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Google OS

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Microsoft and Google used to live harmoniously alongside one another. Microsoft did its thing and Google went its own way, feeding off one another but never being directly in competition with each other.

However, all of that has changed. With the introduction of Bing, Microsoft single-handedly threatened Google’s monopoly on the world of internet search engines. No other search engine (even Yahoo!) has come close to touching Google’s dominance, and no other search engine has earned verb-age in the dictionary. Degoogleos 110x110 Google OSspite the fact that Yahoo! has been around for quite sometime, you still technically can’t “Yahoo!” something, but you can Google anything you’d like.

Microsoft’s Bing has come along with all of the same features of Google, include images, videos, and maps, but with the advertised promise that instead of just being a search engine, Bing is a “decision” engine, promising to help you narrow down your search to exactly what you are looking for, whereas Google has always relied on big numbers when it comes to search feedback, searching out even the most insignificant blog or personal website mention.

Now, Microsoft might be the ones who have to fear. After the devastatingly unpopular Windows Vista operating system launched a few years ago, PC-owners have desperately been trying to get back to their old beloved Windows XP system. Many PC-lovers found solace in Google Chrome, a type of browser that works like an up-to-date, Google-ized XP browser, and now Google is taking it to the next step, and plans to introduce their own operating system in the fall of 2010.

Google lovers rejoice, Microsoft execs balk.

Details on the upcoming operating system were announced on Google’s official blog and by the Associated Press. Could this be the sign of a future struggle and competition between Google and Microsoft? First Google Search versus Bing, now Google’s Chrome-based OS versus the new Windows Seven, set to launch this winter as an answer to Windows Vista? What’s next? And where does this leave the Apple/Mac brand?

All we know for sure is that PC-ers everywhere have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months. We here at Promoting Group can’t wait to try out all the new software and to see how this all plays out.

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Posted in Design Trends, News and Updates, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

Google Wave

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

It’s almost as if Google has a patent on convenience. First, they launched their search engine, creating the easiest and most efficient way to search on the web. Then they added images, videos, maps, directions, and news alerts. Then came Gmail, perhaps the greatest email service ever created, with its mega-allowance of storage, infinite archival, and grouping of email “conversations.” Of course there’s also Google Earth and G-Chat, not to mention the G-Phone. It seems as Google was personally created just for us, in order to make our lives easier.

In about a month, Google plans to wow us further with their next achievement in uber-convenience. Their new phenomenon is called Google Wave, and while the details get a bit complicated, the idea is that Google Wave will combine all forms of communication and social media—email, chat, instant message, etc. Google has even put out an hour-and-a-half long video describing all the features of Google Wave, as well as how to use them. This instructional preview can be found here.

At Promoting Group, we see not only an opportunity for advanced internet communication and social media networking, but also the beginning of a whole new glossary of internet terms that non-iGenerationers will need dictionaries for. For example, you can only embed your WordPress blog into your Wave if you have a Sandbox. There are also terms like Wavelet and Blip.

Some speculate that the early announcement and preview video for Google Wave have come on the back of Microsoft’s Bing launch. Bing.com is threatening to out-do Google in terms of search engine finesse and accessory variety. Bing.com has already launched, so we will have to wait another month or so to check out Google Wave. Knowing Google, we won’t be disappointed.

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Posted in News and Updates, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing | 1 Comment »

Be on the Lookout for the New Google

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Tgoogle 265x105 Be on the Lookout for the New Googlehere is a new website in the works that we here at Promoting Group are keeping our eyes on, and we think that you should too. Currently, Google holds 60% of the market shares for search engine sites, with Yahoo! following in a distance second place. Microsoft has now decided that they want a piece of the pie, and has announced plans to launch Bing, their answer to the search-engine phenomenon that has become the American way.

It’s hard to imagine a world without Google, though it hasn’t been that long since the world was just that. Before Google came sweeping into our lives with it’s unfathomable email allowance bandwidth, near-perfect maps and satellite images, and the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that email “conversations,” there were Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, (which is now just known as www.ask.com) and the less-popular, though highly-efficient, DogPile.

Then Google was born, and the world changed. The word “google” is now officially in Webster’s dictionary both as a noun describing the site, and as a verb. The phrase “to google” something is now used on a daily basis by those young and old. In the days BG (Before Google), if you didn’t know an answer, you were told to “look it up.” Now, you are told to “google it.”

It’s no wonder then that Microsoft should want a part of the search-engine brand action. It’s said that the Bing advertising campaign will cost over $100 million. As for what will distinguish Bing from Google and other search engine sites, that seems to not quite be known yet. Some have speculated, but for now it seems that the only concrete evidence available is that Bing will be a type of search engine, and users will be encouraged to “Bing it” instead of “Google it.”

Will Bing truly be able to draw Google-lovers away from the site that has become such an integral part of our lives? And if Bing does manage to win over search-engine site goers, what about all of the other aspects of Google? Gmail? G-Chat? Google Maps? Google Images? Google Earth? Google Satellite View? Will Bing stand a chance? Could the Google Era truly be coming to a close?

The questions are endless, so I guess we really will have to wait and see what Bing has to offer once it is launched (which is estimated to be sometime this week or early next week). Keep your eyes open, your search-engine questions ready, and your SEO techniques flexible, as we wait to see if Bing offers Google any true competition.

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Posted in News and Updates, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

Pidgin

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Any successful marketing plan in today’s day and age must include a solid social media network. The web has taken over the world of networking, media, public relations, communications, and virtually (no pun intended) every form of marketing there is. However, with the world of social media continually growing and changing, it can be hard to keep up, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the topic in the first place.

Promoting Group has found a great software application, however, that allows you to combine several instant messaging programs that are found on the top social networking sites. Pidgin allows you to use one screen name to log on to a whole variety of instant messaging programs, including AIM, Facebook Chat, Google Chat, Bonjour, MSN Messenger, MySpaceIM, and Yahoo! Messenger among others. Pidgin is free, easy to use, can be downloaded directly from their website, and has won the Linux Journal Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite Communications Tool for the second year running, ahead of Skype.

By using Pidgin, you have the ability to keep all of your instant messaging programs straight, and you can be available for chat, file-sharing, and profile-viewing without having to log into each one separately. This will increase the number of people with whom you can communicate instantly, and you will not have to worry about lack of communication due to use of different programs. You can also impress your clients and customers with your vast social networking knowledge by immediately having access to sixteen instant messaging programs just through the use of Pidgin.

While most people tend to use one of the AIM, MSN Messenger, Facebook Chat, or Google Chat instant messaging programs, it can never hurt to branch out to those who use the less common programs, such as Groupwise. However, keeping track of sixteen different programs is nearly impossible in itself, let alone attempting to be available for communication on all sixteen at once. Pidgin allows you to combine your lists of contacts from each separate program into one list, separated by original application, in one window on your desktop. When singing into your Pidgin account, you will appear signed in to all of your other accounts, so you can communicate with others who have AIM or Google Chat regardless of whether they also are using Pidgin.

Check out the Pidgin website today and try it out for yourself. Like we said, it is free and easy to use, and easy to remove if you decide it is not for you. We think you will find it extremely useful!

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Posted in News and Updates, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

 

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