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Comment Saturday, December 26, 2009

Press Releases Can Have a Long Search Shelf-Life Traffic from Press Releases Long After Their Release View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/21/press-releases-can-have-a-long-search-shelf-life\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

As a follow up to a recent article we ran on how press releases can be great for search, a representative for PRWeb, a press release distribution company, contacted us with another interesting example. This one looks at the shelf-life press releases can have, with regards to search traffic.

"A small business called Leatherup.com, which sells peripheral gear for motorcycle riders issued a news release on November 6, 2008, titled, \’LeatherUp.com 2008 Sales Explode to over $20 Million,\’" the representative tells WebProNews. "This year alone, this release has received more than 11,000 unique page views excluding advertising (I can see that Leatherup.com used this release as a landing page for some Doubleclick ads which boosted the total unique views to more than 20,000, so have excluded them)."

"Once I had the 11,000 number, with the exclusion, I looked at the entrance sources," he says. Among the top ten, these include (all numbers are unique views):
Google: 2,832
Direct: 1,551
AOL: 696
search.rr.com 247
"Moreover, peak views included December 11, 2009 – more than a year after the release was published," he continues. "The flat periods before April 7, 2009 are due to the fact that we had not yet implemented Google Analytics at that time, and the flat period in June 2009, is when PRWeb.com migrated over to a new Web site – the point being these search results could well be higher."

There are a number of reasons that press releases can be great for search. They\’re great for spreading word to the media (journalists/bloggers), they can contain links, when used with credible news wire services, they are often looked upon with some authority, and as discussed above, their shelf-life can be significant.

Related Articles:
> Search Engine and Social Traffic from Press Releases
> Press Releases New SEO Back Door to Top Rankings
> Getting the Media to Cover Your BusinessBookmark/Search this post with:

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Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Friday, December 25, 2009

What's Happened in Social Media Over the Year The Year in Social Media: 2009 View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/22/the-year-in-social-media-2009\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

As we did last year, we have gone back through our archives and picked out some of the most noteworthy social media items we have covered since 2009 began. Now that 2009 is almost over, it was worth going back and seeing what all has happened.

If you come across missing items, please feel free to share them in the comments.

January

In January, Twitter announced that it hired Kevin Thau as Director of Mobile Business Development, and that he would be working on a variety of different fronts as Twitter\’s "first official business development guru." LinkedIn introduced a new Polls feature, and launched a bookmarklet for IE. MySpace Music made deals with Nettwerk Music Group, INgrooves, IRIS Distribution, and RoyaltyShare to bolster its catalog by hundreds of thousands of songs. YouTube expanded its e-commerce platform and started letting people delete their own comments. Digg launched the "People who Dugg this also Dugg" feature.

February

In February, LinkedIn launched a set of HR Tools and launched a German version. MySpace launched a mobile redesign, and Digg updated its algorithm. Facebook introduced polling ads, changed its terms of service, made some design changes to profile pages for businesses, opened its corporate blog to comments, introduced the comments box widget, and launched the "like" button. Google introduced the Social Bar and launched Friend Connect integration with Blogger.

March

In March, Twitter brought its search box to most people\’s Twitter home page, and changed the "replies" tab to the "@username" tab. Twitter also adjusted the title tags for member pages. Where they used to go "Twitter / username" they would now go "User\’s Real Name (username) on Twitter". Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis offered to buy a spot on Twitter\’s Suggested Users list.

Facebook launched a redesign, started including updates from Pages in the news feed, changed pages to operate like profiles, and changed the status box to the publisher box. They launched the ability to let users chat within apps, added ad spots to Pages, relaunched Facebook Marketplace to be powered by online classified service Oodle, launched Facebook Connect for the iPhone and iPod Touch, launched some new ad targeting options, and enabled Page owners to let people sign up to become fans via text message.

Google began implementing Portable Contacts, launched the Friend Connect API, blended user-generated content into search results on Google Maps, made Google Reader more social with commenting, allowed for richer Gmail messages, and started its own Twitter accounts.

YouTube changed the name of some video sections, LinkedIn did some redesigning of its own and enhanced Direct Ads, and MySpace was stamped on a credit card.

