Information World Review reports that the German Wikipedia will have “trusted editors” by year’s end. The move from community editing and after-the-fact fact-checking “…could be applied to the English language version of Wikipedia if feedback from users is positive.”

Resource Shelf’s Gary Price reminds us that this move has been in the works for some time:

Three years ago next month, Jimmy Wales was quoted in Red Herring saying that editors to review content were coming.

Wikipedia’s [Founder] Mr. [Jimmy] Wales has said that next year…

...continue to read "Are “Trusted Editors” Good for Wikipedia?"

I hate to say it, but ignoring it won’t make it any less true: Americans don’t believe Ford (or Mercury) makes cars that equal its competitors.

Comparably equipped Fords don’t sell for as much new, and they lose their value much faster as they age. That’s not opinion, it’s fact.

According to Edmunds.com, a 2002 Mercury Sable can generally be had for $5,924 to $6,917. Meanwhile, a Toyota Camry from the same year sells anywhere from $9,641 to $12,538. As of today,…

...continue to read "Why Americans Haven’t Driven a Ford Lately"

Amazon (AMZN) pulled the cover off its long-awaited music store, Amazon MP3. Amazon is targeting the long tail that Apple (AAPL) hasn’t captured. Their selection is DRM-free MP3s with over 2 million songs from more than 180,000 artists represented by over 20,000 major and independent labels. Most songs are priced between 89 cents and 99 cents.

Will they outsell Apple’s iTunes?

Check it out and compare it to iTunes. Do you think one is better than the other? Will you shop at both or…

...continue to read "Amazon is Ready to Take a Bite Out of Apple"

The Google Operating System blog reports that Google Earth is considering new features, including stuff that evokes a sort of “reality TV”-style version of Second Life. According to the blog:

Arizona State University’s students have the opportunity to test a new product “that will be publicly launched later this year”. The invitation page mentions that the product is developed by “a major Internet company” and there are hints that the application is related to social networking, 3D modeling and video games.…

...continue to read "Blog Buzz: Barack Wins Yahoo Debate; Google & Facebook Worth Gazillions, Borrow from Second Life"

To follow up on my last post about Netflix — and its probable loss of conversion on its homepage — we’d like to congratulate them on taking action on our advice. It seems they’ve implemented my first recommendation. Well, almost. Instead of changing the “coupon box” to a search box, they removed it entirely. I’m not sure if they’re testing, getting rid of coupon codes, or if they plan on putting in a search box in a follow-up test. Regardless, it’s…

...continue to read "Netflix Reads Grok, Blockbuster Misses Opportunity"

...continue to read "Women Execs Rank Higher Than Male Execs"

Is it OK to trash-talk your competitors in advertisements?

...continue to read "Soar High, Aim Low: Trash Talking Competitors"

...continue to read "Brands & Landing Pages: A Neanderthal Challenge"

Now that you’ve seen Parts 1 and 2, where we found that the smartest way to persuade early-stage customers is to educate them, let’s focus on how to provide a consistent experience for them.

As we look at how Cabelas.com and BassProShops.com prepare to catch the Early Bird customer, consider the following:

Relevance — If they’re not ready yet, don’t get carried away. (Is your website proposing marriage on the first date?) Screen Space — Early Birds need to know that they’re welcome, right from the homepage. Give…

...continue to read "Screencast: Hunting for Early Bird Persuasion, Part 3"

Netflix must already love me enough for paying each month and not mailing back my movies, but I’ve decided to help them in a potentially much bigger way. Recently, we noticed there’s some Giant Peach-sized “low-hanging fruit” to harvest on their homepage* — and it could be worth millions.

If only they’d do a bit of testing…

The first problem appears with what seems to be a search bar near their top navigation. This is actually a Coupon Code box.

I’d like to…

...continue to read "Netflix Bombs at the (Search) Box Office"