Pronounced “social,” the project from Microsoft’s FUSE Labs is not designed to compete with Facebook though it is launching with a similar premise, allowing students to share and search content with their peers for research purposes.

“FUSE Labs’ So.cl project is now accepting all users interested in joining the site,” Microsoft said in a statement. “So.cl is an experimental research project focused on the future of social experiences and learning, especially among younger people. So.cl combines search and social networking for the purpose of learning and is the latest experiment from FUSE Labs.”

So.cl search is integrated with public Bing APIs to display web pages, images, or videos search results data.

To connect to the social site, you must enter your Facebook or Windows Live login information. So.cl lets you initially define your interests based on themes (like music, sports, travel, art, food etc.).  Once you set up your profile, you can start to monitor the activities of several people, follow and be followed by other users. You can also comment and publish text, photos and video. The central search engine is powered by none other than Bing, searching these themes with a live chat option.

“We expect students to continue using products such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other existing social networks, as well as Bing, Google and other search tools,” Microsoft said on the social site. “We hope to encourage students to reimagine how our everyday communication and learning tools can be improved, by researching, learning and sharing in their everyday lives.”

A Competitor to Google+

So.cl combines several functions of social media, search engines and an interface very similar to Google+ from which you can share content. Although the So.cl interface has a more than reasonable resemblance with Google+, you can also see the influence of other social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The site resembles Pinterest in that users can create boards. It’s similar to Facebook in that it provides the ability to follow other users, and like Twitter in a way to follow general interests such as film or design.  And just like the initial days of Facebook, the network is only meant for universities and students.

Despite the glaring similarities to today’s most popular social networks, Microsoft is really building off its existing services, and even leveraging one of its most popular social partnerships to date. So.cl uses Facebook login to create new user accounts, and as Microsoft has a sizeable investment in Facebook, they’re likely to continue teaming up around certain things like social search and Skype integration.

As a standout feature, Microsoft adds “video parties” in So.cl that distinguish the site from other social networks as it allows users to search for videos, which then can be edited and shared with other users, though Google+ aims to do something similar with Hangout.

Microsoft’s Social Networking History

This isn’t the first time Microsoft’s gotten involved in social, having injected user-generated content to enhance search recommendations on Bing.  Bing’s social approach has largely been sidelined by Google’s massive reach, and has yet to prove the real potential and Bing.

Microsoft’s research team also developed location-based social networking that brings together the physical and online world for social networking services.

Future So.cl Goals

What priorities we will see in the furthered development of the Microsoft’s social network in the coming months?

On paper, so.cl is still an experimental project, but in fact it leaves little confidence that Microsoft intends to use so.cl as a research tool just for students. Rather, Microsoft likely plans to explore the social media space on a broader spectrum, targeting a niche audience in hopes of gaining early adoption through its research-enabled value proposition.

At first glance it appears that Microsoft is planning to use the experience of real search users to boost its own search engine, Bing.  Your search results are shared with others, and the results can also be access by third parties.  This means that the social interactions can also benefit other companies and partners, building a business model and potential advertising platform relatively early.

Microsoft is yet to integrate Bing search engine with So.cl, but looking at the long term, this may help revive Bing and enable Microsoft to take advantage of growing trends around social search and recommendations.

Window 8 operating system and the next version of Windows Mobile OS will also likely offer a number of ways to post on its social network, completing the circle and competing at a wider range with Google’s encompassing approach to social search and Apps.

Can Microsoft’s New So.cl Network Revive Bing Search? is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• The Little Bird that Could: 100M Twitter Users Ripe for Ad Revenue
• Pinterest Joins the List of $1 Billion Dollar Enterprises
• The $550M Patent Trade Off: From AOL to Microsoft to Facebook
• Pinterest Goes to Amazon, BBM Friends Facebook and Twitter
• Survey Scammers Hit Pinterest Grounds, How To Avoid Phishing According to Symantec
• Yahoo Pokes Facebook With Awkwardly-Timed Infringement Suit

And the strategy paid off well.  Fab reports 15% of all visits to the Live Feed result in a purchase, and that’s an amazing conversion rate for any online retailer.  It’s no surprise Fab’s upping the ante on their social features.  There’s four important new updates to the Live Feed: you can now purchase directly from the feed, post to Pinterest straight from the feed, view your Facebook friends’ likes and purchases in real time, and see what’s trending overall in real time.

The most notable of the new features are the first two–direct purchases and Pinning.  Similar to Amazon’s one-click button, direct-from-feed purchases on Fab are sure to increase their sales.  One thing Fab wants to ensure on the site is the excitement of discovery is maintained without overwhelming the user.  That’s a tough balance for any flash sale site, and many have lost my attention by trying to incorporate new features that don’t add value or interest, or by merely adding more categories to an already saturated site.

