Questions rose over financial worth of social media site

A sector commentator has pointed out that in order for Twitter to remain successful, people must continue to tweet and a new report suggests this may not be the case.
Questions have been raised over how much the social media site Twitter is actually worth to advertisers, according to an industry commentator.
Laurie Sullivan, reporting in the Online Media Daily blog on Media Post, found that this uncertainty will be further exacerbated by a study set to be released by Crowd Science this week.
In the report it will indicate that 24 per cent of Twitter users have stopped using the social media service or have never tweeted.
The sector commentator spoke to Dennis Miller, general partner at Spark Capital, who pointed out that there is a lot of pressure on advertising agencies to make the most of the potential offered by social media platforms.
He also commented that he expected that "money will follow the eyeballs", so as long as people stay interested in using such sites there is sure to be commercial viability.
Spark Capital is an investment firm which has a stake in Twitter, as well as in other technology companies such as Novatel Wireless and Aether Systems.
One potential problem that Mr Sullivan highlights is that people must continue tweeting for the social media website to continue its success.

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MySpace set to 'concentrate on video production'

MySpace could be about to focus more on video production with its sister site Hulu, according to an industry commentator
MySpace will be focusing more of its energy on developing video production with the help of Hulu, according to an industry commentator.
Greg Sandoval, writing for CNET News, pointed out that MySpace does already show some Hulu content but that this currently cannot compete with the most popular video platforms such as YouTube.
He claimed that MySpace will begin focusing on showing more music videos, television programmes and movies in order to make waves in the market, according to his unnamed sources.
One of them told Mr Sandoval: "MySpace's intention is to do a much better job of monetising the video area."
The question will now be whether it will make the improved service a subscription-based product or if it will be separate downloads.
Hulu, MySpace's sister site, increased its total number of video streams by 490 per cent year on year in April, according to a study by Nielsen.

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Research 'necessary for improved lead generation'

Marketers need to carry out research before they make decisions about future promotional campaigns, rather than rely on generic testing, says an industry insider.
Research is needed for marketers to maximise lead generation in their direct marketing campaigns, not just generic testing, according to an industry insider.
Robert Keitch, chief of membership and brand of the Direct Marketing Association, pointed out that there is a growing trend to simply look at previous campaign results when making decisions.
He highlighted the need to carry out new research in order to know the most efficient way of reaching a target audience.
"The power of direct marketing lies in its targeted approach and to ensure that this precision is maximised it is vital that direct marketers use all the tools available to them," the DMA representative added.
Mr Keitch suggested using creative testing, price evaluation and tracking studies to keep up to date with customers' point of view.
Last week, a study by comScore indicated that online advertising was better suited to smaller brands as it is cost-effective and allows customers to be targeted more easily.

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Online video production viewings 'on the increase'

The number of videos each user streams online has increased since last year and so has the total number watched, according to a new survey.
The number of online video productions watched by individual viewers has increased year-on-year, according to a new study.
In the report published by the Nielsen Company it was shown that in August there were 81.7 video streams downloaded by each unique viewer, which is 19.6 per cent up from the same time last year.
There was also a 41 per cent increase in the total number of streams for the month, which stood at just over 11.3 million.
In order to improve the accuracy of the survey, any patented videos were attributed to the creators of the file.
The company explained: "For example, if a Saturday Night Live clip from NBC.com is embedded on a personal blog, that video would be attributed to NBC because of the NBC video player."
In terms of popularity, the top online brand for video production is YouTube, which had more than ten times as many unique viewers as second placed Hulu and 15 times as many streams.

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Microsoft will aim for more "graphically rich" SEO

Microsoft is intending to make its Bing searches more "graphically-rich" in order to compete with Google, says an industry commentator.
Microsoft will aim to produce a more "graphically-rich" style of search engine optimisation (SEO) on its Bing program, says an industry insider.
Laurie Sullivan, writing in the Online Media Daily blog on Media Post, commented that it will begin to allow websites to include more graphics in search results pages, rather than just two lines of text.
He pointed out that Microsoft will also try to avoid ambiguity in organic searches by allowing users to specify whether it is a product, service or information that they are looking for.
Kevin Lee, co-founder of Didit, an advertising consultancy, noted: "The general mission to come up with better search formats will become more important over time. Microsoft has talked about allowing advertisers to include mini logos."
Mr Sullivan highlighted that Microsoft is trying to encourage marketers to spend more advertising money specifically on Bing rather than Google with these innovations in its searches.
Google has just launched its DoubleClick Ad Exchange which allows advertisers real-time bidding on online promotional spaces.

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Google releases online lead generation development

Google has released DoubleClick Ad Exchange which it claims will allow real-time bidding for promotional spaces.
Google may have enhanced lead generation possibilities for marketers with the release of DoubleClick Ad Exchange.
The new program will involve real-time bidding in what it the search engine has described as an open marketplace.
In terms of buying up the advertising space, Google has said that it will be aimed at advertising agencies that will then connect marketers with interested websites.
Google AdSense sites will be available on DoubleClick AdExchange, as well as many major branded sites.
Neal Mohan, vice-president of product management at the search engine, said: "Better technology can help make display advertising work better for all involved. We're focused on growing the display advertising pie for everyone."
The company have stated that this new product will make it easier for marketers to make the most efficient use of their time and money and give publishers the most revenue possible.
Last week, Google released Web Elements, allowing businesses to embed any of the company's products into their websites.

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Users invited 'inside the walls of social media site'

The release of Facebook Prototype will allow users to try out experimental applications that have not been launched yet and offer feedback.
Facebook users have been invited to look at new ideas and applications being developed inside the walls of the social media service.
People can access Facebook Prototypes within their application directory and leave feedback on how well they work or offer suggestions on how to improve the programs, according to a post by Lee Byron on the company's blog.
He listed several examples of applications that were never released to the mainstream user base such as Enhanced Events Emails, which allows people to add Facebook Events directly to Microsoft Outlook or Google calendars.
Mr Byron added: "You'll be able to test any of the products and features we launch as Facebook Prototypes and then provide feedback directly to those of us who built them."
Some applications, he pointed out, can be a little esoteric to be given a full-scale launch on the social networking site, but Facebook Prototypes offers developers a chance to tweak their creations from customer suggestions.
This week, the founder of the social networking site Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company now serves 300 million users.

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