EightBlack.

This case just seems so pointless. I posted about it here in case you missed it.

In today’s Australian Financial Review,

“The competition regulators case  against Google for misleading conduct over sponsored internet search results made a shaky start yesterday when the Federal Court ordered it to confine its allegations to two pages - double spaced”.

Clearly, Judge Allsop was cranky. I even think that he thinks the whole thing is a waste of time.

I said it back in the original post and I’ll repeat it here. This is going to get tossed. In one sense, the ACCC have already failed with this flagrant waste of tax dollars in that they were hoping to rope in Google Inc, and Google UK/Ireland into the pissing match.

My bet is that the Google US and Google Europe lawyers wouldn’t even get out of bed for something like this. Judge Allsop also stated that there was insufficient evidence before the court to show that the Google Mother Ship was involved.

Judge Allsop also referred to the ACCC’s presentation of the case as “prolix and irritating”. 

Which it is. And if I knew what “prolix” meant, I’d respond with something equally as pithy. Ok, ok, I just looked it up. It means “tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length”.

Graeme Samuel, the beleagured Chairman of the ACCC needs to pick another fight. And one that he can win. Because this one is already over.  Google’s Adwords model has already stood up to multiple tests in courts the world over and they clearly stipulate what is and what isn’t a “sponsored” link. If someone can’t easily tell - then they need glasses or should rent a teenager for the weekend. Arguing over the shaded box that surrounds text ads is simply nonsense.

Google has also tightened the belt here in Australia on using trademarked names within Adwords campaigns.

I just don’t get it. On the surface, Samuel is a smart guy. He’s even got 2 law degrees - and apparently he even studied for them.

It’s time for the ACCC to let this one go. What do you think?

I remember Chris Mander telling me a little while ago he was leaving Theme Park to go off into the wild blue yonder of start-up land. Ok, I thought it. Must be a good idea idea because Theme Park was a pretty well regarded digital outfit. And he already had the coolest offices in Richmond.

His idea lauched a little while ago. His email sat in my inbox under one of those classifications “must get around to reading”.

I’m glad I did.

I think Docoloco has got legs. Its clever. And if it gets traction, it will do well.

Local search has got a lot of room left in it and Docoloco is approaching local search in an innovative way - by letting the user base populate the database. Is it scalable? I think so. There’s also the potential for a social networking element in addition to a transactional portal to spring up and I’m sure Chris and his partner in crime Johnny have got a vision for the future about where they want to take their application once critical mass has been reached.

Its easy to see the Theme Park influence in the design of Docoloco - its sleek, elegant and above all is simple to use.

The video tour is here. Bravo is all I can say.

This story ran in The Age today.

I don’t know, I just don’t get it. It’s one thing to understand affiliate marketing and traffic generation, and using the ad distribution networks that the big search companies offer - like Adsense etc.

I’ve got no issue with Adsense sites in general because most site owners make it clear that the ads that are running are clearly just that- ads.

But when operators hide behind the whole “eco-friendly” concept and say that using a black site (instead of white like Google etc) will benefit the environment is just horse-shit. It really is.

At least Sensis had the common sense to make a donation when they went and pulled out the eco-flag as a marketing tool. They state quite clearly that every search conducted at sensis.com.au results in a donation to Greenig Australia. For a limited time at least. Fair enough. If thats what they need to do, then fine. Its their money. If they want to piss it up against a wall, I’m not a shareholder, so it makes no difference to me. I can assure you that the marketing angle wont drive long term, sustainable search volume. But thats another story.

But back to Blackle.

I hope it fizzes out quickly. I really do. I’m not convinced the model will survive long term. On one hand, I have to admire the “entrepreneurship”. But its just not ethical to state that by displaying everything in a black background that the environment will be saved and that our computer screens will use less power - unless they can clearly prove the claim.

Their website states that “a black Google would save 750,000 megawatt hours a year”. Show me.
I’ve had the good fortune of visiting the Googleplex in the US and I would lay good money on the fact that all 4 buildings within the actual “plex” - with their roofs covered in solar panels would save probably just as much. Google in the US generate 40% of their own power with their solar efforts.

