Innovative Search Options: BitLy Takes a Step

It has become pretty common lately to shorten long links and make them simpler to share with others. I wouldn’t even exaggerate to state that the majority of us are quite accustomed to using services, like BitLy for the described so to say “shortening” purpose.

This is how it was in the past. The thing is that from now on, BitLy isn’t only specialized in one specific niche, but is likely to expand its fame to a considerable extent, having introduced its search engine for trendy links in social media. Someone would, perhaps, say that this sector is totally occupied by Google for good, but they might happen to be wrong.

The reason is that what RealTine by BitLy offers is not really the search engine we’re more acquainted with: it enables users to define a number of search parameters, which help specify and acquire the most relative results. Similarly to what 4shared.com, for instance, offers to define to find the needed file, the new service provides the options to narrow the results to particular social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr), geographical location, language and sphere in addition to the entered keyword. 

Being now available in its closed beta version only, RealTime is accessible to BitLy registered users, and you need to have your sign-up application approved. Fortunately, the approval usually takes little time (at least mine was checked within a few minutes), so you don’t have to wait to start surfing for the trendy links. At the same time, be prepared to find out that the received results aren’t always satisfactory either in the quantity of links or their actual relativity.

For what it takes, BitLy has always had something innovative from the moment the service entered the market, and the creation of RealTime works as the perfect proof of such statement. Who cares that it won’t, obviously, become the next Google for trendy links, if it still provides us with something highly significant: the choice of which app or service to opt for.

Facebook Ads: Targeting Digs into Mobile Apps

It became clear quite a while ago that one of the weakest aspects in the profitability of Facebook was related to the monetization of mobile audience, that is, getting more revenue from users, who access FB on their smartphones and tablets. Therefore, as soon as the owners of the service were done with the IPO fuss, they got down to business.

As for now, it’s already possible to browse the first steps in the company’s new mobile ad strategy: FB has integrated specific mobile app targeting options, which enable track, which apps are installed on their gadgets and thus display only related ads in the mobile version of the site.

Such app targeting innovations are, undoubtedly, essential for Facebook and can increase the company’s profits to a considerable extent. The definition of what mobile applications people are using, will, actually, enable to figure out what users wish to have, what they are willing to pay and give them the ad they will respond to. Not bad, ha? 

Certainly, the introduced differentiated mobile app ads appear to be much better, than just the usage of provided basic users’ info, like personal interests or place of birth, for instance. Moreover, it hides so much potential that can, in fact, make Facebook owners much wealthier, than they hope. Yet, is it just?

With the time on, our personal data becomes more and more accessible to versatile services, leaving no space for what we used to know as “private”. It sometimes seems that we are always watched or tracked by someone, who can use the information, which isn’t supposed to become public, when it’s necessary.

Obviously, the reasons why Facebook mobile ads dive more into our lives through newly-added targeting options are related to money, but there should surely be predefined the line of privacy, which the companies should be forbidden to go beyond.

I often miss the times, when the information you provide only included the chosen name, e-mail address and password, like it is still required at 4shared, nothing more, so that I can keep what I like, who I know and apps I use to myself. 

Stay cool)

Andy

Design Gets into Limelight at Gojee

Naturally, the changes in the IT world are mostly continuous and totally inevitable. Some of these are relatively minor and mostly concern the shift of audience’s life interests (the shift of popularity between music and photo applications, for instance), whereas others are much more important, including the priority level of services’ design and functionality.

Essentially speaking, it’s been for long now that the functionality of a device or a service has been taken as the prior notion. Even though Apple has brought back the image-focused gadgets with their iPhones and iPads, no one would dare say those are inferior in functionality in any way.

As for the apps and services, the functionality remains at the top, leaving the design peculiarities behind. It would be basically enough to create a high-quality logo, select the colourscheme and the fonts, other that that, it’s vital to care about the features, in the first place.

At the same time, there can be distinguished a few exceptions of a rule, as a number of services have opted for making the service’s design its most efficient part. Among these, one of the recipe-sharing sites Gojee can be easily called the embodiment of great design solutions and exquisite style.

The overall delighted impression about Gojee is, perhaps, influenced by the initial purpose of its creation – sharing of recipes. In this respect, the full-screen background picture of dishes and drinks is what every visitor craves for, whereas the fast sliding bar enables to check the available variety of cooking instructions. At the same time, what Gojee lacks is, obviously, the powerful functional basis, as there’s neither a convenient search option nor the mere division of recipes into categories, for example.

For what it takes, the notion of balance appears to be the most valuable thing in the IT industry anyway. No matter if it is a gadget, an app or a service, it has good chances to become globally popular, as the grandees, e.g. Facebook, Google or 4shared, in case both the functional and the design aspects are taken care of.

Stay cool)

Andy