Comments on: Our Digital Footprints: Google’s (and Microsoft’s) most valuable asset http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/ Advanced Search Engine Marketing Tips to Succeed Online Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:14:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3 By: How Much Information Does Google Have On You? » Lillicotch.com http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-918 How Much Information Does Google Have On You? » Lillicotch.com Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:42:42 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-918 [...] More… [...] […] More… […]

]]> By: Hamlet Batista http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-409 Hamlet Batista Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:21:50 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-409 Paul, What you explain is the main reason why they are proven to be smarter than Microsoft. They pursue the same goal as I said, but they are clearly visionaries. I've learned myself that people that look for money first are the ones who usually fail to get it. Remember what I said about sharing. The more you give the more people trust you. The more they listen to you. Give people what they want and they will always come knocking on your door. Google has done many things right. They give a lot of really useful tools and services for free. Instead of copying MS model of selling software and services, they decided to give it away for free and make money with a extremely efficient advertising model. They have made many unpopular changes to the Adwords system. They just recently started providing customer service. Advertisers have complained about it, but yet they still get the lion's share of the Ad market. Why? Because their focus in on the search users. As long as everybody uses them, they have the leverage. Please mention just one of their free services that you think is altruistic and I'm sure I can show how they can profit from it. Paul,

What you explain is the main reason why they are proven to be smarter than Microsoft. They pursue the same goal as I said, but they are clearly visionaries.

I’ve learned myself that people that look for money first are the ones who usually fail to get it. Remember what I said about sharing. The more you give the more people trust you. The more they listen to you. Give people what they want and they will always come knocking on your door.

Google has done many things right. They give a lot of really useful tools and services for free. Instead of copying MS model of selling software and services, they decided to give it away for free and make money with a extremely efficient advertising model.

They have made many unpopular changes to the Adwords system. They just recently started providing customer service. Advertisers have complained about it, but yet they still get the lion’s share of the Ad market. Why? Because their focus in on the search users. As long as everybody uses them, they have the leverage.

Please mention just one of their free services that you think is altruistic and I’m sure I can show how they can profit from it.

]]> By: Paul Montwill http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-400 Paul Montwill Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:19:15 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-400 Sure, Hamlet but I think Brin and Page have different priorities. Cash is important but for them building the tools for people is the highest priority. This is my conclusion after reading "The Google Story". Maybe I am just naive, but: 1. They (Brin and Page) didn't earn much money for the first years and were forced by two VCs to bring revenue generating mechanism in place. 2. They control the company. 3. When starting on Wall Street they put their rules on the table to make shares available for everyone. 4. They seems to be more excited about the whole idea of building a perfect Search Engine than making money. They already have a lot. 5. Maybe I am again naive but I believe in their good intentions. You can earn a lot of money and still have rules that will allow you not to make exceptions and sacrifice things you believe in. 6. In Google, if somebody comes with a great idea they are not bother about the revenue stream in the first place. I can see many great ideas killed in the MS type businesses because the first quiestion was - where is the money. I know they make hudge money and collect our data everywhere - just yesterday I realized they collect our postcodes when setting up weather forecast on iGoogle. Even Google Checkout is to control our spendings. But still, I believe that if they really work using the model creativity users and money afterwords instead of revenue is the top priority, it is better for us. Your comment will be highly appreciated. Maybe somebody need to open my eyes :-) On the other hand, I am a bit affraid about how much data they will have about in a few years. And the last quiestion, do you think it is possible to build all these Google system using MS strategy? Sure, Hamlet but I think Brin and Page have different priorities. Cash is important but for them building the tools for people is the highest priority. This is my conclusion after reading “The Google Story”.
Maybe I am just naive, but:
1. They (Brin and Page) didn’t earn much money for the first years and were forced by two VCs to bring revenue generating mechanism in place.
2. They control the company.
3. When starting on Wall Street they put their rules on the table to make shares available for everyone.
4. They seems to be more excited about the whole idea of building a perfect Search Engine than making money. They already have a lot.
5. Maybe I am again naive but I believe in their good intentions. You can earn a lot of money and still have rules that will allow you not to make exceptions and sacrifice things you believe in.
6. In Google, if somebody comes with a great idea they are not bother about the revenue stream in the first place. I can see many great ideas killed in the MS type businesses because the first quiestion was - where is the money.

I know they make hudge money and collect our data everywhere - just yesterday I realized they collect our postcodes when setting up weather forecast on iGoogle. Even Google Checkout is to control our spendings.

But still, I believe that if they really work using the model creativity users and money afterwords instead of revenue is the top priority, it is better for us.

Your comment will be highly appreciated. Maybe somebody need to open my eyes :-)
On the other hand, I am a bit affraid about how much data they will have about in a few years.

And the last quiestion, do you think it is possible to build all these Google system using MS strategy?

