may 2009

A coworker recently forwarded a link to an article about ToldYa, an eCommerce widget focused on enabling anyone to sell products in social settings (Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, blogs, etc.) online.  I’ve looked at a few of these in the past, but wasn’t all that compelled by them. Tonight I gave ToldYa a quick test drive to see what it was all about.

First, what’s ToldYa’s pitch?

ToldYa is a web based software platform for creating, hosting, and managing widget-based Portable Stores. Our Portable Stores enable everyday consumers and businesses to sell their goods and services through the most advanced widget technology available anywhere.

So far so good.  A bit more specific:

The ToldYa eStore™ lets you buy and sell among friends on social networks, blogs and web sites. You can create and copy your store directly to your profiles (such as MySpace, Facebook and others) as well as your own blog or website. And you also get a custom store page here at toldya.com to link to. Your customizable ToldYa eStore widget features an integrated secure checkout system that lets you accept major credit cards for purchases. And you can personalize and promote your store to help you sell your stuff fast. You can even earn money by telling your friends. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you a penny until your item sells!

Commerce in social context, huh?  I’ve heard this line before and been disappointed when I’ve surveyed the experience from the perspective of the buyer, the seller, or both.  Before we get much farther, here’s what the eStore widget looks like embedded into this post:

My verdict on ToldYa? I like it.  Here’s why:

1. Seller setup was was easy. I grabbed an item off my bookshelf that I could part with, went to the ToldYa site, and had my product listing on my Facebook page in less than ten minutes.  That included creating my ToldYa account.  The ToldYa seller user experience was anticipatory, straightforward and thoughtful.
2. It was simple to distribute the eStore widget (and would be for a novice).  ToldYa provides cut-and-paste code and click integration to quickly get the eStore onto social sites like Facebook or a personal blog.
3. The pricing model is fair.  Selling requires no up-front payment, and ToldYa has a flat-rate structure ($.99/sale and a 5% transation fee on credit card sales).  There are obvious limitations in that pricing structure, but their overall pricing model is fair.
4. The eStore looks good.  I’m not 100% on the look of the base eStore widget (the dark blue-black with the super-gel buttons), but this is something that ToldYa can easily overcome (templates).  What was a pleasant surprise was how the eStore looked when placed on my Facebook profile and/or Wall.  The eStore looks like it belongs (they dropped the dark blue-black scheme and kept it simple).
5. Buyers can buy the product right on your site.  There’s not linking out to complete the transaction elsewhere.  Checkout occurs right in the widget.

Take ...

A coworker recently forwarded a link to an article about ToldYa, an eCommerce widget focused on enabling anyone to sell products in social settings (Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, blogs, etc.) online.  I’ve looked at a few of these in the past, but wasn’t all that compelled by them. Tonight I gave ToldYa a quick test drive to see what it was all about.

First, what’s ToldYa’s pitch?

ToldYa is a web based software platform for creating, hosting, and managing widget-based Portable Stores. Our Portable Stores enable everyday consumers and businesses to sell their goods and services through the most advanced widget technology available anywhere.

So far so good.  A bit more specific:

The ToldYa eStore™ lets you buy and sell among friends on social networks, blogs and web sites. You can create and copy your store directly to your profiles (such as MySpace, Facebook and others) as well as your own blog or website. And you also get a custom store page here at toldya.com to link to. Your customizable ToldYa eStore widget features an integrated secure checkout system that lets you accept major credit cards for purchases. And you can personalize and promote your store to help you sell your stuff fast. You can even earn money by telling your friends. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you a penny until your item sells!

Commerce in social context, huh?  I’ve heard this line before and been disappointed when I’ve surveyed the experience from the perspective of the buyer, the seller, or both.  Before we get much farther, here’s what the eStore widget looks like embedded into this post:

My verdict on ToldYa? I like it.  Here’s why:

1. Seller setup was was easy. I grabbed an item off my bookshelf that I could part with, went to the ToldYa site, and had my product listing on my Facebook page in less than ten minutes.  That included creating my ToldYa account.  The ToldYa seller user experience was anticipatory, straightforward and thoughtful.
2. It was simple to distribute the eStore widget (and would be for a novice).  ToldYa provides cut-and-paste code and click integration to quickly get the eStore onto social sites like Facebook or a personal blog.
3. The pricing model is fair.  Selling requires no up-front payment, and ToldYa has a flat-rate structure ($.99/sale and a 5% transation fee on credit card sales).  There are obvious limitations in that pricing structure, but their overall pricing model is fair.
4. The eStore looks good.  I’m not 100% on the look of the base eStore widget (the dark blue-black with the super-gel buttons), but this is something that ToldYa can easily overcome (templates).  What was a pleasant surprise was how the eStore looked when placed on my Facebook profile and/or Wall.  The eStore looks like it belongs (they dropped the dark blue-black scheme and kept it simple).
5. Buyers can buy the product right on your site.  There’s not linking out to complete the transaction elsewhere.  Checkout occurs right in the widget.

