Google +1 Button: The More Social Dimension of Searching

In an effort to deliver the most relevant search results, Google has just introduced +1, a shorthand used to recommend a link found at Google search result that will become visible to people within your social circle and the world in general. This feature is roughly similar to Twitter’s retweet function, but unlike in the microblogging platform where retweets immediately show up in the stream of the person you’re following, links that are +1′d — let’s see if this ever becomes a verb in the future — only show up when they become part of search results. Oh, and yes, it’s Google’s way to help influence clicks towards pay-per-click ads.

Overview

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Japan Quake, Tsunami and PR Disasters

The massive quake that shook Japan, along with the tsunami it generated, and the potential nuclear meltdown, has both devastated a significant portion of Land of the Rising Sun and worried neighbors who sit in the Pacific Ring of Fire. While the whole situation clearly reveals the mortality of the whole human race, not everyone seems to describe it this way. There are cases when companies, well-known or obscure embrace the spotlight for wrong reasons.

Singapore’s MediaCorp made a sales push for advertisers during its extended coverage of the Japan earthquake, barely two hours after the initial tremor was recorded.

“Book your spots in the Weekday Evening News Bundle as the channel brings viewers comprehensive coverage reports on the disaster with extended versions of news bulletins tonight.”

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Facebook Places Security Issues

Overeager Hong Kong Facebook users greeted the launch of its Places feature by making updates that allowed friends to know their whereabouts. A friend posted his Facebook Place update while on transit via MTR; he updates his location every time the train arrives at a certain station. I almost forgot about a long-time ex-colleague until his Facebook wall showed his recent affinity for Pages and broadcast his current location. Aside from those two friends, there are more who got hooked into this latest Facebook feature, and proudly announce they are in the lobby of a luxury hotel, an exclusive bar in town or in some place that may raise suspicion from family or friends. If that’s not enough, Facebook users can also tag friends in a certain landmark granted their privacy settings allow them to do so.

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Social Media Week in Hong Kong 2011

While I am unable to attend the event, I am excited to write about Social Media Week in Hong Kong. That’s because I seldom see a opportunities like this in the city, in addition to the social media’s growing influence in the realm of digital marketing. Hong Kong is ripe for such kind of gathering of thoughts. Wireless access is ubiquitous, domestic broadband and mobile phone penetration is at all-time high, such elements vital in propagation of social media in the city. Facebook and YouTube occupy two of the first three spots in Web applications according to Hitwise.

Source: Social Media Hong Kong Week Facebook page

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Baidu Further Ahead in China Search Market Share in Q4 2010

Without a legitimate contender to its throne, it isn’t surprising that Baidu is taking a tighter grip of its dominance in the Chinese search market landscape during the fourth quarter of 2010 — up from 73% to 75.5%.

From Associated Press:

Search engine Baidu further strengthened its dominance of the Chinese Internet market in the fourth quarter at the expense of US rival Google, a research firm said Wednesday.

Baidu’s share of the increasingly lucrative sector hit 75.5 percent in the last three months of the year, compared with 73 percent in the third quarter, Beijing-based Analysys International said in a statement.

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