A recent Nielsen survey is reporting that social network sites are more popular than personal e-mail.

What they don’t tell us is whether this is a current fad that will pass in a few years, or if this is the beginning of the end for email.

People have been predicting the death of the newspaper long before I was born. Radio, television, cable/satellite television and the internet have all prompted predictions for the demise of the newspaper, yet so far the big nationals are hanging in there.

Will social networking kill email? I seriously doubt it.

First of all, social networking is still largely for the young, the businesses wanting to appear young, and the individuals wanting to feel young.

My parents don’t know what Facebook or Twitter are, and chances are that neither do yours. Neither do your bank, your electricity provider or your local grocery store.

Second of all, unless Microsoft are planning on including a Social Networking application in Windows 7 (not impossible), then the vast majority of PC users still need to find out about these tools, install them, figure them out and start using them regularly.

There was a time when some of the mobile phone companies were threatened by SMS messaging. They worried that people would send a single SMS message instead of making a call, and that their revenues would suffer accordingly. If you have a child with a mobile phone, you know how laughable that seems today.

Email isn’t going anywhere. The person who only sent a few personal emails in the past is still only sending a few today, but might possibly be spending some extra time on Facebook as well.

New ideas don’t always spell the death of the old. But the more means you offer for people to follow and remember you, the better.

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In a move that most will find long overdue, Microsoft has announced that their new Windows 7 operating system will allow users to “switch off” Internet Explorer and nine other applications that will be bundled with the OS.

Microsoft Group Program Manager Jack Mayo explained the decision in a Windows 7 engineering blog post, “In Windows 7 we are expanding the number of features you have control over in this regard, giving customers more control, flexibility and choice in managing the features available in this version of Windows.”

Mayo went on to elaborate, “If a feature is deselected, it is not available for use.  This means the files (binaries and data) are not loaded by the operating system (for security-conscious customers) and not available to users on the computer. These same files are staged so that the features can easily be added back to the running OS without additional media”

Microsoft’s decision comes in the wake of a January decision by European antitrust regulators that the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows gives IE an unfair advantage over other search engines. In 2007, European antitrust regulators made a very similar ruling against Microsoft in regards to the company’s bundling of their media player with Windows.

Giving Windows 7 users the ability to opt-out of installing IE is undoubtedly Microsoft’s attempt at avoiding another round of heavy fines and restrictions like the ones that they were hit with by the EU in 2007.

It looks like at long last Microsoft is finally being forced to give up their heavy-handed bundling tactics and that Windows users will enjoy more control.

As Sheryl Crow famously sang, “A change (and choice) would do you good.”

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Martin Lindstrom thinks that the internet has become a medium for lies – just like the real estate industry and the used-cars salesmen.

He tells the story of a British real-estate chain that chose the strategy of telling the truth – describing property accurately and honestly.

According to the article, it worked very well. People began to actually look forward to reading the ads, estate agents didn’t have to lie, customers didn’t waste their time, and clients loved the fact that viewings had real potential to go through.

The author offers some interesting advice:

“Tell it like it is. Tell the consumer if the battery time in your cell phone is 2 hours – and don’t say 3. If the delivery time is 14 days don’t say 10 days. If you come back with more information within 24 hours – do it – or else tell the customer the realistic truth.”

While I like the idea of 100% honesty, reality often proves to be a little less black and white.

The battery time in a cell phone depends on how much it’s used. Some people talk on their cell phones for hours each day, while some people carry them just in case they need it. If the company selling the phone chose the average of the two, couldn’t the “just in case” user be put off? Yet if they chose the best possible scenario as the norm, couldn’t this result in unhappy and angry users?

The truth is that absolute honesty isn’t always the best approach.

Telling your young child that their artwork is ugly and deranged would be cruel.

Telling your wife that her rear does look big in those jeans is unwise.

Telling your customers that your product is overpriced is less than ideal.

There are shades of grey between black and white. Yet your integrity is the only thing in life that you not only truly control, but get to take with you throughout your life and beyond.

Being honest is good for business and good for life as a whole. And a little spin doesn’t need to deviate from the truth.

The Greatest Brand Builder

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Did you know that the “standard” 468 x 60 ad size has not only been around for more years than I can remember, but is part of the Universal Ad Package (UAP), as published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau?

Let’s start with the idea that a body exists to try to ensure that ads conform. Do advertisers like the idea of their work being as unobtrusive as possible? Maybe we should stick to black and white text only? Perhaps with a standard text link that says “click to see an ad“?

