Previously, search engines could not read the programming of comments on most public websites because the spiders could not break down comment system codes. This meant that when a query was entered on a search engine, comments were never uploaded to search engine results because the index did not store any comment content.

On Wednesday, November 2, Google confirmed that Googlebot, which is the spider behind all of Google searches, can now read content that is loaded in AJAX and Javascript codes. So, any website that employs the comment services: Disquis, Livefyre, Intense Debate, and Facebook Connect add-in are now indexed by Google.

Yes, we said Facebook Connect add-in…but, before the ‘invasion of privacy’ debates start, let us clarify. Comments or postings on a third-party website are not subject to that users Facebook privacy settings. So, when a Facebook user signs onto a third party website their posted comments are accessible by Google. Please note we are describing what happens off of a third-party website or a public profile.

Comments are not lifted off of Facebook’s actual social media site as long as the user has privacy settings. If your profile is open, then consider your personal Facebook page a public website and, therefore, fair play to Google.

Now, considering the fact that there is an increased likelihood of showing up on a Google search, one might presume censorship of their comment content.

For those of us who enjoy venting – now it is even more important to remember that there can be serious consequences for what you post. Do you really want your complaint about a controversial topic, client, boss, manager, or job to end up on first page Google for all your friends, family and co-workers to see? Didn’t think so.

Casting a spotlight on comments may encourage us to filter our posts, which, for the sake of everyone out there, could be a great thing. Imagine a digital world where (more) comments were actually insightful, constructive, and relevant feedback or ideas.

Now, onto the business side of indexing:

Matt Cutts, Head of Google’s Webscam team, explains that the ability to index these comments makes their search engine results more dynamic.

These dynamic comments can help increase business and topic presence, which increases a company’s Google PageRank. Social media influence extends its relevance past the social media platforms to overall business presence on Google. Companies that interact more with customers will be indexed more frequently, which means better SEO, which means more presence, which means… awesome.

On the flip side, what if comment results overshadow more relevant data that are born from credible sources and businesses. Ideally, when a customer types your brand name into Google, you want actual information + your website to come up… will the abundance comments be more popular than your webpage?

If comments begin to interfere with what users are actually looking for in their search queries, perhaps Google can implement a new ‘social’ tab (next to Web, Images, Video,) dedicated to comments and microblogs, including Twitter.

One more thought; as users and businesses will start to adapt to this modification in search engine indexing – as we begin to censor ourselves – will we have to worry about comments we have previously posted?

Brad McCarty, editor for TNW, questions whether Google will search only new comments or whether Googlebot will spider it’s way back in time to comments posted months, even years ago. Should users worry about something they posted somewhere four years ago? We think that unless the content has anything to do with current trends or news, you have little to worry about. But, bear in mind, what happens on the web stays on the web, and there is always a chance of somebody else finding out!

How do you think users react to this news? How will it affect the way we use search engines?

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It’s happened to one Seattle man. Andre Vrignaud seems a bit of a “Data Hog,” going over a massive 250GB of data traffic in a month, but service provider Comcast won’t even consider upgrading him to a business account. He’s a gamer who shares video, pictures, data, and music. Sure, he seems like an inordinately heavy user, but is he just ahead of the curve? Will we all be sharing over 250GB a month soon?

Netflix is now 20% of Internet traffic. The streaming service is popular enough that they’re separating it from their DVD plan, leading some customers to a 60% price hike to still get both. They’re now weathering a storm of criticism. They claim the DVD shipping service has a lot of life in it yet, and perhaps the question isn’t if they’ll stop shipping actual DVDs, but when? Considering that 30 hours of Netflix currently consumes 9GB of data, is it any wonder your service provider wants to ratchet down your data?

As more of us adopt smart phones, we can do everything from uploading video to tethering our laptops to them for Internet access. Phone providers are shutting down unlimited data plans. Those lucky enough to be grandfathered in know it’s just a matter of time before their usage will be capped. I’ll be replacing my phone soon, which means a new contract with penalties for going over 2GB in a month in data. While I haven’t exceeded that yet, perhaps it’s only a matter of time until I do.

