South African’s most popular search terms for 2008
Google have released their Zeitgeist for 2008.
2008 has been a year of change in South Africa, and people have been using Google to keep abreast of the most interesting news and trends as well as their favourite websites. Some of the most popular searches included Load Shedding and of course the FIFA 2010 World Cup. This year’s Zeitgeist also reflects important South African concerns like Xenophobia, along with rising interest in new developments like the Gautrain. South Africans were keen to stay up to date on politics, with high volumes of searches around Thabo Mbeki’s resignation, and around international events like the elections in the USA and Zimbabwe. Take a look below to get sense of the Zeitgeist, or spirit of the times, in South Africa for 2008.
Fastest Rising
1. gumtree
2. facebook
3. lotto
4. eskom
5. youtube
6. beeld
7. news 24
8. yahoo mail
9. chuck norris
10. beijing olympics
Classifieds seem to be really popular subject and social networking comes in second place. Interestingly Beeld is the only publication that makes it into this list, With Cape Times making it onto the popular list below. Though what the hell is Chuck Norris doing at 9, that meme is like 3 years old, why are we still searching in South Africa?
Chuck Norris Fact: If you spell Chuck Norris wrong on Google it doesn’t say, “Did you mean Chuck Norris?” It simply replies, “Run while you still have the chance.”
Most Popular
1. facebook
2. cape times
3. games
4. map
5. yahoo
6. news
7. jobs
8. google
9. gmail
10. pictures
Entertainment (Pics/Games) & social networking (Facebook) has the fewest entries in this list. Terms related to news and information have more entries. Compare that to the US which has more search terms related to entertainment and social networking such as Youtube, Myspace etc.
Top Politicians
1. jacob zuma
2. thabo mbeki
3. trevor manuel
4. julius malema
5. kgalema motlanthe
6. helen zille
7. fikile mbalula
8. terror lekota
9. mbhazima shilowa
10. mongosuthu buthelezi
Jacob Zuma defeats Mbeki in search volumes as well, but just barely.
Top Newsworthy
1. load shedding
2. fifa 2010 world cup
3. beijing olympics
4. barack obama
5. global warming
6. euro 2008
7. xenophobia
8. adt (home and office security service)
9. zimbabwe election
10. cope (congress of the people
political party)
Interest in COPE, the breakaway political party has been exceeding the ANC. A prediction for the coming elections in 2009?
Top Sports Teams
1. the sharks
2. kaizer chiefs
3. the lions
4. mamelodi sundowns
5. bafana bafana
6. orlando pirates
7. stormers
8. the springboks
9. cheetahs
10. proteas
The Sharks rock,enough said!
Top Local Celebs
1. dj sbu
2. dj fresh
3. dj cleo
4. kelly khumalo
5. danny k
6. ryk neethling
7. khanyi mbau
8. connie ferguson
9. gareth cliff
10. loyiso bala
Clearly, people involved with Music (DJ’s / Artists) are more popular, with DJ’s topping the lists and artists dominating. The only sportsman on the list is Ryk at 6.
Blueworld redesigns with usability improvements
Blueworld, the South African based Social Network has updated their design with usability improvements. Including the front end changes, caching has been implemented for high traffic areas. All media will also be served via a Content delivery Network (CDN).
5 tips for better networking
Everyone knows that it is not so much what you know as who you know that gets you ahead – especially in business.
The downside is that there are a number of freeloaders out there waiting to hitch a ride on your coattails.
Follow these five tips to ensure you get the most out of the time you spend networking.
1. Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine.
Networking is most effective when it brings together individuals who, through trust and relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another.
2. Visit as many groups as possible that spark your interest.
Notice the tone and attitude of the group.
Do the people sound supportive of one another?
Does the leadership appear competent?
Be sure of your goals and pick groups that will help you get what you are looking for.
3. Become known as a powerful resource for others.
When you are known as a strong resource, people remember to turn to you for suggestions and ideas.
This ensures you remain visible to them.
4. Be clear on what you do and why, for whom, and what makes it unique.
In order to get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do so that you can easily articulate to others.
5. Follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given.
When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them.
Respect that and your referrals will grow.
Information based on tips by success coach, Stephanie Speisman, as published in her booklet 99 Tips for successful business networking.
