Mergers and acquisitions happen every day in every industry and rarely (ok, pretty much never) do I feel compelled to write about them. So what makes this one different? If you have ever attended a conference on search and/or social marketing, whether that is SMX, SES or PubCon, you’ve most likely seen the prime suspects strutting their stuff on stage. These are people to know in the search/social industry, and now they are joining forces to bring their collective knowledge together under one virtual roof.  Chris Winfield of 10e20, Brent Csutoras of Brent Csutoras Inc, and the team from Search and Social have come together to create BlueGlass Interactive, an agency offering everything from Social Media and PR to Pay Per Click and SEO (much like another agency you may have heard of…ahem…Location3).

BlueGlass Interactive is a Tampa based company, with 40 employees across 4 major cities: Salt Lake City, New York, Tampa and LA.  One criticism is their complete oversight of the best city in the US. What, you guys don’t like to ski?

After speaking with both Chris and Brent at the last SMX Advanced conference in Seattle, their enthusiasm for this merger was infectious, so much so that I am excited to say that we will be working with them on some big projects in the near future. Bringing all of their various strengths together can mean great things for those posed to take advantage of their services, and we look forward to doing just that.

Yesterday Facebook announced their auto-suggest feature to the search box, enabling users to find and connect faster. As with Google, Yahoo and Bing it will auto-suggest as you type a query into the search box. In honor of St Patricks Day yesterday below is a screenshot of this new feature.

How does Facebook look for suggestions? Here is their explanation:
Now as you’re typing in a query in the search bar, you will instantaneously see results not only of the people, events, groups and Pages you’re connected with but also the connections of your friends and globally relevant results.

This feature is due to roll out to all users over the next few days. For more information click here to direct to the official Facebook Blog.

A handful of Location3 Media staff members provide insight on the biggest trends in the interactive marketing industry throughout 2009, and offer predictions for what is to come in 2010. Regardless of the strategy each individual talks about–social media, PPC, mobile marketing, local search, web design, web analytics–the reoccurring theme is “integration.”

I bet you had no idea that the force behind Google’s rapid searching and indexing was a hopped up Librarian frantically leafing through books and journals. We didn’t either, until we found this neat site by Weetabix Foods. Find out what’s Inside Your Search.

Thanks to The Denver Egotist for the tip.

As a self-proclaimed word nerd, I’m always looking for ways to incorporate grammar and language use into my posts on expertSEM. To do this, I usually have to stretch and morph the interactive marketing topic to fit my semantic agenda. But I’m happy to report that this week’s topic relates to both social media and words. The big news: unfriend was selected by the New Oxford American Dictionary as the Word of the Year.

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines unfriend as:

(verb) – To remove someone as a “friend” on a social networking site such as Facebook. As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”

Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer for Oxford’s U.S. dictionary program stated that the word has “currency and potential longevity” and “real lex-appeal” (a much better candidate for Word of the Year, I might add). Unfriend is not actually a new word. The term can be traced back to 1659 when it was first included in the dictionary. In a recent NPR interview, Lindberg stated that the meaning of the word hasn’t changed much since that time, just the platform on which it’s used is different.

While I wasn’t completely awestricken to read that social media terminology made the list of finalists, I was somewhat surprised by the word of honor. I would have guessed that tweet or one of the numerous portmanteaus originating in part from Twitter (e.g., twitterati, tweeps, tweatheart), would have been number one. Or at least on the finalist list, which none were (see list below). I can only assume that Tweet Speak didn’t make it because these terms refer to only one site, rather than, conceivably, a term that applies to all social networks.

Then again, I would argue that unfriend is not all encompassing. You don’t unfriend someone on Twitter, you stop following them. Nor do you unfriend on LinkedIn, Digg or the majority of social networking sites, for that matter.

I also take issue with unfriend because I believe it should be defriend. Mostly because it rolls off the tongue easier. When discussing this story with a colleague, I said defriend numerous times without thinking. Plus, it rhymes with and is the opposite of befriend, which seems fitting. Still, you also could argue that this is the grammatically correct prefix.

