Internet Explorer 9 “Do Not Track” Security Feature…Will it Really Work?

I was reading this article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday when I realized that Microsoft released their new version of their uber popular Internet Explorer web browser which included the highly touted “Do Not Track” feature. The new feature is news-worthy for a few reasons in my opinion.  First of all, Internet Explorer is now the first major browser to include this type of feature in a major release of their we browser although Mozilla’s Firefox browser is said to include a similar feature in an upcoming release.

I think that this new “do not track” feature is also an interesting advancement because of how quickly Microsoft developed and included this functionality in a major release of their web browser.  This type of new feature only started making news a few months ago when a number of consumer privacy advocates started complaining about how so many websites, like Facebook and others, are now collecting personal information about people and their web browsing habits when they visit their websites.  Microsoft and Mozilla took these requests so seriously that they decided to include this feature in their next browser releases only a quarter later.  In my opinion these web browser companies decided to include this feature so quickly because they knew it was relatively easy to implement (in the way they have) and they also knew that this new feature would make big news and would therefore help market their new releases.

Finally, I think this new web browser feature is of note because of the way it has been implemented technically may not be very effective at doing exactly what it is meant for.  Basically, now when a person using Internet Explorer 9 browses to a web page that is trying to collect information about the person or their computer or their web browsing history it sends a series of “header” records to the requesting website indicating that the person requests that the information not be shared with anyone else or used for marketing purposes.  The only problem here is that there are no set standards around these “header” records and no major websites or eCommerce associations have acknowledged that they will accept or abide by these requests to not share the user’s data.  Inevitably, what will happen here is that Microsoft will start pointing the figure at the eCommerce sites that do not recognize these header records until they cave in and recognize them because Internet Explorer is the most used web browser in the world and nobody wants to fine themselves on the wrong side of this argument because their sites will be bad mouthed in the press and seen as non-consumer friendly.

In conclusion, I think this is definitely a step in the right direction by Microsoft but I am not sure that this is really the best or most effective way to go about it.  I guess if this is just the first step in the direction of better security for shopper’s personal information on the web then it is probably worth it and will probably get us where we want to go. 

What do you think about this new feature that Microsoft started offering yesterday in their new Internet Explorer 9?

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The Day in Pictures & Tweets at the 2011 SmallBizSummit

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What our Business Blog is Learning from Charlie Sheen

We’re a small group at KikScore and I’ll be the first to say that writing a blog post at the end of the day sometimes isn’t the first thing on my mind.  But every week we put out new content and (Raj) works the Tweet machine thingy every day.  We research topics, think of fun entries and find funny photos to associate with our content.

All of this has lead to a steadily growing readership and followers.  We’ve found integration partners and new customers.  Heck, the blog has been called out by the New York Times.  But let’s be honest.  Charlie Sheen got 1 million followers in 25 hours, and over 74,000 people want to be his intern.  Charlie Sheen is killing us in the use of Social Media.  His torpedoes of truth have hit our hull and unless we change course, we’ll sink.  We surrender, Charlie.  We’re now learning from your lead:

1.  Blog Drunk or Otherwise Be Wildly Entertaining:  I haven’t missed a single blog steam of Charlie’s.  Is it because I’m mad at CBS or the producers of Two and a Half Men?  No.  I hate all CBS comedies and that stupid show in particular.  Look, it’s a nerd and his fat son living with a swinging bachelor.  Hee-larious.  No.  The reason I watch is because I love seeing how irrational Charlie acts.  It’s a new car wreck each night. 

2.  Stick to a Theme:  Mr. Sheen is not waxing poetic about politics or international relations.  He has a very narrow focus…”Charlie Sheen” [read in strangely intense voice].  He owns that topic and lives in every nuance.  Just like the blog Calculated Risk owns Macro Economics, Charlie owns the effects of massive amounts of money and drugs on a coddled, half-wit celebrity.

