Nakibook Blog

Rethinking advertising

2010-03-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

At Nakibook, our mission is to serve three parties. These are that of our users, advertisers and also our shareholders and employees. In order to do this, we must make sure that there is a balance that pleases all three groups.

Advertisers want to reach users, users want to see relevant and useful ads that aren't intrusive and Nakibook itself wants both advertisers and users to be happy with the end result so that they will continue to use our products and services.

We have always thought about how advertising should be part of our overall system. That's why we're now introducing huge changes in our NakiAds (Nakibook Advertising) program that will see internet advertising become a useful tool for so many businesses within and outside Taranaki.

"NakiAds 2.0" as we are calling it internally, will help small businesses work with us to build a brand and campaign structured around easy CPM pricing models and also a customizable business profile with our Nakibook Local Business Centre.

Essentially, businesses sign up for our Local Business Centre, create a profile and then sign up for NakiAds. Once a business is registered with NakiAds, they can create their first campaign. They can either create a "General Promotion" campaign, which allows Nakibook to simply take information from their LBC profile and publicize it, or they can create a "Custom Campaign" which allows them to describe a completely separate promotion about their business - for example, for a particular event they may be holding.

The advertiser specifies a target number of page views for their campaign or business' profile page over any specific or unlimited time period. Once that target has been reached or the advertiser chooses to pull the campaign, the advertiser pays the amount specified at the beginning of the campaign set-up process.

The difference between this and other internet advertising alternatives is that as a business owner, you don't have to worry about setting up keywords, what mediums to use or any other way of advertising. Nakibook takes care of all the details. You just tell us what you want to advertise, and we'll take care of the rest.

Nakibook Advertising is a combination of different mediums. Our primary medium is search. However, we do use other forms of promotion for your campaigns - such as third party partnerships with other websites.

We hope that you'll check out our new advertising offerings and will consider using them to their fullest extent. Sign-up is easy and only takes a couple of minutes.

Thanks,

The Nakibook Team.

Homepage up and running...well, most of it

2010-03-10T00:32:00.000-08:00

We've launched our new homepage, but without all the bells and whistles that will one day grace it. There are currently no other features up and running, but the basic quicksearch feature is going.

We haven't indexed a tenth of the items that we anticipate to before the full launch later this year.

At the moment, our capabilities are limited to just basic web search and some product search qualities. However, these are early days yet, and we invite you to check back regularly to see what progress we will be making.

We intend to roll out new products one at a time.

Thanks,

Alistair and the Nakibook team.

The new generation of local search - What we're doing now at NakibookWe W

2010-03-01T00:12:00.001-08:00

We understand that our products have been inactive for some time now, and we're not surprised users are wondering what is taking so long about releasing the new design of Nakibook. The answer is not a simple one.

What we're working on at the moment is making your simpler search tasks online easier.

Take for example, shopping. Say you want a digital camera. Most people would first go to Google, and type in "Digital Camera" and maybe a few other search terms. Google will probably deliver you something like 96,000,000 results. Now, that's wonderful, if you're prepared to sift through millions of results.

The fact is, saying "we found you this many millions of results" just isn't all that helpful in this day and age. Nakibook saw this, and decided that it needed to change.

Web search is not our primary focus. There are already companies that do this particularly well. Google is just one. There are a number of other innovators out there (Bing, Cuil and others) who are dreaming up the next big thing in searching the internet.

What Nakibook intends to do is drill down into a more local format. We want to help you find the most affordable fare on a plane ticket, the best hotel, the best vet, the best restaurant, the best new laptop for your office. Our mission is to look at the real things people search for on the internet, and find out how to do it better.

Shopping is just one way of doing this. It's no good to give you a million links to a bunch of shopping sites that sell cameras if you want a digital camera, we're going to provide you with a list of cameras, and then tell you who can give you the best offer.

Likewise with an airfare.

Nakibook intends to cut through the clutter, and look at what people are really searching for on the internet.

This is our mission.

NakiAds explained - Nakibook's new approach to advertising

2010-02-27T01:38:00.000-08:00

At Nakibook, we're always looking to innovate in every area in which we offer our users services. Furthermore, advertising and the way we generate revenue is no exception.

NakiAds is just one of Nakibook's many programs that allow businesses to easily connect with their customers in innovative and exciting ways - right at the point of sale, and at the point where customers are actually looking for their products.

With NakiAds, advertisers and businesses can place ads in Nakibook search results. By selecting keywords, the advertiser's small text ad can be seen at the top of the search results highlighted in a beige tint. The advertiser can tweak their array of preferences in order to receive the best results from the advertisement.

