SF Chronicle: Facebook now directs more online users to portals than Google
Facebook keeps on growing its influence. Looking at some of the latest comparative online web traffic analytics, Facebook is nearly as big for generating daily unique visitors as either Google or Yahoo (click here for Compete.com's results). Labels: Analytics, Compete, Digital media, Facebook, Google, growth, Media Influence, Media Trend Watching, trends, Web Trends
And now the San Francisco Chronicle reports Facebook directs more online users to the major portals (like Yahoo and MSN) than Google.
That's big. And that's big influence. Which explains why Google is feeling threatened by social media's powerful growth lately.
Reports Benny Evangelista from the SF Chronicle @SFGate.com today:
A big part of the Facebook experience is how friends and family share Web links to interesting news stories, photos, videos and Internet sites.
Read more:
This "friend-casting" of information has helped propel Facebook into a major force in directing traffic around the Web.
According to Web measurement firm Compete Inc., Facebook has passed search-engine giant Google to become the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN, and is among the leaders for other types of sites.
This trend is shifting the way Web site operators approach online marketing, even as Google takes steps to move into the social-media world.
Some experts say social media could become the Internet's next search engine.
"People are spending less time navigating the Internet on their own and are now navigating the Internet based on their friends' recommendations or their friends' activities," said Dave Yovanno, chief executive of Gigya Inc., a Palo Alto firm that offers social-media services. "That's one of the big trends we started picking up on probably four or five months ago."
For years, Web content creators had to worry whether they had the proper level of search-engine optimization to make sure search engines listed them among the top results. Now, they have to consider what companies like Gigya offer - social-media optimization.
"Marketers must focus on social marketing in addition to traditional search, as customers have a multi-pronged way of finding information," said Jeremiah Owyang, a Web strategist for the Altimeter Group, a San Mateo consulting firm with clients like Gigya. "The clear-cut channels of yesteryear are now an intricate set of connections."
Using a snapshot of Web traffic from December, Compete's director of online media and search, Jessica Ong, found that 15 percent of traffic to major Web portals like Yahoo, MSN and AOL came from Facebook and MySpace. The lion's share of that traffic, 13 percent came from Facebook.
Google, which has profited handsomely from directing Web surfers to their destinations during the past decade, was third with 7 percent, just behind e-commerce site eBay, which had 7.61 percent. MySpace was fourth with just under 2 percent.
Surprise gain
The numbers proved eye-opening because Google used to dominate most Web-referral categories. "I was surprised to see Facebook has become No. 1," Ong said.
In other categories, Compete's data showed Mountain View's Google still on top, but Palo Alto's Facebook was not far behind. For example, Google accounted for 21.3 percent of referrals to sites catering to movie fans, but Facebook was second with 12.4 percent. And in a video category, Google - which owns YouTube - was first with 22.9 percent, but Facebook was next at 12.7 percent.
Facebook's meteoric growth as a Web destination was a factor. Facebook says it has 400 million active members, including about 225 million added in just the past 12 months. Its size now rivals that of major Web portals and its demographics mirror those of the Internet in general, Ong said.
"Putting all this information together, we can say that Facebook has become an integral part of the consumer Web experience, similar to how portals like Yahoo and MSN are part of most consumers' online sessions," Ong said. "So the message for the advertising industry is that more serious attention needs to be paid to social-networking sites like Facebook, and advertisers need to figure out how to leverage this traffic."
posted by Unknown @ Monday, February 15, 2010,
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Formats are the Internet's Killer App
Formats are the internet’s killer app. Yet, they get little attention and even less respect.
Formats create more value online than content. Yet, content gets all the press.
There’s already a mountain of content available online – most of it free. We don’t need more content. We need better formats.
Formats have been around for a long time, packaging and organizing ‘content’ to make it worth a lot more.
Top 40 radio is a format. It takes about 40 songs that are ‘worth’ 99 cents each at iTunes and packages them so that can be worth millions in advertising. The Top 40 format adds millions in value.
We can see the same format power at work for Amazon, eBay, Zappos, YouTube, and Facebook . Formats have added billions in value online.
Amazon is a format. It doesn’t create content – it formats or packages it.
