Internet Marketing Blog

Craigslist Shuts Down Adult Services Section

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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In a late report on Friday, the online classified website Craigslist shut down their adult services section. Many critics, including Craigslist executives, believe that if the section was removed permanently, sex advertisements would gravitate to other parts of the site, undermining their integrity. Currently, the classified executives reserve comment until further notice, which is hardly surprising. According to a report on Information Week, Craigslist gains 30% of their $122 million revenue stream through the adult services section. The emergence of geolocation in social media is also a threat to their viability as a local advertising website. Security measures have become a higher priority for online users, and Craigslist has a shaky history with predators. The issue opens another discussion for this topic: website surveillance.

Craigslist has claimed to employ U.S. lawyers to manually siphon advertisements that promote illegal services. Executives believe this is far more effective than automated surveillance, and even think that overly aggressive content management can enter the domain of censorship. I think that websites, especially classified, have a certain level of responsibility for the content displayed on their website. Surely, Craigslist is doing what they can to ensure the safety of their customers. But it’s a little harder to believe their effort when the issue at hand is a dependable revenue stream and a new market develops which could obliterate their existence with superior technology. They have also done little to upgrade the site for an improved user experience. It still maintains the sophomorific text lines and layout. These developments could signal the end of Craigslist, or just a slow fade into the oblivion.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Click Fraud, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), blog, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, click fraud agency new york, craigslist, digital marketing agency new york, online advertising

True Cybercrimes

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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As social media gains popularity in our common lives, protection of our identity becomes paramount.  One who is more of a dilettante to viral socializing may just decide to deactivate themselves, which is fine.  Others who value social media as a portal to entertainment and interaction plan to investigate their privacy rights according to the website policy, seeking loopholes in data accessibility in order to close them.  

The advancement of smartphone technology will only intensify the sharing of personal information across hardware and channels, so diligence need apply.  We are already seeing this with the development of geolocation, a practice where one can update their point on Earth in real time.  Security concerns have been shared on this space and the cyberworld, so delving in farther is unnecessary.

Despite all of this emerging concern with the increase of channel platforms to transfer data between your laptop, mobile phone, video game console, and the like, the public remains concerned about traditional cybercrimes such as identity theft.  Banks remain the least trusted business, according to recent survey done by Kindsight.  I have heard stories about security fraud in the past and present, as banks would infiltrate their customers with phishing messages while touting the finest security emblems on their webpage.  Credit histories are at stake when e-commerce transactions go haywire. When it comes to banking, however, many people have lifestyles today that do not permit the time to wait in a teller line for routine transactions. Larger firms, in light of the financial settlement passed by Congress, have taken steps to mitigate this personal service by assessing fees.  It will affect several demographics, namely senior citizens who are not technologically efficient.  This situation deserves monitoring by all, as the restrictive legal elements have yet to make a measurable impact.

Millennial who are savvy with their hardware and software easily make the adjustments necessary to protect their personal identity online.  Others struggle with the societal shift to online distribution of personal data, and whether they become successful remains to be seen.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Blog Marketing, Click Fraud, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Social Media Marketing, World, blog, eCommerce | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, Click Fraud, click fraud security, identity theft, kindsight, preventing click fraud, Social Media Marketing

Major Factors Influencing Mobile Advertising

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Mobile marketing and advertising has created plenty of opportunities to promote the products or services of any business. Nowadays, mobile as a new media channel offers a great reach that is highly relevant for the advertisers to target audiences. This form of advertising can prove to be an effective medium for businesses. A range of influential factors exist in this movement. Hence, there is a great need for completely analyzing the factors that largely influence the consumers to accept mobile devices as an advertising medium. Studies indicate that when compared to older generations, the younger people are more attracted towards mobile devices.  

The major factors that affect the use of mobile advertising include device, interface, purpose, media, content, message and the audience. Acceptance of mobile as an advertising medium among consumers is influenced by a wide range of factors that include purpose, personalization, control, privacy, protection, usage, specificity, psychological barriers and other regulations. When these factors that influence the consumer acceptance are analyzed properly, it will provide valuable insights about the role of mobile marketing and advertising in the near future. Quite a few non consumer centric variables exist, like advertising content and technology, when manipulated accordingly will create a positive response among the target audience.

So it is important for one to understand the consumers’ attitude towards mobile advertising and various factors influencing it, based on that a unique model can be defined and executed. One of the key elements for the success of a mobile advertising campaign is to understand both the user expectations as well as the differences in available mobile devices and keeping the users engaged in communication. A good number of businesses are now experiencing success using mobile advertising and marketing as a tool, because of less competition as of now when compared to internet marketing. Overall, mobile marketing is a great tool for lead generation and to build relationships with consumers if the so called factors that influence consumer acceptance are addressed properly.