Advertisers can place as many ads as they please, and can set a daily budget for how much they want to spend.

NakiAds works because advertisers only pay for a click on their ad, meaning that advertisers aren't paying for ads that aren't attracting clicks. In addition to this, NakiAds is a particularly strong option because it targets users at the moment where they are looking for an advertiser's product.

However, NakiAds is just one of the efforts in which Nakibook is looking to make advertising a more productive, effective and exciting platform for promotion. Nakibook Merchant is a new product that aims to link up Nakibook Shopping (Product Search) with our other advertising efforts.

In Merchant, retailers can pay an annual fee, and place a link to their website alongside as many products on the Nakibook Shopping site as they wish within a specific category. In contrast to NakiAds, advertisers don't pay on a cost-per-click (CPC) model, but instead just pay a flat fee.

If a retailer offers a product through an online store, they can place what Nakibook calls a 'Buy Now' button. This is a feature in Nakibook merchant where a user can be taken to the direct page on a retailers website where they sell that product. Retailers pay in a CPC model for this feature, and the costs are slightly higher. This is because the user has indicated that they intend to purchase the product.

These are just some of the ways that Nakibook is looking to increase the validity and usefulness of advertising online. For more information on advertising within Nakibook and on Nakibook products and services, simply see our advertising page.

Sorry guys, back to the drawing board

2010-02-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

After a short trial period, we've decided to go back to the design phase of Nakibook, taking with us what we have learnt from our users' comments, ideas and suggestions.

The new Nakibook, users said, wasn't relevant, and didn't serve users' interests in the way that Nakibook has been known for in the past. Worst of all, longtime users complained that Nakibook had lost its focus. (See users' feelings here, on Twitter alone)

With that taken into account, and a greater sense of our users' feelings, we've gone back to the old phase.

So, it's sorry from us. We just want to release something that feels right.

Now faster, smoother and more useful than ever - introducing Nakibook Crypt

2010-02-15T00:39:00.000-08:00

Today with the launch of the new look Nakibook, we are unveiling what's under the hood of the new Nakibook as well. In addition to the new look, we've upgraded the engine that powers the answers to all your queries.

We call our new architecture framework "Crypt". Crypt builds on what we have learnt in the past with search technology, and is set to revolutionize the way you search for products.

It will allow us to offer a search product that will be better inclusive of all the Nakibook products and services you know and use every day. Now, when we release the revamped Nakibook homepage, you'll be able to search businesses, products, services, hotels, places, restaurants all throughout Taranaki and the surrounding region.

Nakibook is no longer about just the internet, but in providing a search experience that is more relevant to the grassroots users who take advantage of our products everyday.

We hope that you enjoy the new agility and speed of Nakibook, powered by Crypt.

Print doesn't have to die - how the internet can help out "old media"

2010-02-12T03:12:00.001-08:00

By Alistair Murray

Imagine the year is 2015. Each person carries 'round with them a small device. On this device, they have almost infinite access to all the world's information, video and content. At 6:00AM every morning, a trader in Bangkok has the latest news from the Wall Street Journal downloaded automatically for just thirty cents. The newspaper itself can be read on any of his devices, and is accessible from almost any computer, anywhere with just a username, a password and the click of a mouse.

Likewise with his music, photos, books and even movie library. They are all on what is known in tech as the "cloud". The basis of this idea is that none of the content you read, watch or listen to (nor any of your documents or files, emails or spreadsheets) are stored or are solely accessible on any one device. Because they are all stored on the internet, all of these devices (your iPod, your computer, your smartphone) are 'stateless'.

This is the basic concept of cloud computing.

There is an issue, however, with the current state of the media industry. Print media, the music industry and in many ways the film industry are all content producers that are being killed by the emergence of new technologies that allow readers, listeners and viewers to evade their means of making revenue.

What this means is that all of these businesses are in dire shape.

So, one must ask, what is the answer? The more basic of concepts is that there will be a "all-providing media-omnistore" where people will be able to purchase, for a very low cost, a newspaper article, song, movie, book or magazine with the touch of a finger. An iTunes of the future? Perhaps.

But, then the issue arises, will there become another way to evade this technology again. Sure, iTunes has been successful, but it has hardly been a catalyst for the music industry's long awaited u-turn towards vitality and growth. Will people simply create a bit-torrent for a newspaper article? Interesting concept, no doubt.

One must ask - how will such an old medium for news adapt to such a new way of delivering information? Well, one can only speculate.

