Search: Google is still king, but Bing is sprinting

Google vs Yahoo vs Bing

Google has some of the best pay-per-click campaign tools in the market. I prefer to use Google’s Adwords MMC versus the interfaces provided by Microsoft AdCenter or worse yet, Yahoo. For agencies and multiple client setups, Adwords has been great; plus they still have the largest search volume and extensive content network. However Bing is catching up and although Google and Yahoo are almost neck-to-neck, I have a feeling that by this time next year, Bing will be within reach of Google & Yahoo.

However by the end of this year, Microsoft AdCenter will be serving Yahoo’s ads so from a marketer’s perspective, it really doesn’t matter anymore. What all this means though is that the Microsoft AdCenter will become the internet’s largest Search Engine PPC interface serving both Yahoo and Bing ads. Adwords will still remain the largest content network provider though.

Maps: Mapquest shouldn’t be ignored

Google Maps vs MapQuest vs Yahoo Maps

Many people, including myself, make the mistake of adopting their point of view as being the consensus. Because of this I rarely was considering Mapquest as a viable source of traffic for my clients. However the data proves otherwise. Although the chart shows a drop for Google Maps, I have a feeling this is only as a result of Google’s extended API and how more people are now using 3rd party tools to access this data (ie. Android and iPhone’s Google Maps App). Although Google is still a market leader in this area, Mapquest is still widely used. However in order to advertise on Mapquest you would have to go through AOL Advertising (www.advertising.com) which when it comes to an integrated advertising platform falls short of Google and Bing/Yahoo.

Summary

Google is still the go-to for online advertising but I’m keeping my eye on the new Bing/Yahoo partnership. So when clients ask if they should even consider Yahoo for advertising… I say, yes and no. Yes you should advertise on Yahoo, but come at the end of this year, Yahoo will be using Microsoft’s AdCenter to serve their ads. If my client has a limited budget, I always recommend to start on the Google platform.

What Apple is doing:

• Released iOS 4.0.1 (reception algorithm fixed, other small bugs)
• Free bumper case for every iPhone4 purchased, if you already purchased one, you can get a full refund!
• Starting in about a week, you can choose from a variety of cases on Apple’s website (not just a bumper case) and shipped to you for free
• If you’re still not happy, you can get a full refund, no questions asked, no restocking fees.

Apple mentioned in their press conference that they have some of the most advanced antenna testing facilities. According to the video, Apple has 17 anechoic chambers, over $100 million invested in a period of 5 years, and has on staff 18 PhD scientists and engineers working on their antenna designs. Apple went ahead and tested several other smartphones and showed how reception is lost on those as well. Apple also claims that only 0.55% of iPhone 4 customers have called in to AppleCare about reception/antenna problems.

Interestingly in the press conference, Steve Jobs presented AT&T data which showed that the iPhone4 drops more per 100 calls than the iPhone 3GS. Job’s theory is that there were less cases available for the iPhone4 at launch which reflects in the increase of dropped calls. He mentions that they will continue to research the issue.

The proximity sensor problem was mentioned. Jobs stated that they know of the problem but it’s only affecting a small percentage of their users. I wonder what it means when I was able to determine different proximity sensor distance activations per phone at the Apple store demo table. Jobs did say that a fix will hopefully be available in the next update.

View the Full Conference Video Here

They’re not advertising this within the stores, so you would have to know about it ahead of time and ask if they’re a participating location. When I asked the cashier about the lack of advertising or promotion within the stores she told me they’re trying not to tell too many people about it.

UPDATE: So there’s been a couple of solutions suggested for this:

1. Reset Network Settings (Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings)
2. Reset All Settings (Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset All Settings)
3. Perform a soft reboot of the iPhone
4. Perform a hard robber of the Iphone

For me none of these worked, so I took it to the Apple Store to get a replacement. They told me that they had heard of the proximity sensor problem and an internal memo had been sent out saying that it’s software related and a fix was coming soon so they weren’t going to exchange my phone. However using their floor models, I started testing the sensitivity of the proximity sensors.

