Archive for the ‘Blog Guru’ Category

European Social Networks top Google Global Searches

Out of the top global Google searches for 2008, four search terms are social networking sites. Three of these social networking sites are exclusively European. Two of these three are “invitation only” social networking sites.

• Topping the list at no. 3 is Facebook login
• No. 4 is Tuenti, a Madrid-based “invitation only” social networking site,
• no. 7 is Nasza Klasa, a Polish “find old classmates” site initially frequented by older Polish persons, but attracting more and more youthful members
• no. 8 is Wer Kennt Wen, a German “invitation only” social networking site that looks for “who knows who?”

Seems social networking has blossomed just as we have.

Our international team is pleased to see that we cover all the necessary languages-with native speakers. Time to set up a nice project to track what the forum and blog buzz is about these networks. We should probably do some back-in-time tracking. Do you think that three months back in time is enough?

Push me, Pull U

I’ve been reading online about the importance of social media monitoring in reducing the money wasted on advertising. Mediapost had some nice things to say about the recession and companies learning to shore up their budgets by being more cautious about their marketing.

In Europe, word-of-mouth and online marketing is not only a low cost with a great many benefits, it’s the safest, most respectful way to reach clients and consumers. The EU is very protective of European consumers. “Push” advertising, in-your-face, direct-to-consumer ads, is frowned upon. For some corporations, this kind of marketing can even result in legal action.

For example, pharmaceutical corporations are very limited in the information that they can provide to consumers, and they’re even more limited in their methods of distributing this information. France has required Yahoo! to limit the information that can be accessed by French consumers to be more in line with French rules and customs. The French Parliament is now considering making encouraging anorexia a crime, and in some Southern European countries, models are already required to present health certificates to their employers. One has to wonder how this trend in consumer-citizen protection legislation will eventually affect marketing.

Online marketing, however, is saving time, money, and respect for different legal and cultural traditions by creating content that “pulls” consumers rather than push them. This, the EU and European States determine, is okay. If a consumer accesses the information rather than has it foisted on them, then everyone is happy.