The interesting thing about the new Pin It button is that it’s essentially replaced the Google+ button that was once present on every product page.  Fab reports 2% of referred traffic from Pinterest, even before they added the Pin It button.  If Fab wants to stay serious about their social network integration, they’ll continue to follow the users.

“What’s great about Pinterest is it’s similar to Fab in that it’s an individual’s own curation of images,” says Melissa Klein, VP of Communications at Fab.  “We have to follow the member.  They indicate on which platforms they want to share.”

In many ways, Fab is looking to become a platform for retail, layering social, search and commerce for an inclusive experience that thrives on its built-in broadcasting tools.  This is what’s helped Fab really stand out, especially in an emerging culture of curation.  We see this trend developing on Pinterest, of course, but also newbie sites like Threadflip.  Fab’s finding ways to expand the user experience beyond just purchases, building loyalty around brands and designers as well.

Another notable update to Fab is the new Smile pages, which highlight the stories behind the designers featured on the site.  “Every designer has a story, and we really wanted to shine a spotlight on that,” Klein continues.  “We’re looking at ways we can help our designers…we’re more than just a place for business, and the designers are part of our family.”

Fab.com Social Upgrade Swaps Google+ for Pinterest is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• Intel Funds Universities to Spawn Open Source Patents
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Clearspring acquired AddThis back in September 2008, and since AddThis’ technology is their core business now, it only makes sense to rebrand accordingly.

As an industry leader on the social open web, AddThis is now used by 14 million domains according to the company, reaching over 1.3 billion users monthly, and tracks more than 25 billion events.  The platform is loaded 3 billion times daily and processes 70 terabytes of real-time social data from across the web weekly, powering an end-to-end, data-driven product suite.

“The flow of big data for advertisers and publishers is only as valuable as the data becomes actionable,” says AddThis CEO Ramsey McGrory.  “AddThis powers the social web and social advertising through powerful data-driven products that make site owners and brands smarter and more effective.”

Site owners can now go beyond sharing with the addition of a full suite of social plugins from AddThis, all of which “actionize” your data.  The new social plugins are:

• Follow Tool – Follow buttons can be placed with content on site to allow users to become fans, followers or subscribers in one click.
• Trending Content Tool – The Trending Content tool uses a content feed API to continuously promote a brand’s top content in real time on their site, in newsletters or on social channels.
• Welcome Tool – The Welcome tool allows publishers to optimize an incoming user’s experience by welcoming them with a personalized greeting and call-to-action.
• Additions to Analytics platform – The Analytics product is expanding to provide insights on content generating fans and followers and the most popular sharing format – copying/pasting a URL.

AddThis is also expanding their social tool set to activate data for paid-owned-earned strategies used by brands.  The primary social data solution for advertisers is the AddThis’ Social+ audience product set, which serves over 500 brands.  Where these new tools make the biggest impact is in real-time data across the web, says Clearspring founder Hooman Radfar.  ”We can map how those 1.3 billion users are connected, even by search patterns,” he says.

“The key for us is taking that data and giving it back.  The tools are data collection mechanisms but should also offer something to the publisher.  We can make tools that recommend other content, and there’s even more sophisticated ways to benefit,” Radfar explains.

“For brands, there’s audience engagement.  The idea of social targeting is becoming so important on the web.  How do you reach users based on their connections across the entire internet?  We layer in all the other ways people are connected.  That to me is powerful.”

The actionizing of their real-time data is a critical step in AddThis’ ongoing evolution, as it looks for more ways to leverage social data for web publishers and brands.  The new widgets extend the ways in which an audience can be engaged, which is increasingly important as more niche outlets pop up around social curation trends.

Starting today, AddThis, Clearspring Technologies, and XGraph will consolidate and move forward under the single brand AddThis.  XGraph will remain a standalone brand for the data technology and processing platform of AddThis.

“The AddThis social product suite stands for powerful, easy-to-use tools, intelligence and data, making it the ideal corporate brand platform as we continue on our path to bring a complete social data offering for advertisers, publishers, and users,” said CEO Ramsey McGrory.

Clearspring Rebrands As AddThis, Reaches 1.3B Users is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• How Social, Mobile was Super Bowl 2012? A Brand’s Dream Come True
• Clearspring Data Gets Smarter with XGraph Acquisition
• AddThis Unravels 5 Years of Sharing Behavior: Infographic
• Clearspring Taps Seasoned Yahoo Veteran as New CEO
• The App Store is Dead. Long Live the App Store!
• The Prize of Tracking Social Sharing: Better Ads, Bigger Data

Google slapped with another antitrust probe

The Competition Commission of India launched an antitrust probe against Google’s online advertising business, AdWords, but there’s a possibility that the probe could extend beyond AdWords if the commission sees fit.

