Posts tagged ‘Facebook’

Social Marketing News 3/29/10

It’s iPad Week. The new Apple tablet will begin shipping this week, and iPad has been at the center of a media frenzy. The articles below are what I found most interesting in iPad news, including speculation about Apple’s mobile advertising platform called iAd, and rumors that Best Buy will stock the iPad later this week (if only a very small supply of them…).

In early February, Google announced a new endeavor to build an experimental fiber network and asked state, county and city officials across the US to respond to a RFI to be a part of the program. The selected communities would be eligible to become partners with Google in building the new broadband network. Everyday citizens were invited to participate by nominating their community for consideration. The deadline for responses was last Friday, and Google announced this week that they received over 1,100 official applications.  You can learn more about the project at Google Fiber for Communities.

Just when you thought you knew all the ins and outs of Facebook, Facebook changes something. This week, Facebook sent a memo to advertisers that “Become A Fan” will change to “Like” within Facebook ads and Fan Pages. The decision to change apparently comes from data testing “Like” buttons against “Become A Fan” buttons within Facebook ad units, in which users were twice as likely to click on the former. When this goes into effect, users that click “Like” on a Facebook ad will become a Fan of that advertiser’s Page and receive News Feed updates. There could be a very large backlash from users on this change (after all, there’s always some kind of backlash when anything changes on Facebook.) The question is, will users blame Facebook, or blame the advertisers?  See the memo from Facebook, or read this article from RWW.

iPad Week

MTV Developing ‘Co-Viewing’ Apps for the iPadAdAge

iPad Out to Prove Itself as Gaming Platform, but Will Users Play Along?AdAge

iPad App Store Preview Leaks: App CoverFlowFast Company

Apple posts up iPad Guided Tours… lots of Guided ToursEngadget

Best Buy’s iPad supply: 15 per storeCNNMoney.com

Apple’s iAd Could Bite a Chunk Out of Google’s Mobile Ad Business – Fast Company

Social Media: Strategy

Viral Complexity (a review of ROI from 2009’s most viral videos) – Brandweek

Social Media Boosts E-Mail MarketingBrandweek

Lessons From Leno and Twitter Bombers: 3 Rules for Next-Gen MarketingFast Company

The Two Most Important Questions in Social Media MarketingIgnite Social Media

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

This Is What Cars Might Look Like On Your Next KindleGizmodo

Android Devices Crave Google’s Attention - Wired

CTIA End-of-Convention Roundup: Android, 4G, and Even More AndroidFast Company

LinkedIn for BlackBerry Released [SCREENSHOTS]Mashable

Digital Advertising

What Type Of Social Media Ads Are The Most Effective?MediaPost

Apple’s iAd Could Bite a Chunk Out of Google’s Mobile Ad BusinessFast Company

Do You Like Us Or Like Like Us? “Become A Fan” Changing To “Like” On FacebookRWW

Internet Trends

Facebook Will Rule the Web During the Next DecadeAdAge

Google Receives More Than 1,100 Official Applications for Fiber Broadband NetworkFast Company

Gowalla + Foursquare + Brightkite + Yelp + Google Maps=Checkin ManiaFast Company

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.

Social Marketing News 3/22/10

I read about a really interesting study reported by ReadWriteWeb about influence and the number of followers you have on Twitter.  Per the research findings, the number of followers you have on Twitter is an almost completely irrelevant metric for measuring influence. Read the RWW recap here, and see the actual report here.

Facebook hasn’t formally announce this yet, but the company has began to send weekly emailed reports on Facebook page metrics to their respective page admins. These reports include only metrics that are currently available to admins, so the weekly reports serve more as reporting summaries than anything else. Read more about this story at MediaPost.

