Of course, it’s easy to miss the mark.

Are you familiar with Reddit? The popular social news website offers a feature called Ask Me Anything (AMA), in which people of interest can open up a dialogue with Reddit users by directly answering questions. Generally, these questions range from the mundane to the daringly personal; the most popular AMAs feature celebrities answering off-the-wall questions and offering fascinating bits of information about past projects and experiences.

I’ve talked about comedian Louis C.K. before, who successfully pulled off an AMA while promoting his stand-up special, “Live at the Beacon Theater.” Following in C.K.’s footsteps, actor Woody Harrelson started his own AMA on Friday.  Using the account name “iamwoodyharrelson,” this is how he started the topic:

Hi Reddit, it’s Woody here. I’m in New York today doing interviews for my new film RAMPART, which opens in theaters on February 10th. I’ll be checking in from 3-4EST today and will get to as many of your questions as I can, so start asking now! Be back soon.

Sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately, the Internet smelled a rat. “iamwoodyharrelson” provided painfully vague replies which generally tried to keep the conversation geared towards Harrelson’s crime drama, Rampart. This led many users to speculate that Harrelson wasn’t actually behind the keyboard at all. Instead, Reddit’s general consensus is that the AMA was lead by a PR team in an attempt to drum up more attention for the movie. You can read the full thread and decide for yourself by clicking here.

If Reddit is correct and Harrelson’s AMA was really just a marketing ploy, I can see the appeal:  Reddit’s users are mostly males between the ages of 25 – 35, creating an ideal demographic for Rampart. But even though intentions might have been good, the results were not; users were not happy with Harrelson (or whoever was answering questions for him) and his cookie-cutter responses.

In following with Reddit’s upvote/downvote structure, the AMA was voted down enough to lose its spot on Reddit’s front page.

What can we learn from this?

• You can’t go viral without providing great content.
• You can’t lie to the Internet.
• When the Internet expects Woody Harrelson, you should provide Woody Harrelson.

What are your thoughts?

Google’s Latest Update: Panda 3.2

• Google has recently confirmed reports of a rumored update to its Panda algorithm. Never fear – it’s just a minor change which encompasses a simple data refresh.
• Rumors of an update began circulating when webmasters commented on their rankings, some of which regained their pre-Panda traffic levels. Going along with the concept of a data refresh, Google likely updated sites which should or should not have been affected by Panda.
• It’s interesting to note that this update coincides with the company’s recent privacy policy revision. Google could be trying to garner more credibility by fixing ranking issues – what are your thoughts?

Twitter’s Brand Pages Borrow from Facebook

• On February 1st, Twitter will introduce enhanced profile pages. This change will allow brands to build iFrame environments, thereby encouraging gaming and shopping without forcing users to leave their Twitter page.
• If that concept sounds familiar, it’s because Facebook uses the same format for its brand profile pages. The update is an element of Twitter’s Q2 product rollout plan and is designed to encourage more users to interact with a greater number of Tweeting brands.
• But does anyone really use the iFrame gaming, shopping, and other features on Facebook brand pages in the first place? I never saw them as something useful or necessary. What about you?

Google Updates Privacy Policy

• In case you haven’t heard (which is pretty impossible, at this point), Google has updated their privacy policy. Basically, the company has condensed its 70 privacy settings, which were spread out across all of Google’s products, into one mega policy.
• Google’s policy encompasses information sharing and how they use the info you provide, enforcement, and security. Basically, the policy’s crux is that Google will continue to use your information to place ads, as long as they have your consent.
• This condensed privacy policy is another step in the company’s focus on maintaining transparency, and I appreciate the document’s readability. Way to go, Google.

Get ready for the Online Complain Train, folks. It’s official, whether you’re a fan or not: Facebook Timeline is set to become a standard feature on all profiles over the next few weeks.

The latest Facebook profile change has received mixed reviews since it was first introduced last year. Some people love the cover photo feature (Mashable has compiled some truly awesome ones here), but others find the layout difficult to navigate and far too intrusive.

I’d have to agree. Everything below the cover photo feelscluttered and photo albums are difficult to find, making Facebook Stalking much more of a challenge. Plus, it’s easier than ever for users to view posts from any moment in your life; all they have to do is find a particular year and click “All Posts,” unless you’re vigilant about your privacy settings.

Here’s how Facebook is pitching Timeline:

As always, change is never welcome on the Internet, but odds are pretty good that the ruckus over Timeline will boil over in just a few weeks. Or will it?

