Monthly Archive for December, 2011

Google-Free Wednesday — Similar Pages & Link Searches

Published on December 21, 2011 in Google-Free Wednesday, Search Engines and Search Strategies. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Lately, Google has begun eliminating as much search functionality as they can.  One of their recent efforts is the revamped advanced search page.  If you don’t think so, then just try to find the advanced search page on your own, I dare you.  Did you find it?

Evidently Google thinks you aren’t smart enough to use such advanced stuff.  If you really want to find the advanced search page you have to start your search first and then go all the way to the bottom of the SIRP where you will find a link to advanced search.

Under the guise of “people don’t use it”, the similar pages and links to a specific page (backlinks) options have been removed.  Now why would anybody want those nasty things anyway?

Similar Pages

Similar pages now have to be searched using SimilarPages.com and WhoIsLike.it.  This type of search is important to the expert searcher to develop search syntax and to find other players in a given market. The Google search syntax related:www.ConfidentialResource.com is most often a poor substitute for the above search engines.

Backlinks

To find the sites linking to a particular page you have to do it in the main search box using the Google search syntax,  link:ConfidentialResource.com.  Google’s link command isn’t very useful because Google collects so few backlinks. Bing is no help with backlinks. Yahoo closed its Site Explorer some time ago.  It might seem like searching backlinks is now limited to the scant Google results or nothing if you don’t have SEO tools on hand. Fortunately, that is not true.

Blekko Backlinks to the Rescue

Blekko is an excellent alternative for finding backlinks.

The search syntax is to use their slashtags /links or /domainlinks with a URL or domain name. The /links slashtag will find pages that link to a particular page whereas the /domainlinks slashtag finds all inbound links to a particular site.

The second route is via your search results. At the end of each search result is a downwards pointing arrow labelled SEO. Click on this and select links from the pop-up box. This creates a /links search syntax for the page given in the search result.

ReverseInternet.com Backlinks

We have also used ReverseInternet.com successfully. Search by the domain name, then select [backlinks] next to the domain name in the resulting table.  At the top right of the backlinks table, select External Only: On to get the external backlinks.

 

The Next Browser

Published on December 16, 2011 in Methods, Power User Tips, Search Engines and Search Strategies. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

I’m a digital troglodyte that doesn’t like change, but sometimes there is no avoiding it.

Recently, Google stopped paying Mozilla for the little Google search window at the top right of the Firefox browser.  Google has paid Mozilla about $1 per copy to have that window. Last year, that Google search window accounted for 84% of Mozilla’s $123 million of revenue, or about $100 million. However, Google’s Chrome browser has made remarkable strides against Firefox and the rest of the the browser field.

The loss of funding to support FireFox, and Chrome’s association with the largest search engine, may herald the end of FireFox.  No other browser gives so much control to the user like Firefox does. Most users don’t understand that Firefox is more customizable than either Google Chrome or Internet Explorer.  If Mozilla doesn’t find a way to replace the lost revenue, then expert searchers may loose their most fundamental and productive tool.  That will lead to a forced change for this digital troglodyte expert searcher.

 

Programme Cheatsheets

Published on December 12, 2011 in Methods and Power User Tips. 0 Comments Tags: , .

MakeUseOf Cheat Sheets  list shortcuts for common programmes that you use daily. These will make you more productive.

 

Copernic Agent & Google

Published on December 9, 2011 in Methods, Private Investigator, Search Engines and Search Strategies. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I have used Copernic for years, and just accepted its lack of a Google search.  I just got used to it, and never sought a way to add Google.

At a recent conference, Kevin Ripa told me that a registry entry would solve the problem after I mentioned that it didn’t search Google.  If you’re going to feel like an idiot, its good to shown-up by a really smart guy like Kevin.

