59 SEO Ranking Factors

#	Factor	Description	"+ / -" Attribute
1	Keyword in URL page name	(Google patent) Order of keywords is important. First word is most prominent, etc.	+
2	Keyword in domain name	Same as above	+
3	Keyword in page title	The keyword that is closest to the beginning is the most important. For best results, the title tag should be 10 to 60 characters and have no special characters.	+
4	Keyword in description meta tag	Search engines used to rely on this tag pretty heavily, but do not do so any longer because of spammer abuse. This tag will help users find content in search results however. Sometimes search engines will use it, sometimes they wont. For best results, the description should be less than 160 characters.	+
5	Keyword in keyword meta tag	Search engines (it doesn't seem like Google uses it at all) hardly ever use this tag for ranking results. It can help the search engine determine content theme, however. The keyword should be on the page somewhere and shouldn't appear more than twice. If this is not done content will be penalized for irrelevance.	+
6	Keyword density in body text	For best results the density (all keywords within phrase/total words on page) should be between 5 - 20%. Care must be taken to avoid to high of a density. The density rate at which search engines consider content spam depends on the topic. It is better to be safe than sorry and remain on the side of caution.	+
7	Individual keyword density	For best results the density (keyword/total words on page) should be between 1 to 6%. Care must be taken to avoid to high of a density. The density rate at which search engines consider content spam depends on the topic. It is better to be safe than sorry and remain on the side of caution.	+
8	Keyword in H1, H2,….. Hx	Use Hx tags when possible, but don't overdo it. Include the keyword in these tags. This is an important factor.	+
9	Keyword font size/style	Bold and italic font styles on the keywords are considered more important than other words on the page. (This is according to a Matt Cutts blog entry from July 2006)	+
10	Keyword proximity when phrase contains more than one keyword	Words that are directly adjacent are considered more related.	+
11	Keyword phrase order	It is important that word order on the page matches the word order of the search term. For example, if a common search term is chromatography columns, then the word order on the page should be chromatography columns, not column chromatography.	+
12	Keyword prominence	How close to the top of the page does the word appear? The earlier the better.	+
13	Keyword in alt text	The alt tag should describe photo and when possible it should have the keyword.	+
14	Keywords in links to site pages (title tags on links)	If there are links to other pages on the site, anchor text should be used to describe the link. When possible this link should contain the keyword.	+
15	Keyword in internal links (keyword within link text)	Link should contain keyword. The file that the link is pointing to should have the keyword(s) and multiple keywords should be separated by hyphens.	+
16	Navigation structure	How deep are the pages in the web site content? For best results, it should only take 2 clicks/at most 4 clicks to go to any page from the main navigation.	+
17	Contextual / intra-site links	Contextual links should be used appropriately. For example, if a page is talking about formulation but mentions chromatography, then the word chromatography can link to the chromatography section for more information.	+
18	Keywords in outgoing links/quality of outgoing links.	Recent Google patent. Only link to web sites with good reputation. If you don't want the link to count as a vote for the external sites content, use no-follow tags. Outgoing links should be checked periodically to make sure they are still active. Broken links can harm SERPs. Do not link to link farms.	+
19	Outgoing link anchor text.	Should be on topic and descriptive. When possible they should include the keyword/keyword phrase.	+
20	Link stability over time	Google patent. Outgoing links shouldn't change frequently. Frequently changing links are considered "Link Churn."	+
21	External link validation	Are outgoing links still valid?
22	Less than 100 links out total	Google recommends that a web site have no more than 100 outgoing links, but this number depends on the web site size.	+
23	Domain name extension	????????????? Check
24	Page file size	For best results, pages should be under 100K. Files smaller than 40K are preferred. The reason for this is that larger pages require more search engine resources and search engines prefer to crawl pages that take as little time as possible.	+
25	Hyphens in URL	Hyphens are the preferred method of separating words in a URL. For best results only one or two should be used. If there are more than four or more, search engines think it looks like spam.	+
26	Freshness of pages	Google patent. Google and other search engines like content on pages to change frequently over time. Pages that have fresh content get placed higher than those that remain the same.	+
27	Freshness of overall content	This is a measure of the ratio between fresh content and old content. The more new pages/content the better.	+
