SEO News
The domain name system in for a major change
Icann, also known as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names (and) Numbers, is a formal body that serves as a sort of regulator for overseeing the internet. The institution also looks after and controls the domain name system. For the last three years or so, it has been tirelessly working towards meeting the aim of totally opening up net addresses.
There are now plans that will allow complete opening up of the address system, which are going to be voted by the net’s regulators. The move could also witness the launch of domain .xxx, after several years of wrangling over it.
Dr Paul Twomey, The Chief executive of Icann, who was interviewed by BBC News on the issue, said:
The impact of this change will be different in different areas of the world. But it will let groups, business and communities to express their (unique) identities online.
It is really a massive increase in the geography of the real estate of the net. Hundreds of new domain names could get created by the end of this year, going up to thousands in the future.
Related search suggestions by Google to get more relevant
Google search offers a service wherein for every search that a user enters, the search engine giant gives related search suggestions. They appear below the search box after the search item has been searched for. The purpose of the suggestions is to give them more relevant and useful results than the one initially searched for.
This service is set to become more effective, since Google has improved its algorithms, the ones that are responsible for collecting and determining search items so that fresher search displays are provided. What it does is if the user wants to search about the new iphone and he or she enters ‘iphone’ as the search term, the algorithms would offer something more relevant like the ‘iphone 3g’ or probably ‘iphone2′.
There obviously are chances that it may end up giving irrelevant suggestions. For instance, if the user is to search for ‘kung fu’, Google is likely to suggest ‘kung fu panda’, Jack Black’s movie. But then there is always the option of ignoring the related search suggestions if the user feels it is not relevant to what they want. According to the Google search team, because information on the web is constantly updating, we think this improvement will help people get relevant information faster.
Microsoft Live search rewards programme to partner eBay
Just recently, Microsoft Live Search launched its Cashback rewards programme. It has now started to build it up to become a direct-to-merchant system where users can use eBay’s ‘buy it now’ programme, so there is a good chance that users will be seeing more display ads, while they are searching for anything from jewellery pieces to electronics items. eBay is an online auction and shopping website, an online platform on which goods and services are bought and sold.
The users will directly be brought to the advertiser’s website, thanks to the recent tie-up between Microsoft and eBay, as in comparison to earlier where the cashback rewards programme works only on an indirect cashback system.
As part of the indirect cashback system, users click on a Live Search ad only to be directed to the cashback page before they can proceed to the advertiser’s website. The cashback system will rewards users with a corresponding rebate only after they complete a sales transaction. Further information about this new programme can be obtained at the eBay Terms and Conditions page for the cashback offer.
Job analytics launched by indeed.com
The launch of Indeed Job Analytics has just been announced. It is a search engine for job aspirants, paving the way for verticalisation of search into the analytics market. The reports that are served by Indeed.com are customised for each company, and try to answer many of those common questions asked by employers that other normal analytics may not answer.
It tackles questions such as:
- How many jobs do they have online?
- What is the traffic they are seeing?
- What are searches used by job seekers to find them?
- What are the most popular jobs?
- Which cities are they based in?
According to Indeed.com, Job Analytics provides employers with an unprecedented idea of where their jobs are posted and also how they are performing online. Every month over 7 million unique visitors come to Indeed.com, it is claimed.
Paul Forster, CEO of Indeed, said:
The idea for Job Analytics originated from employers asking for more information. We expect our customised reports to become an essential tool for recruiting leaders to manage their recruitment advertising campaigns.
So that employers can make better decisions in relation to job postings and recruitment advertising, Indeed Job Analytics provides unique insight as to which jobs are receiving the most clicks, where are the candidates located and how are they finding their jobs.
The surge of interest in Firefox 3.0 paves way for a new record
The huge surge of interest in Firefox 3.0 has continued unabated. In all, Firefox 3.0 was downloaded close to 8.3 million times by enthusiastic users over the 24 hour record setting time period. The figure comfortably beat the five million that was predicted before the launch day.
Mozilla has stated that the software has already been downloaded over 10 million times. But some of the gloss of the software launch was taken off by media reports that a security company had found a flaw in the Mozilla browser.
DV Labs/Tipping Point uncovered a flaw only within five hours of Firefox 3.0 debut. The flaw, according to it, potentially lets an attacker take over a computer if a user happens to click on a booby-trapped link.
Logs from the download servers have now been handed to the Open Source Labs at Oregon State University for purpose of auditing. The scrutiny will make sure that duplicate as well as unfinished downloads do not get counted. The verification process is likely to take a week or so to complete.