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Facebook and McAfee have joined hands to provide their valued customers online security. Social networking site users will be benefiting the most by this new cleanup service. McAfee Internet has closed a very positive and beneficial deal with Facebook. According to details made available, Facebook’s users, now totaling around 400 million will have the option to download a six month trial purchase of McAfee’s Internet Security Suite. This system protects computers from bugs and viruses that are encountered and are picked up when users surf casually through almost unlimited social networks.

The newly developed online tool that detects viruses all by itself. Once it confirms an attack is made, it scans and cleans the computer software system.The unique free facility by Facebook and McAfee team effort.  When the Online alert tool finds the infection is computer, it responds immediately by a request sign – to run a scan – and clean it before connecting to Facebook. These continuous spot cleaning safe guards all further online users and discontinue what could start a bug chain among.

The development and then extending a free service to internet, shows definitely a very responsible approach to help customers protect their accounts. Facebook has also provided a spot check for viruses to assist routine net surfers. The details are very simple and can be viewed by clicking on http://blog.facebook.com

This will indeed get T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants go soaring in popularity. This is one of the marketing campaigns of T.G.I. chain but then again who can resist them with the awesome quality of food and tasty treats that you have.

You would not want to go anywhere during the weekends rather than celebrating with your friends, hopping onto the T.G.I. restaurant. This is all about having a good time as well as some tasty morsels of food that is mouthwatering. Now Woody is a person whose updates you would love as this enthusiast will bring you some of the greatest inside news and tasting along with what is happening new with T.G.I. restaurants. Woody is the guy who is always into new adventures regarding his gastronomical delights. So this is going to be one foodie whom you would love. Besides if you get your other friends to be a fan of Woody, you are more to be near that half a million mark.

This way you better get that free treat under T.G.I. This could be done real fast with some very little being done from your side. This new way of exploration from T.G.I. is all about marketing to a wider client base. This will not only bring a smile to your face but this will be like everyday new things and updates to look for, from T.G.I. chain. You would stay connected better and feel a part of T.G.I. family. This could not get more effortless than this!

Alta Vista was a search engine that determined web page relevance for some query and then came the time when web began to be viewed as the documents network with Google. And right now almost all the search engines are trying to analyze linking approach all over the web.

If there are more links for a web page, it begins to get more influence and gets more attention than the pages that are involved in this competition of attention. As Jeff Jarvis has previously said that links would serve as a currency in the coming online world and it’s proving true right now, as they serve to build branding, granting authority and equaling value.

Right loads of real time content is being created these days and it can’t be kept up by Google or some search engines. A considerable quantity of this content relates to Twitter, but some other players like Digg, Facebook, FreindFeed and some other are continuously adding in it.  That is where Topsy can reap the full benefit. it can’t be reckoned as a search engine for real time like Scoopler, contrarily, it’s just a search engine that seems to offer new ways of getting some new results.

There are more than 30m or even more Twitter users that are no less than a crowd of small content finding machines and according to Topsy these users are providing millions of unique links on the site everyday and these links really relates to catchy things found online and these Tweets would be the new currency of the web instead of traditional links.

Source: techcrunch

Facebook has just introduced a new annual apps verification program and these verified apps have undergone through this program. These applications have been checked whether they are according to the set standard for their content as well as API usage. Those applications which get verification are ticked with green and an outsized badage goes on their description pages. This move also allows the verified applications to get a lot more exposure in the app directory, as they are provided in the featured section that is available at the top of other given applications in every category.

However, Facebook’s search is one segment where these verified apps don’t seem to have the same importance and where users can pick to see only those verified apps that are given in each category. If you are going to search for an application, your search will not help you to find out whether this application is verified or not.

Facebook employee’s favorite apps along with Apps You May Like have also been featured in the new category and there is also a section where you can find the listings of apps in a reverse chronological stream. You can also find out the apps that are available on other sites like iPhone.

Aside from green check-mark, users’ ratings for these apps have also been given beside each and that’s what which makes Facebook fulfill its promise for more exposure to these verified apps.

With the help of cleaner interface of the application directory, users will find it a lot easier to find those apps which they like most. In the previous directory, you could see only a cluster of categories for apps like sports and games and users were allowed to sort by two categories including recently popular and the most popular one.

No doubt, the new directory has come up with a lot more improvements over the previous version, but still there are some features that many developers may not like, but the thing most of users would like is that the apps have been organized according to users ratings and their liking.

He insisted that this investment will provide just serve as a shock absorbing tool for the innovation in the coming times and in the stories about the talks with big companies have nothing new in them.

“If some investment is being made on some good terms, it will definitely be considered, and it will be used only for the reason that it will provide us some more buffers in the coming days,” Zuckerberg says in an interview with the Reuters.

