Google Produces YouTube Series on SEO Myths
May 16, 2019
It seems Google has a new angle for its public relations. Search Engine Journal announces, “Google Steps Up Its Content Game with New YouTube Series on SEO Myths.” Writer Matt Southern tells us:
“Google is preparing to launch a new video series about SEO myths which is drastically different from its previous videos. The ‘SEO Mythbusting’ series will be hosted by Google’s Martin Splitt and published on the Google Webmasters YouTube channel. Splitt recently wrapped up a video series on JavaScript SEO, so he’s wasting no time moving on to the next thing. Judging from the trailer, Google has seriously upped the production value of its video content. … It’s best described as an insightful, engaging SEO talk show produced by Google.”
Southern has gleaned several probable episode topics from the trailer: Googlebot, JavaScript frameworks, and communication between developers and SEOs for example. Apparently, each episode will include a segment discussing SEO misconceptions with folks from the developer and/or SEO communities. The write-up embeds the 1.5 minute trailer, so curious readers should check it out.
Cynthia Murrell, May 16, 2019
Alphabet: How Do You Spell Fear?
May 16, 2019
One answer might be “More advertising”. Another possibility is “Amazon advertising.”
This is speculation, of course, but my thoughts were sparked by “New Native Discovery Ad Campaigns from Google Monetize Discover Feed for First Time.” My thinking was nudged forward when I read “Google to Push New Ads on Its Apps to Snare Shoppers.”
It sure looks like the Alphabet Google is amping up its distribution of ads.
Why?
The revenue miss was a bit of a yellow warning signal. The push back on Google’s Mr. Pichai-privacy pivot posing was another. Looming fines in Europe is a factor. Plus the general grousing from employees who feel that as elite, their lives are not filled with joy, purpose, and meaning because the real Google elite want these people to just behave and do what the “team” wants. Rah, rah, F-E-A-R.
Years ago, when I was working on The Google Legacy, I have a conversation with a Googler whom I shall name “David B.” The person revealed that Google’s senior management knew that their game would be exposed. Secrecy was, therefore, of primary importance. I encapsulated this remark in my illustration of Sergey Brin as a magician. Google has been a master of misdirection. Look search is free. Now people understand that search is not free, and it is very, very expensive. Maybe that’s why updates are not comprehensive, why some sites are trying to figure out where their backfiles went in the Google index, and why a search results page is often not relevant to the query. Don’t you love those required terms which are not in a displayed search result hit. That’s precision redefined to burn through ad inventory, is it not?
Looks like the tricks are now better understood. The fear is that the audience may be getting tired of the same old show.
The new circus is coming. It doesn’t feature elephants or the skeletons of a dinosaur. It’s the Bezos brigade, and its mascot is the roaring bulldozer. A giant, loud, powerful machine preparing to rework the failed Cincinnati airport and the way intelligence vendors deliver their services along with other rough edges of business workflow.
Back to ads. I must not overlook Google’s ads. Google wants to do a better job with products. Froogle is coming back, just after a bit or R&R, rehab, and plastic surgery.l
Once people searched Google for products. Now two thirds of the product searches find their way to — wait for it — Amazon. The Bezos bulldozer may make another pass over Google territory.
That raises a philosophical question worthy of church fathers in the 11th century CE.
How many ads can fit on the display of a mobile phone?
One answer may be, “Not enough.
What does advertising spell?
”F-E-A-R.
Stephen E Arnold, May 15, 2019
DarkCyber for May 14, Now Available
May 15, 2019
DarkCyber for May 14, 2019, is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://www.vimeo.com/335676549
The program is a production of Stephen E Arnold. It is the only weekly video news shows focusing on the Dark Web, cybercrime, and lesser known Internet services.
This week’s story line up includes: Free penetration software; how emojis puzzle police and parents; a major Dark Web drug market take down; two chilling cyber threat reports; how to learn what is censored online; and a drug dealer’s surprising security system.
This week’s feature examines the use of emojis (graphic cartoons) to communicate secret messages. With the shift to mobile devices for communicating via text messages, colorful icons are used instead of words. A smiley face signals happiness. A thumbs up conveys agreement. But what does a snowflake mean? What does a filling station pump nozzle convey. For those with inside knowledge, both emojis relate to drugs; for example, the snowflake is a visual signal for cocaine. When bad actors or children want to conceal information, emojis are easily available and often not understood by law enforcement, attorneys, or individuals more accustomed to text. DarkCyber provides information about how to get up-to-date information about these ubiquitous icons. Stephen E Arnold, producer of DarkCyber and author of “The Dark Web Notebook,” said: “Individuals with a desire to hide information can use emojis to create encoded messages. These are often meaningless or nonsense to someone unfamiliar with the hidden meanings assigned to colorful icons. Most text processing systems do not handle these types of ideographs in an effective manner. Emojis pose a new challenge to those involved in investigations or trying to figure out what their teenagers are planning for the weekend.”
