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Mental health services in prisons need major investment if they are to provide good care to inmates, experts say.

If you haven�??t used any Photoshop software, should you start with its newest version Photoshop CS aka Photoshop 8? If you�??re already using an older version, is the reduced price for an upgrade to Photoshop CS worth it?

What and What Not to Expect from Adobe Photoshop CS CS stands not for Counterstrike but for Creative Suite. The whole package includes new versions not only for Photoshop but also for InDesign, Illustrator, GoLive, Acrobat, and ImageReady.

Version Cue �?” A file management system that allows you to locate files; its value depends on just how much you�??re using Adobe programs.

RAW �?” This is a new format introduced as an add-in package for the previous version but is now included in Photoshop CS. It is definitely leagues better than the more common JPEG format, but unfortunately, no digital camera currently uses this format yet. Nevertheless, there are a lot of things you can do with RAW. If you convert your photos into RAW, you�??ll be able to evaluate the noise reduction of every image and develop or edit it until you achieve the desired results.

Match Color �?” This option is a definitely a godsend! With Match Color, users of Photoshop CS finally have a simple and trouble-free way of combining two pictures that have been taken with dissimilar levels. Let�??s say that you wish to make a collage, and you want all the photos to have a uniform tone or color. You can do that by using Match Color. Simply open all the photos you need to change then start adjusting the slider. Increase or decrease the tone until you achieve complete balance for all photos. Yes, it�??s that easy!

Highlighting and Shadowing �?” This is arguably the best feature of the newest Photoshop version. Instead of painstakingly adjusting the curves and levels of your images one by one, highlighting and shadowing allows you to take an easy shortcut without sacrificing the quality of the outcome. For best results, you should start playing with shadowing first. After achieving satisfactory results, that�??s the time you should switch to adjusting the highlighting options.

Blur Filter Option �?” If you�??ve been inordinately fond of the blur filter option in Photoshop 7.0, you�??ll definitely fall in love again with the new and improved blur filter option from Photoshop CS. This time, it takes the name of lens blur, and indeed you�??ll encounter options that are all related to lenses such as blade curvature, focal distance, specular highlights, and iris. If you know what those terms stand for respectively then yes, you can expect the new lens blur option to work just the way those terms suggest. The only probable complaint is the amount of time this option consumes when applied to images that are larger than usual or contain too much detail.

Photo Filters �?” Professional photographers would certainly rejoice once they understand how photo filters of Photoshop CS work. To put it simply, photo filters allow you to correct the color choices in a photo almost automatically. To the untrained eye, error in color is quite difficult to spot unlike glaring flaws in contrast and brightness. But this is something that photographers would surely welcome because it gives them yet another digital means to make their already beautiful photos even more exquisite. Ultimately, Photoshop CS is a dream come true for both beginners and professionals�?�but only if you�??re willing to work hard learning how to navigate around it.

Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For a checkout his website.

www.roiweb.biz
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Governments are urged to agree measures to protect oceans and the sea floor at a UN conservation meeting.

One thing I really enjoy doing is rereading kids books. I checked out Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and zoomed through it in about two hours. I have reread many other classics and enjoyed them. I think my next big kids read will be the infamous Harriet the Spy which I loved and totally identified with as a child.

One of the greatest regrets of my life (in terms of small scale regrets, anyway) is that I sold off my Sweet Valley High books. Now, granted, SVH isn’t all that ‘classic’, but I so loved the storyline and always identified with Elizabeth. I used to own every book up past a hundred, and all of the special editions (summer, winter, etc) they had out. It took me years to collect. Now I have about three of them at home. I have been checking used bookstores but apparently they aren’t that popular anymore. And no wonder. I don’t think Jessica, the ‘wild’ twin, ever got beyond some passionate kissing. Which is why I’d love to have them around for my daughter when she gets older. So if you want to just box up all you have and send them to me…

But one of the biggest shocks I had in kids books came this weekend. While scouring paperbacks at the library, I came across a Judy Blume book for grownups, Summer Sisters. Now, Judy Blume was a crazy favorite of mine; I read pretty much everything she wrote. So of course I had to check out this novel. I had grown up; time to see if Judy did.