28	Freshness of links	Google patent. For highly trusted sites this is a good thing, but for new sites and low trust sites it's a bad thing.	+
29	Frequency of updates	The more frequently pages are updated, the more frequently the pages will get spidered by the search engine. The more content gets spidered, the newer the content will be in the search engines cache.	+
30	Page theming	Do pages on the entire web site or web site sections exhibit a consistent theme? Are there a lot of pages within a section that have this theme? If there are more pages with content on a consistent topic those pages will rank better when searches are made for that topic.	+
31	Keyword stemming	For example, stem, stems, stemmed, stemmer, stemming, stemmist, and stemification.	+
32	Semantics	Synonyms and related terms are beneficial.	+
33	URL length	Try to keep URL length short. For best results use less than 100 characters.	+
34	Site size	Google and other search engine usually prefer content from larger web sites. Exceptions to this would be web sites with computer generated pages.	+
35	Site age	Google patent. Old sites are considered more trustworthy than newer sites.	+
36	Age of page vs. age of site	Newer pages on older sites will get faster recognition than newer pages on newer sites.	+
37	Text presented in graphics form	Pages that only have text presented in graphic form do not perform well in search results. Most of the time they don't even get indexed.	-
38	Affiliate sites	Sites with affiliate content are treated negativly by search engines. The content on affiliate sites is usually identical with very little unique content.	-
39	Over optimization penalty (OOP)	Penalty for over-compliance with generally accepted optimization practices. Also includes things like the keyword to content ratio being to high and over use of H1 tags.	-
40	Links to low trust/banned sites	Check Google's status on all sites you link to. Not only when the link is first made, but also periodically. Remove all links to web sites that have lost good status with Google.	-
41	Redirect thru refresh meta tags	Refresh meta tags are generally considered negatively by search engines. When ever possible there use should be avioded.
42	Banned/bad words	Do not use words search engines consider bad.
43	Poison words	Some words are used frequently in spam and poor content. For example, having the word "Click here" and "Links to" in content could make the page place lower. Do not use phrases that are associated with spamming (Google patent).
44	Over linking between sites	Excessive linking between a few sites, especially between sites from the same web host/similar IP addresses, is viewed negativly by most search engines. Search engines consider this type of linking an attempt to trick the search engine. According to Matt Cutts this doesn't apply to a small number of sites.
45	Copying copyright protected imagry and text from other domains	If reported, Google will give strong penalties.
46	Keyword stuffing threshold	Excessive keyword repetition in body and various tags will result in demotion.
47	Keyword dilution	Including to many unrelated terms in your content reduce the strength of your content theme. The topic should focus on specific keywords/phrases and not include unrelated information.
48	Consistency in page edits	Google patent. When page content is changed, does it contain information about the old topic? If the theme changes frequently, Google may reduce it's SERP.
49	Changing content to often	Google patent. Changing content is usually a good thing, but if it is changed to often it can be a bad thing. Changes should be done in a consistent manner. If Google thinks the change is done only to improve SERP, the content will be penalized.
50	Anchor tag changes	Anchor tags shouldn't be changed frequently.
51	Dynamic pages	Dynamic pages aren't search engine friendly. Search engines do better when there are only a few variables. For best results, pages should have at least some hard coded links and no more than 2 or 3 variables.
52	To much Javascript	Search engines don't like Javascript. If Javascript is used, it should be called from an external file.
53	Flash	Search engines have a hard time indexing flash. If it is important for a page to perform well in search results, it is better to have HTML content. If flash is needed, provide an HTML alternative.
54	Frames	Spider bots have trouble indexing frames.
55	"No index" tag	This tag is used to keep the search engine from indexing a page. Do not use for pages that you want the search engine to index.
56	Single pixel links	Creating a single pixel link is seen as an attempt to hide a link. Google advises against any attempts to hide content or links.
57	Invisible (cloaking) text	Invisible text is text that is intentionally hidden from view. This could be done in a variety of ways, including making the text color the same color as the background. Cloaked text can't be seen by web site visitors, but it can be seen spiders. Since this is seen as an attempt to manipulate SERP, this is penalized by search engines.
58	Gateway/doorway pages	??????????????
59	Duplicate content	Google doesn't penalize for this, but it will only display one version of the content in search results. Usually the oldest content is chosen when ranking results.

