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5 Fabulous Reasons for Marketing with Video

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:23:00 GMT

When you consider 86% of the UK's online audience are accessing video sharing websites at least once a month, and that YouTube is now the second largest search engine behind Google, you have a pretty compelling case for adopting video marketing as a means of achieving your social media, email and search marketing goals.

Compelling reason number One - Video Content is King

Content is still king on the web, especially if it’s video content. This doesn’t mean big budget productions are the only way to win an audience. Today’s video viewers are comfortable with simple inexpensive presentations, as long as the content entertains, educates and generally improves their online experience.

2. Encourage Conversation

Video content is a great way to engage with customers, and promote a rapport by way of comments and feedback. This effective social media technique will establish a more meaningful relationship with clients and potential customers alike.

3. Promote Community

As the web becomes more sociable, the onus for businesses is to join in by establishing their own community – or miss out. Encouraging viewers to subscribe to your video channel enables you to build and maintain your own social group of repeat customers.

4. Enhance Search Marketing

You may have already seen how Google and other search engines are beginning to incorporate video content in to search results. A well optimised video submission can provide local businesses with a distinct advantage in ranking better than a less proactive competitor.

5. Capitalise on Video Email

Your email correspondence - whether it is a newsletter or your regular email signature - can be considerably improved by including your latest video presentation, providing readers with a compelling invitation to become a part of your online community.

If you would like help to make video a successful part of your online marketing activities, get in touch.

Top Exececutives who use Twitter Regularly Held in High Regard

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:24:00 GMT

Top execs slower then employees, customers to view social media as communications channel

There may be new reasons for CEOs and CMOs to join the Twittersphere. According to a study by social media branding firm BRANDfog consumers and employees regard company leaders who engage on social media platforms positively.

BRANDfog survey results indicate that consumers believe C-suite engagement in social media can benefit how they view a brand and its executive leadership. The majority of survey respondents, 78%, said CEO participation in social media leads to better communication, while 71% said it leads to improved brand image and 64% said it provides more transparency.

In terms of importance, 86% of respondents rated CEO social media engagement as somewhat important, very important or mission-critical. CEO activity on social networks also appears to influence employees’ faith in their company. The study findings indicate that 82% of employee respondents trust a company more when the CEO and leadership team communicate via social media.

A company’s social media presence also trickles down and influences purchase decisions. The majority of BRANDfog survey respondents (77%) are more likely or much more likely to buy from a company whose CEO uses social media to clearly define company values and leadership principles. And 94% said C-suite social media participation enhances a brand image.

Selling social to the C-suite remains a challenge for many companies, though. According to an Accenture study of social media among B2B marketers, 31% of respondents said they need increased CEO conviction in order to make social media efforts more effective.

Another examination of marketer priorities, by The CMO Council, reveals that social media is a priority for engagement and buzz-building among 60% of senior marketers worldwide.

CMO Council survey respondents also said speed of adoption of new web technologies by chief marketers and top-level executives was a continuing challenge.

Financial services firm ING Direct Canada is known for its tweeting CEO, Peter Aceto. Aceto told eMarketer in a February 2012 interview that using social media helps him gauge how employees and consumers view the company and its products. “We saw it as a competitive advantage for us,” Aceto said. “There was no science. There was no ROI. We just needed to get going, start to build a community and learn about how we can use it.”

Are You Using Social Media Marketing?

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:45:00 GMT

Often when I’m talking to some of my clients regarding social media marketing, they will ask me why they would need a social media strategy to strengthen their internet marketing initiatives. I’m not really bothered by those questions because it is the same reason why any company does marketing and advertising.

Most companies will agree that one of their primary goals is to make more sales and money. Where it gets a bit blurry for them is identifying what you have to do exactly to get to the point of increasing sales. If you have an excellent product or service to offer, you need to build good branding and awareness to let people know who you are, what you offer, and that you are a respectable company so that they can do business with you.

