Google Sets Up Easy Way to Donate to Japan Disaster Relief

Hats off to Google for setting up a very simple way to help out the many thousands of men, women and children who desperately need assistance after the big earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Won't you help out?  

Donate to Japan Disaster Relief here: 

For more information: http://www.google.com/intl/en/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html


Thanks to Steve Trautlein

Google Censors Search Results

This is the beginning of a very bad trend. Google has now announced that humans will begin to subjectively alter search results. This is bad for a very many number of reasons, first and foremost is that it opens the door for censorship of a political nature.

GENERATION X - GIMME SOME TRUTH

This, of course, is not good for a flow of information for a free society. It reeks of information control such as was written in George Orwell's 1984. This means that Google will now become our own Ministry of Truth.


The Register.co.uk reports:   


Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance.


Not so very long ago, Google disclaimed responsibility for its search results by explaining that these were chosen by a computer algorithm. The disclaimer lives on at Google News, where we are assured that:

The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program.

A few years ago, Google's apparently unimpeachable objectivity got some people very excited, and technology utopians began to herald Google as the conduit for a new form of democracy. Google was only too pleased to encourage this view. It explained that its algorithm "relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. "

That Google was impartial was one of the articles of faith. For if Google was ever to be found to be applying subjective human judgment directly on the process, it would be akin to the voting machines being rigged.



It wasn't surprising, then, that when five years ago I described how a small, self-selected number of people could rig Google's search results, the reaction from the people doing the rigging was violently antagonistic. Who lifted that rock? they cried.

But what was once Googlewashing by a select few now has Google's active participation.

This is a terrible result. This means that Google will empower a few people to oversee editorial decisions as to what article get high search results and the rest? The rest head down the black hole.


Well, I guess most people will shrug their shoulders and say, "It's okay with me. I'm doing nothing wrong so I don't care. After all, we've always been at war with Eastasia."


This is a sad day in the history of information and what could be the darkest hour of the Internet and our right to freedom of speech. 


I register my protest and will stop using Google search (you'll also need to stop using Yahoo! Search engine too.) I urge you to do the same. From this very second on, I will set my default search engine page to Bing. 


But you don't need to use Bing. There are many others. Just please join us in our peaceful protest against Internet censorship by switching from Google search. If you don't protect your freedom of information and freedom of speech, no one is going to do it for you. 

Bloggers Unite! High Quality, Original Content is King!

Writing a blog can be a very tiresome, worrisome, frustrating and exhausting experience... It can also be hugely rewarding. Recently, the Net has taken down governments with Bloggers, Tweeters and Facebooker's taking the lead role. 


Shouldn't you start to stake your claim by starting a blog?


It might be the most rewarding thing you undertaken in years! It is for me.

XTC - King for a Day 

Currently, I am spending my time coaching two wonderful people on the virtues of blogging and how it will help them and their business grow. Coaching is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I sometimes am asked to blog or teach blogging to people, but, with these two, it is the very first time I've ever said, "Yes!" I said "Yes!" to these folks because I believe they have some great insights and I know they have some experiences and expertise that no one else has.  


My "students" are incredible people. They can add a world of knowledge and information to help us bloggers build, as Google describes it, "a healthy web-ecosystem." I think I understand what Google means by this. They mean that they want various sites that have original content rather than sites that collate information from various blogs.


I mean, news sites are needed and designed to aggregate various news sources, but there seems to be an increase of blog aggregation sites that offer no new, original information but simply list up a bunch of articles from various blogs around the world and copy and paste those on their site.

If those blog's purpose is to spread the word on a particular position concerning politics or social issues, then I understand that. If their purpose is to use other original content to gain hits on their websites so that they can get higher Google Search rankings so that they can sell more affiliate stuff when people click on links on their pages, well, I can't fault someone for trying to make a living, but I can see how Google would want to help support the independent original thinkers.


Now, Google has gone one step further. They've made a major tweak to their algorithm so that these "content farms" get lower search result rankings.


Yahoo! reports:   
Google tweaks search to punish 'low-quality' sites

Google says it has tweaked the formulas steering its Internet search engine to take the rubbish out of its results. The overhaul is designed to lower the rankings of what Google deems "low-quality" sites.

That could be a veiled reference to such sites as Demand Media's eHow.com, which critics call online "content farms" -- that is, sites producing cheap, abundant, mostly useless content that ranks high in search results.

Sites that produce original content or information that Google considers valuable are supposed to rank higher under the new system.

The change announced late Thursday affects about 12 percent, or nearly one in every eight, search requests in the U.S. Google Inc. 

Wow! This affects one in eight!? So, the point is, once again, original content is king on the Internet. 

Sure, Mr. and Ms. Blogger, we are not "journalists" in the traditional sense of the word, but we never claimed to be. Nevertheless, our opinion matters more and more everyday.

