Uncover the Net Blog

Now Pay with Google Checkout

2007-04-06T20:45:00.000-05:00

We've been asked a few times if we accept Google Checkout, so because you asked for it, we implemented it! :)

It's not available for Featured listings as they don't currently support recurring payments (hint to Googlers), but you can use it for Standard and Commercial Listings.

To use Google Checkout, just select it as the payment option on the submission page and you'll be taken Google Checkout.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let me know!

New Server on Load Balancer

2007-04-04T22:10:00.000-05:00

Today we added a new server on the load balancer and it caused some MYSQL errors during the site copy. The issue has been resolved and the site appears to be loading much faster. And as always, please submit any bugs you find!

Free RSS News Feeds Available

2007-04-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

As you'll see from the post below, along with our news content, we're offering free news feeds for webmasters. Just click on the RSS icon on the news pages. Samples are:

Top Stories

News Search for Cars

Any questions, please ask. :-)

Full Text News Now Available

2007-04-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

Prior to today we used an RSS feed from Yahoo for current news. Of course, to read the entire story it takes you to Yahoo. So to maximize user experience, we've partnered up with All Headline News to provide our users with the entire story on our site. Much like Yahoo and AP News, about 20-25% of the stories will have pictures.

You can see this in action by going to the homepage. Once clicking on a story such as this one, you'll be taken to a full text detail page of the story along with an image or even a video when available.

You can also search the news stories via keyword or topic. For instance, this search for hurricane.

We'll be adding more useful features like these in the weeks to come!

Questions and comments are welcome.

Google Adsense Remembers?

2007-03-25T11:14:00.000-05:00

It seems that Google is employing some sort of cookie technology that stores your previous preferences. For instance, I did a search for Mercedes S-550 on a website that had adsense on the search results. Ever since then, any page I navigate to that has nothing to do with cars shows me ads for Mercedes. Anyone else experiencing this? I wonder if this will change Adsense as we know it?

Update on New Software Progress

2007-03-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

So I wanted to update everyone on the progress of the new software that will power Uncover the Net. Our programmers have the initial pre-development prototype completed and it looks great. Now they are starting to work on the production version of it. What are some of the new features you ask eh? Well on the front end, the new software will have..

- A Secure login to submit and manage your listings
- A More integrated PPC platform
- An integrated affiliate program
- Much better search relevance and results
- Sponsored listings will also show as sponsors on search pages
- Direct Billing via credit card or Paypal API
- And much more!

Stay tuned...

Better Business Bureau Complaint Free Award

2007-03-13T15:59:00.000-05:00

Well today we received our nifty complaint free award for 2006! Thanks to all of you for taking any matters that arise up with us directly :-)

Adding Another Server

2007-03-09T14:26:00.000-06:00

Recently we've been getting spurts of high traffic, sometimes 20-30 requests a second and it's killing our our current configuration. So tonight we'll be adding another server to our cluster so the site may run slower than usual. Sorry if it's running slow for you! Tomorrow things should be back to normal.

Will You Buy an Apple iPhone?

2007-02-21T14:20:00.000-06:00

My wife wants to buy a new phone. She want a motorola razor. I want an iphone. But after learning that the iPhone will be about $600 and then about $100/month (voice and data charges), it seems kinda steep. And then comes the dilemma of whether or not I need a device that will allow me to be online even more out of my day. My wife already thinks I'm addicted to the internet, but the internet is where I work. And I think I'm far from alone in the internet addiction category. So is the iphone worth it? Would you buy one? And have you got a smartphone and has it helped you out or fed your internet addiction even more?

Googe.com - Why Parked Page?

2007-02-15T11:27:00.000-06:00

After noticing the misspelling on the Google logo yesterday, I looked to see who owned Googe.com. And it's currently a parked page with an alexa rating of 34,000. So I'm sure it gets tons of type in traffic. So why is it a parked page and why hasn't Google bought it from them (or threatened 'em for that matter)?

Google Spelled Their Name Wrong?

2007-02-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

So at 11:30pm my sister calls me and says, "Hey Shawn, go to Google.com". So, I went and she asked if I noticed anything out of the ordinary. After looking at the page, I said well, they have a holiday logo, but that's pretty normal. She said, look at the logo closer. Sure enough, the logo spells out "Googe".