Social media marketing for showcasing

Most marketing initiatives want to showcase a company in the best positive light. Social media marketing does that in an excellent way, but you have the added feature of getting immediate feedback to your marketing campaign to see if it is really paying off. If it’s not, research and check what you have to change in your strategy or company to make it work.

If you take all the feedback you have gathered from your social media profiles, use it to move your company forward. If your current social media marketing strategy are on track, then your network of interested followers will tell you exactly that you can continue, if not then you have a good chance to learn how your consumers are feeling about you. This will help you determine any issues with your staffing, pricing, services or any other problems that could be affecting you from growing your social media campaign.

So the only real question is, why are you not using social media marketing for your business?

5 Essential Steps for Improving Online Lead Generation

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:38:00 GMT

As more people turn to the web as a convenient way to consume media – it becomes more important for businesses to not only have their online presence easily found, but to also adopt a focused strategy around converting website traffic into new business. This can be achieved by defining your website objectives and then establishing a proper sales or information funnel through which to guide visitors. The following five steps will enable you to convert more visitors into leads and ultimately into new customers.

1. A Prominent Call to Action An effectively written call to action can help improve your lead conversion significantly. Keep your call to action short and to the point. A good use of images and colour can help highlight your call to action links.

2. Review Your Layout The way your website is laid out is a key component in highlighting your main message. Once you have identified your call to action trigger points, make sure that is what visitors are attracted to first.

3. Keep Content Easily Digestible Structure content in small chunks and use effective titles to break up your copy. Then naturally intersperse your call to action as links within the copy to direct your visitors.

4. Offer Something for Nothing Giving away an industry white paper or report in exchange for some contact information is an effective method for turning visitors in to new business contacts – and will also help to qualify your leads.

5. Follow Up With Automated Emails Often overlooked, an automated email sequence plays a key role in converting your new lead into a customer.

While these five straightforward but effective steps will help increase your conversions, there are many other things you can do depending on where you are in your online business strategy.

If you would like help improving your online lead generation, get in touch.

Still Think Social Media is a Waste of Time?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:02:00 GMT

A lot of people still tell us that they're not interested in using Social Media for their business; that it's a waste of time, that it won't generate any returns. So we tell them to consider this - the three most popular websites in the UK are Google, Facebook and YouTube. In that order.

In new data from Experian Hitwise, YouTube saw a jump of 45% traffic on the previous year. It also accounted for 25% of visits to social network sites over the Christmas period. It seems Brits just can't get enough of social sites these days, and that trend is only set to continue. Experian Hitwise Market research analyst James Murray says: "In 2012 we’re expecting video to be even more influential as a marketing channel, and marketers will have to adapt their strategies to incorporate a multichannel approach in order to secure customers both on and offline."

It's so easy to get on YouTube, why not look into it? Film videos of your products, your staff, your HQ. Create quick how-to guides for useful bits and pieces. Run screencaps of instructions for using your software. Get out there - it doesn't take long or much effort, and these days most smartphone cameras are enough to start making really decent quality videos.

Web Economy to Double in 4 Years

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

A recent report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) claims that the value of the internet economy within G20 countries will double by 2016. The report, backed by Google, suggests that ever increasing mobile access will be the main driving force behind growth. It also names the UK as one of the most advanced e-commerce economies.

The increase in mobile access is down to a massive growth in the availability of cheap smartphones, devices which allow a level of mobile connectivity never before seen. Technology giant IBM has predicted by 2015 there will be one trillion devices connected to the internet, and with the rise of smartphones it's not hard to see why. Whilst a few years ago, a phone with internet access and a desktop-class web browser would have cost hundreds of pounds, they can now be found for much less. In 2016, almost 80% of internet users will access the web through a mobile phone.

The increasing dominance of the internet can be seen as the proliferation of a new utility; much in the same way as water or electricity, the internet has become a fundamental part of the daily lives of many people on the planet. The Boston Consulting Group envisions a future where web access will truly break down international and corporate borders, allowing companies and customers all over the world to interact on a bigger scale than before.

