Marketing Pilgrim

It’s a rare moment when Google’s iconic home page is used for promoting something let a lone a Google product.

Well, they obviously want you to be reminded that Google+ is an option for you. Of course I had to be told this was happening since I never search from the home page but when the little blue arrow gets drawn for you it’s pretty effective.

It looks like the social media wars between Facebook and Google are on in earnest now with Facebook updating everything and Google opening the doors to Google+ for everyone. Isn’t this fun?!

So the question for you is: Where are you going to land? Are you going to be using both services? Will you cut the cord on Facebook for Google+ or sit tight with Facebook? What about businesses? Can a business afford not to be in one place (once Google+ gets its act together around businesses)?

Wow! What a relief! I have been having such a tough time lately trying to figure out what I think is important to me. It’s been vexing to say the least. But thankfully, Facebook has come along and to save me from not being able to make decisions for myself with its new Top Story feature. Here’s how the Facebook blog describes it

When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn’t worked like that. Updates slide down in chronological order so it’s tough to zero in on what matters most.

There’s a new rumble in the jungle. Hear it? That’s the excitement building over a big change in Facebook. Rumor is that the social media giant will be announcing their plan at the f8 Developer Conference on Thursday, but All Things Digital has the scoop now.

It’s called “Read. Watch. Listen.” and it could be the biggest shift we’ve seen in Facebook in a long time.

The concept is all about content — video, music, books and movies. The New York Times says that Facebook’s new platform and partnership deals will allow users to share their favorite songs, TV shows and movies right from their profile pages.

When we were kids, the promise of a gold star or a sticker was all the incentive we needed to do our very best on a spelling test. As we grew, the incentives did too, a higher allowance for keeping your room clean, then a higher salary for doing a good job at work.

So it’s no wonder that consumers are willing to give a little more of themselves to a brand, as long as there’s a prize at the end.

SocialVibe and KN Dimestore recently conducted a survey to discover just how helpful incentives can be. They placed interactive ads on sites such as Causes.com and Pandora and on games like Farmville. Visitors were asked to play a branded game or take a survey and in return they’d receive an appropriate reward. For Farmville it was game credits, air-time without ads on Pandora and donations on Causes.com.

While I know this will sound like a load of crap, it really did happen.

While I was running today I was thinking about some of the near ambivalence being shown toward Google+ outside of the over active geek crowd. I was wondering when Google was going to open the floodgates to let anyone in because the longer they wait the less likely people are going to care to join.

Well, little did I know that today was indeed the day that Google+ would be opened to the public and this should be interesting. The announcement comes from the Google blog

As I discussed in a previous post, the Wall Street Journal is launching their WSJ Social today which is a way for the denizens of the Facebook deep to be our own WSJ editors of sorts.

Well, I just got my update to hop on board the “water down your business news to mush” train and learned the real reason for this grand social gesture by the WSJ. Here are the permissions I am supposed to give to them to have the privilege of using this app within the ultimate data grab, Facebook.

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