By: Mike Sachoff | Source: webpronews.com

Microsoft has launched a new social networking site for IT professionals called Aggreg8.
Think of MySpace but only focusing on all things IT related. On their homepage is the mission statement.

It reads "Aggreg8 is a social networking and collaboration space for the IT community. Inside you can keep track of your trusted network, find others through your network with similar interests or situations. Then you can collaborate with anyone in the community inside our working groups. We even allow you to create your own working groups, choosing if you want to collaborate with the whole community or collaborate in private working groups."

There are other sites out there that all ready have a similar concept. One is experts-exchange and another is driverheaven.net. What will set Aggreg8 apart from the others?
The answer is probably nothing.

Another drawback to the site is users need a Microsoft Passport account to sign in. With two similar sites that are more established Aggreg8 would have to improve their site features and user friendliness to attract visitors.

If Microsoft wants Aggreg8 to be taken seriously by other IT professionals it seems they have some issues to overcome.

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By: Greg Sterling | Source: searchenginejournal.com

Loki is a toolbar/technology from Skyhook Wireless that, once downloaded, uses WiFi triangulation to determine user location and saves the step of having to enter it on visited websites. It has very interesting local search uses and implications (for those who partner). For example:

Beyond making local search more usable, the most interesting implication of Loki is what Ted Morgan, CEO of Skyhook Wireless, calls “location pull.” For example, if a retailer like Target tapped into this technology (assuming it’s installed on a user’s device) then, reading user location, Target could automatically offer a locally customized version of its site for that individual, including deals, the weekly circular, etc. Online newspapers, rather than asking for registrations, could offer a “national” or a “local” version of their sites accordingly. And clearly search engine (and potentially display) advertising would benefit from the greater location precision.

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By: Eddy Li | Source: site-reference.com

Everyday there is more and more people getting into affiliate marketing and you might be one of them. Of course, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make a full time income online. It’s a great system that generates income for both the merchandiser and the affiliates from each sale. Just like any other business, a great deal of the profits in affiliate marketing depends on what strategies the affiliate marketer decides to promote the products/services. As the affiliate marketing industry grows everyday, so does the competition, therefore an affiliate marketer must be clever enough to utilize unique and effective ways to approach potential customers to purchase or avail of the products and services offered.

Affiliate programs are more effective, risk-free and cost-efficient than the traditional advertising practices. So why do so many people still fail in affiliate marketing? There are many reasons in a lot of different areas of the program to consider looking into. The most crucial aspect in affiliate programs is the advertising. This is the area where many affiliate markers fail in because they lack hard work, which is the most important thing in affiliate marketing and in all other kinds of businesses as well. Many affiliate marketers fail to comprehend that it isn’t as simple as directing customers to the business website. It takes a great deal of hard work and needs to invest a lot of time in promoting the products/services to be successful. As mentioned earlier, the competition is getting higher and the customers are getting wiser as well. Customers nowadays do their homework to get the best deals they can find in terms of quantity and quality.

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