Archive for March, 2010
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Normally I don’t get to alarmed about phishing emails, as they are usually pretty good at messing them up, so they are really easy to catch. BUT! This one really caught my attention, so beware, they are getting smarter.
Here is the email I got:
————-
March 24, 2010
Crosby & Higgins
350 Broadway, Suite 300
New York, NY 10013
To Whom It May Concern:
On the link bellow is a copy of the lawsuit that we filed against you in court on March 11, 2010.
Currently the Pretrail Conference is scheduled for April 11th, 2010 at 10:30 A.M. in courtroom #36.
The case number is 3485934. The reason the lawsuit was filed was due to a completely inadequate response from your company for copyright infrigement that our client Touchstone Advisories Inc is a victim of Copyright infrigement
www.touchstoneadvisorsonline.com/lawsuit/suit_documents.xxx (NB. Of course this link is inactive by the author, and the extension of the document changed)
Touchstone Advisories Inc has proof of multiple Copyright Law violations that they wish to present in court on April 11th, 2010.
Sincerely,
Mark R. Crosby
Crosby & Higgins LLP
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What caught me off guard, and made me read a little further, and start investigating was the fact that the company allegedly filing a lawsuit against me had a name that was actually close to ours. Secondly the company in question was legit when searching their company name, the URL was not some shady .ru domain masked by HTML and the law firm also existed.
All in all, further research of course gave it away, but for the first time I’ve felt that the phishers are getting smarter, more educated and definitely having the potential of getting a lot more successful applying more sneaky tactics.
The scary thing is that this type of phishing needs to have some individualized thought behind it. probably with some case-by-case human intervention. They have to find Addvisors Inc, and another company that carry a name close to ours. This means that somebody picked US to cheat, and very likely sent an email to the other company threatening them with a suit from Addvisors Inc.
Beware, and make sure to scrutinize any emails popping into your email box from people you don’t know, I know I will.
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
If you relate marketing on facebook as a means to primarily reach a teen demographic, it’s time to take a second look at the social networking giant that’s all grown up. According to comScore their largest segment of users as of December 2009 was in the age group 35-49, with the age group 25-34 doubling in size every six months. Facebook currently has over 400 million members, and is reportedly on track to generate a whopping $1.1 billion in revenue this year, while representing over 80% of America’s top 100 brands. What do advertisers love about facebook?
In addition to numerous marketing platforms including FREE facebook pages, advertisers can snag cost-effective CPC/CPM campaigns. Unlike search ads such as Yahoo and Google, facebook offers a less saturated environment while providing the ability to target members based on demographics, interests and keywords. facebook also provides a tracking system, where advertisers can get real-time reporting. Here are just three ways for businesses to use facebook:
- Facebook Pages: a FREE interactive platform for businesses to interact with facebook members. A page is typically used to increase brand awareness, communicate directly with members, and generate leads. Pages are a great way to gain consumer feedback and create a fan base which can lead to great word of mouth advertising. Comprised of features such as events, videos, pics and info, advertisers can directly communicate with fans in innovative and dynamic ways.
- Facebook Ads/Direct Response: used primarily to drive traffic to your site or page, facebook ads are approximately 1/3 the cost of major search engine ads and offer many targeting options as well as the ability to add images. You can target members by location, age, gender, education, workplace, relationship status, languages and ofcourse keywords. As with sponsored links, you have the option of Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per 1000 Impressions (CPM). These ads appear on the right hand side of targeted facebook member’s profiles, giving them easy access to ads. Direct Response ads, integrated late last year, allow advertisers to offer a promotion in exchange for member’s information. For example, when a member clicks on a cosmetic company’s ad, a short form appears offering the member a free sample of lip gloss in exchange for them providing information such as an e-mail address.
- Facebook Applications: such as games and questionnaires, are generally built to generate interest and interaction. Applications can take on a viral marketing effect and attract new clients in a way that sponsored links cannot.
