Obama Uses Search Engine Marketing for Reputation Management
Posted by dave on October 10, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Before I begin, I want to make it clear that I am not giving an endorsement to either presidential candidate. I am just making an observation, and giving credit where it is due for the creation of a well thought out and well managed search marketing campaign.
This week the Barack Obama campaign made a very savvy move. During a rally in Carson, California last Saturday, Republican Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin referenced an article in The New York Times discussing the connection between Barack Obama and William Ayers. Soon after, the Obama campaign launched a search marketing campaign designed to mitigate the potential negative press.
The paid campaign cast a broad net covering possible search phrases such as William Ayers and Barack Obama terrorist, while the ad copy was written to address the link that was being drawn between Barack Obama and William Ayers. In addition to creating targeted ad copy to address the issue, the ads take you to a website designed specifically to address the questions people may have regarding this issue.
In addition to reputation management, this campaign also goes on the attack targeting search terms such as Keating 5. Like the reputation management ads, these ads also use targeted copy and utilize a website designed specifically to address the situation.
This campaign was clearly designed to help address specific fears and concerns of voters. By using this approach, the Obama campaign is speaking directly to these voters, while trying to alleviate these fears and concerns.
In contrast, a search for McCain cancer, a phrase that a potential voter worried about the health of presidential candidate John McCain may search for, returns no results. In addition, a search on Keating 5 only returns one result; the one being used by the Obama campaign. However, a generic search for Barack Obama does return an ad from the McCain camp.
So, although it does appear that McCain is making some attempt to sway potential voters online, the approach is not nearly as robust as the one being implemented by Obama.
Given the scope of this campaign, the question remains, is it worth it? Will this online marketing approach help Obama?
To see how the candidates have utilized online marketing over the course of the entire 2008 presidential campaign, take a look a these straight talkin' StraightUpSearch blog posts:
Politics + New Media = Radical (August 2008)
Presidential Campaigns: Online & Everywhere (June 2008)
Memo to Hillary and Barack: YouTube Is a Two-Headed Beast (March 2008)
Democratic Debate - Capitalizing on Heated Exchanges (January 2008)
McCain Buys Hillary. Mitt Buys A Bunch. Others By Stand. (December 2007)
The 2008 Presidential Race Online & Personal (November 2007)
Google Insurance for Wall Street?
Posted by tim on October 09, 2008 at 02:08 PM
The topic of the economy is one all too obvious for those of us in the U.S. and not one I really want to dive deep into at this blog. There are more than enough folks talking about the impending doom on Wall Street.
There is a piece of this story though, that is near and dear to all of us in the online marketing space: the impact on the tech sector and, more specifically, the big G (Google).
(While it's more than obvious, I'm going to offer this caveat; the following observations, comments, musings, are mine - I'm not an expert in financial markets. If you want guidance, watch Cramer - with aspirin - or talk to a pro.)
Google's stock price, like so many others, has taken a hit in the last several days. If we look back to September 21st, the stock price was as high as $449 per share. As of this morning (10/9) Google shares are trading at around $345.
The obvious here is that this all ties much more to real estate and banking than it does to tech. Since the banks are hurting though, and the big money sources are starting to hoard, it does hurt tech, since it's much more unlikely for people to invest on speculation.
There is more at work with Google though, at least I think so. Here's a company who's IPO opened at roughly $80. People were making massive buys on the stock at that price, driving shares up to over $700!
I wonder if what's happened here is that companies are realizing that the only money they have is the huge gains they've made on Google stock. So with everything else going to pot, why not sell off some G and put cash back in the bank?
Maybe in addition to Advertising, and Search, and Publishing (nod, wink), Google inadvertently got into the insurance business.
Google Adds Click-To-Buy Links on YouTube
Posted by keirsun on October 08, 2008 at 12:14 PM
A select group of YouTube publishers have a new option for monetizing their videos: "click-to-buy" links.
The links appear beneath the actual video, and point viewers to other sites where they can purchase content related to the YouTube video.
Currently viewers will find links to Amazon and iTunes on videos from EMI Music, and links to Amazon on videos from game maker Electronic Arts.
This ecommerce upgrade to the Google-owned video sharing site was announced yesterday on the YouTube Blog.
According to the blog post this is the beginning of a larger ecommerce platform on YouTube.
Our vision is to help partners across all industries -- from music, to film, to print, to TV -- offer useful and relevant products to a large, yet targeted audience, and generate additional revenue from their content on YouTube beyond the advertising we serve against their videos.
YouTube expects to expand the "click-to-buy" link option to other content publishers, and to make the links available to YouTube viewers outside of the United States.
Flash Animation using Actionscript3 - Spring and Ease
Posted by robert on October 07, 2008 at 05:10 PM
To fully understand this tutorial, you'll want to have an advance understanding of both Flash CS3 and Actionscript3. However, the script supplied may be used by anyone.
What you'll get...
In Flash CS3, some animations (particularly "dynamic" animations) just aren't possible with your basic timeline motion tweening. Here are some quick functions that can be used to either "spring" or "ease" your Sprites to their target location.