Win a Google Wave Invitation | Get Access to Google Wave

Please comment about how you think Google Wave can be used in businesses and marketing. The best comment will recieve a Google Wave invitation. Just put your Google ID at the end of your comment so I know who to send the invite to. I currently have a few Wave invitation that I can give out. I'm giving one of them out to commenters and on this blog entry and to commenters on my last blog entry. My last blog entry is on the Google Chromium Operating System. Please look at that entry if you are interested in writing an entry on the operating system. Thanks!

Below is a recent release from Google on the results of a study they did on Google Wave.

We're thankful that so many people have been willing to try out Google Wave in a host of different areas: personal, business, government, education and even not-for-profit. We've been glad to see positive responses, especially since we're still in a limited preview and not quite ready to give accounts to everyone who has requested one.

Since we can't talk to all of our users individually (no matter how hard we try!), we've been running an online survey to get some feedback on the Google Wave experience. We distributed the survey through email (to a random sample of those that volunteered to help), a link in our help center and a tweet. While this may not be a completely representative sample of all Google Wave users, the results have been interesting to us, and we'd like to share them. Here's a quick overview of what Wavers have said so far.

What Wavers like most

The wave itself: The concept of a wave as a central place to communicate and collaborate is what people say they like the most.

One place to discuss and work together: The next most popular is the ability to use Google Wave to work together and integrate messages and documents; many respondents have indicated that existing methods and tools don't meet all of their needs.

Extensions: Close behind the collaboration features, survey respondents liked the ability to extend Google Wave's functionality through gadgets and robots.


What Wavers don't like

Invitations: The biggest request so far has been for more invitations to wave with friends and colleagues. We understand it's hard to communicate and collaborate if you have no contacts so we're working hard to make Google Wave scale to a large number of users.

Integration with other tools: People want Google Wave to be more integrated with their existing tools, like email. They also want to be notified when they get a new wave as their current collaboration processes are built around email, instant messaging and other similar systems.

Speed: The next largest issue has been about the speed of the system - people stated that sometimes it is too slow.
What we're doing with the feedback

With these responses and other data, we're organizing our team around the core issues that are important to making waving better. We're working hard to scale our systems so you can invite your friends and colleagues to wave with you. We're also thinking about how to integrate with existing communication and collaboration tools. And since we all know that fast is better than slow, a large portion of the team is working to make Google Wave faster.

Let us know how we're going with these things and if you are waving feel free to take the survey again and again -- we're interested in seeing how people use Google Wave differently over time. We'll start writing about what people are actually doing with waves, so let us know about interesting things you've tried.

Google Chromium OS Download and Review

The person with the best response to this post gets a invite to Google Wave. Details to follow.

Google recently released the source code to their Chromium Operating System. In a press release they said that the final version of the operating system wouldn't be released until late 2010. They released the source code so that people could experiment with it and provide Google with feedback. There plan has been working well so far. Various beta versions of the Chromium Operating System have been released by a variety of individuals and organizations. One of these releases was done by Dell. They released a version of the operating system for their Mini V laptops. You can download and check this version out by going to http://src.chromium.org/.

You can download the source code for the Operating System from here: http://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/building-chromium-os/getting-the-chromium-os-source-code. This link also has details on how to download and use the source code.

You can also get different beta versions of the operating system by going to http://gdgt.com/google/chrome-os/.

Initial reports say that the operating system boots very fast, but it takes it a long time to connect to wireless networks. Unfortunetly, there haven't been to many other very good reviews.

TO WIN GOOGLE WAVE INVITE:
Option 1: Download the a beta version of the Chromium operating system and install it to your system. Comment here with a review of the system.

Option 2: Comment and write about what you would like to see in the new operating system. Do you think this operating system will be a threat to Microsoft?

Please include your google ID at the end of your comment. I'll send you an invite to Google wave after I have time to evaluate the answers and after there has been enough answers.

Engagement Wishes, Gone With the Wind

WARNING: This article has nothing to do with marketing or advertising, but it's funny, so enjoy!

Every guy wants to make the perfect proposal. Most guys who care somewhat, want to make it very unique and original. The others are just heartless fools(or so I'm told). But the proposal can't just be unique and cool and... expensive..., it's got to also be a surprise.

Innocent Hajji of Hackney London was probably feeling pretty good with himself after he spent countless hours coming up with his proposal idea, speech, and yeah the ring. A $12,000 ring to be exact. His idea was pretty good: Put the ring in a helium balloon and then have a pin to pop it when he popped the question. "All is going good and well" he probably thought as he added the balloon to a bunch of other balloons. Then he headed to the door, only to be met by a gust that blew his dreams off to some far off place.

He is still hoping that his ring will turn up, but I don't know about you, but I'll be watching for that $12,000 ring on my front lawn. I really need a new car, you have to understand.

Top Ten Fun Recycling Project Ideas

15 Year Old Mcdonalds French Fry Sold On Ebay

I found this article below about a 15 year old french fry that was sold on ebay for $10.50. Not much, I guess, but it's kinda weird... Maybe I can get a little more for my 30 year old box of Jello.

While we (sort of) understand why people pay a little more for a bottle of wine that's improved with age, we're not quite so sure about the speculative value of an aging French fry.

Still, there's a kind of earnest enthusiasm about this eBay ad for "the only known 1993 [McDonald's french] fry in existence," as though it is something that anyone will realize the innate value of.

Evidently, the owner was 15 years old when he originally spilled some fries in his father's new SUV. One of the fries was left under the seat on purpose to "christen" the car, and it remained there, untouched for the lifespan of the vehicle. Now that his father is buying a new car, the fry is being sold like the treasure it is, with 20 percent of the proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House.

The specs: "About the Fry: it is roughly 1 inch long and hard as a rock. Per eBay rules this is not a food item and is only meant for display, I mean do I really have to say that! Put that ketchup down."

