There’s no doubt that you will have heard of Google+ and its extraordinary beginnings, (the fastest growth in its first month of any social network ever) but have you been introduced to the unique benefits that Google+ adds to your SEO and position in search engine results?

Google have claimed that they want the search results to be a true representation of organic results and are consequently penalizing over-optimised sites, so that the truly relevant sites are the ones that show on the appropriate search terms. As part of the ‘organic’ search results, Google have shown a ‘little’ precendence to their own content.

A change to the Google search result layout, integrating Google’s own social network, will not only mean high ranking for those who haven’t just logged into Google+ once to claim their names, but also for advertisers purchasing adwords. The right hand side panel will now form a column that is dedicated to status’s from Google+ members related to the search term typed in, and also the adwords adverts as it was previously situated. The aim of this particular change is to give benefits to advertisers who have previously seen only 10%-50% click rate when their ad is shown down the right hand section. The integration of Google+ to the side column should encourage more clicks and lead to more sales.

Currently we won’t be able to take advantage of the new system everywhere, as it is only available for Google owned sites, this said, it is clear that Google intend to make more impact upon our searching habits and will roll out the new format in time.

As Google+ is definitely reigning in importance of the social networks due to its direct influence on one of the world’s most popular search engines, it is essential that you get on with making your page right now! Make sure you include all your relevant information, with lots of keywords so that you rank highly (but not too many that your content becomes unreadable). Keep your page branding consistent with your website. Although you don’t have a complete free reign on the appearance, you do have some elements to play with. Take the long picture across the top, this can be a great place to display a photo of your offices, your logo or some staff pictures. As Google+ has essentially copied Facebook’s new layout, you could even replicate your Facebook page using the same cover photo for consistency and ease.

As Google owns Youtube, don’t forget that your videos will also receive precedence in search rankings, getting your content to the top of the results list and seen by more people. Don’t worry to much about how professional your videos are, as long as the message is good then the video will spread on it’s own merit.

If you have a blog, which you most probably do, this is obviously a great start to your SEO. With Google+s influence as it is, however, have a ‘+1′ button and a sharing button on each post your produce to encourage them to be shared on the network which will help their SEO and link directly back to your site. Post your blog posts onto your Google+ page too to help you get even closer to the top of the search results.

Despite the push Google is placing onto Google+, remember that unlike the other social networks, people are on there merely to be there, and don’t necessarily use the page to chat and converse with other users. With this in mind, broadcast the existence of your Google+ page on your other networks to encourage others to add you to their circles, or even create an account for themselves to discover what all the fuss is about.

All this can take a bit of work, so in order to make sure that you know that you are getting a decent ROI, there need to be methods in place to measure the impact of your networks. Whether its looking into the analytics required, or reading through comments you have received, it can all help you to see where you are succeeding and where could be improved.

In it’s third round of flowers since it joined the team at Xposure in March last year, Es’ orchid has flourished where others would have failed, and we put this down to a great office atmosphere (and maybe a little help from Esme’s magic touch)!
It took strategic cutting and lots of Esme’s singing, along with love and care to see the orchid through it’s dark days.  Esme remained vigilant with her watering and feeding routine, seeing her efforts pay off when the flower showed it’s eighth and ninth blooms this week.

The way Esme cared for this flower can be directly applied to the way that you should be nursing and encouraging your social network sites, no matter which one you use!

1. Feed it regularly

Esme made sure that the orchid received just the right amount of nourishment, and this was key to the plants survival. Where others may have over-watered and been too keen with the Baby Bio, Esme and her green fingers got the mix just right, which helped the plant grow and develop and produce lovely flowers.

Where social media is concerned, you do need to ensure that you feed your page regularly, and with the right nutrients (which is why I’m not saying you should water your laptop daily!). Post once a day or a few times a week to give your audience a reason to visit your page. Your content has to be right too, just like feeding your plant bacon and eggs wouldn’t be very beneficial (and quite costly with no return) what you post onto your page or profile needs to be relevant and useful. Share good tips that your audience will find useful, share them often enough that they are handy, but not too often that they become a pain and people ‘unlike’ you for spamming them.

