‘spam’

Governments have no right to limit or hinder Internet access of its citizens as it, according to a report released by the United Nations, is an integral human right to have unrestricted access to the Internet. The report has been released in the wake of the recent Syrian government blockage of Internet connectivity because of political unrest and the usage of Facebook as well as other social media applications, such as YouTube, to organize and communicate about the uprising which began in March this year.

Earlier this year when Egypt struggled with political unrest their government cut off Internet access forcing people to use satellite communication to make their posts. In effect, governments can shutdown Internet in their country should the country be in a state of unrest and the security of the country threatened. The UN report, however, indicates that governments should respect access to the Internet and the freedom of speech which go along with such even during times of political unrest.

UK Proposes Restrictions

The UK is proposing the restriction of Internet access for copyright infringers. France followed the same proposals. The anti-piracy bill proposed in 2009, known as HADOPI called for French Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to give infringing customers two warnings before removing their Internet access rights. As such the ISP Orange has implemented a policy of limiting downloads by customers and has also implemented a system of monitoring downloads. The French ISPs have with that then become enforcers of the anti-piracy legislation and according to reports should receive compensation for their role in policing Internet usage.

The whole system has backfired in several ways including that of hackers sending mails to report so-called infringement and illegal downloading by innocent users. In addition, the problem of hacking the server has received a lot of spotlight. It does seem that such actions by governments to control the Internet access have been met with more than just discontent. Earlier this week, the Constitutional Court of France ruled that Internet access is a fundamental right and thereby has stopped the HADOPI effects.

Should Governments Have The Right To Restrict Internet Access?

Since the Internet doesn’t belong to anyone and spans the globe, one may argue that no government should be allowed to control access to and usage of the Internet since it is an individual right to information and communication. At the other end of the spectrum you have widespread infringement of trademarks and copyright, fraud, and spam which must be controlled. In addition, the power of social networks such as Facebook in a political struggle or even terrorism cannot be ignored. Naturally then, governments, especially the less friendly types, will want to exert as much control over the Internet as possible, but it cannot be done without violating some human rights of which Internet access is now one.

Frank La Rue of the UN emphasised in the report that Internet access should be a right that any citizen of a country should have as it is related to the right to freedom of expression. Governments, according to the report, should ensure more affordable and accessible access to Internet for its citizens. According to La Rue, several bloggers have already been imprisoned for their views and as such freedom of expression is not yet guaranteed on the Internet. The report has indicated concern about the monitoring powers granted to governments in the name of national security. The report is known in full as: “Rapport of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. Frank La Rue”.

Information Source For Decision Making

Some countries, such as Estonia and Finland, have already established laws to protect the right to Internet access and usage thereof to freely gain information access for decision making purposes and to express opinions freely. Other countries such as China, Egypt, Syria, France and the UK, however, propose and or have showed restriction on Internet access rights of their citizens.

A recent survey done for the BBC by GlobeScan has shown that many citizens of China and the UK are in favour of some form of Internet usage and or access regulation whereas the majority of respondents in Nigeria have expressed opposition against any form of Internet regulation. The Digital Economy Bill proposed by the UK, also makes provision for limiting or slowing down of file sharer user connections whilst at the same time the EU has expressed that member states have no right to interfere with access to the Internet. The survey for the BBC showed that majority of respondents felt that Internet access should be a human right and the non-users felt that they should have access to it.

In South Korea the overall majority of the population already enjoys broadband Internet connectivity and most of respondents in the BBC survey there indicated that such should be a fundamental right. In Japan and even Mexico respondents indicated that they would not be able to function without Internet access. It may be possible to argue that access to food and water should be the focus of the UN as human rights, and that freedom of expression is already a human right, but that access to high speed Internet cannot be classified as a fundamental human right because it doesn’t affect the basic needs of society. In answer to that then one has to express that the right to education and information is embedded in having access to the Internet.

Usage of the medium may be regulated to protect against hacking, phishing, terrorist attacks and human trafficking, but monitoring usage of it to catch file sharers is simply over regulating the medium. Once governments get involved in regulating Internet usage, the privacy and right to communicate will be affected. Many people in South Africa don’t have Internet access and simply don’t even have access to clean drinking water, but the right to such should never be limited.

