QBurst

Ever wondered whether Facebook can help bring in traffic, sales or clients to your small business? Or if it is really worth the time and effort it takes to optimize a Facebook fan page for your brand? The answer so far seems to be ‘most definitely.’ Although social media marketing can be very tricky, it is a fact that many businesses are igniting their online presence through their Facebook marketing strategy. Facebook is delivering the highest Return On Investment (ROI) of any online marketing medium. More and more businesses are therefore advertising on Facebook to enhance their brand image and sales. Once you create a strong brand identity in someone’s mind, there is high possibility that he will share it among his circle. It is this viral power of Facebook and the potentially colossal exposure, a successful viral can provide, that has turned the largest social website into a powerful marketing medium.

Dominates Online World
Consider that Facebook dominates cyberspace, beating Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL in time spent online. This trend is illustrated in the chart below, which shows a steep rise for Facebook when compared to the slower rise of Google, a decline for Yahoo, a relatively flat line for Microsoft and a sharp drop for AOL. It clearly shows that Facebook has become an integral part of daily communication, at least in the U.S.A, dominating the Internet in a way that is impossible for investors to ignore. (more…)

For at least some of us, ad messages popping up on the mobile can be irksome. So how about the “50% off your meal now” offer that pops up on your iPhone as you walk past your favorite pizza outlet at lunchtime. Hmm… maybe not so annoying after all!

What if you come to know your buddy is already in there taking advantage of the offer? You could join and have a great time too – at half the price.

Wait! Get a few more of your friends to drop in to make it a group of 10 and your meal will cost only one-fourth.

That is possibly what a combination of Where app, Facebook and Groupon could do – give you a ‘happy meal’! (more…)

Right from the time Facebook took over the as the king of social market, drowning Myspace, there has been no real fight for the throne. It’s time we saw a good competitor for Facebook.

Google has attempted to break the Facebook wall many times before, only to bruise itself. Google Waves had to be shut down and Google Buzz doesn’t seem to be picking up. After these failed attempts Google has now come up with another weapon to breach the great wall of Facebook. This is Google Plus (+1). Let’s see what this product has in store.

1. Circles: Circles are groups that can be created for restricted communication and sharing. This is like having separate communities for your friends, family, colleagues, etc. You can create any number of circles. (more…)

A Brief History on Yesterday’s Social Networking King – Myspace

In 2003, eUniverse launched a new platform that enabled individuals to interact with each other over the Internet. Within a short span of time, the platform allured millions. Internet users were already beginning to get bored with the traditional email and chat. This platform named Myspace managed to move to the top of the list even though similar ones like Friendster were already in the market. Years rolled by and in 2007, Myspace clearly became the king of social networking with more than 100 million users. (more…)

Businesses are embracing social media with a jest never seen before. Companies have realized the marketing/advertising potential offered by these viral networks and are clamoring to make the most of it. Small and large companies alike are striving to establish an online social presence to grab greater market share. The motto seems to be “Get out there before the competition.”

But “being out there” is not all! Social media is all about conversations, and conversations need to be listened to.

Are companies listening to the conversations that go on about them? If they aren’t, they could be in for a surprise. (more…)

Open Source Application

Skipfish is an open source scanner written in C language used to detect vulnerabilities in web applications. Users can compile the code and execute it for installation. Skipfish crawls through the web application, detects the security probes and generates a report for security assessments.

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Finally Google has arrived at the ‘Micro-blogging’ platform with a real ‘buzz’. On 9th February 2010, Google introduced ‘Buzz’, the new social networking application to embark on its battle to limit the popularity of Twitter. So, now there are lot of competitions going on in the Internet space. Google Vs Microsoft (Operating System & Enterprise Application Suits), Orkut (Owned by Google) Vs Facebook (Social Networking) Google vs Apple (Smart phone market). Before acquiring YouTube, they fought against them with Google Videos. So what we understand from all these competitions is that Google is not just targeting a niche or industry, rather it want to rule the entire IT Business.

At the first look, we may feel that Google Buzz is an integration of Facebook and Twitter, but it is beyond that. First and foremost advantage is that you don’t have to go to another web page to see the ‘buzz’, it’s there right below the inbox in  the Gmail. The conversation will go like an email thread which is the fascinating aspect of Buzz. You can post in the Buzz, which can be held as private or public. Also, you can connect your profiles in Flickr, Piccasa, Google Reader and Twitter to Buzz. That means you aren’t missing any of your friends and by start ‘Buzzing’, you are increasing your friend and professional network. See this wondeful Video of Buzz, to get more insights.

Now we can perhaps clearly say that it is now ‘Google Vs. Rest of the World’. Apple and Microsoft are companies that are worth more than  $ 100 billion each, Facebook and Twitter are the champs of their respective niche, though they are not monetizing it well. There is no doubt that the internet and enterprise software market will come under the reign of Google, which is not far away.

Apple is all set to unveil their breakthrough product Apple Tablet / iSlate. Amidst the  uncertainties and rumors crawling around the product, technology addicts are eagerly waiting to get a glimpse of the device. The launch is planned for 27th January 2010 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. (more…)

Ever Thought Of Locating Your Twitter On Your Mobile Phone Even Without a GPRS Subscription?

This concept has become a reality in India with the Shorthand mobile SMS browser introduced by the Shorthand Mobile-India(www.shorthandmobile.in), a subsidary of Smarttouch mobile Inc.. The browser once downloaded will connect you to your desired web content just through a text sms. Yes, it’s that simple!

The desired web contents are stored as SMS Apps and are listed in the Shorthand browser for easy scroll and click. The users have to just scroll down to their SMS App and click the same to access the online network. The web content is located as soon as the browser sends the text message. Hence, it does not require an active data plan.

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