3.  Less is more:  If Charlie sent constant updates about what was on his iPod right now, I would stop following him on Twitter.  No.  Charlie gives a random “Du-uh” and something odd about “Trolls” and “Warlocks” (by his usage I’m assuming Trolls are bad and Warlocks are good) and the readers eat it up. 

4.  It Doesn’t Hurt to Seem Completely Unstable:  Not a lot of analysis here.  Just stating the obvious.

 So look for KikScore to do some wildly erratic things in upcoming posts and then bask in a wave of undeserved or logical attention.  We’re counting on you, America.

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Know how many security threats there are for 2011?

Mobile Apps:

Did you know that 85% of adults in the US own a mobile phone? ( I thought that this figure seemed a bit low…) [Turns out that 90% have access to a cellphone, but only 85% actually own one. ] Anyone hear the about the Trojan Droid Dream? No? Well what it did was gain root  access to sensitive information such as a device’s ID, model number etc… This meant that the software could take control of the devices and download things that you didn’t want on your computer. Luckily, Google remotely deleted the Trojan from user’s phones before it could do any damage.

However, malware isn’t just on official app stores. Outbreaks come from repackaged apps and alternative app stores.  Due to the increase in malware in smartphones, soon you might have to have two phones: one for work and one for personal use.  So how do you protect yourself? First, be careful about what apps you install. Do some research before you install an app. Does it have a reputation? What kind of reputation does it have? Etc…

Don’t forget to read the app’s list of permissions before you download. Does it make sense for this app to have access? See if you can uncheck unwanted permissions. Does that game really need access to your camera? (If you’re an Android user, Google makes it mandatory for the list of permissions to be there. If there’s antivirus apps for your smartphone, you might want to think about getting one.

Social Networks:

You’ve all heard about Social Network scams right? Good, then I don’t have to go into very much detail. One large thing to keep in  mind is that  using  your  Facebook account  information , criminals can actually go  and  burglarize your house .  So, don’t  click  on any  suspicious  links, be wary of claims you know to be untrue and again , read exactly what the app is asking permission for.

Antivirus Software :

Since more users have become  aware  of the need for antivirus software , these  scams have been  on the rise. The scam looks like a legitimate  piece of software  and  convinces the user that the computer  has on infection. Once the user pays for the software, the program has access to the users computer  and credit  card information .  NOT GOOD  What ca you do to protect yourself? First  make  sure  you are running a current security  program that is updated frequently and never download security  software  from a popup add.

PDFs:

Apparently PDF’s are one of the  potentially most dangerous file formats available. Why? It’s easy to conceal malicious content in the file.   PC World give you a link to the study…but, since it’s in a PDF format, I didn’t read it. 😀  So, be careful where you get your PDF”s from.  (My university uses PDF’s often, but I’m pretty sure that they’re not infected.) Remember to run and keep  your antivirus programs updated. Also, make sure to keep your PDF reader updated. Many of the updates have important fixes.

War Games or in other words, state sponsored malware attacks, industrial espionage, etc…

For the ordinary person they may not be a threat, but if you own manage security for a business you should be paying attention.  Hacking groups have attacked sites in Egypt and Libya in support of recent protests. The group has also leaked emails from a security researcher attempting to identify their members.  How do you protect your company from all this? First, monitor the network traffic and conduct regular reviews of employee data access privileges.

All of these threats may seem scary(they do to me), but they can be mitigated by being vigilant, keeping things updated and just using common sense.

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Live Tweeting & Maybe Some Blogging too from 2011 Small Business Summit in NYC

Today the KikScore team is making the trek up to New York city to attend the 2011 Small Business Summit.  This is the sixth annual summit and it is organized by the fabulous Ramon Ray and his team.  We have had to miss the last few years events so this year when we were offered an opportunity to attend we jumped at it.  It is even true I picked the Small Business Summit over attending SXSWi which is coming up this weekend (well 14 month old Asha had a roll in that decision too!).  And yes, the trip up to New York did include me getting up at 3:50am this morning to catch a cab at 4:20am so I could grab the 5am train out of DC’s Union Station! You read those times right!  As I tweeted earlier this morning either I need to find a mimosa or some really strong Red Bull type drink. In all seriousness, the excitement that we feel at KikScore about attending the event will more than keep us rolling throughout the day.

