Zeitgeist Analysis

Poker

2007-02-27T14:45:00.000+01:00

The old cliche says that the two industries profiting the most from the Web are the adult entertainment industry and the gambling one. I am not so sure that this is true - I make quite a decent living out of other things (including AdSense, from which this blog is supported - it would be nice if you'd help us by clicking on the sponsored links!).

However, somewhere in the grey area between gaming and gambling lies poker, and it is hot for several years now. It is so hot, that some have expressed their concerns regarding college students playing poker online.

And indeed, after issues already dealt with here - MySpace, Valentine's Day and the death of Anna Nicole Smith - Poker makes it 4th in Lycos most sought after search terms. And this, for the 371st week in a row!

A Few Links/Answers
* Poker - how to combine tables
* Showing cards in Texas holdem

Michelle Manhart

2007-02-23T12:29:00.000+01:00

On the top of Google's Zeitgeist for last week, is (as usual in such cases), Valentines Day. On the second place, a hot news story with something everybody seems to like: nudity, scandal, and uniform.

Michelle Manhart is a former member of the U.S. Air Force, who posed nude for Playboy. Apparently, for the American military establishment, things like nudity are much more of a shame than allegations of torture in prisons (or the mere small issue of violence and death in the force), and Manhart was discharged.

Which could be a great way for people on the force to avoid Iraq. Like those famous PETA campaigns of the 1990s ("I'd rather be nude than wear a fur"), former servicemen and women could appear on nuddies with the sign "I'd rather go nude than kill or torture other people". Nudity and scandals, after all, sell.

Update: I am apparently not the only one who smells a bit of hypocracy:

E. R: Bills, http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb07/Bills19.htm

Peter Rost http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan07/Rost17.htm

Introducing BlogPulse

2007-02-22T13:48:00.000+01:00

Blogpulse has quite an entertaining tool to follow what they view as blog trend indicator. It is not very accurate (what is?) and is more like Google Trends than anything else (two "terms" compete against each other), but it is still much fun.

We have probably made our share to help the popularity of a certain term in the hottest babes index: as usual, Paris makes most of the waves in the blogosphere, much more than Angelina (although she's on the rise) and the other beauties.

Bridget Moynahan

2007-02-21T14:51:00.000+01:00

Bridget Moynahan, a model turned actress, is of much fame this week, because she announced she was pregnant. Now, if we were talking about death as promotion, it is also interesting to look at birth...

Last year saw the birth, and intensive interest, of several celebrity babies, including the mysterious Suri, and the less-mysterious Shiloh. Every detail about them has been recorded, from maternity dresses to chosen prams, from the unique place of birth (Namibia) to sales of Vanity Fair issue, where the elusive Suri finally appeared. In the case of Moynahan's expected child, the comparison though might be a bit far-fetched: she is not as famous as the two other examples, and her fame is mostly limited to the United States.

Anna Nicole Smith

2007-02-20T17:36:00.000+01:00

Anna Nicole Smith joins those who become trendy post-mortem, at least as it is represented in the Wordtracker current list.

This interest in Smith has followed her for the later half of her life, with her large breasts, sensational marriage, widowhood, inheritance trial, reality show, and so on.

She wasn't, however, able to actually generate some positive affect, out of her marketing potential, perhaps because she lacked much sense of humour, or because she took the gossip to heart.

What's Hot on eBay: Nintendo Wii

2007-02-12T19:49:00.000+01:00

Nintendo Wii is currently the most sought after item on eBay. The Wii, for those who are not in the know, is a video game console and apparently a very hot thing. In general, consoles and their periphery sell well and a lot, to a certain market (and the companies of course try to lure people outside their typical target group to get hoocked as well). As You can see in this trend analysis for Christmas 2003, this is not a new thing.

Further Links:

http://www.gamedaily.com/nintendo-wii - cheats, articles, etc.

The Nintendo Gossip blog http://www.nintendogossip.com/

Want to try yourself to sell the Wii after buying it through wholesale? The following sites might do:

http://www.toysnjoys.com/welcome.html

http://www.theselect.co.uk/

Also read the eCommerce Guide information about it:

http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/essentials/ebay/article.php/3640551

Groundhog Day

2007-02-07T18:42:00.000+01:00

Lycos50 includes an entertaining account of why the term "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is the second in their "Movers and Shakers" list, with the story of a panic caused by an ad campaign for the cartoon in Boston (more at Advertising Age).

