Spiderguts(Web Marketing Dubai and INDIA)

Google it, "where" in google.ae

2012-01-24T22:33:00.001-08:00

Google it, baby: Where to find prostitutes in Dubai

The UAE definitely has its quirky bits and we just found one side of it, on Google. And we’ll show you exactly how to find it.

With the promises of sticking to our New Year’s resolutions still fresh on our minds, Kipp was determined to take advantage of the cool weather by going outdoors for a walk after work hours.

It all started with an innocent search about pedestrian-friendly locations in Dubai. Little did we know we’d stumble on a less than innocent online search suggestion from the UAE version of Google.

We intended to type “where to walk in Dubai”. But as we began to type, Google’s super efficiency started to give suggestions on what it thinks we’re looking for. Having typed the word ‘where’, here are the top three suggestions:

“where to find prostitutes in dubai”
“where do we go now”
“where to go in dubai”

Say what?

The first option just gives a humorously unintended double entendre to Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” selection, doesn’t it?
Kipp tried the ‘where’ search on different IP addresses and different computers and it kept giving the same suggestions.

Here’s the search we captured (and yes, we were slightly baffled that a lot of people in the UAE had to search where the Maldives was, as well.)

The next thing to do is check out what Google has to offer if one was to inquire the first choice.

And it directs us to several relatively old blog posts talking about the rampant prostitution in the city. It also, lists hotels where the blogger thought prostitutes hung out.

Don’t believe it? Try it for yourself.

1 – Go to Google.ae.
(Make sure you are in the UAE version and not the worldwide one. Also check if Safe Search is off. Otherwise, it’ll just tell suggest you are looking for ‘where is chuch norris’ and nobody’s really interested in that.)

2 – Type ‘where’.

3 – Proceed to shake your head and wag your finger at the Google searchers in the UAE.

HireCraft Technologies LLC: Talent Management and staffing Management Sy...

2012-01-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

FACEBOOK WILL not END ON MARCH 15th, 2012!

2012-01-08T03:13:00.000-08:00

7 Ways to Improve Your Online Reputation Management Strategy

2011-12-20T04:58:00.000-08:00

7 Ways to Improve Your Online Reputation Management Strategy

Ashley Zeckman on Dec 19th, 2011 Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, Social Networking, User Generated Content web marketing dubai, email marketing dubai

Is your reputation management strategy a turn off to your customers and critics?

Should we respond, get angry, fire back, ignore the situation, censor comments, or just see what happens? Those are some of the many questions that marketers are faced with today. With more and more consumers and customers turning online to share what they think of a particular brand or company it has become increasingly difficult to capture everything that is being shared.

In April of this year Yelp.com reached 50 million users with over 17 million reviews on their database. If you are a professional responsible for online reputation management it makes you wonder how many other means are there for your customers and critics to share their opinion about your company.

According to a recent infographic created by Digimind 47% of American companies’ net worth is tied up in intangible assets like brand equity and reputation. That being said there are two questions that I would like you to ask yourselves:

Do you know what your customers,competitors, and critics are saying online about your brand?
Do you have a plan in place to respond to negative feedback?

If you answered no or maybe to either of these questions then there are some things that you should know.

You Gotta Cover Your Assets.

Step one is knowing where you are present online. Step two is devising a plan for using those assets to your advantage. The state of online reputation management today calls for more than a company website. Try leveraging your social media channels as a way to attract, engage, and inspire positive feedback about your organization.

[It] is Not Just About Control. It’s Also About Letting Go.

You are in control of what you post, where you’re present, and how you react to questions or comments. Make sure that your online approach is aligned and consistent for each platform. It is impossible to censor every negative comment and piece of information you have online. Instead respond consistently and appropriately when you do find negative information.

The Rules of Engagement.

Should an issue arise I recommend you have influencers in your corner. If you take the time to properly build and cultivate relationships online you will be prepared with an army behind you to approach the subject when and if it happens.

The First Rule of Fight Club is: You Do Not Talk About Fight Club.

If your approach to reputation management involves not talking about or planning for negative press then perhaps it’s time to rethink your strategy. Managing your personal or company reputation head on will show that you have listened and that most subjects are not off limits.

Please Don’t Take a Turn to Negative Town.

Counteracting negativity with negativity is a recipe for disaster. If you can, try to take a positive approach and do your best to present your case online if you deem necessary. If you believe that a formal response is in order, maintain a positive outlook and show that you are open to feedback and will address comments head on.

