With the beta launch of Graph Search last week, Facebook introduced a more advanced version of its search offering that allows users to get personalized information about people, places and things based on their network of friends. The rollout of Graph Search also opens up a new avenue for businesses and brands to gain exposure on Facebook beyond tools like the news feed, Timeline and their own pages on the site. Still, a new report from Digitas highlights some of the early limitations of Facebook’s upgraded search tool and possible shortcomings over time. Similar to other analysts and ad experts, the agency points out that the same rules for optimizing content in the news feed generally hold true for Graph Search. Content that is shared, commented on and Liked by a large number of people is more likely to rank higher in results. Therefore, developing an active fan base becomes even more in order to show up in Graph Search. The Digitas report also notes that users can sort search results just by Likes. “This is welcome news to marketers which may have spent to gain new fans only to find Facebook’s algorithm limited their presence in the newsfeed to a mere handful of them,” it stated. How many people will choose to do that, however, is not yet clear. Given that places is one of the four primary categories for surfacing results -- along with people, photos and interests -- Graph Search also gives local businesses further reason to launch or upgrade their presence on Facebook. A recent report by digital agency 360i emphasized that point, advising local venues to begin encouraging Facebook check-ins the same way they do with Foursquare or Yelp to help boost rankings in Graph Search. Still, the Digitas white paper questioned whether the updated search offering will lead Facebook users to habitually search for anything beyond their friends’ names. It suggested that inconsistent use of tools like Facebook Places doesn’t necessarily bode well. “It remains to be seen if there are enough check-ins at, say, restaurants within Facebook, to make a search of 'friends who have had Italian food in New York’ a result that leads to action,” stated the report. Even if a search for a local restaurant returns a lot of results, early testing suggests that some local business categories may not attract enough user-generated content to make results useful. A search of “dentists nearby my friends have been to,” for example, generated only one result in a trial search conducted by JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth. Digitas also noted that Graph Search doesn’t yet cover two key areas: Open Graph actions (such as songs listened to on Spotify or photos pinned on Pinterest) and status updates. The ability to track the performance of brand pages or content in search for now will also be limited because of the lack of a Graph Search API (application programming interface). Search also is not included in the Facebook Insights API or Ads API. There could be workarounds, however, for shared content, such as images and videos. Tools for tracking performance are likely to be added as Facebook continues to build out Graph Search, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledges will be a years-long project. JP Morgan’s Anmuth projected a full product rollout following the beta period, still several months away.
Google reported that Motorola Mobility generated $1.51 billion in gross revenue during the fourth quarter of 2012, excluding the home unit, and consolidated earnings rose 36% to $14.42 billion. Overall, the Mountain View, Calif. company topped $50 billion in revenue for 2012. Consistent with GAAP reporting principles, total acquisition costs (TAC) came to $3.08 billion or 25% of advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012. During the earnings call, analysts looked for more information about the future of Google Fiber, YouTube, mobile services, and international markets. "The best way to predict the future is to make it," said Google co-founder Larry Page. The future of optimizing mobile Web sites, however, could become more complicated than first believed. The number of companies with mobile landing pages and Web sites is not as high as Google would like, but efforts like GoMo continue to improve. Page doesn't necessarily want companies to build ordinary "mobile sites" because some are too simple, which gets frustrating when using a Nexus 4 that can render a full site. "We need to improve these experiences, which will take time," he said. "We should be designing for mobile phones, state of the art and a little beyond, so the experience works on all devices." Breaking down Q4 2012 results, Google's top advertisers now spend about $150 million annually, according to Nikesh Arora, senior VP and chief business officer at Google. He also said top global advertisers spent 50% more advertising on YouTube in 2012, compared with 2011. iProspect U.S. President Brian Kaminski told MediaPost that clients flowed more dollars into YouTube during Q4 2012. "YouTube became a strong vehicle for driving connections, engagement with users, and consumption of content," he said. "We saw campaigns in conjunction with other channels, such as television. We saw some funding innovations like companies taking 5% to 10% of the television budget and moving it over." Advertising generated $12.91 billion -- up 22% -- during the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with the prior year. Revenue from Google-owned sites rose 18% to $8.64 billion; and partner sites rose 19% to $3.44 billion. Other revenue from Google rose 102% to $829 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with the year-ago quarter. Revenue generated from outside of the United States rose 53% to $6.9 billion, representing 54% of total Google revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. Search comprises the largest portion of digital advertising spending in the U.S., driven in part by direct response advertisers. U.S. search ad spending grew to $17.58 billion in 2012, up from $15.10 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer. Google accounts for 74.5% of U.S. search ad revenue last year, which is even more than the 74% share the company took home in 2011, eMarketer estimates. Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of its network members, rose 24% compared with the fourth quarter of 2011, but the cost per click fell 6%, and TAC, the portion of revenues shared with Google's partners, rose to $3.08 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $2.45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. Kaminski points to click volume and cost per click (CPC) as the biggest driver of revenue. "I was not surprised to see a 24% increase in clicks but a decrease of only 6% in CPC was impressive," he said. "The increase in cheaper mobile clicks was offset by increases in CPCs caused by the Q4 retail competition." It didn't hurt that search marketing agencies like Covario, Kenshoo, and The Search Agency suggested that brands raise paid search investments. Many did. Those that did during Q4 2012 prospered with better returns on investments. Google's GAAP operating income contributed 24% to revenue, or $3.39 billion. This compares with GAAP operating income of $3.51 billion, or 33% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Facebook on Tuesday launched a self-serve conversion measurement and optimization tool for direct-response marketers. First announced in November, the service allows advertisers to place a piece of code on a Web site to track when desired actions, like shopping cart checkouts or registrations, are driven by someone seeing an ad on Facebook. When marketers choose the Optimized CPM bidding option, they can see which ads drive the most conversion and adjust their campaigns accordingly. Facebook suggested thst marketers involved in e-commerce, retail, travel, financial services and other direct-response categories would benefit most from the new feature. Among case studies of campaigns using conversion measurement with Optimized CPM during the beta period last year: *Retail site Fab.com was able to reduce its cost per new customer acquisition by 39% when it used this type of bidding to serve ads to consumers deemed most likely to convert. *The Democratic Governors Association used the option to deliver ads to users who were most likely to sign up for its mailing list. According to Mark Giangreco, digital director of the DGA, the association saw a substantial decrease in its cost per conversion -- 85% lower than any other campaign the DGA had run online. Conversion measurement and optimization can be used on all Facebook ads and sponsored stories, and in combination with any targeting capabilities. It’s also the only analytics tool that can report when a user views an ad on one device (e.g. mobile phone) but converts on another (desktop computer). Given that Facebook has expanded mobile advertising dramatically since last spring, the service is suited to tracking performance in cross-platform ad campaigns. Conversion measurement is available through its Power Editor tool for managing multiple campaigns and ads, the Ads Manager and its API partners.
For sports fans checking scores or video clips, mobile devices -- smartphones and tablets -- are ringing up even more business. For the first nine months of 2012, Nielsen says 60% of smartphone and tablet owners check sports results at least once a day. More constant checkers -- users who seek the latest football, baseball, hockey, basketball or other sports information, at least three times a day, for example -- were at lower levels: 12% for smartphone owners and 10% for tablet owners. Analyzing "preference,” users gave smartphone and laptops an equal 16% score. This finding comes from those users who had multiple connected devices. But more traditional media efforts -- for those new Internet-connected TV sets -- also did well, with a 12% preference; tablets had 9% and gaming consoles, 7%. Earlier, Nielsen research showed that nearly one-third of tablet users age 25 to 64 check sports scores while watching games on TV. The December 2012 report also says more than 40% of female smartphone owners use their smartphones at least once a day while watching TV. Men, one the other hand, use their smartphones much less -- 35% use their smartphones while watching TV.
With a renewed focus on recommendation and personalization, as well as integration across users’ social graph, video search engine blinkx just relaunched its flagship Web property blinkx.com. “We prioritized discovery and personalization because social networks and mobile devices have profoundly changed the way we consume content online,” said Matt Scheybeler, chief technology officer at blinkx. “We’re deeply engaged with Facebook pages and Twitter feeds … so we designed the new blinkx.com to support this behavior,” Scheybeler added. In beta testing over the past four months, Scheybeler said mobile usage of the new site was up 400%. He also assured that the new site is fully integrated with blinkx’s ad platform, AdHoc. Among other new features, the renovated site carries a constantly updated stream of video, which is customized based on users’ social graph, in addition to personal viewing preferences. With a new “Pause and Pick-Up” tool, users can start watching video on one device, hit pause, then pick up where they left off on a different device. To better respond to users’ searches, blinkx says it draws from an index of more than 35 million hours of online video and partnerships with more than 800 content publishers. Late last year, blinkx reported $2.7 million of net profit on revenues of $82 million for the six months ending Sept.30, 2012. During the period, revenue increased by 84%, the company reported.
The actress who says she was tricked into appearing in "Innocence of Muslims" is urging a federal appeals court to order YouTube to take down a trailer for the anti-Muslim film.Cindy Lee Garcia says in new legal papers that YouTube and the film producer, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, are infringing her copyright by continuing to display the 14-minute incendiary clip. She argues that she owns a copyright interest in her performance and says she never gave a signed release allowing the producer to display the film. Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald in the Central District of California rejected Garcia's copyright arguments. He ruled that as an actress, Garcia doesn't currently own a copyright in the finished product. He added that even if Garcia at one time owned an interest in her performance, she implicitly assigned it to the film's author.Garcia is now asking the 9th Circuit to reverse Fitzgerald's ruling. Garcia contends that she still owns a copyright interest in her performance and that any license she might have granted was for the movie she thought she was making -- an adventure film called "Desert Warrior" -- rather than the incendiary clip that was posted to YouTube."Even if Ms. Garcia did convey an 'implied' license ... that license extended only to the performance that she actually gave, which was a benign supporting role in the 'Desert Warrior' adventure film," her legal papers state.Garcia says that she was duped into making "Innocence of Muslims" after answering a Backpage casting call for an adventure film called "Desert Warrior." She alleges that she never spoke the dialogue that's in the incendiary clip; instead, it was dubbed in after filming.Garcia says in her legal papers that she received death threats since the film was posted to YouTube, and that she had to move due to security concerns. The trailer, which went live last September, has been blamed for sparking protests in the Mideast.Some legal scholars have said that Garcia likely has an uphill battle. Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman previously told Online Media Daily that he was skeptical of Garcia's claim, given that copyright law applies to works of authorship that are fixed in a medium. In Garcia's case, even if she is considered the author of her performance, she didn't fix it on film.
