Week 4 Tutorial Task - Search Engines

Library Search Engines

The Topic I have chosen for my essay is virtual worlds/communities. Below are three articles I found through database searches on factiva and proquest, and details of what I found interesting/important in these articles and how they have helped me formulate my essay topic (please note that I wrote each of these summaries straight after each article so my notes are also written as I'm formulating my ideas as I go along):

1. 2 worlds forge new reality: Cyberspace is no longer just a flat screen now that 3-D realms are popping up for companies and consumers to plant their flags -- from virtual training to virtual communities to virtual personalities. This article has several interesting points about virtual worlds such as Second Life, which is where my interest in this topic began! It talks about how companies are starting to realise the marketing potentials of these virtual worlds - which is something I would like to further research and explore as a possible topic for my essay. The American Cancer Society created an 'in world' online relay to raise funds. Also, there are now 'virtual' classrooms where you don't have to physically attend uni anymore, but rather can get an education 'in world'. Something that I also found particularly interesting is there are even car dealerships that are getting in on the action and have created online dealerships and test tracks. One of the most interesting things I got out of this article is that the first of its kind Virtual Worlds Conference was held just over a month ago in New York - which I will look into further as well.
2. Another world of Opportunity. This article is about the enormous marketing potential Second Life has - and whether this is a good or bad thing (at this early stage) for marketers). It has quite a few great examples from Vodafone, Penguin books, Adidas and Reebok who are all getting in early and establishing a presence in Second Life. This article helped me to narrow down my essay topic slightly - initially I was looking at exploring the marketing potential in virtual worlds/communities, but now (after realising how much information is out there and what a MASSIVE task it would be) I am going to focus solely on Second Life - as I think that in itself is a very big task. The conclusion of this article really struck a chord with me and i think it's what I'm going to explore as a more specific topic for my essay: Considering Second Life's possibilities , is it more advantageous for marketers (and brands) to be an early adopter or to wait until its full potential becomes clearer?
3. Second Life: Marketing Fool's Gold?. This article was helpful in that it helped get down to some of the nitty-gritty points and arguments that I further explore. It begins to look at the thought process associated with marketers and brands embracing new advertising platforms such as Second Life. Two of the key points raised in this article were that Second Life is further threatened by corporate It backlash - a recent survey found that 62% of IT professionals find it essential to block users from accessing the model from their corporate PCs for reasons such as IT security risks, burden to company bandwidth and wasting valuable business time - which raises the issue: it's difficult to market to Second Lifers when their access is being blocked. And secondly, the article posed the argument that brands are not staying true to the Second Life values of escapism and realising your fantasies by simply mimicking their real life experiences. 70% of residents are disappointed by the branded experience - so when 70% of your audience is disappointed, your strategy isn't working.

Scavenger Hunt

1 - Weight of the world's biggest pumpkin is 1,502 pounds (Source: http://www.pumpkinnook.com/giants/record.htm)
2 - The easiest, quickest way to contact Grant Hackett is to contact his management, International Quarterback, Ph: 07 3252 2311 (Source: http://www.iqsport.com.au/default.aspx?s=clientprofile&cid=10)
3 - The length of a giraffe's tongue can measure 18 inches (Source: http://www.kcmo.org/kc150.nsf/web/tamandua?opendocument)
4 - Ontology is the study of being or existence (Source: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/ontology)
5 - David Cronenberg's first feature film was Shivers (Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/2234/david_cronenbergs_history_of_violence) 6 - The original 'Hacker's Manifesto' was written January 8 1986 (Source: http://www.mala.bc.ca/~soules/media112/hacker.htm)
7 - All phone numbers in Hollywood start with '555' because when phone numbers were used in movies they didn't have an area code so people all across America with this number and different variations on the area code were getting thousands of phone calls a day from die hard film fans. The telephone company then set aside phone numbers beginning with '555' - that were actually dead phone numbers - to be used in movies to prevent this ordeal happening(Source: http://www.eonline.com/print/index.jsp?uuid=15c80ea6-9c1f-4c67-8f5f-6af2efaf7145&contentType=answerBitch)
8 - The cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes is by boat/ferry
(Source: http://www.greecetravel.com/rhodes/travel.htm)
9 - I'll Never Find Another You by The Seekers was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965 (Source: http://www.menziesera.com/number_1_hits/1965.shtml)
10 - Steven Stockwell does keyboard and vocals for The Black Assassins (Source: http://blackassassins.net/)

Search Engines

What is a search engine?
To me a search engine is an online tool that allows you to look for something specific on the Internet.
How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the Internet?
They generally rank stuff in relation to relevance.
Who/what determines what search result goes before another?
MONEY (of course)! People and companies can pay a premium to Google, for example, that will rank their page the highest when someone types in the words ‘Melbourne’ and ‘shopping’, or ‘rugby league’ and ‘equipment’; this is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
What are some of your favourite search engines and why?
My favourite search engine, or the one I use the most, is probably Google. I just find it quick and simple. I also don’t mind yahoo and altavista – but still think Google is much simpler.
Can you find some current news stories about search engines?

• WebGuild.org today announced the launch of its Search Engine Awards to recognize industry leadership, outstanding achievement, and innovation in the search engine industry (http://www.sys-con.com/read/367042.htm)
• Global Property Search Engine (GyPSE(TM)), the first global search engine focused solely on property and the property services industry, announced its membership to the Yellow Pages Association (YPA). (http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,94976.shtml)
• Small businesses make up a significant percentage of all the businesses in Southern California and the state has more entrepreneurs per capita than any other. And like other businesses, new customer acquisition is what keeps that bottom line looking healthy. The Internet has leveled the playing field and allows SMBs to compete in ways they never could before. Search engines have changed the way people look for information about products and services - according to a Nielsen/NetRatings study 5.3 billion Internet searches were performed in February 2006, up from 3.8 billion in February 2005. Search is rapidly closing in on email as the primary daily activity online, making search engine marketing a vital skill for every business. (http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=18808)