Even though we all make mistakes, when certain people or organizations mess up, it’s a bigger deal. Therefore, when a company like Google seemingly breaks its own policy, it gets a lot of attention.
Aaron Wall, the author of SEO Book, first broke the news after discovering it in one of his forums. In short, Google apparently violated its own Webmaster Guidelines for paid links as part of a marketing campaign for Google Chrome.
“It was obviously paid exposure,” said Wall.
Shortly after this interview was conducted, Google responded to the incident and devalued its Chrome landing page for “at least 60 days,” according to the company’s Webspam Head Matt Cutts.
In a statement to WebProNews, a Google spokesperson said:
“Google never agreed to anything more than online ads. We have consistently avoided paid sponsorships, including paying bloggers to promote our products, because these kind of promotions are not transparent or in the best interests of users. We’re now looking at what changes we need to make to ensure that this never happens again.”
Wall did tell us that he hoped that, going forward, Google would be more “lenient” when dealing with others since mistakes can happen to anyone, even search giants.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Jan 5th, 2012. 
The fast-moving world of social media means that often we can barely keep up with the latest changes – let alone work out what rules we should apply to them. Every retailer knows that a social commerce branch on their business tree is essential in the 21st century, but many shy away from getting stuck in and reaping the benefits because they’re unsure about the rules of engagement, including how to safeguard their employees online, and protect their brand.
If that’s you, worry no more. All you need are clear guidelines for your business– read on to find out our top ten tips for creating your own:
- Start out by clearly defining who is covered under the guidelines. Hint: it should be everyone. Social media is becoming a ubiquitous part of life, and it’s likely that almost all employees will contribute to some form of social media content, whether professionally on behalf of the business, or personally through their online profiles and networks.
- If they want to talk about the brand online, make sure they know who the right person to contact for permission is, and that they know they have to speak to them before any activity goes ahead. Don’t be in a position where you’re shutting the stable door as the horse disappears over the hill!
- Be clear about what topics the business will never comment on, and ask employees to bear these in mind even during personal, private interactions.
- Maybe you want the employee to talk on your behalf – this can be a great opportunity if handled correctly. Make sure they are transparent about the company they’re speaking for, that their profile is professional and represents the brand accordingly, and that they use their real name…
- …but whilst it’s great to be transparent, be careful confidential data doesn’t slip out! It’s okay to say if something is private or classified. This particularly applies if the company is under litigation or other legal matters.
- Employees might be tempted to speculate, or answer a question with an answer that they’re not 100% sure of, or perhaps post a badly-worded or offensive response, intentionally or otherwise. Once it’s out there, it’s out there! Make it crystal clear what the consequences are and always advise them to seek expert advice if they’re not sure about anything.
- Be diplomatic, both when talking about the competition and when encountering opposite opinions. Employees should be polite, stick to the facts, have the appropriate permissions, and above all, avoid getting defensive!
- Pull the plug in a crisis situation – employees should not be discussing the situation online and should flag any activity to the person in charge. Even anonymous comments can be traced; make sure they know this.
- Credit where credit is due – links, credits and trackbacks should be provided for external sources (unless of course they want to be anonymous).
- Of course, your employees will have their own rich social media life, and whilst this is perfectly fine, make sure that any that could be seen as being related to your company have a ‘views are my own’ disclaimer.
Tweak as appropriate for your own internal documentation, structure and strategy. We recommend holding an introduction seminar or meeting to outline the guidelines and give people the opportunity to ask any questions. Social media isn’t something to be afraid of; with the right guidelines you’ll have nothing to worry about, so get stuck in. Good luck!
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Dec 7th, 2011.
Last week I had the privilege of speaking at the Mashable Social Good Summit. I wanted to share the video with you as many people had requested the slides and hearing the dialogue may help you use them most effectively. My topic was ‘Building a Private Sector Pillar of Social Change,’ and if you don’t have the slides but would like to download them, click here. Each case study is hyperlinked so you can explore them further.
I also wanted to share two more presentations that were very inspiring. One is by Scott Harrison, the founder of charity: water (@scottharrison) who gave a dramatic example of how social media can be used to generate community fundraising and support for a non-profit. The third video features by Alec Ross, senior Advisor for Innovation at the State Department (@alecjross), who explained how emerging technologies are being used to address global crises and international diplomacy. Seen together, the three videos give some idea of how for profit, non-profit and government agencies are using social media to build a better world.
Finally, thanks to Mashable for creating an inspiring day and generating amazing online buzz around critical social change.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 29th, 2011.
With all the hype around the perks that Google employees get, it’s natural that a lot of people want to work there. In order to stand out among all the other applicants, Matthew Epstein, a product marketer, created an entire online campaign to get his dream job.
To put it mildly, his campaign was interesting. However, he did get Google’s attention. Although the search giant did not hire him, he believes his campaign was a success. He was interviewed by Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce, and, in the end, was offered his dream job from an investment company called SigFig.
Epstein told us that we could expect “interesting things” from SigFig in terms of marketing campaigns going forward.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 28th, 2011.
As digital marketers, it’s easy to get caught up in doing something because it’s the next big thing sweeping the industry. But because we’re digital marketers and everything we do is data-driven, it’s important to take a step back and re-examine our tactics from time to time. Every marketing effort must be tracked and analyzed, allowing us to use the data to pinpoint trends and improve upon effective tactics while doing away with those less successful.
Your social strategy is no different. For example, are you using hashtags within your tweets? If so, are you using them just because everyone else is using them or someone somewhere down the road told you that you should? Or are you actually using them because you carefully tracked your own Twitter messaging, analyzed your findings, and now have a full artillery of data to back up your methods? Didn’t think so.
Luckily, someone out there did. By tracking nearly 450 tweeted messages for three separate Twitter handles over the period of one month, Levelwing was able to compare the click-through rates of tweets with hashtags against those without. Hashtags used throughout the month varied, but always included trigger words the target audience would use to find the products offered by each company behind the accounts.
What they found was consistent across all three accounts – overall, it seemed that when compared to non-hashtagged messages, hashtags resulted in higher engagement and transfer rates:
Account #1: 5% higher click-through success rate using hashtags
Account #2: 11% higher click-through success rate using hashtags
Account #3: 11% higher click-through success rate using hashtags
Need help getting started? Here are a few basic tips on how to use hashtags as part of your social strategy:
1. Before including the hashtag, look it up to be sure it’s actually being used elsewhere on Twitter. If no one else is using it, it’s probably not a great term. One way to do this is through hashtags.org.
2. While researching the term, look at how it’s being used across Twitter, not just how often. What might sound like a great keyword to you may actually be used more frequently in a completely different context, sometimes a very negative context. Hardly something you want to place your brand next to.
3. Consumers want to categorize you. Make it easier for them to understand what you do by using hashtags that are relevant to your industry, company and product/service offering.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Aug 31st, 2011.