People listen to what bloggers have to say! Take, for example, you see a full page color ad in the newspaper for a new steak-house. The steak-house spends $20,000 for that ad. The ad says the restaurant is great! Do you go to that restaurant? If it were me, I wouldn't pay any attention to the ad at all. It wouldn't motivate me to go there.

But! If a blogger I like says that the restaurant is good, I probably would go and try it once. Why? I know the blogger is telling me the truth. I read this blogger's writing often. I know s/he didn't receive a bunch of money to write that recommendation. That means I have a relationship with this blogger and know who s/he is. I trust this person. 

Now, Google has saluted us with giving us more power on the web by rewarding us original content makers with this Search Engine tweak.

Thanks to Google Search Engine for recognizing us as the force to be reckoned with that we have become.


More concrete details on Google's new search engine algorithm here.

PS: I've written recommendations for cheap eats in Tokyo. There's cheap and good tasting sushi in Yoga; Raw Fish & drinks in Futagotamagawa; Delicious soba in Daimon; Wine & Dine in Omotesando; Fantastic Udon in Kamiyacho; Tokyo's best coffee and meeting place in Hanzomon; Tokyo's best hamburgers at Tsubame Grill; Out of this world Croatian food in Kyobashi at Dobro - Now, who you gonna trust? Me or some full page ad in the newspaper?

Think about it. Let's start blogging! The world wants to know you!

My Google Blog is Attacked and Google Says It's My Fault!!!???

Now I'm pissed off.

Last night, my best friend Ira Hata informed me that there was some sort of Malware on this blog. Later I find out that Google had informed me that someone was distributing Malware from my blog.

Here is a screen capture:

To add insult to injury, Google said that I had to "contact my server and block my web page from being viewed by other people so as to not infect other computers." What a load of crap.

This blog is run at Google under Google Blogger. I have no access to the back door of this page. All I do is blog using a template. Why in the hell is it my responsibility to make sure that this service is not virus infected or stuck full of malware?

Hell, if those idiots at Google do not take care of this... I'm out.

Well, hallelujah! They take care of it but not until I send them VERY pissed off e-mails.

Shit! Why do this crap if these clowns are not going to do there fricking jobs?

Japan's Top 3 Companies for 2010

I have spent the last year going around to many companies and meeting the staff and management to discuss new ways to promote, do marketing and PR. I have seen the very inside of these companies and gotten "into the heads" of many to see what kind of people they are. It has been a great and fun learning experience and a real eye-opener. If only they would write what I have learned in a company prospectus, then investors could learn much before risking their money investing in stock in a particular company.

Or maybe most companies don't want to write this as they fail miserably. Today I will write about three that are excellent.

As a voracious reader and a devout follower of the principles laid out in business classics such as James Collin's "Built to Last" and "Good to Great" as well as Malcolm Gladwell's classic, "Blink," I have come to be able learn much about a company merely by walking into their offices and talking to their receptionists and observing the esprit du corps. Within 15 minutes of meeting the staff I can tell if this is a company that I wish to work with or not.

Being able to "read" how well a company is managed and how well they are doing is not a special talent. I think anyone can do it. You definitely can too.

Think about this: Whenever you go to any organization, how clean is it? Is there dust on the picture frames or window sills? Are the facilities old? Are the toilets dirty? What are the staff like? Are they wide-awake and attentive? Do the staff go the extra mile when attending to your needs? Do the staff make you feel like you are important?

Does the organization have a buzz of activity akin to that of a healthy beehive?

If they do, then you can bet that these traits are the signs of a healthy company.

Ten or fifteen years ago there were many companies in Tokyo that shared these traits. Today, unfortunately, I can only mention three that I know of that do; and those three are Apple Japan; Google Japan; and, All Nippon Airways.

It will not surprise the reader that I mention Apple and Google. Those two companies are Triple AAA plus rankings in everything they do. They capture the imagination of people and create dreams. The esprit du corps at their offices is superb.

It might surprise some that I do not mention Yahoo Japan or Softbank. Yahoo offices are starting to get the feeling of a run-down company; the reception services are B rank. While Softbank has a great HQ, some of the carpets in the meeting rooms are tattered (bad Feng Shui) and many of their outside shops are pig pens. The Softbank shop near my home in a upper-crust shopping district in Futagotamagawa is looking run down.

In today's list, though, is a company that few in the west know of, but I predict will be world famous in 5 - 10 years, if things keep going the way they are, and that company is All Nippon Airways.

All Nippon Airways is known as ANA here and was, until recently, Japan's number two airlines. Today it is number one and the reasons why are easy to see. The ANA offices are run with extreme care and the guards and receptionists are incredibly professional, courteous and kind. They go the extra mile in their duties. When you enter their offices, they make you feel wanted and respected.