This will help your page, grow strong roots, healthy ‘likes’ and help you to engage with an interested audience.

2. Getting rid of the dead leaves and trimming back dying shoots.

When parts of the plant were growing too high to be nourished from the roots, Esme trimmed off the orchid to a healthy bud, to keep the plant from growing too big for it’s pot, and to encourage more flowers to open.

When Facebook recently introduced the new page layout in the form of a timeline, it was a time when a lot of people found it necessary to trim back, and get rid of dead content. Giving you the opportunity to easily go back through the history of your page since its creation (whenever that was!) was a great opportunity for users to get rid of content they weren’t so proud of, and posts that were no longer relevant or part of the company’s image.

Like Esme’s orchid, a little bit of trimming can really bring a dying page (or plant) back from the brink, and help people create Facebook profiles that are strong, useful and filled with relevant and interesting posts. .

3. TLC

Everyone needs a bit of TLC now and then, and Esme made sure that her plant received enough sunlight when the weather was bad, and just the right amount of attention (however much an orchid really needs!) so that it grew comfortably and well even when times were hard.

As strange as it sounds, this is what your social networks need too, a little attention now and then to make sure they are still as good as they can be. It could be a change in your profile picture, cover photo or company information. It could be an addition to the bio, an event from the past added, or a few services for your LinkedIn page. Whatever it is, you need to make sure you are evolving and adapting you page. It’s not a static site, you have the ability to change as your business changes, so make sure that you don’t leave yours neglected!

Esme has been really pleased with the results she has received from the effort she has put into her orchid, and you too could be feeling great when your social networking pages become even more engaging and you gain more ‘likes’, from just these three simple tips.

Esme says: “It doesn’t need to be that difficult, but a little bit of effort has really paid off, and my desk has been brightened up by the beautiful orchid that has flowered time and time again.

“Domestic orchids generally only flower annually so I was thrilled to see yet more bulging buds coming through this Spring.  I don’t have a garden at home, or many friends, so I tend to shower all my affection and best singing on my potted plant here…much to the annoyance of the rest of the team!”

Viral Marketing far from something to be feared, it is something that you should strive to achieve, as all it basically means is a marketing strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others so that the concept gradually grows and grows.

It’s not as difficult as you think to make effective viral adverts, a ‘historic’ example of Viral Marketing that dates back to 1997 (If you can remember that long ago) is Hotmail. When it began, there was no such thing as social networks so they relied on a small sentence at the end of their users emails encouraging others to sign up to their email system, which would get people sharing and talking. The site’s popularity grew exponentially over the first few years, and Hotmail was eventually bought out by MSN. Hotmail worked because they were giving a truly valuable product away, and what’s more, it was free!

Which brings me swiftly to the first important point on getting your marketing to go viral!

Give away something that is actually valuable!

Although the initial cost may be a bit of a draw back, it can often help you to gain profits in the long run, the start up cost however, can often put people off before they begin. Unfortunately ‘free’ is something that really sells. The word ‘free’ attracts attention, email addresses revenue and sales (even if they don’t bring you much money at first). By putting the free content up there, you are offering individuals the opportunity to visit your site, acquire the freebee, but then also see what else you have to offer and maybe even purchase something else!

Make it easy to share!

Have lots of buttons on your content that will make it easy for individuals to share your ideas with others. Set up a ‘recommend to a friend button’, include ‘tweet this’ and ‘like this’ buttons, which will all encourage interaction. People take notice of what their friends say, so make sure you make it as easy as possible to share what you are giving away. This way your content will be seen by the individual sharing, their connections will then see it and hopefully share it, leading their connections connections to see it and then share it, and so on and so on. This will spread your content further and further afield so that your name is known over a massive area! This reputation will give you the credentials that you need to survive in the current undesirable economic climate.

Give away articles for free!

