Google seems to be embracing the Halloween spirit a little early this year. Its announcement regarding two new Analytics features might be interpreted as a trick, for example, since they’re in private beta without a release date. Then, for a treat, there’s not one but four new features that should arrive much sooner.

How’s advanced segmentation sound? This first of the four “enables you to isolate and analyze subsets of your traffic,” according to a post made on the Google Analytics Blog. “It is true on-the-fly segmentation of visits so that you can create powerful filters with a few mouse-clicks. . . . Then, you can apply one or more of these segments to current or historical data, and even compare segment performance side by side in reports.”

The second feature, custom reports, allows for still more user input. Motion charts will display everything in an easy-to-understand (and interesting) visual format. Finally, a new account management dashboard promises to make everything more accessible and easier to understand.

As for the stuff “scheduled for a more gradual full release,” a data export API will allow developers and random individuals to try their hands at creating new programs and applications. Integration with AdSense is self-explanatory and has topped request lists for a long time.

So go sign into Google Analytics to see exactly what the search giant put in your goody bag. And if you’re not lusting after the last two features, consider the real joke to be on Yahoo, which was trying to address some of the same issues with the upcoming Yahoo Web Analytics product.

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Source: Web Pro News

Wired has posted an already-controversial article about how blogs are “so 2004″, and how services like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr even are here to replace them. Writer Paul Boutin says:

Thinking about launching your own blog? Here’s some friendly advice: Don’t. And if you’ve already got one, pull the plug.

Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.

Obviously, people have some things to say about that. So let’s look at some responses from bloggers:

At PureBlogging, I personally said: “Blogs are not obsolete. You know why? Because I still read them everyday. I still write for them nearly everyday. And so do countless others (that probably includes you). If you ask me, blogs are more relevant than they’ve ever been, because they are more mainstream than they have ever been.”

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By: Jeffrey Smith

Your country is your home, but opportunity exists everywhere. Despite language barriers, authority sites (since search engines can translate) are everywhere. Such websites when combined in tandem can provide immense inbound link weight for your website, which in turn translates into higher search engine rankings for your website.

What is an authority site? Website authority is a by-product of multiple factors (trust rank, relevance and endorsement from websites who have earned a position of authority from search engines).

In layman’s terms, it is a popular site that people frequent, that gets linked to on the basis of it’s merit, or that others willingly refer to when the topic of that site comes into play.

As a result, if you are looking for a great source for inbound links, you can always tap into search engines to find relevant sites in other countries that you can approach to find viable alternative to your competition on common soil.

One link from an authority site can be equal to 1000 off topic links. Since relevance is one of the key metrics search engines use to determine how much value the link passes, think outside the box, or at least outside the country to find other sites that have attained authority status.

Traffic comes from uncommon sources, for example our blog has readers in over 127 countries who frequent regularly. There isn’t a day that goes by that we are not getting linked to as a reference for something SEO related from Russia, Italy, India, the UK, Canada, Australia, Spain or dozens of other countries.

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