Marketing Pilgrim Published: "In Search Wars, Google Stands Firm" plus 5 more

In Search Wars, Google Stands Firm
Pew Study Shows Email and Search Still Top Internet Activities
Anonymous v. Facebook: Is It On for November 5, 2011?
Jail Time and No Facebook? The California Crackdown
One Third of Mobile Users Aren't Mobile At All
During Crisis What's Your Social Media of Choice: Twitter, Facebook, BBM or Other?

Posted: 10 Aug 2011 04:46 AM PDT

Well, it's that time of the month again. No, not that one but rather the one where we do the "Is Google Being knocked Off the Top of the Mountain Yet?" song and dance.

The chart below from comScore relates to explicit search statistics through July of this year. While Yahoo is showing a very slight gain, Bing is the same and even AOL picked up a percentage of a percentage point. Since AOL search is still Google search I am calling this one a draw (although some reports try to spin that this is a win for Microsoft's search efforts).

We'll see what other search share reports have to say but for now at least it looks like Google is holding the wolves at bay while the leader of the pack behind them, Microsoft, lost $2.6 billion last year on $2.5 billion in revenue for their online operations (the lion's share is search for that number and in particular terms in the Yahoo deal).

It doesn't matter who you are you can't keep that kind of engine running too long with that kind of leak.

So what do you think? Is Google in trouble yet in search?

Pew Study Shows Email and Search Still Top Internet Activities

Posted: 10 Aug 2011 03:55 AM PDT

Our favorite source of information, the Pew Internet & American Life Project, has released its annual findings of what are the most popular activities on the Internet. As a reminder, we like Pew the most because by all appearances it seems that this research isn't just a veiled PR stunt like most of the "research" that is passed around these days.

First, the simple fact that all marketers should be paying attention to the basics despite the daily temptation to rabbit trail after the latest and great online toys that promise the world but barely deliver a neighborhood at times. Those basics are email and search and they are still the dominant activities online by far.

Social is rising and that shouldn't be ignored but good marketing is like anything else in that mastery of the basics should come before getting ahead of the game with the current online fad or flavor of the day. In other words, market accordingly!

Second, Pew looks at who is searching. The real tale of the tape here is the sad fact that the lower the economic status of a person the less likely they will do searches. That could be due to availability of Internet connection, education or any other variable that defines those who make less money than others.

And finally, as for email, it still rocks and it gets more attention in the lower economic group as well.

So in the end these statistics once again point to the need to be where the people are and for now which places email and search as the leaders. Social has its place and that place is growing considerably but to get caught up in all the hype could be taking a marketer's eye off the ball, so to speak.

So what is your opinion? Should the basics be completely under control or is that just a conservative approach to marketing in the online space? What are the factors that might make a less than full hearted attempt at email and search marketing in favor of social media marketing a good move?

Pilgrim's Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Anonymous v. Facebook: Is It On for November 5, 2011?

Posted: 09 Aug 2011 09:08 PM PDT

Some feel it's a fake while others not so much. According to the video below the hacktivist group Anonymous is targeting one of the big boys on the Internet, Facebook, and they have set a date of November 5, 2011 for this to happen. With the way things are going in the world right now why not? You make the call. If you would rather read the message you can go to the end of this post to do so.

Thanks to the Business Insider and the Village Voice for bringing this to our attention via Techmeme.

Operation Facebook
DATE: November 5, 2011.
TARGET: https://facebook.com
Press:
Twitter : https://twitter.com/OP_Facebook
http://piratepad.net/YCPcpwrl09
Irc.Anonops.Li #OpFaceBook
Message:
Attention citizens of the world,
We wish to get your attention, hoping you heed the warnings as follows:
Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you are a willing hacktivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill facebook for the sake of your own privacy.
Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world. Some of these so-called whitehat infosec firms are working for authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria.
Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your "privacy" settings, and deleting your account is impossible, even if you "delete" your account, all your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more "private" is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family. http://www.physorg.com/news170614271.htmlhttp://itgrunts.com/2010/10/0 7/facebook-steals-numbers-and-data-from-your-iph….
You cannot hide from the reality in which you, the people of the internet, live in. Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause. You are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the internet, we are not harming you but saving you.
The riots are underway. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent. It's unfolding because people are being raped, tickled, molested, and confused into doing things where they don't understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely false. It gives users the illusion of and hides the details away from them "for their own good" while they then make millions off of you. When a service is "free," it really means they're making money off of you and your information.
Think for a while and prepare for a day that will go down in history. November 5 2011, #opfacebook . Engaged.
This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.
We are anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us

So what's your take?

Jail Time and No Facebook? The California Crackdown

Posted: 09 Aug 2011 08:25 PM PDT

The State of California wants to stop prisoners from using Facebook and has asked the social media network to shut down the accounts of anyone who updates while incarcerated.

Is this constitutional? Forget that whole number about "free speech." I'm thinking more about cruel and unusual punishment!

Department of Corrections officials believe that prisoners are using Facebook for nefarious means. NBC news investigated and found that one prisoner posted, "Listenin 2 sum music tryin 2 unwind." This madness must stop.

In all seriousness, they also found evidence of harassment and it's likely that there are worse offenders but that's not a problem exclusive to the inmate population. There are plenty of free birds who use Facebook to attack others and troll for trouble. Facebook has systems to deal with these kinds of issues no matter who is behind them. Why not deal with offenders as they happen? Why ban every inmate across the board? And is that even possible?