Google+ is seeing Timeline as an opportune time to unveil their new target demographic: teens. Previously restricted to individuals aged 18 and older, Plus has recently opened up to people between the ages of 13 – 17.

According to GrownUpThinking.com, evidence suggests that the teen demographic is itching for a Facebook alternative. Based on their research, many of the teens who participated in the survey called the changes “confusing, annoying, disappointing and useless.”

With Timeline presenting more change than some users might welcome, can we expect to see more attention coming to Google+?

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Sometimes the most simple answer to these questions, isn’t a written answer at all, but an image. These images are called “heatmaps” and they illustrate the areas of high activity on web properties. Some heatmaps are created with retra-tracking goggles, while others are extrapolated from mouse activity. Often usability is nothing more than understanding human behavior and applying it for simplicity on the web. Below are some examples of common heatmaps.

The Google search heatmap (shown below) shows the common search behavior of consumers using Google to search for a product or information. Notice the listings on the top get the majority of the view and click activity. Credit to Eyetools for this heatmap.

This heatmap shows a common browsing and scanning path users may take when viewing a blog or news website. Author unknown.

This final heatmap from clicktale shows how navigation on the left gets a significant increase in attention, as compared to navigation and “sign in” links towards the right of the site. This shouldn’t be too surprising since we read top-down and left-right.

The Blackouts: Aftermath

Wednesday’s massive blackout featured countless websites replacing their usual content with a visual of what SOPA/PIPA could cause, and according to sopastrike.com, the protest was a success. The website reports that over 115,000 sites participated in the strike, which helped gather an estimated 10,000,000 petition signatures and over 3,000,000 emails sent to politicians. Most importantly, the strike inspired 34 senators to announce their opposition to SOPA/PIPA, up from just 6 senators on Wednesday morning.

Those numbers are nothing short of phenomenal and truly speak to the importance of a free and open Internet.

In fact, the opposition was so strong that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) decided to “postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT IP Act.”. Originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 24th, the postponement suggests a serious reconsideration of SOPA/PIPA in favor of something significantly less Orwellian.

The OPEN Act

Reid’s postponement also gave Rep. Darrell Issa the opportunity to present the OPEN act, which has garnered support from tech giants Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Named the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act, Issa says the bill strengthens intellectual property rights while preserving an open Internet.

Giving oversight to the International Trade Commission instead of the U.S. Justice Department, OPEN’s specifics can be found at Issa’s website, KeepTheWebOpen. The website states, “If the ITC investigation finds that a foreign registered website is ‘primarily’ and ‘willfully’ infringing on the IP rights of a U.S. rights holder, the commission would issue a cease and desist order that would compel payment processors (like Visa and Paypal) and online advertising providers to cease doing business with the foreign site in question. This would cut off financial incentives for this illegal activity and deter these unfair imports from reaching the U.S. market.”

Sounds promising, but based on recent actions by the government, new anti-piracy legislation might not be totally necessary.

Megaupload’s Takedown

On Thursday, major file hosting website Megaupload.com and its associated brands were taken down by the U.S. Justice Department due to a slew of offenses, including money laundering and – wait for it – copyright infringement. Wait, isn’t that what SOPA/PIPA were trying to do?

Basically, yes. While the debate is still on regarding whether or not the actions taken towards Megaupload were justified, the timing was a low blow, occurring the day after the blackout protests and suggesting that SOPA/PIPA might be unnecessary.

What are your thoughts? Will OPEN present a good alternative to SOPA/PIPA? Is anti-piracy legislation even necessary in light of Megaupload’s takedown? Let us know in the comments.

US Online Ad Spend to Hit $40 Billion

• eMarketer estimates that US online ad spending will reach nearly $40 billion, which is a 20% growth compared to previous years.
• This level of growth is attributed to the heightened appeal of internet marketing in today’s economy. “Advertisers’ comfort level with integrated marketing is greater than ever, and this is helping more advertisers-and more large brands-put a greater share of dollars online,” said David Hallerman, principal analyst at eMarketer.
• $40 billion is an impressive figure, but such growth is expected when it comes to the internet. On the other hand, print ad spending is expected to take a dive as more brands and marketers put greater focus online. While I doubt print spending will disappear entirely anytime soon, this year marks the first year when US online ad spending exceeds the amount spent on print – a fact which is likely the start of a downward trend for ad spending in magazines and newspapers.

