Google Blogger URL Redirects Censor International Users

When Twitter announced they were instituting a new censorship policy, the micro-blogging platform faced an immediate and severe backlash from the majority of the web community. Now, as a result of a previously announced change to the Blogger platform that was initially announced on January 9th, the Blogger platform has also come under scrutiny. The change, which deploys a country-specific URL to the Blogger platform, will allow Google to censor and remove content on a country-by-country basis similar to the new Twitter policy.

When required by local laws and regulations, Google has said they will remove content in a manner that impacts the smallest number of potential readers. The Google Blogger site says the following of the new change:

“Migrating to localized domains will allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law. By utilizing ccTLDs, content removals can be managed on a per country basis, which will limit their impact to the smallest number of readers.”

The changes, which are already live in India, Australia, and New Zealand, enable Google to easily remove content on a per-country basis by redirecting users to an address that utilizes a country-code top level domain. For example, if a U.S. blog’s address is http://name.blogspot.com and a user with an India-based IP attempts to visit the blog, Google will send the user to http://name.blogspot.in. However, if the blog’s readers would prefer to reach the U.S. (non-censored) version of the site, they can add “ncr/,” which stands for “No Country Redirect” to the end of the URL (i.e. http://name.blogspot.com/ncr/) and the user will no longer be served the country-specific (potentially censored) version of the blog.

The new Blogger policy does not currently affect blogs that use the custom domain feature.

Do you feel that the new Blogger policy is necessary to maintain the continued free flow of information while simultaneously complying with local regulations?

[Sources Include: Mashable, Economic Times, Google Blogger]

Article source: Mashable

Easy Way to Understand Google’s Panda

There are so many myths out there about Panda and what it means. This infographic from Single Grain makes it very easy for you to understand what Panda is, what can hurt your site, link building tips and offers suggestions on what to do if your website was affected.

Article source: Search Engine Journal

Brand Positioning With Consumer Research

We have worked with a variety of clients over the years, from Fortune 100 companies to new venture start-ups. They have ranged from very entrepreneurial, risk taking organizations to very cautious, mature organizations. And, they have ranged significantly regarding their interest in and ability to invest in consumer insight through marketing research.

Successfully positioning a brand requires consumer insight. Brands are owned in the minds of consumers so unless you know how consumers perceive your brand and those of your competitors, you will not know which brand position (or unique value proposition – unique selling proposition) is going to be most advantageous for your brand. At a minimum, you should know which potential consumer values or benefits achieve ALL of the following:

• Relevant to the purchase of your brand’s products or services
• Unique among competitive alternatives
• Emotionally compelling
• Purchase motivating
• Protectable over the medium – to long-term

Brand owners can identify potentially advantageous brand values and benefits through qualitative research (focus groups, mini-groups and one-on-one depth interviews). Then, through quantitative research, they can evaluate the top brand positioning options against each of the evaluation criteria listed above to identify the most advantageous position to select.

Some clients error on the side of no consumer research, often because they do not think they can afford it and sometimes because of arrogance (“I know what our customers want.”). Occasionally, a brilliant entrepreneur with an excellent understanding of the consumer can arrive at a strong brand position without the help of research, however more often, the person just thinks he or she has an excellent understanding of the consumer and chooses an inferior position. Some organizations legitimately do not have the budget or cash flow to invest in consumer research. But can brand owners and marketers afford to not invest in something that could result in a significantly higher market share and profitability over the long term?

Article source: Branding Strategy Insider