Google seems to be prepariung the launch of Google Offers, the search giant’s Groupon competitor, sources at Mashable reveiled yesterday. A confidential fact sheet from Google says: “Google Offers is a new product to help potential customers and clientele find great deals in their area through a daily email,” the fact sheet says.

Google Offers looks and operates much like Groupon or LivingSocial. Users receive an e-mail with a local deal of the day. They then have the opportunity to buy that deal within a specific time limit.

From what Mashable tells, Google Offers will be powered by Google Checkout. And will also include Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Google Buzz and e-mail sharing options.

Mashable’s full article by Ben Parr reveils more very interesting insights. And here you can download the Google Offers fact sheet.

Why do I suddenly feel the rush of a “Social Leaks” firsttimer right now?!

Sometimes the internet and social media seem like a contra espionage movie. Hostile take-over bid from Google rejected by Groupon. Google strikes back with Google Offers?

MSN Messenger was a threat to the Mobile Operators a few years ago but now Skype, Twitter and Ping attack the Telco’s revenue streams?

The newspapers made billions of Dollars with classified ads for decades but that revenues were vaporized by the classified websites like Greg’s List, eBay and Alibaba.

The online classified games industry got a wake-up call when Zynga launched FarmVille in Facebook.

Foursquare is being attacked by Facebook Places.

LinkedIn might fear BranchOut in Facebook?

Well, do you want to help me in finishing this espionage thriller?

The decision is the latest in a series of legal tussles between the two firms as luxury goods groups seek to crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods.

L’Oreal, which owns brands Lancôme and Yves Saint Laurent, lost a similar case in France last week, and is appealing against a defeat in Belgium.

However, it won two cases in Germany that involved fake perfumes and products without wrapping.

“This is an important judgment because it ensures that consumers can continue to buy genuine products at competitive prices on eBay,” said Richard Ambrose, eBay’s head of trust and safety.

“Following legal victories for eBay in the UK, US, France and Belgium, we reiterate again that cooperation and dialogue is what is needed, not litigation. Only by working together can we collectively address the issues that concern eBay, rights owners and consumers.”

L’Oreal noted in a statement that the court had “agreed with the view held from the outset by L’Oreal, that eBay could do more to prevent trademark infringement.”

It said the judge had referred other issues of law raised by the case to the European Court of Justice for further guidance, and that it “remains confident of a positive outcome.”

It’s strange: most fashion and luxurious brands are driven by innovation and trends, but so far about 90% of them have not embraced one of the largest trends called: the Internet yet.

However, finally some of them seem to have developed the guts to lower their Magazine and GRP budgets with 1-2%, in order to try some stuff online. Congratulations, you have just caught Noah’s last ark. Your target audience might have not forgotten about you, so you might still be able to refresh your brand…

Back to eBay, let our audience know why you feel eBay should be allowed or stopped to sell genuine branded products?

Or do you have an idea why fashion and luxurious brands are still so shy online?

Source: Reuters

Myngle offers a solution by providing students and teachers in different locations with a complete online language instruction platform, containing all the tools needed for synchronous e-learning.

Maybe you’re not very surprised by the fact that Myngle was founded by former eBay employees? Since December 2007 Myngle generated 18.000 users registered for teaching or taking language lessons. Myngle closed a first financing round raising 800.000 euro from both professional as private investors.

On the Benelux Venture 50 conference Myngle was elected one of the most promising ICT start ups in the Benelux. That ex eBay people are behind Myngle can also be distracted by the embracement of VoIP (Skype is an eBay company) and by these gift vouchers, which can be paid with PayPal (PayPal is an eBay company). More about Myngle can be seen here on Dutch TV (with UK subtitles).

How do teacher and student communicate? Myngle offers a toolkit for synchronous learning, which consists of VoIP (Skype) own integrated whiteboard, payment systems (PayPal), feedback and a community environment.

Myngle’s feedback system made up of comments and ratings left by students who were taught by the relevant teacher. These comments and rating will be available in the public Feedback Profile of each member. Extra features will be gradually added to enrich the learning experience, such as podcasts, homework, 3D virtual reality classroom / role plays etc.

‘We conveniently eliminate the need for face-to-face interaction between students and teachers and, with it, the requirement for physical displacement’, says Marina Tognetti, founder and CEO of Myngle.

Why now? The time is ripe for the expansion of the language teaching market from offline to online for a number of different reasons: free of charge high quality VoIP (Skype), high international broadband penetration and whiteboard technology are now available at mass prices.

Also, the increasing success of community websites like Facebook and MySpace (or Hyves in the Netherlands) has expanded communication and social interaction beyond the restricted circle of geographical reach. Last, but most important, the internet generation is reaching now spending power and interest in language learning.

Tell our community how you rate the Myngle concept.

Nike’s Joga Bonito resulted in over 11 minutes of video from 30+ countries, the collaborative Gmail video from Google got over 1,100 clips sent in from fans in more than 65 countries, Tel Est Ton Coeur from Telethon collected 300 videos with 2 hours and 30 minutes of footage, and BT FON’s recent initiative “The World’s Biggest Mexican Wave” has currently an astonishing 12,560 uploaded videos!!