If you can not make it to New York, the Summit will be live streamed.  The agenda is jam packed with great speakers that include DC’s own Warren Brown (Cakelove), Mark Gambill (Dell), Christopher McCann (1-800-Flowers), John “ColderICE” Lawson (Ecommerce Expert) Elen Pack (ELance), Kirk Averett (Rackspace), Jim Fowler (Jigzaw), Pamela O’Hara (BatchBlue Software) as well as Ramon Ray and many others.

Watch out here for some updates (if we get a break between all the great content and networking) or check the Twitter stream under #smallbizsummit.

If you are in attendance, please look for me and say hello.  I will be the person wearing two hats!  Well at least figuratively (our nights and weekend entrepreneurs know what I am talking about there!).

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Show Shoppers Your Online Business Can Be Trusted: KikScore Your Trust Solution

PROBLEM: Online Small Businesses lose billions in dollars a year in sales because shoppers do not know if they can trust those small businesses.

SOLUTION: Trust Seals – But which one?

It is established that small businesses, especially ones just starting out, can have a difficult time conveying to the public that they are trustworthy and reliable.  As a result, small businesses often lose significant sales because of this concern that the public has.  One of the primary ways that small businesses address these concerns is putting a “trust seal” on their website.  The trust seal is supposed to denote that a third party validation has occurred in some way and that third party therefore “vouches” for that small business so shoppers can then trust that business.  There are many trust seals out in the market that do different things and some of the providers of those seals include Verisign, TRUSTe, BuySafe, Trust Guard and the Better Business Bureau.

So we at KikScore often get the question: Why should a small business use KikScore and how is KikScore different than the other trust seals?

This post is not going to bash other seals, but there are critical differences between the KikScore seal and other seals that are on the market.  This post points out those differences and is meant to educate the community about why these differences are important.

1) Empowering Small Businesses To Show Their Track Record – A fundamental concern that shoppers have is can they trust a business?  Many businesses and business owner have an actual track record of reliability in paying their bills, having a strong financial history, reliably delivering products and services and historically being responsive to customers. Typically that has been built up over years of being responsible, reliable and trustworthy in the market.  So isn’t that track record work something? We say YES!  KikScore allows small businesses to take their own great track record and communicate it to the world and visitors to their website.  No one else allows a small business to take their business history and communicate that to the world so shoppers can get more comfortable with that business.

2) Promote Your Own Brand Not Another Company’s – A lot of other trust and verification seals do much more to promote their brand name on your website than actually assist in promoting a small business.  This is especially the case with some seals with lots of money behind their brand name that are widely recognized. Again these may be good trust seals that have a limited purpose, but they each miss out on a critical element to the trust equation.  They essentially are saying their brand name is more important to have on your website that your own brand name. At KikScore we do not believe that is the case. In fact, our seal is structured to take extensive amounts of information about the small business itself such as the management team’s names, their financial reliability, business policies, locations and website information and promote that information rather than our own brand name. We do this because we feel that information is more important to a website visitor or shopper in their determination of trustworthiness of a website.

3) KikScore is a Multi-Dimensional Trust Seal – Some trust seals try to do and message different things to the public. For example, some seals check for certain types of malware, some collect comments, some convey that an secure connection (SSL) is on the website, etc.  KikScore deliberately leaves those tasks to other folks because again in some instances those functions serve a purpose.  Those seals/services are, however, typically a one-dimensional service that only communicate that a small business website site gets a periodic and limited security scan.  You should note that based on our extensive information and first hand experience those scans can be helpful, but by no means are comprehensive and historically have not caught major pieces of malware that have resulted in some recent data breaches. KikScore’s seal actually incorporates all of these seals in our Certifications tab in our merchant report card, called a KikReport, in addition to providing the other wealth of information about a small business, its management and website history. Taken together this creates a multi-dimensional seal unlike others in the market.  This multi-dimensional seal allows small businesses to have one comprehensive seal that addresses the trust and reliability equation from a variety of angles.