It’s getting easier and cheaper for service providers to move huge amounts of data. When a service like Netflix offers you unlimited streaming, should it be kicking back to your ISP when it complains about how much of the pipeline that uses? My own service provider throttles my upload and download speeds, but has yet to limit how much data I can use in a month. Are usage caps about insuring there’s access for all of us? Or are they just betting on a future where we all go over? Hit us back…

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American Express just made it work with Foursquare, and it might just illuminate the future of social media marketing. The deal is this: You go to a store, “check-in” on Foursquare, and get offered a surprise store special only redeemable by paying with AmEx and applied straight to your card. No fuss, no coupons, and a great incentive to “check-in” everywhere you go.

Amex and the vendors who sign on to the promotion gain measurable results in the dollar amounts spent by card users, who also tend to be a desirable demographic. Previous successful deals with large brands like Pepsi prove Foursquare may actually be worth their outsize $600 million valuation. If currently only 4% of adults are using location-based services, will such big name partnerships drive their adoption?

It can be hard to calculate the actual value of social media interactions, but people are trying. “Engagement” is a vague thing to define. If you can’t measure the results from profits, is the answer in the user demographics you can capture?

Companies are also signing up with Klout, a service that purports to measure a social media user’s influence. When you give perks to users who are ranked as being influential, you invest in their possibly going out to evangelize for you. This “social scoring” allows you to evaluate users as potential brand advocates. The ROI here comes from judging who and how far your campaign can reach through them. Users don’t have a choice in the matter, they’re being scored whether they like it or not.

Other companies are taking information existing on social media and monetizing it. Social Intelligence finds all your dirty social media secrets for clients like, say, your potential employers. They also keep these records for seven years. If they can capture your embarrassments, they can certainly capture demographic information as well.

Some predict a future of brands happily partnering with established and start-up social media platforms, hoping for the next slam-dunk, but others question if social media has any ROI at all. As we don’t yet know how to measure the brand equity gained by building a social media community, many go with what we do know how to measure. Cautious marketers are putting their money behind direct response campaigns and customer service opportunities to gauge social media’s worth. Some are settling on the idea that one Facebook page “Like” is worth 20 visits to your brand’s website (providing your content continues to capture their attention), but charting their conversion into your customer is still difficult to measure.

How do you start to measure your ROI?  Which tools give you the best feedback?

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But why isn’t the headline about EMI signing up with Apple?

EMI already tested the waters with an iPad app, so it’s clear they’re embracing the union. It’s a little startling to remember there still are music labels when you’ve gotten accustomed to buying individual tracks. Labels rank lower in public opinion than the guys who delivered the iPod.

File sharing and portability broke the old music models. More importantly, “sharing” was the point. Napster set expectations for free music ten years ago. When you can freely stream Pandora , YouTube, or less legal resources, on demand, few still leave their soundtrack to chance.

With these services, you upload files to the cloud, freeing you at access your music from just about anywhere. All the big boys want in on it. Google started a cloud, though it’s still in beta. Amazon launched a Cloud Player with access via web or Android device, offering 5GB of storage before charges kick in.

That’s worth noting. The cloud spreads around storage, but they house your files. Why volunteer to pay to access your own files from other parties?

Its expected Apple will look to see what files you own then use theirs for playback. This tech explains why they purchased, then shuttered, Lala, The details aren’t out but a safe guess is they’d fold it into the already-dominant iTunes, and you can bet they’ll charge for cloud access. A better question is how they’ll verify ownership. You could just rip whatever file they check from others or invent proof from whole cloth.

Labels still believe there’s a place for them, and their overhead, at the table. Blockbuster acts bankrolled artist development but now both can friend and tweet fans directly. Instead of buying whole albums for one song, all are served up as individual tracks and as albums online. That lowers the overhead of producing and shipping discs, but what’s the upside when CD sales underwrote everything?

Maybe bundling label content, via iTunes or another package, is the key. Buying the “Universal Package” could give me access to their music, video catalog, and other properties. Include theme park access and it gets more interesting.

What if it backfires? An objection to cable TV was paying for packages including lousy channels. Since you usually only hear about labels when they’re suing the artists I had to look up who was even signed to EMI. It’s a varied bunch. Maybe they’ll offer a family-plan buffet to satisfy our a la carte tastes?

