Wednesday, 9 April 2014

Facebook Goes Big With Right-Hand Rail Ad Redesign

Facebook’s right-hand rail is getting a rare ad redesign with photos that are twice as large, the social network announced today. The right-hand rail on desktop has been mostly overlooked as secondary real estate on Facebook—the side of the highway compared to the mobile News Feed's Times Square.
Ad rates reflect the demand, according to analysts. The rail costs about 20 cents every thousand impressions, and the mobile News Feed costs $5.72, according to new data from Facebook marketing platform Nanigans.
Mobile feed space also is more expensive than desktop feed, which costs about $5.25 for every 1,000 impressions.
Now, with an image makeover—a more engaging look that more closely resembles sponsored News Feed posts—right-hand rail prices could rise. 
Facebook said that the new rail format was up to three times more effective in early tests. Also, there will be less room and fewer ads, which could increase the competition among advertisers looking to market there.
“In the coming months, we'll be rolling out an updated design for ads in the right-hand column,” Facebook said in a blog post today. “This updated look will make right-hand column ads more visually consistent with the ads you see in News Feed.
“They will use the same proportions as desktop News Feed ads, they will be larger in size, and there will be fewer of them. For advertisers, this means a simpler way to create ads and an enhanced visual creative canvas on the right-hand column of Facebook.”
Facebook emphasized that the proportions of the images are similar to News Feed photos, so advertisers only need to upload one file that works across both places.
The right-hand rail changes come as brands adjust their Facebook marketing strategies following changes to the platform that reduced their ability to reach audiences with unpaid posts. With lower organic reach on the pages, brands are paying to make up for diminished reach.
Facebook ad prices were up 10 percent across the board in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter, according to Nanigans.

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Google Plus Adds View Count to Profiles and Pages

Google Plus Adds View Count to Profiles and Pages
While people and pages have always shown how many other people have circled them, Google has now added the ability to see how many times your profile or page has been Viewed.
+Kenneth Manesse Sr. pointed out that now, on your profile page next to your follower count, there's a new metric called Views. The metric is there for both personal profiles and business Pages.
Perhaps more importantly, for Google+ Pages, the +1 count has been replaced with their follower count. It would appear that Google has removed the option to +1 a Page and now users can only circle Pages, just as they would other users.
The metric is not displayed on hovercards, nor does it appear on embedded profile or Page widgets.
If you want to limit who can see the View Count, simply go to your profile or Page settings and scroll down. There is an option to hide the metric from others, but it is on by default.
Change whether or not your View Count is visible.
Interestingly, the setting indicates that it's "your profile and content." Hopefully this is an indication that more metrics will be coming for actual posts, as this is an area where Google+ has lagged painfully behind Facebook. Facebook Page owners have long had a rich set of metrics available to them (Facebook Insights) showing how well each specific post has been received, while Google has been content to allow third-party providers like CircleCount or Steady Demand to fill that gap.
Another possibility is that the metric includes views for both your profile and the content that you've posted, meaning that an update you shared to the stream and received views added to the tally. There is no official word yet from Google as to what the metric includes, or if more is on the way.
UPDATE: According to Google Help, "Views" tell you "how many times your content has been seen by other people, including your Photos, Posts, and the page [or profile] itself." So this confirms that the View Count is an aggregate number that includes every time your posts have been seen throughout their lifespan.
Like any metric, the new Google+ View Count is interesting but also needs to be applied in a certain way to be most effective. While it may be fun to compare View Counts with others, just like you might followers or +1's, it's best used an indicator of quality. If your Page has been viewed 1000 times but has only received 25 +1's, that may indicate that you're doing a good job of getting attention, but not providing enough value in your content.
What do you think?How many views has your profile or Page gotten, and do you like the new metric?

Facebook has 100 million active users in India



The ascent of Facebook in India has been speedy and has been powered by the mobile phone. When the American company set up its first India office in 2010, in Hyderabad, it had 8 million users in the country. Further, according to Facebook, 84 million of its 100 million users in India access the social networking site from their mobile devices.
Facebook, which was set up in 2004, had 1.23 billion users across the world, as of December 31, 2013. "If Facebook continues its current growth trajectory, we can see it as a core communications tool for the world," says Neha Dharia, analyst with UK-based research firm Ovum. "This besides being a media platform where users can share and engage in a range of media such as videos, pictures and games. We expect to see a stronger move around storage (cloud-based) and utility services from Facebook."
For Facebook, the US remains its biggest market, with about 183 million users, though perhaps not for long, given the inflexion point India is at with regards to Internet usage, especially on the mobile. According to Olivan, who is one of the three people in the company who report directly to founder Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is now "looking forward" to 1 billion users in India, a numerical figure it intends to chase with specific initiatives aimed at increasing connectivity, affordability and relevance. "That (1 billion) is a different focus and challenge," he says.
Olivan says much of the challenge of going from 1 million to 10 million in India was about optimising the product for users. For example, removing the condition that a user needed to have an email ID of an American college to access Facebook. From 10 million to 100 million, he adds, it was about improving experience on low-end devices and offering it in languages other than English. "For 1 billion, we need easy connectivity, the biggest challenge of our generation," he says.
One of the initiatives it is focused on to widen connectivity is internet.org, a partnership it has with six mobile technology companies to provide affordable Internet access to the unconnected. It is also working with telecom companies to increase data adoption among users in emerging markets like India. On this trajectory, it's only a matter of time before the Facebook user base in India crosses that of the US.
Source:http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-04-08/news/48971129_1_access-facebook-1-billion-users-javier-olivan