WebProNews

Tag: 2011

  • Intel Q4 Earnings Released

    Intel, makers of fine processors and other delicious computing goods, announced a record year at their quarterly financial report.

    The corporation reported full-year revenue of $54 billion, operating income of $17.5 billion, net income of $12.9 billion and EPS of $2.39. The company generated approximately $21 in cash from operations, paid dividends of $4.1 billion and used $14.1 billion to repurchase 642 million shares of stock.

    For the fourth quarter, Intel posted revenue of $13.9 billion, operating income of $4.6 billion, net income of $3.4 billion and EPS of 64 cents. The company generated approximately $6.6 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.1 billion and used $4.1 billion to repurchase 174 million shares of stock.

    “2011 was an exceptional year for Intel,” Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO, said. “With outstanding execution the company performed superbly, growing revenue by more than $10 billion and eclipsing all annual revenue and earnings records. With a tremendous product and technology pipeline for 2012, we’re excited about the global growth opportunities presented by Ultrabook systems, the data center, security and the introduction of Intel-powered smartphones and tablets.”

    Intel has posted a positive business outlook for 2012 as well.

    They expect Q1 2012 to bring in $12.8 billion in revenue, plus or minus $500 million. They expect a gross margin percentage of 63 percent and 64 percent non-GAAP. They expect to spend approximately $4.4 billion on R&D. They see Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles at $75 million. There should be no impact from equality investments and interest. Their depreciation is set to $1.5 billion.

    For the full year, they expect a gross margin percentage of 64 percent and 65 percent non-GAAP. They expect spending for R&D to cost around $18.3 billion. There is an amortization of acquisition-related tangibles at $300 million. They expect to see depreciation set to $6.5 billion. Their tax rate will be 29 percent and full year capital spending will be $12.5 billion.

    Their Q4 business unit revenue saw their PC client group revenue at $9 billion, up 17 percent year-over-year. Data center group revenue was at $2.7 billion, up eight percent year-over-year. Other Intel architecture group revenue was at $1.1 billion, up 35 percent year-after-year. Intel Atom microprocessor and chipset revenue brought in $167 million, down 57 percent year-over-year. McAfee and Intel Mobile Communications contributed revenue of approximately $1 billion.

    Full year business unite revenue saw their PC client group’s revenue at $35.4 billion, up 17 percent from 2010. Their data center group saw revenue of $10.1 billion, up 17 percent from 2010. Other Intel architecture group saw revenue of $5 billion, up 64 percent from 2010. Intel Atom microprocessor and chipset saw revenue of $1.2 billion, down 25 percent from 2010. McAfee and Intel Mobile Communications contributed revenue of $3.6 billion.

    Intel plans to report their Q1 2012 earnings on April 17.

  • Record 1 Billion iOS, Android Apps Downloaded Last Week

    People didn’t waste any time getting acquainted with their new iOS and Android devices that they received Christmas last month: following the largest amount of device activations for a single day on Christmas Day, people spent the following week filling up their new devices with tons of apps.

    Flurry reports that people didn’t just tip-toe into the mobile app waters, either – they dove right in with a 60% increase of app downloads for iOS and Android devices during the final week of December 25 – 31 and, for the first time, posted a watermark above 1 billion downloads for a single week.

    As much as the Christmas spirit can be said to be the instigator for all of this app downloading due to the gifting of new iOS and Android devices, it can’t be singled out as the sole responsible agent. App downloads in China, Sourth Korea and Japan – countries wherein Christmas is not so widely observed – contributed over 100 million apps downloaded in the final week of 2011. Flurry points out that “South Korea and Japan have the 4th and 5th largest smart device installed bases of all countries, yet they ranked 7th and 10th, respectively, for downloads over the record week.” The full data stats of app downloads for the last week of 2011 are below.

    So given that this is probably more of a market swell than a holiday trend, Flurry says that we shouldn’t be surprised if this rate of downloaded apps doesn’t repeat a few times in 2012:

    Looking forward to 2012, Flurry expects breaking the one-billion-download-barrier per week will become more common-place. While iOS and Android growth continues to amaze, the market is still by all measures relatively nascent. We look forward to continuing to chart the unprecedented adoption of mobile computing devices, usage of applications and the way in which this technology is changing consumer behavior worldwide.

    One thing that Flurry didn’t point out is that these statistics may just be correlations without actually demonstrating causality. Sure, more active devices anticipates more app downloads but even then that doesn’t explicitly explain the bulge of apps downloaded between Christmas morning and New Year’s Day. Given that the lull between the two holidays is typically filled with abundant free time and possibly awkward family gatherings, people likely downloaded a lot more apps this week for the same reason they always have: they were bored. But all those new phones probably helped out exponentially, as well.

    Did you get a new phone? Did you download apps last week and thus contribute to the record-breaking swell of downloads in a single week? What’d ya download? Let us know below.

  • Top Tech Trends of 2011 [Infographic]

    Now that 2011 is officially behind us, here’s a look at the top tech trends of the year, courtesy of G+ (not Google+).

    What are your predictions for the top trends of 2012? Let us know in the comments.

    Top Tech Trends of 2011

  • New Year’s Eve in Times Square: An Infographic History

    CityPass.com has put together an interesting infographic looking at the history of New Year’s Even in Times Square, with a timeline dating back to 1900.

    While it doesn’t include info from every year, it has a nice assortment of facts for various years. For example, in 1904, the first celebration took place with 200,000 people.

    via

    Happy New Year!

  • One Last, Brief Look At The Web Of 2011

    I’m not going to rehash the entire year of events and web happenings. That would be a massive book, and there is just simply too much to recount. I’m not even going to focus on major events so much, but there have been so many year-end round-ups that I feel they yield their own round-up of sorts, allowing us to take a quick glimpse of the year that’s now behind us. Happy New Year.

    What was the most memorable part of 2011 to you? Let us know in the comments.

    According to Nielsen, the top web brands in 2011 (in the U.S.) were:

    1. Google
    2. Facebook
    3. Yahoo
    4. MSN/WindowsLive/Bing
    5. YouTube
    6. Microsoft
    7. AOL Media Network
    8. Wikipedia
    9. Apple
    10. Ask

    For social networks and blogs (again, in the U.S.) the list was:

    1. Facebook
    2. Blogger
    3. Twitter
    4. WordPress
    5. MySpace
    6. LinkedIn
    7. Tumblr
    8. Google+
    9. Yahoo Pulse
    10. Six Apart TypePad

    The Top online destinations for video (in the U.S.) were:

    1. YouTube
    2. VEVO
    3. Facebook
    4. Yahoo
    5. MSN/WindowsLive/Bing
    6. AOL Media Network
    7. Hulu
    8. The CollegeHumor Network
    9. CNN Digital Network
    10. Netflix

    Twitter

    Twitter’s most tweeted events (in terms of tweets per second):

    6,939 – JAN 1 – New Years
    4,064 – FEB 6 – Super Bowl
    5,530 – MAR 11 – Japanese earthquake and tsunami
    3,966 – APR 29 – UK Royal Wedding
    5,106 – MAY 2 – Raid on Osama bin Laden
    6,303 – MAY 28 – UEFA Champions League
    5,531 – JUN 13- NBA Finals
    6,436 – JUN 27 – BET Awards
    4,995 – JUL 11 – Home Run Derby
    7,166 – JUL 17 – Brazil eliminated from the Copa America
    7,196 – JUL 17 – End of FIFA Women’s World Cup
    5,449 – AUG 23 – East Coast earthquake
    7,064 – AUG 25 – Steve Jobs resigns
    8,868 – AUG 28 – MTV Video Music Awards
    7,671 – SEP 20 – Troy Davis executed
    6,049 – OCT 6 – Steve Jobs passes away

    The top hashtags of the year were:

    1. #egypt
    2. #tigerblood
    3. #threewordstoliveby
    4. #idontunderstandwhy
    5. #japan
    6. #improudtosay
    7. #superbowl
    8. #jan25

    The top topics were broken down by category:

    TV:

    1. Pretty Little Liars
    2. Two and a Half Men
    3. The Craigslist Killer
    4. Golden Globe Awards
    5. People’s Choice Awards

    Movies:

    1. Thor
    2. The Dark Knight Rises
    3. X-Men: First Class
    4. Fast Five
    5. Green Hornet

    Music:

    1. Rebecca Black and Friday
    2. Nate Dogg
    3. FEMME FATALE
    4. Gerry Rafferty
    5. Gil Scott-Heron

    Actresses:

    1. Elizabeth Taylor
    2. Mila Kunis
    3. Anne Hathaway
    4. Raven Symone
    5. Natalie Portman
    6. Elisabeth Sladen
    7. Jennifer Lopez
    8. Nina Dobrev
    9. Emma Watson
    10. Fernanda Vasconcellos

    Actors:

    1. Charlie Sheen
    2. Macaulay Culkin
    3. Ryan Dunn
    4. Ricky Gervais
    5. Pete Postlethwaite
    6. Tracy Morgan
    7. Jake Gyllenhaal
    8. Ashton Kutcher
    9. Colin Firth
    10. James Franco

