In the spotlight this week:
- Affiliate marketing industry is getting slapped around;
- Copyright infringement and my personal woes with it;
- New features on Twitter and Facebook;
- Facebook is coming out with their own Android?
- Google Analytics becomes more hands-on in real time;
- Link building resources;
- …And more.
Let’s get down to business.
Your Weekly Marketing Skinny: March 30, 2013
From TrafficGenerationCafe.com
Authority ROI: How to Create Authority Sites that Make Money - Ryan Deiss’ new Authority ROI gets two thumbs up from me (especially since they included a formerly $297 upgrade into the price of the training).
Take a look at the back office tour and more.
8 Unconventional Ways to Use Google Alerts for Better Blogging - Chitraparna Sinha talks about some very creative ways to use Google Alerts, plus gives us several alternatives in case you are not a bit fan or had problems using Google Alerts in the past.
Business
If you are a NY affiliate:
New York’s Highest Court Upholds State’s Nexus (Affiliate) Tax Law (MarketingLand.com) - New York will continue to collect sales tax from out-of-state retailers that have affiliates operating within state boundaries, according to a ruling today by the New York Court of Appeals.
News Aggregation Is Copyright Infringement?
According to Brian Hawkins of HotBlogTips.com, what I just did above (posting an excerpt from MarketingLand.com) could get me into legal trouble.
Apparently, even a short excerpt can get you into legal trouble when it comes to copyright infringement.
Meltwater‘s Online Media Monitoring service helps businesses keep track of their industry news, much like a souped-up Google Alert that includes excerpts of the mentions.
A federal judge sided with AP news (Associated Press) showing that type of news aggregation is in violation of copyright law and, if upheld on appeal, could have a big impact on the way news is curated.
Seriously?
And yes, I had my own woes with copyright infringement this week; read about it later in the post.
Google Reader?
Is Google rethinking its highly controversial decision to shut down Google Reader?
I just noticed that Google has restored Reader as one of the options in the drop-down menu accessible from most Google pages.
This button has previously disappeared from most Google properties (Gmail, Google home page, etc) right after Google’s announcement of shutting down the Reader.
This might not be anything, but you never know.
I don’t know if this is news to you or not, but if you use Twitter mostly through social media management tools like Hootsuite, then it might be, like it was to me.
Take a look:
This is a screenshot of Brian Hawkins’ from HotBlogTips.com Twitter page.
Notice that section with video thumbnails? It draws your attention, doesn’t it?
Mine doesn’t look nearly that interesting:
And if I click on it to expand, most of the section is populated by the same image. Almost looks like no one lives here. 
I am off to share more visual stuff; will be interesting to see if I get more engagement out of it.
….OK - one day later, after sharing a few of my YouTube videos, nothing has changed in that section; I still don’t see any video thumbnails added to it.
Does anyone know why???
Threaded comments
Facebook has launched a new threaded Replies commenting system for users with more than 10,000 followers as well as Pages linked to brands and businesses.
And it’s not all about convenience, as you can imagine.
The most “liked” conversations will be moved to the top of the post, giving it more exposure, and as Facebook hopes, improving interaction.
What to watch for:
- Negative comments could become more harmful. For example, if a customer complaint or negative response receives a significant amount of engagement from other users, it will be seen first at the top of the page or post. Brands must be responsive and transparent to quell streams of negative comments and replies.
- Deleting spam, irrelevant, or offensive content is going to be increasingly important. Page managers will need to monitor and expand all conversations in order to make sure the comments are clean and follow their community guidelines. (source)
As of right now, if you have a Facebook brand page, you can opt in to use the new nested system.
On July 10, 2013, all brand pages will be automatically switched over.
Will Facebook Launch Its Own Phone At Its Android Product Event On April 4?
I guess will find out on April 4.
Link Building
Found this great resource for everything link building - from none other than Eric Ward, one of the most respected link builders in the industry.