Apple began to accept pre-orders for the iPad last Friday, with the promise that the first iPads will be arriving in the first week of April.  Rumor has it that over a hundred thousand  iPads have been pre-ordered, and some are speculating that more iPads will be sold in the first three months than iPhones sold in its debut. With all the attention the iPad is drawing, some are wondering if an iPad Killer is emerging… could it come from Palm? Or from HP?

YouTube and Viacom are in the mists of a copyright lawsuit, which has revealed a few embarrassing details about both companies in recently unsealed court filings.  Among other interesting tid bits, Viacom had tried to buy YouTube just before Google’s acquisition was finalized. Read more of the story here.

Social Media: Strategy

Will B2B Companies Embrace Social Media in 2010?MediaPost

10 Essential Social Media Tips for B2B MarketersMashable

Making Social Media Connections, Budgets and ROI – MediaPost

The Million Follower Fallacy: Audience Size Doesn’t Prove Influence on TwitterRWW

PCH Unveils Sweepstakes Social Media Service For All – MediaPost

Facebook Starts Weekly Email Reports For Page Administrators – MediaPost

5 Things You Need to Know About Location-Based Social Media Mashable

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

Palm’s phone sales slump and its stock divesAssociated Press

Smartphones not enough for carriers at CTIAReuters

‘iPad Killer’ May be Palm’s Last HopePC World

Digital Advertising

iPad subscriptions could boost mag circulationAssociated Press

Google: Dynamic Data And Social Features Can Save Display Ads – MediaPost

Google Maps Test Ads in AustraliaMashable

Internet Trends

WordPress Guns for Web Content Management DutiesPC World

Facebook News Readers More Loyal Than GooglersNews Factor

Nintendo’s Miyamoto wants Wii in schoolsTG Daily

Google Bringing The Web To TV? – MediaPost

Foursquare Adds Almost 100,000 Users in 10 DaysMashable

Internet Law

Viacom, YouTube air dirty laundry in legal battleAssociated Press

The juicy details behind the Viacom-YouTube lawsuitUSA Today

When Your Trademark Becomes the Key to Your Competitor’s Internet Ad – MediaPost

Google May Leave China on April 10Mashable

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.


Social Marketing News 3-15-10

Sigh. Guess what mega-huge interactive conference is happening right now in Austin? SXSW. Guess who didn’t get to go? Me… a social media blogger that blogs weekly on social media news, and I couldn’t be at the single most important interactive conference of the year. Yeah… It’s ok. At least I can pretend #fakesxsw.

(That’s “South By Southwest” for those of you who do not speak geek.)

Big News from SXSW

Universal Check-in App Confirmed: Brightkite’s Stealth Service - RWW

Big Changes Are Coming to Digg: More Power to Publishers, Less Power to Top DiggersRWW

Twitter’s New “At Anywhere” Platform Allows For Deeper Integration Into Third Party SitesTechCrunch

Sneak Peek: Rhapsody’s Upcoming iPhone AppWired

SXSW: Pandora in the Car Could Kill SiriusPC World

Foursquare and Rival Geo-Location Games Find Lots of Love at SXSWDailyFinance

SXSW Feeds

CMS Wire SXSW News and Articles

Wired SXSW News

Mashable SXSWi

Social Media: Strategy

9 Killer Tips for Location-Based MarketingMashable

Exploring Why Social Business Will Drive 21st Century EnterprisesSocial Computing Journal

4 Ways to Effectively Use Social Media as a CatalystMashable

Why User Competency Matters in Social DesignMashable

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

More Droids Sold In First 74 Days Than iPhones – Nexus One Sales Very SlowTechCrunch

PayPal Launches Revamped iPhone App, Teams With Bump For Phone-Tapping Money Transfers - TechCrunch

Digital Advertising

LivingSocial Raises $25 Million to Take On GrouponMashable

Hitwise: Facebook Hits No. 1 In U.S. – MediaPost

What Kind of Brand Associates With Chatroulette?: French Connection Offers Shopping Spree to Winner Who Hooks Up Using the Webcam Chat RoomAdAge

Twitter Expected To Take The Wraps Off Its Advertising Platform Today – TechCrunch

Internet Trends

How Twitter and Facebook Make Us More ProductiveWired

A Short (and Personal) History of Social Media: Why It’s Important to Consider the Boring Basics That Keep Things SustainableAdAge

Why Wikipedia Should Be Trusted As A Breaking News Source - RWW

5 Ways to Use Google Wave for BusinessMashable

Foursquare Hits 347,000 Checkins in a DayMashable

Reuters to Journalists: Don’t Break News on TwitterMashable

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.

