Observant webmasters were in a bit of an uproar earlier this year when the Google sent a letter quietly informing them that their website benchmarking tool were leaving the realm of Google Analytics and would be replaced by a vaguely described quarterly benchmarking newsletter.  Fast forward through 4 months of benchmarking darkness and Google has released the first quarterly newsletter to subscribed site admins via email at ~8:30pm EST on the Friday preceding the 4th of July weekend, (a treatment usually reserved for a bad earnings report).  So the question is, “has Google taken website benchmarking and made it better?”

The industry benchmarking tools in GA had their flaws (including questions over whether enough data existed to make the results valid for any particular website’s industry,) but the tools were free (to any site who agreed to anonymously share their own data with Google). However, taken with a grain of salt, they were better than having no idea of how your website stacked up to its peers.  Now looking at what’s changed, we can see how Google has decided to reward “hundreds of thousands” of sites for anonymously sharing dozens of measureable aspects of site usage with Google.

Unlike the Google Analytics reports which a webmaster could run on demand to compare their site to its peers on a variety of key metrics, Google has published a single report, containing a just a few stats, summarily describing either the world in total or if you’re lucky; your whole country.  The benchmarking newsletter also substitutes your date range of choice with Google data which was 5 – 8 months old at time of press.

Interesting bits from the report includes:

• Decreases in the number of pages viewed per site visit (vs. one year earlier) and average time spent on the site, but a lower bounce rate (i.e. less people left after just one page.)
• Minor changes in how users are finding their destinations with search engines guiding about 1% of traffic previously directed by website link referrals.
• Goal conversion rates (percent of visitors who complete the goal set by the site.) Most of the world fell between 0.7% – 1.6%.
  

  11/1/10 – 2/1/11
  Direct	36.80%
  Referral	19.40%
  Search Engines	28.00%
  Other	15.80%

So does the new quarterly benchmarking report leave site admins and developers feeling like Google still knows how to share and share alike?  Well, the new report is fewer metrics, less current, is completely generalized so that it does not apply to individual sites/industries and is only available once every 3 months.  In short, Google is getting just as much as Google currency (data) as it did before, but seems to be reserving the information capital for itself.  Without some big changes it’s hard to see this report escaping from its holiday weekend, Friday night release schedule.

You can view the full Google Quarterly Benchmarking Report courtesy of Rapid Repair Here.

Sony has recently announced the release of the Playstation® Vita (or PSVita). Sporting a ARM Cortex – A9 Processor, 5 inch 960 x 544 capacitive multi touch screen, a rear touch pad, and forward and rear facing camera’s, it is potentially a game changer to the hand held gaming platform. The Vita will come in two flavors, Wi-Fi only and a 3G enabled device, the latter allowing for online gaming anywhere at anytime. Other highlights on the device include:

• Dual shock technology
• PS3 Integration
• Support for Augmented Reality gaming.
• Facial Recognition software

The Playstation Vita is scheduled for release for the upcoming 2011 holiday season. The Wi-Fi only version will be $249.99, while the 3G enabled device will go for $299.99 and will be exclusive to the AT&T Network. One of the benefits of being on that network is the wide variety of mobile applications that they have available.

Stay tuned for more on the PlayStation Vita

Rapid Repair timeline –

November 2003 – Ben Levy first explores iPod repair.

January 2004 – The first iPod Mods website goes live!

May 2005 – iPod Mods, LLC becomes an official company.

March 2007 – iPod Mods changes name to Rapid Repair!

Rapid Repair services iPods, iPhones, iPads, and Microsoft Zunes.  You can ship it to us, or just drop in to our Portage location.  No appointment needed!  We also repair game consoles such as Xbox 360, Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, NDSi, and Sony PSP on a walk-in basis.  Most parts we stock are also available for self-installation!

