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I need to start patenting some of these ideas!!


Well Googles making a start:

Google will allow users to decide what happens to their data after they die or become inactive online, the first major company to deal with the sensitive issue.

The feature applies to email, social network Google Plus and other accounts...
BBC News - Google launches tool to determine data use after death

So just need someone to come along and offer a 1 stop shop and sort out a deceased persons online persona, and keep an online business going for the widow. Hmmm patent office....

Well I'll confess to being busier than normal at the moment and missing out on recent tech trends and news, but this one has completely passed me by!

Bitcoins! A virtual currency. Never heard of it, and apparently it crashed in value yesterday.

Anyone actually using it or tried it?

BBC News - The Bitcoin bubble

When I was young and broke, I was pretty socialist Opinions certainly change over the years...

But I think if a business owner or someone on what they considered to be a reasonable income fell on hard times, and got to the extreme point of house re-possession, struggling to feed their family etc, then this is exactly what the welfare safety net is designed for.

The difference is, I bet they would fight tooth and nail to return themselves and family back to a self sufficient status, doing whatever it took, downsizing, relocating, re skilling etc.

We need to restore pride and self worth into our society, regardless of political beliefs or family income and stop the engrained reliance on the state.

I agree totally, and stand by what I said earlier:

By making informed comments within your industry as Linda does, you are reinforcing your position as a subject matter expert which will naturally (in theory!) lead people interested in that subject/product/service towards you.


As dreamraven said, it's down to quality and what service you are providing. What does it offer? Is there a reason for people to want to share your content or link back to you? This can apply to any website, product or service.

But the OP is specifically talking about blog commenting, so maybe add content on your site that people can comment on, or provide a facility that allows interaction. Visit directory communities, blogs etc. Become known as the directory person. Give people a reason to come to you.

Hi Ray

Just saw this, as no ones answered, will give my 5 pence worth

How is your quality score looking? A lot of the ranking (as well as dictating the price you pay) comes from the quality score. If you have low scores, it could be your rivals have a more relevant landing page (keyword wise). Even raising bids may not have that much of an impact if the quality is deemed to be low.

Here's 2 examples from one of our campaigns:



I normally try and tweak anything reporting 6 or below, and if I can't increase it, I suspend it. Only noticed I had a 4 there today, after neglecting adwords recently The quality scores do seem to change round over time. I guess it's dynamic and comparing constantly against competition.

I tend to have a good tune every 6 months, and then just leave it be. Goes against how you are supposed to do it, but works for me, and conversion costs remain fairly consistent.

PPC purists say you should be tweaking and optimising continually, and is why you pay an admin fee to outsource it.

It's true, and I'm guilty of it when it comes to music, books etc that it's easier and more convenient to shop online.

But it will be interesting to see if Peter Jones approach to rescuing Jessops, and ensuring store and online prices are the same, works.

So he's saying by all means go and buy it online, but if you're in town, and want to touch and feel, or ask advice, you can buy instore, but at an online price. How that model works in practice will be interesting, as you have the obvious higher overheads of a physical outlet, but will be watching with interest over the next 12 months.

If he pulls it off, then theres hope for the HMV's, Curry's and other physical chains.

Long time no see! Networking and interaction is important, but it's still the blended approach that works best. Forums and social media, particularly Google + at the moment are a good way of ticking lots of boxes, interaction, link and exposure. But you also need to make sure you are seen in search results, and consider offline opportunities as well.

I admired her, in my mind, she got the Country back on track. I liked her hard stance and resolution when it came to tough decisions.

She dragged the country from the over manned and state owned inefficient 1970's into prosperous 1980's.

I think she did more than anyone else ever has in destroying the class system, giving working people self worth, removing the tyranny of Left Wing Trade Unions. I genuinely believe the banking crisis never would have happened under her watch, and I suspect she would have let RBS fail.

She definitely got things wrong, Poll Tax has to be up there, and using Scotland as a Poll Tax guinea pig was always going to be a bad idea. The miners strike will be a controversial topic that still divides families to this day, and I can see the justification, inefficient money losing mines, but some of the tactics were a bit heavy handed.

The Tories at the time self destructed in the end, as seems to be the way with any party who stays in power too long, and I think the way she left was sad end to her career as PM.

But I think she will be remembered by the majority in a positive light, with maybe a Churchillian legend in the making.

I moved this over to a new thread, as it's a fair question, and I didn't want it to take over the previous thread.


Short answer, no. Long answer 'ish

May sound surprising coming from a directory owner, but there are thousands out there, and most are just script generated rubbish. Most are of the web directory format, hundreds of links, no obvious order on a single page. Low quality, and stay clear.

Online Business Directories normally have a better structure with dedicated pages for individual businesses.

In the old days, it was simply about getting lots of links, of which directories was a good source. This still has some truth, and depending on the directory, links still have a good value back to your site. But directory links alone will give you little benefit, unless part of a larger natural linking strategy.

There is one thing a lot of people over look, and that directories should aim to generate exposure. In otherwords your business listing should be generating targeted traffic.

If you have the ability to edit text, upload pics and stuff, then make the most of it. Traffic on your business listing is no guarantee of someone picking up the phone if you're listing looks dull and uninviting.

Rather than the widely age old forecasted demise of the directory, directories are now being used as "citation" sources by the search engines. A citation in Google speak is a reference or validation of your business address. The more citations you have, in theory adds weight to the way Google views your business in the local search world, primarily on Google+, and also within the search results.

Obviously I'm biased, but someone who knows this area well is Nyagoslav Zhekov (although quite frankly needs to post a bit more reguarly ) who has become a bit of a renowned expert in the Local Citation building field.

But as a marketing strategy, just listing in directories, I'd stick with my original answer and say no. Its always a blended approach that works, on/offline, social media, SEO etc.

Well I never! Must admit I'm a bit green when it comes to YouTube marketing and some of the spammy techniques used. Does indeed make sense now!

From that site you added, saw this quote:

Hmmm, yeah right... real comments! Think I've seen a good example of quality comments

Not really an outfit you want to be associated with... Watch out watch out theres a Penguin about

This is the debate though and frustration in the genuine SEO community. These spammy and black hat techniques have worked very well for such a long time, so it's no wonder so many people are won over

Googles Panda and Penguin algorithm updates are a start, but there's still a long way to go. At least now anyone going down this route is playing Russian Roulette with their website. These techniques will work, but in theory it's for how long, before you are caught out, rather than if.

But if you are in it for the short term though and accept the risks, then there is still a lot of money to be had, which is why we get inundated daily with mediocre and post counting low grade SEO rubbish