Blog - Helen Brown Group

February 2, 2011 By Helen Brown

Google+Spam=Opportunity (for Bing?)

The Washington Post ran an article on Jan 30^th by Michael Rosenwald highlighting the increasing amount of spam on Google. Spammers have figured out a way to cheat the Google system and are now bringing it direct to you and me. It’s clogging up the works and many are starting to worry that Google isn’t taking the issue seriously enough.

How the spammers do it

1. Content farms – businesses created specifically to generate cheap and filling answers to popular search strings – are increasingly padding out the results.

According to Rosenwald, websites like eHow hire freelancers to write how-to articles on a wide variety of topics. The sites work hard to optimize the page content so that they get pushed to the top of search results, and because we trust Google’s algorithms to give us good hits, we click the link. And when we click the link, we’ve reinforced to Google that that link is what we’re looking for – Google ranks web pages in part based on how many click-throughs it gets. Once we actually see the page, we realize it’s crap, but now we’re there, we’ve committed. We’ve clicked. Crap.

2. Nickel-a-clickers – People that are paid to click links to bring a web page higher in the rankings.

Through employment matchup services like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, spammers hire cheap labor to click on links in order to make their site seem more relevant. Every time the clickers click they get five cents, or whatever the agreed-on rate is. In order to earn a decent return, they have to click a lot of hotlinks. I can’t imagine the boredom that entails, but I suppose it’s pretty easy work.

I’d never heard of Mechanical Turk, so I thought I’d have a look-see. One of the jobs on offer: “CopyEditing and Logically Filling up of Blanks for Recipe Database.” Job description: “Check for grammer errors.” Oh good. Final comment on the job from the employer: “It doesn’t have to be factually correct. As long as the details seems plausible and logical it is fine.” Well, there’s another reason for sticking with reliable ol’ Epicurious.

Big deal, there’s more spam in Google results. Whatever.

You might say that now, but if spammers are enlisting armies of cheap labor to scam the system, Google’s in big trouble. Because if we all get fed up, there are several other big engines ready and waiting for the influx of search émigrés. And Google will be another name like Netscape or Northern Light that you think “Oh yeah! I used to use that all the time!”

And it means trouble for us, too, because some of the pages you click through to are going have more and more distasteful things on them. And like bedbugs they could start creeping onto your hard drive and lurk there.

Mud Man lurking - photo ©2005 Julie Kahn

What lurks beneath the surface?

Lurking things? Eww. Are there options?

Alternatives to Google include Bing, Blekko, and Exalead, just to name a few. Here at HBG, we check more than one search engine for every search we do and you might want to consider making it a habit too, if you aren’t already.

Here’s another reason why you might want to use more than one engine: studies in recent years by researchers at Penn State, the University of Kashmir, metasearch engine Dogpile and others have shown repeatedly that information overlap between search engines is very low, sometimes as little as 1% in the first page of returned results. You get a stronger variety of results if you cast your net wider.

[An interesting sidenote here: search guru Danny Sullivan posted an article on the Search Engine Land website yesterday titled “Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results.” Apparently Google set up a sting operation recently to prove that Bing has been lurking over their shoulders and copying search results. Sullivan’s article has pictorial evidence and everything. Will Bing just clone Google’s results, spam and all? I sure hope not.]

And finally, consider this: when you search Google or any search engine, you’re looking at a static database of web pages that were scanned in days, weeks or perhaps even months ago. Which is why sometimes when you click a link you won’t find the word you were looking for. The page was updated in the interim between when it was saved in the search engine’s database and when you clicked the link. One search engine may have cataloged a site yesterday and another last month. Or last year. For freshness, reliability and completeness, it just pays to use more than one search engine.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Google. But this spam thing is starting to bug me. Are you concerned? Or is this much ado about nothing?

January 25, 2011 By Helen Brown

Twitter and Your Nonprofit

You may be a relatively new immigrant to the nonprofit section of the Twitter’hood. Maybe a reluctant one? A colt trying to figure out your leg-support system?

One of the things I love about getting to know another country is learning to navigate the social behaviors of a foreign culture. You make some mistakes, there is a lot of smiling and head-nodding (perhaps some eye-rolling from the natives), but eventually you get the hang of communicating. And if you’re there long enough, you start noticing the underlying social niceties and who is using them well.

The culture of Twitter is a lot like that, especially for nonprofits. There’s some gangly-leggedness and braying going on out there (tweets like: “HELP US! We’ve got 15 minutes to raise $15,000!”) but there are native speakers, too. Stay with me and you’ll see what I mean.

Social media experts like Beth Kanter and Allison Fine write truly helpful blogs and books on creating social media plans for your nonprofit that I consider must-reads. But if you’re just sliding your legs under the table and figuring out which fork to use, I thought I’d share a few observations on customs I’ve noticed to help keep you from making a Twitter faux pas.