There Are No Mistakes, There’s Things we do, and Don’t Do.

Learning from the mistakes we have made is key in improving a reputation management strategy. Perhaps you responded poorly to negative feedback. To avoid making the same mistake twice devise a plan for addressing issues and shedding a positive light on your organization.

Well, I Guess We Can Close the File on That One.

False. Ongoing monitoring of your online reputation is key in protecting your assets online. Consider implementing some cost effective solutions that enable you to monitor issues in real time for quick response. It is important to not only monitor your brand namebut also products, the company, and key executives.

Not Sure How You Rate?

If you have a few moments I recommend completing the survey below. I am curious to know how our readers would rate themselves or their companies when it comes to addressing online reputation management. I would like to share the results on theTopRank Blog in a future post to see how our readers are addressing issues currently and provide additional tips on reputation management for the future.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Bing Catching Up To Yahoo

2011-12-16T20:53:00.001-08:00

Bing Catching Up To Yahoo

Google still reigns, of course

Chris Crum

Bing may already be powering Yahoo search, but it is still behind in terms of where people are actually searching from. That may soon change, however (at least in the U.S.).

comScore has released its monthly U.S. Search Engine Rankings report, and it shows Microsoft sites gaining on Yahoo sites. In terms of explicit core searches, Microsoft is right on Yahoo’s tail.

In terms of total core search queries, it’s not quite as close, but again, the gap is narrowing.

It goes without saying that Google is still the frontrunner in both categories by a pretty wide margin.

Photoshopped Ads May Happen A Lot Less

2011-12-16T20:52:00.000-08:00

Photoshopped Ads May Happen A Lot Less

Famous People Will Look Like Us Now

Drew Bowling

Get ready, America: your celebrities in magazines are about to start looking a lot like the rest of you. In other words, expect to see models and such types to be a lot less photoshopped in pictures next year.

In a release from the National Advertising Division, they approved of Proctor & Gamble’s decision to “discontinue mascara advertising” that falsely purported that some of their products would give you “2X more volume” compared to regular eyelashes and that it was “20% lighter” than the most expensive alternative. The product at issue, CoverGirl NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara, did not deliver on P&G’s promise because, well, it couldn’t. The “effect” of the mascara on the model depicted in the ad were “enhanced in post production.”

P&G were hoping to slide by NAD’s watchful eye by including a disclaimer on their ad that basically disavowed themselves of any responsibility when consumers got home, applied the mascara, and then realized that their lashes look nothing like the lashes on the model in the CoverGirl ad. NAD director Andrea Levine explained their objection to P&G’s ad further with Business Insider after they asked her if this was a “de facto ban on all Photoshop”:

“You can’t use a photograph to demonstrate how a cosmetic will look after it is applied to a woman’s face and then – in the mice type – have a disclosure that says ‘okay, not really.’”

Business Inside also provided an elaboration of NAD’s decision to stop P&G’s use of photoshopped images:

“… [P&G] advised NAD it has permanently discontinued all of the challenged claims and the photograph in its advertisement. NAD was particularly troubled by the photograph of the model – which serves clearly to demonstrate (i.e., let consumers see for themselves) the length and volume they can achieve when they apply the advertised mascara to their eyelashes. This picture is accompanied by a disclosure that the model’s eyelashes had been enhanced post production.”

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-moves-toward-banning-use-of-photoshop-in-cosmetics-ads-2011-12#ixzz1gjooQXV5

Who can argue with that?

NAD’s decision to curb P&G’s use of ads that promise unrealistic results could have a big impact on how they advertise their other products (you’ve probably used some of them at some point in your life) not to mention how other corporations use post-production enhancement to sell you products that will never do what they say they will do.

To see some of the more drastic effects that one talented graphic whateverartist can do with Photoshop, check out Natalia Taffarel’s website. If we don’t see actors and models and musicians photoshopped within an inch of their life in magazines anymore, we won’t actually recognize anybody ever again.

Video: What are the Advertiser Opportunities in 2012?

2011-12-14T02:29:00.001-08:00

Hint: Go against the trends; be bullish in your spending

Editor’s Note: Recently, our intrepid reporter E.L. Arnold went to the Association of National Advertisers’ Creativity conference in New York City and walked away withkey takeaways and solid creative tips for advertisers. In addition, she talked to a pair of industry movers and shakers, Wieden+Kennedy Creative Director, Mark Fitzloff and ANA Group Executive VP Bill Duggan. The question today? “What are the biggest opportunities for advertisers in 2012?”

