Integrating Flash with Facebook Apps Just Got Easier
Adobe and Facebook have announced the availability of a new Actionscript 3 Client Library for Facebook Platform, the platform for building apps on the social network. This library will enable developers to use Flash to create more compelling apps.
Flash in Facebook apps is not a new concept, but this library that Adobe has partnered with Facebook on will provide an organized and official resource for developers to utilize. In a conference call with WebProNews, Facebook Platform Program Manager Josh Elman and Adrian Ludwig, Group Manager for Adobe Flash Product Marketing told me that this project was started back in November.
There was a lot of unofficial stuff out there, but none of it had great documentation, they said, so they decided to start an officially supported, re-written code library with all public APIs, authentication, sessioning, etc. This way, Flash developers can build better integration between Flash and Facebook or Facebook Connect.
They talked a little about how developers and businesses can use flash-based Facebook apps for monetization. Of course there are advertising opportunities such as we’ve talked about in the past, but apps open up all kinds of ways for businesses to get potential customers engaged in their content.
They mentioned the Ben and Jerry’s site for example, that utilizes Facebook Connect and Flash to let users rate ice cream flavors and invite their friends to engage with the site.
They also talked about how CNN used Facebook and Flash to organize viewing of President Obama’s inauguration and allow people to pull in their friends and turn a simple streaming video opportunity into a social one and the "most streams ever."
Obviously the potential for engagement is there. Businesses can get creative with how to do it. I’m thinking you’ll want to have content that people will actually want to engage with first though.
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Gmail Labs Goes International
Google has announced its Gmail Labs are now available on a global scale to users in 49 different languages.
Google says its international users have been requesting the experimental features available in Gmail Labs.
"You may wonder, since most Gmail features are available in almost every supported language immediately at launch, why Labs hasn’t been," Google said in the Gmail Blog.
"The truth is that Labs itself is a bit of an experiment — it came out of people’s 20% time, and we weren’t sure if it would really work. Specifically, we thought there was a chance that everything would just break."
Google has 43 Labs applications and when a user signs on, the application creates a custom version of JavaScript based on how many of the 43 features are in use. Google says there are 8 trillion possible versions of the Gmail JavaScript that a user could receive and with the addition of 49 languages the number climbs to 430 trillion versions.
"It would obviously be a challenge to actually test all of these versions. But we put a lot of effort into building an architecture that supports this type of modularity, and fortunately, it seems to be working pretty well so far. So we figured, why not, what’s another 422 trillion permutations?"
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YouTube to Collect Real-Name Data in South Korea
YouTube users in South Korea may have to confirm their real identities to use the site in the near future. There is a law in that country that requires them to do so and would require Google to turn over information to the South Korean government when asked. The Hankyoreh explains:
The company plans to reorganize its site beginning April 1 so that subscribers in South Korea must confirm their real names before posting materials or replies on YouTube Korea. Concurrently April 1 is when the amendment to South Korea’s Act on the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and User Protection will go into effect. It expands the scope of sites subject to the real name registration system to those that have at least 100,000 users per day.
This is just the kind of thing that doesn’t sit well with users of Google products. Joseph Tartakoff at PaidContent suggests that the company may be breaking their "Don’t be Evil" policy. He also has a quote from a Google spokesperson on the subject:
"Google Korea has … always (taken) the stance that Google respects local law/regulation but at the same time we continue trying to promote freedom of speech on the Internet."
Tartakoff also suggests that Google caving here could set a precedent for how Google handles similar situations in other countries. South Korea is the first one for which Google will be collecting real-name info that can be used to identify individuals.
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Increase Online Video Viewing by 40%
Research conducted by PLYmedia shows that subtitles in online videos increase the the amount of time a user spends watching them by 40%. Furthermore, in a comparison between subtitled videos to identical videos without subtitles, PLYmedia found that the videos with subtitles were watched 91% to completion, compared with 66% to completion for those without subtitles.
As a post at ReelSEO notes, "This is an important indicator for post-roll video advertising as well as for those videos that have a branding message or call to action at the end of the video."
eMarketer says that $6 billion will be spent in the US a year by 2013. There is expected to be tremendous growth each year before that:
So why do the subtitles have such a huge impact? Certainly this helps in cases where the viewer is hearing impaired or speaks a different language from what the audio is presented in, but eMarkter notes that most of the targets of B2B marketers are in their office most of the day without their sound turned on.
Not a bad point to consider. eMarketer says viewing of videos on mute is expanded 20-fold with the addition of subtitles.
