Healthy Blog Reviews

In the last month there has been more than a little discussed regarding Facebook and privacy. There have been reactions that range from industry famous folks deactivating accounts to some deleting their accounts and everyone, including myself, having an opinion. Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg has become everyone’s favorite whipping boy. It’s been a dog pile on Facebook as of late. Well, how about a dose of reality? The chart below shows that even though it seems like everyone has tried to paint Facebook as the privacy devil incarnate, people keep coming to the site. Everyone including those crazy people who actually use Facebook but wouldn’t know a social media expert, guru or whatever if they tripped over one because they don’t read nor care about the industry prattling on about this and that. comScore tells the story below of Facebook having one of their best months ever. Who woulda thunk? Maybe there was increased traffic from the Like button craze? Maybe people were visiting to change their privacy settings? Both are very real possibilities. It looks like the bottom line is that despite all of the public hand wringing and concern over the future of Facebook, it makes sense that there has been little real worry at all from Facebook. Why? Because there is a very large group of Facebook users who don’t have any clue about the privacy issues Facebook is facing. Facebook is banking on this. Even if half of the 500 million accounts have made themselves less available to marketers that leaves a significant number of people who are walking around with their privacy pants around their ankles. These people have all of their information out there for marketers to jump on. While it’s not 500 million it’s still a big number. A big enough number that Facebook will still do just fine. Oh and those who have shut down their privacy settings? Facebook won’t stop until there is some way to get to that group as well. They can’t stop because there is too much money at stake. When you have investors to please the altruistic CEO “gonna change the world” talk makes for nice headlines but means nothing. Money talks. Facebook is just a business. Big business. They’re not done yet. Would you be?

Tags: altruistic, facebook, facebook-icon, industry, money-at-stake, over-the-future, Social, tells-the-story
Posted June 7, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

In an attempt to possibly calm people’s nerves about the state of the online advertising industry, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers highlighted the year over gains in Internet advertising rather than the decline between Q4 ’09 and and Q1 ’10. Of course, that decline is the new ‘normal’ considering the heavy concentration on advertising during the holiday buying season. It hasn’t always been that way though. The chart below tells the story of an industry that is certainly hitting a plateau of sorts as it charts Internet advertising revenues by quarter since 2001. Q4 to Q1 drops were not the norm until they started in Q1 2008. What one makes of these numbers and the trending seen is really a matter of perspective as is all interpretation of business data. The year over year increase is encouraging unless you decide to say that since Q1 of 2009 was so bad that the increase is to be celebrated in a cautionary way. This year’s first quarter just got back to the levels of Q1 2008 (even surpassing by a bit) so while the increase is invited it is by no means an indication of growth. Recovery maybe. Scratching and clawing our way out of the abyss? Kind of. Growth? Not so much. So while this can be officially touted as the largest first quarter ever it is just by a small margin and it is barely squeaking past a record set 2 years ago. Things may be getting better but moving forward it may be a prudent move to look at any growth in terms of what it is really saying. Just as SEO has evolved to concentrate on conversions over ranking, the way we measure success in the Internet marketing industry needs to recognize that we too may have to look at things differently. We have suffered during this time and nothing, including the wonderful Internet, is impervious to taking a hit moving forward in the new world economic order. Your thoughts? Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Tags: even-surpassing, forward-it-may, holiday, internet, Internet Marketing, online, tells-the-story, time, wonderful, year
Posted May 14, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

I know that what I am about to say is not original but it really struck me that as Twitter announces that it is offering location based information on its site there is so little reported about the potential issues this may create. I think it struck me because the Twitter site is usually the last place where the cool ideas are implemented. Location based mobile apps for Twitter are nothing new and with the increasing popularity of foursquare and others this craze seems to have some serious legs. This is all the more evident if the Twitter site is climbing on board. Mashable reports on Twitter’s efforts with the following picture and quote which pretty much tells the story. It’s a simple integration: with any tweet that has a location attached to it (mostly via apps that support it, such as Foursquare and Tweetie), a small location icon will appear at the end of the byline of that tweet. Clicking on it will bring up a Google Map showing the location where that tweet was sent. I am admittedly not a fan of this kind of service but that means nothing because a lot of people are. The people who I think may be most enamored with this trend are those people who want to know where someone IS NOT rather than where they are. You know those folks that like to come by your place when it’s empty or less protected because of your absence.? Those nice people who like to take your belongings? You know them as burglars, thieves, robbers, home invaders etc etc. As I started to look into this a little more and back in February KTVU.com ran a story ( video here and it’s pretty interesting ) about a web site developed to make the point that maybe a little restraint may be a good thing in this quest to tell everyone when you are not at your home. The site is called Please Rob Me As more people reveal their whereabouts on social networks, a new site has sprung up to remind you that letting everyone know where you are — and, by extension, where you’re not — could leave you vulnerable to those with less-than-friendly intentions. The site’s name says it all: Please Rob Me. Launched last week, Please Rob Me is exceptionally straightforward. Pretty much all it does is show posts that appear on Twitter from a location-sharing service, Foursquare. Please Rob Me puts these posts into a long, chronological list it refers to as “Recent Empty Homes.” Please Rob Me assembles its list by taking information that Twitter makes freely available so that many Web sites can show tweets. But the point of Please Rob Me could be made with data that flows on dozens of other sites as well. I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s “Hey, look where I am now!” parade. If someone wants to do this kind of thing, that’s fine. As of today, we live in a free country. But when a law professor from UC Hastings, Robin Feldman, finishes her explanation as to why a site like Please Rob me will not likely be considered an accessory to any crimes by saying The victims to an extent are fools. They are publishing their information and they should be thinking about it. I just had to wonder. What are your thoughts on this one? Is telling everyone where you are at all times always a good thing? Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Tags: cool, kind, location, point, Robin Feldman, Social, tells-the-story, thoughts, Twitter
Posted March 11, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media