Privacy concerns have been splattered across headlines for the past couple of weeks, so it’s not surprising that efforts are being made by the government and tech giants to secure a solution to the woes of users. Earlier this week, Google, Apple, Amazon, RIM, HP and Microsoft came to an agreement on privacy policies within mobile apps. The agreement will require all mobile apps be submitted with a privacy policy in place, which is a surprisingly uncommon practice within apps. WSJ reports that 22 of the 30 most downloaded apps n the world do not currently have privacy policies.

Building on that, President Obama (up for reelection in 2012) has been working on a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights to guarantee protection for users on how their personal information is utilized. The bill already has a bipartisan backing from former presidential candidates John McCain and John Kerry.

Newsworthy Tidbits:

Those who remember and experienced the signal issues with the original iPhone 4 are vindicated this week as a class-action lawsuit forces Apple to admit the reception altercations that resulted from grasping the phone and compensate users with $15 or an iPhone case.

A new build of Sublime Text 2 was released on Wednesday of this week, donning it’s new icon from The Iconfactory. Some of the changes included a simplified settings area, better indentation and text rendering quality to take some strain off our eyes at 3am. It also includes updates to the Vintage package for all you Vim nerds out there.

Yelp went public this week with an IPO of $100 million.

One Tennessee town is trying to distinguish itself with its own typeface that would ideally be used for signs and documents coming from the town.

A Dutch airline has taken the initiative of making airplane rides more productive by allowing passengers to connect their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles and be matched up with another passenger with whom they could forge a business relationship.

Be on the Lookout:

Google excited tech nerds everywhere with the ‘heads up’ glasses, said to be  available by the end of 2012. When worn, the glasses will provide contextual information to the wearer about the sights around them.

Related articles

• Apple and five others agree to new privacy policy standards for mobile apps (9to5mac.com)
• Why Google and Others Are Onboard with Obama’s Privacy Bill of Rights (techland.time.com)
• The problem with Obama’s privacy ‘bill of rights’ (tech.fortune.cnn.com)

Apple oh so subtlety announced their new iteration of OS X, Mountain Lion (10.8), by posting the details to Apple.com.  The new operating system borrows heavily from iOS with a notification system and new messaging app (Messages) that mirror their iOS counterparts. Messages, which is available now, replaces iChat and will provide cross-platform integration. Mountain Lion will also include further iCloud integration, Game Center, and numerous other features.

Newsworthy Tidbits:

Apple permissions change will require apps to explicitly request access to a user’s address book after controversies with Path and Twitter.

Twitter opened up their self-serve ad program to select small businesses and is offering $100 incentive, in partnership with American Express, to provide more ad opportunity to businesses beyond just promoted tweets.

Google was caught bypassing Safari privacy settings in iPhones to track browsing history of users. Upon discovery, Google disabled the code.

Be on the Lookout:

Brands on Facebook can expect timeline by the end of the month, according to Ad Age.

Related articles

• Social apps ‘harvest user data’ (bbc.co.uk)
• OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) in-depth preview (engadget.com)

So who are these guys?

Social network Pinterest has been around for almost two years now, growing quietly under the radar, and just in the last few months has seen an explosion in members and traffic. Compete.com shows 7.2 million users as of November 2011 and according to Hitwise.com, “the invitation-only site received nearly 11 million total visits during the week ending December 17, 2011”, 40 times the traffic they received six months ago.

For those who haven’t experienced it yet, Pinterest is a highly visual, often beautiful, social medium where users create interest boards (“pin boards”) to post images of things they like from around the web. Users create categories such as ‘Awesome Design’, ‘Favorite Desserts’ or ‘Dream House’ and in effect create a visual montage of who they are and what inspires them.

Pinterest.com Home Page

Pinterest Pin Board ‘My Style’

Pinterest users can do many social things:

• Sign up via Facebook or Twitter

• Create themed pin boards

• Add a Pin it widget to their browser

• Invite friends to join

• Like a Pin

• RePin an image to their own boards.

