Google Enhances Its Social Media Ties

Google will now have, what it calls, a real time search page. Google's new real-time display will be more interactive than the usual static search engine results page we have seen previously. The display will feature a scroll along bar with a pause button that will allow people to stop and start results pages and the paid advertising on the side. With this new infrastructure, google will be partnering with Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to get help with their real-time results. This will also give the most up-to-date trends for people to be able research.

My first reaction when reading this news story was, what difference will this really make with search results and why did Google think it necessary to take this step? I soon found out! Google's partnering with Twitter comes from the ever-growing competition and pressure Bing is putting on Google's search engine. Google hopes that this new partnership and real time search display for the most updated trends and search results will help leave Bing in the dust. Is this effort by Google enough to keep Bing away? Only time will tell.

The Fun Theory

VW launched a new PR campaign dubbed "The Fun Theory." The tagline is "Fun can obviously change behaviour for the better." VW's street crew is taking over parts of Sweden to prove that if they make mundane things more fun, like recycling bins making fun noises.


The most recent viral video transforms a subway staircase into piano, ala the movie Big. Sorry, I was not able to embed the video. SPOILER It works, 66% more people took the stairs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw&feature=player_embedded

The project is a great combination of community relations and guerilla marketing. But it is hard to tell what they are promoting. The image of fun and Volkswagon do not seem to resonate, and there is little product promotion for a video that is supposed circle the web and create a buzz about a product. When I searched for the site, I had difficulty finding the blog. It was not indexing high on Google. Perhaps, Volskwagon should stake more on SEO in their social media campaign. Maybe because it is for another country? Not sure. The small logo placement at the end of the video is not blatantly promoting the product, but it is not doing much to get VW in the front of people's minds while watching. It is creating a positive, environmentally friendly image of the company.

Here is The Fun Theory Blog
I found this campaign from an article on Mashable