Remember that flattening the forms can make the form option unusable and the form data will be merged with the page. You also have the option to combine refried PDF files with old form pages to develop a hybrid file. In addition, if color is not required, try converting the file to grayscale.

Using these basic tips will help you get a more linear and compact PDF file that loads faster.