According to Merriam-Webster, the prefix de- means “to do the opposite of,” “to do the reverse of” or “remove.” Un- simply means “not” or “contrary to.” If we dissect this meaning, unfriend literally means “not friend, ” or how I read it, that you have never “friended” that person. I see this as the “Ignore” button that I often click for high schoolmates that I’d prefer not to be friends with. I never was their friend–literally and on Facebook. By ignoring them, I have un(not)friended them.

And although I could argue until my face turned blue, it wouldn’t change anything. The New Oxford American Dictionary is not going to take back their choice (although they may just unpublish it or unannounced it!). So rather than moaning and groaning all post, let’s take a moment to reflect on the implications of this choice. We all know that social media in particular, and the internet in general, have affected our language. Emoticons aside (way aside, please), they’re changing the way we speak and the words we use. Yet, when a reputable and official lexicon recognizes these as acceptable terms , it becomes more than just quirky slang. The term is validated as is the medium to which it applies. Therefore, although I’m not a fan of the word, I do see this as another step in the right direction for social media. It’s more encouragement for social media to shed the teenybopper stigma. And in case you’re still miffed at Oxford University Press for selecting this seemingly trifling word, consider the 2007 Merriam-Webster Word of the Year: w00t. Yep, it’s true. Insert groans here. But don’t grumble too long, or you’ll miss the American Dialect Society’s call for nominations for the Word of the Year and Word of the Decade.

Just for fun, here’s a list of the finalists from this year:

Hashtag — while not an official Twitterism, it still relates to Twitter
Intexticated – driver that is distracted due to texting
Netbook — small, portable laptop
Paywall — blocking access to portion of website unless you pay
Sexting – I bet you can figure out this clever portmanteau
Freemium– free services provided with the hope that the user purchases premium services
Funemployed – enjoying your newly unemployed status
Zombie bank – a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support
Ardi – oldest known hominid discovered in 1900s and announced this year
Birther – challenger of Obama’s birth certificate
Choice mom – person who chooses to be a single mom
Death panel – theoretical body that determines which patients deserve to live when care is rationed
Teabagger — person who protests Obama’s tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known as “Tea Party” protests (ummmm, I’m not sure they understand the slang definition of this!)
Brown state – state with no eco-friendly laws
Green state – state with strict eco-friendly laws
Ecotown — you get the idea by now
Deleb – dead celebrity
Tramp stamp — tattoo located on the lower back of females (never thought I’d get to put this phrase on expertSEM!)

You may have noticed some changes to expertSEM over the past couple months. We’re continually trying to create a better experience and platform for you, our dear readers. That includes simpler navigation, improved image quality and better user experience. This is not a one-time improvement—in the upcoming weeks, months, years we will continue to make changes that will allow you to find information faster, connect to social media networks easier and simply make expertSEM a better blog to visit. Here are some of the recent changes:

Featured Posts
We’ve added a section in the top right sidebar that highlights the most popular blogs. This allows you to see the hottest topics and trends in the SEM industry without sifting through the entire archive.

Archives
And speaking of the archive, we’ve done some Spring (and Summer) cleaning on ours. Rather than a laundry list that just kept getting longer and longer with each new month, we’ve created a dropdown menu that allows you to select and jump to a particular month. This allows us to put more info on the main page without forcing you to scroll ad infinitum to reach the bottom.

Social Media Links
We’re super social and we know you are, too! That’s why we’ve added retweet buttons on each post so that you can easily share blogs you find interesting. We’ve also added links to our social media communities, allowing you to connect with us through various mediums. We try to keep expertSEM, Twitter and LinkedIn focused on news and notes about the industry. But if you’re interested in all the fun happening at Location3 Media and want to learn a bit more about our company culture, you’ll definitely want to check out our Facebook page and Flickr stream.

Contact Us
We’ve added a contact form that pings us directly, allowing you to share your thoughts and opinions without the whole world seeing.

Subscribe Button
No you can subscribe to expertSEM in any way you like. Roll over the Subscribe button in the lift sidebar and select your preferred method. If you don’t see it, click on the button and you’re given a whole heap of subscription choices.

Author Bios
Learn a bit about your favorite expertSEM authors! We’ve added short bios about each author, explaining their role at Location3 and typical blog beat. You can find these bios within each individual blog post—scroll to the bottom of the blog and click on the author’s linked name to see a popup window.

