In this post, I want to look at just the question of when it makes sense to use Facebook Connect, Twitter Oauth, OpenID, Yahoo Browser-Based Authentication, Google Friend Connect or basically any of the other authentication mechanisms. Example What do I mean? Interestingly, they are not including Google Authentication . One of the topics that came up in my post Mobile Internet Apple Facebook was around open vs. closed platforms.

The local dry cleaner, for example, couldn’t rent the mailing addresses of people who lived within walking distance from him. When Google opened up its mapping API it made Maponics’s Flash-based idea less appealing. - After Google came out with its product, Maponics shut down its Flash-based product. The first company he founded failed, but now Darrin Clement is running a multi-million dollar mapping business that he founded and bootstrapped. How did he go from having to close down his previous company to winning so many customers at this one?

And let's face facts, we normally are talking Google search. If you don't know the basics here, go look at Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (PDF). Which is also really important: off page SEO. However, if all you do is follow the on page SEO advice, it is unlikely that you will get much traffic via search. Off Page SEO The other aspect of SEO is at its most basic, how many pages with decent Google Page Rank point to you using anchor text that helps you with optimization. I recently had a conversation with an pre-launch startup where they discussed how SEO was going to be really important for them.

Today’s topic, and a personal favorite is Google Apps.  Here at Startup Army we’re using a combination of Google Apps and Microsoft Office to keep ourselves organized and productive.  In case you’re unaware, Google Apps is a suite of applications that enable users to collaborate through e-mail, calendars, documents and customized sites. Hey Everybody! [Pause Pause for Simpsons Fans] The team has been on my case to get on this whole blogging thing and the time has arrived. 

Unfortunately, that means that every post you should stop and think about the title and maybe even research it using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool . I looked at a couple of specific examples, where I ask for help from my followers. Subscribe the the RSS feed for each of these. Use Ping.fm to update multiple statuses. Create your own Network using Ning – see LearnTrends for an example. Create a Topic I did a presentation about the use of Social Media to a great group of people who mostly are different kinds of service professionals (attorneys, accountants, consultants, etc.).

7.) Solve a Personal Compelling Need Search Engines – Google, Yahoo, MSN, ASK redirect billions of searches everyday. It’s a simple formula, go to Google and type in this query site:“ name of your site.com ”. One of the best examples was when social news aggregator Mixx.com landed its deal to have its links on all of CNN’s online articles, likely one of the main factors that helped their traffic skyrocket . “If You Build It…They Will Come” may work for historical baseball ghosts, but it’s not a strategy you can rely on when starting an internet company.

In fact, you can get a good idea of these various things by just searching on Google for "eHarmony of" startup . Each of these startup ideas has at it's core a matching algorithm that reduces the friction between a consumer and some need. The flip side is that if you can offer something that's not at all clear how you are doing it, then people perceive greater value. An example that relates directly to creating a matching algorithm, is the classic Myers-Briggs Type Inventory . Because I was the Acting CTO for eHarmony at it's start, I quite often get introduced to people who have an idea for a startup company that is based on some kind of matching algorithm.

Which brings us, of course, to Google. A new study of 400,000 domains reveals that the Google Analytics (“GA”) pixel is now deployed on about 88% of them. Rapid GA adoption continues. I hear a lot of concerns about Google’s enormous might, but I’m not a reactionary or conspiracy theorist about Google’s “dark side” or their ability to become “big brother”. If you had a tracking pixel on more than 80% of internet websites, what would you do with the data? The mind reels.

The experience in question was great to me because aside from being a good experience, it is an iconic example of [...] ...Tags: As a product guy slash nerd, I often notice when I encounter a user experience that is particularly good–and also when one is not so good. Today I want to highlight one of the former. The

This likely means something like Google Analytics , although there is a very large universe of equivalent tools out there as well. Google analytics can’t really tell you much - it’s not very actionable. You might, for example, hold events in the rough key/value form: Futuristic Play by @Andrew_Chen Analysis on viral marketing, user experience, game design, and online ads As