Because I’ve been away on secret missions (not really, but it sounds good), there are a few stories that slipped through the net - like the Jennifer Laycock/National Pork Board hubbub that made the rounds recently.

In case you briefly retired from the blogosphere and perhaps missed the story, Jennifer, a noted SEO specialist and breast feeding activist (hence the term “lactivist“) was served with a cease and desist letter from the protectors of the pork trademark because of a CafePress t-shirt celebrating mothers who breastfeed.

The shirt causing all the drama made use of the caption “The Other White Milk,” which plays off the Pork Board’s trademarked slogan, “The Other White Meat”. If you’d like a full recap of the events leading up to this article, please read Jennifer’s thorough explanation.

While the situation began with a litigious approach, both parties have reached an agreement allowing Jennifer to sell a shirt similar to the one that initiated the Pork Board’s (over?)reaction.

These actions and reactions again demonstrate the viral power a well-maintained blog can have. Granted, Jennifer’s Lactivist blog wasn’t used as the primary source of communication between the two parties, but it was the conduit where the rest of us learned and reported about the situation.

Not surprisingly, once the initial story broke, the majority of the bloggers who cover this type of thing were firmly in Jennifer’s camp and I have to believe that played a part in the Pork Board’s decision to bring the situation to an understanding that was mutually beneficial. Jennifer’s follow-up post does a great job relaying the pork industry’s point of view:

I want to make it clear to my readers that based off of our contact with the staff at the National Pork Board it is quite clear to me that they were extremely upset that anyone would feel they were not supportive of nursing mothers. The fact that the staff has dug into their own pockets in order to make a contribution strikes me as extremely generous and I think that they should be applauded for their response to this issue.

The whole Pork Board/Lactivist deal clearly demonstartes both sides of the viral fence. When the story first hit, many bloggers took the pork industry to task. Now that an understanding has been reached, Jennifer is making sure to give the Pork Board credit where it’s due, and in true blogger fashion, others are following suit.

So while some may question whether or not social media optimization is worthwhile (remember kids, buzz may be fleeting, but links are almost forever), there should be no denying social media does have influence, especially when bloggers rally around one of their own.

While it’s fair to say this Sunday’s Super Bowl XLI doesn’t need any help in the way of promotion, that doesn’t mean the strong arm of the social media “association” (the blogosphere) hasn’t embraced the event wholeheartedly… and that’s including the advertising portion.

Before we touch on the marketing aspects of Super Bowl Sunday ($2.6 million for a 30-second spot), the coverage prior to the game should be mentioned as well. Because of the two-week delay between the conference finals and the final game, writers and bloggers alike have a great deal of time to discuss just about every facet of what makes the Super Bowl, well, super.

One such sports blog - Deadspin - attacked this opportunity with a zeal rarely seen around the ole ’sphere; and because of AJ Daulerio’s superhuman efforts, we now have some of the best pre-Super Bowl coverage anyone can ask for. Daulerio’s focused primarily on the circus that makes up the various media days each team has to deal with while preparing for the big game… well, that and the infinite celebrity/professional athlete-laced parties that also took place.

This particular Daulerio entry seems to capture the week’s mood quite nicely.

However, media coverage of the media coverage (and everything else that entailed) is not the only way a viral outlet has been used to embrace the Super Bowl. As you know, the game itself is not the only reason the event gets so much hype. Another one of the primary reasons for tuning in is to see the commercials by various different companies willing to pay such extremely large amounts of money to get word out about their products.

During the last few Super Bowls, a number of Internet-based companies have thrown their hat (along with their advertising budget) into this expensive ring, with GoDaddy and Monster.com probably the most memorable.

This year, some of the growing Web 2.0 Internet companies are doing Super Bowl ads as well, but they aren’t going through the NFL or CBS. Instead, these companies are using probably one of the most powerful viral Internet tools on the planet: YouTube.com.

A group consiting of Technorati, meebo, Meez, Multiply, Plaxo, and RockYou.com has decided against paying the astronomical fees associated with advertising during the Super Bowl. What they did was start a YouTube channel called SuperDotComAdsXLI that features commercials for each company (there’s even one for Technorati’s WTF feature that makes brilliant use of The Big Lebowski).

