So, here's the deal. YouTube is free. While technically mis-labeled as the second largest search engine behind Google itself, YouTube still gets a TON of searches. It's fairly easy to create a channel and upload videos. Why in the world would you want to use something else? And why would you pay for it?

Here are five reasons why you shouldn't care about the video-sharing monster and why you should take your video somewhere else (teaser: we'll look at why you should care at the end):

1. Most people aren't searching for what you're selling on YouTube.

Let's do some keyword research.

Jumping over to YouTube's little known keyword tool (beta), and entering the term "video" (generic, so we can get some broad suggestions of what people are looking for) shows us these results.

Notice the monthly search volume on:

• "music video" - 10 million
• "lil wayne" - 11 million
• Drake - 12 million

Now, if you're Lil Wayne or Drake, you're very happy with this. But what if you're an office furniture company who wants to show a video to people of how convenient and useful your new personal desk cabinets are? Let's search for office furniture.

Pretty much no one is searching for office furniture on YouTube, according to their own keyword placement tool. Huh.

What if we head to Google's keyword research tool?

Whoa. There are 1,500,000 global monthly searches for "office furniture". Okay, we probably will have a hard time penetrating that. But what about "office furniture cabinets?"

Ah. 14,800 results. Now that's a manageable result to get into, and 14,800 more opportunities here than "not enough data" on YouTube.

2. Not many people are using video in the first place. Even fewer are sending people directly to their website.

Let's take a look at what happens when we search video results for "office furniture cabinets".

We're seeing seven video results, all of them sending people to off-site video sharing platforms. Looking at the top results from homefuniture2day.com, it's nice that they're there, and they were at least savvy enough to include a link to their site in the description of their video, but I still have to watch the video and like it enough to actually click the link to their site.

Wouldn't it be better for me to go straight to their site, and perhaps, even if the video isn't stellar, I'll be interested in browsing through their other products?

Using a self-hosted video platform can allow us to include our video in what's called a video site map, which gets indexed by Google just like any other page of a website, effectively allowing our video to show up not only in video results but, with the right tactics, in the first page of the general search results!

3. YouTube statistics are only so great.

We base our success on the fact that if we can't measure it, we don't do it. So, we want to be sure we can successfully measure video. When looking at analytics for a video on YouTube, we can see these things:

• "Performance" - Number of views.
• "Estimated Minutes Watched" - Yes, only estimated.
• Audience Retention - This one is good, and very, very helpful.
• Traffic Sources - Great, except for when it's not, and tells you "unknown sources".

While this information is incredibly important, especially "audience retention," a statistic anyone with any video that's important to them should be paying attention to, it only goes so deep.

With a third-party self-hosted video platform like Wistia (we LOVE Wistia) you can get everything above, and even better:

• Actual minutes watched
• Actual engagement rate (percentage of people who watched 100%)
• Detailed heatmaps per viewer (where they watched, rewatched, or didn't watch)
• Individual viewer anonymous IP information
• Individual viewer information based on an email address tied to features in the platform
• All of the specific places the video was viewed (including on site and off-site)

4. YouTube will un-brand you.

Uploading a video to YouTube alone will cause your video to automatically have the YouTube brand skinned on to it. It's red and black with a YouTube logo no matter what. Secondly, unless the video is embedded on your own site and you leave the "show suggested videos" box unchecked, you WILL get recommended videos at the end of a video that you have no control over. This can be particularly concerning if your videos have even a tiny bit of potential to be related to something inappropriate for your business or audience.

A video hosting service will offer everything opposite of the above, such as:

• Complete branding of the player (button colors, logos, etc.)
• Completely custom thumbnails, based on a screenshot of the timestamp or even a nicely-designed jpeg
• No related videos or advertisements on any videos

5. YouTube lacks important business features.

Wistia and other platforms allow you to integrate some amazing business tactics right into embedded videos:

• Email capture (before or after a video, even required to watch, if you like)
• Calls to action after videos (text, image, or custom html)
• Built-in event tracking that passes through to Google Analytics
• Responsive embedded video
• Email marketing integration with most of the major email service providers

Another very important feature is that you get to choose how your video is shared (email, FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and when it is shared. If someone clicks back to the original video, they head to your website, not to YouTube.

