Social Notworking – A competitive advantage in online advertising

Published by Robi | Filed under Brain Buster, Professional, Ramble

It is a painful reality that being shady in the online social media advertising world is very profitable. Thanks to a variety of posts kicked off by techcrunch and other online resources, several scamming business models and companies have been exposed.

As others have done, I am comparing this to professional athletes taking performance enhancing substances. It raises questions to the validity of these athletes accomplishments. Whether it is the Olympics, MLB, NFL, bicycling or others it is a major source of controversy that has involved congress and other international regulatory agencies. Who is the real loser, the fan and those who look to these athletes as role models.

The same parallel can be drawn to online advertising in the social media world. Those who search for loop holes will find them and their is no regulatory authority. With consumers searching for information, social fun and convenience they become unknowing targets for shady business practices. This does nothing but hinder consumer trust, make legitimate online advertising campaigns ineffective and unfortunately line the pockets of the devious.

I ask the question, Who will police this and turn down the easy nickel (multiplied by a few million)? Will it be Google (the online advertising king), FaceBook (the other internet is making their own attempts to regulate), Microsoft (the one, perhaps undeservedly, associated with evil and lack of consumer trust), Verisign (a valid advertising cert would be interesting), one of the other internet giants (Amazon and Yahoo might have more than just an influential say) or maybe the time is right for a newbie to rise up. If a figure head is needed I nominate Al Gore to bring advertising trust to his creation.