Rounding up the meaning of Google and Facebook's big week (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – September 23, 2011)

Weird week in the web world, with all the news centered around the two big players: Google and Facebook. First Google spent a day getting grilled by members of the US Senate. Then, yesterday, Facebook introduced a whole new look and feel. So, today, we’re rounding up the best posts outlining what these changes mean to you. On with the links:

• Leading off, Mashable looks at what Facebook’s changes mean to marketers that’s definitely worth reading.
• GigaOm says that Facebook’s changes will make media companies revisit their AOL days. Since Mashable’s article argues all marketers are publishers, its a good idea to pay attention to how the best publishers leverage Facebook as a content distribution platform.
• Mark Ballard at Rimm-Kaufman Group (one of our 2011 E-commerce and Online Marketing All-Stars), looks at 5 key takeaways from the Google antitrust hearings. In particular, Ballard’s discussion of Google in a larger context underscores the nature of competition between Facebook and Google. Your business is almost certainly going to rely on one or both of these players (along with folks like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft/Bing, Twitter and review sites like Yelp, Angie’s List and TripAdvisor) for the next handful of years. What happens to one can affect what happens to you, too.
• And, further underscoring that prior point, Business Insider’s Chart of the Day uses comScore data to illustrate Facebook’s dominance of social network activity. That’s not to say someone couldn’t come along and steal mind-and-market-share (hello, Google+). But, at present, Facebook leads the pack by a mile.
• Finally, take a look at Rafe Needleman’s CNet editorial “Yes, Google really should worry about Facebook”. Facebook’s inherent knowledge of consumer behaviors, interests and desires–both now and in the future–threaten Google’s business model going forward. And may change the game for how you grow your business down the road.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen Facebook’s Timeline (the replacement for Profile going forward), check out the following video:

Have a great weekend, everyone. And hang on to your hats. We haven’t heard the last of either of these big stories.

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