Such a rise in connectivity has also led to a rise in awareness, and vice versa. The BGC's researchers say that every household already researches about £2000 worth of goods online before buying them offline. People are aware of technology and how it can benefit them, and that means it's not good enough for businesses to stand by and watch. Google's chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette, says: "Understanding the economic potential of the web should be an urgent priority for leaders... [with] a powerful case for countries and companies to get online and reap the rewards of an age of data,"

Is your business online? Are you making the most of the web? If not, it might be about time you looked into it.

Web Design and Web Development - What's the Difference?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:03:00 GMT

The job roles of a web designer and developer are very different, but it often happens that companies expect the one or the other to perform jobs that don’t really fall into their specific set of skills. Many graphic designers have a good working knowledge of HTML and some web developers may be able to use various graphic design programs, but this doesn’t mean that they can (or should be expected to) switch between these domains with ease.

Problems can start to arise when there’s too much confusion between these two specific job roles. A web developer’s job is to literally build up your website from scratch by using a specific programming language, such as PHP; .NET etc. Web developers can also create unique functionalities and features for your website, which will make it more appealing for website visitors.

A web designer, on the other hand, creates the “skin” of the website. They design the entire look and feel – from the flash banner at the top of the page to what your navigation buttons will look at. Experienced web designers are able to come up with striking ideas to represent your business online.

Things a web designer should do

Take briefs from clients about the look and feel they envision for the website;
Request the CI guidelines so that the right corporate fonts, logos and layouts are used throughout the design;
Create the perfect look and feel for the website. Every website consists of various colours, shapes and sizes – it’s the designer’s job to place them perfectly.
Liase continuously with the client for sign-off of the design;
Hand over the design of the website to the web developer.

Things a web developer should do

Take briefs from clients to find out how the navigation of the website should work.
Create additional features (such as forms or database integration) that the client may want;
Create the website pages;
Make sure everything runs smoothly – test the website on various internet browsers (such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla) to ensure that it works properly;
Liaise with the web designer to iron out any final elements if necessary;
Routine website maintenance.

To put it in laymans terms, a web developer is like the builder and the web designer is the interior decorator – they both share positions in architecture

Social Media Don'ts!

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:59:00 GMT

Everywhere you look online, social media marketing is integrated on most popular websites including the news that you read. While many will try to convince you that the younger crowds are not using Facebook and Twitter that much, the fact remains that social media has become the primary setting for many internet marketing initiatives.

Social media channels not only service as resources for finding services and products, but for providing immediate feedback and reviews from the people that you know. If you want to make an impression on the audience that you are targeting, be ready to respond to wall posts and tweets with the right information.

If you want to scare people away and you want to see how you can lose followers and friends online, here are a couple of social media don’ts you shouldn’t practice.

Social media don’ts

Add people to groups without asking their permission: One feature of Facebook Groups allows the administrator to add friends to the group automatically. Groups are handy if you want to create a forum where you can discuss customer relations, but if you add people without their consent, you will receive them negatively. Doing it this way can also make these people share their nasty experience with their network.

Direct message adds: Just imagine how your clients must feel to be bombarded with mentions and direct messages all the time about your services and products. It is one thing to share some interesting info about your products, and another to message people constantly if they didn’t ask to be contacted. Social media = being social.

Neglecting your blog: Blogs are very important because they can capture the attention of the search engines. Blogs are very easy to use and they can help get timely updates to the world and your audience as they occur. If you are planning to use a blog in your internet marketing strategy, try to blog regularly and don’t slack off.

Being social is very important to remember with any social media marketing initiative. You can be social without trumpeting your sales message over the heads of the people you would like to reach and add to your network.

4 Top Tips for Website Design

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:55:00 GMT

Designing and launching a new website can be a lot of fun, but also very nerve wracking, especially when you are new to web design. If you keep these four tips in mind, however, you will find that designing and launching your website is one of the easiest things ever.