See the responses after the jump.

Mark Fitzloff, Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy

Bill Duggan, Executive VP, ANA Group

Tomorrow, Fitzloff and Duggan will turn it around and answer the question, “What are the biggest challengesfor advertisers in 2012?”

thanks to : yadvertisingblog.com

Adwords/Adsense (PPC) Click Fraud

2011-12-14T02:19:00.000-08:00

Click Fraud is one of the most serious issues effecting both Google Adwords and Google Adsense. SEO Click Fraud is also evident on other search engines like Yahoo, MSN. The issue of Click Fraud is giving sleepless nights to several companies who spend thousands of dollars on their online marketing.

What is exactly meant by Adsense/Adwords Click Fraud?

SEO Click Fraud is more like a hallucination . Website owners get an impression that they are receiving legitimate clicks through Adsense/Adwords. However, the story is completely different.

SEO Click Fraud is more like a fake click for which a particular company has to pay to Google or Yahoo. This fake click is not generated by legitimate customer/client. If you log into your analytic section you will clearly observe a clicks which never got converted into lead. The bigger problem than click fraud is incapability of search engines to detect click fraud.

How can I detect Adsense/Adwords Click Fraud?

Click Fraud can be detected through advanced click statistics. If your target location is US, UK, and you are receiving certain clicks (even 20-50%) from countries such as Syria and Botswana, then it is a sure indication of click fraud.

There is a huge pool of marketing techies who have mastered this art of click fraud. Normally they create a network of users who make profits by clicking on ads. There might be hundreds or even thousands of people who do just nothing, but click on sites. Google and Yahoo have been trying hard to cut-down click fraud, but it is virtually impossible for them to nullify click fraud. It is estimated that 10% to 15% of all clicks are fake, and 300-500 million dollars of advertising budget gets exhausted each year into click fraud.

However, there are various benchmark tests which you can follow to detect fake clicks. These are as given below:-

1) If you observe a unusual click trend or CTR (Click Through Rate) in your adwords account, then it could be an indication of click fraud. You should manually monitor your adwords account to detect click fraud.

In case you observe a sudden increase in no. of clicks within a short timeframe of 15-30 minutes during a day, then it could an indication of unusual click trend. Moreover if none of those clicks actually convert into lead, then it could be an indication of click fraud.

2) You are receiving 5000-15000 clicks from adsense, but none of those clicks actually get converted into lead. Moreover, if you observe sudden drop in conversion rates, then it could be an indication of click fraud.

3) If you observe your Google analytic section, you will clearly come to know how many pages were visited by a particular user. Moreover you will get to see how many minutes that particular user stayed on your website. If you observe 1 page visit/ 0 minutes stay, then it could be an indication of click fraud.

4) Normally fake clicks originate from 1 or 2 particular locations (depending upon your competitors/industry). If you observe a regular pattern of several clicks from one geo location, but none of those actually converting into lead,

then it could be an indication of click fraud. You should keep tabs on clicks from suspicious or untraceable I.P addresses.

There are business sectors like online gaming, seo marketing, website development where click fraud is really high. Click Fraud is also evident in other business fields.

5) Use advance tracking codes to keep tabs on your online visitors. Google analytic coding is fine, but you can also use some other effective and efficient track codes. You can also use conversion tracking codes to detect clicks which

are converting into leads/sales. This conversion tracking is available within Google adwords account.

6) Click Fraud detection should be a part of your PPC Marketing policy. You should keep close watch on issues like click fraud.

What should I do, if I detect click fraud issues within my adsense, adwords/ppc account?

a) You should make sure that you are targeting right set of keywords for right

set of audience.

PPC Tip 1 : If you are only selling pizza , then do not target keywords related to Pop-Corns . It is as simple as that.

Targeting wrong keywords will always result in lower conversion rates and higher clicks.

b) Use advanced online tracking codes from google analytics or some other. You should keep a close watch on your daily/hourly stats, if you observe any unusual click behaviour.

c) Target specific cities/locations, rather than targeting whole country. This will lower click fraud to a great extent. If you are a lawyer who is based in New York, then concentrate on regions nearby New York rather than whole US (since you know that 90% of your potential clients will be from regions around New York).

