MKTG

Canadian Firm, German Govt File Against Facebook - Toronto-based Merchant Law Group filed paperwork seeking class action status in a lawsuit against Facebook this week claiming Facebook mishandled user data during the most recent privacy changes, and seeking the sum of the money the company made as a result of making user data public in that change. It’s not clear how strong the firm’s particular arguments are; what is clear is that some law firms pursue such cases when they think they can get money or at least publicity out of their efforts.

Meanwhile, perhaps more seriously, Germany data protection official Johannes Caspar said in a statement this week that his office had initiated a legal process that could ultimately cost Facebook thousands of euros in fines. The action comes over privacy issues, specifically, April privacy setting changes that exposed the information of people who don’t use the site through Facebook’s email importing settings. Facebook has until August 11 to respond to the legal complaint.

Facebook’s Economic Geography - Visual Economics created a really interesting map of what Facebook’s economy would look like if it were a landmass, representing app companies and Pages by size, and other interesting representations.

Microsoft’s Docs Integrates Facebook - Microsoft’s new Docs.com site has made some changes to its program that allows for better Facebook integration. Currently you can post a document to your Facebook Page. Docs.com users now have the ability to:  post documents for a Page, author a document as a Facebook page, add a Docs tab to your Page and share/manage docs with other Page admins.

Buy a Drink, on Facebook - It’s now possible for Facebook users to buy their friends drinks — real drinks — even if they live in different cities. Web developer Webtab uses Facebook Connect and its Bartab app to coordinate the purchase.

Basically after paying a $1 fee (on the site or via the app) a user can send a drink to someone in the app network in the form of a digital coupon; the indicated drinker must then go to the indicated bar to redeem the coupon.

DC Team Focuses on Privacy - The Hill interviewed Facebook Spokesman Andrew Noyes this week noting that the company’s D.C. team is setting its sights primarily, 90% to be precise, on privacy.

Facebook’s Buchheit Gives Gov a Hand – Code for America, a group working to “import the efficiency of the Web into government infrastructures,” is the beneficiary of the services of Facebook’s Paul Buchheit. The organization is working on several projects with a variety of government groups.

Ladies Love Facebook – Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research released a report about Facebook usage by women this week. Among the findings was that about one-third of women aged 18-34 check Facebook as soon as they wake up, even before heading to the bathroom. Other findings: 42% of women think posted photos of them “visibly intoxicated” are okay;  57% interact with people more online than face-to-face; 39% call themselves Facebook “addicts”; 21% check Facebook in the middle of the night; 63% network on Facebook; 79% think posted photos of them kissing are okay and 50% are friends with strangers.

Doctors Talk Health on Facebook - USA Today has a piece this week that explores how some health care professionals are using social media tools to help their patients.

Facebook Supports Rel-Me - Chris Messina posted a screenshot showing that Facebook now seems to be supporting the rel-me attribute on its site, used for identity consolidation. Links on one web site about someone connect to other Links about that person, establishing a bi-directional personal rel-me link.

Facebook Pushes Ad Quality, Privacy - The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Facebook is promoting its social-context banner ads service as superior to competitors — including by impression volume, as the graph from the article shows, below. Incidentally, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg wrote a company blog this week describing the way ads work, taking special care to spell out how user privacy is maintained.

Users Like Likes - A couple of different outlets reported on the number of Likes Facebook users are serving up. One promoted the figure of 3 billion Likes a day, with 350,000 sites using Facebook’s social plugins.

Popularity: unranked [?]

It’s the year of mobile! It’s the year of mobile! Well it looks like we’ve finally stopped crying wolf. Mobile Internet use and interaction is on the rise in a big way. Here are some reports, studies and generally fascinating stuff on the platform marketers have been drooling over for years.

Assorted Musings on Mobile Ad Platforms and Devices: Take a listen to today’s episode of SEM Synergy. Some of the highlights include Bruce’s thoughts on the launch of Apple’s iAd platform and whether it might possibly live up to Steve Jobs expectations to conquer half of the mobile ad market by the end of the year.

Bruce also turns a critical eye on a study on mobile audiences by JiWire that reports 52 percent of smartphone users say they’ve acted on an advertisement in a mobile app and 18 percent say they’ve made a purchase from a mobile app in the last month. Mobile tech specialist Michael Martin also joins the program to offer insight on mobile advertising, location services and popularity of smartphone devices.

Mobile Marketing Reports Round-Up: Along with speaking at conferences and sharing his info with SEM Synergy listeners today’s guest Michael Martin regularly shares his finds and analysis on the mobile space on his blog. His most recent post is a collection of several important marketing reports covering the mobile realm. The growing volume of reports itself highlights the fast-paced growth of consumers and advertisers in the mobile market. There are lots of fascinating insights within the links and data collected by Michael in this post, including the opening graph and the AdMob smartphone traffic report, so give it a read.

Text Me!: For a long time I received text message alerts from my favorite local froyo place giving me their deals of the day. I finally quit because everyday it seemed to be the same offer and because I was also learning the same thing from their posts on Twitter. However, it seems my interest in tasty texts is in line with the rest of America. Groceries, national restaurant chains and fast-food items were among the top four most popular categories as reported by those receptive to opt-in mobile marketing. Other strong segments included entertainment, electronics, travel and beauty/fashion.