- Ultimate Guide to Link Building: How to Build Backlinks, Authority and Credibility for Your Website, and Increase Click Traffic and Search Ranking (by Eric Ward and Garret French)
It’s a steal for under $14 on Amazon; you can get the link to Eric’s book PLUS Bonus Online Content: 100 Hand Picked Link Building Resources here: www.ericward.com/book
Another great read on link building:
- 20 Resources To Add To Your Link Tool Arsenal Right Now - SearchEngineLand.com
These tools will definitely come in handy next time you decided to dive into link building.
Some of the tools mentioned:
Slideshare
Do you remember my super-awesome Slideshare presentation 10 Killer Ways to Get More Facebook Fans James Bond Style?
This is what it used to look like:
Well, lo and behold, I get a notice from Slideshare:
Hello Ana,
We received a DMCA complaint from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Danjaq LLC regarding your file and the use of 007 property claiming that it infringed on their intellectual property and rights.
Apparently, my little insignificant Slideshare presentation pissed of some people in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios!
Never occurred to me that mentioning James Bond will get me into trouble…
Thankfully, Benjamin Woodard of Slideshare was very willing to work with me on this one (thanks so much, Benjamin!), and my Bond-free Slideshare presentation was restored to its original URL with all the views, embeds, etc. intact.
This is what it looks like now:
Google Analytics
Google Analytics has added four new features to their real-time reports:
- Analyze Events in real-time
- Breakdown real-time by Desktop/Tablet/Mobile traffic
- Create shortcuts to your favorite real-time segments
- Compare real-time filtered data against overall real-time data
Yet another new Google Analytics feature of the week: Improving The Activity Stream In Social Reports
My personal favorite? Tracking trackbacks.
We’re also excited to announce that Trackbacks are now available in a standalone report. Trackbacks are all of your inbound links across the web, so you’ll be informed if anyone from a small to blog to the New York Times posts a link to your site.
Additionally, we are providing context for the significance of each of these trackbacks by displaying the number of visits that were driven by each endorsing URL during the reporting period.
You’ll see this number presented alongside the trackback.
To find trackbacks in your Google Analytics, go under Traffic Sources => Social => Trackbacks.
Triberr
Are you a fan of Traffic Generation Café?
No wonder I like you…
Then join us on Triberr.com.
Why?
- Be notified of Traffic Generation Café posts - HOT OFF THE PRESS;
- Automatically share my posts with your audience (no more scrambling for great content to share);
- Meet other Traffic Generation Café readers;
- See first-hand how Triberr works.
And yes, I remember - I still owe you a guide to generating traffic from Triberr.com; just finishing it up, will be published shortly.
Thank You
Huge thank you to Ian Belanger of ImGraphicDesigns.com who took his time to make a few design changes at Traffic Generation Café, most notable changed the dark blue color to something a little less dreary.
If you shared Traffic Generation Café posts in any shape or form last week - whether you linked to TGC from your blog, shared it on Twitter or Facebook, joined my free Bite-Size Traffic Hacks newsletter, THANK YOU.
These are just some of the blogs that linked to Traffic Generation Café in the past week:
- Social Media Saturday #SoMeSa – ep. 9 - YourOnline.Biz
- Weekly Round-Up: What Do You Need? Edition - Katie Semple from iminurinternetmarketing.com
- Traffic Generation Cafe Review - kwesleybrayton.com
- Why Google Is the Key – Search Optimization for Google - richwp.com
Want your blog link in my next Marketing Skinny?
Simple: mention any of my posts on your blog.
To an even better next week!
Weekly Marketing Skinny: August 10, 2013
Weekly Marketing Skinny: April 21, 2013
Weekly Marketing Skinny • February 8, 2014
So much great information… Thank you for sharing all that you do! Love the link to the link building info, definately something I need right now!
Congrats on hitting the big (target) league! :p
With a precedent set that judges excerpts to be a copyright violation, a person has to wonder… how long before even paraphrasing (God forbid you should actually QUOTE anyone!) will be considered theft of intellectual property.
No kidding, Doc - apparently, there are no limits.
And yes, I am a big girl now!
Posting excerpts can get someone in trouble?? WOW, so now all social bookmarking sites, some social networks, etc., are in trouble too?