April

Google launched an event gadget for Google Friend Connect, the Digg-like "What\’s Popular" gadget, and the "Get Answers" gadget for Friend Connect. Google also gave profiles vanity URLS and started putting profiles into search results.

Facebook made it easier to organize friends, opened its stream up to third-party developers, added electronic signatures for public pages, worked with the blind on accessibility, began making app recommendations, and readied its next steps in governance.

Twitter started integrating search into its interface more, and CNN showed that you can buy/sell a Twitter account. Scientists created a brain-Twitter interface.

StumbleUpon broke away from eBay and enhanced its "web stumbling." Digg launched the controversial DiggBar. Reddit launched a video site, AOL launched SocialThing, and Yahoo shifted its focus to social altogether. YouTube launched the beta version of YouTube RealTime. MySpace got some new management.

May

In May, Yahoo 360 went away, Digg dropped shouting, LinkedIn upped usability on the Action Bar, the Wall Street Journal gave its employees social media rules, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau released its social advertising best practices and social media ad metrics.

Google introduced Google Wave, launched a recommendation gadget for Friend Connect, launched comment translation for Friend Connect, and added more social features to Google Reader. Twitter launched full two-way SMS support for Telus, Virgin Moible, and Koodo Mobile, making it available on every major operator in Canda. Twitter also changed how users view replies.

Iran lifted its ban on Facebook, and Facebook rolled out real-time streams, announced an app directory overhaul, added pop-up notifications, and linked accounts with Gmail. YouTube launched a new way for brands to engage audiences, and began letting you log-in with your Google account.

June

In June, Facebook began offering keyword suggestions for advertisers, simplified the inbox, began letting users get friends\’ updates via text message, and launched the Live Stream Box.

YouTube launched a page for movie trailers, FriendFeed added file sharing, LinkedIn got a new CEO and updated its search tool for recruiting, MySpace cut a big chunk of its staff, StumbleUpon launched a URL shortener, and Digg started showing Digg Ads.

July

In July, Google launched its Facebook page, MySpace launched its email service, and LinkedIn introduced custom profiles for companies. YouTube launched its 3D experiment, doubled the size limit of uploads, and gave users the ability to share YouTube Insights stats.

A Twitter documentary was announced, and Twitter itself gave businesses a new resource and started making hashtags link. Facebook addressed privacy and photo use for ads, gave businesses a way to increase their Facebook fans, and added the ability to create events from the publisher.

August

In August, Facebook was readying a new ads manager, made subtle changes to its design, announced plans for privacy improvement, started integrating directly with Twitter, launched its own real-time search, implemented restrictions on sponsored status updates, updated open stream APIs, acquired FriendFeed, and began letting developers sell physical merchandise for virtual currency.

Twitter quietly took a step toward security, and announced plans to launch a feature that makes the service location-aware. Izea launched "Sponsored Tweets," and Tweetmeme brought analytics to retweeting.

Google reader got more social features, YouTube placed more emphasis on search and launched its own AdSense-like promoted videos. Delicious showed off new features for sharing, search, and its homepage. StumbleUpon made some big changes to its toolbar.

September

In September, Google turned the whole web into an exclusive social network with SideWiki. Yahoo launched a new contacts API, Yahoo profiles became social media profiles, and the company launched the Twitter-like Yahoo Meme in English. Microsoft added MySpace activity updates to Windows Live, and Bing announced it was readying sharing features for search results.

A sick poll was discovered on and removed from Facebook, and Facebook announced its translation plans, and that it had roughly the same amount of people as the entire U.S. population. Facebook also added tagging from status updates, and launched Facebook Lite in the U.S. and India.

MySpace Music launched in Australia, and Myspace users started being able to sync updates with Twitter. LinkedIn made profile organization easier, a record label was launched for YouTube stars, and YouTube began readying a friend-finder feature.

Pizza Hut and other brands used Twitter to help feed the hungry, Digg made changes to its nofollow policy, the Washington Post\’s leaked social media policy faced criticism, and real-time search engines Collecta and OneRiot launched APIs.