EASE
function easeTo(event:Event):void
{
var t:Object = event.target;
t.x += (goalXease-t.x)*ease;
t.y += (goalYease-t.y)*ease;
var dist:Number = Math.sqrt((goalXease-t.x)*(goalXease-t.x)+(goalYease-t.y)*(goalYease-t.y));
if(dist <= 1){
t.x = goalXease;
t.y = goalYease;
t.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, easeTo);
}
}
SPRING
function springTo(event:Event):void
{
var t:Object = event.target;
speedX += (goalXspring-t.x)*spring;
speedY += (goalYspring-t.y)*spring;
t.x += (speedX *= resistance);
t.y += (speedY *= resistance);
var spdX_amt:Number = Math.sqrt(speedX*speedX);
var spdY_amt:Number = Math.sqrt(speedY*speedY);
var dist:Number = Math.sqrt((goalXspring-t.x)*(goalXspring-t.x)+(goalYspring-t.y)*(goalYspring-t.y));
if(spdX_amt <= 1 && spdY_amt <= 1 && dist <= 1){
speedX = 0;
speedY = 0;
t.x = goalXspring;
t.y = goalYspring;
t.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, springTo);
}
}
HOW TO USE THEM
First, you'll need to add a few variables to your movie:
var speedX:Number = 0;
var speedY:Number = 0;
var goalXease:Number = 200;
var goalYease:Number = 100;
var goalXspring:Number = 100;
var goalYspring:Number = 100;
var resistance:Number = 0.85;
var spring:Number = 0.1;
var ease:Number = 0.2;
Speed (for lack of a better term) is the rate of movement at which the spring animation is traveling at any given time. Because we are moving along the X and Y axis, we need to have a separate speed for each.
Goal is the location where you want the object to land. Again, we need both an X and Y goal.
Resistance is the force applied against the spring which causes it to slow down to a stop. Without it, the object would never stop moving.
Spring is the rate at which the spring animation increases speed while traveling towards the goal, and the rate at which it slows down after passing the goal.
Ease is the rate at which the ease animation slows down. The higher the number, the quicker it will reach its goal.
GET THINGS MOVING
Put a couple of Sprites or MovieClips on the stage and add these event listeners.
mySprite1.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, easeTo);
mySprite2.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, springTo);
Be sure to replace "mySprite1" and "mySprite2" with the names of your corresponding MovieClips, then publish the movie! You'll see that immediately upon opening the movie, your objects will animate towards their goal positions. This kind of animation can be useful for creating interactive menus, games, or just for fun effects.
That's all for now, but you can download the source files below.
Download the Basic Source Files - The above code in action.
Download the Advanced Source Files - Includes the functionality of the above movie (i.e. drag and drop). Take note, the spring and ease functions have been modified for demonstration purposes.
Tags
Flash
Actionscript
Oneupweb
Value In, Value Out!
Posted by doug on October 06, 2008 at 09:32 AM
I recently joined the Oneupweb team as a software developer. Now computers are widely associated with the principle, "Garbage In, Garbage Out" (GIGO), and it certainly applies. The biggest part of my job is to make sure that when the good stuff gets put in, good stuff comes out. Get the process (computer program, in my case) working efficiently and correctly.
Sometimes though, we have to ask, with such a good process, why aren't the results as good as we expect? GIGO directs us to look at what goes in.
This last week I was pondering, as I'm sure many of you were, why, with the greatest political system in existence and the excellence of our average citizens, we are seemingly unable to meet the challenge of an impending world-wide financial crisis?
We have decisions to make, and not much time to make them. We have a proposal on the table, and no consensus whether it's a good one. We can't rest on the "my political party is right!" principle, because both parties are divided.
Making good decisions. It requires good information. What are the fundamentals of our economy? What is at risk? Who will suffer? How did we get here? Is there a way back, or a way forward? We question more and more; the trouble is not lack of information, but too much. Which is just garbage and which has value? The places we look for reliability, integrity, accuracy are critical.
I went to one of my trustworthy sources on the web, THOMAS, by the Library of Congress. Others were, too, because there's the link on the home page to the text of the bill I was looking for. Now I can find out what the politicians and the news media might not be telling me.
For example, observe two new government bureaucracies in the making (one permanent!), not to mention a Congressional Oversight Panel. We all know about the $700 billion. What I didn't know was about how to get the first and second half ($350 B each) of that authorization. The President and Secretary have ready enough access to the first, but wait until they request the second half. That "Fast Track" process is a recipe for political partisanship out of your worst nightmares. And there is a lot of other interesting language there. Buying "troubled assets" according to "the purposes of this Act." Insurance according to "actuarial principles."
Enough said about that. Some powerful processes we don't control, we can only use. Use wisely, get value; unwisely, get garbage. We had better know how to use those things we are given to control. Knowledge helps us to effectively use even what we don't control directly. I hope accurate knowledge of this bill will help me to guide my Senators and Representatives, and my neighbors, in doing the right thing for the country.
Good information is vital to making decisions -- if it's "garbage in" the best process won't yield good results. So why not "Value In, Value Out?" That's the way it's supposed to work.
People are looking for your business as a source for the "good stuff," the right products or services, maybe the right information. And the web is great place for them to connect with you. I'm proud to be part of a company that helps to make that connection.
We put value in (raw data) and get value out (solutions to problems, guidance toward goals) -- better decisions.
