Facebook Tests Even More Intrusive Ads

Facebook has announced that it is starting a very small test for promoted news feed posts. These ads will allow brands to advertise to “non-fans” in their news feed. This may apply to both the desktop and mobile.

The ads will be elegantly masked as typical page post ads with a small “sponsored” label in the bottom right corner. The recipient of the ad will also have the option to “like” the brand’s Facebook page directly from the ad.

Mashable provides the following example of what the news feed ads will look like:

As an advertiser, this could be an awesome advantage for your brand to reach a larger audience. You will no longer be limited to advertising to just your fans, but your entire target market in Facebook.

For the user, it’s a completely different story. This could be even more intrusive than all of the ads you are currently bombarded with. It will just be another addition to the already cluttered news feed.

But, we must keep in mind that Facebook is a free service and at the end of the day, it’s still a business.

Tell us your initial thoughts about news feed ads in the comments below.

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: Horia Varlan

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents: Mobile Search Ranking Factors

Bryson Meunier is a mobile marketing expert at Chicago-based Resolution Media. There seems to be some discrepancy among search engine experts regarding common mobile SEO practices. Well, you're in luck, because Bryson's presentation Mobile Search Ranking Factors details all of the factors you need to know for mobile optimization. If you're looking to re-strategize your mobile marketing efforts, then this webinar is perfect for you. 

Click here to learn more and register:
http://bit.ly/mobilereg
About Bryson Meunier:

Bryson Meunier is an Associate Director of SEO at Resolution Media and the primary architect of their natural search product. He writes regularly on advanced SEO topics at his Natural Search and Mobile SEO Blog. 

Click here to learn more and register:
http://bit.ly/mobilereg

Free Google Resources to Grow Your Business Online

“Learn with Google Beta” is a free online resource that allows you to watch videos and download worksheets all about tips for promoting your business’s online presence. It is an informative tool for small business owners with online marketing knowledge from beginner to intermediate.

The site includes a variety of how-to guides covering topics such as:

• Why does being online matter?
• Online marketing vocabulary
• Google apps for business
• Local marketing: the what, the why, the how
• Building your online marketing plan

The website also includes a consolidated section for Google tools such as the “Google Keyword Tool”.

From Google’s free webinar series to “Learn with Google Beta”, it’s worth carving out some time to gain a better understanding of the steps you can take to promote your business on Google – direct from Google itself.

What tips did you find the most helpful for your business?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Are You on Instagram?

If your company isn't on Instagram yet, research shows that you're behind - 40% of top US brands are already on this up-and-coming platform, according to Mashable. While this pales in comparison to the 98% of companies on Facebook, Instagram is a fast-growing platform that allows companies to connect with their consumer base in a completely different way. Brands can create Instagram accounts and share photos with their fans, so it's great for the retail industry, but Instagram could also have applications for tourism (photos of the destinations), event planners (event photos), arts (gallery opening photos), and more. Plus, Instagram released hashtags to better allow companies and people to find photos and topics they love. Brisk Iced Tea ran a campaign that allowed users who tagged #briskpic to compete for a chance to have their photos showcased on limited edition iced tea cans at the SXSW conference. Other companies, like Charity Water, are getting in on the Instagram campaign craze, too, now that it's an ideal platform for running unique photo competitions.

 How can you utilize Instagram for your company?

83 Million Facebook Profiles Not Real

Facebook recently admitted that more than 8.7% of its 955 million Facebook accounts worldwide are fakes. That equals roughly 83 million profiles that are not real. Facebook broke the numbers down even further stating that the largest portion of the faux pie comes from 46 million duplicate accounts, or 4.8% of all accounts. Duplicate accounts are defined by Facebook as “an account that a user maintains in addition to his or her principal account.”

The next biggest portion includes user-misclassified profiles, which are personal profiles that have been created for companies, instead of pages, or for a non-human entity, such as a pet. Yes, people have Facebook profiles for their pets. (Teaching the pet to maintain his own account would be a great trick)! These make up 2.4% or 23 million of the fake accounts. The remainder is made up of undesirable profiles, which are considered to be in breach of Facebook’s terms & conditions, and these number about 14 million.

The biggest issue here for Facebook is the effect this news will have on its advertisers and, subsequently, its stock price. It doesn’t help that earlier this month, software startup Limited Run claimed that 80% of the clicks on their Facebook ads were coming from bots. Tech Crunch did some of its own investigating and was skeptical about the timing of the announcement. Limited Run’s co-founder, Tom Mango, said the research was done earlier this year, but the company waited to post the results of their own testing until just after the launch of their new website. At any rate, Mango made it clear that they are not saying Facebook is behind the bots that are inflating the number of clicks – other factors, such as a vicious competitor could also be behind it.

Limited Run has certainly gotten Facebook’s attention and the social networking company says it’s investigating the claims. In the meantime, Facebook CFO David Ebersman said that Facebook is doing everything it can to ensure that Facebook is populated by real people. Does this change the way you use Facebook advertising? 

Image credit: davedehetre

Google Mobile Search via Handwriting Recognition

It is known that Google offers a few different ways to search including voice command to auto-complete.

The search giant is now introducing another search method – handwriting recognition. Still in the experimental stage, Google Handwrite will support 27 languages and will run on Android phones and tablets, and on iOS devices running iOS 5. Since it’s still in the testing phase, users will have to enable it within their settings to enjoy this new feature.

Searching via this method will allow you to scribble on nearly all of your phone’s screen space. The autocomplete suggestions will appear below the search box after a few letters, just as the typical search does.

Google Handwrite is intended to supplement the traditional keyboard. You can watch Mashable’s brief video about this feature to learn more.

It’s highly unlikely “handwriting” searches will consist of more than one or two words due to screen space. How do you see this form of query impacting a business’s website visibility in search?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: photosteve101

Twitter Gets Political

With the election coming up in November, social media has been welling up with politics. Romney and Obama are both running Facebook ads along with traditional TV segments, and users of social media are throwing down their opinions like MMA fighters at a UFC tournament. Twitter is the latest to get in on the game, rolling out their new Twitter Political Index, a slightly less scientific Gallup poll that relies on tracking the millions of tweets of its users for candidate names. While Twitter is so far predicting an Obama win, it must also be taken into account that Twitter users tend to be younger with democratic leanings, which doesn't accurately reflect those who actually do the voting. If Twitter predicts the presidential election's outcome correctly, do you think this will change the way that social media influences polls and statistics? Do you approve of this political leap taken by Twitter, or do you think Twitter should keep its nose out of national elections?

Visit Mashable to see the fun graphs that Twitter has come out with.