Will Google Users Revolt?

"Over the past six weeks, critics of [Google's privacy change]... have amassed a number of arguments. Google, they say, cannot make this change because it violates a 2011 consent agreement between Google and the Federal Trade Commission regarding privacy. More recently, it has been suggested that Google’s new privacy policy violates EU rules, according to ABC News." That is a portion of the post from Marketing Vox. Read more.

Assessing Ad Campaigns on Facebook to Get Easier

Brafton syas that "a report from TechCrunch suggests that Real-Time Insights may be coming to Facebook, which will help companies assess their social media marketing campaigns more effectively. According to the website, businesses using Facebook will see more rapid and accurate information relating to the amount of users accessing their social media content and the engagement it garners. With the Facebook Marketing Conference set to begin Wednesday, this may be one detail the company unveils at the event, TechCrunch suggests." Read more.

The Other Social Network--YouTube--Drawing Advertisers Big Time

"If you needed a sign of just how audacious YouTube's $100 million experiment in original content is, consider the asking price for advertisers: as much as $62 million for the exclusive...No one has paid that yet. Early deals are in the $5 million to $10 million range,: according to Advertising Age. "A smattering of the nation's biggest marketers have signed on, including Unilever, which is sponsoring "Young Hollywood Network,"...Toyota, which is backing a host of channels targeted at women,...and GM, which signed on last week to sponsor Red Bull's action sports channel and a package of automotive-focused channels. Chrysler, AT&T and Lowes are also appearing" on recently launched channels."  Read more.

Following Viewers, Marketers Turning to Smaller Social Networks

"While Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have been at the top of the social media heap in the US for several years now, new services and relaunched versions of older ones are rapidly gaining popularity among consumers and marketers," according to eMarketer. "One such site is Pinterest, where users and marketers alike can create online “pinboards” that showcase their taste and creativity. "    Read more.

Social Network Ad Revenue Continues Climb

"eMarketer expects global social network ad revenues to climb nearly 50% this year to $7.72 billion, up from $5.2 billion in 2011. Just under half of all revenues will come from a single market, the US." Read more.

Taco Bell Gets Its Tweeters to Tweet Again

"A just-ended contest from Taco Bell asked Twitter users to compose a tweet with the hashtags #DoritosLocosTacos and #Contest," reports ClickZ. "The Doritos Locos Tacos Hometown Tweet-Off ran from February 16 to 20. It promoted the Doritos Locos taco, which comes in a shell made from Nacho Cheese Doritos Chips and will debut on March 8. The Twitter user whose aptly hashtagged tweet is retweeted the most times wins a hometown visit from the Taco Bell Truck for an early taste. According to its Twitter profile, the Taco Bell Truck drives around the country handing out free tacos. Tressie Lieberman, director of digital marketing for Taco Bell, says it first started touring in 2009. @TacoBellTruck has 14,000 followers." Read more.

New Software Enables Fast Response to Real World for Advertisers

"Adobe announced the availability of Primetime Highlights, a web-based video clip editor designed for the creation of live video clips to be used for online advertising nearly instantaneously," reports ClickZ. "Using the tool, video publishers can quickly grab a clip, such as a great sports play, and then publish it along with a targeted ad. Clips can be delivered via an Adobe-provided video player within an existing mobile application or embedded in a website." What does this mean? A publisher like ESPN, along with an advertiser, could have posted the winning shot from last night's NBA All-Star game along side a particular advertisement. Read more.

Facebook Launching New Ad Format--More Advertiser Friendly

"Facebook will release a new, upgraded ad product on February 29, the company has confirmed to Direct Marketing News. The social network is expected to introduce these new ad products at the fMC event for marketers. According to a leaked presentation posted on Scribd by Peter Corbett of ad agency iStrategyLabs and later obtained by technology website GigaOm as well as numerous other media reports, the upgraded Premium Ads will allow brands to originate their Facebook ads from the company page, enabling a larger-format and more prominent placement of "likes" and comments." Read more.

Knick Phenom Lin Drives Facebook Likes

"When speaking about what their number of Facebook likes/fans means, marketers sometimes joke about giving Facebook a million dollars to get a million fans. Well to get a half million new Facebook fans in the last two weeks, all the New York Knicks had to do was give Jeremy Lin the basketball," according to ClickZ. "The NBA franchise on Friday disclosed that the sports phenom - dubbed "Linsanity" by newspaper writers - has been not only a dynamo on the court but in the digital realm as well. The 23 year old athlete has been the spark behind the team going from Facebook 1.4 million fans/likes earlier this month to its current 1.95 million." Read more.

Smartphones Playing Larger Role in Internet Marketing

"Market research firm comScore recently released its 2012 Mobile Future in Focus report, which suggests that smartphone use means businesses must ensure their web presence is optimized for mobile access and that they update their content marketing campaigns frequently enough to appeal to constant mobile searches," reports Brafton News. "ComScore reports that 42 percent of American mobile phone owners use smartphones. Most of these users take full advantage of the devices, which includes access to the web. Developing a site that allows on-the-go visitors full access to website content and ecommerce features will improve a brand's reputation and allow for more conversion opportunities." Read more.