The commission received numerous complaints against Google regarding their anticompetitive market behavior, but clarified that the probe isn’t based on one specific complaint.  The complaints alleged that Google abused their market power by allowing rivals of certain brands to bid for keywords that are closely related to their brands, which forced the complaining brands to pay steep prices to retain keywords closely associated with their services.

Google declined to comment on the issue, stating that they haven’t received any notice from the Competition Commission regarding the probe.

Aside from the AdWords probe, Google is also facing criminal charges in court for allegedly failing to remove Web content deemed objectionable by Indian authorities, which, if Google is convicted, company executives could face jail time.  India’s finance ministry is also conducting a probe to determine whether the Internet company violated local rules on foreign-exchange transactions.

Google negotiates fine for Safari breach

In February, Google was caught tracking and monitoring Apple’s Safari activities.  Allegedly, Google and other advertising companies used a code to bypass the privacy settings of Safari that block tracking.

The code was spotted by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer and independently confirmed by a technical adviser for the Wall Street Journal, Ashkan Soltani, who found that ads on 22 of the top 100 websites installed the Google tracking code on a test computer, and ads on 23 sites installed it on an iPhone browser.

When the expose was published, Google had already disabled the invasive code and stated that the WSJ misunderstood the advertising cookies and that those cookies did not gather personal information.

The incident led to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, and Google cooperated with the probe.  If found guilty, Google will be fined $16,000 per violation, per day, totaling to about $10 million.  Now, Google is negotiating with the FTC for the possibility of lowering the fine.

Google invests in Machinima

It’s not all about legal woes for Google as the search giant invests in one of the most popular networks on YouTube – Machinima – which focuses on creating videos for and about video game players.

Sources told AllThingsD that the round of funding could accumulate to $30 million, which would bring Machinima’s valuation up to $190 million.

It’s no secret that Google pays content makers to create videos for YouTube, which the search giant makes up for in ad sales.  But this is the first time Google openly backed a content company by taking an equity stake.  This move may not go well with other video makers, as many already expressed discontent over the search giant’s apparent favoritism towards Machinima and other prominent content partners.

Google opens Hangouts On Air to everyone

Google+’s Hangouts may be the most popular feature of the latest Facebook competitor.  So to keep things interesting and fun for all, Hangouts On Air is now available for everyone to use.  Google+ users can now broadcast their Hangouts for everyone to see by just clicking the “Enable Hangouts On Air” button.

Hangouts On Air was previously available for some performers, celebrities or influencers like the Dalai Lama, which live streamed his video chat with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  This is yet another way Google+ is updating its core feature set to appeal to brands looking to use the social network as a broadcasting platform, which Google really needs in order to reel in the end users and make Google+ a true success.

Google Faces Antitrust Probe in India, Invests Heavily in Online Content and Broadcasts is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Google Deepens India Reach, Teams with Tata Communications
• Android’s Google Play Faces Rising Competition from Amazon, Facebook and China
• 5 Standout Features We Want for Android 5.0 Jelly Bean
• Google Knowledge Graph Means Smarter, Data-Driven Searches
• “Unethical and Greedy”: Free Software Foundation on Oracle vs. Google
• AI On the Rise: Driverless Car, Gogobot Apps, and Advertising

The Internet giant also said that their division Amazon Studios now aims to develop comedies and children’s series. Amazon has started to create television programs for their own online distribution system, but its latest announcement realizes its plans to include sitcoms comedies and children’s programs.

“Amazon Studios wants to discover great talent and produce programming that audiences will love,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. “In the course of developing movies, we’ve heard a lot of interest from content creators who want to develop original series in the comedy and children’s genres. We are excited to bring writers, animators and directors this new opportunity to develop original series.”

Due to increasing competition from Netflix in the U.S., Amazon is forced to expand its library of multimedia materials. Amazon Studios was launched less than two years ago and has already received more than 700 movies from various film distributors, 7,000 pilot scripts, and currently 15 ongoing film projects.

The series will be distributed through Amazon Instant Video, the digital video streaming service from Amazon. Amazon Studios is asking content developers and writers to submit a five page details of the show along with 11-minute pilot scripts for a children’s show or 22-minute script for a comedy show.

“We’re now developing original programming for Amazon Instant Video. Submit your children’s series or comedy series idea — it could be the next hit show,” says a message on the company’s Web site. “Within 45 days of submission, Amazon Studios will either extend an option on the project for $10,000 or invite the creator to add the project to the Amazon Studios site. If a project is not optioned, creators may remove their idea from the Amazon Studios site or leave it to get community feedback.”

Each new project will be tested for a month and if the idea is selected for production, the creator will receive a payment of $55,000, and up to 5 percent of Amazon’s net income by licensing toys and t-shirts, and other royalties and bonuses.

