In what could end up being seen as a brilliant power-play by Google, the battle between them and Facebook is about to heat-up and become very, very interesting…
Whilst there were a few parties showing interest in acquiring Wildfire, I don’t think there were too many who would’ve predicted that Google would end up buying them and paying $US 250 million for the company in the process.
This acquisition could open some incredible doors for Google and their Social Search functionality.
In this great article by Jay Baer, he shares an insight into 4 Reasons Google Bought Wildfire…
1. Access To Social Signal
2. Undercover Brother
3. Launch Adwords for Social
4. Kill the Category
As Jay says…
“Google and Facebook aren’t exactly pals. It’s basically the cold war, with Google as the Soviets; Facebook as the USA; and Twitter as….I guess the British.
What better way to reverse engineer Facebook and take the best of it and improve/incorporate it into Google + than to buy a company (Wildfire) that has under-the-hood access and Facebook favored nation status? Will be VERY interesting to see if Facebook kicks Wildfire out of its Preferred Developer Community, or revokes some measure of access. They might just learn a lesson from Twitter, who recently started cutting off Instagram users from accessing their friends lists on the service.”
As I mentioned in today’s show, here’s what founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg’s sister Randi Zuckerberg had to say on Twitter about the Wildfire acquisition…
After this strategic move by Google, if any agents and/or real estate trainers still have doubts about whether or not Social Media plays an important role in real estate today and in the future, then maybe the fact that Google receives over 2,000,000 search queries every minute of the day (and the fact that some of those searches include Potential Sellers who go looking for Real Estate Agents & Landlords looking for Property Managers) then this Major Change To The Social Media Landscape may be just the announcement to help flick the Social Media light-switch on for a few?
Electric Avenue Wrap Up
Yesterday’s show outlined a HUGE Marketing Blunder Real Estate Agents Should Avoid.
The Major Portals have been getting a FREE ride (via prime real estate) in agent’s marketing for too long! I must say that a comment on yesterday’s show by Lyndon Davey spelt it out beautifully…
“Spot on Greg. I worked for Yellow Pages many years ago and could not understand why advertisers would mention in other advertising mediums, “find us in the Yellow Pages.”
Of course alongside their 10, 15 or 20k advert were all their competitors.Great for the customer – not so good for the advertiser.”
On Tuesday, the show highlighted an Important Decision About Facebook Fan Pages By Advertising Standards Board plus three tips for any businesses with Facebook pages.
…and to kick-off the week, Monday’s show provided an insight into Why Real Estate Agents Should Use Property Videos
I hope you enjoy this week’s episodes. 🙂