Next, let’s consider how long the format has been around. I was selling 468 x 60 banner advertising space on an old software site years before SoftwarePromotions was formed in 1997, so by web standards, 468 x 60 is seriously old.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against “old” for the sake of it. Ask my parents. But I know that when I was still selling those banner slots more than twelve years ago, my PC monitor and resolution were smaller, they probably used less colours, and my internet connection was a lot slower.

So why are we still using standards from 15 or more years ago? I know the IAB’s UAPs have expanded a little with time, but surely it’s time for something new here.

Back in the day when we connected with blazing fast 56.6K modems, the web was a very slow place. Some people actually bought software that would stop 468 x 60 banners ads from being displayed within their browsers. This meant less annoyance and a faster rendering of the pages.

There are three reasons why few people buy banner-blocking software today. Firstly, our connections are much faster. Secondly, many browsers have this functionality built-in for those who wish to use it. But most importantly, we don’t need software to block out 468 x 60 banners anymore. We are exposed to so many of them every single day that we no longer see them. Overwhelming quantity has rendered them invisible.

Like the four-coloured Microsoft flag on our Windows start menu, we just don’t notice them anymore. You just glanced at yours right now, and probably did a quick squint-and-count to see if there really are four, right? Yet how many times a day do you click on that button?

Getting targeted leads to click your ads is getting harder with each passing day, and just having the right product is no longer enough. You need innovation to catch their attention. You can do better than a 15 year old invisible standard.

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Microsoft has announced plans to offer a free, ad supported version of Microsoft Office 14 when the software is released next year.

Stephen Elop, Microsoft Business Division president, explained the idea behind the free version of Office, which will display ads next to the workspace. “There will be ad-based revenue streams. There’s an opportunity to draw those pirate customers into the revenue stream. We want to draw them into the Windows family and maybe there’s an upsell opportunity later.”

Most software insiders expect the free version of Office 14 to be a bare-bones version of the full Office suite and will likely include only Word, Excel and PowerPoint (similar to the low-end Microsoft Works).

This idea of revenue stream diversification is not new for Microsoft, as the software giant has for several years considered offering Office on a subscription basis. Participants in this program would pay a monthly or yearly fee to use the Office software components.

When you think about all of the money that Microsoft loses on the huge number of people using pirated versions of Office, these new ideas for increasing revenue begin to make a lot more sense.

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I know I’m posting a lot about Twitter lately, but this will probably (maybe) be the last post on the subject for a while. Perhaps.

This morning I ran into a series of email problems, and logged into my Gmail account to send test emails to myself. Obviously it’s one of those days when everything stops working at the same time, and I soon realised that Gmail was also experiencing problems. Or was it my own system or internet connection?

On an unusually productive impulse, I quickly searched Twitter for “Gmail”, and saw a long list of people all complaining about the system being broken. Problem solved; partly at least.

The very nature of Twitter allowed me to find the answer to my question instantly, and there’s no way that Google or any other search engine could have possibly produced such up to date information so quickly.

However I did go back to good old Google to answer my next obvious question, and yes, there’s a Firefox plugin that integrates realtime Twitter search results straight into Google’s search results for any query. Google must be delighted.

I assume that the founders of Twitter never foresaw the system being used as a realtime search engine, yet this may well be what it becomes, and may even offer a means of generating revenue, in the style of Google AdWords.

Questioning whether social media has a future is pointless, but understanding how the different platforms will develop is anyone’s guess. With new and exciting services such as Gypsii.com and Spotify.com, Twitter may well prove to be a stepping stone towards the future in the likes of AltaVista and HotBot.

See you in the future. Or for now – @TheDaveCollins.

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Those of you who’ve been following my Trying to work out how to use Twitter antics will already know that I’m still not 100% convinced.

Yet would it surprise you to hear that there is spam in Twitter? Probably not. But this is a different kind of spam. I call it Pspam - pointless spam.

This is how it works. It starts with a number of services who, among other things, will automatically send out a Direct Message to anyone who follows your Twitter account.

Let’s take a step back and think about what’s going on here.

We’ll assume that you’re a perfectly ordinary person who’s recently opened a Twitter account.

You search for the term AdWords, come across some of my comments, and decide to follow me.

Moments later, your first “contact” from me comes in:

“Thanks for following me on twitter. I look forward to getting to know you better.”

That’s nice, you think. You follow a few more people, and then notice that quite a lot of these messages are coming in.

At this point you realise it’s automated, and the “nice” goes out of the window.

With hundreds of Direct Messages, I’m annoyed, but I’m also intrigued.

First of all, as far as I can see, none of them are for me. They’re all automated. And if there is a real message in there for me, it’s lost in the noise.

