Posts tagged many
One Tweet Can Kill A Market, Many Tweets Have Little Effect
Apr 25th
One false tweet from a hacked Associated Press Twitter account wiped $200 billion off the stock market, but most tweets don’t move markets one way or another. In fact, there appears to be little rhyme or reason for Twitter’s effect on individual stocks.
Take Google. While its stock has been on a six-month tear, growing 19% in that period, its “social stock” has been anything but over the same timeframe:
Or what about Cisco? Stock is up 19% over the last six months too, while Twitter reflects 82% bearish sentiment. Apple? Stock is down 33% in the last six months, while Twitter sentiment remains neutral.
Granted, some stocks like Microsoft accurately reflect their Twitter sentiment: Microsoft is up 23% in the last six months, with 71% of tweets cheering the company on. And while Red Hat jumped in the last six months, it has settled into roughly the same position it held in November 2012. Social sentiment? Neutral.
In other words, while it may be wise to consult a financial advisor when investing in stocks, consulting your 500 million Twitter friends? Not so much.
Not everyone, or every hedge fund, agrees. Derwent Capital has spent two years analyzing a subset of tweets to gauge sentiment around a stock. That lasted all of a month, but allegedly because it was so impressive (returning 1.86% in that month) that the Derwent team in 2012 decided to build a trading platform around the idea. It’s unclear how well that went since its website… no longer exists. Hardly a sign of blistering success.
Which is not to suggest that Twitter isn’t a good way to get a finger on the pulse of social sentiment. It is. I use it daily in my work, and find it a great predictor of sentiment around various brands I follow. But it’s unclear, at best, that such sentiment translates into winning stock picks. Now if there were a way to segment out of the general Twitter noise the tweets of those that matter most to discerning a company’s chances?
That just might work.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
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Google: Adding Too Many Pages Too Quickly May Flag A Site To Be Reviewed Manually
Apr 17th
Google’s Matt Cutts answered a question submitted by another Googler, John Mueller, on YouTube asking “Should I add an archive of hundreds of thousands of pages all at once or in stages?” The question is, if you build out a new section of your web site with tons of content –…
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Study: Many Searchers Choose Google Over Bing Even When Google’s Name Is On Bing’s Results
Apr 15th
In a recent study by SurveyMonkey examining SEO assumptions, respondents were given two search result pages, one with a page header labeled “Google” and the other with a page header labeled “Bing,” and asked which page of results they preferred. Even when the page header…
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Study: Top Reason A User Would Block A Site From A Search? Too Many Ads
Apr 15th
An online survey examining SEO assumptions by Survey Monkey found that the No. 1 reason users would block a website from their search results was if the website contained too many ads. If given an option to remove a website from future search results, 68 percent of the respondents said they would…
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Many Free Android Apps Are Starting To Look A Lot Like Malware
Apr 5th
The money-go-round between app developers and ad networks is starting to blur the line between many free Android apps and malware. While these legitimate apps aren’t stealing passwords, they’re still riding roughshod over user privacy by gratuitously sucking up your contact and location information — or worse.
What These Bad Apps Glom Onto
Between last September and March, security vendor Bitdefender analyzed 130,000 popular Android apps on Google Play and found that roughly 13% collected your phone number without explicit notification, 12% stored your location data and 8% sucked up your email address. Included in those numbers are apps that siphoned off one or more of the three.
Many apps don’t stop there. Other data they glom onto includes your browsing activity, your contact list, the unique identification number of your device and even your call registry.
These apps took all that information legally. Android apps display their privacy policies in seeking permission to gather personal data, and many developers bank on the fact that most people will just click through to the app.
(See also: Hey! iOS Apps Play Faster And Looser With Your Data Than Android)
All that data gathering typically starts when an app developer download an ad framework provided by more than 400 companies listed on the Ad Network Directory. Such frameworks makes it easy for developers to display ads in the app, and thus to get paid every time someone clicks on them.
Since free apps only make money for developers from such clicks (and, it turns out, the distribution of associated user data), very few pay attention to exactly what kind of information ad frameworks are gathering.
“Because they copy-paste the code, they don’t really debug it; they don’t really look through it and see what data it collects,” Bitdefender researcher Liviu Arsene told me. “I bet they don’t even care.”
And It Doesn’t Stop There
App privacy policies often stake out even more aggressive data-collection goals, presumably to pave the way for future updates to vacuum up more info and further erode user privacy.
Take, for instance, Airpush, the second-largest ad network for Android developers with 40,000 apps. Its privacy policy reads, in part:
[I]n accordance with the permissions you have granted, we may collect your device ID, device make and model, device IP address, mobile web browser type and version, mobile carrier, real-time location information, email address, phone number and a list of the mobile applications on your device.
