With the limited release of Google+, there is a lot of speculation as to whether Google will be able to successfully compete with Facebook in the social networking arena; or, even whether there is room enough for two. To that end, data is being accumulated that shows how the two giants stack up head to head.</p> <p>According to ComScore, Google reached one billion unique worldwide visitors in the month of May, while Facebook came in with 713.6 million unique visitors. When narrowed to the USA, Google?s lead narrows ? with 155 million unique desktop/laptop visitors versus Facebook?s 140 million. These numbers are released via the Nielson Company.</p> <p>Regarding time spent per visitor, Facebook takes the lead, with each person spending six hours versus an hour and 20 minutes for Google. However, there are two things to note with this statistic: 1) Google+ is in early days and already showing great promise as users say they are considering leaving Facebook for it and 2) Facebook users are not a happy group, despite their size. In 2010, the American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked Facebook in the bottom 5% of measured private sector companies ? putting it in line with cable companies and airlines.</p> <p>Google also ranks higher in revenues; although Facebook?s data is not as clear, being a privately held company. The firm eMarketer estimates Google at 38.5% of the online advertising market and Facebook at 4.6% for 2010. Both numbers are expected to grow for 2011.</p> <p>While there are many factors to be considered when determining whether Google+ will unseat Facebook, in these early days, Google looks to be well positioned to do so.<br />

Along with content, social networking is a key part of most of our customers? marketing and communications strategies, with many brands tying in their blogs, news feeds and selling pages with Twitter and/or Facebook. However, while social networking definitely provides an edge in communication, as a straight selling tool, it has not yet proved to be as effective. However, that does not mean it cannot.</p> <p>During this past year, HMV, ASOS, Best Buy and others have launched transactional shops on Facebook and other brands, such as French Connection have shops in the works. According to research, only 11 per cent of page visitors have actually bought anything. </p> <p>The result of the research, which was conducted by Lightspeed and Havas Media Social, was presented at an online marketing show late last week. Comments backed up the findings with Simon Wallis?, sales and marketing director of Dominos, saying they have decided not to launch a Facebook Store and Phillip Rinn, director of advertising partnerships on Ebay UK putting it in sentence: ?Social shopping isn?t yet mature in the UK.?</p> <p>For those who invest in social media and have been considering adding a transactional shop to go along with their content, news, and social networking communications strategies, all is not lost. Despite the research?s low findings when it comes to purchases made via Facebook, there is indication that exclusive buys via Facebook shops might fare much better. The trick, it seems, is to offer something on Facebook people cannot get anywhere else and then make it easy to buy it.<br />

Despite closing the Realtime Search page yesterday, Google has affirmed that this is not the end, but a new beginning.</p> <p>RealtimeSearch was launched in 2009, integrating results from social media sites like FriendFeed, MySpace, and Twitter. Yesterday, the page was closed, after the agreement with Twitter had expired. But, Google says, this is not the end of real time search results. In a statement made to Search Engine Land, Google said,<br /> ?Since October 2009 we have had an agreement with Twitter to include its updates in our search results through a special feed, and that agreement expired on 2 July 2011. While we will not have access to this special feed from Twitter, information on Twitter that?s publicly available to our crawlers will still be searchable and discoverable on Google.?</p> <p>Google went on to say that they would be looking for a new home for real time search; possibly within its own new social platform Google+.</p> <p>In research performed this time last year, the social media agency Tamar reported that while 47 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds used real time search, only 8 per cent found them useful. </p> <p>Despite its assurances, with the closing of RealTime Search, Google has left a gap others may be more than happy to fill. This includes Microsoft Bing, who has been posting recent tweets from the same Twitter firehose as Google for just as long. At the time of this writing however, Microsoft had not provided comments regarding Google?s actions.<br />

The BBC is reported to be conducting talks about banning or restricting its talent from using social media to discuss their work.</p> <p>According to the Guardian, senior executives within BBC have been discussing putting restrictions and/or bans into place that will prohibit their writers, stars, and other staff from tweeting or updating followers and fans on their BBC-related professional activities.</p> <p>?There?s no doubt that Twitter is a popular communications phenomenon but it can also be quite disruptive if artists tweet about an appearance on a show or announce a new commission before the broadcaster is ready to go with the story,? someone from the BBC told the paper.</p> <p>It is said that several recent events have motivated the actions, including a leak which caused major disruptions in BBC?s launch of its BBC iPlayer for mobile devices, a series of tweets made by Sophie Ellis-Bextor telling followers that she was appearing on Ricky Gervais? new show and Armando Iannucci?s tweets regarding the recommissioning of ?The Thick of It? before its official press release.</p> <p>Since the story broke, the BBC has responded by saying that ?ban? is not the right word and that it does and will continue to encourage its staff to use social media, but within certain guidelines.</p> <p>?The BBC is not banning the use of Twitter by talent or writers. The BBC has clear guidelines in place for both the personal and professional use of social media, and we encourage staff, writers, and talent to use social media, provided it does not break any confidentiality agreements,? says their spokesperson.<br />

