(An SEO friendly URL shortener may not be far off)
Twitter really is making an impact on the Internet more and more, like it or not. URL shorteners have popped up all over the place to accommodate long links in the strict 140 character or less twitter world. Of course, the biggest drawback to these links is they are not SEO friendly. This is a big drawback. Since all url shortners do is act as a redirect translation system all short urls point to the url service. So if you are using bit.ly or tinyurl or aything else all you are  adding backlinks to the domain of that services. Sure those services claim to use 301 redirects but lets face it, it’s likely done via programming code which basically equates to a javascript window.location url. You might get something out of it but not much. Anyways, you don’t use URL shortners as an SEO tactic in the first place.

However, in the near future, using an shortened url service may may actually work with your SEO efforts. Google has just announced today the Google URL shortener. For the time being, it is only available for their internal use but they will likely open it for general use soon. The service is named http://goo.gl/ . Not too shabby. The domain name is only 6 character total with the .gl included. They even managed to brand it  by calling it googl. Not too shabby at all.

The benefit of this service, once it hopefully goes live to the public, is that you would be registering your short URL redirect with google. So Google would not have to index a service like tinyurl or bit.ly to understand what these redirects are. They will already know and could possibly fold this index into their other mystical algorithms.. This is very timely considering the rush to create a more relevant “real time social search”. Imagine trying to index every url shortening service out there fast enough to keep up with twitter. This could eliminate that challenge altogether.

So the question is… If and when this service goes live to the public, will you still use any of the other services? If so, why?

Google Yahoo and MSN are coming together again to enforce a new standard in search engine optimization.  People have been talking about canonical links and the importance of addressing them through cleaning up site architecture, navigation and permanent redirects.

Definition:

Canonical is quite simply the the duplication of URLs that link top the same page. Here is an example. All of the links below link to the same page of content. The Search engines could index each one of these links. So the question for the search engines have to “guess” which one is important and which one isn’t.

http://www.mckyton.com
http://mckyyon.com
http://www.mckyton.com/index.php
http://mckyton.com/index.php
http://mckyton.com/index.php?content=home

Up until it has been the responsibility of the search marketers to be aware of this issue and address it through careful crafting of website architecture and 301 redirects. Well it still is the responsibility of the Search engine marketer but now there is real unified guidance on how to address this issue through a new tag attribute  rel=”canonical”

 Here are the announcements from the search engines:

http://ysearchblog.com/2009/02/12/fighting-duplication-adding-more-arrows-to-your-quiver/
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/02/specify-your-canonical.html
 http://blogs.msdn.com/webmaster/archive/2009/02/12/partnering-to-help-solve-duplicate-content-issues.aspx

So What?

Well the simple answer is that this will better organize your website information in the search engines. Whether this will actually improve your SEO/SEM efforts is the real question.

It has been my experience in the past that you are not always rewarded when playing by new rules right away. For example implementing clean URLs on an established site and seeing traffic decrease in the short term. When clean URLs and xml sitemaps were in their infancy you could actually damage money making search engine positions. This would occur because, quite frankly, no one really knows exactly how the search engines will  react to drastic/newly supported changes on your site. When your are very indexed in the search engines and playing the long-tail key-term game you don’t even know everywhere you show up in the search engines. In other words if you make important changes to the structure or architecture to your site you can inadvertently negatively affect your site positions. No matter how knowledgeable or experienced you are until the search engines publish the exact method of ranking, indexing, algorithm changes, etc… All of this is a crap-shoot. Their are general rules you stand by but the rest of SEO/SEM is a constant game of Plan Do Check Act  .  In other words lots of  elbow grease.

Ignorance is Bliss

It has been my experience that sloppy url architecture can actually be a blessing in disguise for small static websites. Essentially, accidental traffic from search engines. If you start following this new recommendation right now you may be negatively effected.

What you should do?

Wait. Organized links are good for search engines but not necessarily you…yet.Don’t make any drastic changes to your site or linking methods yet.  Just sit tight and wait until the benefits are proven. Wait until it is proven that organized, canonical URLs offer more benefit than your acciental traffic. Eventually it will happen. That sweet spot will open up where you can move to this method with out inadvertantly breaking anyhting and you won’t be too far behind the curve that you lose out from inaction

My RSS Aggregator picked up a few items on Cloud Computing today and each item tells a very different story of Cloud Computing. 

1) Rackspace blows away cloud computing myths

2) Omniture’s Outage Woes

3) IBM Sets Its Sights On Cloud Computing With LotusLive

These items are written and posted all day every day. Contradicting each other in some ways, supporting in others, redefining and ever evolving.

This isn’t the first time we have seen Cloud Computing, it’s just the first time we are calling it cloud computing. Many years ago it was ASP ( Application Service Providers), recently it was SaaS and the emerging term now is Cloud Computing. Lets call all of these “Internet applications”

So why do we keep trying to push Internet applications as opposed to desktop software or internally developed and managed software. One reason, cost. Cloud Computing is the non committal IT purchasing mangers dream.  You can buy in and be up and running in minimal time at limited term requirements. Some service run on an pay as you go or  month to month program. Many of the larger companies in Internet Application  space focus on annual contracts to mitigate risks and cover setup fees.  Just because its in the cloud doesn’t mean there isn’t setup.