One of the things I enjoyed as a kid was Blume’s realism and frankness. Although Ramona Quimby (age was cute and adorable, she wasn’t exactly realistic. Although Matilda was brilliant and could read by age 2 and move things with her mind…well, let’s just say I identified with her except for that whole reading by age 2 and moving things with her mind. But Blume’s characters were real kids with real problems.

The same is true of what I read in Summer Sisters I suppose. We have two girls experimenting with sex, naturally curious, and putting together one of those ‘odd’ relationships. However, in searching for realism, I felt Blume overdoes it. Sure, teenagers are sex crazed, but oh my goodness, I didn’t know you could pack that much sex into so few pages. The novel was just too much for me, and so, although the storyline was interesting, I finally gave up and closed the pages for good when the girls started discussing their experiments with oral sex.

The characters were realistic and credible, but I guess just too nitty gritty for me. I also had a problem with the seven or eight point-of-views tried throughout the book, while the majority was told in the first person. I seem to be hitting a lot of that lately, and it has been driving me nuts. If nothing else, it breaks the flow of the story.

So I think I’m going to keep my mind uncluttered. I’ll head back to one of my childhood favorites by Blume, Blubber and avoid the remainder of her adult novels. She’s a great writer, but I guess I have another 10 or 20 years to go before I’m that grown up.

Nola Redd is an author on

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Harrison Ford has had his manly pensioner’s chest waxed - why?

I need to make some phone calls, the laundry is piling up, and the car is due for an oil change. But those will have to wait–I’m busy reading blogs.

The word “blog” itself gives one the feeling of a murky forest filled with treacherously hidden hollows of mud waiting to pull the unwary wanderer under, never to be seen again.

Indeed, many blogs are a veritable morass of links and reciprocatory links and thanks-for-the-link links and you’re-welcome links. The web traveler is sent from one blog to the next, which refers to yet another; soon he begins to feel panicked and finds himself blindly fighting backwards to get back to the original site, by which time he has forgotten what caught his attention in the first place.

The other day I found myself in a dilemma: should I read Dostoevsky on the possibility of redemption, or the blog of a guy who calls himself the Curmudgeongly Celt on the possibility of repainting his upstairs bathroom? The Celt won, of course; he’s probably going to use beige and orange-red. Sounds like an unpleasant color scheme to me, but that’s a Celt for you.

What is it about blogging that’s so alluring? Hoping that, perhaps, in some small way, you can make a difference in the world? The desire to unleash the latent Creative Potential that heretofore has remained untapped? Creating a forum where anonymous weirdos can leave ads about Web Poker in your guest book using misspelled words and all caps?

I know, I know. There are many well-written and thoughtful blogs out there. The trick is finding them and avoiding getting sidetracked once you’ve discovered one. But even the best of bloggers is eventually going to succumb to the temptation of linking to a “Which Animal in ‘Charlotte’s Web’ Do You Most Resemble?” quiz. You have a limited amount of time; will you resist the web-wandering by ignoring the link? Or will you take the time to: 1) follow the link, 2) take the quiz, and 3) go back to the blog and post in the comment section that you are Wilbur? (Admit it: you initially were the Speech-Impaired Goose before you went back and changed three of your answers).

Well, enough about this. I want to read about how the bathroom remodeling project is coming along. Then I guess I’d better start dinner…I see from my husband’s blog that he’s getting tired of take-out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angie Brennan is a freelance humor writer, cartoonist, and illustrator. She and her family live in Maryland. Visit Angie’s website and humor blog at:

http://www.squidoo.com/beerandyoung
http://www.computethat.co.uk
Freelance Illustrator, Graphic Artist, Cartoonist

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Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives. Also entertainment, business, science, technology and health news.

Whenever a web designer gets a web design project, he or she will require to take a step back and go through the research process in order to complete the job. The research process is a tedious process, it determines how well, and successful will the result of your web design. Ideas for web design will share with you how to go through that research process smoothly and obtain results.

One fine day, you received a call from some client and he requests you to design a website for his company. Over the phone, he briefly tells you what his company is about and asks about the prices, you then fixed an appointment with him for discussion. You will probably get excited about it and starts to get more details of the company by checking them on Google, and thinks about some prelim ideas for the website. At this stage, your research process has already started.