]]> By: Hamlet Batista http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-399 Hamlet Batista Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:10:24 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-399 <blockquote>Also, Hamlet, do you have any ideaas on what Google may do regarding links? Will they marginilise them? Or will they still be a large ranking factor?</blockquote> Links will always be very useful. As any other quality signal their weight in the formula will depend on how much Google can trust them vs other factors.

Also, Hamlet, do you have any ideaas on what Google may do regarding links? Will they marginilise them? Or will they still be a large ranking factor?

Links will always be very useful. As any other quality signal their weight in the formula will depend on how much Google can trust them vs other factors.

]]> By: Mutiny Design http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-392 Mutiny Design Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:43:59 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-392 As Hamlet said in the post before this or maybe it was the one before that, Google will probably add more conditions to rankings - such as time spent on site etc. The more conditions you can sucessfuly exploit the more likely you will be to rank on people's personalised results. I guess over a little time, it would become obvious what the main factors are and what are the most popular trends and youw ould just have to go with them, or come up with some elaborate, multi-front spamming system. Also, Hamlet, do you have any ideaas on what Google may do regarding links? Will they marginilise them? Or will they still be a large ranking factor? As Hamlet said in the post before this or maybe it was the one before that, Google will probably add more conditions to rankings - such as time spent on site etc. The more conditions you can sucessfuly exploit the more likely you will be to rank on people’s personalised results.

I guess over a little time, it would become obvious what the main factors are and what are the most popular trends and youw ould just have to go with them, or come up with some elaborate, multi-front spamming system.

Also, Hamlet, do you have any ideaas on what Google may do regarding links? Will they marginilise them? Or will they still be a large ranking factor?

]]> By: Florchakh http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-390 Florchakh Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:08:06 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-390 Don't be afraid, recent years clearly showed that buddies from Redmond are far away from being smart :D Don’t be afraid, recent years clearly showed that buddies from Redmond are far away from being smart :D

]]> By: Hamlet Batista http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-387 Hamlet Batista Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:54:03 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-387 Paul, I have some general ideas about that, but I need to complete the research I am doing to share a complete framework to do SEO work on such scenario. Paul,
I have some general ideas about that, but I need to complete the research I am doing to share a complete framework to do SEO work on such scenario.

]]> By: Hamlet Batista http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-386 Hamlet Batista Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:51:47 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-386 <blockquote>Do you believe Google are honest and we can trust them? Hamlet, you add a picture to every post now. Looks much better and it is easier to memorize! </blockquote> Paul - Google is a for profit corporation. I don't think their plans are altruistic. They want the same MS wants: money and power. They are proven to be wiser than MS, though. I use all their services, and I also use MS's. They are useful, but you need to understand that GG's are not really free. The price you pay is the information you let them collect from you. I'm glad you like the graphics. I will try to get the posts done early, so that I can get a hold of my designer before he leaves for the day.

Do you believe Google are honest and we can trust them?
Hamlet, you add a picture to every post now. Looks much better and it is easier to memorize!

Paul - Google is a for profit corporation. I don’t think their plans are altruistic. They want the same MS wants: money and power. They are proven to be wiser than MS, though.

I use all their services, and I also use MS’s. They are useful, but you need to understand that GG’s are not really free. The price you pay is the information you let them collect from you.

I’m glad you like the graphics. I will try to get the posts done early, so that I can get a hold of my designer before he leaves for the day.

]]> By: Hamlet Batista http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-385 Hamlet Batista Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:34:54 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-385 Heather, MS's evil stigma is hard to get rid off. Google is actually banking on it. Microsoft now wants to offer personalized ads by mining information on our hard disks. The difference with Google is that Google offers something useful for free as a bait. Microsoft on the other hand requires you to pay for all their products and services. As they are so good at copying ideas, wouldn't it be smart to copy the free bait idea as well? Heather,

MS’s evil stigma is hard to get rid off. Google is actually banking on it.

Microsoft now wants to offer personalized ads by mining information on our hard disks. The difference with Google is that Google offers something useful for free as a bait. Microsoft on the other hand requires you to pay for all their products and services. As they are so good at copying ideas, wouldn’t it be smart to copy the free bait idea as well?

]]> By: Hamlet Batista http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-384 Hamlet Batista Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:30:00 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-384 Mutiny, I think they are already using the information for personalized search and to improve the organic search and their ad network. Personalized search at a massive scale will definitely make it harder to spam the search engines. You bring an excellent point when you mentioned traffic. I personally think quality traffic will become a more dominant factor than links in the future. I am still doing some serious research and I need more time to discuss this in more detail Mutiny,
I think they are already using the information for personalized search and to improve the organic search and their ad network.

Personalized search at a massive scale will definitely make it harder to spam the search engines.

