Well, my open letter may not have elicited a response, but since it was published, Apple has joined the lineup of the D conference, and published a pointed response to the Adobe Flash tempest. To me, that signals good things – a willingness to engage in the public square. I’m encouraged.

I spent Thursday doing two things. One, I met with Google, to prep for both the CM Summit (you must come, it’s going to be really, really good) and Web 2, which is in the Fall (more on that soon, already have 20 great speakers lined up). Then I went to a studio in Mountain View to do a HP Input Output interview. If you want to know what I can possibly go on about for an hour as it relates to marketing, this is a must see. No, really, my wife loved it.

And while I expounded, the world spun and the news broke. To the links:

Viral Video: Ouch!–Apple Gets Smacked Hard by Jon Stewart (ATD) This is about the whole stolen iPhone story. Stewart says to Jobs: “Don’t go all Howard Hughes on us.” Where did I read that recently? Stewart’s rant resonated with me (and maybe mine did with him) – but I wonder, did it with others?

The New Pitch: Selling Clients Experience Over Promises (AdAge) This really hit home for me, given our work at FM. We made a lot of promises in the early years, now, we’re focused entirely on delivering great media.

Apple Seeks Seven-Figure Sums for First iAd Buys Well, of course they are. Because they can. Because they own the distribution network, inventory is scarce, and they have a hot product. This. Will. NOT. Stand. But it’s going to for a while.

WPP Spent 20% on Digital in ’09, Building New Ad Tech (ClickZ) Of the 20% WPP spent overall in digital media, 18% was in search.

For Veteran Social Marketers, Twitter Is Tops (eMarketer) Stats on what we use.

Facebook’s High Pressure Tactics: Opt-in or Else (RWW) I am swayed by this. “Years of poor web experiences filled with pop-up ads, long user agreements no one reads and unnecessary screens on software installations that seem to serve no purpose but to have you click the “Next” button have created a certain type of blindness to pop-up text on the web. Instead of thoughtfully considering the options, a majority of users simply click the button that makes the message go away. You can bet that Facebook is counting on precisely this behavior regarding the new Profiles.” What’s worse is what happens if you don’t opt in – your profile is empty. Er…WTF, Facebook? Not good. I sense this one is going to stick in more than a few craws. Including mine.

20 Important Lessons I Learned from My Marketing Mentor (Open Forum) Good stuff.

Google: Now Recommending Brands For Searches (SEL) The ongoing tweaks at Google are coming fast and furious as it relates to both social and brands.

Can You Disappear In Surveillance Britain? (London Times) Similar to what a writer tried to do last year at Wired, but this time a guy really did want to get lost, his experience turned into a movie. Fascinating story of a man who lost his way in our increasingly data-driven culture.

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If there’s any doubt that our industry is in the midst of a major strategic middlegame, today’s news erased it. Apple acquired a company that will help it compete in the next stage of voice-driven mobile navigation, and HP decided to get into the mobile wars, in a big way. That and more, in the links:

Apple Moves Deeper Into Voice-Activated Search With Siri Buy (WSJ) Yes, it most certainly did. Predicted by someone a while back…

HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion (BizWire) The official release.

HP’s Immediate Plan For Palm: Invest (paidcontent) HP is going its own way with this purchase. This is going to be very, very interesting.

Levi’s ‘Likes’ Facebook a Whole Lot, Launches ‘Friends Store’ on Jeans Site (ClickZ) Levi’s has gone all out in integrating Facebook. I recommend a more ecosystem-driven approach, but agree that Facebook is a core asset in any approach. To my mind, this might pair the Levi’s brand too closely with another brand that, in the end, may not be aligned with Levi’s interests.

AOL’s Turnaround Isn’t Here Yet: Revenues Down 23 Percent (ATD) I keep rooting for Tim and AOL. This quarter they had to take their lumps.

Nearly Half of Mobile Ads Served to Smartphones (eMarketer) And Android has been the fastest growing.

Advertising: Linking Customer Loyalty With Social Networking (NYT) This is all about driving location, social, and mobile together. Anyone remember my acronym for this? Yeah. I know. Catchy – MOLRS.

Business Leaders Embracing Social Media (MarketingProfs) I almost changed this headline to “Dog Bites Man” but figured we all need some stats to back our work, no?

