May 20, 2008

Real-Time Alerts Grow in Popularity: Google, Ziggs, Twitter...

Receiving real-time alerts about important data on the web is a growing trend and a pleasure for many. Google has been in the alerts business for some time. You can set an alert at Google for a keyword of interest to you, such as news on a specific company. Each time news about that company appears on the Internet, Google will send you an email alert giving you access to the link.

Ziggs is a friend of this trend as well. Ziggs sends a free personal Search Alert to its customers each time a visitor googles their name and then clicks through to their Ziggs Profile. Getting notified when someone has visited your profile helps you keep your fingers on the pulse of search activity to your name.


For job seekers, Ziggs Alerts provide a quick glimpse into the traction your online resume is receiving on the web from recruiters or hiring managers. Ziggs even shows searcher information from a global level or down to the building level (global Ziggs Search Alert map shown above, with each red marker indicates a searcher who googled and found my Ziggs Profile). Everyone should be more aware of how often they’re searched and found online. Ziggs can provide this information for free.

Newcomer Twittervision gives you another taste of real-time alerts in the form of global tweet viewing. Although it feels a bit voyeuristic to follow tweets in real-time across the US or even in France or China…..that is part of the point of Twitter: instant insight into the micro-ideas of the masses. I see it as somewhat of both a local and a global communications experiment, where the outcome remains to be seen.

I use Google Alerts to follow company news stories. I use Ziggs Search Alerts to get notified when someone has searched me and viewed my Ziggs Profile. And I use Twitter to follow tweeters on a number of topics including social media (Ziggs, LinkedIn and Facebook). My tweet topics vary but will often include Ziggs, professional networking, social media, marketing and branding. Follow me on Twitter and I’d be delighted to follow you too.

If you're using alerts from Google, Ziggs or following Twitter in real-time, I'd love to hear about your experience. Or, if you're enjoying another kind of real-time alert, I'd love to know more about it.