http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7862840.stm
Despite all the safeguards and most advanced algorithems, unexpected simple human error jeopardized Google service for 40 minutes!
Classic Black Swan event!
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Has Yahoo’s initial success bred Google’s subsequent legacy?
Google’s phenomenal success in the search and ad business is widely acknowledged and talked about. Personally I enjoyed very much in the last class listening the many interesting topics that were delivered by Simon of Google.
Although Google is undisputedly the #1 search engine and perhaps the most profitable net business , I wonder to what extent the success of Google is due to Yahoo? We know that there are major differences in the search methodology between Yahoo and Google. Yahoo basically organizes the generic search results where Google optimizes the search relevance. But the question is: Would Google see the importance of search relevance had Yahoo not succeeded in the initial search business? Had Google be the first to popularize the search business, may be Yahoo is the one today that optimizing the search results like what Google does??
That raises an interesting question: In the net business models at least, is it good to be the pioneer or follower? Obviously there are many arguments in favor of either one and it is hard to say which one is actually better. Personally I more inclined to become the follower. The reason is simple: in the increasingly competitive web space, thousands of new ideas flourish and disappear everyday. It is very difficult to hit the right start-up idea but it is relatively easier to follow, and to optimize the idea of the pioneer. Of course you may argue that the successful pioneer would have already accumulated certain mass traffic etc and it would be too late to follow, granted. But yet again we see many successful examples such as eBay, Dell model and arguably Google.
So between pioneer or follower, what’s your choice?
Although Google is undisputedly the #1 search engine and perhaps the most profitable net business , I wonder to what extent the success of Google is due to Yahoo? We know that there are major differences in the search methodology between Yahoo and Google. Yahoo basically organizes the generic search results where Google optimizes the search relevance. But the question is: Would Google see the importance of search relevance had Yahoo not succeeded in the initial search business? Had Google be the first to popularize the search business, may be Yahoo is the one today that optimizing the search results like what Google does??
That raises an interesting question: In the net business models at least, is it good to be the pioneer or follower? Obviously there are many arguments in favor of either one and it is hard to say which one is actually better. Personally I more inclined to become the follower. The reason is simple: in the increasingly competitive web space, thousands of new ideas flourish and disappear everyday. It is very difficult to hit the right start-up idea but it is relatively easier to follow, and to optimize the idea of the pioneer. Of course you may argue that the successful pioneer would have already accumulated certain mass traffic etc and it would be too late to follow, granted. But yet again we see many successful examples such as eBay, Dell model and arguably Google.
So between pioneer or follower, what’s your choice?
Friday, 23 January 2009
China Becomes Biggest Net Nation: So what?
China surpassed US to become the biggest net nation sometime last year, and the internet users are on the rise still. Despite that, China still has one of the lowest internet penetration rate and the 3G services only start rolling out sometimes this year. On top of that, its internet-related revenue remains a fraction of the US.
There is no doubt massive potential in terms of the future volume growth in China internet use. But to those hardworking LBS students that curiously taking the first-ever-experimental Internet Marketing class: so what? Really it doesn't matter which country is the biggest net nation as everyone will be hooked to the same web community anyway once you are connected.
Nonetheless, I think the case of China would provide interesting study on net culture especially from the perspective of people in emerging / developing world. Many studies we have today focus on American experience. While it is insightful, it may be less relevant in application to users outside developed world given massive difference in credit card usage, infrastructure in-place, trust and confidence etc. Therefore Chinese experience may give a good benchmark to further examine how net users behave differently in those context.
There is no doubt massive potential in terms of the future volume growth in China internet use. But to those hardworking LBS students that curiously taking the first-ever-experimental Internet Marketing class: so what? Really it doesn't matter which country is the biggest net nation as everyone will be hooked to the same web community anyway once you are connected.
Nonetheless, I think the case of China would provide interesting study on net culture especially from the perspective of people in emerging / developing world. Many studies we have today focus on American experience. While it is insightful, it may be less relevant in application to users outside developed world given massive difference in credit card usage, infrastructure in-place, trust and confidence etc. Therefore Chinese experience may give a good benchmark to further examine how net users behave differently in those context.
Friday, 16 January 2009
Facebook is forever!!
This gonna be debatable. I reckon that Facebook will last forever (eh… defined as “longer than foreseeable future”)! One of the great web phenomenons after Google should deservedly be Facebook. The speed and scale of its rise surprised many and it is still growing strong. Chapter 3 of the text book talks at length the power of the network and Facebook certainly exemplifies that (although I am still not entirely sure how to quantify such value).
The internet is an ever changing landscape. New products or solutions emerge from time to time and replaced the olds, reflecting not only the evolution of the technology but also the latest web culture and consumer habits. People network sites are not new, but My Space, Friendster etc etc have now all overtaken by Facebook. Question now is, if (and that’s a big if) Facebook would be overtaken by another application….
My bet is Facebook will be there at least in the foreseeable future. Its key advantage is the open application that spurs innovation and spread that makes Facebook practically encompasses all the latest, relevant applications (blogging, photos, IM, email, games etc), and more importantly, render Facebook self-adjusting to whatever latest needs and trends are.
Not too sure how this relates to Internet Marketing but surely people have started using Facebook as a mean of marketing and promotions (Oh yes Obama is up there too!). Perhaps the success of Facebook gives us a hint of how the next trend in internet development would look like: Successful application will have more comprehensive integrated functions than ever and marketing through internet, because of the availability all these social applications, will be more individually catered and targeted??!
The internet is an ever changing landscape. New products or solutions emerge from time to time and replaced the olds, reflecting not only the evolution of the technology but also the latest web culture and consumer habits. People network sites are not new, but My Space, Friendster etc etc have now all overtaken by Facebook. Question now is, if (and that’s a big if) Facebook would be overtaken by another application….
My bet is Facebook will be there at least in the foreseeable future. Its key advantage is the open application that spurs innovation and spread that makes Facebook practically encompasses all the latest, relevant applications (blogging, photos, IM, email, games etc), and more importantly, render Facebook self-adjusting to whatever latest needs and trends are.
Not too sure how this relates to Internet Marketing but surely people have started using Facebook as a mean of marketing and promotions (Oh yes Obama is up there too!). Perhaps the success of Facebook gives us a hint of how the next trend in internet development would look like: Successful application will have more comprehensive integrated functions than ever and marketing through internet, because of the availability all these social applications, will be more individually catered and targeted??!
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
This is challenging!
Installing all the required programs and ensuring they are running smoothly for the class are much trickier than it seems. I guess same goes for effective marketing in internet where putting the ads are easy but attracting the mass is gonna be a challenging!
Monday, 12 January 2009
Hey this is gonna be fun!!
This blog will be the cool and core place for internet marketing discussions~!
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