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The act of Googling oneself has become the digital age’s premiere guilty pleasure — an activity enjoyed by all and admitted by few. The phenomenon has even been the subject of scholarly research. Last year, a team of Swiss and Australian social scientists published a study concluding that the practice of self-Googling (or “ego-surfing,” as it’s sometimes called) can partly be traced to a rise in narcissism in society, but that it is also an attempt by people to identify and shape their personal online “brand.” The authors of the survey no doubt returned to their cubicles and Googled themselves to see if the study was posted online

The folks at Google are well aware that their site handles millions of vanity searches every day, and that users aren’t always thrilled about the results that pop up when they Google themselves.

“The reason people search for themselves is that they’re curious about what other people see when they search for their name,” says Joe Kraus, Google’s director of product management. “One problem is they don’t have any control over the search results. Either they don’t like the search results, or what happens most of the time is, they’re not listed on the first page. If your name is Brian Jones and you’re not the deceased Rolling Stones guitarist, you don’t exist.”

To give people a bit more control over search results, Google introduced a feature this week it calls a “Google profile,” which users can create so that a thumbnail of personal information appears at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages. Once users create a Google profile, their name, occupation and location (and photo if they choose) appears in a box on the first page of the search results for their name. Next to the thumbnail info, there’s a link to a full Google profile page that in many ways resembles a Facebook page.

The similarity to Facebook is no accident. Google profiles are the search giant’s fiendishly clever attempt to turn your ego-surfing pain into their gain. By giving users a modicum of control over the results that appear on a search for their name, Google hopes to establish a social network beachhead and take on wildly popular sites like Facebook and MySpace. Facebook users who otherwise couldn’t be bothered to set up a separate profile page on Google might find the idea appealing if it gives them some control over the Google search results for their name. And if you’re already using Gmail for e-mail, Google Maps for directions and Google’s Picasa for photo-sharing, you may wind up spending more time with your Google profile than your Facebook or MySpace page.

The Google profile lets you set up a personalized page on which you can include links to your blog, Twitter feed or company website, plus share online photos and link to your other profiles on sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. There’s room for a brief bio, along with a place to list your current interests, places you’ve lived and schools you’ve attended. There’s also a space that asks you to list your “superpower,” proof that the engineers at Google have a sense of humor. Or think they do.

Like Facebook, your Google profile doesn’t display any private information unless you’ve explicitly added it. You can share info with friends and family and control who sees what. There’s no Google profile feature that lets you “friend” another user — at least not yet. But there is a “Send a message” feature that lets anyone with a Google account e-mail you without revealing your e-mail address. Another feature called “My places” displays all the cities you’ve entered on your profile and your current location on a map. A Google map, of course.

The more information you add to your profile, the higher your page is likely to be ranked on a Google search for your name and associated keywords, such as the name of your hometown, your job title or where you work or go to school. And the more richly detailed your Google profile is, the more Google knows about you. There’s no advertising attached to Google profiles, but in the future, the company could easily sell ads targeted to your personal details, much as they’ve already done on Gmail.

These days, Big Brother isn’t just watching you — he wants to know your superpower and the name of your childhood pet. And he already knows you like to Google yourself, so don’t try to deny it.

By Tom McNichol

Believe me, in spite of the current financial turmoil, there has never been a better time to generate an online income stream!

And yet it seems that so many budding Internet marketers are finding it hard to break through VNB – the “Visitor Numbers Barrier.”

When I started, I thought there was some magic elixir or secret technique that would transform my visitor numbers! If only I could find THE ONE successful method!

Well, this article is to let you know that while there may be hundreds of ways to get visitors to your website – I’ve selected some of the techniques that work best for me.

And they can work for you, as well.

Because, if there IS a secret of success, it is this: “Don’t rely on ONE way to generate traffic. Become familiar with MANY.” Better to have many visitor doors to your website, rather than just one, don’t you think?

I’m still surprised how many serious Internet marketers neglect the basics. And one of the most basic ways to increase your visitor traffic is to be absolutely certain that your website is listed by the search engines.

Don’t trust the search engine spiders to do your work for you. All the major search engines have detailed and easy-to-follow instructions on site submission, as well as how to create and submit site-maps.

I don’t think Facebook needs a great deal of introduction, does it? But you can mine value for Facebook if you look for opportunities to include your website on information that you provide.