The offices of ANA are immaculate and they are buzzing with activity. Throw on top of that the attitude of the staff and you have a company that is headed for greatness.

Sometimes I go to companies and meet the staff and they are arrogant and seemingly conceited. They act as if they are royalty and I am some sort of servant to them. Of course I am not their servant... But what this shows me is a problem with company culture and company morale and how they treat other people. If they treat me bad, it is probably pretty easy to guess that they do the same to other people. This is stupid and a good way to get people to do half-asssed work for you.

Instead of me preaching to you how bad this sort of thing is and how damaging it is to a companies profitability, let me tell you the story of Teddy Roosevelt.

As a child and young man, Teddy Roosevelt was a conceited, spoiled rich-kid. He ordered everyone to do his bidding and had few friends. He alienated everyone yet he had great ambitions. As I understand it, at age 22, his grandfather pulled him away and had the talk that would change Teddy Roosevelt's life. His grandfather told him, "Be humble and become a servant to everyone and then people will do anything for you and follow you anywhere." Teddy Roosevelt would later go on to become the 26th president of the United States.

It is this unwavering dedication to client, customer, and co-worker happiness and satisfaction that sets apart the really great companies from the companies that do well, but not great in the long run.

It doesn't surprise that I rank Google and Apple as top, but it probably greatly surprises that I rank ANA in the top 3 too. Go to ANA offices or fly their planes and you will see for yourself.

ANA is world class and, like I stated, one of Japan's Top 3 companies for 2010! Look for great things coming out of this company in the next decade. Here is a company that has captured the imaginations of young Japanese people and society-at-large.

ANA is an airlines company but it also sells dreams. Buy them, they are top class!

PS: If you are thinking abut investing or working with a Tokyo-based Japanese or a foreign company with an office in Tokyo and want my opinion (for what it is worth) or what the average man on the street thinks, let me know by e-mail:  mike (dot) rogers (at mark) universal-vision (dot) jp 


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Keywords:
All Nippon Airways, ANA, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Teddy Roosevelt, Google, Mike Rogers, Apple, Malcolm Gladwell, Good to Great, Built to Last, James Collins, Blink, Marketing Japan

Blogging More Powerful Than Twitter

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I know a lot of people who spend zero time blogging but spend a lot of time on Twitter. Even though I have written many times before about what I think is the poor future of Twitter. I do use Twitter several times everyday. But I do get the impression that Twitter may be setting itself up for a fall.

I think that if you don't blog and just Twitter, and expect to use that for some kind of sales, marketing or promotion, you are kidding yourself. If you don't blog and want to use Twitter just for fun, then that makes sense to me.

I can easily imagine Twitter becoming like Myspace in three years. Does everyone remember when Myspace was the all the rage? I do. I even ran a huge Myspace community page with thousands of  "friends." I haven't touched that Myspace page in over a year. Myspace is a pain.

I'm not the only one who thinks Myspace is dead.

There are several reasons that I think Twitter is heading for uselessness. First, over 60% of all Twitter users quit in the first month. I also get tons of tweets from people nowadays that say, "Want to get thousands of followers on Twitter?" I the click their link and go to their Twitter bio page and see that they have fewer followers than I do. Then, Twitter is down far too often. Follow that with the Twitter censors and manipulates its "Trending" nonsense and you've got a service that, seems to me, is heading for a fall.

The third thing that bothers me about Twitter is that I do know that people are Twittering, but how many are actually reading?

I have written before that, if you are only pushing "Sell! Sell! Sell!" then why would anyone read or even follow you? You must give away great FREE content or no one will bother. I make it a point to give away great free content religiously everyday on my blog....

And that gets me to my point of this particular blog. I have encouraged many people to start blogging. Some do, some don't. The ones who have and have been diligent about it, have reaped rewards and they thank me... The ones who haven't have been taking what I call the "Lazy man's way out" and that was by using Twitter instead of blogging.

Like I said, Twitter is useful, but without a base, without a blog, just writing tweets and directing people to other sites besides your own is not efficient. It's lost productivity.

Well, now, luckily for me, someone has come out with data to support my opinion that Twitter may not be the silver bullet for disseminating information on the Internet that everyone thinks it is.

PR Daily News Feed the newsletter about Public Relations and Marketing in the Age of Social Media writes:

PR’s heavy hitters aren’t embracing Twitter

This one is confounding. Powerful people in PR are, in some cases, absent entirely when it comes to social media. In July, PRWeek released its “Power List” of the industry’s top 25 professionals. Less than half of them have a Twitter account, reports the PR 20/20 Blog. “Of these 12,” writes PR 20/20, “five have never posted a status update; four of those don’t have a photo for their account; three don’t have bios; one protects his tweets; four tweet on occasion, approximately once per week; however, most information shared is self-promotional (personally or for the company).” Clearly the old guard and ways of the older Jedi still persist. Either that or these folks are “too damn busy” for social media. 