Why You SHOULD Care About YouTube

In my opinion, everyone who owns a business and wants to actually drive traffic to their site through video, wants more control over their branding, and wants more business features should not be using YouTube for their main video strategy. After all, most business video is likely not going to get millions or even thousands of views. And Wistia offers their platform completely free for the first three videos.

However, there is one major reason to use YouTube for the right videos: advertising.

Google's new model for video advertising using TrueView is that you only pay if someone watches 100% of a 15- or 30-second video. So, even if someone watches 75% of your video and clicks over to your site, that watch and click is completely free. Plus, Google has a wealth of demographic information that can be used for targeting as well as a large network of sites that can show video. While you could spend hours and hours using an outreach program to find places to embed your videos, Google's Display Network can put your video in the right spot and in front of the right viewership very quickly.

When Hosting Your Own Video Can Cause You To Move It To YouTube

One other reason to use YouTube is to encourage the spread of a "viral" video. You can't predict that your video will go viral. You could use various formulas to create viral video that are out there, but you just can't force those things without a whole lot of positive variables working to your advantage. However, if a video you host yourself through a third-party hosting platform starts to go crazy with viewership and embeds, it might not be a bad idea to put a copy on YouTube, make sure it's optimized and linked back to your site, and let it go.

We're excited to welcome a new member to the Click Rain team: Rohn Gibson, who will be serving as VP of Client Strategy.

Most recently, Rohn was the VP of Sales & Marketing at Glynlyon, where he oversaw a staff of 75 (in addition to a multi-million dollar sales and marketing budget). He is also the founder of Equip Interactive, the premier faith-based digital marketing agency in Christian education. Color us impressed.

Here at Click Rain, Rohn will be overseeing client strategy and service as well as our own staff development. He'll also be leading national business development efforts and client relations that have continued to grow over recent years.

And Rohn seems to be excited to work with us, too. In his own words:

"I love people—it's not just work for me. The people I work with are like family. Click Rain has a crazy cool culture, and it's going to be a lot of fun."

Join us in extending a heartfelt welcome to Rohn!

What is Do Not Track? Similar to a "Do Not Call" list for telemarketers, Do Not Track (DNT) legislation would allow consumers to opt out of having their online activity tracked with a simple click of a mouse. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D - West Virginia) introduced the bill in 2011 and since that time, it has essentially stalled. But Senator Rockefeller is back at it, reintroducing the bill this past month. And being that Senator Rockefeller has already announced that he is not seeking re-election in 2014, you can be assured that going out with a win is a priority. The bill is being co-sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D - Connecticut)

Is all this "Do Not Track" talk new? No. The Ad Choices program has been around for years. According to their site:

The AdChoices Icon (also known as the "Advertising Option Icon") is a sign for consumer information and control for interest-based advertising (which is also referred to as “online behavioral advertising”). When you see the AdChoices Icon on a Web page or near a Web banner, it lets you know that information used to infer your interests is being gathered or used to improve the ads you see. By clicking on the AdChoices Icon, you learn about how interest-based ads are delivered to you. More importantly, the AdChoices Icon gives you the ability control whether you receive interest-based advertising and from which companies.

Lou Mastria, executive director of the Digital Advertising Alliance, which manages the Ad Choices program, said it best: “We serve the ad choices icon a trillion times a month. It’s pretty hard to say it’s not working.” In short, consumers have had the ability for years to opt-out of internet-based advertising.

Why Do Not Track is bad There are a variety of reasons why I feel DNT is bad, but I want to focus on the advertising revenue discussion. Think of some of your favorites websites. Facebook, The Onion, Drudge Report, ESPN, YouTube - nearly all of our favorite sites on the web are without a paywall. How can they afford to do that? By tracking user behavior and serving up relevant ad units to users. Are you a 25-year old male who likes college basketball? Expect to see some ads from the NCAA team apparel store next time you're on BuzzFeed. A 48-year old mother of two who stays at home? Redbook.com is going to hit you up with with Expedia ads based on your online vacation planning activity. Is this annoying? Possibly to some, but the alternative is for mom to instead get served up ads about Busch Light and Old Spice. Think about the total online experience. Without those highly targeted ads, sites are no longer free, advertisers can no longer target users effectively, on the online experience as we know it is a very different one than what we've grown used to. “If we do away with this relevant advertising, we are going to make the Internet less diverse, less economically successful, and frankly, less interesting,” says Mike Zaneis, the general counsel for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, an industry group.

