Microsoft makes a $50bn takeover bid for Yahoo. This move would see the addition of Microsoft engineering capability into Yahoo’s offering allowing the combined entity to bring new products and services to market very quickly…. but will this be able compete with the dominance of google?

Needless to say Google are not the biggest fans of this merger - They see the merger as dangerous and a threat to the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation. It’s worth having a read of their blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/yahoo-and-future-of-internet.html

So … will Google finally have a serious online competitor or is this simply a desperate move from Microsoft to improve its presence in the search and advertising market. One thing is for sure - If the deal goes through, Microsoft will absorb a well-known brand as well as many tens of millions of users in one fell swoop.

In terms of Anti-Competitive laws - interestingly it seems the merger will most likely be approved by the US. Justice Department as the merged company would still be dwarfed by the Google giant.

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On a local front:

The deal will however have it’s problems and need to be handled very carefully.

In Australia there is going to be serious issues with the TV Networks. Microsoft’s parter is Channel 9 (NineMSN.com.au) and Yahoo is heavily aligned with Channel 7 (Yahoo7.com.au).

The two media outlets are direct competitors and the Yahoo7 partnership is very strong with the site being one of the most popular in Australia so It will be very interesting to see how this pans out. Will one of the networks be dropped and if so which one?

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In our opinion it will be extremely hard to integrate two incredibly large & complex companies so the brands will most likely stay separate in the near future.

We will be keeping a keen eye on the developments of this merger.

We’ve enjoyed our break and we’re back and motivated with new technologies that can help your business lead to sales - it’s what we do best. Consider it a late christmas present, we’ve decided to let you know 4 of the many new strategies we are going to implement for our clients this year…

Remind your customers you exist

The first thing leading to sales is having your product or service in the mind of your customers. Over time people will naturally forget and may find an alternative in the near future. What is the one thing exploding on the web today? The answer is social networks. Arm yourself with every email address you have ever known and place it in your Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL account. Sign up on LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook & Plaxo and let them know about your address book, if those email addresses are on these sites (their is an extremely high chance that each email address will be on 1 or more of these sites) they will be automatically notified of your profile.

Website Statistics

Do you have the intelligence behind where visitors come from how long they spend on your site? If not, you not only need to implement some sort of statistics package, but you need to learn about how to interpret the results.

Popular packages like Google Analytics allow you to create goals which allows you to measure the path of a user from when they come on the site to when they purchase a product or fill out a form. You can also get daily reports emailed to you each morning so you can monitor your sites performance.

Referral Program

Major brands are now adding affiliate marketing to increase coverages & sales. Affiliate marketing is a method of promoting an online retailer of products or services via a network of websites who endorse and promote the offering to their audience. Typically this could be via email, graphical advertisement or blog entry.

Affiliates are only paid after a sale has occurred. Affiliate marketing also reduces the risk associated with marketing.

Customer Generated Content

How many times when you use Google do forums or Yahoo Answers come up? The answer is alot.

Customer’s will always search for an answer to their question before asking it. Allowing customers to ask questions on your website will link those keywords with your site in the search engines. It then follows that customers will visit your site in search for their answers.

When the term web 2.0 was coined less than 2 years ago no one predicted the massive changes that would occur to the way that we are using applications online.

Software as a service (where an application is hosted by a service provider, usually the developer) has been around for a while, but Web 2.0 applications are different.

In essence, and in my opinion, a web 2.0 application is an online service that has been created with simplicity as the key and with the goal of solving a common problem amongst users. The design is usually very simple and elegant and the user rarely has to click around multiple pages. A lot of web 2.0 applications also bring users together in a community where they can assist each other to achieve common goals.

The chaps over at readwriteweb.com have come up with a ‘list of lists‘ of current web 2.0 applications. Depending on which list you look at there are about 3000 at the moment. Have a bit of a look, you will definitely find an application that will save you time.

I’m also keen to hear what other peoples definitions of a web 2.0 application.

This month I have decided to support the Movember cause, in an effort to spread the word and raise funds about Prostate Cancer and Male Depression. While my full facial hair growing capabilities have not fully developed as of yet, I’m giving it all I can. The photo below depicts a solid 10 days effort!

• Depression affects 1 in 6 men…Most don’t seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
• Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of women who die from breast cancer annually.
• Men are far less healthy than women. The average life expectancy of males is 5 years less than females.

