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Google versus Microsoft: the gloves are off

Google and Microsoft are rivals, and they have been for some time. Everybody knows that. But what was previously a healthy rivalry between two of the most prominent names in technology increasingly looks like a bar-room brawl.

Earlier this week, the two companies became involved in a very public spat that created a social media spectacle and led TechCrunch's MG Siegler to write, "Wow, Microsoft and Google are punching each other in the face right in front of us."

by Patricio Robles 03 February 2011 13:42pm 3 comments

Social media drives 3% of traffic to e-commerce sites: survey

Social media drives just 3% of visits to retail websites in the UK, but is this because many retailers aren't using this channel effectively?

For its Social Media Marketing Report, ForeSee Results surveyed almost 10,000 visitors to the UK's top 40 websites (by traffic volume, as defined by IMRG and Hitwise) to determine what led them to visit the website.

While I wouldn't argue with the point that retailers shouldn't abandon tried and tested online marketing techniques, social media is still a relatively new medium and retailers still have plenty of room for improvement.

by Graham Charlton 03 February 2011 12:27pm 9 comments

Is Facebook free?

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Should I be pleased that I've been selected by Facebook to have the news feed permanently fixed to top news?

Does it mean Facebook thinks that I only need to bother myself with the sort of people who are so interesting, that lots of other people are commenting about what they write?

Or have the 1984 throwbacks realised they can squeeze more cash out of us by watching what we do when they encourage, er force, us to only read the stuff that other people are already talking about?

by Jimmy Morgan 01 February 2011 09:38am 9 comments

Can social gaming revive old classics?

The rise of social networking has resulted in major shifts in the gaming industry. The rise of Facebook, in particular, has fueled the market for 'social gaming', creating huge opportunities. Most of these opportunities have, up until now, been seized in large part by upstarts like Zynga, which may be one of the fastest-growing companies ever.

But as social gaming matures, the old guard of gaming may find some golden opportunities of its own.

by Patricio Robles 27 January 2011 12:17pm 1 comment

Facebook's Sponsored Stories: new ad format, same old legal problems?

With more than a half a billion users, Facebook knows an awful lot about an awful lot of people. And all the data it collects is no doubt a gold mine.

But sitting on a gold mine and actually being able to extract the gold are two very different things. Although Facebook's revenue has grown rapidly, its effectiveness at monetizing each of its users lags well behind other prominent internet companies like Google.

by Patricio Robles 26 January 2011 13:30pm 5 comments

Facebook to make Credits mandatory for games in July

The market for digital goods and virtual currency on its site is already a billion-dollar one, but up until now, Facebook is capturing only a fraction of the business.

The reason: it gives developers great freedom to monetize their applications using whatever business models and third-party services they think work best.

But that will be coming to an end this July as the world's largest social network looks to further boost its revenue growth.

by Patricio Robles 25 January 2011 12:58pm 1 comment

Economy boosts television, hurts digital: report

Television has been called many things, and in the past several years, one of those things is 'dead'. But when it comes to advertising, television is still alive and kicking, and according to a new survey from media management software vendor STRATA, it's television advertising, not digital advertising, that will benefit most from economic recovery.

Of the major advertising firms polled as part of STRATA's 4th Quarter Agency Survey, the greatest percentage (44%) said that their clients were focused most on television, a 24% rise over the previous quarter. Digital trailed significantly, with 21.1% reporting the internet to be their clients' medium of choice.

by Patricio Robles 20 January 2011 15:28pm 4 comments

2010: social media versus email by the numbers

For years, we've heard the claim: email is dead. That's thanks in part, we're told, to the rise of social media, particularly amongst younger internet users who have grown up interacting via social channels.

But is email really dead (or dying)? Yesterday, monitoring company Royal Pingdom posted stats on the internet in 2010, and they detail the growth of both email and social media.

by Patricio Robles 13 January 2011 13:07pm 7 comments

Will the OFT regulate paid tweets?

Marketers have been paying celebrities to endorse their products and services for decades, so it's no surprise that there's a booming market for celebrity endorsements via their social media profiles.

With the help of companies like Ad.ly, celebrities and 'influencers' are reportedly earning thousands upon thousands of dollars for a single tweet or Facebook status update.

In the United States, marketers paying high-profile individuals to tweet and blog about their products worried the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) so much that it developed guidelines around the practice.

by Patricio Robles 11 January 2011 10:37am 5 comments

Are Facebook profiles costing you fans?

By now most people will have adopted Facebook’s new profile format. Unfortunately one of these recent changes showcases a pretty big flaw in Facebook’s connectivity, and unhappily for the social networking giant, it’s one that impacts businesses directly.

By now most users will be aware of which changes they will need to make (if any) to optimise the new profile, but there are now a few sections which are unfortunately beyond your control, chiefly the way your ‘Employer Information’ is displayed.

by Matt Owen 11 January 2011 09:27am 17 comments