Social Media Marketing

Google stopped inviting users to join its new social network less than 48 hours after beginning a limited release of the service. Google Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra said the company had shut down the invite mechanism for the Google+ service for the night, in a note he posted on Google+.

Grammy-winning singer Justin Timberlake holds a stake in Specific Media, which just shelled out $35 million to acquire MySpace, a site for which Timberlake will provide strategic direction.

At the ripe old age of seven, could Facebook be overtaken by a new competitor? Google has unleashed its own social platform, Google+. A spokeswoman said the company began the project "to see what a Google approach to sharing would look like, and to see if we could come up with a better way of connecting with the different people in our lives."

Fashion editors and department store buyers have long had the biggest say in what parts of designer collections make it to market. This pattern is changing, however, thanks to a more social web culture and better tools to facilitate online voting, purchasing and even customization.

Foursquare has surpassed the 10-million user mark, and the check-in site collected a number of facts about itself to complement the announcement. Target, Wal-Mart and Macy's have been noted as the most popular retail chains on the site.

American Express and Foursquare announced the national rollout of their partnership, which enables American Express card members who link their Foursquare profiles to their cards to "load" and seamlessly redeem merchant specials without the need for coupons, special codes or showing their mobile device to cashiers. This is the first time this technology has been used to allow card members nationwide to take advantage of merchant specials offered through Foursquare. The national launch kicks off with specials from H&M, Sports Authority and Union Square Hospitality Group, and is expected to expand rapidly in the coming weeks and months.

eBay could be eyeing Twitter and YouTube to help it take advantage of the rise in social activities among shoppers as it launches new social features to the eBay marketplace. eBay Marketplaces vice president Christopher Payne said the company's philosophy was to try "a whole bunch of things" in the social space. Payne announced a new social shopping feature that uses Facebook to engage shoppers during his keynote address at the Internet Retailer conference taking place in San Diego this week.

Antique and collectibles shoppers are now using Skype to communicate in real time with dealers as they shop on RubyLane.com. Company spokesperson Palmer Pekarek said many of Ruby Lane's sellers have enabled Skype in their shops so they can provide answers to questions and develop relationships with shoppers. Both buyer and seller must have Skype to communicate via instant messaging and can also engage in video conversations.

An increasing number of brands are becoming more active on Facebook these days aware that the more active they are the better the chances of being "Liked." A new crop of retailers recently reached the 1 million liker milestone, but the ways brands are acquiring these likers is changing. This was the key finding from the latest installment of a study on retailers’ growth on Facebook and Twitter conducted by marketing agency Media Logic.

Listen in as Bernie Brennan, co-author of 
“Branded! How Retailers Engage Consumers With Social Media and Mobility," (with Lori Schafer) discusses how leading retailers Macy's, J.C. Penney and Best Buy are meeting the needs of their customers — and generating revenue — by communicating with them via the web, social media and smartphones. This podcast…