Fastest rising searches for 09.

Last year it was all about Heath, Barrack and iPhones, but Google released this week the top ten fastest rising search terms for 2009.

So the top ten are (drum roll):

• Swine Flu (lets be alert but not alarmed about this one!)
• Susan Boyle
• Masterchef
• Stimulus Package (I wonder what “other” results were returned?)
• Wimbledon
• Twitter
• bing
• one hd
• afl fixture 2009
• bruno

So why is this important?

From Google’s Blog:

Because people use Google to search for what's new and interesting, trends in search terms are a good reflection of what's been on everybody's minds so far this year.

Search volume trends can also be a glimpse of people’s response to a changing world around them, especially in light of the unprecedented global economic events. (According to research conducted by Monash's Australian Centre for Retail Studies, 50% of people research their purchases and decisions online before purchasing).

You can read more at Google’s Australia blog. Also its worth checking out Google Insights For Search, which allows you to track search terms and their popularity over the last 12 months.

Could Bing become Microsoft’s Search Saviour?

It is no real secret that Live Search didn’t seem to live up to Microsoft’s expectations. Now with the recent launch of their Bing search engine it would appear that MS would like to rectify things. They have come out somewhat “guns blazing” with their not subtle pokes at Google in their recent campaign of American TV commercials, with the theme being “Search Overload”.

Watch one of the commercials here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIxfk3hS0uU

It seems that MS are really trying to brand themselves something here, titling Bing’s easy all-in-one style search as a “decision engine”.

Any seasoned web searcher knows that Google offers the same features as Bings, i.e. weather, movie times etc. and it doesn’t look like Google are too shaken by MS’s new search revamp. After all, as of last month (June 2009) Google still held almost 75% of US search engine share. http://www.flickr.com/photos/searchengineland/3704354971/

At the end of the day, it really is up to the users to decide, and the advertising that Microsoft is employing is sure to make regular users more aware of their search engine than ever.

While Google sometimes seems unstoppable, Bing just may win Microsoft back some of the Search Engine Market Share it seems to desire.

Australian Anthill no longer producing Print Version.

It was interested to see today, that Australian Anthill Magazine (a magazine covering 'fast growth' business) has stopped producing its print version after 6 years, instead deciding to focus its attention on its online activities.

In a message to subscribers, founder James Tuckerman said:

This year, our evolution has continued, heavily influenced by the state of the economy and reader migration online – forcing us to question our identity and plans for the future.

Anthill has always prided itself on its ability to embrace change – we are advocates of change – despite the hardship, cynicism, criticism and just plain confusion that change causes. This is one of those occasions.

You read more at Mumbrella
Also check out Australia Anthill

Police raid “rave” after viewing on facebook

Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook in recent years have grown at extraordinary rates, allowing millions of people to communicate. However, it’s not just the public that has caught on to this fad; riot police, arrived by helicopter, dressed in full suits of camouflaged body armour stormed Andrew Poole's 30th birthday party in the small village of Exeter, Devon in Britain it was advertised on Facebook as an ‘overnight’ event.

The police say that the reason for their intrusion was that the birthday event that Andrew had sent to his friends on Facebook – of which 17 people had confirmed, was posted as an overnight event which police somehow interpreted as a rave.

This then prompted the response the police cars, riot van and a helicopter.

Stories like this show just how powerful a tool social networking is, but it also is a warning to people on how the information that they provide to websites such as Facebook can be viewed by entities other than which you may have intended.

While this may be an extreme case, I suspect that this will not be the first time authorities will use social networking in order to try and reduce crime.

For more information on the story visit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1200310/Police-raid-30th-birthday-barbecue-man-used-Facebook-invite-friends.html