SEO, Social Media News & Domains
Air Asia targets IVY on Billboards, yet people strike back on Facebook!
Jan 23rd
So recently Air Asia has been pushing out some really cheap fares to destinations in Asia. For as low as $99 you can travel to destinations in Asia. Now they have released bill boards that say “Fly to Indonesia for less than a round at The Ivy.”
Air Asia ivy billboard
image credit: Mark Martins
Now people have struct back with some nice photos of recent Air Asia:
air asia Facebook IVY
“I’d rather drink at the ivy than put myself through this!”
Interesting marketing tactics by Air Asia, but in regards to Ivy drink prices they are not cheap last time I was at the ivy I got a round for 4 people and didn’t see much change of a $50 hehe =)
How to View Blocked Wikipedia Pages over the next 24 hours.
Jan 18th
Ok so Wikipedia has blocked all pages for the next 24 hours, I support the fight, but to me if you need information on Wikipedia it is kind of annoying, the trick to view these pages can be done via 3 easy steps.
Step 1 – Search for the term.
Step 2 – Click on the arrow next to the term.
Step 3 – Click to the “cached” in blue.
Image below will show the steps:
how to view blocked wikipedia pages
Domain Renewal Group stop annoying me please!
Jan 17th
So been a online marketer, I own a few domain names, well more then a few it is well over 100 these days.
Now the thing I have noticed recently is that every time I have a domain about to expire I get a letter in the mail from a company called Domain Renewal Group! I only get letters in the mail if it is a bill from an old school company or some one is sending me a check or a Christmas Card.
The funny thing with Domain Renewal Group is that they do not just charge me the same price my current registrar is charging for me to even consider switching my domains they charge say 7 TIMES the price, crazy isn’t it a domain which costs me $7 a year they charge $70, I do not know who would be silly enough to fall for this, it is a big scam.
Now I did a bit of a search online and found people around the world are not happy about this company Domain Renewal Group, some example:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1040704
http://www.netregistry.com.au/support/articles/warning-domain-renewal-mail-scam-from-domain-renewal-group-in-the-us
I guess the people these guys target about businesses who have an IT company buy a domain then they part ways, they get the letter and think wow we better re new this domain, not knowing any better! Well that is the story in the Whirlpool thread.
But the thing is if you want to stop these letters coming the way around it is that you need to pay for private who is data ! If you own many domains it may not be worth it, such as myself, but it is the sure fire way to stop these letters in the mail.
To me this is a waste of paper, the letter usually ends up like this:
Domain Renewal Group SCAM
So please Domain Renewal Group stop annoying me!
Another Development with Google+ in search results listings.
Jan 11th
Google has continued the strong roll out of Google+, now the search engine is showing related Google+ pages for specific search terms.
As an example I did a search for “Fashion” it shows brands related to this term, this was when I was logged in:
Google-Plus-Search-Integration
Very interesting that is for sure, it shows that SMO tactics should be used to target related terms.
Google Search, plus Your World a new Personalized search offering!
Jan 11th
Google Search, plus Your World is a new search offering Google is rolling out in the US market currently.
Interesting points from this new product:
- This will show for logged in users.
- Deep integration with Google+ product.
- Image search will now show personalization.
- YouTube and Google search will have more integration.
- Users can switched between – Personalized and non Personalized.
Google gets caught buying sponsored posts to promote Google Chrome!
Jan 4th
So a hot topic in the search market today and probably the biggest story of 2012 so far is Google buying sponsored posts via a large number of bloggers to promote Google chrome. The funny thing is that Google has pointed in guide lines over the years that sponsored posts are not advisable.
Search engine land has found over 400 instances of sponsored posts by Google example:
sponsored-posts-google
It shows that if Google wants to police specific search rules they need to across the board.
Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Years, Also a re cap on Charity & Donations work!
Dec 23rd
So it is that time of year again where every one is in party mode, yet at the same time I want to make a note that at Christmas time its is a time of treating yourself yet it is also a good time to give. Recently I have had people very close to me come down with cancer so it is a cause which is very close to me. At the same time I want to wish every one a Merry Christmas I also want to let people know about two great charities 1. Camp Quality – Kids with cancer www.campquality.org.au/ 2. McGrath Foundation – Breast Cancer research. http://www.mcgrathfoundation.com.au/
A few days ago I sold off two charity items and we collected close to $71 for McGrath Foundation -
Christmas cancer appeal
Earlier this year we ran an auction of a 1000th Tweet an raised $60 http://jamesnorquay.com/seo-charity-auction-comes-to-an-end-with-60-au-donated-to-charity/
So please try and dig deep this Christmas for charity if you can, but overall have a great Christmas all and have a fantastic 2012, I have taken off some time from the 23rd December to the 9th of January, so I will be taking it easy for a few days.
Merry Christmas:
Merry-Christmas
From JamesNorquay.com
My Top 10 Predictions for Online and Digital in 2012.
Dec 21st
Well another year is coming to an end, how quick as 2011 gone!!!
I thought I would put together a list of my top 10 predictions for 2012. My list will contain things in SEO, Domain names, Digital Media and any thing else which fits into the online work.
1. Domains in Australia will see an up lift in investment, I predict we will see high prices been paid for .com.au domains by end users looking to get into the space.
2. .net.au domains will also pick up in popularity due to various benefits they hold – People who may not have a chance to gain investment in .com.au will take .net.au in 2012.
3. iPads will be even more popular as a device to view digital media, I can see huge numbers of sales in iPad devices – I think if you are into digital media you need to practise what you preach so owning a tablet is a good move in learning the technology, or if you want to get even further involved learn to design aps.
4. We will see a higher level of investment in Social Media – Social is hot at the moment but I feel in 2012 even more businesses will open the doors to social media.
5. Google+ will see a larger increase in users, Google will invest highly in the AU market with TV and offline campaigns to drive the non tech savvys users to Google+.
6. Mobile wallet will pick up in popularity – I can see mobile wallets and pay passes will become even more popular in 2012.
7. Higher use of internet on TV’s – I have been using YouTube on my TV for a while, I can see that internet based TV devices will really take off in 2012.
8. Large retailers will increase their investment into digital and push online stores.
9. Social will have a great influence on SEO in 2012 – it is evident that Google will really push the social media as a key metric of SEO, sure it has been this way for a while but I can see if even more in 2012.
10. We will see a new popular social media site come onto the scene 