To promote its free video calling feature the popular free VOIP unit of eBay has launched the viral marketing campaign Skype Laughter Chain, with the aid of London-based viral agency The Viral Factory.

Skype is inviting its 220 million users to submit their own laughter clips with the aim to create the world’s longest laughter chain video. Using their webcam and microphone, visitors can easily enter directly into the application in order to send their own laughter clip. There’s no software download necessary. And if you don’t want to participate in the chain, you can just watch the video of people laughing by selecting “skip to chain”.

So want to join the Laughter Chain? Just play, record, laugh along… with e.g. the most famous laughing baby or classic video Dad at Comedy Barn and be part of it. Then sign their terms, press send, and your video is sent to Skype for possible addition to the chain video.

Want to learn more about laughter? See the special section “Learn About Laughter” on SkypeLaughterChain.com.

Source: Culture-Buzz, Dailymotion, What’s Next Blog

The latest figures from Nielsen Online, the internet research company, show Brits are spending 2.4 billion minutes on Facebook each month, a rise of over 1.9bn minutes on April last year.

Facebook is now the second most used website in Britain, behind instant messaging service Windows Live Messenger, previously known as MSN Messenger, which has fallen dramatically.

Time spent on WL Messenger, which allows users to chat online in real time, has dropped dramatically from 3.2 billion minutes per month in April last year to 2.4 billion this April. In the industry we call time spent on a website: the stickiness of a website.

Alex Burmaster, a Nielsen Online analyst, said: “Facebook will overtake WL Messenger very soon. There has been a seismic shift in a relatively short space of time. Social networks have fundamentally altered the way people communicate online.

Facebook launched its own version of WL Messenger in April, a move which analysts believe will hit the instant messenger service harder still.

Auction site eBay is Briton’s third most popular website, holding steady at 1.7 billion minutes a month.

Fourth was Google, up from 700 million to 900 million, and YouTube was fifth, up 200m to 600m. Facebook has more than eight million members in the UK.

With this info, can we conclude that social networks and video portals are stickier than search engines?

Can we then also conclude that social networks and social video spaces are great platforms to glue consumers to brands for hours a week? Especially if you understand that Google hardly knows its users, but Facebook knows more about its users (gender, age, interests, likes) than brands and media agencies together!

Could marketers and media agencies also start opening their eyes and embrace some new opportunities? Just try to make a mind switch. I don’t say stop what you’re doing today in media choices. I do say: information about media channels is not as important having detailed consumer insights.

Because for hundred years we have only known mass communications: to only count our reach.

Maybe it’s about time, that we should understand there’s more than massive reach. That we can also reach consumers that really count!

I really would like to help Chief Marketing Officers one more time:
A 25 year old media planner can tell you that it’s all and only about massive reach (as cheap as possible). That is the truth based on what we have learned for many decades.

But there’s another truth. When we graduated marketing, did our study books mention the internet? Did our marketing books introduce us how to deal with Google or Facebook>? No, SIR! They did not. So please discover another truth about marketing and media here….

In a new era, where Google and Facebook have disrupted marketing, please do think again for just a minute. Through social networks you can now also reach the people that really count: fans, ambassadors, people that like your products, people that are willing to buy services and people that are willing to recommend your brand to others.

So it’s not about massive (and cheap!) reach here. Here it’s about inviting and engaging people to/with your brand. And don’t shout in social networks! Certainly not through another set of intrusive banners!

Social networks are about participations, creating conversations, inviting product peer groups and listening to people that match your brand’s profile. Open up your mind, and seize the opportunities of a new era.

There’s more than one truth. The old facts we learned in old marketing were sustainable back in the old days. And even if there is no scientific marketing proof (books) yet about how to use Google and Facebook, think again if your young media planner says: it’s about counting the reach.

In the new era it’s also about ‘the reach that counts’. There are plenty of specialists around, that can help you learn to do it the new way. To fill the gap in your marketing education, to help you discover things that were not in your outdated marketing books. A young media planner will not be able to help you into the new direction. Sorry, that’s another new truth.

So seek help. You’re a victim too. You can’t help there’s a new world which your education did not prepare you for. But, it’s never to late to learn. Only thing you need is an open mind to discover new truths….

Source: Telegraph

Social shopping leverages the Wisdom of Crowds principle by structuring word-of-mouth input around shopping. Wikipedia defines social shopping as ‘a method of e-commerce in which consumers shop in a social networking environment’. Some sites that offer socializing with your prospects and customers to provide increased interaction and sales are StyleFeeder, Kaboodle and ThisNext.

See why social shopping is great viral marketing at heart in this ABC News interview with ThisNext CEO Gordon Gould.

And for some shopping at trusted brands and retailers, visit Epinions, Trusted Opinion or BizRate first. Find more tips to tap into social shopping at Heidi Cohen’s great article at ClickZ.