October

In October, Bing scored deals with Twitter and Facebook, while Google scored one with Twitter. Mozilla shared its plans for integrating social media and email into one inbox, and Twitter partnered with its first charity. LinkedIn announced that it surpassed 50 million users.

MySpace introduced new music features, StumbleUpon launched a new design with more of a search focus, YouTube got real-time search for comments, and the only known video footage of Anne Frank appeared on YouTube.

Facebook confirmed testing of a new design, made share buttons more useful, gave groups walls, tried harder to get page owners to verify, and presented new obstacles for application developers. They also launched the Create Application API.

November

In November, Google eased the retrieval of SideWiki entries for entire sites, Google Wave got a feature for following, and Google launched some new features for Google Friend Connect.

Facebook tested new design changes, and continued work on privacy changes. Facebook and Twitter both made their way into dictionaries and onto video game consoles. Twitter made geotagging tweets possible, and talked about plans which would make its suggested usres list more like Twellow\’s. Twitter also changed launched Twitter Lists, gave apps access to people search, rolled out the controversial retweet feature, and changed "What are you doing?" to "What\’s Happening?".

LinkedIn opened up its platform to developers, Yahoo began showing tweets for news results, MySpace launched new music charts, Salesforce announced its "Facebook for the enterprise," YouTube connected news outlets with citizen reporters, PayPal launched new APIs to take over mobile and social apps, Microsoft launched a big redesign of MSN, Opera launched Opera Unite, Digg launched Digg Trends.

December

In December, Google, Facebook, and YouTube all got new URL shorteners. Twitter continued expansion into new languages, and announced plans for business features. Google launched real-time search in the search results.

LinkedIn began testing a new design, and launched faceted search, Facebook began giving translators awards, adjusted privacy controls, and formed a board for online safety, MySpace launched new APIs, upgraded users\’ mobile experience, and acquired iMeem, Bing launched new maps with apps, and Yahoo deepened its integration with Facebook. Digg released a new version of its API. Also, the new FTC guidelines went into effect.

Wrapping Up

Of course, there has been much more that has happened over the year in social media. I think it might be close to impossible to cover every single thing. Were there things that happened that you think should have been included here? Add them in the comments. That will only serve to make the piece more comprehensive for future readers.
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News Tags:
Social Media, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, social networks, MySpace, 2009

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Thursday, December 24, 2009

Top 15 Things You Loved to Talk About in 2009 The Most Discussed WebProNews Stories of the Year View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/31/top-15-things-you-loved-to-talk-about-in-2009\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

Just as we did at the end of 2008, we have gone back through our entire archive for the year 2009 and picked out the articles that received the most conversation from our readers. As we approach the new year, we thought it would be fun to go back and reflect on some of the things that got people talking in the one that\’s wrapping up.

Note: Please keep in mind that some of the articles are a bit outdated now as new developments have occurred throughout the year.

1. eBay Wants its Sellers Back

This article received the most commentary by far from WebProNews readers out of every article we produced this year.

2. Top 10 Frustrations for eBay Sellers

Another article on a related subject was also discussed frequently.

3. Does DMOZ Still Have a Place in Search?

Indicating that DMOZ is still definitely a topic worthy of discussion, DMOZ\’s value was debated thoroughly in the comments on this article.

4. Do You Respect DMOZ After 11 Years?

DMOZ was also a hot topic after the company had its 11th birthday. It was quite interesting to find out what people thought after 11 years of the directory\’s existence.

5. eBay Competitor Bonanzle Continues Big-Time Growth

As was made clear in a number of eBay articles we ran, a lot of users of that site were not very happy. Competitors took advantage. This was a look at the success of one competitor in particular.

6. House Says Bloggers Don\’t Count As Journalists

The bloggers vs. journalists debate is always a hot one. Of course when the government gets involved with that debate, some heavy commentary will ensue.

7. Apple Fans Respond To The "Droid Does" Advertising Campaign

Apple fans love to talk. So do Apple haters. That point was very clear in the comments we received on this article.

8. Netbooks: Moving in Right Next Door to Useless

Mike ruffled some feathers with his criticism of the Netbook phenomenon. Although he certainly had plenty who agreed with his views.