Amazon made a fortune because it formatted the department store online.
It formatted (organized) its store as a simple, one-stop shopping experience - with a series of ‘departments’ ranging from books and electronics to garden tools into -just as Sears had done in the physical world 40 years earlier.
And, Amazon made millions without manufacturing any ‘content’
Even eBay is a format. They are worth billions because they formatted the flea market. eBay simply created the packaging that sold someone else’s ‘content’.
iTunes formatted the online music store. And, the iPod re-formatted the record player.
Zappos formatted the shoe store. They don’t make shoes. They format the experience of the world’s best shoe store to appeal to shoe junkies. And, it works.
Or, consider Facebook. It formatted the reunion. It hasn’t earned much profit but it could sell today for billions of dollars even though there is no clear business model. That’s the power of formats.
The same is true about YouTube. It formatted the ‘home’ movie, never made much money and got sold to Google for over $1 billion.
Not surprisingly, the biggest online business of all, Google, makes most of its money from formatting, not from content.
Google makes enormous profits by formatting the ‘library’ experience for users and then selling ‘knowledge’ about user interests to advertisers. That’s the power of formats.
One could even make the case that the Mac operating system (OSX) and Windows are both a form of format. They organize the way we can use a computer.
If you make that case, then the ‘format’ that jumpstarted the world wide web – Netscape, is the granddaddy of them all. And, it sold for billions of dollars.
That’s why we’re bullish on formats and formatting. Because, there’s already a staggering amount of content available online – most of it free – and, most of it is not formatted well, if at all.
We see big growth opportunities for companies that get better at formatting. And, lost opportunities for those who don’t.
posted by John Parikhal @ Monday, June 08, 2009,
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I Think, Therefore I Am
Labels: Change, Drucker, Future, growth, Leadership, management, NAB, Radio, Thinking
"Je pense, donc je suis"
"I think, therefore I am"
In whatever language you speak it, Rene Descartes's famous self-analysis phrase on existence speaks volumes about the shape of radio, the ad industry and media itself.
With the latest ad revenue results for the last 6 months (down 15% to 32% year-to-year, depending on the radio group in the U.S.), the radio industry (and media in general) thinks the market sucks...and therefore it continues to be.
The industry/market seems to be in a vicious self-perpetuating cycle: huge operating/financial debt loads, dramatic downturn in economy, smaller ad budgets, more media competition for fewer $$$, staff cutbacks, weakened local programming, more syndicated/voice-tracked content, missed budget goals, forced unpaid days off, speculation about inevitable radio group bankruptcies, more cutbacks -- leaving remaining staff with work overloads, etc.
Execs are even turning down their contracted bonuses and stock options. When it gets to that, you know things can't be good. With times like this, everybody hurts.
Gosh, all that bad news does wonders for industry self-confidence.
"I think therefore I am"
We are all living in the "aftermath of a go-go economy." As Peter Drucker, father of modern management practices, once said: "Every such era believed there would be no limit to growth. And every one ended in debacle and left behind a massive hang-over."
For the last year or so, this is the massive collective hang-over.
Now that the NAB is looking for a new chairman, Radio could use someone with serious vision mojo to help the industry see out of this morass. Someone who can take a room of radio CEOs and get them to see past this mess they helped create on their own watch.
But whom?
Who is that person?
As the expression says, "Go where there is growth." (as said by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and countless others.)
As another well-known expression goes, this time from Albert Einstein: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Who can avoid doing the same thing as radio has done before and go where there is growth in order to expect different (better) results?
On the Jointblog, we've already suggested Stuart Smalley...but he is busy trying get to formally accepted into the Senate.
What about the return Eddie Fritts? Doubtful, as Fritts left due to the board's need for change and who now heads The Fritts Group, a D.C.-based lobbying operation that represents Fortune 500 companies on Capitol Hill.
Too bad Bill Clinton is also busy with political conflicts.
Jack Welch? He seems to have time on his hands.
Someone smart who can think different, express change and the new reality...and lead others to growth...
Tony Robbins?
Tom Peters? (if ever there a need to returning searching for excellence, this is that time)
Donny Deutsch
Guy Kawasaki?
Jeff Jaffe?
Chris Anderson?
