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Facebook rolling out new search tool

July 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Users who may have grown frustrated with Facebook’s rudimentary search feature are getting an updated version designed to make it easier to find people, places and photos on the site.

Facebook unveiled its social search tool in January, but only made it available to a small fraction of its 1.1 billion users, as its engineers continued to tweak and test it.

Over the next few weeks, starting on Monday, the company is rolling out the social search tool, called ‘Graph Search,’ to everyone whose language is set to US English.

Unlike searches on Google, which are good for finding specific things like roasted kale recipes or Mizuno running shoes, Facebook’s tool is most useful in unearthing information about your social circles.

Graph Search lets you find friends who live in San Francisco who are vegan, friends of friends who live near you and like hiking, photos of your boyfriend taken before you met him in 2010. nearby restaurants that your friends like – and so on.

But soon after Facebook launched the tool, the internet had a field day with less innocuous and more embarrassing queries, showing just how much information people reveal about themselves on the site, intentionally or not. Care to find out which brand of condoms your friends prefer? Graph Search might tell you.

A blog called actualfacebookgraphsearches.tumblr.com posted a collection of searches ranging from ‘married people who like prostitutes’ to ‘current employers of people who like racism.’ Both yielded more than 100 people.

While it is possible that some of those Facebook users are fully aware that what they’ve shared is easily searchable, it is likely that some are not. It’s easy to click ‘like’ on a page and forget about it, and it’s even easier to assume that no one will search through your photos from party days years ago.

To avoid any unpleasantness, Facebook plans to notify users to check ‘who can see my stuff’ under their privacy settings.

‘The goal is to avoid bad surprises,’ said Nicky Jackson Colaco, privacy and safety manager at Facebook.

But there are advantages.

It’s easier, for example, to find a long-lost classmate with a common name, or to find common interests with friends of friends.

As Google has shown, it’s a lucrative business. Research firm eMarketer estimates that Google will take nearly 42 per cent of all US digital ad spending this year, well above Facebook’s share of less than 7 per cent.

Story source: www.bigpond.com

Filed Under: News, Research, Social Media Tagged With: Facebook, networks, news, Social Media, Technology

Marketers Say Social Media, Search Are Industry’s Hottest Ad Tools

March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Social media and search advertising are projected to be the most popular advertising tools this year, each cited by 24% of respondents to a PointRoll survey [pdf] of US marketing professionals, conducted by Kelton Research and released in March 2012. Display advertising followed closely, chosen by 22% of respondents. There was then a significant drop-off to online video (11%), mobile or tablet ads (7%), and mobile or tablet apps (6%). Just 1% chose email, text/SMS, or social gaming. Search advertising is more popular among respondents at director level or above, compared to those in supervisory or managerial positions (30% vs. 19%).

Most Will Increase Spend on Digital Channels

In fact, a majority of respondents are planning to up their spend on a variety of digital channels, a position that traditional channels are not slated to share. Among digital channels, the largest proportion say they will increase their spending on social media marketing or ads (79%), closely followed by those who will increase their budgets for mobile marketing or ads (75%). A comparatively fewer 55% say they will increase spending on search advertising, though this compares favorably to just 7% who will either decrease spending (3%) or not use this tool (4%).

Conversely, out-of-home marketing or ads will get an increase from just 16% of marketing professionals, on par with the proportion who will decrease spending in this area. And while 15% will budget more for traditional marketing or ads, 21% will scale back their budgets. Even so, traditional marketing channels still get a big chunk of budgets: 57% of marketing and advertising executives in organizations with revenues of $10 million or more said that most of their spending in 2011 went to traditional efforts.

Audience Targeting Proves Exciting

Meanwhile, audience targeting (49%) tops the list of industry trends that respondents are excited about, ahead of other movements including cross-screen media (40%), web TV (30%), Facebook marketing (37%), social gaming (22%) and digital out-of-home marketing or ads (19%). Excitement about audience targeting is higher at the directorial level and above than at the supervisory or managerial level (56% vs. 44%).

Some of that excitement may be related to necessity: 17% of respondents said that identifying the right audience has been holding them back from doing their job more successfully. According to March 2012 survey results from Acxiom and Loyalty 360, just 49% of company executives agree that they know who their most loyal customers are, and the best way to reach out to them and get them to engage with their brand. In fact, just 10% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement, while about one-third were neutral and roughly 1 in 5 disagreed.

Marketers Using Numerous Tools and Partners

Data from PointRoll’s “Marketing Tools Study 2012? indicates that 28% of marketing and advertising professionals use at least 7 tools during a single campaign to reach their target market, while 62% use between 3 and 6 tools. To help with their efforts, roughly 3 in 10 respondents call on at least 10 partners to help them during a campaign. Even so, this sometimes has the opposite effect than intended: about one-third say that managing multiple vendors typically prevents them from doing their job better, and 1 in 10 say that working more efficiently with vendors is their biggest goal this year.

