2008
January, 2008
Apple's iTunes player passed RealPlayer in 2007 to become the second most popular streaming media player on the Internet. Growing at an annual rate of 26.8% iTunes hit a high note while
the rest of the band was flat.
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The cost of banner ads for the average website is about one-sixth more objects and one-third more latency. Learn how online advertising affects web page response times, user behavior, and satisfaction.
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February, 2008
Broadband penetration among active Internet users should break 90% by mid-2008 in the U.S, according to projections by Website Optimization. Overall, broadband penetration is 57% in U.S. households, according to a recent survey. A broadband stimulus package could realize an economic impact nearly as much as the economic stimulus package recently passed by Congress.
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Learn how to embed images into your web pages with data URLs. The data: URI scheme includes images directly into your XHTML pages using code instead of external files, saving valuable HTTP requests.
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March, 2008
Europe will soon pass the US in wireless usage at current growth rates, according to a recent survey. The FCC has redefined how it measures broadband, more than tripling the defined speed and eliminating the zip-code designation.
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April, 2008
Broadband penetration in US households grew to 57% in March 2008. Some 12 percent of consumers 'borrow' free wireless connections, according to a new survey.
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Within the last five years, the size of the average web page has more than tripled, and the number of external objects has nearly doubled. While broadband users have experienced somewhat faster response times, dial-up users have been left behind.
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May, 2008
The US fell from 15th to 17th place in broadband growth worldwide, according to a new survey from the OECD. Overall, the US remained at 15th place in broadband penetration worldwide, relying on cable to provide the majority of broadband connections while most of the leading countries rely on DSL.
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Users experience psychological and physiological effects when interacting with web pages, experiencing frustration when not completing tasks and engagement at faster web sites. Learn how web page response times affect user psychology and behavior.
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June, 2008
In order to compete worldwide, the US needs a "broadband czar" to coordinate how government agencies promote broadband. The average broadband speed in the US is more than ten times slower than Japan at four times the cost.
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July, 2008
WebsiteOptimization.com announces their new book titled Website Optimization Secrets. Published by O'Reilly Media, Secrets shows how online marketing and web performance can work together to persuade browsers into becoming buyers.
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An interview with Andy King on his new book Website Optimization.
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O'Reilly's section on our Website Optimization book lets you preview the book, buy PDFs of chapters, and buy direct from O'Reilly US or UK.
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For the first time, US broadband penetration broke ninety percent among active Internet users in June 2008.
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W.F. Zimmerman briefly reviewed Secrets calling it "outstanding and definitive."
Dave Artz, co-author of the Website Optimization Metrics chapter, created a screencast about AOL Pagetest to demonstrate this cool tool.
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O'Reilly announces our Website Optimization Secrets book.
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August, 2008
Pure Visibility played an important role in my Website Optimization Secrets book. They wrote two fine PPC chapters for my new book.
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Wicked Sciences has reviewed Website Optimization Secrets from an insider's perspective.
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Mantex UK has the first full review of Website Optimization Secrets.
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Website Optimization announces free sample chapter "Conversion Rate Optimization"
from Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets book.
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Get Elastic, an ecommerce blog, just posted a nice review of our new book. By Linda Bustos.
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Sam Allen wrote that although the SEM portion of the book is interesting, he thinks the performance advice is the most useful.
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SEO Journal's Nick Stamoulis gives Website Optimization Secrets a positive review.
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Learn how to create optimized drop-shadows in Photoshop to minimize the size of web graphics.
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The Marketing Message Blog posted a brief review of our Website Optimization book.
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Alex Kirk reviews the new Nighthawk book from O'Reilly.
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Web marketing firm Wider Funnel reviews Website Optimization secrets. Raquel Hirsch and Chris Goward call it a good introduction to website optimization.
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In this excerpt from Website Optimization Secrets, WebReference.com shows how to optimize parallel downloads, reduce DNS lookups, and cache frequently used objects.
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IT guru Eric Brown reviews Website Optimization Secrets book. He calls it THE book on website optimization.
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Certforums reviewed our new book and said this 'answer-in-a-box' to website optimization could be used as a college textbook.
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YouTube continues to dominate the top ten video sites, with over 77 million viewers in July. The US ranks 15th in broadband speed worldwide behind top-ranking Japan, according to a recent study.
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September, 2008
Stephen Pierzchala shows how Secrets mirrors the split personality of the Web, business versus technology. A great web site finds the optimal balance between the two camps.
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Cindy King reviews our new book Secrets, calling it "extremely useful."
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Polanosky calls our new book well written and a great reference book.
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There have been a flurry of reviews of our new book lately. Desicritics.org calls the Nighthawk book 'a must read.'
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Computerbookreviews reviews our new Website Optimization Secrets book. The reviewer makes a good suggestion about CMS optimization for the next edition.
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US broadband penetration dropped from 17th to 19th place overall among all countries surveyed over the past two quarters. Monaco leads all nations surveyed with 40.6% of the population on broadband and 100% of households.
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October, 2008
ClickZ gives our new book a great review and raises a question about the Google Sandbox. We respond with some data from actual client experience.
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RealNetworks' RealDVD software has raised the ire of Hollywood studios. Now that Apple's iTunes has surpassed RealPlayer in market share, Real needs a hit product to regain its once dominant position.
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Internet.com reviews our new book Website Optimization Secrets. The work Andy King did at WebReference.com provided the foundation for the new book that Lee Underwood reviews.
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Stephen McKinney gives 10 steps to speed up your site. The article recommends Website Optimization Secrets, and reveals a CSS selector speed test.
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We test a new server with solid-state drives and faster processors. Upgrading our dedicated server improved performance by 35% to 50%.
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About.com has reviewed the Nighthawk book, calling it a "must have" for any commercial website.
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We sum up the available books on web performance from O'Reilly.
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The UK will pass Canada in broadband penetration in late 2008, according to projections by Website Optimization. Japan and Korea now have more fiber-based broadband connections than DSL or cable.
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In this in-depth review for an Italian IT portal, Paulo De Nictolis concludes that the "text is full of practical advice, and [it has an] excellent companion site."
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November, 2008
Web analyst Rich Page has included our book in a top five list of new website optimization books. His top five also includes Landing Page Optimization and Actionable Web Analytics.
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The University of Michigan Alumnus magazine mentioned our book Secrets in their late Fall 2008 issue.
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Slashdot has reviewed our Website Optimization book. Michael Ross does a thorough job, and gives us some food for thought for future editions.
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Website Optimization Secrets was briefly reviewed by Midwest Book Review in November, under their computer shelf.
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Andrew Stevens has reviewed our new book Website Optimization Secrets. Stevens caught how the meaning of the word "optimization" has changed from speed to overall effectiveness.
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The FCC has released the 'white spaces' of unused television spectrum to the public. This ruling opens the way for universal, low-cost broadband access for every American household.
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Peter Cliff used to think that 'Website Optimisation' simply meant improving speed, but in this book he finds out there is much more there to it, even in the age of broadband.
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Simon Clarke reviews the Nighthawk book for the BCS.
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In a comparative survey of data traces from 2000 and 2007, University of Twente researchers found that the nature of the Web has changed from a static one-way medium to a dynamic platform for interactive services such as photo and video sharing portals.
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December, 2008
Populationstatistic calls the Nighthawk book a serious guide for serious Web development.
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Cre8pc.com has poslitively reviewed our new book, calling it a great gift for the holiday season.
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Nate Klaiber has written the most in-depth review of the Nighthawk book to date.
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The new Obama administration has pledged to deploy next-generation broadband to every community in America, but has offered few specifics. The Free Press has published a specific plan to accomplish broadband for all. China has passed the US in total broadband subscribers.
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Gabriel Svennerberg reviews our new Website Optimization Secrets book. Overall she gives the book a positive review, but finds too many references and statistics. We think that the SEM world needs more empirically-backed tips and less conventional wisdom.
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We compare the home page performance of the top 100 weblogs with the top 1000 websites. Updating a top 100 weblog survey, we find a correlation between popularity and page size.
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Cindy King has syndicated her review of our book Website Optimization Secrets. The spread of this review appears to have bumped us up in our Amazon rankings. Thanks Cindy, and Happy New Year!
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