A clever marketer will not only use their own networks to spread the word about their offers or promotions, they will also use any other networks at their disposal. This could be anything from adding your logo to client’s sites, with a link back to you, or letting others share your content. It could even be an article you have written which you allow people to repost, as long as they reference you. This leads to your name being sites, you would have previously never ventured too. Remember, if the article is good enough, people will want to share it! (An example of this was done by wilsonweb.com)

Send out Newsletters!

These are a great way to keep people talking about your business! Include all your best tips; advice, company news, events and upcoming developments in your industry, creating a newsletter that will always interest your audience. A vital element of the newsletter is the small section at the bottom that not everyone includes (which is a big mistake if you ask me!). The ‘share with a friend’ button is essential in any newsletter! It gives readers the opportunity to share your information with anyone who may be interested and will give your newsletter an even wider audience.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Text is a great way to express yourself, but as the internet is so full of the stuff, yet another piece of writing can often find it difficult to cut the mustard. This is why it is important to vary the formats you use. Consider making a video on a specific topic useful to your business, this can be educational, entertaining or interesting (or all three). It doesn’t have to be a Hollywood blockbuster, merely something that is easy to watch and imparts some useful information.

Don’t forget your social media.

No matter what, this is an area that should never be neglected. Social media has become an integral part of any business plan, from firms of solicitors using YouTube to offer free tips, to drinks companies using Twitter to sell their latest product, everyone is using social media and it is a vital arena that helps marketing campaigns to go viral. Post your content onto Facebook, Tweet about your latest development, LinkedIn has recently developed a business page which allows you to post about from your business to it’s followers. Don’t forget the newer social networks like Pinterest and Google Plus. The +1 button within Google Plus helps your content to rank higher on Google, so it is essential you create an account now, to get your content higher up in search results and shared by more people.

The benefits of making your campaigns go viral are vast, and using the tips above you should be able to create truly unique, successful and viral campaigns. Using these tips is will help you to get your content talked about, but you have to make sure that the thing your are selling is good in the first place. Content is King, and always remember that.

In a change from previous years, the list of social networking big dogs has seen a mix up and Xposure have changed the list to reflect the current social networking outlook. So keep your eyes peeled for ones we may have dropped and new additions to the social network lineup!

So let’s get going on this edition of the Social Media Statistics!

Facebook

Despite the changes to Facebook’s layout, that have left alot of people feeling a little confused and lost. The timeline has clearly not affected Facebook’s visiting figures which have steadily increased throughout the beginning of 2012.

Twitter

The second major player in the social networking game has seen little change over the past year. The site itself has seen a few updates in layout and presentation, and the user figures have gradually increased, a lot like last years statistics!

LinkedIn

Despite seeing peaks and troughs in its users since December 2011, the site has still seen a gradual incline in users. Given the current economic climate, I would have expected a larger increase in users logging on as a job-hunting outlet, but clearly, in the UK the site is not seen as merely an online CV just yet!

Myspace

Although some say Myspace has had its day, and as far as I’m concerned it probably has, there are arguments to say its still a social network to be considered. Now primarily for music use, the site’s decline in user figures has tailed off to a sitting point, and rather than decreasing further, has maintained a similar user rate for around 3 months now, and with 550,000 unique users, it isn’t doing too badly!

Flickr

As the popularity of photo editing apps have created a drove of individuals claiming themselves to be expert photographers because they can add a sepia tint to a picture of their feet (thanks Instagram) I thought that Flickr would have seen an instant surge of users. Contrary to my opinions however, the site has been moving down slightly in unique visitors, but with still 38M profiles and even more pictures to be seen, the site is undeniably successful.

Digg

The social bookmarking site Digg has seen, like its counterparts Del.ici.ous and Reddit, a distinct decline in users. This follows sites like Twitter being a convenient alternative for social bookmarking tools and status updates all in one area. This isn’t to say social bookmarking sites are all doomed, Stumbleupon has seen consistent figures for the past few years now and is used by many to find interesting and otherwise unbeknown to them sites.

