Now, I’m trying to find the right words here but my little brain is just struggling with trying to understand what the hell it is that I just saw.  If you haven’t seen the new Microsoft ad yet, it’s worth a gander, just to see how out of whack the people that created the ad truly are.  I’m not sure if someone was on an acid trip or was just high as a kite but I’ll tell you one thing, Microsoft needs a new ad agency…pronto!

I’m not going to verbally describe the ad because it has already been described by read write web,
techcrunch, and just about every other tech blog on the planet.  But, I will say that this ad is definitely not going to make me want to buy a Microsoft product any time soon.  If anything, I finished watching the ad and had a strong hankering for a churro…now where to find one?

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I’ve been talking about how producers, film makers, and movie studios should release an online feature length film.  Yesterday I wrote a post for blog world expo predicting that it wouldn’t be long before we indeed saw this happen.  Well today Cnet announced that Michael Moore is going to be releasing his new film “Slacker Uprising,” online for free for 3 weeks.  Then, the film will be released via netflix and amazon.

According to Michael:

“This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans.  The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November. I think Slacker Uprising will inspire (millions) to get off the couch and give voting a chance.”

The online film space is such a new market and I think with a bit of smarts movie studios can really capitalize on it.  Why don’t movie studios take advantage of the ease of distribution online to release films?  What if an online film or t.v. show was released but instead of releasing the whole thing at once it is released in pieces.  Once the first piece receives a certain amount of views the next piece is released and so on.

Better yet, why don’t movie studios release a particular trailer or scene and say, “If 100,000 people watch this, we will host a special private screening in xyz.”  I am so surprised to see that the movie studios are getting more creative with their marketing and taking advantage of the online space.

Come on movie studios, use your noodle!

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So we all know that Google “Chrome” has launched right?  Personally, “Chrome” makes me feel like a 10 year old trying to use the internet, I mean the whole UI just feels very childish, but that’s beside the point.  What nobody seems to be addressing is the information that Google will now have about it’s users.

Google made a brilliant move.  Advertising is gearing more towards extreme targeting, meaning the more you know about someone the more targeted of an ad you can show them.  If you’re the number one search engine in the world and you wanted to capture more information on your users, what would you do?  Create your own browser.

It was long rumored that the Google toolbar (the little add on that gives you the green bar, your supposed page rank) was a secret spy that collected information from your browsing pattens.  My SEO colleagues tested this and found out it was true.  Now imagine the information you are going to be giving to Google when you are using their browser?  Google is going to have information on all of your click patterns, your site history, etc.  Who knows, using the browser may even help fuel the google analytics tool that so many people are using on their sites.

I think in the next few years we are going to start to see Google develop a targeted ad placement platform like no other.  With around 70% market share in the U.S. Google is going to have more data on everyone’s browsing history than you can imagine.  I’m sure when it comes time for Google to go after the mobile advertising space that they will have a “mobile” version of Chrome that will allow them to also serve extreme targeted mobile ads as well.

Since Chrome is so new there haven’t been any tests yet to determine what information Google can actually get from us, but I can tell you that it does feel a little bit like Big Brother is watching you, don’t you think?

I’m not saying use or don’t use Google Chrome, I’m merely trying to give my take on the new move that Google has made and what it is going to mean for us as users and what is going to mean for advertisers.

What do you think about Google’s move to launch their own browser?

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The NYtimes blog has apparently been able to confirm that Amazon will in fact NOT be releasing a new version of the Kindle this year.  The article quotes the chief spokesperson from Amazon, Craig Berman, as saying:

“Don’t believe everything you read.” “There’s a lot of rumor and speculation about the Kindle. One thing I can tell you for sure is that there will be no new version of the Kindle this year. A new version is possible sometime next year at the earliest.”

Well that settles that.  Those of you out there who were looking to get the Kindle as a holiday present may as well go out and get an iphone, or maybe an ice cream maker?

thanks for reading

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Apparently Kevin Rose has some insider information on when the new ipods are coming and what they are going to look like, check it out:

According to an article my Gizmodo we can expect:

- Revamp of entire iPod line.
- Small cosmetic changes to Touch, Nano to see significant redesign (see pic below).
- iPods to see fairly large price drops to distance itself from the $199 iPhone.
- iPod touch 2.1 software, iPhone to get update very soon after.
- iTunes 8.0 (”it’s a big update w/new features”).
- All of this coming in the next 2-3 weeks.

Of course, this is not substantiated yet, by Kevin also seems to have a photo of the new ipod.

A more in depth article can also be found on “the iphone blog.”

what do you think, fact or fiction?

thanks for reading

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