When Wikipedia, the fifth most-visited site on the web (source), went offline for 24 hours last week as part of the mass SOPA/PIPA legislation protests, millions of Wikipedia users were left in a state of virtual limbo. What to do? Where to go? Who ended up getting all the traffic while Wikipedia was down for a day? According to Experian Hitwise, Wikipedia's loss was a win for Facebook, Twitter and several answer/homework websites. This first chart shows the overall downstream traffic from Wikipedia on January 18th - the day of the protests. Facebook was the most visited site from Wiki [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Facebook | Social Media Marketing | Statistics: Online Behavior | Top News | Twitter | Wikipedia

Search Marketing Now will host two webcasts this week. On Wednesday, January 25, Jill Whalen of High Rankings and Horst Joepen of Searchmetrics present will present "Measuring Social Media Marketing Success Using Analytics Tools." They'll look at emerging social media analytics methods and some tools available to measure ROI and performance of social media activities. On Thursday, January 26, John Busby of Marchex and Kirby Winfield of comScore present "How to Successfully Generate Phone Calls through Mobile Advertising." The growth in smart phones has opened up huge opportunities f [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SMX & DMD Alerts

The exact numbers may differ, but both Experian Hitwise and comScore agree that Pinterest is one of the hottest websites around right now. Hitwise tweeted yesterday about the site's growth, saying that Pinterest was the 60th most-visited website in the US last week, with total visits growing from 10 million to 17 million since the start of the year. Hitwise shared this chart showing Pinterest's growth. ComScore agrees. I wrote yesterday about comScore's latest ranking of the top web properties in the U.S. Not included in that story was Pinterest's inclusion on comScore's chart showi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Pinterest | Pinterest: Statistics | Social Media Marketing | Statistics: Popularity & Usage

Consumers around the world are gaining trust in social media as a source of business information, but it still lags behind other sources such as corporate websites and traditional media. The findings come from the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer, a global survey that's now in its 12th year. The survey includes feedback from more than 30,000 people in 25 countries, with an emphasis on what's called "Informed Publics" -- these are college-educated people between 25-64 years old that are among the top earners in their countries and describe themselves as heavy consumers of media information. I [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Social Media Marketing | Statistics: General

US-based Consumer Watchdog is calling on the European Commission (EC) to block Google's $12.5 billion takeover of Motorola Mobility and wants Europe to pursue a formal antitrust complaint against Google. Citing marketshare data, the group's argument is that owning a handset maker would turn Google into an "unstoppable juggernaut" in mobile: Google’s Android smartphone operating system dominates the mobile market with a 38 percent share and is growing. Apple’s iPhone has 27 percent.  Google controls 95 percent of the mobile search market.  There is evidence it is pressuring handset manuf [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Legal | Legal: Antitrust | Mobile Marketing | Top News

The start of a new year is a popular time for resolutions. Many people resolve to eat better (read: ‘eat less’). Or exercise more. You know the drill. And right about now, three weeks into a new year, is when the vast majority of those resolutions start to break down. Of course, even among marketing cognoscenti new year’s resolutions rarely involve analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs) -- so I’d like to take this opportunity to outline a plan you can follow to slim down and shape up in 2012, metrics-wise. What Are Metrics For? Now, in many ways there’s a direct [...]

Related Topics: Analytics & Marketing Column | Channel: Analytics

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo sites continue to hold down the top three spots in comScore's monthly report on the most visited web properties in the U.S., but the gap between them and Facebook grew bigger in December. According to the latest comScore Media Metrix rankings, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft sites all saw an increase in unique visitors in December, while Facebook declined. That leaves Facebook about 14 million unique visitors behind Yahoo, compared to about eight million behind the prior month. Here's the full comScore top 50 chart for December 2011. The top ten sites liste [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Facebook | Google | Microsoft | Statistics: Popularity & Usage | Yahoo

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 Outspends Microsoft In DC Lobbying In 2011According to a report in CNET, based on public filings with the US Senate Office of Public Records, Google spending on federal lobbying exceeded that of rival Microsoft in 2011. Google reportedly spent $9.7 million to Microsoft’s $7.3 million in 2011. Some decry the increase in Google lobbying as hypocrisy because lobbying is inherently “evil” [...] Google Gives OK To Ps [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day

According to a report in CNET, based on public filings with the US Senate Office of Public Records, Google spending on federal lobbying exceeded that of rival Microsoft in 2011. Google reportedly spent $9.7 million to Microsoft's $7.3 million in 2011. Some decry the increase in Google lobbying as hypocrisy because lobbying is inherently "evil" and Google pledged to "do no evil." In the scheme of things Google's $9.7 is still relatively modest. The top lobbying spender in 2011 was the truly evil US Chamber of Commerce at $46 million. Google isn't in the top 20. Here's the top 20 lobbying [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Legal | Legal: Antitrust | Legal: Copyright & Trademark | Legal: Privacy