You bring an excellent point when you mentioned traffic. I personally think quality traffic will become a more dominant factor than links in the future. I am still doing some serious research and I need more time to discuss this in more detail

]]> By: Paul Montwill http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-375 Paul Montwill Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:18:12 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-375 One more thing, if search results get more and more personalised, how are we going to SEO the web sites? The position in SERP will vary so much. Or maybe it is only me... One more thing, if search results get more and more personalised, how are we going to SEO the web sites? The position in SERP will vary so much. Or maybe it is only me…

]]> By: Paul Montwill http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-374 Paul Montwill Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:16:23 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-374 Because we perceive Google as a 'user-friendly' company then we allow them to do a lot with our data and we are not bothered as we buy it for free. When Google launched Gmail there were a lot of complaints about breaching privacy rights etc. but as soon as people find out how useful Gmail is, it got quiet. Google proved many times that honesty and people are more important for them than money. They have been protecting their rules for years now but I am wondering if this will last forever. Do you believe Google are honest and we can trust them? Hamlet, you add a picture to every post now. Looks much better and it is easier to memorize! Because we perceive Google as a ‘user-friendly’ company then we allow them to do a lot with our data and we are not bothered as we buy it for free. When Google launched Gmail there were a lot of complaints about breaching privacy rights etc. but as soon as people find out how useful Gmail is, it got quiet.
Google proved many times that honesty and people are more important for them than money. They have been protecting their rules for years now but I am wondering if this will last forever. Do you believe Google are honest and we can trust them?
Hamlet, you add a picture to every post now. Looks much better and it is easier to memorize!

]]> By: Mutiny Design http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-369 Mutiny Design Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:18:30 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-369 Very interesting. Do you think that Google will use this information to influence search results globally, or do you think that they will use it to tailor search results to the individual? - I have heard they are doing this already on a small scale. My opinion is if they use the data to influence search results globally that they will probably make a big mess, but if they use it to tailor results to the individual they will probably trample the market. If they tailor results to the individual, this will make it much harder for serial spammers to whack the SERPs. They would have no way of getting their site on top for everyone. But, if the results are influenced globally you could work out patterns of what you need to do to spam your way up. One thing you haven't mentioned so far is 'traffic'. I think if Google also used the volume of traffic a site gets (like Alexa) to help rank sites it would force sites to increase their level of quality in order to rank. For example, for the targeted search term of my main site it will take me a long time to beat the couple of sites above me because they have 10,000’s of links with the same link text, but I have about 5 – 10 times more traffic than them because I have some quality content on the site and they are 100% commercial. Then you can look at other sites that don’t rank for the term and have much more traffic than me because they have some much more link bait. Very interesting. Do you think that Google will use this information to influence search results globally, or do you think that they will use it to tailor search results to the individual? - I have heard they are doing this already on a small scale.

My opinion is if they use the data to influence search results globally that they will probably make a big mess, but if they use it to tailor results to the individual they will probably trample the market.

If they tailor results to the individual, this will make it much harder for serial spammers to whack the SERPs. They would have no way of getting their site on top for everyone. But, if the results are influenced globally you could work out patterns of what you need to do to spam your way up.

One thing you haven’t mentioned so far is ‘traffic’. I think if Google also used the volume of traffic a site gets (like Alexa) to help rank sites it would force sites to increase their level of quality in order to rank. For example, for the targeted search term of my main site it will take me a long time to beat the couple of sites above me because they have 10,000’s of links with the same link text, but I have about 5 – 10 times more traffic than them because I have some quality content on the site and they are 100% commercial. Then you can look at other sites that don’t rank for the term and have much more traffic than me because they have some much more link bait.

]]> By: Heather Paquinas http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-367 Heather Paquinas Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:51:45 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-367 Yes, you were quite predictive in this post. It's too bad <a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/134643839/article.pl" rel="nofollow">everyone considers MS's patent to be evil</a>. Well, bad for microsoft. Yes, you were quite predictive in this post. It’s too bad everyone considers MS’s patent to be evil. Well, bad for microsoft.

]]> By: Hamlet Batista http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-366 Hamlet Batista Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:41:48 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-366 Jason, That is a very interesting find, thanks for sharing. I like your blog post about the patent. Jason,
That is a very interesting find, thanks for sharing. I like your blog post about the patent.

]]> By: Jason http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-365 Jason Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:25:49 +0000 http://hamletbatista.com/2007/07/17/our-digital-footprints-googles-and-microsoft%e2%80%99s-most-valuable-asset/#comment-365 Microsoft might be making an effort to do something with our digital histories in the near future. Information Week <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001485&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News" rel="nofollow">recently posted an article that discusses one of their more ambitious patents</a>. I'm hoping that the patent was issued to prevent software companies from building the mother of all ad-ware apps, but one never knows, considering the recent mis-steps by Microsoft. Microsoft might be making an effort to do something with our digital histories in the near future. Information Week recently posted an article that discusses one of their more ambitious patents.

I’m hoping that the patent was issued to prevent software companies from building the mother of all ad-ware apps, but one never knows, considering the recent mis-steps by Microsoft.

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