Pinterest

A warm welcome to the social networking statistics series for Pinterest whose major popularity and exponential growth since its launch only 2 years ago in March 2010, has lead it to be a definite major player in the social networking team. Based on the premise of ‘pinning’ interesting images to create mood boards of your favourite things, the site received initial skepticism when someone actually bothered to read the ominous terms and conditions! Once amends were made, the sites growth resumed and here for your viewing pleasure are Pinterest’s social media stats.

Tumblr

For the first time in the social network statistics series we have included a blogging platform. Tumblr has been on the scene for awhile now, but has seen major growth over the last couple of months as an outlet for budding designers and photographers to display their own and work, and quite frankly be a little self indulgent with opinions and news.

Although I would have liked to include Google+ in this list, our friends at  Google Ad Planner are reluctant to provide this sort of information, so once again here are some interesting Google+ stats to keep you going until the time occurs when Google choose to share their data.

• From April 2012, Google states that Google+ has 170 million active users.
• From January 2012, an average American user spent 3.3 minutes on Google+.
• Websites that use the +1 button generate 3.5x the Google+ visits than sites without the button.
• Two of the biggest user groups on Google+ are college students and software developers.
• 63% of Google+ users are male.
• Google+ is expected to attract 400 million users by the end of 2012.

Thank you Google Ad Planner and Hubspot for your help with this blog post.

Trend Number 1

Digital marketing!

The 2011 report showed an increased focus on digital marketing, and 2012 is no different. 68% of those within the survey reported that they intended to increase their digital budgets over the next 12 months.

In contrast to this, under half of companies who took part in the survey intended to increase overall marketing budgets and only 16% said they were increasing offline budgets (e.g. newspaper, TV and radio).

What does this mean to me?

No one can deny that digital marketing is becoming increasingly prevalent as people are spending more and more time on the internet. With this in mind, it might be best to think about the methods that you already have in place. Are you on a long-running contract with a magazine, advertising your wares in the same way each month? Consider how much of your audience actually does their research online, can you capture them there without the expensive print prices?

Trend Number 2

Mobile devices for browsing

The survey goes into detail about the increased penetration of mobile devices into everyday life and people’s spending habits. According to the report, people in general are spending 7% of their time using mobile devices, but businesses are only investing 0.5% of their budget for mobile devices, leading to a substantial gap in the market that is waiting to be filled. Cyber Monday 2011 in America saw a massive increase in their e-commerce sites being visited from mobiles, rising from 3.9% to 10.8%.

What does this mean to me?

There is a massive gap in the market, as brands are not meeting the audience where they are spending their time. You could be one of the first to make your site mobile friendly (currently 70% businesses do not have mobile friendly websites), advertise in mobile arenas and address the big market that’s waiting for you! For example, you could make QR codes that drive customers directly to your site and increase your sales.

Trend Number 3

The growing social media market

Brands are generally coming around to the idea that social media has great potential for marketing purposes, and there’s a huge increase in spending. The report states two thirds of companies surveyed expect to increase their budgets for off-site (69%) and on-site (66%) social media in 2012. Brands embracing the social media revolution, are increasingly claiming the difficulty in measuring the ROI. According to the report 22% struggled with find out their return from on-site investments and 20% could not see the investments from off-site social media.

What does this mean to me?

It can be difficult to know how effective your social media outlets are, but there are ways that you can combat this. Each social network that your business uses contains a page of analytics, these statistics show you who is looking at your site, when they do it and what content they like. This can help you to address what your audience wants, to ensure your site is more effective in meeting their needs.

The overall report from E-consultancy, goes into a lot of detail about the ways in which businesses are spending their marketing budgets, and these are the most important trends. It’s essential that you keep up-to-date on marketing trends to ensure that you’re ahead of the game.

A recent nation-wide survey showed that their are definitely alot of words in the English language that people regularly misspell. The research found 57 per cent judge other people on their spelling, with 42 per cent admitting they believe people who can’t spell are “thick” whilst still making mistakes themselves!

If you fall foul of the irritating rule-changing nature of the English language, then you are in for a treat with Xposure’s top 10 list of misspelled words, to help you to avoid making these common mistakes.