The policy goes on to explain that Airpush might supply that information to third-party advertisers who are part of its ad platform and third-party vendors, consultants and other service providers. Because the data is available to so many organizations, it’s virtually impossible to know who is using your personal data, and how, once it leaves the device.
Obviously, the possibilities for abuse here are legion. Suppose one of those third-party organizations is acquired by an outfit that is, shall we say, less reputable. Or that a third party company’s computers are hacked, spilling your data into the hands of cybercriminals.
The Feds Agree: It’s A Huge Problem
Federal regulators acknowledge that a huge problem exists. “Mobile technology provides unique privacy challenges,” Jon Leibowitz, departing chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said in February, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. “Some would say it’s a sort of Wild West.”
The FTC wants the mobile industry to bolster privacy controls by allowing phone users to opt out of being tracked by ad networks. The commission also wants apps to prominently display the kind of data they’re collecting, rather than burying it in fine print. Congress is also considering proposals to tighten privacy protections on mobile devices, though it’s hard to say how such measures will fare given firm opposition from industry.
In the meantime, here’s some free (!!) advice: Scrutinize your free mobile apps as if they’re malware ready to wreak havoc on your personal information.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
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How Many Kinds Of Immigrant Visas Does It Take To Staff A Startup?
Mar 20th
Guest author Michael J. Petrucelli is the founder and executive chairman of iClearpath, an online immigration startup.
Despite the United States’ rich history as a haven for ambitious immigrants, many foreigners looking to work in the U.S. have had to cope with increasingly restrictive immigration policies. As a result, the percentage of immigrant-founded startups in Silicon Valley has declined from 52.4% in 2005 to 43.9% in 2012.
In 2011, leaders in the tech and startup world lobbied for a “Startup Visa” that would allow immigrant entrepreneurs to receive a two-year visa if a qualified U.S. investor was willing to invest in their startup venture. Unfortunately, the proposed bill fell upon deaf ears.
This month, though, the Partnership for a New American Economy announced plans to organize the largest ever virtual march on Washington in support of immigration reform to keep more innovators in the U.S. The goal is to build on what Silicon Valley did in stopping SOPA/PIPA and create the infrastructure for tech leaders to leverage technology and social media to move legislation in D.C.
Until we see a dramatic modification of U.S. immigration policy, foreign entrepreneurs (and freelancers) will have to jump through a series of outdated bureaucratic hoops in order to work in the U.S. Let’s take a look at how complicated that can be:
The Visa Options Rundown
E-visas, H-1B and L-visas are the most common ways to work in the U.S. as a foreign national.
E-1 Visa. The E-1 Treaty Trader Visa is a special designation geared towards businesspeople from select nations (Canada, Mexico, and most European countries) who undertake a sign()ificant amount of international trade with the U.S. To qualify as a trader, at least 50% of the applicant’s exports/imports must concern the U.S. The higher the volume of trade, the more viable the application will appear. Note that this requires an existing business venture (rather than a start-up), significant constraints on the operations of the business and a potentially arbitrary adjudication before the visa is issued.
E-2 Visa. The E-2 Investor Visa is geared towards citizens of select nations who can prove an “active investment with a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide enterprise in the United States.” Again, the definition of “substantial” causes confusion and anxiety because it is not a hard and fast number or equation. ()One rule of thumb hold that an investment of more than $150,000 will be considered “substantial.”) Similarly, any amount that is a large percentage of total investment may qualify. In addition, the applicant must be in the U.S. solely to develop and direct the investment enterprise.
EB-5 Visa. This is the so-called “Mllionaire Visa”. It allows foreigners to become legal permanent residents in the U.S. through a substantial investment in the American economy. There are two paths: the Basic Program and the Regional Center Pilot Program. Both require a capital investment in a U.S enterprise of $500,000 or $1,000,000, depending on the location of the investment.
H-1B Visa. This visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in certain specialty occupations. The regulations define a “specialty occupation” as requiring theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) and any state licensure (if required). H-1B work-authorization is strictly limited to employment by the sponsoring employer, which puts entrepreneurs at a big disadvantage because they cannot sponsor themselves. This is the crux of the argument for an Entrepreneur Visa like those available in countries like Canada, UK, Australia, Chile and Singapore. (Note that the H1-B is a temporary visa that can last up to six years. H-1B holders who want to continue to work in the U.S. after their temporary H1-B expires, but who have not obtained permanent residency status, must remain outside of the U.S. for a year before reapplying for another H-1B visa.)
L-1 Visa. The L-1 visa is geared towards intra-company transfers. However, managers or specialized knowledge workers who have been employed at a foreign company for one of the past three years may be eligible if their new enterprise is in the same industry as their former foreign company. While some creative entrepreneurs have gone this route, the complexity of establishing different operations in different countries is generally not viable for scrappy start-up founders.