1. Set clear web design goals

Planning is very important and it is imperative that you have clear goals for your website. Do you want it to generate sales? Or do you just want to create an informative website with interesting information? All these questions will determine the overall design of the website and what you will need to incorporate to make it a success.

2. Decide how much you can spend

These days it’s easy to create a website for free thanks to all the various online tools available, but there are still costs involved in marketing and hosting the website. Most companies spend thousands on marketing their website but not everyone has this kind of cash to spend. It is generally considered a safe bet to allocate about 50% of your website budget to marketing the website after it is live and the other 50% to web design and updates to the site.

3. Create meaningful content and professionally designed graphics

It is important to remember that no matter how pretty your web design, it is the quality of the actual content that can make or break it at the end of the day. If you are not a writer then hire someone who is. There are lots of professional copywriters that specialise in writing for the web and who can keep search engine optimisation in mind while writing even the basic copy for your site. For the best images enlist the aid of a digital graphic designer to create appealing logos, banners, buttons and any other designs on your website.

4. Market your website

Even after your website is live, your work isn’t over. Remember to submit your website to all the search engines and to engage in active website marketing through Facebook, Twitter and other social channels. Don’t expect your website to be a success overnight. It takes patience and perseverance to make a web design successful. Don’t be afraid to ask professional website marketers for their assistance, but be aware of so-called ‘fly-by-night’ operations that do more harm than good.

Need a professional looking website? Contact WSI for web design in Sussex

Does Google Treat a Mobile Website as Duplicate Content?

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 08:19:00 GMT

A regular question we are asked is: "If I create a mobile website and use the same content as my regular website, will Google treat this as duplication? If content is duplicated this will normally affect my search engine ranking adversely"

The answer is no and here is a short video explaining why not and how to avoid it from Matt Cutts at Google:

http://youtu.be/mY9h3G8Lv4k

Why use Twitter?

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:16:00 GMT

What is Twitter all about? Do I really need a Twitter profile for my business? Will I get any followers on Twitter? These are some of the questions we hear on a daily basis from some of our clients when we talk about social media marketing. Facebook at the moment seems to have everything in place for sharing interesting content and to inform your network of new services and news in your industry. The big question is however: Is Facebook the ultimate social network and should I use Twitter at all?

Facebook has our social life in one place where we can do everything we love. Everyone in our network is just a click away, we have all our photos organised in chronological order, and we can see everything that our family and friends are talking about. Why do we need Twitter?

Twitter opens up new doors

It is quite simple: Twitter opens up your “social presence” to the world. What if someone you don’t even know agrees and finds your message (update) interesting? What if they want to tell their network about it? With Twitter this is all possible. Twitter with its real-time search engine can cause your message to spread within seconds to every corner of the world. Using Twitter brings out more opportunities where people can consume and share your message as it happens.

Twitter is a 24 hour news portal where everyone is a personal reporter. This is not just a major step in internet marketing, but advancement in communicating as well. Back in the day, we didn’t need the internet at all, but now we can’t stand a day without it.

Even though you will find many spam profiles on Twitter where people are using celebrity names to get their message out, I have found that Twitter is an excellent social media channel to help spread your word about your business. Whether you are promoting a new blog post you have published, a new website you have launched, a new service you are offering, I can bet you that there will be real people on Twitter that will find your message interesting and follow you to start and engage in conversation.

Online Reputation Management

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:49:00 GMT

Creating a positive brand impression on the Internet

You may have a fantastic product or service, and a good brand name with your existing customers. But when prospective customers, clients or employees search for you on the Internet, what do they see? Thumbs-up reviews, hate sites, or no mention of you at all? Or is there a news report telling the story of your incredible growth in the industry? That is your online reputation! Online Reputation Management involves managing search engine results to protect and enhance your company’s brand reputation online.

