Russia’s Yandex Acquires Biz Social Networking Site

Yandex, the Russian portal and WiFi network operator, has acquired Moikrug.ru, which claims to be the country’s largest social networking site for professionals. This is much like Linkedin, but in the Russian business space. Moikrug roughly translates to MyCircle.
Regular and active a:c euro reader Yakov Sadchikov, co- founder of Russia-based search company Quintura, uses the term ‘acq-hired’ to describe the deal, suggesting the know-how and experience of the team at Moikrug was the attraction. Moikrug is said to have some 100k registered users.
No disclosure on price but rumors range from $1.5M to up to $5M including cash and Yandex stock options.

Read the full story - Yandex buys social network MoiKrug.ru

Top University Sites that Google Trusts (Top 20)

Check this out!

Alexander Fedrov has posted the top 20 universities (American), that have the highest Google “Conditional Trustrank”.

1. [uic.edu] trust [673]
2. [uiowa.edu] trust [580]
3. [byu.edu] trust [564]
4. [mit.edu] trust [457]
5. [loyno.edu] trust [428]
6. [umn.edu] trust [383]
7. [uoregon.edu] trust [345]
8. [ua.edu] trust [340]
9. [stanford.edu] trust [312]
10. [ucdavis.edu] trust [312]
11. [cwru.edu] trust [269]
12. [vjc.edu] trust [263]
13. [dongguk.edu] trust [245]
14. [case.edu] trust [239]
15. [harvard.edu] trust [223]
16. [cie.edu] trust [210]
17. [ucne.edu] trust [199]
18. [sdsu.edu] trust [199]
19. [cmu.edu] trust [197]
20. [sage.edu] trust [184]

Matt Cutts Blog Hacked on April Fools Day

Ok, I was a bit surprised to see this nice little piece of hacking work done on Matt Cutt’s site by the DarkSEOTeam.

Click for the full size screen capture of Matts Blog:

Once you take a look at Matt’s Site, you’ll want to cruise over to the www.darkseoteam.com site where you’ll see the following:

Of course I’m lying when I make everyone believe that content is King.
Of course black hat SEO and spamdexing are the only Kings.
Google is just a stupid algorithm relying on spammy backlinks.
But you guys had no right to let everyone know. That’s why I defaced your bloody DST site. To show the entire world how evil a white hat can be.

In fact, I’m as evil as my employer
All your backlinks are belong to us !

Elaborate April Fools Joke? Or really good hack job?
You be the judge!

DeepFish Mobile Browser Launches by MSFT

This is a pretty cool little toy that Microsoft has released, under the name Deepfish. This project is compiled with different technology from companies like Sea Dragon and the imaging is managed by the company Photosynth. Both of these are companies that have highly specialized technology for the mobile browsing market.

This is a free little browser being offered and you wont have to wait for it to be sent through your carrier, you can get it now.

From the Microsoft labs:

Deepfish is a lightweight client application that leverages a powerful server side technology for delivery of content such as web pages to a Windows Mobile device. Content is displayed in a familiar desktop format that requires no additional work by the content or site author.

Deepfish provides:
• A familiar look and feel of web pages on mobile as seen on desktop.
• Bandwidth optimized rendering for faster content delivery.
• Address bar web navigation.
• Intuitive zooming, panning and cue map for quick navigation and browsing.
• Support for simple link navigation and form submission.

Bebo Launches Music Download Service and Bebo Mobile

Finally it’s here, Bebo Mobile was entangled in negotiations with carrier O2, and apparently those deals have fallen through and on Wednesday Bebo will announce that it has partnered with Orange to offer a version on cellphones.

Due to the site’s popularity in the UK, Bebo Mobile will go live there this summer, with expansion to other markets later in 2007. The feature set is vaguely similar to MySpace Mobile: you can edit your Bebo profile, update your blog and add friends from your phone. Presumably you’ll also be able to access Bebo Mail, the internal messaging feature.

In addition to the mobile service, Bebo is also launching a direct competing service to myspace music. Called Bebo Bands. You will be able to sell your songs, if you are a band, through a small widget that can be placed on any site and is built by 7digital.

The inclusion of the widget in Bebo will be huge for them, adding sales from Bebo’s 450,000 registered bands, and enabling them to sell to Bebo’s supposed 31 million users. Bebo Bands will be able to create a Starter indiestore account, which will allow them to sell four tracks, or a Pro account, which supports 20 tracks.

MobilePlay’s eXpress it!

MobilePlay - Another CTIA announcement. MobilePlay, which puts blogs and news sites on your phone, has launched eXpress It!, a mobile social network. Users make “mini sites” to share with others. This is one very cool site! I’m going to sign up for an account tonight.

Qualcomm + Ultra Mobile Broadband = Happy Customers

Qualcomm is stepping up to the plate of mobile technology with the release of 2 new mobile broadband models that support the 3GPP2 Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) standard. The Cell Site Modem CSM8900 and the Mobile Data Modem MDM8900 will make use of multiple-input, multiple-output antenna technologies to boost mobile broadband capabilities.

These are still in the design stages and will be approved in June, once that occurs, these wireless modems will boast 40 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds. The chips for the new qualcomm ultra mobile broadband models will be available in early 2008.

AT&T Offering Mobile Banking

Today the Wireless division of AT&T announced that they will be working with BankcorpSoith,Regions Financial, SunTrust Banks, and Wachovia to provide a secure mobile banking platform and service to its subscribers.