It is hard to know what the fate of say, the newspaper industry will be. Personally, I believe that it would be of great sorrow to leave behind the deliverer of "all the news that's fit to print". After all, the newspaper is one of the world's oldest and most trusted institutions. Quality journalism is a responsibility and valued commodity that is expected to be upheld throughout history.

It is often forgotten that in the age of this new digital era, much of what we have once valued (ie. information) has been lost. If I can access every New York Times article for free online (by the way, I won't be able to next year), why would I bother feeling like a fool in paying for it?

If information really does become ubiquitous, as Nakibook aims to achieve, where is the value in information?

Quality journalism, is something which, I believe, will transcend all mediums. It does not matter how it is delivered, where it is delivered, or how often - quality is key. The internet can only make this process better. The internet isn't out to kill newspapers, it can be of huge help. That isn't to say that newspapers shouldn't be worried, however.

As newspaper publisher, Rupert Murdoch, once said, what has killed industries in the past has been complacency, not technology.

Mr. Murray is the Chairman and CEO of Nakibook.

Our efforts to become more social

2010-02-10T01:01:00.002-08:00

Nakibook has long been a destination for people to come and find information about the wider world. Now, we're focusing our efforts on making Nakibook's products appear to be more in touch with things that are a little closer to home. Nakibook's new shopping products, and e-commerce technologies are a brand new effort to make Nakibook more social for users.

For Nakibook users, when they log in, we want them to immediately see what their friends have been looking at, what they have recommended, recent reviews from people they know and trust and more.

As part of this new effort, Nakibook is building technologies to facilitate this new level of sharing. So, how do we intend to make Nakibook the most social shopping destination on the planet? Well, the first way is to include tools that show what friends have been up to. We will make it easy for users to reply, comment on and rate their friends recommendations.

Through partnerships with companies that serve this need 24/7 (such as Facebook), we intend to allow more sharing of information across the social graph. What this means for advertisers is more exposure, along with a greater demand and awareness of the products or services they offer.

We really hope that you enjoy the features that we intend to build into future Nakibook products. We are working hard to ensure that the Nakibook of the future, fulfills and exceeds the promise and power of the internet itself.

Thanks,

The Nakibook team.

A new age for shopping

2010-02-10T01:01:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago at Nakibook we decided that one of the oldest industries in the world, retail, needed a shakeup. We saw that the way businesses marketed themselves was clunky and unmeasurable. Furthermore, we saw that they way people found and interacted with these businesses was both time consuming and inefficient.

So, we said, we can fix this.

Finally, we came up with an idea that we think can change the way businesspeople market their businesses. Nakibook 2.0 (as it has been coined) will be full of great features that will allow businesses to market themselves on a product by product basis, as never before.

In the digital world that Nakibook envisions, a business will not be advertised as a whole, but on the individual products it offers. Retailers have never had this much control about how they are seen and who sees them.

Personally, I think that this new digital age can have wonderful effects for older industries. As Rupert Murdoch once said, the thing that has killed businesses in the past has been complacency, not technology. Therefore, it is only fit to say that these new technologies will not kill industries like media, but will empower them with a new age of digital democracy and freedom.

Nakibook will therefore seek to level out the playing field, as the internet has done with so many other areas, like music and entertainment, with retail. We intend to allow the smallest business to compete with a massive Fortune 500 company.

To do this, we need to develop a system where democracy rules, and where technology can be a friend to businesses. This is what Nakibook is looking to do.

Watch this space.

Alistair Murray
Chief Executive

We said we'd instill more focus, now that's a promise

2010-02-10T00:59:00.000-08:00

It had occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that we could no longer compete with large, well-resourced companies in the areas we had set out to conquer locally, because, if you look at the human mind - people have a predetermined mindset to avoid change.

This means that even if our search services were dramatically better than that offered by 'competitors', people would have to see a product that is drastically better to abandon their current preference simply because the alternative....is local.

Nakibook's search services were a stable offering, providing people with instant answers to their questions. However, as we noticed that we could not simply rely on this to provide us with profit for a sustained amount of time. So, we shifted our focus to providing our users with content that will keep them within our "walled garden" with communications, news and entertainment.

The issue with this is that there is no central focus, and our site becomes some horribly amalgamated, monstrous abomination of a web service. Although utility is one thing, concentration is also a value that we want to embody.

This is why we vowed to instill more focus, and become something more concentrated. A week or so ago, we informally announced we would be launching a shopping website. Please consider this your formal announcement - Nakibook is going to be relaunching as a shopping site.

