The first month of 2012 was pretty exciting. Wikipedia went dark, Zappos got hacked, Google is streamlining its privacy policies, and Facebook hinted at an IPO. But for this month’s Blogger’s Digest, we ignore most of these headlines.
Instead, this month’s digest focuses on new European initiatives to expand e-commerce, SaaS migration, SOPA/PIPA’s impact on e-commerce, Google+ for business, and mobile advertising. After the digest, we pose a few topical community questions and encourage your participation.
Europa Blog – Making it Easier to Buy Online: Our Action Plan for E-commerce: This blog post from EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Nealie Kroes explains a new European Commission action plan for online commerce. The plan intends to double the European e-commerce market share by 2015 through initiatives like improving the cost of cross-border deliveries, simplifying the VAT system, providing e-operators information on e-commerce rules, boosting consumer protection, developing high-speed networks and leveraging the power of cloud computing. The full text of the communication can be found here.
Sandhill – Migrating to SaaS Delivery: Decision or Reaction?: Words like “change” and “new” are either terrifying or exhilarating. With the continued growth of SaaS delivery models, software companies must consider its benefits and challenges. In this post, Fred Landis examines the top-to-bottom impacts a shift to SaaS will have throughout an entire organization and the necessary mindset that precedes and accompanies its adoption.
Nexcess – SOPA / PIPA & The Way We Do Business: One of the most widely read, talked, and ranted about stories this month centered on the Hollywood-backed SOPA/PIPA and the cries of protest that rang out from Silicon Valley. Besides potentially allowing the US Attorney General to shut down YouTube, would this legislation impact all of us less well-known e-commerce companies?
Practical eCommerce – Google+ Adds Multiple Administrator Capability: For those in the social media world, this month saw Google improving the usability of its Google+ business pages by allowing multiple administrators. This post provides a step by step tutorial in doing so. Just remember to implement rules and guidelines by which to abide.
eMarketer – US Mobile Ad Spending Soars Past Expectations: In early 2011 Gartner estimated a yearly smartphone distribution of 468 million units worldwide. According to this eMarketer report, advertisers are expected to spend over two and a half billion dollars on mobile ads in 2012. Suffice to say, more and more people are spending their time looking at connected mobile devices.
Questions For The Community
Will the EU’s digital agenda effect your online business?
For those who have made the shift to SaaS: How rocky was your path to “SaaS-ification”? What unexpected pitfalls or road-bumps did you encounter?
What is your personal reaction to SOPA / PIPA? Beyond the hype, does it address a valid concern of copyright holders? Or is it as demonic as Google, Wikipedia and Reddit would have us believe?
Has anyone seen any success using Google+ as part of their social media campaigns?
Does your company have a plan to attract all those eyeballs looking at smartphones and tablets?
Leave a comment and let us know your opinion!
