GoDaddy faced a huge backlash for supporting SOPA. In a PR stunt, they released a press release saying they no longer supported SOPA, only to still be on the official list of supporters. Then they finally came out against SOPA, but it was already too late. I’m not going to quote any number, but people definitely left GoDaddy in mass for their support of SOPA.

The Stop Online Piracy Act is a terrible piece of legislation that was written by lobbyists who support the content industries with no help from the technology sector. A co-sponsor of the bill Mel Watts (D-NC), was pretty blatant in saying, “I’m not a nerd,” while babbling about how he is not an expert and that the experts were wrong. The sponsors of the bill have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, but they still want to pass the bill.

With nearly EVERY big Internet player that your grandmother has heard of coming out against SOPA, they may have a trick up their sleeves to be sure everyone is aware of how serious of a threat this is to their very existence, let alone our Freedom of Speech. Apparently, the NetCoalition (who include Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, eBay, and Yahoo) are considering a day of protest. While it is not clear if the companies themselves have agreed to a blackout day, it does have the ability bring some serious punch to the fight against SOPA.

I’m not so sure any of these companies would really shut down their entire sites for a day, it is certainly possible that they will have messaging throughout their sites that explain what SOPA is, why it is bad, and what you can do to speak out against it. As a Search Marketer, it will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out. Word has it that the black out day would be set for January 23, a day before Congress is set to reconvene on the issue.

I will leave you with this video:

I am fairly certain the majority of my friends have not heard of either of these two pieces of legislation that will allow for the censorship of the Internet. Right now, there are two bills. One in the Senate called the Protect IP Act and one in the House of Representatives called the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Both were created without any advice from the technology sector. I would hope you’ve heard of the DCMA or Digital Copyright Millennium Act. This law was passed WITH the help of both the content industry and the tech industry. This bill extends copyright law while limiting the liability of the Internet providers and other technology companies. In short, it basically puts the liability on the individual who infringes copyright. This bill passed unanimously because all sides of the equation took part in drafting this legislation. Without this landmark bill, the Internet would not be what it is today.

This video explains it pretty well:

With these two new bills, if I download a song illegally and post a link to it on Facebook and my website, not only would I be liable, my Internet provider, Facebook, and search engines like Google would be held liable. To prevent being held liable, the ISP’s, Google, Facebook, and just about every other tech company would have to censor every form of electronic communication to limit their liability. These EXACT freedoms we have in the United States allowed for the Arab Spring and just about every other protest and demonstration in the past decade. The exact tools that democracy activists use all over the world where the Internet is censored would be blocked in the United States. Many of these tools would be completely unavailable.

The Internet is great because it is not censored. If the United States starts censoring the Internet, what will become of it? The United States captures more than 30% of global Internet revenues and more than 40% of net income¹. For every one job lost, the Internet creates 2 more². What will become of the millions of jobs it has created? What will become of technology? All the great tech companies you know would not exist today if these laws were in place when they were just a start up. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, eBay, and LinkedIn all oppose these two bills.

DO SOMETHING NOW:

Send your represenative in Congress a letter.

UPDATE: If you would like to submit pictures to be featured on both my website as well as other industry sites, please be sure to include your email address in the comments section.

Since Duane Forrester and Matt Cutts joined forces to create their own Movember team, I would like to highlight the other people in our industry who are participating.

If you are in the Search Marketing Industry and participating in Movember, please fill out this form to send me the link to your mospace. I am going to publish a list of those in our industry who are participating and keep it updated. Fill out the form below:

Thanks everyone for supporting a great cause!

If you know me well, chances are you know I am a fan of mustaches. I have never seen my father’s upper lip bare. He rocks a handlebar mustache that is almost mandatory as he works in law enforcement. I have been growing a mustache off and on since my early college days, and the only mustache I have been known for is the handlebar mustache, so all my friends nicknamed me BARS.

Let’s just say, mustaches have been part of my life for a long time. I have relatives who are long gone that had mustaches. I don’t know what has happened since the 1970′s that made mainstream mustaches out to be creepy – for pedophiles or porn stars – but regardless of the popular opinion of mustaches, I like them.  A study conducted by the American Mustache Institute and Quicken says men with mustaches make 8.2% more money than those with beards, and 4.3% more than those with clean shaven faces.

Michael Halvorsen eating Altoids for Movember (credit Reuben Yau)

Last year, I helped set up a team at Manta for Movember. We raised some money and helped bring about awareness. I have been trying to talk every man I know into participating in Movember because it is truly for a good cause. For those of you who are not aware of what Movember is, it is a month long of mustache growing in support of men’s health. All funds raised for Movember go towards funding the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong. While the risk of testicular cancer is roughly 1 in 250, the risk of prostate cancer is much higher as 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer! So for me, it’s a no brainer to grow a mustache during the month of November in support of Movember. Women can also participate by donating and telling their friends and family about Movember.

It’s easy as hell to participate in Movember. On November 1, men start with a clean shaven face – that means no beards and no pre-existing mustaches allowed. Throughout the month, you shave the rest of your face daily and grow the mustache from scratch. And to do more for the cause, you can register your team over at Movember.com and begin collecting donations both online and in person. Last year, the team I set up at Manta raised money and was also featured in the Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

This year while at SMX Advanced, I talked to both Matt Cutts and Duane Forrester together about them participating in Movember. I asked them to participate again on Twitter and they both agreed to.

