Adrac Online Marketing Blog

February 24, 2010

Yahoo! and Microsoft join forces to create powerful search

Filed under: Company, Technology — Tags: , , , , — adracblog @ 3:27 pm

Yahoo! and Microsoft have been granted permission to shake up the search market and have teamed up to create a ‘competitive choice in search for advertisers and consumers.’

The initiative has been created to improve the search user experience by speeding the search process up and making the service much easier to use according to the Yahoo! Search Blog.

So what’s changing? It would appear from initial comments that Microsoft will now provide the basic search listings and ads for Yahoo! users, while Yahoo! continues to enhance search results listings.

Perhaps the most interesting observation coming from this is the rumour that Microsoft AdCenter will form the backbone of the new combined entity, as the advertising interface for Yahoo! and its partners. Microsoft AdCenter has only been around for a couple of years and is relatively new in comparison with the former technology used to power advertising on Yahoo! which has existed for over a decade.

The Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance will utilise the combined audience of nearly 577 million, which is obviously appealing to advertisers. Not to worry though, the transition is said to be as seamless as possible and will not be taking place until late 2010/early 2011.

More information can be found on the Search Alliance website.

February 19, 2010

Google Goggles Lets Users Search by Sight

Filed under: Technology — Tags: , , — adracblog @ 1:33 pm

Google Goggles is the clever new application that lets users search the internet by simply taking a picture. Meaning no more gawping at a foreign menu you don’t understand or pondering over the relevance of an impressive monument.

The application is available on phones that run Android 1.6+ but is still in the very early stages so is not quite at its full potential. Google have stated it ‘works well for some things, but not for all.’

Another great feature of Google Goggles is the ability to find out what local businesses are nearby simply by pointing your phone at a shop.

This new piece of technology was showcased by Google at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week and even though it can only translate from German to English as of yet, Google believes it will eventually be able to translate everything from road signs to foreign novels in 52 languages.

February 11, 2010

Google launch Buzz to rival Facebook and Twitter

Filed under: Social Media — Tags: , , , , — adracblog @ 1:59 pm

Google has launched a new social networking application showing its hunger for a piece of the tasty social media pie.

The new application called Google Buzz allows Gmail users to create a profile page and write status updates, similar to that of Facebook and Twitter.

But Google’s competitive move has sparked criticism from rivals including Microsoft and Yahoo!, which say Google Buzz isn’t needed and isn’t new.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter however, Buzz allows the entire web to see profiles of its users if desired, not just friends of that particular person.

Social networking is fast becoming a part of everyday life, confirmed by the fact that search engines now include social media data into search results. The power of communication through these sites is quite phenomenal, with people being able to communicate for free across the globe.

The challenge for the business and marketing industry up until now has been finding a way to extract gain from social networking. Only recently has an understanding and successful campaigns been brought to the forefront.

For more information about Google Buzz visit The Official Google Blog.

February 3, 2010

Petition calls for ‘outdated’ Internet Explorer 6 to be scrapped

Filed under: Technology — Tags: , , — adracblog @ 10:45 am

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) should be phased out and replaced with a more modern browser according to a Downing Street petition, which calls for the UK government to move away from the old browser.

As reported by the BBC, IE6 uses outdated technology and has security flaws which create a burden for developers.

Web firms are claiming the software which was first released in 2001 is “holding the web back,” but some firms and government departments are using systems that require the use of IE6.

The petition states that “creative and software development companies are forced by government department clients to build websites for IE6 when most of the industry has moved on.”

The petition was initiated by Dan Frydman of web firm Indigo and currently has 44 signatures.

Read the whole story on the BBC website.

January 6, 2010

Full steam ahead for 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — adracblog @ 3:54 pm

Adrac enter the New Year full of new ideas and new approaches to marketing, to keep our clients as always, a step ahead of the rest.

After a successful 2009, we look forward to beginning 2010 and seeing many more success stories from our clients.

With the ever increasing competitiveness of internet marketing and forever changing online strategies, Adrac can be relied upon to have the next move covered and be as always, on the ball.

December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas from Adrac!

Filed under: Company — Tags: , — adracblog @ 4:22 pm

As 2009 comes to a snowy end, the Adrac team would like to thank all their clients and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We’ve been battling our way through the snow to ensure our clients get the quality service they deserve and our New Year’s resolution is to be even better in 2010!

With our new website launched, we’re looking forward to starting the New Year refreshed and ready to go (once all the festive partying has been done!)

Season’s Greetings and all the best from Adrac.

December 10, 2009

New Adrac website goes live

Filed under: Company — Tags: , , — adracblog @ 5:00 pm

Adrac are extremely pleased to launch our new website, bringing you the fresher face of Adrac along with everything you need to know about our services. After a lot of hard graft and time spent improving our clients’ websites, we thought it was about time to put a bit more love into our own. And here’s the result!

Our new site promises to keep you up to date with what’s going on here at the Adrac headquarters and we hope to have covered all your online marketing needs with our break-down of services (you can always let us know if not).

If you’re considering using our services, have a look around our new website and convince yourself, you won’t go far wrong. Our ‘useful tips’ box on the homepage explains our services in simple terms and you will see where your business could end up in search results, if you take advantage of Adrac’s search engine optimisation services.

Thanks for taking a peek and don’t forget to check back here for more, regular blog updates!

December 4, 2009

Social media done badly is worse than social media not done at all

Filed under: Social Media — Tags: , , — adracblog @ 2:16 pm

On November 25th, Adrac attended the launch of the 2009 Social Media Survey Report, produced by bigmouthmedia and Econsultancy. After receiving the exclusive invitation to London, we were looking forward to listening to what some of the biggest influencers within the social media world had to say. Speakers included Kate Box, Head of Social Media-Sales at Microsoft, Josh Smith, Head of Inside Sales at Facebook and Jessica Healy, Head of Search & Social Media at Futurenet.

Amazingly, just 10% of company respondents were not engaging in any form of social media, despite findings that social media can increase customer engagement according to 73% of company respondents. It also offers better brand reputation (66%) and increased communication with key influencers (62%).

We were enriched with knowledge about how to use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to benefit and stimulate business. There were some surprising statistics – 64% of companies have experimented with social media and 26% are heavily involved, in a bid to implement social media advertising and marketing strategies. Adrac were inspired by the knowledge and experience of companies that had ‘been there, done that’, and either failed or succeeded. This valuable information has got us buzzing with ideas here at Adrac and we look forward to implementing them within our online marketing strategies.

You can purchase the Econsultancy & Bigmouthmedia Social Media Report here.

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