In more exciting social media news, for the first time NBC Sports is engaging in YouTube marketing by encouraging fans to vote for their favorite ads online. By previewing commercials, Super Bowl advertisers are able to generate more buzz as well as brand awareness of their participation in the big day.

With “second screens” and multimedia outlets, consumers have more power than ever to choose what they want to watch. Social TV is a phenomenon that lets viewers do just that. Pepsi will enhance the Super Bowl experience with an NFL-themed version of Pepsi Sound Off, the first brand-led social TV platform, which was launched during The X Factor to engage consumers in a real time viewing party. A partnership with social TV network GetGlue will allow users to check-in and unlock exclusive content and free Pepsi.

And for something to look forward to in the near future, the nation’s largest cable provider, Comcast, is developing a social TV strategy called a “content recommendation system” that rewards subscribers. Viewers are notified when a friend is watching a particular movie or a show, and Comcast subscribers can earn discounts on their cable bill when a program they recommend is viewed by another user. YouTube and social TV are offering more options for consumers to choose just how they wish to digest content.

YouTube and Social TV Provide More Content for the Super Bowl is a post from: Blue Interactive Agency

Related Posts

1. Is Social Media Changing the Game of Football?
2. Super Bowl Advertisers Get More for their Money by Integrating Social Media
3. Consumer-Generate Ads Growing in Popularity

Users with a Google account will have their information integrated among all Google products including Gmail, YouTube, and Picasa. Google has already been collecting this information, but the new policy will allow the company to combine data across all its websites to get a deeper understanding of its user. For example, if you reside in Florida and watch a clip of a Miami Heat game on YouTube, you may see NBA ads appear on your Gmail account. Google will be able to tailor search results based on information given on Gmail, Google +, and YouTube to better understand what users mean when they search common terms like “apple” or “pink.”

“In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience,” says the official Google blog. The concept is similar to Facebook’s network of games, messages, and apps all under one user log-in.

However, there has been backlash for the privacy policy updates coming from 8 members of the House of Representatives and SafeGov, a company that conducts cloud computing for government. The congressmen wrote a letter to Google CEO Larry Page, raising the issue that there is no opt out option for the new privacy policy. SafeGov is concerned with how the privacy policy updates will affect the security of government workers. Google has since responded on their Public Policy blog, explaining to users they still have choice and control of their use of services. Will the backlash settle once the privacy policy updates go into effect March 1? Let us know your thoughts.

Google Privacy Policy Updates: Friend or Foe? is a post from: Blue Interactive Agency

Related Posts

1. Facebook to Roll Out Major Privacy & Control Changes
2. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to Friend China?
3. Amid controversy, Facebook hires a Public Policy Director

Pinterest has gained momentum in the last few months with traffic increasing by over 400% between September and December 2011. The social media bookmarking site’s increasing popularity is especially prevalent among women (58% of members) aged 25 to 44 years old (59% of members). Pinterest is compared to Etsy for its central audience of arts and crafts lovers.

The visual bookmarking aspect allows retailers to promote a lifestyle that captures the essence of their brand. Whole Foods has done a great job of capturing their healthy lifestyle with Pinterest boards devoted to gardens, kitchens, cooking, recycling, and art projects. The Travel Channel Pinterest board is filled with beaches, bizarre foods, exotic animals, natural wonders, and trip ideas. Pinterest is the ideal tool for brands to create a visual representation. Companies can also run contests using the social networking site. Fashion merchandiser Lands’ End Canvas ran a contest asking users to pin 10 to 20 items on their retail store and submit their pinboard to enter to win.

The emergence of Pinterest gives retailers new opportunities in social media marketing to represent their brand in a creative manner and drive traffic to their stores.

Pinterest: The New Social Network Driving Traffic to Retail Stores is a post from: Blue Interactive Agency

Related Posts

1. Socl: Microsoft’s Secret Social Network in the Works
2. Pinterest – The Hottest New Social Startup
3. Zynga Expands its Social Media Marketing

Download our SOPA and PIPA Blacklist Cheat Sheet.

The Global Intellectual Property Center reported the sale of counterfeit goods over the internet reached $135 billion last year. In response to these internet crimes, The Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act legislation have been developed. While this legislation may sound like it will something mildly positive but in reality, both regulations have serious potential to negatively change the internet as we know it.

Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill in the House of Representatives
• Designed to block access to sites containing unauthorized copyright material.
• Content owners and U.S. government would be given power to request court orders to shut down suspected sites associated with piracy
• Government and cop rotations could block any site, foreign or domestic, for just one infringing link.

Consequences
• Block access to infringing domains by suing to have links removed.
• Advertisers, payment processors, and internet service providers would be forbidden from doing business with infringers based overseas.
• Requires search engines to remove foreign infringing sites from their results.
• Email providers may be forced to censor certain links you send or receive.
• Anyone found guilty of streaming copyrighted content without permission 10 or more times within 6 months could face up to 5 years in jail.
• These acts could threaten the security and stability of the global DNS.
The White House criticizes the bill in a statement saying “Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small” and “We must avoid creating new cyber security risks or disruption the underlying architecture of the Internet”.

List of major participants of January 18th website blacked out in protest of SOPA:
• Wikipedia
• Reddit
• WordPress for Business Websites
• Political Buddies
• Good Evening
• Twitpic – censored versions
• Hacktivist group, Anonymous
• Major League Gaming
• The Economic Populist
• Blue Interactive Agency

Download our PIPA Blacklist Cheat Sheet.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stand up in protection of our free speech and the internet as we know it. Continue to follow Blue Interactive blog, Facebook page, and Twitter to stay up to date on integrated marketing advice and stay abreast of current events in the industry.  Blue Interactive Agency offers a complete range of interactive marketing services, including social media marketing, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and more. To learn more, call 954-779-2801 today.

