facebook – ADOTAT

2011-09-142011-09-15

Facebook Marketing = Go to Jail?

According to legal analysts, there is a law being passed which could in theory make many types of affiliate marketing a federal felony. In theory, many types of marketing, which don’t fall under the terms and conditions of sites and social networks, could be prosecuted under the Department of Justice, for as much as three years in federal prison for each instance.

The issue here has to do with the Computer Fraud and Abuse act of 1986, which was originally made to prosecute and convict hackers, has been expanded over the years to include almost any type of “unauthorized access.” While this is currently just a misdemeanor, and the DOJ ignores these cases unless they are in combination with “real” crimes, that might be changing. Well, congress is about to expand this law to make it a felony, and make any “excess unauthorized access” a federal felony.

Pushing for congress to enact this is companies like Microsoft and… well, Facebook. The problem with this is that this law will make it ILLEGAL to do anything that is in violation of the terms and condition when you sign up for example Facebook. That means if you are one of those marketers who use Facebook to promote your business, and the terms and conditions prohibits you from posting commercial messages on other people’s pages, or perhaps sending out commercial messages via the message function, you could be arrested for “excess unauthorized access.”

Think this is not possible? Well, in 2009 it turns out that the DOJ actually did prosecute a woman who violated the Terms of Service of Myspace for using a “fake photo” on her profile. Why was this illegal? Because the TOS required her to only use real photos of her.

You should read the Facebook TOS, there are several things that you could be prosecuted for.

For example:

You will not engage in unlawful multi-level marketing, such as a pyramid scheme, on Facebook.

In theory, if you ever mention a MLM product on Facebook, you could now go to jail. If you mention it 10 times, you could spend 30 years in prison?

You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.

You want to make another profile for your business, and one for your personal use to keep people separate? Well, that’s illegal.

You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law.

Want to promote a free gift card product, go to jail if you don’t have rights to the TM. Just some of the examples. In theory, many, many CPA networks are violating the law when they use facebook to promote their network in any fashion, or an offer and do not use the facebook advertising system.

You will not send or otherwise post unauthorized commercial communications (such as spam) on Facebook.

What is Spam? What is unauthorized? This means if you use facebook to market any product, or even reach out to a potential customer, is that illegal? Do we want to criminalize this?

What’s even worse, if your company engages in unauthorized marketing on any forum, any social network or any site (that means even comment spam, which I hate), you could be also prosecuted as organized criminals under the changes in the law.

2011-08-042011-08-04

Facebook Files TypoSquatting Lawsuit against Affiliate Marketers

If you didn’t notice, last week Facebook filed a lawsuit in federal court against several marketers for basically typo squatting. The lawsuit, found here claims that 25 different people were using similar domains to Facebook that were common typo errors. According to this report, over 48 million visitors a year are diverted away from Facebook.

In its law suit Facebook claims, “Defendants’ schemes also diminish the goodwill associated with Facebook and its marks, injure Facebook’s reputation, breach enforceable agreements between Defendants and Facebook, interfere with Facebook’s business, and unjustly enrich Defendants.

What is interesting about this case is that most of the people sued are involved with several major affiliate networks as affiliates, mainly running free gift card offers. What happened in these examples was that someone would type in something like Facebokk.com and would be directed to a “social media survey” that would have the same look and colors as Facebook but then only are for a free gift card (email or zip submit.)

In one case, one of the people sued is actually the owner of one of the Email Freebie Offers, Consumer Reward Solutions owned by Elise Petri who has already been sued before for Trademark Infringement

Several of the people mentioned are “Super Affiliates” of several well known networks. Even right now, at the point of writing, some of the domains are still forwarding to GiftCard offers on several affiliate networks.

However, what is interesting is that some people have already pointed out that some of the typos are just common variants of Face and Book, and that Facebook might if it went to court, would have a hard time proving that Facebook itself is a legitimate trademark. So far, all lawsuits that Facebook has brought were settled out of court, never addressing the question if the common names Face and Book could be a defendable trademark.

