Insightful articles, opinion and commentary about mobile and web.

Alan Curson, Head of Copy at HotHouse, takes a look at how corporate speak is befouling the art of good copywriting.

It’s not swearing I object to. In fact, so long as it’s inventive, interesting or being done by someone bigger than me, I don’t mind it at all.

The bad language bringing me out in a rash, is the incessant, ‘corporate-jargo-speak’ infecting every written aspect of marketing communication.

For instance, when the bank wants to switch you to email statements, they don’t come out and say so. Instead, they tell you for your convenience as part of their ongoing commitment to enhance service offerings to valued customers, they have streamlined administration practices with a commitment to a targeted migration from paper-based communications to digitally focused information streaming, going forward. read more

By Simon van Wyk

I’m quite sure Google rewrote the book on best practice. I remember our technical director arguing with an enterprise architect about how eBay had scaled their platform. The architect had one opinion, eBay had another. The issue was simple – in a very short space of time eBay had rewritten best practice.

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By Simon van Wyk

I have a background in marketing, but my understanding of branding seems at odds with the 2010 opinions I see from social media commentators, marketing and advertising agencies.

I read LoveMarks, but I don’t love brands. I read the definition which says: “Lovemarks reach your heart as well as your mind, creating an intimate, emotional connection that you just can’t live without. Ever.” I don’t actually feel this way about any brand. My life is busy and I reserve that level of investment for the important people in my life, not the stuff I buy. I assumed other people felt the same.

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By Simon van Wyk

Number one on Google – that’s the Holy Grail that search engine optimisation (SEO) was meant to deliver to savvy site owners.

SEO involves tweaking your website to appear in the first page of Google search results for the keywords your customers are most likely to enter and yes, it’s Google we care most about, because Google still reigns on the Internet.

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By Simon van Wyk

The Internet, as they say, is a broad church. It’s becoming easier to find both global and local news online.

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Went to the Google Wave API Day at the Sydney Googleplex last Friday.

The developer preview from this years’ Google I/O is quite extensive in explaining the features and functionality of Google Wave. At one hour 20 minutes running time it may require a significant chunk of free time to sit down and watch it, but the presentation is thorough in its explanation of Google Wave and well worth a watch.

For those that -really- don’t have the time to sit down and watch a presentation on impressionable new technologies, there is a 10-minute ‘abbreviated’ version also available.

Finally, for those that don’t work in the IT industry, there is a ‘Made Simple‘ video made by a fan.

There is also a rather extensive background and explanation available on Wikipedia for both Google Wave and the Wave Federation Protocol.

Essentially, “Google Wave” comprises of two things; the front-end client “Google Wave” and the “Federation” protocol.

To grasp the concept of separating the two, think of how “Gmail” relates to Email as a whole.

i.e. Email has many providers, and for you to send an email from one provider to another, they must conform to a set of protocols. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to send an email from your personal email account hosted with your ISP to all the various accounts of your friends and family (who may have accounts with Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, etc).

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In February this year, Google parted with US$23 million in exchange for the AdScape ad network which specialises in in-game advertising. In April, Google bought Doubleclick for US$3.1 billion. Also in April, Yahoo bought RightMedia for $680 million. Then in May WPP Group acquired 24/7 Real Media for $649 million and later that month Microsoft purchased aQuantive for a massive $6 billion.

Simon van Wyk discusses the frenzy of global media acquisitions with Tony Surtees, CEO of iPrime which is part of the Prime Media Group. Journalist, Linda Smith, facilitates the conversation to find out just what’s going on and what it all means.

Listen to the Media Acquisition Frenzy podcast here.