Heads up NFL fans! We’ve just launched a new widget for the NFL 2009 Draft. This compact web app will feature players from the combine, keep you up to date on all news and video related to the draft, and update draft picks in real time. It’s a great way to stay on top of what’s going on with your favorite team, and keeps your desktop or personal webpage looking trendy.

This type of widget allows the NFL to remotely broadcast content to a legion of fans who in turn share the widget with their friends. That sharing is key to creating a larger network effect.

This is an interesting video about some statistics about the world which we live in. I'm particularly interested in the social media and search engine statistics and aspects of this video.

Our search efforts are always focused on page one and we all knwo that people are becoming more proficient at search but the above image from Think Eye Tracking might show how strongly you need to consider both of those notions. A couple of highlights

"As seen in the heatmap above, fixations are studded around the top 5 results and the majority of clicks are upon the top 3 results."

"Furthermore when asked afterwards what they would normally do when they couldn’t find their desired search result on the first page of Google, 87% respondents replied that they would modify the search terms or refine the search by category. 97% of people tested answered that Google was the search engine they most commonly used and out of those people, 87% stated they wouldn’t bother using anything else."

PC maker Dell, which has 80 different Twitter feeds and about 11,000 followers, has been experimenting with the service as a tool for customer service, public relations, and now advertising. Dell revealed late last year that its "Twitter sale alerts" have added up to about $1 million in revenue.

CNET Article here:

With Twitter currently generating no revenue, why would the start-up company turn down Facebook’s offer of $500 million dollars in company stock? This seems like a no-brainer.

Unless Twitter’s looking to monetize their service (which they are.) What does that look like exactly? Twitter’s still working out those small details. If they can work out the details, this could potentially mean big business.

While Twitter’s working out the logistics on their end, Twitter users however have begun start-ups based on the start- up. Last week, the use of Be-A-Magpie, a German/UK startup that allows users to monetize their twitsteams, was the talk of the twitterverse. By typing in your username, Be-A-Magpie will estimate how much you will potentially earn each month.

Other popular Twitter users have started selling their Twitter backgrounds through Twittad. This service, which lets companies buy users’ backgrounds for days, weeks, or months, replaces your current design on your site with a background developed by Twittad. I question how many impressions an advertiser would actually achieve through using Twittad because of the way that Twitter is set up. By having an interface similar to an RSS feed, I seldom visit the pages of other Twitter users.

AdAge did post a tweet today asking for ideas about how Twitter could monetize. I’m curious to see what they think up.

And you can too. Check this out. Google announced last week that you can use the Google Analytics API to easily track events in Flash files. Basically, you can track events and page views in a Flash website or, more interesting, all of the interactivity in a Flash widget. The widget will be appearing outside of our website but you can report activity back to your same Google Analytics dashboard and make smart and profitable decisions.

With the holidays just around the corner stores everywhere are stocking up with the latest and greatest tech toys for every kid—both young and old. Like most of us, you might feel somewhat overwhelmed by the task of sorting through the hodgepodge of cameras, cell phones, blue-tooth devices and other gadgets to find that perfect gift. RadioShack is highlighting “The Best Gifts Ever!” to keep blogers, media, and other influencers informed of this year’s top toys. We’ve just launched a micro site to promote some of RadioShack’s “Best Gifts Ever” to ensure that you have ample time to drop hints. Check it out and Mira!

Curious about the world of Twitter? Confused and scared? Its ok. We were all new to Twitter at one time. Here are a few basics and the resources which will help you learn as much as you need to know about Twitter.

Basics:

• Twitter is a mobile and micro-blogging platform
• Each "tweet" answers a main question "What are you doing?"
• A "tweet" should be no longer than 140 characters long
• Twitter is a simple and easy way to engage people online.

Jennifer Laycock writes that there is plenty of Twitter lingo out there, but some phrases pop up more than others. Among the most common:

• Tweet - What you call a message sent out via Twitter. As in "I'm going to tweet that link."
• Tweeple - Twitter users are called Tweeple. "What's up my Tweeps?!"
• Mistweet - This is a Twitter message you wish you hadn't sent. Unfortunately, with so few characters allowed per post, people sometimes get a little briefer than they should. A poor choice of words can result in backlash from the party feeling sleighed.
• Tweetup - This is when a bunch of Twitter users get together for an "in person" meeting. Twitter has a new official Tweetup page.
• Twoosh - This is a perfect, 140 character Tweet.
• Twitterbait - Users will bait a popular user into sending them an @username response. This gets the baiter's username in front of the more popular poster's network of followers and can result in quite a few new followers.

Click here to see more resources for Twitter.

Martin Lindstrom , a 38-year-old advertising guru, has proved that our subconscious does most of the decision-making for us.

Within five years, Lindstrom estimates, a quarter of the money that UK advertisers spend on research — some £250m annually — will be spent on neuro-marketing. Once a company or political party understands your subconscious better than you do, you can be manipulated.

This is an interesting hypothesis and may prove to be a huge breakthrough in the advertising and public relations world.

Click here to read the full article.

Clearspring just released the new Launchpad. This version allows you to customize the launchpad more readily and even allows for placement destinations such as Twitter, Wordpress and Bebo.