Who could be behind Click Fraud of my company’s website. I got kicked out of my seo job last month since conversion ratios suddenly dropped in the last few months.

SEO Click Fraud could be triggered by your company’s competitor, competitors of your hired marketing company, or any other. This type of click fraud is even harder to monitor since you are unable to trace the real culprits. Click Fraud could be triggered by any of the following:-

1. Competitors of adword advertisers: Their sole intention is to harm a competitor who is “unluckily” advertising within the same niche market. These culprits will click on their competitors PPC ads. The real objective of these perpetrators is to force advertiser to pay for invalid or irrelevant clicks thus weakening or reducing a source of competition.

2. Competitors of adsense publishers: These persons may wish to frame an online website which generates revenue through adsense and other banner advertising. It is made to look like the website owner is clicking on its own ads to make profits. The advertising network may then terminate the relationship with that particular website. Many online websites and publishers rely exclusively on revenue from advertising and can be put out of business by Click Fraud.

3. Other malicious intentions :

There are several people who wish to cause harm to either an advertiser or a publisher. These people do not have any financial motives. Their motive could be political or personal rivalry.

4. Unintentional Click Fraud:

Sometimes your fan, family member or a personal friend will click on your online ads to help you generate more profit. However this action can backfire where the publisher has to face the brunt of click fraud by their advertisers.

We are sure that addressing these issues will help you lower click fraud to a great extent. Every coin has two sides, and this rule is applicable to PPC too. However, you can minimize fake clicks by following instructions given in this article.

Author : rammohan

Thanks to : www.seohawk.com

10 Steps to a Successful SEO Migration Strategy

2011-10-10T04:28:00.001-07:00

One of the most critical aspects of a search optimization campaign is to have a comprehensive and effective strategy to handle content migrations and URL changes. This can be especially challenging for large companies that produce a ton of content.

The main goals in creating an SEO migration strategy are:

Maintain / Improve Search Rankings
Maintain / Improve Search Traffic
Maintain / Improve Link Connectivity
Improve User Experience

If you don't give search engines exact instructions of where to find content as it moves (via 301 redirects), the engine has no way of carrying over the link metrics that point to the original URL to the new one.

Because link metrics are such an important part of search rankings, the consequences of not having a solid SEO plan for the change can lead to lost rankings and traffic as well as frustrated users who had previously bookmarked the old location of the content or try to find it through existing links. Therefore, it’s important to set up 301 permanent redirects from old pages to new ones in order to help search engines and users understand where the content has moved to.

Remember, if even a single character in a URL changes, including capital letters to lowercase, the content has moved and most likely the engines won’t be able to correctly transfer the link metrics.

So today I would like to outline the steps of a plan for an SEO migration strategy.

1. Baseline Reports

It's important to understand current performance in order to know whether your strategy was successful after launch. Here are the baseline reports that will help you determine if you were successful. Each report should be specific to the pages that are migrating:

Top Search Rankings
Top Search Traffic Sources
Current Search Traffic Levels
Link Connectivity (Current Back link Profile to Each URL)
Are Pages Indexed in Google / Bing

Having this information prior to the migration will allow you to compare your performance to the post launch data and gauge the impact of the move.

2. Information Architecture

Determine whether all of the pages have new URLs or whether certain sections of the site been combined (common in a redesign). This will allow us to correct map old URLs to new URLs in the next step.

3. Content Mapping

Make a map (usually in the form of an excel spreadsheet) that shows both the old URLs and their new destination URLs. Note that depending on the size of the migration (how many URLs are changing), a one-to-one map may not be possible based on the sheer number of URLs that are changing. In that situation you will have to map many pages to one (a whole section of content may now map to the new category page that contains that content) or you may have to prioritize your list of redirects based on their current rankings, traffic, revenue, and links.

4. Navigation Optimization

If your migration is based on a redesign and new site launch, you may want to make sure that the new global navigation template has the same links to important content as the old one did. Oftentimes, changes to navigation can cause large ranking fluctuations (because internal navigation links are an important part of ranking algorithms). Therefore, if the global navigation changes, they may be the reason for traffic and ranking decreases rather than an improper migration strategy.

5. Page Titles and Meta Data

The same is true for page titles and meta data. Check to ensure that the old titles and meta descriptions have been transferred to the new pages.

