SEO News: Google to Offer Pay-Per-View Movie Service - Will It Stand Up to Its Competitors?

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Later this year, Google may begin offering pay-per-view movies via online video site YouTube. This will include new releases, possibly offered at $5 per film. YouTube already offers some older titles for a rental fee of .99 to $4, but their catalog is limited. Google is currently talking with various movie studios, such as Lions Gate, Sony, MGM, and Warner Bros. about including their titles in the YouTube catalog. New titles will possibly be offered the same day they are released on DVD.

It's also speculated that this service will be integrated with upcoming Google TV. According to Google Senior Product Manager Rishi Chandra, the purpose of Google TV is, "to bring the entire Web to the television set...to take the best of what TV offers these days and the best of what the Web offers and combine them."

Google TV will give television the navigation capabilities of the web. This will benefit viewers and advertisers alike. Viewers can navigate TV to more easily find the programs and channels they want to watch. And advertisers can include links in their commercials to take interested viewer to the company's website, which will allow for more effective internet marketing.

Both the pay-per-view service and Google TV are speculated to launch around the same time. They can be integrated in the way that those with the Google TV service can watch pay-per-view films on YouTube right through their televisions. This will provide a more comfortable viewing experience than sitting at a computer desk or watching a film on a small laptop screen.

With the decline of video stores like Blockbuster, streaming movies over the Internet is where the future of video rental lies. After all, you don't have to leave your house to get the movies, there are no late fees, and you don't have to worry about getting a DVD that is scratched and won't play or skips constantly. Netflix, iTunes, and Hulu already offer such services. Will Google offer a worthy competitor? Or will this service flop like so many of Google's other recent endeavors, such as Google Buzz or Google Wave?

Google is counting on the popularity of YouTube to make their pay-per-view service a success. Currently, YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the web, with approximately 100 million visitors every month, and an outstanding Alexa rating of 3 worldwide. This high traffic website already has a huge audience that will be aware of this new service when it launches.

However, it is possible that part of the popularity of YouTube is the ability to watch a bunch of short videos for free. Many people visit YouTube to see the latest viral video, watch that funny commercial they keep hearing about (Old Spice Guy?), or watch music videos from their favorite artist when the have a little bit of time to kill. Will the YouTube audience be drawn to visit the site to pay to watch full-length movies? Or is the plethora of user generated content and short videos the main draw?

Another factor that might hamper success is that Google may be a bit late to the party. Netflix has already implemented an instant viewing service that allows members to watch films instantly over the Internet and video game consoles like the Nintendo Wii. Other services like Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon Video on Demand are also gaining popularity as sites for viewing films and TV shows. Will the already large YouTube audience be enough to propel Google's pay-per-view service over its competitors? What will Google offer that its competitors won't?

It's obvious that Google is trying very hard to stay on top of the search engine and Internet realm. The Web giant already has plans for a social network that is said to possibly rival Facebook, which will prove to be a daunting task. However, Google is willing to take on the challenge of starting its own online social networking site, and has already acquired companies involved in social media services. Only the future will tell if Google will stay on top, or finally crumble.

Wendy Suto is president and CEO of Search Circus, Inc., an ethical SEO firm specializing in one-way link popularity building. The company also offers natural search engine optimization, blog marketing, Website copywriting and article submission solutions. As a certified search engine optimization consultant, she teaches SEO seminars throughout Cleveland, Ohio.

Getting Free Traffic From Google News

Google news

You don't have to be a CNN or BBC news reporter to get considerable traffic from Google News. Google, as far as I am aware, only keeps news articles for the last 30 days.

How to use

Using the search bar at the top of the page start off by typing in site: - you would then enter keywords to search for a site's content. You will then see how many sites Google has approved in the timeframe that relates to your keywords. The lower the response, the less popular that keyword material is. For example, if you wanted to look at the search engine industry over the last 30 days, you would type in site: seroundtable.com and you will see that not a huge number of pages come up.

The owners of these pages have suggested to Google that their site is one with good news and if you think your site also has good news and is not included under your keyword search, you can submit it to Google for their approval. If your site gets approved by Google as being newsworthy, you can get a lot of traffic from this by people visiting Google News.

If you want to submit a page for approval, go to the home page and scroll down to the bottom, click on the link 'about Google News'. What will come up is quite a lengthy page so scroll down to the FAQs and go to Q 26 - What if I don't see my favourite news source in the search results? You can get in touch with them and recommend a news source by choosing the first option. If your site does have news and it is up to date (it helps if your site is industry specific rather than just a general news site), then just submit it for approval. It is possible that Google may not approve a site that is brand new but that shouldn't deter you from applying. A site that has been around longer generally has more authority.

