Weekly High Five lists the most interesting, compelling, and/or useful links of each week.
This week’s High Five theme is, “Facebook is changing the game.”
#5: Nielsen: Facebook’s Ads Work Pretty Well
According to this Nielsen article, “The study of more than 800,000 Facebook users and ads from 14 brands in a variety of categories shows a marked increase in ad recall, awareness and purchase intent when home-page ads on the social network mention friends of users who’ve become fans of the brand in the ad.” One of the comments regarding this study was “What it doesn’t do is give the cross-media understanding of how does this piece fit into overall marketing plans.” The irony is that Facebook’s announcements this week provide the backdrop for those plans.
Link: Advertising Age
#4: Microsoft And Facebook Join Forces To Crush Google Docs
There have been hints from pundits and observers for quite some time about Facebook (and Twitter for that matter) challenging Google in the search space. The announcement that Facebook is going to throw its hat into the document collaboration ring came a little bit out of the blue (at least for me). Combined with the other announcements this week (see below), there is no doubt that Facebook intends to be the ultimate power in the universe.
Link: Business Insider
#3: How to Delete Facebook Applications (and Why You Should)
As Facebook takes bold, new steps to spread its influence across the web, users need to be aware of the implications new Facebook privacy policies. One major change is that your Facebook friends can share your information without your knowledge. Another change, discussed in this article, is a loosening of the restrictions previously placed on applications like Farmville and Photo of the Day. These applications may now store your personal profile information whereas they previously had to retrieve it from Facebook’s servers every time they wanted it. This opens up additional security vulnerabilities, which prompted this article that describes some sensible steps to audit your privacy settings.
Link: ReadWriteWeb
#2: I Think Facebook Just Seized Control Of The Internet
If it’s possible for an eight hundred pound gorilla to fly under the radar, Facebook is doing it (did I just mix some strange metaphors?). The announcements made at Facebook’s f8 conference this week could fundamentally change the way we use the Internet. And that’s not hyperbole. The social plugins and Open Graph integration have the potential to shift the balance of power from Google’s algorithms to Facebook’s social relationships. It boils down to this… When you execute a search, what do you value more; the stuff Google thinks is important or the stuff your family, friends and colleagues think is important?
Link: TechCrunch
#1: Facebook’s ambition
If the previous article scares you at least a little bit, then that just means you’re paying attention. This epic article from Robert Scoble provides a litany of benefits, concerns, dangers, and challenges associated with these developments. Some people and organizations are jumping into the pool with both feet, while others are pledging never to subjugated. ”May you live in interesting times.” Indeed!
Link: Scobleizer
Feel free to provide your thoughts and/or contributions…
#3: Creative’s next big thing is a Zii MediaBook