6. Site-Wide Issues

Check to make sure if you’re migrating to a new system or page design that there are no site-wide or technical issues that could cause indexing or ranking issues. Avoid URL structures that can cause duplicate content and text the page template through a spider simulator to ensure that all the content and the page template can be seen by search engines. Especially make sure that your new navigation menus are not based in JavaScript or Flash, which engines typically have a hard time reading.

7. Redirect Strategy

Coding the content map into the servers redirect mechanism, whether it’s Apache or IIs, is a critical part of your strategy. Make sure you have someone who is technically capable of handling the job. This is especially true if you are using logic to handle entire sections of content.

There are a lot of creative ways to code redirects to handle large sections of content. The scope of that conversation is far beyond what we have time to get into in this article, but the main takeaway is to make sure that you have a qualified professional coding your redirects and that all your redirects are 301 permanent redirects and not 302 temporary redirects.

8. External Links

It's always best to change any links that you can to reflect your new URL structure. Reach out to sites currently linking to you and ask them to update their links so they point to your new domain whenever possible, or as much as is feasible depending on the size of your backlink profile and your relationship with the site. Update all your directory listings and any other links you have direct control over.

9. Webmaster Tools

Submit an updated sitemap to Google Webmaster tools and use the change of address function if moving to a new domain. Remember to initially keep the old URLs in your XML sitemap to facilitate Google crawling those links and processing the changes in their index.

10. QA

Never assume that everything has been done correctly. Use an http header check function (just Google "http header check" and click on the first link) to validate that your old URLs are redirecting using 301 redirects. Then, after you’ve verified that everything routes correctly, monitor the metrics you defined in your baseline reporting to ensure that everything has gone smoothly.

Steve Jobs Funeral To Be Picketed By Westboro Church

2011-10-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

Fringe religious organization Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ funeral, according to a tweet by top member Margie J Phelps.

Westboro, known by most as the “God Hates Fags” people, travel around the country protesting high profile funerals of celebrities and fallen American soldiers. Their message is predominantly anti-gay and claim that soldiers’ deaths are punishment from an angry God. They commonly sport signs that read “God hates you,” “America is doomed,” and “You’re going to hell.”

General consensus leans toward strong disapproval of the group, and they are commonly referred to as one of the most despised groups around. But the Supreme Court has upheld their right to protest at these events, saying that their free speech rights cannot be restricted simply because their speech is unpopular or even despicable.

Phelps tweeted this just a few hours ago. Note the method of which her tweet was sent:

Yes, this tweet was

Electric Airplane Wins Big Money

2011-10-04T23:27:00.001-07:00

NASA has awarded a Pennsylvania company a $1.35 million prize for developing an ultra-efficient electric airplane.

The Taurus G4 airplane won the prize by flying 200 miles from Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, Calif., in less than two hours.

CNN reports that the airplane was created by Pipistrel-USA.com of State College. There were 14 airplanes in the competition, but the Pipistrel won easily. It nearly "doubled the fuel-efficiency requirement" for the contest.

The requirements were to fly 200 miles in two hours or less on less than a gallon of fuel (or the equivalent in electricity) for each passenger. The Pipistrel airplane used a bit more than a half-gallon of gas for each passenger. Most of the airplanes in the contest used electric engines, however, some entrants were powered by gasoline or biofuel.

Team leader Jack W. Langelaan said, "Two years ago the thought of flying 200 miles at 100 mph in an electric aircraft was pure science fiction. Now, we are all looking forward to the future of electric aviation."

Among the 14 airplanes competing, only three met the requirements for the competition, according to the Press-Democrat of Santa Rosa. The $1.35 million award is the largest in the history of aviation. All told, the competing teams invested more than $4 million in their airplanes.

Wired Magazine reports that the winning airplane "was developed and built in Slovenia as a technology demonstrator for the airplane maker." And while the company has no plans to mass-produce the airplane, it "does plan on using the liquid-cooled electric powertrain in a four-seat airplane it is developing and hopes to fly next year."

By Mike Krumboltz

Tue, October 04, 2011, 4:07 pm PDT

XSS web attacks could live forever, researcher warns

2011-10-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

XSS web attacks could live forever, researcher warns

Cleaning up a website after a cross-site scripting attack may no longer be enough to protect its users

By Lucian Constantin | IDG News Service

Websites that accidentally distribute rogue code could find it harder to undo the damage if attackers exploit widespread browser support for HTML5 local storage and an increasing tendency for heavy users of Web apps never to close their browser.