9. Can eBay Win Back Sellers with a Shift in Focus?

eBay sparked some interest yet again when it announced its focus on the "secondary market".

10. eBay Unleashes Changes Galore for Sellers

Any time eBay makes changes that affect sellers, you can pretty much guarantee that people are going to talk.

11. Is MySpace Toast?

MySpace\’s future is discussed as Facebook takes over as the dominant social network.

12. Google: Page Speed May Become a Ranking Factor in 2010

Google\’s Matt Cutts dropped a hint that page speed may be considered as a ranking factor by the search engine soon. Some think this is a great idea, others think it\’s horrible.

13. The AP\’s Desperate Attempt To Outlaw Search Engine Links

A discussion about the Associated Press and fair use of content.

14. Murdoch On Blocking Search Engines: "I Think We Will"

News Corp. CEO Murdoch said some interesting things about how it plans to distribute its content in the future. This is still a hot topic.

15. Shocker: Facebookers Not Happy With Redesign

I\’m sure you recall the big Facebook redesign. A lot of people are still bitter about it.

Looking back at some of these articles, it\’s hard to believe they\’ve all come from just this year. It\’s amazing how much has happened in search, e-commerce, and social media. The rate at which everything changes and evolves is really quite astounding. I guess that can be attributed to the real-time nature in which we consume information now, and the sheer amount of content that is poured onto the web every minute of every day.

To get an idea of what I mean, just go to any of our tag pages and look back through our coverage of any given topic. Go to the Google tag, for example, and look at the enormous amount of things Google has been a part of this year alone.

What kinds of topics would you like to see covered more in the future? Share your thoughts here.Bookmark/Search this post with:

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News Tags:
Search, Social Media, E-commerce, WebProNews, 2009

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Google Provides an Update on the AdMob Acquisition Google Receives Second Request from FTC View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/23/google-provides-an-update-on-the-admob-acquisition\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

Google has issued a statement regarding the company\’s pending acquisition of AdMob. Google\’s intent to acquire the company was announced back in early November. The deal was for $750 million in stock.

Since then, the Federal Trade Commission has vowed to closely scrutinize the deal. Google had this to say today:

As we said when we announced the deal, we don\’t see any regulatory issues with this deal, because the rapidly growing mobile advertising space is highly competitive with more than a dozen mobile ad networks.

That said, we know that closer scrutiny has been one consequence of Google\’s success, and we\’ve been talking to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the past few weeks. This week we received what\’s called a "second request," which means that the FTC is asking for more information so that they can continue to review the deal.

While this means we won\’t be closing right away, we\’re confident that the FTC will conclude that the rapidly growing mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive after this deal closes. And we\’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review.

Upon announcement Google highlighted these things about the deal:
- The deal will bring new innovation and competition to mobile advertising, and will lead to more effective tools for creating, serving, and analyzing emerging mobile ads formats.

- This deal will benefit developers, publishers, and advertisers by improving the performance of mobile advertising, and will provide users with more free or low-cost mobile apps.

- The mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive, with more than a dozen mobile ad networks. The deal is similar to mobile advertising acquisitions that AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo have made in the past two years
"Mobile advertising has enormous potential as a marketing medium and while this industry is still in the early stages of development, AdMob has already made exceptional progress in a very short time," said Susan Wojcicki, Vice President of Product Management at Google upon the announcement.

Google says since the announcement, they have seen a quite positive reaction from advertisers and publishers, who are "enthusiastic" about the possibilities the deal might bring. It\’s hard to say how long the regulatory process will take, but we\’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
Related Articles:
> Usage Of Mobile Web And Apps Doubles In 2 Years

> Mobile Advertising Guidelines Get An Update
> Best Buy Now Installing Google Mobile Apps On Smartphones

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News Tags:
Google, admob, mobile, acquisitions, Government, Advertising, Deals, Federal Trade Commission, FTC

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Google Provides an Update on the AdMob Acquisition Google Receives Second Request from FTC View
Comments

By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/23/google-provides-an-update-on-the-admob-acquisition\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

Google has issued a statement regarding the company\’s pending acquisition of AdMob. Google\’s intent to acquire the company was announced back in early November. The deal was for $750 million in stock.

