Ask someone to describe Google and they’ll most likely end up talking about a search engine that saved the web. If they’re a little more interested in tech, they might talk about its funky campus, its Android mobile operating system, or its “don’t be evil” corporate ethos. Few would describe it as a highly-efficient, profit-driven business machine.The company is coming increasingly under fire for the amount of tax it pays, particularly in smaller countries where it rakes in ...

If you are interested in finding out what people are saying about your services and products online, have you considered starting an online reputation management strategy? Online reputation management, better known as ORM, involves so much more than just checking for links online. It's about monitoring (listening) to your actual reputation on the web and how people feel about your services, products, and company.Many assume that ORM should only be used to monitor any negative comments and feedback to anything ...

People are pretty fickle. Don’t try and deny it; we are. It’s a fact that marketers and advertising execs the world over have been battling with for ages now. We get bored very quickly and move our attention to the next best thing to come along. We are spoilt for choice now and marketers are forced to get more and more creative about how they engage with us, cue: experential marketing.Essentially this is an immersive way of getting more ...

Yahoo has officially announced its acquisition of blogging platform Tumblr for US$1.1-billion cash. The news was first broken on Twitter by the Wall Street Journal, seemingly confirming rumours of the buyout, which have been floating around for a few days now from Kara Swisher and the AllThingsD crew.It's not all great news though as it seems nearly 72 000 Tumblr users have moved their blogs to rival platform WordPress following the rumours, according to WordPress founder, Matt Mullenweg.Mullenweg, wrote in ...

Seed accelerator 88mph's Nairobi director Nikolai Barnwell spoke to Ventureburn about its upcoming three-month acceleration programme in the Kenyan capital: what they look for in a startup, mentors and the African investment space. Whether you're an entrepreneur considering entering the programme, or just interested in tech in Kenya and Africa, you won't want to miss this Q&A.What does 88mph value in a startup? Are you looking for innovation or sound business models?I don’t think they necessarily contradict each other. More ...

The Satellite U920t is an Ultrabook that was released by Toshiba earlier this year. Currently, it is the only product in its laptop/tablet combo range that boasts Windows 8 Pro. It is admittedly a good and reasonably affordable device (R10 999) but its user friendliness and practicality is a problem.Feels greatThe Satellite U920t looks and feels great. It’s a sturdy and attractive piece of hardware. In tablet mode, you work on a five point touch-screen system. This basically means that ...

This is pretty nifty. Net Prophet is raising money for its bursary, Kickstarter style. The annual gathering of 2 000+ geeks is one of the bigger tech conferences on the South African calendar, and every year at the event the organisers raise money to help fund university education for students who would otherwise not be able to further their education. But instead of just auctioning off an iPad, the organisers decided to jump on the crowdfunding train.This year the ...

What do you get when you combine a Facebook app with data about human rights abuses? That would be Trial by Timeline. Following in the wake of a number of similar interactive Take-this-Lollipop-style sites, this campaign by advertising agency Colenso BBDO for the New Zealand arm of Amnesty International scans your Facebook profile for 'crimes' that could get you lashed, stoned, imprisoned or beheaded in countries around the world.The site, which was originally launched late last year, has been gaining ...

Samsung co-CEO Shin Jong-kyun has hailed the company’s new Galaxy S4 phone as its fastest ever selling gadget ever. The company's new flagship smartphone is expected to hit 10-million in sales next week, less than a month after it first launched.Speaking to The Korea Times, Shin said that the company is "confident that we will pass more than 10-million sales of the S4 next week. It is selling much faster than the previous model S3."He added that the ...

Another social network that has become very popular in the past few years but is marked by a lack of marketing data is Tumblr. It’s a fertile petri dish for some of the web’s most contagious content and has a fascinatingly wide demographic profile. And with the added buzz it’s getting from the much-talked about Yahoo acquisition, social media professionals should not ignore it.Gnip gave me access to the Tumblr firehose a little while back and I used it to ...