I started noticing over the last few weeks on a occasion when I did a search on Google that the traditional sponsored links section at the top that was yellow normally was now Purple. And as of today I can’t seem to get the Yellow back. And after reading this article from Barry with RustyBrick on Search Engine Land it looks like Google is sticking with the new purple.

They are cited as saying it’s strictly for aesthetic reasons and even cite when they went from blue to yellow which I don’t even remember after being in this internet marketing game for seven years now.

My first thought was I wonder how this will effect the click through rates of the PPC ads we run for our clients. And then I thought wow that purple is kinda like the purple we use on DIAP Media which was pretty neat to see Google copying us vs Bing.

I really will have to see how this effects the CTRs going forward to me the yellow seemed to be more brighter and eye catching, the purple seems more subtle and calm. I do like the purple better but is that because I search daily and now it doesn’t seem like a bright intrusion not saying it was that bad. Nothing could be as bad as NetFlix pop ups or pop unders that’s for sure. And now that I put NetFlix in this post I’m sure it will contextual follow me and drip on me again like Chinese water torture, ugghhhhhhh.

Here is a video of the Google TV that was announced today at Google I/O 2010.

Here are some links to learn more.

Twitter.com/GoogleIO

Google.com/TV

Here is a video explaining all the buzz behind Google Buzz.

Ok, I hear the question asked or wrote about all the time and I was curious myself how much ROI and/or clicks and results you can you get from Social Media. So a good friend of mine Keith that is the Social Media Manager of Castle Megastore (awesome company by the way) told me about Hootsuite.com at Phoenix WordCamp. Before this I used TweetDeck but I either overlooked it or wasn’t impressed as fast as I was with HootSuite to find any “stats” or tracking that HootSuite has.

Setting up Twitter, Facebook, and social media accounts was easy, the interface was user friendly and all the data they provide and track is an added value that I haven’t seen with other platforms. So I ran an experiment and sent out 35 tweets/posts to Facebook since Dec. 30th up until today Jan 23rd just to track the clicks back to whatever link I sent out. I know “clicks” are not the same as “conversion” however you need the clicks to a URL in the first place and with Social Media unless you run a CPC Facebook ad campaign it is completely free. Also, I think a click from someone that is “following” you on Twitter or a Fan/Friend on Facebook should be a higher conversion because most of the time they trust you, like your content, and it is like word of mouth online which word of mouth offline is the highest converting of all forms of marketing.

The results so far have been 355 clicks and these clicks were free other then my time for the 35 tweets (messages) to Twitter & Facebook but HootSuite also has a built in Feature that allows you to schedule tweets or posts to Facebook and other Social Media accounts.

The other benefit of something like this is that those links that I tweeted and posted to Facebook are out there forever so this number could grow over time and again it’s not limited by a budget I set. It just comes down to how often I want to send out my message, a client’s message and interact with the social communities I set up in my Hootsuite interface.

All in all, if you are not adding Social Media to your internet marketing portfolio you are missing out big time. This also helps with SEO and minisites that we set up and is part of a comprehensive online marketing and branding plan that we offer. We believe in all types of internet marketing for our clients and do not discount one over the other. The best thing to do is have a complete internet marketing plan covering all aspects from search engines and social media, to online classifieds, online directories and review sites.

Whether you are a celebrity, small business owner, or a Fortune 500 company if you want to beat the competition you better get in the Social Media game and get your internet marketing portfolio set up, transferred to DIAP Media like a 401k transfer, or get in the game!

As always, thanks for clicking and reading my thoughts on this and as Chuck Zito says,  “see ya when I’m looking at you.”

The recent news of The New York Times charging users for their content is one of the dumbest moves I ever heard. Ok, maybe not the dumbest but it made me realize how much the “traditional” media companies still don’t get it. Our world is turning into a digital world free from limited resources pushing the content they want us to hear, read, watch to a society of people with free thoughts to create their own content that they are passionate about or would like to share with people who want to search them out and make a connection.

