The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has been a hot topic of discussion over the previous couple of weeks. Hundreds of websites have voiced their disapproval of the legislation, while many media outlets and American politicians have stressed the need for tighter controls over internet piracy. The main argument against the legislative bill is that it endangers freedom of speech and will harm well-meaning websites more than those actively distributing illegal content. But what exactly does the bill propose, and what are the implications of such changes?

The History of the Bill So Far

The bill was first introduced to the House of Representatives on the 26th of October 2011, by Texas Governor Lamar Smith. While the bill, if passed, would be an American law, it would have wider implications for other parts of the world, due to the global nature of the internet.

The bill would allow copyright holders and the US Department of Justice to inflict much more serious penalties on websites hosting and distributing copyrighted material. The new law would potentially force search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, to stop linking to these sites, as well as forcing online advertisers to remove any content from the websites.

On the 18th January 2011, the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, the blogging platform WordPress, and hundreds of other websites staged a 24-hour blackout in protest of the bill, which they hoped would help represent the implications that the bill may have on these websites.

Support for the Bill

Support for the bill outside of the House of Representatives has primarily come from large companies who have suffered from websites using their copyrighted content without their permission. These businesses include NBC, Nike, Ford, McMillan Publishers and more. These companies have argued that online piracy is putting jobs at stake, because of the loss of income that is seen as a result of this piracy.

Media outlets and production companies have been the most vocal in their support for the bill, because online piracy has a direct impact on their business. Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, has been particularly vocal about the bill, expressing his support over Twitter.

Opposition of the Bill

Opposition has been widespread, because many feel that the bill has potential for a much more widespread impact. Google and Yahoo are two of the biggest companies opposed to the legislation. This is because part of the bill says that search engines must not link to any illegal or pirated content. Google and Yahoo have argued that, with the sheer volume of links, it would be impossible to enforce this.

This was supported by Edward J. Black, who argued in an article for the Huffington Post that it is too easy for those distributing material to change domains. He said: “Ironically, it would do little to stop actual pirate websites, which could simply reappear hours later under a different name, if their numeric web addresses aren’t public even sooner. Anyone who knows or has that web address would still be able to reach the offending website.”

The Obama administration and the White House have also come out in opposition of the bill. A response from the White House stated that it “would not support legislation with provisions that could lead to Internet censorship, squelching of innovation, or reduced Internet security.” However, it did stress that it encourages all sides to work together to create a legislation that helps to stop piracy.

What Happens Now?

In recent days, support from the bill has waned considerably, and the bill was shelved on 20th of January to allow for a rethink. While this is good news for many opponents of the bill, there will very likely be a redraft. File-sharing website Mega Upload was shut down on the 19th of January by the FBI for illegal activities, which is a sign that the idea of copyright protection and privacy prevention is far from over.

The major concerns of the bill have been centered around the potential for putting a stop to the creativity and innovation on the internet, through fear of reprisals if a company falls foul of any potential bill. However, while opposition of SOPA is fierce, most of these organisations and individuals agree there is a need for clamping down on internet piracy, but stress that SOPA is not the way forward.

Search giant Google has yet again taken a controversial step with the introduction of ‘Search plus your World’, a new feature that integrates search results with Google+ social networking. This new feature has highlighted the progression of the internet as it gives a search engine the ability to combine social elements with everyday search, theoretically providing search results that are tailored to fit your interests and needs. Google is importing content from its six month old Plus service into its regular searches, a clear shot across the broadsides of Facebook and Twitter.

The Good
Features of the approach include recommending additional companies and people to follow on Plus, based on your search results. It will bring up the profiles of other Google+ users and celebrity Google+ accounts depending on your interests, according to Google. This will make searching much more efficient for many users who want to find relevant information quickly and Google can almost guess what their customers are looking for, bringing up the most useful information. This is taking searching to a whole new level on the internet by providing an integrated service. However in the world of social networking and search giants; we can always find flaws …

The Bad
Many internet users may enjoy having a broad access to the internet, for purposes of work and research they may not want their search engine to define their searches to bring up things that they are only interested in. If they want to search across their interests they may already be signed up to other browser add-ons such as StumbleUpon which does exactly that. However Google has responded to this possibility and you can turn off the new feature by adjusting your search settings. The search engine will also not present results from rival social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, therefore creating controversy and possibly unfair competition by leveraging their separate search facilities to boost the decidedly unpopular Plus.

The Ugly
The question on many critics’ lips was whether Google are unfairly exploiting their online dominance of internet searches to promote their own social network. They are prioritising Google+ data and the social network is having a very easy ride on the back of the dominant search engine. It can be understood from Twitter’s point of view when they lashed out against the new feature, arguing that it is going to be harder to use Google to find Twitter posts about breaking news, like protesters writing tweets from countries like Syria and Egypt. Facebook has not yet responded to the recent announcement by Google, but as they have had a recent privacy deal, Facebook could not let Google index all of their information which users think is going to stay private not really giving them an argument against the Google giants.

