There’s been a number of rumours flying around the internet recently about Facebook playing catch up to Android, mainly originating from the Tech blog known as TechCrunch, of which the Facebook PR team firmly denied. Now Bloomberg are getting in on the act and have published an article reporting that Facebook are working with INQ Mobile (the social networking phone sold by Three in the UK) on a new Facebook phone, which will apparently be based on Google’s operating system, Android. See below for a quote from Bloomberg:
“Facebook Inc. is working with mobile-handset manufacturer INQ Mobile Ltd. on two smartphones that may be carried by AT&T Inc., according to three people familiar with the matter.
The devices, which will feature Facebook social-networking services, are due to be introduced in Europe in the first half of 2011 and the U.S. in the second half, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public. AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless service provider, is still considering whether to carry the devices and hasn’t made a deal, another of the people said.
Facebook, the world’s most popular social network, is redoubling efforts to reach mobile users, many of whom access the site on smartphones. About a fourth of the company’s more than 500 million users log on to Facebook from wireless devices. The phones also would present fresh competition to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry….”
Read the rest here and let us know your thoughts by tweeting @tugsearch
Three hours:
Feross lost the bet, because it took three hours for him to create YouTube Instant, and he promised that it would be ready in one hour. Through their Twitter, Facebook accounts and his blog, they announced to the world their achievement.
In just 24 hours, he was in the homepage of hundreds of technology sites, highlighting not only what he, a student, had achieved, but the flaws of Google as a company, having invested hundreds of hours and loads of money to create what a kid did in his room in about the same time it takes to watch Avatar.
To complete the humiliation Feross rejected a job offer from You Tube, beacuse he already works for Facebook…
Attention all Facebook users… by now i’m sure you have noticed the Ad’s that appear on the right hand side of your Home/Profile page while you’re doing your daily stalking (sorry, I meant socialising).
For those of you that are currently involved in Facebook PPC advertising, I’m sure what I am about to write will not come as much of a surprise to you, but you never know!
Basically, Facebook are running a similar style of PPC advertising to Google Adwords, but in their own special Facebook way. Adwords is a Keyword based PPC SEM tool whereas Facebook’s targeting is more Demographic based, such as: Gender, Age, Interests/Likes, Birthdays & Geography to target the Ad’s to the desired audience.
Setting up a Facebook PPC Campaign is fairly straight forward, and once you get to grips with how it all works (Ads & Creative’s, Targeting, Bids & Budgets, Analytics & Optimization), you will be on your way to success.
Facebook Ad’s can be used to further your businesses online marketing goals, or purely to create awareness of something you are looking to promote to the masses. You can even choose to create an Ad that will link to your Facebook Profile/Fan/Company page, which many International Corporations have already taken advantage of, e.g. Coca Cola, New Line Cinema, Visa & Victoria’s Secret.
To sum up, if you are thinking about the possibilities of Facebook PPC and whether it could be advantageous for you or your business, I would have no hesitation in giving you a big thumbs up!
For more info on Facebook Ad’s check out this blog http://subliminalpixels.com/facebook/how-to-set-up-and-track-facebook-ads/
Although this is mainly based on a lot of Gossip and Rumours, Google are apparently secretly working on a Social Networking Platform to Thwart Facebook!
This not yet confirmed Social Networking side of Google is rumoured to go by the name of “Google Me”.
Social News website “Digg” founder Kevin Rose, tweeted (since removed): “Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch Facebook competitor very soon ‘Google Me,’ very credible source,” sources have been investigating the rumours and the evidence is starting to pile up towards a launch.”
Google have been reported to be conducting a lot of time and research in Social Network Focus Groups, looking particularly at Usability. Former Chief technical officer at Facebook, Adam D’Angelo had this to say: “This is not a rumour. This is a real project. There are a large number of people working on it. I am completely confident about this.”
So as Google continue to look in to every avenue to secure their plans of Global Domination (well… on the Internet at least!), I’m sure you will join me in eagerly awaiting any further news about this subject.
1.4 Billion Dollars were spent on Social Network Ad’s last year, and even though we are still very aware of the gradual economic recovery, the average spend is increasing. This is due to the overwhelming demand of companies wanting to reach their key demographic through Social Media, as well as the traditional methods.
Emarketer had this to say on the subject: “eMarketer estimates US advertisers will spend $1.68 billion on social networking sites this year, a more than 20% increase over 2009. Spending will rise even further by 2011 to more than $2 billion.”
Although Facebook is the dominant force, who will be receiving at least Half of all Social Network Ad Spending, there is competition from the ever popular Twitter and the dwindling Myspace, as well as other Social Networking websites. Although these estimates are based on US figures and research, Social Network Advertising is expected to grow even more quickly throughout the rest of the world in 2010.
So in conclusion, if you are currently looking at advertising within the Social Network side of things, I hope this blog will give you the means to make the appropriate decision.
New Facebook News eh? Personally i think its time for Facebook to calm down on the new features and just marvel in its success…..but no…..they just keep on giving us these little treats! This particular treat allows me to continue my long standing rant on ‘privacy’ and ‘over-sharing’. Fair enough, these are things we have to opt into and noone was holding a gun to my head when i signed upto facebook; im nosey – case closed; but i still find Facebook Places more irritating than pioneering!
This feature shares information on the location of us Facebook users and our online friends, once we opt-in to the service. The idea is that we “check in” at locations which will then be shared with our friends and Facebook network.
Get this bit though – “Users will also be able to browse shops, clubs and nearby venues to see which friends are nearby”. I mean, this is any stalkers dream!
Im not a fan……but before i go, one final nugget – Its only available in the US! Well blow me down!!!
Yesterday Twitter announced the launch of the official tweet button, which allows users to tweet content without leaving the page they are on. Once the tweet button is clicked a tweet box appears with an already shortened link of the page you are tweeting, then it’s just a case of adding to your tweet and sending it off. Once sent, you even have the option of following two twitter users recommended by the site you are tweeting from, which can be selected in Twitter’s handy Tweet button builder.
The builder allows the website owner to customize the tweet button before placing it onto the site, options include changing the appearance of the button, selecting optional text to pre-populate the tweet box with and the language. An added option as mentioned above is the ability to suggest two tweeters for the user to follow after they have tweeted the content, which is a great way to retain users that are interested in your content in a quick and easy manner.
On Friday, Google officially announced that they had acquired Slide – the online slide show and image hosting website for social networks. See below for a quote from the Official Google Blog:
“We’re excited to announce we’ve acquired Slide, a social technology company with an extensive history of building new ways for people to connect with others across numerous platforms online.
For Google, the web is about people, and we’re working to develop open, transparent and interesting (and fun!) ways to allow our users to take full advantage of how technology can bring them closer to friends and family and provide useful information just for them.
Slide has already created compelling social experiences for tens of millions of people across many platforms, and we’ve already built strong social elements into products like Gmail, Docs, Blogger, Picasa and YouTube. As the Slide team joins Google, we’ll be investing even more to make Google services socially aware and expand these capabilities for our users across the web…”
I found this great little presentation recently from Paul Marsden at Net Promoter which looks as loyalty campaigns as part of social media strategies and the emergence of ’social affiliates’. Worth a look I think!
