So today I was looking at the old blog to show a coworker and example of something, when I realized that my twitter feed looked strange. Upon closer inspection I realized that I seemed to have been tweeting a lot (and about a lot of very un-PC things). I checked all my settings, fine. I checked my actual twitter account, fine.
What seems to have happened is that some user created a twitter account named "undefined" and then it messed up the twitter feeds (or at least mine). Well, that may be unfair to say. Often when a site encounters an error of some kind it may default those rss settings to "undefined," which in this case was an actual user. Weird, but true.
Anyone else experience a similar problem?
For now, twitter feed removed until further notice. But you can still follow me.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Facebook: When Good Ad Space Goes to Bad Advertisers
Ah if only the internet could talk. The stories of bad ads it could tell. Lose 20 lbs of belly fat, reduce your mortgage, get free prescription meds, hit the monkey.
I'd like to believe that in most cases the advertisers behind these ads have no way of knowing who is seeing them (no cookies, no user profiling, etc) and that they are just using a wide network of anonymous ad space, so I may extend a special pardon for those instances (a pardon for being irrelevant to me, but not for promoting horrible products).
Facebook is another beast. Having used facebook as an advertiser I know how the ad setup works, and let me tell you, I can target some pretty specific users. Almost anything you put in your facebook profile has the potential to be used by advertisers, school attended, major, age, location, marital status, even things you write down as interests. Advertisers can create specific combos of those factors as well (ex. only 19 year old men who graduated from yale and are listed as married).
Social networks have the potential to be an advertisers dream. It is an amazing way for advertisers to target very specific (and potentially very likely) customers. Any girl listed on facebook as "in a relationship" can attest that they get wedding ring ads on a semi-daily basis. And while not all of us are looking for wedding rings, there are probably a good number who are (or at least who aren't opposed to browsing every once in a while).
For this targeted ad system you do pay a premium, I've noticed that my ads on facebook cost me quite a bit more than the ads I've placed on search or content based ad servers. But I've also found that the right ads put in front of the right users can bring me much better results, so I'm willing to pay more.
So when I see those generic ads show up on facebook I have to wonder, what idiot is wasting his/her money on this? Are the acai berry diet people rolling in so much dough that they just want to throw it at facebook ads that probably wont deliver? Or are these advertisers just flooding the web space with ads in hopes that someone will accidentally click on them and get sucked into buying whatever useless product they are selling? (free laptop ad that means you) Or, the worst possible reason, are the ads actually working?
I've been trying to vote against these ads with my wallet - er - mouse, and not click on anything with a disco-dancing, poorly-illustrated, sort-of-3D person or any mention of a miracle diet, way to work at home and earn millions, or offer of a free this or that. But since the ads keep appearing, I have to feel like perhaps I'm the only one "voting" this way - is everyone else is refinancing their mortgage and getting free viagra like there's no tomorrow.
Anywho, in case you were wondering, It was actually Richard Branson who inspired this post tonight
Don't wait by the phone richie, I'm keeping my million dollar idea to myself, you can take your billions and advertise to someone who cares.
I'd like to believe that in most cases the advertisers behind these ads have no way of knowing who is seeing them (no cookies, no user profiling, etc) and that they are just using a wide network of anonymous ad space, so I may extend a special pardon for those instances (a pardon for being irrelevant to me, but not for promoting horrible products).
Facebook is another beast. Having used facebook as an advertiser I know how the ad setup works, and let me tell you, I can target some pretty specific users. Almost anything you put in your facebook profile has the potential to be used by advertisers, school attended, major, age, location, marital status, even things you write down as interests. Advertisers can create specific combos of those factors as well (ex. only 19 year old men who graduated from yale and are listed as married).
Social networks have the potential to be an advertisers dream. It is an amazing way for advertisers to target very specific (and potentially very likely) customers. Any girl listed on facebook as "in a relationship" can attest that they get wedding ring ads on a semi-daily basis. And while not all of us are looking for wedding rings, there are probably a good number who are (or at least who aren't opposed to browsing every once in a while).
For this targeted ad system you do pay a premium, I've noticed that my ads on facebook cost me quite a bit more than the ads I've placed on search or content based ad servers. But I've also found that the right ads put in front of the right users can bring me much better results, so I'm willing to pay more.
So when I see those generic ads show up on facebook I have to wonder, what idiot is wasting his/her money on this? Are the acai berry diet people rolling in so much dough that they just want to throw it at facebook ads that probably wont deliver? Or are these advertisers just flooding the web space with ads in hopes that someone will accidentally click on them and get sucked into buying whatever useless product they are selling? (free laptop ad that means you) Or, the worst possible reason, are the ads actually working?
I've been trying to vote against these ads with my wallet - er - mouse, and not click on anything with a disco-dancing, poorly-illustrated, sort-of-3D person or any mention of a miracle diet, way to work at home and earn millions, or offer of a free this or that. But since the ads keep appearing, I have to feel like perhaps I'm the only one "voting" this way - is everyone else is refinancing their mortgage and getting free viagra like there's no tomorrow.