Using press releases to get in Google News

If you are a regular submitter of articles through PRWeb, you may already have had some of these featured in Google News. If not, then this maybe something you should consider doing. A press release doesn't have to be written by a professional; they are reviewed by a team of editors, and can be written up in 10-15 minutes. A few paragraphs are sufficient and then submit it to PRWeb. You may get some publicity this way and also have visitors going over to look at your site.

If you go back to the home page and using the search command again, type in site: prweb.com and you will see a large number of pages on Google News are from this source. You may submit a press release and not actually realise you can also get a lot more traffic for this one release if it features on Google News. Another site that features highly on Google News is prleap.com so this site too should be considered when submitting your articles.

Watch out for my next article on using Google Images to also get some free traffic.

Trish Mullen is a successful online marketer and entrepreneur having moved into this arena following a very successful 15+ years in corporate management. She now coaches and mentors others in her online business to build on the turnkey business they are in and create their own world of wealth. For more information on this very lucrative and complete business visit her website at http://www.wealthyincome4u.com where you can sign up and receive a free set of video marketing tips.

Is the New Google News Only a High-Tech Echo Chamber Now?

When Google News first came online, the aim at Google was to target the profitable morning newspaper habit that millions of people across the country depended on to get their morning going. In large measure, Google News did succeed in drawing people away from the physical newspaper to check out its detailed listings each morning instead. When news came out recently that Google had revamped the entire service, there were lots of anxious people out there checking to see how far their tried-and-true Google News had been altered. By most accounts, the modification, has been a change for the better; they have changed large parts of the service of course, but important areas of the Google News experience have been left untouched.

The new and improved Google News still lists all its current stories along the center of the screen; but now, the right margin is utilized to stock up on a list of the most important world events - what Google now calls its Spotlight; the space lists a lot of local news as well. Where the old Google News had twin columns of news stories listed by category along the main page, the new design has only one. Ostensibly, this was done with an eye to making things simpler and less busy looking; but the effect overall is merely one of added complexity. Let's take a look at the best parts of all that has changed on Google News.

The first thing you notice about Google News now is that it's very easy to personalize it. The new daily News for You service will give you customized local news and socially edited reading material. The news sources that you read most often,get pushed up to the top of the listings as well. A source of news that you regularly find the most attractive will usually be featured higher than the rest of the general content there is. They've also brought in a communal sharing function. Any set of articles that share a common thread are brought together to highlight links to new sources of news on the subject.

Of course, being able to customize your news sources to make sure you only hear what pleases you goes against the very reason people find reading to be important. To have so many filters working for you screening the world from you ensures that you only always get to hear stuff that you agree with. The less you are exposed to opinion that challenges your own, the less enlightened you are, coming away from the experience.

Still, as long as Google News doesn't go on to become your sole source of knowledge of the world and instead only works to supplement it, these changes should be quite productive.

How to Get Your Blog Into Google News

If there is one thing that most webmasters or bloggers work hard to increase everyday besides their websites income, it has to be traffic. They are many different methods that one can use to drive traffic, some are easier to implement than others and some will get you more traffic than others.

One way to get more traffic for your blog is to get it approved for the Google news service. What this service does is search the database of news sources and tries to bring you the most relevant news stories based on your search.

When it comes to choosing news sources the Google service is quite picky as to who it includes in its database. I do know of an example of one blog that was allowed in and then after a few weeks was removed when they decided that the blog did not meet their requirements.

If the quality of your blog is high and if it has a proven record, there is a very high possibility of your blog being included into Google news and stay there. Your website has to be something that is relevant to the main subject areas of the service. If you go to their main page and look on the left hand menu you will see these categories like Top Stories, World, Sports, Health and Most Popular.

In order to submit your blog go to the main page and scroll down to the bottom. There is a link that reads 'About Google News'. When you click on that link on the next page you will get a page with a link to 'Help For Publishers'. Under the 'Getting Started' section, select 'Submitting Your Content' then click on 'Google News' and simply follow the instructions.

Many people worldwide visit the news section of Google daily. If you manage to get your blog listed in there you could start to enjoy hordes of free traffic from this source. More so, if your blog has relevant content that is updated regularly.