Online Video Ad Network Tremor Media Raises $40 Million (paidcontent) Who says preroll is dead? Well, Tremor is evolving, I am certain of that.

That Coke Can You’re Holding Could Be Your New Media Channel (AdAge) Nice piece on Stickybits, which readers of Signal already know all about.

Q&A: Erin Nelson, CMO, Dell (Adweek) Too bad this interview didn’t happen after HP’s acquisition of Palm!

Secrets Of Sleep (National Geographic) Because we all need to sleep better.

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If it suits your information consumption goals, sign up for Signal’s email newsletter on the Signal home page (upper right box). You’ll get an exclusive, email only weekly roundup of Signals.

If you enjoy reading FM’s Signal, then you’ll want to come to the CM Summit this June 7-8 in New York City. Join the founders of AdMob, Boxee, Foursquare, and the CEOs of Razorfish, Moxie, GroupM, AOL, as well as top execs from American Express, Adobe, Google, The New York Times, Starbucks, AT&T and more.

It’s hard to avoid the continuing fall out around Facebook’s news last week. I’ve focused on it today as I plan to write about it this week, once the blur of travel has passed. The links:

Facebook: The Privacy Questions Continue (WSJ) More voices join the chorus – and Facebook responds with a letter back. See also Key Privacy Wonk Joins Senators, Blasting Facebook’s Latest Moves (ClickZ)

Nobody Can Stop Facebook Because Nobody Understands Facebook (Mashable) “Have the nuances of online privacy become so complex that they’re beyond the comprehension of mere mortals? I’m not saying that Facebook intends to cause confusion, but the complexities of the open vs. closed debate and the prescriptive vs. descriptive nature of the “everybody” setting effectively shut down public discourse.” I’ve been quite busy since this story broke, traveling to three cities in five days. But I do agree, it will take a lot to boil this down. I hope to do it this week.

Facebook’s Future In Social News (SEL) Analysis of the impact of Facebook’s recent moves on sites like Digg. Jury is out.

Facebook Flips Switch on ‘Like,’ Advertisers Fret About Consequences (ClickZ) Brands are mixed on the Like button compared to “Fans,” it seems.

Discovering pages “similar to” ones that you like (Google Blog) Hmmm. Wonder what drove this announcement?

Consumer Confidence at 19-month High (MarketingProfs) What’s not to like about that?

A trend is rising in marketing – folks are wising up to the idea of brands as publishers. As a proponent of this idea for years, I’m thrilled! To the links:

Want Your Online Ad to Perform? Try Buying Some Good Content (AdAge) Well, yes and no. Don’t buy next to it. Start making it, and curating it, and underwriting it.

The Future of Marketing Starts with Publishing Part 1 (Solis) Brian amplifies a theme I’ve pinged for a while: Every company is now a media company.

What Is Conde Nast Doing Making Kenneth Cole’s YouTube Ads? (AdAge) Well, they’re doing publishing.

How Mint.com Acquired 1.5M+ Users (Jason Putrori) Former Mint designer explains – it’s a lot about content.

A new approach to how we work with advertising agencies (Google Blog) Google “raises the bar” for certification on AdWords.

Efficient Frontier Ties Search to Display with DSP Launch (ClickZ) Always worth paying attention to moves in this space.

Facebook Open Graph: The Definitive Guide For Publishers, Users and Competitors (RWW) More grist for the mill as we grok the news of last week.

What Facebook’s Latest Announcements Mean for Small Biz Owners (Open Forum) And more grist still…

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In the words of a pal with whom I shared a drink or two this weekend, “I’d sure like to be a fly on the wall at Google’s Monday management meeting.” That’s an understatement. The weekend’s news was dominated by continued discussion of Facebook’s Open Graph and Like announcements, and the undercurrent seems to be that Google has been put on the defensive.

For Web’s New Wave, Sharing Details Is the Point (NYT) Story last Friday that was widely cited. “Too much information, you say? On the Internet, there seems to be no such thing.”

Understanding the Open Graph Protocol (Chris Messina) Chris, a well known advocate of openness in web standards, is suspicious of the approach Facebook is taking with Open Graph. The comments are worth a read.

Why f8 was good for the open web (David Recordon) David disagrees.

