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In your digital marketing training we looked at the value of social media, and this month new research from Play.com quantifies what 'likes' are really worth.
Digital marketing regulations tightened up in August, with the Advertising Standards Authority (Australia) ruling fan comments are ads, triggering every other ASA to consider their stance. Privacy is front of mind after Google's record fine for misrepresenting their use of Safari users' data, and Facebook's error in using personal photos in ads, plus Microsoft's strange decision of setting 'Do Not Track' to become the default in their latest version of IE (bad news for advertisers).
Also this month:
- Mobile: Paypal tests McDonalds mobile payments
- Social: Pinterest opens registration, the top 20 Twitter countries, and a review of the first 'social Olympics'
- Video: YouTube is removed from Apple devices
- Search: How search keyphrases are getting longer and SEO tips from Google on 5 biggest mistakes in SEO
To support your training, each section below relates to a digital training module, with full details on click through.
Best from all the digital training team
Danny Meadows-Klue
President
Digital Training Academy
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This chart shows the number of unique users for mobile shopping apps min the US. Major brands such as eBay, Amazon and Groupon lead the way, while more traditional retailers such as Walgreens and Target attract 2 million unique users.
20/08/2012 |
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This chart shows the average time spent using the top ten shopping apps. Less traditional shopping apps such as Shopkick and Out of Milk Shopping show positive levels of engagement among users.
16/08/2012 |
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Online ad spend growth showed the most notable growth for Europe with 12.1%. Traditional print media suffered the largest decrease in the region with newspapers and magazines posting -3.6% and -4.4% decrease in spend.
09/08/2012 |
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Television is the only media that decreased in ad spend in the Asia-Pacific region. Cinema ad spend showed the most growth with a 27.1% increase from the previous year.
08/08/2012 |
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Cinema ad spend saw the biggest decrease for Latin America with -18%, while ad spend on the internet reported a 31.8% increase from 2011.
07/08/2012 |
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The Middle East and Africa showed the most significant growth for all regions. Outdoor ad spend saw the biggest gain in the region with a 45.3% increase, the biggest increase of any ad spend in all regions analysed.
06/08/2012 |
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Nike was the most engaging brand on social media during the Olympics despite the fact that it was not an Olympic sponsor, according to new data. The findings, from Socialbakers 'cheermeter' tool, indicate that it's not the Olympic sponsors who are winning the race for brand engagement. From the 27th of July to the 2nd of August, Nike's Facebook fan base grew by 166,718 - more than double the growth of its sporting rival, Adidas, who despite core sponsorship deals, netted just 80,761 new fans over the same period.
16/08/2012 | Full story...
The Olympics offers three levels of sponsorship to brands- worldwide, London-based and athlete-based. Social media app Wildfire (recently acquired by Google) has tracked the main sponsors' activity on social media over the duration of the Olympics and looked at whether they have seen an uptake similar to that of the athletes.
17/08/2012 | Full story...
Twitter has reached the half billion accounts mark in June 2012, including more than 140 million in the US alone, according to new research. The study, from Semiocast, indicates that user-base growth is slowing in Japan and Korea, yet Japan remains one of the most active countries. In June 2012, the top three cities by number of tweets were Jakarta, Tokyo and London.
01/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook is testing a new ad format that lets brands aim their advertising toward the newsfeeds of users who are not already a fan of the brand page. Previously, a company could only advertise in the newsfeed of its fans. Now Facebook is stepping out from limiting brands to only connected users. The plan is to show adverts for products or brands that users have not previously 'liked' on the site, pushing the ad reach for brands out to the site's 1billion users.
17/08/2012 | Full story...
Companies with Facebook profiles will be accountable for comments made by the public on their pages, following a ruling by an advertising watchdog in Australia. Drinks brand Diageo was referred to the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) in Australia, after complaints about its Smirnoff Facebook page. The complaints related to a number of sexist, racist and obscene comments appearing on the page, along with references to under-age drinking.
07/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook has revealed that 83 million of its accounts could be fake, accounting for nearly 9% of its total users, as the social network comes under increasing pressure to meet advertiser and shareholder demands.
03/08/2012 | Full story...