Sure Twitter is useful still. But where will it be in three years? The jury is still out. I think that one can easily calculate just how many different people are really sending out Tweets by looking at their Twitter account. Seems to me I keep seeing the same people.... Throw on top of that the 60% who quit after the first month and it makes you wonder about that guy who has 10,000 followers. 10,000 is an impressive number, yes... But have 1/2 those people quit already and never view Twitter?

But with my blog, I know for a fact that 500 ~ 600 or more people are visiting and reading. This is a number that has been increasing by at least 10% a month consistently. They come because they want what I have to offer; Japan and marketing and a place to get creative ideas. And that is, hopefully, interesting and useful content for free. Blogging can't be beat if you want to do sales or marketing.   You can guess that I believe a blog, offering great, free and useful information, updated daily is critical.

Read more about effective blogging daily and better Google rankings here.

Read more about effective blogging for companies here.
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Keywords: blog, blogging, Mike Rogers, Twitter, Marketing Japan, Tweets, PR, marketing, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Myspace, Google

Google's Gmail Priority Inbox. What is it?

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

If you use Gmail - and who doesn't these days? - you might have noticed a that, at the top right of your Gmail, there is a new item in bold red lettering that says "New Priority Inbox Beta". This is a new Google Gmail feature that I think is just fantastic and it is definitely going to make our lives easier!

The people who make it in the new economy are the ones who can stay focused and stay organized. Everyone knows how difficult that can be! Just how do we stay on top of several email accounts that are constantly filling up and altering our work priorities by the minute? It is tough! I know, when I work at the GM of the broadcasting station, I was getting over 800 emails a day. There was no way to keep up with them all. I had to prioritize. You must do that too. (I have written some other tips for you here.)

Well, now here comes Google's Gmail newest feature! The New Priority Inbox Beta promises to make live easier for all of us by presorting mail for us into higher and lower priority. I gather that it uses some sort of algorithm that judges mail by past actions; did you get mail from this person before? Did you answer it? Did you answer it soon, etc., etc?

Here's a brief rundown of what New Priority Inbox Beta can do from the website:

Email is great… Unless there's too much of it.

Wouldn't it be nice if you knew which messages to read first?

Introducing Gmail Priority Inbox!

Priority Inbox finds the important messages and sorts them for you!

If you want to get back to a message later, just mark it with a star!

How does Priority Inbox work?

Gmail already has a great spam filter…

But what's really neat… It's really good at predicting what's important! 

Based on which e-mails you read and which emails you reply to.

And, if it makes a mistake….Just mark a message less important or more important.

Over time, it gets better and better!

So checking email will be much less daunting!

Learn more at gmail.com/priorityinbox

And here is a short cartoon explaining briefly about the features!

I can honestly admit that I started using New Priority Inbox Beta a few days ago and from the first time I used it, it helped me to spot an important mail that I had missed; and that mail came to me 12 days ago! Had I not tried New Priority Inbox Beta I would have missed that mail completely and lost money! I do not like losing money!

I whole-heartedly recommend New Priority Inbox Beta. 


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Keywords: Google, Gmail, New Priority Inbox, Mail, 

TV Sets Don't Even Make Beautiful Antique Furniture!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

If you would have told me fifteen years ago that old style TV and radio were going to die out, I wouldn't have believed you. But now, I can't really see any other way. Oh sure, there will probably always be TV and radio stations, it's just that they won't be these massive companies with thousands of employees that we have today. I foresee them becoming like their cable and satellite competitors. I have written before on some technical reasons, see here and here. Today, I want to write from my own experiences as a 30-year insider and the only foreigner who was ever the general manager of a major Japanese broadcasting station in history.

Not even useful as a future antique

Today, companies like TV Tokyo have over 1,000 employees. A satellite music TV station like Music On! TV has less than eighty. I foresee stations like TV Tokyo becoming the same in five years... This will cause them severe restructuring or bankruptcy. Not good for the shareholders; terrible for employees.

Take your average FM radio station in Japan that has 40 employees... I predict that, if they can even survive the next three ~ five years (which most won't) they will have to find a way to run the station with, not 40 employees, but 5. If they can do that, they have a chance.

With the poor quality of management that many of the stations in Japan have today,  I'll give 40 - 1 odds of that ever happening.

What are they going to do when the only way they can survive and stay competitive is to cut 90% of their workforce, yet Japanese labor laws will not allow such a thing? Talk about stuck between a  rock and a hard place!

What they will have to do is to force older employees into retirement earlier and to cut salaries across the board and hope that employees quit. I have seen this method employed before. The company cut all salaries by 25%. Then, six months later, they cut all salaries by 25% again for a total of 40%. Many employees quit. The problem with this method soon became apparent when it was realized that all the good employees quit because they could find a job somewhere else, but the poor employees, the "dead-wood" stayed.