Aside - YouTube is also having an event that’s planned around the Super Bowl commercials called SuperVote, which starts after the game ends.

Obviously, these examples provide only the smallest glimpse of the coverage XLI is getting, even from the blogosphere. From Daluerio’s balls-out coverage to making commercials for the game without paying the price, from a social media perspective, the Super Bowl is quite the cornucopia.

Update: Another popular sports blog - Kissing Suzy Kolber (named after this incident) - posted a video from ESPN that clearly demonstrates just how popular many of these blogs are becoming.

Whenever noted bloggers have at each other, it’s really hard not to notice… and the heavier the hitter, the more publicity the situation is bound to receive (guilty). So when you hear Andy Beal and Jeremy Zawodny - two of the more famous bloggers out there - are at odds with one another, you can’t ignore it.

The virtual fracas started when Zawodny called Beal’s MyBlogLog avatar into question at his blog, saying he believes using it is a spammy tactic. Beal’s reaction was clear and concise: he didn’t believe Zawodny’s initial reaction; he didn’t appreciate being called out in that manner (perhaps email should’ve been used instead of the blogosphere) and he no longer plans on using the MyBlogLog service.

Zawodny’s move is kind of surprising considering the fact Beal has never openly endorsed any spammy promotional techniques. While the use of the avatar in question is perhaps dubious at best, in his entry addressing the situation Beal expresses MBL’s Scott Rafer approved the initial contest to begin with.

So here’s where we stand - two heavy hitters within the blog/search marketing community are at odds for what appears to be a misunderstanding. Hopefully, this will have a peaceful solution.

A lot happened in the search/marketing blogosphere this weekend and a number of posts were valuable enough to gain legitimate linkbait status.

First off, there was a well-made Google TV hoax that caused quite a stir. Thanks to some elaborate faux videos, some suspected Google was in the process of launching an online television service. There was even a tv.google.com domain listed that also turned out to be a fake.

One of the videos actually shows users how to log in to Google’s double-secret probation beta test for Google’s “TV service” (a beta test that doesn’t exist) by going through Gmail. TechCrunch takes a good look at the hoax.

It seems Dave Pasternack wants a piece of Threadwatch’s competition (hey, $1000 is still $1000) and has started optimizing his “about me” page located at Did-it.com. Needless to say, bloggers like IncrediBILL (who actually changed the name of his blog to “Dave Pasternack News and IncrediBILL’s Random Rants”) and Graywolf took Pasternack to task for his apparent display of double talk concerning search engine optimization.

According screenshots at both blogs, Pasternack has included links to himself on his about page while pumping up the related keyword usage in his biography text. That’s a decent amount of work for someone who doesn’t think SEO is anything substantial. Is Pasternack shooting for the Threadwatch reward or are these changes merely coincidental?

Speaking of linkbait, the crowned prince of all things related to this method of promotion, Chris Hooley, has been interviewed… by himself. In true Chris Hooley fashion, the interview provides some good insight into what makes the man behind Drinkbait tick. Because the interviewer was working with firsthand knowledge of his subject, the readers are presented with an insight not normally found in these types of articles.

An excerpt demonstrates the skill:

Sorry. I mean how do you get the DUDES to link to you?
I drink a lotta beer with them and tell fart jokes at classy restaurants.

That works?
Sometimes. Once or twice. Ok not yet but I believe in the system.

Cool. This is going well.
Hell yeah it is. I just made like 14 bucks on adsense beyatch!

Since we started this interview?
No since November.

From my perspective, I haven’t seen such a skilled interview since Mike Wallace patrolled the 60 Minutes sidelines. To pull this type of information out of your query takes years of training and practice… Thank you Chris for taking on such a tough interview. We are all better off because of it.

In all seriousness, Hooley’s post is a great example of linkbait. I, like a ton of other bloggers, have linked to this because of the quality and humor on display. If you are fighting with the quality content stigma, consider going against the norm in a way Hooley has (but be original, don’t copy his work like others have done).

