LinkedIn, which just opened up its publishing platform to anyone for free, has one big strength that most of its traditional publishing competitors don’t have, and that should be keeping them awake at night — if they aren’t already
Pinpuff, an India-based startup that measures influence on Pinterest, is Los Angeles-bound. Startup studio Science announced Tuesday that it is acquiring the young startup and moving its founder to its California office.
Facebook’s data team says that although users are more inclined to share amongst friends they have strong ties to, their sheer number of connections means social networks aren’t echo chambers. Yes, friends’ content sharing is more influential, but Facebook says the majority of the activity comes through connections with weaker connections. I’m a little puzzled why Facebook doesn’t quote its actual data on the latter. And Facebook’s algorithms contribute to the mix (it wants to show you what you’re interested in, but that doesn’t always come directly from close friends). All very interesting, with the major implication for content companies and marketers being: Nothing’s as simple as you thought. It’s not just about reaching “influencers.” Meanwhile, more sharing is on the horizon as rumors suggest a wave of friction-less apps are coming Wednesday.
Zach Rodgers is a solid reporter, but he doesn’t make a convincing case that Google will own online display advertising next year, or in the near future. Real-time bidding is all well and good, but what about advertising in real-time feeds? Other than adding video inventory into its exchange, there’s not much on how Google could pull ad networks and exchanges out of the low-cost, click-through dominated, remnant inventory ghetto. In theory, Google is well-positioned to do what the industry calls attribution analysis, that is, understanding the influence of display (or offline, for that matter) campaigns on search and on ultimate purchase conversion. But I hear more about that from Microsoft. Brand advertisers increasingly want cross-media integrated campaigns, with things like product placement, sponsorships, social media integration, and influencer analysis. Oddly enough, traditional media companies have better assets to direct at meeting that demand.
