Social media stats and insights from Google

One of my colleagues found this nifty little site by Google, called thinkwithgoogle, that gives really cool insights and stats into what's happening on the internet.

Apart from the stupid name, its pretty damn cool.

Forecasting the spread of content through social media

HP has come up with an intriguing formula that predicts what type of content will spread farthest through social channels. It is based on a statistical model that analyses the popularity of online news stories e.g. how many RTs, shares etc.

The no shit Sherlock moment is when the formula reveals that news stories from a trusted source, that talks about celebrities tends to be more popular.

Snarkiness aside, I like the formula because it tells us what we all know: that the credibility of the story/content is the most important thing, despite social media types like me saying that traditional media is dying due to citizen journalism etc [Note: I never actually said that:)].



With so much stuff out there on t'internet the credibility of the source is more important than ever.

Advertising your advert

I came across an interesting discussion about the SuperBowl Spots. It seems that some brands have taken to advertising their adverts i.e. running ppc and online banner ads to get people to view their ads on YouTube.

Living in the UK, I haven't been able to find any evidence, but the discussion I was privy to, focused on the VW Dog Strikes Back and the teaser ad that was run on the lead up to the Superbowl.

Maybe I'm missing the point, but it seems really self indulgent to me i.e. spending cash on a new advert to drive people to view another advert.