In regards to Google’s defence it seems that any company should have the right to push its own products before anyone else’s and in fact use their success to promote its other features. Facebook is now coming up to its 8th birthday and has over 800 million active users; in reality would it really affect them a great deal if Google were to push Google+? Although it does rival Facebook and Twitter, social networking is one of the biggest growing ways of communication, and the landscape is expected to shift over time. Overall the success of the new Google feature is yet to be seen, and with the Twitter backlash and Facebook yet to speak up, anything could happen as the social networking titans collide; watch this space.

Google has fought back yet again as it enters another battle with the undefeated technology giant, Apple. Many have entered the selection of markets that are now under Apple’s dominance, aiming to knock them clean off the top spot, but have left with little success. However Google are refusing to give up and have set their sights on a new industry currently dominated by Apple, the online music sharing market. The aim is to steal Apple’s crown in audio entertainment distribution and Google is pulling out all of the stops to try and play catch—up with its formidable rivals. The main players in this market that all have different levels of integrated music are Facebook, Amazon, Spotify and of course Apples iTunes store.

Google Music is a new store within the Android market and is currently only available in the US, it will be getting released to Europe soon, however there are currently no confirmed dates. Google automatically syncs the entirety of your music library up with all of your devices. There are more than 13 million tracks available to the users, from artists from Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, EMI and the global independent rights agency Merlin and over 1000 independent labels. However for any Prince and Led Zeppelin fans there is some bad news, Warner are not backing Google in this launch and therefore they cannot get any artists tracks under this label. It is the same purchasing system as Apple operates on iTunes, where you can purchase it straight from your phone or computer on to your Google music library. Google+ then gives you the availability to share your music with friends. It is around the same price as iTunes as they are not using this to compete; the ease of sharing music via your personal social network account is going to be the main pull for customers.

Sharing music is a great way to aim at a target audience, with everyone liking at least one genre of music and wanting to listen, learn and share with friends around the clock, this is the perfect way for Google to break in to the industry and become part of the true essence of social networking. Song choice creates friendships and social circles as it brings people together from the most varied origins and backgrounds. What social networking is always trying to achieve is the easiness of connecting people and staying in touch through finding a common interest, friendship or group that a selection of people can all appreciate and enjoy. Adding music in to the mix will create the perfect common grounds for the basis of those friendships and acquaintances and therefore the foundation of social networking.

Blackberry has always been a worrying competitor for Apple, especially in the smartphone industry, and so it was quite obvious that their big break into music would come soon enough and rest assured it has. BBM Music is expected to launch next week and again is trying to offer their current and potential customers much more for their money. BBM Music is giving its customers a choice of 50 tracks for just £4.99 a month, much cheaper than its rivals charging in the region of 45p to 99p per track! Apples iTunes is going to be a tough competitor to bring down as everybody associates this with music and it has become very well established very quickly, also they can offer every song imaginable. However if Google offers a more convenient way to share music with friends, all the music lovers will more than likely give it a try, Google need to impress first time as there is a strong alternative in iTunes, in this industry there is very little room for error.

Technology giant Google has enabled the residents of Silicon Valley, Stanford University student living area, to try out the new 1GB per second broadband speed. This is 100 times faster than the regular internet and has ultra-high speeds for downloading and uploading material. Currently only Stanford are able to access the high-speed networks that Google are building, but it will soon be wired up to almost half a million homes in order to see what differences and benefits it can bring to families in different areas. The download speeds can get up to 300 Mbps, with an upload speed of 150 mbps, making it the fastest internet available to the home user.

This new innovative technology could be an improvement for many, taking just a matter of seconds to download massive files and Google has labelled it as the next step towards high definition broadcasts. Movies, TV series and songs will be downloaded in a matter of seconds making things much easier, faster and waiting will be a thing of the past. Other services can benefit from this increase of speed like emergency services and online medical consultations. This is all made possible by using networks of fibre optic cables, rather than the original copper and wire telephone cables like before. It is giving a groundbreaking speed that is going to make those impatient internet users very happy. Normal cable download speeds are about 13Mbps, or about 1/20th the speed of Google Fibre, hailing this the fastest speed yet.

With internet being the most important part of communication and networking, faster internet is always going to be needed. It is essential for businesses and new jobs to have faster internet connections and Google have once again managed to deliver to their demanding audiences. Google are giving the internet to Silicon Valley free for one year, this campus is home to many students and on-site teachers who are regular users of the internet facilities and will quickly be able to recognise the benefits that it brings. Faster, faster, faster is always Google’s plan and it is going to be used in areas within America where there are people who want and can afford super fast broadband but cannot access it, America currently only ranks 15th in the world for access, and the internet is a huge driver for jobs and businesses which America needs to push. So will Google reach their goals and have the world’s fastest internet to a million users by 2020? Watch this space, they haven’t failed us yet.

Super search engine Google has taken a leap forward in to the realms of social networking. Joining in with the fun of liking, digging and tweeting, Google now aims to have everyone ‘plus oneing’. The +1 button that was rolled out in March, which allowed people to like Google searches has been expanded in to more sites on the internet. The new revelation in SEO is being used on websites such as masher, Bloomberg and addthis. It hopes to expand its presence to sites like you tube and blogger in the very near future.

Google’s +1 button has been put in place to compete with the Facebook ‘like’ button. With Facebook having over 600,000,000 active users it is a force to be reckoned with, the Facebook like button has been very popular and become a global phenomenon, a second nature to most. The +1 button allows Google users to show their appreciation for a blog, a site, an object, anything on the internet that they want to share with friends. It is a quick and easy way for people to find pages that they will like, or that friends think they should ‘check out’.

Problems have already been highlighted for the new feature. Currently the webmasters like their balanced world and their social media strategy. They will need to implement the +1 button dynamically and quickly without upsetting their current social media strategies. A belief that the increasing amount of buttons with all the different uses is going to start confusing the consumer and after all, those are who we completely rely on to press the buttons and up ratings of the websites!

Clicking the +1 button publicly gives something your stamp of approval. It can help your friends, contacts and others on the web find the best stuff when they search. As the internet is now such a vast sea of information, the +1 button will refine the mass of knowledge and make searching even quicker. Social media has changed the current world, where would we be now without Facebook and Twitter? And in the grand scheme of things they have not been around for very long! So for this reason it is not a surprise that Google want to become more social.

So can Google really take on the powerful forces of Facebook? With the internet moving so quickly and the sheer impatience and thirst for current technology it is likely that they could. The majority of social networkers have now worn out the Facebook ‘like’ button so maybe they will look for something new and exciting. Google is a trusted search engine so curiosity will certainly drive people to try it out. So sit back and watch the battle of the buttons begin.

We were pleased to find out that a key part of the recent Google update – codenamed Caffeine – centred around the value of good quality copy, regularly updated. Essentially, search has come around to being about what it always should have been about – good quality content.

No technical manipulation of the system.

No tricks.

No smoke.

No mirrors.

…and it’s about time.

We’ve been eulogising the value of good web copy for years, on the basis that if you’re providing what people want – in the form of useful, usable information – then the search engines will wake up to that and start directing people your way. It comes down to the basic principles of search engines – to create a positive user experience by giving people what they’re looking for.

If your website is still relying on short-term techie tweaks to stay on SERPs then you’re on borrowed time. Your site is sitting on digital quicksand. It’s time to get your thinking cap on and get writing.

The map that you occasionally see right at the top of Google’s organic search results is the Local Business Listings. These listings tend to show up on service-orientated searches where regional modifiers are used as part of the keyterm, ie; “bars in Newcastle”. The prime positioning of the listings on Google’s results page means that if you’re focusing on a particular location for sales then Local Business Listings should really be prioritised in your wider SEO programme.

Google’s Local Business Listings are technically separate to organic SEO, yet rely largely on the same basic rules for success – the main one being the use of good relevant content. Listings are created through Google Accounts, with the option to add a brief description and the all-important location which is highlighted on the results map. It’s so quick to set up, and depending on the type of company you’re running, the benefits can be incredible.

Following the basic principles of SEO good practice is the best way to get a strong performing listing;

- Create a clear title, with a single main keyterm included.

- Write the description for real-world users, in a no-nonsense copy style. Keyword stuffing, as always, results in unreadable copy.

- Focus on your main service – this offers a clearer message to both users and Google.

- Don’t forget to add the business URL – an obvious point maybe, but this isn’t a mandatory field on the set-up form so can be easily missed out.

- If anything notable changes with your business – new services, services phased out, location changes etc – change your listing. It should always be up-to-date.

- Remember Google’s primary aim – to provide the user with the information they’re searching for – if your listing isn’t as helpful and useful as it could be, change it.

While it ranks on its own merits in relation to competition, the performance of a Local Business Listing is assisted by the quality of the associated business website. If that website is doing everything it should with an ongoing SEO programme, then the business listing will benefit accordingly.

Like organic SEO you’ve got the top ten to aim for, as these are the results that will appear on the all-important first page. However, again like organic SEO the competition can often run into the thousands depending on the keyterm and location in question. Approach the Local Business Listings like any SEO project – remember there’s no quick fix or silver bullet, stick to the known principles and the results will follow.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s SEO programme with Green Media.

Details of a search engine collaboration between two of the three major names in the industry were revealed today, with Microsoft and Yahoo announcing a partnership.

Under the terms of initial ten-year deal, Yahoo’s popular search engine is likely to be enveloped into Microsoft’s Bing platform, with search technologies and profit shares from ads distributed accordingly.

The move is the latest ominous sign that Microsoft really does mean business with Bing, because however mutually-beneficial the deal is dressed up to appear by the respective marketing departments, it has essentially swallowed up it’s nearest competitor in the field. Also, the ten year timescale of the agreement is an interesting note to the episode, suggesting that Microsoft isn’t expecting an overnight result and is in it for the long haul.

However the size of the task in attempting to overthrow Google hasn’t got any smaller. Even combined, Bing and Yahoo’s current share of the search market (28%) doesn’t come close to Google’s domination (65%*).

All in all, Microsoft’s recent moves on search show a certain tenacity for the fight, but it doesn’t look like it has produced a genuine gamechanger… yet.

* Comscore. July 2009.