While there's still time to bid the fry up until this evening, bidding so far has been a bit tepid -- as of press time, the fry seems to be garnering only $6.50 worth of enthusiasm.

UPDATE: The famous fry eventually sold for a meager $10.50, surely a disappointment for vintage fast food collectors. Still at that price, the seller could buy around five cartons of fresh fries, with about 40 fries each, meaning that in 15 years he could have 200 vintage fries on the market -- and make a cool $2,000 as a result. This man is a genius.

Think the fry is disgusting? Try it on a pizza.

Anybody Want Some Ear Wax Candy?

I don't quite know what the makers of this product where thinking... Do they think someone is going to go to the store and look for ear wax candy? The candy even comes with a little swab to make eating the wax out of the ear shaped holder a little easier. But hey, it gets people talking...

You Can Become an Anteater Too! Buy Real Ant Candy!

People sell the strangest things... Buy some wonderful sugar candy and get some free ants... Well, ok they aren't really free, but they are in the candy. There are all those kids out there daring each other to eat ants, so you may as well buy them some cooked and candied ones. You can buy a box for $6 from this website: http://www.realcooltoys.com/antcandy.html. You can become an anteater too!!

Recommendation Report Format / Template / Outline

FRONT MATTER

Letter of Transmittal

1. Explain the purpose and content of the report


2. Precedes the title page


3. Acknowledge those who helped with the report


4. Highlights parts of the report that may be of interest


5. Talk about any problems


6. Make observations

Cover

1. Purpose is to protect the report
2. Contains the title, writer’s name(s), date of creation, company name and/or logo
   

Title Page

1. Contains the document title
2. Author(s)
3. Intended readers/recipients


4. Date of documentation creation
5. The title should describe the contents of the document very clearly and therefore, it should be as informative as possible.

Abstract

1. Condensed version of the writing that highlights the major points covered


2. Concisely describes the content and scope of the writing


3. Reviews the contents in an abbreviated form


4. Abstracts can be descriptive or informative


5. Descriptive Abstract: Provides purpose, methods, and scope. Does not provide results,
   conclusions, recommendations. Introduces the subject to the readers. This
   section should be very brief – usually less than 100 words


6. Informative Abstract: Communicate specific information from the report including the
   purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations. This
   section lets a reader decide if they want to read more of the report and
   is usually under 250 words.
   

Executive Summary

1. The section is similar to an abstract. It reviews the essential elements of
   the report including the subject, purpose, scope, methods, conclusion, and
   recommendations.


2. Gives a decision maker enough information to make a choice.


3. An executive summary is usually about 10% of the total length of the report.
   

Table of Contents

1. This section lists the headings and the page numbers of the sections that
   correspond to those sections.


2. The reader uses this section to find part of the report that are of interest
   to them.
   

List of Illustrations

1. This section lists the documents illustrations along with the page numbers on
   which they can be found.


2. There are usually two categories, figures and tables.
   

BODY

Introduction

1. The introduction talks about the subject, purpose, organization and scope.


2. Discuss why the report was written and what benefit it will provide the
   organization.


3. Show the major sections of the report and present the order in which they will
   be discussed.


4. Define the scope and limitations of the document.

Methods Section

1. Discuss what methods were used to obtain the information for the report and the
   parameters in which it was obtained.

Results Section

1. Note the key data that was obtained and give a detailed analysis of the data.


2. Should be clearly organized and objective.
   
   

Conclusion

1. Provide an interpretation of the data presented in the body of the report.


2. All conclusions should be built upon data that was presented in the body of
   the report. New information should not be introduced.

Recommendations

1. This section should contain a recommendation based upon the information
   presented in the conclusion of the report.

BACK MATTER

Glossary

1. List the key terms used in the document.

List of Symbols

1. Symbols and abbreviation
   

Appendices

1. Could be a variety of material that helps the reader understand the report
   better.

Reference List

1. List of sources.
   

Index

1. Similar to the table of contents but with more detail.


2. Usually for long reports.

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32 Best Outdoor Advertising Advertisements

Some of these ads are kinda hard to see small so click to enlarge:)

Outdoor Advertisement # 1
This is a pretty cool ad for six flags amusement parks. It features an outdoor billboard type ad that is shaped like a sled.


Outdoor Advertisement # 2
This outdoor ad is in a bus stop. It's an anti smoking ad that has glass lungs filled with cigarette butts.

Outdoor Advertisement #3
Lung shaped cigarette tray. I'm not sure if it's an outdoor advertisement or not, but it's a pretty creative ad, outdoor or not.

Outdoor Advertisement # 4

I've seen quite a few of these type of outdoor anti smoking ads, but they are quite clever. They are quite hard to miss, so they definetly cut through the clutter.