I put two of their phones along with mine side by side. Turns out they would turn off the screen at different object lengths from the sensor with mine and one of the others being the shortest; the other floor model was able to sense my finger and turn off the screen at a distance of about 1/2in farther. As I was pointing this out to the tech guy, I had a group of customers starting to pay attention. At this point the tech guy told me that they would exchange my phone right away.

So far I’ve had no problems with my newly exchanged phone. It definitely seems like a calibration problem that will most likely be fixed with a software update, but I rather have a properly calibrated sensor to begin with.

iPhone App - Blue Atlas 3	Blue Atlas 3 v3.2 From the four, this is my favorite so far. The interface is easy to use and I like how it standardizes the look of the listings. You can view the listings on the map or as a list as well as apply several filters. Similar to the other apps, you can filter by “For Sale” “For Rent”, price limits, and if it’s a home/apt/co-op/land that you’re looking for. It seems that Blue Atlas grabs it’s apartment data mostly from apartments.com. For my area, it showed a good number of listings.
iPhone App - NBApartment	NBApartment v1.1.1 This app also has a nice interface to it and is easy to use; I do feel that I have to click through more pages just to get the same information as I do from Blue Atlas 3. Also NBApartment is limited to apartments. The apartment limitation is no problem for me since that’s what I’m looking for but if I was only going to download one app, I would go with Blue Atlas 3 since it has both apartments and real estate search. Additionally NBApartment grabs the majority of its information from Google Base and Craigslist which from previous experience I know those listings can be misleading.
iPhone App - CribQ	CribQ v1.0.1 I would consider this app more of a google map mesh for Craigslist. It does a simple parse of Craigslist ads and displays the addresses on its map. If you click the listing on the map, it shows a small blurp from the Craigslist ad on top which you then have to click to view the full ad. Some ads have photos while others don’t, but the text is presented as written on the Craigslist ad which makes it look a bit messy. My least favorite from the working apps above but may be helpful if you’re just looking through Craigslist. In addition the interface isn’t as convenient as the above apps. For example, to automatically show listings in my area, I have to go to options and change location every time I start the app.
iPhone App - PadMapper	PadMapper v2.1.0 I couldn’t review this app since it didn’t work for me. When trying to load the map and/or the listings, it would just pause on loading and never shows anything; for this reason, I don’t recommend this app.

All these apps can be found in the App Store and have been reviewed using an iPhone4 running iOS 4.

There are some limits imposed though… max. deposit per check, per day, and per month. Download the Chase App from the AppStore.

USAA and Chase now have mobile deposits… Wells Fargo, where you at?

1) Beautiful Screen

The iPhone 4 has one of the most beautiful screens I’ve seen on a phone. It feels nice to the touch and the resolution is outstanding. You can really tell the difference.

2) Super long lasting battery

This was almost my number one top favorite. This battery lasts much longer than previous iPhones. With moderate-heavy use I can make it through a whole day including the next morning / half-day. With little use, I can probably make it two days without having to plug it in.

3) Compact and Portable

I strongly believe that a phone should be portable and convenient to carry. So sure it’s not a 4.3″ screen (ie. HTC Evo or DroidX) but it does fit nicely into my pocket without it sticking out like a sore thumb.

4) Excellent photo / video camera

Love the quality of the camera and makes it convenient for impromptu photos or video clips.

5) In-phone HD video editing and publishing

This is one of the most outstanding capabilities I’ve seen. I remember just 4-5 years ago when my main system was struggling to edit HD video… now the iPhone 4 can do it all on the phone (iMovie App required)

6) Bright LED camera light

Recently I got the change to try out the LED light on the phone and I was surprised to see how bright it really was… definitely a big pro for the iPhone 4.