Important for Businesses in Today’s Environment

When people review your online presence, they don’t just find your website. They find customer review sites, blogs, discussion groups, social media comments and rankings. Does everything they see throw a positive light on your business? Here are some hard facts about online reputation:

• Consumers, business partners, stock holders, marketers, journalists, prospective employers, co-workers, personal contacts and others care about your online reputation. So should you!

• People from all walks of life use search engines to research and gather information, so that they can make informed decisions. Negative information about your brand can ultimately lead to problems in many areas including sales, investor relations, recruitment, financials, image and reputation. In other words – damage to your brand reputation.

• The online world is inter-linked by search engines, social media networks and blogs. What is said by one can be heard by millions (a good word, or a negative one). Positive buzz carries more weight with consumers. A positive reputation brings trust, confidence and sales.

• Personal reputation matters. Here’s an example: A search for the International Monetary Federation (IMF) on May 15, 2011 showed among the top few search results, “IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn charged with attempted rape of a housekeeper at a Manhattan hotel”. Your personal reputation affects your brand too!

• Managing your online reputation isn’t promotion; it’s a means of defence. If you don’t control your brand online, someone else will. You can’t control perceptions….but you can certainly influence them.

Online Reputation Management increases your positive web presence by affecting the outcome of search engine results. It involves monitoring, analysis and influencing.

• Assess Your Online Reputation
Start with simple searches on popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and MSN for your name, company, brand(s), product(s) etc. Tally the results. If you have more negative results, you need to fix the problem fast! Even if you have mostly indifferent results, you need to do something about it. Users need to find something relevant and positive about you to win them over.

• Monitor Your Online Reputation
Monitor what’s being said online. Track negative publicity before it can seriously affect search rankings. Use Internet monitoring systems like Google and Yahoo Alerts to track the news, Feedster and Technorati to monitor blogs and other free online tools to inform you of information about your brand.

• Analyse What’s Being Said About You
Positive and negative feedback are both important! Where did your communication fail? Did you respond positively to consumer feedback? Are you pro-active about the positive steps you took? Are you taking criticism silently or are you making an attempt to improve? You can’t please everyone, but you need to satisfy a whole lot of people who matter.

• Influencing Online Reputation
Influence your online reputation with a combination of marketing, Public Relations and Search Engine Optimisation. Enhance your online reputation by building a positive reputation. Prevent any potential reputation problems by responding constructively to negative feedback.

Online Reputation Management maintains high rankings on search engines, gives effective and positive exposure to your brand, drives negative information down the search engine rankings, increases transparency and communication between the consumer and you; and helps you improve on your customer service levels.

Online Reputation Management looks simple, but requires expertise to implement and stay up-to-date.

*************************************

WSI is an Eastbourne based internet marketing company providing website design, search engine optimisation, social media optimisation and email marketing services. Our aim is to enhance your online credibility, drive business to your website and enable you to communicate better with your prospects and clients.

Tel: 01323 724159
graham@wsileadingwebdevelopment.co.uk
www.wsileadingwebdevelopment.co.uk

Why Simple Websites Work

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:22:00 GMT

In today’s world, with the growing number of websites on the internet, the importance of increasing traffic to your website is greater than before. Initially web design was about designing the most attractive website, so it was all about colour, imaging and the best looking fonts. Web design has become more about the layout of information than the actual design of the page. Internet users are more likely to scan your website for the information they want than actually reading every word on the page. Their time is limited and they know what they’re looking for, so if you don’t make it easy for them to find it they won’t think twice about moving on.

That’s not to say you should forget about web design all together. You still need to draw people’s attention, but you can do that without all the frills.

