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Microsoft, Aol and Yahoo Team Up to Push Ad Leftovers

posted on November 9, 2011

Remember being a kid and hearing the words “We’re having leftovers for dinner tonight.”? There was that sinking feeling that comes with the “Ok, I am not getting the best of the best here” realization.

Now take that mindset over to advertising. When a sales rep is trying to sell their leftovers it implies that what he or she is pushing has been passed over by those who are picky about their ad placements. As a result, there are inventory gaps that occur and you get to choose from the crumbs leftover on the display table.

Not very appealing, huh? Well, now imagine that Microsoft, Aol, and Yahoo have announced that they are looking to empty their ad refrigerators, if you will, as a team effort. It’s kind of like a garage sale for leftover display ad space. Let’s just say that the response is not exactly overwhelming.

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Retailers Get Creative With Recordable Codes and Snappy Apps

posted on November 8, 2011

According to IBM, a record number of shoppers will shift their shopping from PC to mobile this holiday season. For stores with a brick and mortar component that means finding a way to tie together traditional retail shopping with a digital twist.

Come On Get Snappy

Old Navy is doing it with their Snap Appy app. Use the app to scan the Old Navy logo as you wander the store and you’ll get rewarded with games, coupons and other surprises. You can also scan special “snap marks” to get more information about that piece of clothing.

Old Navy spokesperson Deborah Yeh says the app is part shopping tool and part entertainment. It’s designed to keep the customer in the store longer as they engage more deeply with the products on the shelves.

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Brand Interaction on Twitter is Up By One Third

posted on November 8, 2011

Twitter is slowly rising in the ranks as a means of communication between consumers and the brands they love. According to a study from Constant Contact and Chadwick Martin Bailey, one-third of brand followers said they were interacting more with brands than ever before.

The most surprising fact to come out of this study is that 75% of consumers have never “un-followed” a brand on Twitter. That’s either a testament to relevancy of the brands that use the social service or a side effect of the quick post turnover. I’m going with the second option.

Various studies have put the lifespan of a Tweet at under an hour. Klout recently ran up some numbers that showed a longer life for those with more Klout. Of course, all of this is dependent on retweets. If you don’t have them, your message will fall off the grid within minutes.

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Rush To Claim Google+ Page Expertise Is Silly

posted on November 8, 2011

This whole Google+ brand page “event” puts firmly on display something that plagues the Internet space. It is the rush to claim expertise, claiming to have everything all figured out and, of course, the whining.

While it’s no surprise it didn’t take the Google+ resident know-it-all Robert Scoble long to jump into the fray, he did so with mixed results.

OK, you all know I’m Google+’s biggest fan, right? For the past five months I’ve poured almost all my time into my Google+ account, which has paid off with a fun community and a lot of followers.

But yesterday Google+ rolled out brand pages. Here’s all the relevant news about that on Techmeme.

I wish I had never heard of them.

Why not?

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Claim: Bug Reduces The Security of iOS to That of Android

posted on November 8, 2011

What?!?!

Does that headline imply that there is something wrong inside the Apple walled garden that is the perfection that is the iPhone and all things mobile for those that are, well, the coolest of them all?

To a degree, yes. One of the biggest selling points that Apple has always had over any other competitor is the virtual non-existence of malware and viruses. Most of that can be contributed to Microsoft hate and Android openness as well as the desire by those who create these kinds of things to take down larger numbers of devices. Well, now that Apple’s mobile platform is so widespread it is being exploited for real.

According to Forbes:

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Google+ Starts Rollling Out Pages for Business

posted on November 7, 2011

It’s been a long time coming and now it’s finally here. . . sort of. Google+ is now rolling out pages for businesses and brands but you can’t start building just yet.

Their announcement blog post is all full of warm and fuzzy feelings about how Google+ Pages will allow business to connect with the people who love them on a deeply meaningful level.

Here’s my favorite line:

“Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term. They can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face.”

Only Google would consider an online comment typed on to a virtual page to be “face-to-face’ contact.

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Facebook Installs New Twitter Update Link

posted on November 7, 2011

You know that old joke about using my MasterCard to pay my Visa? Well, Facebook’s new Twitter link is kind of like that.

Sometime in the last two weeks, Facebook threw the switch to allow a link between Facebook profiles and Twitter. Hook up your accounts and all of your public Facebook posts will automatically push to your Twitter followers as well.

Previously, this option was available only to Pages but now anyone can do it. Simply visit: http://www.facebook.com/twitter/ and walk through the steps.

But before you click that link – think.

Right now, all of my Twitter updates post to my Facebook thanks to an easy check-box in my Twitter profile. If I turn on the Facebook to Twitter link, will it then repost all of my Twitter messages back to Twitter? What a mess that would be.