The accessibility of streaming devices like smartphones, tablets and game consoles and the rise of cable and satellite have pushed streaming demands to the hilt. Amazon competitor, Hulu, the free-for-all model Internet TV provider, is moving towards a new model where paid TV customers can only watch their favorite shows. Viewers would have to log in with their satellite TV account number or cable to stream shows and other content. The move is aimed at keeping cable companies and networks to profit and protect their contents and creating a revenue sharing model among cable and free TV providers.

The sudden entry into the world of sitcoms can open new possibilities in this market, suggesting to a rivalry with the major studios. Amazon does have a distribution network and already a publisher of media and all the capabilities to make Amazon Studios a big success.

Amazon’s rivals Netflix announced plans to launch its first original episodic show, Lilyhammer, earlier this year. Last month, Hulu presented four original shows, including The Awesomes, an animated series from Saturday Night Live; Endgame or The Booth at the End. YouTube is investing in original content providers to create a digital content ecosystem.

Amazon Seeks Their Own Sitcom Television Programs is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Online Video Streaming To Victory: Youtube at the Olympics, Nextflix Battles HBO
• Amazon Elite Get Instant Movie Streaming, Jabs at Netflix
• Hulu to Adopt Authentication Model: No More Free Content?
• Video Vogue: Vimeo Reinvents Itself, Boxee Goes Live TV
• ComScore: YouTube Losing Out to Hulu on Video Ads
• More Programs for Internet TV as Cable Goes the Way of the Dinosaurs

Last night, well-known science fiction actor Wil Wheaton—who played Westly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation—posted with some fury on Tumblr that he’d been pricked by Google+ when he tried to upvote a video on YouTube.

Needless to say, he was somewhat heated over this usurpation of his social sovereignty,

Oh, go fuck yourself, Google. This is just as bad as companies forcing me to “like” something on Facebook before I can view whatever it is they want me to “like.”

Just let me thumbs up something, without forcing me to “upgrade” to G+, you dickheads.

Today, Wheaton has developed  a calmer and well spoken case against what Google might be doing with G+ on Gizmodo,

Yesterday, I tried to like a video on YouTube. I wasn’t signed in to my Google Plus account, and this is what I saw:

Where the thumbs up and thumbs down used to be, there is now a big G+ Like button. When you go anywhere near it, you get a little popup that tells you to “upgrade to Google plus” for some reason that I don’t remember, because the instant I saw it, I made a rageface.

I haven’t seen this happen myself (and it hasn’t happened to me personally) but more anecdotes about this are beginning to crop up that I’m not about to dismiss its appearance. Someone at Google or YouTube is letting a stampede of bugs into the general population and the result isn’t pretty.

Since the advent of Google+ we’ve been seeing Google try to tie together as many of their holdings as possible. They’ve been doing spring cleaning, killing old labs, merging others, they swept away Google Wave, and dropped many of the social features within Google Reader. As Google has acquired YouTube some time ago, it isn’t entirely unexpected that they might try to hook it into G+ in some fashion.

This is not how to do it.

Certainly there are huge benefits to integrating Google+ and YouTube, such as being able to easily share YouTube videos via the social platform and allow comments to intermingle. The more places that I can get my videos viewed and allow discussion, the better. However, YouTube itself is also its own social microcosm, the website runs a great deal of promotions, features, and acts as a testbed for indie producers, and citizen journalism.

Google would be better off keeping the upvote-downvote system of YouTube and adding a “Share on G+” toggle the way that they integrate Facebook and Twitter already.

As Wheaton goes on, it’s that microcosm community that YouTube has built up that a produces the landscape for developers, producers, video makers, and others to get known and become part of promotions and networks. Stripping that out and inputting the G+ social networking instead will rip out the innards of the civilized petri-dish that YouTube has been for quite some time. It will not just upset the natural order; but it will dissolve and neutralize all the hard work done by celebrities and hard working indie developers on the video site.

I fall in behind John Green, who reblogged Wheaton’s message last night,

I strongly agree with this. Making it so that only google plus users can decide whether a YouTube video is worth watching benefits no one except for Google Plus: It is bad for viewers, bad for video creators, and bad for YouTube’s ability to curate and tailor videos to potential viewers.

We’re better off having Google+ benefit YouTube, the video makers and viewers, rather than bolstering the social media at their expense.

Google: Don’t Force a Merge Between G+ and YouTube for Upvotes is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Online Video Gets Richer With YouTube-Paramount Deal and More
• What’s In Store for Google TV? YouTube Update for Starters
• Google+ Surpasses 62 Million Users as Growth Continues to Accelerate
• Disney Teams with YouTube Because They’re So Cool
• Google+ Package Arrives on the Doorstep of YouTube and Chrome
• More Programs for Internet TV as Cable Goes the Way of the Dinosaurs

These stunning figures are quite attractive to publishers, marketers and software developers seeking new ways to engage with end users.  Tapping this increasingly mobile audience is a critical component for businesses and multichannel merchants in the coming years. But mobilizing your website is not the end of the story, rather this is just the beginning, and there are a few things to consider when planning your mobile strategy. We have assembled a pack of pundits’ tips and tools to address the unique needs driving mobile trends, helping you stand out during one of the largest technological shifts the world has seen.