Wonder what would happen to Huffington posts that “republishes” the whole article. I guess they got permissions
BTW, Google rich snippets are sort of an excerpt too, right
I can only imagine what kind of mud we’ll end up stirring if we go that way, Francisco…
And you are so right! Next time I am short on my mortgage payment, I should sue Google for showing my work in their search results!
Yep, I totally hear you on stirring up
Sue big G! You crack me up, lol. That´s a thought though, hah!
Imagine what the internet will look like with botz crawling all over everything checking to see if someone important enough CLAIMS there’s a violation.
It’s bullying.
PS
Thanks for the link Ana appreciate it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that ever happens. Just from my own experience, I’d rather take something down than engage in a copyright fight.
And you are welcome, Darnell; thanks for the mention.
It’s great you’re being seen by the big boys in the game, Ana. Okay, you did annoy them a bit, but now they know who you are - can’t be a bad thing, can it?
I’m now living in the US for 3 months, so closer to you now than I was before. My husband has a visiting professorship at UCLA, so we’re here for that amount of time. Finding it difficult to blog when the sunshine keeps calling me
We’ve only been here a few days, so still a bit jet lagged.
Welcome to LA, Anne!!! I can imagine it’s hard to work; the weather must be beautiful there right now. Nice here in SF as well.
An almost lawsuit, and a crazy lady stalker in one week? You truly have arrived now Ana LOL here's your small mention! http://blogmunchies.com/to-link-out-or-not/
I’ll keep it in mind if I am ever short on my mortgage payment, Lisa.
Meanwhile, off to check your blog post!
Hi Ana, love this awesome shared. Especially to the 10 Killer Ways to Get Facebook Fans, my Facebook doesn’t go very well now definitely going to thank this slides.
Thanks - Ferb
I wasn’t doing too well on FB until I made the effort, Ferb - it definitely is paying off now.
Thanks for the mentions Ana, I’m flattered. I’m not sure why your videos aren’t showing, I’ll ask Sheryl in case she knows why. It might just take time, I know ours didn’t start showing right away.
I followed you on Triberr. I use a different Twitter account there but it still shows my name.
Nice roundup and it’s loaded with great information. I especially like the Google Analytics tip on following Trackbacks. I didn’t see a trackback (WordPress) from this post; I hope I didn’t delete it. I’ve been using Mention and received a notice for it though. I had to wait until I was finished with my roundup before I read it. I avoid reading other posts so I don’t unintentionally take anything. Plus it’s fun to see how much we read and post is similar.
I wonder how many Facebook fans James Bond has? lol
Glad you caught up with this post one way or another, Brian.
You were a hard one to get hold of: I sent you an email and posted to your FB page.
I miss a lot of trackbacks on a regular basis, so I really hope this new GA feature will help us all to stay on track with trackbacks.
And, of course, I just had to see how many fans James Bond has - not nearly as many as I would think, just over 21K.
He needs to use my tips on how to get more FB fans…
Love the Google Analytics additions!
First off, your weekly posts are awesome!
Second, I wonder the same thing about the videos / images too. I know the images are based on when you upload an image in a Twitter update or directly link to one on sites like Instagram. The videos - not really sure. I thought it just populated from YouTube videos you share, but I shared one of the G+ hangout I did and it still hasn’t come up in that area.
This is all Twitter says about it: https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169409-all-about-user-galleries. Really doesn’t say much about why some YouTube videos get in there and some don’t.
Thanks, Kristi.
Sounds like this is yet another thing we have to be at the mercy of Twitter for. Oh well…
Thanks for taking your time to respond!
Wow, how did you pull that off that it was restored by Slideshare? Connections?
I guess Mr. Woodward is a very friendly man who knows it was not your intention to piss anybody of. I never hear of anybody else getting this stuff handled these days. I guess kudos to you and SlideShare.
Sometimes, just being nice goes a lot way, Jaap.
Hello Ana. I like your post, the way you write, themes … brief, thorough, understandable … best regards!
Thanks for warning me about MGM Ana, - I’ve updated the copy I took of your fabby presentation. Keep up the great work please andstay on the cutting edge - we all love you for it!
I am glad you did, Debbie - sorry for the trouble.
