Half of Aussies Don’t Use Social Media/Google Goes Thai

A new report says while Australia has made great strides in developing rural Internet, almost half of the businesses there still don’t use social media as a way to sell their goods and services. KPMG Australia says only 42% of those polled admitted using social media techniques like Twitter and Facebook to increase brand presence.

Social networking is a big hit with Australians and another poll suggests one in every 5 minutes spent online in the Land Down Under is dedicated to social networking. It’s possible these numbers are suggesting a new trend, or uncovering the social media myth as a viable business tool. Everything including video was first touted as a new way Internet marketing was headed, and one by one they all found their rightful place among all the other techniques like article marketing, blogs and the like. That’s not to say that social media like Twitter and Facebook isn’t an important part of Internet advertising, but it’s only one tentacle stretching out from the foundation which is the website.

Here’s some news from the already overstated category concerning mobile shopping. L.E.K. Consulting is reporting two thirds of the smart phone owners polled have made at least one purchase with that device, and at least 40% are using a smart phone to do their shopping on a monthly basis. The report also indicates shoppers are heavily connected to their social networks and any online company needs to include as many reviews and other information as possible on their social networks to land new customers.

Google has opened an office in Thailand. The move is all about a new dual focus on the Thai market and patents with mobile applications. The effort is all about trying to get businesses in that country to spend more on Internet advertising and to raise the bar so that economy will be more in line with places like the United States when it comes to online advertising.

Finally, PCMag.com has a great piece about Tim Cook and how he was featured in a magazine article in Fortune magazine a few years back as the most likely successor to Steve Jobs. It has quotes from an Apple employee who said on the condition of anonymity that Cook was the person who really ran the company. He’s been looking after the CEO duties at Apple since January and insiders say more than likely even before that.

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