Go to the registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Copernic\Agent\System]

and insert the following string:

EngineUpdateAddress=

with value, http://updates.copernic.com/k2upd/agentex

 

Bulk Sales & the PI

Published on December 7, 2011 in Canada, Company Research, Competitive Intelligence, Courts, Methods, Private Investigator and Sources. 0 Comments

BULK SALES ACT SEARCHES – Ontario Only

Sales of large quantities of stock or the sale of assets and equipment of the business itself outside the regular course of business are considered a sale “in bulk”. The Bulk Sales Act is designed to protect the creditors of a business owner by requiring the owner to follow the procedures of the Act for sales outside the regular course of business.

If a buyer wishes to purchase the assets and equipment of a business, the seller “in bulk” must provide an affidavit stating that all creditors have been paid, or they will be paid from the proceeds of the sale.  In some cases the buyer pays an assigned trustee and creditors of the business may wish to waive their rights in which case the proceeds are paid.

A ‘Bulk Sales search‘ determines if a bulk sales affidavit has been filed with the relevant Ontario Superior Court of Justice office.

The Private Investigator (PI)

If you are interested in an Ontario business’s assets, debts, cash flow, and general financial condition, then a a Bulk Sale Act search is an important search.  It may tell you if the business is failing or if it has suffered a set-back.  You may learn of an abandoned line or the sale of a production facility.  You may learn of a legal action in another jurisdiction by contacting or researching the other parties to the bulk sale. Any sale that indicates that creditors will be paid from the proceeds of the sale may indicate a judgment that is being satisfied or it may be part of the settlement of a claim.

 

The Bank Act & the PI

Published on December 5, 2011 in Canada, Company Research, Due Diligence, Legislation, Methods, Private Investigator, Risk Management and Sources. 0 Comments

The Bank Act

The Bank Act (1991, c. 46) is an Act of the Government of Canada respecting banks and banking.  The Canadian banking industry includes 20 domestic banks, 24 foreign bank subsidiaries and 22 foreign bank branches operating in Canada.

Canadian Banks & Lending

Canadian Banks have the right to lend money to wholesalers, retailers, shippers and dealers in “products of agriculture, products of aquaculture, products of the forest, products of the quarry and mine, products of the sea, lakes, and rivers, of goods, wares and merchandise, manufactured or otherwise” on the security of such goods or products, and to lend money to manufacturers on their goods and inventories.

The Private Investigator (PI)

When doing a background investigation of a person, the PI will be looking for previously unknown assets, banking and financial arrangements, or corporate affiliations.  When investigating a company, the PI will be looking for previously unknown assets, banking, and financial arrangements.  In both cases, the equity held by the subject in the assets will be of interest.  Searching the Bank Act Security Registry may reveal all of the above.

Bank Act Security Registry

Under S. 427 of the Bank Act, the borrower must sign a document that provides the bank with the first preferential lien on the goods or equipment.  The Bank then registers a ‘Notice of Intention‘ to take the goods as security, to perfect its security interest.

The Bank of Canada offers a Security Registry service which may be searched for registrations.  The search will reveal whether the Bank of Canada has taken security on property that may interest you.  If the Bank does have a claim on the property, then it means that it has loaned the customer money and that it has the right to take possession of and sell the property if the loan is not paid.  This is important for you to know for two reasons.  First, it shows that the person or business is indebted to a Canadian chartered bank and may have equity in the property listed in the security agreement.  Second, it may uncover previously unknown assets, banking and financial arrangements, or corporate affiliations. You will need to provide the name of the person or business being searched.

Years ago, we only did this when we suspected the subject person or company might have an interest in an agricultural business.  Today however, we find more non-agricultural businesses in the Bank of Canada registry. We have online access to the Bank of Canada registry to search for Bank Act Security items. The search results often indicate that a business assigned its inventory to a bank as security under the Bank Act.

A manual search for Notices of Intention filed under Section 427 of the Bank Act are conducted at the agency of the Bank of Canada in the province or territory where the debtor’s place of business is located. For Bank Act searches,  “agency” means, in a province, the office of the Bank of Canada or its authorized representative but does not include its Ottawa office, and in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut means the office of the clerk of the court of each of those territories respectively [see S. 427(5)].