Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

Google Loses Out on Facebook and Goes Maka-Maka

TechCrunch is reporting today that although Google may have lost its bid on Facebook, all is not lost to them in Social Media.

Maka-Maka is Goog's answer to going social:

Maka-Maka encompasses Google’s grand plan to build a social layer across all of its applications. Some details about Maka-Maka have already leaked out, particularly how Google plans to use the feed engine that powers Google Reader (known internally as Reactor) to create “activity streams” for other applications akin to Facebook’s news and mini feeds. But Maka-Maka goes well beyond that.

Maka-Maka will be unveiled in stages. The first peek will come in early November. As we reported previously, Google is planning to “out open” Facebook with a new set of APIs that developers can use to build apps for its social network Orkut, iGoogle, and eventually other applications as well.

Aw, Jeez. Another social network. That's all I need. As if I'm not burned out enough from Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pownce, and every other social site I've joined in the last few years...Will Google's offering out-do all the above, enticing me to abandon every other community?

Google Buys Feedburner

Rumors have circulated for weeks, and now the headlines: Google has acquired Feedburner, the quintessential RSS tool.

Ning: Started a Group on Web Marketing. Join!!

So I checked out Ning -- and started a group on Web marketing. You should join. It's called Marketing Super Geniuses. (I had to think of something quick, OK??)

Marketing View: Looking back at 006 and ahead to 007

2006 was a big year for the Web. The 10th anniversary of our industry saw the beginnings of Web 2.0 realization with the wildfire adoption of YouTube and the continued astronomical growth of MySpace, CraigsList and Wikipedia. We saw many more (TOO many) original podcasts, and a lot more people relying on their mobile devices. And we saw the introduction of the addictive SecondLife. And...

• We saw more Google domination, some - if not quite enough - forward-thinking (and a reorg) by Yahoo, and a new face for Microsoft's Web presence.
• We saw Microsoft lose to Apple in the public eye (Zune v. iPod) and Google lose control of the Web-at-large to MySpace, now the most-visited site online.
• We saw big agencies fail miserably in Web 2.0. (And we're watching one of them screw up again in 007... which, admittedly, I'm enjoying a little too much.) (...and let's not forget LonelyGirl15, while on the topic.)

So what else can we expect to see in 2007?

Well, for starters, eMarketer predicts (via MediaWeek) that the ad spend for us will exceed $20 Billion.  A nice (if not spectacular) leap. But with the changing face of Web marketing...where will all that money go? What changes will we see in the market?

• We'll see wider Web 2.0 adoption, to be sure. As big as MySpace has grown in the last year, the majority of the world (while they may finally know what a "blog" is) hasn't gotten on board with the user-generated content thing. There will be more MySpaces and FaceBooks and YouTubes popping up this year, and they'll gain and broader adoption across a user base who can both vote AND drink legally. (And maybe even a few AARP members!) ...a CraigsList for people who don't want to buy stuff, perhaps?

We'll also see more agencies attempting to leverage Web 2.0 -- and many of them failing spectacularly. (I'll be waiting with baited keyboard!) A few will get it right, and they'll probably be smaller shops.

...and for greater insight on this, see Randy Morin's excellent Web 2.0 predictions. We agree on some points, disagree on others...but he's a lot smarter than me, so listen to Randy.

• We'll see a lot more mobile, too. With Blackberry back and hotter than ever, the mobile Internet is gaining popularity. All it needs is a price drop in the service (how about INCLUDED with your mobile service, folks??), and I think mobile Web adoption will get the shot in the arm it needs.

And I know all you agencies have been getting ready to serve the growing demand for mobile sites and services, of course!

• And we'll see the Web get more vertical, and more local. This was something we saw beginning in 2006, but I think we'll get even more vertical this year. I predict that a lot of those 30-somethings who don't fit into MySpace of FaceBook (and who can't find enough stickiness to hang out on LinkedIn) will find some more specialized communities to get involved in and voice their opinions. And I have a feeling net-entrepreneurs will be scrambling to create communities to meet the demand.

• Look for more in the way of vertical search, too. Yahoo's jumped on this one, but I think you'll see more of it and richer versions of it this year.


