Laffitte Conseil

J-Board - a Job Board for Everyone

J-Board is a job board application which anyone can download and install on their website/blog. It’s built using PHP/MySQL, and features include listings with microformats, widgets, tag clouds, automatic submission of new listing to social search engines, RSS feeds, a theme system for easy customization, and a language file which makes translation simple.

The application is built to be versatile, so it doesn’t have to be used as a job board; in fact, it will do for classifieds, event announcement and similar tasks.

After installing J-Board, you’re free to charge users for job listings, or add text advertisements such as AdSense to the board. J-Board comes with a price, though: 30 dollars.

TripAdvisor Adding More Social Features

TripAdvisor, the travel blogging service, is scheduled to roll out more social networking aspects to its service, making it easier to find and share information from others. The new features should launch sometime tomorrow.

The new social components of TripAdvisor will let you register your network of travelers, importing contacts from all the major email services such as GMail, Hotmail, AOL and MSN. Some new search technology is being included in the site revamp, which will make content from your friends network show at the top of your search results.

Moving towards a more social existence is something TripAdvisor is surely interested in. The company released its Facebook application last week, enabling users to display their account map on their Facebook profiles and marking where they’ve traveled. Other travel social networks include TripTie and Matador.

Vietnam hotels accused of “grab for cash”

Hoteliers in Vietnam are proposing a 50% plus rate increase for rooms next season, and Exotissimo Travel has united with other destination management companies to protest.

Exotissimo says key properties in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have failed to honour existing contracts, and are increasing their rates to levels as "a grab for cash."

An Exotissimo spokesman said, "With the recent room shortage, almost every premium hotel (from 3-5 stars) is operating at close to full capacity throughout the year, and the low-season has all but disappeared.

"This problem is most severe in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, where most 4 and 5 star hotels are almost always fully booked.

"Many of the hotels are now taking advantage of this current situation, and are not honoring their prior commitments, including previously negotiated and contracted room rates.

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Java : Webwag se lance dans les widgets sur mobiles

Fort du rachat en mars dernier de la société Mobease, spécialiste du widget mobile, la jeune pousse Webwag a lancé il y a quelques heures « Webwag Mobile », une solution Java permettant d'ajouter du contenu aux smartphones.

Surfant sur la vague des contenus personnalisés sur des terminaux mobiles par l'intermédiaire de programmes comme Widsets, ZenZui ou comme le futur programme S60 de Nokia, Webwag Mobile se base sur le portail web éponyme pour fonctionner. Concurrent de Netvibes, qui a ouvert récemment une partie accessible depuis les mobiles, Webwag en version mobile nécessite donc un compte Webwag pour fonctionner, son téléchargement étant assuré ensuite après avoir entré son numéro de téléphone mobile (envoi du lien par SMS).

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Online Video Ads Bringing Results

Online video ads are leading to sales, according to the Online Publishers Association (OPA) "Frames of Reference: Online Video Advertising, Content and Consumer Behavior" report, conducted in partnership with OTX.

Of the 80% of viewers who had watched an online video ad, just over half had taken some sort of action. Nearly a third had checked out a Web site, while 22% had searched for more information, 15% had gone into a store and 12% had actually made a purchase.

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Des résultats discordants d'un moteur de recherche à l'autre

Ils se veulent concurrents, leurs résultats sont dans la plupart des cas complémentaires. L'étude menée par le métamoteur Dogpile montre les différences accrues entre les principaux moteurs de recherche.

L'étude menée par le métamoteur Dogpile avec les étudiants de l'université technologique du Queensland et l'université de l'Etat de Pennsylvanie a mis en exergue les différences de résultats entre quatre moteurs majeurs : Google, Yahoo, Windows Live et Ask. Au total, 19 332 requêtes ont été saisies sur chacun de ces moteurs.

Alors que les moteurs se placent en concurrence frontale, avec des fonctionnalités et une présentation quasi-conforme, les quatre acteurs affichent des différences flagrantes dans leurs résultats.

Avec des algorithmes différents, ces derniers n'indexent pas à la même vitesse, ne classent pas de la même manière et donc ne restituent pas la même chose. L'étude chiffre ces différences : 0,6% des résultats sont communs aux quatre moteurs de recherche.

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Search Fueling Retail Site Traffic

Search engines accounted for quarter of visits to US shopping and classifieds Web sites in May 2007, up 0.7% from May 2006, according to Hitwise data.    

Google accounted for 15.6% of the visits, an increase of 8.7% from May 2006.    

Nearly a quarter of search terms that sent traffic to shopping and classifieds Web sites in May 2007 were single words, including domain names and URLs. One-word searches were up 20% from May 2005.

MySpace accounted for 3.2% of upstream visits to shopping and classifieds Web sites in May 2007.

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B2B Buyers Use Search

Over eight in 10 US technology buyers begin their research for information on a major search engine, according to KnowledgeStorm and MarketingSherpa's "Connecting Through Content, Issue Two: Content Distribution — Where Information Intersects With Interest" report, fielded in April 2007.

Over half of buyers scan three to five pages of search results on average. Only 11% stop at the first page.    

Over half of buyers read sponsored links "frequently" or "sometimes." Just over a third click on such links "frequently" or "sometimes."

Some 14% of technology buyers said they frequently read sponsored links, and 6% frequently click on them. Nearly four in 10 technology buyers "sometimes" read the sponsored links, and 28% "sometimes" click on them.

Nearly two-thirds of B2B marketers use a paid ad strategy to place their content on search results, and about the same proportion have a strategy for ensuring high organic/natural placement on search engines.

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European Online Ad Spending

Display ads are popular on the Continent.

Online advertising spending within the 13 countries of the IAB Europe network was Eur8.003 billion ($10.08 billion) in 2006, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe's "Pan-European Online Advertising Spend" study, analyzed by PricewaterhouseCoopers

The UK accounted for the largest share of European online ad spending, at 39% of the total. Germany accounted for 22%, France for 15% and the Netherlands for 7%.

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UK Online Sales Rise, Driven by Travel

High speed to High Street, please.

UK retail e-commerce sales are estimated to reach $51.8 billion (£28.1 billion) in 2011, up from $21.6 billion (£10.9 billion) in 2006, according to Verdict Research.

Online sales tripled from 2002 to 2006, and grew nearly 13 times faster than the overall retail sector in 2006.

Verdict said online shopping has grown because broadband Internet access is now widely available in the UK at low cost. Major retailers have also made large investments in transactional Web sites.

Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), as cited in a May 21, 2007, Financial Times article, also noted the rise in UK online spending. Looking at B2C e-commerce overall, the firm counted travel as the biggest online sector, followed by electronic products and apparel.

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