Other Findings:

Marketing professionals would pay a company an average of $107,500 to manage an integrated digital campaign.
Increasing sales (31%) and ROI (28%) are the goals most commonly cited as marketers’ most important for this year.
Slightly more than half of respondents say that inefficient ROI tracking and measurement has hindered their success at work.
Almost all respondents predict they will use online video this year. The most popular formats are in-banner (60%), in-stream (49%) and dynamic or customized video ads (42%).
Roughly 2 in 5 respondents believe that they are behind the curve when it comes to digital marketing.

About the Data: The PointRoll data is based on a survey of more than 250 marketing professionals from across the US at supervisor level and above, conducted in January 2012.

Story source: www.mikeandrewconsulting.com/blog

Filed Under: News, Research, Social Media Tagged With: business, networks, Research, Social Media

Purchase Recommendations From Blogs Highly Influential to Women

March 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

61% of women who are active blog users say they have made a purchase based on a recommendation from a blog, a proportion that rises to 87% among BlogHer network members, according to a March 2012 survey from the company, which polled a sample of women from the general population and a sample from its community. Recommendations from blogs compare favorably to popular social networks: among Facebook users just one-third of the general population sample (and 54% of BlogHer community respondents) report having made a purchase based on a recommendation from the network.

Meanwhile, Pinterest scores higher (47%) than Facebook among general population respondents who use the fast-growing network, but slightly lower among BlogHer community members (53%) who use it. Just 3 in 10 respondents from both groups who are active users of Twitter say they have made a purchase based on a recommendation from the site.

The study also notes that the influence of blogs is consistent across verticals: indeed, results from a BlogHer survey released in January 2012 indicated that general population respondents were 30% more likely to use advice from blogs than information or updates from a social network (69% vs. 53%) to help with a consumer electronics purchase, while BlogHer community respondents were 50% more likely to do so (84% vs. 56%).

Most Trust Info and Advice From Blogs

Meanwhile, according to BlogHer’s “Women and Social Media in 2012? report, blogs’ influence on women’s purchase decisions is likely related to the amount of trust they place in the information and advice they gather from this source. Among BlogHer network respondents that are active users of each of the following media sources, 98% trust the information they receive from blogs, ahead of Facebook (86%), Twitter (85%), and Pinterest (85%). Among general population respondents, blogs and Pinterest (both at 85%) are the most trusted, with Twitter (73%) and Facebook (67%) trailing.

Facebook More a Social Space

Facebook is possibly less trusted as an information source due to women seeing it more as a communal space rather than as an information source. Presented with various categories, general population respondents chose Facebook over blogs for staying up to date with friends and family (87% vs. 20%), having fun (77% vs. 41%), entertainment (69% vs. 50%), and contributing to a community (41% vs. 28%).

By contrast, women said blogs were better suited than Facebook to find out about new products (41% vs. 24%), seek advice and recommendations (39% vs. 35%), get product information (37% vs. 17%), and help make purchase decisions (36% vs. 17%).

Other Findings:

General population respondents indicated they were more likely to use Pinterest than Twitter to find out about new products (39% vs. 24%), to have fun (58% vs. 47%), and to get product information (26% vs. 18%).
Daily blog readers from the general population sample were 52.2% more likely than the overall general population sample to say that turning to an online or social media site is the first thing they do when they want to buy something (35% vs. 23%). They were also far less likely to say they do not go online or to social media for a shopping decision (19% vs. 41%). According to a white paper released in January 2012 by Fleishman-Hillard in partnership with Hearst Magazine, more women reported that information found online (40%) was a highly important decision factor to them than their parents (30%), friends (27%), and children (24%). Additionally, information found online was also more significant than information in magazines (17%), newspapers (17%), or on the TV (16%).
BlogHer network respondents were more likely than the general population sample to use Facebook (94% vs. 84%) and YouTube (75% vs. 62%), and less likely to watch TV (85% vs. 93%).

About the Data: The BlogHer survey fielded two samples online in February 2012. The results are based on the BlogHer network sample of 1,060 women, and the general population sample of 1,011 women. The general population survey was fielded by Vision Critical.

Filed Under: News, Research, Social Media Tagged With: blogging, networks, news, Research, Social Media

Why Do Affluent Consumers Connect with Brands on Social Networks?

May 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Luxury marketers take note, according to a February 2011 Affluence Collaborative survey, wealthy internet users connect with brands on social networks for significantly different reasons than the general population. The social networks they use to do so are different, too.

Among the general population, the main reason cited for connecting with brands on social networks was to receive deals and discounts. This result from the Affluence Collaborative survey backs up earlier research from several sources on why consumers follow brands on social sites.

