Friday, January 27, 2012

Google’s Social Search Move and How it Applies to Your Marketing

Back in the middle of last summer (in what by internet time is almost four years ago) I wrote a piece explaining Google’s long-term strategy when it comes to the web and the indexing of its data. 

The integration of Google+ into Google’s global search on the week starting 10th January finally shows that Google’s strategy has been what I predicted all along. Let’s for a moment forget the less well informed hysterics which have broken over “Google’s ruining of search” or the rants about “Google pulling the ownership of search trick” and focus on the functionality. 

Anyone familiar with the Google Panda update knows that the social signal is a strong cue in search, something which Google officially confirmed at the LeWeb conference in Paris, last year. Google’s focus, when it comes to search, is in delivering the best possible results in terms of relevancy and freshness. This has been an uncompromising approach the company has never shied away from, even when it, at times, hurt its own properties. Its concern has been that should Twitter (with a 200 million Tweets a day volume) and Facebook (with 10% of the planet in its members base) wall off their content, Google will be hamstrung, its search engine suddenly rendered half-blind. 

Worse, than that, a weakness in search imposed by others will help Google’s rival, BING, whose close partnership with Facebook allowed it to make inroads in both social search and semantic indexing, before Google even got started. 

In terms of evolution in the online ecosystem that would aspire to survival not of the fittest but the most well-connected, something which to Google, whose search algorithm is so advanced, must be unfair and seem intolerable. Before G+ was anything more than a notion, Google repeatedly reached out to Facebook for closer cooperation and greater transparency only to be rebuffed and last summer, just as G+ came out Twitter refused to renew its search deal with Google where the latter indexed the data of the former. Fast-forward a few months and as Google integrates G+ plus into search Twitter comes out as the most voluble, allegedly wronged party in the affair. 

Search technology is hard to understand and even harder to gauge as far as impact is concerned. As a result Google’s move has caused an online uproar as many who feel that it is a show of strength decry it as an unnecessary show of force which will hurt the quality of search. 

Myth-busting time 
Myth #1 – Google’s integration of G+ results into Google search violates the Google+ individual privacy agreement. The integration of G+ into Google search results has only opened the public data of G+ to search and linked it up to a personalisation of the profile which is entirely in keeping with trends Google has been developing for some time now. 

Myth #2 . Google’s integration of G+ results into Google search now makes search deliver results only from Google’s own social network favouring it unfairly. Although this would appear, at present, to monopolise personalised search results with G+ data this is not the case. At present G+ data is the only meaningful social signal Google can index in its entirety and the personalised search is already nuanced by search results from global search, a move Google started back in 2009 (as a direct response to BING receiving social signals from within Facebook in its own search results). 

Myth #3. Google owns search and is now using its ownership to directly promote and profit from its own properties. Global search is unaffected. Carry out a search without being logged into a Google account or go from personalised the global search and you get different results based upon that. Google’s search algorithm is working exactly as it should. 

So What is Really Happening?

In a knife fight you only need to pay attention to whoever is not shouting and making sudden moves. They are the ones who usually carry a weapon and have the intent to use it. Amidst the noise of (mainly) journalists objecting to a change in search they do not clearly understand because, understandably enough, the picture of Google suddenly turning evil and behaving like a bully makes for a juicy headline and much reader interaction, the only other people protesting are Twitter (who suddenly seem to get what not being included in search really means) and the FCC, whose understanding of how search works probably matches that of congress on the implications of SOPA.