    Soccer:

    1. Wayne Rooney
    2. Fernando Torres
    3. Howard Webb
    4. Wembley Stadium
    5. Colo Colo

    Football:

    1. Dallas
    2. Green & Yellow
    3. Superbowl MMXI
    4. Jim Harbaugh
    5. Pittsburgh Steelers

    NBA:

    1. Rashard Lewis
    2. Ray Allen
    3. Derrick Rose
    4. Jason Terry
    5. Dallas Mavericks

    Baseball:

    1. Texas Rangers
    2. Bert Blyleven
    3. Roberto Alomar
    4. Vernon Wells
    5. Justin Verlander

    Food and drink:

    1. McLobster
    2. Fried Kool-Aid
    3. Starbucks Trenta
    4. Devassa Beer
    5. Guinness
    6. BBQ
    7. Mac & Cheese

    World News

    1. Mubarak’s resignation
    2. Raid on Osama bin Laden
    3. Japanese earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster
    4. Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords
    5. Gaddafi’s death
    6. Swine Flu outbreak
    7. WoW Gold Guide

    Cities and countries:

    1. Cairo
    2. Egypt
    3. Japan
    4. Libya
    5. Tokyo
    6. Dallas
    7. Vancouver
    8. Hawaii
    9. Joplin
    10. Austin

    Tech:

    1. Mac App Store
    2. Sony NGP
    3. Guitar Hero
    4. Mozilla Firefox
    5. Duke Nukem Forever
    6. iPad
    7. iPhone
    8. Nintendo 3DS
    9. Mortal Kombat
    10. iPod

    Facebook

    Facebook’s top games:

    Gardens of Time (Playdom)
    The Sims Social (EA)
    Cityville (Zynga)
    DoubleDown Casino (DoubleDown Interactive)
    Indiana Jones Adventure World (Zynga)
    Words With Friends (Zynga)
    Bingo Blitz (Buffalo Studios)
    Empires & Allies (Zynga)
    Slotomania-Slot Machines (Playtika)
    Diamond Dash (wooga)

    Facebook also shared the following topic lists for 2011:

    US Top 10 status trends

    1. lms (like my status)
    2. tbh (to be honest)
    3. Death of Osama bin Laden
    4. Charlie Sheen
    5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    6. Casey Anthony found not guilty
    7. Packers win the Super Bowl
    8. Hurricane Irene
    9. Insidious (movie)
    10. Death of Amy Winehouse

    Fastest growing areas of interest on Facebook globally:

    Entertainment:

    Actors and TV Personalities

    1. Megan Fox
    2. Vin Diesel
    3. Adam Sandler
    4. Selena Gomez
    5. Will Smith
    6. Taylor Lautner
    7. Jackie Chan
    8. Ashley Tisdale
    9. DJ Pauly D
    10. Kim Kardashian

    Movies

    1. Harry Potter
    2. The Twilight Saga
    3. Toy Story
    4. Avatar
    5. Jackass
    6. Shrek
    7. Saw
    8. Pirates of the Caribbean
    9. Fast &Furious
    10. Titanic

    TV Shows

    1. House
    2. Two and a Half Men
    3. The Simpsons
    4. Family Guy
    5. South Park
    6. Grey’s Anatomy
    7. SpongeBob SquarePants
    8. CSI: Miami
    9. iCarly
    10. The Big Bang Theory

    Fictional Characters

    1. Dr. House
    2. Dory
    3. Patrick Star
    4. Mr. Bean
    5. Upin & Ipin
    6. Bob Esponja
    7. Mario
    8. Doraemon
    9. Ari Gold
    10. Sue Sylvester (GLEE)

    Music:

    Musicians

    1. Rihanna
    2. Bob Marley
    3. Avril Lavigne
    4. David Guetta
    5. Enrique Iglesias
    6. Usher
    7. Lady Gaga
    8. Metallica
    9. Green Day
    10. Black Eyed Peas

    Most Listened To Songs

    1. We Found Love – Rihanna and Calvin Harris
    2. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) – Katy Perry
    3. Sexy And I Know It – LMFAO
    4. Titanium – David Guetta and Sia
    5. First of the Year – Skrillex
    6. Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites – Skrillex
    7. Without You – David Guetta and Usher
    8. Stereo Hearts – Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine
    9. Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People
    10. Someone Like You – Adele

    Sports:

    Athletes

    1. Leo Messi
    2. Cristiano Ronaldo
    3. John Cena
    4. Ricardo Kaka
    5. David Beckham
    6. Michael Jordan
    7. Sachin Tendulkar
    8. Andres Iniesta
    9. Kobe Bryant
    10. Cesc Fàbregas

    Sports Teams

    1. FC Barcelona
    2. Real Madrid C.F.
    3. Manchester United
    4. LA Lakers
    5. Chelsea Football Club
    6. Liverpool FC
    7. A.C. Milan
    8. Arsenal
    9. Galatasaray
    10. Fenerbahce

    News:

    News Outlets

    1. CNN
    2. Fox News
    3. NPR
    4. The Onion
    5. The New York Times
    6. Al Jazeera Channel
    7. Yahoo! News
    8. The Times of India
    9. BBC World News
    10. PBS

    Most Shared Articles

    Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami (New York Times)
    What teachers really want to tell parents (CNN)
    No, your zodiac sign hasn’t changed (CNN)
    Parents, don’t dress your girls like tramps (CNN)
    (video) – Father Daughter Dance Medley (Yahoo)
    At funeral, dog mourns the death of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan (Yahoo)
    You’ll freak when you see the new Facebook (CNN)
    Dog in Japan stays by the side of ailing friend in the rubble (Yahoo)
    Giant crocodile captured alive in Philippines (Yahoo)
    New Zodiac Sign Dates: Ophiuchus The 13th Sign? (The Huffington Post)

    Frugal Dad put out this infographic comparing the year in review through the eyes of Twitter, Facebook and Twitter.

    StumbleUpon

    Top topics from StumbleUpon’s explore box:

    1. love
    2. funny
    3. tattoo
    4. games
    5. diy
    6. wedding
    7. harry potter
    8. hair
    9. recipes
    10. food

    More from StumbleUpon’s year-in-review here.

    Blogs

    Pingdom ranked the top blogging services in terms of downtime:

    1. Blogger
    2. WordPress
    3. Typepad
    4. Posterous
    5. Tumblr

    YouTube

    Most popular videos of the year:

    1. Rebecca Black – Friday
    2. Ultimate Dog Tease
    3. Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)
    4. Talking Twin Babies (pt. 2)
    5. Nyan Cat
    6. Look at me now – cover by @KarminMusic
    7. The Creep (feat. Nicki Minaj & John Waters)
    8. Maria Aragon – Born this way cover
    9. The Force – Volkswagen commercial
    10. Cat mom hugs her baby kitten

    Most viewed videos from major record labels:

    Jennifer Lopez – On The Floor ft. Pitbull
    LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock
    Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song [Official Video]
    Nicki Minaj – Super Bass
    Pitbull – Give Me Everything ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer
    Pitbull – Rain Over Me ft. Marc Anthony
    Jessie J – Price Tag ft. B.o.B.
    LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
    Katy Perry – E.T. ft. Kanye West
    Katy Perry – Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

    Most viewed food videos on YouTube:

    1. TurBaconEpic Thanksgiving – Epic Meal Time
    2. Epic Mealtime Showdown of Awesome
    3. Make gummy candy at home
    4. Healthy Meal Time!
    5. Vegan Black Metal Chef Episode 1 Pad Thai

    Top Ads on YouTube:

    1. VW – The Force
    2. T-Mobile – Royal Wedding
    3. Chrysler – Imported From Detroit
    4. DC Shoes – Ken Block’s Gymkhana Four: The Hollywood Megamercial
    5. smartwater – Jennifer Aniston goes viral
    6. Team Hot Wheels – The Yellow Driver’s World Record Jump
    7. Old Spice – Scent Vacation
    8. Apple – Introducing Siri on iPhone 4S
    9. Samsung – Unleash Your Fingers
    10. adidas – D Rose: adiZero Rose 2 The Bull

    Spotify

    Spotify’s top 100 songs for the U.S. included: Foster the People, Gym Class Heroes, Adele, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, Skrillex, Pitbull, LMFAO, Drake, David Gueta, Flo Rida, Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Cobra Starship, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Beyonce, Britney Spears, The Band Perry, Hot Chelle Rae, Jason Derulo, Snoop Dogg, Bad Meets Evil, Bruno Mars, OneRepublic, Swedish House Mafia, Lupe Fiasco, AWOLNATION, Kanye West, Bon Iver, Alexandra Stan, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Gavin DeGraw, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga, Florence & The Machine, MGMT and more.