Walt Mossberg?
Steven Covey?
Seth Godin?
Chris Brogan?
Or, to be really contrarian, how about Jerry Del Colliano?
Who do you nominate for the NAB search committee to replace the resigning David Rehr?
New NAB chief: "I think, therefore I am."
posted by Unknown @ Wednesday, May 06, 2009,
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A Good Sign for Future CBS Radio Growth: Bringing Dan Mason Back
Labels: brand building, CBS Radio, Change, Dan Mason, growth, Media Trend Watching, Move Forward, Sirius, Stern, Traditional Media
Experience from someone who's been there is a tremendous asset...especially after having a chance to step away, learn and view changes impartially for a fresh perspective.
CBS Radio needed fresh prespective.
CBS Radio needed fresh leadership.
CBS Radio needed "been there" experience from someone who knows how to get "it" done.
And CBS Radio got it.
Bringing Dan Mason back to CBS Radio looks like the right decision. CBS Radio's 7% drop in year-to-year revenue for 2006 was a direct end-product of industry, listener and customer perceptual losses in branding trust.
How?
From bold format changes across the nation (in the spirit of innovation) that failed to connect with new audiences.
From poor decisions handling the entire Howard Stern transition to Sirius satellite radio, messing up millions of listener's morning routines...especially after CBS Radio tired to fill the programming vacuum unsuccessfully.
Worst of all, from breaking "brand trusts" with listeners through perceived manipulation...and not delivering better products; the quality level of radio stations CBS Radio listeners have long expected from CBS Radio.
This change is an important step in rebuilding trust.
Before they brought back the CBS Radio name, they were Infinity Broadcasting -- the company that invested in radio's best talent, best programming, best leadership, best sales teams, the best radio market's. Before Infinity, it was Westinghouse. And before Westinghouse, it was CBS Radio.
CBS Radio has long been radio's crown jewel...with the exception of the last few years. Perhaps it is coincidence that CBS Radio's performance and perceptions changed after 2002 when Dan Mason "retired" to begin consulting. Perhaps not. Perhaps CBS Radio was just a victim of traditional media losing out to new media. Perhaps not.
The fact Dan Mason is coming back is a good sign for returned CBS Radio growth. Dan's been there. He'll debunk myths and move the group forward. He knows what it felt like within Infinity during its "championship" years, its legacy years as radio grew through the 70s, the 80s, and the 90s. And he's largely consulted new media (such as Sirius) through SaboMason since leaving CBS Radio/Infinity in 2002 (while also consulting CBS Radio).
One of Walter Sabo's respected strengths is his passionate viewpoints on creativity for radio, regardless of format. No doubt CBS Radio will benefit from Dan's recent experiences with Sabo.
New ideas and fresh perspective to the table...while also bringing "been there" assets.
Things seem to be looking up for CBS Radio again. And that's a good thing for all of radio.
posted by Unknown @ Tuesday, March 27, 2007,
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Big Audience: Internet reaches 747 million people worldwide, Up 10 Percent
Labels: comScore, growth, Internet, Jointblog, Media Trend Watching, New Media, population, users
How many people use the Internet? According to new data from comScore Network's World Metrix service, the Internet reaches 747 million people worldwide. How big is that? Slightly more than Europe's total population of 710 million people. The total world population right now? Nearly 6.7 billion. That means the Internet reaches 11% of the world.
That's a big audience...but there's still lots of room to grow.
And grow it has. Overall, the amount of global web users increased 10 percent over the past year, with about 74 million new users.
According to the report:The greatest growth over the past year comes from India (33 percent); the Russian Federation (21 percent); and China (20 percent).
The U.S. still dominates Internet usage, with more than 153 million total users online -- a 2% gain since last year. US users average 32 hours a month online...but broadband users take advantage of their high speed, averaging 37 hours per month.
Online engagement topped an average 27 hours spent each month in the top 10 user countries. Hours spent online was strongest in Canada (39.6 hours); Israel (37.4 hours); and South Korea (34 hours).
Canada tops broadband hours used at 41 hours a month.
The top sites total worldwide? Microsoft, Google and Yahoo lead the Top 3.
posted by Unknown @ Tuesday, March 06, 2007,
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