Social Marketing News 3/1/10

March 1st brought joy to many Facebook users, a date which marks the end of Facebook app Notifications. Apps on Facebook are no longer able to send updates via Notifications, which are now reserved mainly for friend activity. Find out what alternatives app developers now have at this Mashable article.

Twitter and YouTube are also rolling out new features. On Twitter, the new “Be Found On Twitter” feature allows users to opt-in to share their email address and/or phone number, making it easier for contacts to find them. For YouTube, it’s a massive redesign that will improve the user experience by adding a video queue feature and improved playlist design. The redesign also includes the release of an AutoPlay feature, which will allow YouTube to be consumed more like TV, allowing the user to sit back and just watch one video after another in a push model rather than the current pull model. Find out more about these releases under the New Features heading below.

Have you heard of Chatroulette?”  The latest fad of social media, Chatroulette is a video chat service which will randomly pair you to another video conferencing user. It’s a bare bones interface with minimalistic functionality- basically just two web cam windows and a chat room. The site connects users to complete strangers, there is no way to control who will pop up on the other side. Some believe that Chatroulette will become as popular as Twitter, though it’s not the first interactive video conferencing site, and probably won’t be the last.  I don’t think Chatroulette will be able to go mainstream without significant investment and added functionality. If the interest continues to increase, there’s a good chance that established social networking platforms like Facebook will adopt video conferencing as a new feature, which may kill Chatroulette before it has a chance to get out of the gate.

Want to know how your brand compares to your competitor in social media? Try uberVu CompareA freemium social media comparison tool, Compare is a new product from uberVu that performs a side-by-side comparison of two brands based on their social media performance. It could be considered overly simplistic for veteran social media analysts, but this a great tool for a quick snapshot of social media presence.

“Crowdsourcing” is a still a hip buzzword. Grogger is a new platform that allows you to crowdsource your blog content. Mash together the words “group” and “blog”, what do you get? A “Grog”! For people that believe two heads are better than one, Grogger is an appealing tool that allows a community of users to write, edit, and vote on blog content. For more details, read the TechCrunch review.

New Features

Be Found on Twitter: Connecting Our Dots in the Social GraphRWW

Twitter Comes To YahooPC World

YouTube Redesign Keeps You WatchingRWW

Facebook to Say Goodbye to App Notifications on March 1stMashable

Chatroulette

Did Chatroulette Just Launch the Interactive Video Conferencing Boom? - AdAge

Chatroulette, by the NumbersWSJ Digits

Social Media: Strategy

Most Super Bowl Ads Don’t Go ViralAdAge

Vitrue Adds Facebook ‘Wall Apps’ To Social Platform – MediaPost

Compare Social Media Performance Head-to-Head with uberVuMashable

Oh Yeah, Well I’m Going To Twitter You! – MediaPost

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

Scribd Makes Push Into MobileMediaPost

Consumers Are Pushing Up Sales of SmartphonesYahoo! News

Digital Advertising

Measure the Web Like TV and Brand Advertising Will FollowAdAge

Sources: Twitter Ad Platform Quite Google-Like – MediaPost

Display Ads Stimulate Search, Confirms Eyeblaster Study – MediaPost

Internet Trends

Social Networking In Matters Of Life And Death – MediaPost

Grogger: A New Platform That Lets You Crowdsource Your Blog’s ContentTechCrunch

E-Cards Are Dead… Except on Mother’s DayRWW

Time Spent on Social Networks up 82% Around the WorldBrianSolis

How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student EngagementMashable

Facebook to Take 30% Cut of Developers’ Facebook Credits RevenuesMashable

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.