How do you feel about the issue of Internet access as a fundamental human right? Should the government have any say in the usage thereof and should the government have the right to restrict access should actions of the users create political instability in the country?

Email newsletters were the main means of additional online advertising before Facebook became prominent. Facebook, however, has become a more effective tool for getting the message out there than email newsletters for various reasons.

Disadvantages Of Newsletters

Although certainly effective in building loyalty, credibility and brand as well as getting users back to your website, email newsletters no longer have the same effectiveness than before.

Spam

One of the main reasons why many users unsubscribe to email newsletters is that their inboxes are already cluttered with spam. This of course, creates a negative feeling towards any email marketing. In addition, spam and phishing mails have created a culture where users are no longer willing to click on the links in the email newsletters. They fear spyware, phishing attacks and generally have become more cautious because of spammers. The email marketing letters more often than not go unopened because users have so many emails and notifications that they start to block newsletters as well, ensuring that the letters land in the junk category without ever being seen by the user.

Timing

Normally you will specify whether a newsletter will be daily, weekly or monthly. With the time it takes to create effective newsletters and ensuring that the letters are delivered at the scheduled times you lose valuable time and resources along the way. It takes money, staff, time, and loads of creativity to run a successful email marketing campaign. In addition, you may not be able to create the desired content in time for delivery, which can damage credibility with the user.

Length

Although shorter is definitely better when it comes to email newsletters, you may have a lot to say and as such have to create a longer letter. The downside is that users don’t want long marketing and newsletters. They quickly scan through the newsletter and then delete it. It becomes all the more difficult to create sticky content.

Database Building

There are thousands of emails that can form part of any database for newsletter campaigns. Problem is that unless a user has subscribed at your website that you will not have the right to send out letters to such without falling in the spamming category. Building and maintaining the email database can become a full time job.

Set-up Time

Getting an email newsletter campaign from the ground is hard work and riddled with legalities. Sure you can purchase email addresses from a supplier, but you cannot legally market to them without running into some difficulties. In addition you must also ensure that a user has the option of opting out and carefully select wording to prevent the whole email from being blocked simply because the user perceive it as just more junk because of too much marketing wording.

What Is The Solution?

One may ask whether you should continue with email marketing or not since you have already built a large database of subscribers, but considering all the disadvantages of email newsletters it may be time to look for alternatives. Fortunately Facebook has opened up a whole new marketing channel.

Business Account at Facebook

The first step as an alternative to email marketing by means of newsletters is to create a business account with Facebook allowing you to interact in a similar way with users and subscribers as would be possible with Facebook Groups. Pictures, videos and links can be added, topics discussed and comments made. Instead of having to create an email newsletter offering a low ratio of receipt and response you create a business page and allow for users to like your page. Once they “like” your page such will show up on their profiles. With a new feature added of letting friends know, you can have viral marketing work for you instead of spending hours on getting new subscribers and creating newsletters.

A company can for instance, add a Reviews application for their products. Since people use reviews to form buying decisions it will be all the more beneficial. Status updates can be done ensuring that your followers will be able to quickly get important news, tips and specials. With people spending more and more time on Facebook you need to be where the users are which will be at Facebook.

Making use of the Pages application you will be able to add more communication channels which offer far more potential than email newsletters. Your updates can be targeted according to location, gender and even age, providing you with more control over your marketing campaigns. With updates appearing on the user’s homepage you get far more exposure. Users are curious and easily click on the recommendations, reviews, likes and updates on the profile pages of their friends.

Facebook has the added feature of news streams. Take the cost factor out of the picture associated with email newsletters by making use of Facebook to create catchy updates. Once the user likes the page, such will also be noted in the news streams of their friends. Another benefit of Facebook not to be overlooked is that of multiple administrators allowed. Instead of only one person being responsible for the sending of the emails, several moderators can upload and update content.

To create a business account, simply sign up for the Facebook Ads and then use your existing database of email newsletter subscribers to invite the users to join. You can explain the benefits to them ensuring that they understand that such will mean less cluttering of their inbox and more interaction from their side. Create a campaign where your existing users at the website and subscribers of email newsletters can stand to get discounts or prizes when joining your Facebook page. In addition, add the Facebook sign at your website and have people opt-in without any problems.

