Social Media Analytics Podcast Availalbe
January 9, 2012
Text Analytics News has posted the podcast of their insightful Social Media Analytics Panel. Check it out for a taste of what you can expect at April’s inaugural Social Media Analytics Summit.
The panel brings together Bill Touhig of J.D. Power & Associates, Robin Seidner of Radian6, and Beyond the Arc’s Steven J. Ramirez. The social media analytics experts share their insights in the 55 minute podcast. The description describes the discussion content:
- Analytic technologies and techniques being used to make business sense of the flood of user-generated content
- The cutting edges of social media and sentiment analysis – what works, where improvements are being made, and which platforms are leading the way
- The comparison between proprietary and do-it-yourself tools for social media analysis
- Effective ways for leveraging social media information to get a leg up on your competition
The most memorable points from this podcast for me hinge on the unexpected. Social media is still a very new field that continues to supply surprises. For example, Touhig shared a discovery his company made for a major cosmetics company: trying to stay ahead of the curve, generation Y women were using skin care products made for older women. The company then had to find a way to communicate that using products for their skin type will actually be more effective for these customers.
Another surprise—Ramirez pointed out that, with social media data, more is not better. This may seem obvious to some, but it is not the case with other data types, where more volume produces more accurate results. Instead, analysts find that they need to narrow the data to exclude the vast amounts of irrelevant input that social media provides. As Ramirez commented, “people will say anything!”
It may be no surprise that text analytics is experiencing a talent gap. As Ramirez quipped, if you know young people just starting out, advise them to go into this young field. Yes, general business users are usually capable of analyzing data, but they need a leg-up. It is best to develop a program and invest in tools and training before expecting results from non-specialized employees.
There is much more to this podcast than I can fit here, so be sure to check it out for yourself. Then, plan to attend the Social Media Analytics Summit next spring.
Cynthia Murrell, January 9, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
A Harbinger for 2012: Facebook on Top?
January 3, 2012
Experian Hitwise, a subset of Experian Marketing Services, reported on a recent analysis of the top 1,000 search terms for 2011 in article “Facebook was the Top Search Term for Third Straight Year.”
According to the article, Facebook was the top search term and the most visited website in the U.S and accounted for 3.10 percent of all searches, a 46 percent increase from 2010. Social networking-related terms dominated the results, accounting for 4.18 percent of the top 50 searches. This is an increase of 12 percent compared with 2010.
Simon Bradstock, general manager of Experian Hitwise, said:
Marketers need to be particularly brand-savvy when managing their search optimization campaigns because of this behavior, which is a result of predictive search functionality across major search engines. Other top 2011 searches reflect ongoing fascination with celebrities online, and many of the top fast-moving searches centered on natural disasters or notable personalities passing away.
It seems that social media is here to stay and business leaders ought to stay abreast of these trends and utilize them to their advantage.
Jasmine Ashton, January 3, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Impact of Social Signals in Search
January 1, 2012
Last year both Google and Bing announced that they would be using social signals to help rank search results. Econsultancy reported on the impact of social signals on digital marketing in the article “Social Signals in Search: What is the Impact?”
According to the article, a recent survey found that only 25 percent of company marketers currently regard social signals as ‘very important’ for determining search rankings. However, when asked how important they would be in three years’ time, the percentage increased to 57 percent.
Andrew Girdwood, Media Innovations Director at bigmouthmedia, said:
Social signals are used, at the very least, to validate traditional link signals. For example, a page that appears to have many inbound links and is relatively young but which has earned no social signals is a statistical outlier. Google is upfront about being suspicious about statistical outliers. Avoiding Google’s suspicion is important in SEO. What’s not in doubt is the ability social media successes have at showing content worthy of links to a large community of people able to create those links. All SEO campaigns should have social elements.
With the invention of Google+, the first serious combination of search and social, businesses will be forced to confront the importance of social signals. Our view: social is no silver bullet.
Jasmine Ashton, January 1, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Dumbest Social Media Users of 2011
January 1, 2012
People say dumb things. Magnify that statement by about 10,000 and make your thoughts and activities available for all of your friends, family members, and coworkers to see and you have social media content.
Gawker reported on the top social networking sites in the article “Who Had the Dumbest Users In 2011: Facebook, Twitter, or Google?”
According to the article, Facebook, Google and Twitter have all published their year-in-review lists, allowing Gawker to definitively answer the question of, who had the dumbest users in the year 2011?
