A Couple Thoughts on Twitter and Twitter's Google Super Tuesday MashUp

I've written before about Twitter and how I wonder about their longevity considering that I NEVER visit Twitter.com. A couple thoughts since that post:

1) Twitter has been down a lot recently (and it's gotten a ton of blog coverage). Twitter is still not working with Gtalk and I therefore haven't gotten any updates for several days... and you know what? I've existed just fine, haven't once logged in to Twitter.com, and will patiently wait until it starts working on my blackberry again.

2) I was excited to use the new Google / Twitter MashUp for Super Tuesday precisely because it leverages what Twitter knows best: cultural trending according to their 1,000s of users. Frankly, I am very disappointed with the integration though as it is nothing more than an open search for candidate names. The results are 1,000s of tweets with such insightful commentary as "I'm down with Obama."

That's not useful.

For this to be successful, it must be insightful.

For it to be insightful, it would have to assign weight or credence to certain power users or power tweets... just as Google did when it created their search algorithm and assigned PageRank values.

For better options on tracking Super Tuesday, read Read Write Web's list of options.

iTunes, Apple Demonstrate how NOT to do Behavioral Targetting

... And it makes me even more depressed.

After last night's horrible Super Bowl, I received the below email from iTunes:

"Because you've downloaded sports videos, audiobooks, or podcasts from iTunes in the past, we thought you'd like to know that you can now download highlights, analysis, and more from Super Bowl XLII."

If they know me as well as they claim, they'd know that:

1) I purchased Patriots videos 2) Subscribe to multiple Boston podcasts

Put those together and there is NO way that I want to buy highlights of SuperBowl 42.

My Xobni Love Affair is Sadly Over as it Doesn't Play Nice with my Blackberry

I've written before about how innovative and useful Xobni is (and can be).I've also written a great deal about how important the mobile net and connectivity are to me.

Apparently the two don't coexist very well (as of now). My Blackberry has been unable to connect and sync via the Blackberry Desktop software (version 4.3). I tried numerous times to fully uninstall and reinstall the software, but to no avail. Considering that the sync always crashed on the calendar function, I decided to try removing Xobni from my system (running Outlook 2007)... and everything ran smoothly.

And with that, an important point is raised: A plugin built on email usage and social connectivity - however awesome it may be - relies on the system that enables those connections.

vs.

Microsoft Makes Unsolicited Bid to Acquire Yahoo

I spoke too soon. Last night I posted about the plight of big tech stocks in 2008. I left off Microsoft from the Tech stocks and also from the video games sites - not expecting that they would potentially change the tech landscape in a matter of hours.

After a long night in the office (4am), I awoke late to news that Yahoo's stock surged 50% on an unsolicited buy-out offer from Microsoft. Fascinating considering:

* Microsoft has been publicly rumored to court Yahoo and eBay for months (or longer) * Yahoo was set to announce a $150mm video acquisition of Maven Networks - just yesterday * Yahoo has had a tumultuous year... would this have happened if Semel were still at the helm? Will it happen now?

Microsoft is clearly attracted to Yahoo's traffic, community, and platforms. Together, the two companies have two of the three biggest start pages on the web: Live.com and Yahoo.com. They have three of the biggest social networks: Live, Yahoo and Facebook. Combined, that's more users than anyone can boast (or get even close to) and more pageviews that are potentially monetizable (of course, Y! and MS can't monetize as effectively as Google...)

Ultimately, the potential success of an acquisition here depends on the ability to create an effective organization that leverages and integrates the several platforms and properties these two massive companies share. After all, we haven't seen either Yahoo or Microsoft effectively leverage their *own* platforms or traffic.

More good reading:

- Microsoft: Official announcement - Fred Wilson part 1: The price offered is an ~70% premium to the closing price last night. This deal will happen unless another strategic wants it (News Corp?). Because at that price, no financial buyer can make the deal work, particularly in this financing environment. - Fred Wilson part 2: A combined Microsoft/Yahoo will have 30% market share in search and maybe they can do something with that. Clearly there are big synergies in merging Yahoo! and Microsoft's online businesses. The merged entity will be dominant in email which is an important category that isn't going away. - TechCrunch: What the combination looks like

January 2008, Cruel to Tech Stocks and Video Game Stocks

Today's weak earnings announcement by Google capped a very difficult month for big-name tech stocks (Google coverage at Cnet, TechTrader and GigaOm). The volatility of each stock is remarkable considering the short time-frame and that each company experienced large swings in both directions.

