Organic or Paid Search? Answer: Pay Up
June 16, 2020
There is a weird symbiosis. Unlike the sucker fish clamped on a shark, the predator’s fellow travelers operate in the dark digital ocean. “Organic Vs Paid Search: Explained” correctly points out that traffic costs money. This is not 1994, gentle reader. This is 2020 and the costs of running an ad supported search engine are difficult to control.
The write-up ignores a simple fact: Online advertising companies want anyone who wants clicks and traffic to pay. Like the IRS oriented phrase: Death, taxes, and the online traffic levy.
This means that “organic search” — the 1994 style of Web indexing — is dead like dinosaurs. The future is pay to play.
As output devices become smaller and voice creeps forward as a way to explain where to get a pizza, the free loading sucker fish are going to get scraped off the digital shark. The shark will then eat the sucker fish.
What’s this mean for search engine optimization? More baloney, more hand waving, and another lost cause.
Pay to play, the phrase of the future. There’s no cyber Mother Theresa to intervene.
Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2020
Amazon: Can Money Buy Smooth Sailing?
June 15, 2020
What is the obvious solution when you must not leave home but there are things to purchase? Amazon.com, of course. And where do businesses turn when they must suddenly facilitate remote workers? For many, the solution is Amazon’s AWS. During this pandemic the tech giant has grown even larger, but with this success comes a lot of criticism. Yahoo News tells us, “Amazon Hit from All Sides as Crisis Highlights Growing Power.” One prominent example—New York state Attorney General Letitia James and others were disgusted Amazon fired a worker who had led a protest over covid-19-related safety concerns. The company says the employee was actually fired for refusing to quarantine after testing positive for the disease. Hmm.
AFP reporter Julie Jammot writes:
“As Amazon becomes an increasingly important lifeline in the pandemic crisis, it is being hit with a wave of criticism from activists, politicians and others who question the tech giant’s growing influence. Amazon has become the most scrutinized company during the health emergency. It has boosted its global workforce to nearly one million and dealt with protests over warehouse safety and reported deaths of several employees. But Amazon has also pledged to spend at least $4 billion in the current quarter — its entire expected operating profit — on coronavirus mitigation efforts, including relief contributions and funding research. Amazon’s AWS cloud computing unit, which powers big portions of the internet, is also a key element during the crisis with more people and companies working online. Amazon’s market value has hovered near record levels around $1.2 trillion dollars as it reported rising revenues and lower profits in the past quarter.”
The company’s size alone, say activists, is reason enough for scrutiny. Some are concerned about the way Amazon treats workers, others balk at the financial gain CEO Jeff Bezos has personally enjoyed during this time. Though the company has increased pay above minimum wage during the crisis, to $15 an hour, critics say it could afford to pay much more. There is also concern that, with its popular streaming service on top of everything else, the company just wields too much influence in people’s daily lives.
Amazon seems to have sailed through the biological disturbance. Now comes the legal thunderstorms. Smooth cruising ahead? Unlikely.
Cynthia Murrell, June 15, 2020
Google: Is Hiding URLs Part of the Walled Garden Play?
June 15, 2020
I read yet another baffled lament about Google’s hiding urls. Google nuked urls for PDFs a while ago. Now the url itself will go away. “Google Resumes Its Senseless Attack on the URL Bar, Hides Full Addresses on Chrome 85” states:
Google has tried on and off for years to hide full URLs in Chrome’s address bar, because apparently long web addresses are scary and evil. Despite the public backlash that came after every previous attempt, Google is pressing on with new plans to hide all parts of web addresses except the domain name.
The write up asserts:
Google’s goal with Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and similar technologies is to keep users on Google-hosted content as much as possible, and Chrome for Android already modifies the address bar on AMP pages to hide that the pages are hosted by Google.
DarkCyber wants to point out that as regulation becomes increasingly likely, outfits like the Google are doing a “land grab.” Ideas which have been subject to the old-school five-year mentality are now being pushed forward.
Google will become increasingly aggressive in its drive to capture, create, and retain as many clicks as possible. When the url bar is blank, the idea is that a user will just type “CNN” and let Google do the deciding for the user.
