Thursday 11 July 2013

List of top paying Google adsense keywords

List of top paying Google adsense keywords

 

List of top paying Google adsense keywords. How to make the maximum out of Google adsense?
Most people serving as affiliates under the Google adsense PPC affiliate program would like to know which are the top keywords which provide the highest CPC(cost-per-click) revenue for their sites. CPC is the amount which the advertiser pays Adsense for displaying their ads on adsense affiliate web sites. I have listed some of the top paying adsense keywords in this hub. However, the CPC amounts may not exactly be the same and sometime vary towards each keyword
Many webmasters constantly research as to how keywords work, and to find out how websites can be optimized by creating them with the targeted top-paying keywords. By optimizing your website based on these top paying keywords, you can make the maximum out of Adsense revenue.

Maximum CPC Average CPC Keyword
520.52 97.44 domains yahoo
418.63 79.81 domain name yahoo
145.71 68.91 dc hair laser removal washington
119.63 66.15 law lemon wisconsin
135.94 51.14 hair removal washington dc
493.73 41.97 domain registration yahoo
262.02 40.36 benchmark lending
438.23 38.05 domain yahoo
330.50 37.86 yahoo web hosting
121.86 37.29 hair laser removal virginia
121.27 36.59 peritoneal mesothelioma
46.38 36.55 ca lemon law
81.58 34.13 best buy gift card
96.87 31.10 adverse credit remortgage
234.33 30.98 mesothelioma information
48.68 29.77 law lemon ohio
54.31 29.34 att call conference
83.22 29.10 insurance medical temporary
82.33 28.95 illinois law lemon
82.33 28.78 mesothelioma symptoms
60.86 28.51 angeles drug los rehab
36.88 28.26 personal injury solicitor
101.30 28.23 att go
61.47 28.03 accident car florida lawyer
159.00 27.11 google affiliate
90.48 27.11 at t wireless
172.60 26.31 100 home equity loan
46.72 26.28 mcsa boot camp
40.18 26.19 anti spam appliance
93.12 26.17 adverse remortgage
37.33 26.00 chicago hair laser removal
53.70 25.98 att conference
101.26 25.84 at and t
102.52 25.45 laser hair removal maryland
123.04 25.15 mesothelioma
74.66 24.88 buy gift card
114.88 24.80 mesotheloma
41.70 24.52 student loan consolidation program
58.70 24.45 california law lemon
112.22 24.30 event management security
129.13 24.15 canada personals yahoo
62.11 24.15 orlando criminal attorney
41.59 23.78 uk homeowner loans
48.65 23.71 vioxx lawsuit
27.80 23.55 compare life assurance
73.41 23.34 criminal defense federal lawyer
141.00 23.29 american singles
73.70 23.09 federal criminal defense attorney
34.61 23.07 laser hair removal manhattan
102.69 23.03 att prepaid wireless
170.89 23.00 fortis health insurance temporary
39.31 22.93 miami personal injury lawyer
37.79 22.75 hair removal chicago
69.09 22.74 at and t cell phones
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103.19 22.47 malignant mesothelioma
63.95 22.45 lease management software
169.05 22.34 primary pulmonary hypertension
37.77 22.27 miami personal injury attorney
53.88 22.24 anti spam lotus notes
31.56 22.23 life insurance quotes
105.05 21.91 egg credit
39.25 21.80 anti spam exchange server
65.98 21.77 lemon law
193.39 21.67 google adsense
33.09 21.67 best consolidation loan student
34.22 21.63 refinance with poor credit
77.44 21.49 employee leasing
34.61 21.36 student loan consolidation center
40.45 21.35 buyer mortgage note
57.49 21.34 federal student loan consolidation
55.24 21.33 symptoms of mesothelioma
30.51 21.31 city hair laser new removal york
