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I found a really well written article about Google courtesy of The Guardian (you can view it at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/17/googlethemedia.google).  The article really got me thinking, it’s odd I’ve posted news items about issues raised in the article including online privacy and Google bias but never really given any serious thought to using a different search engine. 

I think this is partly because working in SEO / SEM ignoring Google rankings is as close as you can get to website suicide and partly because the thought never crossed my mind it’s just what I use, I log on to the internet and depending on what region I’m targeting for my website I go to that countries version of Google, of course I consider other search engines like Yahoo and MSN when optimizing but Google is first choice.  I guess it’s  a phenomena kind of like muscle memory, you do something often enough it becomes natural, second nature even, you don’t need to think about it you just do it.

The chances are you do the same but ask yourself this, are we giving Google too much power? 

One paragraph in the article states:

“Google's tentacles are everywhere. It runs services for blogging, email, instant messaging, shopping and social networking. It offers a suite of word processing, spreadsheet and other tools to rival Microsoft's products in the workplace. It is building a software platform for mobile phones that may challenge Apple's iPhone and others. It has just launched Knol, a peer-reviewed encyclopedia to take on Wikipedia. In America, Google Health enables users to maintain their own medical records. The company is also working on language translation, speech recognition and video search. Brin and Page even have their eyes on space: they have offered a $20m prize to anyone who can make a privately financed spacecraft able to land on the moon.”

Should a search engine company be involved in landing spacecrafts on the moon?  Is there anything wrong with them wanting to be involved in space?  I’m all for innovation but having medical records online does worry me, you’re essentially providing Google with a lot of very personal information about yourself which they could use to target ads to you about drugs and even alternative therapies, I’m not convinced that’s such a great idea.

Anyhow, I digress, believe it or not I don’t have an issue with Google I just believe it’s time we started defining what is and isn’t acceptable and how far we are prepared to let Google (and other search engines) into our lives which is why I’ve decided to vote with my feet, for work purposes for the time being I will have to continue considering my sites placement in Google and optimizing for that but for my own personal use I will be using another search engine.  How about you?  Will you be voting with your feet?
 

I’ve posted a few news articles on Gooruze recently about the issue of online privacy, including articles about Viacom winning the rights to view YouTube records and governments trying to establish if standards are needed for online privacy and felt given the current surge in interest and the possible future implications it was about time I conducted some research and gave my pennies worth.
 

Online Privacy and Advertising

It’s easy for us all to become complacent when it comes to our online privacy, the internet has been main stream for some time now and most of us are used to using the web to surf for whatever we are after whether it’s shopping or something to do at the weekend but how many of us read those privacy statements?  Do you know how your personal information is being used to refine your search results or target ads to you?

I naively thought this was something that would be an issue in the future and that geotargeting was the first stage, however, today I took the time to read Googles privacy statement and here are a few snippets:

“Google collects personal information when you register for a Google service or otherwise voluntarily provide such information. We may combine personal information collected from you with information from other Google services or third parties to provide a better user experience, including customizing content for you.”

Ok, so refining your search results is one thing, that’s helpful right?  After all Google became popular because it’s search results were so much more refined and accurate than previous search engines so surely this is just Google building on that and moving the service forward? But, how about that part saying they may use information collected from third parties?

Then I read this statement:

“We may use personal information to provide the services you've requested, including services that display customized content and advertising.”

Using the information for customized advertising….is this good or bad?  Is it another way of refining search results or an invasion of your privacy?

However Google also provide the option to wihtold personal information:

“You may decline to provide personal information to us and/or refuse cookies in your browser, although some of our features or services may not function properly as a result.

We make good faith efforts to provide you access to your personal information upon request and to let you correct such data if it is inaccurate and delete it, when reasonably possible. “

Although to be honest I wouldn’t be sure how to decline personal information, but that’s probably my own fault for not having dug a little deeper and at least the option is there so hats off to Google for that even though they only recently added a link to their privacy policy on their home page because of peer pressure from companies like Ask.
 

Is Your Home on the Web?