I’ve broken some DMCA rules too in the past. Also, I also filed a claim before for someone who was stealing our photos and reviews. The good things is that the people who was doing this got down the links.
I’m mostly interested on see what happens with Facebook and Android. More geekness for me.
Thanks for the update.
Adding small snippets of information is possibly against the law? Holy smokes that is ridiculous.
Although if it is the case, it does present a particular problem for the blogging world as we know it.
I mean all those top 5 x are going to have to change their format slightly.
I suppose we will have to see if a case goes to court. That’s where they’ll really set the law straight.
Did you hear about a company in Ireland who wanted to charge people for LINKING TO THEM?
If someone wants to make a big deal out of publishing an excerpt, they can.
That is ridiculous.
People never cease to amaze me. I wonder what would have happened had they did that.
Hi Anna,
Once again you supply tons of very valuable information thank you.
You said "Some of the tools mentioned:
Solo SEO’s Link Search Tool.
Google Alerts.
Million Short.
Dogpile.
Buzzstream.
Icerocket.
and more….
Will you /can you post your ideas of how to use these?
I think that post was a good start, Ofer; it’s pretty simple to figure it out once you start playing with them.
Hey Ana, 1st time I read Weekly Marketing Skinny. Since it’s Sunday, I am more relaxed and took the time to read through all content and comments (totally lost track of time lol). There is so much I learned again today; come tomorrow, the day will be too short. Setting up google alerts first…wishing you a very blessed day!
I know what you mean, Sonia - that’s why I publish my skinnies on the weekend, it’s the only time to catch up!
Happy Easter!
Sorry to hear about your MGM woes, Ana, but I have to say I’m not surprised. I’ve been having copyright discussions on various groups for the last 2 weeka, and I actually thought about your Bond use during one discussion in particular. I’m not a lawyer, either, but I can tell you this is why they shut it down:
http://trademark.markify.com/trademarks/ctm/007/001204882
How many times have you read on the internet: “Man, that new James Bond flick is awesome!” No violation there in the least. Add a pic from the movie, though, and it changes things drastically, since the studio owns all images.
A possible work-around might have been to say ’007-style’ and included a generic secret agent image.
A warning to your readers: Do NOT use Getty pics in any way, shape or form without permission. I’ve been hearing a LOT of reports lately of people being sued by them, the smallest amount being $32,000 and one in the six figures! These have all come about within a very short period of time, so I can only assume that Getty is on the rampage.
If Getty is doing it now, I would think the rest of the big-name stock photo sites are probably not far behind.
There are TONS of resources on the web where one can acquire free stock images that are royalty-free. Just google ‘free stock images’.
In addition, Google Images also has an advanced search feature that will filter out any results that are not royalty-free.
As always, love your blog. You rock, Ana!
P.S. - The new share bar on the left is pretty darn nifty.
Plugin or hand-coded?
I’ve been hearing that about Getty Images, Bradley; will stay away.
The sharing plugin is called Flare.
Copyright is THE scariest thing on the web. I took an entire blog down because one of my users posted an image from another blog that belonged to Getty’s - They sent me a letter demanding big time money for “use” of their image.
Not happening anymore. I use my own photos or use morguefile - I copy all the image license info and save them for future reference if I use any image from another site.
ALWAYS protect yourself - Licenses and rights of an image can change. You need to be able to prove you acquired the image when the license allowed you to. use it.
Ron
Took down an entire site because of one image? Wow, that’s harsh.
Yes it was harsh. but you should have seen how much Getty’s wanted - I certainly learned a hard lesson about copyright that day
Hey Ana,
I just notice a great looking sidebar you have on the left of your post. It’s just brilliant looking social buttons.
Since you talk about the slideshare, something pops up in my mind. It’s not related to your post by the way, I wonder if you still recommend the PDF sharing for backlinks? the one that you use PrintFriendy to turn your post into PDFs then submit to pdf sharing sites for backlinks? I’m a little reluctant to do so since I think it might count as duplicated content. one of my blogs was penalized for submitting duplicated content before so I need your advice on this issue.
Thanks,
Thanks, Tony; the plugin is called Flare.
Are you sure you were penalized for duplicated content?
