“[We're] going to make it so you can connect to anything you want in any way you want,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the event. “Last year we added the nouns, this year we added the verbs.”

Well, perhaps he should have said, “next year we’ll add the verbs,” but you get the idea.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the actions would be launching any day now. Today, it is being reported that they will launch on Wednesday.

Facebook is holding a press event, where it is said to be unveiling new apps to take advantage of more actions. We’ll find out soon enough what all apps and actions this will include.

One thing that businesses should note about these apps and actions is that they will open the door to some new advertising opportunities (which combined with some other ad-related efforts on Facebook’s part, should fuel revenue nicely ahead of the company’s IPO).

The actions will no doubt make user timelines more interesting.

There’s so much more to this story, but it’s Sunday evening and, well, it would take a huge post to summarize everything. I’ve not read every detail, but here’s what I’m thinking.

It should be obvious that a quote in an ad unit is a paid endorsement. It should be, but it isn’t always the case. There should be a hard line between editorial and advertising. There should be, but that’s not always the case. Perhaps you should make a disclosure statement, any time you sign a deal with an advertiser – regardless of whether the ad appears on your blog or some other site – although that’s not always practical. A general blog disclosure statement is a safety net for any blogger who accepts advertisers or paid endorsements. Having a disclosure statement tells your readers, “hey, listen I may actually have my unbiased blogger’s hat on right now, but you should know that I do, at some point, receive money from the company I’ve just discussed.”

If you’ve read the blogstorm, leave a comment and let me know where you stand in the debate. In the meantime, here’s our disclosure statement. We link to it whenever we mention an advertiser and it’s linked to from every blog page, in case we forget or you’re just curious.

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A few data points:

Steve Gillmor raps on two different ways that the actions and behaviors of customers (he calls them “users”) are captured into the emerging world:

“By definition, the Windows data represents behavior under the terms and conditions of the Windows/Office/DRM/PlaysForSure contract with the user — managed via IT, structured around the corporate hierarchical notions of enterprise ownership of user data and behavior, and so on. And in turn, the same can be said of the Google/Skype/Yahoo/Salesforce contract — different in that users can navigate across corporate domains but remain subtly constrained by, as Doc suggests, the tyranny of inference derived but not related from the user’s behavior. Both clouds are captured, prisoners of war in the battle for access to the intentions of the user/creator of these signals.”

Doc Searls cuts to the chase:

“It’s a market opportunity to equip the demand side with better tools for relating to the supply side. That’s what Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) is about. When we have that, the supply side will start rebuilding their CRMs as systems that actually relate to us, rather than try to corrall and milk us like cattle.”

Dave Winer thinks it’s about getting critical mass:

“If I had a place where I kept my movie ratings and gave [Netflix and Yahoo] a pointer to it, they could read it and I would control the data. It would be very easy to set up, the technology is no trick at all. The hard part is getting enough users to do it this way to gain critical mass.”

[ed. - I'm a technologist, and I'm also a pragmatist. There are some portions of this that will be solved via technical means, naturally. But, in my gut, I still feel that a big portion of this will be solved the way that business has been done for the past few millenia, by way of actual people connecting with each other and building trusted relationships.]

Now, Mitch Ratcliffe tempers Doc and Steve with a very rational position:

“Attention often comes after the initial exchange has been offered, so the evolution of demand-side systems for making our desires clear should evolve from the bottom up and obliterate the existing CRM system as a mechanism for command-and-control. But no one has found the motivating force that will catalyze a market reversal and the likelihood is that the market will never flip over because, frankly, we don’t always know what we want until we see it. That’s the creativity and innovation folks are always talking about in action-new value comes from contrarians who reshape the world rather than just roll with it.”

Here’s some further thinking on this, intended to provoke discussion:

(1) Where we are today

(2) Where we seem to be heading

(3) A place of ultimate “crowdsourcing” (we may also be heading here)

(4) The parking lot of a Phish concert

I really like the idea of Area 2. It’s a place of give and take, where vendor and customer meet as equals.

Further reading: The corollary

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Christopher Carfi, CEO and co-founder of Cerado, looks at sales, marketing, and the business experience from the customers point of view. He currently is focused on understanding how emerging social technologies such as blogs, wikis, and social networking are enabling the creation of new types of customer-driven communities. He is the author of the Social Customer Manifesto weblog, and has been occasionally told that he drives and snowboards just a little too quickly.