Please let us know what you think of these changes and if there is anything else you would like to see on expertSEM.

The CSCA (Common Short Code Administration) maintains a database of all registered and available short codes for mobile campaigns. Moderated by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) and managed by NeuStar; the firm announced recently that there would be a new process for marketer’s requesting and applying for a short code. The change is driven by new implementation of a central database so that all users (be it application provider, aggregator or carrier) can access the same set of information. The intention is also to streamline the process for marketers. A veritable win-win, the new process gives carriers more information and control of the messages being sent to their subscribers; and mobile marketers can reserve short codes earlier and have longer to pay for them. Current mobile marketers should make sure they are aware of the new process when renewing codes.

The new basic steps for leasing a short code are as follows:
1.    Order your CSC (through the CSCA)
2.   Define your campaign(s)
3.   Submit your campaign application
4.   Update your campaign as information changes (ongoing)

Sounds easy enough, right? You will only need to provide minimal information in order to reserve a short code, but in order to launch your campaign, you will need to pay for your CSC and provide detailed information. Be sure to review the FAQs found at usshortcodes.com and talk to your aggregator about this new process.

What are your thoughts about this new process? More hoops for mobile marketers to jump through? Or a logical progression of a growing advertising method?

As the ski and snowboarding season comes to a close, we decided to purge our gear closets of all the old and unused winter clothes and equipment. And purge we did. We came up with a whole slew of new and gently used items that will be donated to our non-profit of choice—SOS Outreach.

Thanks to all the Location3 employees for their generous donations to SOS Outreach.

SOS Outreach is a youth development charity focused on building character and self-esteem through outdoor activities. On pace to serve more than 5,000 inner-city youths across the nation in 2008-2009, the organization teaches kids to ski and snowboard in winter and takes them rock climbing, backpacking, camping and hiking in summer.

In addition to donating clothes, Location3 is also supporting SOS with time, funding and expertise. Since becoming involved in March, we’ve volunteered at their Design a Modern Board event, tried to participate in the Spring Spin event (it was cancelled due to weather, but we still have our Elitch Gardens tickets and will make the most of it on another day) and have provided recommendations for search marketing, social media and website redesign efforts. In June, we will be volunteering at the National Get Outdoors Day event, of which SOS has been an active collaborator. And we will be participating in their spring cleaning day, where we’ll help with a number of fundamental tasks including tuning boards, washing clothing, organizing gear and revamping their inventory room.

Do you have clothing, equipment or other winter items you’d like to donate? Or want to help out in another way? Get involved with SOS Outreach by visiting their website or let us know and we’ll put you in touch with the right people.

And if you need a good laugh, check out these photos of Philip, Forrest, Lindsey and Tarla sporting the donated gear.

Shred the Gnar: Must-hear pop-punk band with hits like, "Ain't Gonna Beef Today," "Hucker 4 Life" and "Pow Addiction."

These snow bunnies couldn't resist trying on the gear one last time before donating.

Lindsey and Tarla sporting the totally sweet snow suits donated by Carol.

According to the British government, the answer is yes. A story in The Guardian states that the British government is drafting a plan to include twitter, blogging, podcasts and Wikipedia in grade school curricula in addition to tradition areas of learning. Students will also be required to “gain a fluency in handwriting and keyboard skills, and learn how to use a spellchecker alongside how to spell.”

As long as these topics don’t take precedence over traditional ones, I’m all for it. Kids are going to be doing it anyway, why not teach them how to do it properly and safely (reminds me of an argument for another grade school class!). I’m just concerned that these tools and sites will be taught as a main resource, rather than a supplement. And I hope they will stress that not every online source is credible and instruct students in how to distinguish the fact from the filth.

What do you think? Should we adopt a similar curriculum in the States? Think it would ever pass?

According to at Hitwise report released yesterday, longer search queries (5+ keywords) are now more popular and shorter queries (1-3 words) less so. This is important data for search marketers to use to build out long-tail keyword phrases in their PPC campaigns. As searchers become more savvy and their searches more specific, it’s no longer enough to rely on general top-level terms.

The report also sheds light on Google’s whopping 72% market share, as the only major search engine showing a gain since 2008.  As a result, Google is also a key source of traffic in several industries, such as Business and Finance, Sports and Social Networking.