Sapulpa bug/pest control by Bulwark Exterminating

Image provided by the New York Times http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/foursquare-introduces-new-tools-for-businesses/

Why are they different?

If the language is the same, and the text link is the same then why are the QR-Codes Different?

I am convinced that QR-Codes are passing on more information then you realize.

While some may say that it is simply a generator difference, I am not convinced.  Each QR-Code is readable by quickmark, and apparently contains the exact same URL.  But when generating a new QR-Code from existing QR- codes the offspring is unique.  So the only conclusion we do have is that the generators are marking the code by who generated it, and subsequently the quickmark generator is passing on something from the first generator. …So far the time stamp theory has proven negative.

QR Code Generator Tested

QucikMark – iphone

zxing.appspot.com

zxing.appspot.com

Images of QR-Codes and the subsequent matings of QR-Code Generators.

We will call this one big papa as this spurred the research…

Bulwark is a Favorite Place Decal with Google Maps QR-Code

The text link generated by this QR-Code is : http://google.com/m/place?georestrict=input_srcid%3A6a8383041e7e4ce8 according to QuickMark (Big mama).  Quickmark then provides an option to re-create this QR-Code….

Recreated Googel QR-Code with Quickmark

Yes… they are different… but they carry the same url.  So Big Daddy and Big Momma are produced a new baby.

Here is Big Mama’s DNA of the same text/link as generated by big Momma:

Typed into QuickMark QR-Code

Different.

So lets test the text link with an online generator… Number one in the SERP for QR-Code Generator was.. qrcode.kaywa.com

QR-Code generated qrcode.kaywa.com by of Google's QR-Code

No surprise at this point but this is….. Different.

And now if you scan qrcode.kaywa.com (sample #1) with #QuickMark and hit the create button…

Big Momma and kaywa.com's baby

Different… yet the same text/link…?

Next Generator on the search engine zxing.appspot.com:

zxing.appspot.com/generator/

And offspring between QuickMark and Zxing:

New baby of Quick Mark and Zxing

Time stamp???? No.  Here is recreation 2 of big daddy and big momma 30 minutes later apart.

Twin delivered 30 minutes later.

Summary

While the intended information is the same, link/text, the QR-Codes are clearly different based on how they are generated.  It seems to me that they must be passing on additional information.  To what end or what information I cannot say.  I am not going to accuse quickmark as being the mother of all whores or Google as being the anti-christ.  Although it is amusing that if this were true.. quick “Mark” could easily be the “Mark of the Beast” if google, which is a number, is indeed the “Beast”.  How many zeros in a google???  Was that 666??? Just kidding!

Feed the beast!

Can someone give me a viable explanation as to why these QR-Codes are different?  What information is really being passed on?

Why are they different?

If the language is the same, and the text link is the same then why are the QR-Codes Different?

I am convinced that QR-Codes are passing on more information then you realize.

While some may say that it is simply a generator difference, I am not convinced.  Each QR-Code is readable by quickmark, and apparently contains the exact same URL.  But when generating a new QR-Code from existing QR- codes the offspring is unique.  So the only conclusion we do have is that the generators are marking the code by who generated it, and subsequently the quickmark generator is passing on something from the first generator. …So far the time stamp theory has proven negative.

QR Code Generators Tested

QucikMark – iphone

qrcode.kaywa.com

zxing.appspot.com

Images of QR-Codes and the subsequent matings of QR-Code Generators.

We will call this one big papa as this spurred the research…

Bulwark is a Favorite Place Decal with Google Maps QR-Code

The text link generated by this QR-Code is : http://google.com/m/place?georestrict=input_srcid%3A6a8383041e7e4ce8 according to QuickMark (Big mama).  Quickmark then provides an option to re-create this QR-Code….

Recreated Googel QR-Code with Quickmark

Yes… they are different… but they carry the same url.  So Big Daddy and Big Momma are produced a new baby.

Here is Big Mama’s DNA of the same text/link as generated by big quickmark on direct input:

Typed into QuickMark QR-Code

Different.

So lets test the text link with an online generator… Number one in the SERP for QR-Code Generator was.. qrcode.kaywa.com

QR-Code generated qrcode.kaywa.com by of Google's QR-Code

No surprise at this point but this is….. Different.

And now if you scan qrcode.kaywa.com (sample #1) with #QuickMark and hit the create button…

Big Momma and kaywa.com's baby

Different… yet the same text/link…?

Next Generator on the search engine zxing.appspot.com:

zxing.appspot.com/generator/

And offspring between QuickMark and Zxing:

New baby of Quick Mark and Zxing

Time stamp???? No.  Here is recreation 2 of big daddy and big momma 30 minutes apart.

Twin delivered 30 minutes later.

Summary

While the intended information is the same, link/text, the QR-Codes are clearly different based on how they are generated.  It seems to me that they must be passing on additional information.  To what end or what information I cannot say.  I am not going to accuse quickmark as being the mother of all whores or Google as being the anti-christ.  Although it is amusing that if this were true.. quick “Mark” could easily be the “Mark of the Beast” if google, which is a number, is indeed the “Beast”.  How many zeros in a google???  Was that 666??? Just kidding!

