Hulu is trying to their hardest at successfully monetizing interruptions. So now, if you don’t like the ad you’re seeing while watching Hulu, you can use Hulu Ad Swap to switch the ad. You won’t see that digital ad again (it’s clearly irrelevant or intrusive to you), and the online advertiser won’t be charged for that impression.
Here’s the problem. What’s the end game? Actual enjoyment? How often are you going to enjoy an ad so much, you would prefer watching it to skipping that?
No, it’s not impossible. But it requires an incredibly different view of advertising than exists today.
Maybe Hulu’s Ad Swap is the predecessor to this evolution of branded entertainment, as opposed to branded interruptions.
The latest round of Google Panda updates - algorithm updates that affect the universal search engine rankings - have bitten again. This latest update, dubbed “2.5″, has resulted in a new tumultuous list of winners and losers.
The losers? Press release distribution sites, e.g. PRNewswire and BusinessWire. The winners? Google sites, including YouTube and Android.com.
Unfortunately, it’s a little hard to figure out the rhyme and reason to the winners and losers list, without understanding specific company practices. Industry thought leaders claim that authorship markup should be your next step if you are struggling to avoid Panda bites, as Google seems to be ever more concerned with original authorship of content. And dare I take a leap when looking at the winners list and say that Google is valuing video more and more?
First came the Apple retail stores. A technological Disneyland within your local mall.
Next, Microsoft followed suit. And now, Google is looking to create their own retail experiences with official Google Stores. The first Google Store has opened in London, called the Chromezone – which lets you experience Chromebooks and other Google accessories. No Android mobile devices. Not “all things Google”. Just Chromebooks. And apparently, it’s a short-term idea, meant to mainstream these Chrome notebooks.
Perhaps if successful enough, they’ll keep it around?
It’s hard to bet on retail right now though, isn’t it? Can’t Google just buy some AdWords or something?
Google Chrome is poised to become the second most popular browser in the world by the end of 2011. And they deserve it. Their speed, security and simplicity is what a great Web browser should be. And these features contain to grow Chrome’s popularity – with an anticipatory end-of-year due-date when it will pass Mozilla Firefox for the coveted #2 spot, probably for good.
Now, all that’s left is Internet Explorer – the browser people use who don’t think they have a choice or care. I say it again – a wonderful business lesson for how important a first-to-market strategy is for your product. You learned on Internet Explorer. You stay with Internet Explorer. Unless there’s an extremely compelling reason to switch.
For many of us, Google Chrome has given us that reason. I think Android tablets defaulting to the Chrome browser may be the real long-term answer for getting that #1 spot over time.
Now, I understand the desire for post-facto real-time analysis. For instance, it would be helpful to see what hours in the day most of my audience is watching the recorded video information sessions on my site. Because then I could make sure my live chat staffing was on call when they would be most wanted.
Perhaps I’m just unimaginative, but I can’t figure out what you would do with real-time analysis, except create yet another tab in your monthly Google analytics report that no one will read – because it’s relatively impossible to take action upon.
Last week, Facebook caught up with all of the innovations that were making Google Plus so interesting. In fact, one could argue they Facebook sped right past.
But, nearly simultaneously, Google Plus went public. (Did you even know it was still in an invite-only beta?) And in that first week Google+ went public, traffic to the network grew by 1269%, with 15 million total (non-mobile) U.S. visits.
Are these people just going to check out what all the no-longer fuss is about? Or more people looking to make an exodus? But from what – now that Facebook offers the features (social filtering and others) that made Google+ so tempting in the first place?
And just to compare, Google Plus’ traffic is not just far behind Facebook’s – it’s still behind MySpace’s.
People are already claiming the death of Google Plus. But, are these digital prophecies a bit premature?
Because Google Plus isn’t exactly a graveyard. It has more than 43 million users and counting. There was a desire for something different. Perhaps Google Plus’ Circles feature offered the wake-up call Facebook need to evolve. Now that they have, is Google Plus necessary any more?
Well, your mom’s not there. It’s a little better looking. It’s quieter. If Facebook evolves quick enough, perhaps they can quell the social exodus. And if they do, yeah, Google Plus might be in trouble.
Or it becomes something different. For instance, as both networks move to a profile-based experience – in the future, are you going to want future employers to see your Google Profile, or your Facebook profile?
But perhaps Snake would be a better name? Because it looks like a new iteration of Panda has struck again, and created side-wide ranking demotions across the Web. Individual reports have actually claimed a ranking decrease on sites with local relevance, and an increase on niche-info sites. This is interesting, because it seems like the exact opposite of what Panda was initially created to fight against?
Perhaps this isn’t a Panda bite, but a Panda revision of a previous overreach?
Google Wallet is officially live – for those of you who happen to have a Sprint Nexus S 4G phone and a Citi Mastercard at least.
But, the rest of us can be excited about the future. This Google Wallet app, accessible via PIN, making it safer than your physical wallet, uses near-field communication (like Speedpass at the gas station) to pay using your credit card.
Load your coupons and loyalty cards in your Google Wallet, and single tap your discounted payment.
Google isn’t the only one coming out with this type of application. But, as you well know, first to market is nearly everything. The sooner Google can roll out partnerships with the rest of the phone and credit card companies, the sooner Google Wallet will own this industry.
We at Windy City Strategies called for this a while back. After all, it was Twitter’s single greatest advantage. The fact that you could track celebrities and other thought leaders without being “friends” with them. In fact, we suggested that Facebook offer a “follow” feature.
But, the fact that it took Facebook this long to launch their Facebook Subscribe Button is really telling. It tells a story of arrogance as well as defeat. Worst of all, if they had copied Twitter a bit faster, it might have prevented their massive and ever-popular growth.
Here’s the big problem. Celebrities aren’t using Facebook to share publicly. After all, “that’s what Twitter is for.” And while I can now filter my friends list, and keep my church friends from seeing my questionable humor, it would take me going back and defining my 600+ Facebook relationships.
So, yes, you can follow celebrities and your industry thought leaders on Facebook now. The problem is, they’re not here.
