Central Perk

miercuri, 14 septembrie 2011

The White House is Open For Questions: The American Jobs Act

Your Daily Snapshot for
Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011

The White House is Open For Questions: The American Jobs Act

Today, White House officials will answer your questions about how the American Jobs Act will impact young people live on WhiteHouse.gov/live. Questions can be submitted on WhiteHouse.gov, Facebook, and on Twitter using the hashtag #WHChat.

Tune in and watch the event on WhiteHouse.gov/live:

Today, September 14th at 4:00 p.m. EDT: Michael Pyle, Special Assistant to the President for Financial and International Markets at the National Economic Council and Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy.

Photo of the Day

First Lady Michelle Obama talks with Washington, D.C., area high school students who attended the Teen Design Fair, in the Red Room of the White House prior to the Cooper-Hewitt Design Awards luncheon, Sept. 13, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

SEOptimise

What is your favourite UK search conference?

Posted: 13 Sep 2011 09:28 AM PDT

Earlier today I thought it would be interesting to find out what peoples favourite search conference in the UK is.

This has generated a great response already (150 votes to-date) – this is still running so please feel free to vote and invite your friends to do the same! Unfortunately it doesn’t look like you can embed the results from the Facebook poll (if it is, please let me know how!) – but I’ve published a screenshot of them here instead:

Here’s what the actual numbers look like currently:

Think Visibility Leeds – 44 votes
SAScon Manchester – 43 votes
BrightonSEO – 22 votes
a4uexpo London – 16 votes
SearchLove London – 15 votes
SMX London – 5 votes
SES London – 4 votes
Conversion Conference London – 1 vote

As I said on the poll, each conference has different target audiences so this may reflect the results – but I think it’s interesting nonetheless to see what the most popular conference is within the UK search industry.

We’ll be attending (and in some cases, speaking) at all of the upcoming events – so come and say hi. Plus next week, Marcus will be speaking at social media marketing & monitoring on Monday, for those who are around Oxfordshire, we’ll be at Oxon Digital on Weds and we’ll be at the OMN London on Thurs! Busy week – would be great to see you there too!

SEOs – time to brush up on your grammar?

Posted: 13 Sep 2011 05:27 AM PDT

As a self-confessed grammar geek, I'm frequently dismayed by the sloppy standard of writing I am continually confronted with throughout the course of the seven days a week I spend exploring the weird and wonderful world wide web. Whether it's a blog post, a tweet or even a company website, it seems that a lax approach to grammar has become the norm – even, most shockingly of all, among professional copywriters I've hired. The most frequent offender in the huge array of rudimentary English errors is the misplaced or missing apostrophe, a grammar violation which winds me up so much that Stuart Tofts and Kevin Gibbons make a point of including one in every email they send me, just so that they can see my reaction.

Before you ask, no – "Trampoline" is not the name of the shop!

Not long ago, in a moment of above average exasperation, I sent out a tweet which said:

So imagine my satisfaction when the following correction from Google was brought to my attention not long after:

We're all used to Google correcting misspellings, but this was the first time I had seen it suggest correct punctuation. Interestingly, it has not automatically displayed results for "women's clothing" with a different option for "search instead for womens clothing", as it usually does with misspellings. Furthermore, doing the same search but for "mens" and "childrens" did not produce a "Did you mean" suggestion.

A quick glance down the search results for the search seen above showed sites with title tags using both correct and incorrect punctuation ranking for both terms (though title tags are obviously not the only consideration!). However, changing the search from "womens" to "women's" did change which websites appeared on the first page – so it does seem to have some bearing on rankings. The top ranking websites were the same, but lower on the first page the results were different – meaning that some sites (Debenhams, for example) lost out on a first page ranking. The humble apostrophe makes a difference!

The Google Keyword Tool does recognise a small difference in search volumes for the two versions, but the number of searches for each is roughly equal. So why is Google making this correction in the search results?

This interesting video from Google shows the process used by Google engineers when they make algorithm changes – which they apparently do on a daily basis:

The video explains the rationale behind the "did you mean" suggestions: sites with misspellings are typically of a poorer quality. So as far as I can see, it's a logical assumption that sites with a poor standard of grammar should be treated with the same approach.

