Can Twitter Help Prevent Olympic Ambush?

With loose regulation, no barriers to entry and an ever-widening conversation around live events, social platforms like Twitter, Facebook and newcomer, Pinterest, could become an ambushers best friend. With these platforms reaching mainstream and the Olympics less than six months away, it is no surprise that major sponsors would be concerned about keeping the conversation in their court. Marketing Magazine reports that Twitter is "working with Locog to ensure that the same rules that apply everywhere else will apply to Twitter".

A practice becoming more and more common is called hashtag surfing, whereby a brand puts out promotional tweets on popular topic and thereby receives exposure to a wider audience. Some times this tactic can backfire immeasurably, but if these recent reports are correct officials it seems are at least concerned enough to ensure that non-sponsors are limited in how they can be promoted around Olympic-themed hashtags.

According to a report from Reuters, around 600 cases of ambush marketing have already been reported around the Olympics.

While additional regulation may help to a certain extent, many would say in regards to ambush (to borrow a sports analogy) that the best defense is a good offense. Anyway, what do you think is the best way for official sponsors to stamp out ambush on social platforms?

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