From the Experts

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Traffic

Focused on building an open mobile platform, Mobify shares a few ways to capitalize on mobility and social media marketing. Their eBook, titled 14 Essential Mobile Marketing Tactics, is authored by Igor Faletski and James Sherrett of Mobify Research and Development, and emphasizes the need for smart strategies to drive mobile traffic:

“A good experience will accelerate the virtuous circle of discovery, sharing, traffic and additional sharing. A poor mobile experience will result in a lost opportunity for revenue, brand engagement and customer loyalty,” reads an excerpt from Mobify’s e-book. “With mobile traffic playing such a prominent role in social media, creating a long-term strategy to engage in this field is critical building a successful business.”

Content and Navigation

I don’t care about org charts and links within links that will take me to the moon, nobody does.  So maximize the mobile screen size to feature actual content.  If I have a tablet with a bigger display, I expect content-rich graphics to take advantage of the larger size. The best way to put this is to use the “outside in approach.”  Keep in mind what the customers want and need first, and not with what you have.  Moreover, insert navigational options behind visibly labeled buttons or images that will allow users to explore content in other pages to dive deeper. It is also critical to consider that most users prefer vertical navigation versus horizontal scrolling.

You may also want to incorporate mobile alerts to swiftly direct users to content faster. On a more technical note, limit the use of Flash.  iOS devices don’t support Flash, and Adobe is already transitioning away from it as well.  Use HTML5 or JavaScript to achieve the same effect. It is also safe to use HTML for contact phone numbers instead of putting in the actual numbers. Simply tapping a number is more efficient for users.

Communication

Communication is also a vital tool to create a good mobile experience.  But most of the time, this is the element that mobile marketers tend to forget.  Don’t just scale down your website and squeeze in as much as possible into mobile devices’ little screens. Utilize mobile development systems to prune your offering to the most critical features only. In this Forbes article, Communications Coach for global brands and writer of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and The Power of Foursquare, Carmine Gallo points out the common gap from marketing to customer services for companies using Foursquare:

“If customer-facing employees do not know about your promotion (whether it be foursquare or any marketing initiative) then you risk upsetting your customers because they’ll ask about and get a blank stare in return. This happens more often than you think. I ask about promotions all the time and I rarely find employees who have been told anything about it. Here’s how it happens. A business owner will read this article and tell his marketing person, “We’ve got to get on that foursquare thing.” The marketing managers will do what they are told and that’s where it ends. Everyone covers their bases but they forget the most important step: communication.”

“Foursquare is a free and simple way for any brand—large or small—to participate in the mobile social media revolution,” he adds.  ”But if you fail to educate your staff and customers, you have no chance of launching a successful campaign.”

Usability and Feedback 

Usability is another huge factor that can either attract or deter users to or from mobile websites. The challenges you have to consider include slow page loads and interfering web and app pages (those links that will direct you to “download this app” before you can access the main site).  Getting user feedback on the performance of the site and how you can improve it will help you revisit features that need to be changed or updated. Don’t assume that everyone knows how to navigate the site.  It’s healthy to check in with end users regularly.  It will also send a message that you are serious about delivering an outstanding experience.

In a recent interview, Strangeloop President Joshua Bixby gave up the juicy details on how to spot areas of improvements for mobile websites.

“This really depends on the type of site. Obviously, for ecommerce sites, you’re always going to care about revenue and conversion, but these aren’t necessarily as important for mobile as for desktop traffic. For all you know, your mobile user is standing in your bricks-and-mortar store doing some price-checking or reading product reviews. They’re going to convert in your store. For these users, what you care about is engagement, not conversions, which is where KPIs like bounce rate and page views come in.”

Bixby gave a concrete illustration of the probable gap that businesses should examine.  “Site owners should look closely at bounce rate, page views, and time on page for their mobile traffic,” he explains.  ”These numbers should be commensurate with their desktop traffic. If they’re way off — say you’re averaging 2.3 page views per mobile visitor and 5.9 page views per desktop visitor — that could be an indicator that the mobile site is doing something to drive users away. In that case, you should analyze how fast your pages are loading or how usable they are.”

Market Integration

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Retail

The boom behind mobile websites is aggressively being supported by different markets. And what are billions of smartphone users around the world do aside from texting, making calls and sending emails? They navigate the mobile web and make purchases.

