The Yolk is a new digital agency that is the result of a merger between specialist agencies Sticky Panda (Digital strategy and online performance) and Blue Hat Technologies (Web and software development). My role in this new exciting venture will be as the Customer Engagement Director. I'm very excited about the new prospects and will update people on forthcoming news.

The Yolk is due to officially launch in January 2010 (straight after the New Year) so if anyone has any questions, please let me know. Alternatively, visit The Yolk's website to sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Twitter.

Related links:

• The Yolk
• The Yolk on Twitter

Of course it is. It's Google doing search. The new Google Commerce search is the new e-commerce search engine designed for retailers.

A recent post by Econsultancy mentions that a lot of consumers choose to skip search functionality for e-commerce sites as they tend to be well below customer expectations (and ultimately dilute the user experience). This is apparently why Google has entered this market to help retailers who want a robust on-site search but without the setup issues or outsourced assistance. I would have to disagree with Econsultancy as while I was working at a few of the top online retailers in the UK, site search was the most used forms of navigation on their sites. Up to 60% of users used the search function from the homepage and then that number increased on subsequent pages when regular streams of navigation failed. Although I disagree with the customer behaviour insights of the Econsultancy blog post, it still leads to the same result and shows the importance of having a good search function on your website and the potential market gap spotted by Google.

Is it just the same as regular Google site search?
No, it's specifically designed for retail sites. For a start it allows retailers to "promote" and adjust results based on promotions and data/information. It also has advanced filtering/sort functions available which have become a necessity in shopping online. Finally there is also the ability to change result view types so that the search is a little bit more personalised to the customer.

How much does it cost?
It's not cheap starting at £50k. However, for this price you get a very powerful search function with Google's 24/7 support and experience to back it up. There are other competitors such as Fred Hopper and Mercado (taken over by Omniture) who provide some very good alternative solutions. However, they must all now be worried (even if they don't admit it) that Google has launched this product... as not only is it what they do best, but as expected, it also seamlessly integrates with all the other Google packages such as Adwords, Analytics and Checkout.

Related links:

• Find out more about Google Commerce Search

A recent study by Streamline.net (Hosting company) has suggested that small businesses are neglecting basic usability online.

"A further survey of 450 UK firms revealed that whilst half consider their website to look 'professional', 1 in 3 owners admit that they are guilty of 'neglecting' their sites."

Another interesting fact for small businesses is that 1 in 5 consumers take a web address from the side of a small company's vehicle whilst only 10% of small businesses currently display their URL on the side of any commercial vehicles.

Some top consumer facts to digest:

• 76% of consumers have now used the website of a small business
• 1 in 4 people state that small business websites are 'barely usable'
• 83% of online users found faults with the website of a small business

Some top small business website facts to digest:

• 54% were unfinished
• 52% contained broken links
• 50% contained out-of-date email addresses
• 31% are missing contact details

What is interesting from this report is that "The findings are in contrast to another survey of 450 small firms where 76% felt confident that the language on their website could in no way be perceived negatively, and 84% saw the images on their website as fit for purpose."

So a small shout-out to small businesses - make sure that usability and customer perception/corporate reputation is much higher on your list for your website. as you may be losing customers as you read this post! Never underestimate the power of a positive user experience as it can be the converting factor to your online success.

Related links:

• Read the full article on Usability News
• See how Sticky Panda can help you improve your online user experience
• Streamline hosting