Facebook’s Open Graph Protocol from a Web Developer’s Perspective (Dare Obasanjo) Don’t let the headline scare you. Dare makes this point: The new Facebook lets you turn web pages into “social objects”, and that is a big deal.

Schumer challeges Facebook over info sharing (ABC News) As I said Friday, here comes the scrutiny, Facebook. “In a letter, Schumer asked the Federal Trade Commission to develop guidelines telling social networking sites how private information can be used. He also believes it should be easier and standard practice for users to opt “in” to policies rather than opt “out”. “This opt out procedure is confusing, unclear, and you might even say hidden,” Sen. Schumer said.”

Is Facebook The New Internet And How Soon Before Microsoft Tries To Buy It (Mark Cuban via paidcontent) “…your favorite website doesn’t know it yet, but Facebook is in the process of annexing it.” Mark also predicts that Facebook will need to create a mobile operating system a la Android, but not be able to afford it – and this will drive it into the arms of Microsoft. Hmmm. Not sure I buy it. Then again, I’m not Microsoft.

Glass Box And Commonplace Book  (Steven Berlin Johnson) Steven explains, in the text of a speech given this weekend, why I really dislike the current approach taken by the iPad w/r/t text. It’s a true shame. As usual, Steven’s stuff is fascinating and you feel smarter after reading it.

—-

If it suits your information consumption goals, sign up for Signal’s email newsletter on the Signal home page (upper right box). You’ll get an exclusive, email only weekly roundup of Signals.

If you enjoy reading FM’s Signal, then you’ll want to come to the CM Summit this June 7-8 in New York City. Join the founders of AdMob, Boxee, Foursquare, and the CEOs of Razorfish, Moxie, GroupM, AOL, as well as top execs from American Express, Adobe, Google, The New York Times, Starbucks, AT&T and more.

Tristan Carpenter joins FM as an Account Coordinator. Born and raised in New Mexico, he received his Bachelors of Science degree in Marketing from Fordham University in New York, and comes to us with experience in both public relations and advertising. A self-proclaimed “film buff,” Tristan studied film while in college as well as has an interest in screenwriting. In his spare time, he enjoys running, skiing in Colorado when he gets the opportunity, and experiencing Brooklyn, which is where he resides. Welcome, Tristan!

The industry continues to digest Facebook’s announcements this week, so I’ll focus the first set of links on that topic. I’ll have my own thoughts written up in the next few days and will post them here. But if you want my two line takeaway, it’s this: Facebook no longer can pretend to be a scrappy startup with a cool service everyone digs. Facebook has become a target, a powerful company to fear and to respect, much as Google became a few years back. That is not an easy burden to shoulder.

To the links:

Protect Your Privacy Opt Out of Facebook’s New Instant Personalization – Yes You Have to Opt Out (LibrariansByDay) Facebook has freaked out the librarians. Librarians!

Dear Facebook & Google: We Are Not Your Pawns – Enough With The Opt-In! (Daggle) Danny goes off and has the links to back him up.

Facebook May Not Be Skynet, but It Is Getting Smarter, and That’s Bad for Google (Ian Schafer via AdAge) “At a recent dinner, a group of friends of mine discussed whether or not Facebook’s market capitalization would ever eclipse Google’s. If this plan is successful, it may not be a question of if, but when.”

Facebook’s ambition (Scoble) “What we’re really scared about is another very powerful company is forming. One that we don’t yet fully trust.”

New Details of Facebook’s Location Plans Appear in Open Graph Protocol Docs (InsideFacebook) It’s increasingly clear that Facebook’s Open Graph is all about, well, everything.

One Graph To Rule Them All? (AVC) Fred questions the notion that Facebook owns the social graph. He’s invested in many alternative graphs. I agree – we will not, ultimately, instrument our entire life through one social service. I hope…

More Than Half of Mobile Internet Time Is Spent on Social Networks (Mashable) Continuing proof of my MOLRS thesis in action.

Dell Looking Glass tablet leaks: Tegra 2 coming your way in November (Engadget) Just one of many such devices that will challenge the iPad.

On Google’s Brand (Searchblog) In which I opine a bit more about why I think Google faces a fork in the brand road.

——

If it suits your information consumption goals, sign up for Signal’s email newsletter on the Signal home page (upper right box). You’ll get an exclusive, email only weekly roundup of Signals.