So who is keeping quiet? Facebook, which by all accounts stands to lose even the relatively meagre traffic it gets from Google search with the indexing of its public posts. Facebook is keeping quiet because a close analysis of Google’s social search may suddenly indicate that it would be in the public interest for most data on the web which does not violate the personal protection of data act, to be made transparent to every search engine

Such a move would crack open Facebook’s walled garden to Google search (amongst others) and render Twitter’s attempts to shakedown Google for the right to use its data, impotent. If either of these two things happen Google will have won the game in a single move. Its search engine is by far the most competent at indexing data and its sudden enrichment from the Facebook and Twitter’s hordes of it will give it a massive boost in the social search stakes and help it achieve degrees of personalisation in the search results which, until now, we can only dream of. Of course there is the chance that things will go south. The FCC might not quite see things Google’s way in which case there probably will be an unnecessary (in my opinion) tweak in Google search to deliver fewer results from G+ in the personalized search mode. 

In either case, as Annie Infinite has already pointed out, you’d better make sure that your social media marketing strategy includes a Google Plus account at its core.

What Your Facebook Use Says About You


Facebook.  The media beast that has transformed personal relationships, revolutionized social media, and opened a brand new world of marketing to businesses.  With Facebook being so universal, it is no wonder that university researchers have turned their eyes to the blue and white page that made history.
From Your Profile to Your Posts
Facebook, for most business owners and private users, is a way to share something about yourself with the world: potential clients, friends and co-workers, family and new connections.  Thinking carefully about the information you share to the way in which you share it is critical to your online image, privacy, and effectiveness when it comes to the impact you can have on your success and your Facebook "Friends."
What does your profile say about you?
  • Is your image professional, tidy, clear, and appealing?
  • Are you sharing important contact information so that potential clients or contacts know how to reach you (such as an email address, physical location, business telephone, or formal website)?
  • Have you clearly conveyed the purpose of your business and the intended audience for your services?  If someone lands on your profile page, will they know who you are, what you do, and whether they need your type of assistance?
  • Does your profile page demonstrate your skills? Do you have images or a portfolio your visitors can view? Does the professionalism of your page match the image you want to convey to potential clients?
What do your posts say about you?
A recent study in Pediatrics posited that kids who spend too much time on social media may begin to exhibit symptoms of "Facebook depression," and a summary study of how their language compares to that of other users is very telling about the types of messages your words can convey to others.  In short, Facebook users are saying way more about themselves than they think they are every time they submit a new post or message.
  • Are your posts appropriate for your target audience? (No cuss words, no jargon, appealing and positive posts?)
  • Do your messages convey competence, professionalism, and attention to detail?
  • Will each post increase or decrease your chances of being hired?
  • If your dream client saw your posts, would he or she be impressed by your work?
Making the Most of Your Facebook Presence
There is no doubt that Facebook is a powerful and effective media tool when used correctly.  Taking the time to carefully craft your Facebook presence can make the difference between designing a turn-off to potential customers and creating an impactful source of publicity for you and your business. 
Carefully review the content of your Facebook profile, images, and links and review them for professionalism, relevance, and quality.  Would you be proud to have each and every future customer of yours see your Facebook page?  Don't publish another post or picture until that answer is "Yes!"

Has Google Become The Darth Vader of The Internet?


I dig Star Wars. I like Darth Vader. I admire Google. It makes sense. Darth Vader commands respect and you’ll be respected if someone follows your command. This is something that Google is trying now. But will the recent Google+ initiative, Search plus Your World, a rebellion looms across the Web among social platforms and lobbyists.

As Google launches its “social engine” by enhancing Google+ with search-friendly social features, marketers and local business owners are looking forward to how these features will improve businesses and online marketing strategies. But not everyone is glad about this social engine, Twitter recently complained that Google’s new search function will pave the way for real-time content monopoly. Google+ is the first non-search engine with results that appear in Google results and suggestions.

The Rebellion Begins 
Twitter’s general counsel Alex Macgillivray has mentioned in statement that “As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter,” its statement said. “We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone.” Macgillivray has a point. The funny thing about this is that Twitter halted Google’s spiders from crawling the SERPs. Twitter and Google actually didn’t renew its search-public tweets agreement in July 2011. And now, Twitter is accusing Google of monopolizing search engine results.
Aside from that, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), says that “Google’s changes implicate concerns over whether the company prioritizes its own content when returning search results. Incorporating results from Google+ into ordinary search results allows Google to promote its own social network by leveraging its dominance in the search engine market.”

