HGTV Named Most Loved Brand On Social Media, Not Flowers or Chocolates

Apparently flowers, chocolates and teddy bears are out this Valentine’s Day and HGTV is in. HGTV was ranked the most loved entity on social media across a study of 25 social media sites, performed by Hootsuite’s uberVU analytics division. It monitored 450 top brands on three data points – mentions, sentiment scores, and the number of times the word “love” was used. Some of the least loved included Lowe’s, Triscuit (Who doesn’t love Triscuits?), Sudafed and US Bank. Direct Marketing News

The Top Ten Titillations:

  1. HGTV
  2. Starbucks
  3. Target
  4. Disney
  5. Travel Channel
  6. Twitter
  7. Victoria’s Secret
  8. Chanel
  9. VH1
  10. MTV

Google Claims No Whitelist Can Save You From Panda Or Penguin

Google’s John Mueller said there is no whitelist, or “exception lists,” for the Penguin and Panda algorithms, like there is for the SafeSearch algorithm. In 2011, Google’s Matt Cutts at SMX West, told us they do have whitelists for (certain) algorithms. The SafeSearch whitelists some individual cases, for example, is the SafeSearch algorithm is picking up on words on a website as being adult, but maybe they’re actually talking about animals or something completely unrelated. Search Engine Land

Facebook To Grade Effectiveness Of Ads Before You Run Them

Facebook has taken the guesswork out of wondering whether or not that ad you’re about to run is any good with the introduction of relevance scores. Starting this week, Facebook will be grading ads on a scale of 1 to 10 in its ad reporting tools. The score will represent the amount of positive (or negative) feedback Facebook predicts your ad will receive. This introduction is designed to deliver better ads to users, but let’s not forget the company is looking to keep marketers happy as well – more clicks = happy ad buyers. Search Engine Journal

REPORT: Mobile Marketers Need To Step Up Game With College Students

Think Millennials are mindless youngsters hopelessly enthralled by mobile ads? Think again. Marketers want to reach the 19 million-plus U.S. college students who wield both influence and spending money. Interestingly, Facebook remains the social venue where students are most likely to interact with brands, according to a July 2014 survey by ID.me. However, more than four in 10 respondents said they did not plan to use their phone or tablet for researching or buying back-to-school items. The bad news? About 65 percent of students report receiving mobile ads, and 70 percent of them don’t like it, according to Michael Hanley, and advertising professor at the Institute for Mobile Media Research. MobileStorm

Twitter Sees 40% Rise In Government Data Requests

Twitter’s latest transparency report shows government requests for user data and tweet removal have seen a sharp increase from June to December last year. The reports have come to be a feature of the modern world since Edward Snowden and his whistle started sharing information about surveillance that government agencies would rather not share. The technology industry is petitioning to change this and to change the way that it can communicate with customers about investigations. The report finds a marked increase in demands in countries including the U.S., Russia and, no surprise here, Turkey. Government information demands in total add up to 2,871, over half from the U.S. Twitter delivered 52 percent of the time, providing information on 7,144 accounts. Clickz

Bing Ads Offers Search Insights For Mother’s Day Marketers

Now a $20 billion holiday in the U.S., Mother’s Day-related searches start rising roughly a month in advance, though searches vary by gift category. In a news blog post, Brittney Thomas, vertical manager at Bing Ads, offers insights for search marketers prepping their Mother’s Day campaigns. A key insight is that in the final week leading up to Mother’s Day, there is a huge mobile surge as consumers are looking for last minute gifts, while desktop and PC tapers off. The top three search categories are jewelry, cards and gifts, and flowers. Also noted, search spend was 110% higher for Mother’s day than it was for Father’s Day in 2014. Consider this when allocating budgets – an even split between the two might not leave you enough running room for Mother’s Day. Search Engine Land

Speak Now or Later: What are some of your most loved and hated brands? How do you suggest reaching those difficult Millennials if it’s not working currently on mobile? Should the government be allowed to control content on social media sites?