Some of the people sued are: Cyber2Media, Inc., Daniel Negari, Cleanser Products, Counter Balance Enterprises Ltd., FB Promotions/Freebie Promos, Mackrooner Ltd. Inc., Newgate Services Ltd., Pioneer Enterprises Ltd., Rabbit Gogo Media LLC, SMTM Enterprises Ltd., YourTick, Zilt, Jacob Daniels, Jerry Hui, Ryan Johnson, Eric Jordan, Karrie-Lee Karreman, June Kimchi, Tim Meyers, Ankit Pandey, S. Pace, Elise Petri, Mark Risi, John Souza and Michael Suggs

2011-07-132011-07-25

Has Google+ Already Beaten Facebook

Just within the last two years Facebook overtook Myspace as the king of social networking. Myspace has been relegated by the technology and advertising community to the garbage heap of websites. Now has arrived what everyone knew would come, Google+, the newest best “social network” to compete in a crowded pack, dominated significantly by Facebook. Many people see that Facebook has a stranglehold on the social networking, and that nothing will take away its crown. I see completely the opposite that Google+ has already won, and within a year will easily take away any dominance that Facebook has, quickly sapping Facebook’s influence and value.

For the last few years, I’ve made the argument to friends and colleagues that Google should be buying Facebook, it was only a natural progression. Instead of selling to Google, Facebook felt that it was a long-lasting company that itself needed to buy other companies and become the next Google. In this, Facebook has made a complete miscalculation and they’ve already lost the war, barring some miracle — and here’s three reasons that I feel confident in my prediction:

1) Google has everything already Facebook has and more. While Facebook is attempting to buy or partner with companies like Microsoft, Google already have competitive features for almost everything Facebook wants. From mail, to video chat, to embedded search, these features are seamless within Google and in many cases superior. Now when you login to Google+ you are connected to all these features and will be able to use it as part of your social networking experience. If they don’t have it, rest assured they will get it.

2) Advertisers love Google. Despite Facebook’s enormous growth in advertising, Google is still the main source of advertising money. Google has known for a long time that everything is interconnected in interactive advertising and has been building and buying solutions that will connect with their Google+ technology. The universal login that Google+ will become, combined with mail, calendars and much more will provide targeting feature that no other network, no other behavior targeting company can even come close to duplicating. Pretty much, with Google+ turned on, most of what you do, from networking, to search, to mail, to surfing non Google websites will have you somehow connected eventually to their back advertising and targeting systems. Advertising prices will rise, Google’s income will double, and many other advertising solutions will have no way to compete, including Facebook.

3) Facebook cares too much about “social networking.” Social networking as a stand-alone solution is gone. With Google, everything will become on function of the internet. People have made for a while the argument that Facebook is really just another extension of the internet, and that “social networking” is nothing more than another word for what we all do on a daily basis – just made easier by software solutions. However, with Google+ all these interests, all of the networks and groups that we create will be more integrated into every other function of the internet. Remember that Google is often the first site, the main site that everyone uses on a daily basis to connect to everything else they want to know. Search will become a social tool and social networking will become a search mechanism. There will be no distinction perceived or in reality. When you are connected to the Internet, for most of us, you will always be connected to Google.

That last point really wraps up all the points together. Technologists have been claiming for a while that at some point the Internet will be more than just a destination on a computer or phone, but instead a part of everything we do. Microsoft knew this many years ago and has been trying unsuccessfully to have a universal login that will log you into everything. Even before that America Online (AOL) wanted to be the login to the internet, but never even came close to converting from an ISP to a destination. Facebook has been quickly addressing this, with integration into blogs, login for everything, but they still aren’t anywhere near the daily influence and reach of Google. That’s what Google has over Facebook, and what will make Google dominate the market. The pure integration potential of Google is just amazing. Since most users on the internet chose the easiest solution, whatever is put in their face (or the first page of Google), that is where they will all eventually go.

If Facebook doesn’t like it, they also have another reality to face: Google generates somewhere around 30-times as much revenue as Facebook and they can easily buy all the new users they need.

2011-05-032011-07-13

8 Facebook Marketing Hacks You Should Try RIGHT NOW

So you want to learn a few marketing tips on Facebook, huh? Well, I’ll give you SEVERAL! As internet marketers, we have to be tricky and cunning with how we reach our audience. With Facebook always changing its layout and features, it’s pretty hard to keep up. Aaaaaaaaannnnnd, that’s why I’m here.

