Whether Facebook actually introduces its own branded smartphone in 2011 or not, mobile is likely to be a growing focus for the company next year. With more than 200 million people already connecting to Facebook via mobile in some fashion, the audience obviously is already there. As in its early stages on the PC-based Web, Facebook isn't intent on slapping up ads across its fast-expanding mobile real state. The launch of its Deals service in November for merchants to promote local offers and discounts on mobile devices signaled a move toward mobile advertising, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that the company is in no hurry to roll out a full-fledged mobile ad product. "We only want to launch stuff that we think is really good," he told Reuters last month. Nevertheless, Facebook is laying the groundwork for a bigger push into mobile in 2011 which is reflected in recent job openings highlighted this week by Inside Facebook. Among the latest is head of mobile partnerships, listed within its platform and product marketing group. The position calls for someone "to build and manage a high performance team, develop and enhance successful partnerships and influence internal and external partners and industry stakeholders in the mobile industry." It appears to be geared toward overseeing Facebook's efforts to extend its third-party app ecosystem -- including its relationship with companies like game maker Zynga -- from the desktop Web to mobile devices. In that vein, the position will involve developing and driving "our mobile partner strategy to support the continued growth and success of our partners and social mobile applications built on Facebook Platform." The job requires 10 years mobile experience, including 5 years of related partner or partner-facing experience. Facebook is also hiring for the position of mobile program manager to "build and manage programs and projects to deploy mobile services, server side or client applications with partners such as OS, OEMs and mobile operators." The listing indicates that the company is hiring for both senior and junior positions under that title to focus on different smartphone platforms (i.e., iPhone, Android, BlackBerry) or mobile services like SMS and mobile Web sites. The job also entails exploring new business opportunities and ensuring that "Facebook's mobile services satisfy user needs in various countries for varying device/operator combinations." It requires at least three years of product or technical experience in mobile, and for senior-level candidates, six or more years. Earlier this year, when rumors about a "Facebook phone" began circulating online, Zuckerberg denied that the company was building its own device to rival the iPhone or Android-based phones. But he conceded that the company was creating a customized version of Facebook for mobile phones based on Google's Android mobile platform. But one way or another, there's little doubt that Facebook will have a major presence on mobile phones.
Arguing that it is immune from liability, Village Voice Media has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a teenage sex trafficking victim. The media company argues that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shields it from liability for unlawful ads placed by users. "Even defamatory, harmful and despicable content is covered by Section 230 -- with the effect that Internet intermediaries are not liable for that content, and liability rests solely on the original author," Village Voice argues in a motion to dismiss filed last week. Backpage was sued in September by a teen identified only as M.A., who says she was prostituted at age 14 by an adult woman, Latasha Jewell McFarland. M.A. alleges that McFarland posted Backpage.com ads that featured M.A.'s photo and advertised her as a paid escort for sex. M.A.'s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, says that Village Voice Media aided and abetted prostitution by running the ads without investigating them. In an amended complaint filed earlier this month, M.A. argues that the Communications Decency Act's immunity provisions don't apply because, she alleges, Village Voice helped develop the ads. "The website is a highly tuned marketing site with search tools, adult sex focused categories, and directions and features offered regarding how to increase the impact of your ads for a fee," M.A. argues. "Defendants advertise its website to increase page views of the ads; defendants removes spam from its website to increase page views of placed ad," M.A. adds. "All of these acts make defendants the creators and developers of the posted advertisements." But Backpage.com counters that none of those actions deprive it of immunity, saying that neither organizing listings or segregating adult content creates liability. Separately, rival listings company Craigslist recently shuttered its adult services listings worldwide, leaving Backpage.com as the major U.S. publisher of paid-sex ads, according to AIMGroup.com.
