NEW RESOURCES

Do you miss Vine already? Now there’s an archive. “Vine won’t be going away after all. The six-second video service that gave the world ‘on fleek’ and an enthusiastic community of homegrown celebrities will live on in the Vine Archive, a time capsule dedicated to the site’s all-too-brief four year lifespan.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Email service Lavabit is relaunching. “In 2013, Ladar Levison, founder of the encrypted email service Lavabit, took the defiant step of shutting down the company’s service rather than comply with a federal law enforcement request that could compromise its customers’ communications. The FBI had sought access to the email account of one of Lavabit’s most prominent users — Edward Snowden. Levison had custody of his service’s SSL encryption key that could help the government obtain Snowden’s password. And though the feds insisted they were only after Snowden’s account, the key would have helped them obtain the credentials for other users as well.”

The Trump Administration has joined Snapchat. “The Trump campaign wasn’t completely naive to Snapchat. For example, they purchased a nationwide custom Snapchat filter for the first presidential debate. These videos also were included in the story curated by Snapchat for Inauguration Day. Trump’s account is categorized as an official story, meaning that the account is verified by Snapchat. It also means he receives a special emoji next to his name.”

TechCrunch: Google wants to make YouTube a better place for advertisers. “Despite its massive success with viewers, Google always had a hard time convincing advertisers that its video platform was the best place for them to reach their target audiences. Now, Google promises to give advertisers and agencies better tools to measure their reach and target specific audiences — all with a focus on mobile.”

USEFUL STUFF

Hongkiat: 12 Chrome Extensions to Get The Best Out of Google Drive . “To enhance its usability and help you get more out of Google Drive there is a large number of different extensions available. In this post, we are showcasings useful Chrome extensions that may help you boost your productivity while working with Google Drive.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

How messy was the governor race in North Carolina? It was so messy that the incoming governor didn’t get access to social media accounts from the old governor. “When former Gov. Pat McCrory turned over the keys to North Carolina’s Executive Mansion to Gov. Roy Cooper on Jan. 1, his staff didn’t include the keys to the social media accounts used by the Governor’s Office. The Republican’s picture still adorns what were his office’s official Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, and the last post on those platforms dates to a Dec. 31 goodbye message from McCrory.”

Facebook: Ooopsie! Sorry about banning you, tattoo artist for breast cancer survivors! “Facebook says it was mistaken in disabling the accounts of a woman who aids breast cancer survivors in the St. Louis area by creating tattoos of the nipple and areola after reconstructive surgery.”

Los Angeles Times: Mark Zuckerberg is acting like he might run for president. “As the United States changes presidents, Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg is doing something. This week, he did something in Texas: He went to his first rodeo. He wore a hard hat and a safety vest. He thanked police officers in Dallas for their hard work. He helped plant a community garden. So what, exactly, is Mark Zuckerberg doing? Well, even without a peep from the man confirming any interest in the job, some have started to believe that Zuckerberg is running for president.”

SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES

BetaNews: Hacking group uses Google services to control malware. “Carbanak, a powerful cyber-crime group, is using certain Google services as command and control for its malware and other malicious elements. The news was released by cybersecurity firm Forcepoint this week. Forcepoint uncovered a trojanized RTF document, which, once ran, will ‘send and receive commands to and from Google Apps Script, Google Sheets, and Google Forms services.'”

Phys.org: Traders use algorithms that capture Trump’s remarks and then buy or sell affected stocks. “The jaw-dropping speed at which certain stocks have moved in response to Donald Trump’s tweets about corporate America makes it seem as if Wall Street already was waiting for the president-elect’s words. It was. Some sophisticated traders with automated programs are using computer algorithms that instantly capture Trump’s Twitter remarks and then immediately buy or sell the affected stocks, analysts said.”

From the Times of India: Can’t restrain law portal, Google from posting court orders online: Gujarat high court. “Justice RM Chhaya on Thursday turned down a petition filed by one Dharmraj Dave, who had urged the court to direct a law portal and tech-giant Google to delete an HC judgement from internet because such a public exhibition of the order might jeopardize his chances of migrating to Australia.”

RESEARCH AND OPINION

Search Engine Land: Study shows search terms with the very worst (and best) click-through rates. “Not all searches are created equal — when it comes to click-through rate (CTR), that is. A new study from Seige Media uncovers the top 42 keyword terms, along with their average CTRs. This exercise examined the top 50 keyword ‘stems’ to find what terms helped spur clicks and, more importantly, what terms didn’t.” From a searcher’s perspective, this is “what terms might engender the practice of keyword stuffing, and what terms might not.” Good morning, Internet…

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