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Google Responds To Privacy Concerns With Unsettlingly Specific Apology

Now for some Friday fun.

Google’s (GOOG) been bad. So they issued a heartfelt and very personal apology:

Responding to recent public outcries over its handling of private data, search giant Google offered a wide-ranging and eerily well-informed apology to its millions of users Monday…

“Whether you’re Michael Paulson who lives at 3425 Longview Terrace and makes $86,400 a year, or Jessica Goldblatt from Lynnwood, WA, who already has well-established trust issues, we at Google would just like to say how very, truly sorry we are.” …

Acknowledging that Google hasn’t always been open about how it mines the roughly 800 terabytes of personal data it has gathered since 1998, Schmidt apologized to users—particularly the 1,237,948 who take daily medication to combat anxiety—for causing any unnecessary distress, and he expressed regret—especially to Patricia Fort, a single mother taking care of Jordan, Sam, and Rebecca, ages 3, 7, and 9—for not doing more to ensure that private information remains private.

There, don’t you feel better now?

Photo via: Robert Scoble

Ten Great Interview Questions

There is an art to interviewing employee candidates.

You have a limited amount of time to ask maximally effective questions. The right questions should give you an accurate-enough impression of the candidate and how he/she will perform at your company.

If you are of the Microsoft (MSFT) or Google (GOOG) mindset, then you probably favor puzzles and creative problem solving questions. Those are great and have their place.

Here are ten more great interview questions that seek to gain a better impression of the candidate.

How do you personally define and measure success?This is a two-part question. The first part aims to discover the candidate’s motivations and aspirations. The second part judges the candidate’s ability to realistically determine if and when those goals are reached. Most people have some idea of success, but haven’t defined ways to measure it. If that’s the case for this candidate, being able to come up with an impromptu answer can demonstrate quick-thinking and analytical ability.
What are you doing to improve yourself, physically, mentally, or spiritually?This question assesses the candidate’s desire and past actions toward self-improvement. A candidate who has actively sought self-improvement will be able to answer quickly. A candidate who has not may hesitate and try to make up something on the spot.
What were your expectations when you began working in your last job?This question discerns whether or not the candidate had realistic expectations of their last role. If the candidate’s expectations did not match the previous position, you can delve deeper to find out why and what the candidate did to rectify the situation. The answer may demonstrate how the candidate solves role-oriented problems.
In what kind of work environment do you do your best work?This question determines in which work environments the candidate will thrive. Hopefully your company’s environment matches the candidate’s preferences, otherwise there may be a mismatch. A preference doesn’t mean the candidate will necessarily perform poorly, but he/she may not operate at an optimal capacity.
How do you alleviate stress?This question seeks out the candidate’s coping mechanisms for the inevitable stress and frustrations that come with any job. The answer should include realistic & positive activities or outlets.
What tools or habits do you use to keep organized?This question looks at previous behavior as a determinant of future behavior, specifically, in the candidate’s organizational prowess. Everyone says they are organized, so hopefully the candidate can prove it by discussing specific tools and habits.
When I call your previous employer and references, what are they likely to tell me?This question examines the accuracy of the candidate’s self-awareness. It can be surprising how many people choose references that may speak poorly of them, or perceive themselves differently than how others perceive them.
If you were hired for this position, what would you do in your first week here?This question gives you an idea of how much a self-starter this candidate is, and whether or not this candidate understands the role well enough to get started quickly. Although this question is more suited for experienced candidates than recent college graduates, it can test the creativity of a recent graduate as well.
How would you react if I told you your interview has been terrible so far?This is a bit of a trick question designed to see how a candidate will react on his/her feet when startled and disappointed. If the interview is indeed going well, you can follow up with some reassurances. If not, then, well…
Ask a question that may trigger the candidate to say, “We can’t do that.”You will have to be a bit creative here with the question you select. The goal is to assess the candidate’s creative problem solving skills. A poor answer is how your particular request is not possible. A good answer is, “Here’s what we can do instead.” The candidate should offer viable alternatives and be able to discuss trade-offs.

Some of these questions come from Becky Regan, an HR consultant mentioned in the Entrepreneur magazine article 6 Weeks to a Better Bottom Line and Nick’s Pizza & Pub from the Inc. Magazine article Lessons From a Blue-Collar Millionaire.