Social Marketing News 2/22/10

It’s back! Social Media News has been on hiatus for a couple weeks, as my client work (and spending time with my Valentine) always comes first- but I am getting back on track with this week’s update.

In the social media sphere, change happens in a blink of an eye. While I was on break from blogging a lot of big things happened in this space, most notably the release of Google Buzz. The buzz about Buzz is that it’s Google’s latest life-streaming social media portal. Like Twitter and Facebook, Buzz allows users to keep in touch with friends and by sharing status updates, links, photos, and more.

Is Buzz a formidable threat to Twitter and Facebook? Maybe, but probably not. Buzz is integrated with Google’s email platform Gmail, and I’m guessing Google thought that would be a good way to gain immediate adoption en masse. But for many internet users, email use is in decline as social media use continues to rise. If Google had released Buzz two or three years ago it could have gained real traction, but unfortunately many would-be early adopters have already abandoned their Gmail accounts in favor of Facebook messaging (which is moving towards a full webmail service, code named Project Titan).

Also while I was off the grid, I missed a couple of birthdaysFlickr and Facebook both turned six years old this month.  That’s a pretty long time in Internet years; do you think they’ll make it another six?

Google Buzz

If Google Wave Is The Future, Google Buzz Is The PresentTechCrunch

Google Buzz: What It Means for Twitter and FacebookMashable

Google Will Ask Buzz’s Early Adopters to Confirm Privacy ChoicesWired

Google Buzz May Help Its Rivals More Than ItselfMediaPost

Facebook

PayPal and Facebook Credits Will Play Nice After AllMashable

The Fun of Facebook MeasurementGilligan on Data

Facebook Moves Towards World — Not Just Social Networking – Domination -MediaPost

Social Media: Strategy

5 Ways Airlines and Hotels Can Drive Revenue with Social MediaMashable

HOW TO: Deal With Negative Feedback in Social MediaMashable

How Much Blog Would a Blogger Blog If a Blog Chucked Its Comments?MediaPost

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

Official Twitter App for BlackBerry Looks Really Good – Mashable

Fashion Show Goers Purchased Clothes Straight From the Runway Using a BlackBerry AppGizmodo

Motorola Backflip Will Be the First Android Phone on AT&TWired

Digital Advertising

Online Video Gets an Ad ExchangeAdAge

Live TV’s Alive as Ever, Boosted by Social MediaAdAge

Pre-Roll Video Ads Still Hated, Here to Stay – AdAge

Beyond the Badge: Big Media Brands Strike Foursquare DealsAdAge

Internet Trends

How Social Media Is Changing the Super Bowl – Mashable

Walmart Buys Vudu, Jumping Into Online Movie Rentals – Wired

School District Halts Webcam Surveillance – Wired

It’s Official: Google Can Sell Power Like a Utility – Wired

Checking In, Checking Out [a great article summing up the latest location-based mobile/social apps] - MediaPost

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and  writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.

Social Marketing News 2/1/10

Apple’s iPad was the biggest news last week, drawing attention from every corner of the web. Within minutes of the announcement, hype turned into hysterics as the jokes started pouring in. Apparently #iTampon was the third most trending topic that evening. Many see the Maxi- I mean iPad as a huge threat to existing eBooks like the Kindle. I’m not so sure about that. Yes the iPad has a full color LED display, but one very important feature of a true eBook is eInk. This is a low res, black and white display with a low refresh rate that reduces eye strain, making the screen more like reading printed paper. To me the iPad is like a glossy magazine, but the Kindle is like a simple black and white novel. The bookworms that consume the most eBook content are going to stick with Kindle, and the iPad will appeal to people looking for a Netbook first, eBook second.

