Dotbiz Blog: Google Changes Typeface of Logo To Make It Easier to Read Across Multiple Devices and Platforms

If you use Google for search, you probably notice that on September 1, 2015 the company launched a new logo. Why? According to the Google blog the popular search engine was once a destination reached from a desktop PC, while today people use Google products Google was one destination that you reached from one device: a desktop PC. These days, people access Google products from many different platforms,apps and devices including mobile phones, TVs, watches, automobile dashboards, and desktops.

So, the previous familiar logo with a serif font gives way to a simpler custom typeface that is sans-serif and thicker making it easier to read even on the smallest screens. The new logo tells you that you’re using Google, but also shows you how Google is working for you. For example, new elements like a colorful Google mic help you identify and interact with Google whether you’re talking, tapping or typing. And, the little blue “g” icon and replacing it with a four-color “G” that matches the logo and is used in places where the full name will not fit.

The new branding replaces the last Google logo, which the company has used since September 2013. The new san-serif logo is Google’s sixth logo since the company launched in 1998. Most of the updates have been subtle. In October 1998, Google change the color of the “G” from green to blue and added an exclamation point at the end. Google removed the exclamation point the following May.

Not everyone likes the new logo. My first reaction to seeing the old logo morph into the one was ugh, but I brushed it off because Google has artfully played with its search engine art in many different ways. I thought it was like a change for the day.

I actually prefer the old serif font, which lacks the utter simplicity of the new one. However, I do understand that serif type doesn't shrink down as well as san serif fonts. In instances when the type is used for a logo that needs to scale from really large to tiny, the new logo is better for that purpose.

Of note, there has been an on-going argument among those who take note of such things as to whether serif fonts are more legible than san serif. But such arguments always have to take into account the actual shape of the letter and the spacing between letters. With a logo that is just a font without other graphics parts are interplay the uniqueness, familiarity and memorability all

Dotbiz Blog: Reputation Management News

Reputation Management is an ongoing concern for anyone with online visibility. Profile Defenders is a company that offers tools to help fight off unwanted scam reports, negative search results and bad online listings that cost online businesses money by defaming legitimate companies and causing confusion on the worldwide web.

In business for more than four years, Profile Defenders has increased its selection of tools and expanded their reach across many different scam report websites such as Ripoff Report where they can almost all but guarantee to completely remove these results. According to Jordan Roberts of Profile Defenders, "The goal is to target not only consumer complaint sites and web searches but also some of the other commonly known listings on websites such as Scambook.com, for the purpose of complete removal of unwanted content that can hurt legitimate businesses and can cost them thousands of dollars.

DotBiz Blog: Now You Can Create Web Content Thanks to Mozilla

Sure you can access the Web with your cell phone, but what about adding content to the Web. Thanks to Mozilla's new Webmaker app, anyone with an Android phone can now create web content. It not only allows all of the basics such as text, photos and links, but also enables the creation of photo galleries, guides and other easy-to-share content. The Android Webmaker app is available in English, Indonesian, Bengali, and Brazilian Portuguese.


The app was first launched as a web-based program three years ago. The Android version will enable more global initiated web content and will facilite mobile blogging. Android Webmaker is free from your Google store. Click here: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.webmaker]

DotBiz Blog:Volkswagen Made Me Do It.

Okay, I haven't blogged about car commercials in awhile, but Volkswagen has made me do it. I admit, I have not seen any of Volkswagen's diesel oriented "old lady" commercials, so I had nothing to go on when I saw their rear-end event featuring a Passat with the "Golden Sisters". But when I saw this one, it raised an immediate question in my mind: What was Volkswagen thinking?

So much of the commercial consisted of tight shots of the aging "sister" trio that the VW rear and any logo branding kind of dropped out of the picture. Furthermore, following their repartee was not all that easy. So instead of immediately grasping the fact that VW is having a year-end sale, I was left puzzling over what I had just seen and heard and why.

Big question: Are aging spinsters the new ideal target market for Passats? Why is this trio not reliving their youth by tire kicking a VW Mini Van? Third question: Is Volkswagen trying to refocus potential customers on a rear-end event? If so, could they not have auditioned a few more rears? I mean the actor is attractive enough, but his jeans are kind of saggy.

Finally, unless this really amps up floor traffic, what about placing a rear view mirror on these commercials and instead telling consumers why they should drop everything and buy a Volkswagen.

Dotbiz Blog: Could Your Site Lose Its Right to Private Domain Registration

Most people who have a website have been asked whether they want their domain name to be private or public. Opting for privacy costs more, but is considered an advantage by both private and commercial website owners as it prevents a domain owner's real, private information from appearing on a WHOIS search and therefore making the owner more susceptible to among other things identity theft and harassment.

Now, that privacy is at risk as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN)has been asked by an entertainment industry group, known as the Coalition for Online Accountability, to limit the use of proxy registration services. ICANN is considering not allowing domains used for commercial purposes to enjoy that privacy. A broad view is that any site running ads is commercial.

While the loss of private registration would on the surface make it easier to find and sue those who have abusive domain name registrations, it would also open up more private information for criminals to utilize. The current right to privacy also protects whistleblowers who expose crime, waste, and corruption. It also preserves the ability to speak anonymously which protects people with unpopular or marginalized opinions.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) opposes the new proposal to roll back anonymity.

Although the time for public comment has just passed, you can read an initial report on the issue by going to icann.org and searching comments for the following: GNSO Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues Working Group Initial Report. A vote is expected later this year.

Dotbiz Blog: Free Web Content from Reuters

Fresh website content is a big thing for every online site. Now, there's a new, free and perhaps unexpected source, Reuters. Yes, Reuters, the 160 year old news agency, recently announced that it would begin offering text, photos, video and other multi-media packages to online publishers through Reuters Media Express. Not every available story will work for everyone, but free and prestigious is difficult to beat.

The content will be made available through Reuters Media Express on a metered basis, allowing publishers to use an allotted portion of the newswire’s content each month. Users will be allowed to search and view content without registration, and only require a log-in to download content from the Media Express site.

As the media industry navigates the unprecedented shift to digital publishing and online news consumption, Reuters said that it is committed to innovating and challenging conventional models in order to help publishers and expose more readers to its award-winning news content.

DotBiz Blog: The Growth of E-tail in Social Media

E-tailing through social media sites is known by most as social commerce. This sector has been growing in popularity for a number of obvious reasons. 1) Setting up a business site on Facebook is free. 2) Having Shopify set up a store for you costs $9. 3.)Facebook is approaching 1.5 million users. Together, these figures are important even if you already have a traditional e-commerce site or even if your main product is information. The increasing realization of social markets by e-tailers is why social commerce is expected to ramp up significantly during the months ahead.

Sure, Amazon.com has 270 million users and eBay has 155 million, which is why e-tailers will, no doubt, want to maintain these venues in addition to venturing into the social commerce waters. Small retailers on the Web benefit from using every option available to both drive traffic to their main store and to grow their customer base by putting their goods in front of more people.