What value adds are they going to have to offer to get your money? Should musicians just go directly to the companies giving access to the cloud? Hit us back…

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Intro

I recently attended the Engage Collaborate Commune seminar. In a breakout session, I got into a conversation about followers to following on Twitter. There is a large divide between those who believe in follow-backs, and the picky party. I fall into the latter category. For now, we will address them as Party A, and Party B respectively. Here is the reasoning behind each…

Party A

“My philosophy is to follow everyone who follows me. If someone takes the time to follow me, I’m going to honor that by following them and attempting a relationship and conversation,” argued Cindy Ratzlaff from the Engage Collaborate Commune breakout session.”

She continued, saying, “Those interested will eventually become very visible to me and me to them. The others fall away and don’t distract me. I use Twitter lists as my most important tool in that regard. They help me filter the stream. I’ve been contacted by media, booked for speaking engagements and gotten major new accounts all through Twitter and my feeling is that if I hadn’t followed folks back, I may have missed some of those opportunities.”

Party B

This is my own opinion… It’s all about the pre-screen. I personally believe you shouldn’t follow everyone that follows you. With such a broad audience, not aligned to a target demographic, it’s too easy to have nothing in common with the person/brand you are following. That’s the main reason I test the value before I even follow. I find this saves headache in the long run. It helps me figure out if your brand can offer value to me, and if I can offer value to your brand. Otherwise, we’re just two Twitter ships passing in the night.

Other than that though, Party A isn’t built to sustain conversation. So where’s the logic in that? Some might argue that the brand is the common tie, but if all you talk about on Twitter is your brand, you are missing the value of relationships.
In many ways, my pre-screening tells me if we’re compatible before we talk. If we are compatible, then I’ll approach Twitter like a themed party. I’ll go around, meet people, strike up conversations and see where the interests lie. Sometimes you talk about yourself (brand), other times you talk about nonsense (Charlie Sheen). Isn’t that what being social is all about? Party A seems more like this…

Everyone has something to say, it’s loud, and there is no pause to listen.

Conclusion

A year or so ago, I would have said Party A was the way to go because of it’s simple Twittequite (etiquette on Twitter built around the concept that following is a sign of respect.) But after a few months of 500 followers and following 500, it was impossible to cipher through the imposters and pick out the conversations worth pursuing. Here’s the bottom line. If you are using Twitter for awareness, then you have nothing to lose by going with Party A. If you are using Twitter to engage, incite trial, provide customer support, or create advocates for your brand, Party B should be your method of choice. Although I only follow 186 on Twitter currently, I would put the value of my conversations with them up against many of those who subscribe to Party A. If you’re ready to get serious about your brand, then forget this chivalrous notion of Twittequite. Like chivalry, Twittequite is dead.

So, which party do you follow?

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While I find online dating (especially the commercials) entertaining for all the wrong reasons, I suppose some believe their services offer value – the stats don’t lie, much like hips… But wait, the stats are about to get bigger, much bigger. Gotham Dating is set to grow their site from 6 million members to 340 million in the next year. Oh, I forgot to mention that they’re using public information to grow the site. Gotham Dating will access readily available information from your Facebook and LinkedIn to build their database.

The next generation of commercials for online dating will most likely feature someone who wasn’t looking for love, but their stalker counterpart who sought and stalked them into submission… or something like that. This is officially the time to check your privacy settings, unless of course you’re looking for a suitor.

Do you think this is an invasion of privacy, or just a better way to meet your match?

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Facebook

Here are the top 10 most popular brands on Facebook. While fans clearly aren’t everything in Facebook, the important thing to note is the shift in fan numbers this year as compared to last year. This shift is an opportunity to challenge the notion that a page with one million fans is better than one with 100,000 fans. This clearly isn’t the case. When it comes to social media, especially Facebook, engagement is everything. I would much rather have more close-knit, engaged page than one with high population.

YouTube

Measuring the success of a video on YouTube is pretty straightforward. Did you get a lot of views? If so, you have done well, my friend. An interesting side note is figuring out how those videos got so many views; in other words, how were the videos shared. YouTube shows the 10 most shared videos of the year on their blog… As for the 10 most viewed videos of the year, it was a close race for first between a Ke$ha carbon copy and the Bed Intruder guy… Click on the screen grabs and have a look around.

Twitter

Twitter continued to grow in popularity this year; there’s no big surprise in that. The most interesting facet of Twitter is that the corporate world still hasn’t figured out how to best use the tool. This is clear by looking at the top ten Twitter accounts of 2010. While many of the top ten represent more than just a famous face (celebrities are brands too), in reality, they are still much smaller than the big names on YouTube and Facebook. Is it possible that Twitter isn’t cut out to be a corporate tool? I think Old Spice proved this isn’t the case. Are companies just missing the point when it comes to Twitter? This seems to be the more likely situation. Here are the top ten for you to consider. Want to see what they are saying? Just click the images.

