In fact, Google’s Panda update and its recent social media foray (Google+) generated much heated debate both at the event and across Twitter feeds almost immediately during the day’s first session, “Which Way Google”. Obviously, social has proven to be of  particular interest for marketers and some consumer groups as worries about continued privacy issues and growing amount of data collection to which Google now has access increases. Google has been on the hot seat on this issue in recent years and often the search giant’s take on the matter and those outside the “Plex” differs sharply as evidenced by this session’s discussions.

Twitter Feeds from Event

At a session yesterday in Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Center called “Google Survivor Tips” Matt McGee, executive news editor at Search Engine Land, moderated an interesting debate about Google’s new ranking algorithms. Of course, atop this much heated debate is Google’s Panda update which is a revision to the Google algorithm that penalizes low quality content by lowering organic search rankings. Panda now uses metrics instead of its previous method of only factoring traditional ranking indicators like keywords and inbound linking.

The update has had adverse affects on many websites resulting in losses of organic search rankings, and the “Google Survivor Tips” session promised to deliver insightful tips on  how to get back into Google’s good graces if your site has been “Pandalized.”

Also a hot button topic was the how search marketers can take advantage of Google+ by publicly showing what internet users like, agree with, or recommend on the Web, as well as how it will affect factors such as Quality Score or CPCs.

Although some in attendance were a bit skeptical, especially when it came to user activity.

Certainly a two-percent user rate isn’t going to impress anybody, but that should change soon. Google is expecting to shake up the social media space with Google+ and how users communicate with each other is obviously different from how they are going to communicate with brands. Google is hoping they can satisfy both camps with different versions of the product. As users activity increases (and it will) expect to see Google+ play a greater role in everyone’s marketing mix.

As of today, Google+ allows you to create a personal profile, where you are given the opportunity to provide fairly detailed information on your work, family, interests and expertise. These profiles are completely searchable and, by using the appropriate keywords, can help a thought leader to reach a wider audience.

Stay tuned for a full wrap from the entire show from our BFM blog team at the event.

While I might feel like something of an old-timer in this space, I had the opportunity this week to meet and listen to the two most important figures in the history of the Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Vint Cerf. These guys have been at it since the 70s.

If you don’t know who they are, it is the equivalent of a sports fan getting the opportunity to listen to Abner Doubleday (the purported inventor of baseball) and James Naismith (the inventor of basketball).

Let me explain.

Cerf and Berner-Lee are recognized as two of the key “Fathers of the Internet.”

Back in the early 1970s, Cerf, along with colleague Bob Kahn invented the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) which moves data on the modern Internet. The two went on to develop the IP protocol.

As explained by the good people at MIT, “TCP/IP allows for the “handshake” that introduces distant and different computers to each other in a virtual space. TCP controls and keeps track of the flow of data packets; IP addresses and forwards individual packets. “

Nearly two decades later, Berners-Lee wrote the first Web browser and invented both the HTML markup language and the HTTP protocol used to request and transmit Web pages between Web servers and Web browsers. In other words, he created the World Wide Web.

This week, the two were keynote speakers at the New York Chapter of the Internet Society.

In his address, Berners-Lee said writing the code that created the World Wide Web was “easy to do” since Cerf had already created TCP and IP.

As for the future of the Web, Berners-Lee said his greatest hope was that the Web would remain “open,” free of interference from governments or businesses.

The right to connect, he added, should be thought of as a human right.

His other hope for the future was that everyone in the world would be given the opportunity to connect.  Currently, 20% of the world uses the Web.

As for the other 80 percent? Three quarters of those have access to connectivity, but not the means or equipment to connect.

“The important thing is that the Internet should be open in a sense that you can use it without paying royalties,” he said. “Open to the fact that when I connect you can connect and then we can talk without anyone filtering who we can connect to.”

Also addressing the future of the Internet, Cerf said he hoped the Internet would remain “open, affordable, accessible, transparent and safe.”

“We say that the Internet is for everyone,” he said. “It must be for everyone… I hope it will be.”

The two men also cited privacy as a key issue that we must do everything to ensure.

“It is our obligation to understand as deeply as we can what has made the Internet such a vibrant source of new ideas and creativity while at the same time trying to figure out how to make it a safer place for all of us to use,” Cerf said. “Those two things are so important to our descendants.”

Other speakers at the event included Assistant Department of Commerce Secretary Lawrence Strickling,  Internet pioneer and Columbia University law professor Eben Moglen, Internet Society President Lynn St. Amour and Rachel Sterne, the Chief Digital Officer for New York City.

