"Social Top Ups with Facebook"... Not by Facebook

Here is an example of why it is important to pay attention to an advertisement's provider: I stared at this ad for quite some time and wondered what Facebook's Social Top Ups product was. Turns out it is NOT a new Facebook promotion to drive Credits, international usage, etc. Turns out it IS a developer's product (Social TopUps) and their ad unit is made to look like a Facebook product (not sure this is / should be allowed). If you dig in, the ad creative is similar to Facebook's mark(s) but at much lower quality... and the app's landing page describes the product:

"Roamware's Social TopUps Service allows a Facebook user to directly recharge a mobile subscriber's prepaid mobile phone in another country, as long as their mobile network operator is a participating carrier in this Service."

I suspect the ad unit converted terrifically from impression to click. And it probably lead to higher-than-average install rates... but the unit is sneaky and yet another example of why it is important to pay attention to the source of ads (on Google, Facebook, etc).

McDonald's Buys Facebook Ads to Ask, "Would You Check-In?"

McDonald's is currently buying sponsored ads on Facebook to ask whether you "would check-in at a McDonald's restaurant". Considering that McDonald's does not currently provide offers for checking-in via Facebook Places, this appears to be a survey campaign. At the time of the screenshot, over 20,000 Facebook users completed the survey. ~30% of those users have already check-in to McDonald's (hard to believe?) and 43% would do so for a "good" deal.

This is not surprising: we know that people love discounts and anything with the word "free".

It is a different approach to advertising alongside Facebook Deals. Starbucks and H&M have run campaigns promoting their deals - McDonald's might well do that in the future, but for now it is more of a branded research project.

Facebook Now Advertising "Facebook Deals" to iPhone Users

Last week I wrote about how both Starbucks and H&M are beginning to advertise their Facebook Deals / Facebook Places campaigns. Now Facebook itself is advertising the Deals Platform:

"Find Deals on Facebook: Checking in on Places can get great deals nearby. Find specials wherever you see a yellow icon in the Facebook for iPhone app."

Like Starbucks and H&M, this ad is targeting consumers and aims to drive check-ins... which in turn can also be considered a promotion for the deal providers (ie Starbucks, H&M, etc). Also interesting:

1) the ad specifically targets iPhone users - I wonder if there is an Android specific campaign? 2) the ad expands into a video. Facebook has been releasing high-quality videos for each of their new products (example here)

Landing page:

Comcast Uses Xfinity.TV and iPhone, iPad App to Move Online, Counter Netflix & Hulu

It is popular to hate Comcast: mostly because so many of us spend lots of money with them ... and have few choices otherwise. Between cable, internet and phone, the monthly Comcast bill can be one of your largest recurring payments (behind house / rent and car). But let's give Comcast some credit: they are releasing better products (even if it should have happened sooner). Two examples:

1. Xfinity.tv: effectively Comcast's on-demand product with a deeper library and access to your home DVR. Quality is excellent and the library is extensive. For Comcast subscribers, this makes you think twice about Hulu Pro and Netflix (additional monthly bills). Also worth noting: Xfinity.tv does a pretty good job integrating Facebook and works very well on Google TV:

2. Comcast's iPhone & iPad Applications

It arrived much later than DirecTV's - but the applications are certainly useful. It has several features which are probably unused for most (Comcast email, phone, etc), but the TV Guide and DVR control are great. And for the Xfinity application, the ability to control your television is terrific (and is a challenge to high end bluetooth / IR remote control systems).

These two products (and the ad campaigns supporting them) demonstrate that Comcast is thinking / worried about the migration from TV to web, mobile and tablet. It also demonstrates the impact that Netflix, Hulu and others represent.

Facebook Testing New Ad Format With Groupon?

As Facebook ramps its own Deal platform, it appears as though they might be testing a new ad unit / format with the web's leading deal provider: Groupon. The following ad appears as a Facebook sponsored unit on the main page and is essentially a mini feed post includes:

- the friend's / purchaser's name - the exact same text as Groupon's automated feed post (see the feed screenshot below) - the Groupon deal's image and location - has a unique three button base that allows for comments, likes and "Deals" .... that "Deals" link goes directly to the Groupon page and also appears on the feed post (like a custom application link)

The ad itself is hyper relevant: - time (expiring) - relationship (my friend) - and location (specific to me - I imagine I would NOT get an ad for a Minneapolis deal).

I wonder how automated the buying and publishing is... and I wonder if it is a sign of an ad platform being built directly into the Facebook Applications platform. From the look of it, it appears that could be true.

The Facebook Sponsored Ad Unit

The Feed Post for that Same Groupon Deal

Google Advertising Chrome Heavily on Facebook

Chrome is a clear focus for Google. It is growing quickly and taking market share from other web browsers... and it represents a core component of other Google priorities: Google TV, mobile, web speed, apps, etc. Google is now advertising "the world's fastest-growing web browser" on Facebook with a handful of different ad units. Some of the ads promote liking the Chrome Facebook Page (now with over 3.2m fans!) and others promote downloading the "speedy browser built for the modern web".

Google also released a clever website to highlight the power of Chrome and get users familiar with the benefits: 20thingsIlearned.com. Very well done and is prominently featured on the Chrome Installation page:

Coincidentally, September marked Google Chrome's 2nd birthday. Google crafted a couple commemorative graphics for the occasion:

Things I Would Love to See in iOS5: Better Notifications

Aditya Mukherjee's post "Things I would love to see in iOS5" has risen to the top of Hacker News. Aditya includes a couple aesthetic upgrades and two that I think are a very big deal:

"Better Push Notifications: Apple should just straight out copy Android’s Cloud-to-Device API. That’s it.

Better Notification System: They hired the fellow who designed WebOS’ notifications, so I’m sure this is definitely coming. Goodness knows we need it."

Notifications are an area that needs innovation: it is a key component of app-engagement ... which in turn makes the app ecosystem more effective / efficient ... and in turn allows consumers to better use / access their content

That said, from a consumer standpoint, notifications can quickly become overwhelming. Work is needed on the customization, management and archiving side as well. Without great thought, my gut says that notifications deserve their own SMS-like core application (by Apple) where notifications by provider are listed and managed just as your SMS history is stored. Search, archiving and room for rich messaging (beyond the limited text) would go a long way to:

- making applications more powerful. Imagine the potential for ESPN's ScoreCenter, Kik, Square and other varied apps.

- gives developers more room for creativity and a better ability to engage users on an ongoing basis.

- gives users better control, history and utility.

H&M Offers 20% Off Entire Purchase for Facebook Deals Check-In

Within a day of Facebook announcing their new Deals platform, Starbucks started advertising for their check-in rewards.

Retailer H&M is now doing the same: rewarding checked-in users with 20% their purchase. H&M has been an aggressive experimental marketer. For instance, they were early to advertise in Booyah's location game MyTown and have advertised on Facebook in the past. It will be interesting to see if H&M starts appearing in your newsfeed during the promotion (which ends today).

AOL Takes Over NYTimes.com

Over the weekend, I visited NYTimes.com and was surprised to see AOL's "On AOL.com Now" campaign taking over the *entire* screen of my laptop. This screenshot is trimmed down to fit the blog, but it is taken of a fully expanded browser. The ad itself is attractive, dynamic and features fresh, timely content. My surprise is instead that the New York Times homepage is entirely covered by a different (but still competing?) news source: