Google Cache Fail
I’ve noticed that Google appears to be showing loads of pages as not cached today, including some very high profile ones. Even the BBC and Amazon home pages appear not to be cached (see below, click to enlarge):
BBC homepage not cached
Amazon homepage not cached
The Facebook homepage appears to be OK however:
Facebook homepage cached
I don’t know what’s going on there but I bet a few SEO’s have turned a bit white at some point today…
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Arcade Fire Release Online Music Video
I’m a fan of Arcade Fire and have recently been very much enjoying their new single “We Used To Wait”, it’s a great song about how times have changed and how the immediacy of technology in this day and age make the writing of, sending and anitcipation of receiving of a letter a thing of the past – you don’t have to wait for anything anymore, you can have it all now, but in some ways, it’s not as good as it used to be.
Well that’s how I read into it anyway, and it actually conveniently fits the angle of this blog post, so it’s interesting to see that in romanticising the past they use aspects of the latest online technology and social media to do (as far as I’m aware) what no band has done before and release an online bespoke music video, tailored to the user based on where you grew up!
In partnership with Google, they have released “The Wilderness Downtown” – a combination of HTML5 and Google Maps – that shows the character of the video running down some road and eventually round the location that you entered at the start, in the screenshot below, it’s street I grew up on in Horwich:
The use of multiple browser windows works really well as various synchronised angles of the view run in time to the music. As well as working well from an online point of view, the song also seems to fit well watching footage of the town where you grew up (though there is probably more impact if you no longer live there).
Tip: for “some reason”, it apparently works best in Google Chrome, so if you want to enjoy the video to its full potential, you might have to download this first if you don’t already have it.
Arcade Fire are no strangers to the adoption of the web and social media in promoting themselves, they recently streamed a gig live from Madison Square Garden on YouTube which attracted nearly four million viewers, offered various camera angles and was directed by Terry Gilliam!
Releasing videos online and adopting social media to promote singles and albums isn’t something new, but on this occasion the band has certainly come up with something innovating and this could well be a ground breaking move by them in terms of how music videos will be produced in the future. It will certainly be interesting to see what follows. Bet Lady Gaga is racking her brains over her next release.
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YouTube releases new movie channels
Back in April 2009, social media giants YouTube announced that they were going to introduce a new revolution in television and cinema as a result of forming successful partnerships and deals with top US film studios such as MGM, Crackle, CMS, Lionsgate and Starz to name a few.
YouTube want to provide its customers with several different kinds of videos to watch, ranging from bedroom blogs, journalism reports, TV ads to music videos and full length feature films.
In August 2010, as a result of deals and partnerships YouTube has struck with top US studios, they have officially made this revolution possible. YouTube has released various movie channels for musical Bollywood films and cartoons to seriously spooky horror films. They have also created a dedicated channel for Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan fans where you will have access to some of their greatest full length feature films.
Thank you, YouTube, as word spreads, YouTube is going to take over video streaming all together. Watch this space!
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German Street View Allows For Opt Out
The Google Street View car is now making its way around the streets of 20 German cities ahead of the official launch in November. Unlike before though, they are offering residents the chance to opt out – as there is no doubt going to be some odd moments captured on camera.
Following the launch in other cities around the world, countries such as Germany, Korea and Spain have all voice concerns over privacy and data being collected by the cars, which presumably in part has led to this decision.
Google themselves state they are “doing more than is legally required” to protect people’s privacy by allowing anyone to request the removal of their property. Once validated, the building will be blurred out.
What I find interesting is that Google have set a deadline of September 15, 2010, for getting a request submitted. I’m sure there is a valid reason for this, but it seems tight and people will no doubt only become aware of the extent of what Google has caught on camera once it’s gone live!
Another interesting step in this saga sees the German government proactively getting involved and inviting Google and others to discuss privacy and security implications and potential legislations. What makes this more interesting is the viewpoint of the Interior Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, who says:
“There are people who on the one hand tweet about their entire private life … but on the other hand fight against their (home’s) facade being photographed, that is absurd. There need to be regulations on the matter – but we shouldn’t become hysterical.”
I think first, Herr Maiziere needs to understand the difference between opt in and opt out. People are free to say and share what they like on Twitter and Facebook, whereas, till now, they’ve had no choice as to whether they wish to appear on Street View or not!
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Social Media Tips From The British Library
In July I chaired a panel at the British Library on Social Media. There were some really good tips and I would like to share some of the best here.
Use social media for crowd sourcing, which is basically asking questions of your followers. Many companies often say they have nothing, or don’t know what to talk about. So instead just tweet “what is the biggest problem you are currently facing?” or “what do you think are the key issues facing the … industry?” This will get the conversation started.
Use social media to amplify the conversations which are happening in the real world of your businesses. If people/customers are asking your sales people or support lines questions, share the information online. This is a really good way of taking information which is timely and relevant which works really well with social which is ultimately a conversation, and therefore time based.
A strong theme was ‘engage before you promote,’ by which I mean don’t just go and spam your followers with tons of sales tweets. Start by building relationships and then promote. Promotions with news relevance also work really well as it includes a familiarity aspect in the promotion.
YouTube is becoming the new place to run TV style advertising, especially if there is a viral element. The great thing about this is that a YouTube advert is much closer to a click than someone watching a TV advert, then remembering to Google it or go to the website.
Twitter messages are the new elevator speeches. In ‘old school’ business, there was always the story that you had to be able to sell your business in the 30 seconds in takes a lift to go from the ground floor to the 30th floor with a potential new client aboard. Now it’s can you sell your business in 140 characters?
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