App development, text marketing, location services — pick your mobile flavor and start developing that strategy!

Looking Into the Future: Mobile Marketing — SEM Synergy Extras was originally published on BruceClay.com, an SEO services and SEO tools provider.

Popularity: 1% [?]

It’s the year of mobile! It’s the year of mobile! Well it looks like we’ve finally stopped crying wolf. Mobile Internet use and interaction is on the rise in a big way. Here are some reports, studies and generally fascinating stuff on the platform marketers have been drooling over for years.

Assorted Musings on Mobile Ad Platforms and Devices: Take a listen to today’s episode of SEM Synergy. Some of the highlights include Bruce’s thoughts on the launch of Apple’s iAd platform and whether it might possibly live up to Steve Jobs expectations to conquer half of the mobile ad market by the end of the year.

Bruce also turns a critical eye on a study on mobile audiences by JiWire that reports 52 percent of smartphone users say they’ve acted on an advertisement in a mobile app and 18 percent say they’ve made a purchase from a mobile app in the last month. Mobile tech specialist Michael Martin also joins the program to offer insight on mobile advertising, location services and popularity of smartphone devices.

Mobile Marketing Reports Round-Up: Along with speaking at conferences and sharing his info with SEM Synergy listeners today’s guest Michael Martin regularly shares his finds and analysis on the mobile space on his blog. His most recent post is a collection of several important marketing reports covering the mobile realm. The growing volume of reports itself highlights the fast-paced growth of consumers and advertisers in the mobile market. There are lots of fascinating insights within the links and data collected by Michael in this post, including the opening graph and the AdMob smartphone traffic report, so give it a read.

Text Me!: For a long time I received text message alerts from my favorite local froyo place giving me their deals of the day. I finally quit because everyday it seemed to be the same offer and because I was also learning the same thing from their posts on Twitter. However, it seems my interest in tasty texts is in line with the rest of America. Groceries, national restaurant chains and fast-food items were among the top four most popular categories as reported by those receptive to opt-in mobile marketing. Other strong segments included entertainment, electronics, travel and beauty/fashion.

App development, text marketing, location services — pick your mobile flavor and start developing that strategy!

Looking Into the Future: Mobile Marketing — SEM Synergy Extras was originally published on BruceClay.com, an SEO services and SEO tools provider.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Foursquare was created to motivate people to discover interesting things around them. As the platform has evolved, we’ve started to experiment with many different ways to encourage users to explore, from surfacing great tips that come from the friends you trust to rewarding users who frequent the gym or commute via public transit. Thousands of merchants, too, are actively claiming their venues in the system and providing additional incentives on the platform in the form of special offers and mayor offers. Some of these are sole proprietors such as the Mermaid Inn in our hometown of New York City, while others are nationwide initiatives from the likes of Starbucks, Sports Authority, Ben & Jerrys, and Whole Foods. 

 
We continue to be inspired and excited as we observe merchants leveraging the platform to engender customer loyalty, drive foot traffic and boost customer acquisition.
 
Some examples:

+ Starbucks: Starbucks offered $1 off any size  Frappuccino® for its mayors. Since running their  mayor special on foursquare, Starbucks (already the most checked in retailer on the platform prior to running the special) has seen a 50% increase in check-ins at its locations. Also, not only are our users excited about the competition the mayor deal creates but they’re also welcoming the opportunity to try new products!




+ our friends at Monique’s Chocolates in Palo Alto have acquired over 50 new customers and saw well over 100 redemptions as a result of running a special offer over the past seven weeks:



The owner of Monique’s, Mark, also told us that he is running the same special in his local newspaper (cost of ad = $300!) and has acquired only one customer with one redemption from that print ad. He adds that for those who redeem the special via foursquare “more than 25% return regularly to get something, to check in, to see who the mayor is…the gaming part of foursquare really does resonante with people and we’re excited about it!” 
 
 
+ AJ Bombers, a local burger spot in Milwaukee has seen a 30% increase in menu item purchases from running both a special (free cookie if you add a tip!) and mayor offer (free burger!)
 
Joe, the owner, has leveraged foursquare in other innovative ways to drive foot traffic – he was the first to hold “Swarm Badge” and “I’m on a boat” parties for customers!



We LOVE stories like these. We’re deeply motivated to build the best tools to help our merchants use foursquare to get their customers excited about frequenting their venues, while offering sweet deals for our users.

We are taking what we’ve learned so far from these early experiments and introducing a few changes today to make the experience better for users and merchants.

Loyalty offer variability (“Specials Nearby”): 
Starting today, users will no longer see the same loyalty offer (Special offer or Mayor offer) over and over but rather see some variability by seeing rotating offers in the “special nearby” tab.

The “reach” for special offers: 
The current location range for offers “nearby” is approximately 200 yards, but will, in the future, be variable based on the user’s  location. In more densely populated areas, 200 yards will provide adequate variability. In areas outside of cities, we’re going to increase that range to provide better results for users in less densely populated areas.

Participation from employees: 
Thousands of merchants are running specials on the platform and the majority of specials in the system are frequency-based (i.e. “every 5th check-in gets you a free appetizer!”). There are also merchants, like Sports Authority, who are running mayor deals. In the past, we’ve not allowed users identified in our system as employees or managers of venues (see staff tool below) to be eligible for mayorships or participate in Foursquare mayor offers.