This article has been syndicated from Succeed Magazine, Find business opportunities
South African blogging survey results released
24.com ran a blogging survey between October 24 and November 7,nearly 20% of the 5000 active bloggers in South Africa participated in one of the largest survey’s of the blogosphere. According to Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx - South Africa’s leading independent technology research and strategy organisation - as of January 2008, there were about 4000 active South African blogs that received more than 10.5 million page views and over 1.8 million unique users each month,
“South Africa’s blogosphere is thriving, fuelling micro-publishing communities of like-minded individuals. This is publishing democracy in action,” says Matthew Buckland, General Manager of online publishing and social media at 24.com.
Virtual community, real world connections
“Far from being techies living in a techie world, bloggers are people who dabble in a virtual world, but very much value real world interactions,” observes Buckland. While the blogosphere involves active engagement within a virtual community, interestingly, about half of all bloggers have met other bloggers in-person offline through blogging.
Growing trend: MOBs
According to the 24.com survey, almost three-quarters of the respondents (73.4 percent) have attended a meeting of bloggers, or MOB. Among those who have attended a MOB: - 25.9 percent have attended once; - 39.9 percent have participated in more than one but less than five; and - 34.2 percent have taken part in more than five MOBs.
Urban, white and mature
According to the survey, there is an even split of men and women blogging, with 58 percent between the ages of 25 and 44 and 95 percent with either English or Afrikaans as their first language. Cape Town and Johannesburg/Pretoria are seemingly the epicentres for blogging in South Africa, accounting for more than 75 percent South Africa’s active bloggers.
Internet veterans
Although many bloggers are newbies - with over 20 percent having blogged for less than one year - South Africa’s blogosphere currently includes some sophisticated Internet users with:
- More than two-thirds having been on the Internet for at least a decade;
- One fifth having blogged for three or more years; and
- Over 40 percent having written at least one blog prior to their current one.
Wealthy, with kids
Among the respondents, 42.5 percent earn more than R20 000 monthly with more than 15 percent earning more than R50 000 per month. Interestingly, 58 percent of South Africa’s bloggers are married or live together and 46 percent of them have children.
Blog for fun, not money
Blogging, for the most part, is not currently about making money. According to the survey respondents, 60.7 percent blog to express themselves or have fun, while only 7.9 percent have a commercial motivation. More than 88 percent of the respondents admit to making no money from their blogs. Of those who earn money from blogging, around 85 percent of them earn R1 - 1000 and 15 percent earn between R1000 and R3000 each month. As far as other perks go, more than 24 percent have received free products, event invitations and/or free services as a result of their blog.
Investing time and passion, not money
It seems that blogging is an online hobby for most bloggers; a highly individualistic outlet and a significant time investment to thoughtfully and passionately express themselves. In fact, more than half of bloggers make one to five posts weekly. Although nearly 50 percent of bloggers contribute to just one blog, over 15 percent of bloggers claim to contribute to four or more blogs.
As far as investing financially in their blogs, over the past 12 months, 83 percent of South Africa’s active bloggers spent R1 - 2000 and just 16 percent spent R2001 - 10000. In terms of the time commitment involved in blogging,
- 65 percent spend between one to 10 hours each week on their blog,
- 52 percent blog throughout the day and
- 52 percent of those spending ten or more hours a week have children.
Traffic not important to most
Personal popularity and audience traffic do not seem to be huge drivers for bloggers. Although one fifth of bloggers claim to receive more than 30 comments on their blog each week about 47 percent receive five or fewer comments on their blog each week. (A comparable number of comments are made by individual bloggers on other blogs during the week.) Only about 5 percent of bloggers in South Africa claim to have a monthly audience of more than 10 000. In terms of actively driving traffic to their blogs, 36 percent of bloggers admitted to not doing so. Among those who do, the most popular blog promoting tools, outside of word-of-mouth, are local services, Amatomu (30 percent) and Afrigator (24 percent).
Personal style, satisfaction
While most do not make much money blogging, the majority of South Africa’s bloggers feel that blogging has had a positive impact on their lives, with 37.9 percent indicating that they derive personal fulfilment from blogging and more than one fifth see their blog as a space to express themselves. In terms of categorising their blog:
o 68 percent of the active bloggers in South Africa see their blogs as “personal”;
o 26 classify their blog as “professional” (about their industry and profession); and
o Only six percent participate in a corporate blog on behalf of their company or organisation.
Interestingly, almost one quarter of respondents (23 percent) blog in more than one of the above categories. In terms of style, bloggers’ personalities are uniquely reflected in their respective blogs, ranging from contemplative and quirky, to inspiring, informative and newsy.
“Whatever you want to call them - outlets for modern-day diarists, writers, hobbyists, parents, industry experts, critics, activists, philosophers and observers of society and trends - blogs are self-empowering and an opportunity for individuals to contribute to the national zeitgeist,” adds Buckland.