I recently created my own account and found it fun to use, and very easy to get caught up in the visuals. It’s not often that I personally enjoy a new social network, but this one I’m loving. When signed in with Facebook, recent Pins are automatically added to your timeline.

What does this mean for businesses?

It’s no surprise that brands are taking a very big interest in Pinterest. From both the user and business perspective we can easily see the high viral potential of the network. According to a report from Shareaholic.com, in January 2012 Pinterest drove more referral traffic than Google Plus, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. And Twitter and Pinterest traffic are neck and neck: Twitter 3.61 percent. Pinterest 3.6 percent. Wow, that’s a big statistic and the social network is still growing.

Pinterest Referral Traffic vs. Social Leaders

Google data shows a highly targeted user profile for Pinterest at this time:

• 82 percent female worldwide.

• Biggest age group is 25 to 44 years old.

• 87 percent have had at least some college

• Majority fall in $25,000 to $75,000 income range.

Does Pinterest fit your business?

Pinterest is a highly visual medium, lending itself most readily to highly visual businesses, especially those that cater to the feminine. The site is dominated at this time by fashion, art and design, home goods, and food images. Inspirational quotes and nature are also popular themes.

Some sure fits:

• Fashion clothing
• Design agencies
• Specialty foods
• Interior decoration
• Architecture
• Home goods

With a little creativity the venue can be used to represent the brand essence and philosophy of many businesses. For example, a green energy company might create boards of the latest eco-friendly innovations and of inspirational quotes for living well. Imagine the possibilities for a Nike ‘Just do it’ board or a Newsweek board of the best political cartoons. For companies with a clear brand vision, the potential is far reaching.

Granted, it may be difficult to promote coat hangers or accounting services on Pinterest at this time, but the possibilities are intriguing with some imagination.

Getting a hint of the potential

A client in the couture fashion industry has been seeing an increase in referral traffic from Pinterest over the last few months. We saw a sharp spike in traffic on December 15. This surge was related to one single Pin of one of their fashion pieces, and the Pin went viral. This is an example of how a casual Pin by any user can result in great traffic.

This month the client continues with a steady stream of Pinterest traffic resulting from many (150!) different pins. The exciting thing about this is that traffic was truly spontaneous and shows just a hint of the high volume potential. What happens when we start adding some strategy?

Taking it to the Next Level

We just placed a Pin it! Button throughout their galleries to encourage those shares, and they’ve started building their own brand pin boards. We’ll keep you posted on how things progress.

Coming soon

Stay tuned for Part 2: The How to’s of Pinterest Marketing for your Business

Not so coincidentally, there was a flurry of messages pushing and promising a love connection at your fingertips, someone waiting just for you in the world of online dating. With fairly identical business models, matchmaking sites have leveraged our human need for personal connection into a $700 million industry that now boasts a whopping 20 percent share of successful online meetings leading to long-term in-person relationships. Of those, 24 percent are said to lead to marriage.

No doubt about it, technology has changed the way we meet people, form relationships, share information, and in general, conduct our personal lives from the privacy of an online connection.

Likewise, technology has changed the way we form business relationships. We are no longer constrained by proximity. Our reach is infinite. We can engage anyone, anywhere without leaving the office.  And unlike online dating, the goal need never include meeting our business matches in order to take the relationship to the next level. Trust, communication and friendship are all virtually attainable and sustainable.

Defining Business Relationships

The kinds of business relationships we form generally fall into three categories:

Mentor – find one / be one. We all need guidance as we build our careers, and, once experienced, should be willing to provide guidance for others.

Colleague – building relationships with others in similar and complimentary businesses can only help us. From simply commiserating with peers, to making connections with potential collaborators, business and careers benefit when we talk to each other.

Available Talent – actively building a pool of talented professionals we can engage when projects call for out-sourcing or staffing up is a valuable use of our time. This group can be cultivated from mentoring relationships.

Courting Business Contacts

While the goals of our business relationships are different, the guidelines for initiating and sustaining them are quite similar to those for online dating.

Be authentic

Save yourself, and potential contacts, from trying to be something you’re not. It’s exhausting and will end a relationship when you’re found out. You will be found out.

