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LinkedIn Reels In Review Site Talent

posted on September 23, 2010

The online space and its obsession with reviews have been mostly relegated to the B2C space. LinkedIn, which is the networking / social media place for ‘professionals’ (whatever that means) is seeing that their audience needs some review help as well. It makes sense. If you want someone’s opinion about a restaurant then why not seek it out for an accountant?

LinkedIn has purchased the start up ChoiceVendor as reported by Bloomberg Businessweek.

ChoiceVendor, a San Francisco startup founded in 2008 by two former Google (GOOG) employees, provides customer reviews about accountants, call centers, payroll services, and other vendors. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in a LinkedIn statement on Sept. 23.

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B2C Online Lead Generation Alive and Well

posted on September 23, 2010

The online space continues to provide businesses a needed boost as we slog through this economy. Of course, in case you didn’t know, the recession ended last year. I don’t know about you but I missed that event. At any rate, businesses must continue to work through this and in the B2C space online lead generation has been key. Whether you are on the client (corporate), agency or publisher side of this valuable business activity this is a critical component for overall business success.

Econsultancy and Clash Media have released a report that shows just how that impact has happened. The chart below suggests that publishers are seeing success.

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Earned Media or Cash Register Ringing? Social Media Says Cha-ching!

posted on September 22, 2010

Do you think that a bad economy can’t make just about anybody consider anything for a buck? Well, new research shows that the pristine and highly moral world of the bloggers are more for sale than ever before. Of course, I am being just a bit facetious because basically at heart the blogging world is pure and strictly here for the greater good. Rats! There I go again. Maybe there needs to be some research to settle this issue?

Fortunately, eMarketer and IZEA has done that and it appears as if the idea of “earned media” sounds much better as theory rather than reality. Are you really surprised?

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What’s in a Twitter Name?

posted on September 22, 2010

Afro-Cheez and Neko-do had their fifteen minutes of fame last week when the Miami Herald ran their Twitter “quotes” as part of their newspaper’s coverage of the anniversary of 9/11.

Understandably, some of the Herald’s actual reporters (Remember reporters? Like Clark Kent, only without the bulky camera) objected and said so in a letter they posted in the newsroom. Their objection was two fold, partly they objected to the idea of displacing actual reporting with inane comments from Twitter. Second, they brought up the fact that the Twitter attributes made the relevancy and quality of the “quotes” even worse because they aren’t real names.

I gotta say that I’m with them on this. Having made my living as a reporter in a variety of mediums over the last nineteen years, I cringe at the way social media has crept in as acceptable journalism.

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comScore Study Says Ad Retargeting Generates Strongest Lift

posted on September 22, 2010

comScore just released  a new study they conducted with ValueClick Media on the effectiveness of online display advertising according to its media placement strategy. They analyzed 103 campaigns from 39 different advertisers covering 7 industries, examining the lift in brand website visitation and trademark search queries across six different media placement strategies.

Here’s a simplified look at what they found.

Retargeting – Served to users that have previously visited an advertiser’s site.

ReTargeted ads had the highest lift in trademark search behavior with a whopping 1,046 percent. The downside is that retargeting by the very nature of the beast, doesn’t reach as many potential customers so it’s perfect for those who have a high volume of abandoned shopping carts.

Premium Pricing – High visibility placements on premium publishers.

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Want Bing Rewards? You’ll Need Bing’s Toolbar, Windows Live ID, PC & IE!!!

posted on September 22, 2010

Search Engine Land is reporting on Microsoft’s third attempt to launch a search loyalty program.

Bing Rewards lets users earn credits that can be redeemed for products, gift cards, or charitable donations.

Except, the requirements for joining are outrageous!

People must first install the Bing Bar toolbar, have a Windows Live ID, be on a Windows machine and use Internet Explorer. No Chrome or Firefox, no Macs.

What the heck?

How many more hoops could Microsoft ask us to jump through? And it wonders why its loyalty programs fail. :-(

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Stephen Colbert Grills Google’s Eric Schmidt (Video)

posted on September 22, 2010

Stephen Colbert sits down with Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Hilarity and discomfort ensues.

My favorite line?

Colbert on Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto: Your stock price is at $500. How low does that price have to go before you say, ‘That’s it, we’re going with evil!’