Tips for creating simple, effective websites

Making your web site as user friendly as possible is as important as the information you provide on the website. Here are some web design tips to get you going:

Don’t overcrowd your page: There is nothing more off-putting to a web-surfer than a page with too much text and images. There should be a good balance text and white space and it helps to divide your information into paragraphs with appropriate headings.
Use points and lists to display information: In addition to paragraphs you might think about displaying some of the information in point or list form. It makes it easier for a visitor to scan the page.
Choosing fonts: Use fonts that are easy to read and don’t use too many different fonts on your websites
The purpose of your website: What is your website trying to say? Make sure the information you put on your website answers this question and that there is no unrelated or unnecessary text. It makes it easier for your visitors to read.

Facebook "Share" and "Like" - How to Use Them

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:59:00 GMT

People long have loved to find new and innovative uses for the most innocuous technologies and advances. In the late 19th century, "moving pictures" were a nickel-arcade novelty. Today films such as Avatar are made on budgets comparable to military-grade hardware investments. Alexander Graham Bell's telephone could barely call from one room to another; now the average iPhone has more uses and computing power than all the computers used in World War II combined.

This trend is repeating itself with the rise of social media network marketing practices. What started as socialization programs only slightly more complex than the average e-mail client has grown into one of the newest and most promising marketing niches in the entire world. Taking advantage of this means familiarizing oneself with a few surprisingly simple concepts that have unusually far-reaching implications. In particular, marketers are finding that the "Like" and "Share" features on Facebook have become the newest and best tool in the marketing online arsenal.

We "Like" It

The "Like" function is a pretty simple one - people click "Like" for things that interest them. On the surface, this seems almost irrelevant, but thinking so ignores the way Facebook operates. Taking advantage of the "Like" function is actually the key to getting good marketing opportunities out of Facebook.

When a user clicks "Like," whether on Facebook itself or through a site's Facebook plug-in, Facebook records the data and uses it in a number of ways. First, a notification is put up on the user's wall confirming the "Like." This informs other users who are familiar with the wall about the product, news item or event, giving them an opportunity to examine and potentially "Like" it as well.

Therefore, if a user has even 200 friends, which is not that great a number given the increasing inter-connectedness of online communities, that's 200 people who will see what their friend "Liked," and who will have the chance to "Like" it themselves. This is the very foundation of viral content, or content with the ability to move rapidly along through intermediate connections of hundreds of people.

Additionally, Facebook makes recommendations to users based on things they have "Liked." Thus if friend A has friend B, and friend A puts a "Like" on business C, friend B will not only get an announcement about the "Like," but may have the business recommended to them since they "Like" friend A. This is still another route of communication and an indirect marketing opportunity that requires no more effort than a simple click. Thus it is to any business' advantage to put a plug-in allowing people to "Like" them on Facebook via the business' site.

"Share" a Little, Gain a Lot

"Sharing" is another process which allows users to spread information about themselves and the products, news items or events they enjoy across multiple networks. This level of extra-connectedness in essence performs the same function as "Like," but with more data given which people can use to evaluate contacts and make connections.

"Like" simply gets a basic fact out there. "Share" will tell users more about each other, allowing for the kind of networking that drives modern business. It also expands the audience beyond the immediate momentary location of Facebook to other sources such as LinkedIn or Twitter. This further creates the potential for any post to go viral, allowing it to spread quickly among related yet distinct audiences.

Two-way Street

The communicative rather than broadcast model will serve marketers well in the area of "Liking" and "Sharing." Yes, it is good when users "Like" a business - it drives referral traffic to the business and allows for more information to get out there. However, equally good is when a business provides "Likes" to others and for their material.

In the first, most mercenary example it will increase the business' own traffic automatically. Consider friends A and B from before. If friend A puts up a post that Business C likes for whatever reason, friend B will see the "Like." This creates another indirect marketing opportunity and referral traffic automatically. So it's clearly to a business' benefit to be active in the community and to consistently "Like" things that are interesting to the business.

Indirectly, it creates goodwill in the community. The model of the Internet is a place where people exchange ideas and information, so people respond well to good comments. If business C "Likes" friend A's post, then friend A may "Like" them in return, for reciprocity if nothing else. This can be amplified by providing well-thought-out, insightful and proper comments on various walls throughout a given Facebook community.