    Check out their review site for full lists by country.

    iTunes

    Music:

    Artist of the Year: Adele
    Album of the Year: Wasting Light, Foo Fighters
    Song of the Year: Pumped Up Kicks, Foster the People
    Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Nicki Minaj

    Top Sellers (Songs):

    Rolling in the Deep, Adele
    Party Rock Anthem, LMFAO
    Firework, Katy Perry
    Grenade, Bruno Mars
    Forget You, Cee Lo Green
    Give Me Everything, Pitbull
    E.T., Katy Perry
    Moves Like Jagger, Maroon 5
    Pumped Up Kicks, Foster The People
    Super Bass, Nicki Minaj

    Top Sellers (Albums):

    21, Adele
    Sigh No More, Mumford & Sons
    Tha Carter IV, Lil Wayne
    Watch The Throne, Jay-Z and Kanye West
    Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay
    Born This Way, Lady Gaga
    Loud, Rihanna
    Take Care, Drake
    Teenage Dream, Katy Perry
    Doo-Waps & Hooligans, Bruno Mars

    Movies:

    Best Blockbuster: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2
    Best Comedy: Bridesmaids
    Best Indie: Midnight in Paris
    Best Romance: Beginners

    Top Sellers (Sales + Rentals):

    The Social Network
    Limitless
    No Strings Attached
    Just Go With It
    The Lincoln Lawyer
    Bridesmaids
    Source Code
    Tangled
    The King’s Speech
    Red

    TV Shows:

    Best Half Hour: Modern Family
    Best Drama: Breaking Bad (duh)
    Best Discovery: Masterpiece: Downton Abbey
    Best Breakout Comedy: Parks and Recreation

    Top Sellers (episodes):

    What Lies Ahead, The Walking Dead
    Original Song, Glee
    Box Cutter, Breaking Bad
    Out, Sons of Anarchy
    The Kids Are Not Alright, Gossip Girl

    Top Sellers (seasons):

    Doctor Who
    Modern Family
    Dexter
    Breaking Bad
    True Blood

    Apps:

    App of the Year: Instagram
    Game of the Year: Tiny Tower

    Top Paid Apps:

    Angry Birds
    Fruit Ninja
    Angry Birds Seasons
    Cut The Rope
    Tiny Wings
    Angry Birds Rio
    Words With Friends
    Camera+
    Doodle Jump
    Plants vs. Zombies

    Top Free Apps:

    Facebook
    Pandora
    Word With Friends Free
    Angry Birds Free
    Skype
    Netflix
    Angry Birds Rio Free
    Groupon
    Fruit Ninja Lite
    Twitter

    Books:

    Best Novel: The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
    Best Nonfiction: Boomerang by Michael Lewis
    Best Teen Novel: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

    Top Sellers (Fiction):

    The Help
    The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
    A Game of Thrones
    Water for Elephants
    The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest
    The Litigators
    Now You See Her
    The Paris Wife
    Breaking Dawn
    Something Borrowed

    Top Sellers (Nonfiction):

    Steve Jobs
    Heaven Is For Real
    A Stolen Life
    Unbroken
    Shit My Dad Says
    Bossypants
    Bossypants (enhanced edition)
    In The Garden Of Beasts
    SEAL Team Six
    Killing Lincoln

    Games

    According to Raptr.com:

    – Most Played By individual gamers – Skyrim
    – Most Played Shooter: Modern Warfare 3
    – Most Played RPG: Skyrim
    – Most Played Open World (Non-RPG): Batman: Arkham City
    – Most Played Sports Game: FIFA Soccer 12
    – Most Played Social Game: The Sims Social
    – Most Played New IP: L.A. Noire
    – Most Successful Paid-to-F2P Game: DC Universe Online

    The Year in Gaming in Under 2 Minutes video featured the following games:

    Battlefield 3
    Deus Ex Human Revolution
    Assassins Creed: Revelations
    The Witcher 2
    RAGE
    Uncharted 3
    Dark Souls
    Gears of War 3
    Catherine
    Saints Row: The Third
    Portal 2
    Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
    Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
    From Dust
    Yakuza 4
    Dirt 3
    L.A. Noire
    Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
    Rayman Origins
    Shadows of the Damned
    Child of Eden
    Dragon Age 2
    Infamous 2
    Alice: Madness Returns
    Batman Arkham City
    Resistance 3
    Driver: San Francisco
    Outland
    Dead Space 2
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    Fear 3

    Mobile

    According to StatCounter, Symbian was the top mobile OS of the year.

    It was also a good year for free apps (in terms of bringing in the money).

    eBay

    eBay’s top shopped list of the year:

    NFL
    Harry Potter
    Twilight
    Call of Duty
    Green Bay Packers
    iPad
    Sade
    Justin bieber
    Glee
    Charlie Sheen

    Amazon

    Amazon’s best-selling products of 2011:

    Electronics: Kindle Fire
    Toys: Rory’s Story Cubes
    Video Games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    Sports & Outdoors: Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set
    Home & Kitchen: Cuisinart SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender
    Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    Kindle Books: “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
    CD: “21″ by Adele
    Amazon MP3: “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga
    DVD: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1″
    Amazon Instant Video: “The Help”
    Watches: Timex T5J151 1440 Sports Digital Watch
    Jewelry: Designer Inspired Silver Heart Charm Toggle Bracelet
    Clothing: Levi’s Men’s 501 Jean
    Shoes: Crocs Classic Clog
    Beauty: Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
    Health & Personal Care: Philips 7310 Norelco Men’s Shaving System
    Tools & Home Improvement: Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern
    Automotive: Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger
    Baby: Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether
    AmazonWireless: Samsung Galaxy S II (Verizon Wireless)
    Amazon Appstore for Android: Angry Birds Rio (Ad-Free)

    Amazon’s most wished-for products of 2011:

    Electronics: Kindle Fire
    Toys: Angry Birds: Knock On Wood Game
    Video Games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    Sports & Outdoors: Emergency Fire Starter
    Home & Kitchen: Cuisinart SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender
    Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    Kindle Books: “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
    CD: “21″ by Adele
    Amazon MP3: “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga
    DVD: “Star Wars: The Complete Saga” (Episodes I-VI)
    Amazon Instant Video: “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
    Watches: G-Shock X-Large Military Series Watch
    Jewelry: Sterling Silver Marcasite and Gemstone Colored Glass Heart Pendant
    Clothing: Levi’s Men’s 501 Jean
    Shoes: Chuck Taylor All Star Hi Top in Gold Metallic
    Beauty: Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
    Health & Personal Care: Waterpik Ultra Water Flosser
    Tools & Home Improvement: Smith’s PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener
    Automotive: ResQMe Keychain Rescue Tool
    Baby: Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether
    Amazon Appstore for Android: Angry Birds Rio (Ad-Free)

    Amazon’s most gifted of the year:

    Electronics: Kindle Fire
    Toys: Rory’s Story Cubes
    Video Games: Just Dance 3
    Sports & Outdoors: Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set
    Home & Kitchen: KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer
    Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    Kindle Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    CD: “21″ by Adele
    Amazon MP3: “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga
    DVD: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″
    Watches: LEGO Kids’ Star Wars Darth Vader Mini-Figure Alarm Clock
    Jewelry: 14k Yellow Gold Plated “A Mother Holds Her Child’s Hand For A Short While And Their Hearts Forever” Open Heart Pendant
    Clothing: Gerber 5-Pack Onesies Brand One Piece Underwear
    Shoes: Crocs Classic Clog
    Beauty: Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
    Health & Personal Care: Philips 7310 Norelco Men’s Shaving System
    Tools & Home Improvement: Smith’s PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener
    Automotive: Wagan 12-Volt Heated Seat Cushion
    Baby: Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether

    Amazon’s most loved prodcuts of 2011:

    Electronics: Kindle
    Toys: Syma R/C Helicopter
    Video Games: Portal 2
    Sports & Outdoors: Black Mountain Products Resistance Band Set
    Home & Kitchen: EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale
    Books: “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand
    Kindle Books: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
    CD: “Il Volo” by Il Volo
    Amazon MP3: “Born this Way” (Special Edition) by Lady Gaga
    DVD: “Soul Surfer”
    Amazon Instant Video: “Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead”
    Watches: Casio AWG100-1A G-Shock Multi-Band Solar Atomic Analog Watch
    Jewelry: Tungsten Carbide Comfort Fit Flat Wedding Band Ring
    Clothing: Men’s Air Force A-2 Flight Leather Bomber Jacket
    Shoes: ASICS Men’s GEL-Nimbus 12 Running Shoe
    Beauty: NARS Orgasm Blush
    Health & Personal Care: Finger Pulse Oximeter
    Tools & Home Improvement: Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern
    Automotive: 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System
    Baby: Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo
    AmazonWireless: Droid Razr 4G by Motorola (Verizon Wireless)
    Amazon Appstore for Android: Quell

    Ask

    Ask’s top celebrity search terms and questions for 2011 include:

    1. Kim Kardashian: Was Kim Kardashian’s wedding fake?
    2. Justin Bieber: Is Justin Bieber going to be a dad?
    3. Lady Gaga: AreLady Gaga’s face implants real?
    4. Beyonce: Did Beyonce fake a baby bump?
    5. Kate Middleton: Who made Kate Middleton’s wedding dress?
    6. Ashton Kutcher: Did Ashton cheat?
    7. Michael Jackson: Was Michael Jackson murdered?
    8. Selena Gomez: Is Selena Gomez pregnant?
    9. Lindsay Lohan: Is Lindsay Lohan going to jail?
    10. Charlie Sheen: What happened to Charlie Sheen’s teeth?