Online retailer Play.com has claimed that its Facebook fans are worth 24% more in direct sales than non-fans. The announcement comes amid growing questions from brand managers across the world seeking to quantify the elusive “value of a like” on Facebook. The online retailer, which is owned by Japanese digital firm Rakuten, also claims that it can directly attribute £2m worth of sales to Facebook in 2011. Direct sales through the social network have increased 80% in the past year.
22/08/2012 | Full story...
YouTube has introduced skippable ads on its mobile site, letting viewers choose whether or not to watch a video ad, and only charges advertisers if the ad is watched. This type of ad, which YouTube calls TrueView, has been available on computers since late 2010. With TrueView, viewers can skip ads they don't like after five seconds. Advertisers only pay if a viewer watches it for 30 seconds or completion, whichever comes first.
23/08/2012 | Full story...
Apple's forthcoming iOS 6 operating system will no longer include the YouTube app, a feature that has shipped with the iPhone since the device debuted in June 2007. The move marks another milestone in the growing division between Google and Apple, as competition between the technology giants becomes more intense. As Google has pushed into the market with its Android software, now the most-used smartphone operating system, the relationship between the two companies frayed.
09/08/2012 | Full story...
Google has extended it lead in the UK search market which shows no sign of slowing down, with the proportion of searches containing four or more words increasing. James Murray, Digital Insight Manager, Experian Marketing takes a look at the latest UK search trends.
13/08/2012 | Full story...
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To coincide with the Olympics, Huggies Israel launched this Facebook video campaign, adding personalised sports commentaries for user-submitted baby videos. See why it's our video viral of the week below...
21/08/2012 |
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Little Printer has taken the Internet by storm, and it's largely down to this simple but hugely effective YouTube video. Potentially the world's cutest printer, the device lets users print Tweets, photos and receipts without the need for bulky machines and expensive ink. See why it's our video viral of the week below...
15/08/2012 |
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KLM's quirky "Meet and Seat" passenger matchmaking campaign has already drawn many plaudits. Now it's ramping up awareness with a number celebrity endorsements on YouTube. See why it's our video viral of the week here...
07/08/2012 |
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Move over Nostradamus- this video from 1995 shows US school children predicting the future of the internet with unnerving accuracy, right down to the web's obsession with cats. This public service announcement is currently doing the viral rounds, showing ten–year-olds from Montana's Ray Bjork Elementary School answer the question, 'Why should I be on the Internet?' with some predictions of how the internet will be used by the time they are college-age.
Watch the video below, including a shot of the archaic Yahoo! homepage:
17/08/2012 |
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Reckitt Benckiser has teamed two of its brands - Strepsils and Lemsip - to defeat 'Man-Flu' via an interactive video and social media campaign. The Australian campaign features
"Online pamperer" Flo, an elderly woman that offers advice on getting over flu during winter season. Created by agency Holler, Sydney, the campaign uses Facebook Connect to put user's Facebook pics
inside the interactive videos. "Flo" then offers guys discounts off Strepsils and Lemsip at participating retailers.
08/08/2012 |
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Google, Facebook and YouTube are the biggest sites in the world, followed by the likes of Baidu and qq in China, according to a new graphic looking at global web use. The map, depicting the size and relationships of the biggest 350,000 websites in the world, was created by Ruslan Enikeev. He measured 2 million links from 196 different countries to create the interactive graphic.
03/08/2012 |
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While in July we reported the on-going strong investment in online advertising, this month sees a potential fly in the ointment that could hinder growth. Microsoft's decision to implement the "Do Not Track" option as the default setting for its forthcoming browser has advertisers up in arms! Also advertisers are not happy about the implications of a ruling in Australia that says that a user's post on a brand's Facebook page constitutes advertising. Meanwhile investment in mobile advertising formats looks set to finally take off.
Microsoft has stuck to its guns over a controversial decision to implement 'Do Not Track' options as the default setting for its forthcoming Internet Explorer 10 browser. The move has already sparked outcry from advertisers who fear it will drive down the effectiveness of targeted ads. Internet Explorer 10 will automatically block personal information gathered from users web browsing habits, data shared by third-party companies to serve up targeted advertising.
08/08/2012 | Full story...