Show interest

When you’re initiating contact, talk about the other’s accomplishments and why you’re reaching out. Ask leading questions, and learn about the person behind the achievements.

Be friendly, not familiar

This is a tough distinction for some. If you wonder what the difference is, do a quick gut check before talking/typing – would you say that to your mother? Friendly is warm and open, familiar is disrespectful and off-putting. Think TMI.

Maintain your circle of integrity

We all have one. And we are at our strongest when operating within that circle, working with people who share our values. Simply put, understand the values and behaviors that define you, and don’t compromise them.

Online or offline?

Both. In business, meeting is not essential to building trust, business, and even friendship. You will, however, want to move quickly from typing to talking so that your exchanges can benefit from tone of voice. If proximity allows, it can be a nice break to meet outside of the office.

Even though there is never enough time in the day, it’s important to carve some out to build and maintain relationships. Human interaction is essential for our wellbeing. With evolving technologies, our options for social engagement increase, but the basic needs are the same. The quality of our lives, personal and professional, is exponentially augmented by our relationships.

Let’s look at the numbers:

• Spike in smart phone users- In 2011 we saw a growing number of mobile phone subscribers switch over to the smart phone world. Nielsen’s third quarter survey revealed that 62 percent of mobile users ages 25-34 own smartphones, and in the final week of 2011 alone, consumers activated a record 20 million Apple iOS and Google Android devices.

• Tablet sales increase – In 2011 we also saw a record increase in tablet sales. From mid-December 2011 to early January 2012, tablet and e-reader sales nearly doubled, increasing the percentage of adults that own a tablet or e-reader to 29 percent.

• Usage reports growing rapidly – With the growing amount of smart phone users, we are also seeing an increased interest in mobile application downloads, as well as mobile website visits. The share of adult cell phone owners who have downloaded an app to their phone nearly doubled in the past two years, and the percentage of website visitors via mobile search has increased from 2.5 percent to 10 percent in the past year.

Where 2011 Missed the Mark:

1. Mobile models that aren’t mobile.

2011 was undeniably a booming year for tablet and smart phone sales, but many mobile applications aren’t providing the user with the optimized on-the-go experience that they desire. The smart phone has a nature and function that is more active than the traditional web, but mobile designs often don’t reflect this distinction.

The potential for mobile optimization exists, but many companies have not capitalized on this feature. Analytics company Kissmetrics compiled an infographic that indicated a 25 percent increase in mobile browsing which is a huge opportunity for brands, especially online retailers.  Mobile websites are estimated to increase engagement by up to 85 percent, but a mere 4.5 percent of online retailers have mobile sites. Inactive mobile models are not fulfilling the consumer’s needs even though the technological capability to do so exists.  Mobile users value on-the-go access to content, but marketing strategies continue to assume that users are stationary, limiting the realm of opportunities to engage customers and personalize their experience.

2. Lack of contextual relevance

Mobile users are presented with an overwhelming amount of branded digital mobile features. Branding attempts can suffer a loss of engagement because the message and functionality don’t match the nature of the brand. We saw this with Pepsi’s “AMP UP Before You Score” application that gave men lines to pick up women. This branding attempt failed because the function of the application had no concrete connection to the brand. It is important that users receive a brand message that is unique and contextually relevant to their device or platform, and failure to make this connection usually is unsuccessful.

3. Lack of consumer value

Mobile phones by nature are extremely personal devices, and because of this, mobile marketing needs to offer the user real value or it feels invasive and useless. If a consumer scans a QR code, they are giving their time and information to the brand. If the consumer is not given something of value in exchange for this, it can negatively affect their perception of the brand. Lancôme Make-Up Company made this mistake in creating an application that failed to give any sort of makeup advice that would be of value to the user. Consumers want to know that they are gaining something from the brand, rather than feeling spammed.

How will we fix this in 2012?