Wii and PlayStation PSP.” And as new devices are rolled out, you can be sure that Rapid Repair will be upto-date on what’s out there. Last year, 12 hours prior to the latest iPhone release in the United States, Vronko flew to Paris to be one of the first to pick his up at a midnight iPhone release event—only to tear it apart to see how it was assembled. “Today, there is a real demand for the ‘doit-yourself’ market,” says Vronko. “We could have viewed this as a lost opportunity, but you’ve got to get your head out of the clouds, figure out a way to make operational changes and have the courage and persistence to adapt a plan until it works for you. Through our online assistance, we now sell parts and accessories for these do-ityourselfers.” Vronko says the passion to be an entrepreneur is the most intangible requisite. “If you can’t get up in the morning and be excited about making something happen for your business, you’re in the wrong place,” says Vronko. “You have to wake up knowing that every day you are ultimately responsible for sales, finance, labor, expenses, and every other facet of your own success. While most people understandably prefer the comfort and security of having a limited scope of functions of the company, an entrepreneur sees this responsibility as the  call to arms of each new day.”

As business continues to grow, Vronko and Levy are moving the business to a 4,300 square foot building in early fall. Rapid Repair employs 15 people. The Web address is: www.rapidrepair.com.

Aaron Vronko, BBA ’06
Aaron Vronko’s inquisitiveness was evident at an early age. He admits to always questioning how things worked while growing up and credits his parents for putting up with the question “why” a million or so times. A highly energetic individual, Vronko attended
classes at Grand Valley State University to obtain a Microsoft Systems Engineering certificate while still a junior in high school in Grand Rapids, Mich. He entered WMU as a freshman undecided in his major and admits he “bombed out” the first semester. He took the next semester off and landed a job at the help desk of a local pharmaceutical company where he worked for 2.5 years before losing his position, along with many others, through a merger. “I soon realized that I had to get my life back on track, so I enrolled in
classes at a local community college for a year before transferring back to Western as a management major.” He graduated magna cum laude in 2006 and from then on he began to devote all of his time to the business. Vronko credits his professors at the Haworth College of Business with “teaching me the sound fundamentals of running a good business,” and for “showing me how to advance business development.” Vronko married fellow WMU alumna Lindsay Scott, BS ’08, this summer.

Ben Levy grew up in Kalamazoo, but spent his high school years in Grand Rapids, Mich. Ben was an all-state wrestler. “My coach, Dave
Mills, helped me excel in the sport and also taught me many things about life and ethics,” says Levy. Levy chose Western because
he had a lot of family and friends in Kalamazoo, and it was far enough away from home to live on his own. He started as a computer science major, and then switched to computer information systems. Levy graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in 2004 with a major in computer information systems.

According to Rapid Repair’s spokeswomen, they just announced the first 240GB iPod upgrade, which will be available for all original iPod Video models. They use a Toshiba MK2431GAH 240GB 8-mm hard drive for the hack, making your old iPod video’s capacity double the current iPod classic’s space. She also says that they want to do it with the iPod Classic and Zune 2G as well.

All you need to do is visit: www.ipodmods.com and click on the repair service that fits your needs. So give us a try and call us at 1-888-POD-MODS

iPodMods has been doing repairs of iPods and many other different small electronics for over 3 years. They have opened the doors to the public and would like to help out iPod owners across the globe with their top notch support. They offer a wide variety of parts for most models and do repairs on ALL iPod types.

Check the site next week for premier customizations and modifications pages! Once the new modifications pages are available, we will start taking orders on this top secret project ONLY available at ipodmods.com!

Turn your iPaper weight into a working iPod again! For those of you who can wait more than 24 hours to get your iPod serviced, then this site is for you. We provide top quality service and repair and our technicians are specialists at repairing ALL iPod models. We will perform a detailed diagnostic of the problem and contact you with a repair quote prior to any actual repairs. All iPods that pass through our company go through a detailed 4 point inspection not available anywhere else!

Some competitor sites claim that they will be able to fix loose headphone jacks, and Fire Wire port problems. This is true, but you need to know that in some cases the Main Board will need to be replaced because the solder pads on your broken iPod’s Main Board may be unfixable. We will put it under the microscope and find out what can be done, and we will give you the lowest possible quote.

**iPodMods changed their name to Rapid Repair in April 2007**