Link-Building Policy for Bing

It’s easy for everyone to get caught up in obsessing about how to optimise your site & build links for Google, when trying to market through search. That’s certainly a wise thing to do, considering Google totally dominates the search market. But, there are still other search engines that some people are using, so it is wise to make sure your site is performing to the best of its ability in those too!

Obviously the other two engines are Yahoo and Bing and whilst Yahoo is seemingly declining fast, Bing is actually gaining a market share. Furthermore, if the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo goes through, Bing search will be talking over Yahoo anyway. With the muscle of Microsoft behind Bing, you can be sure the search engine won’t be prepared to play second fiddle to Google for long!

However, unlike Google, we don’t hear much about what Bing wants out of a site for decent rankings, but Rick DeJarnette of Bing Webmaster Center has shared some dos and don’ts of link-building for Bing. Not surprisingly, a lot of his advice for complying with Bing’s policies, does not differ too much from the advice that Google would give you. It is however, still always nice to hear what they think, just to clear up any possible confusion.

Like Google, Bing places great emphasis on quality links to determine its rankings. “Just don’t make the mistake of believing it will result in instant gratification. Successful link building efforts require a long-term commitment, not an overnight or turnkey solution,” says DeJarnette. “You need to continually invest in link building efforts with creativity and time.”

What You Should Do!

DeJarnette shared some tips for getting more quality links. The following are Bing’s tips for effective link building (paraphrased):
1. Develop your site as a business brand and brand it consistently
2. Find relevant industry experts, product reviewers, bloggers, and media folk, and make sure they’re aware of your site/content
3. Publish concise, informative press releases online
4. Publish expert articles to online article directories
5. Participate in relevant conversations on blogs/forums, referring back to your site’s content when applicable
6. Use social networks to connect to industry influencers (make sure you have links to your site in your profiles)
7. Create an email newsletter with notifications of new content
8. Launch a blog/forum on your site
9. Participate in relevant industry associations and especially in their online forums
10. Strive to become a trusted expert voice for your industry, while promoting your site

What You Should Not Do!

DeJarnette shared a list of things that you should avoid in your link building efforts, if it is a good Bing ranking that you are after. Here is what Bing says will get your site reviewed more closely by staff:
1. The number of inbound links suddenly increases by orders of magnitude in a short period of time
2. Many inbound links coming from irrelevant blog comments and/or from unrelated sites
3. Using hidden links in your pages
4. Receiving inbound links from paid link farms, link exchanges, or known “bad neighborhoods” on the Web
5. Linking out to known web spam sites

“When probable manipulation is detected, a spam rank factor is applied to a site, depending upon the type and severity of the infraction,” says DeJarnette. “If the spam rating is high, a site can be penalised with a lowered rank. If the violations are egregious, a site can be temporarily or even permanently purged from the index.”

Most of the stuff DeJarnette shared is nothing any experienced search marketer is not already aware of, but it can be quite helpful when a search engine itself lays out what to do and not to do, to help webmasters get better rankings.

in reference to:

"Link-Building Policy for Bing"
- http://www.freshwebz.co.uk/blog/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Google Sidewiki entry by SEO Expert

Banners have been a major part of the World Wide Web world since its early days. Copywriters burn the midnight oil looking for new designs that will grab the visitor’s attention and compel him to click on their banner. This article discusses some of the most successful banner designs.

Teasing your curiosity

“Do Not Click Here”. How many of you have seen this slogan in a banner? What did you do when you first saw it? If you are like most people, when you first saw it, you clicked on it. What makes this simple sentence so powerful that it compels the visitor to click on it? The answer is curiosity !!!

Copywriters and web designers are always looking for ways to arouse the website visitor’s curiosity. As banner designers their goal is to attract the visitor to the banner, usually completely ignoring the other elements on the web page that are more important to the website owner. However, because the “Do Not Click Here” slogan tells us nothing about what is on the next page, it arouses the visitor’s curiosity and makes it almost impossible not to click on this banner to see what’s behind it.

Simple integrated design

When Larry Page and Sergey Brin first introduced their product, “Google”, to potential investors, they mentioned Adwords as a backup option in case they didn’t make any money. We all know how lucky they were that they eventually needed to use that backup plan. What made these “boring” ads such a great success?

Unlike other ads, Adwords neither arouse the visitor’s curiosity nor disturb the main flow of the web page. In fact, the opposite is true. Adwords are meant to look like part of the search results giving the user the feeling that those ads are there because he asked for them. No one has any doubt that this simple design helps Google to promote both their search engine and the Adwords advertising program.

