Larry Page & Mark Zuckerberg. (Image originally atlanticwire.com)

Every time you go online you are entering a war zone. It might not feel like it, but there is an almighty battle taking place between two superpowers and you are caught in the crossfire.

Welcome to the war for web supremacy. The super powers, if you haven’t already guessed, are the search behemoth Google and social heavyweight champion Facebook. The prize is you and your data.

Sure, there are other combatants in this war; Twitter, Apple, Bing, LinkedIn…even Yahoo!, but they are merely involved in skirmishes and are open to being co-opted into alliances with the main players. Amazon currently appears to be Switzerland (more about them another time).

The nature of systems like the web is that monopolies emerge. We have a dominant search engine in Google, a dominant online encyclopedia in Wikipedia, a dominant retailer in Amazon, a dominant auction site in eBay, and now we have a dominant social network in Facebook. That’s normal and has been happening in business for centuries.

But what happens when two different monopolies decide to battle for a middle ground? That’s where it gets interesting, and that whats happening now. Facebook and Google share common goals but differing philosophies.

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Popularity: 1%

We like to think of ourselves as a progressive, modern, innovative nation here in Australia. We proudly point out examples of Australian ingenuity but in reality these are few and far between. The truth is that, despite our economic prosperity and extremely high standard of living, Australia risks being left behind in the booming digital economy.

Its not that we aren’t an innovative race; there are some extremely talented people dreaming up many amazing ideas, and there is something of a talent rush on Aussie tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley at the moment. The problem is that very few of those businesses or digital entrepreneurs will remain in this country unless things change considerably. The talent, the intellectual property and the businesses will move offshore.

The other risk is that, in an increasingly global and digitally connected economy, Australia will find itself being less than competitive due to a sluggishness in adopting new technology. Once again, this rubs against the popular stereotype that we are a nation of early technology adopters. That may be true as consumers, but the corporate world appears to be less enthusiastic about embracing change and technology.

A recent global study by IBM revealed that Australian marketers are lagging significantly in tech and social media. The study showed that Australian marketers still rely heavily on traditional forms of promotion and research and are yet to embrace the more modern techniques of their global counterparts.

At the same time research by GE indicates that Australia is seen as one of the least innovative nations on earth. The GE Innovation Barometer had Australia lagging behind countries like Brazil and Finland by corporate chiefs who were asked which countries were leading the way in technology and business practices.

The question is, why are we lagging behind? Here are 5 reasons I can see:

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Popularity: 6%

Almost six out of ten consumers (59 per cent) have stopped engaging with four or more brands as a result of poorly targeted communications, according to research released today by Experian. The report, titled ‘The future of multichannel marketing: marketer and consumer perspectives,’ shines a spotlight on disconnects that exist between marketers and consumers and highlights the opportunities available to marketers to minimise the impact of poorly targeted communications.

The Experian figures show that, as a result of poorly-targeted communications, eight per cent of consumers have stopped engaging with 20 or more brands. A further 27 per cent of Australians have gone as far as creating a separate email address to receive this information to avoid other email accounts from being inundated.

However, marketers are also making strides to change traditional marketing practices demonstrated by a significant 89 per cent of marketers now using a customer segmentation strategy.  In addition, 69 per cent are becoming more selective about the channels they use to engage with customers.  A key challenge identified by half (50 per cent) of Australian marketers lies in cutting through the white-noise to get messages through to the consumer.

It’s clear that many marketers are investing in tools to get the right message to the right audiences at the right time, yet the findings suggest that they may not be applying this strategic segmentation across all marketing disciplines, particularly among newer channels such as social media.

The evolution of social media

The findings show that consumers are least trusting of newer marketing channels such as social media, SMS and LinkedIn for direct communication with brands.  Almost three in 10 (29 per cent) consumers ranked social media as among the three marketing channels they trusted least when receiving information about a brand.  While just four per cent said it was the channel they trusted most.

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Popularity: 2%

Times have definitely changed. Until recently a new business would measure itself against a series of metrics like foot traffic, advertising reach and frequency, number of phone calls, number of calls or meetings by sales people, presentation to sales ratios, and of course actual sales.

But that was before the web, before Google and before social media networks took off.

In the era of inbound marketing the metrics have totally changed and I am studying them frantically in the wake of our recent NLYZR launch.

One week into my new start-up’s life I am able to track key metrics on an hourly basis to determine what’s working and what’s not. Here are some of the things I’m keeping track of:

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Popularity: 3%

Its crucial to be found online in search

As we move from a bricks and mortar economy to one where we are increasingly doing business online the is a growing need for businesses to adapt.

The media this year has been full of doom and gloom about the impact of the digital economy on a beleaguered traditional retail sector. Some of our most famous retailers have been crying foul over purchases made online from foreign websites being GST exempt.

Yet despite the anguish it is surprising to find that very few Australian businesses are taking the appropriate steps to effictively compete online. We have just completed a study of over 6000 websites by NLYZR to determine the standard of website optimization in Australia and the results are telling.

The NLYZR study found that the majority of Australian websites are not up to scratch when it comes to SEO:

• 87% of the sites had substandard SEO

• 29% had no SEO at all

• Only 6% of sites tested were properly optimized

The study looked at over 6000 different websites in a cross section ranging from large publicly listed companies to small businesses and sole traders.

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Popularity: 4%

In what is known as the ‘Oscars of Radio’, the 1233 Breakfast team – Aaron Kearney, Karen Shrosbery along with station manager Phil Ashley-Brown, has been nominated for the Andrew’s Journey series.