RETREIVING THE DETAILS:

After meeting up with the client, you get a lot of details that will assist you in your design process. This details applies even when you are designing a personal website.

1. Nature of the Company

2. Client Preferences (Example websites?)

3. Target Audiences (kids? Young adults? Everyone in the world?)

4. Platform (Flash? Html? Php? Asp? )

By organizing these details, you get a bigger picture of:

1. What are you going to design?

2. What style of design are you approaching?

3. Whom you should design for?

4. How will your design work?

5. How will your design please both the audiences and the client in order to be successful?

DETERMINING THE STYLE:

With the information you have on hand, its time to determine the style. For a start, you should base on the client�??s description of his company, his nature of the company to give a rough gauge on the design style. Examples below:

Example 1:

Web Hosting business >> High tech web design, sleek and professional design

Example 2:

Dolls and Toys business >> Kiddy, Girly, Colorful, Fun design

COLOR THEMES:

Having a good and suitable color theme on your web design will give users a pleasing experience while surfing through the web site you designed. One of the important techniques is to get a color chart from your local art store or use some color chooser tools to aid in your color selection. Your color theme will affect the mood and feel you want to create. Colors also have their own meanings. For example, white is clean, blue is cool and corporate, having a white and blue color theme gives you a clean and corporate web design. Orange and yellow are warm and friendly colors, Grey is cool, combining a Orange-Grey theme will give you a friendly and fun mood. Dark colors are also popular among many, because they easily matched other bright colors. A common match is using a black background and light colored text as a combination.

There are thousands and one meaning to choose your color theme. Whether your color theme turns out successful depends heavily on the first step �??Determining the style�?� of your website.

PHOTOS & GRAPHICS:

After getting the colors done, its time to think about the graphics and images. As a graphic says a thousand words, it is good to think about how you want to approach this portion. Here are some recommendations you can try:

1. Stock photos �?” Some are free, some requires you to pay a certain amount before providing you with high resolutions image. If your client has the money and there are suitable photos he would like to use, this is the way to go. Searching in Google for �??stock photos�?� will give you plenty of results on this.

2. Take your own photos �?” When budget is involve, usually the project will require you to take a relevant photos and use them as supporting images on the website. Having a mid-range camera should do the trick as images for website are all on low resolution. Seldom there is a chance for you to use an image more than 640 x 480 pixels.

3. Creating Graphics Images �?” A web design will always need custom-made graphics images. For example, icons for a Shoe section, button for submitting information. You will need some skills in creating the graphics of your needs, or you will feel stuck while designing. Consider looking for tutorials on creating certain effects, like rounded corners, Mac alike buttons, pattern backgrounds and more. Learn about vector graphics tool like Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Fireworks. They can help you to create graphics, mockups and layout fast and efficiently. This will greatly aid in your next web design project.

INSPIRATION AND REFERENCES:

If you already have some inspiration on how to design the layout, great, but if you do not, consider looking at related websites for some references on how they are being done. A search in Google also reveals some websites of the same genre. You can also check out ready-made templatesas well. I am not teaching you to copy exactly, but as a new learner, you should take reference and see how they are being designed.

Why bother looking at them?

Reference sites will give you ideas on usability, color theme, ideas on relevant images, navigation, features and many more guides to work on your web design project. Always consider them as useful references to help you whenever you need inspiration and ideas for your web design. It is all about looking more, reading more and getting your eyes and brain more exposed to the web design styles. www.sitecritic.net has alot of website reviews by different web designers all over the world and is worth taking a look.

Final Say

I hope this article has been helpful to give you some ideas for your next web design project. In this web design industry, it is a never ending journey of learning. By reading more and seeing how others create, you will be more aware the next time you design your client�??s or your own web site.

Bernard Peh is a great passioner of web technologies and one of the co-founders of . He works with experienced web designers and developers for more than 5 years, developing and designing commercial and non-commercial websites. During his free time, he does website reviews, freelance SEO and PHP work.

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Gwyneth Paltrow was worried she would never make another film after taking time out to have children, she reveals.

