CarDealerWiki.org is the new creation of PCG Digital Marketing CEO Brian Pasch. Created as a free place for auto dealers to showcase their services, testimonials, vehicle videos and even auto listings, and to talk among themselves, the wiki also allows consumers to write dealer reviews. Not many have so far – it’s that new – but Pasch has uploaded several categories of manufacturers by state, and posted a walk-through video about creating a dealer profile.

While publishers and broadcasters probably won’t be welcome to showcase here (each profile has to be approved before publication) it soon might be  a good place to find auto dealer advertiser prospects, and find out what the dealers need from their marketing resources. Read the rest of this entry »

If the vote later this week goes as anticipated, it will soon be illegal for Germany’s employers to check out job candidates’ private lives on Facebook and other social-networking sites.

The draft law was reported in the English version of Spiegel Online, one of Germany’s pre-eminent magazines, which quoted coverage from two leading newspapers, Die Welt and Süddeutsche Zeitung. The German Cabinet is expected to vote on it on Wednesday, as part of a package of privacy reforms.

Recruiters will be allowed to google prospective employees, and anything they might find beyond social sites is fair game: LinkedIn and other professional-networking sites, for example.

The article didn’t say how the government would enforce the policy, or what the consequences would be for breaking the law.

Recruiters routinely use social-networking sites to find out more about prospective employees, as a sort of cheap-and-easy background check. A 2009 survey commissioned by CareerBuilder said that 45 percent of employers used social-networking sites to research candidates, and about 35 percent admitted to rejecting applicants based on what those searches uncovered.

Sohu, China’s second-largest Internet portal, is selling 16 percent of its search-engine service Sogou to Alibaba Group, the parent of Hong Kong-listed Alibaba.com, the country’s top e-commerce company. Read the rest of this entry »

Yahoo’s core mission is to drive engagement via four key elements: video, social, mobile and local. That was part of the message delivered by CEO Carol Bartz on the Q210 earnings call. Highlighted were several acquisitions and a big success in the world of automotive advertising.

Yahoo’s log-in page,  ad-free up until now, recently debuted interactive vehicle ads from Chevrolet. According to Bartz, GM had much to be delighted about. Read the rest of this entry »