ICND 1 of 100,000 Businesses to Receive The First Google Local Business Stickers

Posted: January 8, 2010 10:07 AM | Posted By : ICND Team
Related Categories: Internet Marketing,Google,,Smart Phones

ICND 1 of 100,000 business to receive the First Google Local Business Stickers

In December, 100,000 brick and mortar businesses in 5,000 cities who had claimed their Local Business Listings got snail mail from Google in the form of Favorite Place stickers, with instructions to put them in their windows and use them to promote their business.

Included on each sticker is a bar code that some smart phone users can scan to pull up Local Business Listing information, including coupons, on their phones. Outwardly, this appears to be just another bribe that Maps is offering to get businesses to claim their listings. In reality, Google could be testing any number of things relating to smart phone use, mobile search and local businesses. It's worth noting here that Google encouraged Local Listing Ad advertisers to link their ads to their Place Pages instead of to their websites because the Place Pages render well on small screens and contain all of the information a mobile searcher is likely to be interested in.

Google is continually testing and tweaking, so changes are no surprise to those who watch it. But in 2009, the number, frequency, acceleration and anticipated impact of the changes both in paid advertising and organic results regarding Local Search at Google have been remarkable. In my opinion, these increasingly louder rumblings indicate that once Google finds the optimum combination of the right user interface and profitable local advertising to display, it will unleash a formidable storm in the world of Local Search. Are you ready?

For full article and more information, check out Search Engine News: http://www.searchenginenews.com/se-news/content/search-engine-strategy-and-optimization-updates-for-january-2010#2

To help get set up in Google's Local Business contact ICND today.

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Consumers Positive About Tech Changes

Posted: January 8, 2010 9:06 AM | Posted By : ICND Team
Related Categories: Social Media,Smart Phones

Consumers Positive About Tech Changes

JANUARY 6, 2010

Source: EMarketer.com

Mobile phone is greatest change for the better

Americans looking back at the end of a decade have little love for trends such as reality TV, they are generally positive when evaluating the most basic technological and communications advances that have affected their lives, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Respondents had the overall best view of cellphones, which 69% claimed were a change for the better. Sixty-five percent said the same of both e-mail and the Internet.

Other, more advanced handheld devices, such as BlackBerrys and iPhones, were also relatively popular, though one-quarter of respondents thought they were a change for the worse. Unsurprisingly, younger adults were more likely to be positive about the rise of smartphones, while users over 65 were more evenly split.

Online shopping was slightly less likely to be seen as a good development, at 54% of total respondents. But when it came to e-commerce, 24% of consumers said it made no difference—and younger adults disliked it at more than twice the rate of seniors.

“No difference” was also a major factor in consumer views of the marketing darling, social networking sites. Adults of all ages were notably ambivalent about the sites, though nearly one-half of those under 50 had a positive impression. Despite wide uptake in recent years, the largest group of respondents over 65 did not know enough to say whether social networks were good or bad.

Even active users of social media have registered mixed feelings of the medium with other researchers, however. Crowd Science reported that more than one-half of female users ages 12 to 21, for example, thought they spent too much time with social media.

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Business Tool of the Month: Smart Phones (iPhones, BlackBerrys, Androids)

Posted: June 23, 2009 1:06 PM | Posted By : ICND Team
Related Categories: Internet Marketing,Web Tools,Smart Phones

Subtitle:

Smart Phone: Consumer Segment of the Year.

Yeah, I know...I make up the titles as I go.

Helpful tools, that's the name of the game. I've been talking a lot about segmentation, and here's another great tool to combat that - the smart phone (the most popular being iPhone, Blackberrys, and the Google Android). But, a bit differently than the previous web tools I've listed in this Internet Marketing blog. For one, it's not a web tool...it's a device. Smart phones (defined as handheld devices that have PC/Mac like functionality (email, IM, web browser, Internet access, desktop file applications, etc) are very versatile tools when it comes to doing business and being a consumer. In fact, they're game changers. Talk about segmentation...smart phones are one of the major causes of the issue.

But, they can also help you pull it all together. Smart phones allow you to access all your communication channels (email, IM, SMS, MMS and phone) as well as media files (text, music, video, powerpoint, and spreadsheets) as well as your favorite social networks. You can take pictures and videos of your own, book travel and flights, check on package delivery statuses, check the weather, and shop. And, probably the most popular element of smart phones, they also allow you to access hunderds of apps (making it the Swiss Army knife of web tools).

Because of the popularity of smart phones (dropping prices, increased bandwith speeds, more inclusive functionality), many national companies have created their own branded apps specifically for their smart phones customers. They've even put their apps in their commercials, like Nationwide, USPS, Dominos, and Expedia (or was it Travelocity?). This is clear evidence that one) smart phone users are growing in relevancy when it comes to marketing and two) cool apps sell products. Hell, iPhone almost exclusive advertises its phone by only advertising its app store (see any recent iPhone commercial). As a result, many other smart phone makers have followed the same tack in their commercials. Other than coverage area and speed, apps are the biggest selling points for smart phones.

How many times has an iPhone owner waved their Carpenter Level app or Tip Calculator app in your face? Oh, don't get me started.

Hundreds of third party web development companies also churn out apps every day (because selling a successful app can make you millions) - one of the coolest being ShopSavvy's newest barcode reader app just to name ONE.

But I digress as usual.

Smart phones keep you plugged in (a blessing and a curse), which allows for you to keep doing business no matter (virtually) where you are. And yes, I'm a Smart Phone owner myself (Blackberry Curve 8900) - but I'm new to it. Before that, I had a Nokia from 2001. No kidding.

So I'm writing all this as a newly addicted smart phone owner (both from a new marketer's perspective and a consumer). You can definitely stay on top of things, but when you start sleeping beside your smart phone - you need to seek professional help.

Need more info? Here's a recent iPhone versus gPhone article by WebProNews.

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