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Well at least the public version. Google will continue to use PageRank or a variation behind closed doors, and as it has always stated, it is only one of hundreds of signals that is used to rank and grade a web page.

But for the multitude of SEO tools and website selling ropey page rank services, it is now finally over.

Great to the point article from Search Engine Land 

"Good riddance.

Ever gotten a crappy email asking for links? Blame PageRank.

Ever had garbage comments with link drops? Blame PageRank..."

RIP Google PageRank score - Search Engine Land

Wasn't aware of this until yesterday, what a superb idea.

Watch the short animation, narrated by Stephen Fry and see what you think. 

Interesting story from Trunki doing the rounds.

Remember them from Dragons Den, the unlikely success of childrens ride on suitcases. Obviously success breeds imitation, but when CEO Rob Law went to court to contest his design rights had been infringed, he lost.

Trunki founder Rob Law said: “We are devastated and bewildered by this judgement, not just for ourselves but for the huge wave of uncertainty it brings to designers across Britain.

We created an original product in Trunki and protected it by computer generated registered design – a process used to protect a third of designs across Europe. In my honest opinion, the Trunki was willfully ripped off. We stood up to this behaviour, held it to account and took our case all the way to the highest court in the land – only for the judges to rule that we are not protected against the copy. They’re effectively sending knights into battle without armour.

Full story on Trunkis Blog:

Supreme Court Judgment Brings Wave of Uncertainty to Britain’s Designers

So what do you think, here are the two products side by side. Blatant rip off or competition?

image courtesy of trunki

I knew eventually I'd be eating a healthy diet 

A new study says munching chocolate will make you healthy, smarter and stop heart attacks.

Well at least it was going well until I read about it in the Guardian

"This new study, based on nearly 1,000 people from New York, is not the first to link chocolate to brain function, but what it actually tells us remains very vague. “It’s not possible to talk about causality, because that’s nearly impossible to prove with our design,” said one of the researchers, meaning that we can’t tell whether clever people like chocolate or chocolate makes you clever. Or indeed if there is something messier going on."

Can chocolate make you smarter? - The Guardian

The article in the Telegraph is much better alluding to much more, making less of the facts and giving lots of great pictures of chocolate cakes 

"It's good for your heart, reduces the risk of strokes and even helps protect your skin from the sun.

Now, another apparent benefit has been added to the list of chocolate's nutritional qualities: it makes you smarter.

A study, published recently in the journal, Appetite, indicated that people who eat chocolate at least once a week saw their memory and abstract thinking improve.

“It's significant – it touches a number of cognitive domains,” psychologist Merrill Elias, one of the leaders of the study, told the Washington Post."

Chocolate makes you smarter, study suggests - The Telegraph

The Sun has an even better take on it:

Yes, Smarties do have the answer: Eating chocolate DOES make you brainier - The Sun

"Study finds that people who eat sweet treat weekly get memory boost"

So in the interests of selective journalism and weak facts, I'll go with the Sun and stock up on chocolate!

Only occasionally dabble in ebay these days, mainly clearing out the garage and kids stuff! 

In my mind what you bought didn't fit the description. ie it's not unlocked and it's not 16GB!

If it was me, I would simply go for a return and refund.

Alternatively can you negotiate with the seller? They must have known it was still locked and the size of memory. But you need to move fast. ebay does state:

Item not as described

A buyer must request a return no later than 30 days after the actual (or latest estimated) delivery date, or, if the seller’s return window is longer, within the return window.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html

So you have 30 days once you have received the item. You just need to decide how good a "bargain" the phone was. 

Apple won't unlock your phone, it will need to be unlocked by the phone provider EE (or use an unlocking service by a 15 year old in a dubious phone accessory back street shop).

My 5 pence worth, get your cash back and get a contract with a provider. EE do some good business deals, so do Vodaphone, even for single handsets.

Can I play with Madness - Iron Maiden on Radio 2! Rock on

Most small business owners end up doing their own marketing, which can mean late nights listing yourself in directories, posting on forums, messing around on social media and trying to generate more leads, work or sales.

So here is a blog post talking you through how to make the most of your My Local Services listing.

Make the Most of Your Business Listing

Sorry couldn't resist it  But now I have your attention, ADR is an important subject that affects all business owners.

According to research from the Ombudsman Services, complaints from Scottish consumers has dramatically increased over the last 12 months.

• 5.1 million customer complaints in Scotland in 2015 – up from 3.7 million in 2014
• More than half (56%) of people in Scotland had an issue with a product or service at least once during the year – that’s 2.3 million people affected
• There was the equivalent of 2.75 issues per Scot in 2015, although only half of these were acted on, higher than the UK average of 2.44
• The most common sectors for complaints in Scotland in 2015 were Retail, Energy and Telecoms

Source: CONSUMER ACTION REPORT – SCOTLAND

Well at least it shows the UK as a whole is good at one thing, and that's complaining! 

But it also shows that as business owners, there is no where to hide when it comes to customer service and ensuring you look after your customers.

Be prepared for when things do inevitably go wrong. If a customer has a dispute which you are struggling to resolve or they are unhappy with your decision, do you have an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) policy in place? 

If you are a member of a Trade Association or professional body, then the chances are they will have an ADR process you can utilise, or will use an independent organisation such as the Ombudsman Services.

There is now also the the European based online dispute resolution platform, which is available for consumers and traders.

ADR is a great idea and offers protection for both consumer and trader when an impasse has been reached or communication has broken down, allowing for agreement or settlement without going to court.

ADR Regulations

There has been some confusion with the introduction of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, particularly around ADR.

As per the regulations from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute:

The Regulations do not make use of ADR mandatory for traders although where sector specific requirements already exist for traders to use ADR (such as financial services, energy and communications) these requirements will remain.

However, from 01 October 2015 all traders selling to consumers, whether or not they intend to use ADR, will need to:

a. Give the consumer details of a certified ADR provider AND

b. Inform the consumer about whether they intend to use that provider

You can read the full ADR guidance notes from Trading Standards here:

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION REGULATIONS 2015

Citizens Advice also has a good page explaining about ADR:

Using alternative dispute resolution - Citizens Advice

So do you utilise an ADR process, or have you had need to get a third party to adjudicate between you and a customer?

Any success or horror stories?

So some surprise over the weekend with the suspension then resignation of the British Chambers of Commerce boss. Seemed a bit of a storm in a teacup with the conspiracy theories running wild that he was silenced by Downing Street, but interesting that his personal opinion was to leave the EU.

Still doesn't help the confusing picture. The other day the beeb were interviewing farmers who were complaining over a lack of information, mainly around how subsidies would or wouldn't work. The wheeled in an NFU bod to help clarify but left me even more confused. Apparently there will be a thinktank to come up with a clearer picture and they are holding a few roadshows. As the farmers mouthpeice, the NFU didn't come over as very convincing.

The hashtag #BritishPieWeek is currently trending on Twitter, even Google getting in on it 

At least it shows developers have a sense of humour...