But it’s not all rainbows and sunshine otherwise we would all be operating on ASP programs and we would have never needed the reincarnation known as SaaS and  Cloud Computing.
Internet Applications failed to reach mainstream and overtake desktop software in the past due to the limitation of the web. That is limitation of the web servers, database servers,  overall speed and accessibility of the Internet and also very much due to the limitations of older browsers. Well Servers are more powerful than ever, the Internet itself is more accessible than ever and there is true competition in browsers that is driving progress and innovation. There is also an ever growing community of web developers with new ideas, talent and overall understanding of web technologies. 

So is Cloud Computing going to stick this time? Not if history has anything to say about. The problem is that the desktop is more powerful to the individual user than the service providing web server. So what happens is the demands of the user outpace the web technology powering Internet applications.

But does it matter if cloud computing survives this time? NO. This isn’t even the right question to ask yourself.

The right question is this.
 Is cloud computing the right option for my business right now? And to this question, in this recession, the overwhelming answer for almost all companies is yes.

This will not always be the case, technology will evolve, business will need more customization or privacy, users will require advanced services. And when these things come to a head it will be the time to invest in the desktop again with internally managed software. This is OK. This is a cycle and right now we are in the Internet Application segment of the cycle.

But can Cloud Computing sustain this time. Well what would it take for Cloud Computing to keep up with increasing demands.  How about the following.

• Fast and robust Internet connection,
• universal / anywhere access to the Internet
• Powerful Networking
• Powerful Servers
• Powerful Browsers

Each one of these items needs to not only keep up but lead the industry to keep Cloud Computing from losing out the desktop again.

Google knows this. I have to wonder how how long Google has been targeting and working on this strategy or if it just evolved into this. 
For Google Apps to take off and sustain popularity indefinitely it needs to address each of the items above. So lets take a look at what steps they have taken.

• Fast and robust Internet connection,
  • Google Data Centers and purchase Dark Fiber, an Internet within the Internet  http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Google-and-Its-Continuing-Dark-Fiber-Mystery/     

• Universal / Anywhere Access to the Internet
  • Google Lobbies for Wireless Spectrum usage  http://news.cnet.com/Googles-battle-for-wireless-spectrum/2008-1039_3-6199374.html
  • http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/breaking/google-wireless-spectrum-bid-is-on-328429.php
  • Obama Broadband plans http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_03/b4116027365196.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily
    
• Powerful Networking
  • Google Builds its own routers http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10137682-92.html  
• Powerful Servers
  • Google designs its own servers to for powerful performance easy maintenance http://gigaom.com/2008/12/29/how-google-is-influencing-server-design/  
• Powerful Browsers
  • Google creates its own browser. Google Chrome  
     
• The only other thing Google needs is regular innovation in application features and design. And for them that’s easy
  • http://code.google.com/
  • http://www.google.com/programming-contest/ 

So will Cloud Computing survive the user demands in innovation and the competition of desktop performance?

I’s more likely now than ever and Google has a the infrastructure to make it happen.

It looks like the newly formed cooperation between Google and Adobe is showing some results already. I mentioned the commitment Google, Adobe and Yahoo were makingto enhance the state of SEO & Flash a couple months ago.  Well, last week Google announced a way to track flash interactivity in Google Analytics. There are some steps you need to take in the development of  your flash to enable the Google Analytics tracking but it doesn’t look too complicated. See the video below for an example of the implementation.

Is this solid proof that an SEO friendly flash is on the way or possibly already here? If we are able to tell google of Flash “pages” visited and click actions performed, are we also telling Google what to index?

I am willing to bet there will be a Google supported Flash site architecture template released in the next year.

Google Chrome

If you have not heard yet, Google released it’s own web browser yesterday named Chrome. 

My first impressions are good. It is fast, based on web-kit, has some unique features, it is fast, has an excellent built in inspector for developers,  an “incognito” setting that helps to keep you a little more anonymous on the web, and once again it renders web pages really fast.

However, this morning I received an email from a friend who diligently reviewed the User License and found some pretty surprising items.

This is what he highlighted:

 

11. Content license from you

By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

    11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.     

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above license. 

Now I think what this means is that if I used Google Chrome to make this very post they own the post. As the owner of this post they can do what ever they want with it. Display it anywhere, change attribution, etc…. We all know that Google is collecting as much information as possible from users to so that they can present more relevant ads, but the above seems to be a step further. And how does this license work with the “incognito” mode?

I am sure Google would not get a court to uphold most of this but I do not want to foolishly assume that. Am i wrong here? Is my interpretation off? is this nothing new? Does Google already own me?

Someone fill me in.

Here is the Chrome Terms of Service (EULA). 
http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html

Here are some other posts floating around about this:

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/09/03/0247205.shtml

http://gizmodo.com/5044871/google-chrome-eula-claims-ownership-of-everything-you-create-on-chrome-from-blog-posts-to-emails

UPDATE: I just saw this post on cnet that look like the Google is already planning to modify the License.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10031703-56.html

UPDATE II: The EULA has already been updated. See it here
http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html

Google recently released a new way to implement and manage 404 error pages. 

Below is a screenshot of the widget.

404 error pages are those pages that are displayed when you try to access a page that no longer exists on a website. Marketers often try to optimize these pages to ensure that if a visitor lands on one of these pages they do not leave the site altogether. Another common trick is to try to cross promote products and services via 404 error pages.

This domain has been several things over the last few years so I have a number of pages indexed in google that are no longer active. So I am trying out this widget on my site in hopes that it may communicate with Google technology and help remove outdated indexes sooner. (I have no proof of this, just hoping)

You can se the widget in action here: http://www.mckyton.com/doesnotexist

I am using the default widget setting but you can customize the look to your liking.