Blog platforms and inspiration
Almost 40 percent of the respondents to the survey use the 24.com blog platform for their blogs, followed by WordPress.org / WordPress.com (29 percent) and Blogger.com (20 percent). In terms of finding material for their blogs, while the bulk of their inspiration comes from personal experiences (48%), bloggers have multiple sources including:
- Local and international media sites, and media releases (24 percent);
- Local and international blogs (14 percent);
- Suggestions from friends and readers (10.5 percent); and
- Events attended (10 percent).
Anonymity and new connections
“It would seem that paradoxically, meeting people offline is a driver for congregating virtually in the blogosphere.” Among those who have met other bloggers in-person offline as a result of blogging, the types of interactions they have enjoyed include:
- A new friendship (35.6 percent)
- Shared interest groups (24.9 percent)
- Business / professional (24.3 percent)
- Charitable / community work (11.1 percent)
Interestingly, more than 55 percent of active bloggers identify themselves online. Among those who do not, the main reasons given for remaining anonymous are privacy (48 percent), wanting a separate online persona (27 percent) and personal safety (19 percent). Interestingly, 40 percent of the bloggers who do not use their real identity online claim to have met someone as a result of blogging.
The future of SA blogging
Although a relatively small portion of South Africa’s total online audience, members of the country’s blogosphere contribute toward a connected community of like-minded individuals. While the audience for blogs is currently small, the level of sophistication of bloggers in the country is rapidly increasing. For example, almost 40 percent have embedded videos (either their own or from a video service) on their blog(s) and over the past year more than 15 percent of bloggers in South Africa have made a blog post from their mobile phone.
“Blogging is set to become more of a mainstream phenomenon in the future, especially as better revenue models emerge for bloggers and as more affordable broadband access becomes available. With larger audiences, bigger communities and increasingly diverse participants, I would expect South Africa’s bloggers to also make more friends, influence the opinions of others and mobilise other citizens to act, speak and participate, both on and offline,” concludes Buckland.
Via News 24
*UPDATE: IMOD has a post questioning the accuracy of this survey
** UPDATE 2: A slide on the original presentation indicated that no bloggers earned above 3000, This figure is actually 2.9% and the slide has since been updated. Updated Slide
Zoopy shines and redesigns
Zoopy, the South African social media sharing website have just completed a complete redesign. The first change you will notice is the new logo, the cartoon character is gone from the new logo as well as the new site. While the previous logo was more playful, this one is more reserved and ‘grown up’?
The Signup page has been completely redesigned and seems to have been seriously looked at from a user experience perspective. The signup process is clearly defined in 3 easy steps.
The profiles have also been totally redesigned, everything seems a whole lot easier to navigate from the previous website. Zoopy has also added multiple uploading features.
A new section called topics, will aggregate content from users as well as Zoopy around predefined topics, such as the first topic on the 2009 South African Elections. in Addition they have also separated content produced by Zoopy under Zoopy TV and a central place to find customized and brand profiles(pages).
The home page has also been redesigned, and the new design seems to be working. You can read all about the changes at the zoopy blog.
Afrigator updates search function
Afrigator, Have updated their search functionality on the website, after the recent announcement of Adgator. The new search function is based on Sphinx search and cuts the query time from 4 seconds to 0.01 seconds.
In addition to the new search functionality when you vist the Afrigator homepage your last 2 search results will be displayed. The search results are also customized according to which country you are based. So accessing the results from South Africa would rank blog posts from South Africa higher.
I ran a test search for “StartupAfrica“, strangely this blog was not the first result, a blog post from this site came up 5th. There also seems to be a new change that was not mentioned in the blog post at Afrigator. When following a link from Afrigator, your blog is brought up in an Iframe, with an Afrigator bar at the top.
This could possibly mess with blog designs as well as confuse users, i am not really sold on this feature. From a user experience perspective does it actually add any value to the user? It’s a search button, a back button and some ranking information. You are able to remove the frame, for that particular session, but the next link you click and it’s back again.
What are your thoughts, does the frame add to the overall experience or just makes things worse?
Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008, Africa Forums
Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008, have launched forums to continue the conversation after the week. There is a dedicated section for African Entrepreneurs.
We wrote about the event several months ago, in June to be Exact. However the South African page for the event has not changed since i registered back then. A total of 7 Activities are listed on the events page for South Africa, personally i feel the the effort by the hosts Endeavour were disappointing. About the only press Global Entrepreneurship week had in South Africa was inclusion in a Blue Catalyst Email.