(The keen eye amongst you will have noticed some deliberate mistakes in the introduction, placed there specifically to test your skills.)

1. Definately- So often we see people inserting an ‘a’ where it just isn’t needed which is definitely incorrect.

2. Alot- We don’t see you writing alittle or afootball so make sure you aren’t joining these two words together, for no reason!

3. Stationery/stationary- This isn’t necessarily a mistake, but rather a misuse, and one that is quite commonly done in our industry. Your stationery is your business card and other such items, and stationary means that something isn’t moving. So don’t go ordering really still letterheads next time you run out.

4. Your/you’re- An extremely common misuse once again! Your is a possession and you’re is you are. You’re incorrect if your writing still has these mistakes!

5. Their, there, they’re- They’re sitting over there with their dogs. Another example of misuse, make sure you look at the context of your ‘there’ before you use it, they are = they’re, there = position and their = possession.

6. Begining- remember to include all of the ‘n’s to make sure that from the start, your writing is correct.

7. Beleive- I don’t believe that people are still getting this wrong! I is always before e except after c (although don’t look to closely at this rule as there are irregular ones that don’t work, typical English language!).

8. Seperate- I was always told to remember that there’s a rat in separate, but this quite frankly put me off writing it as a child.

9. Here/hear- I’m using my ear to hear you, which makes it easier to remember which here is which.

10. Unecessary- There are so many ‘s’ sounds in unnecessary, but it’s the ‘n’s that catch people out, make sure you use two and don’t make unnecessary mistakes.

What words catch you out every time? Do you mix up your two, too and to’s? Let us know if you agree with our spelling mistakes and share your own in the comment box below!

Without getting into the XHTML, CS3 and coding of it all, I’ve got a few questions for you to think about so that you can see how mobile friendly your site is.

1. Does your site contain any Flash animation or complex Javascript?
 Currently all mobile apple devices including the iPhone and the new iPad do not run flash. Therefore if your site uses flash for navigation or to run the whole site, it won’t work on these devices.
2. Does your site contain lots of large images?
 Whilst browsing on a 3G network on a Blackberry, android or iPhone, these images can take a long time to download and can disengage a user before they find what they are searching for.
3. Do you use forms on your site?
 If so, make sure they are in one simple column, not two. On a small mobile device, a two column form can be difficult to use and can deter a user from entering their details.
4. Does your site contain video?
 If so, check that it is not flash based. Many of the free video hosting sites convert your video in to a flash video. Flash based videos again do not currently work on the iPhone or iPad.
5. Does your site take more than 30 seconds to load?
 Again, if it takes a while on a broadband connection, then it will take even longer on a mobile 3G network.

If you have any of these aspects on your website then I’m willing to bet your site isn’t very mobile friendly.

Solutions to these problems are to remove the offending piece of code, such as the large images, two column forms etc. or, build a simpler, mobile friendly site. So when a user arrives at your site on a mobile device, the site recognises the fact they are using an iPhone, iPad, Android, or Blackberry, and loads a specially designed, quick-loading, easy-to-use mobile version of your site.

We’ve gone as far as weekly sweepstakes in the office to make the show even more exciting. But sitting down to watch yet another episode focused upon the candidates selling ability, I had the idea to write a blog post on how The Apprentice still grabs an audience and keeps them hooked, even after seven years running and a similar tasks week on week!

Don’t worry that this blog post isn’t for you, as you aren’t planning to film a big-budget reality TV show anytime soon. The advice I’m giving is for you to apply to your blog to ensure you attract and retain and interested audience, just like Lord Sugar.

Although The Apprentice is all about the tasks each week that whittle the weak from the strong, you are never allowed to forget where the show is heading. You are lead through the series with the ending, when applying this to your blog, it may be an idea to produce the end before the rest so you know what your audience is heading for and that its worth their effort and concentration. Keep your purpose clear and concise. Although everyone enjoys watching each candidate lose their mind with an unruly bunch of egomaniacs, attempting to exert their authority during their turn in project manager office, we are all in it to see who gets the job, well nowadays whose idea Lord Sugar likes best.

