Hasta La Gadget!

Promoted content, sponsored posts, and other forms of advertisements are nothing new on social media websites, but services like Facebook and Twitter are constantly finding new ways to bring advertisements to their sites. Case in point: Twitter announced today that it will begin experimenting with ways to post promoted content from brands without showing more ads than there already are.

Specifically, Twitter says that they will be “experimenting with a way to make ads on Twitter more useful” to US users “by displaying promoted content from brands and businesses” that you show interest in. Twitter has assured us that users won’t see more ads on the social media site, but instead they’ll see “better ones.”

To get promoted tweets to show up for those who may be interested in the content, businesses can share a scrambled, unreadable email address with Twitter, or even browser-related information such as a browser cookie. Twitter can then match that information to Twitter accounts in order to show a “Promoted Tweet” to users who may find it useful.

Twitter says they “don’t give advertisers any additional user information,” and they’re allowing users to opt out of this new feature as well. Users can uncheck “Promoted content” in account settings, and from there, the social media service won’t include your information to other companies for catered advertisements.

Twitter also mentioned their support for Do Not Track, so Twitter will not collect any browser-related information if users have Do Not Track enabled in their web browser. We should be seeing more and more in-line advertisements come to social networks, Facebook is already filled with them. While ad blocker add-ons for web browsers block a lot of the ads, companies are getting smarter and bypassing ad blockers with in-line content instead, providing a slightly more intrusive experience. However, we don’t see that slowing down anytime soon.

Twitter to promote content from brands, promises not to show more ads is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

YouTube is a platform that has grown far beyond its humble beginnings, now offering certain users the ability to profit from advertisements displayed on their videos. One of the key parts of that system are those advertisers, and amongst them a select few (100, to be exact) will be offered help in creating content via

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It seems Facebook is still trying to learn how to monetize its search feature and figure out what works best, as the social network will be killing off sponsored results in search after less than a year of first being introduced. Facebook has decided to streamline its advertising efforts in order to make it a

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Facebook has once again come under fire for its content policy, which many organizations, companies, and users say is too lax in light of hate speech and violent content. Earlier this month, the social network finally banned videos of decapitations, but has still allowed large quantities of controversial content – many of it gender-based, according to some organizations – to persist. For this reason, more than a dozen big-name companies have pulled their advertisements from the social network.

Yesterday, Facebook announced that, in light of the latest round of criticism, it will be making changes to its content policy immediately, which includes revising the materials its review team uses to evaluate content, training its team on the new guidelines, establishing a better communication with organizations, and holding users more responsible for controversial content that is allowed to remain on the site.

While such changes are welcome and are earning it praise from some organizations and users, it is presently a case of “too little, too late,” with over 12 advertisers removing their advertisements from the social network because they were being displayed next to offensive, controversial, and hateful content. Nissan is perhaps the most notable company on the list, with the auto maker saying it will put ads back on the website when Facebook implements the changes it announced yesterday.

According to the Associated Press, many Facebook advertisers were slammed with in excess of 5,000 emails collectively on the behest of a campaign started by Women, Action and the Media. According to the organization, much of the objectionable content on Facebook being allowed to remain focused on endorsing and mocking violence of various natures against women and children, among others.

Women, Action and Media’s Executive Director Jaclyn Friedman said of Facebook’s announced changes yesterday: “We are thrilled with the commitment [the social network] made. It’s about stepping up and being the industry leader that they already are.” According to Facebook, the changes it outlined are going into effect immediately.

SOURCE: Yahoo!

Major brands pull Facebook advertisements over hateful content is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Adding on to its previous new ad taking a knock at Siri and the iPad, Microsoft is back with another ad that outlines the iPad’s lack of multitasking, and the setbacks with printing and other hardware downsides. In this case, Microsoft uses an ASUS VivoTab RT and puts it up against the latest fourth-generation iPad.

The video compares both tablets as far as hardware specs are concerned, such as the weight and size of the tablets, as well as the selection of apps and the ability to multitask. Microsoft shows off the ASUS tablet running full Office, while the iPad only has the OneNote app. And while the iPad can quickly switch between apps, Microsoft gloats that the VivoTab can do split-screen multitasking.

The ad also demonstrates that Windows 8 tablets have a microSD card slot built in, while the iPad requires an adapter in order to get the same functionality. Microsoft even brings up printing, noting that the iPad only works with AirPrint-compatible printers, while Windows 8 tablets work with nearly any printer.

While Microsoft’s previous tablet commercials have been all about focusing only on the tablet itself, these new ads put some focus on the competition — in this case, it’s the iPad that’s giving Microsoft’s tablets a run for their money, so it seems the company wants to set the record straight and let people know the benefits of their tablets.

It’s certainly a blatant call out to the iPad, which could result in some eye rolls by viewers, but we have to say these ads are a bit better than office workers break-dancing on top of tables and flinging around their Surface tablets. It’s certainly a better ad for those who don’t like flashy and fast-paced advertisements (*raises hand*).

Microsoft pounces iPad again with new comparison ad is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.