SocialTimes.com

Vizu Lands New Partners for Social Network Ad Metrics

Posted: 10 Feb 2009 01:10 PM PST

Online brand advertising measurement system Vizu has teamed up with three other ad companies that deal specifically with brand advertisement within social networks. AdNectar, Buddy Media and Lotame are all using Vizu’s Ad Catalyst brand ad measurement system to extend the feature set of their own products. Given the social media directives of these other ad companies, there’s a reason they’ve all chosen Vizu’s Ad Catalyst system.

The ads used in social networks are decidedly different from those found on other sites, and as ads continue to evolve within the social media realm, the way in which a brand marketing success is measured must change with time as well. That’s where Vizu comes in.

It’s Ad Catalyst system is designed to measure the effectiveness of social media campaigns, offering specialized metrics designed around things like engagement and brand recognition. The ultimate goal through such metrics is to gain a deeper understanding of how well advertisements are doing within the social media space, as many social networks are uniquely apt to offer better opportunities for engagement and brand management as well.

It’s a necessary exercise for such ad companies, as they need to improve their ability to integrate with social networks over time. It’s a goal many advertisers have been moving towards since social networks became popular, and services like AdNectar and Lotame have been seeking ways in which to best utilize a deeply integrated system such as a social network. Buddy Media is looking towards heavy integration as well, with several other media partnerships, looking towards networks like Facebook for entertaining brand engagement, market research and a networked approach to advertising.

The question remains, how well will such integrated advertising work within social networking environments? Advertisements within social networks have a history of being less effective than many other types of web advertisements, and some social networks are even moving towards other options for revenue generation, such as virtual goods.

Even virtual goods can provide a viable source of brand interjection, however, so I imagine we’ll see a continued morphing of social networks and advertising building on established platforms to create an engaging economy where users can benefit from the presence of applications and virtual goods as well. Such a high level of cooperation could be the symbiotic relationship necessary for some of the most effective advertising and brand management campaigns, which requires continued development from both the networks and the advertising companies alike.

Adeo Ressi’s advice to UGC Entrepreneurs on Raising Money

Posted: 10 Feb 2009 11:19 AM PST

User Generated Content Conference & Expo

Adeo Resi of TheFunded.com shared his unique perspective on
fundraising with UGC focused entrepreneurs during an after hours,
impromptu session at User Generated Content Conference & Expo. Adeo packed a session room at the end of the day and held the
audience spellbound while he gestured with a Bud Light. Adeo advanced an agenda of recommending people move away from the venture capital investment model, citing the current economic crisis. Please see href="http://twitter.com/BetterPath">@BetterPath for live tweats,
and here are the highlights:

Fundraising’s Usual Suspects

Traditional sources of funding are no longer as viable:

1) Angels and/or Friends, Family and Fools

High net worth individuals are impacted by the financial crisis,
and no longer have high risk capital to invest in speculative
ventures.

2) Venture Capitalists

VC funds are in trouble because their institutional investors -
large investment groups like the Harvard Endowment - have seen a huge
drop in the value of their investment assets value current
environment. This means pressure is being put on VCs who 1) cannot
raise additional money as easily and 2) are being reneged upon for
committed capital by institutional investors and high net worth
individuals

Adeo’s Suggestions for Fundraising

Adeo focused on three new best options for financing in the current
economic environment:

Employee Financing

Adeo recommended getting team members to work for deferred
salaries. This could be more viable in a climate where good people
are being let go.

Vendor Financing

Vendors have tons of people sitting around right now without work
to do. Companies are willing to “spend” some of this unusued
capacity, trading work for equity in your company.

Customer Financing

Get customers to fund specific projects in advance. This will help
both sides of the equation 1) your company solves a problem for
customers they otherwise wouldn’t solve and 2) you move closer to your
goals, building capacity and experience while someone else foots the
bills.

Note on Employee, Vendors and Customer Financing:

Does this get “ugly”? Meaning, how much “alternative financing”
can you utilize, piling up strange forms of debt that must be serviced
by future investments?

Adeo says that a ratio of up 50/50 fundraising/debt is OK. For
example, if you raise 600K, it would be acceptable to an investor that
300K will have to go to some form of debt repayment arising from “non
-traditional fundraising”.

Summary of Adeo’s Advice:

Adeo does not recommend working with VCs. Adeo does not like the VC
model, does not recommend the government trust VCs to act as a channel for SBA money to everyday entrepreneurs, etc. Adeo can back this up with negative experiences while working with VCs perceived as “top tier”, leading him to start TheFunded.com.

It is still possible to raise money - its just more difficult. It is
as important as ever to build a great business that can attract employees and partners. And finally, its a particularly good time to seriously consider financing options outside of the VC world.

17 Social Networks Sign European Pact to Curb Cyber-Bullies

Posted: 10 Feb 2009 09:15 AM PST

-MySpace Logo- A new pact for discouraging cyber-bullying and predatory behavior on social networks has been signed by seventeen social networking sites that have a presence in Europe, including MySpace, Bebo, Dailymotion, YouTube, and Habbo Hotel, reports Reuters. The European Commission is hoping such widespread adoption of the pact will make the Internet a safer place for children. The announcement comes on the heels of MySpace revealing its successful blocking of 90,000 registered sex offenders, some of which were later found on Facebook. And Facebook appears to be missing from this new EU pact as well, though both MySpace and Facebook have their own initiatives with state and federal authorities in the United States for the protection of their users.

Some of the concessions participating networks can make as part of the pact include auto private profiles for users under the age of 18, making them not searchable on the networks or the search engines, as well as more reporting options for users that feel others are acting maliciously in some way.

Cyber-bullying and the overall influence of social networks has been a major concern in EU countries for several years now, with many proposals coming forth asking for more regulation of social networking sites after a string of copycat behavior including suicide. It was in fact the suicide of a teen in the U.S. that spurred legal action in anti-cyber-bully laws in recent months. Sadly such grim circumstances seem to be the exception to the rule that brings socially-related issues to the forefront of online media.

But for cyber-bullying in particular, more work may need to be done in the courtroom before we have a clear picture on what actually consists of cyber-bullying. It can be a terribly subjective term, especially when you’re talking about the enhancement of user-generated reporting systems that can render another user devoid of online social networking access. Just as the “report” option on AIM was often used as a retaliation technique that eventually led to full blockage from the service, the reporting option on social networks can be abused as well.

It’s worth the risk in order to have improved safety measures on social networking, but a clearer definition of cyber-bullying may need to be devised. Katherine Evans found herself debating the meaning of cyber-bullying when she was suspended in her senior year of high school for criticizing her English teacher on Facebook, according to The New York Times. After being blown off by her English teacher, Evans wrote a message on Facebook that reads as follows: “To those select students who have had the displeasure of having Ms. Sarah Phelps, or simply knowing her and her insane antics: Here is the place to express your feelings of hatred."

Evans then sued her former principal after he placed Evans on a three-day suspension, citing her use of the word “hatred” constituted as cyber-bullying. When it comes to the school system, there is also a different set of rules that are applied to social networking norms and acceptable behavior. Students and teachers are often held to a different standard specifically when it comes to cyber-bullying, making future court cases that much more difficult to resolve for situations akin to Evans’.