Google introduces ‘+1’ buttons on paid and organic search results

The world of search marketing and social media is constantly changing.  Google has recently announced that it is now attempting to make search more social by introducing ‘+1’ buttons on both paid and organic search results. The ‘+1’ button has already been in operation in the US for several months now. The feature goes global today.

Analysts have predicted that the Google ‘+1’ will eventually be merged into Google’s larger social project - Google +. Google ‘+1’ will become the equivalent of Facebook ‘like’ buttons. The ‘+1’ project began in March and released the button for webmasters to add to their website earlier this month. Since then, Google has added ‘+1’ button to product pages and blogger widgets. The ‘+1’ counts have also been localised in some instances and have appeared in search results. With the introduction of ‘+1’, Google and Facebook are turning direct rivals. Recent reports from ComScore state that Google now has a whopping one billion users every month! Facebook is not far behind with over 700 million active users globally.

Developers and webmasters interested in adding the ‘+1’ button to their websites may refer to Google’s online guide. If you still need further help, you may choose to contact us. At Pipon Solutions, we endeavour to stay on top of the latest happenings in the world of paid search and SEO.

Google acquires social analytics firm PostRank

Google beefed up its set of social-networking tools with the acquisition of PostRank, a firm that tries to make sense out of user data collected from Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. PostRank aims to look at the top 20 social media sites in order to help companies understand and engage customers better by studying their behaviour online and responding to their needs. The Canadian start-up is also used by a variety of social media marketing companies in order to determine the effectiveness of their social media campaigns. 

Google will look to use the social media monitoring analytics of PostRank to provide its Adwords customers insights into how their campaigns are performing by monitoring discussions on social media websites. These capabilities will probably be added to Google Analytics. Google could also use the technology to help its own endeavour to move towards social search.

"We're always looking for new ways to measure and analyze data, and as social analytics become increasingly important for online businesses, we're excited to work with the PostRank team to make this data more actionable and accountable. They have developed an innovative approach to measuring web engagement, and we think they can help us improve our products for our users and advertisers," executives at Google said.

"We're proud of what we've accomplished, and we now look forward to working with Google's team to build more useful tools for measuring engagement online, and we'll be sure to share details on our progress in the coming months," PostRank’s website claims.

Further, PostRank executive Ilya Grigorik wrote in a blog post "Indeed, conversations online are an important signal for advertisers, publishers, developers and consumers—but today's tools only skim the surface of what we think is possible. We are extremely excited to join Google. We believe there is simply no better company on the web today that both understands the value of the engagement data we have been focusing on, and has the platform and reach to bring its benefits to the untold millions of daily, active Internet users."

Pipon Solutions uses specific Social Media Monitoring tools to provide valuable insight to clients regarding customer opinions.  More specifically, we use the critically acclaimed Sysomos' technology to provide customized and sophisticated research projects.  This allows our clients to manage their Social Media outlets more effectively to engage with customers at the right touch points, spot and combat any negative discussion quickly and measure the success of their efforts, saving time, money and energy in the process.  We thus only use trusted enterprise solutions that are reliable and functional.  Our clients appreciate our efforts in this direction.

As a leading social media company we have spent considerable time utilizing tools such as Sysomos for our social media management, yet we are interested to see how such tools have affected your social media campaigns.  Have they helped?  Or does the information they provide not have any relevance on your social media activity?  Finally, what affect do you think Google's acquisition of PostRank will have on other social media management tools?  Join the debate here at Pipon Solutions.  

Major blue chip companies fail to respond to Social Media complaints

Hard hitting retailers such as easyJet and Debenhams are failing to respond to customers via social media, according to new research.

Easyjet: The airline was among the UK's top 25 retailers criticised for their poor use of social media channels

As part of the study by internet firm Auros, the UK's top 25 retailers were measured on their responsiveness level to customers  across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and branded blogs, with each being allocated a score out of 100.

Retailers scored just 10% on average, with even the retailers at the top of the table – Thomas Cook (32%), easyJet (24%) and Debenhams (22%) – falling short of the competition. 

Only 52% of retailers have a blog on their website and 12% a YouTube channel.

As with Twitter and Facebook, the research claims the retailers are using social networks as marketing channels, instead of properly engaging and entering into dialogue with both existing and prospective customers.

The research also found that responsiveness on YouTube and on company blogs was low, with none of the retailers responding to questions posted in the comments section of blog posts or videos.

'It is clear that retailers see the benefit of being active on social networks,' said Dominic Mills, MD at Auros. 'But too many are simply ignoring the fact that you have to be social and engage with users on these channels.

'While brands need to monitor what is being said about them, they need to be confident about responding.

'Companies that use these social channels to get closer to their customers and prospects will increase brand advocacy and generate more bottom line revenue.'