Marketing Pilgrim

Two years ago, Megan Calhoun launched a website devoted to connecting mom bloggers through Twitter. Thousands of moms signed up and with that came the brand names, eager to catch the ear of this influential segment of the online population.

She called the site TwitterMoms and I joined up back in August of 2009. Since then, I’ve been involved in a wide variety of marketing programs which were offered exclusively to members. Most of these were pay or gift for post opportunities where I was rewarded for writing about a product on my blog.  According to the website, more than $160,000 was rewarded to community members over the last year. A portion of the money was given to charity, and many members added their voice to stories for NBC/iVillage, the LA and New York Times and other media outlets.

Google has finalized the purchase of the largest building in Manhattan. We talked about the rumor of this purchase back in October.

At the time we also noticed that despite the apparent importance of the building to Google, their own Place Page for the site had it located in Brooklyn. Yikes!

Well, maybe you just need to buy the building to actually get something that even looks like support from Google as it relates to Place Pages. We are happy to pass along that the new Google Manhattan location is indeed in Manhattan and not Brooklyn. Here’s the updated result as of today.

Phew! Is that a relief!

Now, Google, about that support issue ………..

In the past we have looked at how the European Commission does its business and let’s just say that we don’t always see eye to eye. Well, a recent ruling from an EU court has me taking a step back and asking more than a few questions.

The folks at ZDNet’s Between the Lines blog report

It’s kind of ironic that the European Commission, a proponent of the international trade agreement to enforce intellectual property rights, is being slapped with a fine of 12 million euros for infringing on the copyrights of a software company.

A European Union court has ruled against the European Commission, the EU’s own executive branch, over a years-long case involving the alteration of a language translation software system created by a French company.

I don’t think of shopping as a social experience, unless it’s a day at the mall with my friends. But when I’m online trying to fill a particular need, I’m not all that interested in sharing my choices with those who follow me on Facebook. Apparently, I’m alone in this because Google and Facebook are both working hard to make shopping a big part of their business.

Back in November, Google bought Boutiques.com. This site groups high-ticket fashion items by celebrity then uses a Likes and Dislikes algorithm to determine which tops, dresses and shoes are good for you. There’s an option to follow each of the celeb boutiques and every item has a share button so you can show those sweet $800.00 shoes to your boss on Facebook to explain why you need a raise.

Foursquare has a gift for all of their users, a shiny new, souped up version of the app that will allow you to add photos and comments.

The ability to add comments turns this app from a trendy toy into something really useful. You can send a comment to a friend confirming your meet at a restaurant or send one to yourself to say, “don’t forget to use that coupon!” You can send comments through the website, Facebook or Twitter so it’s easy to access no matter where you are.

I will be very honest with you on this one. I lost interest in this whole net neutrality concept a long time ago when I started digging into it more. The more I looked into the various arguments and thoughts about what should or should not be, the more confused I got.

You see, I used to be the kind of person that would make a stand on one extreme of something without truly considering the other side. Honestly, it’s easier. Over time I have tried to look at both side of any issue (save a few but they aren’t for here) so I could be impartial until someone made an argument that was so compelling that I had to take a side.