The story of Andrew Hall, a young man from Hawks Nest who became a paraplegic after falling from a balcony on Australia Day last year, Andrew’s Journey is a finalist in the world’s best human relations story category.

Presenter Aaron Kearney, Executive Producer Phil Ashley-Brown and Producer Karen Shrosbery have all been invited to attend the gala ceremony in New York in June 2011.

For 54 years the New York Festivals® Radio Awards has recognized the World’s Best Radio ProgramsTM

Each year they receive entries from radio stations, networks and independent producers from over 30 countries. International radio experts from stations and companies donate their time to the judging process. The GrandJury® is comprised of top level industry professionals from 5 continents and over 25 countries.

Congratulations to the whole 1233 Newcastle team for this recognition.

Popularity: unranked

John Laws has plugged the golden microphone back in at 2SM

While digital radio continues to make inroads into the media landscape, in a stroke of retro genius Bill Caralis has lured possibly Australia’s most analogue announcer back on air. John Laws plugged his golden microphone in today at 2SM’s Sydney studios to begin broadcasting to the Supernetwork stations after 2 years in retirement.

It’s strange marriage that just might work. Certainly Laws has nothing to lose in this comeback. 2SM isn’t currently surveyed in Sydney after last being measured at a sub-1% audience, so it will be a long time before anyone can actually determine whether he’s pulling an audience. If they decide to re-join the ratings race any increase will be seen as a victory…and surely they can rate more than “margin of error” with Laws on the roster.

The bigger win will be across Caralis’s regional AM network where ratings have slipped in the morning shift over the last two years. There’s a strong chance the return of Laws will produce a lift in ratings, even if the average audience will as old as the man himself (75).

However you suspect this game isn’t about ratings, but rather network sponsorship deals. And Laws has always been good for sponsors. Supernetwork sales teams should be rubbing their hands together for a while now as they bask in the warm glow of the golden mic.

Popularity: unranked

Exactly four years ago my team and I launched a new online magazine for our local region called Hunter’s Best. It had a lot of big ideas, some of which were totally wrong, and proved to be a bit ahead of its time. While we enjoyed a certain amount of success, it wasn’t a sustainable model and we eventually let it whither and die.

However, in the back of our minds, we knew that one day we’d revisit the idea. Today is that day.

Welcome to Urban Insider – an insider’s guide to the city (of Newcastle and surrounding region).

Here you’ll find a much more polished version of our original idea whose time has finally come.

Urban Insider showcases the region and aims to unearth many of the the talented people living here; musicians, bloggers, writers, photographers, designers and more. Not only can you see what is going on, but meet the people who are making it happen – both the contributors and their subjects. Its an outlet for ‘citizen journalism and citizen reporting’.

Urban Insider is a genuine attempt to help identify and promote the emerging talent in this vibrant region.

And while my team and I are the publishers and editors, this is not about Sticky. We’re looking for contributors from all walks of life to get involved, pitch us ideas and get published on Urban Insider. It should be a great way to help build your profile and hopefully drive some traffic to your own sites.

Some of the initial contributors featured on Urban Insider are Gerry Bobson, Melissa Priest, Kaitlyn Green, Helen Henry, and Doug Hall. You too can join the team.

We’ve invested a considerable amount of time and our own resources to deliver something we hope many local and visitors can use, enjoy and participate in.

So…..

Pitch us your ideas

Provide comments and feedback

Help fill in the information gaps in each section

Tell your friends

Follow us on Twitter

Become a Facebook Friend

Subscribe to the RSS

Post your #urbaninsiderpic for us to share with the world

Write thoughtful (non-negative) opinion pieces on how to improve the region

Share. Urban Insider is for all us.

Popularity: unranked

the 5-star Oracle Resort

This is a test post for research into search results around apartments for lease at The Oracle Resort on the Gold Coast for holidays.

The Oracle is an ultra modern resort at Broadbeach on Queensland’s famous Gold Coast. These luxury apartments on total ocean front are contained in two spectacular waterfront towers, far removed from the streets below yet central to all the excitement and glamour of Australia’s favourite beachside escape.

Leasing an apartment at the beautiful Oracle Resort is as easy as contacting us via email or completing the enquiry form on this site.

Book your luxury escape now in an apartment at the amazing Oracle Resort and enjoy the sights and scenes of Australia’s famous Gold Coast on your next holiday.

Popularity: unranked

One of the most revealing discussions at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco this year was with Ariel Emanuel, the CEO of William Morris Endeavor agency and inspiration for Ari Gold in the TV show Entourage. At first I was confused as to why a super-agent from Hollywood was being interviewed at the world’s pre-eminent web-tech conference, but it didn’t take long for the penny to drop.

Lloyd!!! What's a Twitter?

We have heard the old web cliche that “content is king” for years now, and of course there is a lot of truth in it. An iPod is not much use without the music that can be easily stored on it, and most of the successful apps and devices we love to use require a steady stream of great content to make them appealing to us.

And of course, Ari Emanuel knows this. He’s been telling the traditional media for years that content is king and, via his stable of stars, has been able to supply a considerable amount of that content to them.

But in 2010, the playing field looks much different to a decade ago. Piracy has become a massive issue for the entertainment industry in the last ten years. The number of potential distribution platforms has also exploded. Now an artist, and agent, must consider a plethora of options rather than the traditional few.

Both Hollywood and the music industry have had an uneasy relationship with Silicon Valley. The web has been viewed as both the villain and the saviour as digital files enable easy and instant distribution and sharing of content.

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Popularity: unranked