If you prefer not to commute to work every morning and like to have a quiet atmosphere as you work, then working as a home agent may be for you. There are many types of jobs available at different companies, such as customer service, data entry or sales. For the sake of this article I will discuss inbound sales calls, since this is my area of expertise. I am one of the top salespeople in my very large, well-known company. This type of position isn’t for everyone, so I’ll explain how many of these positions work.

You are by yourself the whole day, with no coworkers around you. If you do have contact with coworkers, they usually reach you by Instant Message, as does your Supervisor. Being alone all day isn’t for everyone. Be true to what kind of person you are when considering this job, are you an introvert (like to be alone) or an extrovert (like the company of others)? If you are gregarious, and like to have the comraderie of people talking nearby as you work, then you may not like being alone so much. As a home agent, most likely there won’t be a holiday party to go to, since you and your coworkers are spread all over the place. If you are an independent person then this won’t bother you at all. It’s refreshing not to have to talk on the phone over a noisy background. I like my privacy and go out after my job is done for the day, that way I don’t feel isolated.

Having an environment conducive to work is important. If you want to be taken seriously by your superiors and customers, you must have total quiet in the background as much as possible, as you work. If you have noisy pets or kids, then have an office to work in where you can close yourself away from them for awhile. Have someone watch the kids for you as you work so they won’t want to come visit as you talk to customers. This is important because you are being monitored by higher ups by phone and/or computer, and if you have to stop working to deal with other things, then your productivity will be low. This won’t keep you employed for long. So, it pays to be disciplined about your work time and keep all noise and distraction to the absolute minimum.

Most of the time, you must have high speed or cable internet. No dial up, as it is too slow for business purposes. Also, a corded, land-line telephone with a hands-free headset is preferred over cordless phones for security reasons. Especially if you are taking peoples’ credit card information like I do. You don’t want anyone listening in on your conversation who isn’t authorized to. Customers are touchy giving out private information so you want to make their experience as risk-free as possible.

It is important to have discipline and a strong work ethic, in order to keep an independent job. Nobody is there to help you so you must be able to rely on yourself for answering customer questions and problems. Sometimes you can Instant Message a supervisor for help, but this is not always the case. If you can work on your own and rely on your own knowledge, home agent jobs are probably a good fit for your lifestyle. Take all training possible for the position you plan to work in. Most companies have their own training programs so take notes, even if you are experienced in the business. There is always something to be gained from on-the-job training.

Be comfortable when working, but not too comfortable. It’s hard to stay alert when lying down and relaxing in bed or in a recliner. I know, I tried it. My normally consistent high sales stats plummeted during my few weeks in a massage recliner. I was too comfortable. Darn. Back to an office chair, and my sales went back to normal. To keep your initiative going, pretend you’re working in-house and sit at a desk. When you feel professional, you come across as more professional.

There are a variety of jobs available for home agents, so look online. Search for inbound calls or customer service. Anyone who wants you to pay a fee to work for them, forget it and move on. Most companies usally interview you online and on the phone. Make sure when talking to them that you use good diction and voice tone, as they will be analyzing how well you speak. They want a professional representative for their company, so beat out the competition by giving them good phone. When you find the right job, keep that motivation going by remembering the times you were stuck in traffic going to and from your old job. And, how when you’re car broke down, you had to miss work. Once you settle into a daily routine as a home agent, chances are it’ll be a welcome relief from the cubicle lifestyle. Give it a try and see what you think. Good luck and have fun.

Carolyn McFann is a scientific and nature illustrator, who owns Two Purring Cats Design Studio, which can be seen at: Educated at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, Carolyn is a seasoned, well-traveled artist, writer and photographer. She has lived and worked in Cancun, Mexico, among other interesting professional assignments in other countries. Clients include nature parks, museums, scientists, corporations and private owners. She has been the subject of tv interviews, articles for newspapers and other popular media venues.

Thecommuter
www.goodbetterbestaudio.com
Thecommuter

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MSPs vote to ban coin-operated sunbed and to stop under-18s from using the machines.

Car audio system, in modern world, has become more of a symbol of status than of entertainment and utility. Selection of them for your car can be as tough as buying clothes from a sales counter. In this case, at least a working knowledge on basic components of car system shall stand in good stead for the customer.