If browsers don't provide a mechanism for websites to securely recover from certain XSS (cross-site scripting) attacks, the attacks could become invincible and the site at the origin of the attack remain compromised indefinitely, warned vulnerability researcher and Google security engineer Michal Zalewski in a blog posting on Saturday.

[ The Web browser is your portal to the world -- as well as the conduit that lets in many security threats. InfoWorld's expert contributors show you how to secure your Web browsers in this "Web Browser Security Deep Dive" PDF guide. ]

The scope of client-side programming languages like JavaScript within browsers is limited by a critical security concept known as the same-origin policy. This prevents scripts running on certain Web pages from interfering with websites opened in separate tabs or windows.

In the case of XSS, attackers manage to insert rogue JavaScript code in targeted pages, where it is then executed in the context of their origin, defined by the domain, the protocol and the port number.

JavaScript is very powerful and is used in most types of Web-based attacks. Despite this, browsers don't currently provide a mechanism that can be used to invalidate such code, something that would provide compromised websites with a way to request a clean slate once they had resolved the problem.

A normal response to XSS attacks is to patch the vulnerability, invalidate session cookies so that everyone is forced to re-authenticate, and optionally force a password change. But this is not enough, because, according to Zalewski, once compromised a Web origin can stay tainted indefinitely.

"At the very minimum, the attacker is in full control for as long as the user keeps the once-affected website open in any browser window; with the advent of portable computers, it is not uncommon for users to keep a single commonly used website open for weeks," he said. "During that period, there is nothing the legitimate owner of the site can do -- and in fact, there is no robust way to gauge if the infection is still going on."

In essence, there is no way for websites to ensure that their users are no longer affected by an XSS attack. Still, one would be inclined to think that such an attack would stop at some point without the website's intervention, such as when closing the tab or the browser, but as it turns out, that's not necessarily the case.

There are several methods that attackers can use to extend their hold on a compromised origin pretty much indefinitely, according to Zalewski.

One such scenario would involve inserting rogue JavaScript code into a popular webmail service or social networking site. This code could run in the background with the ability to obtain window handles for every new tab opened as a result of clicking on a link from the compromised page. If the newly opened pages had the same origin as the original page, or loaded a piece of code from the same domain, the rogue code could copy itself over to them and the process could begin again.

If Facebook were targeted by such an exploit, then given the way users constantly open new pages from the site, or external websites carrying Facebook "Like" buttons, the compromise could go on for as long as one of those pages remains open.

Shutting down the browser should in theory end any such attack. However, there are now ways of overcoming this too, using technologies such as HTML5 local storage or Web Workers, a special API for running JavaScript code in the background.

The problem with prolonged origin compromises is that they can bypass other security precautions as well. For example, if someone connects to an unsafe wireless access point, their browser can be tricked into thinking it has visited, say, Facebook.com through a combination of DNS poisoning and invisible frames containing rogue code, all without the user being aware. Later, that rogue code can hijack a real Facebook session when the user is logged in from a safe environment.

Such attacks can also lead to multiple account compromises if the affected computers are used by different individuals. They are not yet common because there are other, simpler techniques that hackers use, including exploiting remote code execution vulnerabilities. However, as exploit mitigation technologies advance, that could change.

"Today, it's so easy to phish users or exploit real RCE [remote code execution] bugs that backdooring Web origins is not worth the effort. But in a not-too-distant future, that balance may shift," warned Zalewski, who wants browser vendors to act now to make sure that point is never reached.

Mozilla advises Firefox users to disable McAfee plugin

2011-10-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

Mozilla advises Firefox users to disable McAfee plugin

McAfee ScriptScan could cause stability or security problems and is responsible for browser crashes, according to Mozilla

By Robert McMillan | IDG News Service

It's the last thing McAfee would want users to hear about one of its products, but the Firefox browser is advising users to disable McAfee's ScriptScan software, saying that it could cause "stability or security problems."

SriptScan ships with McAfee's VirusScan antivirus program. It's designed to keep Web surfers safe by scanning for any malicious scripting code that might be running in the browser. But according to Mozilla it has an unintended side-effect: It can cause Firefox to crash... a lot.