This year predicts more explosive growth for the mobile experience, including the evolution of  mobile marketing strategies. Here are some of the trends we are seeing in 2012:

1. Increased Mobile Spending

Recent predictions indicate that mobile as a marketing medium is becoming more and more prevalent. Mobile ad spending is expected to increase by 80 percent in U.S. to over $2.6 billion.In addition to this increase in spending, Woodford also predicts that The Olympics “paperless” mobile marketing initiative will “act as a catalyst for the mass adoption of location based mobile marketing and arrival of m-sites.” This mobile shift of both funds and attention is predicted to produce more effective branding.

2. Location based marketing

In 2011 many mobile marketing strategies fell short in their attempt to effectively engage their audience, but as Mobile Media’s SMART Report outlines, advertisers are using location tracking technology to effectively reach local customers. Mobile Media reported that “49 percent of all targeted audience campaigns used local market audience targeting,” This strategy adds value to the consumer’s experience by providing them with personalized content based on their unique location. This makes for a more engaging and useful approach to mobile marketing.

3. Near Field Communication

Near Field Communication (NFC), the technology enabling content to be exchanged between devices separated by a few inches. This communication technology uses radio frequency waves to exchange information such as the transfer of pictures or applications from one device to another. NFC powers new technology efforts including Google Wallet and is certainly a trend to be on the lookout for.

The Super Bowl has always been as big an event for advertisers as it is for sports fans, and this year proved to be no exception. Super Bowl XLVI brought in record numbers again with 111.3 million people watching, the most in U.S. television history and advertisers spared no expense to make a good impression. The average 30-second ad cost about $3.5 million, maxing out at $4 million.

Not all brands were prepared for the digital component of their ads. Websites for Coca-Cola and the new movie Act of Valor crashed due to overages in users. In addition, users driven to Acura.com were hit with a broken link on one of the site’s calls-to-action.

Whether users watching on tv or streaming online, the big game caused an explosion on social media as well. While users were buzzing with mentions of David Beckham (H&M), Clint Eastwood (Chrysler) and Doritos, it was the game elements that pulled in the most social media conversation. Madonna’s halftime performance racked up 10,245 tweets per second and the last seconds of the Giants-Pats showdown reached 12,233 tweets per second, ranking the two moments at numbers two and three for all-time most tweets/second.

And the social integration continues with digital voting for the best ads and recaps using Google + Hangouts. With ads continuing to go viral, it’s hard to determine a clear cut winner just yet. It’s almost like Super Bowl Sunday never ends, which is awesome. Unless you’re a Pats fan…

Newsworthy Tidbits:

Verizon and Redbox officially announce their new video subscription service set to launch later this year.

Popular new startup Pinterest hit some criticism this week for their involvement in working with e-commerce sites to collect a profit for pins that result in sales. While this type of affiliate relationship is not illegal or immoral, it is a move that should be disclosed to users.

Social sharing app, Path, was also under fire this week for privacy issues concerning their retention of a user’s entire address book. Path, who claimed they only used this information to connect users with friends, have since removed this feature and deleted any stored address book information.

Android devices running on the newest OS (Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich) finally have Chrome! And don’t worry HTC users, that will include you as well starting in March.

The Droid 4 with QWERTY keyboard and LTE capability is officially available via Verizon or Amazon.

Despite some skepticism surround RIM and the future of Blackberry devices, the BB App World is seeing huge success and recent numbers indicate that it is highly profitable for developers. According to VP of Developer Relations Alec Saunders, App World is the second most profitable mobile platform, behind Apple iOS.

Speaking of apps, they are apparently highly profitable for the American economy as well. A new report by TechNet (reported by Mashable) indicates that what is being referred to as the “App Economy” (of app-related jobs) has generated approximately 466,000 jobs in  the past 5 years.

Be on the Lookout:

Rumors circling this week have hinted that the Apple’s iPad 3 announcement could be taking place as early as the first week in March.

Google announced that they are working on a cloud-based storage system, called Google Drive,  which will function similar to Dropbox.