I am a self-proclaimed couch shopper who relies on buying things online. It was early last year when I started using my smartphone to shop online, and I loved how I was updated with bids, reviews, promos and discounts even when on the go. This year, I can hardly recall the last time I used my PC in purchasing something over the internet. According to a recent Nielsen report, retail mobile websites beat apps among US smartphone owners for for shopping needs, from researching products and reviews, to comparing prices, finding retail locations, and redeeming coupons.

Local search and advertising

John Burbank, Nielsen’s President of Strategic Initiatives, has some potent observations from the study saying, “the majority of smartphone owners used their devices for shopping this past holiday season.  Mobile shopping has reached scale and is only going to grow as smartphone penetration continues to rise.”

“Retailers need to think of their business as a multi-channel environment that can potentially include mobile, online, and bricks and mortar stores,” he adds. “Winning with shoppers requires a consistent experience across channels that reinforces the values you represent as a retail brand, whether it be price, service, reviews, selection, style, or other key attributes.”

Another thing is to optimize online information for local mobile search. Users within a few meters from your physical store could actually be tempted to drop by and buy goods.

Advertisers are reaping the revenue rewards of employing mobile marketing tactics. Traditional advertising will soon be a thing of the past. While some fear that moving to mobile is a big risk, penetrating this market means gaining more subscribers from a broader population that hardly use PCs for web access.  Mobile marketing was an early trend for this space, and it’s already spawned a plethora of third-party tools to get the job done.

Tools for mobilization

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Beefing up mobile websites is not an easy task to be completed overnight. It may require time, a string of trial and error and help from other products with tool sets designed to mobilize websites.

Mobile ads, payments and distribution

Stationed in major cities around the world (Bangalore, London, Tokyo, Nairobi and San Francisco) of the world, InMobi is a one-stop shop for mobile advertising that helps marketers target users on mobile websites and inside apps. They craft interactive ads via the recently acquired Sprout platform, and power mobile payments through SmartPay. Their clients include major global brands like Universal, Zoosk, Disney, Vivendi, Fox, eBay, GroupOn, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Marriott, Lufthansa, CitiBank, HSBC, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Unilever, P&G, Ford, Nissan, AT&T, Samsung, Dell, Google, Unicef and the long client list goes on.

The Indian-bred company has grown at a record pace and is now valued at over billion dollars, thanks to a Japanese funding round worth $200 million.  InMobi has significantly ushered organization to milestones. Google’s mobile ad revenues rose from $1 billion in 2010 to $2.5 billion the same period in 2011.

Testing and development

Also a single-stop destination for those who are looking to build mobile websites, Fiddle Fly, offering an array of services from SEO compatibility, performance optimization, Google Analytics, social media integration and the end-to-end mobile website engineering scheme of designing-developing and deploying.

One you have set everything in place, from content to navigation, it’s time to evaluate the readiness of your mobile website. A free testing tool is mobiReady. It assesses mobile readiness of a website (just provide the URL) with the aid of industries’ good practices and standards.

And as more mobile platforms shift away from Flash, here are some alternatives and tools that can be utilized, especially by small businesses.

HOW TO: Mobilize Your Website, from Design to Monetization is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Sprout Integrates with DoubleClick, Offering Full-Service Ads
• HTML5 Gains Investor Appeal, InMobi Takes in Sprout
• How To: Take Advantage of HTML5 Trends and Tools
• Mobile Browsing Trends: Opera Mini Reemerges as a Top Tool
• iPad Gives Apple a Leg Up in Mobile Market Share, Encroaching on Android OS Rein
• Location-Based Services Dictate Shopping Behavior

Spotify teamed with AT&T, McDonalds, Intel, and Reebok for the latest series of branded apps, and the global partnership with Coca-Cola was also announced.

“Our goal is to make Spotify ubiquitous,” SPotify CEO Daniel Ek stated.  “We want to be everywhere.”

Though apps on Spotify aren’t new, the branded apps bring something different to the table.  The AT&T app, “Surround Sounds,” lets users view maps and locations tagged for where popular songs were recorded.  Reebok’s app creates workout playlists, and Intel’s “Sifter” recommends songs, bands and artists based on what users’ Facebook friends are listening to.

Also, Facebook is said to be integrating a “Listen” button on artists’ pages, expected to make Spotify the preferred listening tool for the social network, though this particular feature is said to be available for other services as well.  The Listen button will also be seamlessly integrated into the Facebook Timeline.

“The new button will give music fans an easy way to listen to songs through their favorite services, such as Spotify and MOG, directly from Facebook Pages,” a Facebook spokesperson explained to VentureBeat.

MOG reaches the land down under

MOG, the on-demand subscription music service, and Telstra, an Australian telecommunications and information services company, announced an exclusive partnership that brings MOG’s music to Australian shores.  This is MOG’s first international deal.