Every Empire Monetizes Everything. Google is an Empire. 
So why is Google acting like a despot? It’s a business and not a public service. It’s a business which has completely dominated the search engine market but some sectors think that it should just be a search engine and that it should stay that way. There lies the conflict.


The most interesting insight I’ve read so far is that Google is favoring its products like Google Maps, Google Images, and now Google+ in the SERPs rather than conducting vertical search. According to Google critic Ben Edelman, every Google product and service is enjoying a favored placement in search results which suggests vertical search favoritism. But hey, Bing does it as well so this is perhaps why Facebook has yet to comment on this issue.

But reality checked, Google+ is not a search engine per se, it just so happens that Google+ is a social platform owned by Google. It wasn’t meant to crawl and search for social content or UGC, but when Google Real-time Search was halted because Twitter didn’t renew an agreement, it was a linchpin for Google to create its own social platform.

Survival of the Fittest 
Does Google only intend to make a great product for users? Do other social platforms see it as a deliberate threat? When Facebook and Microsoft came to an agreement to connect the world’s largest social network to BING, nobody ever complained. But when Google made its own social network which shows a lot of promise, everyone from Twitter to lobbyist groups are now complaining. It simply shows that every social network that is backed by the world’s most-used search engine can be a big threat to “engine-less” social platforms. The world is more social than ever, and social platforms could evolve significantly when it’s complemented by a search engine.

To quote Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, “Google+ is a different issue. It’s not drowning out the others, because the others aren’t even being allowed to swim in the pool.” I couldn’t agree more. Google isn’t all about monopoly. In the first place, Twitter and Facebook were the first ones to say “Hey, you can’t crawl on our pages! Social content is an asset to us!” So why complain if Google is just trying to make the next big step towards Social SEO? Google isn’t a free platform for another social platform to take advantage of. So is Google evil? No. Is Google doing a Darth Vader? Perhaps in a good way in order to bring order across the social web.

How to Incorporate a Custom Facebook Page Tab to Your SM Strategy


Facebook has come a long way from the closed social network that started at Harvard in 2004. Presently at 800 million users, recent projections are predicting 1 billion members by August. Facebookis also growing beyond membership numbers. The social networking website becomes more dynamic with each update, increasing features and functionalities like custom Facebook Page tabs.

As Facebook increasingly plays a more prominent role in our lives, it is up to marketers to understand and utilize the social network to connect with a new type of consumer. Today's consumer expects more transparency and a deeper brand connection.
Despite the new challenges that this poses, converting a consumer into abrand loyal advocate promises stronger commitment to your products and business.
A custom Facebook tab for your Page should be an integral part of your social media strategy.
Why a custom Facebook Page tab?
 A tab should be the support system on your Facebook page that:
  • Reinforces your current website
  • Features more information about your brand
  • Increases brand awareness
  • Ignites a call to action
  • Engages fans in current promotions
  • Fan gate content to attract fans
How do I create a customized tab for my business?
Avoid creating a Facebook tab just for the sake of it. Build a specific strategy and tactic for your tab to ensure that goals are being met and the tab is effective.
Once you build a strategy, create a tab that incorporates social features and maintain an aesthetic that is consistent with your brand.
Track your tab visits through Facebook Insights to view how many visits your tab is attracting.
Where can I create a custom Facebook page tab?
Technology to incorporate Facebook tabs first started up a couple of years ago but Facebook then shifted away from it prevented the integration of "Static FBML" on pages for custom designed tabs.
Since then, Facebook has offered a way to create a custom tab via their developer site:https://developers.facebook.com/apps. Visit this page for the complete list of directions to creating a custom tab on the Facebook developer site.
Or you can use one of these free programs that are user friendly and packed with capabilities:
A great example of Facebook tab usage is the Red Bull Facebook Page.
Red Bull Custom Tab
Their tabs feature:
  • Landing page
    • A great design
    • Promotes the brand
    • Features fan gated content only accessible to fans
  • Featuring multimedia
    • Games + Apps & redbull.tv are great ways to feature visually engaging content
  • Athletes
    • Red Bull has made an effort to be a legitimate presence in the sports world, between their soccer team and stadium to endorsements with athletes.
      • This is great PR, it separates Red Bull from the other energy drinks on the market and an association with athleticism and sports attaches a healthier and more trusted setiment to the drink
      • Like I said earlier, use tabs to strengthen current campaigns and goals. This tab is not only linked with Twitter, but it features all the athletes that endorse and support Red Bull.
Have any other ideas or suggestions? Please share them! 

