According to worldwide StatCounter statistics, Google’s Chrome Browser has just slipped above Firefox to become the 2nd most used internet browser. Despite being the youngest browser in the game, Chrome quickly became a favorite among web and design professionals. It’s fast, it’s light, it gets out of your way. And now it’s #2 in the world. Not bad for a 3 year old.

I use Chrome exclusively, along with several of my office mates. But I don’t discriminate! Safari and Firefox are excellent browsers, and Internet Explorer 8 and 9 have made HUGE strides in functionality and speed. But a handful of surfers, about 3% worldwide, are still lashed to IE 6. A browser that is so behind in functionality and so difficult (and expensive) to build websites for that Microsoft apologized for it, and Google dropped support. But for most of those 3%, IE6 is not a choice. Internal software built especially for IE6 and adopted by large companies during The Dark Times (the late 90s) means that employees often have no other option.

[Cue uplifting music]

That is, until Google Chrome released Chrome Frame, a plugin for IE browsers that allows it to mimic the functionality of Chrome for newer websites without losing legacy support for older ones. It’s pretty amazing. And as of recently you don’t even have to bribe your system administrator to install it for you! Once done, any website that includes this little meta tag: <meta content='chrome=1' http-equiv='X-UA-Compatible' />, will attempt to render using Chrome Frame in all its modern, cutting edge glory. And we include it in ALL new websites.

So let’s break it down, shall we?

We all know Google has been trying mighty hard over the past few years to increase their use of SSL encryption for each of their web-based products. And normally that would be considered a good thing for users. On Tuesday, they announced this encryption was coming to their search service as well.

To be clear, here’s how this works in practice:

• A user is signed into their Google account (read: Gmail, Google+ or others),
• they decide to perform an organic search,
• they click on an organic keyword that directs them to your site,
• you will not be able to track which keyword they used to find your site,
• and you won’t be able to see any of their session information from Google Analytics that is associated with that particular keyword/phrase.

In essence, this means we can no longer track conversions based on organic search, for users that are logged into Google when they perform the search.

The reason for the change, from Google’s announcement:

“As search becomes an increasingly customized experience, we recognize the growing importance of protecting the personalized search results we deliver. As a result, we’re enhancing our default search experience for signed-in users.”

It is important to clarify though, that all is not lost. As it is currently being reported, this change does kill conversion data and keyword information, however we’ll still be able to track generic visitor information (visits, referral sources, etc).

Start-up fashion site StyleCaster aimed high to receive and report coveted media coverage that out shown the old guard of Vogue and the like. Ralph Lauren bought all available digital ad space in the New York Times’ iPad App to provide a month-long highly interactive experience.

With high fashion finally taking the digital plunge head on, could digital inadvertently kill their luxury exclusivity?

Some other links of note this week:

• Computer-generated articles increase online
• Amazon poking a stick at a “Netflix for Books“
• Diet Coke’s new brand is ready for it’s close up
• Infographic of the Week: The Psychology of Addiction (of Angry Birds)
• Google adds flight search, comparison and shopping

Smartphones and location-based social networks allow users to interact, share, meet up, and recommend places based on their physical coordinates. This real-world connection to social media can mean more foot traffic and profits for business owners. Location technology is here to stay.

Mobile users are now comfortable with giving mobile apps access to their locations in exchange for some location specific content. But what about the home computer browser?

With the spread of HTML5 and the new geolocation API, web developers can now find out where their viewers are located. Websites can now be tailored to area of the user, marketing that is relevant to that user, that is if the users let them.

Privacy issues are still a concern, and it is only through the express permission of a user that a site can access location data. Any smart phone app user is now familiar with the alert of “Some App would like to use you location. Will you allow it?” but home browsers are not.

Will the request for permission scare users? Or will location become a factor in interactive website design?

Readable by mobile apps using the phone’s camera and Internet connection, QR codes are typically used due to their ability to improve calls-to-action in all types of marketing.

Here are just a few successful & inspiring implementations:

Starbucks and Lady Gaga built an elaborate interactive digital scavenger hunt with QR Codes at various Starbucks locations as one of many promotions leading up to the release of her current album.
Source: Mashable.com

Tissot printed a variety of QR Codes on trade show displays and models that linked viewers to exclusive videos and music that could be viewed and purchased.
Source: TappIn YouTube Channel

Delta Airlines use QR Codes for their eBoarding pass allowing customers to receive a code on their smart phones to board their flight.
Source: Delta Marketing Group

Orville Redenbacher and other companies include them in their direct mail pieces providing coupons and other promotions.
Source: Blurring Edges

QR codes have rapidly changed how people socially interact with marketing – and we seem to just be seeing the beginning of it. How are you using or going to use them in your marketing? What’s your take on the QR craze?

They both have similar looks and features, but they approach socializing differently. In simplest terms, Facebook focuses on making your status updates public first and private second, whereas Google+ encourages the opposite. So how does that imply Google+ could be some sort of anti-social introverted new kid on the block?

Contrary to stereotypes, introverts are not necessarily anti-social. Due to internalizing information, they prefer discussing in-depth on specific topics of interest over small talk and value connecting with small circles of friends. This is where Google+’s top promoted features support those traits. Let’s take a look at some of the other key features found in Google+:

Circles

Stop sharing publicly and start sharing privately. Google+’s Circles uses an innovative interface for grouping contacts to allow users to privately share content among those groups. Your boss won’t see what your friends see and vice versa. As long as they’re in separate Circles, anyway.

Sparks

Like a saved search, Sparks lets you add topics to your profile page that display regularly updating search results of articles and videos associated with those topics. Consider this a simple way to obsess over your favorite sports team, or your passion for underwater basket weaving.

Hangouts

Hangouts might be more aptly described as video chat on steroids. Check into Hangouts with a simple click, to notify friends of your pre-selected Circles that you’re available for an up to 10-person video conference. Have face-to-face meetings with only those you want to bump into online.

The focus for Google+ is to provide tools for users to control how they socialize while providing added privacy over the information you share online. Regardless of growing pains, the different approach to social networking Google+ offers is enough to keep this “anti” social network around.

Scalability

At the heart of the re-design, was an overall goal of building a site that served as a foundation to build on in the future. We didn’t want to feel the need to perpetually re-design the site in order to accommodate new content, or new pages. Rather, we wanted a greater level of fluidity, and scalability within the site. We turned to WordPress in order to help make this happen. Now, all pages are editable within the CMS, allowing anyone in the office to log into the site, and make modifications to site content at any time.

Responsive Design

When we launched our last site, roughly a year and a half ago, we did it in a two-stage process: we launched our “main site” then later, designed and built a “mobile” version of the site. Over the past year since, the idea of responsive design has become a key principle when designing for the web, and we wanted to make sure we applied that method of thinking to our site as well. In so doing, we’ve allowed users – regardless of their device – complete access to our site, and all it’s content. The site will simply re-size itself, and adapt to the screen size of each user. This not only makes the user’s browsing experience significantly better, but it keeps us from having numerous sites, all needing to be updated individually as time goes on.

Client Work

In our previous iteration of the site, we had a “work” section, wherein client work was shown by client, and within those clients by campaigns. Now, we certainly do our fair-share of campaign work, however we often have requests to do individual projects as well. Within the organization scheme of the previous site, showing a new iPad app for example, wasn’t practical because it didn’t fit into the way projects were being organized. This meant that great work was being left off the site, which we certainly weren’t excited about. Within this new site, we’ve built out a “work” section, that allows users to filter work by project type (interactive, print, environmental, and motion). As they make their selection, work gets filtered out, leaving only what users have selected visible on screen. Further, this format allows us to not only show large campaigns, but also great individual projects.

We’re excited about the new site, and hope you find it markedly better than the previous one. Despite launching is last week, we’re still making ongoing updates and revisions, but please feel free to share feedback in the comments – especially good feedback!

First off, a loose definition. A site using responsive design will apply the following:

• The site must be built with a flexible grid foundation.
• Images that are incorporated into the design must be flexible themselves.
• Different views must be enabled in different contexts via media queries.

A few examples:

• Ethan’s example on A List Apart
• Today.com
• Earth Hour

When viewing one of the examples, re-size your browser window. Make the window as narrow as possible to simulate a mobile interface and notice how elements change on the page.

Sounds a lot like “Fluid design”, doesn’t it? (You may also know this as proportional, liquid, or hybrid design.) While all responsive design is “fluid”, not all fluid designs are responsive.

This is where Media Queries come in. Media queries allow you to tell your browser that depending on the current width, serve up different CSS stylesheets. As the width of the browser/device changes, media queries can pick up on that and change the CSS.

So what does this mean? Well, typically web developers would create an entirely different environment for mobile devices. For example, you’ll often see a m.website.com or mobile.website.com. What responsive design allows you to do is have one website, that adjusts to all devices.

Internet Access

Native apps run locally on the user’s device, and subsequently don’t have a need for an active internet connection. Conversely, web-based applications do in fact require an active connection to function properly.

Installation + Updates

The updating process is something to be mindful of, when determining which route to take. Apps running in the browser will live on your own server, and do not come with the necessary approval/review process of an iOS app – for example. When updates are made, users simply need to refresh their browser to see changes to the web app, whereas native apps would require a formal update to the device.

Device Compatibility

Native apps are platform and hard-ware dependent, meaning once developed, they’re built to run on a very particular device, running a specific OS. Alternatively, web apps need only a browser to run, and have the ability to be optimized to display (and run) appropriately on a variety of devices.

In Conclusion

Thankfully, most mobile devices are shipping with modern browsers capable of rending very slick web applications, that capture many of the benefits of native applications. However, there are cases where native apps might be appealing, and a web application just won’t cut it. And certainly there are cases where the reverse is true. The trick is determining the most appropriate technology for the given situation, and using it to the best of it’s ability. Rather than simply choosing one or the other, it helps to first determine the goals of the app, identify who will use it – and how they’ll be using it, and what the long-term usage of the app will be. That, coupled with the items above, will go a long way in determining which tool works best for your particular project.

• Global ad spending will increase 4.5% (this is double the growth rate of 2010)
• Online advertising leads the pack, with a projected growth rate of 16%
• Television and online advertising are set to outpace their 2007 projections, while newspaper, magazine, and radio are all set to take a step backward

Online advertising continues to be a growing area of opportunity within the digital universe. And we’re not talking about your traditional banner ad type of work either. When considering your online advertising options, keep in mind the potential of mobile, paid search, social media (advertising and utilization), rich media – in addition to banner ads, and email campaigns.

Being willing to jump in head-first, and utilize the tools at our disposal is key to taking advantage of all that the web has to offer. With 28.7% of the world’s population (or 1,966,514,816 people) currently online, I can’t help but feel like there are some stones left unturned.