Interview with Optify’s Anthony Joseph: Google Gets Social
Since launching in January, Google's awkwardly named Search Plus Your World (SPYW) has begun adding Google+ information to Google search results. This means that if I begin Googling for sunglasses, information from people and brands I follow on Google+ would turn up as part of my search. Personalized search will not only have a huge impact on what products and companies rise to the top of our search results, but also will influence our purchasing...read more >>
Content Merchandising Roundup #14
Below is a summary of the week's most interesting content merchandising-related posts from Content Ping as well as from other blogs and news sites. Happy reading. FROM CONTENT PING: Avoid the Telephone Game with Content Blueprinting Companies need to devise an internal system for collecting, sharing, and approving product information. This content blueprinting process is an essential part of producing compelling web copy. Will Amazon Get into the...read more >>
Google Search Goes Social
As the only Pinger enamored with Google+, I feel compelled to comment on the new social search function that Google began rolling out this week. Basically, the awkwardly named Search plus Your World adds Google+ information (some of it private) to Google search results. So if I do a Google search for my funny friend Michelle Biloon, my results will include pictures of her new puppy and her latest Google+ rant about Time Warner Cable dropping Fuse...read more >>
Refining Targeted Content, On and Offline
Mobile marketing platform Placecast and At&T partnered to test location-specific retail messages (ShopAlerts), including coupons, offers, and promotional content in four cities for one month earlier this year. The opt-in study included four major retailers, all Draftfcb clients, with specific challenges and goals. Customers received a relevant message when they were within a "geo-fence," the set perimeter around any participating store or brand....read more >>
Video, Marketing Persona, and Another Meaning of “Facebook Sharing”
Whether You Recommend with Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, There May Be Some Secret Sharing Going On "Make no misunderstanding, when you use a service and there is no subscription fee, you aren’t the customer, you are the product being sold to advertisers." That line is from Michael Gray's recent Wolfhowl post, "Facebook and Google+ Competing for Your Attention." He's got a point. "[W]hat we really need to understand is that this is a war for consumer...read more >>
For SEO, Social Media is Still Just a Cherry on Top
There's no questioning social media's crazed popularity as a pastime, and more recently, the phenomenon has proven to be a valuable marketing/SEO utility. However, Cyrus Shepard at SEOmoz did some excellent experimenting in an attempt to gauge Google+ and Twitter's actual bearing on search engine results. The findings were valuable and many, but the takeaway seemed to be that traditional SEO techniques (content creation, keyword analysis) still constitute...read more >>
Engine of Change: Cruising the Ever-Evolving SEO Highway
Back in January, Brian Goffman at SearchEngineWatch.com put forth several predictions regarding SEO and social media in the coming year. Commendably, one of his prophecies recently came true in a major way, with Google's new +1 feature incorporating what people "like" in the virtual world into search engine results. Goffman is careful to remind that sticking to the "durable elements of SEO," such as quality content, will remain essential to your...read more >>
Google +1, Content=Relationship, Accuracy=Happy, and Other Content Equations
Google has acknowledged the power of social media with their announcement of their “+1” button feature. Readers will be able to click the recommendation button from a site with content they like, and the results would reflect when friends or media contacts search for similar content. This new feature, some believe, could have a chilling effect on the importance of unique content--relevant, information-rich content--to search functionality. We'll...read more >>