    Top news search terms and questions included:

    1. Earthquake in Japan: How big was the earthquake in Japan?
    2. Hurricane Irene: What caused Hurricane Irene?
    3. Steve Jobs: How much was Steve Jobs worth?
    4. Royal Wedding: What did William whisper to Kate on the balcony?
    5. Occupy Wall Street: Who started Occupy Wall Street?
    6. iPhone: When will Apple release the iPhone 5?
    7. Osama Bin Laden: Who killed Bin Laden?
    8. Casey Anthony: Where is Casey Anthony hiding?
    9. 10th Anniversary of September 11: What is happening on the 10th anniversary of 9/11?
    10. AmyWinehouse: How did Amy Winehouse die?

    Top political searches and questions included:

    1. Barack Obama: Will Obama get re-elected?
    2. Mitt Romney: What is Mitt Romney’s religion?
    3. Sarah Palin: Is Sarah Palin running for president?
    4. Michele Bachmann: Is Michele Bachmann crazy?
    5. Anthony Weiner: Where can I find Anthony Weiner’s Twitter pics?
    6. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Who was Arnold’s mistress?
    7. Gay Marriage: Which states allow gay marriage?
    8. Withdrawl from Iraq: When will the troops come home?
    9. Iowa Caucus: When is the Iowa caucus?
    10. Muammar Ghadafi: Who will lead Libya after Ghadafi?

    AOL (search)

    News

    1. Casey Anthony Trial
    2. Gabrielle Giffords Shooting
    3. Royal Wedding
    4. Japan Earthquake
    5. Arab Spring
    6. Penn State Scandal
    7. Osama bin Laden Death
    8. Occupy Wall Street
    9. Debt Ceiling Debate
    10. European Debt Crisis

    Celebrities

    1. Charlie Sheen
    2. Justin Bieber
    3. Kate Middleton
    4. Jennifer Aniston
    5. Kim Kardashian
    6. Tiger Woods
    7. Lindsay Lohan
    8. Amy Winehouse
    9. Glenn Beck
    10. Pippa Middleton

    Memes

    1. Ted Williams
    2. Planking
    3. Serene Branson
    4. Anonymous
    5. My Little Pony
    6. Ancient Aliens
    7. Nyan Cat
    8. Rebecca Black Friday
    9. Tiger Mom
    10. Qwikster

    Presidential Candidates

    1. Barack Obama
    2. Herman Cain
    3. Michele Bachmann
    4. Rick Perry
    5. Ron Paul
    6. Mitt Romney
    7. Newt Gingrich
    8. Rick Santorum
    9. Jon Huntsman
    10. Gary Johnson

    “How…”

    1. How can I pay off my credit card?
    2. How tall is Katy Perry?
    3. How can I stop snoring?
    4. How did Valentine’s Day start?
    5. How do you lock your scroll bar?
    6. How much is my jewelry worth?
    7. How many ounces in a gallon?
    8. How do I change my AOL password?
    9. How much should I weigh?
    10. How did Punxsutawney Phil get his name?

    “Is…”

    1. Is Whitney Houston pregnant?
    2. Is the iPhone 3GS free?
    3. Is Dolly Parton her real name?
    4. Is Cancun safe for tourists?
    5. Is Roseanne Barr a nut farmer?
    6. Is heartburn a sign of pregnancy?
    7. Is shingles contagious?
    8. Is Facebook going to charge?
    9. Is there life after death?
    10. Is rosemary good for stretch marks?

    “Why…”

    1. Why did Dick leave Big Brother?
    2. Why did the original Becky leave Roseanne?
    3. Why did William and Kate split in 2007?
    4. Why did Paul Ryan found the Young Guns program?
    5. Why did the chicken cross the road?
    6. Why did Glenn Beck leave Fox?
    7. Why did Ricky Gervais quit Twitter?
    8. Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
    9. Why did my hair thin after giving birth?
    10. Why did Jerry Lewis leave MDA?

    Yahoo

    Top Searches on Yahoo! in 2011

    1. iPhone
    2. Casey Anthony
    3. Kim Kardashian
    4. Katy Perry
    5. Jennifer Lopez
    6. Lindsay Lohan
    7. American Idol
    8. Jennifer Aniston
    9. Japan Earthquake
    10. Osama Bin Laden

    Top Gadget/Tech Toy Searches on Yahoo! in 2011

    1. iPhone
    2. Blackberry
    3. Xbox
    4. PlayStation 3
    5. Wii
    6. iPod
    7. Android
    8. iPad
    9. Kindle
    10. Playbook (Blackberry)

    Top Searches on Yahoo! Over the Past 10 Years

    . 2011: iPhone
    . 2010: BP Oil Spill
    . 2009: Michael Jackson
    · 2008: Britney Spears
    · 2007: Britney Spears
    · 2006: Britney Spears
    · 2005: Britney Spears
    · 2004: American Idol
    · 2003: KaZaA
    · 2002: PlayStation 2

    Top Mobile Searches on Yahoo in 2011

    1. iPhone 5
    2. Powerball
    3. MLB
    4. Scrabble cheat
    5. Casey Anthony
    6. Hurricane Irene 2011
    7. Kim Kardashian
    8. Translator
    9. Amy Winehouse
    10. May 21, 2011 Rapture

    Top Searched Obsessions on Yahoo! in 2011

    1. Charlie Sheen
    2. The Rapture
    3. “Friday” (Rebecca Black)
    4. Mortgage Rates
    5. Extreme Couponing
    6. Angry Birds
    7. Planking
    8. Game of Thrones
    9. Government Shutdown
    10. Tiger Mom

    Bing

    Most searched people:

    1. Justin Bieber
    2. Kim Kardashian
    3. Jennifer Aniston
    4. Lindsay Loahan
    5. Jennifer Lopez
    6. Britney Spears
    7. Katy Perry
    8. Megan Fox
    9. Lady Gaga
    10. Miley Cyrus

    The most searched consumer electronics were:

    1. Xbox and Kinect
    2. Kindle
    3. Playstation
    4. iPhone 5
    5. iPad
    6. Wii
    7. iPad 2
    8. Nook
    9. Windows Phone 7
    10. Macbook Pro

    The top three news stories were:

    1. Casey Anthongy Trial
    2. Osama bin Laden Death
    3. Hurricane Irene

    Top Celebrity Events:

    1. Royal Wedding
    2. Final “Harry Potter”
    3. Kim Kardashian Wedding

    Top Finance Quotes:

    1. Real estate agents
    2. Cheap
    3. Coupons

    Google

    Global – fastest rising:

    1. Rebecca BlackSearch
    2. Google PlusSearch
    3. Ryan DunnSearch
    4. Casey AnthonySearch
    5. Battlefield 3Search
    6. Iphone 5Search
    7. AdeleSearch
    8. 東京 電力Search
    9. Steve JobsSearch
    10. Ipad 2

    Global – fastest falling:

    1. MyspaceSearch
    2. Hi5Search
    3. MeboSearch
    4. Nasza KlasaSearch
    5. NetlogSearch
    6. BaiduSearch
    7. Wer Kennt WenSearch
    8. MeinvzSearch
    9. Hotmail CorreoSearch
    10. Delta Airlines

    Global fastest rising in entertainment:

    1. Rebecca BlackSearch
    2. Ryan Dunn DeadSearch
    3. Price Tag LyricsSearch
    4. Amy Winehouse DeathSearch
    5. Super Bass LyricsSearch
    6. Crazy Stupid LoveSearch
    7. Disney JuniorSearch
    8. Kim Kardashian WeddingSearch
    9. The Lazy SongSearch
    10. Rihanna Man Down

    Global fastest rising in sports:

    1. Mayweather Vs OrtizSearch
    2. SoccerstarSearch
    3. Dan WheldonSearch
    4. Ufc RioSearch
    5. Marco SimoncelliSearch
    6. Troy DavisSearch
    7. India Vs EnglandSearch
    8. なでしこ ジャパンSearch
    9. Hope SoloSearch
    10. Pacquiao Vs Mosley

    Global fastest rising in consumer electronics:

    1. Amazon Kindle FireSearch
    2. Iphone 4sSearch
    3. Sidekick 4gSearch
    4. Hp TouchpadSearch
    5. Spb Shell 3dSearch
    6. Ipad 2Search
    7. Htc SensationSearch
    8. Samsung Nexus PrimeSearch
    9. Sony NgpSearch
    10. Ipad 3

    Global fastest rising in food and drink:

    1. WendysSearch
    2. Just EatSearch
    3. Little CaesarsSearch
    4. Chick Fil ASearch
    5. AllrecipesSearch
    6. 食べ ログSearch
    7. Jimmy JohnsSearch
    8. Buffalo Wild WingsSearch
    9. PopeyesSearch
    10. Cupcakes

    Global fastest rising in Google Maps:

    1. UtmSearch
    2. Siegessule BerlinSearch
    3. Dpt ConforamaSearch
    4. Wells FargoSearch
    5. FriseurSearch
    6. Elementary SchoolsSearch
    7. CampgroundsSearch
    8. Shopping CentreSearch
    9. StarbucksSearch
    10. Lake

    Global fastest rising people:

    1. Rebecca BlackSearch
    2. Ryan DunnSearch
    3. Pippa MiddletonSearch
    4. Casey AnthonySearch
    5. AdeleSearch
    6. Steve JobsSearch
    7. Amy WinehouseSearch
    8. Osama Bin LadenSearch
    9. Charlie SheenSearch
    10. Kate Middleton

    Global fastest rising news:

    1. FukushimaSearch
    2. Iphone 4sSearch
    3. Melania ReaSearch
    4. Salvatore ParolisiSearch
    5. Lamberto SposiniSearch
    6. Battlefield 3Search
    7. DskSearch
    8. Iphone 5Search
    9. GaddafiSearch
    10. Libya

    What has been the most memorable part of the web of the year for you? Let us know in the comments.