For those already in the online video game, these probably aren’t statistics that should be ignored. If nothing else, subtitles make your videos more accessible. A way to turn them on/off is probably the best way to go, because many people would still prefer to view their videos without any added clutter on the screen.
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Google Finance Undergoing Tests
If you happen to know any Google Finance users, have pity on them – they’re probably feeling a bit disconcerted (and not just because the Dow’s down 254.16 points). Google Finance is testing some new site designs, and feedback so far has been less than positive.
A post on the Google Finance Blog announced, "Over the course of the next few weeks, you might notice a few changes to Google Finance. We will be running some experiments on the look and feel of our site, based on an accumulation of user research and feedback. They will only be visible to a small number of random Google Finance users."
The post has received five consumer responses. Three people don’t like the interfaces they’re seeing, one individual’s happy to have been excluded from the experiment, and one fellow would like to view a screenshot. Plus, a Google Finance engineer apologized for a display issue. This doesn’t appear to make the updated look an overwhelming success.
The timing of the update is also a little odd. We’re quite a ways into the recession, so any direct response seems inappropriate. This may be either a regularly scheduled change or a signal that the fight against Yahoo Finance isn’t going so well.
Regardless, there’s no need for users to panic just yet since the official blog post claimed, "It’s pretty normal for us to run this kind of test, as we’re always working to improve the experience of using Google Finance."
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The Internet Said What About Me?
Articles and famous profiles, sure, but this is personal.PersonRatings.com is a website where visitors can anonymously review and rate other people. Unlike the famed and apishly simple HotOrNot, it’s highly personal with names and reputations on the line as the crowd rates a target’s intelligence, sexiness, classiness, and sense of humor, among other attributes.
Self-proclaimed Yelp for people, PersonRatings is intended to be an online reputation resource working against self-promoting Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Users can upload photos of the subject of review, write a bio, pay to run a background check, or set up an alert whenever a new comment is made about the person.
Jimbo Wales,
Kevin Rose
Call it Gossip 2.0, a streamlining of the horrors of JuicyCampus, though it seems the service is intended to attract hiring managers looking to get a good feel for job candidates. But just imagine if your jilted ex-wife and her bitchy friends got on there. Likely their opinion is different than your mother’s or your best friend’s.
This seems to be its chief flaw. It’s easily gameable, and as with many sites of the slipping away Web 2.0 era, it relies on people. Worse, it relies on people’s ability to be objective and fair. A grudge, a personal dispute, a desire for revenge or playing a prank can easily skew the rating. The same goes for the fanatic element.
For example, it Jimbo Wales, who created Wikipedia, doesn’t currently have any friends at PersonRatings. He’s considered not very smart or sexy or funny or friendly, kind, classy or trustworthy. Kevin Rose, creator of Digg.com, on the other hand, is all those things and more, but not quite as wonderful as Adolf Hitler, who apparently lives in Georgia these days.
You can thank some anonymous commentators at Ars Technica writer Jacqui Cheng for some interesting fiction. But then again she did sort of ask for vandalism in her piece about the site.
Jacqui Cheng
Technically, PersonRatings.com should be covered by the Communications Decency Act regarding computer services and user-generated content; so when the so-called wisdom of crowds gives over to digital character assassination, the site’s (probably) legally in the clear.
That doesn’t usually stop lawsuits, though, and if the site itself escapes defamation liability, some commentator somewhere some time in the future will likely stare down a subpoena.
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MySpace, Microsoft Announce Two New Deals
People who are interested in the connections between Greek gods may get a kick out of this story. MySpace and Microsoft have shaken hands over two different matters, establishing a powerful alliance but also creating a somewhat twisted corporate family tree.
Let’s try to document the different existing relationships first. In 2006, Google began to power MySpace’s search function. In 2007, MySpace also joined Google’s OpenSocial developer initiative. And on the other side of the equation, Microsoft gave $240 million in funding to Facebook.
Now, as a MySpace spokesperson explained in an email to WebProNews, "MySpace is building an integrated, mobile app for the next gen of Windows phones and will also allow MySpace developers to create engaging, custom OpenSocial apps using Silverlight."
So a wire or two definitely appears to have gotten crossed. Nonetheless, this development sounds as if it’ll benefit Microsoft, MySpace, developers, and the average consumer. Aber Whitcomb, MySpace’s CTO, stated, "Our relationship enables app developers to use Silverlight to create engaging MySpace apps and allows Windows Mobile users to have a more personal MySpace experience on their phone."
A discussion concerning betrayals and third cousins twice removed did not then follow.
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Online Ad Revenue Up 10.6%
Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. remain solid, reaching $23 billion in 2008, according to a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Overall 2008 revenues totaled a record $23.4 billion, surpassing 2007’s record of $21.2 billion by $2.2 billion or 10.6 percent.
