One thing that always grinds my gears a bit is when a person reverts to over the top annoyance just to have their story seen and forget the rules of humanity in the meantime. To really help identify these users and why they are annoying, I wrote a post over at Search Engine Land entitled The 6 Types of Annoying Social Media Promoters.
Here is a snapshot for my own internal names to these social annoyances:
- The Impersonal Users
- The Crazed Cross Promoters
- The One Way Streeters
- The Always an Emergency Users
- The Convenient Users
- The Total Spammers
Think you might be one of them? Well, head on over to Search Engine Land to read the full article and find out!
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How to Prepare for Facebook ‘Usernames’
Jun 12, 2009 by Greg Finn | Social Media Marketing, Social Networks
In case you haven’t heard, Facebook is allowing for the creation of vanity “usernames” that will allow you to customize your Facebook address. This change is a permanent and non-transferable … so select wisely.
What ‘Usernames’ Applies To
Users will be able to register custom usernames for both profiles and Facebook pages. In case you aren’t familiar with the two, profiles are for human beings while fan pages are used for businesses, brands, causes and more. Groups and applications cannot be given a Facebook username. You can register Saturday Morning (12:01 EST) at the Facebook username page.
How Profiles & Pages Work in the SERPs
Profiles
Profiles are currently listed in the SERPs, but the listings aren’t an carbon copy of your current Facebook page. The page that is indexed is not a representation of what your friends would see; it is simply a page that is served up to search engines with a basic offering of information like location, sampe friends and a profile picture. The current structure of profiles is facebook.com/people/firstname-lastname/FacebookProfileNumber. In order to see that full profile, a searcher must be logged in with the proper permissions. Note: If all of your profile privacy is set to “my friends only” then they will never be indexed by search engines.
Pages
Pages are fully indexed by search engines, and s so updates, comments and Facebook links can be seen. Right now the page URL structure looks like this: www.facebook.com/pages/page-name/FacebookPagenumber.
How To Use for Business
Profiles
Seeing that profile rankings in SERPs are hindered by the faux-page delivered to search engines, creating a username to rank doesn’t seem like an ideal maneuver. Instead, usernames would be a nice addition for name branding, as people can insert easier into business cards, emails and the sort.
Pages
This is where a solid keyword username could help your page to rank (in both SERPs and possibly in Facebook queries). Using the Facebook domain strength with a short keyword rich URL could really help for broader queries and also in reputation management for branded terms. Twitter accounts have been showing up more and more in the SERPs, and this effort should help more Facebook pages show up as well.
Of course you should make sure that your username fits in with your branding and you shouldn’t try to overthrow your current efforts because you snagged a cute keyword.
If you have been active on the Facebook front, you probably have a few industry related pages devoted to broad non-branded terms. These would be ideal targets for keyword rich usernames as they wouldn’t ruin branding and the keyword in the URL structure would benefit any marketing efforts. So if your antique auto parts store has a “Vintage ‘79 Fords’ page, registering the username “vintage-fords’ should help your page rank, and makes sense as a business move because it is a logical and legiti.mate username. Facebook has made it clear that very broad terms “pizza” or “flowers” will not be allowed, so try and get a bit creative with your choice.
Who is Eligible
Any profile created before the announcement at 3 PM on June 9, 2009. Each profile can have only one name assigned, and each page can only have one as well. If you didn’t already have this in place, you are out of luck. You will have to set up your page now, then check back on June 28th to nab your username.
Facebook pages are a bit stricter. Your fan page must have been created before May 31, 2009 cut-off date and have had a minimum 1,000 fans at that time.
What to Do
Stick to Branding - Don’t ‘over-SEO’ yourself if you are working on a specific brand. While you may be missing some main keywords, you will help in reputation management, branding and will cut confusion.
Use Keywords Where Applicable - Companies very active with Facebook marketing most likely have some general industry pages set up that are non-branded. Getting keyword rich usernames for these would be ideal.