133.02 21.20 att wireless com
30.03 21.15 san diego dui lawyer
66.79 21.14 indiana law lemon
58.27 21.10 law lemon michigan
70.76 20.80 angeles criminal defense los
27.42 20.80 refinancing with poor credit
106.26 20.64 home equity loan
41.31 20.64 action class lawsuit vioxx
32.65 20.49 term life assurance
42.74 20.47 e loan
63.54 20.46 celebrex lawyer
71.38 20.37 vasectomy reversal
56.24 20.36 mortgage rates refinancing
47.61 20.28 attorney law lemon
36.13 20.28 consolidate student loans
36.88 20.17 home equity loans
50.75 20.11 mesothilioma
43.02 19.99 new york personal injury lawyer
27.42 19.98 home equity loan rates
32.22 19.97 auto insurance quotes
64.02 19.93 georgia law lemon
37.31 19.90 homeowner loans
27.03 19.73 equity loan rates
61.52 19.68 administration lease software
100.26 19.63 egg credit card
31.75 19.58 student consolidation loans
65.83 19.55 microsoft anti spam
Max CPC ($) Avg CPC ($) Keyword
46.34 19.41 mesothelioma prognosis
53.36 19.29 second mortgages
31.54 19.26 21 auto century insurance
64.73 19.25 employee florida leasing
52.18 19.21 federal consolidation loan
101.30 19.17 equity loan
27.88 19.14 personal injury attorney colorado
52.56 19.03 accident lawyer michigan
30.22 19.02 refinancing with bad credit
28.78 19.02 home equity line of credit rates
45.11 19.01 federal consolidation
62.95 18.96 non profit debt consolidation
61.58 18.95 pay per click affiliate
47.84 18.86 city hair new removal york
107.72 18.85 acid reflux disease diet
52.63 18.77 refinance poor credit
36.45 18.75 equity loans
36.00 18.73 student loan consolidate
32.77 18.60 consolidate loans
33.40 18.51 secured loans
30.78 18.49 criminal lawyer new york
51.00 18.43 affiliate per click
33.06 18.29 chicago personal injury lawyer
25.19 18.29 los angeles dui lawyer
110.73 18.19 att prepaid
63.95 18.10 angeles criminal defense lawyer los
27.37 18.04 critical illness insurance life
40.00 18.03 irs lawyer tax
33.77 18.03 laser hair removal new york
66.00 18.02 comcast high speed
240.78 17.98 personal yahoo
57.77 17.78 san diego dui attorney
60.49 17.77 michigan personal injury
36.93 17.73 automobile law lemon
33.22 17.66 cheap insurance life term
45.38 17.52 home loans refinancing
30.44 17.51 consolidate college loans
39.22 17.45 cheap life insurance
32.06 17.38 vioxx law suit
38.36 17.32 student loan refinance
62.47 17.30 car hire alicante spain
57.56 17.28 tax attorney
31.37 17.28 refinancing my home
51.18 17.24 criminal dallas lawyer
31.46 17.24 line of credit home equity
26.44 17.23 litigation vioxx
56.43 17.20 at and t phones
44.22 17.15 criminal defense attorney los angeles
25.86 17.14 commodity online trading
26.48 17.13 home equity rates
190.41 17.12 adsense
36.81 17.12 law lemon mass
65.76 17.11 equity home
39.70 17.10 arizona law lemon
40.84 17.09 child molestation attorney
31.40 17.09 home line of credit
54.56 17.06 alicante car rental spain
70.37 17.03 attorney defense federal
53.29 17.02 san diego criminal attorney
42.50 16.79 injury lawyer new york
37.52 16.78 attorney injury new personal york
89.97 16.77 at and t mobile
104.55 16.72 pleural mesothelioma
80.62 16.61 augmentation breast diego san
56.20 16.61 home equity poor credit
83.55 16.60 health insurance temporary
62.43 16.60 compensation mesothelioma
33.00 16.60 21st century insurance
47.65 16.52 cheap insurance medical
53.95 16.51 angeles criminal lawyer los
31.65 16.49 low cost term life insurance
37.43 16.48 home refinance loans
48.20 16.45 eloan
33.93 16.44 life insurance quote