If you enjoy reading FM’s Signal, then you’ll want to come to the CM Summit this June 7-8 in New York City. Join the founders of AdMob, Boxee, Foursquare, and the CEOs of Razorfish, Moxie, GroupM, AOL, as well as top execs from American Express, Adobe, Google, The New York Times, Starbucks, AT&T and more.

Today’s news was dominated by Facebook and its F8 Conference. I’ll be writing about this later in the week, slammed as I am by the nuttiness that is a trip to NYC. So to the links:

Facebook’s Alternative Internet Vision And Its Search Implications (SEL) More analysis of Fbook’s moves Weds.

Facebook to Kill Facebook Connect (Mashable) Well, the new Open Graph is FB Connect on steroids, really.

Facebook: What They Announced At F8 (TheNextWeb) And yet more…

Get Ready for the Coming Land War in Online Display Ads (AdAge) Too many networks, not enough demand.

Google Partners with Bazaarvoice, Brings Consumer Ratings to Product Search and Ads (ClickZ) Good for the folks at BazaarVoice!

Majority of Top Media Destinations Are Social (eMarketer) Not news, but if you want more proof…

Apple Corners In-App Ad Market with Changes to Developer Agreement (ClickZ) The amount of control being exerted by Apple and others is getting pretty silly.

Google Acquires Another Piece of the Tablet Puzzle (NYT) Apple has its chip. Google is getting its own. Tit. Tat.

——

If it suits your information consumption goals, sign up for Signal’s email newsletter on the Signal home page (upper right box). You’ll get an exclusive, email only weekly roundup of Signals.

If you enjoy reading FM’s Signal, then you’ll want to come to the CM Summit this June 7-8 in New York City. Join the founders of AdMob, Boxee, Foursquare, and the CEOs of Razorfish, Moxie, GroupM, AOL, as well as top execs from American Express, Adobe, Google, The New York Times, Starbucks, AT&T and more.

Brad Hunter joins us as a Project Manager located in the New York office.Brad comes to us from Forbes Media where he spent time as an Integrated Marketing & Sales Coordinator for the Forbes group. While he was there, he also supported the launch of several niche Forbes sites, helping to bring this print giant into the digital era. He brings relevant experience of both the pre and post sales process as well as project and client management.

Brad received his Bachelor’s in Journalism (an author himself!) from Penn State. He’s a tennis guru and made a cameo appearance in the Closing Olympics Ceremony in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Welcome to FM Brad!

Cue the cameras: It’s time for Google to be in the spotlight – of folks who think it too powerful.

Ten Countries Ask Google to Do More to Protect Privacy (WSJ) It always takes time for legislative bodies to act. But when they do, it’s not easy to appease them. Here’s their Letter to Google Inc. Chief Executive Office

Break Up Google? Consumer Group To Call For It (SEL) Well, that’s quite an idea.

Google Local Business Center Becomes “Google Places” (SEL) Google is stepping up its response to the location based services challenge from Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and more.

Facebook, Nielsen Try To Put A Value On ‘Earned’ Media (paidcontent) “To achieve both goals, Facebook is providing Nielsen access to massive amounts of information (all unidentifiable, they promise). Over the past six months, Nielsen conducted very brief surveys of 800,000-plus Facebook users and at least 125 individual Facebook ad campaigns by 70 brands, then followed those up 24 hours later with polls gauging impact. The result is some statistical backup for common-sense planning.” More from ClickZ: Nielsen Study Produces Victory for Facebook’s ‘Earned Media’

Spotting the Creators of Peer Influence (AdAge) Influence the influencers, I always say.

AT&T Unveils Buzz.com (Mashable) AT&T is starting to play in the fields of all those startups like…Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter…and Foursquare.

Turn that TV Off (NY Post) An “unusual dip” in TV watching amongst youth. This is a surprise?!

—–

If it suits your information consumption goals, sign up for Signal’s email newsletter on the Signal home page (upper right box). You’ll get an exclusive, email only weekly roundup of Signals.

If you enjoy reading FM’s Signal, then you’ll want to come to the CM Summit this June 7-8 in New York City. Join the founders of AdMob, Boxee, Foursquare, and the CEOs of Razorfish, Moxie, GroupM, AOL, as well as top execs from American Express, Adobe, Google, The New York Times, Starbucks, AT&T and more.