What Consequences Ensue for Deadspin Airing ESPN's Dirty Laundry?

It has been recently discovered that ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips consented to an extramarital affair with a 22-year-old production assistant who then allegedly stalked his family. Deadspin, a popular sports blogging site, reported on the story, but when the New York Post broke the story, Deadspin felt they had received misleading information about the affair from their ESPN employee source.

Another blogger said that Deadspin's editor A.J. Daulerio is just mad because "the New York Post did his job better than him."

What did Deadspin's editor A.J. Daulerio do in retaliation? He took it upon himself to "unload the inbox of all the sordid rumors received over the years about various ESPN employees," which he posted on the Website. Basically, Deadspin has concocted a cesspool of gossip based on rumors about ESPN employees that may or may not be true.

Among these rumors are allegations of more sexual relationships and crude behavior between employees with some names included.

ESPN is rightfully enraged. What makes it right to write potentially libelous material just because it's on the Internet and not in a newspaper? Right now the only preceding case that governs whether or not the material published on Deadspin is libelous is the 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan case. The argument is that material published on the Internet works differently than hard copy print.

Many people, including Gawker founder Nick Denton, say that stories published online are a "work in progress." He actually urges his employees to publish material that may or may not be confirmed as long as it is indicated that the information is still up in the air. He justifies this practice by saying that the Internet is a completely different medium than newspaper which operates on a different timescale.

"The Web has obviously changed journalistic standards," he wrote in an e-mail response to TIME. "It demands faster turnaround for news stories; exposes the stiflingly cozy relationships between many media outlets and the organizations they cover; and it also allows us to correct and expand on our stories as we go."

So what will happen now? If Deadspin's allegations are true, there is no case. If they are, it will be interesting to see if any leeway is given in conjunction with the New York Times v. Sullivan standards. Only time will tell: as of now, ESPN has not commented on any legal action against Deadspin.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1932286,00.html

How social media has affected brands

I read an article on www.prdaily.com that talks about how social media has opened up the public to the inner workings of many companies and how that is scary for them to have their business open to the public.

"Companies are used to do everything behind a wall, but these times are over. Openness and transparency are hallmarks in a digital age," said Candace Kuss, the director of planning at Hill & Knowlton. "Customer service, for example, is definitely public today."

The article also talks about what consumers are now expecting from these companies; As several creative consultants reported, the common trend among brands was last year to ask for an iPhone application, while this year the hot new thing is the social media engagement. It was Richard Baker, the twittering general manager of Liverpool & North Wales Coast, Virgin Trains, who reminded everyone that social media is not a jack-of-all-trades device: "I don't think every customer cares if you have a personality as a brand. Some customers just want information."

To read more visit; http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/oct/27/digital-media-socialnetworking

Microsoft's Bing Won't Give Up!

Microsoft confirmed it has made deals with Twitter and Facebook at the Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco in regards to the Bing search engine.


The deal will allow Bing to integrate Twitter and Facebook status updates in the search engine results. Microsoft's VP Yusurf Mehdi stated Microsoft will have access to all the public Twitter information in real time and all the public-available data from Facebook which will make this possible.

For example, Mehdi demonstrated the new "Bing Wave 2.0" product in a basic search in Bing for the name of a celebrity. During the product demo, Bing pulled up the most popular, relevant and useful tweets on the subject. The results displayed the most recent tweets about the specific celebrity, the most re-tweeted tweets and even the full URL of the shortened links contained in the tweet.

According to Mehdi's demonstration, it is now possible to view entire Twitter feeds from inside Bing - therefore there is no need to go back and forth from search engine to Twitter. Wait a minute... isn't Twitter becoming a search engine itself?

No companies involved in the deal would comment on terms of the agreement, but the New York Times reported Microsoft paid Twitter for the right to integrate tweets into Bing. Also, Microsoft confirmed it's deal with Twitter is non-exclusive - meaning Google, or any other search engine, can jump on the "Deals with Twitter" band wagon and begin integrating tweets in it's Web site as well.

Taking that into consideration, was it a smart choice for Microsoft to PAY Twitter for permission to integrate tweets into Bing? Even if any search company can strike the same deal? Will people want to use Bing, or will they be "status-update" overloaded?

Only time will tell if this deal was smart for Microsoft - for their sake, let's hope so!




Check out the Bing/Twitter development at www.bing.com/twitter

What's the marketing value of real-time search?

By Rich Cherecwich

When news happens, consumers flock to the web, but they often eschew major news outlets and turn to Twitter and Facebook for the latest developments. Recognizing this, both Google and Microsoft reached deals with Twitter last week to incorporate users' real-time discussions into search results.

Search advertising is still a major earner for online media, and dire economic conditions have marketers focusing on it now more than ever. However, neither search engine has plans to sell advertising on its Twitter searches, and Microsoft's focus is on driving user value with its Twitter search, according to The New York Times.

Right now, real-time search's potential hinges on scale, so user value will play a large role in its adoption. Search advertising succeeds largely because of scale and the ability to match broad search terms with appropriate ads. Because real-time search is still in its early days, there will be fewer queries, and these are likely to be very specialized.

Still, there remains a lot of potential. The folks who run Collecta, an independent real-time engine, believe that up 20 percent of all its searches present commercial opportunities. The challenge for marketers right now is matching search terms with relevant advertisements.

Quizno's Uses Commercial to Engage Consumers Online

Quizno's recently launched a campaign advertising their $5 Double Cheesesteak Sub. They are using the Web and social media to get users to engage with their TV ad.

Users can go to QuiznosToaster.com and answer trivia questions that come from the hidden clues on the TV ad. Once users answer questions online, they are qualified for a chance to win prizes.

Quizno's also posted the ad on YouTube and Facebook encouraging users to go to these sites, watch the ad, and pause it to find hidden clues. Quizno's is also tweeting about the contest on Twitter (@QuiznosToaster).

The ad is not only intended to promote Quizono's new product, but to also reinforce the brand's image as "edgy, provocative and humerous."

I think this is a great way for Quizno's to connect with consumers, give them a chance to win prizes, and spread their brand using social media.

Read the full article here.

Google Audio

Google will be adding a music search to its interface. The search results will contain links to streaming songs or songs to download. Google Audio will link to a variety of music sites, such as imeem, Lala, iLike and Pandora.

Google insiders predict Google Audio to be a threat to iTunes. Because Google holds 70 percent of internet searches, this idea is plausible. Google Audio will launch next Wednesday, November 4, 2009. The playable search results can be a 30-second sample or a stream of any song once, depending on the song’s source.

Google has already created an app for the Android similar to Google Audio, called Listen.

Google has done it again. By using the resources Google Audio has, it will remain the leader of internet searches. For music enthusiasts, Google Audio has joined the top music resources of the web and brought them to a central site.

Learn more here.

How High Will Real-Time Search Fly?

User status updates on sites like Twitter and Facebook are becoming the fastest way to spread news to the masses. This real-time search is so new it has many investors frantically searching for that magical formula to turn it into big money. The idea of real-time search is such a lucrative concept because not even traditional media outlets can get their sites updated that quickly. Several companies have tried different business models for real-time search but have yet to be successful at it.
As usual Google is ahead of the rest. Google and Microsoft are both in talks about including twitter updates in their search results. It is a good way to tap into that social market. I can see how including this in the results will help twitter tap into an audience it has not yet been able to reach. I don't see how this will help search engines grow their market much. The article says that search advertising has been one of the best marketing tools available today. How can you improve on that? As of now, the agreements with Google and Microsoft are supposedly not focused on money, but I have my doubts.

http://http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/business/25ping.html?_r=1&ref=business