Deck, amplifiers, speakers and subwoofers are the essential ingredients of a car stereo system. A deck can range from simple cassette deck and CD player to hi-fi MP3 and mini disc gizmo. An amplifier, usually the symbol of power in the audio system, precisely, the power to blast, can have 1 to 7 channels. Fancy speakers will give the user enough mileage to hear and be heard. Subwoofers complement the low frequencies and bring forth the vibrations in a car that sets the rhythm in motion for the user.

Usually, most systems come with the facility of access to FM and AM radio. Different models of stereo can have multi channel mobile sound processors, digital media, navigation, steering wheel audio control adapter, etc. Acoustics must be adopted in the vehicle for maximum output from minimum input of the system. Also, it must be installed in the best possible manner for maximum audibility of the passengers and yet must not impinge on the guidelines set by motor vehicles authority.

Before zeroing in on one option, a user can easily shop via Internet from various service providers and settle for the best price. Here, quality and pricing will be complementary as it is a luxury item.

Also, the music system must be easy to handle and operate. As the user will mostly concentrate on driving while operating the system, cumbersome operations can create confusion and even disaster. Features of the audio system must also be compatible with the vehicle itself. A sleek car can do without a very big gadget, while larger vehicles can have added features in the stereo system.

Fitting the audio system into the car is an important consideration before you buy. Some service providers offer free services. Also, a user has to learn whether his motor insurance covers them as well.

If you are a new user, it is best to go for simple system, instead of the advanced and highly customized ones. Also, it is better to use cheaper systems in the car used especially for children, as they are prone to damage it by their persistent experimentation.

Most importantly, it is always advisable for the user to stick to his budget while choosing an audio system. One must remember that with the frenetic pace of technology and digitalization even the most advanced system can fall by the wayside within a span of as little as six months.

Hence a user must look for a quality, cheap and effective audio system for his recreation while he takes a ride out in this fast changing world.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos. You can find the best marketplace for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos at these sites for used DVDs, used movies, and Car Audio System, deck, amplifier, speaker.

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The EU announces plans to reform its hugely expensive rural payments system, the Common Agricultural Policy.

Packing 300 horsepower and 320 lbs.-ft. torque of instant acceleration onto the 4.6L OHV 24V V8 engine, the 2008 Mustang GT shoots through the wind like a wild stallion. Electronic fuel injection efficiently delivers unleaded regular fuel for fuel economy ratings of 15 mpg for city, 23 mpg for highway with the manual TR3650 5-speed manual transmission. Notwithstanding the top speed, the GT cruises stably with the MacPherson strut front suspension and 3-link rear suspension with Panhard Rod on constant-rate coil springs. Gas-pressurized hydraulic shocks add to the stability and comfort. Curves are maneuvered easily with the power rack-and-pinion steering system before the GT finally comes to a screeching stop courtesy of anti-lock 4-wheel power disc brakes with traction control.

Like its V6 mate in Ford’s stable, the powerful Mustang GT lives up to the reputation for performance and style Mustangs have been known and loved for. With the GT California Special Package, style radiates to the side scoops, fascias, the polished 18″ aluminum wheels, and unique trim. Get it in the Windveil Blue Clearcoat Metallic shade for a totally elegant look or go for the more aggressive Torch Red or Grabber Orange tones.

Open the GT’s doors and the expansive and luxurious interiors come in great color combinations and accents through the Premier Trim with Color Accent package available for both GT Deluxe and GT Premium. The Interior Upgrade Package available also for GT models greets the driver with a 6-gauge bright-polished instrumentation panel from behind the steering wheel. Bask in the comfort of leather-trimmed sport bucket seats on GT Premium interiors, in addition to upgraded door armrests, pedal covers, and auto-dim mirrors and compass. Seats may also be in luxurious cloth fabrics that come standard in the Mustang GT Deluxe. Choose from Light Graphite, Dark Charcoal, Medium Parchment, and other interior colors to complete the picture.

Other standard GT comfort and safety features include the entertainment package Shaker 500 Audio System complete with an AM-FM stereo and CD changer, the SIRIUS satellite radio, speed control, ambient lighting, power locks, power windows, power mirrors, electro-chromic auto-dim rearview mirror and compass, solar tinted glass, side-door intrusion beams, safety belts and the Belt-Minder, front seat air bags, the Personal Safety System and the LATCH or Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren, a keyless remote entry, SecuriLock PATS or passive anti-theft system, and intrusion alarms active anti-theft system.

