NO MAN'S BLOG — Well, they suck. I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time now and while I’m 2 days behind deadline to give one of my clients another monthly report I have to take a break and spit it off my chest. Over the past 8 months I tried and tested practically all of the key players in ’social media monitoring services’: Radian6, BuzzMetrics, Brandwatch, Attentio, Techrigy (SM2) etc. And I have very few good words to say about them. The few good words will be in relation to the people who work at these companies - these are usually nice people. But the software and service is verging on epic fail - very problematic and clunky solutions wrapped in a big bold shiny (but rather hollow) promises...

Small blogs with an audience of 10,000 to 20,000 viewers might have a difficult time selling advertising, but advertisers should sure be listening to what they're saying, according to Jon Gibs, VP of Media Analytics at Nielsen Online. Nielsen's BuzzMetrics services can help turn the collective influence of the blogosphere and other social media channels into data similar to measurements for an ad campaign...

Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Digital Strategic Services, shares a few thoughts on the Buzz Metrics listening platform and how it provide brands with the data needed to succeed online

Reputation management is essential to both individuals and companies. The more popular your brand is, the more critical it will be to keep tabs on it and the more time it will consume out of your day. If you work at a startup and no one has heard of your brand, or if you’re an individual who has just started blogging, these tools are still useful to you...

Several e-marketing measurement platforms and methods can help tune your online campaigns. Bryan Eisenberg's "Always Be Testing" offers a comprehensive, practical view of Google Analytics, while TeaLeaf's installed application lets you track customer interaction so you can tune your site and commerce pipeline based on actual use by customers. Connecting these together through the Bazaarvoice platform or JS-Kit's ratings and reviews widgets -- perfect for DIYrs -- provides you with a comprehensive, analytical look at what's driving your online customers at your site...