Patricio Robles

Is Twitter a search engine?

What is Twitter? "A microblogging service" doesn't quite fit right. Maybe because that just doesn't sound as cool as Twitter.

A growing number of people are suggesting that Twitter is a search engine. As I was going through my feeds today, I came across several posts discussing just that. This is officially a meme.

by Patricio Robles 05 March 2009 16:40pm 13 comments

Is Facebook inviting online criminals in?

Online scams are a billion dollar a year business. It has even been reported that, as far as profitability is concerned, online crime beats the drug trade.

It's not hard to see why online crime has skyrocketed. Scammers don't even need to leave the comfort of their own homes to exploit the ample criminal opportunities that exist online.

by Patricio Robles 05 March 2009 11:21am 1 comment

Google introduces expandable AdSense ads

As the recession lingers on, Google has been forced to admit that it's not immune to the economy. That's a tough thing to do when your core business is still doing pretty well relatively speaking.

So what's Google to do? For starters, it's cutting back on projects that aren't producing. But what about its core business of online advertising? In what might possibly be seen as a way of combating the effects of recession, Google has introduced expandable ads on the AdSense content network.

by Patricio Robles 05 March 2009 08:44am 0 comments

Gen Y is hard to reach on social networks too

Gen Y, the demographic group generally considered to be those born somewhere between 1977 and 2000, is a group that marketers pay a lot of attention to.

They're the multi-platform generation, consuming media on a variety of devices (including mobile phones). They're also said to be fickle and hard to keep engaged. But above all else, they're elusive.

by Patricio Robles 04 March 2009 16:29pm 2 comments

Are MySpace's better days behind it?

It's hard to say that Rupert Murdoch's $550m acquisition of MySpace in 2005 wasn't a savvy move. Last year alone, despite missing revenue targets, MySpace pulled in more revenue than Murdoch paid to acquire the popular social network.

But all does not appear to be well at the world's second-largest social network. Despite the fact that under News Corp., MySpace has become the best-monetized social network, it has lost significant ground amongst consumers. Last year Facebook surpassed it as the world's largest social network and it's poised to become the largest social network in the United States as well, a country that MySpace had previously dominated.

by Patricio Robles 04 March 2009 10:06am 1 comment

You control your own destiny, Google doesn't

My post yesterday about Google's paid links smack down sparked quite a discussion and a bit of debate.

Good points were made all around on all sides of the debate.

by Patricio Robles 04 March 2009 09:20am 1 comment

Google introduces Analytics qualification program for individuals

If you use Google Analytics, Google has launched a new program that might be of interest.

Google Analytics IQ (short for Google Analytics Individual Qualification) is similar to the Google Advertising Professionals program, which certifies individuals who work with AdWords.

by Patricio Robles 03 March 2009 16:50pm 0 comments

Google lays the smack down on 'sponsored conversations'

I've discussed the nofollow attribute several times lately.

The bottom line: Google doesn't like paid links and regardless of whether or not one agrees with Google's stance, the use of nofollow with paid links is a best practice worth implementing.

by Patricio Robles 03 March 2009 11:07am 18 comments

President Obama ditches YouTube embedding

As we've discussed here at Econsultancy before, United States President Barack Obama loves social media. He used it with remarkable success during his campaign and he's using it as president.

But the popular website he used to serve his weekly video address on WhiteHouse.gov has unceremoniously been ditched.

by Patricio Robles 03 March 2009 09:00am 0 comments

Spotify hits 1m users, starts to build ecosystem

Less than 6 months after launching, online music streaming upstart Spotify has reached an important milestone: 1m users. Approximately 250,000 of those users are located in the UK.