Then, there is what I call the secret power of blogging: search engines LOVE blogs. The search engine spiders thrive on novelty and change, and if you write or post a new entry to your blog every day – or every other day – the search engines will recognize what is going on and begin to rank your website blog higher than a website that doesn’t change its content from month to month. And a high ranking means visitors to your site.

Don’t forget that you can leverage your signature in online communities or discussion groups. If your product is specifically niched, then you know that there are loyal and relevant online communities or discussion groups who want to hear from you.

And, your forum signature could be a goldmine once you have thought through the best way of expressing your product’s unique feature so that readers find your website irresistible.

Would you like your web address to be seen by ten million people in ten minutes? Well, it’s possible – if you’re careful! Because there are three kinds of people: those who love Google Adwords, often known as Pay Per Click, those who hate it – and those who haven’t tried it.

Many people just go nuts trying to get their advertisement absolutely perfect. And, if you don’t read the small print, you could find that your budget is exhausted quickly. But if you follow the guidelines and budget sensibly you could attract many, many hundreds of paying visitors on a daily basis.

Do you remember those kid’s stories where the fairy Godmother tells the child to repeat a word three times for magic to happen? Well, here’s that word: “eBay”, “eBay”, “eBay”.

There – I’ve said it. eBay is perhaps THE most underestimated visitor generating resource. Ignore eBay at your peril. There are many, many resources available on the web where you can discover how to sell products on eBay. Until recently you could sell digital products (i.e. eBooks, which you can download) but the rules have changed and you can now only sell physical goods, so your eBook will have to be on a CD. Personally, I think it’s a good move, and opens up many possibilities.

Don’t forget that Ezines and Newsletters are the Grand Daddy and Grand Mommy of all website visitor attraction and list building activity. The thing is this – Ezines and Newsletters work!

If you love your niche product, you’ll have LOTS to say about it, and there will be people who want to hear what you have to say. I built an opt-in subscriber of almost 3,000 with a business coaching Newsletter.

Another way to get visitors to your websites is to write your own ebook. I’m not embarrassed to say that we’re not talking great literature here. We aren’t talking about the Pulitzer Prize. We’re not even talking more than, maybe, 30 pages, double spaced, and size 12 font.

But the fact is this: your eBook will attract visitors to your website single-handedly.

Later, you can offer your eBook to affiliates so that they send visitors to your site as well! If you’re more of an audio expert than a novelist, why not create your own podcast? Uh? Well, a podcast is a series of audio files that is distributed over the Internet to iPods and other music players and personal computers. This is the future – and it’s fun!

The fact is, everyone loves information but don’t always find printed pages the best way to get it. If you can provide the same information that can be played on an iPod or similar media player, or a mobile phone, you’re offering a higher value product.

You needn’t start from scratch – you can plug your product or service almost immediately by converting your existing articles or eBooks into .mp3 recordings. (.mp3 is the industry standard audio format that is widely accepted for iPods, mobile phones etc.) Remember, you have, on your hard drive, stuff that you have written, or will write, that you can add value to by converting it into an .mp3 recording.

Again, it’s the basics that are often the key to increasing your visitor traffic, so you might need to shine your light on your meta tags. (To put it briefly, a “meta tag” is used by search engines to allow them to more accurately list your site in their indexes.

To be honest, it works most of the time, but not always! Search engines are always changing their methods, and some use Meta tags a lot, while others don’t, but I would not want to neglect this technique. It is a small piece of the mosaic that completes the whole visitor traffic picture.

How many times have you wanted to speak your mind? Well, now you can – and it’ll help drive visitors to your website. How? Leave testimonials on other people’s sites. This won’t take you a second, but your web address will be around for years. Go for it. It is so simple, and so little done.

Another technique I used to attract visitors was to write a priority email to opt-in customers with an attention-grabbing subject such as “The Top Ten Myths In Your Industry.” Or, offer something like this as a freebie. Make certain that there are clear links to your website, and a compelling reason for the reader to visit.

Finally, I don’t think YouTube needs much introduction! It’s simply one of the largest websites devoted to online videos covering every single subject you can think of – and more! So how can you use the power of YouTube to get more visitors? Simply this: upload a video of you talking about your niche.

Many cheap digital cameras have a video option – and you do not need a high-end movie camera. You could get a friend to film you. Or, you could use a built in camera on your PC or Mac, if your model has one. Aim to talk for not much longer than 10 minutes maximum, and sign off with your website address. Again, this is much easier than you would think.

Remember, so many people focus on one traffic building technique, and one only. I hope I’ve shown you that there are many ways – and you should have fun with all of them. My best to you.