Hitachi Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd., and the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group are just a few of the major players involved in the new cooperative effort. There is apparently a concern over the fact that world’s top three search engines are all based in the U.S., and the Japanese group seeks to alter this reality with their offering.

The hope of ending that monopoly of sorts is one reason why the Japanese government stepped in to provide funding. The government, and the group, also disapproved of Google’s censoring actions in China, and hope to set a better example.

This new search engine will supposedly be modifiable by users, including businesses, for specific purposes. It may feature “next generation” search technology.

The news came from MSN Mainichi Japan. An English translation of the article can be read here. According to the piece, it appears the product should launch within two years, with actual work on it beginning in two days (June 16). It also mentions an effort on the part of the French government in the area of “individual search technology.”

Many challengers have made attacks on the big American search companies, to little or no effect. The combination of these major Japanese corporations, and the Japanese government itself, could pose a challenge, though. It may be time for Google, Yahoo, and MSN to circle the wagons.

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Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.

Actions are macro routines condensed into buttons and quick-key combinations. With Actions you can ‘record’ routines at any level of complexity to use later on other images.

So many people are unaware of the existence of Actions or are too scared to use them, but they really are quite straight forward to implement.

Where to start?

We will need to open an image within Adobe Photoshop and ensure that the Action floating palette is open. If you can’t find the Action palette, simply go to (menu bar) Window>Actions or press Alt and F9.

Depending on your current setup, the Action palette should present you with a collapse and expand list. If all you see are colour buttons, then click on the small menu icon (triangle in a circle) at the top right of the Actions palette and choose ‘Button Mode’ from the drop-down list. This toggle feature should switch from button mode to development mode, allowing you to create and edit Actions.

Creating an Action

1. Along the bottom of the Action palette you will find the ‘Create new action’ button (2nd from the right). Click on it.

2. The New Action dialogue box should appear. Type in a name for your Action, choose a colour (for colour coding purposes) and a short-cut to it if you wish. You can also organise your Action into ‘Sets’, but they are not covered in this article.

3. Now click on record to start creating your Action. Nearly everything you do from now on will be recorded.

4. Experiment with different Adobe Photoshop features, i.e. add a filter, change the image size/colour mode or even transform a layer, etc. You will notice that each and every step you make will now become incorporated within the Actions palette’s listings beneath the name you gave to it.

5. When you are finished with creating your Action, click on the ‘Stop playing/recording’ button (first from the left) to end.

You should now have successfully created an Action.

To use it, you’d be advised to change back to ‘Button mode’ by clicking on the menu icon on the palette and selecting it from the drop-down list.

Try opening another image and apply your Action to it. Can you now see the possibilities? Actions can be saved and transferred; offering the possibility of exchanging or even selling well constructed and useful Actions over the net. So be creative and most importantly – experiment!

One step further

If you have a CD or folder full of images that you wish to apply your Action to, why not use (menu bar) File>Automate>Batch…. Select your Action, choose a source and target, click on ‘OK’, then go and make a cup of coffee and the job’s done!

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James Middleton

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Reporters Without Borders claimed in a news release that Yahoo Holdings of Hong Kong provided Chinese investigators with the IP address used by journalist Shi Tao. The authorities connected that address with an email sent by Mr. Shi to a New York-based web site.

That email contained what prosecutors characterized as a “state secret.” It discussed how the government planned to deal with possible activities and the media, related to the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, appearing at a summit in Hangzhou, could not discuss the case, which has seen Mr. Shi sentenced to ten years in prison. Mr. Yang said the company receives legal requests for information all the time, USA Today reports.

Search Engine Journal noted how former US president Bill Clinton, appearing at the same summit, said: “In China, I think, that so far the political system and restraint on political speech in the Internet has not seemed to have any adverse commercial consequences. It will be interesting to see whether that is true of the future.”

Both Mr. Yang and Mr. Clinton were in China as guests of recent Yahoo investment target Alibaba.com. The China Internet Summit featured them as attendees gathered to discuss the future of online commerce and other issues pertaining to the increase in Internet users in China, now numbering over 100 million people.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

These actions involved offering tax shelter services that are now under criminal investigation by Department of Justice. They are going after KPMG for obstruction of justice and selling abusive tax shelters.

“It has been public knowledge that since February 2004, the Department of Justice has been investigating certain tax services that were offered by the firm during the 1996 – 2002 time period,” said KPMG in the statement. “This is part of a larger tax shelter investigation into the role of accounting firms, law firms, large banks and taxpayers who participated in the development, promotion and implementation of tax shelters.”

