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Linky Goodness, April 23

posted on April 23, 2008

I’d almost forgotten that Linky Goodness is an acronym, too. It stands for Little Items of News to Keep You GOing On to Do Neat, Exciting and Successful Stuff. So let’s get to it, shall we?

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eBay Sues Craigslist for Stock Dilution

posted on April 23, 2008

I know you’re getting bored with all the other Internet marketing intrigues out there, so here’s a new one: eBay is suing craigslist. Tantalizing, isn’t it?

By way of background, eBay bought more than a quarter of craigslist’s stock (28.4%) back in 2004. According to the suit, this January, unnamed “unilateral actions” by founder Craig Newmark, CEO Jim Buckmaster and/or the craigslist company itself diluted eBay’s shares, diminishing the power that eBay should wield by an alleged 10%.

eBay says that the unnamed actions were unethical and unfair, in addition to being a “breach” of the company’s “fiduciary duties.” citing their good history with craigslist, eBay expressed dismay at the recent developments:

[W]e have acted openly and in good faith as a minority shareholder, so we were surprised by these recent unilateral actions.

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FCC: We Can Enforce Net Neutrality Now

posted on April 23, 2008

One of the more interesting statements in the Comcast/FCC hearings recently was made almost two months ago, when Comcast argued that:

The FCC “Internet policy statement, in which it [the FCC] endorses net neutrality in general, ‘was not published in the Federal Register and is not contained in the Code of Federal Regulations,’ and therefore does not have ‘binding legal effect.’”

(It actually got better as Comcast’s counsel couldn’t seem to understand questions about that statement, or his company’s position.)

As I noted at the time, generally speaking, it’s not the best bargaining tactic to tell the federal regulatory agency over your industry that they don’t have the authority to enforce their stated policies. (And, as a refresher, the FCC is not Congress. They don’t have to follow the rule of law. This is administration, not governance.)

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Yodle Becomes Authorized Google AdWords Reseller

posted on April 23, 2008

Yodle, a company that focuses on local internet advertising, has been accepted as an authorized reseller of Google AdWords(tm). The program is to help companies focus on paid search for small businesses.

According to a Nielsen survey, 74% of people said they use search engines to find local business. Yet, only 3% of local marketing budgets are spent online. When it comes to paid search, it’s somewhat easy to start, but difficult to manage. If you don’t manage it well, your turning on the faucet and letting money run out.

“Most small businesses have not yet adopted online advertising since it requires specific tools, skills and more time than a busy small business owner is willing to spend,” said Yodle CEO Court Cunningham.

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Bamboo’s Pen Tablet; a Case Study in Using Social Media Marketing

posted on April 23, 2008

I get soooo many PR pitches each day, most of which are boring–I hit delete before I get to the end of the first sentence. Then there’s this gem, from Rachel Weikum at Weikum Communications.

Instead of the normal pitch format, her email was more like a blog post. It drew me in, gave me the info, and impressed me with the outcome. I thought about re-writing the pitch, but have decided instead to simply paste it below for you to read.

This is a great case study on using social media:

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Pilgrim’s Picks for April 23 – Politics Edition

posted on April 23, 2008

I’ve decided to use Marketing Pilgrim to mention politics for the first time!

Politics.

Let’s not mention it again. :-)

Instead, let’s move on to today’s Picks:

  • Microsoft has launched its Live Mesh "thingy." Judging by all the buzz, I’m sure it’s going to change the entire web–I’m just not nerdy enough to get excited about it just yet.
  • Equally uninspiring, Mahalo announces the launch of "Microformats." (Nofollow added to the link, cos Jason Calacanis has once again said he doesn’t value SEO)
  • Jim Killeen Googled his name and decided to track down the 24 others that shared it. His "Google Me" documentary airs on YouTube this Friday.
  • Twitter has launched service in Japan. I hope they used a different set of servers, because the US version can hardly keep up as it is.

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72% of Consumers Research Reputations Online, 59% of Customers Happy to Share Gripes With Them

posted on April 23, 2008

Do you use the web to complain about poor customer service? (Maybe I should say "thanks," because you keep me busy with reputation management clients).

Well, if you do, you’re not alone. According to a new study by Society for New Communications Research 59% of respondents said they regularly use social media to "vent" about a poor customer service experience.

And, thanks to the two third of you that do complain, there’s plenty of online fodder for consumers to read, when researching a company’s reputation. And lots of us are researching:

…72 percent of respondents used social media to research a company’s reputation for customer care before making a purchase, and 74 percent choose to do business with companies based on the customer care experiences shared by others online.