Change.org, the online petition site, says that 25 advertisers have pulled ads from TMZ’s Web site after the celebrity gossip news organization posted video of a Los Angeles student’s alleged brutal murder outside a nightclub. The advertisers include Chase, Toyota, LensCrafters, Velveeta, TBS, WeightWatchers, Fiksu, Xetum, Spike, Instaflex, Zappos and Turbofax. Lowe was reportedly shot and killed on Jan. 13 after a fight that began in the Empire Nightclub in Hollywood spilled out into the streets. Pleas from the victim’s family to TMZ to pull the footage went unheeded, according to Change.com. The family then launched a petition on the site, gathering 200,000 names supporting the request to pull the video. “We want to thank the companies that have stopped paying TMZ to turn Andre’s death into a spectacle,” stated Jason Andrews, the victim’s uncle. “Andre wasn’t a celebrity like TMZ usually covers. He was just a young student eager to pursue his love of music. It’s been traumatic to our family to see TMZ treat his tragic murder as entertainment.” According to change.com, the ads were removed after petition signers took to Twitter over the weekend, asking brands to drop their support for TMZ. The petition, started by Andrews, stated that TMZ had “no regard for the loved ones affected by this tragedy,” and that “nothing is off limits when it comes to gaining ratings.” In addition to removing the video, Andrews demanded an apology from TMZ. A TMZ rep did not respond to a query for comment.
AT&T may not have gotten T-Mobile USA, but it’s still after more spectrum. The company on Tuesday announced plans to acquire the U.S. retail operations of a carrier called Atlantic Tele-Network (ATNI) for $780 million. Under the deal, AT&T would get wireless spectrum licenses, network assets and 585,000 customers in rural areas of six states-- Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and Idaho. ATNI operates under the Alltel name in the U.S. through a subsidiary called Allied Wireless. The majority of Alltel’s assets and subscribers were bought by Verizon in 2009. AT&T was reported to be interested in picking up Alltel’s wireless assets at the time. While AT&T has avoided larger deals since regulators blocked its $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile last year, it entered into more than 40 smaller spectrum deals in 2012, according to CNet. ATNI CEO Michael T. Prior said Alltel customers “will benefit from access to a nationwide 4G network, a larger device selection, additional retail locations and a broader range of product offerings.” That could mean the iPhone is coming to its rural subscribers.
Foursquare is getting access to content from Voice Media Group, which publishes the Village Voice and LA Weekly, among other metropolitan alternative newspapers, through a new syndication deal, the partners announced Tuesday. Altogether, VMG will provide Foursquare with listings, reviews and related content for 50 different categories of local business in 11 top markets, beginning with New York and Los Angeles and eventually extending to Denver, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Miami, Minneapolis, Palm Beach and Orange County. In addition to syndicating its “Best Of” content to Foursquare, VMG will create badges for check-in locales featured in the “Best Of” content. The deal works in both directions, as Foursquare content will also appear on VMG’s Voice Places review and recommendation platform, including trending data and tips from the social check-in service. VMG is not the first publisher to partner with Foursquare. Back in 2010, New York joined forces with Foursquare, allowing visitors to check in from various local businesses and earn points for special discounts or deals provided by the proprietors. That same year also brought partnerships with Time Out New York and Bon Appetit. The TONY deal allows Foursquare members to get a “Time Out New York Happy Hour” badge when they check in at four locations from a list of 30 participating bars and restaurants. Bon Appetit’s deal with Foursquare presents the social network’s members with a selection of “the best global epicurean and travel destinations,” including restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels and shops chosen by the magazine’s editors. In December, Nielsen reported that Foursquare had about 10.4 million unique users per month, up from a reported 6 million per month, per comScore, in the first half of 2012.
The tablet – whether the latest iPad, Kindle Fire or Galaxy S – is surely the Angelina Jolie / Ryan Gosling of the media world. Irresistible to look at, touch, hold and generally be seen with, it’s attracting far more attention than can be justified by any one device, let alone one so modest in terms of real reach and impact in the larger media ecosystem. The tablet -- as a general category -- is undoubtedly exciting and laden with potential. But like all entrants to an established landscape, its potential won’t necessarily be realized easily. Don’t get me wrong. I’m an enthusiast for the device and all it represents – I love my Kindle Fire HD. But nothing exists in isolation -- least of all in the media category. For the tablet to realize it’s potential within the lives of consumers and as a tool for content publishers and marketers, it will be dependent on what takes place around it. These include: