So where do these rumours come from and do they hold any water?

Originating with the founder of Digg, Kevin Rose, the rumour began on his Twitter page with the direct statement that he had heard Google were to launch a Facebook competitor very soon. Techie gurus have been speculating as to how that would work and how it would be received. Of course, Google holds more power and more trust with internet users than any other search engine so interest is bound to be high.

Technology websites, Mashable and TechCrunch, claim that Google have been carrying out research into social networking, how it is used and who uses it and it’s all meant to be taking place at Google’s Dublin office. Apparently, they are paying people to complete a survey about how social networking affects lives on and off line. Google themselves have fuelled the rumours after a presentation was posted on the net by Paul Adams, Googles user-experience researcher, which partially looked at how the web is changing when it comes to users interacting.

The use of social media and social networking is a fast growing concept when it comes to internet marketing and advertising and it seems there is no stopping this occurence so why not jump on the bandwagon? Interestingly, nobody from Google has been available for comment – meaning they’re not denying it! Could bring a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘Google it’.

Grocery shopping on the internet has really taken off with the four major supermarkets all vying for top position. It is a fast and convenient way to get that dull job out of the way and can be done from work in a lunch break or at three in the morning if you can’t  sleep. It is a totally convenient and relatively stress free way to shop and the main websites are all pretty much user friendly and quick. Tesco has by far taken the lead with internet grocery shopping but that may soon all change.

Amazon have now set up their own grocery shopping site servicing the UK. They are already established in the US and Germany and currently have 22,000 products for sale although they plan to increase this. Of course, Tesco and the other leading names all stock far more so why would people opt for Amazon grocery shopping?

Well, for a start, just how much choice do you need? Amazon have all the basics and many big names who have become dis-satisfied with the way they have been treated by the big stores. Pampers, Walkers, Nestle and Kraft all intend to supply Amazon with their products for selling online.

There is also the added advantage that Amazon are able to source grocery products that are a little more ‘niche’ where it doesn’t pay the larger supermarkets to do so. A good choice of gluten free, Kosher, organic, sugar free and vegan ranges are available as are more specialist meats such as pheasant and partridge and a fantastic choice of cheeses that you wouldn’t find in your average supermarket. This is where they will find a wider market that might just encourage shoppers to keep returning. Add to this their more efficient delivery service being a ‘one day’ service which is unlimited for a £49 annual membership and they’re onto a winner! Tesco  charge up to £6 for a delivery at peak times – if you take this option every week you could be looking at over £300 per year just for delivery and, at it’s cheapest slot, it would still cost three times that of Amazon.

With a more diverse range of products and better delivery schedule and cost, Amazon must really be putting the cat among the pheasants, so to speak.

Google have been looking at moving into the travel sector for some time and while they won’t directly be selling flight tickets, owning this company does allow them to combine their knowledge of search with the online travel search facility to create a much easier to use and more competitive travel search website.

ITA makes software for online travel services using algorithms to combine flight information such as prices and availability from a variety of airlines and condensing it into the one database that is searcheable by online users. Applying googles search expertise to an already workable idea should deliver the customer a much more competitive range of flights to choose from.

Is it worth $700 million? We are approaching the figure of 100,ooo commercial flights per day and half of those will be booked online. So, yes, it is worth it! All those people have searched the internet for the best deals on flights, or last minute travel plans. If this process can be easier, quicker and more competitive then we will all benefit.

Max Levchin had various ideas in the pipeline for online businesses but in the process of his research stumbled upon the fact that online buying\selling desperately needed better protection. This fired an enthusiasm to create a product that would build confidence in online customers and thus PayPal was born. Was it a good idea?

Well, it certainly was for Levchin when he and his partners sold PayPal to Ebay in 2005 for $1.5 billion – not a bad mark up in five years! It was also a good idea for us customers as we now have a tried and tested method of transferring money via the internet that has so far proved to be hack-proof.

For those with online businesses PayPal was a god-send, shoring up confidence in buying online and encouraging customers from around the globe thus widening the target market a hundred times over. Not one to sit on his laurels having earnt a small fortune, Levchin went on to apply his knowledge to another revolutionary venture – Slide. this is a software application used on social media sites that enbles the user to create and individual design on their pages. It’s a simple set of basic tools that the user applies for self expression. Of course, the basic tools are free but if you want to move onto the more sophisticated designs, these come at a price. Well, he didn’t get where he is today by being a charity!