Feed the beast!

Can someone give me a viable explanation as to why these QR-Codes are different?  What information is being passed on?

New to Google local business center…

So google wants to be updated? Whatever for…???

This new feature is going to force… umm… allow you to be more interactive with google and your customers.  Absolutely a great tool for local restaurants, clubs, and such.  Still a good tool for services, as you can run promotions and events here.  What google is asking for is interaction.  What they want is your time… and time is money.

Great tool to add to your onslaught of Google Maps.

On the down side…

Here is a glimpse of the the before and after Google maps recent service area changes.

Google had results by service area… and then they didn't

So this is a shot of my trend… what happened?

Google changed their results to show service companies by the service area… My Phoenix pest control location, which is located in metro Phoenix but addressed in Peoria AZ, was granted the service area of Phoenix.  So if you searched Phoenix Pest Control, Bulwark showed up in the maps.  Yahoo!….. (no pun intended)…. And google then snatches it away almost as quickly has they had given it… #fail

So now they are back to only listing businesses addressed in the city searched… a search for Austin pest control shows only locations within the city of Austin…. urghh.  I mean I love it in Austin, as we rank #3 but I am not about to buy up property within every city limit to land in the maps.

The Awkward Google Map Dance Continues….

So you know when you are walking down a semi crowded corridor and you end up face to face with someone going the other direction, and then you do this little shuffle left to right to left… feeling awkward… and hoping the dance will end as you each establish which way you are going to take…. Here in lies the Awkward Google Maps Dance…

On using an employees address that works a route from his home… Matt Cutts… “Grey hat.  How can we let guys that work from home do it and not a legit business?”

Google stance on P.O. Boxes… “NO!”

On getting a mailing address in the city… the Fishkin… “Setting up a DBA and a mailing address is totally legit white hat. Its like getting .AU to do “local” business with the Aussies. I don’t see a problem with that.”

So the mixed messages…. Left… Right… Left… the Awkward Google Dance Continues.

$1000 just in time for Christmas! Thanks for the great stories!

And… thanks for the feedback. We will shorten the video next time, and we will even do a second take next time, if we can’t keep it under 3 minutes.

Merry Christmas!

It’s the supermap, not a wannabe superman…

It’s a home, it’s a house, it’s a business its… SUPERMAP! Yes all this and more can be found on google maps, and now they are moving into a top position as the “Directory of choice” or “the Only Directory”.  I am not sure if I should be chanting the SuperMap praise or not.  They are quickly becoming… well invincible.

What is Google’s Kryptonite?… oh that would be all the errors they are still working to fix, like their local maps still not showing correct information after all of the database cleaning and merging.  And thing like their Charlotte NC maps not listing by user reviews properly. But with so many greedy villains out there who can Google trust.  And if I were Superman then would I even care to trust anyone else?  I mean look at what happened between Clark and Lex?  Yep, the Supermap does come with some baggage.

But I think Supermap is a hero.  I mean… look at it is are killing off.  Old dinosaurs that still boast themselves as relevant phone directories just so they can steal money from the innocent and naive while creating huge amount of trash. How many landfills do those books fill up each year?  Go Supermaps Go!

****UPDATE****

Apparently the “reviews by a Google user” was a glitch in the system.  My guess it was caused while they were migrating or integrating their databases.  Other glitches on Dec. 7th, 2009 included the same results showing up twice…

But they have seemed to fix that as well.

New to the scene as of Dec. 7th, 2009 are the live results…

Live search only works for “trendy” topics… Does not work for pest control. =(

Yes… just go to google and seach Tiger Woods.  You can see it live right now.

But Google Local Map Results are still struggling with Glitches Galore!

So a few posts ago I noted google expanding its map results to cover service areas of companies that come to you… (i.e. pest control).  But this new roll out still has a long way to go.  Charlotte, for example is showing results for Rock Hill, SC.  And there are even more problems with google maps when trying to sort their listings in Charlotte by customer reviews.  Check out the glitch in google maps for pest control companies when you search Charlotte Pest Control and try filtering by 4 stars or better… Bulwark Exterminating a Charlotte Pest Control Company… 5 stars… not found.  And it’s not just pest control, it’s local Charlotte resturants as well.  4 stars and up…. gives you a 3 star restaurant Bricktop’s Restaurant ‎ but not a 4 star restuarant Jaipur Indian Restaurant

Hmmm…. Hopefully this will all be fixed with the New Year’s update.

See other google glitchs… http://www.davidnaylor.co.uk/google-caffeine-and-Sapulpa.html

Thanks for everyone’s feedback!

So its taken me a week to get back to this, but last week my wife participated in Black Friday and the chaos that ensues on that day. My wife loves to shop, and she really likes to shop deals. So I was asking her about the newspaper ads. She was excited about what had been delivered in her newspaper… but she mentioned in passing… “the newspaper did charge me extra for the ads.”

excuse me…. what was that…

The Newspaper Charged the Reader for Black Friday Ads!

“Your kidding me.”