4) Give Shoppers Dynamic and Continually Updated Information About Your Business – As small businesses know, their historical track record for reliability and trustworthiness always is being updated with new data and information as more transactions occur and a business grows.  Kikscore’s seal addresses this by being dynamic and continually updating a small business and their merchant report card (KikReport). The KikScore seal is set up to continually be updated and our own databases and data providers are scanned constantly for new information about a small business site.  So for example, when a small business website’s traffic increases meaning that business may be growing, that is reflected in the KikScore seal and the KikReport.  Also as a small business becomes more financially viable, that also gets reflected in the KikScore seal too and again helps demonstrate trustworthiness and reliability to shoppers. We do this, others do not.  Most other trust seals are static meaning they do not update information presented on a seal besides perhaps a change in the date of a scan that is performed – otherwise other trust seals just present static information.  That static information really does not do a lot to help address the issue of building trust for small businesses.

5) You Get a Unique Trust Score for Your Small Business –  Unlike anyone in the market, KikScore takes information, data and merchant provided information, analyzes that information and presents to the public a completely unique and dynamic trust and reliability score.  This trust and reliability score takes into account literally hundreds of data points and indications of trustworthiness in order to compute the trust score.  The trust score which in some ways is akin to a credit score except that the KikScore trust score is made available to the public so a small business can communicate to customers that they have a high trust score and therefore can be trusted.  Even better is that the trust score is based on data and information that is verified by KikScore through our systems and automated processes.

6) KikScore Helps Small Businesses Giving Wary Shoppers Transparency Into Your Business – KikScore attacks the heart of the trust issue for small businesses by giving small businesses a way to make themselves, their business and their management more transparent to shoppers.  We have seen that when shoppers are provided more information about an online business their level of comfort and likelihood of buying from that website increases.  Without this important transparency, sales are lost and shopping carts are abandoned.  Instead of empowering small businesses to provide this transparency, other trust seals merely provide a very small, isolated and static piece of information about a small business (a malware scan, etc). Those seals are just not comprehensive enough to fully address the trust issue.

7) Encourages Interaction with Your Customers – KikScore’s seal incorporates an interactive feedback platform within the seal.  This permits small businesses to interact in real time with their customers.  This also allows these small businesses to have other shoppers review the comments that are posted inside the KikScore seal about the shopping experience with that customer.  KikScore even incorporates these comments into the trust score for the small business.  One additional benefit of the interactive feedback platform is that it helps bring customers to the small business website to post comments instead of having those customers post comments on various unrelated sites around the internet like Yelp.  Now granted their are a few other seals that include comments sorting and response functionality, none of them have the comprehensive trust building solution that KikScore includes with the items listed in 1-6 before.

So I will leave everyone with the following:  We rarely and I mean rarely overtly talk about the KikScore product on our blog.  Instead, we use this blog to communicate with the community and provide valuable small business tips.  That being said, we thought that this would be a good time to take the opportunity to educate small businesses on the critical differences between KikScore and the many other seals that claim to address the trust concern that shoppers continually say are a barrier to buying more online.

We would love to know your thoughts on the differences we have identified.

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Google’s New Approach to Content: Maybe Our Blog Will Benefit

This just in from Business Insider — the best business site around — Google just announced a massive change to it’s search algorithm.  And the impact is not slight.  It apparently will impact over 11% of all search results.  The big change is going after Content Farms. 

Google is going to downgrade sites that simply copy or syndicate content from other sites (or mass content providers like Demand Media).  Instead, Google is going to promote content that is original.  Well, this may be a big windfall to this KikScore blog.  We may not have the most helpful content, but it’s original.  Yes, no one helped me write this post, except maybe Business Insider.

