SocialNext

Google Results Integrate Video Thumbnails from Competitors

It appears that Google is integrating thumbnails of videos in its search results but not just from Google-owned properties like YouTube.

I was going through my traffic logs for my sketch comedy group and found Google supplied a thumbnail and direct link to one of our videos on MySpace.

Google could simply use this feature on YouTube videos giving them a huge clickthru advantage but they’re choosing not to. According to WebTVWire Google is also providing thumbnails for videos on Yahoo Video, MetaCafe, YouTube, Google Video, MySpace and Vimeo.

It’s a smart move, one that truly speaks to Google's mission of organizing the world’s information.

ACrappySearchEngine.com Advertising Success Story

I don’t like letting the cat out of the bag, especially when it comes to a business advantage but I have to give props to the new ad campaign I started on ACrappySearchEngine.com.

I was pretty skeptical of their FrivolousAds system which seems to work like Google AdWords except instead of relevant terms your ad displays on irrelevant terms:

That's the power of ACrappySearchEngine.com's patented adverting technology: FrivolousAds. Put simply, when a user does a search, FrivolousAds will deliver a completely irrelevant text ad - catching the user off guard and generating huge sales for you!

I’ll admit I didn’t think showing my ad against terms like “pizza” or “telephone repair in tulsa” would generate valuable traffic but it does. I’ve been very happy with the results and will definitely continue to advertise there and I encourage everyone to do the same. You can’t argue with results. Just to prove it to you, here’s a chart showing substantial growth I found somewhere on the internet:

**UPDATE: Guys, it's a joke. ;-)

CBS Launches Blogger Toolkit

Cory Bergman over at Lost Remote has a great post about CBS' new Blogger Toolkit. I have to give CBS credit - they understand they way to succeed in creating online buzz is to provide bloggers with tools and media. It still has it's rough edges but it's a good start. (And I think Big Bang Theory looks funny too.)

Kelly Clarkson to Launch Social Network

To help promote Kelly Clarkson's new record, My December, her record label is relaunching her web site complete with a social networking features such as user profiles, message boards and media sharing tools. I'm assuming it will debut any time now. My December comes out June 26th.

Frankly I think it is a mistake for everyone to be making their own social network instead of investing more time marketing on existing platforms like MySpace or Facebook. The goal of social marketing is to empower users to share with other users and get them involved in the product! If everyone on a network likes the same thing who are you supposed to share it with?

Presidential Candidates Stealing Content on YouTube

The posting of copyrighted material has been a big problem for YouTube in the past. Now some of the highest profile users are posting illegal content: The presidential candidates!

Of the Democratic front runners Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards only Obama has illegal content in this account – an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC.

The leading Republicans however are a different story. Of Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain and Mayor Rudy Giuliani only Giuliani doesn’t have copyrighted materials.

While McCain has clips from the Today Show,  CNN and FOX News but Romney is the big offender.

Romney has content from all over including FOX News, 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC and even CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman.

So what will YouTube do? It's one thing to ban a teenager's account for posting Daily Show clips it is quite another to try to boss around a possible future President of the United States.

Kelly Clarkson Sponsorship Includes Her MySpace

Former American Idol Kelly Clarkson is a celebrity endorser of Vitamin Water. Her commitment includes personal appearances, magazine ads and…her MySpace.

In Kelly’s photos section there’s a picture of her [at left] posing with a bottle of Vitamin Water product Smart Water with the tag line, “What a refreshing beverage…”.

It’s a smart way to subtly promote the brand. Heck, the first comment on the picture is, “I Love Smart Water”.