Digital News Roundup is a new weekly segment which highlights the latest in news and happenings in the online world within the past week.

Foursquare Surpasses 3 Million User Registrations; Mashable
Foursquare now has more than 3 million users. Foursquare’s growth has been accelerating rapidly lately. The service hit 2.6 million users on August 2, up from 725,000 in March.
The Takeaway: Facebook Places launch in August has not deterred Foursquare’s rapid growth, which grew another 15% in August. (more…)

Digital News Roundup is a new weekly segment which highlights the latest in news and happenings in the online world within the past week.

Gap Offers 25% Discount for Foursquare; Mashable
Only valid for one day, Gap cut 25% from the prices of all the clothes in its retail stores for customers who checked in on Foursquare.
The Takeaway:Another good retail example of Foursquare adoption.  Smaller retailers, should be on top of the curve. (more…)

What are Google Tags Anyway?

Just last month (June 2010) Google has launched Google Tags in the US. It’s an option that gives local business owners a yellow tag and the ability to add additional information right on the search results for a flat monthly rate of $25.

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I still remember those times I used to talk about “Brands”, “power of branding” and the importance of a competitive edge to sustain in the rather turbulent, uncertain business world. A few names always used to be on top of my mind when writing/talking/discussing these issues and Starbucks never missed the list; it was usually up there, among really very few other brands, that seem to go all out tugging at caffeine-addicted hearts of some millions of people. (more…)

With a check in each second and counting, check-ins at various locations, and most interesting a sense of virtual achievement by winning badges for everything you do. I am talking about foursquare. Now, talking about foursquare is really incomplete if we don’t discuss the different kinds of badges that are awarded to users based on their activity levels, achievements, etc. Most of the badges are obviously proffered by foursquare, but rumor has it that very soon users will be able to create their own badges (this can only lead to chaos – 50 plus badges and counting?). Here’s a short take on different badges and what they mean to you: (more…)

Google penalization can occur for many reasons, such as purchased links, bad search engine optimization tactics and others – but one topic that seems to confuse many, is what does Google consider to be duplicate content? What really is duplicate content? Are there tools that I can use to check if the content I have on my website has been duplicated?

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With all the personal turmoil Tiger Woods is facing, web searchers have become increasingly interested in the online content about renowned golfer. With the Golf Masters Tournament going on, searchers have switched their focus from Woods personal issues to his golf career according to media researcher Neilsen.

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Media pundit Dan Abram’s latest website, Styleite (the latest vertical in his Mediaite empire) launched Monday of this week, generating buzz among sartorial and media tastemakers alike. The fashion news site is purportedly going to try and capture an arguably oversaturated online fashion market, going up against heavies like style.com and wwd,  as well as a host of blogs.

So what’s their angle? Well a big part of it is search.

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In case you missed it, Path’s own Ruben Quinones was on Larry Sharpe’s show on Ivory Tower Radio on Jan. 22nd.

Listen Now! (more…)

I was recently looking for Kentucky Fried Chicken on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC so I went to Google and did an exact search for what I was looking for.  ”Kentucky Fried Chicken UWS”.  I don’t recall ever having done that search before within Google so the result that I got was not from a learned behavior by Google.

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