Generally, duplicated content refers to content within your own site. Publishing the same post in several different places would be syndicated content. In cases of syndicated content, Google tries to find the originator of the content, and dismiss the rest. Doesn’t always work that way, but it should.
You can read more about it here: https://trafficgenerationcafe.online/duplicate-content/
I am not concerned. Driving traffic is more important than a theoretical penalty, in my opinion.
Well, if you haven’t pissed someone off, you havent told the truth.
I’ll take it as a compliment, Hubert.
It was a huge compliment. You keep pissing off Hollywood and they’ll make a movie about you.
Happy Easter, to you and your Family Ana…
Firstly, I did notice the big change up in site appearance, and I think there are some internal structure changes, too…as the entire feel of the site(as in coded responses) seems different…not just the visual ascetics….
I can understand how you feel regarding the copyright issues….
Here’s what is unfortunately happening online…..
(1). Problem one….Plagiarism..
People and large companies run around stealing any content they can get their hands on….though, there is a big grey area which can leave some instances of this, open for legal interpretation….
Very hard to monitor, as people can “scrape and bake” other peoples content….and much more….
Luckily some sites provide assistance, and can help track content…though, it’s still an uphill battle….
(2). Copyright infringement.
Yes, there is a huge problem with people profiting off copyrighted content…and I do wonder why copyrighted content such as music and films, are still showing after 7 or more years(on some you-tube channels)…….okay it probably takes time for Google to finally catch up with them….
Here’s something interesting about the use of copyright infringement.
Oddly enough, many individuals and especially large companies are using this method to falsely claim ownership of content they do not own.
As others have mentioned in comments, they(some very large companies) are hoping to scare people off…..(who wishes to challenge(in court) a humungous mega corp and who has the money to do so)?
There are automated systems in place that scour the web using a copyright ID system….
So, all it takes is for it to detect even a microscopic strand of similarity of any part of your content and the one being considered to have been breached, and the copyright infringement notice will ensue…
You could have content that has literally nothing similar in manner shape or form, as the other content, yet, the notice will still be issued…
Why? The system is merely programed automatically to find anything(and I do mean anything) that can be matched with a part of(even 1000th % of) the content said to have been violated…
To this system(operating offline) a car and an 747 Airplane, are the same, as they both have wheels and engines, etc, etc, etc…
Sounds loco, though, having witnessed this first hand recently, it is how it is set up….and I will explain a way to challenge and win, over this system…if you get one of these notices….
In another life(other things I do online) which is self created content of a different variety not my site)….I had some copyright infringement notices appear…..
I challenged the notices, and provided evidence of the originality of the content, and also that I have a commercial license to create, distribute, sell, market this content(I provided contact details of the license provider) if they wished to take it further)…
So I basically challenged them to put up, or shut up!
Within no time the infringement notice was dropped…
Sadly, the first time this happened I did not understand the process, and I had to take down my own self created content…though, thankfully…that was a one off…
Okay that brings to end my rant on copyright…
Danny
Believe it or not, I was just thinking about you yesterday, Daniel - it’s been a while since I saw you around.
Sounds like you like the changes around here; glad to hear it.
And good to know at least someone I know knows what to do in cases like this; I’ll keep it in mind!
Ana, my wife and I just found your site and we LOVE it! We have so much to learn from your SEO guides/articles.
I really hope Google decides to keep G-reader. It’s all we know. I suppose we’ll adapt if needed.
Thanks for the content. Keep killing it!
-Jacob
Much appreciated, Jacob!
Kinda funny on the James Bond stuff since I’d been meaning to ask you how you managed to get your hands on licensed images at an affordable price. I figured you made some fancy pants deal with them in the first place!
They weren’t licensed images, Kim, and their problem was with mere reference to 007.
Ana, I like this lighter (or should that be less darker?) shade of blue on the header + footer. On a separate issue, will you be giving us some goodie takeaways from what you learn in Authority ROI? I’m assuming you’ll be devouring it before we do
Sam
Haven’t seen you around for a while, Sam; welcome back. Is that a new site you’ve started?
Yes, I’ll probably be sharing more hands-on stuff within reason.
You’re probably in violation for posting the photo here on your blog too.