Related articles

• BlackBerry App World more profitable than Android (intomobile.com)
• Redbox, Verizon Team on Streaming Service (pcworld.com)
• Path Apologizes For Contact Uploads, Deletes Data (forbes.com)

The big news lately has been Facebook’s $5 billion IPO this week. The move, which is being lead by Morgan Stanley, comes just in time for Facebook’s eighth birthday. While Zuck’s salary will take a little dip to $1/year, he will own 28 percent of the company’s shares. The company is expected to go public in May.

Newsworthy Tidbits:

Our brand new app, ShootLocal, just launched for iPhone users! ShootLocal is a utility for photographers and videographers to save, share and discover new locations while easing the location scouting process.

Anonymous strikes against this week by releasing a confidential FBI call with British Scotland Yard and posting the entire audio recording on YouTube.

President Obama’s Startup America initiative aims to provide tax breaks for startup companies in hopes of generating new jobs and fueling the economy.

In an effort by the government to continue to hinder online piracy, 16 sports piracy websites got removed this week just before Superbowl Sunday

A recent study shows that new startup Pinterest trumps Youtube, Google+ and LinkedIn as a referral site, falling just below Twitter with 3.6 percent of referral traffic.

Be On the Lookout:

Windows Phone 8 (codename Apollo) will be a huge update for users and will likely include NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to allow wallet functionality and other exciting new features.

Related articles

• On Its Eighth Birthday, Facebook Files to Raise $5 Billion in Massive IPO (Get Your S-1 Here!) (allthingsd.com)
• Windows Phone 8 ‘Apollo’ may offer support for Skype, NFC, more (venturebeat.com)
• Is Pinterest the New Facebook? (newsy.com)

Slowly, the excitement in one day of ads has drifted into the digital world, allowing for these campaigns to have some longevity and giving non-sports fans a chance to see what they missed. This year, it’s going one step further.

When Google first rolled out its Hangout video chats for Google+, a large part of its plan was to allow users to hang out and watch YouTube videos together.  While many people were questioning the use of this feature, now we’re seeing what Google really had on the radar.

On Monday, Feb. 6, CNBC’s sports business reporter Darren Rovell, will be the host and industry expert for an NBC Sports ‘ Google+ Hangout discussion of the Super Bowl commercials.

The Super Bowl is hands down the biggest single day of the year for advertisers. With the eyes of millions of Americans tuned in to watch the game as well as the TV commercials, the commercials have become as notorious as the game itself.

During the Hangout, Rovell will review the Super Bowl commercials, discuss the ads, and interact with fans on YouTube’s Ad Blitz, the page where the site asks users to vote on their favorite Super Bowl ads. The goal is to find out what commercials worked best and which didn’t.

On Friday evening, Feb. 17 during his NBC Sports Network show CNBC SportsBiz: Game On, Rovell will reveal the winning ad selected by YouTube Ad Blitz users. To enhance marketing efforts further, YouTube will also be showing NBC ads and serving up promos for the big game all weekend long.

“The day after the Super Bowl is when people head back to their office water coolers to discuss what they loved and what they didn’t,” Rovell said. “Our conversation is about taking all those water cooler conversations and bringing it to a national, digital stage.”

Why is the Super Bowl the biggest single day of the year for advertisers?

The Super Bowl is the biggest day of the year not just for football, but for advertising as well.  Viewer’s expectations of advertisements during the game are high. Are they going to be funny? Entertaining? Emotional? Engaging? Instead of getting up to go to the bathroom or grabbing a nice cold beer, let’s get them to stay in front of the TV.

The Super Bowl typically has the highest ratings of the year for any sponsored tv show. With over 100 million viewers, you can see why advertisers are so eager to reach such a large audience.  Wouldn’t you be?

Last year’s results from The Nielsen Company for Super Bowl XLV on FOX had an average audience of 111 million viewers, surpassing 2010’s Super Bowl, and broke the record for the most watched television program of all time in the U.S.  The game was viewed in 53.3 million households.

Are you joining in? Go Giants!

Needing some serious juice, you turn to the internet.  What are the odds?  Patriots favored by just over three points. Good to know, but you need more. You need to know something others do not.  How will Gronkowski’s ankle hold up after getting injured in the third quarter of AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens?  Is Eli Manning healthy after getting sacked six times and knocked down a dozen more by the 49ers?