Second of all, they’re almost all pointless. There are one or two plugs for blogs, but mostly they’re variations of “Thanks for the follow. How are you today?“. Look at the following sample:

When I choose to follow you on Twitter, I’ve decided that you might be an interesting person to listen to.

If the first thing I get from you is (a) automated (b) boring and (c) pointless, you immediately make me question my initial judgement.

If there was a tool or service that would automatically recognise these automated annoyances, I’d use it, and I’d instantly stop following those accounts.

If you’re one of the people who sends out these auto-annoyances, might I suggest that you turn it off?

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Those of us who write AdWords ads know that one 25-character headline and two 35-character description lines do not allow for a lot of room.  Effective AdWords ads clearly and concisely convey the benefits of what is being advertised. I recently discovered a veritable goldmine of  content that fits perfectly into this formula for AdWords ad success.

Radio ads.

Radio ads are short, usually 15-20 seconds long, and to the point. Like AdWords text ads, they cannot count on visuals to sell their product, so they must instead rely on enticing, punchy wording.

So, next time you’re listening to the radio, pay close attention to the ads. You’ll be amazed at all the great words and phrases that you can use  to make outstanding AdWords ads. I have even begun keeping a pen and paper next to the radio so I can quickly  jot down particularly excellent verbiage.

I will warn you, however, that by following this advice you are increasing the likelihood of getting one of those annoying ad jingles stuck in your head. Just don’t blame me when it happens.

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Recently, I came across a website of a supposed “AdWords guru”. Through a screenshot on their website, they prove that they got their customer position #1 on AdWords.

I am going to let you in on their secret for free. You don’t even have to sign up for our services. I am going to tell you exactly how to get position #1 in AdWords. Here you go:

Raise your bids and keep raising them until you are in position #1.

Obviously, you will need to raise your daily budget as well but just keep throwing more and more money at Google and eventually you will be in position #1.

Now for an alternative point of view.

This technique will cost you a lot of money. It is a really bad idea and should never be used.

Let’s say you have the crazy notion that you have to be in first place; I’ll explain why it is a crazy notion in a moment. And let’s also say that one of your competitors feels the same way, and so you enter into a bidding war. And in bidding wars, everyone loses. Everyone except Google.

Why get hung-up over position #1? If you are carefully analyzing your data, you will most likely notice that position #1 is not always the best position for your ads.

Take the following scenario: We already understand that Google know more about a search than they tell us through the AdWords stats. For example, if your competitor is in position #1, #2, or #3 and you are in position #4, that lower position might actually be the best position of the page. Google might deliberately position your competitors above you because they know that most people click through your competitor’s sites, and then finally click on your ad, finding the solution that they were looking for.

Google gain clicks from your competition and then a click from you. That lower position will most likely cost you less. Spending less and getting more is a pretty good deal.

My recommendation is that you find your sweet spot. See where things work best for you by analyzing and tracking the performance of your keywords and ads. Don’t just waste money on AdWords, spend it wisely.

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It had to happen. Google yesterday announced the launch of a new skills qualification program: “Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ), which allows individuals to demonstrate proficiency in Google Analytics“.

SoftwarePromotions is an AdWords Qualified Company, so I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot to make my point.

However, as a marketing professional, I have to tip my hat at Google’s qualification schemes. People queue up and pay for the privilege of pushing Google’s products and services. Every individual or company displaying their qualification is paying to display an ad for Google. It’s inspired.

The cynics and realists among us, however, may be amused by such schemes. Most countries have a mandatory education and testing process for their citizens to drive a car, yet we all know there’s no shortage of terrible and dangerous qualified drivers.

Having a qualification means very little.

To maintain our AdWords Qualified Company status, there are various hoops that we have to jump through. Yet being qualified doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the skills required to run a Google AdWords account. It means that you know how to use the AdWords system.

Our company is sometimes approached by Qualified Individuals looking for work. Most of them know what they’re doing, yet a number of them are more or less clueless.

They know how the AdWords system works, yet have no idea how to reduce costs, how to get more clicks for less, how to write brilliant ads, how to beat Google at their own game and so on. Why? Because Google didn’t teach them how to do any of these things. They taught them what the buttons mean and how to push them. They didn’t teach them how to make the machine more efficient.

Being qualified and certified is a good starting point. But don’t assume that merely having a certificate guarantees competency and professionalism. You wouldn’t employ a driver to take your children to school just because they have a driving licence. Nor should you hire or employ a person because of their certification.

The internet is full of experts, and most of them are wearing badges. Look beyond their qualifications.

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