SEO Steve's News

Google Apps to Not Support Older Browsers

Posted by Steve | January 30th, 2010

A shocking email from Google just blasted into my inbox. As an SEO and Webmaster, I have the latest and greatest web browsers installed on my machine. However, I know about 70 individuals who have never needed to upgrade their machine or are now being forced to if they wish to continue using Google Apps.

Google’s email clearly states that they will no longer support older browsers as they move to start using HTML5, a markup language colleges aren’t even teaching yet. I’m a huge fan of technology, but serving hundreds of local businesses who use Google Apps for email, websites, document storage, calendars and so forth, I know that this may end up being a real shock to the system for people who are still on eMachines that crash when you load IE8, Fx3.5 or any newer browser.

Here’s the email:

Dear Google Apps admin,

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5. As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010. After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting next week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser. We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.

In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience. We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

The Google Apps team

Email preferences: You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your Google Apps product or account.

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

What’s Your Take on Google’s Browser Support Notification?

Share your feedback below.

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SEO Standards

Posted by Steve | January 3rd, 2010

It’s going to be a long, but very productive weekend as I work on the new SEOStandards.org website. Bookmark and check it out on Monday. Your feedback and participation is extremely appreciated and definitely welcomed.

The site will feature an SEO Audit Checklist, links to free SEO tools, and discussions on popular SEO topics. Hope you’ll come check it out on Monday, January 4th.

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SES San Jose Interview

Posted by Steve | December 26th, 2009

Above is a video of an interview from Search Engine Strategies in San Jose 2009. I attended SES West with the Local Splash team to help promote their new brand and local search engine optimization and marketing products.

If you haven’t been to SES, I definitely recommend it. Go Platinum and get to all the sessions. Challenge vendors to prove themselves with case studies, metrics and references. But most of all, enjoy the great after-parties!

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Congressional Recognition

Posted by Steve | March 10th, 2006

March 3rd, 2006, your Orange County SEO Expert was honored at Westwood College in Anaheim. I was honored by the falculty at Westwood College of Technology and by Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of the 47th Congressional District of California.

Congresswoman Sanchez Honors SEO Expert

Orange County SEO Expert Earns Congressional Recognition

Who says hard work doesn’t pay off? I graduated in 2004 and only 2 years later I’m being honored for all the projects I’ve consumed myself with in the last 24 months. You see, there’s really more to this Orange County SEO Expert then just search engine optimization.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez was present to congratulate me for winning the CCA GREAT Award, sponsored by the Career College Association and to visit the new campus for the first time. I never expected a Congressional Recognition Award and was completely humbled by the honor. GREAT stands for Graduate Recognition for Excellence, Achievement and Talent.

I gave a quick 5 minute speech to the students and faculty at Westwood, and thanked Congresswoman Sanchez for taking time out of her schedule to come visit with us. Okay, I also through in a quick plug for my Orange County SEO Expert website and recently released eBook.

From 4.0 to SEO

I didn’t graduate with a 4.0, but I came pretty darn close. In my speech, I talked about how I got through college while working full time and being an entrepreneur (plus being recently married). It took a lot of dedication, planning, building relationships, and building exceptional time management skills.

I also discussed the positions I’ve held since I graduated in 2004. One of which included a fantastic opportunity with Paciolan, a ticketing software company in Irvine. Paciolan owns eVenue.net, for whom I was the Internet Services Coordinator for 7 months. It was here that I had the please of working with a outstanding team of work-a-holics while supporting the online ticketing venues for 20% of the Major League Baseball market.

I also discussed my current position as Production Coordinator for a Fortune 500 company in North Hollywood and brought up points about being an entrepreneur and recognized SEO Expert in Orange County.

Honored and Thankful

It was a true honor to be nominated by Westwood College and accepted by the wonderful people at CCA. I’m extremely grateful for the time I was able to spend with Congresswoman Sanchez and for the time she took from her schedule to visit us at Westwood. This award is just the beginning of what I believe will be an exciting journey, with several very big projects coming up this year alone.

Steven J. Wiideman
Orange County SEO Expert

E-Business Program Director at Westwood College Glennon Neubauer and Graduate Steve Wiideman

The above photo is of myself and Glennon Neubauer, the Program Director at Westwood College in Anaheim. Mr. Neubauer is more than a Program Director and Teacher, I also consider him as a mentor and role model, setting the bar high for other educators and super-achievers.

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