After sharing the top five posts, hashtags, and search results for all three social media sites, the article concluded:
Facebook had the dumbest users in 2011. While Google and Twitter users displayed at least a modicum of interest in things that actually matter, the dominant topics on Facebook were cries for attention from other dumb Facebook users. Facebookers stumbled through the year in a haze of cheap endorphins flooding their brains with every “like.” Clearly, normally intelligent adults revert to miserable high-schoolers when on Facebook.
Yikes! What can we expect from next year’s lists?
Jasmine Ashton, January 1, 2012
Quote to Note: Google and Its Modest Understatement
December 29, 2011
Short honk: I am tuckered out. Big day in Harrod’s Creek, but I took time to read “Tom Anderson”. Sorry, no title it is a blog post, err, a Google Plus post. Here’s the quote I noted:
It’s not that Google+ has decided to do things differently, it’s just that they’re ahead of the game and doing things better.
Impressively modest. MySpace is a cesspool, and Singapore is a fine place. Oh, yeah. Pharma ad free, no improper pix, and harsh punishment for spitting gum.
Stephen E Arnold, December 30, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google Adds Protein to Its Recommendations
December 28, 2011
Here goes Google, buying rather than innovating. Again. CNET News reports, “Google Gobbles up Restaurant Recommendation App Alfred.” Created by Clever Sense, Alfred was released for the iPhone in July. Google has now released a free version for Android.
The app studies the user’s restaurant choices, then uses online reviews and “other analysis” to recommend similar locations. There’s a cute minute-long video from Clever Sense here. Writer Jay Greene clarifies what makes Alfred special:
“Unlike better-known and more widely used rivals such as Yelp and Urbanspoon, Clever Sense uses artificial intelligence to find customers with similar tastes, then offers recommendations based on their dining choices.
It’s the kind of service–one that relies on complex algorithms to arrive at relevant results–that is right up Google’s alley.
Indeed. And if Google didn’t have to bother developing the software, all the better.
Clever Sense was founded by tech highbrows Babak Pahlavan and Nima Asgharbeygi. The Clever Sense Platform that powers Alfred combines two engines. The Extraction Engine curates unstructured crawled data; from there, it extracts concepts and learns similarities. The Serendipity Engine, though, is at the core; it is the part that learns user preferences. The company assures us that the data used to draw these conclusions is stored securely.
Cynthia Murrell, December 28, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google Plus Plans to Dominate the Internet
December 24, 2011
The latest buzz surrounding Google has been rather polarizing. Some think that the search giant is becoming out of touch with its customer base, while others believe that it is only a few steps away from taking over the world. The article that I will highlight today believes the latter.
ComputerWorld’s Mike Elgan recently wrote an informative piece called “Why Google+ Will Become Google’s Only Product.” Elgan’s article details, what he believes is, Google’s strategy to marginalize it’s competition by creating a single super product known as Google+.
After citing every action that Google has taken since the release of Google+ this past June to integrate features that were previously separate products, Elgan explains why Google will eventually beat out all of it’s competitors — even Facebook. Elgan states:
Google+ by itself looks like no match for Facebook. But the integrated combination of every Google tool is far better and far more compelling than just Facebook — and collectively those tools already have far more users. And that’s where Google is headed. As Google integrates every major product increasingly into Google+, those products become features, and Google+ becomes the Google product.
This is definitely an interesting theory, and I will be watching closely to see who wins the final battle between these two Internet titans.
Jasmine Ashton, December 24, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Facebook Beats Google Plus on Android
December 23, 2011
Google is still hurting in the social media race, and this time it is even on its own mobile device.
Facebook has become the most popular app on Android, seeing a higher active reach than every single one of Google’s first-party apps.
ZDNet’s article, “Facebook is Now the Most Popular Android App”
The latest data comes from Nielsen, which ranked mobile apps by active reach: the percentage of Android owners who used the app within the past 30 days. The metrics research firm analyzed usage data from its proprietary device meters put on the smartphones belonging to thousands of participating consumers. As you can see in the chart [in the article], Nielsen broke down users by age group. Facebook had an 80 percent active reach for 18-24 year-olds, 81 percent for 25-34 year-olds, and 77 percent for 35-44 year-olds.