The tech chart looks a lot like that of the video game industry's big players (Nintendo, EA, Take Two, Madcatz, and THQ). I left Sony and Microsoft off the chart because video games aren't their primary business driver... but their trends are only slightly better (-12 and -8% respectively). And this comes at a time when much of the buzz was around the health of this quickly growing industry (the Wii, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are massive successes, the PS3 is gaining momentum, etc).

Ironic that Kijiji is Advertising via Adsense Here...

The New England Patriots are 'Underdogs' in Las Vegas - 75% of Money on New York Giants

Any time the Wall Street Journal has an article about sports, I read every word. Partly because their articles are always well written and fascinating. And partly because it makes me feel better about my addiction to sports news. Darren Everson of the WSJ has a great article on the Patriots vs. Giants Super Bowl and it's affect on Las Vegas (another guilty pleasure).

Despite being 11 point favorites this Sunday, the Patriots are underdogs as 75% of the money is being put on the Giants... a potentially huge problem for Las Vegas (particularly considering the amount of money that is gambled on Super Bowl Sunday).

"Super Bowl XLII may reach $100 million in legal betting in Las Vegas for the first time, experts say, a figure that is a fraction of the estimated $10 billion that will be wagered world-wide...

As of yesterday, 75% of the wagered money at the Hilton was on the Giants. "There's definitely concern," Mr. Kornegay said. "If you find any Patriots fans, make sure to send them our way.

As money has flowed in on the Giants, the sports books have lowered the spread to 12 or 12½ to encourage betting on New England and to even up the action. They are hoping that the line eventually will rise back to 13 or beyond, because history has shown that casual bettors -- who typically bet in the final few days before the game -- overwhelmingly favor the favorite."

If you've watched ESPN at all this week - I've been amazed that all of the analysts not-named-Skip-Bayless are picking the Giants to win straight up.

I fail to understand how people are siding with the Giants and stand by my very confident pick of a Patriots win and a cover (14+ points).

Get Patriots Rumors & Patriots Scores

Can Twitter Be Taken Seriously If I Never Visit Twitter.com?

Let me first state that, as a publisher and a user, I love Twitter. I love Twitter's portability - whether it exists between Twitter.com, SMS, or Gtalk. But that's precisely what worries me about Twitter.

There is much talk about whether Twitter should be taken seriously. And while I love using Twitter, my worry is that I have never (other than registration) visited Twitter.com.

Why? There simply is no need for me to visit Twitter.com because it is so well integrated into my Blackberry and my Gtalk client. When reading, I enjoy Twitter in a passive matter. And when posting, I still do it remotely via Gtalk. But ultimately, I want a compelling reason to visit Twitter (and I'm willing to do so) - but I haven't yet found one. And if Twitter is going to monetize me as a user - it's important.

Important because the opportunity to monetize me as a user is greater - but more important because if ads were introduced into my Gtalk client or my Flash widget, I would consider it intrusive and likely leave.

Other relevant reading: Twitter's downtime covered, Twitter Forces my Hand and Another Outage

Three Companies Advertising A LOT Right Now: Flock, Disaboom and Microsoft Live

I always keep an eye on who's advertising where. It says a lot about the state of the company and/or it's growth stage. It also says a lot about the network publishing those ads - I regularly hover over ads to see what networks are serving what ads on which domains.

With that, three companies that are, based on my scientific web viewing, advertising very actively:

1. Flock - they actually have a great banner unit. Appearing on tech-related or social sites. 2. Disaboom - a network for the "millions touched by disabilities." They are advertising on any social, news or health properties. 3. Microsoft Live- perhaps the most interesting ads. MS is promoting Live as a dating destination that extends from the net to the mobile phone.