No matter how much I think Google’s domination of online markets is dangerous I still have to say they impress me again and again.

Google Analytics which must be one of the most adopted web analytics packages by now is now available on Google Code. So now you can extend Google Analytics as you need meaning you can have a custom installation for each website if needed.

I got a new mobile phone back in August which means I’ve at last got a quick enough mobile connection to surf on the move. It’s a Sony Ericsson W890i which packages up everything I need: a mobile, a half way decent camera, an MP3 player and mobile Internet.

Mobile web is reaching a proportion of the population that just can’t be ignored - the iPhone has reached 0.30% of global web traffic which might sound like not a great deal but as a new medium it’s a massive increase. You’ve also got to remember the different use of web browsers on a mobile phone - behaviour is very different to when using a browser on a computer.

I’ve found the w890i to be very good for the mobile web and recommend Opera Mini as an excellent mobile browser. It just means I can access information quicker but I only tend to skim information rather than doing more in depth searching / reading. This shows why even if the mobile browsers can render standard websites you should consider a separate mobile website.

Mobile websites should be really cut back to exactly what people will want on the move. Forget pages of text explaining your service just give them the ability to search quickly and get the information they want. For a lot of companies a location search and location details is going to the core of a website. Think out of box a bit here - you might even have features that just wouldn’t work on the standard website - how about a hand reference guide?

So start thinking mobile - even the glacial-paced W3C have a best practices document.

The media have been ever ready to attack anything Internet related as either the root of all evil or a fad that will disappear after a short period of time.

Social media websites, being the “new” thing have been repeatedly attacked as a bubble ready to burst - a claim I’ve always thought was way off the mark. My opinion was that users were becoming more mature and using websites in a different way with just some flaky users just stopping use.

Well Facebook have announced their first 100 million users (although how many inactive accounts is a mystery) and Hitwise is showing Facebook traffic is up 50% year on year. Now these are hardly figures showing a bubble bursting are they?

People like to socialise and it’s only natural they’re going to extend this online if the tools are available.

The outcry at Facebook “imposing” its new design on usershas surprised me. After all I thought people using the system might be pleased to see improvements. It would seem however that the usual fear of change you see in the general populous is pretty virulent in the Facebook community too. There are Facebook groups against the new layout and even online petitions.

Lets assume this is just a visual redesign - I’d still take Facebook’s side it’s their website to do as they wish. Why should they keep the overhead of running two designs that can mean maintenance and upgrades are more difficult?

But deep down the new layout isn’t just about visual appeal (although I much prefer the cleaner look) it’s all about usability and they’ve done a good job. Everything is still easy to be found but the tabbed interface stops everything growing out of control.

Applications and application spam for me and many others has been the bane of Facebook but they’ve handled it well. I can block applications permanently and even all application requests from certain people who I know are a bit free and easy will adding anything and everything to their profile (and sending it to all their friends at the same time) - you know who you are!

Now the new interface means the applications are moved to a separate tab so I no longer need to go onto friends pages and wait for the hundreds of applications to load or scroll for approximately 900 miles down the page to find their wall!

So what are the downsides of the new design? Oh yeah you might have to spend 5 minutes looking around to find where everything is. Five minutes is an exaggeration to be honest as everything is in a very logical position.

If these people got their way we’d still be living in caves.