Today, IBM is introducing a new social media monitoring tool, one that it says will measure consumer sentiment from data gathered on Twitter, blogs and other web services and networks. The software, called the SPSS Modeler data mining and text analytics workbench, will use natural language processing (NLP) to analyze everything from product names and industry jargon to slang and emoticons, and it’s already being used by some pretty big businesses....
As Skype prepares to roll out five-way video calling this week — an addition the company plans to charge for at a later date — it’s also thinking of monetizing the now free user-to-user web calling serving with advertisements. In an interview with The Telegraph, CEO Josh Silverman explains that the company — once again its own entity — is challenged by its desire to keep Skype-to-Skype calls free and to maintain the quality of service....
Buddy Media already helps big brands do more with their Facebook presence. Today the company is extending its service to include Facebook Open Graph integration. This update is about connecting the dots between user activity on and off Facebook — think the “Like” button — so that platform users can manage and track their website’s Facebook performance in addition to Page performance and content. They’ve also added real-time analytics for all social activity and a new publish option so that clients can connect with customers who “liked” content on their sites....
Disney’s ABC television network was the first in the industry to market on the iPad with their impressive app. Downloaders can stream TV episodes free of charge and early data is showing that they’re doing so in droves. According to data shared with the Wall Street Journal, the ABC iPad app has been downloaded 205,000 times and users have already streamed 650,000 television episodes. Those streams have translated into several million ad impressions for the network’s iPad advertisers, including AT&T, Sears and Target....
Next week, FarmVille players will have the ability to grow peanuts, thanks to ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi and an Israeli candy brand. We’re told this is the first time a FarmVille crop has been directly linked to a brand. Saatchi Interactive in Tel Aviv is working on a rollout campaign for Elite Taami Nutz, a peanut-filled variant of a popular Israeli chocolate bar. The new crop will roll out with a simultaneous farm design competition on April 14....