The Lawmaker’s Contention

This change in Google’s privacy policy is not left uncontested, after the announcement of Google’s change in privacy policy, lawmakers especially those in the European Union have raised several questions and is now currently calling on the search engine giant to stop the implementation of its privacy policy pending EU’s full review of such policy. The review of Google’s privacy policy is for the European Union to determine if the new Google Privacy Policy is consistent with the European Union’s law on data protection.

Initial Problems Seen

Although the new privacy policy according to Google is a change that would enable them to deliver their services better, the European Union already saw problems that may make the Google Privacy Policy inconsistent with the data protection law of EU. One of which is the fact that since identity of the person searching via Google may be collected would this not invade the privacy of such person especially if such person would be searching about medical information such as diseases, is it fine to track such user? In a previous Google case it was revealed that even if you delete your data it will still remain in storage for about or more than sixty days. The question is how much protection or security would be given to these deleted data while in storage and waiting for final deletion?

Of course Google may mean well in their privacy policy change however it would be prudent to have on the part of the Government and Google as well to determine if such policies affecting their constituents and users respectively should be consistent with the laws of the land or the country to which it is being implemented in order to avoid any future legal problems something that some social media platforms are currently battling.

What are the Policy Changes?

According to Google they will be removing around sixty existing policies and they will be replaced by policies which, according to the search engine giant, will be a lot shorter and easier to browse over or read. This means goodbye reading a page long terms of condition or policies wherein after reading three paragraphs you might already be in slumber land. The shorter version of the Google policies may help everyone in understanding the different changes and the scope and limitations of each of Google’s services.

Specific Policy Changes

The updated privacy policy basically focuses on how your user details are being safeguarded and being utilized by Google. For instance Google explains in their privacy policy how they gather information for you, it is basically stated that information is gathered in two ways these are gathering your user information based on what you as the user register with Google. The other way of gathering information is by using your data information from using the different Google services. For the second type of gathering information there are several types of data that are being gathered like your Log information, information about user location, Cookies and other anonymous identifiers, the user device information and other relevant information.

With Whom Information is shared?

One of the fears of most of Google users or internet users in general is on the manner on how their personal information or data gathered by Google be safeguarded and utilised. Google has made it clear with their policy that there are several ways on how your personal information is shared. First, your personal information as gathered by Google may only be shared with the users’ consent. Second, your personal information may be shared with domain administrators or those providing you service and support through Google services like that of the Google apps.  Third, your information may be utilised for external processing via Google’s affiliates who will process your information for the intended purpose of Google. Finally, your information may be utilised or shared by Google to third party companies for any legal reasons thereof.

Conclusion

Making the Google policies concise and easy to understand makes it very accessible to the millions of people who are using Google or any of its services in one way or another. This move by Google helped a lot of people especially those who are not fond of reading long Privacy Policies and Terms of Service. As to the extent of its benefits or its detrimental effects, it would still remain to be seen pending its full implementation on the first day of March.

Interestingly enough, the taking down of Megaupload and arrests have caught the attention of international hacktivist group Anonymous. Anon released a message to the public via YouTube to declare the beginning of some sort of cyber-war between the citizens of the United States of America and the Government. Anonymous also urged viewers to share the video via various social media platforms. In retaliation to the FBI’s actions, Anonymous attacked many government sites which resulted in them being offline for some time.

There is a huge amount of protest going on against SOPA and also PIPA as many internet users believe this will censor the internet. Most agree that online piracy needs to be combatted, but this is not an effective method to fix the issue.

This act by the FBI shows that even without SOPA’s approval, they can take any site down and arrest whoever they want, according to Anon anyway. Whether SOPA is passed will be decided in four days, we can only wait and see what will happen to the internet.

If the bill passes it will hugely affect the web in ways that cannot be fathomed. Search engines will be forced to alter their results, which will result in biased results, directly affecting the process and general industry of SEO and PPC.

If SOPA is not approved, it is likely that the US government will find another bill that the citizens of America will be happy about and to deal with online piracy once and for all.

If you log onto Google.com, you will notice at the bottom of the page there is a message from congress which states “Tell congress: Please don’t censor the web”, and by clicking this link, it will take you to another section of Google in which you can sign an online petition to stop SOPA and PIPA, on top of that… information about the two bills are available. More importantly the effects of these bills are explained which is something that is hard to find. Then there is a community section that proves the growing community that are opposing the movements. Internet giants such as Facebook, Twitter, eBay, PayPal and of course Google, not to mention the countless others who are opposing the censorship of the internet.

The Effects

According to Google, SOPA and PIPA will do more harm than good. This is because it will force internet businesses to closely monitor everything linking to their site and if they are in violation of any new laws according to SOPA and PIPA, then it could potentially mean the end of the business, which will leave a huge number of people jobless.

It would be different if SOPA and PIPA actually worked, according to the big G!, these acts won’t stop online piracy. The regulations written in these bills wont successfully shut down their sites, they will simply transfer them to another domain and continue until they are caught again.

Conclusion

Anyone who works on the internet frequently has had their work stolen and pirated before. Whether you’re a writer or film maker, it happens so often and there is not much we can do about it. We do need a bill or law to prevent online piracy. However we need one that will work and not end up crippling the internet as we know it. This change will have a huge effect on social media and could potentially put a stop to it, not to mention SEO and PPC as the algorithm will be a completely different and most likely biased, and that is if it hasn’t been banned by a government.

Whether you are for, or against SOPA, we really need to consider both sides, especially before we jump into any rash decisions like take our site down for the day because of SOPA. Granted, if this act does become approved, then the internet will be a completely different place for every user. Many huge sites are taking action against SOPA and if you are against the act, you must think abou what will happen if you join the blackout movement.