The less one knows, the better it is for Google’s ad matching. The more clicks Google can generate by “improving the user experience” with less information, the more revenue the firm projects that it will earn.
Let’s face it. The majority of users are really poor online information searchers. Therefore, Google’s Internet wants to be positioned as the Internet.
When regulators arrive, it is unlikely that those astute individuals will understand how removing information increases Google’s projected online ad revenue.
Nefarious? Nope, just an acceleration of Google management actions.
Where are those clicks going? Same places, but the real estate on which ads can be displayed is tiny compared to those big fat, boat anchor PC screens.
Thus, less info is good for the Google, and the regulatory authorities will be confused. Without an influx of clicks, obtained one way or another, the Google is vulnerable to the likes of Amazon-, Apple-, and Facebook-type predators.
Stephen E Arnold, June 15, 2020
Who Loves the Cloud More? Vendors, IT Pros, or Bean Counters?
June 15, 2020
Cloud systems are still considered high tech upgrades for organizations, but IT professionals prefer and view them as SOP says the IT Brief article: “Over Half Of IT Pros Prefer Hybrid And Multi-Cloud Architectures-Report.” Denodo conducted a survey and discovered that 53% of the IT professional respondents favored hybrid and multi-cloud architectures. The data is consistent with deployment statistics indicating that 42% of current cloud systems are hybrid configurations.
One of the biggest complaints from the respondents were cloud security and governance, but overall they preferred cloud because they can build up resiliency, cherry-pick features, and diversify skills.
More organizations are turning to the cloud to host their systems:
“Over the past year, there has been a positive reinforcement of cloud adoption with at least a 10% increase across beginners, intermediate, and advanced adopters.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure jointly hold a huge 90% of the new-entrant market, according to Denodo.
But users are not just lifting their on-premises applications and shifting them to either of or both of these clouds; more than a third (35%) said they would re-architect their applications for the best-fit cloud architecture.”
BI, analytics, data science, and data warehousing are top priorities for cloud developers. While cloud systems are favored, data integration poses the biggest challenge for organizations. Security is up there too. Cloud systems are perfect for the way technology is shifting to more mobile devices, but total reliance on the cloud is not advised. Outages at Amazon and IBM suggest that a hybrid system that includes on-site capabilities will protect an system when the magical Internet loses some of the 24×7 LED signs posted on the information super highway.
Whitney Grace, June 15, 2020
Criminals Want Cash? An Astounding Insight for Whom Exactly?
June 15, 2020
Why is it so hard for some people to understand a concept? Cyber criminals break laws not because it is fun (some might get a kick out of it), but to steal money. The old adage “money makes the world go around” is the goal for cyber criminals, because with money they can live their desired lifestyle. Security Brief delves into a report about cyber criminal activities in: “Cybercriminals After Money More Than Anything Else-Verizon Report.”
Security Brief read the Verizon Business 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report, where there 32,000 breaches were analyzed. Of that 3950 were from eighty-one countries and 86% of the breaches were related money. When broken down by continents, 91% were in North America, 70% in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and 63% in Asia.
Most financially related organizations are taking precautions to protect their clients and fewer than one in twenty breaches exploit vulnerabilities. Other types of crumbier crime include:
“Other common cyber attacks include web application attacks, as threat actors go after cloud-based data. According to the report, more than 20% of attacks were against web application and used stolen credentials in some way. The report notes that the trend is worrying as more organizations shift business-critical workloads to the cloud.
Credential theft, phishing, business email compromise and other social engineering attacks caused more than 67% of breaches. Specifically, 37% of credential theft breaches used stolen or weak credentials, 25% involved phishing, and 22% involved human error.
Amongst malware incidents, ransomware was involved in 27% of cases, and 18% of organizations blocked at least one piece of ransomware in the last year.”
The article recommends businesses and users education themselves about common cyber crime attacks to prevent breaches. It is also a good idea to have a decent cyber security system that is regularly updated. Most breaches in North America involved stolen credentials, phishing/pretexting.
Money motivates cyber criminals? Why does that even need to be stated?
Whitney Grace, June 15, 2020
Microsoft LinkedIn: An Infusion of Skype or Zune?