Blue Interactive Blacks Out Website in Protest of SOPA and PIPA is a post from: Blue Interactive Agency

Related Posts

1. Blue Takes Facebook’s New iPad App for a Spin
2. Before Launching Your Website, Add These to Your Checklist, Pt.3
3. Interactive Barcodes Increase Interest for Brands

At their press conference in New York, Spotify executives gave a presentation of the different applications, including Rolling Stone magazine, CBS Corporation’s music-recommendation service Last.fm and Songkick, which notifies users about upcoming concerts based on the artists they like. “Since Stockholm-based Spotify is opening its app platform to any developer, much as Apple does for its iPhone app store, more functions are likely to arrive soon,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Spotify is opening its app platform to any developer, which will allow for more and better functions. Although apps will be created by third parties, Spotify will have to approve them before they’re available, much like the approval process for Apple’s App Store. “It’s going to be more like the Apple model,” said Chief Executive Daniel Ek. “We want to make sure the quality of the apps we get in is really, really high.”

Enhancing the service is intended to attract new users and to keep current customers using Spotify for longer periods of time. Spotify allows users to listen to over 15 million songs on demand, and discovering new music they actually want to hear is the prime focus of the new features.

Despite backlash from people in the music industry, who have estimated that Spotify’s licensing agreements with the major labels will cost the company roughly $175 million over two years, the new features are expected to gain the company a healthy amount of new subscribers. At Blue Interactive Agency, we love to keep up on the latest tech news. If you’re looking for interested in interactive marketing services, contact Blue today. From graphic design to social media marketing, Blue offers a complete range of web services.

Spotify Adds Facebook-Style Apps is a post from: Blue Interactive Agency

Related Posts

1. Google to Connect Music Beta with New MP3 Store
2. LinkedIn Introduces “Twitter-Style Posts for Your Business”
3. f8 to Focus on New Music Platform

Kindle Fire: It has been speculated that Amazon loses anywhere from $3 to $9 on each Kindle Fire that sells at the price of $199, what the online retailer is offering the tablet at since it came on the market. We are still waiting to see if Amazon will offer a special Cyber Monday discount. The 9.7” Kindle DX Free 3G E Ink Display, however, has been discounted from $379 to $259.

Xbox 360 250GB Kinect: Gamestop is offering a Holiday Value Bundle with a free vault case. For just $399.99, you’ll get the Xbox 360, Kinect, 2 free games and a 3-month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership for a limited time.

TomTom: Directionally challenged and late to hop on the GPS bandwagon? The TomTom XXL 550 GPS is on sale today only at woot.com for just under $55.

Blackberry Playbook: Walmart is offering great deals on this tablet. The 32GB model is being discounted 43%, from $599 to $398. The 64GB is offered at $398 from $699.

iPad 2: Most of us weren’t expecting any significant Cyber Monday deals on the iPad, but we’ll still take a slightly cheaper 32GB model from Buy.com. Total price today is $574.99, a discount of $36.01.

From tablets to TVs, Cyber Monday 2011 holds a lot of promise for tech fanatics on a budget. The tablet market is hotter than ever this year, making online and interactive marketing ever more important for businesses. Blue Interactive Agency offers a wide range of interactive services, including social media marketing, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and more. Call us today at 954-779-2801 for more information.

Cyber Monday Tech Deals is a post from: Blue Interactive Agency

Related Posts

1. New Kindle Line to Feature HTML5 & CSS3
2. The Age of Amazon: Tablets, Social Media & High-Tech Pickup Lockers
3. Facebook Kills Daily Deals After Four Months

“Picking up where amazing left off,” the iPhone 4S boasts an improved 1080p HD Video camera, two times more power and up to seven times faster graphics. But the showstopper is the 4S-exclusive Siri personal assistant app. Most people have heard of it by now, and have some degree of familiarity with its basic functions. Using artificial intelligence voice-recognition engines in the cloud, Siri interprets what you say and gathers information accordingly. The more you use it, the better it gets at understanding you and the unique characteristics of your voice (like accent and dialect). Here are some cool examples of what Siri can do to snack on while you wait:

-        Talk to Siri like you would a friend. You can say “Text John that I’m on my way,” or, “Remind me to call the doctor.” Siri will text the John you’re referring to, and set a reminder to call the doctor at the time of your choosing.

-        The intuitive technology not only understands what you say, it knows what you mean. Looking for a good local Italian restaurant? Ask “Any good Italian places around here?” Siri will locate a list of nearby Italian restaurants, and if you change your mind, just say “Hmm. What about burgers?” Siri remembers that you just asked about restaurants, so it will find local burger joints in the neighborhood.

-        We’ve been talking about how mobile search has skyrocketed recently. But tech blogs have been abuzz about Siri’s very real potential to do some serious Internet search-poaching from Google. When you want to do a search with Siri, all you have to do is ask and it will find any information you’re looking for by performing the search for you.

Although hackers have had some success, Apple has recently confirmed that unfortunately, Siri will not be available on older devices. We can’t wait to see how this new mobile AI will change the face of smartphone technology as we know it. We’re also excited to see what implications this has on social media. If you’re interested in social media marketing, contact Blue Interactive Agency today. With years of industry experience, Blue can overhaul your interactive marketing campaign to get you the results you want. From search engine optimization to SEO copywriting, Blue has the tools to improve your online presence. Call 954-779-2801 today for more information.

All About Siri is a post from: Blue Interactive Agency

Related Posts

1. Say Goodbye to Netflix with Six Great Alternatives
2. Google to Connect Music Beta with New MP3 Store
3. Blue Takes Facebook’s New iPad App for a Spin