According to gossip among those in the know, Bing are chasing Google in a manner that might just begin to make them nervous for the first time. SEO companies are predominantly concerned with Google rankings but if this trend continues it may be vital for them to consider their strategy towards improving site positions in Microsoft’s Bing which, incidentally, is teaming up with Yahoo to gain ever more strength.

Should Google worry yet? Should SEO companies change strategy yet? Well, according to ComScore Google is still the market leader with almost 64% of US searches. Yahoo and Bing have 18.3% and 12.1% respectively.  Doesn’t sound alot does it but the implication is that this is a smaller difference than last year which means Google could be losing ground to other search engines.

It seems there is no need to panic yet but given the ever-evolving animal that is search engine optimisation it pays to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening and start to investigate ways to keep websites in focus on all search engines.

This report is highly credible as it comes from the UKs largest annual survey of search marketers and is well respected within the industry. Econsultancy’s UK Research Director Linus Gregoriadis says that the industry of SEO as a whole has been pretty resilient during the recession. This is due to the knowledge that most shopping and business searches are now done online, leading to the recognition that SEO and PPC continuously deliver return on investment.

Social media marketing is also fast becoming a top SEO tool and 65% of companies say they plan to use this avenue to increase traffic and links to their website. In fact, 15% of these companies plan to increase social media budgets by 100%.

This is great news for HP Group – one of Europe’s top SEO companies. Having already done great things for companies such as Budget Car Hire, Hoseasons, Inchcape and Sony the rise in SEO spending comes as welcome news and we look forward to applying our SEO expertise to ever more companies looking to increase their search profile.

But why? Speculation abounds that it is a wholly political issue. A report about the restrictions placed on internet searches was posted by Viet Tan – a pro-democracy group. Being a strictly communist government, they see Viet Tan as a terror group looking to promote democracy but according to the US, there is no proof of this.

Google themselves report that in March tens of thousands of computers were infected with a spy virus that and attacked specific websites deemed to be distributing propoganda against a government mining project. Facebook was also shut down along with other social networking sites last year.

To us in the Western world it seems a huge affront against ‘human rights’ and freedom of speech. We are used to being able to use internet searches for absolutely anything we want and to have access to any information that is already on the web. It is this ability that makes SEO such a huge industry. With millions of websites, we want to find the one that provides us with what we want in the easiest and simplest method. A site that is SEO’d up will be delivered high up in search engine rankings and the whole process is very simple and straight-forward.

Would there be any point in applying SEO to a site if you cannot be sure it won’t simply be blocked by Government oppression? I think not.

Admittedly, the difference was a mere 0.5 per cent but this shows no sign of slowing down. Facebook garners 55 percent of social media users with Twitter a mere two per cent and Bebo and MySpace following up behind with one per cent.

Google is by far the more productive search engine with nearly 88 per cent of all UK searches and Microsoft’s Bing barely registering on the scale.

Is the fact that social media is taking up such huge parts of our lives evidence that our lives are shallow and meaningless or simply a way of keeping in touch with our friends and relatives when we are spread so far across the globe? There can be no doubt that this is the easiest way to keep in touch and where it’s not possible to keep abreast of relationships in person, maybe this is the next best thing? After all, it’s far more personal than snail mail that takes days to arrive!

Search engines are by far a more useful tool when it comes to searching out information but are we now experiencing information overload and reverting back to what used to be more important – human relationships? Or, are social networking sites a passing fad that will see search engines once again surge forward in popularity? Those who use internet marketing would do well to keep an eye on this to enable them to target their campaigns as effectively as possible.

Looking on my Facebook page I can currently see only one advertisement for Sky TV. Personally, I think that cramming social media sites with advertising will spoil it but you can never beat the money making machine!

Four New York students have managed to raise $200,000 to fund this alternative and promise to better handle the privacy issues that have dogged Facebook recently by making the user responsible for his own information. The team hope that by the end of the summer they should be ready to launch Diaspora with the ability for the user to store their own data and decide for themselves who it is made available to.

My guess is that Facebook see this project as an issue with Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, saying “It is likely that the biggest competitor for us is someone we haven’t heard of.”  This comment coming after he contacted Diaspora and then went on to dismiss talk that Facebook were trying to make all information open to the public.

Those looking for internet marketing strategies might do well to hold fire for a few months and see what the world makes of the latest social media offering brought about by three computer scientists and a mathematician.