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A whopping 82% of Americans have a favourable opinion of Google, while 53% express a strongly favourable opinion of the giant search brand, according to a ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted by Langer Research Associates. And Apple? Seventy-four percent see the brand favourably, but it lags Google by 16 points when it comes to strong devotees.

Sunday is primetime for UK brands to capture the eyes of fans on Facebook and Twitter, especially for fast moving consumer goods and telecoms brands, says SocialBakers. Telecoms brands experience engagement rates of 0.11% on Sundays compared to 0.06% on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while engagement peaks for brands like Vodafone UK from 7 am on Sunday mornings.

Watch out Facebook and Google+, here comes Chatisfaction. What is it? It’s a new social network with an emphasis on privacy and elite branding, writes Maria Stadtmueller. “Most social networks aren’t doing anything really innovative or different – they take information from the end user and sell that information to third parties who in turn bombard them with advertisements,” says Mike Pike, CEO of Chatisfaction.

Brands face a no-win situation when it comes to marketing on Facebook. While over half of consumers believe brands must maintain Facebook pages for relevancy, almost two thirds say they hate it when they are targeted via their social network profiles, and close to 60% find marketing via social media to be invasive, according to a study from Insight Strategy Group.

The world’s most ethical clothing brands? No surprise to see Patagonia in the rankings, but Gap is up there in Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies ranking too. Ford is way ahead of other car global marques, while two Australian banks are banking honorees. Microsoft and Adobe are up there in the computer software segment, while Electrolux, Ricoh, Texas and Xerox are the most ethical consumer electronics brands.

Brands should keep an eye out for the chameleon consumer, a constantly changing persona who defies the confines of traditional market segmentation, according to a new global survey, This Time It’s Personal: From Consumer To Creator, published by Ernst & Young. You see, this consumer has conflicting preferences and facets – shopping online but demanding the human touch, insisting on individualised service but communicating in packs.

More than half of US online consumers have liked, followed or subscribed to a brand via social networks, but close to a third of these later dump the companies with which they initially forged a relationship, according to a survey conducted by Relevation Research.

Companies are reporting an increase from 4% to 9% in the portions of their total budgets allocated to the measurement and evaluation of PR/comms programmes, a spike which represents the widespread adoption of social media monitoring tools and greater use of primary research in planning and evaluation, according to the Communication & Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices study from USC Annenberg.