The shakeout of winners and losers has begun. Google’s now infamous search algorithm change last month is diverting eyeballs away from so-called content farms and middle-man publishers. Who gains? Big media, for one. And brands-turned-publisher, too.

It goes by a few different names: “branded content,” “branded publishing,” and, more recently, “social media branded content.” What is it? It’s company-produced content – not just blog posts and Twitter updates, but long-form narratives, games, video and crowdsourced initiatives, to name a few – that pulls in the public. New studies say it could be the biggest marketing and corporate communications trend of 2011.

According to a new piece of research by Custom Communication, “Social Media Screw Ups – A Short History,” along with the surge in social media investment comes a surge in social media screw-ups by major corporations using these channels to reach the public. 2010 is on pace to see more reputation-bruising social media gaffes than in any previous year. Haven’t they learned anything from the Kryptonite lock fiasco of 2004? Apparently not.