04 Aug Week in Review: Twitter Cards, Facebook Targeting, Google buys Wildfire and more…
I try to keep this to 3 things each week, but there’s so much happening this week that I can’t. But I’ll keep it short and each “headline” is a link for more information.
(Don’t miss the SxSW warning at the end.)
Twitter May Introduce “Cards,” Making the System Much More Rich
Twitter shocked the third party developer community by saying they may limit some tools from getting the Twitter stream. But All Things Digital points out how that is not the point.
Twitter is thinking of adding “Cards” that would let people share photos, videos, article content in a consistent, visual way. Think multimedia tweets. Could be a big deal.
Facebook Post Targeting Now Goes Well Beyond Geotargets
Facebook geotargeting of posts is so 2010. The new deal? You can soon target posts to your fans now by Age, Gender, “Interested In,” Relationship Status, Language, Education level, Workplace and (yes) still by location. Pages with over 100,000 fans should get the feature in the next few weeks.
Google Swoops In to Buy Wildfire. Game Changer for FB Management?
Wildfire is a neat tool that we’ve used here at Ignite off and on for about 4 years. It’s the only app generator that got an investment from Facebook. In a surprise move, Google bought the firm for roughly $350 million. This is interesting for a few reasons. (1) Does it clear the way for Google+ to begin to allow promotions? and (2) If they make Wildfire free (as they did when they bought Urchin and made it Google Analytics), does it heavily damage Buddy Media, Vitrue, ThisMoment and Involver? Interesting.
Are 80% of Facebook Ad Clicks from Bots Instead of Humans?
A very small Facebook advertiser stirred up a hornet’s nest this week. They announced a study they’d done suggesting that 80% of their paid Facebook clicks were coming from “bots” (fake, non-human accounts). It said they were moving their ads to Twitter instead. That led Facebook to admit that over 83 million accounts on Facebook are fake (8.7% of 950 million). Wow. Drama.
Which Social Networks Are Hot in 2012, By Country
For the last 5 years, we’ve analyzed over 50 social networks worldwide, reporting on their demographics, geographic popularity and the level of interest in them (hot or not?). This year’s report is now out, covering 59 social networks. Our friends at Mashable were kind enough to share our infographic summarizing some key findings.
Sign Up for SxSW Now, Even Though it’s Not Until March
This week, South by Southwest Interactive (SxSWi) opened for business. Clients ask me all the time the best event to go to for keeping up with the industry. SxSW is that event. And you must, must, must register early or there will be no hotels left anywhere in Austin. (I’m not exaggerating.)
That’s it. Sorry so long, but it was a busy week!