Brand yourself – Sure ‘hax0rM4n1k” is a cool handle, but it will be associated with your name forever, so stick to the basics and wrap-up your name for any Facebook profiles. These profile pages will show in the SERPs so make sure you keep it clean if you ever want to be employed.
Protect yourself - If not eligible and have a trademark? Head over to the USPTO, grab your registration number, and fill out the “protect your username” form.
What Not to Do
Try to Steal Trademarked Terms – You will not be able to keep them and you are just being a jerk. Don’t do that.
Overly SEO Yourself – Don’t ditch your branding for a set of shiny keywords.
Be Late – Facebook has a handy counter for you on the usernames page … so you have no excuse. Any by the way that is 12:01 AM Eastern, so don’t be late west-coasters.
Facebook usernames looks to be a nice addition for profiles and pages, just choose wisely as this is will go on your permanent (Facebook) record!
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Yesterday, Digg announced the release of “Digg Ads” a new advertising platform that will hopefully pull their finances out of the red. What is different about this form of advertising on Digg, is that it is the first time that they have mixed the content in with the ads.
Ads will look exactly like a normal submission with the exception that no submitter will be present and a small line will appear on the top and bottom of the article with the text “sponsored” above.
A Brief History of Digg Ads
Digg has never really figured out how to really monetize advertisements on the site. They have looked for help in figuring out what users wanted, and tested out different platforms. Digg started up using Google as an ad provider with a mix of Federated Media placements. Then about two years ago Digg moved away from Google AdSense and gave Microsoft a spin at providing ads. This year Digg again tried mixing it up by dropping Microsoft to try slinging their own ads. In addition to going it alone on the ad front, Digg hired away Federated Media’s Sales Chief about a week ago as their Chief revenue Officer.
Why this makes sense for Digg
What Digg has been doing from an ad standpoint simply hasn’t been working. They are losing money year after year, and this is a glimmer of hope that they can successfully monetize ads with site interaction. These ads will not be static messages, as Digg is giving the community the ability to interact with the ads by voting and commenting; eventually setting the price for the ads. While obviously users would prefer an ad-free site, this form of advertising is truly interactive from both the user perspective and the advertiser perspective.
Diggers are very anti-establishment and a good portion of them ad-block the current ads on the site. One reason for this may the fact that Digg hasn’t provided their audience with the most relevant of ads. Digg has even apologized for some highly annoying ads that have upset its users in the past. Seeing that Digg has tried a variety of different ads to no avail, a fresh attempt is needed and this approach looks like it may solve many of the current problems.
Why This Will be Good for Users
If it works, Digg will stick around. As silly as this sounds, making money (or at least breaking even) is an intrinsic aspect of running a service for people. Sure Diggers are used to getting things for free (torrents, software cracks, Digg w/ad block … etc) but at the end of the day a Digg with sponsored listings is better than no Digg at all. Many users are already embracing the system, as long as it isn’t too intrusive:
I think this is great, but please don’t put more than 2 ads in the river at any given time. – Digg User Alancayce
Users will determine how much advertisers have to pay. If an ad sucks, users will be able to speak up about it in a civilized format instead of submitting articles complaining about ads. The worst ads will be footed with a bigger bill, and advertisers may re-consider purchasing again.
They aren’t annoying. Traditionally, ads that have appeared on Digg can play music when hovered over, pop-out or be too flashy (like the current Microsoft ad campaign on Digg). These new ads are clearly marked and look to be stationary and unobtrusive. Users will see a link with a short description and can choose whether to check it out or not, no digital shenanigans involved.
This will help to make ads much more relevant. The majority of complaints about Digg ads have been that they are off-topic and intrusive. Now users can comment on why they dislike an ad to sway negative votes, and bury ads that suck. If it’s a good ad – great! More good ads should begin popping up.
Why This Will be Good for Advertisers
If your content is good, you should be able to pay pennies on the dollar. This should help those non-traditional advertisers who couldn’t afford bloated CPMs a shot at advertising on Digg.
