“[Google] Instant takes what you have typed already, predicts the most likely completion and streams results in real-time for those predictions—yielding smarter and faster search that is interactive, predictive, and powerful.” Google says on their blog.

According to Google, the average user spends nine seconds entering search terms and 15 seconds looking for answers. With Google Instant’s predictive results, two to five second can be shaved off of that search – resulting in saved hours of the course of weeks or months.

In an interview with BBC, Harry McCracken of the Technologizer technology blog said, “Google is betting all they have that speed is everything.  Saving one or two seconds isn’t that big of a deal. One of my instant thoughts is that I am going to see results I don’t want because until I type enough that it knows what I want, it is going to show me links I am not interested in.”

But others are inclined to disagree. Technology commentator Robert Scoble says, “Playing with it, it dramatically changes the way I do searches. I think it is a pretty major leap forward but this means that Bing becomes far less interesting and they now have to step up.”

Google Instant is currently being rolled out in the UK, USA, Spain, Germany, France, and Russia. If you would like to test the service, you’ll need to log into a Google account.

For many, the Keyword Tool plays a major part during the planning stages of a website. Of course, not all of them take Keyword Tool results as law. Many will cut the resulting numbers in half and build on that; others will go as far as divide the results by 10 before determining campaign strategies. For these individuals, the new numbers may actually fall in line with their already adjusted estimates. But for those who have been building SEM assuming 100% accuracy in those numbers, this is a major wake-up call.

When looking at Google Keyword Tool for some of the examples – particularly single keyword phrases – drops of major proportion can be found, with some going from numbers in the 100,000s to numbers closer to 10,000. This means SEM campaigners in the middle of strategy build must go back and check the numbers and adjust accordingly before moving forward with their campaign.

While the new, more accurate tool is certainly a good thing going forward; this revamp and the resulting discrepancies it shows highlight an important issue; one should never depend upon a single source when determining best way forward or creating a new marketing campaign.

The implication of the announcement for the individual blogger is profoundly hopeful. Although AP says that the citation does not have to appear at the start of a story, even mention at the end will provide valued visibility to a larger audience. Further, by being cited as a news source, a blogger has access to higher levels of the news chain; which could mean that, instead of having to source the stories themselves, they could possibly be approached with the information and perhaps even be provided with exclusives ahead of other media. Of course, that is probably looking a bit far into the future; but still a worthy thought.

In addition to higher visibility, another hope is that this recognition by AP will open employment and money-making doors for bloggers; with news organisations finally recognising the real influence bloggers hold, especially in regional areas, and offering them position on their teams accordingly.

To succeed in this new era of news reporting and reading, news associations must adapt. By acknowledging and grasping all of the differing sources of news and bringing them together, bloggers may finally begin to see credit long deserved.

“One-third of the people who have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping,” writes Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services on Apple’s blog. “As many more people download iTunes 10 in the coming weeks, we expect the Ping community to continue growing.”

But, despite people signing up in droves, not many of the reviews of the new Ping service have been kind. CNET writes:

“Ping is pants. The new social network that Apple has added to iTunes 10 offers to link you up with your mates, and with musical celebs, to share and comment on your favourite tunes. So far, so good. But a social network has to be social, and Ping isn’t.”

The review goes on to refer to Ping as “lipstick on a pig” and states that it doesn’t work well when run on a Windows PC. PC Advisor’s review was a bit kinder, but still ran to the negative; as have individual user reviews with comments running from “it’s like having a social network in prison” to “slower than molasses in January at the North pole during a legitimate Ice Age”.

Based on the initial reviews, if Apple wants Ping to be successful, some back-to-the-drawing-board reworking will be needed. What do you think? Have you downloaded iTunes 10 to your iPhone and joined Ping?

Currently, the ASA is able to ban misleading and offensive advertisements on television, in print, and in online banner adverts. But they say there are still far too many grey areas, therefore they need to be able to address advertisements on a case-by-case basis.

Using this new code, the ASA will be able to demand that online marketers remove any advert or message found to be in breach of regulations; whether on a private website or social media site like Twitter and Facebook. YouTube video will also be subject to the new ASA regulations. Companies that refuse to comply will find themselves with warning labels on their search results and possibly inclusion in an online rogue’s gallery.

The cost for the policing and enforcing the new code will be initially funded by Google, with an initial £200,000 contribution. The source of current ASA funding –a 0.1 percent voluntary pay-for advert levy – will also be increased.

First Free Press

This newest debate began when Free Press, a pro-regulatory advocacy group, sent two letters to the FCC stating that paid prioritisation was “discriminatory” and would “only benefit the few content giants that have deep enough pockets to pay for favourable treatment.” According to them, allowing paid prioritisation completely undermines the concept of net neutrality.