No longer strictly the domain of film geeks and funny video aficionados, the network, which boasts more than 2 billion video views monetized per week, can also provide a low-cost to no-cost way to create a social marketing channel for your business.

If you aren’t effectively leveraging the network, you’re missing the viral video boat. However, as with most things in life, success isn’t often attained with a  haphazard, slapdash effort. Being successful on YouTube takes planning.

These 10 easy steps are a good place to start.

1. Know what “success” means.

What are you trying to achieve?

• Video views – Do you just want a lot of people to see your video?
• Conversions – Do you need people to click to another website and take an action?
• Deeper engagement with your brand – Do you need to use video give your potential customers more interaction with your brand?

2. Research keywords.

To be discovered on the second largest search engine, you will need to know what people are looking for. Use YouTube’s Keyword Tool to find popular searches within your space.

3. Know your competition.

Search on YouTube to find other videos that rank well for the keywords that you would like to rank for. See what it is that you are up against and seek out strategies to out-do them.This phase should also help you in your keyword research. Find opportunities: are there some high traffic keywords that seem like they may be easier to rank for than others?

4. Create a kick-ass video.

You don’t just create viral content because you want to. Viral content – unless it happens by chance – must be well though-out and gripping! No one is going to pass on a video to their friend(s) if they don’t really care for it themselves. Here are a couple of ideas.

5. Fill-out your video details.

Put important keywords at the front of your video titles, include them in your description, and tags. Do not over-do it, just put keywords that are relevant and are based on your keyword research. Allow your videos to be embedded. Otherwise, viewers will only be able to see your videos on YouTube.

6. Use the “Featured Videos” section.

If you are certain that your video will be a major hit, then use YouTube’s paid “Featured Videos” service to get your video seen by many people in a short amount of time. Once the video takes off, your organic traffic will usually out-do your paid traffic.

7. Insert links in your videos.

Use annotations to insert links to other videos to maximize every viewer. Do not over-do this either. Make sure that annotations do not impede the viewing experience.

8. Interact with high value users.

Find users on YouTube who are active and add value through their participation in the social network. Get your video in front of them – without spamming so that they can do part of the work for you. Your video will also benefit with more traffic  thanks to increased comments. YouTube will be soon be implementing new features to increase the amount of social interaction on the website (for example by making it easier to find your friends).

9. Use social media.

With built-up and relevant social media accounts, get your video seen by more people. By “relevant” I mean that your friends and your user history should be somehow related to the topic of your video for it to get more qualified traffic. My favorite sites for video sharing are Digg, Twitter, and StumbleUpon.

10. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Go back and start over. Look at what you can improve about your video(s) and continue to keep your video channel page fresh with more videos!

To learn how YouTube counts video views check out this previous blog post.

SMX West, which takes place in early March, is one of two annual SEO conferences put on by the publishers of Search Engine Land (where I am a contributor). SMX brings together top online marketing agencies worldwide, as well as major vendors, search engine representatives, in-house marketing managers, and more. We’ve attended these conferences in order to hone our skills and keep up with new changes in the industry, but until now we’ve been in the audience—and the Q&A sessions—but we haven’t spoken before.

The panel will cover so-called “Content Farms”: companies that pay a huge number of freelancers small rates in order to write quick articles about a variety of subjects. These companies tend to make money from putting ads on their articles, or selling them to large news outlets. It’s a new model, and a controversial one: at their worst, content farms pollute search engine rankings with irrelevant, poorly-written results, and swamp legitimate content. However, they’ve also created content where there wasn’t anything relevant before, and search engines tend to judge the quality of content by how users behave when they interact with it, not whether or not it could be republished in Harpers. It’s a complex situation, and we’re ready to dive in and spark some controversy.

If you’re attending SMX West, we’ll see you in San Jose! If you’re interested in attending SMX West from March 8th through 10th, you can register here.

EVENT: New York Tech Meetup

DATE: September 9th, 2010

PRESENTERS:

Apture
Nearsay
meetMoi
Google Goggles
Jibe
Grovo
Kodingen
Proper Cloth

Apture

gives users the power to search and explore news outlets without ever having to leave the page.  All a user needs to do is highlight a phrase or keyword that he or she wants to know more about and Apture will return information on the term.

Apture seems like a cool way to read the news and go deeper into the story without the inconvenience of having to leave the page to look up topics you may not be familiar with. It also includes a nifty “Russian doll effect” so you can highlight terms within boxes you already have open.

