Monthly Archives: December 2007

The top 15 overall searches for the week

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A few things to note here with this top 10 list:  First, we are a nation obsessed with all things Britney and her clan. Second, we still cannot get enough of Jessica Simpson even when she is at a Dallas Cowboy football game. and Third, your typical search must be done by a 15 year old male.  Thanks to the Yahoo Buzz Index, Behold the list:

  1. Jessica Simpson
  2. Casey Aldridge-The father of Jamie Lynns baby
  3. I love New York- See Tiffany
  4. Jessica Alba-A staple in top internet searches
  5. Tiffany Pollard- See I love New York
  6. Angelina Jolie- no news here
  7. Claire Forlani
  8. Britney Spears
  9. NFL
  10. Jamie Lynn Spears
  11. Tony Romo-Gee, I wonder why?
  12. WWE
  13. Hi-5
  14. Christmas-Finally, something searched by more than 15-17 year old males.
  15. Leah Remini- She is so 5 minutes ago isn’t she?

What is a social network? Really.

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A new report by Strategy Analytics claims that roughly one out of every 6 people on the face of the earth will be using social media in 5 years. To what extent and for what purpose reamins to be seen but the report also adds that there are currently approximately 373 million people using social media. “It is clear that user generated media will increasingly compete with professional media when it comes to the attention and free time of users,” comments Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics. “However, if professional media companies choose to embrace social media applications it will enable a more direct and positive relationship with consumers, which will in turn drive increased engagement and loyalty.”

The rise of social media sites and applications can be attributed to the desire of web users to create and manage their own content. This desire has fueled a cottage industry of niche based sites that are geared towards like minded individuals cut from the same cloth. What was unexpected though was the evolution and sea change effect that this has had on computing as we know it in the 21st century.

If the report’s estimates are proven to be accurate, one can only assume that there will  be more social networks available, all with their own hook, niche and community. One can also expect that blogs will continue to grow at an exponential level as the ease in which someone can create “their” blog will continue to evolve into an even more intuitive interface.  What all this means is that the rules as we know it in regards to how content is produced and how it is deduced will no doubt change. Just as everyone is now an amateur videographer, now too will there will millions of social commentators who will develop loyal readership bases. This will change the way the public perceives what they read.

One of the more interesting aspects of all this of course, is how marketers and advertisers are salivating over the prospect of selling to these targeted customers. The only problem is that the last thing that these social netizens or users are interested in, is your product. They will and can smell a marketer a mile away and thus if they are “found” out, they can forget it.

Social network users don’t want to be sold to. That is, in part why they are here in the first place. They want a nirvana like environment in which they can do their own thing without having to deal with a marketer or an advertiser or a pitch.  They want to play and share their widgets and tools with others without having some ad streaming across the top of the page. They want to  post, comment, create and “maybe” make money as well but as discrete as discrete can get.

Because of the value of user generated content and the lack of desire to be approached by advertisers while those users are in their “world” something has to give. Either users accept it or..advertisers get smarter or more respectful. consider the former being the road of choice. but really what we’re talking about is a sea change in how individuals go about computing. The sea change being a) that we accept that search is an integral part of of how are day begins or rather our computing day is wrapped around search and is integrated with search and b) What do we do with the rest of our time online? Social computing is your answer.

Ok so now what do the rest of us who are not into blogging or social networks do? Ahhhh…  but wait, before we are too quick denounce this “social networking” thing that is too hard to learn, perhaps we might want to reconsider a social network. Think back to when you or all of us were in High School. How were you labeled? What defined you?  The answer was, we were all in a clique a group or on a team. If you think about it, it’s how we were identified when we were growing up. What “group” were you part of? It was what gave us our identity.  The band, the chess team, the football team, the student council, the yearbook staff. Those were all social networks. The only difference between then and now, is that we can now share and communicate with those people 24/7/365.

Still there are inherent problems. The biggest one being a barrier of entry. Computing though accessible by all, is not affordable by all. Computers though accepted by all, are not understood by all and lastly computers, though they can close the gap between countries and people who wish to communicate, they cannot solve the issues of war, famine, and natural disasters. So yes social networks are a wonderous thing but truly, the only way they work is if people are willing to communicate, exchange ideas,  respect one another, and share in common goals and beliefs. Hmmm. there’s a novel idea. Is there a place for social networks? Absolutely. It’s just up to us to redefine them, because right now they are all cut from the same virtual cloth.

Google Mobile- The Android Demo

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I’m back on the mobile kick as of late and thought everyone would like to see this video demo, for those who have not seen it. It is very very cool. Watch out iphone is all I can say! The maps feature is extraordinary.