However, the first place is taken by Groundhog Day on February 1st, again, a holiday. You don't really need a groundhog to tell you that there will be an early spring this year, you can see it in the very mild winter that we experience.

It would be interesting to compare, actually, the two events. One, something traditional, annual, almost boring, known to the rest of the world mostly because of the movie . The second, a guerilla type marketing that worked (if you have the money that Ted Turner has to pay to the city for the scare caused...) . It really depends on your audience: kids and teachers looking for ideas for Groundhog Day? 15-30 males, who are likely to respond well to the commando tactics?

Hillary is Hot

2007-02-05T13:38:00.000+01:00

Hillary Clinton tops Google's search terms for this week. Clinton naturally "stars" because of her news appearances and her campaigning in the DNC right now.

Her official site is carefully designed, with the "right" colours (important in elections campaigning), quick upload, etc. There is also a campagin store.

Her Senate site is also rather appealing and designed to match a certain image.

But in fact, Clinton's web presence is far from being aesthetic. Clinton is a controversial figure - some people in the American Right, especially the Christian Right, would sell T-Shirts labelling her as the anti-Christ.

Her persona also sells other items, e.g. Clintonopoly Board Game
http://cgi.ebay.com/CLINTONOPOLY-Game-Bill-Hillary-Clinton-COMPLETE-NrMint_W0QQitemZ320076559315QQcmdZViewItem

Cynthia Sommer

2007-02-01T12:52:00.000+01:00

On the top of Yahoo! Buzz today is the story of a woman, who allegedly killed her husband by poisoning him, in order to get herself a plastic surgery and luxurious lyfestyle.

In some cases, news is entertainment
It should be noted at this point that terms appearing in trend analysis, and on news reports, don't always represent public agenda and priorities. Take this story, as well as other sensational murder stories in the past several years: there is Court TV, a service which usually airs sensational cases; or crime library, which deals with all kinds of sensational crimes. These are not "real" news, but usually entertainment.

Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge this trend
For someone in marketing, entrepreneurship or business, it is sometimes important to acknowledge that the tacky sells, and that these cases interest the public, to some extent.

Further Links
* Crime Rant write about Sommers (Mid December)

I bought it on ... eBay

2007-01-12T15:05:00.000+01:00

Search-term analysis brings with it sometimes words, which are hardly trendy, or at leats new. eBay is one of them. It is one of the most popular keywords, yet it is - in Internet years (which is apparently worse than dog years) - an old establishment. It celebrates now its 11th anniversary and keeps up swallowing other e-commerce services, like Skype, PayPal, Shopping.com, and the late purchase in Pierre and Mag's virtual shopping bag: StubHub, an online ticket sales (and resells service) for $310 Million. It also continues to work on users' security issues, given the common concerns in this area. Now you can buy (almost) everything on eBay, even Domain Names.

However, it is worth mentioning, that eBay caused a revolution in the way people start a business. People can now start a business, knowing the right trends, almost from nothing and from very little original capital, apart from a good know-how on how to advertise on eBay and work with this site. It is one of the best solutions for a home-based business and has helped to developed an industry of eBay related businesses: shipping companies and forwarding companies (PO Boxes for those not living an an area where the auction is available but really must have that manga book); people who'd sell on eBay for you, if you're not computer savvy or know how to sell; drop-shippers and other wholesalers, who now might sell to the average Joe, who hopes to break it on eBay, and many others (regarding the latter, may I just add a warning that there are many scams out there, and it takes hard work - and no e-book - to find the right drop-ship deal for you! I used to sit hours to research for clients on right drop-shippers and wholesellers. Not an easy task to find them in the crowd of scammers and spammers). You can also use eBay to make a joke (remember that Paris Hilton toilet paper from two weeks ago?), shock and provocate, and collect charity.

