Top Smartphone Platforms (Yikes! Microsoft)

… at least 95% of traffic from each originating from the first page of results after a nonbranded search. Less than 2% of search-referred traffic came from clickers persistent enough to look for results after the second page.

YouTubers will be able to vote and share their favorites. The winning advertiser, with the most favorites, will be featured on YouTube’s top page.

Seriously, the corporate culture is based on hiring really smart people, giving them responsibilities, letting them know what problems the company thinks it should focus on, then letting them figure out how to tackle it. What management hierarchy there is is very flat. And people pay little attention to it unless there is a problem. You are expected to be a self-directed person, who solves problems by reaching out to whomever you need to and talking directly. Usually by email. The result is an organization which is in a constant state of flux as things are changing around you, usually for the better. With a permanent level of chaos and very large volumes of email. It is as if an entire company intuitively understood that defect rates are tied to distance on the corporate org-chart, and tried to solve it by eliminating all barriers to people communicating directly with whoever they need to communicate with.

Hat Tip

Smartphone Market Breakdown

Google Buzz Explained

Google’s Social Search Explained

“You could potentially turn it into a Google-like ad model where people bid on the latitude and longitude of where they want their ads to appear at certain times of day.”

The calendar says Jan. 21. Too late to make a list for the coming year? Probably.

No mind. Here are a few stories, business and otherwise, that I’ll be paying close attention to in 2010:

1. Google vs. Everybody (but especially Apple and Microsoft) - The Mountain View Crew is diving headfirst into software, both traditional and mobile. and ticking off Microsoft, Apple and potential mobile carriers in the process. They’re even picking a fight with the Chinese Government.
2. Apple - A tablet. IPhone fighting to stay on top. Steve Jobs’ health. Mobile advertising deals. Getting in bed with arch enemy Microsoft? Never a dull moment for our favorite fruit.
3. Election 2010 - Two years into Bill Clinton’s presidency led to a Republican takeover of Congress. Considering the recent loss in Mass., is 2010 beginning to smell a lot like 1994?
4. LeBron - Are you ready for NBA free agency? An entire city’s mental well-being hangs in the balance. Stay ‘Bron. Stay.
5. Foursquare - I’m addicted. I admit it. The most intriguing start-up I’ve seen in a long time. Yeah, Facebook (or Yelp) will probably crush them, but maybe not. They do have a revenue model at least.

January’s not even over and most of the above are already lighting up the wires. Should be a fun year. Oh, and did I mention keeping one eye on the economy?

Google’s Nexus One on YouTube

Battelle’s yearly predictions are a must-read: “Google will make a corporate decision to become seen as a software brand rather than as ‘just a search engine.’ I see this as a massive cultural shift that will cause significant rifts inside the company, but I also see it as inevitable.”

Humor aside, the conspiracy theory that Google is attempting to kill its foes by giving them more exposure on Google, thus resulting in death by spam, is, well, interesting.