Google Watches (and Sells) the Watchers

So now Google is looking to sell other people’s real-world ad spend they paid to grab your attention.  You gotta love the chutzpah.  Privacy will be a thing of the past in the not too distant future.

Pay per gaze advertising need not be limited to on-line advertisements, but rather can be extended to conventional advertisement media including billboards, magazines, newspapers, and other forms of conventional print media. Thus, the gaze tracking system described herein offers a mechanism to track and bill offline advertisements in the manner similar to popular online advertisement schemes.

via Google patents ‘pay-per-gaze’ eye-tracking that could measure emotional response to real-world ads | The Verge.

More on the Louis C.K. Experiment

Just how successful is Louis C.K.’s indie video experiment?:

Still, a very cool experiment. And now one I’d love to see applied to some really, really popular celebrities, and some not-quite-yet celebrities. Then we’ll have a better idea of how much indie distribution will actually shift the balance of power in the media industry. It could be a little, it could be a lot, but it’s too early to tell.

(Via SplatF)

A Social Engagement with Small Business

Companies marketing to small businesses should also establish a presence on top social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook before pursuing more IT resource-intensive initiatives (such as creating a company-managed online community).

via How to Use Social Media to Engage Small Business Decision Makers – Web Services Web 20 and SOA from eWeek.

The main strategic reason this is good advice is because of what are called network effects.  Chief among them is the desire of network participants to go where everyone else is.  This gives you great bang for your marketing buck in terms of both time and money.

Coincidentally, I looked into creating my first Facebook company “Page” today for just this reason this evening.  What I’m deciding is not just to have the Page but how to best spread the word on such sites as Facebook, control content, etc.  It is not a no-brainer, you need to carefully consider how such a presence affects your image and brand as well as the impression it leaves with your target market.  For example, what kinds of comments will be on your Facebook Page?  “Hi babe! Long time no see!” is not exactly professional and would probably be counterproductive to what the Page is trying to accomplish.

So by all means get your company out there and be social!  Just remember to wear a suit when you do.