This Week’s Industry News

Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff

Google Social Media Ventures, Take Four

If at first, second, or third you don’t succeed, keep trying; something’s bound to work. Google has thrice attempted to compete against Facebook’s dominance in the social media market, and with the Google + project, they’re going for a four-peat.

The strangely Facebook-ian network service was released on Tuesday to a select group of Googlers, and basically allows users to update statuses, post photos and links, and comment on other people’s posts. The one big difference between Google + and Facebook lies in its selective sharing among friends instead of your entire “friends list.

Source: The New York Times

Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools Now Track Social Engagement

In the wake of Google’s new social tool, Google +, the Internet monolith is now offering tracking options for Twitter, Facebook, and Google +1 interactions on Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools. In Analytics especially, you have the option of breaking down said data into different reports based on actions, engagement, and page visits. Basically, it operates just like the standard break downs of traditional analytics data.

Source: Mashable

Google Gets A Visual And Navigational Makeover

Given the popularity of Google and Google programs, this news was old before it was even published. Alas, Google has updated a few noticeable designs across their bevy of products, and will continue to do so as the year rolls on.

Among the most prominent changes, the homepage Google logo is smaller, and links are now located at the top and bottom of the browser. Perhaps the most interesting part of this Google blog post is their inclusion of a 1997 era Google homepage. My things have changed in just over a decade.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Google Sites Offers “Mobilizing” Feature

With the rise of mobile web and application browsing (more on that later), web sites are increasingly expected to cater to the simplistic, straightforward needs of mobile users. Now, Google Sites features a new tool to help businesses get the most out a mobile landing page. The tool is free and requires little to no coding experience.

Source: Google Inside AdWords Blog

Mobile App Use Sucks Up More Time Than Web Browsing

The average time spent per day using mobile apps has doubled from 43 to 81 minutes since last June, according to a Furry analytics report. This is also the first time that app use has eclipsed daily traditional web browsing, which stood at 74 minutes per day in June.

The study found that 47 and 32 percent of those 81 minutes were spent on games and social media, respectively, while 9 percent was spent on news apps, with 7 percent belonging to entertainment outside of games.

Source: Tech Crunch

Content Authors Are Appearing In SERPs

Using the rel=author tag, Google search results are now displaying the names and Google avatars for content authors. So if you happen to write for a web site or your own personal blog, be sure to update your avatar to a more professional looking mug shot.

Source: Search Engine Land

MySpace Sells For $35 Million After Being Purchased For $580 Million

My things have changed in social media over the past six years. After being bought by News Corporation in 2005 for $580 million, MySpace has finally been sold to the ad network, Specific Media, for roughly 6% of the price ($35 million). Somewhat ironically, Specific Media has added Justin Timberlake as a partner to help try to do what News Corp couldn’t to save the floundering social media site.

Source: The New York Times

Notable Commentary

That Is Panda Update-Friendly

Google’s War On The Drug Of Bad Writing

Virginia Heffernan outlines the forced changes in content farm behavior as Google continues to push back against their strategy of low quality, high volume content that offers little in the way of useful information.

Analysis By: Virginia Heffernan, The New York Times

Google Reveals The Most Frequently Used Automated AdWords Rules

The AdWords Automated Rules have become fairly popular among advertisers since their release a few months ago, and Google was nice enough to release a greatest hits album for prospective and current advertisers.

Analysis By: Rob Young, Search Engine Journal

Analyzing Google + From The Belly Of The Beast

Steven Levy takes a deeper look into Google’s newest social venture, including some of the philosophical goals of Google +. The article is a doozy (roughly seven pages long), so clear your schedule before diving into this one.

Analysis By: Steven Levy, Epicenter

The Hammurabi’s Code Of Email Rules

Everyone has hit an email inbox limit at some point in their lives, and as we continually integrate ourselves into the “grid,” it’s becoming evident that humanity could use some guidelines to prevent drowning in a sea of emails. The Email Charter provides 10 by-laws to live by that can limit excessive emailing and get all of us back to doing the work that matters.

Analysis By: EmailCharter.org

Video Games Are Art, Says The Highest Court In Hyrule

Video games now have official protection under the First Amendment, according to a recent Supreme Court ruling. This decision came in the wake of California arguing that video games are interactive, and therefore promote violence among minors more effectively than a book or TV. Obviously California never read the “Goosebumps: Choose Your Own Adventure” books.

Analysis By: John D. Sutter, CNN