Take part in the action

Banner designers wisely used interactive technologies like Flash to develop type of banners that invite the user to take part in the action. Drawing the user into the action can be accomplished in many creative ways. Some web designers use popular old games elements as part of the scene. You all know the famous game pacman. One of the banners that I like the most is the one where the user is allowed to let pacman “eat” few dollar signs. At the successful completion of this mission, a nice slogan is revealed asking him to open a saving account that will earn money with a fixed interest rate. The idea behind those interactive banners is simple: Let the user take part in the action and then at the right moment when his mind is less resistant, show him the sales message. Those interactive banners proved to be very efficient. Their biggest disadvantage is that most webmasters will not allow that kind of banner because it distracts too much from the web page content.

Back to Black and White

Website designers are always seeking to be different with their design ideas. One banner fashion trend that can be found lately is Black and White banners. Although research shows that blue and yellow are the most efficient color to use in a banner, Black and White banners have been seen a lot lately. It’s probably something that will eventually vanish, but the idea behind it is to be different and to make the user wonder what’s up and hopefully click on the banner to find out.

Get Out of the box

Have you heard about the mrfdesign.we.bs If not, check out this website before continuing to read this article. This website has proven that creative thinking not only can bring you money but also create a whole new trend. Right after the milliondollarhomepage.com got the internet community’s attention, many designers used this idea to deign a banner on which they sell a 10x10 pixel area. Like the original concept, this banner design had its impact. Advertisers are investing money on these ad spaces while at the same time visitors are curious enough time after time looking at those unorganized pixel banners to click on them.

What about the next trends

What the

in reference to: The White House (view on Google Sidewiki)

eCommerce Website Design

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eCommerce websites have their own unique character that is designed to lead the visitor to one simple task – make an online purchase. A web designer needs to consider a variety of online selling principles while designing an eCommerce website. In this article we will try to take a look at some of the major design aspects that you must have in an eCommerce website.

Many of you are probably already asking why eCommerce website design is different from any other website design. They all need to be attractive, well organized and use the right colors that fits the website spirit and so on. Your instincts are good. However a close look at some successful eCommerce websites will reveal the conceptual differences that are typical in a successful eCommerce website.

An eCommerce website needs to follow certain selling principles:

1. Give the user a pleasant experience during his online shopping.
2. Make certain you provide sufficient information on who owns the website and why they should be trusted.
3. The website must be easy to use. If it isn’t, the visitor will go to your competitor.


Those principles are not new. We all know those basics from our day to day experiences in the mall, shopping center and every other market place that is waiting for us to open up our wallets. The big challenge for a web designer is how to translate those conventional marketing techniques to the virtual world of the internet. I’m sure you’ve all noticed that in most supermarkets the bread stand is placed at the far end of the building, yet you can smell the fresh bread at the entrance (sometimes they even use a special air duct to carry the smells). That has been done deliberately. Marketers use our sense of smell to draw us through the store where we are exposed to all sorts of tempting goodies as we go to get our loaf of bread.

How do you draw an imaginarily path in a web page? A path designed to lead the visitor to do what you want him to do…make an online purchase. Unlike the supermarket our website has no smell. In a website the distance from one point to the other is pretty much the same, so the exit is always right there. In a website you can try to order the “shelf” in the way you think will best expose the visitor to many of your products, but there is always a chance that he will find a short cut to another page that can also be the way off your site.

As can be see, although putting your products on the web is much easier then renting space and opening a supermarket. However, selling your products on the web can be difficult.

A good eCommerce website design will lead the visitor to the right page in one click or two at the most. Sometime web designers will use techniques that would never be considered for non-eCommerce websites. Everyone has seen at least one sales letter website. On these web pages the only link is to the order form. Sales letters are not the most typical eCommerce website because they usually sell only one product. That allows the web designer the ability to exaggerate the one click principle and make it an advantage. All the facts about the product have been presented to the user is a smart way while every few lines he has the option to click on the order form. If he is not yet convinced he will have the option to continue to read more facts and testimonials about the products. Believe it or not, those sales letter websites are actually selling.

“What about online shops?” Online shops have to deal with more then one product. Of course, the greater number of products increases the complexity of the website. Sophisticated eCommerce websites use a variety of personalization technologies in an effort to determine the best selection of products to offer to the visitor. Personalization technologies are a major part of advanced eCommerce websites. However this topic is beyond the scope of this article. The cleverness of an eCommerce website’s personalization technology has a major influence on its design. The first to use such technology was Amazon.com who decided

in reference to: The White House (view on Google Sidewiki)