Apple Bucking The Current Economical Trend
While it should come as no surprise, Apple is doing very well, thank you. Amidst all of the gloom and doom, the hand wringing and the concern over the future, Apple is simply rolling along as if to say “What recession?” In what will likely be a classic case study in business schools for the future, Apple has taken an approach to the market that is so revolutionary that it has to be examined. You see, they are providing high quality products that fill needs for their customers.
Ning Doing Well On The Social Networking Sidelines
With all of the talk regarding social media it seems that the inordinate amount of the attention goes to the big 2; Facebook and Twitter. While they do tend to generate significant drama and even some real news there is more to the social media space. In fact, there are those who see the social media universe fragmenting into very specific verticals so those of like mind can gather online without having to see that your friend just had a great breath of air.
Multiple Search Feature Comes to Google Maps
Google has added a new feature to Google Maps, which allows you to perform multiple searches, while keeping them around for future reference. It’s hard to explain without an example.
On the Google Lat Long Blog, to illustrate the feature, they give the example of a search for the Road to Hana on Maui. They search for this, but also search separately for supermarkets, gas stations, and driving directions to Hana, HI.
Twitter Working on Document for Business Use
You’ve probably read a ton of articles about different ways businesses are using Twitter. This goes for both large and small brands. I’ve certainly written a handful of them myself.
AT&T Enters the Yahoo Ad-Selling Business
Yahoo and AT&T announced a partnership, where AT&T will sell Yahoo! display ad inventory to local businesses in the US. They will begin doing so later this summer.
"Local businesses are looking to drive in-store traffic, and our alliance with AT&T Interactive will help them reach a local audience of highly-engaged potential customers on Yahoo!," said Jim Schinella, Senior Vice President, North America Region, Yahoo!.
YouTube Channel Redesign Still Being Improved
As you may know, YouTube has a new channels design in the works. It was actually supposed to be out on July 15th, but was postponed (not for the first time). Murdok recently ran down a nice sized list of new features that YouTube will be including in this new design here.
Yahoo’s Earnings Report Fails To Inspire
Yahoo’s released its second quarter earnings report, and the news isn’t all that great. While the company pretty much managed to match and/or beat analysts’ official expectations, some discouraging numbers came out, as did some less than pleasant predictions about the future.
Let’s start with the positive points, at least. Analysts thought Yahoo might post $1.55 billion in gross revenue and earnings per share of $0.08. Instead, it managed to post $1.57 billion and $0.10, respectively. Net income actually rose by 8 percent year-over-year.
Marketing Emails Missing Inboxes
More than 20 percent of commercial, permission-based email does not reach the inboxes of intended subscribers in the United States and Canada, according to email management firm Return Path.
The study found emails reached only 79.3 percent of inboxes in the United States and in Canada during the first half of 2009. With the undelivered email, 3.3 percent is routed to a junk or bulk email folder and 17.4 percent is not delivered at all.
Facebook, Twitter, & Wikis Really Do Impact the Bottom Line
Companies have long had problems putting numbers on social media marketing results. Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group have now released a study looking at how engagement with consumers through social media correlates with financial performance.
Twitter Cracks comScore Top 50 Web Properties
comScore Media Metrix released its top 50 web properties for the month of June. It’s no surprise that Google sites remain on top with Yahoo and Microsoft in the second and third positions respectively.
Facebook has moved up 2 positions to number 6 though, giving the social network its highest ranking to date. Twitter actually just made its first appearance on the list, coming in at number 46 with 20.1 million visitors.