Social Networks cutting deals left and right with mobile carriers

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As was previously stated in earlier entries, something had to give in the wonderfully bloated world of social networks. It actually has been in play for awhile but, lo and behold, mobile carriers are realizing that the next big thing for their continued world dominance will be the melding of social networks with mobile carriers. Thus the following news doesn’t really surprise me:

 MySpace Mobile to be Packaged with Sprint

Fox Interactive Media and Sprint have hooked up to offer MySpace and other FIM properties to mobile customers. Under the deal, MySpace will come as a default option on Sprint’s mobile portal, meaning that the site can be accessed directly as opposed to typing in a URL (in this case, mobile.myspace.com).

sprintCurrently in beta, MySpace Mobile will launch officially early next year. Other FIM properties included in the deal are IGN, FOXSports, Photobucket, Rotten Tomattoes, and AskMen.

Why is this important? Because the users of social networks use something even more frequently than their respective social network. Namely, their cell phone.  So the thinking is; If you can pair the 2 digital beasts, then you have a match made in marketing heaven. A captive audience 24/7/365. Now this comes on the heels of the announcement in October that:

O2 Partners with MySpace and Facebook for Mobile access in the UK

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O2, the UK mobile operator,  announced partnerships with MySpace and Facebook, giving its users access to these social networks from their mobile devices.

This partnership provides  MySpace and Facebook users, access to their profiles pages for viewing and editing via their cell phone or hand held device. Granting mobile access to the major social networks is another way in which consumers, especially in the teen and college demographic can stay engaged with not only their social groups but also with advertisers and marketers. Virgin, Nokia and Sprint have all gone this route as well.  O2 already has a deal with Apple for exclusive sales of the iPhone in the UK.

And this comes in from the vapor trail of a July announcement in which:

Sprint Nextel had announced two new services  which enabled users to access social networking sites, and let customers locate each other using GPS technology.

Providing better browsing options for access to social networking sites such as Xanga, Rabble and LiveJournal meant that users would now have more reason to use mobile browsing and stay better connected with friends.  Partnering with Loopt, Sprint Nextel is also allowing users to geo-locate one another via GPS, within another private network of friends.

The only sticking point with all of these announcements is that there is still the speed issue that all of the carriers and the respective social networks seem to be ignoring. Granted the iphone seems to have all the speed you need with their Safari browser, but not everyone can go out and afford an iphone. Having said that, what is the 15-18 year old supposed to do with the free phone their parents got them that can only text 50 times a month, supposed to do?

It’s too soon to tell, but don’t think that we’re the only ones who have mentioned it, or have thought about it. The bottom line is this: That the social networks know that a key to their survival will be extending the social network beyond the confines of the home/bedroom. Until they do that, like I said, They’ll all eventually end up standing around staring at each other saying, “Now what?”

Do Boomers know the power of a social network?

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I just had read where uboomerutv.com was reinventing itself and making the leap, or so they say, from a second tier social network to a premier social network. My first thought was that a used car company could start selling caddies and a Lexus here and there, but at the end of the day, they are still a used car company.

Thats not to say uboomerutv.com is not goint to make the leap but it does beg 2 questions: 1) what is up with that name? and 2) If Boomers comprise the largest demographic in the world then theoretically your numbers for u-b-o-o-m-e-r-u-t-v.com should rival that right? So 20 million users should not be out of the question.

Ok so there is something wrong here. The first thing is and I’m not underestimating the tech knowledge of the Boomer but all I keep thinking is Homer Simpson reading aloud, “press any key to begin” and then stating, “where is the any key”?.

Boomers do adapt quickly I will give them that, but will they adapt to the previously named website above that I refuse to type any longer? I’m not so sure. They will however go to Facebook and even MySpace, to check out what they have read and heard from just about every major news source on the planet as of late. The problem is and maybe this is where the previously named website that I refuse to type any more comes into play. If they really like 10-30% for instance, of what they saw on Myspace and Facebook, but felt the demo was not just right for them, maybe they will embrace the other boomer sites.

The other question is, what are they doing on these networks. Are they exchanging their favorite music? Looking for “cool widgets”? Looking for Love? Are they into creating their “pages”? There’s where the disconnect is. Facebook and Myspace thrive because of the content managed aspect of their sites and the ownership and freedom that teens and college students take in “their pages”. That aspect does not have the same sex appeal to Boomers.

Boomers want info and want to share info that is relavant to their lives at that moment and beyond. But they also want to be able to share and learn without a huge learning curve. Hey it’s great to have all sorts of cool tools and widgets, but if you’re building it because it worked on MySpace and Facebook, then you have totally missed the boat. So do Boomers know the power of a social network? Yes and No. They know the power of Myspace and Facebook because they heard it so. They don’t know the power of a social network thats geared towards them because of a perceived learning curve and a lack of knowledge and understanding of what it can do for them.