Other items of note: YouTube is starting a revenue sharing program with producers of original videos. Check out our write-up over at WebProNews and get that unique video content ready. There’s gold in them there vids…

eMarketer released a report discussing how mobile technology - mainly the mobile phone explosion - affects social media. While there’s no denying the affect the mobile industry has had on social media (check out Mike Sachoff’s WebProNews write-up), is the mobile technology medium going to change the way users interact with these social media hubs?

Will these robust little phone devices eliminate the middleman (being the home PC) when it comes to posting social content? If a recent Threadwatch musing is any indication, mobile technology may very well change the social media landscape as we know it, especially once the teen users come of age.

But before that, it should be known that eMarketer’s report indicates these mobile social users use mobile technology to upload images and videos to sites like MySpace and Facebook. It doesn’t address the questions Threadwatch posed - will these devices essentially eliminate the Internet as THE method of social media interaction in favor of the networks these teenage users have established through extensive use of their mobile networks (Who’s In Your 5)?

The gist of the Threadwatch post is that teens are beginning to ignore the Internet in favor of their mobile devices. In turn, instead of being apart of the standard Internet social networks like MySpace and Digg, their social network becomes the friends they have constant mobile contact with:

Their ’social network’ is real, and when they aren’t together in ‘real life’ they stay connected with their cell phones. They aren’t using Digg, Netscape, Facebook or “Web 2.0″. Even the few that have blogs might post once or twice a month and even the self-admitted ‘geeks’ said that the Web is like a big commercial.

A few of them shop on the Web, but it’s word of mouth advertising that influence their purchases, not ads on Myspace or blogs, unless one of their friends happen to blog about something. All of them said they use cell phones and text messaging much more than they surf the Web or use messengers.

So if the younger generation is in fact reducing the amount of time they spend on the Internet via PC or Mac, how will their behavior affect social media as a whole - especially as they start to mature into taxable commodities? How do you create positive buzz if a big portion of your target audience is eschewing the web in favor of mobile technology and the people they connect to using it? How do you reach a demographic that may not embrace the delivery vehicle of choice?

As the Threadwatch post indicates, these younger users respond quite well to the word-of-mouth approach to marketing, but how do you expose a mobile audience to your message? Perhaps text message-based advertising is in order, but this medium has incredible spam potential, severely reducing the effectiveness of such a campaign.

It seems the best to attract the type of audience I’ve been describing is through viral messages. If you can generate enough “cool” buzz for your product, it will eventually filter down to your audience, provided they are active within their established network of friends and other mobile users.

I came across a thread in WebProWorld discussing two different types of blog posting styles - making a lot of posts in a given day (around 30) or making a much smaller number of longer, more researched posts. The idea behind making such a large amount of blog posts in a given day - much like the Hollywood gossip rag blogs do - is attracting a larger audience.

The thinking is if you were to frequently update a blog that much, the blog would attract a number of new readers because the content would always be fresh. The subsequent discussion contained some interesting responses with good information I’d like to pass on.

The first thing I noticed when I looked at the thread this morning was this post by Anita Campbell, who says:

according to the Technorati State of the Blogosphere report from October 2006, there is a definite connection between posting frequency and authority of a blog. The top-ranked blogs in Technorati averaged about 2 posts per day (53 per month)…

Now, if you went solely by the Technorati report, then the answer is clear - you would make 2 or 3 quality posts on a daily basis. However, the initial poster’s perspective was validated by this nugget of information:

Take a look at PerezHilton here is a guy that started with nothing but has become very popular due to his blog and he makes around 30 post per day.

Of course, making 30 daily bullet posts about the Britney Spears upskirt shots or where Lindsey Lohan was last night isn’t all that difficult. Also, securing a healthy audience - one that has long expressed a desire for “news” related to the Hollywood industry (see Enquirer, The National and Magazine, People) - is probably not your first concern, especially when industry “insiders” leverage technology like camera and video phones (if you post a picture of it, they will come).