It is a way for advertisers to be a part of the site. Instead of working on captivating creative for banner ads, advertisers can be judged off of their content. In an era of banner blindness, being integrated into the site will undoubtedly drive more clicks and awareness for ads.
A Look at Other Social News & Bookmarking Ads
The two largest Digg competitors are Reddit and StumbleUpon, both with legacy ad systems that are also integrated into the content.
Reddit, currently undergoing user backlash, added ads to the site about 2 years ago, and has also added sponsored listings earlier this year. Also, the side ads have always had the ability to be voted on by using the “Reddit this ad” button beneath each.
StumbleUpon has an advertising system that allows advertisers to purchase views from selected users. These ads directs StumbleUpon user to an advertisers page without notifying them about the nature of the paid stumble. Currently only paid members have the ability to terminate these ads.
Why the Digg Ad System Will be Better
Unlike the StumbleUpon model, the Digg ad model is upfront and doesn’t mislead visitors. Users can see the clearly labeled ad, and choose not to view the page. This doesn’t force unwanted content down a user’s throat and gives them the option of viewing the paid content placed within the site.
The Reddit ads allow for commenting, but no voting functionality exists to let users decide the quality (update: commentor ‘jedberg’ informs us that if an ad recieves a high number of votes it can stick around longer). The new Digg ad system will show the votes and also allow users to bury the ads (traditionally, a buried ad is hidden once buried then grayed out to they user for good). While Reddit did a good job mixing ads with content in a non-obtrusive format, Digg has taken this one step further and will help users dictate the ad pricing, and hopefully the users eventually dictate the ads altogether.
What Advertisers Should Know
Even though you think you can buy your way onto the popular page of Digg, it is a MUCH different venue than creating quality content that users naturally promote to the homepage. Even though the ads will be featured on the homepage, Diggers traditionally pass on paid messages. Additionally, if an ad is sent to a strictly commercial page that is of no interest to the Digg community, they will face a high level of criticism. While this seems like an easy way to “get popular” on Digg, the traffic, links and visibility from a natural community driven story will be exponentially larger and more productive than a sponsored message.
What Ads Will Work
The Digg community is a highly technical community that is stereo-typed as enjoying video games, gadgets, Democrats. Companies that are tech related or have products that have a positive reputation on Digg should fare well. These advertisers could successfully leverage product launches, updates and exclusives by using the new Digg ads.  To see what will work, simply visit the site regularly and see what is gathering the most votes and responses- these will be the successful ads down the road.
Examples: Microsoft leaks a release date around the Zune HD through a Digg ad or Warner Bros. buys an Ad for an upcoming Batman trailer
What Ads Won’t Work
As much as the community likes technology and politics, they despise ads. With that said, nearly all of the Digg banner ads would be a massive failure if they purchased this new form of advertising. Anything that is corporate, sales-y or not interesting will be victimized. If your product isn’t targeting tech-savvy opinionated 16-30 year old males, you won’t have success with these ads. I feel that the majority of the early ads will flop miserably and hurt mismatched companies more than it will help.
Examples: Freecreditreport buys an ad that sends users to their homepage or Hummer buys an ad that features their newest gas guzzler
How the System Could Backfire
While voting and commenting on ads mixed in to normal Digg content sounds like a great idea, Diggers have been known to be a very harsh crowd, and excessively negative comments are common ground on Digg. If an ad is terrible, not only will the price be higher, but it could feel the wrath of the Digg community who are notorious for being brutal commenters. Many major brands may shy away from this form of advertising if their reputation is dragged through the mud.
Additionally, if the quality of the sponsored ads is lacking, or the ads seriously degrade the content on the site, users could be isolated and may leave Digg completely.
Conclusion
This ad system is a well needed change for Digg, as it brings much needed revenue potential that will deliver a much bigger bang for advertisers. However, advertisers may shy away from an ad that hangs them out to dry in front of the nefarious Digg community. It is a risky move, but has the early potential to be the hands down leader in social news advertising … only time will tell.
What do YOU think?
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