Written by When asked about the recession, Jackson added: “A Recession is predominantly for the middle class. Where I come from the majority of people have always lived in a recession.”
Bill Simmons: Mexico Versus United States
Great read from ESPN’s Page 2 writer Bill Simmons:
On the day of last week’s World Cup qualifier between the United States and Mexico, a Mexico City newspaper polled citizens asking if they felt the country’s national pride was at stake. Seventy-six percent said yes.
Think about that for a second. Americans are obsessed with sports. We currently sustain four major professional sports leagues, as well as NASCAR, the MLS, MILS, the WNBA, every conceivable NCAA sport, dozens of golf and tennis events, boxing and UFC cards, the WWE and even the Little League World Series. Can you remember a sporting event making us feel as if our national pride was at stake? Me neither.
Read more…
Update Often
It makes sense to update your site more often, users know to come back for fresh content, and Google likes to crawl sites that update their sites often. Fresh content is also usually more timely and relevant – so makes sense for Google to crawl it.
Interesting piece on statisticians in the Times:
For example, Ms. Grimes worked on an algorithm to fine-tune Google’s crawler software, which roams the Web to constantly update its search index. The model increased the chances that the crawler would scan frequently updated Web pages and make fewer trips to more static ones.
Advertising Dollars
It’s a funny business, advertising. The ability to track clicks and impression online has helped to remove some of the unknown, but it’s still a business that is vague. Coke has to advertise to keep up with Pepsi. Nike has to advertise to fend off Adidas. Companies have to maintain their market share and build up their brand. How much of the money they spend goes to waste though? Is that big billboard off the freeway worth it? Did that commercial really help our brand?
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.
-John Wanamaker
US department store merchant (1838 – 1922)
Are Google Ad Words An Economic Indicator?
Interesting story from CNBC:
Google’s AdWord rates, set by an auction system, reveal what search topics are most popular to advertisers, and thus to consumers. BNY ConvergEx Group released a fascinating report that broke down what the prices say about the state of the economy. Bottom line: it’s not good. The highest prices go for ads for “budget offerings and services that cater to a recessionary environment.” Maybe this is a trailing indicator, but still, there no green shoots in this study.
The most expensive ad words, going for nearly $65 a click, are for businesses that cash out long-term structured settlements in a lump sum. (Translation: people are desperate for cash, fast.)
Break the Rules
This Gladwell piece in the New Yorker got me thinking about how teams in soccer try to kill the game off when they have a lead or change their style of play when they’re losing. Same goes for teams in the NFL when they’re winning. Teams use the prevent defense and drop back. They often lose. They concede too many short passes and the team kicks a field goal.
In soccer they bring on a defensive player or start to send the long balls into the corners and hold it. This is all well and fine, if it’s done properly. But many times it’s not. It’s just done poorly. Teams end up hoofing the ball into the corners and losing the ball, not winning throw ins, and then fouling unnecessarily. No possession. No building of confidence. The game becomes frantic.
In the recent Champions League game semifinal, Chelsea took off Didier Drogba and brought on Juliano Belletti in the 72 minute. Barcelona had ten men at this point. Why not keep the pressure on. Why not, instead of going defensive, continue to attack and attack and attack.
Barcelona on the other hand did the right thing. They stuck to their passing game and didn’t become desperate. They didn’t resort to sending long balls as most teams would at the end of the game. They kept to their tight short passing game. This resulted in a calm and smooth pass by Messi across the top of the box to a waiting Iniesta to knock home. Game over.
It’s almost like the Seinfeld episode where George does the opposite of everything he normally does and things turn out a lot better. Sometimes you have to go against the grain or the conventional wisdom. Maybe don’t always do what’s expected.
To Link or Not
In this Maureen Dowd piece she actually hyperlinks to Cars.com, not sure why exactly. Sometimes a newspaper will and sometimes they won’t link out to companies. But a link from the NY Times is very valuable. It doesn’t mean that much to Cars.com, they’re already a big company, but a small site or blog, that link is worth a great deal – that site’s Google page rank will shoot up.
Gary Speed, 58, who works for McClatchy’s Cars.com unit, drove half an hour from Groveland, Calif., with his wife, Margaret, to celebrate her birthday. He’s considering gold panning “as another source of income because I’m going to retire soon.” He was intent on not losing the gold flakes in his sluice. “That can buy a can of cat food,” he noted.
Australian canine castaway found
A pet dog which was washed overboard and believed drowned has been found four months later – as a castaway on a remote Australian island.
Sophie Tucker – named after the famous US entertainer – vanished as Jan and Dave Griffith sailed through stormy waters off Queensland last November.
But unknown to her grieving owners, the plucky dog survived a long swim across shark-infested waters to an island.
There she lived on a diet of baby goats until being found by visiting rangers.
The Griffiths were amazed to hear of the discovery and have now been reunited with their pet.