Inside the Valley - Insights into Silicon Valley

Google Authorship – Profile pictures in search results pages increases clicks

admin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:23:56 +0000

Businesses should be aware that Google has rolled out Google+ Authorship – which rewards content that has been verified using the rel=author tag related to the author’s Google+ profile. Its requires the author to verify the content they have written by placing the code on their website and then adding the website that features the content into their Google+ Profile. This is how Google knows the author wrote the content. Google then puts places the profile pictures in search results pages which increases clicks. It’s a smart way to reward authors who provide content and helps users to see which results are verified by highlighting the link with a photograph.

US 76 Sailing on San Francisco Bay

admin — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:35:31 +0000

Great day sailing yesterday in San Francisco on the US 76 – one of the retired America’s Cup yachts once owned by Oracle Racing. These boats have incredible power through the waters. I wish tacking was as easy in technology as it is sailing with a great crew. Thanks to team Los Gatos for a great day on the water.

With the new twin hulls for the America’s Cup being held on San Francisco Bay in August, with New Zealand, Italy and Sweden challenging the USA, it will be great racing on the Bay. The course is from the Golden Gate, to Crissy Field and past Alcatraz and back again with multiple laps. It will be a great sporting event this Summer.

Mobile Apps + Web Usage Per Day Surpasses Television

admin — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 06:31:11 +0000

Perhaps the biggest news here in the Valley is that more people are spending time on mobile apps and web than on television.

Drew Ianni from AppNation Conferences recently told me that Simon Khalaf, CEO of Flurry presented statistics in San Franciso that showed more people in the USA 15 years and older are spending time on mobile apps + web (197 minutes per day) than on television (168 minutes).

Flurry provide analytics and track mobile apps over 800 million devices globally and get this, 1 trillion app actions per month!

The most incredible statistics is that mobile app consumption in the U.S. has reach 127 minutes per day, compared to 168 minutes for TV and 70 minutes for web browsing.

Forget the “hockey stick” on the web, it has been replace with the “vertical wall” growth in mobile apps.

Why Social Media is Critical in SEO

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:32:44 +0000

Social commerce is in it’s formative stages and whilst we believe buying within Facebook may happen one day, it’s not here today in a big way which is why we built SKUmatic.

A recent study by Forrester Research titled “The Purchase Path of Online Buyers in 2012,” in September 2012 cites a selection of statistics supporting the influence of social media on user buying decisions:

17% of users have bought something based on a friend’s post about it using social media
40% of online buyers think that social content created by friends about brands is “a great way to discover sales and promotions”
48% of consumers think that posts created by others in their networks are “a great way to discover new products, brands, trends, or retailers”

View the Video demonstration and see over 50 of SKUmatic customers using our product catalog management software for Facebook at http://www.skumatic.com

An SEO expert walks into a bar….

admin — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 06:05:08 +0000

I thought I’d start the year off with this joke…. it’s pretty funny for SEO practitioners but also highlights how we think of words in an algorithmic sense. There’s a lot more words in our consciouness than ever before, thanks to search engines. We just don’t think of flicking to “P” in the yellow pages book to find a plumber.. today, we think “best plumber menlo park” or “plumber reviews”. So remember that when you’re ordering your next Blue Moon, Fat Tire or Corona.

2013: The Year of the Browser & Device Dilemma

admin — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:55:53 +0000

This week I attended the APPNATION Conference in San Francisco where lots of developers were talking about the pros/cons of building a “mobile first” business – which means building the mobile app before the website.

We have been besieged with browser upgrades, Apple Mini iPads, Nexus Tablets from Google and wireless devices of every shape to the point that browser compatibility on devices is creating a real headache for businesses and this will be a big issue in 2013.

Just ask Plizy whom a friend recommended to me last night. They just fell on their sword!

Stanford Law School: Is This the End of the Internet?

admin — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:45:39 +0000

This is an oxy moron. Stanford’s endowment fund contributes to Venture Funds. They can’t afford the Internet to End. That said I’m attending this discussion at Stanford Law School for no other reason than the pure optimist knows that pessismism (yes, I don’t know how to spell it) “is a state of mind.”

As a graduate of Economics, I refer to this state of mind/thinking as “animal spirits, the term John Maynard Keynes used in his 1936 book ‘The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money’ to describe emotions which influence human behavior. It’s commonly referred to as consumer confidence.

So if consumer confidence in the Internet is down, I think the Internet isn’t dead but interesting to note that seed investing has grown 483% in the last 10 quarters vs 51% for Seres A deals, according to data from CB Insight.

Wind, Power, Lights… The New Conversation

admin — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:05:23 +0000

Conversations in Silicon Valley those of us in the online industry are different to anywhere else in the world. People talk about issues, concepts, trends and have big ideas and interests. In many ways, Silicon Valley is a melting pot of ideas and this collective stream of consciousness which leads to how technologies can solve issues. This was one of the reasons why I’m involved with Gridium.

To give you an idea of how power can change New York City, check out http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/apocalyptic-photos-of-new-york-city-in-the-dark.

With Hurricane Sandy leaving the bottom half of Manhattan with no electricity for days, a buddy of mine, Chris Brinkworth was kind enough to show me this Wind Map at http://hint.fm/wind/

Nexus 7 + Apple Mini = Device Overload

admin — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 00:22:53 +0000

Our house is full up. Four macs, 2 PCs, iPad, Kindle and now a Nexus 7. Tablets have really signaled device overload and

there’s not many smaller versions of tablets or larger versions of phones before the proliferation of devices is more accurately referred to the saturation of devices.

I was invited to the launch party at Google Head Office in Mountain View, California and was given a Nexus7. It’s pretty cool, voice activated search launches the Chrome browser and the results are really accurate. That said, the atached video inside the foyer of Google’s reception was worth capturing. Can they put that on the tablet? Click below to play the video I shot…

The irony of Silicon Valley & Golf

admin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:00:17 +0000

7.26am Friday 21st September. Par 3, 180 yard 5 iron in hand…. slight mist rising over the Palo Alto Course….

With a fading left to right ball flight, the ball hits the pin with a thud on the full and lands 18 inches away from my first ever hole in one chance. I’ve been playing golf regularly once a week for many years and started golf when I was 8 years old. So close, so far away from the penultimate…. that’s Silicon Valley for you… be it on the course or off it! Thank for the photo Jose!