Just a quick explanation on why Google is doing this:  Mass Content Providers (like Demand Media) figure out what the most lucrative keywords are; they create content around those keywords; associate that content around related or logical domains; and then sell Google adverts on those pages.  Not anymore.  Google is now going to determine if sites are legitimate and the content original and not a business ploy to generate the site owner Google ad revenue.

Now to start to create some worthwhile and original blog posts for KikScore.  Any suggestions, Business Insider?

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Microsoft seems to have an uphill climb with the Windows 7 glitch

Ok, I think I did a post on the Window’s  7 phone a while back and apparently there is was a glitch. According to PC World,  there was a new software update that was buggy. The glitch caused a couple of Samsung headsets to be unusable from what I can gather. (Not quite sure what “bricked” means in slang terms…)

Anyway, Microsoft, like a good company, owned up to what it did and pulled the update.  However the glitch is glaringly public and has informed users of the OS that it involves more people than just Microsoft to update the phones. Some users who were affected by the glitch complained that the headset makers and their mobile carriers weren’t doing anything to help.  Many mobile carriers were apparently trying to avoid the issue by saying that it wasn’t their problem. For some mobile carriers, such as T-Mobile Uk, view the headset issue as the manufacturer’s problem and suggest that the user ship it to Samsung.

The number of users affected was limited because there was new firmware being phased in and not everyone got the approval for a new code at the same time.  The glitch comes at a somewhat sensitive time for Microsoft because currently Microsoft has only an approximate  2% of the  market. This seems reasonable, but compared with Google and Palm, it is a very low percentage of the market.

One bad glitch, alone, will not ruin Microsoft’s chance of success, but it might make the early adopters a little wary of getting the new OS. Also, very few consumers said they were considering buying the Windows Phone 7 handset, which makes it even more of a challenge for Microsoft to gain more market share. However on the bright side, Microsoft has made a deal with Nokia which may increase the OS’s visibility on the market.  However, if Microsoft has another bad glitch like this it may spell the end for Windows Phone 7.

What do you all think?

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Always feel like you are short on time? Maybe you should take a pay cut!

I was reading this post on the Wall Street Journal blog yesterday and it really made me think about how some people I know always seem to be stressed out.  After reading this blog and thinking about it a little bit, I really agreed that more often than not it seems like people that make more money in their day jobs seem more stressed out and are always saying they wish they had more time for their personal lives.  While there are likely multiple factors at play in these situations that are making these people feel like this, it seems like there are now a few different studies that are starting to link higher rates of pay to a perceived lack of time in their work and personal lives.

According to this post, there are now multiple studies that have compared a group of people that are paid very little for a day’s work and then another group of people that are paid a much higher hourly rate for the exact same work.  The results of these studies showed that the people that were paid a higher hourly wage felt much more time pressure than the group that was paid less.

I thought that these studies were interesting because they really seemed to show a tangible link between a person’s perception of their value relative to the amount they are paid to complete a task.  Sometimes people put this time pressure on themselves only because of their pay and not because the pressure to complete the task really exists.

Looking back on it now, have you ever felt like you put too much pressure on yourself to complete a task for your business when this pressure may have never really existed?

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7 Questions A Small Business or Startup Should Ask Themselves Every Day

I like to talk.  I like to talk alot, especially when I have had a few really good margaritas.  And my wife, my family and friends can all attest to that fact.  That is all except for where I may have had too much to drink and then I have an uncanny tendency to just fall asleep in mid-sentence sometimes even at a restaurant booth (reference multiple experiences in Columbus, Ohio eating a Barnyard Buster and in Washington DC eating a jumbo slice at Pizza Mart).