To sponsor my Mo please go to http://www.movember.com/au/donate, enter my registration number which is 160677 and your credit card details. Or you can sponsor me by cheque made payable to the “Movember Foundation” clearly marking the donation as being for my Registration Number: 160677. Please mail cheques to: PO Box 292, Prahran VIC 3181. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.

The money raised by Movember is donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative, which will use the funds to create awareness, fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and male depression.

For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had and can check out the detail at: Fundraising Outcomes .

Movember culminates at the end of the month at the Gala Partés. These glamorous and groomed events will see Tom Selleck and Borat look-a-likes battle it out for their chance to take home the prestigious Man of Movember title. If you would like to be part of this great night you’ll need to purchase a Gala Parté ticket .

Thanks for your support

Craig

I attended an interesting event last night hosted by BOSS magazine, it featured talks by Ross Honeywill and Monique Talbot, CEO of Tempest Media.

Ross introduced me to a new concept, or rather put a name and a definition to a concept that Novanate utilise on a daily basis with our Web 2.0 development.

Ross is the co-author with Verity Blyth of a new book called ‘NEO Power - how the new economic order is changing the way we live, work, and play’.

NEO Power explains that the break down of generations in 20 year allotments such as Gen X and Gen Y does little to explain the behaviours of such vast groups. NEO Power helps define a new method of understanding a very valuable group of consumers.

NEO stands for New Economic Order and this group is vastly different to the Traditionalists. They are better educated, believe food is consumed for pleasure not just nourishment (and needs to be complimented by good wine), they earn more, have the highest discretionary spending and are by far the most demanding group of consumers we have ever seen.

NEOs have grown up with the internet and see it as an integral part of life. There is not a second thought about putting credit card details over a secure internet site - how else are you supposed to consume 24 hours of every day? The internet is used for work and play, it is used for research, make purchases, and also leave feedback about these purchases for the next consumer to benefit from.

NEOs are driving Web 2.0 and now is the make or break time for businesses on the Internet - they can either embrace the NEOs, understand them and work with them, or alternatively they can hold steadfast to what they have always known and be left behind.

NEOs crave the attention of digital marketers and online public relations but true to their definition are highly demanding about how they are to interact. It is no longer good enough for a digital marketer to present an Ad or corporate website and expect the NEO to embrace the message.

Understanding the target is key, and companies need to believe in their product or service 120 per cent to find success online. The new consumer wants to interact prior to a purchase, if information is verified by another member of the NEO generation on a forum or through their blog; that information is 1000 times more valuable then viewing static information on a companies corporate site.

A corporate site that has 10 product reviews and 3 of them state negative aspects which are refuted by other users is a more credible source then a corporate site that has 50 all positive reviews - moderating consumer feedback to be 100 per cent positive can have a negative result to a skeptical generation.

NEOs are thorough in their research and highly skeptical, nothing is perfect and honesty is what NEOs hold dear. Understanding the NEOs and giving them what they want can provide serious benefits to your business.

These are only my thoughts on the matter after a very thought provoking talk by Ross, to get the full story visit the NEO Group and get a copy of Ross Honeywill’s book NEO Power.

‘NEO Power demonstrates the extent to which so much of our decision-making is dominated by the techniques, principles and vocabulary of consumerism and marketing. This is much more than a debate about whether NEOs are particularly fond of cabernet sauvignon. It is also about how citizens, NEO or Traditional, engage in the political process, or seek spiritual enlightenment, or construct a set of personal values; and about how individuals justify the imperfections in their world views.’
Patrick Allington (Weekend Australian)

When the term web 2.0 was coined less than 2 years ago no one predicted the massive changes that would occur to the way that we are using applications online.

Software as a service (where an application is hosted by a service provider, usually the developer) has been around for a while, but Web 2.0 applications are different.

In essence, and in my opinion, a web 2.0 application is an online service that has been created with simplicity as the key and with the goal of solving a common problem amongst users. The design is usually very simple and elegant and the user rarely has to click around multiple pages. A lot of web 2.0 applications also bring users together in a community where they can assist each other to achieve common goals.

The chaps over at readwriteweb.com have come up with a ‘list of lists‘ of current web 2.0 applications. Depending on which list you look at there are about 3000 at the moment. Have a bit of a look, you will definitely find an application that will save you time.

I’m also keen to hear what other peoples definitions of a web 2.0 application.