Who’s playing games?

“Casual game-maker Popcap Games (famous for Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled) commissioned Information Services Group to perform a survey of people who play social games online. It found that the average social gamer is a 43-year-old woman, despite long-standing social stereotypes about people who play games.” Source: Who’s Playing Social Games? [STATS]

Facebook is the leading referrer of data…

“A big part of the Facebook experience is how friends and family share Web links to interesting news stories, photos, videos and Internet sites.

This “friend-casting” of information has helped propel Facebook into a major force in directing traffic around the Web.” Source: Facebook directs more online users than Google

And again…

“Web measurement firm Compete Inc recently announced that Facebook has overtaken Google as the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN. Analysts say that as people spend less time browsing the Internet on their own, and more time basing their Internet time on recommendations from friends, social media begins to surpass traditional search engines in being a major driver of web traffic.

This change in dynamic may shift advertisers’ focus significantly. Although search engines offer a great way of providing directed content for advertisers, consumers spend the vast majority of their time at their destination on the web, not on search pages. SEO isn’t gone for good, but keep your eyes peeled for new, innovative methods used to harness the marketing potential of social media.” Source: Social media is the new search engine – Holy Kaw!

Microsoft has added their own buzz, but can it be anywhere near as good as Xobni? h/t Heather…

“Google added Buzz to Gmail with mixed results. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it seems to be that while social networks remain popular, there are still certain properties that users would like to remain untouched by the phenomenon. If the response to Google is any indication, e-mail is one such space. ” Source: Microsoft Announces Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace for Outlook – AppScout

Google wrecks, then rebuilds traditional media…

“Today, a new Google project popped up in Google Labs (Google Labs) that is a unique extension of this effort. It’s called Living Stories, and its goal is to provide a new and efficient way to read news coverage on breaking stories from one location. Oh, and it’s enlisted The New York Times and the Washington Post for help.” Source: Google and Top Newspapers Experiment with a New Way to Deliver the News

Google is spending again…

“Email startup ReMail announced this afternoon that it’s been acquired by Google and there’s a pretty interesting story behind this cool technology that could inspire future developments in Gmail.” Source: The 5 Most Interesting Things About Google’s ReMail Acquisition

…and building new features into Chrome…

“Soon, you may very well be able to sync much more — like your ‘wrench menu’ preferences and theme. In recent Chromium nightly builds, code has landed which will extend sync capabilities beyond bookmarks. Keeping multiple Chrome installs in sync will be critical once Chrome OS devices hit the market later this year, since it will allow you to jump seamlessly between your desktop and mobile OS.” Source: Full user profile sync coming to Google Chrome?

Have a great day! “Dare to be naive.” R. Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983), American inventor & futurist