Nothing Boosts Web Traffic Like A Scandal

Look at the impact of the SEC charging Goldman Sachs with fraud on April 16th on web searches and traffic. Amazingly "Goldman Sachs Careers" was still ranked the 9th most popular Goldman related search term during the scandal. Ethics or no ethics, people still regard Goldman Sachs a place where you can make lots of money I guess.

If You Want To Speak To A Teen, Send A Text Message

% of Teens Who Contact Friends Daily By Method

It shouldn't come as a surprise that teens spend lots of time sending text messages, but it's interesting to see just how popular it is. While usage of the other communications methods have remained relatively steady since 2006, text message usage has doubled in the same period. This data is contained in the fascinating new Teen & Mobile Phones study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

While teens use their phones for activities other than text messaging, it dominates the usage of the device and amazingly the average teen in the study sends an average of 50 text messages per day, and 31% report sending a staggering 100 or more messages per day. The monthly volume of text messages (357 for users of all ages) exceeds the volume of mobile phone calls which is only 204 based on data from The Nielsen Company.   By contrast, teens between 13 and 17 years of age make only 231 mobile calls per month but send 1,742 text messages!

Goldman Sachs, Maybe Not The Smartest Guys In The Room After All

Goldman Sachs, prides itself on being a principled business which espouses:

• Our clients' interests always come first.
• Our experience shows that if we serve our clients well, our own success will follow.
• Our assets are our people, capital and reputation. If any of these is ever diminished, the last is the most difficult to restore. We are dedicated to complying fully with the letter and spirit of the laws, rules and ethical principles that govern us. Our continued success depends upon unswerving adherence to this standard.

Turns out they didn't always operate that way. Today the SEC dropped a bombshell and charged Goldman Sachs with fraud in structuring and marketing of CDO's tied to subprime mortgages.  The charges include:

The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to investors vital information about the CDO, in particular the role that a major hedge fund played in the portfolio selection process and the fact that the hedge fund had taken a short position against the CDO.

This flies in the face of their stated business principles and it seems that real damage has been done to Goldman's reputation. As Goldman says. "This [its reputation] is the most difficult to restore." I predict the problems for Goldman and the repercussions have just begun.

Topeka Will Rule The World

The guys and gals at Mountain View decided that the Google name didn't have that much brand equity, so on April 1 they changed the name to TOPEKA. Much catchier, don't you think ;)