The interesting bit is that it uses aggregated opt-in-anonymous Google Analytics data. I am not sure exactly what that means. Google specifically states that individual site level information from Google Analytics isn’t currently used in Trends for Websites. One possibility that comes to my mind is that Google isn’t using direct metrics like number of page views, instead it’s accumulating hits other websites (with analytics installed) are sending your way to gauge net traffic received by your website.

This service is similar to that being offered by Alexa, Comscore and Compete (Google however doesn’t offer a traffic rank). However, I believe Google Trends has the potential to become the most accurate traffic comparison service due to the vast amount of data available exclusively to Google. Google search is the majority traffic source for large majority of websites. Hence, that alone can be an effective tool in judging a website’s popularity.

Interestingly enough you cant search for google.com. Now that doesn’t sound fare! But, hey its also unlikely that people would search for Google on google.com.

Mozilla is also working on a stealth project that will introduce an opt-in traffic monitor to its Firefox web-browser. But, I will put my bets on Google Trends to provide more accurate data. Mozilla’s traffic metric is going to be similar to Alexa. Sure, its going to have a larger sample size than Alexa and hence would be more accurate. But, it would retain many of the problems Alexa has. It’s not a mainstream product yet and doesn’t represent the entire spectra of web surfers. For example, in Mozilla’s metric Technology related websites would do comparatively better than say a Women’s gossip website.

The sleeker, smarter, stronger Motorola RAZR2 V9 is an exciting evolution of the RAZR brand. With mesmerizing appearance and a new, richer multimedia experience, RAZR2 V9 is the ultimate stylish feature phone. The RAZR2 V9 defines the next trend in 3G. Its stainless steel frame make this svelte handset durable and resilient – helping to ensure an ultra-thin shape with a strong structure

The Motorola RAZR2 V9 looks almost identical to the RAZR2 V8 - it’s just a little thicker but otherwise the differences are slight. Unlike the V8, the RAZR V9 is a 3G phone with HSDPA support giving a maximum download speed of 3.6Mbps. As with the V8, the RAZR2 V9 features a very large 2.0” 240×320 pixel display with a touchscreen and haptic (tactile) feedback. This means that many of the V9’s functions can be controlled from the external display.

The RAZR2 V9 can play back a variety of audio and video formats, using the external display as a media controller. Internal memory is 45MB (a lot less than the V8) but this can be expanded by up to 2GB using microSD cards. Stereo audio playback is either via a wired headset or compatible Bluetooth accessory. The phone is designed to be tough with a stainless steel casing around an internal chassis to make it strong, and the external display has been coated to resist scratching.

Before you jump into just any affiliate program there are a number of key questions and considerations you should address first. It can be complicated, but armed with some of the more important issues you will be able to avoid the more common pitfalls. So, before you sign up, consider these questions:

The time to ask questions is before you join an affiliate program. Especially, for those that charge fees or other miscellaneous costs. Do a little research about the choices of programs. Will it cost you anything to join? Most affiliate programs being offered today are free of charge. So why settle for those that charge you some dollars before joining, unless there is a crystal clear benefit for the investment.

When do they issue commission checks? Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Select the one that is suited to your payment time choice. Many affiliate programs are setting a minimum earned commission amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed in order for their checks to be issued.

What is the hit per sale ratio? This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.

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The first option is Defensio by Karabunga Inc which claims an average accuracy of 99.77%! Defensio uses an adaptive, personalized filtering algorithm. It scans your blog posts and tries to determine how relevant the comment is. One of the most useful features of Defensio is that based on a number of factors is assigns a score (called spaminess) to each comment. You can arrange comments according to spaminess. This allows you to easily detect false positives. Bloggers love stats - in fact most of them are obsessed with them. Defensio’s detailed charts and stats would definitely please a blogger. Defensio even provides RSS feeds so that you can track your comments and spam from anywhere, without even logging into the control panel.

Launched less than a month ago, the TypePad AntiSpam by Six Apart is already making waves. It has found high profile backers like TechCrunch. Michael Arrington found Typepad Antispam is significantly less prone to false positives. I am currently using this plugin for my blog. Typepad Antispam is also Open Source. Six Apart is open sourcing the core engine, allowing others to build on top of it allowing them to build and operate their own spam service. Six Apart claims that they are not revealing the basic algorithm powering their spam filter, so this won’t reduce the spam filter’s effectiveness but plugins will increase the utility of the end product.

Are you satisfied with Akismet’s performance? If not, which antispam plugin are you using?

History Search : Opera is the first browser to provide integrated History search. Opera not only stores address of web pages you have visited but also the textual content of the web page. So even if you don’t remember the url you can revisit the website by simply entering some keywords. History Search works with the normal address bar, but also has a separate full-fledged interface.

