Archive for April 15th, 2008
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With the housing market slowing down, times are hard for estate agents. But given their reputation – however unfair – will people care?
“Sympathy” and “estate agent” are not words often found in the same sentence.
Characterised as pushy and insincere, the good ones, just like journalists and politicians, are viewed as the exception rather than the rule.
But given the doom and gloom headlines about the housing market, how badly are they suffering?
As they depend so directly on sales, the fall in mortgages does not make happy reading. Between November and February, the monthly figure for mortgages on new homes fell from 80,000 to below 50,000, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
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It’s tough out there, says Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, but save your sympathy because it’s only the bad ones who are going to the wall.
“Estate agents offering a good service, qualified people who know what they’re doing and employ quality people, they always rise above others in this kind of market. The cream rises to the top.
“So far the people closing offices and laying off staff, the feeling I’m getting is it’s not our members – it’s not the older established agents – it’s those who set up in the boom period and thought ‘Anyone can sell property’.
“I don’t have massive sympathy for those who aren’t doing a proper job.”
Knowledge base
Overall it’s a mixed picture with agents in some areas prospering and some not. Lettings are doing well but the corporate sector has wielded the axe, with big names like Countrywide among those closing offices in this sector.
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 They may be taking home less money than they need to pay the mortgage, with the obvious irony that entails  Henry Pryor, ex-estate agent
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“A lot of estate agents haven’t seen this sort of slower market before, and it will come as a shock to them. But it shouldn’t because it means it’s a proper negotiating, selling market when you have to know what you’re talking about.”
He is confident the market could pick up again soon because – unlike in the crash of the early 90s, when interest rates and unemployment were high – there are plenty of people eager to move.
A bleaker picture is painted by Henry Pryor, a former estate agent and housing expert, who says that with sales falling so dramatically, it’s a desperate situation for people dependent on commission.
“A lot of estate agents are paid a basic salary and a performance bonus.
“Through no fault of their own, they will not be doing the business they would expect to be and this will have very serious repercussions on relationships and marriages because they may be taking home less money than they need to pay the mortgage, with the obvious irony that entails.”
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Now we’re down to the top 20 most beautiful women in all of sports. Things are starting to get a lot hot and smoky, if you know what we mean…
20. Amy Taylor
Amy was a soccer player with the Australian national team, and she played on the United States professionally as well. Back in 2000 she posed for a nude calendar with her team mates. Too bad we could not include the whole team here!
19. Kristi Leskinen
Kristi is an American freestyle skier, and she won a bronze in the Women’s Superpipe competition. More impressive yet is the fact that she figured at the 90 position of the FHM “sexiest women of 2005″ list.
18. Anna Rawson
This is the third golfer to appear in our list (yeah, I am also wondering if I should start playing that…). She started modeling at a very young age, and in 2004 she became a professional player. She has 26 years, and was born in Australia.
17. Kristina Lum
Kristina is an Olympic synchronized swimmer. She was one of the first female swimmers to use a male partner. Well, I am not that good with synchronized movements underwater, but I volunteer myself as well….
16. Tatiana Grigorieva
As you can see we are starting to enter into the “really hot” zone. Tatiana was born in Russia, but she competes for Australia on the pole vault discipline. She is a bombshell, what can I say?
15. Logan Tom
Logan is one of the most complete American volleyball players (and one of the sexiest, we might add). She was born in California, and that is where she currently lives.
14. Elisabetta Canalis
If you are not familiar with the Italian culture, let me summarize it this way: Elisabeta Canalis is one of the most desired women on the whole country. What is her connection with the world of sports you might ask? Well, she used to date famous soccer player Christian Vieri, and she also became the presenter of a soccer TV program. (Do yourself a favor a search the Google images for her name…)
13. Ana Paula Mancino
Brazil also has hot bodies, and this girl is the proof. Ana Paula was born in 1971, and she started playing volleyball at the age of 12. When she was 19 she moved to Italy to play with the Campobasso team.
12. Niki Gudex
Niki is a professional mountain biker. She lives in Sydney, Australia. Apart from competing in that sport she is also a model. The magazine FHM included her on the “100 Sexiest Women in the World” list on 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2005. Nice!