25.06 16.39 cheap life assurance
46.13 16.33 125 equity loan
32.22 16.32 anti spam exchange
32.09 16.31 credit equity home line
103.44 16.30 att go phone
46.72 16.30 dui florida lawyer
37.97 16.27 hair removal new york
20.14 16.22 vioxx class action suit
31.32 16.14 merchant account international
25.98 16.11 vioxx class action
48.31 16.10 125 home equity loan
44.40 16.10 life insurance quote online
47.36 16.09 consolidation loan
32.15 16.04 equity line of credit
26.31 16.02 carolina law lemon north
25.97 16.02 equity rates
52.70 15.87 direct home insurance line
30.84 15.86 angeles attorney los tax
35.29 15.85 credit home line
35.04 15.81 term insurance
34.93 15.81 auto insurances
61.54 15.80 debtfreedirect
27.77 15.80 refinance comparison
49.97 15.77 acid reflux treatment
46.72 15.77 bad credit mortgage refinance
42.56 15.73 college loan refinance
136.53 15.66 mesothelioma lawsuits
50.97 15.66 criminal diego lawyer san
35.86 15.58 equity line
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44.22 15.53 attorney criminal miami
35.93 15.52 equity home line
35.31 15.51 florida medical malpractice lawyer
26.04 15.51 california car cheap insurance
103.88 15.49 law lemon virginia
36.36 15.46 injury law new personal york
34.45 15.46 auto law lemon
34.25 15.44 refinancing rates
32.72 15.43 cheap insurance term
61.61 15.40 houston criminal attorney
51.27 15.40 lexington law
37.54 15.40 best equity home loan rate
27.14 15.40 mortgage life assurance
23.32 15.36 online help desk software
70.97 15.35 phoenix criminal attorney
73.47 15.34 federal criminal defense
44.13 15.33 student loan refinancing
20.86 15.33 angeles attorney dui los
38.50 15.32 level term life insurance
60.04 15.31 criminal lawyer phoenix
30.69 15.31 critical illness insurance
25.02 15.24 fx online trading
92.95 15.23 att cingular
35.40 15.20 equity credit line
37.77 15.19 criminal dallas defense
18.90 15.13 hair island laser long removal
33.40 15.08 health insurance international
30.25 15.04 refinance rates
20.44 15.03 debt cosolidation
47.25 14.99 www eloan com
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43.88 14.95 2nd mortgage
23.12 14.93 consolidate private student loans
48.81 14.90 angeles attorney criminal los
30.45 14.88 accident car lawyer new york
27.80 14.81 student loans refinancing
20.20 14.81 debt consolidation leads
43.00 14.80 fortis health insurance
22.23 14.80 hair laser nyc removal
42.59 14.76 direct insurance life
64.08 14.73 comcast broadband
29.52 14.73 domain name availability
57.63 14.69 cancer mesothelioma
31.37 14.65 refinancing equity loans
115.01 14.64 distance education degree online
52.52 14.63 criminal attorneys
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60.59 14.57 celebrex attorney
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44.97 14.55 cancer asbestos
36.34 14.50 car century insurance
37.95 14.49 1031 tic
44.22 14.47 adult merchant account
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20.60 14.47 home equity line of credit rate
38.84 14.46 vioxx lawyer
24.87 14.46 consolidation loans
127.16 14.44 com personals yahoo
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27.71 14.18 american relief tax
23.80 14.18 currency online trading
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27.85 14.13 life assurance online
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34.86 13.98 term life insurance
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Shouldn't Apple just call it a day and admit defeat?