This restriction remains true, but we are going to make the process of designating employees as staff on foursquare venues much clearer to merchants. We can’t expect all merchants to require employees to mark themselves as such but we can do better (and we will!) as it relates to communicating to our merchants about the benefits of doing so.

Redemption: 
User experience is paramount to anything that happens within the Foursquare universe. These early experiments are helping us make a better product and ensure that future offers are as easy to redeem as ever. While the ultimate responsibility rests with the merchant, we want to make sure they have the tools and documentation necessary to teach everyone involved about our programs. As technology advances and Point of Sale systems get smarter, this responsibility can move from humans to barcode scans, loyalty card integrations and other means, thus reducing the potential friction.
 
As always, we thank you all for the feedback! We will continue to work to build the best product possible for our users and merchants and we welcome the feedback as we continue to iterate the platform based on these early experiments.
 
— foursquare biz dev team —

Popularity: 1% [?]

Foursquare was created to motivate people to discover interesting things around them. As the platform has evolved, we’ve started to experiment with many different ways to encourage users to explore, from surfacing great tips that come from the friends you trust to rewarding users who frequent the gym or commute via public transit. Thousands of merchants, too, are actively claiming their venues in the system and providing additional incentives on the platform in the form of special offers and mayor offers. Some of these are sole proprietors such as the Mermaid Inn in our hometown of New York City, while others are nationwide initiatives from the likes of Starbucks, Sports Authority, Ben & Jerrys, and Whole Foods. 

 
We continue to be inspired and excited as we observe merchants leveraging the platform to engender customer loyalty, drive foot traffic and boost customer acquisition.
 
Some examples:

+ Starbucks: Starbucks offered $1 off any size  Frappuccino® for its mayors. Since running their  mayor special on foursquare, Starbucks (already the most checked in retailer on the platform prior to running the special) has seen a 50% increase in check-ins at its locations. Also, not only are our users excited about the competition the mayor deal creates but they’re also welcoming the opportunity to try new products!




+ our friends at Monique’s Chocolates in Palo Alto have acquired over 50 new customers and saw well over 100 redemptions as a result of running a special offer over the past seven weeks:



The owner of Monique’s, Mark, also told us that he is running the same special in his local newspaper (cost of ad = $300!) and has acquired only one customer with one redemption from that print ad. He adds that for those who redeem the special via foursquare “more than 25% return regularly to get something, to check in, to see who the mayor is…the gaming part of foursquare really does resonante with people and we’re excited about it!” 
 
 
+ AJ Bombers, a local burger spot in Milwaukee has seen a 30% increase in menu item purchases from running both a special (free cookie if you add a tip!) and mayor offer (free burger!)
 
Joe, the owner, has leveraged foursquare in other innovative ways to drive foot traffic – he was the first to hold “Swarm Badge” and “I’m on a boat” parties for customers!



We LOVE stories like these. We’re deeply motivated to build the best tools to help our merchants use foursquare to get their customers excited about frequenting their venues, while offering sweet deals for our users.

We are taking what we’ve learned so far from these early experiments and introducing a few changes today to make the experience better for users and merchants.

Loyalty offer variability (“Specials Nearby”): 
Starting today, users will no longer see the same loyalty offer (Special offer or Mayor offer) over and over but rather see some variability by seeing rotating offers in the “special nearby” tab.

The “reach” for special offers: 
The current location range for offers “nearby” is approximately 200 yards, but will, in the future, be variable based on the user’s  location. In more densely populated areas, 200 yards will provide adequate variability. In areas outside of cities, we’re going to increase that range to provide better results for users in less densely populated areas.

Participation from employees: 
Thousands of merchants are running specials on the platform and the majority of specials in the system are frequency-based (i.e. “every 5th check-in gets you a free appetizer!”). There are also merchants, like Sports Authority, who are running mayor deals. In the past, we’ve not allowed users identified in our system as employees or managers of venues (see staff tool below) to be eligible for mayorships or participate in Foursquare mayor offers.



This restriction remains true, but we are going to make the process of designating employees as staff on foursquare venues much clearer to merchants. We can’t expect all merchants to require employees to mark themselves as such but we can do better (and we will!) as it relates to communicating to our merchants about the benefits of doing so.

Redemption: 
User experience is paramount to anything that happens within the Foursquare universe. These early experiments are helping us make a better product and ensure that future offers are as easy to redeem as ever. While the ultimate responsibility rests with the merchant, we want to make sure they have the tools and documentation necessary to teach everyone involved about our programs. As technology advances and Point of Sale systems get smarter, this responsibility can move from humans to barcode scans, loyalty card integrations and other means, thus reducing the potential friction.
 
As always, we thank you all for the feedback! We will continue to work to build the best product possible for our users and merchants and we welcome the feedback as we continue to iterate the platform based on these early experiments.
 
— foursquare biz dev team —

Popularity: 1% [?]

Foursquare was created to motivate people to discover interesting things around them. As the platform has evolved, we’ve started to experiment with many different ways to encourage users to explore, from surfacing great tips that come from the friends you trust to rewarding users who frequent the gym or commute via public transit. Thousands of merchants, too, are actively claiming their venues in the system and providing additional incentives on the platform in the form of special offers and mayor offers. Some of these are sole proprietors such as the Mermaid Inn in our hometown of New York City, while others are nationwide initiatives from the likes of Starbucks, Sports Authority, Ben & Jerrys, and Whole Foods. 