However, can a non-focused-on-useless-actresses blog actually sustain such a rate of posting, especially if the content is expected to be quality? Without contributors, it would be a monumental, if not impossible task. If you continue reading the WPW thread, you notice the consensus forms around making a few quality posts as opposed to the PerezHilton-like 20-30 a day.

Besides, you have to ask yourself if the subject you are targeting (in the poster’s case, Internet marketing) actually has enough potential content to support that many daily posts. If it does not, you run the risk of posting the style of content that makes Greg Boser cringe… or, as poster dburdon put it:

This could kill the whole credibility of blogs. I’m sure with such high output quality falls. In the end, when everyone has a blog, all that they will write about is other peoples blogs.

Apparently, bickering about semantics, titles and descriptions is a popular past time once again… either that or some bloggers have too much time on their hands. In case you missed it, a number of bloggers launched a crusade against the use of the word “social” - as in “social media” - to describe this method of Internet interaction.

Before we go forward, Dictionary.com has about 13 various definitions for the word in question, most of which actually apply to this particular medium:

1. pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations: a social club.

2. seeking or enjoying the companionship of others; friendly; sociable; gregarious.

10. Zoology. living habitually together in communities, as bees or ants.

As you can see, even the zoological definition is applicable in reference to this growing Internet phenomenon, especially when you consider Diggers, Farkers, bloggers and other I’m-not-calling-it-social media users and their habitual use of these sites and services (just check any Fark discussion for 24 and you’ll see what I mean).

Now before I travel further down this semantic slope, let me just say I don’t care what you call it, just as long as you use this medium your advantage. The benefits of a successful viral media (is this acceptable?) marketing campaign can do wonders when it comes to promoting your product AND from an SEO perspective.

And if you don’t believe in the effectiveness of a well-planned social media (heh, sorry… force of habit) campaign, just ask Rand Fishkin and eMarketer. They’ll tell you all you need to know about the potential benefits of viral and/or word-of-mouth marketing.

Semantic arguments and witty Breakfast Club references aside, it really shouldn’t matter what this particular medium is called. Whether it’s viral, linkbait, WOM, Web2.0 or social media (you say po-tay-to and I’ll say po-tah-to), you shouldn’t get caught up trying to find a descriptor that fits your idea.

Instead, the focus should be on ways to leverage these viral campaigns to your product’s advantage and the benefits of doing so.

In case you haven’t heard, WordPress released another update - called Ella (after Ella Fitzgerald) - that promotes the blogging software up to the 2.1 level. The update includes a number of new feature introductions like autosave, increased use of AJAX and a spell checking function for the visual editor.

According to the WordPress blog, Ella also fixes over 550 bugs, something that’s sure to please enterprising SEO blog hackers. Another area of interest concerning the Ella update has to do with the introduction of a search engine privacy feature. This will allow WP bloggers to determine whether or not they want their work to be pinged to or indexed by the search industry.

Because blog comment spam is a constant worry, any news concerning the Akismet plugin - the favorite WordPress comment spam tool - will be of major interest. Fear not fellow WordPress users, Akismet has also been updated and is bundled in with Ella. According to the Akismet blog, some of these changes include:

- Users can now search the Akismet caught queue
- A new counter widget showing a live count of your spam
- Discard spam that comes in on posts older than a month

Read more about the Akismet update here.

In other news concerning the blogosphere, Lee Odden released another list (Lee Odden and helpful lists go hand-in-hand) detailing what he’s learned while he’s been blogging on a regular basis. As usual, Lee’s post is an enjoyable read filled with insight many bloggers don’t have or don’t consider. Some of the highlights include:

Blogs can serve as a very effective platform for connecting online social networks and offline interactions.

A rushed blog post that is not well thought out can quickly cause the wrong kind of attention or misinterpretation.

Don’t blog when you’re mad, really tired and especially not if you’ve been out on the town.

Blogs can be exceptional tools to boost visibility on search engines as well as social media channels.

Poorly configured, badly optimized and infrequently updated blogs are nothing more than spam magnets.

These snippets are just an example of some of the valuable lessons Lee’s learned during his blogging existence. One of his main points about the benefits of blogging has to do with the social media/promotional value of a well-maintained blog - something we’ve discussed a number of times here.