So the station lost all of its productive employees and was left with the useless ones.

I have worked in TV & radio (the music business) since 1978. When one works in these businesses, there are many "tops of the mountains." In my later career, radio, the top of the mountain was producing, directing, and hosting the morning drive time show Monday - Friday. I did that. We made one of the most famous and successful morning shows in Tokyo history. When that ended in 2009, at 52-years-old, I decided to retire from that business. Why?

It's best to retire when you are at the top of the hill.

Since then, I started another business with some friends whereby we do new methods of marketing and Internet hybrid marketing and PR in immature markets. It's been fun. Through his experience, though, I have been able to go around to most of the major mass media and get a glimpse of what is going on everywhere.

I have had face to face talks with upper management about their struggles and travails in a steady shrinking market; I have been in meetings to discuss strategy and develop methods to generate sales. All of them revolve around using the Internet as, not just a piece of the puzzle, but, in many cases, it has replaced the old media as the "main course" on the plate presented to sponsors and advertisers.

In fact, at one station, the chief of programming admitted to me that he thought it was impossible to sell his old media vehicle, as is, to sponsors.

From these experiences I, too, have come to see the future quite clearly; there is no way for over 70% of the major TV & radio stations to survive in their current state more than 5 years.... I doubt that any major station will be able to survive in their current state past 10 years. In twenty years, there will probably be entirely brand-new names running our media. Who knows? Perhaps Google or Apple will buy out these major media conglomerates? Perhaps, in Japan, Rakuten will own TV Tokyo and turn it into a 24/7 shopping channel? That's the only think that I can see that the station could be useful for...

Still, not even beautiful as an antique

Either way, TV and radio are antiques. Their days are numbered. This admission not from an old Internet hand, but from an old TV/radio hand. Unlike the radios of old, today's TV and radio sets are near useless... They don't even make beautiful furniture to display in the living room.

Like Marc Abela wrote:

I personally think that the days of "TV" as a concept (i.e. you sit there and someone tells you what to watch, when and how) are so totally counted. Hard to put a clear number, is it 2 years left, 5?, 10?, 1? ...

It has been a year and some I have not turned my TV on. Not even once. Really. Weird. But it still sits in my living room. Antique.

Remember this day well, my friends, the day is coming when we are going to tell our children or grand kids that, "there was a time when everyone had a TV in their house...." Those children won't believe us and will say, "What for?"

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Keywords:
TV, radio, Google, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, antique, Rakuten, Apple, TV Tokyo, Music On! TV 

More Tips For Better Google Rankings!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Once again, here's an article that can help you get better rankings on Google. I've written about that before here also. And here is information concerning the value of consistent blogging. 

There is also very critical information that you need to know here about Google Caffeine here. Caffeine is Google's new search engine.

But today, here's another quickie that can help you with your blog writing. Originally from American Express, the 4 tips for writing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly blogs.

The 4 tips are:

1. Always Include Search Terms in Your Post’s Title

When Google reads a website to index it, it reads the code directly, not the snazzy presentation that humans see. The way most blogging platforms are built, the headline or title of your blog post is among the first things Google sees, and Google generally assumes the words that appear earliest are the most important. That’s why the title is the most important part of your blog post when it comes to SEO.

2. Link Important Words to Earlier Blog Posts

Search engines generally assume that a blog post that has been linked to has more authority than one that has not. They also consider exactly what word or phrase linked to the post; a blog post about the iPhoneis going to be more likely to show up in Google searches on the subject if another page links the word “iPhone” to the post.

3. Hit the Tagging Sweet Spot

Most blogging platforms let you apply tags to your posts. Tags help organize your blog so both humans and search engines can find what they’re looking for. They’re terms like “consulting,” “local” or “technology” that reflect the topics and content of the post.

4. Use Google Insights to Find the Best Search Terms

You don’t have to play a guessing game about the best tags or search terms to link or put in your post’s title. Since Google is the most popular search engine, it makes sense to focus your efforts there. Whenever you’re not sure which terms to go with, hit up Google Insights, a web-based tool that compares the popularity of any search terms you want to know about.

For further details nd complete article see here.  

http://mashable.com/2010/09/01/how-to-seo-blogs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Mashable+(Mashable

Marketing Japan: Why Google Worries About its Own Future....

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Google is dominating the Internet scene today and seems like they have destroyed the competition. But did you know that there are rumblings below the surface? Did you know that Google themselves fear for their position in the long run? It's true.

If you stop to think about it for a few moments, you can see where Google may be headed for some bad times in the very near future. Some reasons have to do with Google being so good at what they do that they have created a hole in their armor that can be exploited.

Today, I will lay out just a few of the reasons that Google and outside Internet experts alike seem to think that Google won't be king of the hill for too much longer. Here's why....

Have you ever asked the question, "Where will Google be in 10 years?"