Google Heightens Concerns about Privacy

"We're less than one week from the launch of Google's new privacy policy taking effect, but the controversial new plan from Google has already become a major point of discussion on the web. As a result, the internet marketing community saw developments that could impact search marketing campaigns this week when lawmakers took action to discuss the policy with Google." Read more from Brafton News. You can also read about states' attorneys general meeting with Google over privacy.

How Companies Can Manage Digital Data about Customers

"The amount of data we can collect from digital interactions by consumers is staggering, and making sense of it can seem daunting. This needn't be, though. You simply have to know which data are most relevant and how best to use them.

With that in mind, here's a quick primer on how to use data to drive your digital strategy," reports Advertising Age. "First-party, web-based data (the information you can learn about visitors to your sites) is often the most accessible and valuable. Visitors are generating useful signals with every action they take. These data sets belong to you, meaning you don't need to pay third parties to use them and you may use them as fully as the rights you've secured through your user terms." Read more.

Tweet Launches Kellogg Breakfast Cereal

"Twitter has done many things but we think this may be the first time a random tweet has inspired a new cereal brand. UK rocker Tim Burgess (frontman of The Charlatans) tweeted jokingly that he would love to launch a cereal called 'Totes Amazeballs' (slang for totally amazing), pretending Kellogg was interested," according to Creativity Online. "Kellogg picked up on the tweet…and created the product. As Burgess told NME.com, the product tastes something like Rocky Road ice cream, and he imagined it to be the kind of treat you'd want to eat to kill your hangover, especially the kind you get at music fests." Read more.

Music for Food, a United Biscuit Campaign

"UK food company United Biscuits is linking its various snack brands with music in a tie-up with Universal Music, Snacktracks. It's running an on-pack promotion through Wax Communications that gives consumers the opportunity to download more than 100, 000 songs from the Universal Music catalog," notes Creativity Online. "The promotion runs across 30 million packs of UB snack brands Hula Hoops, Mini Cheddars, Nik Naks, Skips, Discos and Wheat Crunchies. On the website, Snacktracks.co.uk, consumers can download a track for each pack they buy, having registered. There are also 'playlists' for each brand, matched to its brand personality( for example, the Mini Cheddars' playlist features 'absolute classics'.)" Read more.

Mobile Phone Market More of an Opportunity for Marketers

"'2011 proved to be a groundbreaking year for the mobile industry, with smartphones hitting the mainstream, tablets emerging as a formidable fourth screen, and consumers increasingly integrating mobile behaviors into their lifestyles. As the industry continues to innovate and more consumers look to multiple devices and platforms to consume digital media, we expect the mobile and connected device landscape to be shaken up even further in 2012,' said Mark Donovan, comScore Senior Vice President of Mobile. 'As mobile channels present a more personal, social, and ubiquitous experience to consumers, advertisers and publishers have an opportunity to better engage target audiences, given an understanding of how to connect and leverage the unique characteristics of these emerging platforms.'" Read more. For a copy of the report, click this link.

Facebook Ad Revenue to Exceed $5 Billion in 2012

"eMarketer estimates Facebook's worldwide ad revenues will soar more than 60% this year to exceed $5 billion. Just over half of those dollars will come from the US, where Facebook will account for 6.5% of all online ad spending." Read more.

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Turn to Microtargeted Ads

"Online Data Helping Campaigns Customize Ads." That was a headline in today's New York Times. Here's a bit of the story:

Political campaigns, which have borrowed tricks from Madison Avenue for decades, are now fully engaged on the latest technological frontier in advertising: aiming specific ads at potential supporters based on where they live, the Web sites they visit and their voting records. 

Read more.

Marketers Go from Tracking Consumers to Each Other

"Yesmail Interactive has launched a tool that lets marketers track their competitors and follow new campaigns in real time. The platform, called Yesmail Market Intelligence, allows marketers who join to follow the digital marketing activity of other brands, from the times they deploy email blasts to the number of views their YouTube channel received the previous week," eports Digital Marketing News. "Yesmail, an Infogroup company, draws the data from publicly available sources and offers them to Market Intelligence members in a centralized, more easily navigable format." Read more.

AmEx Users Get to Run Promotional Ads to 300 Mil Users

"Twitter will soon be offering ads to small- and medium-sized businesses, and American Express cardmembers will get early access to it, the companies said on Feb. 17. The new self-service ads, which are scheduled to launch in late March, will allow small businesses to run their own promotional campaigns and access Twitter's more than 300 million users," says Direct Marketing News. "Through a partnership with the social media company, American Express has arranged it so that its cardmembers and merchants will be the first to try the new platform. American Express will give $100 in free Twitter advertising to the first 10,000 enterprise customers that register at ads.twitter.com/amex." Read more.

Sunday's Grammy's Helps with Marketing--Sort Of!

"Sunday night's Grammy Awards crept into web conversation on Monday morning, dominating search and social trends just as the Super Bowl did one week ago," notes Brafton."Based on data from Google trends, "grammys 2012" was among the most frequently searched terms throughout Monday, with the awards show accounting for nine of the 10 most popular search terms overall. As is the case with most other major events, content marketing campaigns that leveraged this topic likely saw increased interest from their readers. Moreover, social media marketing likely benefited from the Grammys as well, with the event trending late Sunday and into Monday morning. Pop star Adele was one of the most frequently discussed topics." Read more.