What can you do? We've become a society that is hyper-protective of our privacy, and justifiably so. Quite honestly, there are a lot of online creepers, phishing scams, viruses, etc. that should make us leary of the online experience. However, advertisers are not out to get your bank account number or hack into your investment porfolio. They simply want to deliver timely, relevant content to you like any other advertsing platform. Implementing DNT legislation could have effects far greater than Senators Rockefeller, Blumenthal, and others intend. If you agree, drop a note to your elected officials telling them that DNT is a bad idea. And in the meantime, keep surfing, keep building that cookie base, and enjoy the free access to millions of sites that highly targeted advertising has afforded you.

We’ve all experienced something that has disappointed us. Did you stop and think about why you were disappointed? Most likely you associated the new experience with something from your past and came away with the thought that the current experience wasn’t as good as it could have been.

Companies that are showing off new products or agencies that are presenting to new clients are always dealing with expectations. Michael Abrash (Microsoft, iD Software, Valve) recently detailed his thoughts on expectations when dealing with virtual reality glasses and wearable computing. Although somewhat technical in nature, his point is well written. He explains how the average consumer is used to high resolution monitors and screens. This creates a nearly impossible expectation in creating VR Glasses. He explains how expectations change over time especially in the ever-changing technological environment. What we thought was amazing in 2005 may look worthless today.

Your website and how you market your company online are not exempt from everyone’s ever-changing expectations. When was the last time you evaluated your online presence? Have you taken a look at your website from other people’s perspectives? Remember that different people may have higher expectations than you do. Your customer’s expectations should probably have a higher priority than your own expectations.

A few reminders on your customers’ changing expectations…

1. Does your website look okay in IE10, as well as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari?
2. Are people expecting you to have an active social media presence beyond just Facebook or Twitter?
3. Can people using both extra-large monitors and small smartphone devices use your website equally well? In both cases, are links easily clicked with the touch of a finger?
4. Are the people and the faces of the people that represent your business showing up in search results when customers search for your company or the products and services of your company?

Yet it is not enough to take a look at what you have now and review it every so often. In his article on virtual reality glasses, Michael Abrash spoke about the expectations of a device that is still in development. Do you look at your customer’s expectations as you go about creating and producing your future products and services? You should—and the same goes for any new website you create. Sure, it’s important to have a website, but if you create a website that is below your customers' expectations, you may be doing more harm than good.

Conversion tracking is the most important thing that any company can do to measure its online marketing efforts. Conversion tracking starts by installing site analytics, (typically Google Analytics, a free program), and adding some extra code to measure form completions. With this method, every time someone fills out a form—a contact form, a quote request, or any other lead-generating mechanism—that action can be tracked back to its original source. This allows for some simple math to track ROI, and determine the makeup of a company's future online marketing spend.

For most companies, conversion tracking stops there. "We can measure our forms, so we're done."

This attitude is missing an entire segment of conversions: phone calls.

Some companies may be built such that every transaction can happen on the web, but most have some telephonic sales presence as well. How can you accurately measure your results if you're ignoring half of your conversions? This is where call tracking comes into play.

The early days of call tracking were fairly basic; every incoming call from the website was counted to a ticker, and at the end of the month, you would have a single number. "We got 55 calls from the website last month, and 41 calls from the website the month before." Better than nothing—but not useful for measuring CPA.

With modern call tracking, we have been given much more power over our data. Now, every incoming phone call is treated identically to form submissions, and we can track it back to its original keyword or referral source. What's more, these calls can be graded in real-time by salespeople, or recorded and played back by supervisors looking to measure the success of the phone answerers. We can finally get a true picture of the value of online marketing, no matter what channel our customers are using to reach us.

Pretty cool, huh?

Have you joined the Google+ bandwagon yet? Perhaps you are just one of the many that have created an account, but have done absolutely nothing with it. Well, Google now is letting your Google+ loving friends update your profile for you. Sort of.

I have believed since Google first introduced G+ that its purpose was not about being another social media platform, but rather a way to help with Google’s ultimate goal of indexing the world.

The more data they have, the better they can connect data across the internet. If you can see an email address, a name, and a phone number all together in one place, you should be able to connect other sites' information even if they only have an email address on a different site. Better connections mean better personalized search results.