  • Kindle Fire Tops Many Amazon Lists, But Not Most Loved

    OK, here’ the last Amazon list of the day, as far as I’m concerned. You can peruse the other year-end and holiday lists they’ve put out here. They include the best-selling items of the holidays, the best-selling items of the year, the most wished for, the most gifted, etc.

    The company’s new Kindle Fire tablet topped many of these lists in the electronics category, but not on the last list Amazon shared – the most loved products of 2011. Amazon can still be happy that its Kindle took that spot, but the absence of the Kindle Fire on the list reflects complaints customers have had with the device.

    It’s clearly been selling well, but there have been some issues. They’ve already launched an update to fix some bugs. It was even the subject of bit on Conan O’Brien:

    Anyway, here’s the list of the most loved products of 2011, according to Amazon:

    • Electronics: Kindle
    • Toys: Syma R/C Helicopter
    • Video Games: Portal 2
    • Sports & Outdoors: Black Mountain Products Resistance Band Set
    • Home & Kitchen: EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale
    • Books: “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand
    • Kindle Books: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
    • CD: “Il Volo” by Il Volo
    • Amazon MP3: “Born this Way” (Special Edition) by Lady Gaga
    • DVD: “Soul Surfer”
    • Amazon Instant Video: “Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead”
    • Watches: Casio AWG100-1A G-Shock Multi-Band Solar Atomic Analog Watch
    • Jewelry: Tungsten Carbide Comfort Fit Flat Wedding Band Ring
    • Clothing: Men’s Air Force A-2 Flight Leather Bomber Jacket
    • Shoes: ASICS Men’s GEL-Nimbus 12 Running Shoe
    • Beauty: NARS Orgasm Blush
    • Health & Personal Care: Finger Pulse Oximeter
    • Tools & Home Improvement: Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern
    • Automotive: 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System
    • Baby: Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo
    • AmazonWireless: Droid Razr 4G by Motorola (Verizon Wireless)
    • Amazon Appstore for Android: Quell

  • What Amazon Users Bought Most For Each Other In 2011

    We’re running through Amazon’s year-end lists. We’ve already looked at the top-selling holiday items, the top-selling items of the year, and the most wished-for items of the year.

    Now, it’s the most gifted products of 2011. These are the popular products ordered as gifts by Amazon.com customers over the year, based on total units sold.

    The Kindle Fire has dominated the electronics lists Amazon has been putting out, and it’s only been out since November (though unveiled in late September).

    Here’s the list:

    • Electronics: Kindle Fire
    • Toys: Rory’s Story Cubes
    • Video Games: Just Dance 3
    • Sports & Outdoors: Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set
    • Home & Kitchen: KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer
    • Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    • Kindle Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    • CD: “21” by Adele
    • Amazon MP3: “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga
    • DVD: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”
    • Watches: LEGO Kids’ Star Wars Darth Vader Mini-Figure Alarm Clock
    • Jewelry: 14k Yellow Gold Plated “A Mother Holds Her Child’s Hand For A Short While And Their Hearts Forever” Open Heart Pendant
    • Clothing: Gerber 5-Pack Onesies Brand One Piece Underwear
    • Shoes: Crocs Classic Clog
    • Beauty: Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
    • Health & Personal Care: Philips 7310 Norelco Men’s Shaving System
    • Tools & Home Improvement: Smith’s PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener
    • Automotive: Wagan 12-Volt Heated Seat Cushion
    • Baby: Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether

    Did anyone order you a Kindle Fire?

  • Amazon’s Most Wished For Products of 2011

    Amazon’s Most Wished For Products of 2011

    Yesterday was the big day for Amazon’s holiday lists. We got a glimpse at what people were buying for each other for the holidays.

    Today is the day for Amazon’s 2011 lists. We already looked at the top selling products for 22 categories here.

    Now, here is the list for the most wished for products from Amazon’s wish lists and registries. So in other words, this is what people wanted in 2011, but may or may not have actually gotten. There is some overlap among the lists, so I have to assume that some got at least some of the things they wished for.

    Here’s the list, again by category:

    • Electronics: Kindle Fire
    • Toys: Angry Birds: Knock On Wood Game
    • Video Games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    • Sports & Outdoors: Emergency Fire Starter
    • Home & Kitchen: Cuisinart SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender
    • Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    • Kindle Books: “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
    • CD: “21” by Adele
    • Amazon MP3: “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga
    • DVD: “Star Wars: The Complete Saga” (Episodes I-VI)
    • Amazon Instant Video: “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
    • Watches: G-Shock X-Large Military Series Watch
    • Jewelry: Sterling Silver Marcasite and Gemstone Colored Glass Heart Pendant
    • Clothing: Levi’s Men’s 501 Jean
    • Shoes: Chuck Taylor All Star Hi Top in Gold Metallic
    • Beauty: Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
    • Health & Personal Care: Waterpik Ultra Water Flosser
    • Tools & Home Improvement: Smith’s PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener
    • Automotive: ResQMe Keychain Rescue Tool
    • Baby: Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether
    • Amazon Appstore for Android: Angry Birds Rio (Ad-Free)

    Do you use Amazon’s Wish Lists? Do you generally end up getting what you “wish” for?

  • Amazon’s Best-Selling Products of 2011

    Yesterday, Amazon released its list of best-selling items for the holidays. Today, the company has released its list of best-selling items of the year.

    Unsurprisingly, many of the items are the same, but the isn’t identical by any means.

    This time, Amazon has listed the top item for each of 22 categories. Enjoy:

    • Electronics: Kindle Fire
    • Toys: Rory’s Story Cubes
    • Video Games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    • Sports & Outdoors: Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set
    • Home & Kitchen: Cuisinart SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender
    • Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    • Kindle Books: “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
    • CD: “21” by Adele
    • Amazon MP3: “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga
    • DVD: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1”
    • Amazon Instant Video: “The Help”
    • Watches: Timex T5J151 1440 Sports Digital Watch
    • Jewelry: Designer Inspired Silver Heart Charm Toggle Bracelet
    • Clothing: Levi’s Men’s 501 Jean
    • Shoes: Crocs Classic Clog
    • Beauty: Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
    • Health & Personal Care: Philips 7310 Norelco Men’s Shaving System
    • Tools & Home Improvement: Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern
    • Automotive: Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger
    • Baby: Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether
    • AmazonWireless: Samsung Galaxy S II (Verizon Wireless)
    • Amazon Appstore for Android: Angry Birds Rio (Ad-Free)

    The list is based on total units sold.

  • Amazon’s Best-Selling Products Of The Holidays

    Amazon’s Best-Selling Products Of The Holidays

    Amazon announced its best-selling products of the holiday season, providing the top three for each category.

    We already reported on how great the holidays have been to Amazon’s Kindle, and this is again reflected by the top-selling electronics – all variations of the Kindle.

    Here is the full list for each category:

    Electronics

    1. Kindle Fire
    2. Kindle Touch
    3. Kindle

    Toys

    1. Rory’s Story Cubes
    2. Qwirkle Board Game
    3. Perplexus Maze Game

    Video Games

    1. Just Dance 3
    2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    3. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

    Sports & Outdoors

    1. Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation DVD Set
    2. Emergency Fire Starter
    3. Flexible Flyer Snowball Maker

    Home & Kitchen

    1. Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler
    2. Fred M-Cups Measuring Matroyshkas
    3. Pure Komachi 2 Series Hollow-Ground Santoku Knife

    Books

    1. “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    2. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever” by Jeff Kinney
    3. “11/22/63” byStephen King

    Kindle Books

    1. “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
    2. “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins
    3. “The Litigators” by John Grisham

    CD

    1. “Christmas” by Michael Bublé
    2. “21” by Adele
    3. Duets II” by Tony Bennett

    Amazon MP3

    1. “100 Classic Christmas Songs” by Various Artists
    2. “Mylo Xyloto” by Coldplay
    3. “A Very She & Him Christmas” by She & Him

    DVD

    1. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”
    2. “Bridesmaids”
    3. “The Help””

    Amazon Instant Video

    1. “Super 8”
    2. “The Help”
    3. “Crazy, Stupid, Love”