Apture

Nearsay

delivers quality local news that is customized neighborhood by neighborhood and by a user’s specific interests. Nearsay also helps you connect to “insiders” who know about the topics you care about and the neighborhoods you live and work in.

Nearsay is a cool local news source for people looking for finely focused reviews and neighborhood goings-on. For the time being they are only serving downtown Manhattan but plan to expand to include the rest of the city as the site grows.
Nearsay

meet Moi

is a mobile dating site that takes the love game to a micro-local level. Meet Moi aims to take the hassle of searching out of the online dating game. All you have to do is fill out your profile and wait for the app to send you notifications when singles are nearby.

meetMoi might be a bit too up close and personal for those who like to take their time mulling over whether or not to contact a potential date but it would be great for people looking for more immediate interaction.
meetMoi

Google Goggles

is a mobile visual search application. Out on the town and want to know a little more about a landmark nearby? Snap a picture of the building and Google Goggles will scan the image and return results based on the image.

Visual search technology is still in the early stages so it does not yet work very well for things like animals, plants, cars, etc. Google Goggles is currently only available for Android phones.
Google Goggles

Jibe

is a marriage of job search and social. Combining your Facebook friends and Linkedin connections, Jibe lets you easily organize your contacts based on industry. You can apply to jobs directly from the site and easily request references from people you already know at the company.

They also run a cool blog called The Hush Recruiter written by corporate recruiters who write anonymously and provide honest, sometimes brutal, truths about the job search.
Jibe

Grovo

offers courses and training in online platforms from the likes of Twitter to Facebook to Google Docs. Complete a course to find out things you never knew about your favorite services or start from scratch with a service you’ve never used before. When you’re done you can try for certification.

Grovo offers an easy way for employers to train employees in relevant tech fields and monitor performance on certification tests.
Grovo

Kodingen

is an open source cloud developer created by 2 brothers looking to take the hassle out of development and give back to their community of fellow developers. Kodingen is totally free for developers, making it a pretty awesome resource.

Kodingen

Proper Cloth

lets users design their own dress shirts from start to finish: Fit and Style. Choose the pattern, choose the cuff, even choose the buttons. The site allows users to fully customize their product and provides many different ways to assess size, virtually guaranteeing a perfect fit.

Users can share their designs with others and receive a discount if someone else buys the shirt they designed.
Proper Cloth

EVENT: New York Tech Meetup
DATE: August 2010

Presenters:
Eventros – Connects you with other event attendees
Market Publique – A curated vintage clothing marketplace
Turnto – Shop with your friends on any site
Indaba – Web-based music production and collaboration
Philo – “Check in” to TV
Twilio – A platform for building SMS and voice apps
Texai – A robotic platform for being in two places at once
Bing – It’s a “decision engine”

Eventros creates an instant, temporary social network based around the event you’re currently at.

“Eventros connects you with the other people in the room at professional events.”

Market Publique is a curated marketplace dedicated to vintage fashion. They are committed to bringing the vintage community together by creating a platform that caters to vintage clothing needs. Lots of high-res images, cheap to list, easy to create page templates, only good stuff.

TurnTo allows ecommerce sites to easily integrate social features. See what your friends bought and, perhaps more importantly, see why they bought it.

Indaba Music isn’t quite a startup–they’ve been flying under the radar for a few years now–but that’s okay. Indaba is a community that lets users make and manage music online. Powerful collaboration and remixing tools let users work together to create their masterpieces. And when you’re all done, you can upload your hot new track to iTunes and other online music stores.

Philo lets you check in to TV shows, share what you’re watching, and gossip with friends about what you’re watching. In their words, “Philo gives you and your friends new ways of exploring television. Earn points and unlock awards for watching buzz-worthy shows.” Fun tip: Leave a comment about a show and use the phrase “OMG”.

Create powerful voice & sms apps using a web-service API. Bottom line: Twilio lets you use your existing web development skills, code, servers, and databases to quickly and reliably let your web-apps interact with the phone network via voice and SMS.

Texai is a knowledge-based software project to create artificial intelligence. Using Texai technology, WillowGarage is building a fleet of robots that let you go elsewhere. It’s like the movie Surrogates, but in real life.

Bing is trying to win the search-engine war by providing users with more data. They’re putting a lot of effort into creating map applications

What is Foursquare?