The “real” Cyber Monday…was December 10th.

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According to the Atlas Institute, which has analyzed online transaction data over the past 7 years, the “real” cyber Monday , or busiest online shopping day of the year would have been December 10th. For the past 7 years the Atlas Institute has observed a number of online shopping patterns with the most obvious being that online shopping peaks in the weeks leading up to Christmas, there is a period of depressed sales immediately before Christmas, and most online shopping occurs on Mondays and Tuesdays during business hours.

For instance in 2006, the busiest online shopping day was Monday December 11th, which recorded activity 89% above average. The following Monday, December 18th, recorded the second highest online shopping volume during the season; and the last Monday before Christmas, with adequate shipping time, had also established itself as a strong day for online sales. This would make sense, as this is the last day that online shoppers feel they can order and expect their purchases to arrive on time.

Interestingly enough, after the second monday in December, online shopping starts to dramatically decline until Christmas day. Which begs the question, the Atlas Institute says; What are online marketers doing after this date? and what should they be doing differently to counteract this?

The bottom line is that retailers, advertisers and online marketers need to essentially gear the months of November and December towards Christmas. They need to concentrate their efforts on Mondays and Tuesdays and from the hours of 8am to 4pm. And They also need to make sure that their sites, are intuitive, easy to understand, easy to shop, easy to checkout and they damn well better deliver those packages before December 25th!

Google stats for November, no surprise here.

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Google accounted for 65.1% of all US searches in the four weeks ending Dec. 1, while Yahoo Search, MSN Search and Ask.com received 21.2%, 7.1% and 4.6%, respectively, reported Hitwise. The remaining 46 search engines it tracks accounted for less than 2.0%. Thus if you’re an internet SEO/marketer and you’re strategy is to concentrate on the second tier SE’s, you might want to rethink that strategy. Furthermore, if you are tempted to pay money to be registered in “thousands” of search engines, our question to you would be, why?

Further enhancing marketers claims that niche based selling is the way to go, Google is also growing as a source of traffic to key industries, Hitwise said. Search engines remain the primary way internet users navigate to key industry categories, with Google leading the way.

Three categories – Travel, Entertainment, and Business and Finance – had double-digit increases (Nov. ‘06 to Nov. ‘07) in the share of traffic coming directly from search engines. These three categories revert back to a comment I made in an earlier post about the top 15 web searches: We as a society only care about being entertained and making money.

S-Commerce, where the E meets the social network.

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A funny thing is happening to all of those builders of cool social networks. It’s the same thing that happened in the pre-dot com bust days. After their cool sites were built and they were all sittin’ around drinkin’ a microbrew, they all got the “South Park” look in their eyes and in unison said, “How do we make money”?

Again, in unison they said 2 things. “Well first we’ll make money off of advertisers and then, when we get so much traffic we can barely function, someone will buy us’.  I got news for you, a 1000 visitors a day, let alone a week, ain’t gonna gitter done.

So lets flash back to the South Park image again as they all look around after seeing that their traffic aint hittin the millions. “Now what”?

Well here’s an idea. Since consumer visits to social sites are growing at an exponential rate,  and since they’re becoming more comfortable with the model and more comfortable with the tools, controls and widgets of these sites, wouldn’t it make sense as a marketer to take advantage of this niche community? The answer is yes. But what about the owner/operator of the site what do they do?

So’s here how it goes down. Lets say I have this  social network for the lovers of all things llama. Why can’t I blend the transactional and social aspects of this group  by involving consumers in promoting and selling their offerings as they pertain to…”All things Llama”?

As these social sites become more and more “social”, and people find themselves spending more time on these sites, they become impervious to traditional media; That media being Tv, Radio, Newspapers and magazines. And what happens is that now all of a sudden your social network of peers and “friends” can now influence a buying decision. Because you trust them and they, you. Statistics show people join a social networking site to receive four benefits, 1) to meet people (78%); 2) to find entertainment (47%); 3) to learn something new (38%); and  4) influence others (23%) I tend to disagree with the 4th, but that just maybe a residual effect of a marketers desire to influence the social perception of their product.

Whats interesting to note though is that members of social networks have a higher disposable income than the general population – 20% more – and spend more of it online. So if they do and going back to our llama group analogy, we now present Joe, who is selling the most healthy llama snack ever made.  You trust him because Joe is a llama lover like you. Wouldn’t you buy your llama snacks from Joe? Of course you would!

You now have seen the benefit of selling to your peeps. S-Commerce.