OPT Option. Aliens in the U.S. on a student visa can legally work here for 12 months beyond their visa expiration under the Optional Practical Training Program. For students in STEM fields, this extends to 17 months. Its’ a great start for a new graduate, but not long enough a runway to get something up and running.
Other Visa Options
For the sake of completeness, lesser-known visas include
O-1 Visa. O-1 visas are geared towards people with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics. This can extend to successful serial entrepreneurs from foreign nations – though likely not first-time entrepreneurs.
EB-1 Visa. Along the same lines as the O-1 visa, an EB-1 visa is granted to applicants with an “extraordinary ability, [who] are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a multinational executive or manager.”
E-3 Visa. This classification applies only to nationals of Australia coming to the United States solely to perform services in a specialty occupation. The specialty occupation requires theoretical and practical application of a body of knowledge in professional fields and at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. This is a pretty good option for Australians.
While leading the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), I saw first-hand how unnecessarily complex the process of immigration paperwork could be. But until a new, dedicated Startup Visa” is established, these options are the only means available to foreign entrepreneurs.
Lead image courtesy of Shutterstock.
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Big Data: Many CIOs Completely Clueless
Feb 7th
Everyone can relate to having a boss whose expectations do not jibe with the experience of workers in the trenches. That disconnect is happening today between CIOs and IT departments struggling with Big Data.
What IT Workers Say
A survey of more than 300 IT department employees has found that the majority of those immersed in Big Data projects are failing to meet their objectives. Even worse, they are often the last people CIOs turn to for advice on Big Data and advanced analytics projects, according to the poll conducted by Infochimps and SSWUG.org, a community site for IT professionals.
Now there’s certainly a self-serving element to the survey. Infochimps peddles Big Data in the cloud as a simpler way to get the job done than trying to manage it in-house. Nevertheless, the survey provides additional insight on what has been said before: that all the vendor hype around Big Data masks that fact that it’s really hard and the technology is difficult even for IT pros.
“We created this report as a resource to give CIOs insight into the too-often overlooked views of those charged with the heavy lifting,” Jim Kaskade, chief executive for Infochimps, says.
The greatest challenge with Big Data is getting at the data trapped in various business applications across an organization, the survey found. Pooling this huge amount of information is necessary in order to run the necessary analytics to find ways to cut costs and run a more efficient business. But before that can happen, all the data has to be converted into a usable format.
“Predictive analytics and other Big Data novelties are downright sexy compared to the slog of gathering, normalizing, and cleansing data, but without clean data, your Big Data initiatives are likely to take longer, cost more, and deliver fewer benefits,” Patrick Gray, president of IT consulting company Prevoyance Group, says in a blog on TechRepublic.
Another top reason for the failure of Big Data projects is overreaching. CIOs are looking for analytical platforms that meet an entire organization’s needs. “Unless they understand specific use-cases first, many will find such an approach falls short,” Kaskade says.
Other headaches for IT workers are a lack of expertise and not being given enough time. “Big Data is complex, and projects often take longer than planned due to education demands and challenges related to new technologies, corporate culture and integration,” the survey says.
Big Data Versus Reality
Infochimps is not the first to get the Big Data rundown from IT pros. Gartner research director Svetlana Sicular wrote a blog last month saying companies’ view of Big Data was headed from the “peak of inflated expectations” into the “trough of disillusionment.”
The biggest disappointment was with Hadoop, an open-source framework for the heavy computational work needed with Big Data. While companies have ambitious plans for their data, they are struggling to build the analytics to deliver the results they want. “Formulating a right question is always hard, but with big data, it is an order of magnitude harder, because you are blazing the trail – not grazing on the green field,” Sicular says.
Most companies taking on Big Data are not giving up. Infochimps found that 81% of the companies covered in the survey have placed Big Data and advanced analytics projects in their top five IT priorities for this year.
All the problems confronted so far are to be expected, given the immaturity of the technology. And as coaches like to say, “No pain, no gain.”
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
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3 Quick & Easy Link Fixes Many Websites Still Overlook
Feb 5th
While I hesitate to define anything link-related as being easy, there are definitely a few things that can be easily fixed, things that can make a sometimes small and sometimes major difference in how your site performs online. Link builders are certainly not miracle workers, but much of the time,…
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Bing On Super Bowl 47: San Francisco 49ers Twice As Many Searches Than Baltimore Ravens
Jan 30th
If search has any influence or say in who will win the Super Bowl this Sunday, Super Bowl XLVII, then the San Francisco 49ers are clear winners. A Bing representative told us that the San Francisco 49ers have twice as many searches than their competitor the Baltimore Ravens. Plus, the 49ers…
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11 Simple Conversion Strategies Many Product Pages Fail To Incorporate
Jan 23rd
Every e-commerce operation relies on the ability of its website to sell their products. Without the ability to have salespeople roaming the floor asking customers, May I help you?, businesses rely on the their website to sell, sell, sell. Many business owners rely on content to push the customer…
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