Foursquare is an app (available for most modern smart phones) that encourages users to “check in” when they’re out and about. Bars and restaurants are the most common places–anywhere that you might hang out for a while. Checking in sends a ping to your friends so they know where you are. The app also allows users to share tips and compete to earn virtual badges of honor for completing certain tasks (e.g. “School Night” for checking in somewhere after 4am Monday-Friday). The most frequent visitor to each venue is crowned the “mayor” of the venue. While it was released at Austin’s SXSW festival in 2009, Foursquare has gained tracking in recent months, having added nearly 1 million users since the start of 2010.

Foursquare Day Specials

While many businesses have special offers for checking in ($1 off at Tasti D-Lite) or being mayor (a free beer everyday at BLT Fish), tomorrow’s Foursquare Day celebration has prompted many one-off special offers to mark the holiday. For example, Blue Fountain Media is offering $200 off any new project if you request a quote tomorrow. Other businesses with special offers include London’s Hummus Bros vegetarian-friendly restaurant chain offering free dessert to anyone who checks in. The posh Conrad Hotel in Miami is offering 50% off all wines and spirits to Foursquare users. Avid Foursquare fans have even put together a website to catalog all the Foursquare Day offers.

Launching Your Own Foursquare Day Offer

It’s not too late! Launching your own Foursquare day offer is easy…

1. Pick an Offer

Come up with a nice incentive for users to visit you on Foursquare Day. There’s little to lose in being experimental–the whole thing is only valid for 24 hours. The best offer is something that can be explained in a short sentence–long, complicated messages are difficult to spread virally over social media services like Twitter (which limit users to 140 character messages).

2. Tell Your Staff

Believe it or not, business-owners frequently implement special promotions or discounts without telling their employees. This can result annoyed or even angry customers. Make sure you tell your staff about the offer. Consider giving your staff a written explanation of the offer, what is is, and why you’re giving it, and how to explain it to customers. That way they can refer to it during the day if they have any questions or forget what the offer details are. If applicable, be sure to explain to your staff how to enter the discount into your POS (cash register) or how to adjust bills to reflect the discount.

3. Tell the World

Spreading the word about your Foursquare Day offer is easy. Here are a few simple places to announce your discount:

• 4sqday.com – Add your offer to the Foursquare Day directory of special offers.
• Twitter – Tweet today and then again once or twice tomorrow. Consider linking to the 4sqday.com page for your offer.
• Facebook – Post the announcement and details to your Facebook fan page. Again, consider linking to the 4sqday.com page.
• Blog – Does your business have a blog? Write up a note about Foursquare Day and your special offer

4. Accepting the Offer

How strictly the offer’s terms and conditions are enforced is up to you. If you want to absolutely require customers to have checked in before they can receive your Foursquare Day offer, simply ask them to show you their phone. Here’s an example of a check-in confirmation screen:

That’s it. Happy Foursquare Day!

Blue Fountain Media’s office overlooks Union Square, the site of the 2010 NYC Pillow Fight.  Thousands of people are expected to descend on Union Square for NYC’s 5th annual urban pillow fight. The event is FREE and open to all ages. Funky pillows and costumes are encouraged. The event takes place Saturday, April 3rd, at 3pm. Read more at PillowFightDay.com

The tradition has grown over the years, from 500 people at the first pillow fight back in 2006, to over 5000 people at last year’s event. With the beautiful weather expected tomorrow, this year’s event is expected to be even bigger!

Pillow Fight Rules

• feather-free pillows only
• swing lightly
• do not hit people with cameras or without pillows
• don’t wear glasses

Watch Pillow Fight 2010 LIVE on the Union Square Webcam

Blue Fountain Media’s Union Square Webcam will be covering the action LIVE.

Pillow Fight 2009

On Thursday, April 1, 2010 Gabriel Shaoolian will be the keynote speaker for the NYEBN Spring seminar. He will be covering “How to Get The Most out of Online Marketing” in front of eager small business owners and entrepreneurs in New York City.

Thursday’s event will focus on how to build your online business and how to market it efficiently and wisely. Gabriel’s seminar is very beneficial for businesses of all sizes because he gives key advice on their online business strategies – the rights and wrongs and how to build a better online reputation.

If you would like to learn more about this event and want to RSVP, Click Here

Last week, Blue Fountain Media was a featured sponsor, as well as guest speakers at the Social Reputation Management event hosted by the Business Development Institute at the CUNY Graduate Center. Both Gabriel Shaoolian and Director of Marketing, Alhan Keser, gave wonderful insights about online reputation and the science of SEO. Other featured guests were GM, MasterCard, Pitney Bowes and Tyson Foods.