I’ll still be taking the iPhone back to the Apple store for an exchange since a friend of mine has an iPhone 4 that’s not experiencing the proximity sensor problems that I am. I’m exchanging… not returning it

The Lawsuits

Ars Technica has done a good job of collecting the documents and PDF of the lawsuits. You can read their article here or view the cases directly:

• McCaffrey et al v. Apple Inc et al
• PACER: Dydyk v. Apple Inc (5:10-cv-02897)
• PACER: Benvenisty v. Apple Inc (5:10-cv-02885)
• Nguyen v. Apple Inc complaint (PDF)
• Goodlick v. Apple Inc complaint (PDF)

Apple’s Signal Strength Statement

Some clippings from the statement:

To start with, gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones… We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising… Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong… We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula… if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

You can read the entire statement on Apple’s site.

I don’t know about you, but completely losing a call as shown on many YouTube videos is more than just a miscalculation of the bars.

1) iPhone 4 loses signal if you hold it like a phone

Yup, you’ve probably already heard about this one. Just cover the bottom left part of the metal band and you’ll lose signal. Cons: obvious. Pros: Now you don’t have to pretend you’re going through a tunnel when talking to someone, just cover the antenna.

Workaround: 1) Apply scotch tape to metal band, 2) Buy Apple’s Bumper Case (ironic how Apple has never sold a case until now), sign the Gizmodo Free-Apple-Case petition. 3) Get one of those cool Case-Mate iPhone4 Cases.

2) Vibrate is not strong enough

The vibrate ringer is now softer. I’ve already missed several calls because I didn’t feel the vibrate. Cons: miss your calls Pros: you no longer spaz out when someone calls.

Workaround: Instead of putting it in the inside pocket of your sports coat, put it on the outside pocket of your shirt so it’ll be closer to your skin.

3) Turn-off-display proximity sensor when on call too sensitive

You know that sensor that detects if the phone is up against your ear (ie. on a call) and turns off the screen so your ear doesn’t decide to hang up on the person? Well I’ve found the iPhone 4′s sensor is too sensitive. If I try to hold the phone with just my shoulder and head (ie. have my hands full), just the little tiniest spacing will re-activate the screen and my cheek always decides to try facetime or worse yet, hang up. Cons: you leave the other person talking to themselves. Pros: A good excuse for when someone asks why you hung up on them.

Workaround: when you’re hands are full doing something else, plug in the headphones and use those while on the call.

4) Poor YouTube 3G streaming quality

Around my part of town I get about 2-3mbps down on 3G but yet when I stream videos from YouTube on the iPhone I feel like I’m 10 years behind in the internet age. The video quality is terrible to the point of un-watchable. Cons: Makes the phone/screen seem crappy when it really isn’t. Pros: less time wasted on YouTube.

Workaround: Jailbreak your iPhone and switch it to be wifi aware when on 3G.

5) Low Quality Video/Photo compression on 3G

If I’m on 3G and send a photo or upload a video using the Twitter App, the end-product quality is below par. I know AT&T is trying to conserve bandwidth but they’re acting like everyone is on a 56K modem. I recorded a 14sec video the other day and posted it via Twitter App using twitvid.com. The phone compressed the video and uploaded very quickly… quality was terrible. I wouldn’t have mind waiting at least 20 seconds to get better quality. Cons: friends will think you’re full of it when you MMS them a photo or video from your iPhone’s spectacular camera. Pros: less time goofing off, more time working.

Workaround: Jailbreak your phone… or upload your photo using other service (twitgoo.com, flickr.com) and txt the link to your friends; not as convenient as MMS but it’s a workaround.

6) Paying extra (in price and lesser service) for tethering

Sure it bugs me that we have to pay twice for the bandwidth we’re already using. Why pay double for the same amount of data if all that changes is what device it originates from. But my biggest annoyance is that I probably still wouldn’t mind too much to the point of not paying the extra $20 if it wasn’t that I would have to lose my unlimited data. The only way for me to get tethering is to lose my unlimited data. Cons: Having to lose unlimited just to get tethering. Pros: I can finally put the laptop away when there’s no wifi available.

Workaround: Jailbreak your phone and get MyWi or PDAnet to convert your phone into a mobile wifi hotspot.

What are your iPhone 4 Annoyances?