Outdoor Advertisement # 5

I'm assuming the sign in this outdoor ad says "Stop". That would be funny if the town had all there stop signs looking like this.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 6
I'm not sure how big this outdoor ad is, but it seems like a lot of tar. Do they mean just the top amount? Usually pavement is pretty thick... So, IDK about the tar amounts but its creative...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 7
I'm not sure how many people will go and buy puzzles after seeing this outdoor advertisement....

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 8
I think this one is for Nike... I wonder how they are holding that ball up. It looks like a rather large object. I'm sure it's full of air, but still...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 9

Disney outdoor ad on a building...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 10
Fedex ad. I'm assuming they sell office supplies or something. If they don't I'm not sure what they are trying to advertise.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 11

Nestle ad... even the birds like it...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 12

I think I posted this outdoor ad in another section of this site, but it was awhile ago, soenjoy again.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 13
Swwweeeeetttt billboard ad that features an actual car hanging from a sign...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 14
From up here, I can see BMW of Bridgeport...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 15
KillBill advertisement... I love how they continued the advertisement off of the building onto the sidewalk, car, and the road. What city would let a company do that???

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 16

I guess a few people must look up at buildings or something... Kinda looks like a tall building...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 17
Clever lego advertisment on a crane...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 18

Cannon ad that features a camera like model. It looks like the other pillar things on the road...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 19

Mcdonalds outdoor ad on a bus stop... cool enough I guess...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 20
I love this billboard ad for Bic razors. It kinda looks like it's hard to figure out for what company it's for. the cut grass looks pretty rough... About as rough as the job Bic's do for shaving... At least it's not false advertising.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 21

Woodland shoes ad.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 22
Coca cola bus advertisement. Not all that great in my humble opinion, but whateva!

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 23

Coke bottle on a building...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 24

Another coke bottle on a building outdoor ad.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 25

Not sure if this outdoor and if it's even an ad... It may be more like a decoration or something.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 26

Fabulous!

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 27

Semi truck with a bottle cap poking out... It's kind hard to tell if the rest of the bottle is sticking out in the ad or not.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 28
haha... someone loves coke...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 29
Not sure what the ad is for. Pretty cool though.

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 30

Don't Speed ad featuring a guy behind bars...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 31

Dental ad of some sort...

Best Outdoor Advertisement # 32

I can't figure out what the ad is for... I like the idea though...

SEO Factor 12: Keyword prominence

How close to the top of the page does the word appear? The earlier the better.

SEO Factor 11: Keyword phrase order

It is important that word order on the page matches the word order of the search term. For example, if a common search term is seo factors, then the word order on the page should be seo factors, not factors seo.

SEO Factor 10: Keyword proximity when phrase contains more than one keyword

Words that are directly adjacent are considered more related.

SEO Factor 9: Keyword font size/style

Bold and italic font styles on the keywords are considered more important than other words on the page. (This is according to a Matt Cutts blog entry from July 2006)

SEO Factor 8: Keyword in H1, H2,….. Hx

Use Hx tags when possible, but don't overdo it. Include the keyword in these tags. This is an important factor.

SEO Factor 7: Individual keyword density

For best results the density (keyword/total words on page) should be between 1 to 6%. Care must be taken to avoid to high of a density. The density rate at which search engines consider content spam depends on the topic. It is better to be safe than sorry and remain on the side of caution.

SEO Factor 6: Keyword density in body text

For best results the density (all keywords within phrase/total words on page) should be between 5 - 20%. Care must be taken to avoid to high of a density. The density rate at which search engines consider content spam depends on the topic. It is better to be safe than sorry and remain on the side of caution.

SEO Factor 5: Keyword in keyword meta tag

Search engines (it doesn't seem like Google uses it at all) hardly ever use this tag for ranking results. It can help the search engine determine content theme, however. The keyword should be on the page somewhere and shouldn't appear more than twice. If this is not done content will be penalized for irrelevance.

SEO Factor 4: Keyword in description meta tag

Search engines used to rely on this tag pretty heavily, but do not do so any longer because of spammer abuse. This tag will help users find content in search results however. Sometimes search engines will use it, sometimes they wont. For best results, the description should be less than 160 characters.

SEO Factor 3: Keyword in page title

The keyword that is closest to the beginning is the most important. For best results, the title tag should be 10 to 60 characters and have no special characters.

SEO Factor 2: Keyword in domain name

(Google patent) Order of keywords is important. First word is most prominent, etc.

SEO Factor 15: Keyword in internal links (keyword within link text)

Link should contain keyword. The file that the link is pointing to should have the keyword(s) and multiple keywords should be separated by hyphens.

Keywords in links to site pages (title tags on links)

If there are links to other pages on the site, anchor text should be used to describe the link. When possible this link should contain the keyword.

SEO Factor 13: Keyword in alt text

The alt tag should describe photo and when possible it should have the keyword.

SEO Factor 1: Keyword in URL page name

(Google patent) Order of keywords is important. First word is most prominent, etc.

Facebook Terms of Service : We Own Your Content Forever! Privacy Policy Change Info

Facebook recently changed their privacy policy. When you first signed up for your Facebook account, you agreed that you could choose to close your account, and when you did all the content you uploaded would be deleted from the social networking site's vast supply of information.

Perhaps it was to help our friends keep our sent messages once we're gone, or perhaps it was just greed for more information. Information that could someday, somehow bring them money. Maybe for more targeted advertising (they could still use IP information and etc. for ads if Facebook chose to launch a Google Adwords type advertising service). Maybe it was becuase they would like to have that information to help the government out one day (nice potential for government money).

But whatever the reason, they changed their policy to say that even if you close your account, all your entrys, comments, interests, photos - all your content still belongs to them and that they can do WHATEVER they want to this the information.

NEW Facebook Policy / Terms of Service Agreement

Here's an excerpt from their policy agreement (NEW):

"You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive,
transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to
(a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display,
transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create
derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you
(i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof
subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including
by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and
image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b)
on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof."

OLD Facebook Terms of Service / Privacy Policy

The OLD one was the same except the following lines have been removed:

"You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose
to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically
expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content."

Additional Facebook Terms of Service Changes

Here's what they added to the privacy policy (near the end):

"The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the
Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift
Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes;
Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination
and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and
Jurisdiction and Other."

So keep adding everything, maybe you can help Facebook make money off of you someday... Now wouldn't that be nice?

Marketing Lesson

Be careful to respect your customers!

Additional Information / Articles on Facebook Terms of Service Changes

Here are some articles on the topic.

Here's a link to Facebooks Terms of Service Agreement

Change of Terms Sparks Furor on Facebook (NewsFactor)
Posted on Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:32PM EST

- Nearly two weeks ago, Suzie White, corporate counsel for commercial transactions, posted a brief update to the Facebook blog that began: "We want to let you know that today we're updating our Terms of Use -- the rules you and Facebook agree to when you sign up to use the site."

The purpose, she said, was simply to consolidate a lot of the documents and information that Facebook uses to govern behavior on the site, particularly prohibited practices.

Most of the time, changes to a site's Terms of Use are only of interest to corporate and intellectual-property attorneys. But thanks to the blog Consumerist, Facebook's changes have quickly become a major issue in the social-networking world.

Key Deletions

As Consumerist noted, the core language of the Facebook terms remained the same: All users give Facebook "an irrevocable, perpetual, nonexclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense)" to any content the users decide to post to Facebook accounts.

The key difference, however, is that White and Facebook deleted two important sentences at the end of the license that said users can delete their content at any time and that, if they do so, the license granted to Facebook automatically expires (although the company said it might retain archived copies).

Observers argue that with those provisions deleted, Facebook now has a permanent license to use member content, regardless of whether they delete it or otherwise try to exert control over it.

Not surprisingly, the possibility that Facebook was becoming the Hotel California for content (you can delete it, but it never leaves) set off a storm of criticism. At least three different protest groups were formed on Facebook, and the most popular -- People Against the new Terms of Service -- has more than 32,000 members. The issue also quickly shot to the top of the topic list for Twitter.

Reacting To Furor

There seems to be little doubt that the furor caught Facebook executives by surprise. In a somewhat longer post to the Facebook blog on Monday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a clarification of the changes.

"Our philosophy," he wrote, "is that people own their information and control who they share it with. When a person shares information on Facebook, they first need to grant Facebook a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they've asked us to share it with. Without this license, we couldn't help people share that information."

Zuckerberg said Facebook deleted the expiration clause so it could continue to function as intended. Even if a user deletes his or her account, the service wants to be able to display content in the accounts with which it was shared: Copies of messages, for instance, or photographs.

"In reality, we wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want," Zuckerberg assured users. "The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work. Our goal is to build great products and to communicate clearly to help people share more information in this trusted environment."

Whether Zuckerberg's blog posting is enough to calm angry users remains to be seen. Clearly, however, people are beginning to realize the tension between open social networking and control of information. This is unlikely to be the last such dispute.


Facebook Responds to Concerns Over Terms of Service
February 16, 2009 - 3:47 pm PDT - by Adam Ostrow (Mashable)
Today’s hoopla over changes to the Facebook Terms of Service have prompted a rare blog post from Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In the post, Zuckerberg falls short of apologizing for the changes, but rather, uses the opportunity to explain why Facebook more or less keeps your content indefinitely.

He writes, “When a person shares information on Facebook, they first need to grant Facebook a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they’ve asked us to share it with. Without this license, we couldn’t help people share that information.” This is true – without making this part of the Terms of Service, someone could technically claim they didn’t know anyone would see their Status Updates, as silly as that may sound.

Continuing, Zuckerberg explains why the site keeps content indefinitely. “When a person shares something like a message with a friend, two copies of that information are created—one in the person’s sent messages box and the other in their friend’s inbox. Even if the person deactivates their account, their friend still has a copy of that message. We think this is the right way for Facebook to work, and it is consistent with how other services like email work.”

That makes sense as well, but I don’t think it gets to the heart of the issue that has people so concerned about Facebook’s terms of service, as the company fails to answer the question of why this piece of the TOS was removed: “You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content.”

Ultimately, Facebook’s stance can be summarized as “trust us, we won’t do anything bad.” Zuckerberg writes, “In reality, we wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work.”

In the end, this fiasco isn’t going to change the way I use Facebook, and I imagine it won’t do much to alter other user’s plans either. Their terms of service, like those of any other company operating on the Web, are designed to put their interests first, and eliminate just about any potential legal risk that their lawyers can think up.

Once again though - like with Beacon and the Facebook re-design revolt - Facebook has done a poor job of communicating the changes, leaving Zuckerberg on the defense instead of proactively keeping users informed on potentially controversial moves the company is making.

Chances are Facebook won’t abuse the privileges they are granted under their TOS. The backlash over doing something insane like using member photos without permission would be enormous and Facebook is smart enough not to do it. But as a user, it’s another reminder that what you do on the Internet is probably permanent, and much of it, probably outside your control.


Facebook’s Users Ask Who Owns Information
By BRIAN STELTER (NYTimes)
Published: February 16, 2009

The online exchanges reflected the uneasy and evolving balance between sharing information and retaining control over that information on the Internet. The subject arose when a consumer advocate’s blog shined an unflattering light onto the pages of legal language that many users accept without reading when they use a Web site.

The pages, called terms of service, generally outline appropriate conduct and grant a license to companies to store users’ data. Unknown to many users, the terms frequently give broad power to Web site operators.

This month, when Facebook updated its terms, it deleted a provision that said users could remove their content at any time, at which time the license would expire. Further, it added new language that said Facebook would retain users’ content and licenses after an account was terminated.

Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, said in a blog post on Monday that the philosophy “that people own their information and control who they share it with has remained constant.” Despite the complaints, he did not indicate the language would be revised.

The changes in the terms of service had gone mostly unnoticed until Sunday, when the blog Consumerist cited them and interpreted them to mean that “anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later.”

Given the widespread popularity of Facebook — by some measurements the most popular social network with 175 million active users worldwide — that claim attracted attention immediately.

The blog post by Consumerist, part of the advocacy group Consumers Union, received more than 300,000 views. Users created Facebook groups to oppose the changes. To some of the thousands who commented online, the changes meant: “Facebook owns you.”

Facebook moved swiftly to say it was not claiming to own the material that users upload. It said the terms had been updated to better reflect user behavior — for instance, to acknowledge that when a user deletes an account, any comments the user had posted on a page remain visible.

“We certainly did not — and did not intend — to create any new right or interest for Facebook in users’ data by issuing the new terms,” said Barry Schnitt, a Facebook spokesman.

Greg Lastowka, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Law who is writing a book on Internet law, said Facebook’s language was not unusual. “Most Web sites today offer terms of service that are designed to protect and further the interests of the company writing the terms, and most people simply agree to terms without reading them.”

For Facebook, the ability to store users’ data and use their names and images for commercial purposes is important as it seeks to make more money from the virtual interactions of friends.

But balancing the desire for sharing with the need for control remains a challenge for Facebook as it turns five years old this month. “We’re at an interesting point in the development of the open online world where these issues are being worked out,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote.

Amid the evolution, at least a few members are showing their uneasiness about the stance that Facebook is taking.

Some members, including Sasha Frere-Jones, the pop critic and staff writer for The New Yorker, said they had deleted their accounts to show their opposition to the new terms.

“Zuckerberg’s response to the protest is just the modern version of ‘Ignore the fine print, ma’am, just sign here,’ ” Mr. Frere-Jones wrote in an e-mail message. “Why would anyone trust a company with his or her personal information, especially when that company’s explicit legal language claims eternal rights to exploit that information, and there is good reason to expect that they will?”

Obama's Economic Plan: Home foreclosures, General Motors, Banks, and More

Interesting article from McClatchy Newspapers:

This week will be a pivotal one for President Barack Obama and the U.S. economy, as interlocking parts of his economic rescue effort are set to be signed, sealed or delivered.

Obama will hear from automakers Tuesday on how they'll restructure to get more taxpayer bailout money. Then he'll sign a $787 billion stimulus bill in Denver and fly to Phoenix , where on Wednesday he'll unveil how his administration will spend at least $50 billion of Wall Street rescue money to begin halting mortgage foreclosures nationwide.

