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While a lot of the talk around Twitter is hype and hyperbole and anything else that is based in theory there are some real numbers that Twitter can point to that are hard to ignore. In June, according to comScore as reported by TechCrunch Twitter had 44.5 million visitors to the site. This is a pretty large number on its own, placing it ahead of ESPN and just shy of Craig’s List as well as the BBC’s site. In a pure ranking sense the site now sits at the 52nd largest site in the world. The graph below represents the kind of ‘hockey stick’ growth that most just dream will happen.
If there was ever a group of people that have to sacrifice in ways that I simply cannot imagine it’s the men and women of the US Armed Forces and in this case the United States Marine Corps (Semper Fi). These folks have volunteered to do a job that most of us would not do but ranks as one of the most important jobs any person could do. They make incredible sacrifices so we can complain about how rich people manipulate the Internet for more riches. Makes this all seem kind of insignificant doesn’t it? Now, the Marines have to abide by the order which bans all social networking sites from Marine networks which cuts off one of the few ways they can even feel like they still have a home.
Maybe everyone was waiting for the Microhoo giddiness to be over. Maybe everyone had enough of hearing about the whole deal. Whatever it is there appears to be a more clearly defined landscape emerging as to who is going after what amongst the largest Internet players in the world. One thing for sure is that as the next phase of the Internet Age starts to unfold there is going to be some serious ‘contact’. It’s the corporate version of training camp opening up and preparations are being made to knock the snot out of the competition.
We know that the ink from Steve Ballmer’s huge pen is barely dry on the documents that christen the new era (or error) of the online marketing industry but inquiring minds want to know whether the masses are on board. In this case, the masses are advertisers who are going to need to gather intelligence regarding the true potential impact of how they allocate search ad spend in the future. This new kid on the block is not even out of the ‘corporate offspring’ nursery unit and polls are taking place as to whether advertisers intend to spend more money with the Baby Micro-Yahooy. 
As I like to do when a post involves some ‘creative thinking’ I am warning you on this one. 
I knew I should have done something to trademark a saying I use all the time with SMB owners and marketers that “It’s a Google world and we’re just allowed to live in it.” 
