Credit if you read it

One of the greatest challenges to buying advertising online is the lack of “ratings”; the data that tells agencies and their clients how effective an ad buy might be.

Search ads—those that pop up alongside your Google search for, say, coffee shops and tell you to get your fix at Café Joe’s in your neighborhood—are more popular, because they are measured by click-throughs. Though that might not be an entirely accurate measurement—some will see the ad but not click, and others will click on it by accident—it at least offers some hard number with which to gauge. And media buyers are really awesome with numbers.

But Facebook just announced today it will be polling users about display ads and sending the data to Nielsen for analysis. Display ads are typically banner ads, across the top or middle of the page, or ads down the side of the page, in the rail. Facebook will begin testing new formats for display ads and asking users whether they noticed the content.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg credited the company's revenue growth, which is expected to rise more than 70 percent this year, to Facebook’s increasing number of users and the introduction of new ad products. Considering Facebook is expected to generate more than $500 million in revenue in 2009, this could be a big deal.

It will be exciting to see whether this makes Facebook ads more useful and valid in traditional media buys. And just out of curiosity, my own poll: Did you see and link to this blog from Asher’s Facebook page?

--Julianne W.

Want Customer Insight? In Real Time?

In the world of social media, it’s a constant conversation. All hours of the day, every day. So, how do you know whether they’re discussing your business? Want to eavesdrop on the conversation and get an insight into your consumers’ perceptions? It’s easier to do than it sounds. Get online and start listening.

Yelp.com, CitySearch.com and local.yahoo.com are good websites. Or set up a Google alert to notify you when your business is referenced in any review, blog or online publication. Run a search on Twitter.

Listening will provide you insight. But to take it a step further and provide good customer service, you should respond to customers’ posts, both good and bad. It demonstrates that you’re a caring and engaged business owner. That said, if you receive a scathing review, it’s advised that you hold off on an immediate response and allow yourself time to cool down before responding.

Whatever you do, don’t post false reviews to bolster your business or badmouth a competitor. It could potentially ruin your reputation and even get you into legal trouble. Not worth it.

Now, go forth and start listening!

--Kara W.

Ethics and Blogging: An oxymoron?

An article posted May 19 on BusinessWeek.com, briefly covers some good background on blogging, ethics and – gasp – regulation by the FTC. The subhead is “The Federal Trade Commission wants bloggers to disclose when they’ve been wooed with cash or freebies from companies they cover.”

The report lists several examples of blog posts that have been written because a company provided a product to the writer at no charge. I wondered: Is this bad? Is it good? Is it any different than what routinely happens in trade publications when articles are written about new cars, boats, trucks or other products?

Seems to me that if a writer, regardless of the communications vehicle being used, is given the latitude to write honestly about his or her experience with the product, what better way to provide readers with valuable information assessing it? That scenario is based on seemingly ethical behavior.

The risk and ethical questions come into play if the person writing about a product is simply regurgitating something positive crafted by the company behind the product or service or simply not accurately reporting a true experience.

The questions become:

Does listing that some form of compensation has been given for mentioning a product or service within a post help assure an ethical assessment?

Do blogs need governmental oversight?

I’m curious. What do you think?

--Mike B.