Don’t Be Singular – Get Engaged

You’ve entered Twitterland to communicate with potential and current stakeholders. So engage with them! Make a point to “follow” your board, your top donors, prospects, allies and anyone else you want to notice you. Many people are glad to “follow” back, so if you suspect that some of your annual fund letters may be decomposing alongside the used coffee grounds, this is a great way to directly connect with people you want to get to know better, and vice versa.

Being truly engaged is an art, but it’s not rocket science. Look at this tweet from Computer Aid in London…

They’ve engaged your imagination: Can’t you just see Rob-the-Driver tooling around the streets of Oxford in the Computer Aid van? They are connecting with and mentioning their donor: adding Oxford University’s Twitter handle (@UniofOxford) helps people follow Oxford now, too. Most importantly, they’ve created a way for other potential donors in and around Oxford to take an immediate action. Click here. Contact us now. Donate. Brilliance in 140 characters.

Re-tweet and Thank

Did a follower just re-tweet something you sent out? Say thank you. Now.

The culture in the Nonprofit Twitterhood isn’t just talking about your .org, it’s also helping others spread their word and giving props to people who help you out. It’s hard to find different ways to thank people sincerely and succinctly, but the folks at the Foundation Center seem to have that nut cracked.

In addition to being a leading resource for grant-seekers, the Foundation Center’s tweeters are creative and generous.

You can use Twitter to engage and cultivate donors, too. Did a board member add a grandchild to her family? Did an alumnus win a prize? If you are connected to them via Twitter (and even if you’re not) send your congratulations. Tweets get re-tweeted and re-posted on LinkedIn and Facebook … you never know who’s going to see (and appreciate) them. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll start a conversation with someone who’s been tossing your appeals in the trash.

Conversations, Not Bullhorns

Sure, there are still people out there blabbing, “I’m at the Starbucks at 12^th and Third,” but Twitter’s emerging custom is real-time conversations. Consider joining one of these organized Twitter web chats for nonprofit professionals:

Wednesdays at 3PM (ET) #NPTalk is sponsored by Nicole Harrison (more info here)
Every other Friday at noon (ET) #smNPchat is hosted by Pamela Grow (more here)

These chats were made for participating and getting fresh ideas from peers. A growing list of chats curated by Robert Swanwick can be found here or follow @twchat to get up-to-the-minute listings.

Never Twitter-chatted before? It’s much easier than clearing customs, and here’s a 4-minute video tutorial to get you going.

Want More Help?

I can’t help it — I’m a sharing-resources kind of gal. So while the following sites aren’t about the culture of Twitter, they’re really helpful if you’re still figuring out this whole Twitter ‘thing.’ Some are useful even if you’re an old hand!

If you’re overwhelmed with the fire hose of tweets gushing at you, sign up for HootSuite or TweetDeck to manage the geyser. You’ll be glad you did.

Social Media Tools 101 from Interactive Insights Group. For those new to social media who want one-stop shopping to bravely enter this new world.

SocialBrite’s deep library of how-tos and examples of all aspects of social media. Some of it is crowd-sourced from community members.

What other unique cultural patterns have you noticed in the Twitter’hood? Comment below, or tweet them to me at @AskHelenBrown. Even if you don’t have anything to report yet, connect with me anyway. I’d love to be your neighbor in this new land.

January 6, 2011 By Helen Brown

Crystal Ball for 2011

John Gillespie over at Social Edge took out the crystal ball for 2011 and provided these trends. I think this is a pretty good list. What do you think?

Demonstrate & Differentiate – With more social ventures and nonprofits vying for a slice of the ever-shrinking financial pie, organizations must work harder than ever to distinguish themselves by communicating clearly to potential donors and funders through a variety of tools – from donor packages and newsletters to social media (such as Twitter and Facebook) and websites. We’ve seen an increased emphasis on program results and performance metrics with 61% of nonprofits surveyed listing it as a top priority compared to 46% last year.
Cut Through the Red Tape – While government funding has been cut or depleted, there are grants and other sources of revenue that still exist. Mission-oriented organizations should take the time to learn more about the grants that are available as well as the application process—the time will be well spent.
Reward your Talent – Nearly 40% of nonprofits surveyed reduced staff and salaries in 2010, which means remaining teams are working harder than ever. Leaders need to recognize the efforts of their employees and spend more time with their stars—66% of those surveyed list retaining and motivating staff as a top priority and 53% plan to focus on improving organizational culture.
Assess your Team – Fifty percent of the organizations surveyed had less than 20 employees. With teams this size, there is no margin for error—every employee must possess the skills to execute their role. Taking the time to evaluate your staff will have a major impact on your organization in the long run.
Entrepreneurial Growth Strategies – Much of the growth in the mission-oriented sector will stem from innovative, entrepreneurial strategies. Seventy percent of organizations surveyed list new revenue generation as their top priority for 2011—up from 58% in 2010 – and 28% plan to pursue earned income ventures. We’re also seeing organizations start another 501(c)(3) under the parent organization and more social ventures starting B Corps and L3Cs (low-profit limited liability companies)—allowing them to pursue more innovative revenue generation strategies and differentiate from their peers.

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