In the light of the Panda update, we're all getting used to the idea that Google is cracking down on low-quality sites, placing increasing emphasis on high-quality content that provides value for its users (the majority of whom are also Google's users). Of course, many people are lazy when it comes to typing terms into Google, and will omit punctuation such as apostrophes because it takes marginally less time to type, and because they feel it makes little difference. But I would argue that the presence of poor grammar on a website could end up being a negative quality indicator because it diminishes a user's trust in that website.

Google does use comments from real users in addressing problems of identifying what counts as a low-quality website. See this excerpt from a Wired.com interview with Google:

Wired.com: How do you recognize a shallow-content site? Do you have to wind up defining low quality content?

Singhal: That's a very, very hard problem that we haven't solved, and it's an ongoing evolution how to solve that problem. We wanted to keep it strictly scientific, so we used our standard evaluation system that we've developed, where we basically sent out documents to outside testers. Then we asked the raters questions like: "Would you be comfortable giving this site your credit card? Would you be comfortable giving medicine prescribed by this site to your kids?"

Cutts: There was an engineer who came up with a rigorous set of questions, everything from. "Do you consider this site to be authoritative? Would it be okay if this was in a magazine? Does this site have excessive ads?" Questions along those lines.

Singhal: And based on that, we basically formed some definition of what could be considered low quality. In addition, we launched the Chrome Site Blocker [allowing users to specify sites they wanted blocked from their search results] earlier , and we didn't use that data in this change. However, we compared and it was 84 percent overlap [between sites downloaded by the Chrome blocker and downgraded by the update]. So that said that we were in the right direction.

The incorporation of user feedback into algorithms was also confirmed on the official Google Webmaster Central Blog. Personally, if I visit a company website and the first thing I notice is that it's riddled with poor grammar, it puts me right off that company. My most likely course of action would be to go back to the search results and find a competitor with a well-written website – and I know I'm not alone in this.

I lament falling standards of English and argue that proper use of grammar DOES matter. Poor grammar is unprofessional and makes a company look sloppy, as though they just don't care. If they have that kind of attitude towards their professional image – if they can't even be bothered to get their English right – what might their attitude be to customer service? How can I trust them with my business? Google wants the best results for its users, websites they can place trust and confidence in – and part of that means companies who know how to present themselves in a professional way. It's only one step from correcting misspellings to correcting grammar abuse.

So it's certainly not impossible that Google may pay more careful attention to grammar in the future. If that happens, using an apostrophe or not could mean the difference between ranking competitively for a term and not; it could also mean that a PPC ad, with apostrophes dropped to keep within the character limit, might not appear on the searches you want it to appear on. If there are any algorithm updates involving grammar in the offing, they are still only in their infancy; but if you ask me, this would be a good time for online marketers to sharpen up their grammar skills and recommend that their clients do the same.

Image credit
Zawtowers on Flickr

Seth's Blog : Merging/Emerging

Merging/Emerging

Emerging is when you use a platform to come into your own. Merging is when you sacrifice who you are to become part of something else.

Merging is what the system wants from you. To give up your dreams and your identity to further the goals of the system. Managers push for employees to merge into the organization.

Emerging is what a platform and support and leadership allow you to do. Emerging is what we need from you.

• Email to a friend •

marți, 13 septembrie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

China Premier Wen Jiabao Dampens Speculation on China Saving Europe with Statement "Debt-Laden Economies Must First Put Their Own Houses in Order"
Census Report Shows Poverty Rate Hits 15.1%; Record 46.2 Million in Poverty; Real Median Household Income Sinks Below Level First Reached in 1989
Dreamland (or Nightmare) Real Estate Agents Dump Homeowners Asking Too Much; Housing Shills Still Cheerlead Others to Doom

China Premier Wen Jiabao Dampens Speculation on China Saving Europe with Statement "Debt-Laden Economies Must First Put Their Own Houses in Order"

Posted: 13 Sep 2011 09:10 PM PDT

The stock market rallied for the last two days on a Financial Times rumor that China would buy "significant" quantities of bonds and stakes in strategic companies from Italy.

There was not much truth to those rumors, and I never thought there was in the first place. Certainly the bond market never believed believed the rumors judging from yields on Italian bonds.

