Session Blog Reviews

Google is changing the way it will interact with agencies using AdWords . They’re discontinuing the Google Advertising Professionals program in favor of the Google AdWords Certification program, and eliminating fees for some agencies using the API, based on client spend. Agencies that have at least one certified employee may qualify as Certified Partners now. The certification process will also change, with more training materials, harder tests that include application and best practices, and a new badge that includes a “click to verify” CTA. Individuals certifying will now have to pass two tests instead of one, according to Search Engine Land . For large enough agencies, Google will be waiving the AdWords API fee. They’ll begin accepting applications for that program one month from today. Google is also adding a searchable database of Certified Partners now, enabling prospective clients to search for an agency to serve their AdWords needs. For once, the database is totally opt-in (good job, Google!). According to Google: Searches can be filtered by location, agency experience within a particular budget range, the types of services provided and the industry verticals an agency serves. Advertisers can then evaluate the list of Certified Partners that meet their criteria and contact the partners who seem best suited to their needs. Clearly, Google is looking at the way they interact with agencies, and trying to make their AdWords offerings more friendly to their biggest clients. What do you think? Will this change the way agencies and Google interact?

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Google Changing Its Agency Interface

Nation's Top Marketers to Gather at Second Annual PTTOW! Youth Media Summit MarketWatch (press release) ... conversation across every major industry category with focus on topics such as social media , digital technology, cause marketing and youth culture. ... and more

Earthtimes (press release) Facebook Marketing Start-Up Capitalizes on Social - Media Buzz Wall Street Journal (blog) The “increasing demand for social media marketing ” was part of what drew the investors' interest, said Harrison Miller, a managing director at Summit ... Wildfire Raises $4 Million For Social Media Marketing Platform TechCrunch (blog) Big Money in Facebook Marketing WebProNews (blog) Wildfire Interactive Receives Growth Equity Investment From Summit Partners Earthtimes (press release) Bizjournals.com all 11 news articles

Last week Google announced the name change from Google Maps to Google Places along with some changes to the local listing service that is so important to local search. At the end of the week Google also announced something that they are not real well known for: support. Here’s how the Google LatLong blog puts it: With a new name comes a fresh support experience. The Google Places team wants to make sure that, as a business owner, your experience with Google Places is a good one, so we’ve taken some steps to expand and refine our support offerings. Before we look at the details let’s make sure you don’t get too excited. Why do I say that? Well, there is no support option that allows you to talk (you know as in hearing a real voice of a Google employee) to anyone about your issues. As a result, I say that while Google claims to be “improving” its support experience it is really just doing the classic “putting lipstick on this pig” routine. Many may think that’s a harsh assessment but oftentimes the issues with Google Places listings really need customized answers and improved forums or FAQ’s are just not customized. As a result, I am playing the cynic and expecting that not circumstances will be addressed to the level necessary for Google Places listings. Here is what Google is touting as improved support from their blog: Google Places Help Center : Here you can learn more about managing your business listing on Google, new features and how to report problems. This includes a revamped user guide, support channels, and more. Feedback for Google Places : Post your burning questions and awesome ideas to our new Google Moderator page. After you post, take a look at what other people are posting, and vote up the ideas you like the most. We’ll keep the page open until May 21, 2010, and then our team will review the top questions and record video responses that we’ll post in our Help Center. Google Places Help Forum : Discuss with other users how to improve your listing, newly announced features, or issues you’re encountering. We have dedicated volunteers known as “Top Contributors” who can help answer your questions and discuss your ideas. Google Employees will also be monitoring the forum to facilitate discussions in this forum and provide assistance when needed. Google Places Webinars : Sign up for our webinars to learn about a variety of topics ranging from “Adding a Listing” up to “Enhancing a Listing”. We’re excited about providing a learning environment that allows us to interact more closely with you, the business owner who all these tools are made for! If you can’t attend the webinars, don’t worry – we’ll post the videos on our YouTube Channel at youtube.com/googleplaces. I have already taken in the first webinar and it is certainly Google Places 101. There were some tidbits here and there but generally it was a death by PowerPoint approach with no interaction. Ain’t that the Google way?

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Google Places Wants To Help You?

The online world is interesting for all of us when it comes to defining who we are. While it’s easy to call yourself a blogger what does that actually mean from a legal standpoint? How is a blogger truly defined when it comes to the legal side of the coin? A case in New Jersey has brought attention to the rights and protections provided to someone but whether it is about a blogger is something that seems to be up for debate. MediaPost’s report is titled “Jersey Court Rules Blogger Not Protected By Shield Law, Must Divulge Source ”. A pretty astounding headline but after reading the report I am not convinced this ruling is about bloggers at all. An appellate court in New Jersey has ruled that a woman who slammed the software company Too Much Media on a message board isn’t a “journalist” for purposes of the state’s shield law. The controversial ruling means that the post’s author, life coach Shellee Hale of Washington state, can be ordered to divulge her sources for her online remarks about Too Much Media, which is suing Hale for defamation. New Jersey’s reporter shield law broadly allows journalists to protect the identity of their confidential sources. But the appellate court ruled that not all writers are entitled to claim the benefits of that law “lest anyone with a webpage or who posts materials on the Internet would qualify.” Now, this whole case is around a message board “post” on a site called Oprano which calls itself the “Wall Street Journal for the online adult entertainment industry”. Oh yea, the plot thickens, doesn’t it? The credibility of all involved is starting to really come to light. Nevertheless, how any court defines a journalist can be important to any online “reporter” or “blogger” because if brought to the courts legal precedence will often help determine which way a case will go. So the NJ court has basically decided that this message board rant that eventually created a charge of defamation (that’s rich considering the industry, huh?) suit is not protected under the state’s Shield Law. These laws are designed to allow reporters etc to protect sources. The ruling was upheld in an appellate court as well. The bottom line is this A trial judge rejected Hale’s argument and an appellate court upheld that ruling this week. The appellate court said that Hale’s posts to the message board were more akin to a letter to the editor than a work of journalism. “Although any attempt at defining ‘news’ would ultimately prove illusory, some delimiting standards must pertain lest anyone with a webpage or who posts materials on the Internet would qualify,” the court stated. The judges then went on to outline specific reasons why Hale didn’t qualify as a journalist: “Defendant has produced no credentials or proof of affiliation with any recognized news entity, nor has she demonstrated adherence to any standard of professional responsibility regulating institutional journalism, such as editing, fact-checking or disclosure of conflicts of interest.” Too Much Media’s lawyer, Joel Kreizman, says that the court correctly decided that Hale wasn’t acting as a journalist when she made the posts. “A journalist would issue a report,” he says. “These posts were on a message board as opposed to any kind of blog.” Well, now the blogging world may want to be concerned if there is a need for credentials and standards to have some protection under the law. Those aren’t exactly commonplace in the world of blogging. If they are please update me. Hale’s lawyers, of course, don’t think this ended the way it should But Hale’s lawyer, Jeffrey Pollock, criticized the decision. He says that New Jersey doesn’t require that journalists have credentials or work for established news outlets to qualify for the shield law. Instead, he says, the only criteria is whether people gathered information for the purpose of publication. “If she doesn’t qualify, who the hell does?” he asks. “How do you decide who’s in and who’s out?” Interesting question really. As a blogger, how covered or how exposed you are in any legal case will be more a subjective matter than objective depending plenty of variables. Where you live, where a case is filed and more. As a result, what do you think are the protections afforded someone who has a blog rather than just posts to a forum? Should there be journalistic “rights” for bloggers? If so, how far should they go? Any thoughts?

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NJ Court Says Determines Whether Woman Is A Journalist or Not