Goals, Goals, Goals - My Goal for 2010

I have a goal and that goal is to get more people to subscribe to Traffic Flow SEO. As you can see (as of 1/16/10 at 5:24CST) I have only 138 RSS/email subscribers. While I appreciate each and every one of them, I would like more. So, today I have made it my goal to try and get to 200 by the end of February. That being the case, I would like to request you help in achieving this goal. What I want to ask you is:

1. Do you have any suggestions as to how to get additional subscribers?

2. If you read the blog and have not subscribed, why not?

I look forward to your feedback and/or subscriptions....:-)

China Ignores Human Rights Again and Google Responds

Thank GOD someone stood up against China and told the REAL story!!! Hopefully this message will have a larger affect on China and their covert operations.

In the past I have expressed my concerns about Google and their growing power base, but I have to say, today I have a whole new respect for them. The mantra, 'Do No Evil' means more to me today than ever before.

Now, I hope Microsoft (Bing) does not try to use this as an opportunity to get market share because they have recently said that China is a top priority of them as expressed in this Reuter's article, "Microsoft pegs China search market as top priority.


From the Official Google Blog:

Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers.

We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this U.S. government report (PDF), Nart Villeneuve's blog andthis presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.

We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. In the last two decades, China's economic reform programs and its citizens' entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.

We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that "we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China."

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

Link to Google Blog post - A New Approach to China

FREE Website Magazine for SEO, SEM and Webmasters (print version)!

Website Magazine is an incredible publication that offers a FREE subscription to US residents (they also have a pro account that offers additional issues). If you not have subscribed yet, do so today - what do you have to lose, it is FREE!

Free Website Trade Publication >> Website Magazine

They also have a great website with lots of updated information and a great forum. Check it out here - Website Magazine Website

Best of the Web Directory (BOTW) - January 2010 Discount Coupon Code - 20% Off

It is that time again when my favorite web directory has a discount promotion. As always, I recommend that any site you care about be included in the Best of the Web Directory (BOTW) and I would recommend just doing the permanent listing at $299 (-20% until the end of January = $239). It is the best deal going. Below is the copy from the email they sent me for your reference:

Get Started today and Save 20% on new:

* Directory Submissions - Discount the annual or the one-time review fee and get listed in the Internet's Oldest Directory.
* Monthly Sponsorship Ads - Save on the monthly rate for all new sponsorship ads.
* Blog Directory Submissions - Feature your blog and save on the annual review fee.
* Blog Advertising - Discount on all new sponsorship ads in the Blog Directory.
* Premium Local Listings - Discount the monthly and annual rate for your Local Business Profile listing.
* Bundled Marketing Package - Get your US Business listed in BOTH the Web Directory and BOTW Local for a fraction of the cost. Save 20% on the yearly fee!

Use Code - NEWYR

Click Here For Discount Link - BOTW Discount Link

Search with KISS - Rock On!

http://searchwithkiss.swagbucks.com/
What could be better than searching with KISS? I am not sure that anything could be, so SwagBucks has teamed up with Google and Ask.com to create the KISS Search Engine. All I can say is, "When do we get to search with RUSH?".

Check it out here - KISS Search Engine

Absolutely Awesome FREE Keyword Density Tool

This is probably the coolest and best free online SEO/SEM tool I have seen in awhile! Most keyword density tools do exactly as you would think, show the keyword density for a keyword on a given web page. Well, this tool goes so far beyond that it is hard to call it just a keyword density tool. You have to check it out for yourself to understand what I am talking about.

Check it out here - Free Keyword Density Tool

New Search Engine - Update!

Just a quick update that my new meta search engine has been updated to include additional data feeds that now include Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, EntireWeb, Gigablast and the DMOZ.

If you have never checked it out, you should as it has a lot of great features that make searching the Web a bit easier and more productive. It includes search functions for:
- Traditional web results
- Images
- Videos
- News
- Sports
- Audio (MP3s)
- Forums
- Blogs
- Dictionary
- Wiki
- PDFs
- Thesaurus
In addition, you can search from 50 locations worldwide in 14 different languages!

Check it out now at - Global Search Engine - iCrawl