The evolution of social media continues to spawn new business models that suggest advertisers just need to let go. Similar to AOL and Yahoo, Examiner.com recently began pushing a content social model where brands sign on to advertise and writers for the network get a heads-up about specific topics. The advertisements and marketing campaigns draw attention to the brand and the writers' original content attracts attention to the network of news sites through search engines Google, Bing and Yahoo. It's another example of how social content meets search. Scripps and HGTV signed on with Examiner.com a couple of months ago to give it a whirl. The biggest initial challenges were based on getting comfortable with not having complete advertising control over the brand's message, explains Jonah Spegman of Scripps and HGTV. The brand did not provide content direction to the writers, who have leeway to write positively or negatively about the shows. "We had to make the decision to be comfortable evolving from structured advertising deals into more dynamic digital word-of-mouth marketing," he says. Spegman says a recent campaign tapped into the Examiner Connect Program to promote awareness for an HGTV show called Property Virgins. This campaign included a display campaign against relevant Examiner content sections from writers that focus on real estate and homes to call attention to the organic articles that Examiners writers wrote about the show, for example. The campaign launched six weeks before the show was scheduled to air. There are two similar campaigns running in market now, both geared toward building awareness and promoting consumers to watch HGTV shows. Within a week of campaign seeding, HGTV saw hundreds of articles and posts about the show. The content development created valuable earned-media impressions, as the Examiner.com readers shared and pushed the content through social media sites. "We're finding that we're getting two to three times the impressions from earned media versus paid by using this type of organic content creation," Spegman says. "Traffic to the show page also tripled after launching the campaign. The show had other advertising drivers behind it, but we were excited to see a double-digit growth in ratings." Tom Woerner, SVP of national sales at Examiner.com, calls the network of sites a "content-generation platform" -- a new way to support brands tied to local news. When a brand signs on, editors at Examiner.com approach writers in the network related to the brand's specific topic. For some HGTV programs, such as the second season of Selling New York, debuting the first week in January, the editors might approach luxury lifestyle writers or those who write about social society life in New York, depending on the promotion topic. Woerner claims there is no editorial control in the pitch to writers through the Connect program. And brands have no guarantee that the writers will not produce content with negative overtones. Writers are financially compensated based on page views and traffic to content, and are encouraged to tweet on Twitter or post a Facebook status update. It's a sign of the changing times, Woerner says. Social media meets content.
Based on analysis of over 200 million unique consumers across the BlueKai Exchange, the BlueKai Pulse report provides a snapshot of popular shopping intent activity across auto, travel and retail verticals this past month. Analysis of November data shows a significant increase in online purchase intent for popular holiday gifts such as video games, gaming consoles and eBook readers, and of course, a spike in holiday decorations. RETAIL In anticipation of the holiday gift-giving season, there was a significant increase in purchase intent for consumer electronics such as eBook readers, Nintendo video games, Xbox 360 consoles and digital photo frames. The November 4, 2010 release of the Kinect for Xbox 360 is a strong indicator for the spike in purchase intent for the Xbox 360 consoles. Also, shopping intent for holiday season décor doubled from the month of October while costume attire intent activity declined considerably after Halloween. TRAVEL CHART 1 In November, a decline in advanced bookings of 61-90 days for air travel and hotels & lodging bookings correlates to the end of the holiday travel season. The Canadian Football League's 98th Annual Grey Cup Championship reflected an increase in purchase intent for air travel and vacation packages to Edmonton, Canada. There was also an increase in shoppers in-market for warmer destinations such as hotels & lodging bookings to Fort Lauderdale and air travel to Puerto Vallarta. In addition, an increase in hotels & lodging bookings made 91 or more days in advance can be associated to consumers planning mid-winter getaways. AUTO The BlueKai Pulse is an analysis of data from the BlueKai Exchange, the world's largest online auction marketplace that manages anonymous intent data on over 200 million unique consumers across top-tier e-commerce, online travel agency and auto comparison sites. Intent actions are defined as views of specific models or brand pages on automotive comparison Web sites, trip configurations for flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, or vacation packages on travel Web sites and activity on retail price comparison or e-commerce sites. "Top 10" is defined by overall data volume which indicates the most popular categories in each vertical. "Gainers and Decliners" reflect the most significant month-to-month jumps or falls for specific intent actions, which is indicative of seasonal shopping behaviors.