• One final prediction: Pay-per-call will become a household name for marketers in 007. With a lot of silence around all those VoIP purchases made in '05, I suspect this will be the year we hear a lot more about that particular channel.

See also, John Battelle's predictions, which include the buyout of AOL...but surprisingly, nothing on local search or verticalization. And eMarketer's, which jibe with mine somewhat in their prediction of a $1billion ad spend on social networks - more than double the 2006 spend.

Finally, I have to point you all to David Berkowitz's touching (without a hint of irony, I swear!) look at 2006. Excellent article.

I guess I should add, as I close this, that these predictions are solely mine and if you disagree or find them offensive, yell at me, not DigitalGrit. And DigitalGritters, if you disagree, use comments to correct me or add predictions of your own. I'm sure I'll be adding (and revising) these predictions myself!

WOMMA Issues Guidelines for Business Bloggers and the Marketers Who Contact Them

In the aftermath of the Edelman/Wal-Mart fiasco, WOMMA has been scrambling to save face (Edelman is on their board, after all) and issue a new code of ethics (Edelman was instrumental in penning the existing code). Edelman's membership is currently in review, and WOMMA has taken quick action to put a new code of ethics -- now referred to as a "tool" -- in place.

They've actually created two sets of guidelines: One for business bloggers (including agencies in the blogging space) and one marketers attempting to "leverage" blogs and contact bloggers.

Both are up on the WOMMA site. The first, the WOMMA Ethics Assessment Tool, consists of the Ethics 20 Questions is up as a "Discussion Draft for Public Comment." If you work in this space, read it and comment. It's a pretty reasonable ethics code, but there's always room for improvement.

The second set, The Ethical Blogger Contact Guidelines is also in discussion draft mode. This tool is a little fresher, and basically seeks protect bloggers from spam and block paid blogging without disclosure.

This document is a public draft of guidelines for marketers to follow when doing outreach within the blogosphere. It is neither a "how to blog" nor a "what to blog" document. Rather, its intent is to give clarity and guidance to marketers who are working and corresponding with bloggers, and to ensure that their efforts adhere to the standards set by the WOMMA Ethics Code.

These guidelines are designed to help marketers embrace specific practices that are deemed ethical within the blogosphere. Adopting them will empower marketers to quickly identify issues within existing communications and will help ensure that future efforts at communicating with bloggers are ethically sound.

It's a lot to take in, but definitely read and comment. If you're doing any work with blogs for your own business or for clients these rules WILL AFFECT YOU. Take the time to provide feedback.

We need some best practices established out here in blog land.

$40 and a Dream -- Cocaine is a WOM Success Story

hI'm a little late with this one, but I just read this MediaPost story about Cocaine, the new energy drink that has 350x the caffeine of Red Bull. (Yum, liquid migraine.)

Regardless of how good or bad the stuff is, they've gained national recognition with a marketing budget of less than $40.

"Our entire marketing and promotional investment in the launch was $37.50," says Jamey Kirby, senior partner and founder of Redux Beverages, Las Vegas, which launched the controversial brand Sept. 9 during Fashion Week in New York "That's what we paid a courier to deliver a case to the New York Post."

Between a contraversial product name, a product that should sit on shelves somewhere between Stacker2 and "Jackass" DVDs, and a brilliant marketing team sporting a serious pair, Cocaine has become a true WOM marketing success.

While not all PR is good PR, Cocaine is basking in the glow of inevitable medical warnings, parental outrage and the prestige of government attention. When you're targeting the cool kids, the more ire you can raise, the better, it seems.

So, although this product is likely to be pulled from shelves (or at least black-boxed) in the very near future, it's going gangbusters during its bi-coastal rollout. Nevermind that it allegedly tastes like sick and is likely to cause a premature death via ventricular fibrilation. It's cool.

Good or bad, when you get mentions in the New York Times, the Daily Mail and pretty much every other major news outlet on $37.50 -- you're doing something right. Most products couldn't withstand the flames fueled by Cocaine, but this product is in a place where the more contraversy it stirs, the better it looks to its target audience.

Read the MediaPost article.