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Traditionally social media rivals, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have grouped together to create a new tool, aimed at drawing users’ attention to the “biased” results provided as part of Google’s Search Plus Your World, according to an article published by the Telegraph.
Entitled “Don’t be evil” (a nod to one of the search engine giant’s early mottos), the browser add-on is currently only compatible with Firefox.
The tool has been created to prevent Google searches returning content that’s been ‘ranked up’ by Google from its own social network, Google+.
A recent change has seen Google searches return Google+ content at the top of search results – a change previously announced as part of Search Plus Your World – at the expense of results from Twitter and Facebook.
Google has explained how the new update – which could affect SEO – worked.
A post published by Google read: “Starting today, if you search for a topic like (music) or (baseball), you might see prominent people who frequently discuss this topic on Google+ appearing on the right-hand side of the results page.”
The search engine giant has yet to respond to the launch of ‘Don’t be evil’ – which is currently only available in America. However, Google did previously say it had tried to strike a deal with both Twitter and Facebook to include their results in a prominent position – but wrangles over cost and privacy scuppered such a move.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies.
New research has revealed that MySpace might not be the best place to go to host a social media marketing campaign.
The research, carried out by Experian Hitwise, and referenced in an article published by Marketing Magazine, has shown that MySpace has fallen out of the top ten most visited social media sites in the UK.
A former giant in social networking, MySpace has been replaced in the top ten by Stumble Upon; other sites in the top ten retained their previous positions, however Twitter, Gumtree and LinkedIn saw their share of the market drop when compared to October’s results.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s popularity continues to grow – with it now accounting for a huge 53 per cent of visits to social media sites in the UK.
Market research analyst for Experian Hitwise, James Murray commented on the results.
He said: “MySpace traffic has been on the decline for at least three years now but this is the first time the social network has fallen out of the top ten.
“As the social media landscape continues to evolve, brands need to be aware of the fast moving trends and which social sites people are visiting.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Thought Facebook Places might be a serious contender to Foursquare and Gowalla for location marketing? Think again.
Whilst it ought to have stood a chance in the geolocation marketing stakes, Facebook rolled out Places as an afterthought, a feature with no thinking behind it. And now it has gone. In the hullabaloo of yet more privacy changes on Facebook to affect all users, Places has been consigned to the pile of tried and failed apps.
It would be interesting to look at why certain features ‘fit’ in a social network, and why users prefer other features to remain in a dedicated space. For instance, it is unlikely that everyone will start making voice calls within Facebook rather than using already established solutions such as mobile, Skype or the good old landline. Even Ebay has not really resolved that one although it was a logical fit to allow buyers and sellers to communicate via Skype.
Those who use geolocation, for whatever reason, have a preferred tool for the job. Facebook was not it. And never could be without becoming increasingly good at delivering what the dedicated solutions had found to be the big wins – badges, tips, photos, event location, crowdsourced and unique awards, discounts etc.
It will be interesting to note during 2012 how far down the social graph Facebook sinks. Already, it is feeling like it has lost its edge. And for that, you should probably blame Google+. Not that Google+ is going to fill in the space, more the space has moved.
Facebook has suddenly taken on a MySpace tumbleweed type feel, and once sites such as this lose the interest of users, there is rarely a way back up.
Which geolocation tool do you use, and why? Is it to inform friends of your whereabouts? To track down deals? To meet people you share common interests with, or FOAF? (Remember that?!)
Or are you as a marketer far less interested in any time of check ins than you were 12 months ago? In which case, what is piquing your interest right now? Tell us more……
A new report from Jupiter Research, entitled ‘Branded Social Networking Pages: Best Practices for Successfully Engaging Users’ shows that over half of the branded social network pages in Europe created by marketers for brands have fewer than 1000 friends.
NetImperative’s take on the report should give some Internet Marketing companies and their clients a chance to assess whether they are actually employing the correct strategies to harness the power of their ‘friends’ in such spaces.
Too many of the MySpace and FaceBook branded pages are mini sites rather than an opportunity to get interactive and involved with consumers. Additionally, the lack of multimedia is a hindrance to user engagement – social networkers love entertaining video and music, but marketers are still not thinking out of the box with social media.
David Schatsky, President of JupiterResearch said, “By following the examples of what’s worked for other marketers and listening to what consumers want-such as original and entertaining multimedia content-advertisers can greatly improve the effectiveness of their social marketing efforts.”