Take ...

Alongside today’s Facebook profile phishing, a Twitter phishing scheme was also making the rounds.  The scheme is fairly similar, actually, leveraging a site which appears to be twitter in order to capture login names and passwords. Here’s the abridged version:

• A phishing site exists at the domain: tvviter.com
• Look closely – that’s two v’s above parading as a w… and we’re shy one t
• Users are being lured to the site by shortened URLs on Twitter and other sites
• When unsuspecting users attempt to login, their account information is captured

Once your account information is captured, your account will likely be used to spread the spam about the phishing site.  Twitter users beware.

Below: it may look like Twitter, but it’s not. The URL cleverly replaces the w in Twitter with two v’s and drops that last t.  Pretty convincing at a glance.

Alongside today’s Facebook profile phishing, a Twitter phishing scheme was also making the rounds.  The scheme is fairly similar, actually, leveraging a site which appears to be twitter in order to capture login names and passwords. Here’s the abridged version:

• A phishing site exists at the domain: tvviter.com
• Look closely – that’s two v’s above parading as a w… and we’re shy one t
• Users are being lured to the site by shortened URLs on Twitter and other sites
• When unsuspecting users attempt to login, their account information is captured

Once your account information is captured, your account will likely be used to spread the spam about the phishing site.  Twitter users beware.

Below: it may look like Twitter, but it’s not. The URL cleverly replaces the w in Twitter with two v’s and drops that last t.  Pretty convincing at a glance.

I blogged earlier this morning about a Facebook Phishing Scam.  I’m now getting messages in my Inbox on Facebook recommending I “Check kirgo.at.” It’s the same scam, complete (or incomplete depending on how you look at it) with lack of Facebook logo on the fake Facebook login page.

Rule of thumb: if you don’t recognize the URL in messages you’re receiving in your Facebook Inbox, don’t trust them.  There’s likely scores of web addresses (probably all .at addresses) setup for the same phishing function.

If you feel that your account may have been compromised, visit Facebook’s Security page (it is viewable even if you cannot access your Facebook account).

Beyond Facebook’s advice, I’d have to also suggest that compromised account holders monitor their banking, credit card and cellphone accounts.  Scam artists often attempt identity theft with as little information as a full name and date-of-birth.

I blogged earlier this morning about a Facebook Phishing Scam.  I’m now getting messages in my Inbox on Facebook recommending I “Check kirgo.at.” It’s the same scam, complete (or incomplete depending on how you look at it) with lack of Facebook logo on the fake Facebook login page.

Rule of thumb: if you don’t recognize the URL in messages you’re receiving in your Facebook Inbox, don’t trust them.  There’s likely scores of web addresses (probably all .at addresses) setup for the same phishing function.

If you feel that your account may have been compromised, visit Facebook’s Security page (it is viewable even if you cannot access your Facebook account).

Beyond Facebook’s advice, I’d have to also suggest that compromised account holders monitor their banking, credit card and cellphone accounts.  Scam artists often attempt identity theft with as little information as a full name and date-of-birth.

If you receive a message in your Facebook Inbox encouraging you to checkout a site called areps.at, don’t do it.  It’s the latest Facebook phishing scam.

I received one of the messages this morning, and was instantly suspicious as it came from a contact that I haven’t spoken to in quite some times, and it was a very brief/terse message.

If you’re a computer novice, you might click through.  What happens next, is you’re presented with what looks like a login to Facebook.  While it’s easy to shrug this off and say “you’d have to be stupid to fall for this,” barring the missing Facebook logo (which  might be my experience and not everyone’s), I could see people clicking through or even cutting-and pasting this into their browser’s address bar and subsequently giving away their Facebook login and password.

The best way to stop the scam?  If you get an email on Facebook like the one I got, inform the person who sent it to you that their account has been compromised.  The emails are being sent from actual Facebook accounts, so someone out there has their login.  Second, pass the word about the phishing scam so other’s don’t fall for it.