Bing’s New Campaign is for Doing

• Bing’s new campaign focuses on the phrase, “Bing is for #Doing.” Previously, Bing portrayed itself as a decision engine and the Internet’s answer to information overload. Remember those commercials?
• “#Doing” emphasizes people and their actions, coming from a more emotional approach than other campaigns. Their latest TV spots are set to follow the inspiring stories of winter sports athletes, including Kevin Pearce and Bobby Brown.
• However, it’s difficult to ignore that Google Search and Plus have already pulled at the heartstrings of humanity with previous ad campaigns: “Search Stories” comes to mind, as well as recent TV spots for Google Plus.  While Bing’s ads are fascinating, I doubt that #Doing will really do much in the way of bringing traffic away from Google.

Google Introduces “Page Layout” Algorithm

• The latest update to Google’s search algorithm turns its focus to websites that place a significant number of ads above the fold. Dubbed the “Page Layout” algorithm, such websites are set to be penalized because they detract from a user’s experience by making worthwhile content difficult to find.
• “We’ve heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it’s difficult to find the actual content, they aren’t happy with the experience…If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience.Such sites may not rank as highly going forward,” Google said.
• In order to determine whether your website could suffer from this change, Google recommends the use of the Google Browser Size tool to get a sense of much of a page’s content is visible to visitors. A good rule of thumb (or whichever finger you use to scroll): if it takes you more than a few scrolls to get to the content your visitors are looking for, you might want to reassess your page layout.

Understandably, the Internet is outraged. Countless petitions and protests have occurred in an effort to prevent the legislation from passing. As a part of this movement, yesterday was a memorable day for people nationwide. Why? Because the English version of Wikipedia was replaced with this:

As a sign of protest against SOPA/PIPA, Wikipedia joined several other major websites, including Google, Reddit, and Tumblr, in a mass blackout to demonstrate the possible effects of these pending bills.

In addition to Wikipedia, Google’s homepage featured a gray censor bar over their familiar logo.

Similarly, Reddit and Tumblr replaced their homepages with messages about the legislation and its effects on the Internet. Several protesting websites included information on contacting local representatives in an effort to increase public action. But were the actions of these websites justified?

I would say so. If you have some time to spare, Clay Shirky describes the effects of SOPA/PIPA extremely well in this TED Talk:

One of the most telling parts of Shirky’s talk comes towards the end, when he states:

[Media companies] don’t want legal distinctions between legal and illegal sharing. They just want the sharing to go away. PIPA and SOPA are not oddities…they’re the next turn of this particular screw which has been going on for 20 years now. If we defeat these – as I hope we do – more is coming…until we convince Congress that the way to deal with copyright violation is the way copyright violation was dealt with by Napster, by Youtube, which is to have a trial…that goes on in democratic societies.

Chilling, but true. As most things do, the issue at hand boils down to finances. It costs money to police copyright infringement, which is one of the reasons why SOPA/PIPA appeals to supporters; it costs significantly less money to simply block a domain instead of holding a trial with evidence for every instance of infringement.

However, just because something is cheaper does not mean it is the best course of action. While copyright infringement is a real issue that deserves proper attention, the latest form of protest against SOPA/PIPA reveals that these bills miss the mark entirely. The Internet exists as an entity which allows for the freedom of expression, creation, and collaboration – not censorship.

What are your thoughts about SOPA/PIPA? Were you impacted by the website blackouts? Let us know in the comments.

Predicted: One Billion Facebook Users by September

• iCrossings has thrown around some numbers and, based on a process of linear regression on data from 2008 onwards, they expect Facebook to hit one billion active users towards the end of this year.
• Facebook’s growth has altogether slowed in most early adopting countries, namely the U.S. and the U.K. (probably because everyone already has an account). However, developing countries are where the social network is expected to receive the majority of its expected growth. India and Brazil are two examples of this trend, with India growing from 22 million users to 36 million and Brazil jumping from 13 million to 30 million in the last 9 months.
• Honestly, one billion users is to be expected of Facebook. While Google+ could potentially present itself as a worthy adversary (eventually), the appeal is still new and exciting in developing countries. So, whether the social network reaches the big B this year or next, the fact remains that it’s still going to happen soon enough.