Interested in measuring ROI from your Facebook efforts? That’s about to become a little easier when Facebook rolls out its new conversion tracking tool. Facebook announced the upcoming feature at last week’s OMMA Social event in San Francisco. MediaPost embedded video from the discussion on this article.

Proctor & Gamble is officially in favor of social media marketing, embracing Facebook in particular and encouraging its brands to do the same. I found it interesting that in the article reporting on this topic, AdAge felt it was necessary to quote Ted McConnell, general manager-interactive marketing and innovation for P&G, with contradictory remarks from 2008. This one caught my eye:

“Who said this is media?” he said. “Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren’t trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant. … We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try to monetize it.”

With this quote AdAge is perhaps trying to demonstrate a riff in P&G’s ranks, though the remarks were said over a year ago and I have the suspicion that it may have been out of context. Whether McConnell supports social media marketing or not, this is a great quote with a lot of truth behind it. We can’t treat social media as advertising, it’s an entirely different kind of game. Ignite’s Jim Tobin was on the same wavelength in a recent Web Trends episode when he said, ”The web is the worst place in the world for interrupting people.”  I couldn’t agree more.

Facebook

P&G Embraces Facebook as Big Part of Its Marketing PlanAdAge

Facebook Now Has Yahoo In Its Sites, Already Bigger In Pageviews (ComScore)Tech Crunch

Facebook Develops Conversion Tracking Tool: What’s A Fan Worth? – MediaPost

Why Your Boss Hates FacebookReadWriteWeb

Baby Boomers and Seniors Are Flocking to Facebook [STATS]Mashable

Foursquare

Does Foursquare Have A Douchebag Problem? - Tech Crunch

Will Foursquare’s Users Say ‘Bravo’ for Bravo?ReadWriteWeb

Social Media: Strategy

Web Trends Talks Social Media Marketing with Jim Tobin [VIDEO] - Ignite Social Media

MediaPost’s OMMA Social SF 2010 [VIDEO] - MediaPost

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

Apple IPad Charges at Kindle and NetbooksAdAge

Apple vs. Amazon: The Great E-book War Has Already BegunMashable

Firefox for Mobile Makes Its DebutMashable

AT&T Will Spend $2 Billion To Improve Wireless NetworkMashable

Digital Advertising

Study: Consumers Are Not Annoyed by Ads on FacebookAdAge

Why Most Digital Ads Still Fail to WorkAdAge

Internet Trends

Apple’s Tablet and the New Splintered WebAdAge

Proof the Splinternet is realGroundswell

Google Exec: We’re Here to Help NewspapersAdAge

Yahoo and the AP Reach a New Deal – But What About Google?ReadWriteWeb

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and  writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.

Social Marketing News 1/19/10

What will Google and Apple go head-to-head on next? I think it’s going to be geographically sensitive ads. Apple submitted a patent which details how the iPhone could potentially pick up location-aware ads and apps for immediate and automatic download. Google was awarded a patent which teases real-time digital ads overlain on billboards and signs seen from Google Maps street view.  It’s really interesting that news of these patents got picked up by the media in the same week.

Another thought to ponder is what does local, on-the-go mobile advertising mean for the likes of Yelp, Foursquare and Gowalla? Will one of these location-based social networking portals discover a new revenue model in location-based advertising?  Maybe, maybe not. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Each day, we’re moving closer to having our digital content on any screen, at any time, at any place. Marketers need to keep that in mind.

Many bloggers and industry analysts have pointed to how our society uses social media in a time of crisis.  Haiti, of course, has seen a huge reaction in social media- the devastating loss and suffering has touched people from around the world. Like most people, I’m sure, I first heard of the news through my social media channels. And through social media, the Red Cross has raised an astounding $5 Million towards their rescue effort in Haiti. Below is a special section about the reaction to Haiti in social media.