Social Media Digest: Google Dominates, FB Declines and MO Tweets


Welcome back to our weekly installment of what’s hot in the world of social media. For you to peruse today whilst firing off the last few emails of the week are:
1. Google Sites accounted for 91.75% of all searches conducted in the UK in December 2011, up by 0.67% since November 2011, according to Experian Hitwise’s latest Search Engine and Social Analysis. Google was the only search engine that grew over the period, with Microsoft and Yahoo! Sites both falling by more than a quarter of a per cent.
2. A war of words broke out this week between Google and Twitter. It all started when it was announced that Google had added a new function called ‘Search, plus Your World’ that gives prominence to content from Google+ within search results. There are actually three new features – People and Pages, Personal Results and Profiles in Search. The functions will become available over the next few days to users signed-in and searching in English on Google.com…
3. …Fearing Google’s push to dominate, Twitter hit back, resoundly criticising Google, who in turn retailiated with a nice playground retort: “You Quit Us”.

Time will tell how this argument will develop but we’re all ears here at Umpf Towers.
Social Media Usage in UK - infographic low res4. Facebook’s dominance of UK visits to social networking sites is getting diluted as the category diversifies, while YouTube is experiencing steep growth, according to new data from Experian Hitwise. Facebook’s share of total visits to social networks in December dropped from 58.5% in 2010 to 51.3% in 2011. James Murray, market research analyst at Experian Hitwise, said that Facebook is not losing visitors, but the market is diversifying “rapidly”. He said the number of visits to Facebook from Britons during the year remained static at the 1.3 billion mark. In reference to these latest stats, here is our infographic based on our research into social media usage in the UK(right).
5. Employers could face legal action for vetting job applicants through Facebook and TwitterEmployers could face legal action for vetting job. The use of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook by employers to vet potential employees could see companies sued for discrimination new research has claimed. According to research conducted by psychology consultancy OPP, employers to check the social networking sites of potential employees could be breaking the law.
6.  After a slew of negative revelations over the last few days, Michelle Obama attempted to drum up some good publicity today using a true 21st-century tool – Twitter. The First Lady has finally joined the micro-blogging site, and collected thousands of followers in just a few hours on the site. But those hoping for juicy revelations may be disappointed – as her feed will be managed by her husband’s staff, and used mainly as a campaigning tool.