“No. They charged an extra dollar for the extra print.”

“They charged you the reader for more printed ads.”

“Yes. They mailed me a letter about it.”

“AND THEY MAILED YOU A LETTER ABOUT IT? But wait they don’t give you Sunday ads that week, right?”

“Right….???”

So let me break this down for you.  The Arizona Republic charged its loyal reader an extra dollar to send more ads on Thursday. But they did not send Sunday ads… I don’t get it…

Let’s break this decision down… they sent out a letter… that cost a least $.30… to make $.70 off it’s loyal customer because they have to print more.

AREN’T THEY GETTING PAID BY ADVERTISERS FOR THOSE ADS????

So besides the fact that the print is becoming more obsolete as time rolls forward, as consumer I think they are missing the boat here all together.  Sure they just made $700,000 if their readership is a million.  But the abuse they just delivered to their loyal fan base is unheard of.  I personally could care less if I ever say a newspaper on my door or not.  I personally am likely to never visit www.AZxCentriloa.com ever again.  And I will most certainly not give them any links. Enough is enough.

Your a Newspaper! You make money from Advertisers! Charging your readers more money to print more Ads is Black Hat at its worst!

So its taken me a week to get back to this, but last week my wife participated in Black Friday and the chaos that ensues on that day. My wife loves to shop, and she really likes to shop deals. So I was asking her about the newspaper ads. She was excited about what had been delivered in her newspaper… but she mentioned in passing… “the newspaper did charge me extra for the ads.”

excuse me…. what was that…

The Newspaper Charged the Reader for Black Friday Ads!

“Your kidding me.”

“No. They charged an extra dollar for the extra print.”

“They charged you the reader for more printed ads.”

“Yes. They mailed me a letter about it.”

“AND THEY MAILED YOU A LETTER ABOUT IT? But wait they don’t give you Sunday ads that week, right?”

“Right….???”

So let me break this down for you.  The Arizona Republic charged its loyal reader an extra dollar to send more ads on Thursday. But they did not send Sunday ads… I don’t get it…

Let’s break this decision down… they sent out a letter… that cost a least $.30… to make $.70 off it’s loyal customer because they have to print more.

AREN’T THEY GETTING PAID BY ADVERTISERS FOR THOSE ADS????

So besides the fact that the print is becoming more obsolete as time rolls forward, as consumer I think they are missing the boat here all together.  Sure they just made $700,000 if their readership is a million.  But the abuse they just delivered to their loyal fan base is unheard of.  I personally could care less if I ever say a newspaper on my door or not.  I personally am likely to never visit www.AZxCentriloa.com ever again.  And I will most certainly not give them any links. Enough is enough.

Your a Newspaper! You make money from Advertisers! Charging your readers more money to print more Ads is Black Hat at its worst!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Matt Cutts for fixing your google maps! (Not sure if he deserves all the credit but he was the google employee that reassured me that this would happen).  I must say that I am very optimistic about google maps and the direction they are heading.  Here are a couple of things you may want to be aware of when it comes to the future of google maps:

1st and most important…

Google Map extends to service areas of businesses!

This is the best news I have had all week!  In fact, Matt Cutts and Google will be receiving thanks in my Thanksgivings giving celebration this week! I had the pleasure of addressing my concern to Matt at Pubcon two weeks ago, thanks to an introduction given by Kate Morris, an SEM Gem.

Matt essentially admitted that google was cleaning up the mess it had accumulated from mining the information that was out there for local search. He assured me that the most recent update in the google maps was that they were now pushing their own information for the map results, not 3rd party info.  I mentioned my concern in that the current maps only showed listings within the actual metro city and that this was not reflective of the service areas of many service companies, (cough “Pest Control companies” cough). Matt assured me that they were aware of this and that they were working to correct this….

Two weeks later I get this…

Phoenix Pest Control Map in Google Maps

So if you notice the map title “Pest Control near Tempe, AZ” … Go through the results and you will notice that the first listing “A” falls right on the town of Tempe.  But “C” Bulwark Exterminating is not within the Tempe city limits… Awwesoooome!

Again… Tempe results show Bulwark Exterminating… not in Tempe… Actual address…

Two weeks ago this search would only give results in Tempe.  Now it gives results of companies that service Tempe but don’t fall within Tempe, AZ.  Thank you Google! FYI I have only experienced this phenomenon in the Phoenix area. But I have high hopes that this will roll out to our cities.

2ndly an update for the San Fransisco maps…

Google is currently beta testing their google maps for advertising:

Search done for San Francisco Attorney

Good? … possibly. What if I were already in the top 7, would I get charged for the click? And when they click on the map the sponsored listings no longer show.  The down side I see to this is that the sponsored listings don’t show the reviews. Reviews are huge for CTR.  I would prefer the sponsored list show my reviews and take you to the google review page. But as I have not tested this yet, I really have no constructive input. Just making you aware of what is on the horizon. Great thing about the internet is that you can always test… the bad thing is that you are always testing.

So as always… “The Future is so Bright that I’ve go to wear shades.” (Yes I am singing in my head.)

What a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!