Of course, all of this is meaningless if Google can’t access the sites that contain all of this information. Facebook and Twitter have continued to put up roadblocks for Google to access their data, and, since Google+ users aren't filling out their profiles normally, Google is now trying some new tactics.

First, they are now telling you how much of your profile you have left to fill out. Google has gone the LinkedIn route, providing a percentage of total profile finished. But there is a flaw in this method: the user must be actively using Google+ to see this little message.

So how best can Google get a profile filled out when the person doesn’t even use Google+? The answer: get the person’s friends to do it for them.

That’s right: anyone can now update any profile. This doesn’t mean that just anyone can physically see the information though. The information is private to the individual posting the information. So in a sense, Google+ has the potential to become a big digital Rolodex™.

You can add basically any type of information you want to add: phone numbers, email addresses, photographs, instant messaging handles, notes, and even your own custom fields.

This almost means there is no need to have separate contact software on your phone or desktop computer. In a sense, Google+ is inching more and more toward a contact management solution. The only thing holding it back is the fact that they don't allow a person to add an account for someone else. But could that be far behind?

No matter what the official reason for this new feature in Google+ might be, Google can now use G+ lovers to gain the information of those who aren’t all that excited about G+ and a new social platform. This is just one more step toward Google being able to more easily connect all the information in the world and bring it down to a more personal level when you perform a search.

Rather than being a subjective stat like Facebook likes, bounce rate, page views, or click through rate, CPA identifies exactly what dollar amount is being required to bring a new lead in the door. If a company has a good handle on their average customer value, the CPA metric can make or break a marketing campaign.

Let's say you are a residential plumber. Let's then say that in 2012, you had 67 customers and the average profit from these customers was $442. Thus, a new customer - on average - is worth $442. Over the course of the year, the plumber spent $2,500 on some online advertising in order to get 120 inquiries through his website. Of those 120 inquiries, 12 actually became clients (a 10% close rate). Thus, those 12 clients x $442 avg. profit = $5,304 in total profit.

In this example, the CPA is calculated by taking the campaign cost ($2,500) divided by the number of clients attributed to that campaign (12) - a $208 CPA. With the average customer being valued ad $442, this campaign is a success and should be continued or expanded.

This is ROI tracking in it's purest form using one of the only mediums capable of this level of analysis. Are you doing it? What's stopping you from getting started?

This post is the first in a series on key digital metrics all marketing professionals should know. Watch for future posts in the weeks to come, or, send metrics you’d like to see featured to paul [@] clickrain.com

We have all heard that “content is king” when it comes to search engine optimization. I’ve repeated it over and over again myself and will continue to repeat it, but Katie Fetting-Schlerf has written an article explaining that perhaps we are seeing a new king take the throne. That new king is The Author.

Our company has been promoting Google+ for over a year now, in large part due to the SEO value of Google+. Yet it’s not what you post to Google+ that is the key to pushing your rankings higher (although personalized search is affected by this), but rather all the content across the web that is associated with your Google+ account.

As Katie alludes in her article, sites have been trying to build lots of content to improve SEO, but we’ve gotten to a point where there is so much content flying around the web, a lot of which is stolen or duplicated over and over again, that it is probably getting tougher and tougher for search engines to understand which site is the true owner of the content.

To help combat this, Google has been leaning toward a more personal approach to content ownership. No longer is Google happy that a website owns content, but would prefer to know what particular person authored particular pieces of content on a site.

This brings a whole new focus on the content creator or writer rather than the publisher. Businesses with blogs, newsfeed website owners, and publishers are going to have some choices to make. Do they continue to focus on owning all their content, or do they focus on publishing good content from great content creators? Google probably isn’t going to let you do both for much longer without giving credit to those that create your content.

Giving credit to the content creator may be key to the future of SEO. Google isn’t going to give out all their ranking secrets, but we can be pretty confident in that Google is trying to combat duplicate and stolen content while at the same time trying to make sure they have some of the best results possible. Giving more emphasis to the creator rather than the publisher is just one step in that direction.

It’s not all about the number of circles! If you have not jumped on board the G+ wagon yet, what are you waiting for?

2) Mobile first responsive design is not really a trend but rather, the future of web design. This post recaps where things are headed

3) Passbook is a nice little feature of Apple iOS6 that holds amazing promise. Picture yourself dumping all those rewards cards to Qdoba, Chuck E. Cheese, American Airlines, and Toys-R-Us (yes, I have children). The power of the mobile device just got a lot more powerful with Passbook and as more apps become available, our mobile wallet dependence will continue to grow.

