The news places Hammer in a very competitive marketplace with the potential for a financial coup if the service proves successful as the online sector continues to grow and draw advertising dollars. As part of his announcement, Hammer had a sit down interview with Web 2.0 Summit correspondent Alex Howard in which the two discussed how WireDoo differs from other search engines, the power of minorities in social media and the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Recent research shows online search engines are likely affecting memory (Image: Thinkstock)

Online Search Engines May Be Affecting Memory, Studies Say

Search engines may be changing the way our brains remember information, according to research released Thursday.

In a series of experiments, Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow and her colleagues produced evidence that people are more likely to remember things they do not think they can find online and will have a harder time remembering things they think they’ll be able to find online. In addition, people are better at remembering where to look for information on the Internet than they are remembering the information itself, the studies found.

Read more at The Washington Post…

Mathew Knowles Takes Beyoncé and Live Nation to Court

The former manager of Destiny’s Child is accused of stealing from his superstar daughter.

Once upon a time, Mathew Knowles was considered an executive genius in the entertainment business. Sixty million album sales later, Mathew Knowles’ daughter, Beyoncé, is one of the most celebrated entertainment acts in the world and her beloved father has been ousted as her manager.  He is now standing accused of stealing from the very daughter whose career he started.

Read more at The Atlanta Post…

Obama Reiterates Desire for Comprehensive Budget Package

President Obama on Friday reiterated his desire to reach a grand bargain that would deal with the nation’s long-term debt problems even as leaders in Washington take action to avoid a financial default.

Read more at the New York Times…

Black Men’s Death Rate Lower in Prison Than Outside It?

Fresh from the SMDH files, a new study says that African American men survive longer in prison than on the outside.

What?

Researchers found that African American men are half as likely to die if they are in prison because they are isolated from alcoholism and drug-related deaths, as well as lethal accidents and certain chronic diseases, according to Reuters. White men, on the other hand, are slightly more likely to die in prison than outside it.

Read more at The Root…

“A high search engine ranking means that your Website will appear on the first page of a search engine, when someone searches for the subject of your site,” says Linda Girard, co-founder of online marketing consulting firm Pure Visibility in Ann Arbor, Michigan. An environmental consultant looking to generate new business online, for example, would want to take the steps necessary to make sure that his results appeared on the first page (and preferably in the top three listings) when someone types “environmental consultant” into Google, Yahoo, or another search engine.

Making that happen takes more than just a simple submission of your site and keywords to the most popular search engines. To get their attention, most companies use a mix of pay-per-click keyword searches (where you “buy” the most relevant keywords to ensure that your site attains a high ranking) and search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the technique of attaining a high ranking in search engines and directories via changes to your site code that make it more search engine compatible.

The latter can be as easy as updating your company’s site map (which shows the site architecture), says Girard, who recently worked with a firm that was losing $5,000 a day because its site was relegated to pages two and three of the search engine results. By updating its site map and submitting it to the search engines, Girard says the firm was able to regain its first-page status.

Keeping title tag keywords relevant and updated is also important, Girard says, who advises firms to review the product and/or service descriptions regularly, keeping in mind that they must make sense to both the search engines and the users. “Look at whether the key phrases are really telling your company’s story to the user. If they’re not, then change them to better reflect your message and mission.”

The age-old SEO strategy of linking to and from high-quality, relevant Websites still work, says Girard. Link to publications, social networking sites such as Facebook, and those trade groups and organizations that are important in your industry, and your search engine rankings will improve exponentially, Girard adds. And remember to add video and photos to the mix.

“These days, it’s not unusual to see a search engine like Google pull up a YouTube video in its top 10 results, so upload your video there and attach good, searchable terms to the clips in order to get those high rankings,” Girard says.

Finally, Sergio Alvarez, COO at AI Media Group, a New York-based firm that helps clients invest in accountable branding and advertising, says companies that narrow their focus to a specific geographical area tend to get the best search engines. A day spa with two Manhattan locations, for example, should use specific keywords that target its customer base, such as “Manhattan Day Spa” or “Day Spa Upper West Side.”

“Rather than trying to hit everyone everywhere, focus on your past, current and potential clients within a certain area,” says Alvarez. “The end result will not only be a higher search engine ranking, but also a much better ROI from your overall Web strategy.”

Top 10 Positive Search Engine Ranking Factors

1.    Keyword use in the title tag
2.    Anchor text of an inbound link
3.    Global link popularity of site
4.    Age of site
5.    Link popularity within the site’s internal link structure
6.    Topical relevance of inbound links to site
7.    Link popularity of site in topical community
8.    Keyword use in body text
9.    Global link popularity of linking site
10.    Topical relationship of linking site

Source:  SEOMoz.org

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