The Social Lowdown

So you check the blogs, sports sections of online papers, and even contemplate shelling out fifty bucks for an ESPN Insider account.  Then you realize, social media’s the place to go.  Get some real-time, crowd-sourced “insider” knowledge.  Maybe Victor Cruz’s best friend’s cousin’s cousin knows Cruz is battling an undisclosed hamstring injury and won’t be 100%.  Surely he’ll want to share this with his closest friends, his Twitter followers.  So you search, “Victor Cruz Injury Superbowl.”  Nothing. You widen the search to “Unknown Superbowl Injuries.” Nothing.  Then, “Gronkowski ankle Superbowl.” Score.

He’s a Gamer

Great.  He’s a gamer, he’s in.  Now, what are people betting on? You try “Superbowl Bet”:

Where to Place that Cool Million

Well, the hip hop community seems tuned in.  But not being in the market to place a $1M bet you move on, scale it back, looking for the diamond in the rough.  Then with, “Superbowl Injuries,” you find your gold:

Betting on Pyrotechnics

This is exactly what you need.  Madonna won’t be at the top of her game.  Clearly, this will affect the line on “Will any pyrotechnics emit from Madonna or her clothing during the Halftime Show?” prop-bet on Vegasinsider.com.  She certainly will have to scrap any pyrotechnics if there is a chance she can’t stop, drop and roll.

There you have it, with just a few searches on Twitter you found out the Patriots offense should operate without a hitch, that you’re in the wrong industry if you want to throw a million dollars on a single game, and Madonna will likely not have pyrotechnics emitting from her body during her halftime performance.  Great info!

The 100%

Kidding aside, social media has become an invaluable tool in social interaction.  From spreading news to toppling governments (Egypt) it has become a vital part of our daily consumption.   As use expands and is refined, it will be interesting to see how it molds society’s culture.  Our grandparents’ Soap Box was our parents’ Squawk Box. Social Media is our platform.  A policy-sword wielded by the “100%,” irrespective of paycheck size or residence zip code. It can spark debate, kick-start grassroots movements, or exploit/expose corruptness with a single tweet or post.  It’s bi-partisan.  It’s powerful.

*We’ll leave source reliability alone for a separate post

Google has been making some major changes lately and this week was consumed with news of Google’s attempt at streamlining their properties and narrowing their focus on key products. The most controversial this week was Google’s announcement was about the consolidation of its privacy policy into one universal document to suit all of its’ properties. This would give Google permission to ‘follow’ users that are logged into their Google accounts as they move across Google+, Gmail, Youtube and any other Google website. This hits Android users particularly, as they are almost always signed in to their Google accounts in order to download apps, Gmail and chat. This move comes after some question about Google’s search integrity for including Google + profiles in search results, which was announced last week. On that note, the creation of a Gmail or Google+ account now requires that a user first have a Google account.

In another effort to consolidate, Google will be shutting down another slew of products including Picnik, Social Graph, Google Sky Map and Google Message Continuity. The fate of some seems to be permanent, however Picnik will likely be integrated into Google+ after the site shuts down in April.

Finally, Google’s new search algorithm will rank sites lower if they have too many advertisements.

Newsworthy Tidbits:

Co-CEOs of RIM Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have stepped down, leaving former COO Thornstein Heins as the new CEO.

Apple Q4 results indicated record-breaking numbers with $46.3 billion in revenue, selling 37 million iPhones and 15 million iPads.

Facebook is looking to partner with Vevo and host their video content exclusively.

Anonymous publicly threatened to take down Facebook on January 29

Just when we thought SOPA and PIPA legislation was gone, an international law called ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) was signed by the European Commission (including the US) this week. The law, which is similar to SOPA but with more reach, still needs to be passed by the English Parliament and affects the use of any copyrighted information whether online or offline. We encourage readers to read more about ACTA.

Be on the Lookout:

HP announced that open source rollout for webOS will take place in September.

Google Music will be adding functionality for Android users to download songs from their online music library, whether they uploaded the music or purchased it through Google’s music store.