Evidence submitted during the Apple e-book trial paints a picture of a scheming company clearly on the wrong side of the law.
 
 Let's stipulate from the outset that Apple is not going to suffer any damage after losing big to the government in the e-book price-fixing case. Yes, a few codgers may decide on principle not to buy iPads as a personal statement of protest, but those are the same cranks who picket at the slightest smell of bacon from a bacon restaurant.
But just because Apple may get off without paying a steep price in the public's eyes, the evidence submitted at trial paints a picture of a scheming company clearly on the wrong side of the law. The court has not yet scheduled a hearing to address proposed remedies.
The decision handed down Wednesday by Federal Judge Denise L. Cote found Apple guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy to cut out e-book competition and raise prices. (Here's a link to the full text of Cote's decision if you want to read along. It's worth spending the time.) Her reading of the evidence showed Apple demanding, as a precondition of its entry into the market, that it would not have to compete with Amazon on price.
"Thus, from the consumer's perspective -- a not unimportant perspective in the field of antitrust -- the arrival of the iBookstore brought less price competition and higher prices," Cote wrote.
Apple, which said it plans to file an appeal, did not budge from its repeated assertions of innocence since the Justice Department filed a lawsuit last spring over e-book pricing.
"Apple did not conspire to fix e-book pricing and we will continue to fight against these false accusations," said Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr. "When we introduced the iBookstore in 2010, we gave customers more choice, injecting much needed innovation and competition into the market, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. We've done nothing wrong and we will appeal the judge's decision."
Good luck with that. Given the detail Cote produced chronicling how Apple colluded with five big publishers on e-book pricing, even Clarence Darrow would be at a disadvantage getting this verdict overturned. The publishers, who examined the same evidence, settled with the government before the case went to trial. Not Apple, which maintained all along that it was just trying to do the right thing by customers.
If this case does wind up getting reheard, Apple will make that same pitch. But any appeals court still will have to accept the facts submitted into evidence. And they paint an unflattering picture. According to Cote:
Some consumers had to pay more for e-books; others bought a cheaper e-book rather than the one they preferred to purchase; and it can be assumed that still others deferred a purchase altogether rather than pay the higher price. Now that the [publishers] were in control of pricing, they were also less willing to authorize retailers to give consumers the benefit of promotions.
Also, consider how e-book prices rose after the opening of the iBookstore. Apple tried to argue that prices actually dropped over the following couple of years. That argument failed to persuade. Again, from Cote's decision:
Apple's experts did not present any analysis that attempted to control for the many changes that the e-book market was experiencing during these early years of its growth, including the phenomenon of disintermediation and the extent to which other publishers decided to remain on the wholesale model. The analysis presented by the Plaintiffs' experts as well as common sense lead invariably to a finding that the actions taken by Apple and the Publisher Defendants led to an increase in the price of e-books.
Steve Jobs wasn't around to defend himself but the document trail he left behind helped clinch Apple's guilt in Cote's eyes. She noted that Jobs told News Corp.'s James Murdoch that he understood the publishers' concerns that "Amazon's $9.99 price for new releases is eroding the value perception of their products . . . and they do not want this practice to continue," and that Apple was thus "willing to try at the [$12.99 and $14.99] prices we've proposed." That was yet another sign of Apple's determination to collude with the publishers as they schemed on how to jack up e-book prices, according to Cote.
Jobs's purchase of an e-book for $14.99 at the Launch, and his explanation to a reporter that day that Amazon's $9.99 price for the same book would be irrelevant because soon all prices will "be the same" is further evidence that Apple understood and intended that Amazon's ability to set retail prices would soon be eliminated.
Also, Jobs subsequently told biographer Walter Isaacson how the publishers "went to Amazon and said, 'You're going to sign an agency contract or we're not going to give you the books.'" Jobs was referring to Macmillan CEO John Sargent's trip to Seattle to deliver "an ultimatum to Amazon," she wrote.
In the end, Apple's lawyers couldn't talk away the statements by its former leader. Today's storyline points to Apple as the ringleader, both facilitating and encouraging what was a collective and illegal restraint of trade. Hardly the sort of description that we've come to associate with Silicon Valley's most iconic company.
(Credit: U.S. Dept. of Justice)

T-Mobile CEO: Next shake-up will convert non-believers

T-Mobile CEO John Legere offers CNET a few more clues to its next move as it continues to upend the industry.
,,
T-Mobile aims to shake up the industry again, and sooner than you think.
At the end of T-Mobile's press conference on Wednesday, CEO John Legere teased another big change to come. In an interview with CNET, he offered a few more clues.

