LOCATION3 MEDIA NEWS:
President and Interactive Marketing Association of Colorado (IMACO) board member, Alex Porter, recently helped co-present the following panel topic: Mo[bile]: New Trends in Mobile and How To Leverage Them. IMACO continues to host regular events that focus on trends in digital marketing, and we invite all those interested to learn more about how they can participate in this incredible organization.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SEARCH?
Enhanced campaigns are running full steam ahead now. Read our blog about segmentation and intent-based campaigns in a newly enhanced world.
How are search engines ranking? Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in August with a 66.9% market share, followed by Microsoft Sites with 17.9% and Yahoo! Sites with 11.4%. This amounts to giving the Yahoo-Bing search alliance a combined 29.3% market share. Google dropped a mere 0.1 percentage points while Yahoo went up 0.1 percentage points in the process. In August, there were a total of 19.1 billion core searches conducted – that’s 616 million searches a day!
Are you always trying to coordinate offline sales data with online? Read more on how Google Adwords has introduced a new conversion import feature.
As champions of attribution, we are always reviewing not only the last click to conversion but also those assisted-click conversions and assisted-impression conversions. The search funnel reports are great in the AdWords interface; however it has always been by account. For many of our clients we have more than one account which limits some of the data we see in these reports and makes it more directional versus actionable. The great news is that Google has now introduced MCC-level conversion tracking, which will help make those insights a lot more meaningful because we can now look at the search funnel across keywords and across all accounts for a client – not just one single account. That will make these search funnels significantly more actionable with regard to bid management and deciding which keywords actually feed the top of the funnel most effectively. Read more from the AdWords blog.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MOBILE?
There is so much going on out there with Cross Platform Tracking. What are the current challenges? What are we missing? What are the opportunities? comScore has released a great white paper on this very topic.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN DISPLAY?
Although Google continually dominates most conversations regarding paid search, we’ve found that Yahoo! is the top dog when it comes to discussing display media. According to the latest comScore numbers, of the top 50 U.S. Internet properties, Yahoo! is currently listed in the number one position while Google lags slightly behind. Read the official press release.
Although not necessarily limited to display media, this interesting infographic shows you a view of everything that happens online in 60 seconds during 2013. It’s definitely worth a look!
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN VIDEO?
Ever wonder what videos are getting traction these days on YouTube? Visit their charts channel for the latest trends.
Video Advertising Trends for Q4 is a video from the LiveRail publisher forum in New York, talking about some of the biggest trends going into the final quarter of the year. At only three minutes long, it’s worth the view.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN LOCAL?
The Microsoft Corporation recently purchased Nokia. Although they have had a previous partnership, it will be exciting to see what this new step toward the future will bring to search.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN ANALYTICS?
The Google Analytics Summit is upon us! This year’s summit has a lot of format changes, including a public live stream of some events. Learn more about the 2013 event.
Google Analytics also has a handy tip for monitoring 404 error pages. Using Google Analytics, you can receive an automatic email alert whenever a user comes to one of your 404 error pages.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SEO?
On August 23, it was announced that Google will be moving encrypted search to all users, not just those logged into their Google accounts, as has been the case for the last two years. What this means is that we will no longer have keyword-level data for organic search in any analytics package. There are some potential work-around opportunities that we are investigating, one of which will allow for keyword-level visit data through AdWords by linking up AdWords with Google Webmaster Tools. We are actually in the process of doing this for all of our clients. Once the change takes place, it will have at least some impact on the way our report data comes through, so be sure to look for those changes in the coming months and contact your account team with any questions or concerns. Check out our take on it here.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOCIAL?
Foursquare Rolls Out Push Notifications on Android
Foursquare began slowly rolling out a feature for Android phones, which sends users personalized recommendations based on their physical location, without those users checking in. This update is similar to Radar, which was released in 2011, but does not drain the battery as much and is not an add-on feature. Instead, it will simply be how Foursquare functions in the future. Learn more at TechCrunch.
Facebook Puts EdgeRank to Bed, Cites 100K Factors for Newsfeed Placement
Facebook announced that they have moved beyond EdgeRank, the original newsfeed algorithm that factored in affinity, weight and time. Now, Facebook includes some 100,000 factors to determine where and how long any one post lives in the newsfeed. And you thought Google’s algorithm was challenging and mysterious! The original three factors are still at play, including sub-categories of each as well as other factors such as post type, spam reporting, device used, story bumping and many more. Learn more at Marketing Land.
Facebook Updates Promotional Guidelines
Facebook updated their promotion guidelines, making it possible to run contest using comments or Likes as the means for entering. Previously, brands had to use third-party apps to adhere to Facebook’s guidelines. Many brands were already running contest via comments, unaware that they were violating Facebook’s terms. Many people lamented this update as they anticipated newsfeeds full of promotions and contest, rather than useful and interesting content. However, little has changed since this update. Learn more at All Facebook.
Facebook Updates Privacy Policy
Facebook announced a proposed policy update, and then shortly after announced that those updates would be delayed until they could review all user comments on the changes. The proposed update clarified how user data is included in ads, making it the responsibility of the user to ask Facebook not to use their information. Additionally the new policy allowed Facebook to use data from teenage users, and required those users to confirm a guardian had accepted the terms. Facebook has not confirmed if or when the new policy will be enacted. Read more on The New York Times Blog.
Facebook Updates Ad Size Images
Facebook continues to streamline ad sizes and formats, this time by increasing the size of images to make them more engaging. Image sizes have increased (Facebook recommends at least 1200 pixels wide) and the aspect ratio is consistent across various ad types, meaning that advertisers no longer need to upload multiple sizes for different placements. New image sizes can be seen in mobile newsfeeds, desktop newsfeeds and right rail ads for Page Like ads, Promoted Post ads, event ads and offer ads. Learn more from Facebook’s Ad Product Guide.
Twitter IPO Rumors
Twitter announced, via a tweet as you might expect, that it has begun filing paperwork necessary to go public. So Analysts are estimating Twitter’s value at $15 billion, and anticipate the IPO as early as November of this year (they only recently tweeted the announcement, but some think filings begin back in July making the IPO closer than some originally thought). Following recent updates to their mobile apps, we can expect even more enhancements in the coming months from Twitter, especially when it comes to advertising options. Learn more at CNBC or read the tweet.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN CONTENT?
Google announced the Hummingbird algorithm update which further values quality content. This means it’s more important than ever to understand the people and intent behind search queries, in order to deliver relevant content that will rank well.
Crowd-sourced travel site Airbnb created a short film made entirely of Vine videos. The brand used a screenwriter to create a cohesive script, and then asked brand fans to film different segments (for the potential to win site credit). The best of the clips were edited into the final short film. Airbnb said their strategy was not to make something perfect like a traditional film, but something instead that felt authentic.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN CREATIVE?
Deciding on which browser framework to use for your new website isn’t always an easy decision. To help aid in the process, Microsoft recently launched a new tool that helps developers automate testing of Javascript frameworks and libraries across a variety of devices and web browsers.