Please consider Stocks Decline as China Signals Reluctance on Europe Bailout

Japanese stocks dropped after Premier Wen Jiabao said debt-laden economies "must first put their own houses in order," damping speculation China would rescue Europe from an escalating crisis that has sent global financial markets plunging.

"Developed countries must take responsible fiscal and monetary policies," Wen said. "What is most important now is to prevent the further spread of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe."

China is willing to help, but only after Europe solves the crisis and no longer needs help.

QE2 Completely Unwound

Bloomberg reports Asia Stocks at Lowest in a Year as China Signals Europe Bailout Reluctance

Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index set for its lowest in more than a year, after the Chinese premier said economies "must put their own houses in order" and not rely on bailouts from China.

Stocks fell today as Chinese Premier Wen signaled developed nations should cut deficits and create jobs rather than relying on China to bail out the world economy. Stocks had gained in the U.S. on Sept. 12 after the Financial Times reported that Italy aims to sell "significant" quantities of bonds and stakes in strategic companies to China.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.5 percent to 116.49 as of 12:43 p.m. in Tokyo after earlier rising as much as 0.3 percent. The measure is set to close at its lowest level since Aug. 25, 2010, having erased all the gains since U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman unveiled a $600 billion, second round of asset purchases that came to be known as QE2.

Asia Pacific Equities

Asia Pacific (click on link to refresh) is down across the board except for China which is up slightly. US S&P 500 futures are off about 12 points. The important reaction, however, us not Asia or the US but the European markets, particularly the Italian bond market and European banks.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Census Report Shows Poverty Rate Hits 15.1%; Record 46.2 Million in Poverty; Real Median Household Income Sinks Below Level First Reached in 1989

Posted: 13 Sep 2011 02:50 PM PDT

Please consider Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010. Report released today.

Real median household income was $49,445 in 2010, a 2.3 percent decline from 2009

Since 2007, the year before the most recent recession, real median household income has declined 6.4 percent and is 7.1 percent below the median household income peak that occurred in 1999.

Both family and nonfamily households had declines in real median income between 2009 and 2010. The income of family households declined by 1.2 percent to $61,544; the income of nonfamily households declined by 3.9 percent to $29,730.

Real median household income was $49,445 in 2010, a 2.3 percent decline from 2009. Since 2007, median household income has declined 6.4 percent (from $52,823) and is 7.1 percent below the median household income peak ($53,252) that occurred in 1999.

Poverty Rate

click on chart for sharper image

Real Median Income

click on chart for sharper image

Real median income has been in decline since 1999 and is now back at a level last seen in 1996. Real median income is below the level seen in 1989.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Dreamland (or Nightmare) Real Estate Agents Dump Homeowners Asking Too Much; Housing Shills Still Cheerlead Others to Doom

Posted: 13 Sep 2011 07:19 AM PDT

The real estate bubble in Australia has taken its next step forward as noted in Agents dump sellers over 'dream 2010' prices

REAL estate agents are dumping vendors who are stubbornly holding out for "dream 2010" prices instead of dropping their reserve in order to wrap up a sale.

With the number of properties in Melbourne at record highs and listings set to increase over the spring, agents throughout the city are telling growing numbers of vendors that they can keep the house and are walking away.

Barry Plant managing director James Hatzimoisis said there came a time in the sale process when agents had to make a commercial decision and drop vendors demanding substantially more than the market was willing to pay.

"There comes a time when you have to make a commercial decision and tell them, 'I don't think I am going to be able to sell your house at that price, so it's best we go our separate ways'."

JPP Buyer Advocates' Catherine Cashmore said agents throughout the city were shedding hundreds of stale listings as they prepared for the traditional spring selling season.

While stock levels are high - RP data puts the volume of Melbourne stock at 52,611, about 34 per cent higher than this time last year - Ms Cashmore said between 10 and 20 per cent of those listings were discretionary vendors who would sell only if they could get their "dream 2010" price.

"An agent only gets paid when they sell a property so if they are investing a lot of time into something they know is not going to sell, then there is no point in wasting time on it," she said.

"We have a market full of vendors who don't need to sell and will only sell if they can get their price. They are perfectly happy to leave their property on the market in the hope that an uneducated buyer will come along and fall in love with it and pay what is on the price tag."

Surprise? Not!

