For specific queries, Google's search results pages are looking less and less like traditional Google pages and more and more like Facebook. The below example for the query "starbucks" promotes Starbucks, local maps and news results in the core results. On the right column, there is a Google+ follow button (in 550,000+ circles) and recent Google+ posts by Starbucks. This is strikingly different than the traditional AdWords unit - and a tie in between search, AdWords, and Google+.
Much has been made of the rumored Facebook Phone.... specifically around the hardware component (see the Techmeme stream here). Regardless of whether or not a Facebook branded device will soon exist, the Facebook Phone already exists as an OS of sorts.... comprised of core applications. Here is my iPhone's homescreen. There is a folder dedicated to Facebook with the core Facebook Application, Facebook Messages, Facebook Camera, and Facebook Pages. It is not hard to imagine standalone apps for contacts, calendar, places, etc. Said differently, if you think about the phone's core applications, Facebook can replicate many of them:- Contacts :: FB Graph - Calendar :: FB Events - SMS :: FB Messages - Email :: FB Messages or blown out email product - Maps :: FB Places - Camera :: FB Camera - Media :: Open Graph / Facebook App Platform?
Last week we announced an investment in Spindle. Today, I am excited to an investment in another seed-stage, Dogpatch Labs, social media company: PostRocket. PostRocket optimizes Facebook content for brand and page owners. It's a problem those users know too well: 1,000s of fans - often $1,000s of dollars spent - and yet only a small percentage are reached. PostRocket looks at the content, fans, and engagement habits to help brand / page owners create better content, publish more effectively, and ultimately drive deeper engagement. It's also a problem this team knows well: they are smarter about Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm / logic than any non-Facebook employee I know.
It's a big, important idea because it's a big, important question for the majority of Facebook brands and advertisers. I have eaten my own dog food and tested PostRocket with the DogpatchLabs Facebook page. The early results are really outstanding: over a 2.5x improvement in fan engagement.
PostRocket is opening their doors soon. You can register for the beta here. And follow them on Facebook and Twitter. More on TechCrunch.
I love that Twitter is baked directly into iOS.... but could be so much more - and I've written about that from the launch (example here). My primary frustration is that the integration doesn't do enough with my contact list - which remains the most accurate, important social network. Furthermore, Twitter uses aliases - and I rarely remember people's Twitter usernames. This problem exists even within the Twitter app or popular readers like Tweetbot. Apple has a Twitter Contact tool - but it doesn't do enough: I should be able to connect with the user by name and not by username. After all, my contact list is the more natural convention and, of course, how I know these people.
In the below screenshot, I Tweeted a TechCrunch article by Anthony Ha - and the only reason the association worked is because his Twitter handle is his name!
Big opportunity for Apple to make Contacts more social and usable. And for Twitter to grow usage and cement user identity.
Below is a series of screenshots from within the Facebook iOS app that allows users to match their Facebook friends against their iPhone Contacts: "Find Friends on Facebook: Choose contacts on your phone to add as friends on Facebook." It's a basic concept - but it's tremendously powerful since your mobile contact list is really your tightest, most significant network.... and those users are surely also Facebook users. Of course Apple performs the matching by uploading contacts from the device and then sorting them on Facebook's servers. You may remember this practice was critiqued publicly - but Facebook is very clear about how they are using the contacts.
It is also worth noting that Facebook is clearly aware of the potential growth here (in one click I can add 1,109 new friends!) but wants to balance some quality control: "Please send invites only to friends who will be glad to get them."
Two trends within Facebook that I have written frequently about: - Facebook Offers: which has morphed from a Groupon-like platform to an extension of their sponsored ad format - In the River Marketing: which is particularly important for large products / platforms like Facebook (examples here: New Facebook Photos and Facebook Places)
Combine those and you have the following series of screenshots: Facebook's In the River promotion of their new Facebook Offers product. When you visit your Facebook page, you are prompted with a takeover atop the status box:
"Welcome to Facebook Offers: Drive people to your busienss with an offer that people can share with their friends." Various examples are cycled through - starting with Red Robin in this case ($5 off).
You can then "take the tour" and Facebook walks you through the various components and how to set up a campaign. Notably, its placed in-line next to the Status and Photo box.... that is prime real estate.
The walkthrough itself is not exactly noteworthy (write a strong headline! Choose a great thumbnail!) - however, the presentation of the tour and the location of the product is important. Furthermore, the final step of the tour is very interesting because it demonstrates the friction of online to offline content and commerce:
"Prepare your staff: Let your staff know about the offer so they're ready to accept it from people who show it from a mobile phone, or in printer form." Easier said than done as this is a far bigger problem than a one-line reminder to tell your staff about the coupon.
I haven't logged into Google Plus in a little, so I cannot tell if this is a new feature or a result of my infrequent usage - nevertheless, I was taken aback by Google's new Trending on Google+ module... which looks exactly like Twitter's. While it is interesting to see that the topics are related (ie Junior Seau, NFL), I was most interested by the use of hashtags on Google. Within my Google+ network, I have not seen hashtags used with any regularity (whereas they obviously are part of the Twitter culture) - I also would have assumed they would relied on real-time search and trends to populate the list.
Email unsubscribe flows are typically binary: either super simple to unsubscribe (how it should be) or super convoluted (having to uncheck preferences, confirm email addresses, etc). This is a clever flow by Jetsetter because it is in fact super simple (just one click)... but it gently 'upsells' users: "How about just one email a month?" First, that's such a gentler, kinder way to ask for email access than having me check a slew of boxes.
Second, it comes after they have unsubscribed me - so there is established trust. When they say "just one email a month", I believe it.
Lastly, Jetsetter promotes their Facebook and Twitter pages. If you are going to lose an access point to your customers - might as well push other avenues to communicate and interact with them.
If you haven't already, I encourage you to watch the Facebook IPO Roadshow video. It's fascinating and well done. There is a ton in there worth discussing / pointing out, but I wanted to highlight one of my favorite screens (shown below): It shows Facebook's growing advertising revenue and the four stages of advertising platform growth that have helped it grow (of course alongside monstrous user growth!): - Reach (their userbase) - Relevance (targeting) - Engagement (like, share, etc) - Social Context (sponsored, open graph, etc)
And what's missing? How about off-Facebook advertising...
More here: TechCrunch / Roadshow Video / WSJ