"Specialized Software Generates Thousands Of Constantly-Updating, Content Rich Pages That Not Only Get You Top Placement on Search Engines, But Also Earn $$$ from FIVE Separate Income Sources!"
Bing's TV ad hopes to topple Google monopoly As Bing's new TV ad campaign hits UK screens today, the Microsoft gang are sure to be hoping that UK net users will 'Bing and Decide' to give the decision engine a shot.
The announcement that Bing would be launching UK TV ads certainly attracted attention from media and digital realms alike, and today eager industry insiders will be able to join the public in making their minds up about the ads.
Rather than merely highlighting the ways in which Bing can aid search experiences, the adverts aim to show consumers how different the decision engine is to other search engines. By showing people suffering from "information overload", Microsoft bosses hopes they will tempt searchers into letting Bing solve their problems for them.
While Bing is currently the third most popular search engine in the UK, there are hopes that this new advertising campaign could help the decision engine get a little closer to toppling Google off its top spot - or at least give the Mountain View giant a run for its money.
Microsoft UK's managing director and vice-president of consumer and online, Ashley Highfield, perhaps puts it best. He said: "This is a big moment - we are taking out our slingshots and taking on Goliath."
Meanwhile, the industrious company isn't forgetting about its American users. Microsoft is reportedly set to roll out a new design for the MSN web portal. According to CBS, the new MSN has a more noticeable Bing feature, a news section that will feature photos more prominently and the inclusion of easily scannable hot discussion topics and local posts on Twitter.
Currently going full steam ahead, many are eagerly waiting to see how much of a dent Bing makes on the search market if it continues to gather momentum.
Google Apps Marketplace launched Google has announced the official opening of its Google Apps Marketplace, where users can discover and install third-party applications that "deeply integrate" with Google Apps.
The Register reports that the Google Apps app store has already been pre-populated with more than 50 apps created by other companies that are configured for use with Google's online office suite, including an online payroll app by Intuit and a free online collaboration app from Manymoon.
Users of Google Apps can access and manage these applications from the Google Apps control panel, and they share the same sign-in as the suite's existing utilities.
The Google Apps Marketplace will work in a similar way to mobile app stores, allowing third parties to create and list any number of applications on the platform for a one-time fee of $100, as well as giving Google 20 per cent of sales. According to Google Apps director of engineering, Vic Gundotra, the marketplace can be built using a developer's "own platforms," "own tools" and "own infrastructure," however he also suggested the possibility of using the Google Apps Engine to help create their apps.
Since its launch in 2006, Google Apps has often been viewed as an alternative to Microsoft Office, and this new expansion will put the Mountain View company in a better position to challenge Microsoft's dominance of the office apps market.
According to Mr Gundotra, Google Apps is currently used by 25 million individuals and two million businesses worldwide. In addition to these new third-party apps, the suite combines popular Google business products such as Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar, which can be accessed online without requiring download or installation.
Although its translation services are not perfect, the New York Times reports that Google is rapidly improving the service. In 2004, Sergey Brin received an email from a Google fan in South Korea. Running it through the translation software, the message which was supposed to show the fan's support of Google read "The sliced raw fish shoes it wishes. Google green onion thing!" Since then Google have been on a mission to improve this service.
The NY times recently ran a comparison of Google Translate, Babel Fish and Microsoft's Bing Translator. Although none of these services can compare to a human translation, in all of the separate translations; French, Spanish, Russian, German and Arabic, Google Translate offers the most accurate translation of the text.
Although the basic translation service (text to text, or webpage translation) is not perfected yet, Google is advancing the technology, using image to text translation. Basically, this service would allow someone on holidays to take a photo of a menu, directions or anything else they need a translation of, upload it to the web and get an instant translation.
Translation websites are nothing new, in fact programmers have been building such devices for decades. What makes current programs different however - Google being a classic example - is that the new software is designed to make statistical guesses rather than following a set of rules. For example, after reading thousands of passages of accurately translated text, the software is able to statistically work out accurate translations rather than simply following a set of language rules.
The Register reports that Jobs replied with an unequivocal "No" from his iPhone, when emailed by Swedish trance DJ Jezper Söderlund asking if a Wi-Fi-only iPad could use an iPhone's 3G tethering.
Despite Jobs' seemingly definite reply, which The Register is confident was genuinely from the man himself, the decision to provide internet tethering from the iPhone is presently one made by carriers, with companies such as O2, Orange and Vodafone offering various tethering plans for the iPhone 3.0 in the UK since its release last June.
However, Apple fans in the US are less well catered for. While the iPhone's exclusive carrier AT&T has promised tethering since November 2008 - when CEO Ralph De La Vega said his company was in discussions with Apple to arrange a tethering plan - one has yet to appear.
Apple's eagerly-awaited iPad is set to launch next month, and has already sparked a 'war of the tablets' among rivals, especially after the device was billed as the industry's next hot platform at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that up to 15 tablets are expected to be launched this year, most of which will be powered by Google's Android platform. With tablets already confirmed from Microsoft and HP as well as Google, analyst firm Gartner is predicting that 10.5 million tablet PCs will be shipped this year.
Online ads could come under new ASA remit The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has received recommendations for ASA's remit to be extended to include communications on websites and social networks.
The Advertising Association (AA) submitted the recommendations following months of debate and growing pressure on the online advertising community to be held more accountable for the way they communicate with children.
While all marketing communication taking place in paid-for online space is already subject to CAP examination, Brand Republic reports that all communications on organisations' own sites and other non-paid for space online will also fall within the scope of the CAP code, should the recommendations be accepted.
According to Brand Republic, Rae Burdon, chief operating officer at the AA, said: "Contrary to general understanding, much advertising online is already in remit and there's a very high level of compliance with the existing rules.
"There are some complex issues in the remaining space which require careful analysis. The industry has delivered to CAP a clear mandate that first and foremost will protect consumers and children, that will also - crucially - protect editorial content, and that will, if accepted, maintain CAP/ASA's reputation as a world-class operation.
"The whole industry has pulled together to make this happen. What's important now is effective implementation and raising consumer and stakeholder awareness."
An extended remit is expected to come into play in the third quarter of 2010, subject to appropriate consultation and the formal ratification of the CAP and ASA.
Pressure for the move has come from a variety of corners, including influential reports such as Digital Britain, the Byron Review and the Buckingham Report. The recent Sexualisation of Young People Review also called for the changes.
It is hoped that such amendments will make it easier to better regulate the advertising campaigns children are engaged in, and they way companies communicate with them online.
Apple founder Steve Jobs has confirmed that users of the 
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has received recommendations for ASA's remit to be extended to include communications on websites and social networks. 