Australian advertisers are staging a fight back over a new ruling that classes Facebook fan comments as advertisements- making brands liable for an offensive comments made on their pages. Drinks brand Fosters has called the decision 'commercially unrealistic'. This week, the Advertising Standards Board ruled that a Facebook brand page is an advertisement in a case involving a successful complaint filed against VB, a beer brewed by Fosters, and another regarding Smirnoff, Diageo's vodka line, which was dismissed.
09/08/2012 | Full story...
The latest mobile advertising forecast data suggests the big boom is yet to come, with the market tripling in side within the next 4 years, Yankee group are forecasting more than $11 billion being invested by brands just in mobile media space, before considering the investment to make websites compatible for mobile phones and tablets. After 10 years of hype, this mobile advertising forecast shows the tipping point is finally being reached. Here's why…
17/08/2012 | Full story...
More top Advertising stories from this month:
- Olympics 2012 - how did the sponsors fare online?
- Never mind the bots? Entrepreneur claims Facebook ads made him $10K in one day
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Google continues to find ways to intertwine its product portfolio - this time by testing the inclusion of Gmail user data into search results
- as well as to expand its offering - through the purchase of Frommer. Also it offers up advice on how to improve website SEO.
Google's is to start highlighting information drawn from its users' Gmail accounts on its main search results page. The feature marks Google's latest attempt to deliver data that people are seeking more quickly as it tries to maintain the dominance of its lucrative Internet search engine.
10/08/2012 | Full story...
IF you were the world's leader in search, and wanted to dominate the wider online travel category, then you'd need a small amount of quality data to form the heart of your listings. Hot on the heels of acquiring the Zagat restaurant guides, Google has bought a travel publisher, filled with premium travel photos, illustration and data. We're betting they're architecting a major travel launch before the year end...
14/08/2012 | Full story...
Search engine optimisation remains a tricky balancing act, as the rules constantly change. In this official Google blog post, Maile Ohye, Developer Programs Tech Lead from Google covers the five most common errors she finds in SEO, and then concludes with six quick tips to make sure you're on the right track.
16/08/2012 | Full story...
More top search stories from this month:
- Mobile search trends- smartphone users "prefer navigation to search"
- Top Chinese browser Qihoo ditches Google for own brand search engine
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Facebook continues to lose its lustre amongst investors as the share price fell again this month with locked-in investors now able to sell off shares. Claims of click fraud from advertisers is not helping its reputation. Despite this Facebook is continuing to expand and innovate - bolstering its mobile offering through the planned purchase of Instagram and the introduction of app ads into mobile news feeds.
Facebook shares have fallen heavily as the first lock-up period, which stops sales by early investors, ended. Shares fell by 6.27% to $19.87 at close of trade in New York, down from $20.74 on Wednesday. About 271 million shares become eligible to be sold on Thursday. Some 421 million shares have been trading since Facebook shares were floated in May at $38 each.
20/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook has denied allegations from a music company that branded the social network as 'scumbags' and claimed that 80% of its ad clicks were generated by bots rather than people. US start-up Limited Run (formerly known as Limited Pressing) claims that Facebook charged them for ad rate clicks, but it could only verify where 20% of those clicks were coming from. 80% of clicks were from users with Javascript disabled - a rare setting for a typical user.
01/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook has finally been given the go ahead to buy Instagram, but the deal is now three quarters of its original value to the mobile photo application firm. The Federal Trade Commission confirmed this week that it had closed its competition investigation into the acquisition, without taking any action.
24/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook has launched a new mobile ad format promoting apps, as the social network makes further attempts to bolster its smartphone and tablet revenues. The new format will let app developers advertise their products on its members' mobile-device news feeds. The network will charge a fee for every time users click on the ads to download the software from elsewhere.
09/08/2012 | Full story...
More top Facebook stories from this month:
- Top 30 US & UK Olympic Facebook posts - Jessica Ennis' page grows 295%
- Are you a social media liar? Intel tracks top Facebook fibs (Infographic)
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As social media participation becomes increasingly engrained amongst the online population, thanks to the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, visits to smaller niche social sites are seeing strong growth. As Pinterest and Google+ improve their offering to brands - advertisers are faced with more choice of social platforms to consider.
While Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn dominate the global scene, niche social networks have massively increased their market share of visits to social sites with Instagram and Pinterest emerging as the global winners, according to a new study. The study, from Experian, highlights the growth of Instagram and Pinterest between July 2011 and July 2012 in terms of their share of visits to All Sites by country.
23/08/2012 | Full story...
Pinterest has dropped its invitation-only policy, opening up the fast-growing online pinboard to all for the first time. From this week, anyone on the internet will be able to freely sign up for the service. Users can sign up using either their Facebook or Twitter logins, or they can use an email address.
10/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook has launched a new mobile ad format promoting apps, as the social network makes further attempts to bolster its smartphone and tablet revenues. The new format will let app developers advertise their products on its members' mobile-device news feeds. The network will charge a fee for every time users click on the ads to download the software from elsewhere.
09/08/2012 | Full story...
More top social media stories from this month:
- Twitter angers developers with API clampdown
- Google boosts social media with Wildfire buy
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Apple might steal most of the limelight in the mobile sector but it is in fact Android-based mobile devices that are more popular around the world with Samsung leading the way in the market. As the smartphone marketplace continues to show strong growth, mobile connectivity is broadening - with the promise of 4G soon to arrive in the UK. While this is helping boost the mobile apps marketplace, it is still only a handful of apps that become part of a user's daily routine.
Android-based devices are outstripping Apple globally in terms of popularity, with Samsung leading the way, according to new research. The findings, from Gartner's second quarter 2012 market share data, showed that Samsung shipped 30% more smartphones in the quarter than the same period in 2011, extending its lead over Nokia and Apple.
16/08/2012 | Full story...
High speed mobile internet is coming to the UK next month, after network Everything Everywhere was given the go-ahead to roll out 4G technology across the country. Everything Everywhere, the parent company of Orange and T-Mobile, has been allowed to launch the next generation mobile network anytime after September this year. Following months of consultation, Ofcom today announced its decision to allow Everything Everywhere to use the 1800MHz spectrum for LTE (4G).
22/08/2012 | Full story...
UK consumers use only four mobile apps regularly, with the most popular ones becoming part of a user's daily routine, according to new research. The study, from user experience agency Webcredible, found that the apps used most frequently are for useful, practical purposes such as journey planning, searching for locations, booking tickets or finding voucher deals. The most successful apps were those that had become part of a user's daily routine.
15/08/2012 | Full story...
Almost half (47%) of all smartphone owners in the U.S. use mobile shopping apps, with established online players eBay and Amazon.com leading in popularity, according to new research. The study, from Nielsen, indicates that 45 million people, or 47% of all smartphone owners, used mobile apps in the Nielsen-defined Shopping/Commerce category in June.
08/08/2012 | Full story...
More top mobile and tablet stories from this month:
- iPhone 5 pics leaked: Larger display to compete with Samsung?
- Google to cut 4,000 Motorola jobs in smartphone push
- Paypal testing mobile payments in McDonalds
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In the war of the browsers Google Chrome looks like it might now have overtaken Microsoft's Internet Explorer. In music, on-demand streaming is the fastest-growing sector of the industry. In online video, Facebook overtakes Yahoo to be the second most popular online video site after YouTube.
Google Chrome now owns over one third of the browser market globally, extending its lead over Microsoft's Internet Explorer as more users make the switch. However, conflicting data still puts IE in the lead. The latest statistics from StatCounter gives Chrome a 33.8% share of the global market, representing a gain from 32.8% in June of this year and a much more significant gain from the 22.1% of the global market Chrome had in July of 2011.
08/08/2012 | Full story...
Music streaming services such as Spotify, Deezer are leading driving much of its sales growth during this year, according to new research. The Global Music Forecast issued by Strategy Analytics found that digital music revenue worldwide will pass the £5 billion mark this year. The on-demand services are predicted to generate £696m for the global music industry in 2012 - a rise of 40 per cent.
20/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook has overtaken Yahoo to become the second most viewed video site in the US, behind Google's YouTube, according to new research. The data, from comScore, indicates that more than 184 million US Internet users watched 36.9 billion online content videos in July, while video ad views totalled 9.6 billion.