Since then, the Federal Trade Commission has vowed to closely scrutinize the deal. Google had this to say today:

As we said when we announced the deal, we don\’t see any regulatory issues with this deal, because the rapidly growing mobile advertising space is highly competitive with more than a dozen mobile ad networks.

That said, we know that closer scrutiny has been one consequence of Google\’s success, and we\’ve been talking to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the past few weeks. This week we received what\’s called a "second request," which means that the FTC is asking for more information so that they can continue to review the deal.

While this means we won\’t be closing right away, we\’re confident that the FTC will conclude that the rapidly growing mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive after this deal closes. And we\’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review.

Upon announcement Google highlighted these things about the deal:
- The deal will bring new innovation and competition to mobile advertising, and will lead to more effective tools for creating, serving, and analyzing emerging mobile ads formats.

- This deal will benefit developers, publishers, and advertisers by improving the performance of mobile advertising, and will provide users with more free or low-cost mobile apps.

- The mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive, with more than a dozen mobile ad networks. The deal is similar to mobile advertising acquisitions that AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo have made in the past two years
"Mobile advertising has enormous potential as a marketing medium and while this industry is still in the early stages of development, AdMob has already made exceptional progress in a very short time," said Susan Wojcicki, Vice President of Product Management at Google upon the announcement.

Google says since the announcement, they have seen a quite positive reaction from advertisers and publishers, who are "enthusiastic" about the possibilities the deal might bring. It\’s hard to say how long the regulatory process will take, but we\’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
Related Articles:
> Usage Of Mobile Web And Apps Doubles In 2 Years

> Mobile Advertising Guidelines Get An Update
> Best Buy Now Installing Google Mobile Apps On Smartphones

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News Tags:
Google, mobile, Deals, FTC, Government, Federal Trade Commission, admob, acquisitions, Advertising

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Top 50 Sites in the US (as of November) Compete Releases Top 50 List View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/23/the-top-50-sites-in-the-us-in-november\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

Compete puts together a monthly ranking of the top 250 Web sites in the US, based on unique visitors, and breaks up the data by relevant categories and behavioral segments. The firm is sharing the top 50.

"Despite continued concerns surrounding the economic recovery, holiday shoppers flocked to the Web in November," says Compete. "Of the 20 fastest growing Web categories last month, 13 were shopping related. November 2009 saw consumers shopping online for home and garden merchandise, searching for rebates and reading shopping blogs in record numbers."

Here are the top 50 Sites in terms of unique visitors:

Here are the top 20 gainers in terms of categories:

Here are the top 20 gainers in terms of traffic:

"If Web traffic is an accurate representation, Santa will be wrapping up a sleigh full of electronics this Christmas," says Compete. "In fact, 73.7 million consumers shopped for electronics in November, a 12 percent increase over 2008. Best Buy saw one of the month’s most dramatic Web site traffic increases – 74.6 percent month-over-month; the electronics retailer drew 29.5 million UVs to BestBuy.com. Gamestop.com (6.2 million UVs) and Newegg.com (5.9 million UVs) were also among the top gainers in November."

Unsurprisingly, bargain and coupon sites drew heavy traffic. It will be interesting to see how the lists shake out after the holiday season.
Related Articles:
> The Top 50 Websites in the US
> Online Shoppers Have Bigger Holiday Budgets Than Offline Shoppers
> Compete Builds "Twitter Down" Case
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News Tags:
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Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Pepsi to Skip Super Bowl for Social Media Pepsi Breaking Over 2 Decades of Tradition View
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tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/23/pepsi-to-skip-super-bowl-for-social-media\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

Pepsi will reportedly be skipping its annual Super Bowl commercials, and will instead invest the money it would generally spend on those, in social media marketing. This would make the first time in 23 years that Pepsi will not have Super Bowl ads.