 
We continue to be inspired and excited as we observe merchants leveraging the platform to engender customer loyalty, drive foot traffic and boost customer acquisition.
 
Some examples:

+ Starbucks: Starbucks offered $1 off any size  Frappuccino® for its mayors. Since running their  mayor special on foursquare, Starbucks (already the most checked in retailer on the platform prior to running the special) has seen a 50% increase in check-ins at its locations. Also, not only are our users excited about the competition the mayor deal creates but they’re also welcoming the opportunity to try new products!




+ our friends at Monique’s Chocolates in Palo Alto have acquired over 50 new customers and saw well over 100 redemptions as a result of running a special offer over the past seven weeks:



The owner of Monique’s, Mark, also told us that he is running the same special in his local newspaper (cost of ad = $300!) and has acquired only one customer with one redemption from that print ad. He adds that for those who redeem the special via foursquare “more than 25% return regularly to get something, to check in, to see who the mayor is…the gaming part of foursquare really does resonante with people and we’re excited about it!” 
 
 
+ AJ Bombers, a local burger spot in Milwaukee has seen a 30% increase in menu item purchases from running both a special (free cookie if you add a tip!) and mayor offer (free burger!)
 
Joe, the owner, has leveraged foursquare in other innovative ways to drive foot traffic – he was the first to hold “Swarm Badge” and “I’m on a boat” parties for customers!



We LOVE stories like these. We’re deeply motivated to build the best tools to help our merchants use foursquare to get their customers excited about frequenting their venues, while offering sweet deals for our users.

We are taking what we’ve learned so far from these early experiments and introducing a few changes today to make the experience better for users and merchants.

Loyalty offer variability (“Specials Nearby”): 
Starting today, users will no longer see the same loyalty offer (Special offer or Mayor offer) over and over but rather see some variability by seeing rotating offers in the “special nearby” tab.

The “reach” for special offers: 
The current location range for offers “nearby” is approximately 200 yards, but will, in the future, be variable based on the user’s  location. In more densely populated areas, 200 yards will provide adequate variability. In areas outside of cities, we’re going to increase that range to provide better results for users in less densely populated areas.

Participation from employees: 
Thousands of merchants are running specials on the platform and the majority of specials in the system are frequency-based (i.e. “every 5th check-in gets you a free appetizer!”). There are also merchants, like Sports Authority, who are running mayor deals. In the past, we’ve not allowed users identified in our system as employees or managers of venues (see staff tool below) to be eligible for mayorships or participate in Foursquare mayor offers.



This restriction remains true, but we are going to make the process of designating employees as staff on foursquare venues much clearer to merchants. We can’t expect all merchants to require employees to mark themselves as such but we can do better (and we will!) as it relates to communicating to our merchants about the benefits of doing so.

Redemption: 
User experience is paramount to anything that happens within the Foursquare universe. These early experiments are helping us make a better product and ensure that future offers are as easy to redeem as ever. While the ultimate responsibility rests with the merchant, we want to make sure they have the tools and documentation necessary to teach everyone involved about our programs. As technology advances and Point of Sale systems get smarter, this responsibility can move from humans to barcode scans, loyalty card integrations and other means, thus reducing the potential friction.
 
As always, we thank you all for the feedback! We will continue to work to build the best product possible for our users and merchants and we welcome the feedback as we continue to iterate the platform based on these early experiments.
 
— foursquare biz dev team —

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

YouTube announced Wednesday that it is updating its mobile Web site for the iPhone and Android platform with a number of new features that rival a native application experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

As a year dominated by acquisitions in the mobile space rolls into its second half, Synchronoss Technologies is joining the acquisition frenzy with its announcement this week that the company will scoop up FusionOne for $40 Million.

Synchronoss, a provider of on-demand transaction management software platforms, sees a lot of potential in the privately-held FusionOne, Inc., a respected leader in mobile content transfer and synchronization technology. A match made in mobile heaven, the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Stephen G. Waldis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss, says:  “As connected devices continue to become a more important part of everyday life for consumers and business professionals, OEMs and carriers need to address the challenge of mobile content transfer and synchronization at the point of activation in order to retain and grow their subscriber base and revenue streams.”

“The combination of FusionOne’s capabilities with Synchronoss’ industry leading ConvergenceNow Plus+ platform creates the most comprehensive and powerful mobility customer experience available in the market,” he adds.

In a nutshell, FusionOne is a fairly accomplished force in mobile content transfer and synchronization software enabling end users the ability to make their content “truly mobile” across different types of devices. And according to Synchronoss, the acquisition makes sense for a number of reasons, as outlined in the company’s official statement regarding the acquisition.

Among the possibilities cited, Synchronoss says the purchase of FusionOne will help with the acceleration of Synchronoss’ overall connected devices growth strategy, the advancement of Synchronoss’ customer diversification efforts, and a synergistic extension to Synchronoss’ value proposition to OEMs and carriers.

Popularity: unranked [?]

As a year dominated by acquisitions in the mobile space rolls into its second half, Synchronoss Technologies is joining the acquisition frenzy with its announcement this week that the company will scoop up FusionOne for $40 Million.

