Jan 20, 20124 min read

Marketing Day: January 20, 2012

Here’s our daily recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web.

From Marketing Land:

Google Gives Up On “Open Social” Idea, Closes API

Back in 2007, worried that too much of the web’s social information was being locked behind Facebook’s walls, Google launched Open Social. Now that Google has its own social network, Google+, the need for an “open” way of sharing social data is apparently no longer necessary. Google’s announced it is closing Open Social. Social Graph API Closes […]

Google Algorithm Tweak Targets Pages With Too Many Ads

If you publish web pages that might be considered too heavy with ads, especially ads “above the fold,” be warned: Google has announced an algorithm update that aims at ad-heavy content. Google calls it the “page layout algorithm,” and says the change is based on complaints from users that are unhappy with having to scroll […]

Google Acknowledges AdSense Is Down For Some, Says It’s Working On The Issue

Publishers this morning began reporting problems with Google’s AdSense — no ads were showing on their sites — and now Google acknowledges the problem. A Google spokesperson told Marketing Land: “There is currently an issue with AdSense for Content ads not showing on a small number of publishers’ sites. Our engineers are working to investigate […]

Infographic: How Facebook Grew Users & Pages In 2011

Lots of attention, and debate, on the growth of Google+ this week. It’s a good time to revisit the figures for that other social network you might have heard of, Facebook. It increased users by 37% to 800 million last year, and brands like Coca-Cola and Disney have millions of fans who follow them on […]

Stunned By SOPA Backlash, Senate Leader Cancels PIPA Vote

Congress and the Hollywood/media lobby was taken aback by this week’s massive anti-SOPA protest. In light of that, and reconsideration by several of the bill’s sponsors and high profile supporters in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has canceled a vote on SOPA-companion measure PROTECT I.P. Act or “PIPA.” Here’s the text of Reid’s statement, […]

Microsoft Posts $21B In Revenue, Xbox May Beat Windows Revenues Soon

Yesterday afternoon both Google and Microsoft released quarterly earnings. Google posted its highest gross revenues to date but missed analysts’ Q4 expectations. Microsoft posted $20.89 billion in fiscal Q2 revenue (calendar Q4) and came in above analyst expectations. Overall, Microsoft’s top-line was 5 percent above last year. All lines of business saw revenue growth vs. […]

Google Now Forcing All New Users To Create Google+ Enabled Accounts

Whether are looking to create a new account for YouTube, Gmail, or any other Google product, new Google users are facing a new requirement. The creation of a Google+ enabled profile with any account. The unofficial Google Operating System blog pointed out the new Google form that requires any new user to sign up for […]

Display’s The Thing

First things first. Let me start by confessing that I run a search-oriented digital ad business. Before you think that this is just another flogging of search retargeting, indulge me one sentence. I’m here to tell you that the hottest area of Internet advertising is display ads. Really. I know it from three very credible […]

Vevo In Talks To Move Away From YouTube & Head Over To Facebook

The music video website Vevo, the number one most visited music site in the U.S., has been in talks with Facebook about potentially moving their content over to the social network according to a CNET report. VEVO is the joint venture of Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media that offers content from […]

No, Google+ Doesn’t Have A 60 Percent Engagement Rate

Earlier today, Google CEO Larry Page told an audience on the company’s quarterly earnings call that Google+ is currently seeing 60 percent of its users “engage” on a daily basis, and 80 percent engage weekly. Or did he? That’s how I reported it here on Marketing Land, and also how countless others heard and reported […]