Legere called it "Phase 3," with "Phase 1" being the elimination of contracts and "Phase 2" the new upgrade program that the company unveiled today. He said Phase 3 would debut this year as the company looks quick to capitalize on its challenger image.
He said the move would address another frustration that "drive people nuts" about the industry, adding that it would convert "any non-believers left."
"This one will be more fun than the last two," he said. "I can't wait for them to get comfortable and spring this."
More so than the other moves, Phase 3 would involve something that the other carriers can't match he said. He added that it was easier for the challenger to cannibalize its own business, something incumbents rarely do.
"What they do is throw you a little share," he said. "What happens is they create a monster."

Wednesday 10 July 2013

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Pakistan tour of West Indies 2013 schedule

Thu Jul 11
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 18:30 PKT
TBC v Pakistanis
Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana
N/A
Sun Jul 14
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 18:30 PKT
1st ODI - West Indies v Pakistan
Providence Stadium, Guyana
N/A
Tue Jul 16
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 18:30 PKT
2nd ODI - West Indies v Pakistan
Providence Stadium, Guyana
N/A
Fri Jul 19
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 18:30 PKT
3rd ODI - West Indies v Pakistan
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
N/A
Sun Jul 21
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 18:30 PKT
4th ODI - West Indies v Pakistan
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
N/A
Wed Jul 24
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 18:30 PKT
5th ODI - West Indies v Pakistan
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
N/A
Sat Jul 27 1st T20I - West Indies v Pakistan
Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent
N/A
Sat Jul 28 2nd T20I - West Indies v Pakistan
Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent
N/A

New Google Maps for Android moves in on Yelp, Foursquare

Google Maps for Android updates with a refreshed interface for phones, a new tablet design, and enhanced features -- but no Waze.
Following the public unveiling of a major Google Maps overhaul at May's Google I/O, and subsequent reports of Google Maps for Android landing on the Google Play Store late Tuesday night, the company made an official announcement for the improved app early Wednesday morning.
The new Google Maps for Android includes features big and small that combine geolocation with more real-world information than just longitude and latitude. Restaurant reviews from Zagat target Yelp, and are available directly from within Maps when you look up a restaurant. You now can add your own score and comments from within Maps.
The new Explore feature sounds similar to one available in Foursquare. It provides an entirely touch-based way to explore a location without typing or speaking. It focuses on five categories: eat, shop, drink, sleep, and play, allowing people to learn more about urban locations in relationship to their restaurants, retail, bars, hotels, and activities.
What Google has built with Maps is good, Graf said, adding that it's made more useful when its users contribute to make it "even better."
While the more realistic Map view made big news at Google I/O this year, the mobile version exposes search results at the bottom of the screen in a format not unlike the Google Now cards. Swiping through the cards will show you other nearby results.
Traffic information in Maps now includes real-time traffic incident details with an notification to re-route you with one tap. While that sounds like Waze, the social maps app that Google recently purchased, Graf said that it was too soon to include features from Waze.
Google Maps on Android now offers real-time traffic re-routing.
(Credit: Google)
Street View has been improved on Android with "business photos," so that you can follow the street-level map directly into places of interest. Google Maps now offers a slightly different interface for Android tablets, as well.
Google Maps' offline mode in Android has been replaced. Now, if you speak or enter "OK Maps" into the search box when viewing a map you wish to save for offline use, it will automatically save that map and the surrounding area. Graf said that it covers enough ground so that if you're looking at a map of the Mission District in San Francisco, Maps will cache a map large enough to cover most of the Bay Area.
Google also announced that Latitude and check-ins will be removed from older versions of Google Maps on August 9, and are no longer part of the new Google Maps app for Android and the anticipated update for iOS.
Graf wouldn't reveal a launch date for the updated Google Maps for iOS, saying only that it was "coming soon" for Apple's phones and tablets