Synchronoss, a provider of on-demand transaction management software platforms, sees a lot of potential in the privately-held FusionOne, Inc., a respected leader in mobile content transfer and synchronization technology. A match made in mobile heaven, the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Stephen G. Waldis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss, says:  “As connected devices continue to become a more important part of everyday life for consumers and business professionals, OEMs and carriers need to address the challenge of mobile content transfer and synchronization at the point of activation in order to retain and grow their subscriber base and revenue streams.”

“The combination of FusionOne’s capabilities with Synchronoss’ industry leading ConvergenceNow Plus+ platform creates the most comprehensive and powerful mobility customer experience available in the market,” he adds.

In a nutshell, FusionOne is a fairly accomplished force in mobile content transfer and synchronization software enabling end users the ability to make their content “truly mobile” across different types of devices. And according to Synchronoss, the acquisition makes sense for a number of reasons, as outlined in the company’s official statement regarding the acquisition.

Among the possibilities cited, Synchronoss says the purchase of FusionOne will help with the acceleration of Synchronoss’ overall connected devices growth strategy, the advancement of Synchronoss’ customer diversification efforts, and a synergistic extension to Synchronoss’ value proposition to OEMs and carriers.

Popularity: unranked [?]

As a year dominated by acquisitions in the mobile space rolls into its second half, Synchronoss Technologies is joining the acquisition frenzy with its announcement this week that the company will scoop up FusionOne for $40 Million.

Synchronoss, a provider of on-demand transaction management software platforms, sees a lot of potential in the privately-held FusionOne, Inc., a respected leader in mobile content transfer and synchronization technology. A match made in mobile heaven, the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Stephen G. Waldis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss, says:  “As connected devices continue to become a more important part of everyday life for consumers and business professionals, OEMs and carriers need to address the challenge of mobile content transfer and synchronization at the point of activation in order to retain and grow their subscriber base and revenue streams.”

“The combination of FusionOne’s capabilities with Synchronoss’ industry leading ConvergenceNow Plus+ platform creates the most comprehensive and powerful mobility customer experience available in the market,” he adds.

In a nutshell, FusionOne is a fairly accomplished force in mobile content transfer and synchronization software enabling end users the ability to make their content “truly mobile” across different types of devices. And according to Synchronoss, the acquisition makes sense for a number of reasons, as outlined in the company’s official statement regarding the acquisition.

Among the possibilities cited, Synchronoss says the purchase of FusionOne will help with the acceleration of Synchronoss’ overall connected devices growth strategy, the advancement of Synchronoss’ customer diversification efforts, and a synergistic extension to Synchronoss’ value proposition to OEMs and carriers.

Popularity: unranked [?]

As a year dominated by acquisitions in the mobile space rolls into its second half, Synchronoss Technologies is joining the acquisition frenzy with its announcement this week that the company will scoop up FusionOne for $40 Million.

Synchronoss, a provider of on-demand transaction management software platforms, sees a lot of potential in the privately-held FusionOne, Inc., a respected leader in mobile content transfer and synchronization technology. A match made in mobile heaven, the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Stephen G. Waldis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss, says:  “As connected devices continue to become a more important part of everyday life for consumers and business professionals, OEMs and carriers need to address the challenge of mobile content transfer and synchronization at the point of activation in order to retain and grow their subscriber base and revenue streams.”

“The combination of FusionOne’s capabilities with Synchronoss’ industry leading ConvergenceNow Plus+ platform creates the most comprehensive and powerful mobility customer experience available in the market,” he adds.

In a nutshell, FusionOne is a fairly accomplished force in mobile content transfer and synchronization software enabling end users the ability to make their content “truly mobile” across different types of devices. And according to Synchronoss, the acquisition makes sense for a number of reasons, as outlined in the company’s official statement regarding the acquisition.

Among the possibilities cited, Synchronoss says the purchase of FusionOne will help with the acceleration of Synchronoss’ overall connected devices growth strategy, the advancement of Synchronoss’ customer diversification efforts, and a synergistic extension to Synchronoss’ value proposition to OEMs and carriers.

Popularity: unranked [?]

As a year dominated by acquisitions in the mobile space rolls into its second half, Synchronoss Technologies is joining the acquisition frenzy with its announcement this week that the company will scoop up FusionOne for $40 Million.

Synchronoss, a provider of on-demand transaction management software platforms, sees a lot of potential in the privately-held FusionOne, Inc., a respected leader in mobile content transfer and synchronization technology. A match made in mobile heaven, the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Stephen G. Waldis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss, says:  “As connected devices continue to become a more important part of everyday life for consumers and business professionals, OEMs and carriers need to address the challenge of mobile content transfer and synchronization at the point of activation in order to retain and grow their subscriber base and revenue streams.”

“The combination of FusionOne’s capabilities with Synchronoss’ industry leading ConvergenceNow Plus+ platform creates the most comprehensive and powerful mobility customer experience available in the market,” he adds.

In a nutshell, FusionOne is a fairly accomplished force in mobile content transfer and synchronization software enabling end users the ability to make their content “truly mobile” across different types of devices. And according to Synchronoss, the acquisition makes sense for a number of reasons, as outlined in the company’s official statement regarding the acquisition.

