The daily Post

Facebook’s introduction of live video to their popular Social Network platform gives users increased functionality in creating and sharing new content.  

The new feature was launched in mid-2015 and by early 2016 was available to all Facebook users.

Facebook Live video enables you to use your phone to capture and share a moment instantly with friends and family. This allows the user to post instant responses to comments and allows you to see their reactions.

A spokesman for the Facebook company commented on how well things have been going since the launch. “Since launching Facebook Live last summer we’ve been surprised and delighted with how people are using live video to connect and interact with each other all over the world”.

Some examples of interaction were explained:

• People are letting their friends discover their hobbies.
• Parents are using it to share moments in their kids’ lives with their extended families.
• Athletes are giving people a window into their training.
• Chefs are bringing their fans into their kitchen.
• Journalists are hosting global conversations on topics they care about.
• Aspiring musicians can now put on a live concert for their friends.

New updated features to Facebook live have recently been released.

Live for Groups and Events

This feature allows you to go live with people in your Facebook groups and events. You can broadcast live to just the people in your group and also share events you are staging live with family, friends and the general community who share your interests.

Live Reactions Android

Live filters, interactive options, live reactions and replay comments are all new features for users to react live to each others broadcasts. Animations used show up on top of the video giving the broadcaster an idea on people’s feelings during the live broadcast.

Live Creative Tools iOS

Users can personalize their broadcasts. There is a set of five live filters which will allow the option to draw and annotate on your video when it’s live.

Video Home iOS

So you don’t miss out on live World exclusives, Facebook have dedicated a spot on their mobile app allowing you to search live and non-live videos from around the globe.

Live Map

Live Map gives you a visual experience to explore public live broadcasts from around the world for desktop users. Sixty Countries now share Facebook Live Video and the live map gives you an instant view of what is going on in the world.
Facebook have confirmed  “they are committed to creating the best experience for everyone who wants to create, watch and interact with live videos on Facebook and provide the best ways to broadcast, interact with, and discover live video”.

However can Facebook live video pose a serious challenge to established video platforms Snapchat, Meercat and Periscope? Only time will tell.

Google Local Business Cards, What are They?

Here is a quick guide to what Google are looking to achieve with these ‘ Local Business Cards’.

Google have recently been experimenting with Local Business Cards in Search Results. The new card carousel test has involved a number of businesses specifically chosen for the trials. Content has been carefully created for the purpose of the tests and has not been extracted from Google My Business or similar sources. The Local Business Cards will include animation and GIFS which have previously not been allowed on the search results page.

The aim of these business cards is to allow local businesses to promote their specific content allowing it to be shared directly from the card carousel and displayed near the top of the search results.

Google has confirmed these tests are genuine and will be using the same functions that were used on the Candidate Cards that were launched a few weeks ago.

The creation of these Local Business cards were specifically aimed at mobile users however they will display equally fine for desktop users. For the desktop user Local Business Cards will appear immediately adjacent to a section known as the Knowledge Panel which will feature that business. On the mobile platform it’s displayed below the Knowledge Panel equivalent.

Similar to the Candidate Cards, the intent is to allow a business to communicate specific content directly in the search results. Content can also be shared directly from within the Card Carousel.

With regards to Local SEO this could be quite a significant feature. It has been made apparant that Google has not made a decision yet to roll out Local Business Cards on a broad scale or whether to introduce it initially to Large National Local businesses. Whatever Google decides to do it will not be announced until all of their tests are completed.

In 2015 Splashdata released a list containing 25 of the worst passwords. Splashdata are a password management company and compiles this list annually from 2000 passwords leaked online each year. Below is a list of the top ten. For a full password listing go to: https://www.teamsid.com/worst-passwords-2015/

Morgan Slain CEO of SplashData said: “We have seen an effort by many people to be more secure by adding characters to passwords, but if these longer passwords are passed on simple patterns they will put you in just as much risk of having your identity stolen by hackers”

SplashData offers 3 simple tips to keep yourself protected online.

1.       Use passwords or passphrases of twelve characters or more with mixed types of characters.

2.     Avoid using the same password over and over again on different websites.

3.    Use a password manager such as TeamsID to organize and protect passwords, generate random passwords, and automatically log into website.

Remember, when you are next setting up a password for an account follow Splashdata’s guidelines to ensure you are secure from threats to your security.

What changes in SEO are scheduled to occur in 2016?. One guaranteed change is the increased emphasis by Google in providing the complete mobile friendly experience for users.

Since the introduction of ‘Mobilegeddon’ in April 2015, Google has stepped up their campaign to ensure all indexed websites meets their stringent mobile friendly requirements. Mobile website design is no longer optional and with the increased usage of mobile devices in search it is essential the user is provided with an error free experience.

For the website owner a mobile friendly site can increase goal conversions, sales and improve ranking in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPS).

Act now to ensure your website is mobile friendly in 2016 to avoid potential Google penalties.

Look out Black Hats, Google are planning to release Penguin Update 4 at the beginning of the new year. The Search Engine giants have announced this algorithm will be a real time update.

The Penguin algorithm was initially designed to get rid of spammy, low-quality links that were purchased by the Black Hats from link farms.A big percentage of sites were penalised by Penguin and it took a long time for them to recover and re-listed in the search results. This slow recovery was frustrating after all of the necessary issues were corrected.

With Penguin Update 4 being a real-time algorithm it will always be updating non-stop. This will result in a quick recovery from issued penalties, however it also means spammers will be  penalised just as quick.

The release date for this algorithm is not yet known but is likely to be scheduled at the beginning of 2016.

We must not forget that the real-time updates could be used by Black Hats to create bad quality backlinks to gain high positions in the search results and then deleting them afterwards. This issue will have to be considered and addressed by Google however you can be confident this will not delay the release of Penguin Update 4.

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Find it irritating when you click to access a page on your favourite website and a big page prompt delays your access by asking you to download the website app. Well this practice could be a thing of the past thanks to Google.

From the 1st of November Google will be penalising sites that display app interstitials that hide a significant amount of content on the transition from the search page.

Google will consider the offending sites as not being mobile friendly and this will have a significant impact on website owners organic/natural traffic.

The writing was on the wall in July when Google published a blog post asking people to reconsider using app interstitials. It was suggested by various sources then that Google might turn this into some form of penalty.The growing trend is when Google suggests a recommendation, an algorithm usually follows.

Google has updated their mobile testing tool in search console to allow website owners the chance to avoid a possible penalty. The message is ‘websites must promote apps that are more user friendly’.