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comScore today released its first report on the U.K. search market from its enhanced comScore qSearch 2.0 online search measurement tool. The service, which was first launched in the U.K. in September 2007, has been updated to include several local market properties where search activity occurs, such as Rightmove Sites and Bebo.com.

I discussed how this expanded definition of “search” changes the landscape in the U.S. back in March in an article entitled, “Introduction to Search Engine Marketing at SES New York 2008.”

In the U.K., Google Sites continued its reign as the leading search property in April with 74.2 percent of all searches. eBay ranked second with 6 percent, followed by Yahoo! Sites (4.3 percent) and Microsoft Sites (3.4 percent).

Two U.K. properties, Rightmove Sites (0.8 percent share) and Bebo.com (0.7 percent share), ranked amongst the top 10. Popular social networking property, Facebook.com, claimed a 1.8-percent market share in April.

Yes, people conduct searches at social networking sites. It’s not your father’s SEO.

Plaxo has signed an agreement to be aquired by cable giant Comcast, accoring to a post on the Plaxo blog. The two companies had previously been working together in partnerships, but have now decided that a permanent merger would maximize their efforts.

Those efforts include a unified approach to mashing up tv and social media. For example, one of the goals includes photo sharing across a variety of mediums including mobile, tv and computer.

Plaxo is known for its online address books that have been instrumental for popular social networking sites. The company is dedicated to open source and privacy efforts as well.

Consumers are fine with ads on social networks, but do not find them targeted to their needs and desires, according to a new Prospectiv survey.

87 percent surveyed felt that ads didn’t match their preferences.

Of those:
– 58% felt that most ads do not match
– 29% felt that no ads match

Still, 85% of participants said they would prefer ad-supported networks to paying for premium sites. And these are the types of ads they respond to:

– One-off coupons and discount offers from the brands and products they
buy (62 percent)
– E-newsletters featuring coupons, discounts, news and tips about
favorite brands (24 percent)
– Invitations to join interactive email groups, online forums and social
networks for sharing and communicating (14 percent)

Prospectiv surveyed 800 people who use sites like Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 and Friendster.

“These poll results clarify that members of social networking sites are open to offers and promotions as long as they are targeted to their interests,” said Jere Doyle, Prospectiv’s CEO. “The next step for the web publishing industry seeking to monetize their online communities is to improve ad relevance, and the best way to do this is to work with online lead generation providers and ad networks that have the brand relationships, technologies and services to ensure that the ads presented are tailored to their audience’s needs and wants.”

What do you think about the data? What kind of ads should be used on social networks? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Related Reading:
How to (Actually) Earn Money (Now) with Social Media (Really): Part 1
How to (Actually) Earn Money (Now) with Social Media (Really): Part 2
Social Media Meets Local Search
Social Media Marketing for Small Business

It’s a time investment. But something worth having takes time. Keeping up with what’s going on in your industry and creating a community you can talk with are key factors that successful web businesses employ. In today’s Small Business Search Marketing column, “Small Business Owners Need Twitter and LinkedIn,” Carrie Hill explains how social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn can benefit small business marketers.

Microsoft, in an clear attempt to compete with Google’s OpenSocial, has announced a partnership to create data portability across 5 social networking sites. Facebook, Bebo, Hi5, Tagged and LinkedIn are all part of the arrangement, which will “exchange functionally-similar Contacts APIs.” Microsoft says the move will allow them to create a safe, secure two-way method for users of the sites to move their relationships among the respective services.

Microsoft is including Windows Live Messenger in the mix. Invite2messenger.net was developed to help users invite their friends from the five social networks to join their Windows Live Messenger contact list, if they have one.

What’s unclear is what Microsoft would do with Yahoo if the proposed acquisition takes place. Earlier today, it was announced that Yahoo has joined Google’s OpenSocial. And AOL’s Bebo is now part of Microsoft’s data portability network, which should fan the flames of some analysts’ commentary that Microsoft should buy AOL instead. The soap opera continues.

UPDATE: TechCrunch “is hearing” that Yahoo will join Open Social in April. Still in rumor stage.

If Yahoo joins the OpenSocial alliance, Microsoft and Facebook may find themselves out in the cold.

The New York Times is reporting that Yahoo intends to join Google’s OpenSocial Alliance, placing increased pressure on Facebook, the only major social network yet to join the development network.

Last year, Facebook signed an ad deal with Microsoft, effectively placing the popular social networking site between a rock and a hard place when it comes to social web application standards.

OpenSocial already boasts a Who’s Who list of social networks. MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn, Ning, Orkut, Six Apart, Friendster, Xing and many others, including old-school Oracle and Salesforce.com, are participating in the alliance. While Yahoo is not a social network, it does boast the largest number of registered users. The company believes it could receive great benefit from opening up its site to developers.

So what implications does this have on a possible Microsoft-Yahoo deal? It may make it tougher for Microsoft to “untangle” Yahoo initiatives, but it’s unlikely to derail the bid altogether. Don’t look for Microsoft to join OpenSocial anytime soon.

Google launched OpenSocial last fall, as an initiative to develop a common set of APIs that can be used across several different social networking sites, in an effort to draw developers to an open platform. Earlier this week, Google made another play for web developers by announcing its I/O Web Forward developers conference, planned for later this spring.

Search marketers can enrage diehard members of social communities who want to keep marketers at bay. The result? Death threats, cyberterrorism, obscene language, cyberharassment, and calls for suicide.
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