Among the possibilities cited, Synchronoss says the purchase of FusionOne will help with the acceleration of Synchronoss’ overall connected devices growth strategy, the advancement of Synchronoss’ customer diversification efforts, and a synergistic extension to Synchronoss’ value proposition to OEMs and carriers.

Popularity: unranked [?]

As a year dominated by acquisitions in the mobile space rolls into its second half, Synchronoss Technologies is joining the acquisition frenzy with its announcement this week that the company will scoop up FusionOne for $40 Million.

Synchronoss, a provider of on-demand transaction management software platforms, sees a lot of potential in the privately-held FusionOne, Inc., a respected leader in mobile content transfer and synchronization technology. A match made in mobile heaven, the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Stephen G. Waldis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss, says:  “As connected devices continue to become a more important part of everyday life for consumers and business professionals, OEMs and carriers need to address the challenge of mobile content transfer and synchronization at the point of activation in order to retain and grow their subscriber base and revenue streams.”

“The combination of FusionOne’s capabilities with Synchronoss’ industry leading ConvergenceNow Plus+ platform creates the most comprehensive and powerful mobility customer experience available in the market,” he adds.

In a nutshell, FusionOne is a fairly accomplished force in mobile content transfer and synchronization software enabling end users the ability to make their content “truly mobile” across different types of devices. And according to Synchronoss, the acquisition makes sense for a number of reasons, as outlined in the company’s official statement regarding the acquisition.

Among the possibilities cited, Synchronoss says the purchase of FusionOne will help with the acceleration of Synchronoss’ overall connected devices growth strategy, the advancement of Synchronoss’ customer diversification efforts, and a synergistic extension to Synchronoss’ value proposition to OEMs and carriers.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Vision Mobile in conjunction with Telefonica Developer Communities recently published the results of a developer survey entitled “Mobile Developer Economics 2010 and Beyond,” in which more than 400 developers globally were surveyed to analyze mindshare and overall sentiment for the various mobile platforms.

The results of the survey were segmented into 8 major platforms: iOS (iPhone), Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Java ME, Windows Phone, Flash Lite, and the mobile Web.  In terms of developer mindshare, the new research shows that Symbian and Java ME, which dominated the developer mindshare pool until 2008, have been superceded by the Android and iPhone platforms- big surprise, I know.

Despite Symbian remaining in the pole position in terms of smartphone market penetration, ‘out-shipping’ iPhone 4 to 1 and Android many-times to 1, the signs of dissatisfaction with the way the Symbian platform has evolved have long been evident.  The ecosystem evolving around the Android platform will likely make it the new Symbian in terms of reach and developer share very soon.  The iPhone, despite its enormous reach and prolific development community, will always be hindered by its closed-off nature in my opinion.

Android stands out as the top platform according to developer experience, with close to 60 percent of developers having recently developed on Android, assuming an equal number of developers with experience on each of eight major platforms.  iOS follows closely as the next most popular platform, outranking both Symbian and Java ME, which until 2008 were in pole position.

“In the last two years, a mindshare migration has taken place for mobile developers away from the incumbent platforms Symbian, Java ME and Windows Phone, while a substantial number of PC software developers have flocked to iPhone and Android,” the report suggests.  ”The large minority (20-25 percent) of Symbian respondents who sell their apps via iPhone and Android app stores reveals the brain-drain that is taking place towards these newer platforms.  The vast majority of Java ME respondents have lost faith in the write-once-run-anywhere vision.”

The report itself provides much more information and supporting data- head on over and pick up a copy for yourself.

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Yesterday, Compete published the results of its Q1 2010 Smartphone Intelligence survey, in which behavioral and survey-based insights are gained in regards to how consumers are using iPhones, BlackBerrys, Android devices and other smartphones.

Though it may come as no surprise given the proliferation of smartphones, local search, social networking and gaming are still showing the most movement with consumers.  Nearly one in three smartphone owners has called or stopped into a local business after finding it using a local search application.  In Q1 alone, close to a third of Android and iPhone owners discovered at least two new businesses that they were not previously aware of as a result of using local search applications.

In terms of social networking, Twitter and Facebook continue to dominate the smartphone landscape.  According to Compete’s findings, 33 percent of smartphone Twitter users primarily send tweets via their smartphones, and 33 percent of these consumers prefer to read tweets on their phone.  Of those accessing Facebook from their smartphone, consumers are increasingly using the device to read news feeds (66 percent), post status updates (60 percent), read/reply to private messages (59 percent) and post photos (44 percent).

In terms of gaming, iPhone users remain the predominant demographic- Compete found that 51 percent of iPhone users have five or more games loaded on their smartphones.  In contrast, 46 percent of BlackBerry users have no games on their devices.  Not only do iPhone owners download more games, they play games more frequently than owners of other smartphones.  Of the consumers surveyed, 37 percent of iPhone users report playing games on their smartphones at least daily and puzzle games seem to be capturing the majority of this attention.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Yesterday, Compete published the results of its Q1 2010 Smartphone Intelligence survey, in which behavioral and survey-based insights are gained in regards to how consumers are using iPhones, BlackBerrys, Android devices and other smartphones.

