The web has become increasingly "real time". But the sheer number of websites we usually have bookmarked defeats our best intentions to stay up-to-date. This is where the medley of alert and notifier services can lend a hand by being watchful of updates and sending out "˜just in time' alerts to our mailbox or cellphone.

To be the first guy off the blocks really helps when it comes to things like early bird discounts or giveaways. Then think about jobs and the online alert system assumes critical importance. As online alert notification tools prove, the flood of information on the web also makes for a rush to receive it first. After all, nobody likes to be at the tail end of a queue.

So check out these diverse alert and notification web services and keep yourself a step ahead of the masses.

Notify.Me

notification web service

Notify.me is a notification service that monitors your favorite website, blog, or social network and sends you alerts in your inbox, messenger, mobile phone, or an application. It's a sort of umbrella service which lets you cover a smorgasbord of websites from Craiglist to Twitter.

So if you want an early warning system for bad weather or an early bird alert for discounts, this web app could be worth a try. For SMS services, check if the site has your cellular provider covered in the long list. The site was a bit buggy when I tried it out but it could be a temporary glitch.

Twilert

web notification service

If you are a heavy user of Google Alerts, you might like a similar app which does the job with Twitter. Twilert sends you regular email updates of tweets that have your specified keyword. It could be your name, your website, your brand, or anything else.

You can set the schedule of when you would like to receive a "˜Twilert' and you can easily manage your alerts by switching them on or off.  Advanced search options help to focus your alerts.

Yotify

web notification service

Yotify lets you create your own "˜scouts' and send them out to track things like job postings, deals and discounts, news, videos, and anything else that can be tracked with a tag across a slew of popular websites. You can even track auctions on eBay, resumes on LinkedIn, track using keywords, and even track mentions of your name, brand, or service. Each Yotify scout can be further fine-tuned to narrow down results.

[NO LONGER WORKS] Savvy Circle

web notification service

This notifier app helps you burn through your shopping wishlist without burning your pocket. Savvy Circle supports 200+ stores and as soon as any item on your wishlist goes on sale, you get an email alert. Using a bookmarklet for IE and Firefox, you can easily add items to your Savvy Circle wishlist while browsing the web.

Also check out ZingSale for monitoring price drops of your favorite items.

Video-Alerts

online notification

This one is for video watchers who regularly like to keep themselves updated about the latest on YouTube. The YouTube alert tool sends an email when any new YouTube video specified by a keyword or username gets uploaded. The basic account is ad-sponsored and allows tracking of up to 10 keywords, and updates once per day.

[NO LONGER WORKS] Was It Up?

online notification

Wasitup.com is an example of a simple website downtime monitoring service which lets you know if your favorite site is down or up. You can monitor ten websites and the app polls the sites every 5 minutes. The optional keyword field can help you filter out the websites as per the presence or absence of the keyword on the landing page.

Blyper

online notification

Usually a music lover's taste is varied. We tend to follow a lot of artists across genres and it's a difficult job keeping track of their latest releases. Blyper does the job for you by sending you an email notification as soon as your favorite artist releases a track. Blyper is a great way to keep tabs on music releases and also discover new music in the process. With your Last.fm username, you can add artists and be notified when they release a track or an album.

Free App Alert

Nothing can send you rushing to the iPhone App store faster than the news that a paid app is available now for free. Free App Alert helps you to jump the queue by sending alerts via email, Twitter, or RSS. The alerts come with a small description, a thumbnail, and also the time limit of the free offers if any.

Another similar site is App Giveaway for iPhone and iPod Touch apps.

Seriesly

If you don't want to miss out on torrent downloads of your favorite TV shows then set up a reminder for your favorite episodes and get notified through email, RSS, calendar entry, or as  a simple webpage. Once a good quality torrent is available, Seriesly alerts you and you can set options for quality and the kind of download link you want.

Conference Alerts

We have been having fun so far, but the researchers among us would prefer an alert system that tells them about the happenings in the academic world. This app follows conferences around the world across a variety of academic fields from anthropology to law. A free subscription keeps you updated on the latest conference happening near you. You can define the alerts you want by giving keywords, country specific information, and details like conferences with calls for papers etc.

Do you like to be on the alert? Then these alert apps are just the tip of the information iceberg. Check out all the alert and notification web services that we have covered and you might find a few more worth shouting about. Do shout out about your favorite ones.

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