Although based on an intellectual and highly competitive subject, that you would hope would attract the brightest minds, the show is not complex. It’s a simple ‘make more money= you win’ vs. ‘make less money= you lose’ concept. Something, which we can all understand and take an interest in. Think about this when tackling your next blog post, far from writing a dumbed down simple blog post about nothing more complicated than tying your shoelace. Try keeping the same message but modifying its delivery, change the more polysyllabic words to keep your message clear and simple. Don’t leave questions unanswered, make it easy for your readers to understand and get involved.

Like Alan Sugar your blog needs to have a character, you can do this through the language that you use or the issues that you tackle, or maybe by starting off your blog with an anecdote about yourself so readers can identify with you and become engaged. Within The Apprentice, you know the characters that you’ll find. There’s Alan, the scary boss man who takes no nonsense and calls the shots, there’s suspicious spies in the form of Nick and Karen (I do miss you Margaret) then within the candidates there’s pretty much all of the archetypical personality types (and almost all of the seven dwarfs). There’s the angry one, bossy one, the ditzy one, the arrogant one (there may be more than one of those) and the quiet one, that usually gets through the first couple of weeks but is fired later for not doing much. With the familiar characters at hand, the audience can easily relate to them and the show, knowing what to expect and becoming pleasantly surprised when someone breaks from their pre-destined character traits.

I’m sure if The Apprentice was more like Big Brother, and we watched them 24/7 in that amazing house, cooking dinner getting changed and sleeping, the show would be as boring as Big Brother. It’s the clever and ruthless editing that gives the show its up-beat and fast pace. With this in mind, you need to make sure that you don’t get too emotionally attached to your latest blog post, and edit it mercilessly. More than just removing typos and grammatical errors, make sure that you only use content if it is completely necessary. Chop all the fluff, and get rid of your adjectives, use short words too, as no one will stay to read on if they have to get a dictionary out for every other word.

At the end of The Apprentice, you can’t help but stay tuned to discover what crazy tasks the teams will be doing next week, and watching it carefully, you know all the best bits will be in that 30 second clip. You’ll get all the comedy, drama, fights, tantrums and tears from next week’s episode summed up in half a minute. You know that those bits are good, and there may be even more, and of course you’re hooked to find out who gets fired. This paired with adverts between the episodes with snippets of even more best bits to build your curiosity, you have no choice but to watch the next episode. I’m not saying buy some airtime and create a flawless campaign to advertise your next blog post, but you do have other services at your disposal, that aren’t quite so costly. Tweet some insights, or hint at some useful conclusions you have come to within your latest blog post. Wet the reader’s appetite and then publish the blog when you have enough anticipation. Keep this going every time you post, and you should get a loyal and content hungry fan-base ready to absorb your content whenever you post it.

While I know you probably aren’t making the next multimillion pound reality TV show for BBC1, you can’t help but draw out unique and useful ways that leave The Apprentice at the top of the leader board when it comes to grabbing audiences attention and keeping it. If it works for Lord Sugar who’s saying it can’t work for you?

Although a Facebook acquisition has been the kiss of death for a number of up-and-coming successful apps in the past, this latest deal doesn’t necessarily mean the end of Instagram, Well not exactly.

As well as the 12 Instagram employees who will be substantially richer this week, there will be individuals who will see benefits of the Facebook take-over. Instagram users who have been affected by a few downsides that the app currently has, will pleased to see a large investment in the app to make it better and more effective. The evolution on the app has been one such problem, leaving irritated users staring at slow-loading screens, so the collaboration with Facebook may lead to a little more work on elements that haven’t been developed fully. Combine this with the inordinate amount of time that has been taken to adapt the app for Android, means that the addition of a billion dollar conglomerate may well lead to improvements in useability and the devices for which Instagram is available.

As we are well aware of Mark Zuckerbergs nature when it comes to finances, it does seem that he wouldn’t spend 1 billion on an app, just to run it into the ground (like he has done previously whether meaning too or not e.g. ‘Friendfeed’) especially as it was no threat to the site at all before. With this in mind, the fact Facebook account holders were posting their Instagram photos to their newsfeed means that it was even working alongside the social network, so here’s hoping they will nuture it, giving Kevin (Instagram creator) whatever he needs to make the app bigger and better.