Though it may come as no surprise given the proliferation of smartphones, local search, social networking and gaming are still showing the most movement with consumers.  Nearly one in three smartphone owners has called or stopped into a local business after finding it using a local search application.  In Q1 alone, close to a third of Android and iPhone owners discovered at least two new businesses that they were not previously aware of as a result of using local search applications.

In terms of social networking, Twitter and Facebook continue to dominate the smartphone landscape.  According to Compete’s findings, 33 percent of smartphone Twitter users primarily send tweets via their smartphones, and 33 percent of these consumers prefer to read tweets on their phone.  Of those accessing Facebook from their smartphone, consumers are increasingly using the device to read news feeds (66 percent), post status updates (60 percent), read/reply to private messages (59 percent) and post photos (44 percent).

In terms of gaming, iPhone users remain the predominant demographic- Compete found that 51 percent of iPhone users have five or more games loaded on their smartphones.  In contrast, 46 percent of BlackBerry users have no games on their devices.  Not only do iPhone owners download more games, they play games more frequently than owners of other smartphones.  Of the consumers surveyed, 37 percent of iPhone users report playing games on their smartphones at least daily and puzzle games seem to be capturing the majority of this attention.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Hyperlocal by definition means that a product or service offers unique value, and is relevant, to the consumer. The mobile platform ensures that information reaches consumers 24/7, right in their pocket or pocketbook, often in the way they most want to be reached. Together, they’re a marketing strategy that guarantees that a company’s message will rise above the noise and get results.

In the past week I’ve heard three instances of combining hyperlocality and the mobile platform to target customers with laser precision, and to build a deeper relationship between a brand and its consumers. It’s not just about using new technologies–it’s about using them smartly, to get the most ROI in terms of loyalty as well as measurable revenue. Read about them after the jump.

Rollercoaster lovers, make sure you’ve a secure pocket for your phone. Cedar Fair, the company that owns thrill ride meccas like Cedar Point, King’s Island, and Dorney Park, is hoping to upsell visitors to its parks this summer with mobile campaigns powered by HipCricket. Using cross-platform ads on Facebook, radio, and in-park signs, and in email newsletters, Cedar Fair will entice attendees to sign up for special promotions, valid within the parks and also for return visits. ( I guarantee that a food coupon would help me decide which eatery to visit after riding the Top Thrill Dragster, with its 90-degree face-first drop, 420-foot height, and 100mph speed, since my adrenaline would be pumping too hard for me to think straight.) “We’re always looking for new ways to further connect with visitors while they’re in our parks and also in between visits,” Lee Alexakos, vice president and corporate division head of marketing and advertising at Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, said in a release.

TLC blurs real life and reality shows. Thanks to Justin, MMW’s readers know all about Foursquare, the combination location-based service/social network. The cable channel TLC is now using Foursquare to get people engaged with its docu-drama shows set in various locales. No, you won’t be able to find out where TLC-disowned Jon Gosselin will be partying. But you can earn badges by visiting the bakeries and restaurants where certain shows are filmed. You can also promote your favorite local business that is in the same industry as those featured in shows–for example, your go-to neighborhood cupcake place. “Our goal is to continue to offer value beyond TLC Summer and to keep them interested and engaged with our brand,” Rose Stark, director of marketing strategy at cable channel TLC, told 1to1media. Simon Salt, CEO of Incslingers and author of the upcoming book Social Location Marketing, said in the same news story, “What this can provide marketers, especially for those with multiple sites in different geographic locations, is an overview of what works well in different markets and where their traffic is. This enables big brands to act as though they were a very local store.”

Mobilized website targeting hip, well-to-do local shoppers. New York Magazine recently named the Park Slope area in Brooklyn as the top neighborhood to live in NYC. It’s full of young, creative, yet professional people with disposable income and the desire to purchase unique item,s or to hang out at a great restaurant or bar that’s a short walk from home. The same people often rely on their cell phones to find businesses while they’re on-the-go, but a local business organization admits in a press release that “our site was almost illegible on iPhones.” Mobile Meteor, a company that helps small businesses optimize their websites for mobile phones, fixed the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District’s online presence–making it not just readable on all smartphones, but also more interactive with social media integration. Sure, mobile website optimization is hardly a new concern. But smaller, more localized businesses are now realizing that what works for national companies also works for them. And since most smartphones have GPS, more localized searches mean that the organization’s site needs to be ready for its close-up.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Twitter-based startup TweetUp has acquired Twidroid and Popurls to help bolster its search and advertising platform that identifies the best tweets and users from across the Web based on keyword searches.

TweetUp combines sophisticated relevance algorithms with a bidding system to raise user-profiles to the top of search results and make it easy to acquire new followers, and is being used on several high-traffic sites such as TechCrunch, BusinessInsider and Topix.com.  Though plans are uncertain as to what TweetUp has up its sleeve with the new acquisitions, the company said recently that tweeters will soon be able to bid on keywords in a competitive marketplace very similar to search engines on the Internet.

In addition, TweetUp has inked search agreements with various companies, including Twitter clients such as TweetDeck and Seesmic.  It makes sense that TweetUp would want a native client of its own, and therefore chose Twidroid since it’s one of the most popular Android-based clients out there.  The company will likely bake its search solution into Twidroid to have something it has complete control over, and the company has indicated that various clients and websites will bring search results to more than 40 million unique users per month and serve more than 100 million impressions a month.