As a company, we always envisioned a website where people could find things. Well, from as early as March, Nakibook will offer a place where you can find almost any product under the mountain and where, if you're a retailer, you can attach your brand and company name to any product on our index you wish.

Nakibook's vision is a shopping website, and, based on our latest designs and demos, it will be a very useful, and....focused website.

I invite you to come and see this new version of Nakibook in March - where we'll be connecting retailers with customers, and advertisers with users, while providing our users with the instant information that Nakibook has always promised to deliver.

Thank you,

Alistair Murray
Chairman and CEO

Microsoft's Bing.com to be the default search engine for Nakibook

2010-02-10T00:57:00.000-08:00

Nakibook has signed up Microsoft to be the provider of search services to the Nakibook homepage, in a move for the company that signals a fundamental shift from search to content providing.

Bing, the new Microsoft search engine (http://www.bing.com) will be the search engine behind the search box on the popular Nakibook homepage. Although, Nakibook CEO Alistair Murray says, it will not allow Nakibook to pursue a search business, having a viable search engine with images, videos, shopping and other search will make the homepage much more attractive a homepage for users, and therefore a much more attractive advertising space for advertisers.

Nakibook, an internet company that is headquartered in New Plymouth, has signaled that in the coming months, a shift will be seen, but this is one of the most rapid moves so far - topped only by the abandoning of the sparse, white homepage that has thus far been the face of the company.

The Nakibook search service will still be available, and all the old tools will still be online for the users, including the toolbar and the embeddable search bar.

"Our vision", Mr. Murray says, "is to be the centre of the online lives of everyone in Taranaki, and a vital advertising space for all Taranaki businesses".

This is not the only large announcement from the company today. Just earlier, Nakibook came to a final concession with regards to its advertising program, NakiAds. NakiAds, until further notice, will be the only provider of advertising to the Nakibook group of websites.

Nakibook and its executives hope to leapfrog the current online advertising community by introducing a brand new advertising service. NakiAds allows businesses to set up a "Page" for their business, including details, photos, videos and detailed information about their business or product. Nakibook will generate ads for that page, and then place them around the site.

The company makes money when a user clicks on one of the ads or visits that page.

Nakibook's push into music - Welcoming Zurna

2010-02-10T00:56:00.002-08:00

The newly launched site will be rebranded as Zuna - an obscure Armenian instrument.

Nakibook, the online media company, has today announced it is rebranding, relaunching and reconstructing its music site, Nakibook Music. The company, headquartered in New Plymouth, New Zealand, will name this new music service, Zuna - after a little known Armenian instrument.

The push comes just weeks after Chief Executive, Alistair Murray, cited a fundamental push for the company from being a primary aggregator of content, into being a fuller circle of rich media and text content, combined with the company's advertising efforts (NakiAds and otherwise).

The site is being said to encompass music videos, streaming music, lyrics, artist information, music news and industry blogs. It is possible that Nakibook may decide to explore Zuna as a joint venture, or with a number of partners.

Zurna is set to launch within four weeks. The company has refused to give a direct comment on the new venture.

A new age for newspapers - Nakibook launches TheOnlineNewspaper

2010-02-10T00:56:00.001-08:00

Since medieval times, information, and its speed and integrity has always been a close focus of all of mankind. The value of information, even in its most raw and unpolished form, will always be worthy of worldwide attention.

The year is 2015. Information, in particular, news, is practically ubiquitous. You are able to access all your files, emails, documents, contacts, calendar and phone calls from almost any device around the globe. Likewise, you are able to have instant information at anytime, anywhere. Small, all-in-one devices, like the iPhone or an advanced Blackberry (or Google Android) are the primary mobile access point for all of the world's information.

Nakibook has seen the future for news, and we want to be a part of it.

We believe, that at Nakibook that we can be a friend to the news industry, even considering its ever declining profitability. The irony in the current journalistic crisis, however, is that the content that news mediums like print media (whose revenues are quickly declining into free-fall) is more popular than ever before.

The problem - no one is paying for it. Nakibook is setting out a plan so that we can be part of the overall news market. We want to be an aggregator, producer and broadcaster of news all at once - and have it universally accessible and useful. Nakibook's mission is to obtain all the world's latest information, and then have it available to our users, wherever they are, whenever they want it.

Our company is uniquely positioned to provide a unique mix of technology and innovation, while upholding the journalistic integrity that has made, up until the turn of this century, journalism in the western world an important and almost religiously upheld responsibility.