Anywho, in case you were wondering, It was actually Richard Branson who inspired this post tonight
Don't wait by the phone richie, I'm keeping my million dollar idea to myself, you can take your billions and advertise to someone who cares.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Did Apple Take Over Facebook This Morning?
when I went to check on my usual facebook stats and post an interesting new article this morning, I was greeted with the apple snow leopard (see below) - thinking I'd done something wrong I clicked again on facebook.com, and the leopard came again.
Just so you know I'm not crazy - here is a screenshot of another page after I clicked around on my "facebook" page this morning - check out the URL - facebook.com/itunes? that was the same situation for "mac," "iphone," "downloads," and "support."
Weird indeed, very weird.
Is this a very expensive marketing ploy by apple for the release of snow leopard? A wacky computer glitch on my end? A major slip up on renewing a domain by Zuckerberg? I've scoured the web and seem to be the only one experiencing this at the time - so who knows - maybe it is just me.
Just so you know I'm not crazy - here is a screenshot of another page after I clicked around on my "facebook" page this morning - check out the URL - facebook.com/itunes? that was the same situation for "mac," "iphone," "downloads," and "support."
Weird indeed, very weird.
Is this a very expensive marketing ploy by apple for the release of snow leopard? A wacky computer glitch on my end? A major slip up on renewing a domain by Zuckerberg? I've scoured the web and seem to be the only one experiencing this at the time - so who knows - maybe it is just me.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Error Pages, The Fail Whale, and why even when things go wrong you can make right
I use the web. A lot. So, in my surfing I often come across error pages, page not found, server not found, etc. messages. Often I find these to be very annoying. First, something has gone wrong, and since I am not going to blame myself I am going to blame your website.
Now although you, as a website owner, have little control over certain error messages that will reach your audience, such as can't reach the server (if the browser can't reach your server, there is no way your server can send a cute error message), there are pages that you can control, and by all means, control them.
This is important so I'm going to give it its own line:
Any message your users get from your site should let them know how important they are to you.
Any message, even those on your error pages, especially your error pages. Something went wrong and the user is going to assume it was your fault (I know, sometimes it really wasn't your fault, sometimes the user typed something in wrong, but they are going to assume it is your fault so just let them, remember the customer is always right).
So in the midst of telling them "oops" give them something else fun to look at (think of the fail whale or this cat)- suggest another page for them to try or simply give them another page to look at. Whatever you do, make sure it just overflows with your voice, your brand, your mission. Are you a news site? Say whoops and then include a feed of the latest or most popular news of the day. Are you a recipe site? give them a picture of a delicious chocolate cake with a link to that recipe instead. Selling something? Show them your best sellers. Make them forget that what you are giving them isn't what they thought they wanted.
Divert their attention from the fact that your site isn't quite working the way they want, and put your best foot forward.
Now although you, as a website owner, have little control over certain error messages that will reach your audience, such as can't reach the server (if the browser can't reach your server, there is no way your server can send a cute error message), there are pages that you can control, and by all means, control them.
This is important so I'm going to give it its own line:
Any message your users get from your site should let them know how important they are to you.
Any message, even those on your error pages, especially your error pages. Something went wrong and the user is going to assume it was your fault (I know, sometimes it really wasn't your fault, sometimes the user typed something in wrong, but they are going to assume it is your fault so just let them, remember the customer is always right).
So in the midst of telling them "oops" give them something else fun to look at (think of the fail whale or this cat)- suggest another page for them to try or simply give them another page to look at. Whatever you do, make sure it just overflows with your voice, your brand, your mission. Are you a news site? Say whoops and then include a feed of the latest or most popular news of the day. Are you a recipe site? give them a picture of a delicious chocolate cake with a link to that recipe instead. Selling something? Show them your best sellers. Make them forget that what you are giving them isn't what they thought they wanted.
Divert their attention from the fact that your site isn't quite working the way they want, and put your best foot forward.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Bounce Rate Breakthrough
Today I'm on jury duty, and so in my vast amount of time sitting around with (and without) my computer, I've been doing some heavy thinking.
I've come up with a theory about improving bounce rates that may revolutionize the web as I know it.
More to come.
I've come up with a theory about improving bounce rates that may revolutionize the web as I know it.
More to come.
The Reasons StumbleUpon Advertising is Ineffective
I think StumbleUpon would like to make all stumblers believe that it is advertising-free, and that the way in which you come across the sites in the database is completely serendipitous, but it simply isn't true.
Now, I'm not knocking the StumbleUpon folks for using adverts, they have to make money just like the rest of us, but the way in which the adverts are displayed is a little sneaky, and a lot ineffective.
For just pennies a view, you can pay StumbleUpon to show your web page to stumblers; you choose the number of views you want a day, and the categories for which you want the ads to show.