However, because people still have questions about the value of blogs, apparently this lesson needs to repeated, perhaps even at an ad nauseum level.

Last week, I mentioned something about my indoctrination into the MyBlogLog phenomenon and how the service - because of their established social network - could become one of the more popular blogger tools available, if they decide to leverage blog search like Bloglines or Technorati (MBL does have a search function, but if a blog is not included in their “index,” it isn’t included in the search results).

However, it’s not all milk and cookies over at the blogger tool because of a growing concern over spam activity. Over at SoloSEO, Michael Jensen (who’s quickly becoming a MBL watchdog) has written a couple of posts about the increase in spam activity at MyBlogLog; something that can be expected when a service offers anything resembling site promotion features.

Before Jensen’s report, I would like to follow-up on a blog post I saw linking to Friday’s initial MBL discussion. Over at the Martine’s Discoveries blog, the author issued a post discussing some of her worries about MyBlogLog. Martine indicated she was worried MBLers use the service unfairly, indicated those who know how to game search engines would use MyBlogLog’s promotional aspect to manipulate search engines.

I’m not sure if WebProBlog was the focus of Martine’s post, but because mine was the post being linked to, the implication is there. Perhaps her worries focus on the fact I use a South Park avatar instead of one of my WebProNews author images. However, I do offer both this blog and our popular WebProWorld forum as communities for those that are interested in joining.

I’m certainly not trying to hide my identity and when I created my avatar; I did so thinking those that joined either of the available communities would enjoy a caricature of me because most would already be aware of who I was - not that I’m incredibly popular, I just figured those wanting to join my network already knew me… kind of like Chris Hooley’s approach (that and I really like South Park).

So while it’s true I signed up for MyBlogLog to better promote WebProBlog, I’m certainly not trying to do so anonymously or in a way that’s spammy. If I were, I wouldn’t have made my work email available to my contacts or those in the WebPro community… but I digress.

As for the SoloSEO post, Jensen reveals another method MyBlogLog can be used for promotional spam purposes - by placing links in messages to other MBL members. As of this writing, links in these member messages do not include the “nofollow” attribute, making the MyBlogLog comment feature a prime candidate for link spammers (something one such enterprising disc-jockey has already taken advantage of).

However, if you are planning a link spam campaign using the MyBlogLog comments, you’d better hurry. Jensen also revealed the MBL developers are planning to include the “nofollow” attribute, which will render these attempts as useless. Of course, that probably won’t stop those DJs avidly looking for party attendees…

Update:  As you can see from this post’s comments section, Michael has informed me the developers at MyBlogLog have already added the “nofollow” attribute to all MBL comments.

Recently, I posted an entry about social media attacking - a post focusing on the AntiSocialMedia.net blog that many felt was developed solely to harass critics of Overstock.com.

Well, this is no longer a speculative issue because Judd Bagley, director of social media at the shopping site has admitted he is the administrator of the blog in question. Not surprisingly, vocal Overstock critic Gary Weiss blasted Bagley for his actions; going as far to suggest Bagley broke cyber-stalking laws by using ASM the way he did:

Only one question arises in my mind: What laws were broken? Not “were laws broken?” but “what were the laws that were broken?” The new federal cyberstalking law comes to mind, obviously, but what others? Regulation FD is another good possibility, given the ASM Lie Machine was created after Bagley became a corporate officer. (And speaking of corporate disclosure, shouldn’t Overstock file an 8-K disclosing its involvement in ASM?)

Weiss continues further, implicating Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne was complicit with Bagley’s actions. Whatever the outcome, Overstock’s actions show just how powerful social media can be, even when you purposely misuse it. There’s no way the Overstock braintrust can hide from their actions - not in today’s business arena when a very active blogosphere exists.

Perhaps they could generate positive buzz (at least from the guys out there) by turning the operations aspect of the business over to spokesperson Sabine Ehrenfeld - but it’s probably too late for even that…

Hat-tip to Lou Lawes who pointed this out in our comments section.