Anyone surprised by this is not paying attention to me or far more importantly to Australian economist Steve Keen author of Debunking Economics.

Steve Keen has taught me a lot. I do not agree with everything he says (or vice-versa). However, a tip of the hat goes to Keen for his early, unheeded warnings regarding debt-deflation in the US and Australia.

Keen's big mistake was being a year or so early in his home country, Australia. However, those demanding perfection will not find it from Steve Keen, from me, or from anyone else.

Debt-deflation has taken hold in the US, followed by Europe, followed by Australia. Canada will follow as well, and only a few of us have called it. Keen is one of them.

Housing Shills Still Cheerlead Others to Doom

In spite of the fact the Australia housing market has turned, bulls still stick to the absurd "housing shortage" myth. We heard the exact same nonsense in the US about Florida, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and for that matter everywhere.

There should be no debate on shortages because the idea is preposterous. Nonetheless, Bloomberg reports Home-Shortage Myth Pits Blogs Versus Banks in Call Australia Set for Crash

Australia, where home prices are falling at the fastest rate in more than two years, may have a glut of properties and be set for a U.S.-style crash.

The warning from tax-reform advocate David Collyer, commentator Kris Sayce and academic Steve Keen contrast with banks and developers that say a shortage of about 200,000 homes will underpin prices. The housing bears say builders and lenders are pushing flawed government data to keep prices afloat in the English-speaking world's costliest place to buy a home.

More than two-thirds of the government's shortage estimate arises by including people who can't afford housing, such as the homeless or those living in trailer parks, Sayce said. Collyer at tax-reform lobby group Prosper Australia says there's actually a surplus of more than 250,000 dwellings after 15 years of overbuilding, while Keen argues the shortage estimate is swollen by inflated demand from handouts to property buyers of as much as A$21,000 ($22,300).

Australia has the most unaffordable homes in the English- speaking world, Illinois-based consulting company Demographia said in January, with homes costing 6.1 times the average annual income.

Price Paradox

The Housing Industry Association, a Canberra-based builders' group, said on Sept. 1 the nation will have a shortage of about 500,900 homes by 2020 if it continues to build at the pace it has over the past 20 years. The greatest shortages will be in Brisbane, Queensland; Stirling, Western Australia; and the Gold Coast in Queensland, the group said.

Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC), Australia's second-biggest lender, in an October report on the nation's housing market estimated a shortage close to 200,000. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) -- the largest and third-largest banks -- have also published reports in the past year that attribute the run-up in prices over the past decade in part to an undersupply of housing.

Keen, who said his Debtwatch blog draws an average of 200,000 hits a day, sold his Sydney apartment in the inner-ring Surrey Hills suburb in 2008, missing out on further gains over 2009 and into 2010. He walked 224 kilometers (139 miles) from Canberra to the top of Mount Kosciuszko in April 2010 after losing a bet made in November 2008 that home prices would drop 40 percent to then Macquarie Group Ltd. economist Rory Robertson.

"Dr. Keen continues to bang his one-dimensional drum on the Australian housing market, still oblivious to the stark differences between the situation in Australia and what occurred in Japan and the U.S.," Robertson, who no longer provides housing forecasts in his current role as an economic analyst at Westpac, wrote in an e-mailed response to questions.

"Most economists are not so silly as to literally 'bet the house' on an economic forecast," said Robertson, who has owned his own home since 1999.

Who Bet the House?

For starters, Keen did not "bet the house". He did the opposite. He has no position, neither betting on, nor against the housing market (ignoring the "walk the mountain bet", a matter of pride as opposed to money).

On the other hand, Robertson, an economic analyst at Westpac would not recognize a bubble if it engulfed his head, popped, left sticky residue all over his hair, then became infested with ants.

I can make that claim because Australia's housing bubble has popped and Robertson still cannot see it. Nor can he see the sticky residue in his hair. The only thing missing is the ants. Rest assured, ants (followed by cockroaches) will come.

Moreover, and more to the ironic point, it is Westpac who bet the house, or rather (and worse yet) bet the entire bank on the housing bubble in a big way. Without a doubt, this will come back to haunt Westpac.

Unfortunately, housing shills like Robertson seldom pay the price for their preposterous "cheerleading others to doom" efforts.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

miercuri, 14 septembrie 2011