Archive for the ‘Social media’ Category

Video-sharing website YouTube is to see more of its homepage given over to advertising, according to a report on the Silicon Alley Insider (SAI) blog.

The Google-owned site is already experimenting with a variety of ads attached to its video clips in an effort to generate more revenue from the property’s popularity with web users.

Now advertising sources have told SAI that YouTube’s homepage is set to be redesigned to include a new banner ad that will stretch across the whole width of the page. When asked about the news, YouTube refused to comment.

"The YouTube homepage has until now had pretty minimal advertising, just the window in the upper right corner of the site. But it should be the easiest part of the site to sell," said SAI’s Michael Learmonth.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt recently told CNBC’s Mad Money show that the search engine’s homepage is unlikely to carry ads as users would not like the notion.

User-generated content (UGC) holds much promise for those involved in online marketing, according to British Airways digital marketing manager Chris Davies.

Speaking to E-consultancy, the expert noted that UGC enables marketers to "fish where the fish are" and stressed that the channel is best for raising brand awareness rather than extracting solid financial gain at present.

He urged businesses to only move into the UGC arena if the medium is a good fit for the brand and if they believe users will derive significant benefit from their activities, however.

"Most UGC site users are wary of big brands coming into what they consider to be ‘their space’. But if you are giving them something that helps them, some sort of social currency, then they’ll likely thank you for it," Mr Davies remarked.

According to David Schatsky of JupiterResearch, social media has been shown to have little effect on direct sales and so should only be used for branding purposes.

A growing number of small and medium-sized businesses are looking to complement their marketing strategies with Web 2.0 technology.

This is according to a new survey conducted by The Kelsey Group and ConStat, which found that two in five SMBs are hoping to add reviews to their websites in the next 12 months, while 30 per cent intend to look into social media.

A further 26 per cent said that they want to make use of online video. The poll also found that just nine per cent of respondents will cut back on ad spending in the next year, with the majority opting to maintain or increase investment.

Director of research and consulting at The Kelsey Group Stephen Marshall commented: "The data reveal[s] a remarkable resilience of the SMB advertising segment in the face of economic pressures on local consumers and businesses."

New Media Age recently reported that a number of UK price comparison sites intend to increase online ad spending to target consumers looking for cheaper deals amid the credit crunch.

Yahoo! And Intel have partnered to develop a new application platform specifically for televisions and other devices that make use of the Intel architecture.

The Widget Channel enables consumers to use specifically designed web applications while watching television and is powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine.

Developers can create these customisable applications using JavaScript, XML, HTML and Flash technology, while television viewers can carry out tasks such as watching videos, tracking sports teams, communicating with friends and keeping up with the news.

The two companies are also working on a set of open standards to help grow the television widget ecosystem.

Eric Kim, Intel senior vice-president and general manager of the company’s Digital Home Group, commented: "No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo! are proposing a way where the TV and internet are as interactive, and seamless, as possible."

Yahoo! recently launched its Fire Eagle platform for the development of geo-aware applications.

Social media marketing is becoming increasingly popular among US retailers targeting teenagers and students ahead of the beginning of the academic year.

This is the conclusion of a new study by JupiterResearch, which showed that retailers such as JC Penney and Sears are making use of platforms including social networks, virtual worlds and visual search to increase brand awareness.

JC Penney has launched an online game in which players help a female character to find the perfect boyfriend, as well as creating a campaign allowing consumers to recreate the outfits seen in popular teen movie The Breakfast Club.

Meanwhile, Sears has devised a campaign where Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame shows off the various styles taken up by characters in the TV movie to promote the retailer’s clothing ranges.

Patti Freeman Evans of JupiterResearch commented: "With the shaky economy expected to impact the amount of money consumers spend on back-to-school shopping, retailers are using social media to capture the attention of younger consumers."

Frank Warren of popular blog PostSecret recently wrote on Mashable that social media is helping to trigger positive change and raise awareness of important issues among users.