Talking to Matt Cutts & Duane Forrester about Movember (credit Thomas Ballantyne)

Matt Cutts and Duane Forrester Agree to Participate in Movember

Will you be participating this year? You should! For men, our mustaches are our pink ribbons. When someone asks you, “Why the creepy mustache?” You can answer, “Cancer.” If you don’t want to grow a mustache and set up your own team, you can donate in my honor.

The Distinguished (look of) Michael Halvorsen

UPDATE 10-28-2011: Duane Forrester made the official announcement on the Bing Webmaster Tools blog.

Photo credits: Reuben Yau and Thomas Ballantyne of Bullwark Pest Control.

I do. I do because I can grow a sick ‘stache and support testicular cancer at the same time. How often does one get to grow a sweet mustache and help a good cause? Once a year. And this year, I would grow my stache in honor of AuthorityLabs.

Mike Halvorsen – Mustache Consultant

Who deserves that ticket to the upcoming BlueGlass TPA? I do.

I have been away from the agency for a year. It was a year ago that I was let go because I wanted more money when my client load was effectively doubled after Corey Hammond left for another gig. Let me tell you that was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I was not challenged enough there and I didn’t want to be stuck in northern Ohio at little known agency forever. It was the right kick in the ass that I needed to jump start my career.

I was without a job for two weeks. I have student loans I am paying back, I had a car payment, and rent. It was a terrible first few days because for the first time in my life, I wasn’t exactly prepared to not have income. I had no advanced warning that they were letting me go. I spent an entire week putting my resume together. I spoke with a few people in the SEO industry to whom I consider mentors. After they helped me put my head back on straight, I asked around. I wanted to work solo and I contemplated taking clients from the agency that had let me go. Having a girlfriend at the time and bills, I decided against that. I sent my resume out for some in-house and agency gigs around Akron. I had interviews scheduled when I came across a job posting for Manta.com. It was a dream job for me. I had no idea they were in Columbus, Ohio. I sent my resume in and the rest was history.

I now work with one of the smartest SEOs in the world who is one of the least known, Reuben Yau. While Corey Hammond helped give me the foundation that I needed to be able to consult with clients on the side, Reuben Yau really helped bring me to the next level. Working together with Reuben, we went from being a top 50 U.S. website to a top 30 with more traffic than the New York Times, CNN, and even TMZ.com. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I have learned working at Manta. When you are dealing with a site the size of Manta with the competition that we have, things are much different. We work with a large team of developers and designers and basically act as consultants in-house. There isn’t a project that happens at Manta that we’re not involved in.

Going back in-house was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I now work for a company that truly understands the importance of their employees and I can still help millions of people market their businesses. It’s a good feeling knowing you are helping small businesses online. I am a lucky man.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me get where I am today. You know who you are. Prost to the next year.

My happy face

So I have a Google+ account now and I do have invites. If you follow me on Twitter, I will follow you back. You send me your email address via a direct message on Twitter and I will send you an invite. I know that sounds like a pain in the butt. I don’t want people leaving comments with their email addresses on my site. Sorry.

Brownie points to those who share this page on Twitter using the share button to the right and to those who use the Google +1 button.

UPDATE:
I’m getting some sleep! I will continue doing it tomorrow! In the meantime, my buddies @traxlertees are doing it as well:
Get a Google+ account from them

As you know, I broke my femoral neck (aka the hip) and my femur. It was a spiral fracture that required immediate surgery. I was very lucky to have an amazing surgeon. I broke my hip and femur and was walking 2 and a half months later. Crazy, I know.

Later this year during the Fall, I am going to have the screws and plate removed from my leg in a second surgery. The plates and screws were meant to be permanent, but I’m only 25. I’m not sure I want this metal in my leg the rest of my life.

Over the past few weeks, I have been floating the idea of running a half marathon in 2012. I’m trying to get some of my friends on board, but they’re really not interested. I myself have never run a marathon. I ran track when I was in school and used to run 3 miles with my father back when he trained for the SWAT team. That 3 mile route we used to run was the most running these legs have experienced.

Earlier this month, I was in Seattle for SMX Advanced. While talking with Duane Forrester (SEO God at Bing) and Matt Cutts (SEO God at Google), I decided I was really going to do it.

Talking to Matt Cutts and Duane Forrester

Talking to Matt Cutts and Duane Forrester

I am going to run a half marathon in 2012.

Photo credits: Thomas Ballantyne

There are some good bars in Columbus. I have been trying to be more social now that I’m back to walking again. I checked these bars out over the past few nights and they are pretty awesome.

Betty’s Bar
435 W Nationwide Boulevard

Phil & Young’s Tavern
1455 Harrisburg Pike

Amicon Grill
1168 Chambers Road

Claddagh Pubs Of Polaris, LLC
8745 Sancus Boulevard

If you’re out and about, make sure you check these bars out.

I spend a lot of time on Social Media. A lot more than I should. So I am going to take a 30 day break from it and use my 30 day challenges as an excuse. In March, I started a 30 day challenge to see how a broken femur, a four and a half hour surgery, and a long metal plate held in place by 12 screws would feel. I didn’t realize a spiral fracture would require so much stainless steel. I have some EXTREMELY graphic pictures that were taken by my surgeon during the surgery.

During the month of May, I will complete a Social Media cleanse. See you soon.