Microsoft has officially entered the world of Facebook applications. Redmond recently launched Collabio, a game designed to study keyword creation. In Collabio, Facebook users pick which words best describe their friends. Points are tallied by the amount of times a keyword matches a keyword listed by another friend/player. The ultimate goal, analysts say, is to fully understand why an individual picks one keyword over another.

In other news, Ma.gnolia, a social bookmarking site similar to Delicious, has recently announced plans to update its site. Ma.gnolia 2.0, or M2 as it’s currently known, will be built upon entirely new code and will be completely open source. Users will be able to download and run their own version of M2 and link it to the main Ma.gnolia.com site. Support for other technologies, such as the OpenID system, is currently being looked at. M2 is expected to launch in September.

Industry blog TechCrunch has a fascinating article about the popularity of Yahoo Japan. Yahoo is currently the reigning king of the Japanese search scene, a sharp contrast to their “distant second to Google” status everywhere else in the world. According to writer Serkan Toto, Yahoo’s success in Japan is due in large part to the company’s willingness to adapt its business practices to more properly fit into the Japanese marketplace. Aside from the traditional search and mail services, Yahoo Japan runs their own broadband ISP, has deals in place with the likes of Sharp and Myspace, and even holds the naming rights the baseball stadium in Fukuoka.

Blogger Monika Mundell has compiled six tips to help you properly market your product or service. The key, according to Mundel, is to be emotional in your presentations, but at the same time stay positive and energetic. By approaching things emotionally, you will have a better chance of tapping into the emotions of the consumer. Mundel also suggests employing tried and true marketing tactics, such as the high-pressure sales routine, when needed.

We finish our trifecta of helpful articles with a great piece on Google AdWords. In “The Second Reason to Use AdWords,” writer Mark Widawer states that the tracking tools that lie within AdWords can tell you a boatload about which keywords are the most important to your site. Once you have collected the proper keywords, you can then employ them in other facets of your site.