What can I tell you, Bethanny; I like living on the edge.
Yikes, I bet you went a bit numb after hearing that MGM had you on their radar.
I have a feeling the issue was more about the image than for mentioning James Bond. That would be like Disney coming after me for talking about fairies.
Anyway, I’m liking the new Marketing Skinny. Saturdays are perfect for sitting down to read all this great content.
Happy Easter! xo
Yep, I am in the big leagues now, KC. lol
I didn’t use any MGM copyrighted images, and their complaint mentioned any “reference” to 007. Who knows…
Ana, I enjoy keeping up with your blog. I am working on developing a blog for our dealership and your content and knowledge have been a big help in this. It’s also helped me do a better job of managing our social media content. Thanks a bunch and keep up the good work!
You are very welcome, Lee; thanks for coming by.
Hi Ana
“I understand the law in theory, but in practice – was I really doing any harm to MGM?”
What the lawyers care about is whether you have used any of their clients’ materials?
Your answer is “Yes” and they don’t care about the”Why”
In a curating course I bought I was told avoid AP, Reuters and Getty! So that caution informs my blogging and curation.
I prefer your new cover and title frankly!
Alex
I know, I know, Alex. What some companies might construe as free PR, others take as copyright infringement.
I’ll still be doing what I do and take stuff down when I am told. If I try to figure out whether I am allowed to re-publish every bit of information, I’d go nuts.
Hello Ana,
It’s time for me to give you some of that blogging love:) I have been reading your blog a LOT lately.
I was up until 4 a.m. this morning reading comments on your old blog posts. Some were enlightening and some were downright mean.
I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. Even if it is just hateful.
Anyway, a quick word of encouragement from me. You are doing marvelous and are doing it for the right reasons. Not for a quick dollar.
You will ultimately discover what works for you and your lifestyle with TGC. It’s changing everyday for the better.
I am putting together a blog post on Woman in Leadership dedicated to YOU! You are definitely a woman in leadership. I will give you an update later next week.
Many Blessings,
Stacie Walker
Woman in Leadership
Extremely kind of you, Stacie.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and publishing only the nice ones goes against what blogging is all about, even though I am often tempted to delete a few of those comments. LOL
Thanks for honoring me with your taking your time to read and comment.
Hey, Ana, thanks for the mention! It was a bit of a thrill to see my name/blog post mentioned in your newsletter!
It seems to me that your slideshow should have fallen under the ‘parody’ section of fair use. Probably not worth fighting a major movie studio over, but sometimes I think those major studios, publishers, etc. are betting more on scaring off the “little guys” than they are betting on having an actual legal case.
Then again, I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.
And that’s what Slideshare told me: I can certainly respond to the DMCA claim explaining how I wasn’t violating the copyright, but who wants to go there, right?
And you are so welcome, Katie; thanks for the mention!
Hi Ana!
They did the same thing with the new blogger interface - it “twinkled” for a time until they decided everyone must use it.
COPYRIGHT is a real bugaboo! If you think you had a serious encounter - NOT EVEN YOUR ORIGINAL TEXT IS SAFE - and I wrote a post with full documentation on how a LINK resulted in a huge penalty for my blog and a threat from Google!
http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com/2012/03/bloggers-watch-your-links.html
Blog On!
Hi Ana, question re the James Bond slide deck. Was it the use of the name or the picture of Danial Craig that caused the problem, or both?
I take it MGM are happy now and not pursuing you in some obscure court?
lol, Sarah - I don’t know for a fact, but it sounds like it was the overall topic of the Slideshare: James Bond and 007.
What I see as free publicity, others see as copyright infringement. I understand the law in theory, but in practice - was I really doing any harm to MGM?
From what I learned about copyright law (admittedly, I’m not a lawyer and it was an elective course in university back when the dinosaurs roamed free) they are obligated to go after every infringement that they discover. Even if they don’t see it as a serious one, the must or they lose the the validity of their claims when it counts.
That’s why we can get away with calling a tissue ‘kleenex’ even when it is made by a different brand. They didn’t guard their copyright, so it became common use.
Certainly makes sense, Bill.