Act Now to Avoid a Flickr Reputation Headache!
Depending on your point of view, Flickr just created an easy way to spot any pending reputation disasters, or just made it easier for one to occur.
The photo sharing has added a feature we’ve seen cause reputation headaches in Facebook–the ability to tag a person inside a photo. Here’s how it looks:
Now, in the half-full camp, this new feature will make it easier for you to be alerted when an embarrassing photo of you is posted to Flickr. Tackle it now, before anyone else sees it.
In the half-empty camp, this is bad news because those photos of your partying the night away, are easier for people to find.
Either way, you need not worry about the new feature–so long as you take some preemptive action.
You can simply wait for each photo to appear in your "Recent Activity" and remove your name from those that you don’t like–you can’t delete the actual image, just the name tag. If you don’t visit Flickr often–or don’t want to take any chances–Flickr has a new "People in Photos" preference page that looks like this:
What if you’re not a Flickr user? Fortunately, the site has thought of that:
We also extend that same level of personal control to people who aren’t on Flickr. If you wish to add someone to a photo who’s not yet a member, that person needs to give their approval to be added.
Consider this a PSA for those of you that find yourself in embarrassing photos. 
New Twitter “Ads” Appear? My Conspiracy Theory
Remember when Twitter first launched its sidebar ads? Only, Twitter told us all that they weren’t actually ads? Then, guess what, they magically started turning into real ads.
OK, so explain this mysterious “public service tweet” that’s started showing up on Twitter:
Actually, Biz Stone has explained it and he says it’s not an ad, just a way to help users upgrade to a browser that supposedly will ensure a “better Web experience on Twitter.”
<Crosses arms, tilts head>
Really? OK, I’ll buy that these are nothing more than a PSA, but I’ll also give it 6 months before ads start showing up in the exact same place–maybe even linked to the #hashtags you’ve clicked on. Oh wait, you didn’t realize that Twitter made #hashtags clickable, so it could track your interests? 
These types of ads work well on many free apps that Twitter users download to their desktops and, just like Google tests new ads placements before deciding if they should be fully released, I believe Twitter is testing the engagement levels of these ads messages.
Google Adds Image Ads to AdSense Link Units
Are you using AdSense Link Units? The block of links to related-topic ad pages are getting a new “feature” after testing showed positive results—i.e. increased revenue for publishers.
The old (and in case you aren’t familiar with the jargon—note that the page of ads looks a lot like ten blue links.):
And the new version of the ad page:
See the difference? That 2009 Special Olympics image at the bottom is new—and it’s an ad. The Inside AdSense blog gives a few vitals:
These image ads are contextually targeted, based on the link unit topic users clicked to reach the ads. If no image ads are available for the given topic, we’ll only show the original text ads — in other words, we won’t show a PSA or insert a blank space in place of the image ad in this case. Advertisers can bid on these image ads on a cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM) basis, so you’ll generate earnings for valid clicks and impressions. You can review the performance of image ads on your link unit pages by generating a link unit report on your Advanced Reports page.
What do you think—is this a presage of things to come on the SERPs?
