If you haven’t already heard, the latest from Mozilla is out in Firefox 3.  And I’ve got to say AWESOME is a pretty good word to describe it.  On the surface it doesn’t look like much has changed, but underneath it has become even more customizable than before.

Security:
Instead of just using a padlock to let us know when a site is safe, the padlock has now moved to the status bar and it provides much more information about the site you’re looking at.  It is also color-coded to give you a quick idea of the site’s security credentials.  Gray means none and Green means maximum.  It even tells you which cookies you’re going to pick-up when you visit.

Interface Improvements:
Better graphical integration with your OS (think Vista and OSX).  Session saving which can be setup to prompt you if you wish Firefox to remember your last browsing session every time you close it.  Improved Download manager that allows you to pause, resume, and save downloads – you can even save a download to your clipboard for IMing or emailing!  The password manager is no longer a pop-up, it drops down like an ActiveX control prompt in IE7.

Bookmarks:
You can now tag your bookmarks for easier/better cataloging.   There is a star next to your address bar for easier bookmarking and categorizing too.  Mozilla now has a thing called “Smart Bookmarks” which is similar to iTune’s smart playlists with top sites, most recently visited, etc – totally customizable.

Awesome Bar:
No longer called the location bar because it is….well….Awesome!  When you start typing a new URL into your address bar it will give you multiple options instead of just a list of URL’s you’ve visited since your last history dump.  You’ll have to try it to see it.

Memory allocation:
This is one of my favorite features.  When you spend a lot of time going through numerous sites your browser will store all that history in a “short-term memory” block that will start to make your virtual memory slow down.  After every 30 minutes of browsing Firefox 3 will dump this little block keeping your system’s resources more available for other applications…..very cool!

Scaling/Zooming:
This is my other favorite new feature.  Pre-FF3, when you zoomed (CTRL+scroll wheel or +/- keys) only the text changed size.  Now absolutely everything on the page resizes!  You can make images larger/smaller, videos scale, and borders.  On top of that, FF3 will remember where you last scaled the page to, so when you go back it will still be at that size!!!  So friggin’ cool!!!  I have a feeling this is the start of a major movement away from GIF’s and JPEG’s into better scaling image types (EPS images, PNG’s, PDF’s, etc.) – the Internet is going to look good!

You still have skins, plug-ins, and other add-on’s for FireFox, but imagine the kind of SEO tracking pieces that will come out of FF3.  It opens new doors in the developer arena!

Research for this article came out of the August 2008 issue of Maximum PC.

Have you experienced the AutoTrader.com BLITZ?

Every once in a while you meet a salesperson who was obviously flexing his/her muscles to a coworker before trying to sell you something.  If things go awry, they have a tendency to say things that don’t usually make the sale, but probably push someone further away.

Well, I’m not going to get into what happened to my boss and me last Thursday, but would rather hear your Autotrader blitz stories.

Don’t know what the Autotrader.com blitz is?

Autotrader.com brings sales reps from different  areas into various markets to see if a change of face can get a dealer to sign-up for more stuff….or just sign-up.  I have heard it is called the Autotrader Blitz, but I’ve never actually heard an ATC rep say that.

Soooooo – have you been approached by an AutoTrader.com sales rep who usually doesn’t work your market area? If you have, how did it go?

P.S.  I promise to share my story later.

Has anyone seen this?

Central Kia, a Dallas area Kia dealer commercial features a Barack Obama impersonator selling Kia Sorrentos for $11,888!! We have all seen dealers come up with some crazy shit for commercials but this is another classic and SO VERY VIRAL!

Even the daily show picked it up.

Search Can Destroy Budgets

Auto dealers can get burned buying overly general keyword terms for search-engine marketing, some auto retailers who learned the hard way say.

Paying per-click for specific search terms effectively can highlight a dealership’s ranking in the results listings of search-engine Web pages.

But if chosen search terms are too broad, a dealership can end up paying for lots of clicks by Internet users who aren’t in the market to buy a vehicle.

That warning flag is raised during discussions on measuring online ad effectiveness at Ward’s Automotive Spring Training Conference presented by Autobytel in Tampa, FL.

Five years ago, the Shaw Automotive Group in Denver thought buying “Chevy” as a local search term would be a good way to draw customers to Shaw’s Chevrolet store.

But it backfired, recalls Matt Strickroot, Shaw’s former Internet director and now a vice president at Digitas, a firm specializing in digital marketing.

Shaw ended up paying for clicks by Internet users who were interested in Chevrolets, not necessarily in buying one at the time.

“We blew through $1,000 in three hours,” says Strickroot.

“It is hard to sell to someone not in the market,” says Omar Tawakol, CEO of Bluekai, a data company.

Buying general search terms can result in hello-goodbye results, says Stephen Stauning e-commerce director at the Asbury Automotive Group, a dealership chain.

“One example is ‘Honda Accord,’” he says. “If someone types in that when they are just researching cars, and it takes them to your dealership site, they often leave right away.”

Asbury also avoids the controversial strategy of buying a competitor’s name for a search term as a way to snare customers, Stauning says. “If people type in your name, and it takes them to a competitor, they say, ‘Oops, that’s not what I want,’ and leave.

“Search-engine marketing was supposed to put third-party lead providers out of business, but a lot of dealers ended up taking it on the chin with search,” he says.

If a dealership indiscriminately buys a bunch of keyword terms, the store may end up with a lot of website visitors who are unqualified as buyers, Stauning says.

Only 23% of online traffic to Asbury dealerships comes from keyword searches, he says. “If you have a big brand, like our McDavid in Texas and Neely in Atlanta, you don’t have to do a lot of search.”

Half of Asbury’s stores use search-engine marketing to generate leads. Others rely on leads from auto maker, dealership and third-party websites.

“Search is not the silver bullet it was touted to be,” says Todd Swickard, president and CEO of Auto Dealer Traffic Inc. “People spend six minutes on the search process and four to six weeks on the car-buying process.”

It is fair to question whether paid search would have been more effective in the past, says Dean Evans, chief marketing officer for Dealer.com and a former dealership manager.

“Digital (marketing) is still a good value,” he says. “Even though it may have been hit in the past, doesn’t mean it isn’t where you should be.”

Evans says too many dealers are preoccupied with the attractiveness of their websites. Their real concern should be whether online efforts drive traffic that, in turn, is converted into dealership sales.

Meanwhile, some skeptics question the touted advanced qualities of search engines.

They deserve credit for predictive algorithms, says Tawakol. “But if you type in ‘SUV Seattle,’ what do you think you’ll get? It’s pretty obvious as a search result.”

Article by Steve Finlay
Ward’s Dealer Business
Re-published with permission – thanks Cliff!

Matt Cutts talks about Web SPAM,. Some great information if you’re looking to trick Google.

SPAM will soon become more dangerous.