Monday, November 26, 2007

John & Terrence at the Great Wall-- And It's Still Standing

Well, John and Terrence made it to the Great Wall of China (as evidenced by the photos below).

Oddly enough, it was still standing after they left.

 

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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Part Three of the John & Terrence China Tour

Apparently, John and Terrence feel like they can actually take a break in their travels and eat.

Here we see them dining at one of the best Sichuan restaurants in Shangshi.

What, you expected them to find a McDonalds in Shangshi?

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

John & Terrence-- Still Wandering China

John and Terrence are on the move, and are now in mainland China at the city of Shenzhen. They'll be meeting with some of those companies I told you about yesterday.

In the meantime, here's a shot of them on their flight--

John and Terrence on a plane

Look like a couple of trouble makers to me.

And this is the view from the limo they were riding in last night (hey, I admit you can't see much. Work with me, okay?))--

View from the limo

 

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Monday, November 05, 2007

John and Terrence's Excellent (Chinese) Adventure

As I write this, John and Terrence are somewhere in Taipai, having arrived in Hong Kong over the weekend and now having moved onto Taipai. They will be meeting with representatives of several well known companies, including a consuemr goods/baby care products company, a leading luxury car maker and a maker of a popular sauce that my daughter happens to love.

They'll soon be moving on to meet other clients and propsecitive clients, but for now, they're staying in a hotel in Taipei that gives them an excellent view of the world's tallest inhabited building. In researching "world's tallest buildings," I discovered that there is a dispute as to what defines a building vs. a structure.

For now, it's safe to say that Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan is the tallest inhabited structure.

Take a look for yourself in this photo John took--

 

 

 

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Thursday, November 01, 2007

A Court Case Web Advertisers Should Watch Closely

U.S. District Court Judge John H. McBryde has decided to let American Airlines proceed with its lawsuit against Google.

The airline's complaint alleges that Google allows rivals to pay to have links to their sites appear when computer users search Google for American trademark terms, such as AAdvantage. American claims that Google was infringing on its trademarks and deceiving consumers.

Google has successfully fought lawsuits making similar claims in the past. GEICO had sued Google for similar reasons but Google prevailed in that matter. And reportedly other companies have filed similar lawsuits against Google alleging that paid advertising by competitors amounts to trademark infringement.

The Judge actually gave no reason for his ruling, but it is interesting that he must have found reason to ignore the precedence established by the GEICO case against Google.

Should American prevail, and odds are an actual trial is still far off in the future (not to mention the appeals that will no doubt follow), the case has the potential to change the face on online advertising. Worse for Google, it potentially could strike a blow to their whole business model.

We'll keep track of the case as it slowly develops. 

 

 

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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The Party's Over...

... and Terrence leaves for China tomorrow.

His going away party was a success, particularly since some former Zunchers stopped by to help celebrate and to wish him good luck.

In just a few days, Terrence will be back in China, although he won't be alone for long. John Sanchez, our CEO, will be joining him there this weekend and the two of them will begin a whirlwind tour that has them crisscrossing China to meet with clients and prospective clients throughout the country.

Their journey begins in Hong Kong early next week, and we'll give you daily updates on their trip, hopefully including a few photos now-and-then.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Terrence on the Road Again-- For a Long Time

Terrence Ou, our expert on China, is about to hit the road again for China. Only this time, he's going to be gone for a long, long time.

You see, China is proving to be a major source of potential business and many Chinese businesses prefer being able to have face-to-face meetings to e-mails and long distance phone calls.

And after his recent book signing tour and stint promoting Zunch in China, it just made sense that Terrence should move to China (Beijing to be exact) and operate from there. Besides, Terrrence has wanted to relocate to China for some time, so it's not like we had to twist his arm to get him to do it.

So soon, when you see Terrence's posts both here and on the Zunch China blog, they'll be originating from China, rather than the home office in Dallas.

And tonight we're throwing a going away party for Terrence as his send off for the Far East. Should be a fun time for all.

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Friday, October 26, 2007

Google Adds a Great New Adwords Feature

Who says the search engiens ignore the advertisers that they derive so much income from?...well, maybe its kinda true on the click fraud front.

Google Adwords has added a new page for Adword users called "Keyword Anaysis Page."  You can read all about it here.

With this tool, you can get more information about the Quality Score for keywords being used in advertisements. While it's not perfect, it could be a key tool for Adword users to make use of in crafting their campaigns.

Hey, Google is even asking for feedback on the tool, so try it out and let them know what you think.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Microsoft Cries Uncle

Apparently, Microsoft has a breaking point. After spending hundreds of millions fighting anti-trust allegations in Europe (including some hefty fines), they've finally decided to give in.

Read about it here.

After a nine year fight, Microsoft has finally seen the writing on the wall. This should mean both lower prices and faster development of new software.

 

 

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Click Fraud is On the Rise Again

Click fraud just won't go away. In fact, despite repeated promises by Google, Yahoo! and others, it continues to be a growing problem.

Read all about it here.

If you're concerned about this problem that the search engines apparently can't or won't do anything about, check out Zunch's own Click Fraud Detective for your solutions to this pervasive problem.

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