Apple's App Store turns five: You're great, now change

Apple's App Store redefined how we all downloaded programs on our smartphones. But with Google Play outstripping its number of apps, the challenge of the next five years isn't volume -- it's getting the right app in the right hands.
What a difference five years makes.
Apple's App Store has a lot to brag about as it celebrates its fifth birthday on Wednesday. Over the last half decade, it helped fully realize the Swiss army-capabilities of the smartphone, which could do far more than make phone calls and browse the Internet. While not the first, it set the standard for mobile application marketplaces to come. The best part: it made apps accessible to everyone.
"Nothing like the App Store existed before and it has fundamentally changed the world," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said last month, describing the store's launch at the company's yearly developer conference ahead of today's anniversary.
But things have changed since the App Store was first introduced by the late Steve Jobs, and Google Play has surpassed the App Store when it comes to sheer number of available apps. While Apple's App Store has always been home to the hottest big-name apps, its success over the next five years may be shaped by how well it can foster apps both big and small.
"It winds up being a popularity contest rather than people finding the content that they want," said Brian Blau, Gartner's research director of consumer technology. Users are exposed to the top few thousand most popular apps, he added, so apps must compete for rankings or to get promoted as, say, a staff favorite. That disenfranchises all the apps without brand recognition or marketing firepower.
For now, Apple has a lot of impressive numbers to tout. Its App Store has surpassed 50 billion apps downloaded, with 900,000 programs available. Apple brags it's paid out $10 billion to developers, testament that it pays to work with the company even as it takes a 30 percent cut of sales.
Apple has done a great job attracting the developers, Blau points out, by being the leader for developer revenues.
As a result, the iPhone franchise remains the envy of the smartphone industry, even as rival Samsung Electronics has made significant headway with its own flagship Galaxy S family of phones. In the U.S., iPhone sales still dominate, fueled at least in part by the breadth of apps.
What Apple did differently
It's easy to forget that Apple wasn't the first app marketplace. The App Store had precursors from the likes of Palm, Microsoft, and Salesforce.com's AppExchange. Jobs was friendly with Salesforce.com founder and CEO Marc Benioff, who had already taken over the "appstore" domain and trademark. When the time came for Apple to launch its App Store, Benioff gifted them to Jobs in a gesture of gratitude for Jobs advice to his team years before.
But Apple did something different with its App Store: it made it accessible to everyone. By offering the apps in a single, simple store, and making it easy to download and run programs, Apple sparked a new market. Sure, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile phones could download their own apps, but users had to dig for them at different Web sites, and there was no real guarantee they would work well.
Apple, however, kept a tight rein on the kind of apps it would approve, and even offered its recommendations. It was a safe and convenient place for smartphone users who didn't want to deal with the headaches of downloading programs on other mobile platforms.
The App Store's featured apps.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Analyst Al Hilwa, director of Applications Development Software at IDC, called Apple's idea of integrating a store into iTunes, which was already providing a tracking content and handling transactions for music, one of the strokes of genius that contributed to the success of the iPhone. Opening the platform up for app developers was another brilliant move, he said. iOS remains popular with developers not just because it's lucrative but also because of the simplicity of building for one line of smartphones.
While older smartphone marketplaces had an array of rudimentary games and business apps, Apple's App Store opened the door to all kinds of different programs. All of a sudden, fart apps were making a small fortune as users were eager to find new and innovative ways to use their smartphones. Games such as Rovio's Angry Birds became a phenomenon, with the franchise marked as a must-have for any mobile platform.
"The app store is a real reason for Shazam's success," said Rich Riley, CEO of the music-recognition app maker. "A lot of that is because the app store makes it so easy to find it, download it, and update it."