Larry D. Woodard, President and CEO of Manhattan ad agency Vigilante writes in an ABC News piece:

Pepsi represents one of the stalwarts, not just of the Super Bowl advertiser lineup, but of broadcast TV in general. In 2006, spending on brand, Pepsi was at about $150 million. Although brand spending has been decreasing in recent years, Pepsi has continued to spend tens of millions on TV. And the Super Bowl annually has the largest audience of any TV show.

As television viewership has gone down, Internet usage, particularly social media interaction, has increased. The 2009 Super Bowl attracted an impressive 95.4 million viewers (approximately 42.1 percent of U.S. TV homes) and many of those watch the commercials as attentively as the football game. By contrast, in the important 18-34 demographic, a whopping 85 percent use social media (texting, blogging or social networking), and the phenomenal growth of social media has the attention of every major company. This holiday season, Toys "R" Us developed a Facebook page that grew at the astounding rate of between 40,000 and 95,000 fans per day after its late November launch.

As the numbers Woodard mentions would indicate, the Super Bowl is always an advertiser\’s dream. It costs big bucks, but there are so many eyeballs on those ads, and some people even watch the event just to see the commercials. Pepsi\’s move really says something about how far social media has come in the advertising world in such a short time. The fact that the company is breaking such a long-standing tradition in favor of it says a lot.

Of course social media will play its role in the further viewing of the Super Bowl ads themselves. They will no doubt appear on various video sites, and will be shared by countless people on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Related Articles:
> Socializing Advertising
> Pepsi\’s Social Media Challenge
> Amazon.com, Pepsi Bank On Free MP3 MusicBookmark/Search this post with:

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Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Pepsi to Skip Super Bowl for Social Media Pepsi Breaking Over 2 Decades of Tradition View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/23/pepsi-to-skip-super-bowl-for-social-media\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

Pepsi will reportedly be skipping its annual Super Bowl commercials, and will instead invest the money it would generally spend on those, in social media marketing. This would make the first time in 23 years that Pepsi will not have Super Bowl ads.

Larry D. Woodard, President and CEO of Manhattan ad agency Vigilante writes in an ABC News piece:

Pepsi represents one of the stalwarts, not just of the Super Bowl advertiser lineup, but of broadcast TV in general. In 2006, spending on brand, Pepsi was at about $150 million. Although brand spending has been decreasing in recent years, Pepsi has continued to spend tens of millions on TV. And the Super Bowl annually has the largest audience of any TV show.

As television viewership has gone down, Internet usage, particularly social media interaction, has increased. The 2009 Super Bowl attracted an impressive 95.4 million viewers (approximately 42.1 percent of U.S. TV homes) and many of those watch the commercials as attentively as the football game. By contrast, in the important 18-34 demographic, a whopping 85 percent use social media (texting, blogging or social networking), and the phenomenal growth of social media has the attention of every major company. This holiday season, Toys "R" Us developed a Facebook page that grew at the astounding rate of between 40,000 and 95,000 fans per day after its late November launch.

As the numbers Woodard mentions would indicate, the Super Bowl is always an advertiser\’s dream. It costs big bucks, but there are so many eyeballs on those ads, and some people even watch the event just to see the commercials. Pepsi\’s move really says something about how far social media has come in the advertising world in such a short time. The fact that the company is breaking such a long-standing tradition in favor of it says a lot.

Of course social media will play its role in the further viewing of the Super Bowl ads themselves. They will no doubt appear on various video sites, and will be shared by countless people on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Related Articles:
> Socializing Advertising
> Pepsi\’s Social Media Challenge
> Amazon.com, Pepsi Bank On Free MP3 MusicBookmark/Search this post with:

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About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Opera: Facebook Most Popular Mobile Site in Africa 5% Jump in Global Mobil Internet Users View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/23/opera-facebook-most-popular-mobile-site-in-africa\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

According to Opera, Facebook is the most popular site on the mobile web in Africa. In addition, a report from the company shows a 5% jump in global mobile Internet users.

Opera Mini has garnered more than 41.7 million users worldwide showing a 5.3 percent jump compared to the previous month, according to the report. The number of page views in November went up 9.5% and data consumption increased 8.3% compared to October.