If you have a large Pages section you can apply for a Vanity URL and can also use text messaging to get more fans to your Page.  Facebook pages show up high on the search results and need less work than email newsletters to hit the target. In addition, get users to subscribe to notifications according to their specific criteria ensuring targeted marketing created automatically.

We at iLead Online keep up with the newest, most innovative and effective means of online marketing. We can help you set-up your business account, create effective Facebook ads, and use your existing database to get your page a large following on Facebook. Contact us for professional assistance today.

It feels like déjà vu whenever a new search engine make its appearance with the notion to take the internet by storm and set the new bench mark for what they think a search engine should be. The latest in line is blekko, a new search engine that was recently opened its public beta  and already claiming that they provide the average Joe with “better search results”.

What’s blekko’s claim to fame?

They want to slash spam out of search results completely, thus making search not only safer but more relevant too. It is evident that they are fed up with search results inundating users with content that is more about making the sale than providing high quality information to the searcher. The way they are planning to achieve this is by making use of human input into their algorithmic results which should then screen out content from content farms in the likes of Demand Media. According to reports the average internet user is completely oblivious to the fact that they are, in fact, consuming Demand Media content.

In a recent interview the chief executive officer of Blekko Inc., Rich Skrenta, stated that blekko was starting out without advertising, but since we all know how effective it has been – just look at Google’s AdWords – they plan to monopolize on this once their traffic has built up. He continued on to discuss the current market shares, stating that they didn’t really have to make a dent in order to be profitable, all they need is 1/10 of 1% of the billion+ searches done per day and it will still be a lucrative endeavour for blekko.

blekko is all about the ‘Slashtags’

Do you know what ‘slashtags’ are? If your answer is no then you don’t have to worry that you might be the only one as the majority of internet users don’t know either. Ok yes, most people in general are not all that clued up when it comes to online lingo, but this brings is back to the question as to what exactly ‘slashtags’ are. Basically it comes down to using the slasher symbol “/” to avoid the search results from providing the user with unwanted sites, including those used for spam as well as sites with phishing and malware infections.

The reality is that Google is light-years ahead of time. For instance, Google makes it possible to limit your search to one site by simply typing site:www.ilead.co.za. Then, of course, there are also numerous desktop power search tools to limit results.

When we gave it a try by doing a simple search for “online marketing South Africa” we found it rather alarming that their list of slashtags were very limiting and didn’t include basic factors into the search/results such as locations, as you can see below (result no.2 Chicago web design).

When we scrolled down a little further on their first page of results we even found one or two websites that had nothing to do with online marketing, never mind South Africa – point in case result no. 10 where the website’s content was far from what we were searching for:

You can, however, create new slashtags but in order to do so, it is necessary to create your own profile page. From here you can create a list of keywords for your subject after which you can opt whether you’d prefer to keep your slashtags private or share them with blekko’s users. You are also able to follow someone’s slashtags – similar to following somebody’s tweets on Twitter – which will appear on the left hand side of your profile under the header “following”.

Rank search results

Blekko seems to be very transparent as to how it works. Moreover, blekko allows website owners to see how they look at a site which can help owners to improve their search engine optimization (SEO) for blekko. Some information they provide website owners with includes:

• when last their search bots crawled the site;
• how many pages they looked at; and
• if/where they found duplicate content from your site on other websites.

For online marketers such as ourselves, one thing that stood out was that it didn’t show data on the terms users used most often that drove the traffic to a website in the first place. For optimizers this is a key factor they’ve overlooked, especially if they want website owners to optimize their websites for blekko.

Our conclusion

Although it is impressive enough that blekko was able to get backers who were willing to provide them with $24million to create a “new” search engine when Google owns the monopoly, we are rather doubtful, however, that this will lead to a “slashtag revolution”. As stated, many search engines tried to leapfrog Google before, but Google is still pretty darn good and we think that their search results are far more relevant in comparison to blekko’s – as we’ve shown you. Ok, yes, Google will have to keep on being innovative, but they have been doing a brilliant job thus far. Which brings us to the point – such a moderate improvement will hardly vault blekko’s search engine into prominence, making them nothing more than a little scratch instead of the swashbuckling slash they were going for.