"As of August 2009, the time spent on social networking and blogging sites accounts for 17% of the total time spent online, a number up from 6% from a year ago. This change reflects a growing desire for people to stay connected with each other, communicate and share, reports Nielsen."

"Where before, advertisers were somewhat wary of social media properties, they're now spending more than ever for prominent spots on social networking sites. Even as companies decreased their overall ad expenditures, they increased their spend on top social networks and blogs - up 119% from last year. ($108 million in August 2009 up from $49 million in August 2008). And when broken down by category, the increases are even more dramatic. The entertainment industry, for example, has increased spending by 812% year-over-year on social network sites and the travel industry increased spending by 364%."

Click here to read the full article.

Tags: Marketing

If you own a website or a business, surely you want your listing to appear alongside the other Local Business Results when someone searches on Google for term relevant to your business. These listings are placed above the normal search engine results. Having your website added is extra promotion of your business at no cost to you.

Visit the following url to add your business Google’s Local Business Center:

http://www.google.com/local/add

To add your business, click on the + Add new listing and enter your website’s information.

Once you’ve entered your information you’ll need to validate the submission by either phone which I find to be immediate (the phone rang a few seconds after I finished, don't close that page!) or by postal mail.  Postal mail takes about 2 weeks.  Before you know it you’re website will be listed in the local business results.

Here is where Google is talking about it on their own blog,

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/google-becomes-more-local.html

Tags: Google, Marketing