Pandora, the second most downloaded free app on the App Store behind Facebook, credits Apple for greatly changing the trajectory of the company. For three years before the App Store, Pandora was confined to the desktop and was "a shadow of the bigger vision," said Chief Technology Officer Tom Conrad. From day one of the App Store, Conrad said, the company realized this is the way Pandora is meant to be consumed.
The App Store's success spawned imitators, some successful (Google Play), while others quietly faded away (Palm and WebOS). Windows Phone has its Marketplace, while BlackBerry has its App World.
Competition heats up
Apple has long touted the number of apps available to its iOS devices, but it can no longer claim the title of largest app store. Google Play boasts 975,000 apps, edging out the App Store. It too has seen more than 50 billion app downloads.
(Credit: Apple)
It's no surprise the Google Play has exploded, thanks to the aggressive adoption and promotion of Google's Android platform, which was widely embraced by the carriers that didn't have exclusive deals to sell the iPhone. In the U.S., while AT&T dominated smartphone sales with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and Sprint rallied behind Android and Google Play's predecessor, the Android Marketplace.
Android is the top smartphone operating system in the world, far outstripping Apple's iOS, according to market data.
Android's runaway expansion and its open-ended adaptability for multiple smartphone makers come at a price. The fragmented nature of the platform can make it more complicated and costly to build for, which is one reason most apps launch on App Store first with Android to follow.
IDC analyst Hilwa noted where Android apps must span multiple versions of the platform, Apple apps have one; where the number of Android apps shops is in the triple digits, App Store is Apple's only game in town. That's why Apple customers spend the most on content and apps, he said
Help for the little guy
But with the number of apps in App Store's inventory approaching a billion, that leaves a giant swath fighting for -- and seldom winning -- the spotlight.
Derek Lamberton's apps, and those like his, "just get sort of lost underneath the pile," he said. The independent app creator's company Blue Crow Media specializes in city guide apps. His best-selling one is London's Best Coffee, which is consistently in the top 10 for the food and drink category.
"All my apps at this stage will hit the top ten when they launch, but unless there is a serious social media effort...it's really really hard to get new users," he said.
Even with top-tier exposure, the halo effect is brief. The New York Times twice highlighted a Lamberton's Craft Beer New York app, and it would give him a big spike in sales the day immediately following. But after the one-off jump to 250 or so downloads, the norm of five to 10 a day quickly returned.
"I see it again and again, developers don't want to release their download numbers because I think because they're ashamed," he said. "Outside of super games, there isn't a lot of money to be made."
"I see it again and again, developers don't want to release their download numbers because I think because they're ashamed,"
--Derek Lamberton, independent app developer
The future
Lamberton's challenges show how Apple can be a victim of its own success as it embarks on its next five years of App Store.
As big as App Store has become, the "wander the aisles" method of app discovery doesn't work anymore, Pandora's Conrad said. "Looking forward, the big opportunities in the App Store are to move beyond this merchandised, best-seller based browsing model" to search relevance.
Last year, Apple purchased app search and discovery company Chomp only to quietly close it down within months. On its own, Chomp was an alternate search website for Apple's App Store and, later, Google's Android platform, that retrieved results based on app function, not name. Despite the takeover stoking expectations of app discovery improvement to come, Apple never integrated Chomp's search tools in the App Store.
The upshot is users have a hard time finding the exact app they're looking for. And unless they're blessed with a name like Facebook or a big marketing warchest, developers struggle to find their audience.
While Apple wouldn't provide anyone to talk for this story, Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue said at WWDC last month that Apple is working on making app discovery better. The company has added a feature that finds apps based on age range so parents can find apps for kids, and it has launched Apps Near Me, which finds most popular apps in a smartphone's location.
But even that improvement relies on the same thing Apple always has for app discovery: popularity.
Gartner's Blau, noting that Apple hasn't done much to help the apps in its universe that are hobbled simply by obscurity, said the change will have to come from within.
"This is something only Apple can fix."

