Connecting the Dots on Facebook’s Smear Campaign

Perhaps you’ve probably heard: Facebook and Google are at war, and Facebook’s not afraid to play dirty. Thursday’s revelation that the social networking site hired PR firm Burston-Marsteller to plant a negative story about Google’s privacy settings raises a number of questions. Like, “Who at Facebook thought this was a good idea?” The company isn't responding to the question right now. Until they do, it helps to look at the players involved. There’s Burston-Marsteller, the global PR firm run by CEO Mark Penn. There’s Jim Goldman, the former Silicon Valley bureau chief for CNBC (and frequent target of high school-style ridicule). He’s become the fall guy for Burston-Marsteller. There’s Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s universally praised COO. And then there’s Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s VP of communications and public policy. Penn, of course, is a Washington heavy hitter: he worked as a pollster to President Clinton during both of his terms and the Washington Post noted how “thoroughly integrated into the policymaking operation” he’d become. Penn’s also no stranger to criticism from Washington observers: he gained notoriety for missteps as chief strategist to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 Presidential bid. He eventually stepped down after feuding with other aides, and for reportedly offering Clinton some of her worst advice (like, emphasize Barack Obama’s foreignness). Penn’s also no stranger to the tech world—he’s credited with making Microsoft into one of the country’s most... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #googles head #silicon valley #focus attention

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Facebook 'anti-spam systems' blocked Democrat emails dump

Facebook says its anti-spam filters were to blame for its website briefly blocking access to internal emails from US Democratic Party committee members published by Wikileaks. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2016-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Sponsored Content Is Becoming King in a Facebook World

As native advertising gains prominence, publishers may find themselves competing not just with one another, but with the ad agencies that already exist. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2016-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook details a way to offer laser-based internet access

Have you wondered how Facebook might offer high-speed internet access using lasers? The company's Connectivity Lab is happy to show you. It just published a research paper explaining laser beam technology can deliver up to 2Gbps to remote places.... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Is Launching New App-Install Ads to Help Developers Find Audiences

Facebook has updated its app-install ads to allow developers to select targeted audiences based on which users will most likely use an app and not just install and forget about it. The product, App Event Optimization, will allow advertisers to select from among 14 user actions that might... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WSJ Standing Back From Pack in Wary Approach to Facebook

As dozens of media companies explore deeper ties with Facebook, one publisher has remained especially wary of the social network: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.Unlike other news outlets, News Corp.'s Wall Street Journal hasn't struck a deal to create live videos for Facebook. And while some... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2016-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Murder arrest in connection with Helen Bailey disappearance

Police searching for the missing author Helen Bailey have arrested a man on suspicion of murder, according to news reports. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Time Out has prioritized Facebook Live, Tumblr and Snapchat on social

Time Out is building out its social content distribution strategy, pinpointing Tumblr video, Facebook Live and Snapchat as priorities for growth. The publisher's internal mantra of "Discover, Look, Share," which it applies to all its online content, translates well to tools like Facebook's... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two months in: Four things NPR has learned using Facebook Live

NPR is producing several live Facebook videos per day. It has a team of 12 overseeing the effort, with some working full-time on Facebook Live. Since going “all out” in May, the publisher has confirmed a few key things: have a real reason to go live; there is an appetite for news and explainer... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Aftermath of fatal officer-involved shooting in Minnesota broadcast on Facebook

A man died Wednesday night after being shot by police in Falcon Heights, the aftermath of which was recorded in a video widely shared on Facebook in which the man’s girlfriend says the “police shot him for no apparent reason, no reason at all.” Friends at the scene identified the man as Philando... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘People have shown up for the party’: How the Lad Bible uses Facebook Live

The Lad Bible has been experimenting with Facebook Live for the past two months across its portfolio and is ramping up output to four a week, plus putting in place a dedicated Facebook Live team. The videos are getting views in the millions, outreaching many publishers that weren’t born on... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wendy's Summer Campaign Plays Off the Boom in Recipe Videos—but With a Twist

Thanks to the recent popularity of BuzzFeed's Tasty and other food-focused publishers, recipe videos have taken over Facebook news feeds. But that doesn't mean the meals advertised are actually easy enough to make. So, Wendy's and agency VML created a minute-long spot targeting Facebook users... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Connect Books' sales increase 4.8%

Connect Books increased like-for-like revenues by 4.8% in the 44 weeks to 2nd July. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Brexit is helping shape Business Insider’s Facebook Live strategy

For Business Insider, Facebook Live means more live news and events coverage. The publisher is now doing six live streams per day across its Business Insider, Business Insider UK, Tech Insider and Insider pages. The content, which is overseen by a four-person team, focuses on covering big news... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seven Ways Facebook's Big Algorithm Change Will Affect Marketers And Publishers

The social network is a fact of life for any company that creates content. And the new reality will require lots of adjustment.The day many marketers and publishers have dreaded has arrived: Facebook is changing its algorithm to send less traffic to content sites.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2016-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Gawker is pulling comments into its Facebook Instant Articles

At Gawker Media, co-founder Nick Denton has made commenting a particular obsession, even building an in-house online commenting system, Kinja. The quality of that discussion doesn’t always carry over to Facebook, though. So Gawker built a tool to pull in comment threads to run at the end of its... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook gives friends higher priority in News Feeds

Facebook is to give posts by users' friends and family greater prominence - a move that may challenge professional publishers. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What Publishers Can Learn from the Rise and Fall of Social Gaming on Facebook

Ever since Facebook introduced its Instant Articles feature last year, publishers have been wondering how the move would play out.The lure is clear: Facebook provides exposure and traffic despite the fact that Instant Articles do not link to the publishers' sites. For Facebook, A-list content... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The winners and losers of Facebook’s news feed change

With its latest algorithm tweak, Facebook said it will favor posts from friends and families over publishers. That's generally bad for publishers, which have been increasingly building their distribution strategies around the social behemoth. Within them, the ones with the most shareable content... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook’s Latest News Feed Change Sounds Like Bad News for Publishers

The modified algorithm will place higher value on posts by friends, family, and colleagues — at the expense of media brands. The post Facebook’s Latest News Feed Change Sounds Like Bad News for Publishers appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook news feed changes to rank posts from friends and family above 'liked' pages

Facebook will make changes to its news feed rankings, highlighting posts from friends and family over those from publishers and brand pages that users have "liked". Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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