[ Get your websites up to speed with HTML5 today using the techniques in InfoWorld's HTML5 Deep Dive PDF how-to report. | Learn how to secure your Web browsers in InfoWorld's "Web Browser Security Deep Dive" PDF guide. ]

In a note posted to its website, Mozilla said that the add-on "causes a high volume of crashes," and is "strongly encouraging" users to disable the software. The warning applies to all users of version 14.4.0 and below of the plugin, Mozilla said.

The Firefox browser started popping up warning messages Monday, advising that users disable the software

In McAfee user forums, there is a smattering of complaints about the Firefox problem.

The problem affects Firefox 7 users, according to Francie Coulter, a McAfee spokeswoman. "McAfee has identified the cause and is working actively with the Firefox team to resolve this issue and expects to roll out an update shortly," she said in an email message.

Robert McMillan covers computer security and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Robert on Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert's e-mail address isrobert_mcmillan@idg.com

Microsoft Launches Anti-Gmail Ad

2011-08-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

Google and Microsoft are continuing their war for user loyalty on the email front. Both companies are extending past their normal pitch, with Google releasing an “email intervention kit” and Microsoft launching an ad that condemns Gmail for “reading your mail.”

The Microsoft Ad

The Gmailman

In the face of Gmail’s ad and intervention kit (discussed previously), Microsoft has unleashed an ad campaign seemingly designed to smear Gmail for reading user emails and monetizing the email platform. You can check out the full video here.
The scene depicts “Gmailman,” and features a rhyming song telling users how Gmailman is “peeking at every subject,” “probing every sentence,” and “his ads are unsolicited.” The advertisement then shows Gmailman as a postal worker who’s looking through the mail of recipients before delivery, and who hands ads to each user along with the letter. The ad ends with the line “Microsoft Office 365 – A better solution for your business.”

Ludicrous Smear Campaigns?

On YouTube, there are as many people disliking the video as there are people liking it, and many of the comments bash on Microsoft for taking the mudslinging angle. But is Microsoft targeting something of real concern?
Nope. Not really. What Microsoft seems to be pitching is the idea that the automated contextual discovery for Gmail’s ad system is somehow a breach of privacy, despite the fact that the data isn’t stored. It also tries to make a problem out of the ad monetization system, even though Office 365 comes with a subscription fee. Correct me if I’m wrong, but most users prefer not having to pay, and are just fine with Gmail’s unobtrusive ads.

Of course, Microsoft Office 365 really is a step up on all fronts, email services included. It certainly seems odd that the first big ad is directed, not at the advantages of Office 365, but “flaws” that no one cares about in a major competitor.

[Sources include: GottaBeMobile]

Special Thanks to : searchenginejournal

Finding the Right In-House SEO Employee

2011-05-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

If your company is lucky enough (or profitable enough or large enough) to have an in-house marketing department, why not consider adding an SEO expert to the team? Having your SEO handled in-house is great because it seamlessly falls in lines with your other marketing efforts. Your in-house SEO employee is going to be fully immersed in the culture of your company and values of your brand.

author: Nick Stamoulis
publisher: Search Engine Optimization Journal
http://www.spiderguts.com

Social Networking and its Relation to Crime

2011-04-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

There are reasons for certain things that we are discouraged to do and things that we also discourage our kids from doing. For instance, we tell them (and ourselves too) to never go places alone or to talk to strangers. In the real world, these rules are critical for our safety and peace of mind. In the world of cyberspace, it’s just as important and should be treated just as seriously.
For the World Wide Web population, the growth is happening at such a fast rate, that it becomes critical to gain a grasp on what sites and forums you participate on just to make sure you’re not somewhere that could be placing your safety at risk. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are very popular and have member numbers upwards into the millions.
With over 500 million users on a site like Facebook, safety becomes a very important issue for many adults and their children. In a survey that was recently conducted by Rasmussen Reports, it was reported that at least one out of every two Americans is a regular user of social networking sites. While these are certainly some very impressive statistical numbers for the social sites, authorities are quite concerned about how this will affect things like cyber crime, stalking and inappropriate connections that can lead to other issues.
The games and interacting with them on social sites is also a potential risk. Other features like contests, photo sharing and location services also pose a potential risk for some members. Divulging this information to certain groups or individuals is discouraged unless the user is certain of the way(s) that the information will be used.
To avoid potential risks, online cyber safety sites suggest against sharing personal information like Social Security or driver’s license numbers. Credit card numbers and even birth dates are also discouraged against sharing since the escalation of identity theft.