The May 14, 2019, program also reports on:
First, FireEye, a cyber security firm, has compiled a collection of more than 120 penetration testing software tools. “Pentest” programs make it possible for investigators to perform certain types of actions in order to obtain access to otherwise secure information. The software is also used to verify the security of an organization’s computing infrastructure. DarkCyber explains how to obtain this collection of high-value software for free.
Second, a major Dark Web drug market was taken down by German police. The system sold a wide range of narcotics and allegedly served more than one million customers. Details about the operation are sparse. The operators of the site posted a notice that the site was down for maintenance. Less than 72 hours after the notice appeared, law enforcement seized the site. Online discussion forums suggested that the owners of the site planned an exit scam in order to steal customers’ money.
Third, two new and somewhat chilling reports about cyber crime have been published. One report originates in England, authored by Darktrace. The other report was written by experts at Neustar Security in Sterling, Virginia. Both reports make clear that online cyber operations are depending on email messages. The use of mass emails and targeted messages are slipping through individual and organizational security mechanisms. In short, email is now a go-to vector for a cyber attack. DarkCyber reveals how to obtain both reports without charge.
Fourth, censorship is increasing, How does an individual keep track of what is online and what is being blocked by different countries. DarkCyber reports that the Web site Netblocks.org provides a convenient way to track current developments in online censorship.
The final story in this week’s DarkCyber provides detail about one drug dealer’s security system. The criminal used a parrot to alert those in the compound when police approached. DarkCyber explains that selecting a parrot may not have been the optimal choice for high-reliability alerts.
Kenny Toth, May 15, 2019
Factualities for May 15, 2019
May 15, 2019
At DarkCyber, we love data and numbers. Some of these gatherings of digits are amusing, and others remind us that some people slept through Statistics 101. Sample size? Not important. Verifiability? Are you kidding? Notice how many nice, round numbers appear. Remarkable. Ponder these factualities:
-18. The percentage decrease in smartphone sales in North America in Jan-Feb-Mar 2019, a five year low. Source: Canalys
One. Number of drones with knives, not kinetics. Source: Australia’s News.com
One. The number of head injuries per 5,000 electric scooter rides. Source: BoingBoing
4 percent. The accuracy of the facial recognition system used by British law enforcement. Source: Techdirt
10. The number of psychological tactics available to push people in a particular direction. Source: Science Focus
40 percent. Percentage of Amazon merchants based in China. Source: Marketplace Pulse
60 percent. The percentage of smartphone users who play games on their devices. Source: Apple Insider
90 percent. The percentage of online content which is “crap.” Source: Next Web
90 percent. Percentage of blockchain supply chain initiative which will “go nowhere.” Source: IT Wire
700. The number of orders packed each hour by an Amazon robot boxing robot. The inefficient human can manage just 175 an hour for a human. A human, however, has to take breaks for personal needs, eat, and think about the rich benefits a packager receives from the world’s largest online book store. This means that the “average” warehouse human boxing orders outputs at the rate of about one box 29.17 seconds. Its a factuality without verification, of course. Source: Reuters
1,059. The number of fraud cases related to defense contracting between 2013 and 2017. Source: FAS.org
$100,000. The individual royalties earned by 1,000 authors on Amazon. Source: Digital Reader
600,000. Number of private contractors employed by the Department of Defense. Source: TruthDig.com
100 million. Number of bad online advertisements generated by one operation. Source: Naked Security
$618 million. The first day loss on paper for investors who bought into Uber on its first day of trading. Source: Daily Mail
825 million. Number of computers running Windows 10. Source: Thurrott.com
2.5 billion. Number of users of devices equipped with Android. Source: Techcrunch
$500 billion. Dollar amount spent on prescription medicines each year in the US. Source: CNBC
Stephen E Arnold, May 15, 2019
Amazon Reviews: Factual or Fakey?