Although there are countless examples of acquisitions that have gone less than swimmingly, a particularly successful example (and one Facebook and Instagram should really take heed of) is Google’s acquirement of YouTube. Spending more than $1.65 billion on the site in 2006, many thought that this buy out would spell the end for YouTube, but the unique way in which Google managed the take over meant that the company (who were previously loosing money rapidly) could carry on creatively developing their company as they had began, only with the seemingly limitless capital provided to them through parent company.

There was no real change to the way in which YouTube provided it’s service, the layout was the same, the structure didn’t change, it wasn’t until fairly recently that Google’s prime money-making source, (advertising) , even penetrated our video viewing.

Zuckerberg has maintained throughout the deal that the two media enterprises will be operating separately, but this doesn’t mean that somewhere down the line they won’t begin to merge, which will be an interesting development.

As far as Instagram and Facebook are concerned, time will only tell how the acquisition will work, but given the increasingly visual nature of the Facebook timeline, the integration of a visual photo-editing service may help Facebook to move towards the visual platform they have merely been hinting at thus far. With the popularity of social network Pinterest, Facebook may be seeing Instagram as a way to take on the Pinterest network that is growing at an intimidating speed.

Whatever happens in the long run, right now it seems like Instagram users will still be able to add sepia and black and white tones to their average photos to make ‘artistic’ pictures . Thank goodness.

This Wednesday saw the announcement from Google regarding their latest, and scarily futuristic Google Goggles from Project Glass. Like something straight out of an 80s sci-fi film, the Google Goggles have been showcased this week, following murmurs underground for some time speculating on the possibilities that these Goggles will create.

The Android powered glasses will allow you to check your email, update on your Facebook and Twitter, check into your favourite locations and send and receive vocal texts linking directly to your smart phone, a great upgrade to your hands-free kit.

Given that the navigation of the Goggles, comes in the form of nodding or shaking your head to scroll and click, along with voice commands for specific apps, the likelihood is that as well as completely wearable computing, there is the chance that the users may look a little strange. According to Google experts though, once the user is adept at the navigation system, it will become second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users (I think there’s a chance people will notice individuals moving their heads around a lot, and chatting to themselves!)

The Goggles build on the app ‘Google Goggles’, which allows you to currently use your phone to enhance your experiences in everyday life, using the camera to photograph landmarks, artwork, logos, wine and books to find out more information. With this in mind, the specific use for the new Goggles, could be really handy when on holiday, or if you want to look really knowledgeable in front of a friend.

Augmented reality has really taken off over the past couple of years, and the Goggles look set to extend the technology’s appeal through super fast 3G and 4G data connections and GPS.

Although not particularly stylish (we definitely won’t be seeing models sporting them on the cat walk any time soon) Google have created the technology to make these specs of the future a reality today, and now the concept of wearable computers is out in the world and we can begin to discuss it.

Prices have been speculated (along with everything else about said Goggles) and figures have surfaced that suggest the Goggles could set you back anywhere in the region of $250 to $600.

This is the video that Google released this week to illustrate the best ways you can use the Goggles in an ordinary day. Google uses the example of a book shop and how with the Goggles you can look up reviews of certain books and compare the prices with competitors, but bookshops are not the only places the goggles could come in handy! You can use the GPS to get accurate satelite navigation to help you find your way, send a text with your voice, to keep your hands free and video calls to those with webcams.

Ever walked along the street and someone has waved at you, but you just can’t place them? An interesting app that I am hoping Google will soon develop within the Goggles, would be one that searches through your contacts on Facebook, Twitter or emails, for a match and gives you their name and information, I know for me personally, this would save me from an abundance of awkward situations.

Now the technology is available, Google are hoping that free online debates and discussions will give them some great ideas to help make the Goggles user-friendly and appeal to a vast amount of individuals.