French three-strikes law no longer suspends Net access

Dropping a punishment that could cut off Internet access for those who shared music or video illegally, a French ministry vows instead to target those who profit commercially from piracy.
The French Hadopi authority was responsible for sending warnings to copyright-infringing downloaders. It used a "graduated response" that could mean cutting off the person's Net access.
The French Hadopi authority was responsible for sending warnings to copyright-infringing downloaders. It used a "graduated response" that could mean cutting off the person's Net access.
(Credit: Hadopi) The French government has scrapped a provision that could cut off Internet access for those who downloaded copyrighted files illegally.
The so-called "three strikes" law brought first written warnings for infringement, then ultimately suspension of Internet access. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) applauded the law.
But the French government is now taking a new approach, focusing its antipiracy efforts on commercial piracy, such as Internet sites that profit from infringing, rather than individuals, according to a statement by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication Tuesday.
Although suspended Net access is no longer an option, fines remain as a punishment.
Net access under the law has been suspended only in one case, an individual lost Internet access for 15 days and was fined 600 euros ($767), but cutting people off from Internet access has been a controversial issue. Shortly after approval of the law in 2009, the French Constitutional Council said Internet access was a human right. And in its statement Tuesday, the French ministry Internet Internet access has become a major means of access to culture, especially for young people.
A government journal on Monday logged the end of the decree, called the Hadopi law after the three-strikes law led to the creation of a public organization called the Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des uvres et la protection des droits sur internet.
The minister of culture and communication has named Mireille Imbert-Quaretta to lead new antipiracy work that involves several involved parties, including payment companies, advertising networks, search engines, and social networks.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Cyberattack on South Korea was part of 4-year spying campaign

McAfee releases a report saying that the massive March attack on banks and TV stations was part of an extensive campaign to steal government and military secrets. 
South Korea has been under a concerted cyberattack for the last four years, according to a comprehensive new report (PDF) released Monday by security firm McAfee. That means the hack that crippled three TV broadcasters and two banks in March was possibly just the tip of the iceberg.
What has been the goal of these hackers? To steal South Korean government and military secrets, according to McAfee.
"Our analysis of this attack -- known first as Dark Seoul and now as Operation Troy -- has revealed that in addition to the data losses of the MBR wiping, the incident was more than cybervandalism," McAfee's report reads. "The attacks on South Korean targets were actually the conclusion of a covert espionage campaign."
Initially, in March, it was revealed that servers in South Korea were victims of a massive coordinated attack that erased data from tens of thousands of computers. At first, the government blamed China for the hack, and then pointed the finger at North Korea.
According to McAfee, it's still not clear who was behind the stunt. But, the security firm has garnered far more information about the attackers and their methods. Dubbing the hacking campaign "Operation Troy," McAfee says the attacks were a coordinated effort between two groups called the "Whois Team" and the "NewRomanic Cyber Army Team." It's possible, McAfee says, that these two teams may have been working for the same leadership.
The malware used in Operation Troy included two Trojans and a wiper that installed themselves on users' computers via file transfers from online bulletin boards and discussion forums. According to McAfee, once the malware was installed, it could spy on users' computers and then destroy the hard drive.
"McAfee Labs can connect the Dark Seoul and other government attacks to a secret, long-term campaign that reveals the true intention of the Dark Seoul adversaries: attempting to spy on and disrupt South Korea's military and government activities," the report reads. "From our analysis we have established that Operation Troy had a focus from the beginning to gather intelligence on South Korean military targets."

iOS 7 beta 3 brings bug fixes, other improvements

As expected, Apple releases the third beta of its software for developers right on schedule.
 
As expected, Apple on Monday released its third beta of iOS 7, exactly two weeks after it came out with the second iteration of the software for developers.
The release is in line with earlier speculation that the company planned to dole out betas in two-week cycles.
The new version includes some general performance improvements and fixes a number of issues that had cropped up in the second beta, including problems with iCloud, AirPlay, and the Messages application.
The user interface received a few tweaks as well, including more transparent folders, redesigned music controls, and the calendar now shows which days you have events on. The update also brought with it enhancements to FaceTime and a better Siri voice.
It's standard practice for Apple to release several beta versions of the software before it debuts it to the public. Apple has said iOS 7 will come to the public in the fall. iOS 6 had four different beta versions between its June debut and late September release last year, so we can expect at least one more beta to arrive for iOS 7.