Out of a marriage of social content and targeted analytics comes Social.com, Salesforce's new cloud-based ad platform that allows for real-time buying for social ad campaigns. 

The site, which was trademarked by Salesforce, caters to the burgeoning social ad market, helping brands feed consumers targeted information based on their mobile device, age, location, cultural backgrounds and social profiles. With industry analyst BIA Kelsey estimating social ad spending to more than double to $11 billion by 2017, Social.com has appeared on the scene just in time. 

Salesforce CEO and founder Marc Benioff credited the recent aquisitions of Radian6 and Buddy Media for building the groundwork for the new site. Salesforce touts Social.com as the first platform integrating social ads with CRM and social media monitoring, connecting social advertising to real-time conversations across social networks. "It's always been known that marketing is all about the moment," Adam Bain, president of Global Revenue at Twitter, told the audience at the launch event. "Twitter is a series of 'now' moments. Marketing on Twitter is about winning the moment."Continue reading...

A storm is gathering in the clouds, not just with #Sandy moving towards the northeast US, but with rumbling within the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. This week, it emerged that Salesforce.com's biggest acquisition, social media campaign manager Buddy Media, is losing more than $40 million a year, while Salesforce's social media markeing firm, Radian6, is reorganizing and shedding jobs.

Salesforce spokesperson Jane Hynes’ statement in part: “With the integration of Radian6 and Buddy Media, the Salesforce Marketing Cloud is rebalancing its resources to support its growth, including moving from a hub to a distributed model for certain customer-facing roles, consolidating marketing, and dramatically increasing investments in R&D. Fewer than 100 people globally have been impacted.”

Salesforce acquired Buddy Media in August for $745 million, a time it was churning through more than $42 million a year, while Radian6, Salesforce’s previous marquee acquisition was cash-flow positive at the time of its $325 million acquisition in March of 2010.Continue reading...

Bank of America slapped with U.S. lawsuit over billion-dollar "hustle" of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Elizabeth Taylor is Forbes' new Top-Earning Dead Celeb thanks to Christie's auction.

Apple's iPad mini already has a Chinese knock-off, while US judge says Samsung infringed four Apple patents.

Facebook wins back Wall Street, affirms social dominance and shares soar as looks to rebuild confidence.

AT&T beats estimates in latest quarterly earnings report.

BlackBerry loses grip as go-to phone for US federal government.

Buzzfeed taps Rdio for "social music advertising."

Cisco will fund 12,000 meals for World Food Program via Facebook app.

Tom Cruise sues gossip magazines for defamation of character.Continue reading...

Buddy Media and Twitter have partnered on an "age-screening" solution for brands who want to check on followers where age-sensitive products are concerned, like alcohol.

The free service for marketers has been in beta-testing for a months with a select group of alcohol brands including Brown Forman’s Jack Daniels, Jim Beam’s Skinny Girl feed, and MillerCoors' Coors Light and Miller Lite.

“Until now, companies have had to develop their own custom, one-off “age-screening” solutions. The result has been a patchwork of solutions with different approaches, processes and levels of success,” wrote Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow.Continue reading...

Macy’s, Sephora, Lancôme, and Michael Kors are ranked as Facebook “Geniuses” in the second annual L2 Facebook IQ Index, the New York-based luxury think tank that measures the aptitude of 100 luxury and prestige brands across Beauty, Fashion, Specialty Retail, and Watches & Jewelry.

The study, conducted in partnership with Buddy Media, ranks brand efforts across four criteria: Size & Growth, Engagement, Programming, and Integration, and each brand was scored against over 350 qualitative and quantitative data points, and assigned a Facebook IQ ranking of Genius, Gifted, Average, Challenged, or Feeble (a description we'd quibble with, by the way).

The rest of the top ten prestige brands in L2's new Facebook index? The envelope, please...Continue reading...

Buddy Media now has a very special buddy: Salesforce, which has signed an agreement to purchase the social marketing agency for $689 million (up to $745 million, according to the SEC filing.) It’s the largest deal ever done by Salesforce.com and the largest acquisition of a New York City tech company in the last five years.

The acquisition will result in a hybrid company, combining Salesforce's Radian6 social media listening platform to create an all in one platform for businesses marketing themselves over social networks, i.e., the first “comprehensive Marketing Cloud.”

“Salesforce.com now has the number one players in social listening and marketing – Radian6 and Buddy Media,” said Salesforce chairman and CEO Marc Benioff. “With CMOs surpassing CIOs in spend on technology within the next five years, our Marketing Cloud leadership will allow us to capitalize on this massive opportunity.”

"Buddy Media's mission is to eliminate the current state of anarchy in social marketing," said Michael Lazerow, co-founder and CEO, Buddy Media. "With the Salesforce Marketing Cloud, marketers will be able to unify their efforts to better organize their teams, optimize their social programs and deliver real business results."Continue reading...

Amazon settles suit with college bookstores.

Apple slapped with escalating legal challenge by China's Proview, which wants iPad name globally.

AT&T seeks fees from developers for users' data use.

Bank customers are increasingly switching to avoid fees.

Billabong rejects $906 million bid.

Buddy Media acquires London startup.

Chevrolet declared America's favorite performance brand.

Coca-Cola's Olympic security concerns revealed by Wikileaks.Continue reading...

Acura makes the Sundance Festival a stage.

Airbus fixes cracked A380 wings as fault found.

Facebook marketer Buddy Media finds business is booming.

GE finds in study that shared content ranks higher with consumers than paid placement.

GM CEO offers resolute defense of Volt before Congress.

Illumina adopts poison pill against Roche.

J.C. Penney "reinvents" department-store retailing.

Netflix looks ahead as it returns to subscriber growth.Continue reading...