Fourth-quarter revenues of $6.1 billion mark the first time the interactive advertising industry reached and exceeded $6 billion in a single quarter. The figures represent a $154 million or 2.6 percent increase from 2007’s fourth quarter, which had revenues of $5.9 billion.
"We are seeing an ongoing secular shift from traditional to online media as marketers recognize that ad dollars invested in interactive media are effective at influencing consumers and delivering measurable results," said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB.
"In this uncertain economy, where marketers know they need to do more with less, interactive advertising provides the tools for them to build deep, engaging relationships with consumers-the experience marketers gain from this will deliver dividends especially after the economy turns around."
Search remains the main driver of revenue growth, showing a 19.8 percent increase over 2007. Digital video is still a small overall contributor, more than doubled its revenue with an increase to $734 million from $324 million in 2007.
As in 2007, retail, financial services, computing and automotive remained the four largest verticals among Internet advertisers in 2008. Consumer packaged goods, an industry historically slow to embrace interactive advertising, increased its share of total Internet ad revenues by 60 percent over 2007. The Internet is now the third largest ad-supported medium.
"Though some categories in the fourth quarter slowed or even dipped, reflecting the current economic challenges, the overall performance is up, confirming interactive’s ever-growing importance to the successful marketing mix," said David Silverman, Partner, Assurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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Newspapers Are A Dying Breed, Will You Miss Them?
I don’t read the Raleigh News & Observer during the week, but I do enjoy reading it at the weekend. There’s something relaxing and familiar about reading printed news with my coffee and breakfast. As much as I enjoy the experience, I’ve noticed that more and more ads are filling up the pages–with less articles, and in some cases, complete sections being retired. I knew the newspaper industry was hurting, but I didn’t realize just how bad it had gotten, until I read this report from TechCrunch.
According to the latest industry figures, newspaper advertising is free-falling:
- Print advertising declined 17.7% in 2008
- Classifieds fell 29.7%
- Online advertising–which most newspapers a focusing on–was down 1.8%
Overall, total newpaper advertising revenues were down 16.6% to $37.85 billion. When you look at the quarterly trends, you can quickly see that things are not likely to get better:
3Q07: -7.4%
4Q07: -10.3%
1Q08: -12.85%
2Q08: -15.11% 3
3Q08: -18.11%
4Q08: -19.74%
Why I’m so stunned by the huge numbers is because newspapers have aggressively added more advertising per page. I’ve sometimes flipped through 4 pages of nothing but ads, before finally getting to the next story.
Now, I’m not about to suggest the Obama administration send over a government bailout, but what would our world be like without printed newspapers? I, for one, I hope I’ll always be able to pick up a newspaper at the weekend, but it’s not looking like that will be an option 10 years from now.
How about you? Do you still read a printed newspaper? Will you miss them if the all close down?
PS? Below is the soundtrack for the newspaper industry. 
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General Motors Could Begin Offering Twitter In Their Cars
An early April Fool’s Day joke, or the real deal? You judge.
I was reading reports that General Motors is planning to offer Twitter capability for drivers who use the company’s OnStar security, communications, navigation and diagnostics system.
GM offers OnStar as a subscription service in the US and Canada for vehicles it sells in those markets that have the factory-installed OnStar equipment. The service currently has more than five million subscribers in North America (see the Wikipedia entry if you want detailed information about OnStar).
According to a GearLive post yesterday – this story is an exclusive, they say – Twitter integration is coming to OnStar which you would use in the same way as you use OnStar to make or receive a cellular phone call – hands free and voice activated.
While in your vehicle, you can use OnStar to submit and retrieve tweets (messages) via your Twitter account. Using OnStar’s Voice-Activated Hands-Free Calling system, and having your voice converted into text, you can provide updates which would appear in the “What are you doing?” section of your Twitter homepage. It is also possible to listen to a tweet that was sent to you by someone else after it has been converted into voice. You can send and receive tweets without having to type or read anything.
You’ve been able to do something similar for quite a while now with TwitterFone – call in your tweets from your mobile phone and the service converts your voice recording into text and then tweets your message. Your voice recording is also available.
I’ve used that service and it’s pretty neat.
It’s amazing the imagination at work from so many people with so many products and services that work with Twitter.
The OnStar deal, if it is real, is another indicator of how mainstream Twitter has now become.
Is it an April Fool’s Day joke or the real deal? GearLive says it’s the real deal.
If Twitter and OnStar isn’t, I’d say it’s only a matter of time before someone offers something like this, somewhere.
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