Do you have any other great interview questions?

Comic from: Dilbert

Duh, Mr. Comment Spammer

Every once in a while, spam gets through my blog’s comment spam filters. It’s rare, but it happens.

And every once in a while, it’s a blatant piece of spam. How can I tell? Because the author’s name is meant to be some kind of SEO-friendly link text. Like “Free Viagra” or “XXX Porn.”

What I don’t get is, if this spammer was smart enough to get through my spam filters, why wasn’t s/he smart enough to use an actual person’s name? Like “Joey” or “Suzy?” The spammer must know that most blogs add nofollow tags to their comments nowadays, especially those with spam filtering. SEO-friendly link text is totally useless in those cases. So if they’re going to do all the work getting through the filter, at least make the comment look less like an obvious piece of spam, in the off-chance the blogger approves the comment and you earn a few clickthroughs.

Duh.

How to Market Effectively on Facebook and Twitter

Want to know how to really make Facebook and Twitter work for you? According to eMarketer, here is what other marketers have reported as effective marketing techniques on these two popular social tools:

Marketing on Facebook

The most common marketing tactic used on Facebook was attempting to drive traffic to corporate materials through status updates, followed by friending customers.

But the most effective tactic for consumer-oriented companies was creating a Facebook application, which was done by less than one-quarter of total respondents. Both B2B and B2C companies also reported surveys of their fans as effective; fan surveys were the third-most-common tactic attempted.

I had no idea marketers were “friending” recent customers. How do they even find recent customers? Huh. I’m not sure how I’d feel if I purchased a Starbucks (SBUX) mocha, then came home to see a friend request from them. But I guess this is working for some customers.

Marketing on Twitter

Like those on Facebook, marketers using Twitter were also most interested in increasing traffic. Driving traffic by linking to marketing Webpages was the most common activity on the microblogging site, followed by driving sales by linking to promotional pages. But again, the most effective tactics were different.

B2C marketers had the most success with monitoring Twitter for PR problems (done by one-half of all respondents) and contacting users who posted negative comments about their brand (done by only 22.4% of total respondents). B2B companies also succeeded with brand monitoring, as well as with using Twitter invites for in-person events (the least common tactic of all).

Most of the Twitter tactics don’t surprise me. I personally don’t follow Twitter users who only tweet URLs and use their accounts like RSS feeds. What a waste of a marketing channel. Interspersing meaningful tweets with URLs is more likely to get a click from me, personally.

Biz Idea: Fuel Injector Cleaners at Gas Station Pumps

I’m not sure what it is about gas stations that spark business ideas in me.

Maybe it’s the selling opportunity I see at the gas pump. There I am, standing there with my credit card or cash out, waiting for my tank to fill. With that extra free time, it seems an obvious chance to hook me with an impulse buy. You could call this situation a good customer touchpoint, in sales parlance.

And what better impulse buy, besides drinks & snacks, than fuel injector cleaners and other related fuel treatment fluids next to a fuel pump? In tough economic times, consumers tend to invest more in their cars because maintaining one’s current car is cheaper than buying a new one or making costly repairs.

Although there is some debate on the effectiveness of fuel injector cleaners, I’m sure there would be an increase in sales if consumers knew about these products and had a convenient way to purchase them. There are many drivers who are unaware of such products. (There are also fuel additives, though those don’t really work.)

Gumout, STP, and Valvoline would no doubt benefit from such a set-up as well. By placing fuel injector cleaners next to a gas pump, they can increase customers awareness significantly. A poster or banner briefly explaining their benefits may help too.

Gas station owners could also do this themselves. Why wait for the manufacturers? Put some fuel injector cleaners out by your pumps and cha-ching!

Operationally, this new distribution channel may pose some challenges. Aside from changes in delivery destinations, there would need to be an easy mechanism for handling the sale. Putting it inside a gas station’s convenience store wouldn’t be close enough to the customer. Most customers walk in, pay for their gas, and walk out without looking at the fuel injector cleaner aisles. A vending machine by the gas pumps then, perhaps? That would certainly automate the buying process.

Maybe I should just open up a gas station (or preferably, a green vehicle service station) and set up such vending machines myself. So many ideas, so little time.

Photo by: futureatlas.com