June 15, 2020
Skype mostly worked. Then the interface became more like Bob’s. The JEDI knight of updates tries to be on the cutting edge of technology. Despite early attempts at video interactions, Microsoft has managed to remain a few paces off the lead. TechRepublic shares the late party invitation addressed to Microsoft’s professional social media platform: “LinkedIn Unveils New Virtual Events Feature For Communities To Stay Connected During COVID-19.”
LinkedIn’s new teleconferencing feature is Virtual Events and it allows organizations to connect in real time, so it is basically the same as Zoom. Does Microsoft want those looking for a job or consulting gigs to make the shift from Zoom or the interesting Google services? We noted:
“Rishi Jobanputra, head of product for Linkedin pages, said Virtual Events allows brands to target a specific audience and design a more personalized experience while making it easier for brands to share and archive their video content so users can easily find it. This not only extends the shelf life of the event but also allows organizations to target industries with content that may have may have been missed.”
LinkedIn is also integrating the Pages, LinkedIn Live, and Events so they will seamlessly fit together.
Several big companies have already successfully used Virtual Events, when in-person events were forced to cancel. But some virtual conferences, meetings, and hook ups have not delivered. Human interaction remains popular among many people; for example, those without sufficient bandwidth, a computing device, or an interest in the virtual world of experience.
Worth monitoring? Perhaps the events will be on Twitch or Microsoft’s Mixer? Wait! Isn’t Mixer a virtual meeting operation too?
Okay, Zune that and out.
Whitney Grace, June 15, 2020
Free Surveillance: A Marketing Thing
June 14, 2020
There is one key reason many companies once hesitated to let workers telecommute, especially firms that handle sensitive information: security. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing companies to find a way. Mondo Visione reports on one possible solution for financial firms in the brief write-up, “SteelEye Offers Free Communications Surveillance to Support Remote Working—90-Day Offer Aims to Assist Compliance Teams as Employees Work from Multiple Sites.” We learn:
“SteelEye, the compliance technology and data analytics firm, today announced that it is offering financial firms the opportunity to use its Communications Surveillance service for free for up to 90 days as the market adapts to a new style of working. As firms reopen their offices, reduced density rules are likely to prevail for some time, meaning a workforce that is spread between the office and home. Monitoring communications by staff working in multiple locations will require changes in compliance processes, which may prove challenging if access to on-premise technology is needed. To help compliance teams adapt to more flexible working conditions, SteelEye’s Communications Surveillance service is being offered for up to 90, days and 50 monitored users, at no charge and with no obligation for future use. It includes monitoring MS Exchange email and Bloomberg chat, and can be seamlessly integrated to capture communications from staff working remotely.”
SteelEye’s modular, cloud-based Communications Surveillance system can be deployed quickly, the company’s CEO promises, and clients can be on boarded within 24 hours. Risk detection, oversight, and compliance are the platform’s priorities. Founded in 2017, SteelEye is based in London.
Cynthia Murrell, June 14, 2020
After Dog Matching, Watson Pivots to Technology Ops
June 13, 2020
Can an older dog learn new tricks after a visit to a Mexican avocado festival?
It has been a while since Watson debuted, so it is not surprising the AI supercomputer would need to be retrained in IT. It has a held a variety of other jobs from chef to medical professional, so going back to its roots will do wonders for Watson’s career. ARN explains that, “IBM Retains Watson AI For IT Operations?”
Watson’s retraining comes from IBM’s CEO Arvind Krishna, who wants to use the AI supercomputer to become a tool diagnosing and solving enterprise IT problems. Krishna particularly wants to focus on the new AIOps market that applies AI to IT operations. He also wants to focus on cloud edge computing and the growing importance of the 5G mobile infrastructure. The new Watson AIOps will:
“Watson AIOps, IBM’s name for the new iteration of Watson, is built on the latest release of Red Hat OpenShift, a container orchestration platform, so it can run across hybrid cloud environments.
It’s designed to evaluate the swarms of alerts generated by IT monitoring tools when an incident occurs, in order to identify and help fix the root cause of the problem…
IBM already has an AI-based IT operations management tool, Netcool Operations Insight, that automatically groups related events and provides context to help solve problems.”