As promised last fall, Google says it will soon begin allowing pseudonyms and alternate names on Google+. Google+ VP Bradley Horowitz announced the changes this afternoon, explaining two primary changes to the company's name policy: Google will begin "updating its policies and procedures" related to established pseudonyms (like Madonna). Google may flag a profile with a pseudonym, but the user will have an opportunity to provide evidence confirming that it's an established pseudonym. This may include press/media mentions of the pseudonym, official documents or even "proof of an establi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Google: Accounts & Profiles | Google: Google+ | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Haven't finished filling out your Google+ profile yet? Maybe thinking you don't want to? Or don't need to? Well, Google really wants you to fix that. And the next time you Google yourself, they're gonna start to bug you about it. Right there in the search results for your name. As Drew Olanoff writes on The Next Web, Google has begun nagging people who haven't finished their profiles with a new message that shows up on vanity searches. The can't-be-missed message tells how much of the profile is completed and includes a link to remedy the situation post-haste. Here's what it looks like f [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Google: Accounts & Profiles | Google: Google+

I think "SMH" is the right web acronym to use for the latest stats that YouTube has shared this morning -- stats that definitely have me shaking my head. Consider these: More than four billion videos viewed daily around the world. An hour of video is uploaded every second. In the case of the first stat -- four billion views per day -- YouTube says that's up 25 percent in the past eight months. As for the second stat -- an hour of video uploaded per second -- YouTube says that's up more than 30 percent in the past eight months. To put those numbers into perspective, YouTube ha [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube | Statistics: Market Share | Statistics: Popularity & Usage | Video

Are you including ways for people to share what you're emailing them about? If not, think again. Adding a way to share your emailed content can double your clickthrough rate when those emails are read by those on Facebook and Twitter and quadruple them when read by those on LinkedIn. That's a pretty easy conversion win -- but only about 20% of email marketers include social sharing links in their emails. These stats and more on the subject were compiled into an infographic by the folks at GetResponse: Want the infographic for yourself? You'll find it here, along with more about the metho [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Infographics | Statistics: Email Marketing

According to a report in Reuters, this week the EU will offer a sweeping set of new rules that would dramatically impact how internet companies can use personal data. There would also be new penalties available for data breaches and rules violations. The article, based on a draft of the rules, says the proposed regulations include the problematic "right to be forgotten," which became an issue last year for Google in Spain. The proposed rules will be released this week. However to take effect they still must be ratified by member states, which could take up to two years (or more). If enacted [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Facebook | Google: Legal | Legal: Privacy

After a big holiday season the percentage of people owning eReaders and tablets has nearly doubled -- from about 10 percent in early December to 19 percent in January. The data were compiled from several telephone surveys the Pew Internet Project conducted between late November and January. The chart below provides a demographic breakdown of tablet (not eReader) owners. They skew slightly more male, younger than 50 and slightly more educated and affluent. However the distribution is relatively even across categories -- showing that tablets are becoming more mainstream. If the sur [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Mobile Marketing | Statistics: Mobile Marketing

Where are you watching the Big Game this year? Last year, that question was a locational where: a Super Bowl party, at home on the sofa or a local watering hole being the expected answer. This year, the "where" is just as likely to be device specific. On a PC? A tablet? Or a Verizon mobile device? All are possibilities. For the first time, this year's Super Bowl won't just be broadcast, it will be streamed with a host of digital extras -- such as real-time stats and multiple camera angle options -- as part of the deal. NBC hasn't announced it yet, but I'm betting there will be a social [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Video | Check-In Services | Facebook | Foursquare | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Marketing Column | Video

President Obama may be facing his toughest interviewer yet; the YouTube community.  On January 30th, just a few days after his State of the Union address, President Obama will participate in a live streamed interview by answering  questions that were submitted on YouTube.  The YouTube community will vote on questions to be selected and the top will be selected to ask the President.  Questions can be submitted through January 28th and YouTube recommends  questions are submitted in video format (20 seconds long) but also accept questions via text. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Google+ | Google: YouTube

This week marks the end of an era for Google Analytics, maybe also for the whole web analytics market place. Google announced that Urchin Software will no long be sold by the company. Urchin is the software company that was originally acquired by Google and ultimately was transformed into Google Analytics, the most used analytics tool in the market. Differences Between Google Analytics & Urchin? Below is a list of the main differences between the tools: Data Collection: While Google Analytics uses a JavaScript to collect data, Urchin Software analyzed log files, which enabled tracking [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Analytics | Google | Google: Analytics | Top News

One of the long-standing myths about Google's search results is that they're completely computer-generated with no human input or involvement whatsover. But, since at least 2005, Google has had a program that involves regular searchers reviewing the quality of their search results. There are several different job titles involved, but the people who get paid to review Google's search results are commonly called Quality Raters. Their work has largely been a mystery over the years, but over on Search Engine Land, we've just published what might be the first of its kind -- an interview with [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Google: SEO | Search Marketing

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 APIBack 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 [...] [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day