4) Mobile health is something I've talked about before, but the trend toward tech-enabled personal health tools is in its infancy. Nike FuelBand, FitBit, Gympact, and MapMyRun are examples of tools for the fitness finatic and are considered the low-hanging fruit of mobile health apps due to their user-driven participation. Said another way, the app is only as good as the user. However, electronic medical record data, prescription info, health history, vital signs (blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate, etc.) all hold tremendous applications for mobile health. This will be fun to watch develop.

5) Personal branding is hitting the mainstream. Most digital strategists will preach and preach regarding creating a solid digital footprint—especially to college students looking to make a mark with prospective employers. Facebook recently rolled out the ability for individual users to pay to promote their content posts. Paying to promote your Facebook updates? Sounds like the power of personal branding is starting to take hold.

1. Airport check-ins It seems obvious, but publicly announcing the fact that you are thousands of miles away from your home is not wise. Just Google "burglars social media" and you’ll see this isn’t exactly a best practice.

2. Using personal profiles for business First Name: Vacuum, Last Name: Repair-n-Sales. Nah, I think I’ll pass on that friend request, pal. But when you have some time, let's chat about business pages.

3. Complaining about "privacy" Privacy in social media is a myth. Yes, you can tweak settings, protect accounts, use fake names, etc., but it's "social" for a reason. If you have information you want protected, don't stick it on your social media networks.

4. Not having a custom avatar If you want to be taken seriously in social, don't ever use the default network avatar. It says, "I'm here, but don't care enough to really put much effort into this thing."

5. Spam invites Oh, so you’re on the board for the South Dakota Pet Groomers Association and you’re having a kitten fashion show on the 13th? Thanks for the invite on Facebook! See you then!

6. Excessive bowling words You may swear in real life. And people judge you for it. Same thing with your potty-Tweets. Obligatory curse words rarely add much value.

7. Sharing your political views I’ll be first to admit I’m a multi-level offender here, but know that you can seriously ruffle some feathers with politically laced updates. We live in the greatest country in the world and freedom of speech is our right, but it doesn't mean you won't be judged for your right/left political craziness. The two-party chasm is wide enough, and social media isn’t helping to bridge the gap.

8. Kid posts I have two kids and one on the way (October 21 if things stay on schedule). My kids are awesome. But most of you don't care about them, and that's cool. If 75% of your updates are pictures of your kids, quotes from your kids, pictures of your kids playing sports, pictures of your kids watching kids playing sports… time to throttle 'er back, folks. You may be building a kid/dad/mom brand, but from my limited research, that tends to get old if not sprinkled in with non-kiddo stuff.

9. Live-tweeting conferences Yes, you are attending the #WHATEVER2012 conference. Congrats. But tweeting every amazing quote, breakout session topic, or lunch item can get spammy, especially if your followers aren’t in the know. Personally, I find it one of the quickest ways to get unfollowed on Twitter.

10. Inspirational quotes Tony Robbins and John Maxwell are total studs and have some great stuff to say. But quoting the dudes constantly - or similar folks like Plato, Abraham Lincoln, or Bono - does not make you a philosopher.

11. Facebook games Play 'em, have a blast, but don't bombard my feed with requests to help you find the treasure map in the fifth world of Coindasher 5000. Please, oh please, stop inviting me to play these games. Please.

12. Falling for Facebook scams Companies like Starbucks, Best Buy, and others do not just give away $100 vouchers for posting something to your wall. These are scams aimed at unsuspecting users and have “virus” written all over them. If it seems too good to be true, well….

13. 2 much txt talk lol!!! Textese is great for texting, but ur status update 2 the public can make u look like a tool if u try to b 2 cool and type like a 15yo old lol! Keep your social activity professional if you want to be perceived as such.

13. Sending Pinterest pins to Facebook Pinterest is for Pinteresting, Facebook is for Facebooking. There is no real need to send every lasagna recipe or sparkly vase to your Facebook wall as well. Redundant cross-network updates can quickly become annoying to many users.

14. Vague updates You know what I'm talking about. Things like, "Some people need to get a life," and "So much drama! Argh!" Stop it.

