Is Social Media Monitoring Ready for Prime-Time?

Description

Microsoft announced recently that they are launching their own social media listening software tool (currently in closed beta), called Looking Glass, which will according to Microsoft “make social media actionable for business.†Pricing for LookingGlass has not been established.

Impacts of Big Boys on Social Media Monitoring

Microsoft’s entrance into the social media monitoring software category will have two mid-term consequences. First, the percentage of companies using some sort of social media listening software – LookingGlass or otherwise – will skyrocket. This pattern is as familiar to long-time Web watchers as the Cowboys choking in the playoffs. Small start-up companies innovate and create categories, and then the big guys jump on board and expand the user base.

Pay-per-click search engine advertising was pioneered by GoTo, and took off once Yahoo! bought it. The concept was later perfected by Google, which has built a company the size of a modest European nation based on it. Web site tracking was first popularized by WebTrends and a six pack of other, smaller companies. But widespread adoption of Web analytics occurred only after Google bought Urchin and created Google Analytics.

Similarly, Google made Web testing and optimization de rigeur when it ...

Original URL

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/135232

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/135232