Companies Bring Mapping to Indoor Spaces

• Mapping the great outdoors is old news now. Google and many other companies are now creating digital landscapes of indoor spaces, including airports, shopping malls, and universities.
• “This market is getting real,” says Jeff Lewis, co-founder of Guidebook, which has mapped around 900 museums, industry conferences, and more. Google has already introduced maps for U.S. Ikea stores, Home Depots, and airports in the form of apps on the Android operating system. The difficulty for many companies and locations, however, is figuring out the logistics of mapping vast indoor spaces, many of which require agreements with retailers and building owners.
• Despite the nitty-gritty details, it makes sense to consider that the indoor mapping industry has potential to become the Next Big Thing. Practicality is a big advantage in this situation because smartphones are in the hands of an overwhelming number of people today, making access to apps relatively simple. Plus, being able to find my way around a stadium, college campus, or airport sounds nothing short of delightful.

Microsoft Takes Yahoo’s Spot in U.S. Search

• It’s official: Bing received 2.75 billion U.S. search requests in December, pushing the search engine and Microsoft’s other websites in front of Yahoo.
• Based on numbers released by comScore Inc., Bing’s held a 15.1% of U.S. search traffic, while Yahoo held 14.5%. Google, of course, remained in its top spot with 65.9% of the U.S. market share and 12 billion search requests.
• Undoubtedly, Yahoo’s diminishing presence is one of the reasons why new CEO Scott Thompson has his work cut out for him, esecially since Thompson’s turnaround for the company will need to make up for lost revenue over the past three years.

Google’s latest update encompasses the following, as written by Google Fellow Amit Singhal on the company’s official blog:

Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts-both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;

Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,

People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community.

Check out the video below to see the new features in better detail.

I’m actually loving the idea of integrating personal results with Google’s search engine. What’s especially comforting is the company’s emphasis on the privacy of these results. Singhal states, “when you’re signed in to Google, your search results-including your private content-are protected by the same high standards of encryption as your messages in Gmail.” Kudos for security, Google.

If you’re not keen on seeing a bevy of personalized results, then Google has introduced a handy toggle feature to revert your search results back to their traditional settings.

As we’ve mentioned before, Google+ is a huge trump card for the company, and incorporating profile information with search results is a diabolically genius way to keep Google+ at the top of users’ minds.

What are your thoughts? Will personalized results lead to higher relevancy, or will it just clog the front page? Let us know in the comments.

• Scott Thompson, former president of PayPal, has been officially hired by Yahoo as their new CEO. Back in September, ex-chief executive officer Carol Bartz was fired due to an unwelcome growth slump. But is Thompson ready for his new responsibilities?
• Some experts predict Thompson is facing a tough path. Ken Sena, an analyst at Evercore, states that “Scott has a great track record in payments and has proven an effective executive at PayPal and has major tech chops and international experience, but at a content company, which Yahoo has increasingly become, his experience is kind of lacking.”
• What’s certain is that the new CEO will need to assess a variety of options, including Asian assets divesting and selling a stake to private equity firms. Overall, Thompson says his primary focus will be on the “core business,” which is as good a place to start as any.

Chrome Browser Demoted by Google Following Campaign Scandal

• Internet marketers were in an uproar when Aaron Wall, founder of SeoBook.com, was credited with discovering a sponsored post…by Google. The company is known to stand strictly against paid links, stating in their guidelines that “buying and selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results.”
• So, what was Google’s response? “It wasn’t us!” The company states, “Google never agreed to anything more than online ads. We have consistently avoided paid sponsorships, including paying bloggers to promote our products, because these kind of promotions are not transparent or in the best interests of users. We’re now looking at what changes we need to make to ensure that this never happens again.”
• At the end of it all, Google has demoted the PageRank for Chrome for up to 60 days. Plus, searching for “browser” in Google reveals that Chrome has been pushed off the front page. Has the company done enough to stick to their informal slogan of “Don’t be evil”?

Online Video Ad Spend to Jump 40% in 2012

• eMarketer predicts that online video advertising will experience another great year of growth by reaching $3.1 billion, a 40% jump overall. What’s nice is that these numbers are coming after a 52% increase last year.
• According to eMarketer, dominant video formats for 2012 will include pre-roll and mobile video. This is based off results from a Break Media study that found 63% of advertisers are planning on buying pre-roll ads this year, and 55% plan to use mobile video ads.
• To be honest, an increase is to be expected. Online video advertising is quickly becoming a mainstay for a number of businesses due to the opportunities for high visibility and potential return on investment. As a testament to this trend, other popular ad formats rae expected to include in-banner video ads and banner ads. Interestingly, about 25% of advertisers are looking into connected TV ads, up from 12% in 2011. What are your thoughts on these numbers?