Facebook changes ad structure

July 21st, 2008

Via Email from the ad team:

The most basic change that you’ll notice is that ads will now appear on the right side of Facebook pages instead of on the left. The new placement integrates the ads into the new site design in a meaningful way. As many as two ads may show at one time on any given page.

In addition to these changes, you will also see a new ad on the home page. This new ad is located just to the right of the News Feed, and will initially run a limited set of advertisers. As this space continues to evolve and improve, we’ll provide more details.

So at least three ads on a profile now? (Not including banners) General users can’t bid on the one next to the newsfeed. We’ll see more tomorrow I suppose when the new look goes live.

Recommendation Cards

July 21st, 2008

I’ve been thinking for a while about the way I do business and how at various talks and training gigs I recommend various people. I even have an “I recommend” page on this here blog. I carry some cards of people around but honestly I’d love to carry more cards if I had room and then there’s the issue of topping up on the cards.

So I was thinking of getting cards printed with maybe 7-8 lines with a check box on each line and list those people from my I recommend page. When talking to someone then I’d say “This guy here” as I tick the box next to Richard Hearne, for example. Or tick two or three boxes. Much easier than people writing their details down.

So each line would have:
Person’s Name/Business Name – What they do – Web address

Or something like that. I wonder would an enterprising printing company bring out a template to make this easy for people? It’s a mini social network on a piece of paper. If we can do the Tuesday Push on blogs, we could do another form on cards. However, the recommendations should be genuine and there shouldn’t be horsetrading of the type “I’ll put you on my card if you’ll put me on yours”.

Anyway, I must go printing these.

New Music (minus one)
Photo owned by surprise truck (cc)

Irish Web Awards – Draft Categories released

July 21st, 2008

Irish Web Awards Categories. Subject to change though they probably won’t. Happy to include some categories that have not been catered for before.

The 2008 Irish Web Awards will take place in the Radisson SAS, Dublin on October 11th

Yeah, sponsorship is being sought. Remember you cannot seek nominations or be nominated if you are a sponsor. Or nominate your clients’ sites. If you want to sponsor then email contact [at] awards.ie Category sponsorship and headliner sponsorship is being sought.

Nominations will open in August.

Fluffy Links – Monday July 21st 2008

July 21st, 2008

Good morning and Good luck Rick!

The National Irish Food Awards. Nice one Kieran.

Staying with food, Donal has done a redesign of the The Good Mood Food Blog. And he’s gotten a book deal!

Green Ink has fun with web stats.

The blog of young Chris D.

Here finally is that list of WordPress Installers and Designers.

Nice example of crowdsourcing at work.

Free Our Data, the blog. – A Guardian Technology campaign for free public access to data about the UK and its citizens. We should have an initiative like that here.

Cute. If you like Mr. Dynamite.

Santogold – L.E.S. Artistes:
[youtube Y9JI0GXkARQ]

Hat tip Dave. Does it offend you, yeah? – Epic Last Song:
[youtube 2lkuXfkaea4]

Word of hand

July 20th, 2008

At a recent meeting/event thingy someone mentioned a client wanted to build buzz about their new product which was aimed at high-end professionals in a specific area of a large city. But didn’t want to explicitly state what the service was going to be. And they wanted it to be “viral”.

I had considered targeting the clubs where these rich boys go to act out their large egos. When they go in to said club handstamp them with the name or logo of this new service. Nice gold stamp or something like that. Or a gold bracelet thingy.

And then Piaras mentions your hand has now become advertising space. It could have been me…

Bjork – Isobel (Carcass Remix)

July 19th, 2008

As just played by Phantom
[youtube d5Uj5osbPKU]

Online Marketing on YouTube – The Wrong way

July 18th, 2008

Fucking hell.

[youtube JGbx25QUH94]

I thought this was that German “safety” video where it all goes wrong.
[youtube 4Z8iY14Xx9c]

Fluffy Links – Friday 18th July 2008

July 18th, 2008

Haha:

Jesus feckin Christ, who the hell rings up a random Internet Café looking for escort numbers???

Stereotyping. I’ve never seen this blog in my life your honour. Well, I don’t think I have, yet it’s around for aages. (Internet time)

We should have Internet Rangers here too. I can’t see BT Ireland going for it.

Want a cheap SSD drive? Jason shows how.

Kurt Vonnegut talks about how to write with style. All those tips equally apply to blogging. Fantastic.


Muphry’s Law
.

Hmm.

The Colbert Bounce. It’s not slashdotting or DIGG is it?

Cylon Toasters. We all knew it was gonna happen.

Via Fabulist: WOON (jamie woon) – Spirits
[youtube OZfDbEQAfOY]

Marketing on YouTube: Spammers always find new marketing methods. Good.

July 17th, 2008

From email marketing and clever subject fields to hooking people via YouTube, spammers always are the ones trying new ways of getting attention. The two screenshots below show a clever way of using the YouTube “Annotations” option that is now in YouTube to get attention. When I first saw this I thought YouTube had finally found a way of doing proper ads. Not so much.

So we see an offer of sending a song to anyone that subscribes to the channel. Use a spellchecker next time son. But hell yeah, why not add an annotation to ask for subscriptions and some genuine free offer?

YouTube Spam

We also see an annotation to look at another video that you can click on. Great idea.

YouTube Spam

Why not create a video with compelling content and then an option to learn more about your company at the end of the video instead of just a pure sell video? Or do a general overview video of a new phone and then additional videos to get into the detailed stuff for each part of the product? “Want to learn more about this menu on our phone? Click here” “Want to learn about this next feature? Click here”. YouTube themselves recommend games via videos. “Click here to see if Mary makes Choice 1”, “Click here if you want Mary to make Choice 2”

Start using YouTube folks.

  • 1. It’s free.
  • 2. There’s lots of people on it who can find your video via related videos or searching.
  • 3. Your videos can be embedded on YouTube so that means blogs, discussion forums and the much hated but massively used Bebo can spread your product videos.

No Annotations in this video (tut tut) but a great video from Sophos visually explaining security issues on Facebook. People will no doubt watch a video where they would not have read a security whitepaper or walkthrough:
[youtube jUY2UdSfL7s]

More from the Dáil Archives on the Dept of Comms

July 17th, 2008

Via here:

Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the names, titles and annual salaries of each of the political advisers, press officers, assistants or other staff appointed by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28162/07]

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Deputy Eamon Ryan): The names, titles, and annual salaries of each of the political advisors, press officers, assistants or other staff appointed by me are as follows:

Mr … Special Adviser Principal Officer (Higher) salary scale (modified PRSI) €88,261(min) to €102,305 (max)
Ms … Press Adviser Principal Officer (Standard) salary scale (modified PRSI) €82,016 (min) to €95,363 (max)
Ms … Political Adviser/Coordinator with Minister of State Mr Tony Killeen, T.D. Principal Officer (Standard) salary scale (modified PRSI) €82,016 (min) to €95,363 (max)
Ms … Personal Assistant HEO salary scale (modified PRSI) €44,314 (min) to €52,379 (max)
Ms … Personal Secretary Secretarial Assistant salary scale €22,064 (min) to €41,019 (max)