I think a look at what has happened to major terrestrial TV broadcasting stations, or what has happened to Rock "hit" radio in recent years is a good indicator of what might probably happen to Google. If you consider the shape these two entities - TV and radio - are in today, as compared with their dominant position just 15 years ago, then it's not too far of a stretch of the imagination to see Google as, perhaps not a bit player, but not the dominant player.

Why?

I think it has to do with a few things; first the fracturing of the audience and the variety of choice given to us by the Internet due to the Long Tail. Because the Internet allows us so much choice, that choice allows people to exercise their quite unique individual tastes. This is damaging the "hit" market and exponentially growing the "niche" market. When people have many choices, they will exercise that choice.

When there were only 4 types of jam for toast, for example; strawberry, grape, blueberry or orange marmalade, people bought one of those. Now that there are hundreds - and the online stores can carry thousands - people are buying the peach, plum, or Canadian Boysenberry.

When a customer, buys one product, like Canadian Boysenberry, that's money displaced that takes away from a purchase of generic strawberry. That is what is called, "the Long Tail."

(See brief information on the Long Tail see "A Primer on the Long tail" here and "Is the Long Tail all Junk" here. For an in-depth analysis, please read Chris Anderson's definitive work in The Long Tail.)

The Long Tail

What does all this have to do with Google? Ah, there is the crux.

Think of Google search engine like a TV station. The TV station must have very broad appeal in order to survive... Today, this broad appeal actually has started working against them in the long run.

Take the example I often use of TV Tokyo. Let's compare TV Tokyo and, the Food Channel on TV:

TV Tokyo has over 1,000 employees.
Food Channel TV has about 20 employees.

TV Tokyo has a extremely wide target audience of anywhere between 6-years-old kids to 84-year-old seniors.
Food Channel TV has a focused target audience of women between 34-years-old to 50-years-old.

It costs about $150,000 (USD) to buy 25 commercials on TV Tokyo.
It costs about $8,000 (USD) to buy 25 commercials on Food Channel.

Now, the question is; "You are a manufacturer of kitchen appliances and cook ware. Where will you advertise?"

It is obvious that you will take the focused marketing that the Food Channel offers.... Now, extrapolate this into every segment of manufacturing, goods, services and possible sponsorships. What do you get?

You get a market that demands specialization. Isn't it obvious? Isn't that the way everything has been going? What restaurants do well? The family restaurant that has everything, but nothing is especially tasty, or the specialization restaurant that only serves, say, Italian food, or the sushi shop, or the Chinese restaurant?

The catch-all shops are, in many ways, still useful and profitable (see WalMart), but they are getting fierce competition from specialization and will be in the future. People, when given a choice, will choice specialization.

I touched on that in more detail here in "Marketing Japan: Why Digital Conversion Will Destroy TV Tokyo and TBS":

When there are 300 TV channels competing for your attention and sponsor's money - both of these critical factors to the survival of TV (audience and money) will be more widely dispersed.

Think of it this way: You are the maker of, say, outdoor goods like tents, bicycles and barbeques. Say, the price for 25 TV ads on a TV station like TV Tokyo is about $150,000 (USD). The price of 35 TV ads on the sports channel is $14,000. Sure there are more viewers on TV Tokyo, but Sports TV offers a targeted audience of men who like sports (and, by the way, many are probably are married, have families, and like the outdoors).... TV Tokyo's audience ranges from 10-year-olds to 80-year-olds; Sports TV target audience is mainly 30 ~ 50-year-old men.

Now, where would you spend the money if you were the sponsor? 

It is obvious that you would go for the Sports TV. It will be the same for all manufacturers whether they make diapers or women's fashion brand shoes. The diaspora of audience will make targeting even more important as time goes by.

Now, keep this in mind... Sit back and consider... Like I said, if Google were a TV station... Google is a catch all search engine... Whatever you want to search for, Google search engine has...

But wait a minute! What about specialization?

What if some smart Internet site, say a Food Channel, decides that they wanted to corner the market for Internet searches for "Food" and anything at all related to just food and food only.

Some might say, well, "Google will make one too..."

No, they won't... They can't... They might try though...

Think back to the Long Tail and all the millions and billions (more!) niches there are! There are niches inside of niches! Google cannot compete with that...

But a small company focusing on their niche and that niche only can... And they can do very well at it.

Then imagine that every niche in the world had their own search engine. Think of it; anything to do with cars might have their own specific search engine, travel only (then inside of "travel only" sub-niches like "Travel in Western Europe" or "Travel in Lower New Jersey"); the same with sports, medicine, shopping for women's clothes, you name it.

Can you see? Google could never keep up with that.

Google would become like today's catch all TV station and the niche search engines would eat them up.

From what I am seeing, I am beginning to think that this is inevitable... I suspect that Google does too!