Now people seem to report about some to the rumblings, but these are totally different talks that we have been doing in the past; however, you wouldn’t find anything new in these talks.

It’s just a few years away to have a public floatation, he added, and the goal or endpoint for many companies is IPO.

Source: techradar

However, Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO says that they are looking for becoming a partner of the micro-blogging site.

We know well what happens in the world of social networking whenever some new site emerges, as it’s not a skeleton in a closet that what Facebook did with MySpace and now what Twitter is going to do not only against Facebook or even many other bigwigs of the web seem somewhat dazed with its rapid success. There were rumors that aside from many other big players of the tech world, Apple also wanted to acquire the micro-blogging site, but up till now none seems to succeed in these efforts.

Why everyone wants to acquire the Twitter, I think it’s not hard to find at all, as it has emerged as the third most visited social networking site in the United States in a very short span of time.

It allows users to post their thoughts, news and actions instantly, but the real thing behind its staggering success is the way it was hyped and the way celebrity-charm power was used for its popularity especially Oprah played an important role in its current popularity.

Google search engines takes considerable time to update, but it is quite understandable why it is so, as these search engines focus on the accuracy of the results rather than speed. But now, as the worldwide internet community seems to demand that they require faster information than ever before and Twitter seems to leave Google behind in this wake.

In his closing address at Google’s Zeitgiest conference, Page says: “ Now more and more looking to do things in real time and no doubt about it that Twitter is doing a great job in this connection, and I think we haven’t done something remarkable to create things that work on per second basis.

He also told the audience that he was asking his team to get even faster than ever before.

However, he admitted this fact that there is a vast different between ensuring the accuracy of the information and make them available instantly.

When asked about the buyout of Twitter, Schmidt declined to comment on the issue and just said that they are doing quite a good job right now.

Source: guardian.co.uk

This Verified Apps program designed to highlight the prominence of Facebook Platform that had to face some problems previously because of good and bad application difference. To participate in the program, developers have to pay $375/year fee and they were assigned a badge in return which they can use to motivate users’ trust. Similarly, in application directory they got priority placement.

Now these directories are going live, and a lot depends on Facebook to urge users how these apps can can serve their purpose better than the other available applications. However, it sounds easy, but it’s not so easy in actual particularly in the condition when someone’s favorite apps fail to get approval for it.

It ‘s being expected that these Verified Apps will definitely have a vital role to play  ahead particularly after live payment system  and when the users will have to decide which one is the right source to spend their money.

Facebook is going to launch a heavy marketing campaign for this Verified Apps program and soon it’s going to roll out a video which will tell about the benefits of this program.

Source: techcrunch

Facebook

Wall Street Journal says that the move will allow web developers to develop new services if they are allowed to access user’s feeds like notes, videos and comments that are used on the site.

Currently, applications can be created for the site, but now developers will use stringent programming service of the site and it will be converted into standard of an open technology.

This opening of the website’s core will make it somewhat easier for spin-off applications to get out of most of the users content available on the social networking site.

The exact details of this announcement have not been confirmed yet, these details are due today. If it’s going to happen, the social networking site will need to things quite carefully considering the privacy issues that would definitely arise from its opening.

Source: Facebook Opens Site To Developers Of Services

Facebook currently has around 200 million active users, with 100 million users logging on each day, and boasts of annual revenue to $150 million.  These figures and an unbelievable 25 million user groups say a lot about the huge potential for marketing Facebook holds.

Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg, a young Harvard University student in 2004, from his Harvard dorm room and it was initially meant for his peers.  Fast forward five years and you have more than 62 million users from around the world.  Zuckerberg is now likely to be the youngest billionaires around with Facebook valued at $15 billion.

He even turned down Yahoo’s offer of $1 billion for Facebook.  As of 2007, Microsoft owns 1.6% of Facebook and the cost – $240 million.

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How Does Facebook Work?

Facebook is a wonderful marketing tool and can be used to find new customers, stay in touch with existing customers, promote new products or services and also as a perfect customer service medium.

Facebook provides users access to several functions and applications.

• Creating profiles
• Adding people to the friends list
• Forming networks
• Forming Groups
• Messaging
• Chat (New)
• Sharing Photos and videos
• Sharing Events

The whole concept of Facebook is to first earn the customers’ trust by building a community around it…the good old fashioned way.

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How Facebook Helps In Marketing Your Online Or Offline Business

Today thousands of business owners and professionals thrive online because they know the secrets of using Facebook, which offers unprecedented opportunities for the large corporations and the individual professional alike.

They are successful because they realize – it’s not what you know, but WHO you know and WHO knows you!

It is easy to get to the point where everyone in the industry knows you with Facebook.