That’s one 300-hp package of features in the 2008 Mustang GT.

Ride your new 2008 Ford Mustang out of the stable at The Mustang Store

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Green advisers tell the government airport expansion should be suspended pending an inquiry.

Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) uses a patented concept of retrieval which overcomes most of the problems currently associated with the more popular word based retrieval systems. It is an automatic software application that can return 30% more effective relevancy to text based databases than the current standard search word matching techniques used by search engines.

LSI is particularly beneficial when large amounts of data are to be processed and where information needs to be retrieved in multiple languages and translation needed. Current retrieval match words contained within text or documents in a database. while this system is popular they are far from perfect, and if you have ever used a search engine search box you will know what I mean.

The main problem lies in the lack of precision, and on average 50% of the information that is returned will be irrelevant to the end user. there is also the question of retrieval failure whereby only 20% of the relevant information available is returned. In other words, do you know what you are missing?

The main reason for this missing information lies in the fact that there are many ways to describe the same idea or concept. On non-LSI models, if a writer such as I use one word to describe a particular thing, and a searcher such as yourselves use another then you are quite likely to not get all the relevant information available.

An example of this would be if i were to use the word ‘laptop’, yet the searcher looks for ‘notebook’ or ‘portable computer’ it will be more likely to be missing from the search results for that elusive ‘laptop’ keyword. Authors and searchers alike find it increasingly difficult to anticipate the many ways in which a concept can be described.

LSI on the other hand enables the user to find relevant information even if the search query shares no words in common. LSI uses a very powerful and fully automatic way of statistically associating words of description to one another. LSI will learn that “laptop” and “portable” occur in many of the same contexts, and that queries about one should probably retrieve documents about the other.

LSI is 30% more effective than the current word matching methods used in retrieving relevant information to the user. (e.g., Deerwester et al., 1990; Dumais, 1995) LSI can handle many differing types of text based applications such as multimedia descriptions, marketing brochures, email messages or WWW urls all with equal ease. In addition LSI is unique in it’s application to improving information whenever the retrieval rate necessary is high. e.g. multimedia information, advertisements etc.

Because LSI does not rely on direct word matching it finds more relevant information at a breeze.even in differing languages without any necessary changes to existing algorithms. No wonder the likes of Google are now heading in the LSI direction, it’s search results can only improve on the relevancy to it’s clients. i.e you and me.

David ‘Goldie’ Edwards is a search engine optimizer and website designer working from his UK office. His the seo software designed to keep you in front of your competition.

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Movie star Christian Bale has signed up to make three new Terminator films, their producers reveal.

If you own or work with a search engine optimization company, or even if you’re just hoping to better your search engine placement, then you are probably aware of the recent acquisition frenzy that took hold among the major search engines. Google paid $3.1 billion for DoubleClick, Microsoft paid $6 billion for Aquantive, and Yahoo paid $680 million for the 80 percent of Right Media that it did not already own and another $300 million for BlueLithium. The companies purchased are all intended to help widen the advertising range of each of the engines in question, and to take advantage of increasingly sophisticated behavioral-based ad-serving technologies that the acquired companies owned.

What many people failed to realize was that when Google purchased DoubleClick, it now was also the owner of a very large search engine optimization company called Performics, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of DoubleClick.

This fact is of course raising some eyebrows in the industry. Google has consistently maintained that there is no way that people can pay for better search engine placement in the organic index, a stance that the company still claims applies despite this recent purchase. In fact, a portion of Google’s published guidelines about SEO says, “While Google doesn’t have relationships with any SEOs and doesn’t offer recommendations…” In another portion, Google says “While Google never sells better ranking in our search results…” However, anyone who hires search engine optimization company Performics is of course now paying Google for better search engine placement. It seems like a pretty black and white issue, but Google would obviously prefer that it was kept delightfully blurry.

A Serious Conflict of Interest

One would think that Google, aware of the controversy that would come from the fact that it now owned a search engine optimization company, would be eager to spin Performics off quickly in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety and of selling search engine placement. Not so, says the official Google/Doubleclick acquisition FAQ:

Q. What will Google do with Performics?
A. Performics is part of DoubleClick, and we are acquiring it as part of the transaction. We have no plans to dispose of it at this time (1).