Businesses looking to interact more with their customers may benefit from setting up a blog on their websites, according to one expert.

David Bird, course leader for the MSc in digital marketing communications at Manchester Metropolitan University, told Crain’s Manchester Business that blogs can do much to enhance companies’ online activities.

Rather than viewing blogs as a way of simply delivering news and information, businesses should use the channel to deal with any questions and issues clients may have and to display the expertise they have in their specific sectors, he added.

Mr Bird noted: "The best blogs are the ones that allow unmoderated comment. It exposes the business but you can’t afford not to do it."

The comments follow a recent Telegraph report suggesting that blogs can help to create goodwill towards businesses.

Blogger Oli Barrett told the newspaper that online journals are ideal for showing the "human side" of a company.

Yahoo! has officially brought its open Fire Eagle platform for geo-aware application development out of beta testing.

The company announced this week that developers can now take advantage of the platform to create web, mobile and desktop applications with location-based functions.

Web users can benefit from Fire Eagle by exercising control over the level of location data they provide and whether it can be used in developers’ applications, Yahoo! said.

Dopplr, Pownce, Movable Type and Outside.in, among others, have already integrated with the platform as part of beta testing.

Nicki Dugan, editor of the Yahoo! Yodel Anecdotal blog, said in a post that Fire Eagle takes advantage of a growing need for location-focused services.

She commented: "As the web continues to evolve beyond the browser – to mobile phones, devices, desktop widgets, etc – where we are when we come in contact with the web becomes more important."

Businesses will increasingly look into microblogging as a way of adding to their social media strategies in the next few years, a new report has predicted.

Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2008 study suggests that microblogging - which involves posting a feed of very short messages for others to follow and has been made popular by Twitter - will be one of the key emerging technological trends among businesses in the next two to five years.

The research company said that microblogging is already proving attractive to consumers to the extent that certain organisations are already investigating the medium for any business benefits it may offer.

"Following the trend of the last few years, many of the new entries on this year’s Hype Cycle, including microblogging, social networking platforms and cloud computing, are making their impact in the consumer world before they hit businesses," said Jackie Fenn, Gartner vice-president and Fellow.

Almost nine in ten businesses with a blog have seen new opportunities arise as a result of their online journal, according to research carried out by Loudhouse last year.

The rise of social media will help the online reputation monitoring market to grow by 30 per cent this year, a new report has predicted.

E-consultancy’s Online Reputation and Buzz Monitoring Buyer’s Guide said that this sector could reach a value of £60 million this year as more companies look to use the technology and services on offer to help them keep tabs on what consumers say about their brand online.

The report put forward the suggestion that the growing ability of technology to look for comments made in blogs and forums could drive more companies to utilise its benefits.

E-consultancy research head Linus Gregoriadis stated: "Increasing media fragmentation, changing consumer behaviour and the increasing breadth of consumer channels are all trends which make it harder for brands and individuals to track their online reputation."

Discussing the importance of social media metrics earlier this year, E-consultancy’s Aliya Zaidi said in a blog post that marketing executives would do well to measure influence, volume and online reputation together to see how effective their social campaigns are.

Video-sharing website YouTube is to host a channel dedicated to providing clips relating to the Beijing Olympics in certain regions.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced this week that the video-on-demand (VOD) channel will be available to web users in 77 territories throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East where digital VOD rights have not been sold or have been acquired non-exclusively.

News, highlights and other footage of the event will be made available to YouTube users in these territories from August 6th.

The channel adds to offerings available on the official IOC website, which was recently revamped to include more interactive content, as well as the Beijing Olympics site, which has also been overhauled to be more accessible to disabled users.

"The IOC’s channel will make fantastic Olympic footage available where young generations of sports fans are already going for online entertainment and will complement the footage offered in these territories by our broadcast partners across all media platforms," said Timo Lumme, IOC director of television and marketing services.