Typically cleaning supplies are directed at women who are tasked with "keeping a home” and performing jobs such as cleaning up after their children – but what about those households with pets? According to Packaged Facts, a market research company, 49.7 percent of American households had a dog or cat in 2009 – up 4.3 percent from 2003.

Swiffer, the popular cleaning product from Procter & Gamble, is hoping to break through to that largely untapped percentage of Americans who clean their pet’s fur, drool, and other, smellier, messes. In an attempt to reach pet lovers, Swiffer has brought aboard Cesar Millan – otherwise known as the “Dog Whisperer.” Yes, that Cesar Milan.Continue reading...

When it comes to booking a flight, most travelers ignore the airline brand and focus on which flight offers the lowest price – the cheaper, the better.

But Virgin Atlantic and its iconoclastic CEO Sir Richard Branson have a different view. They have long offered more amenities than any other airline in an attempt to not only woo passengers, but to actually make one’s time in the air enjoyable. Virgin isn't offering just a flight, but an experience.Continue reading...

There is no doubt that Google’s new “Buzz” is their best impression of Facebook and Twitter, but will it actually become the new Facebook and Twitter? Google certainly hopes so, but it may prove more difficult than Google thinks.

Even though other former social networking giants like Friendster and even MySpace have fallen by the wayside, there is no reason to believe that Facebook and Twitter will join their former competitors in the social networking underworld just because Google has joined the fray.

Remember, Facebook has a growing base of more than 400 million users, and Twitter reportedly had their most successful month in January, boasting 1.2 billion Tweets. Do those numbers suggest users will whimsically depart? It doesn’t seem likely – even in light of Google’s impressive reach and considerable power.Continue reading...

What the f***? Well, that’s precisely how Google feels about much of YouTube users’ video and written content.

Both Google and YouTube account members can now use a new “safety mode” to censor content that YouTube’s Community Guidelines deems as inappropriate – in regard to both searches for content and user comments.

The “safety mode” is easy to apply. Users simply navigate to the bottom of any YouTube page, click the “safety mode” link on the bottom left, and select “yes” or “no.” The new mode will filter searches – such as “naked” – and eliminate comments from all videos.Continue reading...

Apparently, people haven’t tired of Twitter.

According to Royal Pingdom, the social networking juggernaut had more than 1.2 billion tweets in January, which marks the most tweets in Twitter history. Considering CNN ran an article in late January on how tweets have dwindled since August 2009, Twitter’s resurgence has taken many by surprise. But not Evan Williams, Twitter's CEO.

Just last month Williams tweeted: “Across all metrics […], yesterday was Twitter’s highest-usage day ever (and today will be bigger).” Williams, not surprisingly, is confident that the volume of tweets will increase throughout the month of January and all of 2010.Continue reading...

Even in an economic downturn, people are still checking to see what time it is. Swatch Group, the world’s largest selling watchmaker, is on-pace to post its most successful year to date. Granted, its lofty expectations are based on just two months of sales, but its encouraging January and February numbers are hard to ignore.

However, it’s not the United States and Japan – the usual suspects – that are fueling the watch company's resurgence. The United Kingdom, Russia, Australia, Scandinavia, Canada, and Mexico have all contributed to Swatch’s impressive sales numbers.Continue reading...

People are more likely to trust information that comes from people they know. So, not surprisingly, the clever folks at Google have created a new type of “social” search engine that includes personal online networks.

In a tutorial on YouTube (above), Google gives the example of “wanting to know more about Zurich.” In the video, Google outlines how in past searches, one could only find information about Zurich on the usual travel sites – but with Google’s new “social” search, your friend’s Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social networks will pop up if they’ve mentioned “Zurich” in the past.Continue reading...

If you’re attending the Vancouver Olympics this year, and you find yourself in a 100 percent environmentally sustainable, carbon-neutral café, then it’s probably sponsored by Coca-Cola. The soda company, building on past efforts, is going green this year – big time. The brand is using bottles, furniture, and other products – some quite surprising – all with recycled materials and reusable energy.

The experienced brand knows that making such claims incurs a substantial amount of scrutiny from eco-friendly organizations and consumers alike, so it is prepared to meet, and even exceed, expectations. Coca-Cola aims to make every aspect of its involvement in the Olympics green, from staff uniforms and delivery trucks to waste streams for compostable coffee cups and lids.  

Sound too good to be true? It just might be.Continue reading...