Time Warner Helps Social TV Startup Bluefin Labs Raise $12 Million in Funding



Social TV analytics startup Bluefin Labs has raised $12 million in a Series B round of funding, which means the company will be expanding its resources to help TV networks and marketers keep track of how audiences are responding to shows via social media sites.
Time Warner Investments led the round with participation from new investor SoftBank Capital and return investors Redpoint Ventures and Lerer Ventures.
Bluefin Labs is best known for its flagship product, Bluefin Signals, an analytics platform that analyzes and organizes social media conversations about U.S. national television. The dashboard interprets the social media response — including tweets and Facebook posts — to more than 11,000+ TV shows and 346,000+ individual airings of those shows. It looks at 5 billion public-facing social media comments each month and then pairs those comments with more than 2.5 million minutes of linear TV time.
Although the product debuted in July 2011, Bluefin Labs was founded in 2008 and came out of the MIT Media Labs, with the goal of applying machine learning and cognitive science to the broader goal of understanding how audiences respond to TV shows and ads.
SEE ALSO: Bluefin Signals Measures the Social Media Response to Television
Companies that use the platform — which include mix of television networks, marketers and agencies such as CBS, MediaCom and MTV — gain access to social data about TV shows and commercials to inform the buying and selling of TV media.
Bluefin Labs said in a press release that it plans to use the new financing to accelerate growth of its sales and client services efforts. The company will also “continue to invest heavily in technology and R&D [research and development] to lead further innovation in the field of social TV analytics.”
“We are witnessing a huge shift in consumer behavior, as people now naturally turn to social media to voice their opinions about what they are watching on television,” said Deb Roy, co-founder and CEO, Bluefin Labs. “We are continuing to build out Bluefin’s services that allow us to provide enhanced data which enables our clients to glean more of an understanding of their audiences and target consumers.”

Monday, January 16, 2012

BuilderChild Astro – iThemes Premium WordPress Theme



Matt and Brad from the iThemes team have been hard at work creating a new (and free) child theme for iThemes Builder … it’s called Astro.
This is the fifth free bonus child theme offered for Builder customers and is now available in your member’s area.
It includes:
  • Cool social icon tabs - a new Builder hook was created for the theme settings page in Astro (Matt will be doing a video overview of it soon)
  • Web 2.0 rounded corners
  • Header graphic PSD included
Preview
http://demos.ithemesbuilder.com/astro/
Downloads
http://www.fileserve.com/file/9jpsfeE
http://hotfile.com/links/102803837/93be574/BuilderChild-Astro.zip.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/446789774/BuilderChild-Astro.zip

Essence Silver – itheme premium wordpress theme



Essence is our extremely popular and feature-rich theme series with multiple page templates.

preview-

http://essence.ithemes.com/index.php?wptheme=Silver+Essence
download

Patriot - iTheme WordPress Theme



Today, we’re releasing the Patriot Theme — a WordPress web theme designed for political websites that’s great for politicians and political organizations.
It has all the standard features like:
  • Featured Images script – the front page can rotate images similar to a Flash slideshow
  • Custom Header Uploader – easily personalize the theme with your own graphical banner
  • Widget Ready Sidebars – including the front page Welcome area to feature recent blog posts, contact information, email subscription form and important messages
  • Dropdown Menus – manage multiple pages with child/sub pages with our Menu Builder
  • Contact Form Page Template — let your site guests easily get in touch with you
Preview:
http://patriot.ithemes.com/
Downloads:
http://rapidshare.com/files/446789701/Patriot.zip
http://www.fileserve.com/file/KqfuEd7
http://hotfile.com/dl/102803880/cf9e662/Patriot.zip.html

FlexxRed – ithemes Premium WordPress Theme



FlexxTheme was created for people who want more versatility out of their blogs and websites. It gives you the edge with built in SEO features, easy to plug-in graphics and backgrounds, and other features that will save you time or from having to learning code. Flexx is the ultimate WordPress theme that gives you the greatest potential for one sweet price!
Preview
http://flexxtheme.ithemes.com/red/
Download
http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/MJCKHKCU/FlexxRed.zip_links
http://www.multiupload.com/DYAMUVCFWL

FlexxProfessional – ithemes Premium WordPress Theme



FlexxTheme was created for people who want more versatility out of their blogs and websites. It gives you the edge with built in SEO features, easy to plug-in graphics and backgrounds, and other features that will save you time or from having to learning code. Flexx is the ultimate WordPress theme that gives you the greatest potential for one sweet price!
Preview
http://flexxtheme.ithemes.com/professional/
Download
http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/FZFRLVKX/FlexxProfessional.zip_links
http://www.multiupload.com/7ZSIC9IHRP