What we do know is that the logos are supposed to be “fast, fun and interactive” and that Google are holding a press conference today to make an announcement. Again, speculation has reigned over what will be announced – and we’re all waiting for Google to fill in the blanks.

Once the big news has been announced, the FirstFound Blog will let you know. But until then, here’s some of our favourite theories:

• Google are just playing about for their Birthdays (September 7th and September 27th – Google’s like the Queen in that respect)
• We’re about to see a new interface, possibly a much more interactive one – much like the earlier sidebar update.
• Wave’s coming back! (Or not)
• Google RealTime search is being released

Whatever the big news is, we’ll get it to you. Keep an eye on the FirstFound Twitter feed for news as we get it.

Regardless of what the news is, FirstFound will still be getting clients to the top of Google. Request your free search engine report to get your site moving.

Facebook.

“It’s the second biggest site on the web! No, wait! It’s the biggest site on the web! It’s got 300,000,000 members! No, 400,000,000! And it’s the secret to succeeding in business!” – It’s as if bloggers and journalists have nothing better to talk about.

But today, all of that changed. Facebook passed the 500,000,000 users mark (that’s half a billion), and everyone’s been left speechless. Words have been replaced by infographics, statistics and mind-boggling numbers. It’s as if language can’t quite keep up with the sheer mathematics involved.

This will probably be a blip though, and over the next few days you can expect to see hundreds of articles using words like “world domination”. But until then, sit back and enjoy the numbers. The Guardian’s interactive map is a good place to start.

The Metro joins The Independent, The Sun, The Telegraph and – more recently – The Guardian who also have their own apps. Some are free, but some you need to buy. It is a bold move for a medium that often feels threatened by developing technology. Last month we saw Rupert Murdoch take aim at Google, branding Google News content theives and even (at one point!) threatening to block Google’s crawlers and turn Fox News in to a pay site.

Perhaps it is not so much a dying medium as an evolving one. After all, it is the information people are interested in, not the paper it is printed on. We find ourselves in an increasingly environmentally conscious world and I can’t help feeling that some trees will escape the chop as a direct result.

Whatever happens, at least I know for certain I will not have any problems finding a Metro in the morning!

But after some careful thought, I realised it actually made perfect sense. The Internet offers more choice, operates faster and more efficiently, ultimately ensuring that sales are less expensive for most businesses to make. In a recession, why wouldn’t everyone turn to the Internet to do their Christmas shopping? The added bonus is not having to depend on the British weather, nor negotiate your way though hordes of people to grab yourself a Christmas bargain!

The Second Busiest Online Trading Day … Ever!

But this is no isolated spike, either. Early data from research firm comScore suggests that yesterday was actually the second busiest online trading day in the Internet’s history. Sales are up 15% on this time last year, which was itself a new record, beating the one set in 2007. Despite my television constantly reminding me how gloomy the economic world is behind my curtain, it is clear that a vast chunk of these sales have not dried up … they have simply moved to the web.  This is a trend we can expect to see continue for some time.

We are now in December, with only 24 days until Christmas.  It is very easy to lose focus of our goal once the short-term flurry of activity has died down.  It is tempting to walk away with the message that: ‘Christmas is becoming an Internet thing’, rather than taking a step back, and seeing the bigger picture which indicates a steady migration of business to the Internet, year upon year.  As a search engine consultant who spends his life matching patterns, I can tell you that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is for life, not just for Christmas! 

Quite a number of people ask me to optimise them for seasonal phrases to ensure they are able to catch a lot of the holiday traffic. This makes perfect sense on the surface – but in reality – SEO itself responds quite slowly and is probably not the best tool for the job. The smart person will be investing in their website now, carefully manoeuvring yourself ready for Christmas 2010.

The Most Effective Way to Target Seasonal Traffic

Does your website have a blog or news section? If not, you should probably look at getting one installed. This is an increasingly popular self-promotion tactic that will allow you to post news about your seasonal promotions and offers. You will find search engines are far more responsive to blogs and news which will prove more effective at capturing your slice of the seasonal traffic. What about your websites page structure? Could you add more information pages to your site, or improve your websites page structure to allow for better quality traffic? When was the last time your website had a face lift? Trends in programming techniques on the web are constantly shifting. A few years ago it was acceptable to use table structures for the design, but this has become a tactic that is now frowned upon.

If you have an SEO consultant, then perhaps it would be worth having a chat about web development work that will help you get more out of your online presence in the long term? Rather than a sudden reaction to short term trends, this is best done in response to the gradual trend which shows the Internet is likely to play an increasingly dominant role in our shopping habits in 2010.

During his five minute interview, Chris covered burning questions such as “What do Search Engine consultants do?”, “What is split testing?” and “Is the Internet replacing the high street?”

With Christmas fast approaching and the weather worsening, Chris was quick to point out that people would much rather do their Christmas shopping in a warm house than on the sunny streets of Greater Manchester, and confidently predicted that Internet sales would rise again over this festive period.

Chris’ full interview with Channel M reporter Andy Crane can be seen on the MEN website.