Points To Consider

The first point would be the obvious “am I going to make a difference”. The chances are that you won’t. As blunt as that may be, it is the truth. Compare your impact to what a site like Google would have. If Google blacked out their site for the day, then it would have a massive effect on users of the internet. It is the most popular site on the web so there would be a devastating impact, if anything would get the word out about SOPA, then no doubt it would be by Google. That said, your site is most likely no were near as popular… Unless your name is Mark Zuckerberg.  Consider how much money you would lose to having a website down for a day, it can be fatal for some sites, this loss would need an indefinite gain, and unfortunately since there isn’t, then I feel it would not be a wise move to blindly jump on the SOPA band wagon, in terms of blacking your site out.

Another point would be to think of other ways you can help the cause. You can raise awareness from other methods, whether you’re for SOPA or against it, there has to be something you can do, this is where you can use your own personal experience and creativity to “fight the power”.

Conclusion

There are many reasons in which why not to jump into the SOPA act, whether you are a supporter or not. If you are not getting traffic on a scale of Facebook, Google and Twitter, it is unwise to jump into a decision like that. The best thing you can do is use your skills, whether you are a plumber or a SEO company, there is something you can do to help your side of the argument.

Step Up

Google is the search giant; there is no dispute about that. However, we all know that Yahoo have been slowly declining and have been in need of a comeback. This alliance could be exactly what Yahoo needs to begin to bring back higher user activity on their site. Especially since Yahoo site explorer went down, which was a tool that displayed incoming links, this tool was heavily used by SEO ‘s around the world. Now the alliance has been formed, this could be Yahoo’s big break.

What The Bing?

The question must be raised, what is in it for Bing? Well the most obvious reason would be a higher volume of search. Although Yahoo is on a downhill slope right now so the search volume required would not be that great. I think there are other reasons for this Alliance. Possibly Yahoo’s tech heads are better with PPC or may have a more technical algorithm than Bing.

Taking On The G!

Since Google is the king of search, I believe this is an attempt for the two engines (Y! + Bing) to team up and group together their current volumes of traffic and make an attempt to beat Google, this will be tough to accomplish straight away, any search engine to take on Google will not receive an instant win. So unless an awesome advance in the industry is made by Yahoo and Bing, then it will be difficult for them to overcome Google and become the top source of information on the web.

Conclusion

It is unlikely that we will be informed the true reason for this alliance. It is most likely an attempt to combat Google but the reason why they are teaming up is much more than we know. Yahoo are most likely part of this to bring themselves back from their decline. However the reasons for Bing to be a part of this alliance are unclear.

Potentially copy catting Facebook and Twitter, but the famous saying of Apple is that they have an app for that. Google cannot be blamed for jumping on the mobile band wagon, every social network should be available on a mobile device and now they are.

Features

Google Plus has five main sections to the platform (not including games). These areas are the stream, messenger, photos, profile and circles. All of these factors are available on both the web on a desktop computer, and the mobile app. Notifications are also displayed at the bottom of the screen which is great when you would like to be instantly notified.

Downside

One downside about + for mobile devices is that hangouts is not really available as there would be some compatibility issues which would just cause a bad user experience. For example, the iPhone 3GS would not be able to hangout via video because it only has a back camera available so the face would not be able to be seen so it would be pointless.

Conclusion

All features that are available on the web are also available on the Google Plus app, which makes this app an ideal tool for social media marketing which goes great with SEO campaigns and other various internet marketing activities.

Hi and welcome to my Blog at SEO Positive, each week I will be providing you with my digital marketing Top Tips on how your online business can stay ahead of your competitors! We manage online marketing campaigns (SEO, PPC, Social Media and Website Design) for some of the biggest clients on the internet providing them with a healthy ROI (Return on Investment) here’s a few of them: promocodes.co.uk, luggagesuperstore.co.uk, voijeans.co.uk, partybritain.co.uk and spabreak.co.uk for more examples please see our case studies.

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Written By

+ Dave Damhar

For SEO companies and enthusiasts, we could be looking at a huge or minor change in the industry this year. There where algorithm changes last year with the integration of the social network Google Plus. So what has Google got in store for us this year? Without a doubt there will be more changes to the algorithm but maybe a few more features will be released and majorly impact search as we know it.

Another possibility is that Google Plus becomes a hugely dominant social network and leaves Facebook in the dust, which will give Google the full Monopoly board so to speak. All of this is yet to come in 2012 and there will be things that no one could have predicted as with every year.

Predictions based on last year can be made by anyone and really they are simply preparations in case something like an algorithm change happens which will cause a few sites to drop dramatically in the SERP’s. All there is to do is to wait and see until Google or any other SEO, Social Media, PPC or even Web Design related news is released.

Lithuania              -              31.74mbps

South Korea       -              29.74mbps

Latvia                    -              26.77mbps

Sweden                 -              26.08mbps

Romania              -              25.77mbps

Just for a comparison, the UK gets 11.38mbps and the US gets 12.19mbps, which is insane to compare because that is almost twice the speed and those that live in the UK and US would like to think of their country as pretty developed and somewhat high tech.

Lithuania holds the title for fastest download speeds. SEO could be done at twice the speed in Lithuania compared to the UK, especially the link building process which involves heavy browsing.

The reason for Lithuania’s super fast internet speeds cannot be said for sure as there could be a million and one different factors effecting countries like the UK in a negative way or Lithuania in a positive way. All that can be said is that if you are in the area, make sure you get all of your downloads done.