In Africa, Facebook has taken a strong lead and ranks as the most popular site in six out of the top 10 countries, Opera says. The company highlights the following global trends:

- In November 2009, more than 41.7 million people used Opera Mini, a 5.3% increase from October 2009 and more than 154% compared to November 2008.

- Those 41.7 million people viewed more than 18.8 billion pages in November 2009. Since October, page-views have gone up 9.5%. Since November 2008, page-views have increased 231%.

- Opera Mini users generated over 285 million megabytes of data for operators worldwide in November 2009. Since October, the data consumed went up by 8.3%. Data in Opera Mini is compressed up to 90%. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed over 2.6 petabytes of data in November. Since November 2008, data traffic is up 213%.

- The top 10 countries for Opera Mini usage (in order): Russia, Indonesia, India, China, Ukraine, South Africa, United States, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Poland.

Opera also highlights the following trends for Africa:

- The top 10 countries using Opera Mini in Africa are (in order): South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Libya, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Tanzania and Namibia.

- Some numbers regarding Africa: From November 2008 to November 2009, page-views in the top 10 countries increased by 374%, unique users increased by 177%, and data transferred increased by 183%.

- Since our last spotlight on Africa, Kenya jumped from #4 to #3, Ghana jumped from #11 to #5 and Ivory Coast jumped from #8 to #7.

- Growth rates in Africa: Ghana and Kenya lead the top 10 African countries in terms of page-view growth. Ghana and Ivory Coast lead the top 10 African countries in growth of unique users. Kenya leads the top 10 African countries in page-views, with each user browsing 525 pages on average each month.

- Facebook has taken the lead in Africa; it is the most popular site visited by Opera Mini users in six out of 10 countries and the #2 site in the three countries where it isn’t #1. Google is also very popular, and is ahead of Facebook in a few of the top 10 African countries. Yahoo and Wikipedia are also ubiquitous in the top 10 lists of the various African countries.

- Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets are extremely popular in Africa, but Samsung is a significant exception, boasting the most popular phone used by Opera Mini users in South Africa, Zambia and Namibia.

"It is heartening to know that Opera Mini continues to grow consistently in all regions and categories — specially in continents like Africa where mobile phones are more likely the only way for people to access the Web," said Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner. "At Opera, we are striving to bring the most innovative and affordable way for people to access the mobile Web and expect 2010 will prove just as successful for us as the case has been in previous years."

Related Articles:

> Opera Turbo Sees 60% User Growth in One Month
> 40 Million Reasons You Need a Mobile Web Presence
> Opera Releases Latest Version of Popular Mobile BrowserBookmark/Search this post with:

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News Tags:
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About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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Comment Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Google Shares Top Retail Searches for the Holiday Season What People Are Searching for During the Holidays View
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By Chris Crum

tweetmeme_url = \’http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/23/google-shares-top-retail-searches-for-the-holiday-season\’;
tweetmeme_source = \’webpronews\’;

Google has shared the top retail searches for the 2009 holiday season. These results are based on the company\’s Insights for Search tool.

"Using Google Insights for Search, we can see that the hottest toys over the last seven days include stalwarts like Pikachu and Legos, as well as newcomers, such as the Nerf Marshmellow Shooter and the surprise hit of the holiday season, a blanket-with-sleeves known as the Snuggie," says Eric Lopez of the Google Retail Team.

"In the shopping category, we\’ve seen Black Friday reach new heights, toping the rising search term list over the last 30 days as consumers continue to seek out the best prices," adds Lopez. "Consumers too continue to turn to familiar, top retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon and Macy\’s."

Google has been encouraging retailers to start looking ahead to the rest of the Winter season with regards to what people will be searching for: things like Valentine\’s Day gifts, Prom dresses, wedding planning, ski equipment, etc.

On a positive note for retailers, new research from Market Force Info finds that a good percentage of consumers intend to "splurge" on at least one item over the next few months.

Related Articles:
> Site Usability Issues Matter During the Holidays
> Google Earmarks $20M For Charities As Holiday Gift To Everyone
> Going Home For The Holidays? Google Wants To Tag AlongBookmark/Search this post with:

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News Tags:
Search, Google, Online Retail, Holidays, social e-commerce, Retail

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237

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