Your goal is to use Facebook to get exposure to whatever your company is dealing in and build a brand.  You can use all the numerous marketing tools Facebook provides, such as your profile, messages, friends, applications, news feeds, groups, market place, networks, events, pages, socials ads, beacon, polls, Facebook platform ad networks, Facebook applications and sponsored groups.

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The three most important ways of leveraging Facebook for marketing:

• Establish a strong profile as this is the basis of your entire Facebook marketing strategy because it gives you the ability to show others what you can do, who you can help and what you have to offer.  This is where you can list your website or blog and works as a wonderful portal to take people there. Get people to your profile and if they find it interesting enough, they will click on the links.
• Reach out to people in your niche and make connections. This is a wonderful way to reach out to others who are out there and share similar interests, and see how you can leverage that and help out both your businesses.
• Reach your target market easily by using the Facebook feature that allows you to see friends of friends.

These are some of the popular and more successful Facebook tools that help you take your business to the masses:
Whatever your needs, chances are that you can use Facebook advertising to your gain.

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• Facebook Pages - You can represent your business by creating a professional profile on Facebook for free using Facebook pages. Users can become fans of the business just as they do with other profiles.  When a user becomes a fan, their friends list can see this and it acts as a motivation for them to join too.  There is also no limit to the number of fans.
• Facebook Beacon – With the Beacon, it is possible for users to share information from other websites with their friends on Facebook through News Feed and Mini-Feed.
• Social Ads – Social ads are highly targeted advertising and you can create the ad targeting the age, sex, location, workplaces, education levels, keywords and other demographics.

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You can even get free ads initially when you sign up.  Log in to Facebook and click on this link to join the Visa Business Network Facebook App and you will be emailed a coupon for $100 worth of free Facebook ads. However, Facebook asks for the credit card but they will not charge it until the $100 is used up.  You have the option to cancel the campaign once this money is used up.

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• Groups – Form Groups to get your business across. Although, they are similar to Facebook Pages, they are more personal as you are forming a group of friends.  You can keep adding content from your blog or website once a week or more and let everybody in the group know.
• Facebook Applications - If you’ve heard about Facebook, you would have heard about Facebook applications.  Applications are important tools that can help you make friends and let people know of your existence. They can drive traffic to your website.  Last.fm was one of the first companies to boost their business using a Facebook application and now has launched a new app called “What I’m listening to.”  Social flowers is an example of a business that uses Facebook, and allows Facebook members to send flowers to each other.
• You can develop or get any kind of Facebook app developed as long as you have the money.  Make sure the applications you develop are related to your niche.  Check out the Facebook Developers’ section for more information and tools you will need to get going.  An app is a program that interacts with the Facebook site and users can add apps to their profile.  Once the app is ready, time to distribute it!  List it on the site and invite your friends to install it and it will spread virally.
• Marketplace – Items can be listed in the Facebook marketplace for free.  You can restrict the sale to a targeted user group. The best part is that your profile shows other users what you have for sale.

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You can even use Facebook for research purposes too:

You can conduct polls to understand what makes your customers tick and what they think of your product.  Find out what they’re looking for.  The best part with Facebook market research is that you get all the answers within minutes.

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So, how are you going to use Facebook for your business?

Facebook marketing is not limited to buying ads and advertising through them.  Here’s a plan that always works for any sort of business: offline or online.

• Sign up and create an interesting profile
• Create groups and networks
• Find niche specific friends
• Develop a relationship with them
• Answer questions and offer suggestions and tips
• Create applications and give them out free (optional)
• If you have a blog or website, provide those links
• Use feedback to tweak the product or service if necessary
• Soft sell your product or service

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You don’t have to necessarily follow all the steps, but if you look at several companies promoting their business on Facebook, these are some of the things they are doing.

Don’t just offer your deals and promotions…..converse.  Through these conversations you are building relationships and earning trust.  People crave for the community feeling and a sense of belonging.  Use that to your advantage.

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Ready to start?

To do this, you will need a valid Facebook account and start sending invites to friends.  This may take some time to do but there are people who have thousands of friends they market to.

Explore Facebook and get familiar with the system and mull over it for a while and see what you can come up with.

Nowadays you will find innumerable pages that seem to highlight several many brands.  These pages can be set up for free and then sales team of the site supports the brands to purchase these ads that point to the pages.

Those users who visit these pages also get familiarity with the brands and sometimes leave a wall comment as well.

There are standard Facebook features including user comments Wall, photos and video places, News Feed showing changes and updates available on these pages. There are many advertisers who spend hefty sums to customize the pages with various applications as well as widgets to better represent their products.

During the next week, you will get a lot smoother look to these pages with a similar multiab interface that was launched last year.  A second Boxes tab to be used for all the custom application and the comment wall will be shown in the default view.