Best social media campaign of 2010

Again, numbers aren’t everything in social media, but there’s something to be said for those who reach this year’s top 10 in each category. Old Spice transformed social media this year, and integrated each tool to create an effective campaign. By letting users voice their questions for Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice guy) to answer, they showed that social media is best put to use as an interactive tool.. In fact, their questions via Twitter were responsible for Old Spice’s YouTube success. While the sheer number of Old Spice followers don’t compare to Gaga or the Biebs, they have created a successful path for what a social media campaign should look like in the corporate world. Old Spice has raised the bar…

Overall thoughts

It seems like companies have gotten a pretty good grasp of how to reach a mass audience with Facebook and YouTube. The jury is still out on Twitter, as showcased by classic brands not making the list. However, celebrities are brands, and Twitter may be the best social media tool for celebrities to reach their fans. Taking a cue from Old Spice, there is a lot of room for companies to engage the consumers in 2011.

Have any notable mentions for best social media companies of the year? Send it my way, and I’ll post an addendum. See you in 2011!

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http://www.weltbranding.com/brandling.html

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We leave you with the songbird of our generation…

Steve

Let the grand experiment begin

Here we go… After BP’s overall fail, I wondered how many other large corporations tout Twitter friendliness, but aren’t actually “Twitter friendly.” Lo and behold, I found a list on Mashable with the 40 Best Twitter Brands. The article seemed a bit like digital networking and corporate back rubbing, so I stopped at number 15. I took matters into my own hands from there. It was time to find out which of the 15 were worthy of being a “best” Twitter brand.

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Some ground rules

Of the selected 15 companies, I asked questions that could easily be answered with nil to minimal research on their end. Each question was geared to the party of interest. For instance, I asked Adam Denison from Chevrolet, “What’s your favorite year for Camaro?” and for Scott Monty of Ford, I similarly asked, “What’s your favorite year for Mustang?” To any car enthusiasts out there, you would agree that this is a simple question to answer. But the results might surprise. Of the 15 companies I posed questions to, only 5 responded. Of those that responded, here’s how it went…

Best in show

Honda had a strong showing. I asked about ASIMO and got a response from their account and ASIMO himself. Pretty cool. They answered my question in a reasonable timeframe, and gave me more information about ASIMO. Honda’s Twitter campaign gets an A.

Better than run of the mill

Carnival gets this category all to themselves. Their response didn’t seemed canned, and they got back to me within 30 minutes of the original question. Time is critical for Twitter to be effective. Carnival’s Twitter gets a B from me.

Run of the mill

This somewhat dubious honor falls on two of the respondents… Hertz and JetBlue.
Hertz sent a decent response, but that was only after I examined what they were actually saying. I realize 140 characters is a tough set of criteria, but if your message comes out confusing then you lose the value of Twitter in the long run.
JetBlue receives an average grade as well. They answered the question with no frills. Maybe I shouldn’t expect more, but I do. Nevertheless, I’m glad they responded.
Both Hertz and JetBlue receive Cs and extra medium shirts to boot.

Pick it up

Marriott, I realize Twitter might not be your thing, but it’s time to do something different. A can opener might as well have released their response. While I was glad to actually get some acknowledgment, a fake response doesn’t bode well for corporations. You have received a D, Marriott.

Get it together

What’s worse than a generic response? Not receiving a response at all. An F goes to all the companies who didn’t care about poor little me… They are the 10 companies below without a response date and time…

In conclusion

While I did this in the name of hack-science, weird fun, and bitter curiosity, I do not consider this scientific research. Think of these results as more of an indication of where the bar actually lies for large companies when it comes to Twitter. For those who fell short in the Grand Experiment, there is still time to change it around. That’s what’s so great about social media. You can turn it around with the right strategy in place. Whether you’re a big business or the corner store, always respond to customers. Need help getting started? Tweet me… I always get back.

If you feel liking trying this out on other companies, send me some screen-shots, a brief explanation, and what grade you think they deserve. I’ll post it for you. If you are one of the companies on the list that feel like you didn’t get a fair shake, let me know why, and I’ll see if I overlooked something.

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