For those of you that don’t know, Mike Arrington is the impresario behind TechCrunch and the godfather of Web 2.0 punditry. The following is an excerpt of his annual listing of Web 2.0 must-visits.

1. 800-Free-411
800-Free-411 was first added to the list last year. Use it to make free directory assistance calls and avoid per call charges of up to $3.50 that cell phone carriers charge. They have taken more than 6% of the market for directory service calls in the U.S. over the last two years. Google, Microsoft, AT&T and others have entered the market, but Jingle Networks, the company offering the product, has a patent on the idea of pairing advertising with free directory service. Here’s a tip: add “FREE411USA” as a Skype contact and do lookups that way, too.
2. Amazon MP3 Store
Amazon’s new music store is just about perfect. With the addition of Warner Music they’ve got 3 million DRM-free songs at prices lower than Apple’s iTunes store (which has only 2 million DRM-free songs). It’s not as cheap as AllOfMP3 was, but at least it’s guilt-free and legal. Plus, it will hopefully drive Apple to improve iTunes (offering no-DRM only search would be a good start). (more…)

The man who first turned me on to blogging, BuzzMachine’s Jeff Jarvis, has a great post out today listing 9 amazing Google facts. Sometimes it behooves one to sit down and marvel at Google. Companies like this only come along once in a lifetime. GE. Coke. Ford. Disney. McDonalds. Xerox. Wal-Mart. Intel. Microsoft. Now Google.

I’ll quote from Jeff:

• Google is the “fastest growing company in the history of the world.” – Times of London, 1/29/06
• Google controls 65.1% of all searches in the U.S. at the end of 2007 and 86% of all searches in the UK, according to measurement company Hitwise.
• Google was searched 4.4 billion times in the U.S. alone in October, 2007 (three times Yahoo), says Nielsen. Average searches per searcher: 40.7.
• Google’s sites had 112 million U.S. visitors in November, 2007, says Nielsen.
• Google’s traffic was up 22.4% in 2007 over 2006, according to Comscore.
• Google earned $15 billion revenue and $6.4 billion profit in 2007, a profit margin of 26.9%. Its revenue was up 57% in the last quarter of 2007 over 2006, says Yahoo Finance. As of late 2007, its stock was up 53% in a year. The company has a market capitalization of $207.6 billion.
• Google controls 79% of the pay-per-click ad market, according to RimmKaufman. It controls 40% of all online advertising, according to web site HipMojo.
• Google employed almost 16,000 people at the end of 2007, a 50% increase over the year before.
• Google became the No. 1 brand in the world in 2007, according to Millward Brown Brandz Top 100.

Original post:
Google is God (BuzzMachine)

Over at weblog Techipedia, Tamar Weinberg has a list of his favorite Internet Marketing blog posts of 2007. He’s gone way into it, not only listing more than 250 articles, but giving a descrption of each.

I don’t have his patience or stamina, so I’ll just list a few of his favorites that I remember reading this year.

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PC Magazine has written a series of articles outlining the best times of year to buy various tech gadgetry. We all know the pain of buying a new computer or flat screentv , only to find out a month later that the same product is now on sale for 30% less. Different types of products are discounted at different times of year. Knowing when to buy is as important as knowing what to buy.

So, here’s a calendar summary of the best times of year to buy various electronic goodies:

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(1) Surfing will slowPEERING into Tech.view’s crystal ball, the one thing we can predict with at least some certainty is that 2008 will be the year we stop taking access to the internet for granted. The internet is not about to grind to a halt, but as more and more users clamber aboard to download music, video clips and games while communicating incessantly by e-mail, chat and instant messaging, the information superhighway sometimes crawls with bumper-to-bumper traffic. (more…)

(1) Doesn’t natively support push business email or over-the-air calendar sync. … The iPhone can sync with Microsoft’s Exchange and IBM’s Lotus Notes over IMAP and SMTP ports, but your server and security admins have to configure their infrastructure to do so or purchase a mobile gateway from Synchronica or Azaleos….
(2) Doesn’t accommodate third-party applications, including those internally developed. … This is a showstopper for companies with enterprise mobility initiatives that require line-of-business applications like mobile sales force automation or an industry-specific application like mobile claims…
(3) Doesn’t support securing data on the device through encryption.
(4) Can’t be remotely locked or wiped in the event of a lost or stolen device.
(5) Lacks a hard keypad that provides feedback, which isn’t ideal for rapid and accurate input.
(6) Has limited service provider support and its carrier lock-in inhibits flexibility.
(7) Comes with a premium price tag.
(8) Is only the first generation.
(9) Lacks a removable battery, so when the battery kicks it, so does the device.
(10) Lacks case studies of firms that have deployed it enterprisewide.

This list has been severely truncated.
To read the full list and text, please visit the original article:
Top 10 reasons IT won’t support the iPhone (Fortune)

Weblog Lifehacker has an excellent rundown of the 20 best iPod utilities. These programs will make your iPod run better, faster, harder, stronger as well as achieve feats no normal iPod was designed to achieve.

Here are seven, in no particular order:

• How to jailbreak your iPhone
• Wirelessly Stream Music from Your iPod touch or iPhone to Any iTunes Library
• Install Linux on Your iPod with iPod Linux
• Put Wikipedia on Your iPod with Encyclopodia
• Upgrade Your iPod Video to an iPod classic
• Backup Your Home Folder to Your iPod with iPodBackup
• Convert YouTube Videos for Your iPod with Zamzar

Obviously, there are plenty more items, and plenty of description in the original article, here:
The 20 Best iPod Utilities