Google Gives Me More Stuff To Ignore by Erik Sass

I have no idea whether I'm at all representative of Gmail's user base, but if I am Google would be well-advised to just can the whole social media push it's been planning for over a year now. Because, as far as I'm concerned, all the new bells, whistles and widgets Google has added to the email service to make it more "social" are just annoying distractions, which I avoid as scrupulously as Google's targeted ads. The latest social spaghetti flung against the Gmail wall is a "people widget." ...Read the whole story

  • Myspace Finds Its Place: That's Social Entertainment by Joe Mandese

    Social media, especially big social-networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, are transforming the way online users interact with everything from politics to brand marketing. But a new study from a highly regarded research and consulting firm suggests that one of the big draws isn't user-generated content so much as it is the kind of professionally produced and curated content that has historically attracted consumers to use media. ...Read the whole story

  • retail Scarfing Up Social: First Wal-Mart, Then Tesco by Sarah Mahoney

    Last month, Wal-Mart spent $300 million to buy social media firm Kosmix; this week. Dunnhumby -- owned by Wal-Mart rival Tesco -- snapped up Bzzagent, a Boston-based social marketing firm. Dave Balter, CEO and founder of Boston-based Bzzagent, tells Marketing Daily what's driving the trend. ...Read the whole story

  • Overdrive Compares Google, Bing Social Search Results by Les Luchter

    Companies more active on Facebook or interested in real-time news get better social search results with Microsoft's Bing than Google, per Overdrive Interactive. Conversely, Google delivers better results for companies more active on Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Quora, and Google Buzz. ...Read the whole story

  • Marketers Yet To Exploit Online Social Games by Mark Walsh

    Even with a whopping 250 million people playing casual games a month, a new Forrester report finds U.S. marketers aren't trying to capitalize on the craze. Yet the demos are attractive to marketers: Women make up 59% of adult social gamers; Gen X players account for 30%. ...Read the whole story

Social Is the New Search by Ryan DeShazer

With the news that Facebook and Bing have strengthened their social search partnership, the office this week was abuzz with questions directed toward me and my team. · What is "social search"? · Why would the search engines expend energy in integrating social data into its results? · What does this mean for search and social marketers? ...More

  • Me (@cpealet) And Twitter: Not the Same As It Used To Be by Catharine P. Taylor

    Upon the occasion yesterday of Twitter buying Tweetdeck, it's time to ponder something that has intrigued me for some time: how my Twitter usage has evolved. Not that the Social Media Insider column is always about me, but with all of the myriad Twitter clients out there -- and the evolution of the Twitter-verse itself -- I've been wondering over the last few weeks whether my experience is typical. ...More