Monthly Archives: October 2006

Getting viewers to create your content

Posted on October 12, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Few TV shows have embraced the Internet as broadly as The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Last night was the conclusion of Colbert’s Green Screen Challenge. For the recurring segment, Colbert made a clip of him wielding a light saber … Continue reading →

Posted in media, video, web 2, web 2.0, YouTube | 29 Comments

Following local search to nowhere

Posted on October 10, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

One of the big frustrations I have with local search is that the data is often old. With many sites, the information can be 18 months old. More than once I’ve driven to businesses that were no longer in business. … Continue reading →

Posted in city guides, google, local search, web 2.0, yellow pages | Comments Off on Following local search to nowhere

Talking back to the media

Posted on October 10, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I wrote yesterday about the importance of newspapers engaging with their readers. Over the last two days, I’ve had the opportunity to write to two of the leading newspapers. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I emailed Scott McCartney … Continue reading →

Posted in media, newspapers | Comments Off on Talking back to the media

Keeping online newspapers relevant

Posted on October 9, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Editor and Publisher reports on Washington Post editor Len Downie speaking at the Online News Association’s convention: Downie worried that as people’s attention spans become shorter due to the Web and more readers access news from mobile plaforms on the … Continue reading →

Posted in media, newspapers, publishing | 3 Comments

Finally, a good use for SMS

Posted on October 9, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was at the Washington Capitals home opener on Saturday night (thanks Ted!) and finally saw a good use of SMS. In between periods, fans were invited to send in text messages for display on the scoreboard. A selection of … Continue reading →

Posted in mobile, wireless, wireless data | 2 Comments

MapQuest brings back aerial views

Posted on October 8, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

After a long hiatus, MapQuest now has aerial views on its beta site. Long time online map users will remember that MapQuest had aerial views long before Google Maps existed. Unfortunately, they aren’t as good as what Google has now: … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, maps | 6 Comments

AOL’s domain name giveaway

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

One of my favorite new products is AOL’s My eAddress. It’s the simplest way I’ve found to get your own domain name tied to an email address. I’ve had my own domain name for years and it’s definitely a process … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, email | 1 Comment

Want more ads with your Gmail?

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was in my Gmail account and noticed a new addition to the Sponsored Links that appear along side the email: the option to get more sponsored links. Clicking any of the links under “More about…” gets you a page … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, email, google, search | 3 Comments

Public transit and online maps

Posted on October 2, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google Labs has expanded its transit planner service to include Eugene, Ore., Honolulu, Hi., Pittsburgh, Pa., Seattle, Wash. and Tampa, Fla. The service started last year in Portland, Ore. This slick service integrates with Google Maps and lets you plan … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, maps, microsoft, transit, web 2, web 2.0 | 3 Comments

Shovelware 2.0 – the mobile Web

Posted on October 1, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

When I started in the online business in 1994, shovelware was everywhere. Content from print and other sources was put online – shoveled – indiscriminately on to the Web. Little attention was paid to what users actually needed and valued … Continue reading →

Posted in media, mobile, newspapers, publishing, wireless, wireless data | 2 Comments