I really like Google for many reasons. Not only do they have some fantastic applications that I use on a regular basis, they also help people find my blog. There are many search phrases where I rank pretty high in Google, including “Elliot’s Blog” and I’d like to think most people who search for Elliot’s Blog are looking for me.

Today, I noticed a large spike in traffic from Google, with many people looking for search variations including “baby elliot’s blog,” “elliot on oprah,” “baby elliot’s journal,” and others that were similar. Curious, I went to find out what people wanted, since Google was clearly sending people to the wrong site. I found that people were looking for something featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show today, “99 Days with Eliot.”

I found the Baby Eliot “99 Balloons” video, so instead of sending people on a wild goose chase to find it on Google, I embedded it above. It’s a tearjerker and quite a story.

If you are interested in learning more about Trisomy 18, or if you’d like to make a donation to help with researching this disease, please visit the Trisomy 18 Foundation’s website.

According to a breaking news story in the Boston Globe this afternoon, the Christian Science Monitor has opted to eliminate its [update] weekly print edition to focus on its core business, CSMonitor.com, its website. The article quotes CS Monitor editor John Yemma,

“We are getting out of the daily print business,” Yemma said. “By harnessing (our staff) to ‘Web first’ we will be putting the best of our content on the Web when it happens. It will be much more energetic. Much more a go-to place.”

With the cost of print increasingly becoming more expensive, it’s no surprise that a longtime print publication would opt to move online. Advertising is trackable, which appeals to advertisers, and it’s much more economical to publish online.  Smart move by the Christian Science Monitor, that I expect will be followed by many other print publishers.

This is very big news for domain owners who have names that might be coveted by publishers – geodomains, for example .

In order to weather this economic storm, I have been spending most of my time and some of my money on developing and re-developing my websites. I believe it’s become very risky to invest in some lower to mid-priced domain names with the hopes of quickly flipping them, so instead of buying a $3,000 name with the hopes of selling it for $5,000, I am now spending that money on developing my sites (such as Burbank, Lowell, Secaucus and TropicalBirds). Yes it most certainly can still be done obviously, but it is more difficult.

I believe businesses will always need to advertise, and Internet advertising is a trackable way to advertise. Advertisers can determine campaign ROIs and adjust  advertising expenses based on this. My sites will offer affordable advertising opportunities, that will be more economical than Google Adwords campaigns in most cases – or at least that’s the idea. The more advertisers that sign up and create custom landing pages within Burbank.com, the greater the traffic will grow and more value all advertisers will receive.

At this time, especially given the tax burden faced by most domain owners who consider their domain assets inventory, it isn’t wise to spend a ton of money on domain names that may or may not sell quickly. I am fortunate to not have registered a considerable amount of new domain names, so I don’t have to make the renew or drop decision, but I know there are plenty of people out there who are doing that right now. While it might not feel good to have to do this, I believe it will lead to a trimmer and more agile company.

It’s tough out there right now, and every decision you make could have a major impact on your company’s bottom line and/or its ability to survive. For me, developing strong advertising venues via development is hopefully a way that will allow my business to survive and ultimately thrive once the economy is more stable. Perhaps you need to look at your domain assets to see how you can better stay afloat.