Then there’s the issue of Google Maps / photos, would you be happy for Google to take a photograph of your street or even your home?  This is an issue which has certainly been in the UK press recently; surely it is an invasion of privacy taking pictures of your home without permission? 

You’re probably thinking this is an overreaction and that Google may take pictures of a street but surely not individual homes?  And well, let’s be complacent again because someone will stop this from happening anyhow, right?  Apparently not, I came across this article today: http://www.wolf-howl.com/google/google-knows-where-i-live/ on Graywolf’s SEO Blog from June this year.

This does worry me, your home could be on Google without you knowing it, I can see the value in adding photos of landmarks, parks and so on its nice to get an idea of the local area but pictures of people’s homes, perhaps even pictures of your home, isn’t that a step too far?

I’m using Google as an example here as it is currently the most widely used search engine available, but these issues / questions apply to the internet as a whole, where do you see the issue of online privacy going in future?  Some search engines are embracing online privacy with ixquick, a meta search engine becoming the first to gain the European Privacy Seal which is surely a good thing?
 

What do you think? Do we need online privacy standards?  Should this be a genuine concern amongst internet users? Or is this just the latest fad?

You can see the overview of Google’s privacy policy at: http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/privacy_highlights.html
 

I have to admit my first reaction to Gooruze member Liza’s post ‘Social revolution – the people fight AAMI’ was fairly neutral, I have worked with the Web throughout my career and although every web team I have worked in has been all men and me I have never believed my gender held me back, and I still don’t.

Liza raised the issue of gender stereotyping using an advert as an example, it’s impossible for me to comment on this advert as I have never seen it but to satisfy my curiosity on the subject I conducted some quick research on the web to see if this stereotyping existed or if it was merely something we perceived.  I came across several articles and research papers discussing gender stereotyping in the media, with reports of high complaint levels to the ITC regarding adverts old and new and so it would appear that gender stereotyping does in fact exist and is a recognized problem.

Where some adverts are clearly stereotyping women and indeed men in negative ways i.e. women are always used to advertise cleaning products and men to advertise DIY products and this should be addressed,  advertising often presents a caricatured view of women's and men's lives, should we be offended by these caricatured views too?
 

On the other hand is it the stereotyping in adverts which should cause offence or the fact that those responsible for creating these adverts appear so far out of touch with modern day life and views?  Is it fair to say these adverts do not represent today’s men and women?  Speaking as a professional I can honestly say that on occasion these adverts have annoyed me and do not represent me.
 

I’ve included links to some articles I found whilst researching this you might find interesting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-496827/The-outrageously-politically-incorrect-adverts-time-equality-forgot.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1913567/Top-ten-most-controversial-adverts-revealed.html

http://www.warc.com/LandingPages/Generic/Results.asp?txtWordSearched=&Ref=32&LimitTo=&selNarrowByDate=01+January+2007&selNarrowBySource=&txtSearchWithin=

http://www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/beautyandstyle/morearticles/Dove_challenges_stereotypes.asp - one of the few examples of positive advertising.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/uk_advertising_stereotypes0/html/1.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4205886,00.html
 

I’ve been using Google Analytics a lot recently and have come across some tracking codes which can be added to track different scenarios on your site; I’ve included some of these codes below with links to more in depth articles with fuller explanations of how to use them.

The codes taken directly from Google relate to the latest version of the tracking code, and I’ve included links to full articles with each example for a more in depth explanation too.

1. Tracking files downloaded from your site 
(source: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en-in&answer=55529)

To track a file being downloaded from your site for example a PDF, use this code:

<a href="http://www.example.com/files/map.pdf" onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/downloads/map'); ">

Google says:

“Important: if your pages include a call to _trackPageview, _setAllowLinker _trackTrans(), your Analytics tracking code must be placed in your HTML code above any of these calls. In these cases the tracking code can be placed anywhere between the opening tag and the JavaScript call.”

2. Tracking banner clicks (source: http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/advanced-google-analytics/)
 

This is a really simple code, but very useful it can also allow you to track rss subscribers and banner clicks.
 

Code:

<a href="http://www.yoursite.com" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outgoing/rssfeed'); ">
 

You can view the statistics for this in Google Analytics by going to Content> Top Content and using the filter box to find the page.
 

3. Tracking 404 pages (source: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2006/09/tip-tracking-404-pages.html)
 

Simply modify the tracking code on the 404 pages.
 

Code:
 

<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
_uacct = "xxxxx-x";
urchinTracker("/404.html?page=" + _udl.pathname + _udl.search);
</script>

To find this in Analytics visit your top content report and look for 404 pages.

A useful PDF with information on more Analytics tracking codes can also be found at: www.google.com/analytics/InstallingGATrackingCode.pdf
 

Ok, I just came across this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1990999/Home-Office-plans-to-create-Big-brother-database-for-phones-calls,-emails-and-web-use.html and didnt think the News section on Gooruze was the right place to put it but I do feel its worth discussing.
 

The basic idea is that all information phone calls, emails, texts and web use by Britsih citizens would be collected by the Home Office and stored in a database and all this is being considered for the draft Communications Bill to be published later this year.  This is worrying on several levels not only does it hint at a 'big brother' state, it also raises concerns regarding security of personal information. 
 

I'm sure most people are aware of the incident regarding child benefit information contained on a CD going missing, surely having all this information in one place is a big security risk? and with the governments recent track record could we trust them not to put in a repeat performance?  how many of us shop online or do online banking? Will this bill mean our bank details will also be stored on the database if we use the internet to shop or do our banking?
 

Am I over reacting? 
 

Given that since last October telecomms companies have been required to keep records of phone calls and text messages for 12 months anyhow, Should I be concerned?..... should we be concerned? 
 

What do you think?

Here’s a random thought for you….

Think about it, Google dominates the search market we all optimize our pages with Google in mind (yes as well as other search engines but let’s face it currently Google is the big hitter), we even refer to searching the internet as ‘googleing it’ but what would you do if Google didn’t exist?

Imagine it….there’s been some huge disaster with the servers and techy whirly gigs behind the scenes at Google and all Google sites instantly vanish from the ethos, what do you do?  You have no way of knowing when Google will return it could be hours, days, weeks, months….do you sit tight and hope that it is hours rather than months?  Do you start concentrating on your sites rank in other search engines like Yahoo for example? Or do you outright panic, sit in a corner tearing your hair out rocking back and forth….back and forth…back and forth…
 

I’ve worked with the internet for as long as I can remember in one form or another and always thought it was a great invention, after all if you want to know something, anything,  you can go on the internet type in your search term and find a wealth of information.
 

However some of the articles I’ve found lately concern me, it seems to me the internet is turning ugly.  Along with articles I’ve found about censoring the web (which I’ve posted on Gooruze) I’ve also found this: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/01/bt_phorm_2006_trial/  apparently BT has used advertising technology provided by 121Media (now Phorm) to track the internet usage of 18,000 of its customers without them knowing or getting their consent in order to target advertising to them.  Is this an invasion of privacy?  Or is that a stupid question? 
 

As an SEO newbie I have trawled the internet for all things SEO and found a mountain of information and many, many people who have written articles for those of us who are new to SEO….great!!!  One of the best things about the internet and social networking is the sheer abundance of information and the wonderful people who are happy to offer help and advice along the way. 

However, I’m finding more and more this also has it’s downfalls not all information is detailed, some information is too detailed, we’re supplied with links to wonderful tools on the internet which allow us to conduct our research and come highly recommended but… does that help us understand exactly what we are doing?  Is too much advice as bad as too little?

Perhaps it’s an inevitable trap SEO newbies fall into? I personally have quite a few websites / blogs bookmarked to go back to and visit later and have installed the Firefox extensions and continue to find articles informing me of new extensions and new tools…it may just be me but I can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed at times by all the information I find. 

My advice to the SEO newbie trying to find out more?... 

By all means search the internet, visit the recommended sites and try out the tools but please….do it one step at a time!  Pick a handful of sites that really caught your eye  (I’ve been following Gooruze for several months but only just signed up), try one new tool at a time – don’t be tempted to try all the tools all at once, how are you going to know which one works for you? And by all means sign up to Gooruze … you may feel nervous asking questions or posting comments but it’s the only way to learn.