But the question will  and does arise, how does a marketer get to Joe? How is Joe influenced to buy the best llama snacks?  For starters maybe Joe went to a branded micro-site devoted to llamas and their snacks, saw that they were offereing a free trial, and jumps on it. Or maybe Joe read a review online somewhere about the latest in llama feed and someone mentioned Killer llama Snacks. Joe could have been in a llama forum where he saw a skyscraper? Perhaps he could have been on a competeing site and saw an add for the latest llama snack? See how many ways you can get to him?

Of course Joe might be a heavy blog reader and reads a couple of killer llama blogs everyday where he reads some posts by the author or readers about an amazing new llama snack. Better yet, Joe loves Youtube, so combining his love for llamas and video, Joe does a search and finds a cool 30 second spot on the llamas at the san diego zoo that are big and strong thanks to the killer llama snack.

So by combining all elements of branding, and marketing, and advertising along with the power of a social network. And the trust that only a niche group could have for someone within the group, S-Commerce can thrive. The best part about it is that if your product makes it into the group. No selling is required.

Furthermore, you’re probabally asking, how does the owner/operator make money? Well since he owns the niche site, wouldn’t it behoove the maker of the killer llama snack to come to the owners and see if they can cut some type of marketing deal to push their product? You betcha. So now the only advertisers on the social site are relavant to the niche aspect of the site. Everyone wins…

Lastly, taking this to the next level then would be a company like lemonade.com Where they literally provide you with the stand and all you have to do is supply the products. Just make sure they(the products) are relevant to your group and you are good to go! It would also help if you were actually part of the group. Trying to win over the group as a  passing member of this group is a hard sell and could result in an instant loss of street cred. So tread lightly, stay long, grow some roots and sell some product. Can you name another seamless example of e-commerce in play in a social networking setting?

The top 10 social networking sites for October 2007

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I’d like to revisit this after the FB/Beacon fall out because I think the reality of it is that I don’t think Facebook is going to lose millions of users because of it. Having said that. here they are:

  1. MySpace -58.8 million unique visitors
  2. Facebook -19.5 milllion
  3. Classmates Online -13.2 million
  4. Wiindows Live Spaces -10.3 million
  5. AOL Hometown -7.9 million
  6. LinkedIn -4.9 million
  7. AOL People Connection -4 million
  8. Reunion.com -4 million
  9. Club Penguin -3.8 million
  10. Buzznet -2.3 million

Looking at the list from a growth standpoint and taking the same month from the previous year shows that Linkedin had the biggest percentage growth at 189%. The site experiencing the biggest loss from the previous year was AOL people connection. Other big gainers were #2 Club Penguin at 157% and #3 Facebook at 125%. MySpace only grew 19% and looks to be finally leveling off.

LinkedIn would appear to have the biggest value add as a “true” social network in which people actually “network” for busiiness reasons; whereas Facebook has the appeal to the college demo for example, for the sole purpose of “hooking up” or connecting with like-minded individuals. There are some other sites that are fast on the rise, and  we would like to know from our readers if there is a site in particular that needs to be on everyone’s radar.

MySpace and Facebook users don’t care about their Privacy.

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Here’s a revelation to all of the folks that are fired up over the latest FaceBook fracas. This is also an FYI to all of those so-called critics of what MySpace and Facebook might be doing with a users information..

Guess what? The average user doesn’t care what an advertiser or social media marketer does with their data. Wanna know why? Because they’re in college or younger. They could care less about the implications of plastering their most intimate details all over the pages of Myspace and Facebook.

The only people that care are the Gen X,  Gen Y and  Boomers who are strolling or trolling, depending on your views of what a social network are.. into these 2 monolithic sites to kick the tires. They look around, think it’s kinda cool and decide to hang out awhile and see if they can “connect” with some peeps.

But wait! “Uh-oh, what do you mean you’re going to use my personal data?” For what? You mean you are going to share it? With who? Advertisers? OMG!!!!!

A voice behind a curtain: “Uhhhh well you’re sharing it with others…! ”

“Well yea that’s uhhhh different”.

The voice: It is? How is it? Tell me. You put it up there. All of it. And then some.

All of a sudden they want to take back what they said. Except that they knew going in what they were doing.  They want their cake and they want to eat it too.

If you are in college, or younger. Do you really care what is happening to your data? Probably not. All you really care about is who you can hook up with( not all of you) But, the only way to do that is to supply more personal details. So why wouldn’t Facebook and MySpace and it’s partners not want to take advantage of this? And one more thing, has anyone ever asked a typical user how much of the info that he or she puts into these social networks is actually valid???

So before we, and I’m still trying to determine just what the demographic of “we” is, decide to grab torches and pitchforks, lets consider what the contract is between user and site owner of Facebook and MySpace. And not only those 2, but all  social sites in general.  If you’re willing to share the most amazingly intimate details to utter strangers, then what’s the difference, or why should you care if Kraft foods wants to know when you eat Mac and cheese?