And sometime during the hectic week, the Treasury Department is expected to provide more details on a $100 billion -plus plan for the federal government and private investors to team up to rid bank balance sheets of toxic assets. Those are the distressed mortgage securities and other complex financial instruments that investors are shunning, and that are crippling bank balance sheets and restraining lending.

On their own, each of these developments would be dramatic by historical standards. But for any of them to succeed, they'll need to work in unison with the others.

Even before General Motors and the United Autoworkers finalized their joint pact for mutually assured survival, the White House confirmed Monday that the earlier idea of naming a "car czar" to oversee industry restructuring was out. In was an inter-agency task force, led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and chief White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers .

"The approach that the administration has settled on I think provides a vast amount of expertise that crosses a number of governmental agencies and departments, and brings in the vast amount of experience that the administration has to deal with the auto restructuring — any auto restructuring issues," spokesman Robert Gibbs said aboard Air Force One.

Meanwhile, GM and Chrysler were in down-to-the-wire restructuring talks with the UAW Monday to stave off bankruptcy. GM received more than $9 billion in taxpayer help late last year and wants $4 billion more. Chrysler got $3 billion and seeks another $4 billion .

The carmakers' interim report will be overshadowed later Tuesday when Obama signs the economic stimulus plan, which includes public works spending, aid to states to keep essential government services intact, social services for the poor and some modest tax credits and rebates for businesses and consumers.

Some economists say the plan is too small, and others say that it doesn't provide enough tax incentives to spur purchases of homes or cars. The plan's ultimate success, however, will depend in large part on the other plans and on whether they'll arrest the decline in home prices and restore banks to health.

"The president's going to speak to the housing component of it this week, and I think that people will be well satisfied with what he comes up (with)," David Axelrod , a White House senior adviser, said on "Meet the Press" Sunday. "But let's be clear; it is a very complex problem, the likes of which we've never seen. We're going to do it thoughtfully."

Obama is expected to announce a plan to help some economically distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure and see their mortgages modified to bring monthly payments to a range from 31 percent to 38 percent of their after-tax income. Banks may be asked to take losses, with taxpayers perhaps sharing part of their pain for the greater good of trying to halt the nationwide slide in home prices.

Americans have lost trillions of dollars in wealth over the past year from the housing and stock-market declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off more than 5 percent since the Obama team outlined a partial bank-rescue plan just last week. Absent greater clarity on the bank-rescue plan, stocks could be poised for further losses, which could sink consumer confidence and personal wealth further.

For now, the administration isn't talking about bank nationalization. That topic attracted more attention Sunday when South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham mentioned the possibility on TV.

"We will do what we need to do, but our long-term goal is to have a strong private sector banking and financial system," Axelrod said Sunday.

Obama's Economic Stimulus Plan: Spending for the Poor / Low Income Families

The Poor:

More than 37 million Americans live in poverty, and the vast majority of them are in line for extra help under the giant stimulus package. Millions more could be kept from slipping into poverty by the economic lifeline.

People who get food stamps — 30 million and growing — will get more. People drawing unemployment checks — nearly 5 million and growing — would get an extra $25, and keep those checks coming longer. People who get Supplemental Security Income — 7 million poor Americans who are elderly, blind or disabled — would get one-time extra payments of $250.

Many low-income Americans also are likely to benefit from a trifecta of tax credits: expansions to the existing Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and a new refundable tax credit for workers. Taken together, the three credits are expected to keep more than 2 million Americans from falling into poverty, including more than 800,000 children, according to the private Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The package also includes a $3 billion emergency fund to provide temporary assistance to needy families. In addition, cash-strapped states will get an infusion of $87 billion for Medicaid, the government health program for poor people, and that should help them avoid cutting off benefits to the needy.

Obama's Economic Stimulus Plan: Higher Education, College Spending and Pell Grants

Higher Education:

The maximum Pell Grant, which helps the lowest-income students attend college, would increase from $4,731 currently to $5,350 starting July 1 and $5,550 in 2010-2011. That would cover three-quarters of the average cost of a four-year college. An extra 800,000 students, or about 7 million, would now get Pell funding.

The stimulus also increases the tuition tax credit to $2,500 and makes it 40 percent refundable, so families who don't earn enough to pay income tax could still get up to $1,000 in extra tuition help.

Computer expenses will now be an allowable expense for 529 college savings plans.

The final package cut $6 billion the House wanted to spend to kick-start building projects on college campuses. But parts of the $54 billion state stabilization fund — with $39 billion set aside for education — can be used for modernizing facilities.

There's also an estimated $15 billion for scientific research, much of which will go to universities. Funding for the National Institutes of Health includes $1.5 billion set aside for university research facilities.

Altogether, the package spends an estimated $32 billion on higher education.