In past months while Twitter was gaining substantial fame there was talk in the industry that Twitter may become a better way to search for something that is ‘current’ due to the real-time nature of the platform. While I never put much stock into this, it is clear now that Google has no intention of losing their position as being the leader in searching for information… archive, real-time or otherwise.

With this update, Google remains at the center of the search hub and is now even stronger and can provide more relevant data to searchers.

Yahoo, one of Google’s biggest competitors, obviously was not far behind. Last Thursday Yahoo started including recent Twitter posts in their web search results as well. Their approach is a bit different and Yahoo appears to be only interested in the hottest of topics. Yahoo claims that their search algorithm can determine the most relevant tweets and then figures out where to include that information on the search results page.

We are definitely seeing a merging of new social media and traditional web searches, which should make for a more interesting SEO (search engine optimization) landscape.

One way to really spread awareness is by creating a ‘viral video’.

Creating a viral video is, in the current market, very difficult to do. What makes a video so catchy that it makes people want to forward it to their friends, gets people talking about it, etc, etc. In the past when viral videos were a new sensation this was a bit easier because not everyone was trying to produce the next viral video sensation.

Recently one of my friends showed me a YouTube video that right away I knew was a marketers dream.

DJ Steve Porter had taken the Slap Chop infomercial (which I’m sure everyone has seen) and created a rap re-mix.

The video has over 6 million views.

That is 6,000,000+ new impressions that the marketers at Slap Chop could only have dreamed of.

The cost to get those impressions on television would be very expensive, but since this video went viral it is just more and more publicity without the hefty price tag.

It’s interesting to note that the person who actually made (or re-mixed) the video is not affiliated with the company at all. It’s just some random guy, who had a clever idea, and Slap Chop it reaping the benefits in a big way.

Based on some Twitter posts from Facebook employees, it seems that over 200,000 names were registered within a matter of minutes.

So, if you’re a Facebook user, I strongly suggest that you go and grab your name ASAP. After all, just like domain names, MySpace URLs, or Twitter names, there is only ONE of each name available and once it’s taken, there is nothing you can do.

There was some speculation that Facebook would not be able to handle the massive influx of everyone registering their username, but so far a day into the madness, all seems to have gone smoothly. Kudos to your Facebook! I have heard some reports of pages loading slower than usual and also heard claims about people not being able to register usernames even though they were available, but those are pretty small hiccups compared to the explosions that could have occurred.

I’m sure this username initiative is going to cause some problems for Facebook. Corporations will undoubtedly have their lawyers working feverishly over copyright/trademark claims and users will become frustration when they cannot even get their own name. But, I’m sure they have a plan for that… or if they didn’t see that coming, they’ll wish they did.

And, we all know the dreaded season that creeps up on us in August… the back to school season!

Starting last week ‘back to school’ themed emails were flying. The first wave started almost two weeks ago as many retailers were eager to start spreading the news about their back-to-school savings, but last week the number spiked dramatically.

Everyone gets on the back-to-school bandwagon trying to vie for those lucrative dollars (especially in a struggling economy). The most dominant business type that send out back-to-school related emails are clothing stores. From casual to upscale to school uniforms, these retailers were pumping out emails to their targeted audience as fast as possible. Many retailers adopted a ‘daily back-to-school email special’ that they would send out each and every day in order to entice customers to make a purchase.

Email marketing is proving to be very effective for these retailers since their target market is actively engaged on the Internet and checks their email regularly. Also, since retailers are generally contacting ‘past customers’, they already have a bond or relationship with that customer, which helps further drive future repeat purchases.

This year many of the email marketing campaigns are tied to social marketing components with outlets having a MySpace or Facebook page that they are urging people to become ‘friends’ with. This twp prong approach is gaining in popularity since sites like Facebook and MySpace have exploded in popularity.

This past week the Social Marketing Division at EliteAnswers.com helped launch a Canada-wide campaign for Sauza Tequila that harnesses the power of two of the most popular social networks: MySpace and Facebook.

The premise of the campaign is that Sauza Tequila (which recently introduced new mango and acai berry flavored tequilas) is looking for Canada’s best DJ in a contest dubbed “Sauza Tequila DJ Mix Off Challenge”.

The contest calls upon DJs across the country to put together their best mix and submit it to a regional and, upon advancement, national judging panel. The semi-finalists will really get to shine when they are invited to perform live at a club in front of a national judge.

The promotion taps into the amazing social marketing power of MySpace, where the DJs are invited to post their submission on the Sauza Tequila wall for all to see. You can view the MySpace page here: http://www.myspace.com/sauzatequila (The French version can be seen here: http://www.myspace.com/sauzatequilaqc)

Sauza already has a booming group of loyal enthusiasts on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2365913470) and those people have not been left out of the mix. Exclusive messages and contest updates have been sent to all members of the group, which further engages them in the conversation with the brand they like.

Sauza really understands how to harness the power of social marketing to engage their customers in an exciting and interactive way that sets them apart from those brands that are stuck to traditional marketing platforms.

 CNN recently revamped their website to a more Web 2.0 style and clearly that is carrying forward into their broadcasts as well. Their much advertised YouTube Debate (just look at that YouTube branding!) aired tonight and featured members of the general public asking questions via YouTube videos right to the candidates. Is this the direction we’re heading?

First TIME Magazine names the person of the year in 2006: “YOU”
And now we’re dictating what content earns a slot on a primetime national news network. Wow, we’re coming a long way!

If consumers are demanding to be the directors, is it long before we’re doing that on sitcoms? We already know about “America’s Player” on Big Brother, so we can check realty TV off the list.

This could end up being cool…
(Side Note: Is this why the writers are on strike? Because WE are collectively stealing their jobs…JOKES!)
Or maybe it’ll be brutally awful.

I know I would have liked to tell Jerry Seinfeld what to do a few times or maybe tell Ross just what to say to Rachel…heck, more recently, if I could direct Peter Petrelli, I couldn’t be happier!

I just can’t help get the feeling that if “WE” are breaking into mainstream broadcast programming on certain networks, it won’t be long before the other networks latch on.

I know how many of my friends feel about realty TV these days, they can’t stand it!
If this plays out as I think it might, is it long before we start saying “Geeze, I can’t stand US!”? Or are we going to embrace “US” as the future of media?