If accurate, very interesting. Facebook released its most recent app for Android last week, so as a twenty-something avid Facebook user, I am not surprised with this finding. I am, however, surprised with Google’s initial predictions that Google Plus would be strong competition for Facebook. The Google Plus Android App didn’t even rank on Nielsen’s top fifteen active reach rankings. What is going on, Google?
Andrea Hayden, December 23, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Desperate Times for Search and Selling Consulting
December 22, 2011
I saw a news story about the uptick in the housing market. Perhaps you read “Get Started ‘On’ Dec. 21: Housing Shows Recovery Signs, Lobbyists Warn against Tax Cut Expiration.” You may have seen the recent story “Home Foreclosures Jump in Third Quarter-Report.” Contradictions are one indicator which tells me that no clear signal is emerging. I wrote last night (December 20, 2011) about the Oracle financial softening and how search acquisitions will not do much, if anything, to firm up Oracle’s revenues. Since the economic meltdown became evident in the spring of 2008 with the collapse of BearStearns, we have entered a new financial territory. The maps are still being created and exploration is underway.
Most organizations are struggling to find a way to accomplish two difficult goals simultaneously. Personally I cannot multi-task, but the financial pressure is so great that many executives assume that more effort will pull the marshmallows out of the bonfire. I am not so sure.
One goal for many organizations with which I am familiar is to keep existing revenues from eroding more quickly. Since I focus on software and content, the challenge of generating new revenue from old products is a big one. Most of the executives whom I know are hard working, optimistic people. But the issues is preventing revenue from existing and reasonably well understood products and services from tanking.
The “big idea” will touch you, imparting “wisdom” and more.
The other goal is for organizations to find new revenue. The MBA types have fancy diagrams to explain strategies and tactics. I have worked out a few basic options which have worked for me when I had a “real” job (not as an azure chip consulting, journalist, or middle school teacher). Here are my non MBA options:
- Buy a company and pretend that its products and services are “new”
- Take an existing product and service, reposition or repackage it, and target a “new” market with this “new” product. Nothing material is done, but the marketing copy changes.
- Identify an existing product or service and graft something “novel” like making a search system into an iPad app or some equivalent maneuver. The “new” product is then pitched as “revolutionary” or whatever claim common sense and one’s attorney permits.
- Make a bet on something outside of one’s core competency. Believe me, this happens frequently. Examples include some of Google’s products to a local catering service’s attempt to set up a full service restaurant.
In this context of financial pressure, the need for r3evenues, and the options available to executives, I pondered “The End of the Web? Don’t Bet on It. Here’s Why” by Mark Suster, a member of the Dark Side; that is, venture capital world. The foundation of his write up was a presentation by the azurist George Colony, the CEO of Forrester Research.
I don’t have much to say about the specifics of either the Forrester notion that certain digital resources increase over time; specifically, storage, processing cycles, and network capacity. I don’t have much to say about the Dark Side analysis of the Forrester presentation.
Here’s what interests me:
First, I think these big, well publicized “thought pieces” are essentially devoid of substantive analysis. The “big idea” becomes a foundation upon which assertions, arguments, and counter arguments rest. The goal is to associated Forrester with a topic and generate buzz, visibility, or what is called a “conversation” about the “big idea”. I don’t have the energy to explain why the three “resources” are essentially one “thing.” Believe the assertion if you wish
Forrester Predicts the End of Social Networking
December 19, 2011
Yep, ever hungry for clicks and buzz, another azure chip firm cooks up a prediction that may surprise Facebook.
Oh, no, another big trend is in trouble! Or so Forrester CEO George Colony would have us believe. “Social networking’s salad days are ending, Forrester says,” reports Stephen Shankland at Cnet News. Colony insists that the market for social networking is saturated, and people don’t have time for it anyway. The article asserts:
’We are in a bubble for social startups,’ [Colony] said. When it bursts, ‘this is going to sweep away some of the nonsense, like FourSquare. We are going to move to a post-social world that’s a little like the Web in the year 2000. A lot of companies launched, but they did not survive.’
Humph.
Though Shankland says Forrester based its conclusions on consumer research, we’re more than a little skeptical. These assertions come from an azure chip consultant looking for angles. Data? Not so much. Insight? Not so much.
Interesting? As long it generates business, the azure chip crowd has done its job. Does this mean that Google’s play for social search is a loser? Forrester will elucidate sure am I.
Cynthia Murrell, December 19, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