It is interesting to see (and learn) how eBay's system is based on trust. For a scientific analysis of this question, read, for example "Trust Among Strangers in Internet Transactions: Empirical Analysis of eBay’s Reputation System" by Paul Resnick and Richard Stockhausen (PDF. ). Another study on eBay that might be interesting to read is "Pennies from eBay:
the Determinants of Price in Online Auctions" by David Lucking-Reiley, Doug Bryan, Naghi Prasad and Daniel Reeves (PDF). Another interesting study's abstract says:

We conducted the first randomized controlled field experiment of an Internet reputation mechanism. A high-reputation, established eBay dealer sold matched pairs of lots—batches of vintage postcards—under his regular identity and under new seller identities (also operated by him). As predicted, the established identity fared better. The difference in buyers’ willingness-to-pay was 8.1% of the selling price. A subsidiary experiment followed the same format, but compared sales by relatively new sellers with and without negative feedback. Surprisingly, one or two negative feedbacks for our new sellers did not affect buyers’ willingness-to-pay.

(See: Paul Resnick1 Contact Information, Richard Zeckhauser2, John Swanson3 and Kate Lockwood4 "The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment" Experimental Economics Volume 9, Number 2 / June, 2006).

However, it should be mentioned, that a recent study has also found that some users manage to manipulate their ratings, and that ratings shouldn't be your only index in knowing whether to trust a seller or not.

Other issues:

* How to beware of scams and counterfeit designer merchandise on eBay

* And while we're at it, another eBay problem is sites posing to be eBay, actually phishing for your credit card information. Read more about avoiding eBay identity theft here.

* How to contact eBay and Paypal support

* When to sell - When are the most users on eBay? (or in other words: when is it best for your auction to end?)

* What to sell on eBay? ( if you could buy stuff in other countries)

* How to price - What is the average price of items sold on eBay

* Where to market your art (also through eBay)

As a personal consequence, I decided to add eBay's "What's Hot" to my Zeitgeist Analysis.

Holiday Spirit

2007-01-10T16:28:00.000+01:00

What's in trends this week? According to Lycos 50 (whom we have no reason to doubt), it is, after Saddam, the holidays, the new year.

Both the term "new year" and the term "Auld Lang Syne" (the "NYE song", "Should auld acquaintance be forgot/and never brought to mind ? / Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne ?") star on the top of their search results.

Other movers and shakers are Al Jazeera (due to Saddam's execution) and the regular assortment of celebrities.

60 Minutes

2007-01-09T13:41:00.000+01:00

Yahoo Buzz claims that "60 Minutes" is on the rise in their search engine. This is interesting, and yet this might be an example why the reliance on search-engine querries is problematic.

60 Minutes is broadcasted on Yahoo! (cool!), and this might be the reason is gains search popularity there. Self-fulfilling search querry.

It could be also their claim that "Alexander Litvinenko planned to blackmail a Russian businessman living in London, says an acquaintance of the poisoned ex-spy. "
(Also see: "Ex-spy was involved in 'blackmail scheme'" )

Very good critique on this issue is available from La Russophobe: La Russophobe: TiVO Moment #1: Svetlichnaya on 60 Minutes last Sunday

In addition, it could be that their decision not to replace Ed Bradley has to do with these querries, although this is far-fetched.

60 Minues Links

* Homepage

* On the TV Museum

* The Australian Version - Homepage

* IMDB

* On TV.com

Further Thoughts about Paris and MySpace

2007-01-08T18:49:00.000+01:00

I thought again about Lilly Allen’s remarks regarding Paris Hilton.

Allen confuses several issues here: the quality of “art” (whatever we might call as art), the art of successful marketing and the distinction between creative work and the medium in which it is created and promoted.

Allen views herself and MySpace as “good” and Paris and her marketing tactics as “evil”. So evil, that someone should kill those buying Paris Hilton records.

However, her argument is inherently wrong: if Allen’s music could stand on its own, the medium on which it first appeared – MySpace – is only part of the picture. The bigger part should be her “art” and not the way she marketed her art. If she includes herself and Arctic Monkeys at the same groups (of artists who managed to find fame through MySpace), it means that Allen actually attributes much to the medium; to the fact that before the age of Internet, no-one might have heard of her.

The medium is not MySpace, as much that MySpace enabled Allen’s success. The medium through which MySpace exists is the Internet and more importantly, user-generated content (web 2.0 and so on). And in the medium of user-generated content, Hilton manages to draw much more links (check out her Google trend with that of Allen, no place for comparison…).