“KPMG takes full responsibility for the unlawful conduct by former KPMG partners during that period, and we deeply regret that it occurred,” the firm stated.

KPMG said that it has taken actions to ensure that this type of conduct doesn’t happen again including not offering the services in question, and making sure the people responsible for the illegal actions were removed from the firm.

The firm has also made structural, cultural, and governance changes in order to preserve ethics. KPMG says it has undertaken significant change in its business practices.

“We remain in discussions with the Department of Justice and continue to cooperate fully in its investigation,” said KPMG. “KPMG looks forward to a resolution that recognizes the significant reforms the firm has already made in response to this matter while appropriately sanctioning the firm for this wrongdoing. We take this matter very seriously and seek to resolve it fairly and expeditiously.”

The last time a criminal indictment was brought against a major accounting firm was that of Arthur Andersen. This led to the fall of the firm, but its conviction was recently reversed.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

The complaint claims that the U.S. has been funding Boeing with illegal aid through military contracts. The U.S. previously filed a similar complaint accusing Airbus of getting illegal aid.

“In order to sustain conditions for fair competition in civil aircraft production and to maintain a proper commercial balance between the two companies, the European Union is resuming action in the WTO to confirm … the illegality of subsidies paid to Boeing,” said Mandelson.

For months, the United States and the Euopean Union have been having talks and trying to negotiate on this matter. They have been trying to avoid this legal action with the WTO, but yesterday, the U.S. backed out of the talks and went to the WTO. Now the EU has done what was expected and filed a counter complaint. AFX News Limited writes:

The simmering dispute over aid to Airbus and Boeing has become inflamed lately after Airbus requested UK government aid for its A350 long-haul plane designed to compete with Boeing’s planned 787 Dreamliner.

Mandelson added, however, that he will make all efforts to ensure the row does not damage broader trade relations between the EU and US.

“I can assure you Europe’s interests will be fully defended,” Mandelson said. He also said that he was “disappointed that the United States has chosen this confrontation with Europe.”

“America’s decision will, I fear, spark the biggest, most difficult and costly legal dispute in the WTO’s history,” he said, adding it would be “manifestly expensive and (involve) quite destructive litigation.”

According to U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, the Bush administration felt like it needed to act because EU member nations were preparing fund Airbus with $1.7 billion to Airbus to develop its A350.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

It seems worth the effort when you get results like fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; prospects starting to do business with you; welcome bounces in show room visits; membership applications on the rise; customers starting to make repeat purchases; community leaders beginning to seek you out; capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way, and even politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities.

But winners don’t pull it off by themselves. First, they find out who among their important outside audiences is behaving in ways that help or hinder the achievement of their objectives. Then they list them according to how severely their behaviors affect their organization.

Next they take steps to learn exactly how most members of their key outside audience think about their organization. And by the way, they make certain their entire PR team buys into the crucial importance of knowing for sure how their outside audiences perceive their operations, products or services. And they dig deep to ensure they REALLY accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can damage your operation.

When it’s time to activate the PR blueprint, monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audience. Ask questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Not so incidentally, your PR folks are already in the perception and behavior business, so they can be of real use for this opinion monitoring project. Professional survey firms can be brought in to handle the opinion monitoring chore, but that can be a costly undertaking. But whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the questions, your objective is to identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and misconceptions .

Here, ask yourself which of the above abberations is serious enough to become your corrective public relations goal? Clarify the misconception? Spike that rumor? Correct the false assumption? Fix those inaccuracies? Or yet another offensive perception that could lead to negative results?

Once you firmly set your public relations goal, you can assure you’ll achieve it by picking the right strategy from the three choices available to you. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Especially important that your new strategy naturally compliments your new public relations goal.

How will your message deal with the offending perception when you address your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way of thinking?

Identify your best writing talent to prepare the message because s/he must put together some very special, corrective language. Words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Now it’s time for rapid fire communications tactics to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. Making certain that the tactics you select have a record of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

Of course, how one communicates often affects the credibility of the message, so you may wish to deliver it in small getogethers like meetings and presentations rather than through a higher-profile media announcement.

