Website design newsletter

Every month we publish interesting news articles relating to website design, search engine trends and other exciting changes happening online.

July 2007

Contents

Google: No 1 most significant E-Biz development

Auckland 10th in list of Asian cities broadband

Try an alternative search engine

Google: No 1 most significant E-Biz development

Two of Google's properties were included in the top 10 most significant e-commerce developments of the last decade, according the Software & Information Industry Association.

The SIIA unveiled its top-ten list on the 10th anniversary of the White House eCommerce Framework.

"Electronic commerce has provided a significant engine for the growth of the global economy and has sparked the delivery of a multitude of innovative products and services," said Ken Wasch, President of SIIA. "These developments reflect the unique nature of the Internet, which has allowed creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurship to flourish."

The Top Ten of the Last Ten Years

1. Google (1998): With a third of all Internet users searching on Google, and half of Americans, the SIIA says the company "did more to fundamentally change the way we use the Internet than any other event in the last 10 years.
2. US Broadband penetration reaches 50% (2004): Until this happened in 2004, the Information Superhighway "felt more like an old dirt road." Though it took longer than expected, broadband created a dramatic change in how ecommerce is done. Broadband penetration is expected to reach 90% by the end of 2007.
3. eBay (1997): Empowered sellers to quit their day jobs and work from home, reaching a larger market faster, competing with other sellers "in ways unimaginable in a physical market."
4. Amazon.com (1997): Solidified the online shopping's place in the market and set the standard for online stores with ease of use and wide selection.
5. Google AdWords (2000): Representing 40% of the online advertising market, keyword advertising became the simplest, most cost-effective way to target audiences, enabling even small businesses to do so.
6. Open Standards (HTML 4.0, 1997): "It has probably been the most influential and important data standard in the history of publishing. Open standards can grow an entire industry, leaving more room and more opportunity for everyone."
7. Wi-Fi (802.11, 1997): Paved the way for people to untie themselves from their desks, and removed location limitations for business.
8. User-Generated Content (YouTube 2005): Though full ramifications are still unknown, citizen journalism was ushered in thanks to YouTube. The SIIA calls it "the embodiment of Web 2.0" and "a must-be-seen place for presidential candidates, a battleground in the copyright wars, a vital distribution point for major media."
9. iTunes (2005): Legitimized digital music, revolutionized the music industry by directly impacting CD sales, and led to increase in bandwidth use.
10. BlackBerry (1999): a.k.a. "CrackBerry," the device created a new mobile business culture where employees were given the freedom to do their jobs from pretty much anywhere.

"It's no surprise to see Google rank as the most important eCommerce development in the last 10 years," said Wasch. "But the list also includes several eCommerce tools that have become so commonplace, we almost forget they didn't exist 10 years ago."

"Ubiquitous broadband access, extensive WiFi connectivity and access to open standards are simply fundamental to eCommerce today."

Source: www.webpronews.com and www.siia.com

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Auckland 10th in list of Asian cities broadband

A survey of 28 cities in Asia Pacific has Auckland in 10th place when it comes to ranking the best "broadband communities".

If you're surprised that a New Zealand city would make it into the top ten given the woeful state of our broadband, you'll be interested to know the survey, by telecommunications journal CommsDay, doesn't measure the cities on broadband penetration, but on a series of factors such as:

* No of wi fi hotspots within 5 miles of city centre
* Presence of HSDPA/EVDO networks
* Mobile penetration
* Programmes to promote school internet use
* E-government
* Subsidised wireless or wired broadband
* Internet penetration

Hong Kong came out on top. But where was Wellington, with its extensive CafeNet wireless network, the inner-city fibre of CityLink and the residential cable network of TelstraClear?

"One of the distinguishing features of the Hong Kong broadband landscape is not only the competition among access providers, but the range of competing technologies that are available to consumers. There is robust competition between fixed network and cable operators, while mobile operators are all moving to the latest 3G data services such as HSDPA," CommsDay said of Hong Kong.

The interesting thing is that cities across the region are competing fiercely to have the best broadband infrastructure so as to attract investment, particularly of the hi-tech variety.

On that basis, Auckland is looking pretty good coming in just behind Sydney. The full rankings are as follows.

Best broadband communities in Asia Pacific:

01. Hong Kong
02. Singapore
03. Taipei
04. Tokyo
05. Seoul
06. (equal) Osaka, Busan
08. Melbourne
09. Sydney
10. Auckland
11. Kuala Lumpur
12. Macau
13. Penang
14. (equal) Bangkok, Beijing, Shenzhen
17. (equal) Shanghai, Guangzhou
19. Manila
20. (equal) Brunei, Bangalore
22. (equal) Delhi, Mumbai, Jakarta, Saigon, Hanoi
27. Phnom Penh
28. Vientiane

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz

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Try an alternative search engine

Can you go a day without using Google or Yahoo? In June, www.altsearchengines.com ran a promotion for a day to see if people could get by without the two big search engines. For some people the answer was a very loud No!

But there are alternatives out there which offer a real alternative with relevant search results and different ways of browsing. Here are three we think are worth looking at:

1) www.quintura.com is based in Moscow but don't let that put you off! It uses the Yahoo global index of worldwide websites. It returns the search results page with a list of results on the right hand side and a cloud of related keyword tags on the left so you can quickly see what subsections of results are available and quickly dive into a section of results related to your search phrase.

2) www.mojeek.com enables you to add your favourite websites to a personalised list and search through those websites only, instead of filtering through global and sometimes irrelevant results.

3) www.haikia.com brings search results by meaning match - similar to the human brain's cognitive skills - rather than by the mere occurrence (or popularity) of search terms. Ask a question and receive a list of results answering your question

Written by Elisabeth Soffe, Fox Web Works.
Using some research from: www.altsearchengines.com

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