Last week, Facebook made what could prove to be one of its most important announcements ever.
After years of discussion, speculation and debate, the world’s largest social network is finally executing on a search strategy, and while it doesn’t look like a threat to Google, at least initially, Facebook’s Graph Search is no less interesting.
Ask folks about mobile operating systems and most will probably tell you that it’s a two-horse race: Apple’s iOS versus Google’s Android.
The mobile OS landscape isn’t this way because other companies haven’t tried.
Microsoft has done some interesting things with Windows Phone, and Palm’s webOS looked pretty darn promising when it launched.
Once again here are six of the best infographics we’ve seen this week.
The topics include how Google spends its billions, the cost of poor web performance, Deloitte’s predictions for 2013, online tracking and details of the most followed sports clubs and athletes on social media.
Brick-and-mortar retailers may face challenges in competing online, but pure-play online retailers that think they’ve won the ecommerce game shouldn’t count out their old-school competitors.
In fact, in some product categories, brick-and-mortar retailers are starting to beat out pure-play retailers.
Facebook, of all platforms, has revolutionized search as we know it. Yesterday, Facebook announced ‘Graph Search’, a new feature that helps us find people, places and things—and explore Facebook in a whole new way.
‘Graph Search’ pushes Facebook well beyond the social networking realm. It’s a place to socialize and manage connections.
Eliminate the newsfeed, the goofy photos, snarky comments, and over-use of the ‘Like Button’, and it’s all about connections.
Now, smart search will allow us to traverse connections, allow us to sort connections, and allow us to connect with a greater amount of people in different types of ways.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman believes that Herbalife, a multi-level marketing company, is an illegal pyramid scheme.
And he says not just talking: he’s shorted Herbalife stock, which is publicly-traded, to the tune of $1bn.
Social media is one of the most important marketing channels for brands, as it offers unique opportunities to communicate with customers.
But getting social media strategy right isn’t an easy task, and the brands that are achieving the best results tend to be those that are taking risks and trying new things.
With this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how major brands use social, focusing on which of the main networks they are active on and how they use them.
And what better place to start that with the world’s biggest retailer: Walmart. Handily Walmart has actually published its own social media guidelines, which include things like ‘don’t be rude’ and ‘keep it real’.
So here’s a quick look at how Walmart uses Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.
Major internet companies like Google may pleased that the French government told a major ISP that it must stop its automatic filtering of ads for subscribers.
However, make no mistake about it: the dispute over Free’s ad blocking is a reminder of what’s at stake as more and more consumers seek ways to opt out of online advertising.
Ad blocking software, of course, is not new. Publishers have watched its popularity rise over the years, and while there is debate over just how much revenue publishers lose each year to ad blocking, it’s widely seen as a significant threat.
Throughout the year, the news is punctuated with the latest changes in the big three: Google, Microsoft and Apple.
But what can we expect from them in the year coming up? New products? New software? New directions? And how will these changes potentially affect the marketplace?
Has Google altered its algorithm to favor its own properties in vertical search results?
Numerous publishers which now find themselves competing with the search engine they rely on for valuable traffic have accused Google of doing just that. Some in the industry have even petitioned antitrust regulators to look into the matter.
As companies further embrace the need for content, video is becoming a bigger part of editorial calendars and content teams.
Gone are the days of shooting a 10 minute interview and slapping it up on YouTube. Consumers’ tastes have become more sophisticated and short form video content has become our brain candy.
But what will 2013 bring the industry in terms of video?