Google gets the Flu!

With the number one subject being on everyone's lips and minds over the past few days, being Swine Flu, Google, Wikipedia and other web properties are really benefiting from the curiosity and morbid fascination surrounding the fast-moving epidemic.

"As the number of swine flu cases continues to climb, so does public interest in the (flu) outbreak. Americans are looking for more information on the outbreak and specifically for symptoms to look out for," said Heather Hopkins, analyst for Hitwise, which tracks Internet usage.

Online searches for the phrase "swine flu" during the past week have sent millions of Internet users to Wikipedia, Google and other websites according to online tracking experts.

Although Barack Obama and other senior government officials are suggesting that this is not a time to panic, it is clear that the heightened sense of alert being driven by the extensive coverage of the mass media and school closures across the United States is turning people to search engines to find out all they can regarding symptoms, vaccines, number of cases and the effect on their communities.

Meanwhile, has released an experimental version of Google Flu Trends to track the spread of the swine flu in Mexico. Google on Monday said flu activity remained low, as seen by its flu-tracking system, but the country-specific version published Wednesday shows a spike in flu activity.

Google says it is able to track swine flu levels in Mexico bylooking at how many people search terms such as "aches and chills."

Google is cautioning they haven't yet been able to verify the data.

An expansion to their existing flu trends tool for the U.S., Google says its data showed a small increase in many parts of Mexico before swine flu hit the news last week.

Jeremy Ginsberg, the lead engineer for Flu Trends, says his team is looking at the potential to use the approach in a number of other countries.

Ginsberg says Flu Trends is able to distinguish people just searching for information on swine flu from people who think they may have the flu.

Some of the search terms they look for include stomach problems, aches and chills and searches on where to buy a thermometer.

"For Flu Trends US we found a set of terms that, going back a number of years in different places across the U.S., really matched," Ginsberg said in a conference call Wednesday.

"The popularity of these terms increased exactly when official surveillance data said more people were experiencing flu-like symptoms."

Although this technology is very young and unproven, it really does show that by capturing and analyzing certain search data, it is possible for Google, working with government and the World Health Organizations to better equip themselves in the prevention or limitation of epidemics like Swine Flu Sphere: Related Content

Tips on Social Media Optimization (SMO) – Engaging with customers through the social networks, By Digital Clarity

Great article from the our good friends at Digital Clarity, answering the question on the lips of so many digital marketers today. Can Social Media compliment my marketing strategy? Now you can find out...

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Around half of all online advertising spend goes on paid search and Amanda Watlington discussed at SES New York on what these means for hands on executives and entrepreneurs not accustomed to online marketing.

Managing Search Marketing has never been easy and Amanda spent time this year running courses for those with little to no understanding of the process, highlighting not just what the requirements are for a successful campaign but how to manage it correctly.

One of the areas she covered was the use of Social Media as part of the marketing process and that’s a point I wanted to touch upon in this post. Unlike Paid Search it’s a long term strategy that requires forethought and effort – hopefully this article will help you understand it a bit more.

While services like Twitter and Facebook fan pages have taken off in the US many companies still see no value in them or simply aren’t aware they exist. Europe and the rest of the world are further behind, only just starting to incorporate Social Media Optimisation (SMO) into their marketing strategy - engaging with customers on their level by becoming part of their community.

If you consider yourself as a product, you carry out SMO each time you post a message on facebook, make friends on myspace or tweet from your mobile - this I feel is a point marketing managers and entrepreneurs need to keep in mind when engaging in SMO. If you can do it everyday with no trouble there’s no reason why your company can’t.

To read full article, CLICK HERE Sphere: Related Content

Welcome Back, Jeeves: Jeeves Rejoins Search Fray With a New Look - PC World

Britain's favorite animated Butler, Jeeves, returns after a 3-year absence, wearing fetching new threads hoping to gain some much needed market share. Article by PC World

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After a three-year absence, earlier this week saw the return of Ask Jeeves with the Jeeves butler returning as Ask.com's brand icon. The butler is again the face of popular search engine, which will be returning to its original name, Ask Jeeves, in the UK.

In keeping with the times, Jeeves has changed his appearance a little -- not least in becoming a fully 3D character. The ever-helpful butler's new look required a little shopping expedition. Top Savile Row tailors, Gieves & Hawkes, crafted a suit for him, while design and animation were made to measure by Framestore.

A multimedia campaign has been launched to promote Jeeves' return, including six 10-second TV spots, Homepage takeovers on key websites, as well as print ads and associated events. Framestore says the project provided an opportunity to show off two sides of its business that it's currently expanding: the active creative role it can play in the development of digital characters and animation, and its ability to deliver a full media campaign from inception to delivery. These are designed to allow Framestore to offer a 'one-stop shop; for all associated digital peripherals tied to a TV campaign.

The return of Jeeves complements an extensive program of improvements and enhancements to the search engine, and is in response to research that showed that the butler was widely liked and felt to be approachable, trustworthy and, above all, helpful, according to the company.

To Read the full article, CLICK HERE



New Ask Jeeves ad Sphere: Related Content

Is The Hype Over Google AdWords Quality Score Justified? - By Craig Danuloff at Search Engine Land

Really fantastic article offering an insight to the 'big black box' and Search Marketers major headache - AdWords Quality Score.

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The focus of the paid search world, if you measure it by tweets, blog posts and conference sessions, has turned squarely to Google’s AdWords Quality Score over the past few months.

Google first introduced Quality Score years ago, but changes they rolled out in August of 2008 recently increased visibility of the score in the AdWords interface and via their API, and a great new video by Google Chief Economist Hal Varian has pushed the discussion to a fever pitch.

Part of the appeal clearly is the fact that it’s a numeric value judgement Google is making about our keywords and account configuration. Like PageRank before it, as a search community we’ve proven the ability to go slightly bonkers about Google numbers that indicate and/or drive our success.

But just how important is Quality Score, and how significantly should it factor into the way PPC campaigns are managed?

It turns out Quality Score actually is a big deal, one that you ignore at your own risk and expense. The reason boils down to its inclusion in two formulas that Google uses to determine where (and if) your ads appear and how much you pay for clicks.

To read the full article, CLICK HERE Sphere: Related Content