Popurls, which aggregates items from the New York Times, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Flickr and other sites also makes sense for the company’s search plans.  Aggregating links from traditional Web content to social media sites to real-time content from Twitter could make for an interesting combination when integrated into TweetUp’s other plans.  We’ll definitely be keeping out eyes on this one.

Popularity: 1% [?]

It was reported this morning that AT&T may be quietly hindering 3G upload speeds in hopes of curbing network strain, reacting to yet another influx of iPhone devices hitting its network daily.  While nothing has been formally announced, several readers of GigaOM have complained that their upload speeds have decreased substantially- from over 1 Mbps to under 100 Kbps over the last few days.

It would make sense, as the company recently enacted tiered data pricing plans for new and current customers who wanted to make the switch, but is it truly necessary?  Some innovative startups say it’s not, and that the answer lies with data compression instead.  A company called Human Monitoring, which offers “software based video processing solutions based on  algorithmic innovation,” has developed a solution that can cut the data traffic associated with images in half.

The solution, dubbed “Hipix,” was built in conjunction with Korean firm, Innoace, which can turn a typical eight megapixel MMS image into a package of no more than 300 KB of data.  The technology is being developed solely for the Korean market at the moment, but it signifies the future of data-strained networks and a solution to the growing problem.  Hipix is patent pending technology which utilizes an existing H.264 video codec to achieve between two to five times still image compression when compared to a typical JPEG image on a mobile phone.

The solution is notable as it helps solve the problem without the need to modify hardware of any kind.  Data compression done in the cloud before being sent to end-user devices has the potential to significantly reduce overall data on networks.  Though it’s just one piece of the puzzle, it’s definitely a start.  I see technology like this revolutionizing mobile data in the very near future.  Data compression is the reason Opera has made such inroads with its Opera Mini browser, and replicating that concept in the mainstream can do wonders.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Bharti Airtel, India’s largest cellular service provider, announced a partnership with Facebook yesterday that will bring free access to the site’s mobile version, m.facebook.com, to Bharti’s 130 million customers. For all of July and August Airtel subscribers can utilize key Facebook features like status updates, photos, and private messages with no data charges. The promotion aims to hook users on accessing Facebook from their phones, similar to 0.facebook.com, the free, text-only mobile version of the site Facebook is working with carriers worldwide to bring to users without data plans.

Unlike Facebook Zero, Airtel users will have access to m.facebook.com’s wider set of features, including data-intensive photos, but excluding more complex features like chat and games. Depending on the quantity of photos served, the promotion’s data transmission could become very expensive for whoever between Facebook and Bharti Airtel is footing the bill. The companies are betting they can recoup these costs from users who become accustomed to m.facebook.com and purchase data plans at the end of the two month trial. The promotion will likely boost m.facebook.com’s 19.8 million MAU and 7.76 million DAU, which it in turn seeks to push towards the better user experience of Facebook’s native mobile phone applications.

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Global mobile media company BuzzCity today released the results of its “Global Mobile Advertising Index” for Q2 2010, in which it reveals a quarter-over-quarter increase of 61% for mobile advertising impressions over Q1.

What’s interesting is that this isn’t another fly-by-night report issued without merit- BuzzCity gathered this data through the serving of over 12.8 billion ad impressions across 200 countries.  During Q2, a total of 44 markets each delivered monthly traffic exceeding 10 million impressions per month – an increase from 32 markets in Q1.  Indonesia, India, the US, South Africa and Vietnam dominated the top 5, with Ghana showing the most growth over the three-month period at a staggering 654%.

BuzzCity serves up banner advertisements to a global audience, which provides different insight from similar reports that mix in-app advertising, the mobile Web and other forms.  The Global Mobile Advertising Index tracks activity across BuzzCity’s network including over 2500 publishers across the globe, with the findings representing a “measure of advertiser demand for mobile internet advertising.”  Take a look at the stats provided in the chart above, or view the full report here.  You can also view past reports here.

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With iAd a lengthy one-week old at this point, Apple is already gearing up to utilize the treasure chest of user-data its acquired through the roughly 150M iTunes accounts it has full access to.

More specifically, Apple has commissioned a thorough study of the purchasing patterns of its users in terms of apps, music and video content to better target its key demographics and give more power to the advertisers using iAd.  Robust targeting capability is the true value with iAd, and Apple is going to do everything it can to give its advertisers the most bang for their buck.

A good example of which is Unilever, which together with Apple, has created an iAd campaign to target married men with children who are in their late 30s to market Dove men’s soap.  Analyzing iTunes purchasing and profile data, Unilever was able to create a highly relevant and targeted campaign that goes directly after the preferred demographic.

Rachel Pasqua, director of digital marketing firm iCrossing, highlighted the impressive wealth of behavioral and buying pattern data available to the company; “Apple knows what you’ve downloaded, how much time you spend interacting with an app and even knows what you’ve downloaded over time and didn’t like or deleted.”

User privacy issues aside, iAd will certainly become a force to be reckoned with in the future, despite regulatory scrutiny.  Apple wants to do with mobile advertising what Google did with search advertising over the last decade- which is to use the mounds of user-specific data to serve highly relevant and targeted adverts.  With iTunes on its side, Apple already has a significant leg up, though Google is gearing up for a fight of its own with its purchase and integration of AdMob.

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