May 15, 2019
Here’s a handy set of tips for the online shopper—LifeHacker tells us “How to Spot Fake Reviews on Amazon.” Writer Brendan Hesse grants there are innocent reasons for incorrect reviews at Amazon, like a user accidentally posting their review in the wrong place, or a software snafu inserting the wrong reviews into a product’s description. However, he writes:
“There are, of course, more suspicious motives for unrelated reviews to appear on the wrong products, such as attempting to artificially inflate (or deflate) a product or to dissuade buyers from a competitor. And even if the review is for the correct listing, there’s no shortage of reasons as to why it may be fake or misleading—whether that’s as part of a review-for-pay racket; ‘review bombing’ campaigns to change a product’s rating; ads masquerading as reviews; or those curious positive reviews with a one-star rating because the reviewer wants to send a message about shipping taking too long, or some other aspect of the transaction that doesn’t apply to the product itself. Whatever the case, these are easy to spot and deal with.”
First, he advises, don’t just skim the reviews—fake ones may be over-the-top (positive or negative), or they may spend a lot of words discussing a competing product. Also, many 1-star or five-star reviews with very little text in the description are probably fakes. Other tips include checking for the “verified purchase” badge next to a reviewers name and seeking reviews outside Amazon itself. We wonder—can software pick out the legit reviews for us? Unlikely.
Cynthia Murrell, May 15, 2019
Amazon: A Wild West Approach to Security
May 14, 2019
A story ostensibly about an “unprotected Elasticsearch cluster” and an administrator poses an interesting question which I will raise in a moment. You will want to read or scan “Sensitive Information of Millions of Panama Citizens Leaked.” The main idea is that information about citizens of Panama was leaked. The information appears to be germane to people with medical issues. That’s bad for several reasons:
- People and their medical “histories” are sensitive and like a sizzling hamburger to bad actors interested in blackmail or some other negative action
- Some citizens of Panama are often low profile. These individuals use Panama as a convenient base for one’s identity or one of many identities. There are also quick hops to nearby locations with a someone flexible approach to financial activities.
- The “unsecured” Elasticsearch databases are findable using Shodan. This is a search system of considerable utility to certain organizations and individuals.
The system on which the data resided, if the write up is accurate, was Amazon AWS. Now the big question:
With the automation Amazon AWS offers customers, why aren’t basic security health checks routinely performed by Amazon’s smart software?
Snuffing out unprotected AWS servers / services is going to add to friction for customers and impose additional computational burdens on AWS.
One can point the finger at Elasticsearch administrators, but these people are driving Amazon’s digital vehicle. When a smart car mows down a pedestrian, whom do we scrutinize? The person walking or the goi go outfit which built the smart vehicle?
Does Amazon’s speeding AWS may need some driver safety functions? Air bags save lives, and the driver does not have to pay extra or be aware of these devices. Just a thought: Air bags and seat belts for Amazon AWS customers. Amazon, it seems, wants to help former employees become delivery people. What about the administrators of Elasticsearch? What’s their future?
Stephen E Arnold, May 14, 2019
Autonomy CFO: Sentenced
May 14, 2019
I read ”Autonomy’s Former CFO Sushovan Hussain Sentenced to Five Years in Jail.” The article reported that Sushovan Hussain will be incarcerated for 60 months and then “subject to “a further three years ‘supervised release’.” In addition to the sentence, Mr. Hussain has been fined $4 million and another $6.1 million described as a “forfeiture payment.” This $6.1 is the money Mr. Hussain allegedly received as a result of the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett Packard. HP bought Autonomy for about $11 billion in 2011. (HP news release is here.)
The write up states:
In summing up, Breyer stated that Hussain had been involved in a “methodological long-term pattern” of making false statements and added that Hussain believed that in a high-growth business, such as Autonomy, future growth would effectively cover-up any false statements. Breyer also argued that Hussain had used his position to corrupt “a number of innocent people”, chivvying them into becoming a part of the fraud.
If you are unfamiliar with the technical details and some of Autonomy’s background, you will find a profile I wrote years ago in the Xenky archive. This is a version of my final report, and it has not been updated, but it provides some context for the interest Autonomy generated in its search, retrieval, and content processing systems.
The Register, a UK publication, provides periodic updates about the trial currently underway in England. You can locate these reports at www.theregister.co.uk. Use the search function to locate the stories.
Some History of Enterprise Search
This sentence and fine was more aggressive than the judgment against the former Fast Search & Transfer founder, John Lervik, who after a series of legal processes, was cleared of wrong doing in 2016. Microsoft purchased Fast Search & Transfer in 2008.
