Many social networks were intended to be fun and should still be fun, even though they are now incorporated into business operations. Social media provides many cost-effective opportunities for businesses such as brand-building and reputation management, but websites still need to have quality content.

StumbleUpon comes into the game here since it tries to help the content providers connect with their brands. Katie says StumbleUpon listens and engages with users and also aims to make themselves available to users. The companies and brands that understand this “push and pull” concept are approaching social the right way.

Recently, StumbleUpon announced that is was no longer a part of eBay. The company is now in the hands of its original founders and a few other investors. While under eBay, Katie says the company was able to focus entirely on their product. As a result, they experienced unprecedented growth.

While very thankful for eBay, StumbleUpon is excited to be a start-up again. Katie says the company has more freedom and liberty now that they are independent. To give an example of those new opportunities, StumbleUpon just released a few enhancements to their Web Stumbling function. (Web Stumbling is the act of stumbling without downloading the toolbar.)

With Web Stumbling, StumbleUpon wanted to make stumbling accessible from any computer or browser. StumbleUpon revealed these enhancements to WebProNews:

Fully Personalized Experience – Now you can expect the same high-quality and personalized recommendations that you receive from your downloaded toolbar.  And you can access it from any computer, and from any browser… just visit StumbleUpon.com and login to get a personalized stumbling experience.

Web Stumbling syncs with your toolbar activity – Use Web Stumbling to rate, review and share content and all your activities will be saved for you in your profile and will influence your future recommendations.  For example, Web Stumbling in Safari or Opera would use ratings given using the Firefox or IE toolbars, and anything you rate will improve your recommendations on any platform.

Enhancements to Sharing – When sharing websites while Web Stumbling, you now have the ability to share with several friends at once, post sites directly to your Facebook profile, and even have conversations about the websites you share with your friends.

For more information, check out Chris Crum’s write-up or visit StumbleUpon.

What are your social media best practices? And how do you see StumbleUpon’s Web Stumbling enhancements supporting your social efforts?

This disinterest of online auctions by the cable companies not only affects eBay, but also largely impacts companies like Google since they are endeavoring to bring advertising auctions to television and newspapers.

Chief Executive John Muszynski of ad agency Starcom U-S-A says, “By going to this online bidding system that eBay was sharing with us, we’d be taking a step backwards.”

He reiterated that business has progressed over the years and the buying process is now a part of the marketing and promotions processes. This new integration process has allowed many television networks to sell 30-second spots as well as promotions… all in one package. Usually a very small number of television commercials are sold alone and geared at only one demographic. The eBay design does not coincide with that process.

Despite the dilemma this has raised for eBay, reports say they still will attempt to get other media companies to use auctions with the hope this will encourage the cable networks to change their minds.

Advertisers love the idea of having their marketing appear in video and mobile search. But many of them aren’t willing to pay a premium price for it. A new survey by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization said that two out of five marketers want to pay the same for video ads as they do for traditional search advertising. Mobile ads have less appeal right now, with more than half of those surveyed saying they will not pay a premium for them. Kevin Lee, member of the Board of Directors of SEMPO and chair of its Research Committee, compared video and mobile advertising to the early years of cable TV and pay per click ads. Once upon a time, no one wanted to buy those either.

Google has had its ups and down in South Korea. They have been slowly gaining more users for their search and Gmail services in the country. Google has gained much more attention from the Korean government’s Fair Trade Commission, which recently told Google to change a number of clauses in its AdSense contract. Those clauses violate fair trade laws in Korea, like one that allows Google to refuse participation to any AdSense network member at any time at Google’s whim. Google’s office in South Korea told the Commission they will revise the offending clauses. The country has a fast-growing online ad market that should top one billion dollars in spending this year, and Google does not want to be shut out of that.

Apple’s legion of fans may be excited about the iPhone, but one Australian telecom executive thinks Apple should “stick to its knitting.” Greg Winn of Telstra doesn’t think the technology behind the iPhone is truly revolutionary, and that companies like Nokia will probably match Apple’s features with new phones. I think we can safely rule Telstra out as Apple’s Australia partner when the iPhone launches there next year.

Google’s got game, thanks to their $23 million dollar buy of in-game ad company Adscape. The deal gives Google an opportunity to expand its advertising to the world of video games, where they can reach the most favored ad demographic, young males aged 18-24. A Red Herring report said Google may have only picked up “a few potentially interesting patents” for its money. But if Google can build on that and put ads in front of the people who advertisers want most, that $23 million will look like Google got a five-fingered discount.

If you have a home router or wireless access point, you need to change its default password. Researchers at Symantec and Indiana University have figured out a way to make changes on those devices, and all it takes is for you to simply visit a malicious web page. Click on one bad link, and your router could be sending you to fake bank sites or other places that look real, but are just set up to steal your personal information. Get that default password changed today!