All right, so Google owns a search engine optimization company and seems prepared to hold onto it for a little while at least. Yes, there seems to be a huge conflict of interest. Yes, there appears to be a large double standard. Yes, Google appears to have abandoned its long-standing principles regarding organic search engine placement in the interests of profit. But surely, the search engine optimization company that it bought will quickly be forced to follow the guidelines that Google has published for companies that are looking for a search engine optimization company. Right? Well, no.

Here is a verbatim quote from the guidelines that Google provides to people thinking about hiring a search engine optimization company:

• Make sure you’re protected legally. For your own safety, you should insist on a full and unconditional money-back guarantee. Don’t be afraid to request a refund if you’re unsatisfied for any reason (2)…

On the surface, this advice seems solid enough, but as an owner of a search engine optimization company, I can tell you how impractical it is. What would prevent a company that achieved fantastic search engine placement using my service from asking for its money back, claiming that it is unsatisfied? “For any reason” is a very slippery slope, and apparently Google agrees - Performics does not offer a guarantee of any kind. How do I know? Simple — one of my employees called and asked. We also have it in writing from an email we received from one of their sales reps.

What Are Google’s Options?

Let’s be charitable and assume that in the heat of the acquisition Google has forgotten to update the page of advice that it has created for website owners. This leaves only four things that can happen:

1. Status Quo: Google keeps this advice up on the page and Performics continues to offer no guarantee regarding search engine placement. We’ll call this the “hypocritical” scenario.

2. Performics gets in line: Google leaves the advice up as is and forces Performics to offer an unconditional money-back guarantee. We’ll call this the “free SEO from Performics” scenario.

3. Guidelines change: Performics maintains zero guarantees for search engine placement but Google modifies the advice to remove the inconsistencies pointed out in this article from its advice section. We’ll call this the “shareholder’s delight moneygrubber special” scenario.

4. Google spins off Performics and removes itself from the search engine optimization industry. We’ll call this the “sanity over dollars” scenario.

I’m not betting on which of these scenarios is most likely. Some time back I would have picked #4, but as I pointed out in a recent article (MediumBlue.com/outoftheblue/oct2007ricketywall.html), Google has already crossed an invisible line by offering free advice about organic search engine placement to its biggest pay-per-click spenders.

Google owning a search engine optimization company — a slippery slope, indeed. What does this mean for those hiring other companies and looking for great search engine placement? We will just have to wait and see.

References

1. SearchEngineJournal.com/what-will-google-do-with-performics/4720/
2. Google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291

(C) Medium Blue 2007

Scott Buresh is the CEO of , “Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix,” at for more insight.

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UK ministers are accused of making stealth cuts to a fund set up to help poorer nations deal with climate change.

There are a number of online marketing companies that offer internet services to their clients in order to make them popular and successful in online business. Internet is a growing platform in India where businesses can become successful with free enterprising online. The most important tool for this is to make a wise selection of your online marketing company.

In order to make sure that your business is flourishing online, make sure that your online marketing company is providing a wide range of services. A good online marketing company should be able to provide premium services like search engine optimization, website designing, content management, online marketing strategy but also other features like rss feeds, blog creation, article submission, forum management and so on.

It is also important to see that the online marketing company that is managing your website is using the best of the technologies in the industry. It is important that they keep updating themselves with the latest trends and ideas in the market so that they do not lack updated skills.

There are several companies who also keep a track of your business growth. This is an added advantage to your business. The online marketing companies will not only work towards making your business better but will also help to study your growth. They will show you a list of records which, will tell you what is good and what is bad in your business plan. This is a unique quality that acts as a perk to your online business management.

There are several fake online marketing companies that promise big things to their clients and fail to accomplish them. Be very careful of such corrupt firms. It is wiser to appoint a company for your business only after a thorough study of their professional background. Always prefer to associate yourself with a reputed firm. It is check their previous client list and result records. Check their financial status, and the professional skills they possess.

Do not go overboard in believing their work. Always keep a close eye on their work and keep flowing up with them from time to time to learn about your website status. A good and search engine marketing over the globe.

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