Boston SEO And Websites

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I have never made any secret of the fact that Antoine Walker was among my least favorite players –…

Man rescues phone from dump by listening for ring

A determined Colorado man found his missing cell phone at a trash dump after dialing the number and listening for the ring.

O’Malley recognizes Boston altar servers

The head of the Roman Catholic church in Boston has recognized hundreds of altar servers in the archdiocese at a special Mass.

Max Kennedy endorses Khazei in US Senate race

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff City Year cofounder Alan Khazei this afternoon was endorsed in the US Senate race by…

Internet addresses can use non-Latin alphabets

SEOUL – By the middle of next year, Internet surfers will be allowed to use Web addresses written completely in Chinese, Arabic, Korean, and other languages using non-Latin alphabets, the organization overseeing Internet domain names said yesterday in a decision that could make the Web more accessible.

Caro a feel-good story

His left foot submerged and stuck in the thick mud, his uniform already soaked through on the second play of the game, Nick Caro absorbed the two crunching hits, and immediately realized that he was in trouble.

Judge says Vitale got help from lawmakers

Key state lawmakers worked closely with former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi on legislation favorable to a ticket brokers group represented by DiMasi’s friend and former financial adviser, Richard Vitale, according to a new, detailed judge’s ruling in the state’s influence-peddling case against Vitale.

The gaggle of economic sociopaths

When economic sociopaths were plundering the country, they were being lionized as bold entrepreneurs, financial buccaneers, even rock stars. The real and nearly intractable problem is that economic sociopathy isn’t an aberration on Wall Street. This behavior is the very basis of American finance.

Publisher enters new chapter in textbooks

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, one of the oldest publishers in the United States, plans to unveil today the biggest deal in its history: a $40 million, multiyear contract with Detroit public schools. But this is not the typical agreement to sell a textbook to every student.

Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem Of Hell

Last weekend I wrote about how the big social gaming companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue on Facebook and MySpace through games like Farmville and Mobsters. Major media can’t stop applauding the companies long enough to understand what’s really going on with these games. The real story isn’t the business success of these startups. It’s the completely unethical way that they are going about achieving that success.

In short, these games try to get people to pay cash for in game currency so they can level up faster and have a better overall experience. Which is fine. But for users who won’t pay cash, a wide variety of “offers” are available where they can get in-game currency in exchange for lead gen-type offers. Most of these offers are bad for consumers because it confusingly gets them to pay far more for in-game currency than if they just paid cash (there are notable exceptions, but the scammy stuff tends to crowd out the legitimate offers). And it’s also bad for legitimate advertisers.

The reason why I call this an ecosystem is that it’s a self-reinforcing downward cycle. Users are tricked into these lead gen scams. The games get paid, and they plow that money back into Facebook and MySpace in advertising, getting more users. Who are then monetized via lead gen scams. That money is then plowed back into Facebook and MySpace in advertising to get more users…

Here’s the really insidious part: game developers who monetize the best (and that’s Zynga) make the most money and can spend the most on advertising. Those that won’t touch this stuff (Slide and others) fall further and further behind. Other game developers have to either get in on the monetization or fall behind as well. Companies like Playdom and Playfish seem to be struggling with their conscience and are constantly shifting their policies on lead gen.

The games that scam the most, win.