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iePlexus Social Media News Brief: April 14, 2010

How your website’s speed will now play in where you show up in Google’s search results.  Twitter reveals a new feature, how this could impact businesses and Twitter users.  And get your Gleek on, Glee returns to TV this week but not after a few Glee viral videos hit the web.  We’ll take a look at some of them in today’s social media news brief for Wednesday, April 14, 2010.

 We start with some news from Google.  The company announced this week that it has formatted its algorithm so that depending on how fast or slow your site speed is, could change where your site fall in Google searches.  Matt Cutts, is a Google software engineer said on Monday that “Speeding up websites is important – not just to site owners, but to all Internet users,” “Faster sites create happy users and we’ve seen in our internal studies that when a site responds slowly, visitors spend less time there.  But faster sites don’t just improve user experience; recent data also shows that improving site speed also reduces operating costs.” Google also said they actually implemented the new system a few weeks ago, and say that less than 1% of actual search queries performed have been affected by the new calculations.  While speed will now factor in to your ranking, you will want to continue everything you are currently doing to keep up your rankings, including keeping up with keywords and phrases.

We all know that Twitter is a social networking site that allows it users send and read small messages known as Tweets. Millions of people do it every day and until now the company has not made any money. On Tuesday, CEO Biz Stone said that that’s all about to change. Twitter announced that they are now selling ad space, or what they call “promoted tweets.” Here’s how it’ll works: when Twitter users type in a topic they are interested in, such as “coffee,” for example, a company like Starbucks can purchase that search word and their ad will pop up on the top of the Twitter search results.  As of right now Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, and Virgin America are the only companies testing out the new feature but many are expected to jump on board fairly soon. Some analysts believe Twitter could pull in $100 million in ad revenue this year, proving social networking is not just a way to make friends, it also may be a way to make a lot of money.

We all dream about going certain places and doing certain things, but now 15 year old Parker Liautaud has made one of his dreams a reality.  He was the youngest person ever to ski to the North Pole.  He made it there this but he also was the first person ever to check into foursquare at the North Pole and unlock the Last Degree Badge.  He’s been using his Facebook and Twitter pages as well to inspire youth “build a more sustainable future.” Since ice at the North Pole has been melting. Due to what Parker calls “insurmountable conditions” he was actually taken by helicopter to complete his journey.  Parker also took YouTube videos which are still yet to be posted.  Either way, he’s done an incredible job.  Congratulations to you Parker. 

It’s time for today’s viral video segment.  Last night marked the season premiere of Glee as millions of  people all around the world have anxiously been waiting for it’s return.  In honor of the show’s premiere, Glee flash mobs have been popping up all around the world.  Seattl actually having one of the largest crowds, preformed this dance over the weekend.  Nearly 1,000 people participated, lets take a look.