Haiti & Social Media

The Earthquake in Haiti, Social Media, and Me: A Personal Reflection (Ad Age)

Red Cross Raises $5,000,000+ for Haiti Through Text Message Campaign (Mashable)

President Obama Finally Tweets – For Haiti – In Third Person (TechCrunch)

Haiti Earthquake Disaster: Google Earth, Online-Map Makers, Texts “Absolutely Crucial” (Fast Company)

Tweak the Tweet: New Twitter Hashtag Syntax for Sharing Information During Catastrophes (Read Write Web)

Mashable

Why Social Media Isn’t for Everyone

Local Faceoff: Yelp vs. Foursquare vs. Gowalla

Tech Crunch

YouTube Helps Vevo Overtake MySpace Music In The U.S. (Plus, Top Ten Music Properties)

Fast Company

iPhones Might Get Automatic Location-Aware Ads

Ads in Google Maps Street View: A Sign of Things to Come

Channel Web

Facebook Offers Free McAfee Software To Users

Google Docs Play Intensifies Cloud Storage Competition

Yahoo! News

P&G floats selling products on its own website

Apple may wipe slate clean for new tablet computer

Read Write Web

Google Plans to Upgrade Old Billboards in Street View

Twitter’s Growth Slows Dramatically

Blogs and Other News Sources

Google Docs gets file uploading, but no direct desktop sync (Ars Technica)

Netflix on Wii Won’t Challenge Microsoft, Sony (PC World)

Google Wakes: Dreams of Internet openness in China appear to be a fantasy (Forbes.com)

Google begins replying to more Nexus One complaints (Computer World)

Social Marketing News 12/14/09

After months of rumors and speculation, it’s official: the Google phone is real. It’s called the Nexus One, and several Googlers (Google employees) have been issued beta devices and are using them now. Google has been working on a partnership with T-mobile to offer the phone at a discount, after Verizon turned down the deal. However, the Nexus One will not be exclusively sold through T-mobile, it will be an unlocked device (unlike how the iPhone is tethered to AT&T). News about the Nexus One is all over the web, but a good place to start is with this Mashable article.

More changes to how Facebook handles privacy settings.  With an update last week, users can now set privacy settings for each wall posting separately, and now Facebook profile information can be indexed by search engines (which has implications for real-time search). Be sure to read up on the changes from cnet News and PC World.

Holiday shopping is in full swing, and analysts have reported an up tick in online shopping this season. New research comScore has shown just how much social media is effecting holiday shopping.  Check out this TechCrunch article for details, stats and charts.

A great article from ChannelWeb discusses Google and Apple’s dance with acquisitions. Earlier, Social Media News reported Google’s acquisition of AdMob. Recently, Apple just purchased online music streaming service LaLa, which may revolutionize the way Apple sells music.

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Social Marketing News 12/7/09

Editor’s note: Social Marketing News will now be posted each week on Mondays. Be sure to check our R&R’s Friday Inspiration posts every Friday.

Social Marketing News from 11/14/09 covered Rupert Murdoch’s statement about preventing Google from indexing News Corporation publications. This week, Google announced an update to its “First Click Free” program, partly in response to Murdoch’s threats I’m sure. First Click Free allows web users to access paid content, like news from newspaper websites, for free if they found that content through Google search. Now Google is giving more control to publishers, allowing them to lock out unregistered users after a defined number of page views. Google allows paid content providers to limit up to five free page views, per day- after that, users would be redirected to a registration page. Google search plays a huge role in helping users discover paid content, providing a significant amount of site traffic to many of these large publishers. So it makes sense for publishers to allow their content to be indexed by Google. However, publishers of premium content are also interested in making a profit. It will be interesting to watch what happens now, if News Corp. really does decide to completely block Google indexing, and if they decide to make an exclusive deal with Bing. If you’re still confused about First Click Free, check out this great 5-Click FAQ from Wired.