Once the service launches, users will be able to pay bills, and manage their accounts from an embedded application on their phone. The software will be provided by Firethorn and will be pre-loaded into mobile phones as early as the second half of 2007. The free service will be offered as a trial test that will last a year. The service may be offered on a more large scale once the test completes, this will coincide with a massive AT&T Mobile banking campaign later this year that is planned.

Is Neil Patel Proving the 10% / 90% rule?

Neil Patel challenged Jason Calacanis have had a little bet going on lately to see if SEO is really a useful strategy or if it’s just a bunch of Bull.

Whitehat is the name of this game, and Neil showed Calacanis that by making a few changes he was able to increase his traffic by 21%. Oh and by the way, only 10% of the changes that Neil recommended have been implemented. Is this the 10%/90% rule in action? If you make 10% of recommended changes and they are the changes that are big enough to make an impact, will you see 90% of the value right off the bat?

This really makes me think about time management for an SEO – Do you have to spend numerous hours collecting links and digging through content or even building content for that matter to receive the full, or almost full benefit? — Or can you implement just a few Key SEO techniques and receive a huge amount of value by focusing on what you do well, and outsourcing the time consuming aspects?

Take a look at the results, What do you think?

Yahoo Launches Mobile Publisher Services

Yahoo Mobile Publisher Services are the front runner right now in the mobile search and development game. Take a closer look at the features that Yahoo! Mobile Publisher Services is offering.

The Yahoo! Mobile Publisher Services will go live today across 19 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, US and Vietnam.

Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network

The Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network will allow mobile publishers to have syndicated advertising served on their mobile content and services. Publishers will be able to select the ad formats they want to have run, such as display, sponsored links, video or in-game placements.

By bringing together the global audiences of Yahoo!’s popular mobile services with those of participating publishers, Yahoo! will create a combined pool of valuable inventory. Yahoo! will use its leading global sales force and proven ad-serving technology to sell and serve this valuable inventory to leading advertisers.

Launch partners in the Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network include MobiTV, the global leader in mobile and broadband television and music services, Opera, the leading provider of Web browsers for mobile devices, and go2, the leading location-enabled mobile content network in the U.S. The first advertisements will go live in the second quarter of 2007. Yahoo! plans to expand the number of partners in the Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network over the coming months.

Yahoo! Mobile Content Engine

The Yahoo! Mobile Content Engine will enable publishers to bring their content to Yahoo!’s mobile audience. It will also help enable publishers who do not have a mobile site or only have a limited mobile offering to quickly distribute their content to consumers on their mobile phones.

The Yahoo! Mobile Content Engine will allow publishers to make their content, such as listings or articles, discoverable to consumers by integrating it into Yahoo! oneSearch. For example, a real estate company could publish a list of homes for sale, enabling a consumer to find them and get the detailed listing information they need all through Yahoo! oneSearch.

Yahoo! Mobile Media Directory

The Yahoo! Mobile Media Directory will allow publishers to make their mobile media content accessible directly through Yahoo! oneSearch. Publishers could submit a catalog of their content such as ringtones, games, video and applications.

Yahoo! Mobile Media Directory will combine Yahoo!’s editorial expertise, innovative search technology and the power of ratings and reviews from the Yahoo! community to drive discovery of mobile media. For example, a mobile game publisher could submit a list of their games, enabling a consumer to more easily discover a game, get relevant information like ratings and reviews all through Yahoo! oneSearch, as well as go to the publishers’ mobile site to get the game.

Yahoo! Mobile Site Submit

The Yahoo! Mobile Site Submit will allow publishers to provide information about their mobile site, such as a description and relevant tags, to ensure that their sites are accurately indexed and available to consumers through Yahoo! oneSearch. For example, a hotel could submit their mobile site, including description and tag, enabling weekend travelers to find their location and see if they still have rooms available through Yahoo! oneSearch.

Loren Baker over at the Search Engine Journal has a great compilation of Yahools Mobile publisher services that have recently been launched.

Paypal’s Mobile Purchase Service

The word on the street is that PayPal is upping the ante on mobile shopping with anew service that allows shoppers to buy online through their mobile phones. Last year PayPal came out with a service that allows customers to text-to-buy, but that is a bit far away from a full blown mobile shopping experience, this new product should be far beyond the current one.

DeGardener has plenty of details on how this would work using PayPal’s Mobile Check out system.

Currently PayPal’s current offerings are simple:

“With a web-enabled phone, you can go to your favorite site, buy, and check out easily with PayPal. You’ll log on and securely confirm payment just like you do on a computer. Look for it on select merchant sites.”

PayPal is digging their heels deep into this project that is apparently already in testing mode and should be available to the public “within a few months,” says a source that I spoke to on Saturday.

If PayPal can bring this service mainstream, it will be one of the key steps in bringing mobile shopping and browsing to a larger market.

iPod: A Medical Marvel

Doctors have found that their skills of listening to a stethoscope increases greatly when they can listen to heartbeats on their ipods. The average correct heart rate reads by physicians is currently at about only 40%, but in a study, that amount was doubled to 80% but the doctors using a 90-session of ipod training. 149 general internists listened to 5 different common heart murmurs over 400 times and repetition allowed for a doubling of the accuracy.

It’s a very critical skill to be able to identify different heart issues, and it can be a costly one too. Patients are often told to do expensive tests that end up not being necessary.
Michael Barrett, clinical associate professor of medicine and cardiologist at Temple University School of Medicine and Hospital. “It’s important to know when to order a costly echocardiogram or stress test,” Barrett said.

Barrett believes the skill of learning heart problems is best learned through intensive drilling and repetition, not by traditional methods, usually a classroom lecture or demonstration in medical school and then on the job.

This finding was part of a presentation at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting.

And you thought ipods were just for kids!