Compare that to the 5th most active country by Activities, Mexico with 157 Activities listed for the week and Only 63 partner organizations. That’s +- 2.5 Activities organized by each partner organization, while South Africa had 50 partners listed an 7 Activities, for a total of +-0.14 Activities by each partner organization. We can safely say that GEW 2008, was a non event here in South Africa.
The question i ask, why were the many government initiatives as well as private initiatives to promote entrepreneurship not part of the week? Why weren’t all the major universities hosting entrepreneurship workshops? Why haven’t we seen it in the press? A massive failure if you ask me. In Nigeria, they held the Youth Entrepreneurship Awards, was anything like that planned for South Africa?
Let’s hope next year GEW is more successful here in South Africa, and we actually see it achieve the goal of promoting entrepreneurship amongst youth.
Until then, have a look at the Unleashing Idea’s Forum for Africa.
Mobile Industry News, Reading list
Some Mobile Industry news from Africa.
Telkom sells stake in Vodacom and will launch it’s own Mobile network?
“Telkom plans to become SA’s fifth cellular provider by the middle of next year, and is preparing to enter into talks with an existing mobile operator to roam on its network.
Speaking after presenting the company’s interim results for the six months to 30 September yesterday, CEO Reuben September told ITWeb the company would employ a strategy of “selective build” to add mobile capability to its existing infrastructure.”
Strangely ITweb is reporting “5th Mobile operator”, right now there are only 3. Virgin Mobile is an Virtual operator and has no license and Technically Neotel is using mobile technology (CDMA) however the license is actually for fixed services. So why 5th? get the Read more
MTN launches Location based service for security
“There is no question that everyone needs to know that their family and friends are safe because nowadays safety has become a basic need. In an effort to satisfy this need, the telecommunications group MTN has launched MTN WhereRU and MTN 2MyAid services to help consumers locate their loved ones and enable them to call for help in an emergency situation.”
Kenya makes second attempt at mobile number portability (MNP)
“Kenya’s long delayed plans for mobile number portability (MNP) seem to be back on track again after the regulator confirmed that the service would be launched next year. The plans, originally announced in 2004 were put on hold last year after the regulator cited the high costs of implementing the system.
According to a public notice carried in the local press today, Service Provider Number Portability (SPNP) will be implemented in Kenya between March and September 2009.”
Well, it seems with MNP delays are common, MNP was originally announced in 2001 here in South Africa, but was only launched in 2005. A national MNP roll out is complex, the main issues being getting the mobile operators to agree to specifications. You often find incumbent operators try to influence the system and rules in their favour. I suppose it’s the fear that new entrants will capture market share. Read More
Are African operators ready for a surge in mobile broadband?
“A strategic business model can save African operators millions of Euros in network costs and is a powerful tool for operators to cash in on the popularity and growth of mobile broadband. A clear technical and commercial model is critical for making fully informed business decisions and ensuring broadband success, say the consultants at Omnitele.”
I previously wrote about mobile broadband and the changing value chain for mobile operators, i still think that in Africa mobile broadband has huge opportunity for growth. Read more
Cell C, To install SMS Anti-Spam platform
“South African mobile operator, Cell C has ordered an anti-spam service for its SMS platform from Airwide Solutions, along with a capacity boosting router. Cell C, South Africa’s smallest mobile phone operator, is making the investment to be better prepared for the festive season peaks in SMS traffic as well as to address the rising global prevalence of mobile spam.”
SMS spam is an issue that has been looked at many times by the GSMA as well as the GSM Africa Fraud Forum. This is a difficult one to nail down, since there are valid uses for mass SMS sending, such as campaigns competitions etc. Most WASPS (Wireless application service providers) allow their customers to send bulk messages, and customers can upload a spreadsheet of numbers or use the API’s. Read more.
South African E-commerce award winners for 2008 announced
The 2008 South African Ecommerce awards, held yearly by Jump Shopping have just been announced. Having been part of the panel of judges that reviewed the sites, i can say that some of the areas that are lacking amongst South African e-commerce websites are User Experience and Design. Recommendation engines also seem to be seriously lacking. Having said that there were many great sites as well who won in their respective categories.
This year’s awards carried the same format as the previous years’ by first giving the public the opportunity to nominate their favourite South African Online stores in 20 different categories. Once a list of nominees had been published the public and a panel of Judges were given the opportunity to cast their votes. The awards had over 10,000 votes cast for 2008.
