Marketing Technology 5

Marketing Technology Stories you might have missed

MT5 Edition: #38

Stories This Week: Google+ still sux, future of Facebook, new SEO metrics, Google’s new mobile strategy, a business plan for Pinterest

1. New Google+ Study Reveals Minimal Social Activity, Weak User Engagement

[FastCompany] A report by RJ Metrics shows that Google+ is a “Ghost Town.” While Google complained that the report was flawed because it didn’t count private messages, it doesn’t look good for the social networking service.

My Take: Google+ has actually has a lot going for it. The ability to post publicly and privately, awesome video conferencing, photo editing, etc. What it lacks is an Application Programming Interface. Without an API, developers cannot share content to Google+. What does it mean to users? You can’t share from Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Buffer, Instagram, etc. When Google releases an API, Twitter will may have a real challenger on its hands.

2. Will Facebook be an Internet Behemoth in 10 Years?

[AdAge] Interesting take on previous internet “monsters.” Did you know in 2000 AOL was valued at $150 billion? Will Facebook be the next AOL or will it live up to it’s lofty market capitalization?

My Take: With global dominance and somewhat limited opportunities for new growth (is it going to charge users?) where will growth come from? Potentially it could compete with LinkedIn for professional networking but that doesn’t seem like an easy battle. I feel like the IPO was mostly a payoff for early investors. I struggle to see why Facebook is a good buy at a 100:1 P/E ratio. Then again, don’t take valuation advice from me. I thought Apple peaked in 2003 – then they released the iPhone.

3. Trust Flow & Citation Flow, New Link Metrics

[icrossing] Majestic SEO announced two new link metrics, Citation Flow and Trust Flow, for measuring the perceived quality of a domain, subdomain or page.

Citation Flow and Trust Flow

My Take: SEO measurement isn’t my speciality, but I like the idea of an easy to read and understand measurement.

4. Google Finally Gets Serious About Mobile Hardware

[WSJ] Google s shifting its strategy for its Android mobile operating system, in a bid to create a united front with smart phone and tablet makers to take on rivals like Apple and prevent wireless carriers from controlling the devices.

My Take: This had to happen for several reasons:

1. Google has lost control over the Android brand and some expect they will shift their mobile branding efforts away from Android and towards “Nexus”.
2. The marketing of Google phones is too fractured for a customer to figure out. What’s a high-end Android phone? What’s a value phone? Currently they make it too hard for customers to buy their product.
3. There is no caché to owning a Google phone; it’s still a good phone with excellent features (with a few issues like battery life and lag) but it’s the Rodney Dangerfield of mobile. You kids can go look up Rodney Dangerfield now.
4. The fractured hardware specs makes developers reticent to develop apps for Android, this shift only addresses this concern mildly.

5. Confirmed: Pinterest Taking $100m For E-commerce Play

[PaidContent] Here are the important points:

1. Rakuten invested $100m in Pinterest
2. At a reported $1.5b valuation
3. The goal is to connect curation with commerce