The problem is, as a user, I find it very easy to spot the ads. This is simply because stumble allows too many pages from one advertiser to be shown to a user per day.
I stumble a lot, and so sometimes during one day of stumbling I'll come across pages from the same advertiser three or four times. Different pages, mind you, but pages boring and not stumble-worthy enough to keep coming up. I've stumbled enough to know what is interesting enough to sift to the top of the stumble community, and these ads are not it. A parenting site, a crafty blog/site, and a womens magazine are among the most common culprits.
Now, I would appreciate it if stumble simply made a notation on these pages that they were ads, and didn't try to parade them as random acts of stumble, but I know that advertisers want to try and blend in with the usual stuff and would probably reject that idea.
So maybe instead Stumble could limit the number of ads from one advertiser that are shown to a user per day, or maybe Stumble could have a tiny sidebar that is always open that displays "similar" pages to the page you are on that are all sponsored - I could get into that.
Whatever the solution, the current system doesn't work (and I'm too cheap to pay for a stumble account to avoid the ads) and I doubt that it works for many of the advertisers who flood the stumble system with similar boring pages.
Now, I'm not knocking the StumbleUpon folks for using adverts, they have to make money just like the rest of us, but the way in which the adverts are displayed is a little sneaky, and a lot ineffective.
For just pennies a view, you can pay StumbleUpon to show your web page to stumblers; you choose the number of views you want a day, and the categories for which you want the ads to show.
The problem is, as a user, I find it very easy to spot the ads. This is simply because stumble allows too many pages from one advertiser to be shown to a user per day.
I stumble a lot, and so sometimes during one day of stumbling I'll come across pages from the same advertiser three or four times. Different pages, mind you, but pages boring and not stumble-worthy enough to keep coming up. I've stumbled enough to know what is interesting enough to sift to the top of the stumble community, and these ads are not it. A parenting site, a crafty blog/site, and a womens magazine are among the most common culprits.
Now, I would appreciate it if stumble simply made a notation on these pages that they were ads, and didn't try to parade them as random acts of stumble, but I know that advertisers want to try and blend in with the usual stuff and would probably reject that idea.
So maybe instead Stumble could limit the number of ads from one advertiser that are shown to a user per day, or maybe Stumble could have a tiny sidebar that is always open that displays "similar" pages to the page you are on that are all sponsored - I could get into that.
Whatever the solution, the current system doesn't work (and I'm too cheap to pay for a stumble account to avoid the ads) and I doubt that it works for many of the advertisers who flood the stumble system with similar boring pages.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Best Internet April Fools' Day Jokes
I always enjoy a good prank on April Fools' Day, although rarely pull any myself for fear of insulting someone or getting myself into trouble. Reflecting upon a few of yesterday's jokes, I thought I'd share some of my favorite April Fools' Day jokes from the web.
1. Google. Each year Google does its best to make us laugh, and usually it works. Yesterday's introduction of Autopilot and CADIE was one of my all time favorites (read more about the round-the-world google hoaxes, including using thousands of pigeons to collect google maps data). Other google favorites include pigeon rank and google gulp.
2. Sitepoint let everyone know that the Internet was going to reboot - hold on to your hats!
3. Familylink used its facebook app, we're related, to let millions of users know that Barack Obama had confirmed them as a fourth cousin.
4. ThinkGeek makes up stuff, SqueezeBacon, Unicorn Chaser, and even a USB pet rock.
5. Woot offered a bag of random crap for the unbeatably low shipping price of 1 million dollars.
6. Youtube's videos were upside down (although this sort of counts as google).
7. Reddit made itself look like digg, calling the redesign a "long overdue update"
8. The Guardian moves completely to a twitter platform.
9. Pirate Bay is purchased by Warner Bros.
10. UCSD students who were rejected from college get a "congratulations" email (oh wait, that wasn't an april fools' day joke, but just an unfortunate accident).
1. Google. Each year Google does its best to make us laugh, and usually it works. Yesterday's introduction of Autopilot and CADIE was one of my all time favorites (read more about the round-the-world google hoaxes, including using thousands of pigeons to collect google maps data). Other google favorites include pigeon rank and google gulp.
2. Sitepoint let everyone know that the Internet was going to reboot - hold on to your hats!
3. Familylink used its facebook app, we're related, to let millions of users know that Barack Obama had confirmed them as a fourth cousin.
4. ThinkGeek makes up stuff, SqueezeBacon, Unicorn Chaser, and even a USB pet rock.
5. Woot offered a bag of random crap for the unbeatably low shipping price of 1 million dollars.
6. Youtube's videos were upside down (although this sort of counts as google).
7. Reddit made itself look like digg, calling the redesign a "long overdue update"
8. The Guardian moves completely to a twitter platform.
9. Pirate Bay is purchased by Warner Bros.
10. UCSD students who were rejected from college get a "congratulations" email (oh wait, that wasn't an april fools' day joke, but just an unfortunate accident).
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