Posted by Mohamed Mohideen
Posted in 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Mobile Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Content Marketing, mobile advertising agency, Mobile Marketing, Mohamed Mohideen, new york interactive marketing agency

The King Is Dead, Long Live The King, by David Houle

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Futurist David Houle has been peeling layers on Oprah.com about The Shift Age. He has went into discussion about the change of communication with technology, and how values shifted into various directions.  He discussed the future of education, arguing that women will be at the forefront.  He feels that technology has advanced with such speed that our brains cannot handle the relentless flow of information.  Now, he examines this proverbial statement:  Content is King.  In his mind, that is no longer true.  Click on the image to hear his reasoning.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Blog Marketing, Business News, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, David Houle, futurist, Houle, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah.com

The Impact of Mobile Marketing on Businesses

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Recent developments in technology created new media channels for advertising and marketing. The channels of communications used by marketers include SMS, MMS and email, etc. The new area of marketing is the form of marketing that targets mobile phone users in Mobile Marketing.  
Anywhere and at anytime, advertisers can reach their customers in order to promote their products or services through mobile devices. With the help of the consumer profile and their interests, the advertising companies can launch highly targeted campaigns. When devising a mobile marketing campaign, there are quite a few factors that need to be kept in mind which include but not limited to user acceptance, consumer responsiveness and the impact of the campaign on the purchase making decision.

The current format of mobile advertising or marketing does not have a major effect on the buying decision of the consumers and various studies reveal that the response of consumers towards this form of marketing fall in different categories which include a disruptive nature of the advertisements, a need for personalization of advertisements, and the advantages or use of mobile advertisements. The major advantage of this media as a tool of marketing is that it will improve the chances of reaching consumers directly with personalized content. On the other hand, most companies think of negative response from consumers and invasion of consumer privacy as main disadvantages.

Recent studies reveal that one third of Americans who have signed up for promotional alerts via mobile phones indicate that these marketing services make an impact on their buying decision. Placecast studies indicate that only 3% of women and 7% of men are interested in location based social networks.  The check-in services or the mobile optimized location based services of leading social networks has only a limited impact and the reach is still not measured properly.  Studies also reveal that the short messaging services as a new advertising medium can generate good responses as high as 40% compared to direct mail and banner advertisements.  Location based mobile advertising messages are having higher click through rates when compared to online advertising messages.

The key for success in mobile marketing is to maintain a certain level that will not disturb the mobile phone users. So for every marketer, it is very important to know the use of mobile marketing to make a clear impact on the buying decision of a consumer. Mobile media is considered to be more personal than any other traditional mode of communication and emails. It is highly recommended to follow a conceptual framework when defining a mobile marketing campaign using the permission based marketing strategy.

Posted by Mohamed Mohideen
Posted in 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing, Content Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Mobile Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: Content Marketing, internet marketing agency, mobile advertising, Mobile Marketing, Mohamed Mohideen, Social Media Marketing

How To Measure Social Media Marketing

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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How do you measure social media marketing? This is the top question nowadays among web marketing professionals who also use social media as a tool, making a social media analytics plan highly recommended. Studies indicate that almost 50% of the marketers are not sure about the direct value or how to measure the impact of social media on business. It is important to analyze the data by creating a unique analytics plan so that you can make well informed decisions on your marketing efforts.  

First define your goal when you are planning to measure the social media performance metrics on your business. Then go ahead and define actionable performance indicators to effectively measure the results of your campaign and then adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. Social media analytics are all about measuring the results to understand your customers, opportunities for business development, and how you translate your conversations with prospects to make business decisions.

Plenty of great tools are available either paid or free to monitor your social media marketing strategies. Both the free and paid tools offer different features and benefits. IBM introduced one such tool named the IBM SPSS Modeler Professional that helps marketers to find insights of campaigns. You should find such a tool, monitor your customers or prospect’s online activity and their conversation about your products or services to learn how to enhance the social media campaigns further.

Posted by Mohamed Mohideen
Posted in 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Public Relations, Small Business, Social Media Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: Content Marketing, internet marketing agency, Mohamed Mohideen, Social Media Analysis, Social Media Marketing, social media optimization, web analytics

What Will Geolocation Do?

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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The launch of Facebook Places application brings a cornucopia of themes to the table. Foursquare has seemingly taken an earnest stance with Facebook’s geolocation initiative, as seen in this video with Holger Leudorf, the Foursquare Vice President of Mobile and Partnerships.