Anyway so what is my point?  Talking is not as good as everyone makes it seem for business.  Instead asking questions is much more important.  It really did not dawn on me, however, until I was reflecting back on conversations with mentors, business partners, and our own team that you really should be asking critical questions about your business almost on a daily basis.  Those questions can help uncover critical gaps in strategy, planning and execution for your startup or small business.  If you ask these questions, then you can increase your chances of addressing these gaps.

So here are a few questions that may help you with your business:

1. Distractions. Are you focusing your efforts on the right tasks for your business and avoiding distractions that take you away from meeting your overall goals?

We all know how bad distractions can be in business.  Distractions can be one of the biggest impediments to building momentum for your business. The trick here is to make sure your business and your team is focused on what will move the business forward by continually weeding out distractions.

2. Customer Satisfaction. Are you doing everything to make your customers’ lives easier in some way through either using your product/service or helping educate them?

If your customers are not happy, then it will be nearly impossible to grow your business.  So in everything you do you need to make sure the goal of the task is that you are helping your customers in some way.  If not, then you should seriously consider abandoning those tasks that do not relate to helping current or potential customers.

3. Customer Value. How can you give your customers more reasons to keep buying from your business and not your competition?

Your customers are likely being bombarded by your competitors with tempting offers and reasons to buy from them instead of you.  So you have to be relentless in making sure you give your customers reasons to remain loyal to you.  Without investing the time to create that customer loyalty, your business will always be at risk of churning valuable customers to your competitors.

4. Facilitating Word of Mouth Marketing. How can you get more customers to refer their friends and contacts to use your product/service?

Word of Mouth Marketing is free.  So all it costs you is the time and effort to give the customer a great experience, but also the means for that customer to spread the word about your business and the product/service that they love.  So always be thinking about how can you arm your customers with information about your business value that you can provide the market.  The best way to do that (and least selfish) is making sure the customer knows the value you have created for them.  They can then go and spread the word for you!

5. Building Trust. Are you doing everything possible to ensure that your customers have confidence in your business, product or service and believe that you are reliable.

Customers know small businesses and startups come and go.  There is a reason why buyers tend to prefer larger and more established brands.  So one way to distinguish yourself is to make sure that everything that you do for your customers and for the public is viewed through the lens that you are trustworthy, reliable and your business delivers on its promises.  That track record of delivering will help generate trust in your business.  Heck, after all that is what KikScore was based on – allowing small businesses to show the world their track record of reliability and trustworthiness!

6. Your Team. Do you have the right team to succeed and grow your business and if not, should you bring in a new employee or a freelancer?

Businesses and startups can be just like my beloved Cleveland Browns.  The Browns team has been terrible since 1999.  Bad teams means lots of losses.  So learn from the Browns and be like this year’s Packers (Collins will like this reference). The Packers built a great team, loaded it up with depth and even got people off the streets in some instances to fill in when key players were injured.  The New Orleans Saints did the same last year on their way to winning a Super Bowl.  As you evaluate your team, make sure you have depth, solid performers and cut the freeloaders as they are a drag on morale and overall team dynamics.  Once you eliminate the underperformers then decide if you need a new employee or perhaps a freelancers that can step in and augment your existing team.

7. Your Money. What are areas of your business that you can manage your costs better?

Always be reviewing where your money is going.  Even though it is sometimes easy to just say well those costs are ones that I can’t really control and I just have to suck it up and pay for them. NO!  Call up that vendor and see what discounts that they can give you.  Threaten to leave and go to their competitor. Also there may be particular functions at your small business or startup that you can get experts to help with instead of you having to spend extensive time on your own.  Time is money so the value of your time may very well be better spent on your core business of serving your customers then performing back office functions or doing things like managing a marketing campaign.

These are just some of the questions that each small business or startup should be asking themselves.  But just like too much talking, too many questions can send you down a spiral of too much analysis and confusion.  Keep your daily self-analysis of your business to certain key questions that are fundamental to your business and watch and see if your perspective and approach changes.

What questions would you ask?

Photo from Flickr user Marco Bellucci, CC 2.0.

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