By now we’ve all heard about Google entering the social media battlefield with their eyes set on competing with the network giant, Facebook. Can they do it? We’ve seen Buzzworthy attempts before, but could this be the Facebook killer? A few of us here at Squeaky were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to try it out and had some opinions about the different features of the site.
There’s nothing more frustrating than losing your phone but there are a few free and easy ways to help you find it and protect your valuable information.
Google recently rolled out a new and improved commerce search that provides their clients’ consumers with an easy-to-use, rich interface.
Like their search engine, they have implemented features such as instant search which returns results as you type in your query. Search results will also include local product availability, providing shoppers with information about where they can purchase what they are looking for in a brick and mortar store nearby.
Google’s enhanced merchandising tools allow businesses to customize everything a user sees while searching for products on their site. They can even display different promotions relevant to what is being searched and organize the promotional banners however they’d like so as to enhance the end-user experience.
Finally, Google search wouldn’t be complete without analytics which allow for an in-depth look into top searches, promotional clicks, etc. By analyzing how visitors are using your online store you can ultimately improve it. Starting at $25K per year, it may seem a bit pricey but Google’s clients like BabyAge.com—who saw a 64% increase in site searches—are excited about their results.
We’ve got a feeling we are going to see this new commerce search pop up on a lot of websites that we frequently visit and the best part is that it benefits everyone. Google makes money, online stores have the potential to make more money and shopping just got easier for the end-user.
Source: Nielsen
They’ve done it. Google’s Android OS has finally taken the lead in the Smartphone market share. While Apple and Blackberry RIM are tied at a solid 27%, Android OS has the lead at 29% of the market share (Nielsen).
It’s always good to know how the mobile market is divided so that we may efficiently market our brands to the largest, most relevant audience. This is especially true in terms of development as well. It would be silly to develop applications for let’s say, Windows Mobile OS right now since it has only 10% of the market share. We’re not saying its completely insignificant—because it’s not—but it would just make more sense to market or develop for a platform with a larger user base then port to one with less users.
One interesting difference is the fact that Android (Google) doesn’t develop and sell their own hardware like Apple and Blackberry. According to TechCrunch this puts the latter two in a better position but could Android’s presence on multiple smartphones be a contributing factor to its rapid rise? Will we see the same happen for the Windows Mobile OS? We are interested to see what changes a year from now.