So here are the eight Facebook tips you should try RIGHT NOW.

Tag Your Friends in Status Updates

Do you have a link, video or message for your latest product? Post that link, video or message as a status update and cleverly integrate your friend’s name. The two key words here is “cleverly integrate.” Don’t make it so obvious that your friends will make it their mission to defriend you. Do this too much and you’ll be reported for spam.

Hint: Use the @ symbol followed by your friend’s name in your status. This will tag them.

Because he remembered I like Jazz, Joran told me about a Half-Off deal on a jazz club that just reopened.

Tag Your Friends in Photos

If you have some very influential friend, this is a sure-fire winner. But if you don’t, it still works to get your brand some recognition. Whatever the picture is even if it’s not for your brand, remember not to tag them in embarrassing or compromising situations…this can be detrimental to your friendship.

Upload a photo with your brand. Add a description to promote the brand. Tag as many friends as you can in that one photo.

Not only would their names show up on your picture, but it will pop up on your friends’ profiles for all of their friends to see…that is, if they didn’t disable the public showing of their tagged photos. Even if this is the case, your friends will get notification that they’ve been tagged and of course will open it up to check out what the image is.

Missy Ward & Clicky at Affiliate Summit West 2011

Tag Your Friends in Notes

This is especially useful if you have a blog. What you can do is import your blog posts into Facebook so that they show up as Notes. Once the blog posts make their successful transfer, go and tag away! But remember to not be a constant tagger or you’ll be a constant spammer.

Comment on Your Friends’ Walls

What good are you as a friend if you don’t interact with your people? Write on their walls. Pop in every so often just to say hi and see how they’re doing. “You’re confronting the question of ‘Why is this person even in my network in the first place?’ with a logical answer. You’re reaching out. That’s pure networking,” says Peter Shankman, PR and Social Media Power Player.

Shankman’s blog post, Unfriend, Write or Die, is a must-read on this subject.

This approach is not necessarily a hack, but it is a way for you to stay in the front of your friends’ minds.

Comment on Group, Fan Page and Event Walls

Target your niche. Join groups, fan pages and events that are associated with your line of work as well as your products. Once you do that, promote your product/brand by leaving comments on its walls.

You can “kill two birds with one stone” without having to leave your homepage. Same thing with tagging friends’ names in status updates, you can tag the group, page or event by using the @ symbol before the word. It’ll not only appear on your profile, news feed and friends’ news feed, but it will also show up on the page that you tagged. Bada Bing!!!

Clickbooth’s Fan Page

Ad:Tech’s Fan Page

Like Status Updates on Friend, Fan Page and Group Walls

Here you can do one of two things. 1) You can like status updates by using your personal profile account or 2) you can create one for your brand and use that. By liking from your personal profile account, you are letting your friends know you care what they have to say. Creating a company profile or Page (Facebook has recently launched this feature to let you like a status as your page), you are now promoting your brand.

Good one, Guys.

Create a Group Page and Add, Add, Add

Facebook also allows you to add friends to groups without needing their permission. This is a very easy way to give your brand exposure and really quickly.

Back in October 2010, someone by the name of Jon Fisher totally owned Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, and Michael Arrington, Founder of TechCrunch, with this feature. He added “Zuck” and Arrington to a group called NAMBLA, a man-boy love group, without their permission. It created a pretty big ruckus about Facebook privacy. Eh, what’s new? Could this be THE Jon Fisher I know from WickedFire? You tell me.

So to follow Fisher’s footsteps, all you have to do to create the group is come up with a name, write some content and add all of your friends. The only way they can say no to the group is if it sucks. What is the first rule in business? Don’t Suck!

Create an Event and Invite, Invite, Invite

Create an event where you can invite all of your friends. Same thing as creating a group page. Think of a good event name. Get some content in there. Invite. My favorite attribute about this hack is that you can message everyone you’ve invited (even people who haven’t responded) and have it pop up in their message inbox. Suh-weet!

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Thao Tran is the Head of Social Media at Clickbooth.com

Learn also about this Crazy Affiliate Marketing Technique