Along with content, social networking is a key part of most of our customers? marketing and communications strategies, with many brands tying in their blogs, news feeds and selling pages with Twitter and/or Facebook. However, while social networking definitely provides an edge in communication, as a straight selling tool, it has not yet proved to be as effective. However, that does not mean it cannot.</p> <p>During this past year, HMV, ASOS, Best Buy and others have launched transactional shops on Facebook and other brands, such as French Connection have shops in the works. According to research, only 11 per cent of page visitors have actually bought anything. </p> <p>The result of the research, which was conducted by Lightspeed and Havas Media Social, was presented at an online marketing show late last week. Comments backed up the findings with Simon Wallis?, sales and marketing director of Dominos, saying they have decided not to launch a Facebook Store and Phillip Rinn, director of advertising partnerships on Ebay UK putting it in sentence: ?Social shopping isn?t yet mature in the UK.?</p> <p>For those who invest in social media and have been considering adding a transactional shop to go along with their content, news, and social networking communications strategies, all is not lost. Despite the research?s low findings when it comes to purchases made via Facebook, there is indication that exclusive buys via Facebook shops might fare much better. The trick, it seems, is to offer something on Facebook people cannot get anywhere else and then make it easy to buy it.<br />

A recent survey by MarketingSherpa showed that content creation is not only the most effective SEO tool, but its also one of the most difficult to implement. In fact in terms of difficulty, it was seen as only second to that of external link building.</p>

Popular pop star, actor, and icon Justin Timberlake has signed a deal making him partial owner of the social networking site MySpace, along with Specific Media, who purchased the social content site from News Corp.</p> <p>According to the Independent, Hollywood Reporter, and others, Justin is to play a major role in redesigning the site.</p> <p>Specific Media, a California-based online advertising firm, finalised the purchase of their portion of MySpace on 29 June, paying News Corp. $35 million US for the website that cost them $580 million six years ago.</p> <p>Although greatly eclipsed in recent years by the rise and dominance of Facebook, MySpace is still a preferred venue for many musicians and artists; providing a platform where they can easily share their music and interact with fans.</p> <p>"There's a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favourite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect," said Timberlake in a recent statement. "I'm excited to help revitalise MySpace by using its social media platform to bring artists and fans together in one community."</p> <p>While the specific plans for the MySpace revitalisation are not expected to be announced until later this summer, the purchase of the site by Timberlake and Specific Media heralds continued interest in growing the interest graph ? rallying users around specific interests rather than focusing on the wider social graph, which is catered to by sites such as Facebook and Twitter.<br />

Google?s new +1 button is not the only way the search giant is getting more social; they are also going social with their analytics and webmaster tools, helping customers better track the impact of social interaction on content ? including tweets, Likes, +1s and more.</p> <p>The Webmaster Tool has added a +1 Metrics section that reports on the impact a website?s +1 button has on related search. There are also new reports: the Activity Report and the Audience Report. The first shows the number of +1s a website page has received and the second provides related demographic and geographic data.</p> <p>In the same light, Google Analytics has added a feature that shows how the +1s affect the clickthrough rate, tracking the number of +1s on a page and comparing the clickthrough rate with +1 annotations and without them. Then, the tool graphs the number of annotated impressions and clicks over time.</p> <p>Another new feature of Analytics, and perhaps the most useful one, is Social Plugin Tracking. With this tool, a website owner can compare the impact of different types of social interaction; +1s, tweets on Twitter, Facebook Likes and Facebook Sends, etc., thus providing an overall view of how each social media activity impacts and encourages the sharing of content.</p> <p>The Social Plugin Tracking tool provides three reports, which includes Social Actions, Social Pages, and Social Engagement. The first tracks the number of social actions users take while reviewing a site?s content, the second shows which pages receive the most social action, and the last tracks user behaviour.<br />

Major UK broadband provider British Telecom (BT) has been taken to court by the film industry in an attempt to force them to block content sharing sites based upon peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing.</p> <p>The Motion Picture Association, representing six major movie studios, has taken objection to a site called Newzbin.com, which allows internet users to watch ?pirated? content and want to see it shut down. Upon failing to persuade BT to take action of their own fruition, the Motion Picture Association is now trying to force their hand in court.</p> <p>An injunction was first taken out against BT late last year; however, to date, the broadband provider has continued to show reluctance to take action. The broadband provider has also been outspoken about their opposition of the portions of the Digital Economy Act that call for anti-file sharing measures. However, their protests are most likely in vain, with a recent High Court ruling stating that the Digital Economy Act as it is currently written falls in line with European law. The Court of Appeal has refused to review the High Court?s decision.</p> <p>Should this current filing by the Motion Picture Association against BT go in the Association?s favour, the broadband company may find their hand is forced. A spokesperson for the Motion Picture Association told the Telegraph that BT had been targeted for two reasons: 1) it is the largest UK broadband provider and 2) it has the web blocking tools already in place. The Association hopes that a successful verdict will serve as a message to other UK providers.<br />

Facebook has overtaken MSN as the UK?s second favourite website, according to a recent survey held by UKOM/Nielsen.</p> <p>According to the research, a record number of 26.8 million Brits visited Facebook in May. The number of Brits visiting MSN was slightly less, at 26.4 million. Google was the most visited site, with 33.7 million visitors for the month.<br /> Twitter and LinkedIn also did well; both showing an increase in visitors for May. Twitter was recorded as having 6.14 British visitors while LinkedIn came in with 3.59 million, a 57 per cent rise over May 2010.</p> <p>Nielson attributes Twitter?s increase to the Ryan Giggs matter, saying that there was a 65 per cent increase in British men aged 50 to 64 and a 96 per cent increase in women over 65 visiting the site. Nielson also pointed out Facebook?s increased numbers is also due to increased participation by the over-50 British crowd.</p> <p>UKOM general manager James Smythe says that, over the past two years, the older set has accounted for more new adult traffic on Facebook than the under 50s. He goes on to say that, as a result in this rise in older users, Facebook now serves as a better representation of the overall British population. Twitter is also feeling the influence of the older generations.</p> <p>The survey results serve as a contradiction to recent reports that Facebook was losing traffic in several primary markets; results that Facebook says were inaccurate, having been extracted from an advertising tool.<br />