“It’s thrilling to broaden MOG’s reach and bring Australian’s the best music listening experience available on multiple platforms,” said David Hyman, CEO and founder of MOG. “We’ve been working toward global expansion for some time and prioritizing markets based on opportunities. Australia is a key, major music market ripe for disruption and we’re pleased to be the sole provider of on-demand music for the leading telecommunications provider in Australia. We can’t wait for music lovers to experience MOG’s entire catalog of on-demand music from wherever they are and we’re making it easier than ever to do so.”

Pandora’s box reveals secret project

Pandora has been secretly working on a project that not only categorizes music but dissects songs to determine how they fall into specific genres.  With Intel’s sponsorship, Pandora was able to work on the Inside the Music project that tells listeners how songs are categorized in the Music Genome Project, Pandora’s proprietary taxonomy of music DNA.

“For more than a decade, we have been capturing in great detail every aspect that gives a song its unique character, whether it’s the melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, vocal performance or lyrics,” Pandora founder Tim Westergren said in a statement. “We’re pleased to partner with Intel to give people a unique opportunity to discover even more about the music and artists they love.”

Spotify Goes Great with Coke, Launches Branded Apps is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• US vs UK: Music Cloud Storms Brew Over Fees, Licensing for Spotify and Pandora
• Rhapsody Buys Napster Service, Enters European Market
• Music Reaches Cloud 9, SoundCloud Secures $50M
• Music Cloud Wars: Are The Best Things In Life Always Free?
• Facebook. Music. Spotify. Can It Really Be?
• Rdio Redesign Goes Social to Compete with Spotify

Klout

Klout is a tool that measures influence on social networks including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Foursquare, Google+ and others.  The most important aspect to consider is Klout Score, determined by the size of your social network, content and how users interact with your posted content.  Klout scores range from 0 to 100, 20 being the average score.

To help brands engage more with influencers, the company is launching a new feature called Brand Squads.  These are dedicated, centralized profile pages that allow companies to better engage with influencers.

“Brand Squads are Klout’s way of giving influencers a place to be recognized and have a direct impact on the brands they care about most,” said Klout’s David Temple.

Brand Squads pages can help users to monitor information about the recent development of a brand, watch the flow of information across social media, and earn access to special Perks.

Google Ripples

One of the least publicized features of Google+ is Ripples, a visual depiction of your content’s behavior once it’s been posted.  With Ripples you can see who’s shared your content, how large their networks are and how much impact you’re content’s had on the network overall.  It’s all graphed nicely with soft colors and circle representations, so you can immediately identify the influencers, learn more about them and add them to your network.

You’ll also find a set of analytics at the bottom of the page, displaying a series of useful stats pertaining to your reach, the number of shares a particular post received, and how far it’s traveled.  Known for its Google Analytics, the Ripples feature offers great insight to your Google+ account and is particularly useful for brands.

What’s more, you can search any Google+ URL on Ripples to see how it’s performed.  This feature has not yet rolled out to all Google+ users, but if you view this public Ripple, you can try a URL search on your own.

Google also updated its social analytics tool recently to help marketers capture the full impact of social media to their websites. The new tool can evaluate traffic coming from social networks, and understand the impact on direct and deferred conversions.  It also helps to understand various activities happening on and off of a site to improve user engagement and increase key performance indicators.

For example, if someone visits a website through a link on Twitter, then come back in a week to buy something, Google Analytics will be able to monitor this scenario for a broader understanding of whether a marketing campaign on Facebook or Twitter is paying off or not.

The tool also includes a tab activity called “Activity Stream” to monitor what people are saying publicly across social networks. The new social reports provide an opportunity to analyze the full range of social information, as well as provide a more complete picture of social influence.

Facebook Insights

Facebook Insights is a tool that can greatly help in measuring the performance of Facebook pages.  The tool helps in defining a strategy for relevant and targeted content.

With Facebook Insights you can measure post performance, determine how many people have created stories, shared, liked or commented on your content, including negative feedback.

HootSuite

HootSuite is probably known as tool of communication amongst social network marketers.  The tool offers a wide range of analytical applications that allow teams to efficiently track conversations and measure campaign results.

The social media dashboard tool is used to manage multiple social profiles, track brand mentions, schedule messages and tweets, and analyze social media traffic.

With HootSuite you can follow the indicators of your brand with social media traffic, you can analyze your pages and you can count the increasing number of fans. Google Analytics and Facebook Insights can also be integrated into your HootSuite account, making the tool even more valuable.

Social Bakers

Social Bakers offers a range of tools that not only help to measure and compare social marketing, but help you improve performance and maximize your ROI across all major networks, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+.

Their Engagement Analytics and Engagement Builder offer a monitoring service that has become a widely visited site for looking up Facebook statistics.