Is the stem a semi-"L"?

Attached is a screenshot from Google's homepage on Valentine's Day. Did they forget the "L"? :-)

Complete Overhaul Coming Soon..

2007-02-05T12:36:00.000-06:00

We've thought about redesigning our software several times in the past, but always put it off. Well, to better evolve with the demands of our users, the time has finally come. We're going to be doing a complete overhaul with a state of the art software system. More details will be posted soon along with a beta version of the product in about a month or so. Your feedback on the beta will be greatly appreciated so our software engineers can tackle any issues with it. Should be a lot of fun! :)

TV Shows I Have to Watch

2007-01-25T14:42:00.000-06:00

When I was younger I always made fun of my parents for always watching their favorite tv shows like Roseanne, As the World Turns etc. But now I find myself in the same boat as them where I can't wait to see what happens next on those shows.

So my favorite shows that I watch every week are...

24 - Probably my all time favorite network show. Never miss an episode.

The Sopranos - Tough call between this and 24 as my favorite. I guess it's something about the mafia and the power associated with it that attracts us all. Speaking of which, anyone know when the new episodes start back up?

House MD - Everyone I tell about this show seems to have never heard of it, don't know why. maybe Fox needs to advertise more for it.

Grey's Anatomy - Ok, this one is good sometimes and annoying others. Some episodes are great and some others are complete chick flick type shows.

CSI - I think CSI Las Vegas ( the original ) is by far the best one of them. I tried watching CSI: Miami and I think Horatio does a horrible acting job. I have a feeling people just watch it for the girls in bikinis :-).

Numb3rs - Once again a show that many people say they have never heard of it. I love the idea of how math plays a factor in all of our lives. I remember one episode they said that statistically speaking you're 1000 times more likely to die in a car crash while on your way to buy a lottery ticket than you are to actually win that lottery ticket. That's pretty funny.

Bones - This one is kinda like Grey's Anatomy for me, some episodes are good while others are kinda stupid. Dr. Temperance Brennan is a little too fake/inhuman sometimes to believe.

So, those are my favorite shows, what are yours?

Trademark Finally Active

2007-01-24T11:36:00.000-06:00

I'm shocked at how long it takes after a trademark application is filed that it is finally approved. Anyway, we just recently received a notice from our attorney that our trademark is finally been approved and is active. So watch out scrapers :-) j/k

Word Mark	UNCOVER THE NET
Goods and Services	IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Providing an online business directory featuring a wide variety of businesses. FIRST USE: 20041001. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20041007 IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Computer services, namely, providing search engines for obtaining data on the Internet. FIRST USE: 20041001. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20041007
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Design Search Code
Serial Number	78593784
Filing Date	March 23, 2005
Current Filing Basis	1A
Original Filing Basis	1A
Published for Opposition	October 17, 2006
Registration Number	3191259
Registration Date	January 2, 2007
Owner	(REGISTRANT) UTN Enterprises Inc CORPORATION UNITED STATES
Attorney of Record	CHARLES F. MERONI, JR.
Type of Mark	SERVICE MARK
Register	PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE

AB Testing the Search Results

2007-01-23T19:01:00.000-06:00

Our normal search results are basically a sql query that checks the database for a matching keyword and then returns results. If no results exist, we also employ a backfill from Yahoo so that it will result in a more positive user experience.

An example is this search for cars.

The alternative is to use Google's technology for our search. Some examples of this are:

- Web search for cars

- Category search for cars

- Listing page search for cars

So after trying the four different options for search, which do you prefer? Which do you find more accurate and which best makes the user experience the best?

NetFlix vs. Blockbuster Total Access

2006-11-22T12:48:00.000-06:00

So, we just moved into our new home that we have been having built for the past two years. And we had a custom home theater installed with a 110" screen. So, needless to say I live in that room :-) . And yeah I'm a big movie buff and love renting movies. So about a month ago I signed up for Netflix and signed up for the 6 at a time for $35.99/month. It's pretty amazing because if you order a movie into your queue on Monday, it's in your mailbox by Tuesday, and they carry virtually every move every made it seems.