Since then, because of the massive decline in the "value" of information, the evolution of technologies that allow people to bypass systems that have in the past prevented junk from passing through the system and also the rise of small publishers like bloggers.

Nakibook intends to be a friend to newspapers. We want to provide them with a sustainable way to manage subscriptions, as many of them make the massive transition into the digital age. Nakibook wants to be at the epicenter of this growing online phenomenon, as online news becomes an innate part of society's inner workings.

We hope that you can join us on this adventure.

Alistair Murray
Chairman and Chief Executive

Nakibook errors, services disabled - An open letter from Nakibook's CEO

2010-02-10T00:55:00.000-08:00

I would like to personally apologize to all Nakibook users. Over the past few days we have experienced some serious technical difficulties in making various transitions in our technical structure and architecture.

As riveting as they are to read about, I am not at liberty to impart with you on the exact cause of many technical problems that Nakibook has been facing within the past few days, but I will notify you of just a few problems that have arisen. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, our Google Adsense account, which powers many of the ads that you would normally see in search results, can no longer recognize our login details.

Therefore, we can no longer access our main source of revenue. It is lucky, however that we have an alternate means of income, as we launch NakiAds today. Also, our Analytics tools have been disabled due to a transition in accounts, meaning much important data has been lost in the process.

Furthermore, our Travel section, possibly the largest in the entire Nakibook network of sites and services, has been mistakenly disabled for a terms of use "violation". We have researched this type of occurrence, and we can attribute it to a mistake made by the computers of our host company as they scan sites for spam. We are waiting for a reply as to having it reinstated.

I would like to thank all Nakibook users in advance for the frustration of having very little access to the full functionality of Nakibook products and services.

Thank you,

Alistair Murray
Chairman and CEO

Nakibook CEO cites shift for company to editor, less an aggregator, of content

2010-02-10T00:52:00.000-08:00

Nakibook, the internet search company, has today announced plans to become just as much an editor of online content as it is an aggregator. Alistair Murray, the company's Chairman and CEO, said that "in order to maintain our current level of growth, we must maintain quality, and we have become certain that human editing is the best way to do this.

He cites that the company will produce some of its own content as well, especially in the area of news, where Nakibook will manually aggregate and edit content from all sources.

"Human editing", Mr. Murray said, "will be the best way for us to keep our users more engaged than ever".

This will make Nakibook more of a portal of sorts, like Yahoo or AOL, but will keep some of its trademark vices. "There will still be the same mountain logo, layout designs and sparse homepage design".

He also noted that although the changes would not affect the users in a major way, the new content driven products the company plans to release within the next quarter (which include Nakibook Auto, Music, Video, and an upgraded News site) will be a refreshing change from the content heavy sites frequently seen on Nakibook's competitors, most notably, Fairfax Digital.

Nakibook users can expect to see new products emerge in early 2010.

New ads - Posted on Official Facebook Page

2009-12-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

We've just had some new ads posted on the company's official Facebook page.

Nakibook has blitz with myriad of new products

2009-11-14T18:34:00.000-08:00

NEW PLYMOUTH (Sunday, 15 November 2009) – Nakibook (PRIVATE: NKBK) today announced formally its range of new online applications and products that will allow for greater revenue and user capability and functionality. The list includes two foreign language search engines, a Video Search option, a Nakibook toolbar, Music Search and an upgraded version of the Nakibook News feature, which has been significantly decluttered and cleaned to provide the cleanest and most relevant search results.

Nakibook CEO and Chairman, Alistair Murray, says that the products will offer Nakibook users even bigger forms of user interactivity. "These products will allow Nakibook users to do more, play more and find more, in an easier and more effective and efficient way".

The company, which is planning its first stock offering and has a number of developents underway, is planning to underpin its primary product, search, by leveraging it with the usefulness of Nakibook Travel, a feature that, once completed (it is now released in BETA form), will allow users to find holiday destinations within Taranaki, book accommodation, find places to eat etc.

Mr. Murray believes strongly in this feature, and the company is poised to continue to work of features like these and others in the coming months.

About Nakibook

Nakibook's innovative search and information technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 2009 by CEO, Alistair Murray, Nakibook today is a top web property in the Taranaki web information market. Nakibook's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Nakibook is headquartered in New Plymouth with offices throughout the city.

Welcome to the Nakibook Blog

2009-11-06T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here you'll be able to access Nakibook product announcements, technology updates and other tools to help you use your Nakibook products and tools more effectively.

This is the latest effort by Nakibook to cross the void between webmaster and user. Please enjoy commenting, rating and giving feedback on posts. We look forward to talking to you shortly.