    Watches

    1. Timex 1440 Sports Digital Resin Strap Watc
    2. LEGO Kids’ Star Wars Darth Vader Mini-Figure Alarm Clock
    3. XOXO Rhinestone Accent Gold-Tone Bracelet Watch

    Jewelry

    1. 10k White Gold Round Diamond Stud Earrings
    2. Sterling Silver Amethyst Butterfly Pendant
    3. White Peacock and Pink Freshwater Cultured Pearl Button 3 Pair Stud Earrings Set

    Clothing

    1. Levi’s 501 Jean
    2. Levi’s 505 Straight Fit Jean
    3. Levi’s 550 Relaxed Fit Jean

    Shoes

    1. UGG Australia Classic Tall Boots
    2. Crocs Classic Clog
    3. BEARPAW Emma Short Boot

    Beauty

    1. Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift Eau de Parfum Spray
    2. Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
    3. NARS Orgasm Blush

    Health & Personal Care

    1. Philips Norelco SensoTouch Electric Shaver
    2. Philips Norelco Shaving System
    3. Philips Sonicare Essence Power Toothbrush

    Tools & Home Improvement

    1. Streamlight Nano Light Miniature Keychain LED Flashlight
    2. Smith’s PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener
    3. Black & Decker All-In-One SureGrip Laser Level

    Automotive

    1. Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger
    2. Wagan 12-Volt Heated Seat Cushion
    3. Mystic Industries Reindeer Vehicle Costume

    Baby

    1. Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes
    2. Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether
    3. Cloud B Twilight Turtle Constellation Night Light

    AmazonWireless

    1. Motorola DROID RAZR 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)
    2. Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)
    3. Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

    Amazon App store for Android

    1. Angry Birds (Ad-Free)
    2. TETRIS
    3. Pandora Internet Radio

  • Spotify Year in Review Released

    Spotify Year in Review Released

    Each year, Spotify puts out its Year in Review, which includes its top tracks. Now, they’ve put out the 2011 edition.

    It’s not all about the tracks though. This year’s review includes Spotify launching in five new countries, including the US, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium.

    The company also highlights a number of service improvements such as Spotify Apps, a new Radio mode, Facebook and iPod integration, support for BlackBerry and Windows Phone as well as “moving further into the home with the likes of Onkyo, Western Digital and Boxee”.

    Spotify was also able to sign over 300,000 independent music labels to Spotify this year and add about 20,000 tracks per day. That’s pretty impressive.

    In addition to all of that, spotify welcomed over one and a half million subscribers, taking its total number of paying users to 2.5 million. Paying users.

    Spotify is clearly doing quite well, despite growing competition in the online music space. It will be interesting to see how this continues into next year.

    If you go to the Spotify review site, you can view the top 100 tracks by country. Here’s a look at the top ten for the U.S.

    spotify top ten

    Artists in the top 100 include: Foster the People, Gym Class Heroes, Adele, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, Skrillex, Pitbull, LMFAO, Drake, David Gueta, Flo Rida, Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Cobra Starship, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Beyonce, Britney Spears, The Band Perry, Hot Chelle Rae, Jason Derulo, Snoop Dogg, Bad Meets Evil, Bruno Mars, OneRepublic, Swedish House Mafia, Lupe Fiasco, AWOLNATION, Kanye West, Bon Iver, Alexandra Stan, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Gavin DeGraw, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga, Florence & The Machine, MGMT and more.

    Foster the People appeared on the list about 10 times. I was happy to see MGMT make the list.

    If you launch the Spotify application, you can listen to the whole list.

    The site also inclues staff picks for the best of 2011, as well as some other curated lists from musicians. It also looks at the top tracks month by month.

  • Lots More People Still Use Myspace Than Google+

    In what is probably a surprise to nobody who uses the Internet with any kind of regularity, Google was the most visited U.S. web brand in 2011. As reported by Nielsen earlier today, the search engine juggernaut maintained an average of 153.4 million unique visitors per month in 2011 while Facebook, the second top-ranked web brand, attracted 137.6 million unique visitors each month.

    If it’s any consolation to Facebook, they obliterated all other social networks and blogs this year. Blogger, Google’s blogging service, was a distant second to Facebook’s top-ranked social networking site with 45.7 unique visitors per month. Twitter trailed even further behind the two online services with 23.5 million unique visitors followed by another blogging service, WordPress.com, at 20.3 million unique visitors. One telling detail of this data about social networks is that Myspace.com – Myspace! – was the fifth top ranked social network/blog in 2011 with 17.9 million visitors – over twice as many unique visitors as Google+. Really, Google+, you couldn’t even keep up with Myspace? While Google may be the top web brand in the country this year, they’ve still got some distance to cover in the social networking arena.

    Also, there’s this report from CNET earlier today that says that Google+ surpassed 62 million users. Something isn’t adding up. Granted, the CNET report says that a quarter of all Google+ users joined in December and the Nielsen data doesn’t include December, but that’s still a huge discrepancy in these numbers. Maybe Google’s fudging their numbers by synchronizing Google+ with Gmail accounts so that they can include Gmail users as Google+ stats. I mean, I technically am a Google+ user because I use Gmail but that doesn’t mean I actually use Google+ for anything. I don’t see how else these numbers can be so starkly different.

    Google shouldn’t hold its gigantic G-shaped head too low, though, because they also dominated among online video providers this year. YouTube, Google’s video service, attracted 111.1 million unique visitors this past year. The closest any other video service came to that number was VEVO, who attracted 34.5 million viewers. One notable stat in this data set is that Netflix took the Elevator of Winning all the way down to the Basement of Losing because they eked into the last spot on this list with 7.4 million. They’re probably lucky they even showed up on this list after spending their totally fubar summer trying their very best not to admit to everyone, “Hey, look okay, we have no idea what we’re doing!” Given that the DVD and streaming service is now split and nobody really wants to pay twice as much for both services now, I bet Netflix doesn’t even show up on this list next year.

    It’s probably a moot question to ask at this point, but is anyone even surprised by these rankings? When was the last time anyone even logged into a Myspace account? Watch this space this time next year to find out what 2012 does to shake up the hierarchy of online media titans.

  • YouTube’s Most Viewed Food Videos, 2011 Edition

    YouTube’s Most Viewed Food Videos, 2011 Edition

    Some people regard the end of a year as an opportunity to plot the changes they’d like to make in their lives in the upcoming new year. Some people feverishly plan to get wasted on New Year’s Eve. Some people don’t care about the transfer into another year. If you happen to work in the media, the impending end of the year means you need to make a mad dash to compile as many meaningless Best Of lists as possible before January 1. It’s an imperative of journalism. If writers and websites don’t make as many lists as possible at the end of the year then the neutrinos at CERN get space-rabies and start to devour our reality like piranhas feasting on a bleeding two-headed cow carrion.

    YouTube’s done their part to carry on this tradition. First they issued the most popular videos of the year, which is general enough that people’s interest probably justified the list’s creation. Then they reminded us which companies did the best job of mind-wiping us with marketing campaigns and compiled a list of the top advertisements of 2011. Sometimes, yes, even commercials can manipulate our emotions enough to stir within us a reaction while simultaneously beaming the Pavlovian command line “Buy Buy Buy” into our brain. People like to re-watch these commercials sometimes so, again, this list is justified.

    Still trying to cover all of the made-up bases of Best Of lists, YouTube has now compiled a list of Most Viewed Food Videos of 2011. No, seriously. This is a list they made for people to watch. And here they are, in order of popularity:

    Actually, if we’re going to validate this list with any integrity, this next video, which is the #5 Most Watched Food Video, should have been #1. Not only does this list prove that YouTube employees have nothing better to do this time of year except troll around their own website trying to think of different lists to make but they also have completely arrested sense of humors. Anyways, this is my favorite: Vegan Black Metal Chef!

    YouTube still has three whole days before 2012 hatches so expect many other superfluous Best Of lists to be forked our way sometime soon. My hope is that we’ll see lists like Best High School Fight Videos, Most Popular Videos Of People Impersonating Animals, and Most Painful Cheerleading Fails and Most Painful YouTube Reactions to Most Painful Cheerleading Fails (a twofer!), and Best Liked Watching of Hotdog Eating Lady GaGa Impersonation Contests. You got any suggestions for YouTube Best Of video lists? Let us know below with your comments!

  • The Year In Gaming in Under Two Minutes

    The Year In Gaming in Under Two Minutes

    Once again, the gaming industry has proved itself to be most viable, especially with titles like Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and Skyrim making huge dividends in regards to sales.

    In fact, these titles did as much, if not more business than other arms of the entertainment industry, especially for popular titles. If you need an example of just how popular the concept of gaming has become, just spend some time with Reddit’s gaming section, and it will become clear. Granted, the mega-popularity of the three aforementioned games — particularly Skyrim — only helps in regards to attractive sales figures, but it takes more than just three titles to sustain an entire industry.

    Other releases like L.A. Noire, Batman: Arkham City, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Uncharted 3 also reached states of massive popularity.