This is in a way a lesson for those trying to succeed online: it is really important to create a buzz, to manage to use the qualities of the medium you’re using, whether you’re creating alternative music, or selling your image as the ultimate blonde.

MySpace

2007-01-06T16:44:00.000+01:00

MySpace is one of those trends to bite. One of the 2006 buzzwords, that would continue to dominate (though, in my opinion, not so dominantly) our cyberculture in 2007 as well. In fact, Wikipedia states:

According to Alexa Internet, it is currently the world's fourth most popular English-language website, the sixth most popular website in any language,[1] and the third most popular website in the United States, though it has topped the chart on various weeks[2] (note it is possible that other websites have a greater number of unique visitors)

It is attractive, first of all, because adults (and especially adults in the marketing business) would love to know what these 14-24s are up to, and here they have a chance to actually say: I know that. I understand it. I can use it for my own purposes. And it is so rebellious - it belongs to Foxy Rupert Murdoch!

And they do. The hoard MySpace and fill it with commercial pages, and with competitions (cooperating with the site, one should add). They use MySpace-like graphics and language. Some even try to ride directly on MySpace success: Pimp MySpace offers "pimping" (that's improving, Mr. Advertising agency) your MySpace pages; a similar service is offered by Skize (whose site looks a little more professional, that is, hurts the eyes a little less, that is - no MySpace site).

Other artists have used MySpace to advance their career, changing the way the media industry works. Lilly Allen (that nobody with the Paris Hilton remark, that's who) and Arctic Monkeys are two examples, but also established artists like the Taiwanese Coco Lee use it.

And journalists also make money of it, writing on how "dangerous" MySpace is. Parents, after all, are terrified of what teens do all day. In fact, most teens are responsible online and on MySpace. Parents should have known better: when kids are "bad", they are not bad because of MySpace. For example, high-school cheerleaders who posed nude on MySpace have previously

"telling teachers to shut up, using a cell phone in class even after being told not to, cheating on tests, skipping school,"

And it's not that adults behave more responsibly. In fact, somebody has used MySpace to steal the identity of an Australian judge. Doesn't seem like kids to me.

Britney Spears

2007-01-05T13:59:00.000+01:00

Well, well, well. And you thought it was a serious blog...

People on the top of the search results seem to be usually less than serious, and are apparently there for notorioty: in the past post we had Paris Hilton, Saddam and James Brown. Of these three, only Pairs Hilton knows how to use her image in order to make profit, and she does it well. Brown and Saddam might only benefit a quite quirky campaign.

And Britney, unfortunately for her, belongs to that category. She managed somehow to turn her image and sales-potential into a disaster of bad taste. Her comeback album, it has been reported today, is being sropped; and she manages to get in the news for being drunk, acting weird or dating Matt Leinart. The only way one could "use" the interest in Britney for marketing, would be to use is cynically. Naturally, like many other celebrities of their day, Britney could change the course and use her notorioty to her own benefit. She was, after all, selling sex as a self-proclaimed virgin. Lying is nothing new to her.

By the way, this is not the only way Britney is different from Paris. Apparently, Paris "tricked Britney Spears into thinking she could never orgasm again" (reports eog).

A source revealed to the National Enquirer magazine: "Paris told Britney, 'Oh my God! Don't you know that lighting a cigarette the wrong way and inhaling stops the blood flow to your private parts, and doing it more than once means you may never experience orgasm again!' Britney was horrified and ran around for about ten minutes asking everyone if they had ever heard that and what she should do about it."

Some Good Britney Spears links
* official homepage
* Britney Spears.org - A Britney Fan Blog, reporting today about her getting a tattoo.
*
Britney.com
* Her IMDB page
* A tongue in the cheek site with Britney pics, but also with her "Guide to Semicondactor Physics"
* Britney Zone

James Brown

2007-01-03T17:15:00.000+01:00

And back to celebrities, as if Saddam has never been executed. James Brown gained many search queries due to his (untimely) death last week. On Google Zeitgeist, Brown is first this week.

Death is, so say the cynics, a very good promotional tool. However, it is not so clear that Brown needed that. In his life, Brown filled the headlines with sensational lifestyle. His death made him, at least for a week, talk of the town, and people remember now his good music. The San Jose Mercury News, for example, writes that "James Brown may ultimately have been more influential than Elvis".

Interesting James Brown Links

Godfather of Soul - A Biography

Soul 'Godfather' James Brown dies

The Life of James Brown

And videos... :

Saddam's Execution

2006-12-30T23:13:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, Paris Hilton was on the news and Suri Cruise was on top of Yahoo! Buzz.

But that was yesterday, when the world dealt with nonsense. Today, we have politics! The execution of Saddam Hussein brought up a surge of Saddam/Execution related searched online, presumably from the same people usually searching for Suri Cruise pics.

Yahoo!'s top search term is Iraqi TV. People want to see it live, like in the Roman period that those prisoners were fed to the lions (or the more recent Saddam era, where prisoners were also executed in public...).

Iraqi TV, in fact, goes through an interesting process. It used to be mainly a propaganda tool during Saddam's days. One of the channles had movies that were "shown on this channel as they would still be running in theaters in the US and Europe." (in other words: no copyright, thank you. We're Iraqis). It used to show exactly what it showed today - executions of enemies of the regime, military parades, etc.

This brings up two interesting questions, one is political, the other has more to do with web-trends. The political question is pretty obvious - at least to me: has the United States any success in bringing democracy and democractic values to the Middle East? It doesn't seem so. It doesn't seem that in the deep cultural sense of democracy, not only the procedural one, they manage to change the ways. This takes time, and Western Germany (which actually had a brief democratic experience) did not become a democracy in a day - it took it several years to accept the different.

Another question is regarding cyberculture and web-trends. It is clear that the trend of online video sites is important in cyberculture and rising all the time. People spread videos, watch them online, and can see things in action. So many people are looking for Saddam's execution video - why? Because they love the gore? Because deep inside we're programmed by Hollywood to see the evil guy visually gets it, and not only hear about it?

Interesting Related Links
Alive In Baghdad - video blog with Iraqi voices.

Iraq War a comprehensive review of the war, the reasons to the war, etc.

Outcome of the War predictions...

You can view the execution here

Starting with Paris Hilton

2006-12-29T21:25:00.000+01:00

Paris Hilton is hardly a new trend, and one might wonder, why I chose to begin my blg with her; in fact - she's a bit of "so 2005": in 2005, she was so hot, that she was on the top of Lycos' search terms; in 2006, she's only in the fifth place. Same goes for Yahoo!

The girl is soon an unemployed nobody...

On the other hand, don't mourn Hilton yet. She topped the new search on Google for 2006; and today, on the top of today's searches on Wordtracker (see links on your left-hand bar). On Wikipedia, she draws so much interest, that her article had to be protected, something the Wikipeds usually reserve for hot political issues like Zionism or hot controversies in the ueber-geek community ("Slashdot is so not Paris Hilton!"). She is still an influential trend setter.

Hilton means big business, not hotel business. News.com.au reports that:

Hilton has forged an empire that trades simply – and very successfully – on her name and fame. Last year alone, the pint-sized socialite reportedly pulled in more than $260m from her rapidly expanding business ventures

.
She considers herself "a businesswoman and a brand".

Indeed so. Just check The Paris Industries on Amazon or her products on eBay.

Not only that she makes money, but others revenue from that brandname. For example, businesses she mentions or visited are becoming popular. People want to know, for example, where she bought her dog, Tinkerbell. Take this very entertaining example (click to enlarge):

It's not that she doesn't have her adversaries. Lilly Allen, herself the product of another hot 2006 trens - MySpace - is reported to have said that "Buyer of Hilton's album should be killed"

Her fame has several other interesting consequenes. For example, when one wants to attract attention online, a sure way might be to (ab)use her name. Blip-Tv search on HIlton has top public-domain results, none of which actually includes Hilton.

A Few More Hilton Links

Style.com - Paris Hilton Pics

Paris Hilton Record (the homepage)

Her IMDB page. She's currently shooting a film titled no other than "The Hottie and the Nottie".

Great article on Chartreuse: Why Paris Hilton Is Famous (Or Understanding Value In A Post-Madonna World)

Paris Hilton Commercial

Noah Kalina ended his series of photos with celebrities, with a great Paris pic.

Paris Hilton