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Keywords:
Google search engine, mike rogers, Marketing Japan, Google, Long Tail, travel, food, TV, TV Tokyo, sports, medicine, cars,  The long Tail, Chris Anderson,  Mike in Tokyo Rogers, niche, niches

I'm a Twitter Quitter!...

This is the third time that I will write about Twitter. It is also the third time that I do not have flattering things to say about it. Twitter is quickly becoming synonymous with frustration. Twitter will never even come close to taking down Facebook.

Today, again, Twitter is down and not in service in Japan... Again. Not only is it not in service, their excuses for why it isn't working keep changing.

I wake up earlier than most people do, I think, and I go on my computer and do the things I need to do; check my e-mail; see how much money I lost that night... Write. Whenever I write my blog, I always use Social Media to promote what I have written. My favorites to use are Facebook, Mixi, Myspace, Pick and Twitter.

You know what folks? I have never once had any irritation with Pick, Mixi, or Facebook (sometimes Myspace irritates me) but Twitter frustrates me far too often. I've come to expect that there will be some sort of trouble with Twitter. I never expect any trouble, with, say Google.

That's the way the Internet is supposed to be. Twitter? Problems at least once a week. Sometimes two or three times.

Not only is Twitter frustrating because I cannot put enough text into the short space allowed but also because Twitter experiences technical trouble far too often. Today is the fourth or fifth time in the last few weeks that Twitter has not worked properly. Throw on top of that Twitter admitting that they manipulate their "Trending" and it makes you wonder "What good is it then?"

I became a bit suspicious about the last time Twitter claimed that their "Service was over-capacity" as I had noticed that Twitter kept changing the excuses as to why the system was down. One time the screen would say, "Over-capacity" the next moment it would say, "Technical error." They've done the same thing today.

How is it that one minute Twitter says that the system is "over-loaded" - meaning that "we are too popular for you," (you know, like the prom queen would actually attend your birthday party!? Harrumph! Absurd!) then, a few minutes later, the screen says something completely different? This time they say it's a problem of technical errors (I believe that!)

Which is it Twitter? Over-load or tech problem? Either way, get your story straight. Some people might think you are confused... Others, like me, might think that you are amateurish and can't get the story straight... Er, well, people like me think you are lying - to put it bluntly.

Lying on the Internet is bad business no? Or do you lie because you want some fat-cat idiot company to give you more money? Isn't that really bad business?

You already committed several cardinal sins by manipulating your "trending" topics (For proof and admission, See here) so your credibility is already questionable. But lying about your service (again!)? That is just low-grade and no class.

Check it out. Here what Twitter landing page says at this moment:

It says, "Twitter is over capacity. Please wait a moment and try again. 

For more information, see Twitter status."

Folks, it is now 7:10 am Tokyo time, I have been trying Twitter since 6:30 am and this is still going on. Poor work Twitter! And, like I said, the fourth or fifth time, at least, in the last ten weeks.

No, Twitter. You are not that popular in Japan at this moment in time and at 6:30 in the morning.

But, then again, like I also pointed out, Twitter commits the ultimate sin of lying about the problem. Twitter, you are not over-capacity. That is not true. You even admit it with the Twitter status link above.

Check it out... I want more information. So, I click "Twitter status" what do I get?

This one says, "We're currently experiencing a high error rate on Twitter. Our infrastructure and operations engineers are responding to the incident."

Heck, Twitter, that's poor. I remember about a year ago when Google was having trouble with their G-mail. Sometimes it wouldn't work correctly for, oh, say sometimes ten minutes and then they had it up and fixed immediately....

You guys? Well, it's now almost an hour (at least one hour)...

This really sucks Twitter. No wonder 60% of all Twitter users quit using Twitter within the first 30 days. twitter can be incredibly boring and the service is poor.

I can honestly say that I have just about had it with you guys too. The way this is going, Twitter, while maybe not dead, will be just like Myspace or something that a few people use for a storage garage to keep their junk... I really predict Twitter will be a real dog by 2014.

As for me, just sign me, Twitter Quitter!

Twitter Sucks.

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Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mixi, Facebook, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Twitter, Google, G-mail, Twitter over-capapcity, Twitter high error rate, Pick, Twitter Quitter, Social Media, Japan, Myspace 

Marketing Japan: Yahoo Japan Starts Long Decline...

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

What did I tell you? When those fools at Yahoo Japan decided to throw in the towel to Google and start using Google's search engine, I said it was the beginning of Yahoo Japan becoming an "also-ran." Now we have Yahoo Japan making excuses, sputtering out "spin"by making statements claiming that they are going to remain "competitive."

Yahoo Japan is following Myspace... You'll see.