    All in all, 2011 was another fine year for gaming. It could also be seen as a time the true gamers took the title away from those who play on social networking platforms and mobile devices, although, that battle has yet to be decided. However, thanks to a strong end-of-the-year push, helped in large part by the three aforementioned titles, when gamers are mentioned, the first image that pops into your head should not be related to someone playing Angry Birds on their iPhone.

    To help remind us of how great a year it was for the video game industry — not just Nintendo, or Xbox, or the PlayStation, either; the entire industry — here’s a two-minute reminder, courtesy of Malcolm Klock. While it may be difficult to encapsulate the industry in under two minutes, Klock’s video does an admirable job:


    According to the video description, the following games were featured in the video, based on order of appearance:

    Battlefield 3
    Deus Ex Human Revolution
    Assassins Creed: Revelations
    The Witcher 2
    RAGE
    Uncharted 3
    Dark Souls
    Gears of War 3
    Catherine
    Saints Row: The Third
    Portal 2
    Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
    Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
    From Dust
    Yakuza 4
    Dirt 3
    L.A. Noire
    Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
    Rayman Origins
    Shadows of the Damned
    Child of Eden
    Dragon Age 2
    Infamous 2
    Alice: Madness Returns
    Batman Arkham City
    Resistance 3
    Driver: San Francisco
    Outland
    Dead Space 2
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    Fear 3

    As indicated, this is not a comprehensive list. Far from it. It does, however, do a fantastic job of highlighting the many bright spots the industry had this year.

    The sad thing about this video is, if SOPA or PIPA were approved, such a thing wouldn’t exist because it’s doubtful Klock received permission from these publishers to use their IP in his video, but then again, who needs fair use, right?

    H/t to Neatorama for the lead image.

  • StumbleUpon’s Most Stumbled Upon Content Of 2011

    StumbleUpon has put together a year-end compilation, giving us a glimpse of what people have been stumbling upon throughout the year.

    This year, StumbleUpon introduced the “explore box,” which gives users a way to stumble through content based a topic keyword of their choosing. The top terms from that feature have so far been (and it’s unclear whether this is the actual ranking):

    1. love
    2. funny
    3. tattoo
    4. games
    5. diy
    6. wedding
    7. harry potter
    8. hair
    9. recipes
    10. food

    StumbleUpon also has the ability to stumble specifically through videos and photos. Here was the most stumbled video:

    The top photo went to this bubble being popped at MojoMechanics.com.

    The most popular mobile stumbles were photography site colerise.com on Android and http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/outside.html on iOS. The most stumbled on smartphones was “True Facts” at Funny2.com, and on tablets, “Expectations v.s Reality” at pleated-jeans.com.

    Here, StumbleUpon also breaks it down by top stumbles for men and women, and the “most ____ stumble” of 2011 for the following adjectives: delicious, inspring, amusing, astounding, shared, beautiful, popular music and adorable.

  • New Year’s Eve Google+ Style

    New Year’s Eve Google+ Style

    Singer songwriter Daria Musk is hosting a worldwide Google+ On Air Hangout to ring in the New Year. In a Google+ update, she pitched her idea as follows:

    1. I host a Hangouts-On-Air broadcast ’round the clock on New Years Eve.
    2. You join from around the world at midnight in your time zone!!
    3. Add yourself to this Google Doc: http://bit.ly/tjK5sH

    She is using the Google Doc to organize who will join at what times, and to create circles for each time zone.

    “We can’t show the celebrations on TV, who needs TV when you’ve got friends around the world to celebrate with!?” she writes. “So it will be extra cool if you live somewhere where you can show us some fireworks or festivities in your city!! In the Google Doc you can fill in your ideas for what you can show us!”

    Apparently response to the idea has been pretty strong so far, as she indicated in a follow-up post.

    It’s an interesting way to use Google Hangouts. I’ll give her that.

    I wonder how many participants will be dressed like George Clooney.

  • 2011: Year Of The (Google) Panda

    2011: Year Of The (Google) Panda

    Perhaps the biggest story line in Internet search this year has been the ongoing saga of the Google Panda Update. Let’s recap, and look ahead to next year.

    Has Panda been the most significant thing to happen in search this year to you? If not, what was? Let us know in the comments.

    At the beginning of the year, there was a lot of attention being payed to the quality of Google’s search results, as the content farm movement was reaching a high search result saturation point. There was also a lot of criticism. Eventually, Google finally took action. It launched in February (globally in April), and initially earned the nickname “Farmer” update. I believe this was coined by Danny Sullivan. Then Google came out and let the world know what its real name was: Panda, named after a Google engineer that goes by Panda.

    “He was one of the key guys,” explained Google’s Amit Singhal in an interview with Wired in early March. “He basically came up with the breakthrough a few months back that made it possible.”

    So, whether you think Panda has been a great thing for search, or it has ruined your life and/or business, I guess you have this guy to thank. Though, I’m sure if he didn’t come up with it, someone else at Google would have come up with something similar. The criticism was getting pretty strong, and Google can’t afford to lose users due to poor search quality. Though Google does many, many other things and offers many products that people use on a daily basis, search and advertising are still Google’s bread and butter, and Google’s quality has still kept it high above competitors in search market share.

    We’ve probably posted close to a hundred Panda-related article at WebProNews this year, if you count the ones leading up to it, about content farms and their effects on search, and the ones about the update before it actually came to be known as Panda. I could probably turn them into a book if I wanted, so I’m not going to rehash it all here, but let’s go through some highlights.

    Google “Panda” Algorithm Update – What’s Known & What’s Possible was an early look at some things that were evident, and what people were speculating about what might be hurting them with the Panda update. There were a lot of good comments on this one too, for further discussion.

    Suite101, was one of the sites hit hard by Panda. In that Wired interview, Matt Cutts actually mentioned them by name, saying, “I feel pretty confident about the algorithm on Suite 101.”

    Suite101 CEO Peter Berger responded with an open letter to Cutts. You can read it in its entirety here, but it concluded with:

    Another level of depth may be added to this discussion if the word “quality” were more fully defined. “Quality” without much more precisely defining it, especially when the quality mentioned does only seem to be a quality signal relating to a given search query, leaves a lot still misunderstood…

    HubPages, which eventually had some recovery success attributed to the use of sub-domains, noted a lack of consistency on how Google viewed quality. According to CEO Paul Edmondson, some of the site’s best content had dropped in rankings, while others went up.

    Dani Horowitz of DaniWeb, which recovered, dropped, and recovered again, shared some interesting stories with us about how some of her most relevant stuff stopped ranking where it should have, while other less relevant pieces of content (to their respective queries) were ranking higher.

    Google, however, has always acknowledged that “no algorithm is perfect.”

    Panda hit a lot more than content farms, and sites that in that vein. E-commerce sites were hit. Coupon sites were hit. Affiliate sites were hit. Video, news, blogs and porn sites did well (at least initially).

    Oh yeah, Google’s own properties didn’t too bad either, though some of its competitors did well also.

    There was a lot of surprise when Demand Media’s eHow wasn’t hit by the Panda update, as this was essentially known as the posterchild for content farms, but that didn’t last. In a future interation, eHow eventually got hit, which led to the company deleting 300,000 eHow articles and launching a content clean-up initiatve. Yahoo just did something similar with its Associated Content this month.

    Eventually Google simply put out a list of questions that all sites should consider when thinking about creating “quality” content. The moral of the story is that, no matter what kind of site you have, if you heavily consider these things, you should have a better chance of beating the Panda update, because you’ll be creating good, trustworthy content. Those questions were:

    • Would you trust the information presented in this article?
    • Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
    • Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
    • Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
    • Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
    • Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
    • Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
    • Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
    • How much quality control is done on content?
    • Does the article describe both sides of a story?
    • Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
    • Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
    • Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
    • For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
    • Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
    • Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
    • Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
    • Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
    • Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
    • Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
    • Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
    • Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
    • Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

    Other fun Panda nuggets:

    Panda reference in Google Earth Day Doodle

    Google Panda Update Gets Animated (And Kind of Weird)

    Google Panda Update: A Delicious Set of Resources

    Google tells you exactly where to let them know when you’ve been hit by Panda

    Hitler Not a Fan of the Google Panda Update

    Panda Bread: The Ultimate Treat For The Panda Enthusiast

    So here we are, almost through with 2011, and we’ve seen numerous iterations of the Panda update. We’ll continue to see more next year most likely. Google has said flat out, that it is done with them for the rest of 2011 though.

    In 2012, we can look forward to not only more Panda updates, but more focus on “above the fold” content from the sound of it, and who knows what else Google will have up its sleeve. The most important things to remember are that Google makes algorithm changes every day (over 500 a year), and there are over 200 signals the algorithm uses to determine rankings. Any of these signals or tweaks can help or hurt you. Stay on top of what Google is doing, and keep a focus on quality, and you should be fine. Remember, if you want Google’s RESPECT, you better RESPECT Google.

    Panda has affected a lot of websites. It’s cost people jobs, forced companies to rethink their content strategies, and even inspired people to offer rewards for help recovering.

    You can view all of our Panda coverage from throughout the year for more details, advice, case studies, parodies, and just about anything Panda-related that came up.

    Has Panda improved Google or hurt it? Let us know what you think.