New Skin : Opera v9.5 features a brand new skin - that makes it the best looking browser (at least on Windows). Its glossy and metallic texture gives Opera a futuristic look while being easy on eyes.
Opera Link : Opera Link allows you to take your bookmarks and speed dial where ever you go. This is similar to various bookmark sync available on Firefox and other browsers, but only slightly better. It allows you to sync bookmarks not only between PCs but also between mobile phones. Opera Link is fully compatible with Opera Mobile and Opera Mini. Not only that using the web-interface you can acess Opera links from a different browser (one that doesn’t support Opera link).

Open With : Lets face it, Opera does have some website compatibility issues (a lot of times due to no fault of its own). If Opera’s rendition of a webpage doesn’t please you, you can now launch the webpage with a different browser . This is what I love about Opera. If there is a problem, they wont deny it. Instead they would do whatever they can to help their user, even if that means pointing the user towards its competitors.

DragonFly : A lot of developers use Firefox due to Firebug (which is one of the best extensions available for Fx) and a long standing compliant was lack of developer tools for Opera. With DragonFly Opera has tried to redress these complaints. Dragon Fly allows you to debug JavaScript, inspect CSS and the DOM, and view any errors. It works with webpages, as well as pages on your desktop or on remote devices like cellphones with Opera browser installed. To further enhance the functionality of Dragon Fly opera plans to release an API to allow vendors to create their own debugging tools. Dragon Fly can be accessed from Tools–>Advanced–>Debug.

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Search engines are the drivers of traffic and you need to rank well on them to get traffic to your blog as well as product centric web sites. It is not only that, people associate a certain amount of trust with your site if they see you high in the search results. This trust factor gives weight to your site/product and helps you achieve better conversion.

To achieve better conversion, you need good traffic, and to get good traffic you need to rank well on search engines. Ranking well on search engines can be done more effectively if you have SEO skills in your repository (or you can always employ Search Engine Optimizers).

For those who are still unsure, please read this article from CNN on How to scale Mt. Google - Getting your site on the first page can turn a hobby into a thriving business.

I have joined a new company and SEO is an integral part of the software offered. I decided it was high time for me to be at least SEO aware if not SEO Maniac.

The first thing I did, which was recommended by most SEO experts, is buy Aaron Wall’s SEO Book. The book is supposed to be the bible on SEO. It is available in the form of e-book and can be downloaded from the site for $79. The book is worth much more the price you pay for it. Aaron keeps updating the book and you get the update versions for free.

I started reading it - am on the 5th chapter - and find it a very easy read with lot of interesting concepts and techniques. I have decided to open the book for discussion by talking at a high level about the book (chapter by chapter basis).

You are welcome to share your experiences, insights and gains through this series of posts where I will talk about each chapter of the book (as I go along reading it)

As usual things take a while and users who download the releases directly from ftp will be the first to have the latest version up and running. Firefox 3 RC3 is available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh and all language versions. Just follow the link given above and navigate to the release that you need.

The only information available at this moment is a blog post over at Zdnet that is mentioning a bug in Firefox 3 for the Apple Macintosh that was caused by the recent update and that this release candidate is practically being created for the Mac. I’m off to install the new version and we hopefully will be able to access the release notes for Firefox 3 RC3 soon.

Plasma display technology is based on pixels, which rely on gas substances to perform their duties and images on LCD displays become visible thanks to electricity which is spread through the liquid crystals. Making a choice between them can be even harder since pros and cons arise mainly from the little details and precautions each LCD and plasma requires, and these details may or may not determine the customer’s purchase of one HDTV type rather than the other. No matter how much the customer spends on their purchase, paying attention to the features of the television is very important.

Despite recent models which are less subjected to the “burn-in” phenomena or ghosting, plasma televisions are at a disadvantage in this case. This is especially true if their usage is connected to the immobility of certain images, which usually is peculiar to video game consoles. LCD displays can suffer from stuck or dead pixels; it is advisable to check the LCD for this problem within the store’s return period or be sure to review the manufacturer warranty policy.

The Plasma television has a unique advantage when it comes to contrast ratios and back levels and for energy savings and an absence of radiation the advantage goes to LCD. Generally LCD TVs are thinner when compared to Plasma and Plasma TVs have better viewing angles.

When it comes to the ease of installation, plasma televisions are quite heavy and a professional is often called for its installation. LCD in this case is lighter and their installation is a lot easier. The consumer may be able to take care of everything alone, without having to use a professional for the installation. There is not a huge difference of the product life span between the two television technologies. This is because both should be up to 60,000 hours, and as always, it also depends on the usage and from the care of the user.

The choice between plasma and LCD is not that easy. When going through the purchase, a good piece of advice is to compare several different models before making a choice.