15. Overfoodstagramming Instagramming your food is so hot right now. While occasionally food bragging certainly has a place, there is a careful balance between showing your foodie skills and looking like you have your face in plate 24-7. Save foodstagramming for only your most unique food ventures.

16. Checking in at home Using geolocation services like Foursquare to check in at "Paul's House" is oversharing in its purest form. Again, the author is guilty as charged here, but I have been working hard to correct this and am proud of my progress.

17. The humblebrag Am I guilty of this? Absolutely. Am I annoying people when I do it? Guaranteed. Classic humble brags include "Just ran 14 miles in record time! W0W!" or "Got five party invites tonight and not sure which one to hit up. #socialiteproblems"

18. The LinkedIn Hail Mary Sending LinkedIn requests to people you have never met, talked to, or interacted with is (in my opinion) the exact opposite of what LinkedIn is all about. I love using LinkedIn, but I need some level of Linkedness before I'll accept your invite. Also, I realize others have a different philosophy, which is totally cool (right, LIONs?)

19. Assuming your network knows you Not all of your followers, friends, fans, etc. know you as intimately as you think. May sure your social activity provides value to all levels of your follower base. Humor is easily misinterpreted online.

20. Multi-tweet tweets Using multiple tweets in a row to get a point across is a trend that used to be called "blogging". Do your darndest to stick to 140 characters on Twitter. If you need more, take it to a blog, Facebook, or fax machine.

21. Talk about how rich you are No kidding, I had a guy follow me on Twitter who listed his hobbies (in this order) as "My wealth, 3 fabulous children, 1 great wife". Seems wrong to have to waste #21 on this one, but apparently it needs to be done.

22. Liking your own status You may be witty, but liking your own post on Facebook quickly crushes the wit credibility you’ve worked so hard to attain. Unless you’re Chuck Norris (who is above any and all reproach), you’d best leave the liking to others.

23. Saying goodnight on Twitter "G'night Tweeps!" No explanation needed as to why this should stop.

24. Facebook chain letter photos You know what I'm talking about. "Post this photo to your wall if you are are true fan of Lady Gaga. Only 2% of you will do it. Will you?". Barf.

25. The phantom photo tag If I am not in your photo on Facebook, don't tag me to get my attention. OK, granted - it probably will, in fact, get my attention. But it will also annoy me to high heaven, resulting in the opposite effect you intended.

25. Hashtags on Facebook I am neutral on this one, but to the non-#Twitter user, hashtags on #Facebook can be super #annoying.

26. Posting song lyrics as status updates Beat it. Just beat it.

27. ‎#puttingthingsinahashtagthatshouldbeastandalonesentence

28. ALL-CAPS UPDATES THERE IS A BUTTON CALLED CAPS LOCK AND WHEN YOU PUSH IT ALL THE LETTERS YOU TYPE BECOME UPPERCASE AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE ONCE SENTENCE AWAY FROM RIPPING YOUR CAT'S HEAD OFF

29. Photographers We get that you're a photographer and that Facebook is an easy venue from which to show all your work, but what if I posted every spreadsheet and PowerPoint I did for a client in YOUR NEWS FEED YOU WOULD START TO GET ANNOYED (see #28)

30. Instagram emoticons Who decided that Instagram emoticons were a good idea? Was this a Congressional vote I missed?

31. Pimping your Klout Personally, I am in the middle on Klout. I see the value, and I like to see how my K score stacks up against others’. But it's pretty darn easy to cheat it and bloat your number, so use your Klout score only for what it is - a subjective ego boost (or deflator).

32. Public lovey dovey messages to your significant other "Ten years ago I met the woman of my dreams who made me the happiest husband, father, and lover in all the land. Love you, babe!" I’ve got a better idea - talk to her and tell her this using real live words to her face. She will love it.

33. Auto-posting FB to Twitter (and vice versa) They are different platforms, and they need to be treated as such. You don't play a radio ad on TV, right? And besides, redundant messages are redundant.

34. Twitter chats Is there a more impressive way to clutter the crap out of a Twitter feed than to follow people who are avid Twitter chatters? Get a Google+ hangout. Or build an island on Second Life. Or something.

35. Liking sad stuff I have never understood why someone would "like" a post about a dog dying or a bad car accident. Do they really like this? Or is a "like" the equivalent of a virtual hug? Or is the "like" actually an "unlike"?. So confusing!

