SEO Werkt!

A WebmasterWorld thread has one AdWords advertiser sharing his experience going through the decision making process of allowing a Google employee to set up a new AdWords campaign for free and see how it goes.

The outcome was that he decided to see what the AdWords representative can do. Let it run for a bit and see the results compared to what he could do himself.

Six weeks later, the results seem pretty impressive.

• Clicks – up 23%
• CTR -up 103%
• Avg. CPC – down 13%

So clicks are up, CPC prices are down – that seems great! Well, doesn’t it?

As moderator, buckworks, asked – how are conversions?

I’d assume those are doing well also, but I am waiting for the post to be updated. If conversions are the same or better, then this advertiser won big time by using the right Google AdWords representative.

Is it always worth a shot? That depends on the complexity of your business model.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Teens, get ready to slam your bedroom doors and start pouting, because new research suggests that it’s common practice for your parents to spy on you by secretly accessing your Facebook account.

In the U.S., 60 percent of parents access teens’ Facebook profiles without their knowledge, and moms are a tad guiltier than dads, according to security software company AVG, which surveyed 4,400 parents of teens ages 14 to 17.

The social snooping behavior is not unique to American parents. Sixty-six percent of parents in Canada and 51 percent of parents in the UK do it too. Across 11 countries, 44 percent of parents admit to the stealthy activity. And boy oh boy are the ‘rents in for an unsettling surprise: 21 percent of parents have seen explicit or abusive messages on their teen’s social profile.

Surveyed parents also expressed concern around the future consequences of content their children are posting to social networks, and worried about the lack of educational instruction on the subject. According to AVG’s research, 40 percent of American parents fear that their teens’ Facebook updates will hurt their job prospects later in life, and almost half of all parents around the world said that schools were not effective in teaching their teens to use the Internet responsibly.

Perhaps that explains why even more parental units are taking an above-board stance and openly friending their kids on Facebook. In the U.S., 72 percents are connected with their teens on Facebook, AVG said.

And parents may want to consider their own digital behaviors before pointing the finger elsewhere. In the U.S., according to AVG, 92 percent of children have an online presence by the time they are two because parents are posting photos and other information to social networks. And more children between the ages of two and five know how to play with a smartphone application (19 percent) than tie their shoes (9 percent).

Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography/Flickr

Filed under: social

Windows 8 RC may release this Summer, Japan orders Google to put an end to its Autocomplete search feature, and AVG’s latest update includes a few interesting features. More »

This week we talk about the IPO heard ’round the world, that of Dutch antivirus outfit AVG.

Wait, that’s the IPO y’all were talking about, right?

Of course, we get into some of the nitty gritty gossip around the Facebook IPO, from what the MySpace CEO had to say about it to how Mr. Mark Zuckerberg used some clever contractual maneuvers to maintain control of the company and its board.

And what would VB Weekly be without a little fun and games? We chat about our Dean Takahashi’s recent exclusive interview with game creator Lord British, a.k.a. Richard Garriott, who says he’ll be writing his next video from space. No kidding.

Filed under: video

Bsecure, a provider of online family protection software, has been acquired by Internet and mobile security giant AVG Technologies.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Bsecure says it has provided cloud-based technology and parent controls software in the Internet filtering industry since 2001. The company has long been a partner of AVG partner in offering parental control products.

Related: AVG Acquires Mobile Security Startup DroidSecurity

While Twitter does not have a minimum age requirement, Facebook sets it at 13 and Google+ is 18. In general the minimum age of entry for social networks is 13 or older. Yet, anti-virus firm AVG surveyed 4000 parents (in USA, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan) with children between 10 and 13 years old and learned some surprising things.
continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Kids have ‘adult’ tech skills; parents don’t know it:

infoneer-pulse:

According to AVG, the average 11-year-old child has “adult skills when it comes to technology.” In other words, they can perform any task that an adult can when it comes to surfing the Web, getting a gadget to work, or solving complex computer issues.

“Technologically speaking, today’s kids can walk the walk,” AVG Chief Executive J.R. Smith said in a statement.

» via CNET

The Daily App Deals post is a round-up of the best app discounts of the day, as well as some notable mentions for ones that are on sale. More »