The votes were split 49% from the public and 51% from the judges. This year’s judges were Albert Bredenhann, Andy Hadfield, Arthur Goldstuck, Charl Norman, Damaria Senne, Ferdie Bester, Henk Kleynhans, Ismail Dhorat and Marlon Parker.
Congratulations to the 2008 winners.
Best Auction Website
Bid or Buy (http://www.bidorbuy.co.za)
Best Automotive Website
Autostyle Motorsport (http://www.autostyle.co.za)
Best Online Bookstore
Kalahari.net (http://www.kalahari.net)
Best Clothing and Accessories store
Edgars (http://www.edgars.co.za)
Best Computer Store
eDreams (http://www.edreams.co.za)
Best Electronics Store
Nivo (http://www.nivo.co.za)
Best Flower and Gift Store
NetFlorist (http://www.netflorist.co.za)
Best Food and Wine Store
Woolworths (http://www.woolworths.co.za)
Best Game Store
Kalahari.net (http://www.kalahari.net)
Best Health and Beauty Store
Faithful to Nature (http://www.faithful-to-nature.co.za)
Best Home and Garden Store
eDreams (http://www.edreams.co.za)
Best Jewelry and Watches Store
Wantitall (http://www.wantitall.co.za)
Best Kids and Baby Store
eDreams (http://www.edreams.co.za)
Best Music and Movie Store
Look & Listen (http://www.lookandlisten.co.za)
Best Photographic Store
SA Camera (http://www.sacamera.co.za)
Best Property Website
Property24 (http://www.property24.co.za)
Best Sports and Outdoor Store
SA Rugby (http://www.sarugby.com)
Best E-Commerce Enabler
MWEB Business (http://www.mwebbusiness.co.za)
Best Travel Booking Website
Flight Center (http://www.flightcenter.co.za)
Best E-Commerce Website
Look & Listen (http://www.lookandlisten.co.za)
Look and Listen recently launched their new striking website which got them this year’s Best E-Commerce Website award while eDreams won the most awards this year by winning the Best Computer Store, Best Home and Garden Store and Best Kids and Baby Store categories.
Afrigator Launches Adgator, A blog AD network for Africa
Afrigator, the African blog aggregator that was recently acquired by MIH has launched an Ad network for African blogs. I received an invite this morning, the mail say’s i could earn +- R 267 on one of my blogs.
How does it work?
Right now, you have to register and complete an application which needs to be approved. Once it has been approved, you are given a tracking code which needs to be inserted into your blog and Adgator handles the rest. Adgator works on Cost per Impression/Thousand (CPM) rather then Cost per a Click (CPC), you get payed every time an ad is displayed regardless if it is clicked or not. CPM advertising becomes useful when it comes to branding campaigns rather then lead or sales generation.
AdGator promises a revenue split of 50/50 with bloggers that sign up for the ad network. Using some napkin mathematics, the average earning per impression seems to be 10c (ZAR) / +1c (USD) .
You can also choose to display Ad’s in the following ad units:
- 468×60
- 120×600
- 120×120
- and a Page peeler
Right now the service is only available in South Africa, but there are plans to roll out in Nigeria and Kenya,
How relevant are the ads?
From the email or the website, it’s not clear how the ad’s are targeted. Is it based on the content of the site? Or the content of the post? Keywords in the post? Or is it based on your selection of the category of the blog?
I have not tested out the service so how relevant the ads remains to be seen. However right now it seems to be based on how you classify you blog according to a set list of categories. The issue with this is, i could not classify this blog under any of the categories. The closest fit i could find for StartupAfrica were Telecommunications or Computer: Electronic, none of which actually describe this blog.
Will it work?
Considering the number of blogs registered with Afrigator and the clout of MIH/News24 behind them i am sure this service will be a success. News24 and MIH already have sales team in place that sell advertising space on their internet properties such as news24, this would be an additional channel.
Justin Hartman also writes that the consolidated Afrigator blog network is as powerful as the number 1 South African site:
The top 100 blogs in South Africa (as measured by Afrigator) account for more than 1.7 million unique users and serves over 5.6 million page views each month.
This makes the network as powerful in terms of audience reach to South Africa’s #1 local website, News24, which also serves around 1.7 million uniques each month ~ (Nielsen Netratings - Q2 June 2008).
Though, in the longer term, when you consider that proponents of social media saying the advantage of traditional advertising is shrinking and companies should be looking at viral marketing, social recommendations and conversations with customers. Will we see a decline in brand based advertising? Or will there always be a need? Put in another way, with the shrinking advantage of brands will companies actually see a return on brand based advertising?