Competition is healthy within any marketplace, as the crux of free market capitalism.  Privately, I wonder about the start-ups’ true thoughts.  Foursquare has done a solid job of leveraging partnerships with Starbucks, for example, into a multi-pronged channel that delivers advertising and brand equity amongst a loyal base. They have also been a hit with local restaurants and retailers by providing an analytic dashboard to track customer data and grant mayor medallions for repeated visits.

Nevertheless, I think that reality will surface to the top.  Facebook has become the behemoth of social networking, and they want more. Their partnership with Bing to gain market share in search indexing, along with its leveraging of user profile data to tailor campaign strategies, can offer credibility to geolocation that eludes Foursquare at this moment in time.  In fact, it could pose a threat to Craigslist by carving out target demographics.

Places will allow novice users to manage their accounts through one interface, and Facebook wants to be the final destination for your interactive experience.  In today’s deluge of information, an option of efficient streamlining is gladly taken.  The odds are that Foursquare can survive for a little while longer with hardcore loyalists,  but reports are surfacing that some Foursquare users are already migrating to Facebook Places.

Places can take Facebook deeper into a dimension of privacy debate.  Users have deactivated accounts this year after heavy criticism of protocol negligence.  It can be difficult to remember the level of information placed on your user profile, and the inclusion of geo-location magnifies the potential for risk amongst those sharing their points on Earth.  The downfall of MySpace was more than just a hackneyed design scheme.  Cases of pedophilia and other malicious acts popped up in several states, damaging the website’s integrity amongst the public. 

Everything intensifies when information is shared through mobile devices, which already have automated GPS systems through carrier networks.  Surely, one must exhibit prudence when combining too much information through various user interfaces.  I doubt that Carmen Sandiego would love geolocation.  She couldn’t steal treasures and teach geography to children if they already knew her whereabouts.  Serendipity is fun sometimes.  Geolocation kills it for me.  Sorry, Facebook.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Blog Marketing, Content Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, blog | 1 Comment »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, facebook places, foursquare, geolocation marketing, gowalla, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, mobile security issues

Corporate Blogging For Search Index Gains

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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2010 has undoubtedly been the year of social media, where Twitter, Facebook, and Google look to expand their applications and compete will all involved.  All business sectors are turning to social media for instant distribution of content as opposed to traditional blog applications.  The strategy is sound depending on your initiatives and personnel, but corporate blogging still maintains credibility.  

According to eMarketer,  43% of US corporations will be blogging by 2012.  The nature of blogging is a healthy method of communication for those firms who have a solid consumer purchasing base with growth potential.  A veritable portfolio of services is also a factor for the value of a corporate blog.  Managers can easily read messages that are sent to the direct box and respond with little effort.  The transaction can also be confidential for sales negotiations, when having a phone conversation is not ideal.  WordPress, for example, has several chat plug-ins that are easily downloadable and assist with troubleshooting. The eMarketer piece also mentions that smaller companies do not have traditional bureaucratic constraints of other sectors and lead this charge.  I understand that sentiment, but does not prohibit the value of a blog for a departmental method of operation.  The corporate blog can be a hub for industry news and opinions, as well as the hub for success stories between the seller and consumer.  Tags allow for simple grouping of articles on topics to provide insight for your next annual report.  You can provide a consistently fresh outlook on several levels to current investors and prospective employees.

These mechanisms go a long way in the liveliness of your blog, since it must be treated as a breathing specimen and fed at all times.  But in the same vein, you must post information that leaves people wanting more, and that includes an amalgam of interactive media, still images, and thought.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Blog Marketing, Business News, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, blog | 1 Comment »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, corporate blogging, eMarketer, internet marketing ny, new york interactive media agency, seo media agency

The Wild West of Mobile Advertising

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Apple rolled out a mobile advertising platform this summer to much fanfare, and had several strong partnerships on the docket. According to the Wall Street Journal, only Unilever PLC and Nissan pushed campaigns this summer. Other companies have slowly unbundled their platforms, with little evidence of a great impact.
From a distance, one could wonder if Apple’s penchant for proprietary control could catch up with them in the mobile advertising market. Their battle with Adobe over Flash has silenced in the public, but nobody is convinced that HTML5, despite its open source adaptability, can surpass the reliability of Flash video. Adobe executives are incensed at Jobs’ effort to monopolize interactive content. The Android has used Flash Interactive to great affect and continues to creep up the sales chart. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, served Google with a suit in the District Court this past Friday, accusing Google of copyright infringement in the Android open source platform. Google had a secret dalliance with Verizon that grew criticism from the cyberworld to the hot dog vendor on Seventh Avenue by FIT.
I spoke with a woman this weekend who was a marketer for Johnson & Johnson, and we both agreed that the rate of interactive advertising growth has exploded beyond comprehension. As I type on this keyboard, the technorati is looking to claim their space within the cloud sector by all means necessary. Government agencies like the FCC may need to rule on intellectual properties with little legal precedent. The platform distribution ranges from television to personal computer to mobile phone to display stands.