11. Malia Jones
You cant make a list with hot women without including a surfer, right? Malia was born in 1977 in Hawaii, and many people say that she contributed to raise the interest on the sport among young girls. Well, she got me interested as well.
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While Microsoft and Yahoo! engage in their odd mating ritual, they are benefiting the very company that is driving them to seek partners. Internet advertisers can’t figure out what the two companies will look like in six months, so search leader Google is set to profit from the confusion.
“We find this to be a very advantageous situation for Google,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Derek Brown said Thursday. “The longer this gets dragged out, the better for Google.” He added: “The more complicated a deal gets, the more difficult it becomes to satisfy all parties, and the more complicated the integration gets, the more it favors Google.”
As Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO – news – people ) blows hot and cold — more cold — about teaming up with Microsoft and casts around for other partners, the outlook is getting increasingly unclear. “This is the first time that we have seen real feasible alternatives that could derail the Microsoft deal,” said analyst Jeffrey Lindsay of Sanford C. Bernstein.
On Friday, Microsoft’s chief operating officer said at a news conference in Mumbai that his company had made a fair offer to Yahoo! and that no matter what happened with the deal, the company was determined to grow in online advertising capabilities. We believe we’ve made a very fair offer to Yahoo’s board of directors,” Kevin Turner said. “Currently, it’s in their hands to decide the outcome of that offer,” he said.
Turner said Microsoft would “continue to drive market share from a search standpoint within the consumer space, and that’s a strategy we’re committed to in the long term.”
The Yahoo bid was “a tactic and a strategy” toward that end, Turner said.”The rest is now up to their board,” he added. “With or without the acquisition we are committed to becoming a world-class digital-advertising company.”
Yahoo’s resistance to Microsoft’s offer of $31 per Yahoo! share, made on Feb. 1, recently took a turn when Google (nyse: GOOG – news – people ) it announced a two-week “trial advertising” partnership with Yahoo!. The tester program involves Yahoo! allowing Google to show advertising links alongside up to 3.0% of its U.S. search results. (See: ” Yahoo! Gets In Bed With Google“)
We’re happy to announce the launch of AdSense for conversations, a new type of monetization solution that “puts the ‘context’ in contextual advertising”. Now, in just a few simple steps, you can begin displaying ads that are relevant to the topics you’re discussing — in an unobtrusive screen above your head.
Anyone taking part in the conversation can hit the ad with their hand to immediately take advantage of the product or service being offered. With our new Teleportation Technology(TM), you’ll be transported directly to the site where the service is available, or have the product appear instantaneously in your hands.
Based on our omega testing, we’ve noticed a few common questions among publishers that we’d like to answer.
How do I add Google ads to my conversations?
Once you sign up using the link at the bottom of this post, we’ll send you an adjustable screen and special AdSense headgear to attach it to. Just follow our Screen Implementation Guide to assemble it and select your desired size, such as the very effective 300 x 250 mm. Don’t forget to also visit the ‘Manage Ads’ section of your account to customize the look and feel of your ads — try a color palette with 336699 to bring out the blue in your eyes!
Can I prevent ads from appearing in certain conversations?
Yes; we understand that there’s a time and place for ads in conversations, as a chat with a friend isn’t quite the same as an interview with a prospective employer or parole officer. That’s why we let you choose which conversations to target using the ‘Allowed Conversations’ feature, located under your AdSense Setup tab.
Why are my ads not targeted to my conversation?
If you’re not seeing targeted ads, it may be that you haven’t discussed a particular topic long enough for our system to determine the meaning of your conversation. We recommend rambling and repeating yourself to help our system pick relevant ads to display. Also, you may wish to try our voice targeting feature — you can speak more loudly to emphasize certain phrases. However, these activities may result in socially awkward situations, so please proceed with caution.
What reports can I view?
You can view reports about how funny your conversations were, how much your companion was actually listening, and, if you implement the ‘review my spoken English’ setting, how many times you said the word ‘like’ or ‘uh’ in a particular conversation.
What if I’m stretching and I hit an ad accidentally?
We understand accidents may happen, and appreciate your concern. However, we recommend that publishers refrain from having conversations during yoga classes to prevent these types of accidental hits.
Where can I learn more about conversation ads?
For more information or to sign up, click here.
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