IBM is not the only AIOps developer in the market, but despite the hefty competition Krishna believes Watson and his company offer tools they cannot find anywhere else.
With 5G and cloud edge computing, IBM could have a one up on a market still in development.
Whitney Grace, June 13, 2020
MIT Takes a Stand: No, Not about the Jeffrey Epstein Matter, about Subscription Fees
June 12, 2020
The write up appears on an MIT Web page that states:
MIT has long been a leader in sharing its research, teaching, and scholarship openly with the world.
I asked myself, “Is that because MIT accepts funding from individuals of interesting character like Jeffrey Epstein?”
I don’t know, but could this be an example of “selective institutional ethicality”?
Putting the deceased Mr. Epstein aside, the write up reports with MIT-ness in full flower:
Standing by its commitment to provide equitable and open access to scholarship, MIT has ended negotiations with Elsevier for a new journals contract. Elsevier was not able to present a proposal that aligned with the principles of the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts. Developed by the MIT Libraries in collaboration with the Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT’s Research and the Committee on the Library System in October 2019, the MIT Framework is grounded in the conviction that openly sharing research and educational materials is key to the Institute’s mission of advancing knowledge and bringing that knowledge to bear on the world’s greatest challenges. It affirms the overarching principle that control of scholarship and its dissemination should reside with scholars and their institutions, and aims to ensure that scholarly research outputs are openly and equitably available to the broadest possible audience, while also providing valued services to the MIT community.
My goodness, Elsevier, a commercial enterprise, and MIT a really-good outfit dedicated to very, very high standards cannot reach an agreement.
The relationship between tenure track institutions and the publishers surfing the peculiar idea that once a person has the support of peers, that individual is good to go for decades.
That sounds, errr, like a symbiotic relationship. Well, that symbiosis is apparently at an end. The sucker fish is chewed off the fish by bean counters with green eyeshades.
Observations:
- Will students access Elsevier journals from another institution using a borrowed user name and password? Heck, could that happen? Does MIT accept money from interesting people and then look at the latest prank on a roof?
- Will the libraries’ directors have a meeting and figure out how to get access to some of those Elsevier, often tough to replicate articles based on tenure track crazed researchers? I can hear statements like these: “We can cut our cleaning services?” and “We can boost the price of soda in the vending machines?”
- Will Elsevier rethink how it is doing business? Should commercial database publishers be allowed to index the prized Elsevier journals? Should Elsevier become a foundation and scrape funds in ways close to the heart of some non-profit outfits? Should Elsevier try to work out a deal which shifts more of the costs of producing a journal consulted by as few as 100 people a year to the authors? “Hey, if these people want lifetime employment, pay up” makes sense to some.
Net net: Changes are coming down the commercial professional publishing pike and to the tenure track system through which “real” research based articles run. It will be entertaining to watch two outstanding institutions muddle through. That Epstein smile may surface again.
Stephen E Arnold, June 12, 2020
How to Spark Interest in Desktop Linux? Microsoft Tries a Fresh Approach
June 12, 2020
DarkCyber noted “Removing “Annoying” Windows 10 Features is a DMCA Violation, Microsoft Says.” The write up asserts:
Ninjutsu OS, a new software tool that heavily modifies Windows 10 with a huge number of tweaks, mods and extra tools, has been hit with a DMCA complaint by Microsoft. According to the copyright notice, the customizing, tweaking and disabling of Windows 10 features, even when that improves privacy, amounts to a violation of Microsoft’s software license.
The write up presents a list of Ninjutsu enabled functions which violate the DMCA (digital millennium copyright act):
- Customize Windows 10 with powerful tweak and optimize.
- Protect your privacy by tweak and customize Windows 10.
- Disable many of the annoying features built into Windows.
- Unwanted Windows components removal.
- Remove/Disable many Windows programs and services.
The implications of this Microsoft action are interesting to contemplate. DarkCyber believes that Microsoft may have found a way to increase usage of Linux on the desktop.
Stephen E Arnold, June 12, 2020
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