It is unclear if the absolute freedom of digital space remains in jeopardy. On another level, one cannot quantify at this point the value of mobile marketing. The potential for revenue is strong if marketers can get applications available quickly. Apple could learn this lesson as they attempt to eliminate third-party applications.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Content Marketing, Flash, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, iAds, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, oracle

Weekly Blueliner Newsminer

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Hello, readers.  This week has been an interesting one in the world of interactive marketing.  Let’s start analyzing the storylines.

1. A Jet Blue Afternoon Steve Slater appears to be the missile that will send JetBlue spiraling down to the graveyard of aviation next to Pan Am and TWA.  His story has become a sensation on interactive media waves, through a new PayPal fund, a Facebook fan page, and endless Tweet streams. Jet Blue has been lauded for their social media initiatives, which has allowed it to offer exclusive deals and interact transparently with customers.  Their comments have been mitigated due to the legal investigation, aside from a self-effacing blog post.  Media pundits worry about JetBlue’s ability to respond, but I feel that the airline will pass unscathed.  I have flown with them on several occasions and had positive experiences each trip.  This incident does not reflect a trend of airline insecurity, and the FAA needs to be privy about this fact.  JetBlue’s digital communication  has set a benchmark for an industry criticized for poor management.  Federal regulators also need to be privy with another industry on the mainland.

2. Google and Verizon Challenge Net Neutrality I discussed this story briefly on Tuesday, and both sides have taken a viral lashing. Google’s misstep in this case was to deny the existence of a discussion to synthesize mobile airwaves with broadband, then admit it.  I also think to simply say that the FCC is now the arbiter sets a dangerous precedent as well.  Their previous forays into communicative regulation  were a disaster.  According to media sources, Google sees Congress making the first move on settling the issue.  Protection of internet vitality is tantamount, but should the private sector set the rules for a public domain? The strands are still bound, and need time to be pulled for this story to clarify itself to understand its impact on advertising.

3. Public Trading, By Skype As customers of Skype, Blueliner values the internet phone server for providing digital communication on several platforms since our business overlaps two distant time zones.  This week, they announced a strategy to trade publicly on the NASDAQ.  The venture carries a lot of risks with a low customer-paying base and the presence of Google carrying similar services hedged with search advertising revenue.  They need to leverage that loyal customer base into one that will pay for exclusive content, something that Hulu is attempting with the Plus membership.  One writer believes that they must maintain control over the voice internet protocol market in order to have a shot.  I think they should aim higher into the clouds.  An alliance with a veteran telecom can do that.

4. Capital T for Tweet Twitter officially launched a new Tweet button in partnership with the British start-up TweeetMeMe yesterday.  The venture gives Twitter the flexibility to develop new programs with the expected jump in advertising revenue from using TweetMe’s data source.  At the moment, TweetMeMe is not interested in a sales transaction.  The Tweet button is simply more than a response to Facebook.  It is an attempt to truly streamline content for search indexes where news feeds reach the top.  It could be even more revolutionary for newswires.

5. Oracle Stonewalls Google At the Mobile Border This storyline is fresh from the Thursday night wire, but it has legitimate legs for the open source of Android.  Oracle is seeing telecom firms assert their financial girth in the broadband industry, and is looking to do the same with their Java application in the mobile race.  The suit, filed in the U.S. District court of Northern California, accuses Google of copyright infringement over the use of Java in the Android smartphone platform. As Financial Times notes,  if Google has to compensate for Java development, the Android could be greatly compromised.  The ongoing hegemony between digital heavyweights for the mobile space could really stifle creativity, but the inverse is also possible.  Mobile technology remains young, and physics prohibit security from being absolute.  Data can be intercepted through shaky cell towers, Bluetooth devices, and faulty infrared technology.  In my mind, this suit development is also worthy of your attention.

That’s the Blue news this week.  Until next time.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Blog Marketing, Business News, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, World, blog | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, internet marketing ny, jet blue, new york seo media agency, weekly blueliner newsminer