Tags: facebook advertising, facebook for businesses, facebook pages
Posted in Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Keeping tabs on social search sites such as Yahoo Answers, Mahalo and GoogleAsk has been helpful to businesses primarily for reputation management and competitive analysis purposes. These sites provide user generated answers, reviews and tips to questions posed by other users. People frequent these sites because the information provided is generally seen as relevant, current and trustworthy as they come from other users, just like themselves. Wouldn’t it be great to receive and answer questions relating to your business?
Well now you can, using Google’s recently acquired social search site Vark.com which urges users to “ask a question and I’ll find someone to answer”. Unlike most social search sites, Vark.com gets answers from people, not sites. That’s right, you can get an answer from someone in your current social network (i.e. facebook, gmail contacts) or anyone that has listed an interest in the topic, typically within 5-10 minutes. So how do you answer a question about the product or service you provide? Vark.com offers Sponsored Answers, where businesses bid on specific keywords. Vark then forwards questions that include these keywords to you. You can either answer the question (you should include a link to your site) or pass. This is a great way to generate warm leads. Here are a few statistics for Vark.com at the end of 2009:
- 87.7% of questions sent to Aardvark got answered
- 70.4% of answer feedback had a high quality rating of ‘good’ as opposed to ‘ok’ or ‘bad’
- Average of 3,176.2 questions per day
Tags: generate leads from social search site, leads from social networking
Posted in Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Addvisors, Inc is seeking a highly skilled Web Development/Application Programmer for a full-time position at our offices in Las Vegas, NV. We are only looking for the best of the best and are willing to compensate accordingly. Please be aware that this is a senior level position. Please read the requirements below and only submit your resume if you fulfill all requirements.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Creatively and technically develop Web-based frontend and backend high traffic applications in a team environment.
• Actively participate in all phases of the software development life cycle.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS
• At least 5 years of professional web development experience in the web development industry.
• Strong analysis, design and implementation experience utilizing Web 2.0 technologies and relational database management systems, working with 3rd party API’s of any size, developing open API’s for other developers.
• Outstanding PHP5, MySQL and JavaScript experience and track record.
• Knowledge of JavaScript libraries/frameworks (e.g. JQuery), HTML, CSS, Apache, Linux (Redhat), SSH, OO design principles and patterns, secure coding best practices.
• Extensive experience with Web Services, WSDL, XML, and SOAP.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
Excellent salary compensation (DOE) and paid vacation. Work in a talented and supportive work environment that fosters growth and creativity. Be part of a team in building high-quality/high traffic innovative web applications.
HOW TO APPLY?
Please e-mail your resume, along with at least 4 URLs of your work that best shows your technical abilities, and your salary requirements to: info@addvisors.com or if you have any questions about the position, feel free to call our office at (702) 430-8134.
About Us
Addvisors, Inc. is a Las Vegas based online advertising and web development agency with its primary focus on search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, social media marketing and web application development.
Please do not contact us if you are part of an agency.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, March 8th, 2010
U.S. and European Union regulators recently approved a 10-year Search Alliance between Microsoft and Yahoo. According to the agreement, Microsoft will manage search queries as well as paid advertising made on Yahoo. Technology from Microsoft’s search engine Bing will control organic searches while Microsoft’s Advertising adCenter will serve as the platform for paid ads.
Although both Bing.com and Yahoo.com are planning on retaining their individual branding, Yahoo search results will display a “powered by Bing” message. As Microsoft manages Yahoo’s search queries, Yahoo will be accountable for landing and supporting premium advertisers, of which Microsoft will keep roughly 12% of revenues. What does this mean for users and advertisers?
According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer “Together, Microsoft and Yahoo will promote more choice, better value and greater innovation to our customers”. However, users reportedly won’t experience much of a change, with the exception of Microsoft providing both organic and paid search results. Advertisers, on the other hand are promised access to a larger worldwide audience, and customized service where Yahoo will exclusively support premier advertisers and agencies, while Microsoft assists self-service advertisers.
While the transition is said to be completed in the U.S. by the end of 2010, it is evident that the alliance is an effort to gain a bigger piece of search engine volume currently dominated by industry leader Google. The search engine giant continues to control search engine volume in 2010 with reports of up to 70% of the volume followed by Yahoo! at 17% and Bing at 13%.
Tags: microsoft yahoo alliance
Posted in Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »
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