This week the company launched Analytics PRO technology to track Facebook and Twitter campaign performance. The technology helps enterprises, SMEs and small business identify, engage and track their most important social influencers.

The tool can be used to simplify social analytics, provide fan page scores, key performance indicators and competitive analysis.

Social Tools to Measure Your Real Influence and Success is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Klout Kicks in Google Plus
• Is Google Analytics Real-Time Update a Big Data Blunder?
• Data-as-a-Service: When Cloud and Big Data Converge (Trends 2012)
• Google Analytics Gets Social Integration
• How Salesforce.com Deals With Big Data
• Yammer Adds Big Data Social Analytics – Or Does It?

Also, to mark the third 4sqDay (April = 4, 4 squared is 16),  anyone who checks in today will receive the 2012 4sqDay badge as well as the following message:

“In 2010, foursquare fans declared April 16 4sqDay (4/4^2 – nerds after our own heart!). Two years and two billion check-ins later, you’re still why we get out of bed each day. Thanks to all 20 million of you for making us part of your lives. Happy 4sqDay!”

Foursquare has come a long way since its birth in 2009.  Facebook tried to buy them but failed, so they opted for the next best thing: they acquired Gowalla to make Facebook Places better than Foursquare.

Foursquare Top 10s

People use Foursquare to tell everyone what places they’ve been to, which pizza place serve the best pizza, or which hotel has the best service.  But the most interesting bit with regards to using Foursquare is that you have to chance to become Mayor of your favorite place on earth if you visit and check-in to that place enough times in a span of two months.  And you’ll stay Foursquare’s Mayor of that place until someone dethrones you.

So here’s the Top 10 best places with reigning Foursquare Mayors:

• The Great Sphinx of Giza – Egypt
• The Guinness Storehouse – Ireland
• The World of Coca-Cola – Atlanta, Georgia
• The Eiffel Tower – France
• Disneyland – Anaheim, California
• Facebook Headquarters – Palo Alto, California
• Brooklyn Bridge, New York, New York
• Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum – Seattle, Washington
• Stonehenge – England
• The Whitehouse – Washington D.C.

Most Foursquare users literally check-in wherever they go.  But there’s sharing, and then there’s TMI.  So here’s a list of places you probably should avoid checking into:

• Your house – alone or not, it’s not wise to share this info
• The bathroom – I know you’re thinking who would share that, but believe me, there are people who just love sharing every place they go to.
• Planned Parenthood – especially if you’re a teenager living with your parents, I don’t think a Foursquare check-in is the best way to tell your parents that you’re preggers.
• Strip club – Do I have to explain this one?
• Engagement ring store – If you’re planning to propose to your girlfriend, checking in would ruin the surprise. If you’re not proposing, this would probably result in a fight.
• Bridal store – unless you are getting married, checking in bridal stores isn’t a big deal.  But if you’re single and your friends see you check in, be prepared for hundreds of “Are you getting married?” questions.
• Jail
• Rehab
• Companies – when looking for a job, best not announce that you’re interviewing for different companies or if you plan on leaving your current company for a rival company.  It would be great if you don’t announce that.
• Anywhere but your house when you called in sick from work.

And if you’re looking to spend a romantic weekend with your special someone, here’s the Top 10 most romantic cities on Foursquare:

1. Lake Buena Vista, FL.
2. Napa, CA.
3. Venice, CA.
4. Saint Louis, MO.
5. New York, NY.
6. San Francisco, CA.
7. Reston, VA.
8. Beverly Hills, CA.
9. Myrtle Beach, SC.
10. Key West, FL.

And if there’s romantic cities, you can bet that there’s a list for the least romantic cities which are:

1. Beaverton, OR.
2. Bethlehem, PA.
3. Lawrenceville, GA.
4. Sterling Heights, MI.
5. West Chester, PA.
6. Normal, IL.
7. Norwalk, CT.
8. Tustin, CA.
9. Duluth, MN.
10. Waltham, MA.

There are a lot more places you can discover using Foursquare so go on and explore.  It might just surprise you.  Also, keep in mind that when using Foursquare and leaving a review, make sure you are telling the truth and not you’re not just having a bad day.  Your words could be the end of a business, worse, you could be sued for defamation.

Foursquare Celebrates 20M Users – Here’s 10 Best and Worst Check-Ins is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Where Location-Based Services are Taking Us: Brands & Beyond
• The Real Value of Facebook Geo-Location: Contextualizing Ads around Social, Mobile Gaming
• One Open Source Database of Geo-Located Places: Will Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook share info?
• Kownacki’s Question: Just How Big are the Location Based Social Networks? [SxSWi2010’s Twitter, Mini-Doc]
• 3D, Geospatial Tags are the Way of the Future: Where Conference 2012
• Waiting for Instagram for Android? Try These Apps First