Pod1 Blog

The latest Google’s invention, SearchWiki, has been introduced to the world on 20th Nov 2008. It allows logged-in users to customise Google search by ranking, removing, and adding comments to them. Although annotating and re-ordering apply only to user’s searches, it is also possible to see how other users have voted any given search result.

Expanding on those new ways of searching, you can vote links up if you think they should rank higher. Accordingly, you can vote it down if you think that the link doesn’t deserve a higher rank. Please don’t panic at this point as voting links down will not affect other searches. You can also add a comment where you can save any thoughts you had about any that page. Finally, if you think that the page you’re searching for should be at the top of results list you can ‘Add a result’. Does this sound familiar? Would that be Google trying to ‘take a bite’ out of the online bookmarking business?

Behind all the goodness coming out of the SearchWiki there are also couple of rather worrying aspects. Firstly, although changes made to the search results list will only appear in user’s Google account, “it is hard to imagine that Google won’t take note of such signals, especially if they see broad patterns emerging, and then feed this data through into their algorithm development” (Aaron Wall, SEO Book Blog). The second emerging issue is the downside of being able to post public comments. It may become open for abuse from competitors since anyone can post a public comment on anyone’s website.

NMA’s recent article, “UK’s e-commerce boom can prove a lifeline out of the downturn” hit the nail on the head when it referred to how brands are focusing their spend where it is the most effective. Worth a read..

Read the article here.

Perhaps i’m a couple of days premature, but this campaign captured what i find most exciting about online marketing today: the seamless integration of online to offline…see what what i mean here:

http://www.the-unloader.com

Take a look at Vice this month

They are runing a competition for readers to create their own covers, content etc. for the next edition.

Well worth a look at the best of Design from all disciplines.

Link

“Ready to take your craft projects to the next level? With “smart” materials, unorthodox assembly techniques, and the right tools, you can create accessories, housewares, and toys that light up, make sounds, or do even more. Fashioning Technology is an introductory DIY book that brings technology and crafts together in a fun and unique way. You get jargon-free primers and lots of how-to projects that will have you making — and even wearing — functional works of art.

Written for a broad audience, this book demonstrates how to blend sewing and assembly techniques with traditional electronics to assemble simple circuits using conductive thread, solder joints for snaps, and switches for buttons. With the sewing machine as a viable substitute for the soldering iron, you can craft a new generation of objects that are interactive, quirky, and fashion-conscious.

Author Syuzi Pakhchyan, a seasoned artist, roboticist, and teacher, explains how to use smart materials such as thermo- and photochromatic inks that change color by touch or sunlight, magnetic and conductive paints, polymorph plastic, fiber optics, and more.”

Buy here

As another year draws to a close our friends at Google have put together their search version of what was hot in 2008. Know as Google’s Zeitgeist (which translates as ‘the spirit of the times’), each year the search giant compiles a number of lists of the most searched for terms and keywords in the last 12 months.

Fastest Rising (Global)

1. sarah palin
2. beijing 2008
3. facebook login
4. tuenti (Spanish Social Networking Site)
5. heath ledger
6. obama
7. nasza klasa (Polish Social Networking Site)
8. wer kennt wen (German Social Networking Site)
9. euro 2008
10. jonas brothers

The most interesting trend to be taken from the above is that 4 of the top 10 searches across the globe were related to Social Networks.

Fastest Rising (UK)

1. iplayer
2. facebook
3. iphone
4. youtube
5. yahoo mail
6. large hadron collider
7. obama
8. friv
9. jogos
10. wiki

Most Popular (UK)

1. facebook
2. bbc
3. youtube
4. ebay
5. games
6. news
7. hotmail
8. bebo
9. yahoo
10. jobs

Yet again in the UK this year Social Media has been popular, it will be interesting to see what emerges in 2009 as Search remains the barometer by which internet popularity can be measured.

The Drapers Etail Awards short-list was announced recently and we were delighted to discover that our client’s sites have been short-listed no less than 8 times!

In the following categories:

Best Customer Experience
Reiss
Kurt Geiger

Best Etail Innovation
Matches

Best Independent Etailer
Matches

Best Multichannel Retailer
REISS
Kurt Geiger

Best Single-brand Etailer
Anya Hindmarch
Links of London

Good luck to all, see you at the party!

Visit http://www.drapersetailawards.co.uk/shortlist.asp for the full list.

Our second Magento eCommerce website, myla.com, has joined Kirna Zabete as one of the few sites out there that are showcased by Magento (eCommerce platform). Guess we’re doing something right:

MYLA showcased on Magento

http://www.magentocommerce.com/showcase/project/myla

The Served sites bring you a steady supply of top quality creative work, with each site streaming fresh projects in specific categories(e.g. fashion, industrial design, photography…).

Look here