BEST OF THE WEB: Making mistakes pay

AOL is positioning itself as one of the best places for original content on the web. After buying the Huffington Post and TechCrunch earlier this year, it’s clear that AOL wants to transition from an email hosting provider  into a 21st century digital publishing group.

But there are questions around AOL’s quality. This piece in the Faster Times examines one writer who was let go recently, and alleges that some content is only being written purely so people can click on more ads.  In fact, he claims that editors actually added grammatical errors, putting the pursuit of higher page counts above the need to quality content. .

Fraud allegations levelled at group buying

Meanwhile, the group-buying industry has continued to grow, with even aggregators now receiving millions in funding from start-up seeds.

But TechCrunch has also continued its series of stories on why the industry may not be as great as it seems, and has delivered a fairly brutal approach with this piece on why group-buying may even harbour the potential for fraud.

With Groupon approaching a listing – having already filed preliminary documentation with the SEC – there are still plenty of questions about how the industry as a whole conducts its business. Are these companies ready to list?

Apple’s retailing tips

Customer service is a tricky subject. It’s critical that your staff serve customers well, but at the same time, you want to have a good balance between helping the customer without feeling too pushy.

One company that has pretty much nailed the entire retail experience is Apple. Almost a decade ago, Steve Jobs launched the company’s retail chain and although critics said it wouldn’t last long, has gone on to be a massive pillar of the company’s business.

In this behind-the-scenes look at the Apple retail chain, The Wall Street Journal has uncovered some of the company’s best techniques for ensuring customers have the best experience possible – for instance, no staff are allowed to say the word “unfortunately”, and instead must say, “as it turns out”.

While it may seem heavy-handed, this is a good look into what makes a great customer service experience and there are lessons here for every sized retail store – especially given that with industry activity declining, memorable experiences are more valuable than ever.

Facebook’s muddle

And finally, it was revealed this week that Facebook is working on both an HTML5 app to combat Apple’s dominance of the App Store, and at the same time is working on a native iPad app as well. It’s a confusing state of affairs.

All Things Digital has published a piece on exactly what’s going on with Facebook, and hazards a few guesses at why the social networking is acting in what appears to be contradicting itself. But until Facebook reveals more about it strategy, and whether it ever confirms the constantly rumoured “Facebook phone”, users will remain in the dark.