All I can say is “where’s the evidence…”

(Image courtesy The Age, 1 Aug 2007)

Personally, I think its been a bit quiet on the web.

I know Facebook is all the rage at the moment (and picking up speed like a runaway freight train), Google is defending its recent financials, as well as quietly tip-toeing into the spectrum race (about as quietly as a 300 lb gorilla can anyway), Microsoft is buying up as many online ad companies it can get its hands on and theres somewhat of a renaissance going on at Yahoo!

There’s also a little company called Twitter thats making a splash - I first came across these guys at Web 2.0 Expo earlier this year.

But its all a bit “Business As Usual” sort of stuff. Nothing riveting. Nothing that jumps off the page. Or so I thought.

I was listening to a voice post from John Battelle and he was talking about the preparation thats going on for the upcoming Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco in October.

I’ve talked about this a little bit before, but you cant help but be impressed by the line-up of presenters and key notes. Battelle goes on to state:

“I do this thing with some of the players of the big platform players - Google, Yahoo!, Vicacom, EBay, Microsoft and I’m really going to push with these guys towards the edge. Its not just the new hot start ups or edgy markets or places where the web hasnt caught up yet, but what are they doing about operating on the fringe….”

The voice post is here for those who want to listen.

It got me thinking about a meeting I had late last week. I’ve posted about MyLiveSearch before and the 2 smart brothers behind this new search technology. They’ve had some decent initial coverage.

Well, there’s not much I can share at this stage due to a non-disclosure agreement - but I will say this. I think, just maybe, that these guys might be on to something. I saw a real, live, working demo of the search interface and it took me a while to truly appreciate what they have done.

If successful, MyLiveSearch could well and truly invert the entire search space. Thats if they’re allowed to. The beta version is due out in 3 weeks or so. It might very well change the way you think and “search” on a daily basis.

Will it threaten the Google juggernaut? Maybe not. But it will catch their attention. And the Gabriel boys might just find themselves working from a Mountain View address in the not too distant future.

These sorts of applications are the “edge” that I think Battelle refers to. And its not until you see it first hand, that you truly marvel at the way the web is continuing to evolve.

I’m heading to Chicago today to spend the weekend with some of the brightest minds in online marketing. The event is Ken McCarthy’s System Seminar and it is the reason or cause for me being so interested in the online space today.

Originally, Ed Dale introduced me to The System nearly 4 years ago. Attending Ken’s event literally changed my perspective on life, commerce and marketing.

One of the people I saw live back in 2003 was Gary Halbert - one of (if not THE) best copywriters of our time.

I’ll be blogging live from the event as I did for Web 2.0 Expo last week.

Enjoy watching Gary. He’s a cracker. More later.

Today we installed SNAP - hold your mouse over this link and you’ll see a snap shot of the site come up. It works for all the links on this blog…

Pretty cool huh!

Tell me, do you think this would be helpful on a Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP)?

There’s a constant push in the online world to become the next Google, YouTube, MySpace (the list is endless)… Some folks are trying to put twists on already existing services and hope that this will bring them riches…

Previously Simon has posted about Big.com which is simply a search engine for the aging global population using larger fonts, clever yes, but not earth shattering. Similar in nature is this little site which has recently launched - www.msdewey.com - It’s not really anything new, but someone is certainly showing off their flash skills. It has limited appeal and is more of a novelty search engine, it’s too slow to use daily, but provides a laugh along the way.

Simon and I were talking about the long-term success of such search engines, given that Google can return results within milliseconds, but the point of these sites should be to target themselves in a niche market. Simon pointed out that msdewey.com would make a fantastic corporate intranet - Imagine a CEO being able to bring his people all the answers, simply by typing in their question…

If you’re going to change/improve an existing product then I believe it should be tested in a niche where you can get targeted and constructive feedback. Also for development firms there’s a lot of money to made in selling applications/solutions to major corporates - perhaps more than a few dollars a day in adsense.