Marketing Pilgrim's Social Channel is proudly sponsored by Full Sail University, where you can earn your Masters of Science Degree in Internet Marketing in less than 2 years. Visit FullSail.edu for more information.

It seems like the Corrections Department is attacking the wrong end of the problem. They say that the updates are happening because thousands of inmates have mobile phones, which is a violation of prison rules. Doesn't it make more sense to cut off the blackmarket phone sales than to shut down Facebook accounts? I mean, if we're worried about what they're doing on Facebook, what about Twitter? MySpace? The web in general?

You could argue that prisoners are being punished and so they shouldn't have access to Facebook. Others could argue that having access to Facebook is punishment. But the bottom line is, can the government force a wholesale ban on Facebook accounts. Today it's prisoners, tomorrow it's military personnel and after that. . . ?

Let's just call this something to think about the next time you update your status.

Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

One Third of Mobile Users Aren't Mobile At All

Posted: 09 Aug 2011 02:49 PM PDT

A new Yahoo! study states that there has been a 54% increase in the time spent on the mobile web and a 29% increase in time spent watching video on a mobile device.

Are you tired of hearing it yet? Your customers are going mobile — sort of. The study, called "Mobile Modes: How to Connect with Mobile Consumers," also found that one third of the total time spent on mobile devices is spent at home. That's right. Mobile, isn't always mobile and we often forget that. Mobile is taking the place of the home PC. For many people, it's become the primary way they connect with the world as you can see in this chart from the report.

What's interesting here is that typical "mobile" activities such as navigation and shopping are only a very small part of what people do with their devices.

The Yahoo study also shows that more people are consuming written content through their mobile devices. News, entertainment, sports and fashion all rank high in that area. While they're consuming information, mobile users are also being exposed to ads.

A test of recall shows that ads run between 6am and 12pm are most effective but if you're looking for interaction, that happens during breaks and downtime. Bold graphical ads got the best responses and targeted ads worked best when the user was in shopping, informing or entertainment mode.

Want to learn more? Yahoo is offering a free webinar that covers the full study on August 16.

During Crisis What's Your Social Media of Choice: Twitter, Facebook, BBM or Other?

Posted: 09 Aug 2011 08:53 AM PDT

This post has been updated. See end of post for details.

The riots in London is the most recent story getting as much attention for its use of social media as is the actual reason for the riots themselves. The unfortunate incident that set this off is a case of a man being killed by police. To be fair, I have not looked into the circumstances surrounding these riots or the true sentiment towards the rioters themselves. Believe me, there is enough trouble here in the States to keep us all ~~worried~~ busy.

What is interesting is the role social media plays in how these events are played out. We all remember how it took a Google employee to organize protesters in Egypt using Facebook. The irony is not lost on that one and you wonder if that happened today would he be fired for not using Google+.

This latest event gets its social media angle on two fronts.

First, RIM's BBM (BlackBerry Messaging) service was the communication tool of choice by the rioters themselves. This seems to have played out due to economic reasons since the service is much cheaper than texting. It appears as if RIM (the company that produces BlackBerrys) can't catch a break these days because most of the news around the company is how it is being routed by iPhone and Android devices in the smartphone wars. Now it is being linked to the rioters and looters in London's latest social unrest.

Computerworld reports

The London riots and looting spree have caused British police to turn to Research In Motion for help. It's emerged that a hard core of rioters were coordinating via BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

From commenter Jonathan Akwue

I appear to have been one of the first people to notice that young people were using [BBM] to communicate with each other prior to, and during the riots. … I didn't expect it to become quite as big a news story. … My insight came from the urban young people I'm connected to, for whom BBM is the social network of choice.

For its unintentional part in these events RIM's UK Twitter account posted:

We feel for those impacted by the riots. … We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.

Twitter, on the other hand, gets the best angle in that it was the communication service of choice for a group of Londoners who were intent on putting the riot areas back together again as quickly as possible.

Forbes reports

The Twitter account @RiotCleanup has taken on more than 48,000 followers after setting up just seven hours ago and has been posting locations and times for people to meet up to clean, urging them to bring heavy duty sacks for glass and heavy objects, gardening, and rubber gloves.
@Riotcleanup has meanwhile been encouraging any local businesses to get in contact if a cleanup is needed. So far, though, it looks like there is less work to do that organizers had expected. Hackney and Lewisham are both said to be "pretty cleaned up by now," @RiotCleanup tweeted. At least they can say that if rioters take to the streets again, locals will be ready.

While it looks likeTwitter comes out smelling like a rose in this case because they were used by "the good guys", that's not entirely true.

Rioters reportedly used social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger to encourage more violence; now locals were using similar tools to clear up their mess.

We have not seen the last of turmoil and discord in the world so now the question is how will social media fan the flames of unrest, be it for the good or the bad? We are now even to the point of wondering WHICH social media outlet will be used and for which side of any particular conflict.

What are your thoughts on the role social media plays or can play in events like these? From a business perspective what are these social media outlets to do with regard to how they respond? If you were RIM what would you say? Would you concerned that your brand is now associated with riots and looting? Do you address the issue or do you do like Facebook did in the Egypt event which is to deny any involvement other than being the chosen tool?

Final question, isn't it interesting how social media wants to be seen as more than just a tool but when the situation warrants, it's the first thing they will call themselves?

UPDATE:

According to The Next Web some of the price that BlackBerry may pay for their helping police is having their blog hacked.The screenshot below was taken before the blog was taken offline.