But according to Affluence Collaborative, this was a much lower priority for the wealthy. Their top reasons for following brands were due to a preexisting affinity for and a desire to be kept informed about the brand. The least-cited reason mentioned by all groups surveyed was to be entertained, suggesting that social media marketers still need to provide fans with value, even if it isn’t directly in the form of a coupon or sale.

These findings coincide with earlier research from ExactTarget, which showed that a huge component of liking a brand on Facebook was due not just to an affinity, but as a means of self-expression for others to see. This promotional desire was more pronounced in Facebook users than Twitter followers or email subscribers. Affluents then, in their “love of the brands” they connect with, are largely acting as brand ambassadors.

On the surface, a November 2010 L2 Think Tank survey might appear to contradict these findings. Affluent members of Gen Y (ages 19 to 33) cited promotions and offers as the main reason for engaging with brands on social media. Women were more likely than men to engage with brands in general and to want to receive offers. However, the survey included those who were “projected to earn $100,000 in the next two years”—meaning the respondents were more aspiring than actually affluent. The second biggest motivator was still an affinity for the brand.

Data from the Affluence Collaborative study also reveals that the affluent aren’t using the same social networks as the general population. Facebook was the No. 1 social network used by all groups surveyed, but LinkedIn and Twitter attracted affluent internet users at nearly double the rate of the general population.

Any marketer targeting affluent consumers needs to know not only where to reach that audience, but what appeals to them. For wealthy internet users, connecting with a brand is largely about the brand itself, not gimmicks and offers. Affluents need to see a consistent message that makes following a brand meaningful for self-expression, just like when buying a brand in real life. Watering down the brand in order to gain a large social following may drive away the very people trying to be reached.

View the original article here

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Affluent, Brands, Connect, Consumers, networks, Social

Cyber scams rife at social networks

May 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Social networks are ‘lucrative hot beds’ for cyber scams as crooks endeavour to dupe members of online communities, according to a Microsoft security report.

‘Phishing’ attacks that use seemingly legitimate messages to trick people into clicking on booby-trapped links, buying bogus software, or revealing information rocketed 1,200 per cent at social networks last year, it said.

‘We continue to see cyber criminals evolve attack methods such as a significant rise in social network phishing,’ Microsoft malware protection centre manager Vinny Gullotto said in Thursday’s Security Intelligence Report.

Phishing using social networking as a ‘lure’ represented 84.5 per cent of all such trickery in December as compared with 8.3 per cent at the start of 2010, according to the report.

Microsoft analysed data gathered from more than 600 million computer systems worldwide from July through December of last year for the semi-annual study.

‘The popularity of social networking sites has created new opportunities for cyber criminals to not only directly impact users, but also friends, colleagues and family through impersonation,’ the report said.

‘These techniques add to an existing list of social engineering techniques, such as financial and product promotions, to extort money or trick users into downloading malicious content.’

Social engineering is a reference to fooling people to access machines or data instead of trying to hack into networks using software skills.

Microsoft noticed a ‘polarisation’ of cyber criminal behaviour and a surge in the use of ‘marketing-like’ deception tactics to steal money from people.

‘On one side, highly sophisticated criminals skilled at creating exploits and informed with intelligence about a target’s environment pursue high-value targets with large payoffs,’ the report said.

‘On the other side, there are cyber criminals using more accessible attack methods, including social engineering tactics and leveraging exploits created by the more skilled criminals, to take a small amount of money from a large number of people.’

Criminals used malicious software to trick people with false advertisements, fake security software, and pay-per-click schemes that generate cash when internet links are activated, according to Microsoft.

Detections of software crafted to infect machines with pop-up advertisements meanwhile rose 70 per cent from the middle of last year to the end of December, the report indicated.

Rogue security software, referred to as ‘scareware,’ was one of the most common ways for cyber criminals worldwide to bilk people out of money and steal information from computers.

The ploy seeks to dupe internet users by pretending to find viruses and other problems on computers and then offering to sell a program to fix the situation. The software being hawked is a virus.

Computer users were advised to guard against threats by keeping programs updated, using reputable security software, and not clicking links or opening files without making certain they are safe.

View the original article here

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Cyber, networks, scams, Social

Facebook allows posts on other websites

Facebook rolling out new search tool

Marketers Say Social Media, Search Are Industry’s Hottest Ad Tools

Most Will Increase Spend on Digital Channels

Audience Targeting Proves Exciting

Marketers Using Numerous Tools and Partners

Other Findings:

Purchase Recommendations From Blogs Highly Influential to Women

Most Trust Info and Advice From Blogs

Facebook More a Social Space

Other Findings:

Why Do Affluent Consumers Connect with Brands on Social Networks?

Cyber scams rife at social networks

Who Spends Most Time on Facebook?

How age, income and ethnicity affect time spent social networking

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