Facebook users are now reporting the same scam directing users to the following Facebook phishing pages:

• areps.at
• kirgo.at
• bests.at
• brunga.at
• nutpic.at

If you feel that your account may have been compromised, visit Facebook’s Security page (it is viewable even if you cannot access your Facebook account).

Beyond Facebook’s advice, I’d have to also suggest that compromised account holders monitor their banking, credit card and cellphone accounts.  Scam artists often attempt identity theft with as little information as a full name and date-of-birth.

If you’re a business and you’re leveraging Twitter, or, if you’re looking for businesses that are using Twitter here’s three twitter directories to check out:

• twibs
• Twellow
• twtBiz

twibs

What’s twibs?  Accorinding to the source, it was created with one purpose: “Give twitter users a place to find businesses online.”  Fair enough.  The directory currently (at the time of this writing) is a couple of hundred businesses shy of being thirteen thousand strong.  If you don’t want to fight your way to the top, or have ulterior motives twibs also offers advertising in the form of page sponsorship.  Listing is free.  Get listed on twibs.

Twellow

If you’ve heard of only one Twitter business directory, it’s likely Twellow.  The tagline reads “The Twitter Yellow Pages,” and their homepage is reminiscent of just that.  The directory is clearly meant to be surfed by category (or searched).  If you’re looking for volume, go to Twellow.  I poked my head into the first category, Aerospace and Aviation, and there were almost a thousand people in that category.  I did a quick search on “online marketing” and it returned over four thousand results. Something tells me they’ve got twibs’ user base covered in spades. Learn more over at Twellow.

twtBiz

The final in the roundup today is twtBiz.  Their tagline/angle has a bit more of a startup flair to it: “Find businesses, entrepreneurs and investors on Twitter!”  If you’re looking to add your business, you’re in luck; I think twtBiz has the same intention.  Landing on their homepage you’re offered a search box to search their twitter business directory.  Right below it: not a link to, but the form to add your business.  Have multiple twitter accounts for your business, such as several employees who all twitter, twtBiz has you covered in that situation, too.  Visit twtBiz.

Any other Twitter business directories out there?

Today Google rolled out changes to its flagship product: web search.  The changes are clearly aimed at facilitating the searcher’s ability to find what they are looking for and find it in short order.  If you’re a search engine optimization (SEO) practitioner, your world is about to get more interesting.  For the rest of the planet, what can be expected from Google search results just got a whole lot better.  What’s new?

The updates include Search Options and enhanced search results featuring microformats for content such as reviews. Google provided a brief video introducing new functionality:

Search Options

Search Options allows the user to quickly refine search results by providing additional context to the search being made.  After making a query, a user has several options to further clarify or modify their search results, including:

• Refining results to videos, forums or reviews
• Specifying the time frame from which to display results
• The ability to augment search results with images from the sites returned
• Lengthening the amount of copy shown for each result
• Showing related search phrases
• Displaying related topics to the subject searched upon (”Wonder Wheel”)
• Viewing results on a timeline

The options above are available when viewing “all results.”  As criteria are applied, the user’s scenario changes.  For example, if the searcher specifies video results only, the options change, removing criteria which is not relevant, but adding other opportunities, like the ability to specify the duration of the videos displayed.

Search Result, Snippets and Microformats

In search results, Google is now also returning different information depending upon the the context of the information searched upon.  In Google’s words:

We call the set of information we return with each result a “snippet,” and today we are announcing that some of our snippets are going to get richer. These “rich snippets” extract and show more useful information from web pages than the preview text that you are used to seeing.

The example which Google provides shows a restaurant search in which the results display star ratings of a result right in the search result listing (as opposed to needing to go to a review site).  Snippets fundamentally change the function of search results.  How and what information to display regarding a particular topic or result is unclear, but what is clear is that this will be a feature which continually evolves.  Google’s blog posting continues to explain the role of Google and the community in defining the feature:

We can’t provide these snippets on our own, so we hope that web publishers will help us by adopting microformats or RDFa standards to mark up their HTML and bring this structured data to the surface. This will help people better understand the information you have on your page so they can spend more time there and less on Google. We will be rolling this feature out gradually to ensure that the quality of Google’s search results stays high.

These new enhancements to Google Search are highly significant; the most significant changes since Universal Search was introduced.

The impact to the Google searcher are clear: Search just got better.  What impact ...