So I get it, they can’t make enough millions or billions to support their built out infrastructure, salaries, layers of management and people, printing presses and other archaic methods they use to use so now instead of reinvented the entire platform and maybe opening it up with better ways to create content, link with local NY bloggers, and adapt they turn to charging the customer to read their content that they can find for free somewhere else on the web. Sorry NY Times and other traditional media outlets your content is not that good and we have a new digital market of millions of bloggers and other content sources we can search on Google with their new social search and blog search features. Like most people I will never pay to read a “newspaper” site online.

Even porn can’t make money anymore the way they traditionally did what makes you think you can with less interesting negative content? I suggest they take back paying for content again as they did before when it failed and start innovating in better ways then just charging users to read their negative article I can find myself on 1 of my 200 free content subscriptions on my Google Reader, Twitter Stream, or Google Blog Search.

Google has provided a new tool in Google Webmasters to help website developers, internet marketing agencies, SEO experts, and others that monitor their site performance with their Webmaster Tools. This tool is under Google Labs and will analyze how fast your site is. With the new Google algorithm starting to hit one data center at a time and launching after the holidays this is going to be a very important tool to make sure your site is faster then your competitors if  you would like to rank better.

Here is a video from Google’s Page Speed landing page.

Also, there are plugins for Mozilla browser where you can download their page speed tool that also requires Firebug if you don’t have that already.

Bruce Clay a highly respected SEO expert shared his insight on Local Search and how to approach it as a business. Some of take aways were;

• Just because your are targeting local, you still are in many cases competing with National competitors
• If you fix a website whether it is Local or National it is still the same process and still costs the same amount
• If you are spending 5 hours on SEO for Local Search and your competitors are spending 50 hours still tough to compete.
• Local Search = SEO
• Google Maps is a great tool for ranking for local keyword phrases
• Local does not equal “cheaper” or “lower cost” to optimize for the search engines.

Here is the video to get your own take aways from the video. I think it is a great video to share with clients.

We have been tracking one of the main keywords we wanted to rank for, which is “Internet Media Agency“. We thought this would be an important keyword to define who we are and what we do. We focus on all types of internet media from WordPress, SEO Services, Microsites, to Internet Marketing Services and WordPress Website Design and Social Media Marketing. We also make it easy for companies to get in the game and have our agents represent them and their companies with all types of internet media and marketing.

So far we are ranking #4 on Google,

We are #1 on Yahoo,

The proof is in the pudding, need a internet marketing agency to represent you and help you with a holistic approach and full portfolio of internet marketing services? For a custom proposal call 888-863-7421.

We have been using Google Caffeine’s beta search to see how their new algorithm is going to effect SEO and the results for our clients. We have noticed that the sites that load quick and don’t bog down the site with images, flash and all the other “fancy fluff” that looks good on the outside but doesn’t look like anything to the search engine bots on the inside are ranking great.

Here is what we noticed today when using the Google Caffeine tool.

Also, there are reports that Google Caffeine is going live but there hasn’t been any official date out there and most likely be rolled out one data center at a time gradually.

We have also noticed that really strong keyword domain name mini sites that compliment a company’s primary are ranking really well.They are quick, robust, highly researched, add unique content, load quick, and help the end user get to what they wanted and searched for fast! They are great for SEO, organic and natural searches.

Call DIAP Media at our Google Voice # 520-302-5075 to schedule a time to discuss how we can help you with our SEO services and mini sites that can get new customers that are searching online.

Google Local Listing Ads is a new resource for businesses to advertise locally in their area and target more people searching for what they do. This in combination with Google’s Local Business Center, SEO, a conversion friendly Web design, Microsites, Blogging, Social Media and PPC can help a business hit all of the elements of online search. There are also other outlets depending on the business like online classifieds, review sites, and forums that can help too but most of those are on a case by case basis.

Right now Google Local Listing Ads is only available in San Francisco and San Diego but we have a feeling this is going to catch on like wildfire and believe they will have great results with their call tracking #, online performance tracking, and the whisper feature of every call mentioning the call was from “Google”.

Here is a video about the new Google Local Listing Ads;

As always, DIAP Media is ready to be your internet media agent keeping you ahead your competition exclusively as we represent people, brands, and companies online.

If you need an internet marketing agency to represent you and make sure you have a custom, comprehensive plan in place and would like us to do all the work for you and get you in the game without being overwhelmed by all the lingo, fast paced changes, and just want results call us at 888-863-7421 or submit your information and connect with us here.