Google also announced a deal with Twitter this week to integrate the microblogging site with its own social media service, Google Friend Connect. That’s really interesting, because Google and Twitter are both in the race for real time search, so in a way Google and Twitter are competitors. It’s also interesting in light that Yahoo! and Bing have recently made deals with Facebook, and Google has yet to follow suit. Check out the Bing announcement here, and the Yahoo announcement here.

Speaking of Facebook, there’s a lot of talk about Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of privacy changes. If you’re worried, don’t be. The announcement, which was posted in a Facebook note to users, doesn’t reveal sweeping new privacy changes. It does say that Facebook is doing away with regional networks, which is a good thing. This only relates to privacy in that you won’t be able to share your photos and posts to all of your selected regional network, which would be the town you live in or the college you attended. If you’re anything like me, you didn’t do that anyway. Users have always had the option to select who sees what, and I generally limit my content to Friends, or Friends of Friends (if you need help understanding how to manage your Facebook privacy settings, leave a comment).

A more significant bit of Facebook news came from Mashable in a reveal of screenshots for the next redesign. This interface update is more extensive than the simpler News Feed/Live Feed update. I’m looking forward to the launch, these new layout changes should improve Facebook’s engagement and usability.

The best tablet computer interface that I’ve seen to date is this demo from Sports Illustrated. SI appears to be moving in the right direction transitioning from print to digital media.

If you’re considering a new mobile site, or looking to improve, check out this article from WSJ: Squeezing Web Sites Onto Cellphones.

Wrapping up, I wanted to point out two important articles from Brandweek. Be sure to read Why Social Sites Are Less Friendly to Video Ads, and A Marketer’s New Worry: Are My Ads Retweetable?

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Social Marketing News 11/14/09

It’s been known for a while that Rupert Murdoch has no love for Google. However, this week was the first time the leader of the second largest media conglomerate (News Corp.) said that he will prevent his news from being indexed by Google. That’s including sites like WSJ.com. It sounds like Murdoch is quite serious about the claim, even though sites like WSJ.com could lose 25% of its traffic or more, according to some estimates.

Then a few days later, TechCrunch Europe published this article detailing a secret presentation by Microsoft to various leaders of UK news media. According to the article, Microsoft is developing something known as ACAP, “Automated Content Access Protocol,” to index content like news stories on Bing in a more robust way than Google’s robots.txt protocol. If a significant amount of news media corporations get on board with the new indexing protocol, it will have a serious damaging effect on Google’s popular news search, news.google.com.

Though it may be bad news for Google in the news media industry, the communications industry might be looking up. On Thursday Google announced that it had purchased Gizmo5, which will power Google Voice with VoIP capabilities. This move makes Google Voice a serious competitor for Skype, and could also be a really nice addition to Google Wave.

In the same week, Google also purchased the popular mobile advertising platform, AdMob, for $750 Million. With this deal, Google now has a powerful mobile display advertising product that it can add to its existing mobile search advertising offering.

Twitter is in the process of rolling out its Retweet feature, though the public launch of the feature may take a little longer than expected. Prior to this announcement, retweeting has been an established norm in the Twittershere but has not been officially supported by the Twitter API.  Due to its enormous popularity the Twitter developers have been working on incorporating the retweet action to become an official part of Twitter.com, but apparently they are still trying to figure out exactly how to do it.

Now here’s an interesting story in the world of social gaming. Personally, I avoid Facebook games like Farmville, Mafia Wars and Sorority Life like the plague, but I’ve always known that these games are popular among my friends. And I wouldn’t have guessed that a game maker like Playfish, the creators of games like Pet Society and Word Challenge, could be worth a whooping $400 Million. Last Monday, Electronic Arts (EA) acquired Playfish in a move that signifies just how lucrative social gaming has become. Be sure to check out this Mashable article, The Future of Gaming: 5 Social Predictions.

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