Now AT&T

AT&T begs to differ. In a statement made yesterday, they assert that a net neutrality plan restricting paid prioritisation goes against Internet ideologies. They say telecommunications companies must be allowed to set prices according to service and claim that they are already doing so, with AT&T business customers paying extra for premium services like real-time voice communication and financial transactions.

Who is Right?

According to AT&T, Free Press’ position results in average consumers being charged more in order to fund the broadband infrastructure needed to support all applications equally. According to Free Press, AT&T’s position allows for abuse by prioritising certain applications over others, thus giving the video conference customer precedence over the online shopper.

“[Differentiating services] was not designed to be a tool to allow the network provider to drive application-level discrimination,” Free Press says. The organisation plans to send another letter to the FCC today.

Until now, one of the primary problems with the Digg site were Digg’s ‘power users’; people who worked alone and in groups to game the news pages in order to promote or bury stories based upon their own personal agenda, which was often a political one. However, this new design is supposed to put an end to that; or so Digg hopes. Of course one should never underestimate the wrath of a power user; especially when you’ve taken away their bury button. On Monday, they spoke out by flooding the Top News page with links leading to Reddit, a rival social media site.

In his Twitter feed, Kevin Rose has acknowledged technical problems and the issues with the new design. He promises they will be recovering some of verson 3’s more popular tools, including the section highlighting uncoming stories. Users will also be able to recover deleted favourites through the ‘Saved Story’ section and the new ‘popularity contest’ element will be eliminated.

As of this writing, changes are still being made.

When asked about the changes earlier this year, Kevin Rose, Digg’s co-founder told the Telegraph, “We’re making some drastic changes, but they’re much-needed drastic changes. People are going to be shocked at some of the directions we’re taking. You have to be comfortable with completely tearing down and throwing away a bunch of ideas.” Then yesterday in the company’s blog, Rose summed up the key changes:

“Speed – the new Digg is faster in every way: submitting articles, loading pages, and Digging content.

“Personalization – we put a lot of thought into how people consume news and wanted to make it easy to view content from the friends, publishers, and influencers you care about. Once you start following your friends, and sources you trust, we’ll build a custom news homepage for you called “My News”. Customizing Digg will enable you to see your friend’s recent Digg or Comment, as well as the latest article submitted by a publisher.”

“Friends and sharing – the new Digg is all about making it easy to see the stories your friends are Digging and commenting on, and to share interesting stories with them. You’ll notice activity from the profiles you’re following highlighted in stories, on comment pages, and even on their profile page as you navigate the site. Attach your blog or RSS feed to your profile and send your followers content as you create it.”

According to an article in WalesOnline, the reason for the acknowledgement is simple; Wales recognises how much blogs contribute to Welsh life, politics, and business. According to Wynford Emanuel, one of the competition judges and director of Warwick Emanuel PR, “I have seen an absolute explosion of blogs in the UK and in Wales, which I think is an extremely positive development.

“Never before has there been such opportunity for people to make their views known to a relatively large audience. The medium is great for individuals, it is good for democratic expression and it gives a voice to people who previously may not have been heard.”

Ed Walker, another judge and editor of WalesOnline Communities adds, ““The Blog Awards are a way to showcase all the great blogging that’s going on throughout Wales. There are plenty of people putting out great blogs about a whole range of subjects and we wanted to highlight those people who give a lot of time to their passions and hobbies. We hope to see people entering from all over Wales and nominating their favourite reads on the web.”

Nominations for the Wales Blog Awards will run through 1 September 2010. Winners will be revealed during an Awards Night Ceremony held on 14 October. To find out more or enter, please visit: Wales Blog Awards.

Almost every mobile OS includes the ability to remotely remove apps from the smartphones on which they are installed; however if patented, Apple’s ‘kill switch’ will take that ability a step further by allowing Apple to lock down iPhones through crippling or completely shutting them down when unauthorised use is determined. Although the ‘Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device’ appears primarily a security option focussed on theft and hacking, the terminology used in the document specifically states ‘jailbreaking’ and ‘unlocking’ are indicators of unauthorised use.

Then there is this: Apple’s ability to spy on users through remote control of the iPhone’s cameras. To quote the patent, Apple will be able to protect users from unauthorised use is by “surreptitiously activating the iPhone camera, geotagging the image and uploading it to the server and transmitting sensitive data to the server and then wiping it from the device.” Which leads to the question: Do iPhone users really want Apple in control of their cameras?

Apple is well-known for its obsessive focus on keeping everything about its products proprietary; however, with this one cannot help but wonder if they’ve gone a step too far – even for the most devout of Apple fans.