At its roots, Facebook "Likes" and social networking "Shares" create opportunities to be more involved, and they reward increased and thoughtful involvement more than automatic, disinterested participation. Actively read through communities touching on a brand's interests and look for the "Likes" and referrals others are following. Provide commentary for your brand, as well as for the interests of others, and people will respond out of courtesy. The brand that behaves like a human will receive human consideration, while the brand that acts like a robot will be blocked out automatically.

Google has Autumn Spring Clean!

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:45:00 GMT

Google is doing away with 10 of it's products. Which ones will you miss?

Google say:

Over the next few months we’ll be shutting down a number of products and merging others into existing products as features. The list is below. This will make things much simpler for our users, improving the overall Google experience. It will also mean we can devote more resources to high impact products—the ones that improve the lives of billions of people. All the Googlers working on these projects will be moved over to higher-impact products. As for our users, we’ll communicate directly with them as we make these changes, giving sufficient time to make the transition and enabling them to take their data with them.

Here’s a quick overview of where a number of products and features are headed:

Aardvark: Aardvark was a start-up we acquired in 2010. An experiment in a new kind of social search, it helped people answer each other’s questions. While Aardvark will be closing, we’ll continue to work on tools that enable people to connect and discover richer knowledge about the world.
Desktop: In the last few years, there’s been a huge shift from local to cloud-based storage and computing, as well as the integration of search and gadget functionality into most modern operating systems. People now have instant access to their data, whether online or offline. As this was the goal of Google Desktop, the product will be discontinued on September 14, including all the associated APIs, services, plugins, gadgets and support.
Fast Flip: Fast Flip was started to help pioneer news content browsing and reading experiences for the web and mobile devices. For the past two years, in collaboration with publishers, the Fast Flip experiment has fueled a new approach to faster, richer content display on the web. This approach will live on in our other display and delivery tools.
Google Maps API for Flash: The Google Maps API for Flash was launched to provide ActionScript developers a way to integrate Google Maps into their applications. Although we’re deprecating the API, we’ll keep supporting existing Google Maps API Premier customers using the Google Maps API for Flash and we’ll focus our attention on the JavaScript Maps API v3 going forward.
Google Pack: Due to the rapidly decreasing demand for downloadable software in favor of web apps, we will discontinue Google Pack today. People will still be able to access Google’s and our partners’ software quickly and easily through direct links on the Google Pack website.
Google Web Security: Google Web Security came to Google as part of the Postini acquisition in 2007, and since then we've integrated much of the web security functionality directly into existing Google products, such as safe browsing in Chrome. Although we will discontinue new sales of Google Web Security, we’ll continue to support our existing customers.
Image Labeler: We began Google Image Labeler as a fun game to help people explore and label the images on the web. Although it will be discontinued, a wide variety of online games from Google are still available.
Notebook: Google Notebook enabled people to combine clipped URLs from the web and free-form notes into documents they could share and publish. We’ll be shutting down Google Notebook in the coming months, but we’ll automatically export all notebook data to Google Docs.
Sidewiki: Over the past few years, we’ve seen extraordinary innovation in terms of making the web collaborative. So we’ve decided to discontinue Sidewiki and focus instead on our broader social initiatives. Sidewiki authors will be given more details about this closure in the weeks ahead, and they’ll have a number of months to download their content.
Subscribed Links: Subscribed Links enabled developers to create specialized search results that were added to the normal Google search results on relevant queries for subscribed users. Although we'll be discontinuing Subscribed Links, developers will be able to access and download their data until September 15, at which point subscribed links will no longer appear in people's search results.

We’ve never been afraid to try big, bold things, and that won’t change. We’ll continue to take risks on interesting new technologies with a lot of potential. But by targeting our resources more effectively, we can focus on building world-changing products with a truly beautiful user experience.