36. Follow Friday - #FF Luckily, we've seen this ridiculous trend fade recently.

37. Posting TMI A friend who is the social media manager for a national pizza franchise told me, "I'm amazed by the % of mentions I read re: the "exit strategy" of a guests' food. No one wants to know." I would concur.

38. Asking (begging?) for a RT or Like I am sometimes guilty of this when it's a topic I’m very passionate about, but it’s better to let the organic nature of social take its course. Asking for social love makes you look a tad lame.

39. Twitter spam Respect your audience and find the frequency sweet spot. @HuffingtonPost used to be my favorite Twitter profile for news. However, once the number of Kardashian-related tweets reached north of 5/day, we broke up. And it felt good.

40. Lack of punctuation This is social media, yes, but when did that turn into sloppy second-grade writing? Periods matter. Apostrophes are important. Dashes are pretty cool also. Use proper puncheon and look smart!

41. The immediate snark Everybody becomes a comic on Twitter, but oftentimes they’re simply not funny. Specifically, when a celebrity death or tragic international event happens, Twitter becomes a breeding ground for tacky comments and snarky reactions. Sometimes, it's best just to let it be.

42. The mirror self-portrait in the john Taking a picture of yourself doing your best duck face and trying to look seductive loses a bit of its luster when you have Clearasil on your counter and some ripe undies draped over the shower rod. Just sayin’.

43. Using comments for an unrelated conversation. "Hey, great picture of your family! But did you see Mad Men last night? Holy smokes, that Don Draper is a PLAYA!" Comment ADD is a serious problem that, together, we can fix.

44. Take private dialogue public Some stuff is better kept to an email, DM, private message, letter, carrier pigeon, etc. "Coffee on the 17th, brah?" "Cool, brah - should we hit up QCB at 7ish?" "Sure, sounds sweet brah." "See you then, brah." Okay, boys, take this somewhere else. (Thanks, @brienne)

45. Fundraising on Facebook If your kid has to sell popcorn, magazine, discount cards, light bulbs, etc. as a fundraiser, make 'em hit the pavement. Parents, please stop asking me on Facebook to buy another Chili's discount card. I have seven.

46. Clueless personal branding Never before has personal branding been so easy. Social media provides a powerful way to build a personal brand. But stick with it. Are you a business? Personal? Snarky? Professional? A little of everything? Find your brand and stay consistent. A lot of people also ruin their personal brand - quickly - with their social activity. I guess this is more advice than peeve. Bonus, I guess.

47. Spousal Facebook sharing Nothing like the old friend request from "JohnJulie Frederickson". I mean, I love doing things with my wife and my Facebook activity is an open book for her (and vice versa). But creating the Siamese account is kind of odd. Not kind of. It's odd.

48. LinkedIn group spam LinkedIn groups are great. They kind of serve as a modern-day listserv and allow you to virtually socialize with other people of like interests. That "like interests" piece is key. Nothing makes me jump out of a group fast that seeing a recruiter, headhunter, or social media guru posting totally unrelated content in a group.

49. The regurgitated conversation Me: What do you want for dinner, child? Jimmy: Pizza! Me: But we just had pizza last night you silly child. Jimmy: But I thought that was all you knew how to make! LOL!!!!!!

50. Instagram followbacks requests Begging for people to follow you back on Instagram is pretty lame (as are most forms of begging, I think you’ll agree). Don't ask for follows. Post good pictures and the reciprocal follows will happen.

51. Bad grammar Grammar is important - in interviews, in letters, in person, and in social media updates. If you want to look like a tool, using bad grammar on social media will accomplish that as quickly as anything.

Do you have others you think should be included? We're already working on a follow-up list, so leave us a comment below and don't hold back!

"The ad executives generally agreed with my macro concern about Facebook as an advertising space, which is that it's like advertising at a party. Facebook's targeting allows you to precisely target which parties you're going to advertise at, but that doesn't mean the people at the parties are interested in hearing your message.

Contrast that with Google, which shows its ads only after people declare that they are looking for a specific product. In other words, they announce in advance that they're interested in the product and that they are looking for information about it, possibly with the intention of buying it. That's the best advertising context in the history of the world."

No more needs to be said. Until someone can replicate Google's model, reach, and market position, it's tough to see them losing their place atop the digital ad dollar heap.