Autonomy and Fast Search were the two vendors of enterprise search which were the most widely licensed information access systems in the period 2005 to 2010 when appetite for proprietary search began to decline. The acquisition of Vivisimo by IBM and the purchase of Exalead by Dassault did not lead to litigation. Other search vendors sold out or simply tried to reinvent themselves in a somewhat challenging search for revenues. Today, the most widely used enterprise search system is Elasticsearch, which is available as open source software. Endeca has been absorbed into Oracle. Delphis and Entopia went out of business. OpenText rolled up a number of search companies, which are now largely forgotten; for example, Fulcrum and BRS. There are a number of interesting case studies waiting to be written; for example, the trajectory of Convera from “inventor” to consulting business, the fate of Verity and IBM’s Stairs as well as other companies helping to expand search’s version of the tulip craze centuries ago.
Stephen E Arnold, May 14, 2019
The Rapid Growth of AWS
May 14, 2019
The business of cloud hosting continues to heat up, we learn from The Register’s article, “Big Cloud Gets Bigger: AWS’s Growth Alone in 2018 Matched Google’s Total Haul—But Bezos Beast Is Still on the Hunt.” Writer Paul Kunert cites Canalys as he reports that AWS received $2.3 billion in infrastructure services alone in 2018, the same amount Google made overall that year. That is a 41% increase, to $7.6 billion. He writes:
“However, the first section of the battle has only just begun. The fight for enterprise customers’ wallets will intensify in 2019 as those companies try to maintain aggressive expansion by extending their cloud business into physical environment, shipping hardware to clients’ data centers. ‘The cloud infrastructure market is moving into a new phase of hybrid IT adoption, with businesses demanding cloud services that can be more easily integrated with their on-premises environment,’ said Canalys chief analyst Alastair Edwards. ‘Most cloud providers are now looking at ways to enter customers’ existing data centers, either through their own products or via partnerships,’ he added.
Kunert gives us a peek at where each major player in the cloud stands, noting that Microsoft got the jump with its launch of Azure Stack in 2017. He points out the recent release of Google’s multi-cloud rig Anthos. We’re also told that China’s huge population boosted that country’s Alibaba into fourth place, over IBM. Though the gap remains wide between AWS and these competitors, Amazon just might be able to catch up.
Cynthia Murrell, May 14, 2019
Edge AI Edges Closer
May 13, 2019
The smart software and artificial intelligence “thing” is repetitive, less than forthcoming, and overhyped. No, Amazon, I don’t want to read mysteries written by European writers. That’s my wife’s interest, not mine. We share an account. AI, even Amazon’s is not that intelligent. Plus, Amazon, despite the hyperbole, is evolving into a 21st century version of the venerable IBM mainframe of the late 1950s and 1960s. The people in white lab coats have been replaced with individuals wearing faded jeans and T shirts, but the arcane lingo, the “specially approved” consultants, and the PR obfuscation have brought my thinking back to the good old days.
But there may be a development which could cause either an Amazon acquisition or a Google panic attack. Navigate to “How Unreal AI Is Using Proprietary Algorithms To Turn Videos Into Usable Data.” The write up explains that Edge AI has developed a method
to run machine learning models on low-cost edge devices so as to reduce their dependence on the cloud for intelligence.
I noted this statement offered by an Edge AI founder:
“AI on the edge is the next frontier in AI. Just like with the advent of PCs in 70s decentralized computing power from mainframe computers we believe that our proprietary AI methods can help decentralize AI and make every device intelligent in itself,” Saurabh Singh, Co-Founder of Unreal AI said when asked about the motivation behind establishing the startup.
Might be worth following this outfit.
Stephen E Arnold, May 13, 2019
Predictions and Experts: Maybe Ignore Them or Just Punish Them?
May 13, 2019
I read “The Peculiar Blindness of Experts” with this subtitle:
Credentialed authorities are comically bad at predicting the future. But reliable forecasting is possible.
The write up reminded me of an anthologized essay in freshman English 101. I suggest you take a look at the original. There is a subtext chugging along in this lengthy write up. To whet your appetite, consider this passage which I circled in True Blue marker:
Unfortunately, the world’s most prominent specialists are rarely held accountable for their predictions, so we continue to rely on them even when their track records make clear that we should not.
Is the message “Get it wrong and get punished.” Outputs from Recorded Future or horse race touts could possibly be altered.
There is a bit of hope for those who can learn:
The best forecasters, by contrast, view their own ideas as hypotheses in need of testing. If they make a bet and lose, they embrace the logic of a loss just as they would the reinforcement of a win. This is called, in a word, learning.
Is smart software like a hedgehog or a fox?
I won’t predict your response.
Stephen E Arnold, May 13, 2019
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