21/08/2012 | Full story...
More top multimedia content stories from this month:
- Microsoft to replace Hotmail with "Outlook.com"
- European email trends: Hotmail leads pack but Gmail catching fast
- Online video tips for content - Longform videos boost web marketing effectiveness
- Video report - the growth of the connected TV
- Cloud storage wars - Microsoft revamps SkyDrive
- Global music trends - Streaming leads growth as physical sales drop 12%
- Google cracks down on piracy search results- paving way for Google Music roll out?
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The popularity in social gaming has again been demonstrated this month, as a 'name that tune' mobile app has taken the market by storm. And Facebook gaming has now grown up as serious 'real money' apps are introduced.
SongPop, a 'name that tune' game for smartphones and tablets, has taken the market by storm, attracting 25 million unique players since its launch only four months ago. The game lets users show off their musical-recognition talent through challenges with friends and users all across the globe. The game's makers FreshPlanet announced that SongPop has now 25 million unique players, getting a consistent five-star rating, and 4 million people playing the game every day.
24/08/2012 | Full story...
Facebook has entered the world of online gambling with its first real-money bingo and slots app launched this week. The Jackpotjoy Bingo and Slots Friendzy app has been created by developer Gamesys and is open to players in the UK over the age of 18. The website's largest gaming partner, Zynga, said it also planned to introduce real-money gambling versions of its games next year.
08/08/2012 | Full story...
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The online retail giant Amazon now seems to be challenging the US retailer Walmart. To compete with Amazon eBay is now testing same-day delivery. Groupon sees its share price fall despite posting sound quarterly profits.
Another tipping point for data about the growth of ecommerce as UK subsidiary of Amazon announces it's selling more Kindle titles than printed books. This announcement about Amazon ecommerce sales follows expectations that Amazon total sales will overtake Walmart by 2020. Here's why...
06/08/2012 | Full story...
eBay is testing a same-day delivery service dubbed eBay Now, as the online marketplace looks to rival Amazon. Available to selected users in San Francisco as part of a limited test, the eBay Now service allows users to receive goods from local retailers the same day - usually, eBay claims, within an hour of placing the order.
07/08/2012 | Full story...
Groupon has seen its shares fall this week after seeing its revenues fall short of forecasts, despite posting a sound quarterly profit. The online shopping deals giant posted a profit of $28.38 million on revenue that climbed 45 percent to $568.3 million in the quarter ended June 30.
14/08/2012 | Full story...
More top ecommerce stories from this month:
- Global ecommerce trends - How online shopping varies around the world
- Starbucks Vs Costa: Who is winning the London check-in wars? (infographic)
- Hocus bogus? eBay bans spells, psychics and potion listings
- Nearly half of US smartphone owners use mobile shopping apps
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For their breach of the Apple's Safari browser Google received the largest fine ever levied against a company by the FTC. And in another dispute over privacy and the use of personal details a US judge has rejected Facebook's proposed legal settlement over putting users' faces in ads.
The largest fine ever levied against a company by the FTC has been drawn this week up against Google for their breach of Apple's Safari web browser.
10/08/2012 | Full story...
A US judge has rejected Facebook's proposed legal settlement to resolve allegations that the social networking company violated its members' rights through the its 'Sponsored Stories' ad feature. The lawsuit follows complaints that Facebook was using people's photos in ads without their permission. The feature took users' photos and used their faces in Facebook's in-site ads for brands after they had merely clicked the "thumbs-up" button and "Liked" the company.
21/08/2012 | Full story...
Online trade body the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Australia has criticised a regulator's decision to hold advertisers responsible for content on social networks. The organisation representing online advertising has questioned the decision by the advertising watchdog to make businesses liable for comments made on their Facebook pages claiming the ruling will be a burden and “hurt” the development of social media.
15/08/2012 | Full story...
More top regulation stories from this month:
- Microsoft sparks ad controversy again - "Do Not Track" set as default for new IE browser
- Google hit by record privacy fine
- Chinese internet market - search engine Baidu toughens stance on corruption
- Expedia and Booking.com face OFT investigation into hotel room discounts
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