It will soon be time to show signs of progress. And that will call for a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Employing many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session, you will now be watching carefully for signs that the offending perception is being altered in your direction. Of course you can always accelerate the program by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

At day’s end, the managers to whom this is addressed, also know this essential truth: they need an aggressive blueprint such as this one that will deliver behavior change among their most important outside audiences leading directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR,
Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR,
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-
cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press
secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree
from Columbia University, major in public relations.
bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

Here are 10 tips for writing effective web copy:

1. Make sure content is easy to read

In the online world, less is nearly always more. Write your copy for the impatient, online reader. Here are some guidelines for the length of your content:

Headings: 8 words or less
Sentences: 15 – 20 words
Paragraphs: 40 – 70 words
Page word count: 250+ words

Eliminate pompous words and fancy phrases. Effective online writing is not about impressing the reader with your extensive vocabulary. It’s about communicating. Use short, simple words. Get to the point. And then stop.

2. Write from me to you

The most powerful word in the English language is “YOU”. Write for your reader, in a conversational tone, not for your ego.

Get to know your reader. Is there a common style or tone you need to use to reach her? Don’t forget, she’s come to your Web site to do something-make a purchase, obtain information, sign up for a subscription. Make sure every word you write moves her toward a solution.

3. Drive Actions With Content

Content is about getting the reader’s attention and keeping it. Content is about selling. Make sure your content is driving your customer’s actions. Then put that content on your home page.

4. Write for how people search

If you want your site to be found when people search the web, use words your target readers use. Before you begin to write, sit down and think carefully about the keywords you’re going to use. Then carefully weave those words and phrases into your copy. Here’s two Web sites that will help you find the right keywords and phrases for your site.

www.overture.com
www.wordtracker.com

5. Create Effective Headings

The heading is the most important piece of content you’ll write.

That’s because:

1. Internet users scan read and the first thing they read is your heading. If it doesn’t grab their attention, they’ll leave.

2. An effective heading can used in title tags (more about this later).

3. The heading can be placed on your home page as a link to content.

When writing headings:

6. Write keyword-rich title tags

Title tags are a small piece of HTML code that appears in the top bar of your browser. “For example, “Acme Company Home Page.” Title tags, along with meta keywords and meta descriptions, are one of several important factors in achieving high search engine rankings.

Title tags appear in your site’s HTML code like this:

<HEAD>
<TITLE>ACME COMPANY HOMEPAGE</TITLE>
</HEAD>

You can view a site’s title tag by clicking VIEW then SOURCE on your browser’s tool bar.

Because search engines use title tags to gather information about your Web site you need to think carefully about what words you put in the tag. Don’t be tempted to put your company name in the tag (unless you’re a well-known brand like Nike or Microsoft).

Instead put specific keywords relating to your business. For example, if you’re a California real estate company, you would want your company to appear in search engine results for searches on keywords such as “California Real Estate” or “Realtors in California.” So, you would use the keywords “California Real Estate” or “California Realtors” in your title tags. If you wanted to be more specific, or you prefer seeking business in a specific geographic area you would use keywords such as “Silicon Valley Real Estate” or “Silicon Valley Realtors.”

7. Provide links and connections

The web is about linking information. Make sure your site links your reader to other information and other sites link to you. Never make your Web site a dead-end. Some search engines, including Google, are based, in part, on their ability to find you from links on other sites

8. Write effective summaries, sentences and paragraphs

An effective summary is who, what, when, where, how. It’s about getting the information across in 50 words or less. Keep your summaries short and factual. Make sure they encourage your reader keep reading.

Remember, keep sentences to between 15-20 words. Paragraphs between 40-70 words. Make your first sentence grab your reader’s attention or they’ll move on.

9. Sell Benefits not Features

If you want your Web site to sell your product or service you must write about benefits and not about features. A feature describes a product or service. A benefit is what the user gains from using that product or service. Don’t say, ” Our duvets are warm and comfortable,” say “You’ll be warm and comfortable in one of our duvets.” Tell your customers how your product or service will make them happier, sexier, healthier, wealthier. In other words focus on making sure every line of your copy is dedicated to what’s in it for them.

10. Edit. Edit. Edit. Then edit again

Mistakes in online copy are temporary and easily fixed, but by the time you’ve noticed your errors so have thousands of other people. Have two or three people proofread your text. Check it yourself for consistency in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations etc. And finally, read it backwards-you’ll be surprised how many errors you’ll spot.

Julia Hyde is an advertising copywriter and consultant specializing in search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and traditional advertising. She currently creates advertising concepts and copy for businesses and is in the process of launching Creative Search Media, a full-service advertising and search engine marketing agency. You can contact Julia via her website at www.juliahyde.com or email Julia@juliahyde.com