From the Japan Times article "Yahoo Japans Vows to Stay Competitive":

Yahoo Japan Corp. will remain competitive with Google Inc. even after adopting Google's Internet search engine and online ad technology, because the two firms will use their own editing and advertising policies, Yahoo Japan President Masahiro Inoue said. "We will operate the search engine under an editing policy that is independent (of Google's) and also have different screening criteria when it comes to advertising," Inoue told reporters, dismissing criticism by Microsoft Corp. that the Yahoo Japan-Google tieup is anticompetitive.

Forget about what Microsoft is saying. Read in between the lines. Microsoft doesn't give a hoot about Yahoo Japan anymore, they are a lost cause, Microsoft only cares about Google's rapidly growing dominant position in Japan. A dominant position that, I might add, has quickly become irresistible.

By the way Microsoft owns Yahoo Inc. (USA) and Yahoo Inc. owns 37% of Yahoo Japan. So Microsoft must be be really steamed about this Japan deal!)

I suggest this for Yahoo Japan's new logo: A long decline.

You can also disregard what Yahoo Japan president Masahiro Inoue says too... This nonsense about remaining competitive due to a difference in Yahoo Japan having an "editing policy" different than Google is just that; nonsense.

A different "editing policy"? Right. When ad revenues are hard to come by, and you have voluntarily become second rate, you are going to start denying people who walk into your doors with money to spend?

Guffaw! 

If Yahoo Japan is going to use Google's search engine, then Google will always at least a one step advantage on Yahoo Japan. If you are an advertiser, why go for the second choice unless you don't have money for the first choice?

This means that Google will get the first tier sponsors and Yahoo Japan will get second tier or less.

When any media stops getting the best advertisers, look at what happens to them, especially in Japan. For evidence of this, one need look no further than the television examples of TV Tokyo or TBS TV. The number one TV station in Japan, Fuji TV has ads for Toyota, Nissan, Canon cameras and copiers, high end household goods like Panasonic refrigerators and HD TVs... TV Tokyo has ads for discount car insurance, pachinko parlors and local businesses like Parrot Cage Emporium.

It's rare to see high end goods advertised on TV Tokyo. 

When Yahoo Japan switches to the competitor's search engine, it's game over for them... Regardless of how they try to spin it.

See original Japan Times article here.

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Keywords: Google, Yahoo Japan, Microsoft, Japan, Tokyo, Panasonic, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Nissan, Tokyo, Canon, TV Tokyo, Fuji TV, TBS, television, Yahoo Japan President Masahiro Inoue

Marketing Japan: Japan Makes 20 Billionth Tweet...

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

When I searched the title, "Japan Makes 20 Billionth Tweet" Google search engine came back with a "Do you mean 20 millionth?"

No, my friend Google search engine, who, after Yahoo Japan's complete capitulation, is now is the reigning king of Japan, just like I wrote, "20 billionth."

In spite of my dire predictions for Twitter world-wide (60% of all Twitter users quit within the first 30 days) see here. Twitter might be able to do OK in Japan. (But I think they are worried about the trend of people in the west quitting and that explains why the big push for events and old media promotion in Japan!)

Why? For almost the same reason that a .com English site with a Japanese language sub-folder or sub-domain is not efficient for Japan: the bit difference between Japanese alphabet and Roman alphabet (English). Japanese language is two bits per character. English, or the Roman alphabet, is one bit per character.

Confusing? I wrote about that here and here.

So, in Japanese, within the 140 character limit imposed by Twitter (117 by Pick including photo) I can write a huge amount of text in Japanese, but not in English. Also, couple this with how very romanticist the Japanese are and how their entire culture is steeped in it, you have a language that Shakespeare would have loved to Tweet upon!

Here's an example of a typical Tweet in Japanese:

The above is just 140 characters including the periods and the exclamation mark (something most of us don't do to save space). But here this girl has space to spare. Here is a rough translation of what this girl is saying:

"I just cannot follow what other people are doing and their logic for doing so. I try to cooperate and work together but find myself getting closer and closer to the point where I feel like I am being betrayed as my feelings seem unimportant. I don't know what the reason is and I don't understand but I wish he was a stronger person. But I forgive him and want him to be happy. I don't know why, and I can't explain, but in order to share memories, we have to take care of things and each other better. I am Miwako and this is my worry."

Like I said, this long (and very rambling) Tweet is just 140 characters. In English it is 535 characters; and 395 characters over the limit for Twitter.

So, while Twitter may have a poor future in the west (just my opinion) it could be great for countries that use a different alphabet than Roman alphabet; like Altaic language, that the Japanese use, or Sinitic language that the Chinese use. Interestingly, they are different.... 

These types of language differences pose a challenge for all Internet applications such as Google search engine and Twitter. So, no longer does the future of the Internet belong in the hands of those who understand data and programming, but the language geeks will have a hand....

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Keywords:
20 billionth, Twitter, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Tweet, Google, Google search, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Yahoo Japan, Japanese, Japanese language, Altaic, Sinitic