  • Best Google Doodles of 2011

    Best Google Doodles of 2011

    When you think about it, Google Doodles are some of the most-viewed artwork around. The basic formula is simple: Take a significant event for the date in question and spell “Google” in an artistic but (mostly) still recognizable fashion. But Google has a knack for these little Doodles, and people just eat them up.

    And there have been some pretty great Doodles in 2011. Of course everyone has a different opinion on which Doodles are the best, just like folks have a difference of opinion on any sort of artwork. That obviously means that this “best of” list is nowhere near objective – these are definitely my opinions (and remember, I’m American!). Having said that, I think that the following list is a fairly comprehensive list of some of the better attempts this year.

    So let’s get to it (in no particular order):

    Google honored the 164th birthday of the great American inventor Thomas Edison. The Doodle was animated, featuring a telegraph machine that types out “G” in morse code as well as a glowing light bulb.

    The 183rd birthday of the author Jules Verne was celebrated with an interactive Doodle that allowed users to navigate 20,000 leagues under the sea. You can play around with it in full view HD here.

    Charlie Chaplin’s birthday got some special treatment, as Google unveiled a short video of a Chaplin-lookalike interacting with a Google logo.

    Google honored the 226th birthday of “Birds of America” author John James Audubon with one of the prettier Doodles of the year. It was also one of the most abstract, as much of the lettering is a little tough to make out.

    One of my favorite offerings of 2011 was the set of Roger Hargreaves Doodles. The “Mr. Happy” and “Little Miss Sunshine” author received 16 different Doodles, portraying various characters from his beloved children’s books. See them all in the video below:

    The now famous Les Paul Google Doodle allowed you to not only interact with a guitar, but record your songs as well. This led to numerous YouTube videos of people playing famous songs using the playable Doodle, and it turned out to be a major productivity killer. This Doodle was probably the most popular one of the entire year.

    Legendary humorist Mark Twain received a massive Doodle fit for widescreen. The Doodle portrayed a few instances from a famous scene from his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Why do the work when you can trick other into doing it for you?

    Modern dance pioneer Martha Graham received one of the most buzzed-about Doodles of the year. The animated Doodle takes us through five famous dances from her career – and is truly a pleasure to watch.

    Another abstract Doodle comes from Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Toys are aligned to form the subtle resemblance of the famous Google logo.

    This Doodle for Jordan Independence Day is just beautiful:

    The Freddie Mercury Google Doodle needs no description. Just pure, unadulterated awesome.

    Another wonderful interactive Doodle celebrated Gumby creator Art Clokey. The Doodle featured all the favorite characters from The Gumby Show – The first “G” is a block, and the first “O” morphs into Gumby’s nemeses, the Blockheads. The second “O” turns into Prickle, the yellow dinosaur. The second “G” is Goo, a flying blue mermaid. The “L” is Gumby himself and the final “E” is his sidekick Pokey the pony.

    A recent Doodle that ran in Switzerland, Austria and Germany honored the 83rd birthday of Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. His unmistakeable design is seen in the Doodle, which highlights some of his most famous architectural accomplishments.

    What were your favorite Doodles of 2011? I’m sure I overlooked some great ones – so call me on it. Did I make any egregious omissions? Let us know in the comments.

    [Lead image is the Jim Henson Doodle]

  • How Can Google Help Your Website in 2012?

    How Can Google Help Your Website in 2012?

    Google uses Google+ probably more than anyone else out there (except for maybe Robert Scoble), and regardless of whether or not you have added it to your daily social networking routine, it continues to provide a great channel for getting to know Google better.

    That doesn’t just go for helping your search rankings (which it can), but it provides a direct line of communication with many, many Googlers. It’s a great place to get advice from Google, and to share feedback. And it’s not just empty feedback. They’re actively participating in meaningful conversations with users, and have shown that they are taking ideas into consideration (for example, see recent Gmail integration).

    This week, Google Webmaster Trends analyst John Mueller posted the following in a Google+ update:

    “Google has tried a lot of new things this year when it comes to webmaster support — such as the hangouts in a variety of languages. Which parts do you all think we should work on next year? How can we make it easier for you all to make awesome websites, which are easily findable in web-search?”

    “More hangouts? videos? more documentation? more detailed examples?”

    This seems like a good opportunity to not only to raise this question ourselves with our readers, but to spread the question further, because you can actually participate in this conversation and possibly have an impact on future Google offerings, which can in turn benefit your site in the long run, and after a crazy year of algorithm changes, I’m sure many of you are looking for any leg up possible.

    Google has already been hosting a slew of webmaster hangouts on Google+, and if you haven’t been taking advantage of this, why not? You are getting free access to some advice right from the horse’s mouth.

    If you read WebProNews regularly, you should also know that Google puts out a lot of webmaster videos, generally starring Matt Cutts. We cover them fairly frequently, because they’re generally full of helpful knowledge for webmasters. Even when they contain things you already knew, sometimes it helps to be reminded of certain things, or Cutts might present the topic in a slightly different light than you looked at it before. It’s a good idea to watch these videos.

    Here are some of the responses Mueller has received to his question so far:

    Thomas Morffew: More people like you John, that are real faces, and available to help.

    Sandip Dedhia: I agree with +Thomas Morffew, more Googlers who are open to speak about issues which webmasters are facing. In post panda era most of the replies on webmaster forum are so generic that it is hard to make out what is the exact cause of penalty or search traffic drop.

    I would suggest some case studies around those websites who managed to recover from different penalties, like the reasons of penalty and steps they took to recover from that penalty.

    Ramon Somoza: Certainly some assistance for multilingual sites would a great help.

    Lincoln Jaeger: There could be more direct interaction going on through the webmasters console, with regards to flagging up issues, for example.

    Bret Sutherland: When will Google shopping/product search get staff who are open and responsive?

    Do you agree with any of these commenters? Have other ideas?

  • Free Apps Bring The Gold In 2011

    Free Apps Bring The Gold In 2011

    Every time I play a move on Words With Friends or tag a song with Shazam, I’m forever confronted with an ad somewhere in the process. I see an add, it gets tallied, and somewhere somebody earns a few more cents. Lately, it’s had me thinking a lot about the economics of this model and how free apps that display advertisements compare to ad-free paid apps. In the case of Words With Friends, I can have the app for free but I see an ad literally after ever play I make. Alternately, I can pay 99 cents and never see an ad again. I have no idea how much Zynga, the developer of Words With Friends, makes off of every ad I see but I play a startlingly high volume of matches on Words With Friends so those ad views I’m constantly bombarded with during every round has to sum up to something, right?

    Right.

    According to Distimo, who has monitored app trends since the first app store opened, free apps were responsible half of the revenue of the top 200 grossing apps in Apple’s App Store. In Google’s Android Market, free apps generated 65% of the total revenue grossed in 2011. In their report, they hail the free app model as “one of the most important monetization strategies for developers.” One reason that the free apps are adding so much weight to the wallets of developers is how free apps proliferated in the past year, as the following graph depicts:

    Another part of the financial success of free apps is credited to the increase of in-app purchases in 2011, also known as freemium apps. It works like this: download the free app, test drive it, find out you like it, and then buy some of the offers within the app to unlock features. As an example, Words With Friends now offers an in-app purchase that lets you see how many unused tiles of each letter remain in your game. Again, this business model grew throughout 2011:

    So this brings me to my original speculation as to whether it’s more profitable for developers if I make a one-time purchase of ad-free apps or if they make more money off of me by filling my eye-space with their ads. At least as far as the Android Market goes, Distimo argues that “it is quite hard for Android developers to monetize using the one-off fee paid monetization model. This graph shows that it might be wise to switch to a freemium model if you are a developer for the US market.”

    If I had to guess, I’d say Zynga made a mint off of the number of ads I’ve had to see and skip through in order to satisfy my Words With Friends addiction. At least I no longer have to feel bad about being too cheap to only download the free version of apps since, while they simultaneously colonize my mind with advertisements, they’re also making a ton of money off of me.

  • YouTube’s Top 10 Ads Of 2011

    So far, we’ve seen YouTube’s top videos of the year, and Nielsen’s top TV ads of the year. Now it’s time for YouTube’s top ads of the year.

    It shouldn’t come as any surprise, but the top TV ad of the year, according to Nielsen, happens to be the same ad as YouTube’s top ad of the year. That would, of course, be Volkswagen’s The Force, featuring the little kid dressed ad Darth Vader. In fact, that video even made YouTube’s top ten videos period.

    1. VW – The Force

    2. T-Mobile – Royal Wedding

    3. Chrysler – Imported From Detroit

    4. DC Shoes – Ken Block’s Gymkhana Four: The Hollywood Megamercial

    5. SmartWater – Jennifer Aniston goes viral

    6. Team Hot Wheels – The Yellow Driver’s World Record Jump

    7. Old Spice – Scent Vacation

    8. Apple – Introducing Siri on iPhone 4S

    9. Samsung – Unleash Your Fingers

    10. Adidas D Rose: adiZero Rose 2 — The Bull

    The lesson for advertisers appears to be: use Star Wars for inspiration in your campaigns. Of course, you’ll want to do that without getting sued.