Mobile Providers Losing Billions to Social Messaging by Erik Sass

Social networks have the potential to disrupt any number of established industries, and indeed are already doing so, with big negative impacts already being felt by mobile network operators, according to research outfit Ovum. Specifically, free social media message services that compete with short message services (SMS) cost mobile network operators some $13.9 billion in lost SMS revenue in 2011 alone, Ovum estimates. The list of rivals includes Facebook chat, Blackberry Messenger, and Whatsapp. And the continuing proliferation of smartphones means that this threat to SMS revenues will only become more pervasive. ...Read the whole story

  • Visible Measures Gains Visibility: Gets Audited, Accredited By MRC by Joe Mandese

    In what it claims is a first for a service of its kind, online video tracking and measurement firm Visible Measures this morning announced it has been accredited by media industry ratings watchdog the Media Rating Council for a range of its core video metrics products.The accreditation, which follows an extensive audit of Visible Measures systems by the MRC, took nearly a year to complete, and is an important stamp of approval in what is becoming an increasingly crowded field of video and social media metrics and analytics firms. ...Read the whole story

Around The Net

perspective How to Avoid Social Presbyopia by Drew Neisser

Many in my generation are at risk for social presbyopia -- the inability to acknowledge the seismic shifts in behavior driven by social media -- and worse yet, the reluctance to personally embrace these changes themselves. ...More

  • search Pinterest Best Practices For Search Marketers by Laurie Sullivan

    Pinterest supports more than 10 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, but how can search engine marketers tap into the growth? Digital search marketing agency Greenlight published a paper on Best Practices that search marketers will find valuable. ...More

  • Your Brand Is Batman by David Berkowitz

    "People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy... As a man, I'm flesh and blood. I can be ignored. I can be destroyed. But as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting." - Bruce Wayne, "Batman Begins" Bruce Wayne understands brands better than anyone. A brand is different from the sum of the people working for a company. A brand, as Wayne noted, can be everlasting. ...More