But then I got some email from Blockbuster (how did they get my email? - oh well) and it said that their online movie program is even better than Netflix because you can rent online and then return them to the store and exchange it for a move there, all while not affecting your number of online rentals. So since they offered a free trial I figured I would try it. So I placed my first order with them on a Monday and I didn't receive the DVD's until Thursday. So then on Friday, I returned the DVD's to the local Blockbuster store as they said you could. The only catch is that you have to return those movies on time or it's like a $4/day late fee per move - not very cool.

Anyway, so when I got home on Friday from Blockbuster, I went online and ordered 2 more movies to see if this time I would get them any quicker. It wasn't until Monday at 7pm that I got an email that said your DVD's are on their way. When did they come? Thursday. So let's see, Blockbuster says that you can return the movies to the store and get twice as many movies, yet they take 6 days to send out a new movie.

Then I mapped out my local Blockbuster thinking maybe it's not so bad. But my nearest Blockbuster is 6 miles away with tons of stop lights. And I drive a Hummer. So for me that's like $4 in gas just to go there and back. If I do that twice a week that's over $30/month right there.

Something else I noticed about Blockbuster is that they do not carry any NC-17 versions of movies, only R rated versions. And a lot of horror and teen comedy type movies have both versions, but you can only get both versions via Netflix.

But one thing I do like about Blockbuster online is that you can see rows of the box covers as your browse through genres. Whereas Netflix basically gives you a list of titles. And I like to pick a movie out by the cover, or atleast look at it that way. So hopefully Netflix will catch on there.

Overall (from my experience at least), Netflix is superbly faster at shipping new movies out than Blockbuster (1 day versus 3-4 days). Blockbuster's online plan only allows up to 4 movies at a time and Netflix allows up to 8. But I guess if you live right by a Blockbuster, it may be a better deal for you. Just don't let those late fees add up. :-)

Updated Main Page

2006-12-16T14:10:00.000-06:00

Recently, I've been finding myself leaving Uncover the Net (my homepage) to go to Yahoo or MSN to read the news and to get a feel for what is going on outside of UncovertheNetville :-). So I tinkered with the homepage a little to reflect more of what I would want to see on my homepage:

Top News Stories
Weather
Stocks
Search

What would you like to see on the homepage?

Overall, I guess if I can't be content with it being my homepage, how can I expect others to do so? So hopefully this is just one small step towards making Uncover the Net my homepage and hopefully others as well.

New Affiliate Program

2006-11-29T16:18:00.000-06:00

For those are familiar with our past affiliate program, we have changed affiliate programs. To help explain the reason for this change, suffice it to say that the old software we used to use: www.myreferer.com is horrible. Their customer service is non existent and basically they suck. I would NOT recommend them to anyone.

Anyhow, we recently changed over to a new software that seems to be a much better program. Our new url affiliate url is:

http://www.uncoverthenet.com/af/

Our pay out details have also changed a little bit. The new pay out details are 20% of all submissions. So in short, it's less on the less expensive submissions, but more on the more expensive submissions.

We also offer custom programs for well performing affiliates.

The bad news is that we cannot import anything from the old account into the new account, so the affiliates that wish to still participate will need to create a new account in the new system and update the incoming urls.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Adult Category Disclaimer

2006-11-29T12:00:00.000-06:00

To help limit the accessibility of the adult categories, we recently implemented a disclaimer to the adult category.

Image Verification Added to Add Url Forms

2006-11-25T17:07:00.000-06:00

We have recently been bombarded with spam bots submitting javascript junk through the add url forms. And with the plethora of automated web directory submission software out there, I can see why. So today we added an image verification to the form. So when you're submitting a website, please be sure to type in ALL CAPS when entering in the image verification string or it won't work. If you have any questions, just ask!

Alexa Ratings

2006-08-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

In the past few months, I uninstalled the Alexa extensions in Firefox due to some lagging page load times. I'm guess because it had to query the Alexa servers, it took longer to load. And just yesterday I checked the Alexa traffic rank for Uncover the Net and realized that it's a much higher number than it used to be.

For those not familiar with Alexa, a higher number is actually worse than a lower number. Then afraid we we're not getting as much traffic as before, I checked the actual traffic numbers from our server logs and our traffic has been extrodinarily steady and even went up a little bit. Maybe that's because we added natural search results provided by yahoo for queries that we ourselves don't have results for (Hey I would rather we serve them some results than none at all!).

In any event, I'm shocked that by me uninstalling my toolbar, our alexa rankings dropped that much. I guess that speaks for the reliability of Alexa rankings.

UncoverTheNet PR 0? Oh My Gosh!

2005-11-07T00:18:00.000-06:00

I know it sounds dramatic; I guess that was the point. I've gotten several emails with just links to threads at various discussion forums about a PR 0 home page. I guess everyone wants an explanation. Well here it is: I don't know. :)

On a more serious note, my goal for UTN is something that will be made over the course of several years. So worrying about what website does or does not like us at the moment isn't exactly a big concern. I'm of the belief that if you try to build something worthy of customers, then the search engines will follow.

I'll bet alot of the users who read this blog are webmasters and care alot about PageRank. But did you know we spend over $1,000/day on Google Adwords alone? My point I want to convey here is that UTN is much more than a link farm type website.

So looking at the bigger picture: we're here to stay, Google or no Google. In other words, if Google doesn't have faith in us now, hopefully we can give them a reason to in the years to come. :)

Questions/Comments: Please leave yours!

Been a Long Time!

2005-10-10T08:13:00.000-05:00

Wow, i havent posted on the blog in quite some time. I guess I've been kinda busy with Submissions and new projects. On the personal front, I've been trying to spend that time I promised my wife that i would spend with her. But, I'll try and stop by the blog portion of UTN more often!!

Google: Entering into Evil?

2005-10-20T09:27:00.000-05:00

I recently wrote a paper about using Machiavellian theory in leading libraries. It can be found at http://www.michaellorenzen.com/machiavelli.html.

As we look at the current Update Jagger, it is time perhaps to take a philosophical look at Google. Does Google use Machiavellian techniques? I would argue that it does. Further, I would argue that it is appropriate for Google to do so.

Probably the most powerful (and controversial) idea that Machiavelli advocated for was the concept of "entering into evil." Here is a quote from my paper about what this entails:

"Perhaps the most powerful theme that Machiavelli postulates is the concept of entering into evil. In fact, it can be argued that it is the cusp of Machiavellian though set forth in The Prince. It also is an idea fraught with moral peril, which frightens off many from Machiavelli’s message. At times, a leader must commit evil acts for the common good. Further, failing to do this will actually result in a greater evil. "

"A good modern example of entering into evil is the case of President Harry Truman and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman knew that dropping the atomic bomb on these cities would kill hundreds of thousands of non-combatants including children. Based on the heavy causalities on Iwo Jima and Okinawa (coupled with Kamikaze planes), he also knew that a continuation of the war with an invasion of Japan would cost an estimated one million allied causalities plus countless more Japanese. With this in mind, Truman entered into evil and ordered the bombs to be dropped. By doing so, he created a greater good as Japan surrendered and the Second World War ended. "

Google needs to provide good search results. Failing to do so will harm the company and give searchers bad results. To do, it must constantly tweak the algorithm to weed out spam sites. In the process, some innocent sites get caught and removed from any meaningful Google rankings.

Google is fully aware of this. However, for the common good of their search results, Google is willing to enter into evil by allowing some innocent sites to be hurt. Failing to remove a few innocent here and there by not changing the algorithm would result in more spam in the SERPs. No amount of hand wringing will prevent all innocent sites from harm.

Google is clearly aware of this and rationalizes it as it should. Nonetheless, for a company that has the motto of "do no evil", it is interesting to see them repeatedly enter into the Machiavellian ideal of justifiable evil with every update.

Difference Between Retail and Online

2006-02-24T13:17:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking how easy online businesses are compared to retail businesses. Retail businesses have to:

- comply with city codes and ordinances,
- get a business license,
- get an occupancy permit,
- get liability insurance,
- pass inspections
- pay rent and utilities
- deal with customer complaints face to face

Think of how much easier an online business is. I own a small retail store and I notice that the older the customer is, the harder they are to please. It seems people 35 and under seem to be used to the "online" way of doing things and don't expect you to jump through hoops for them.

Oh well, that's my rant :)