Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts

Friday, November 12, 2010

New Favorite Humorous Website

I have a few favorite humorous websites I check regularly to get a few laughs. The newest is Oddly Specific, which showcases peculiar signs, signs that are...well, oddly specific! Here's a sample. (If photos don't display properly, click on box & link will take you to site.)

Guaranteed In-Stock!
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Then Use Glass to Carve Band's Name in Arm
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Untitled
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Finally, The Great Question Can Be Answered
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Only One At A Time, Please
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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Battle over Search-Engine Placement for Oil Spill Info

Today our local newspaper (The Times-Picayune) reports that BP has purchased the top spots on search engines such as Google:

BP, the giant oil company that owns the collapsed rig that is spewing oil, has paid search engines like Google to prominently feature links to the company's website. And, according to one online marketing expert, lawyers and other parties with work tied to the spill will likely fight for prominent links of their own. . . .

BP has purchased the "sponsored link" for that search term, via Google's AdWords program, according to Sandra Heikkinen, a spokesperson for Google. Unlike the standard links provided by a search engine, a sponsored link is one that a search engine sells to an interested company -- the link appears above the "related searches" and the "organic" links, which are based on relevance.


I myself when searching rarely click on the sponsored links, but go below them to the organic links. I've always figured the sponsored links are little more than advertisements or propaganda for the sponsor. On the other hand . . .

[W]hile BP currently has the market cornered on web searches, other interests -- such as law firms trying to attract clients affected by the spill -- are going to increasingly attempt to fight the company for the coveted spots at the top of the page.

"Those lawyers are going to start making it awfully expensive for BP to stay at the top of the links."