Google's 2012 I/O developer's conference is underway, with the keynote beginning while thousands of attendees were still trying to get into the hall. Welcome to our live coverage of today's announcements. Feel free to refresh for updates. Hugo Barra, Android Says there are now 400 million activated Android devices, up from 100 million at IO 2011. One million devices are activated every day. Significant growth in developing countries. Announces new OS update: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Dave Burke, Engineeering Director Announces "Project Butter" - improvements to all applications on [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Google: Android | Google: Glass | Google: Google Play | Google: Google+ | Top News

Just about each and every morning, business strategist Liz Strauss (@lizstrauss) goes over to her window overlooking the Lake Michigan shoreline of Chicago and takes a photograph. She then posts the photo to Instagram and Twitter, often with a message bidding her followers a good morning. She’s even got a different hash tag for different views, such as “#lizharbor3.” While Liz’s approach to saying “good morning” goes beyond a simple “good morning, Twitter,” it might still fall into a category of tweets that a recent academic paper  described as Presence Maintenance, that is [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Twitter | Twitter Marketing Column

Email  is a one-on-one conversation with your reader, which is part of what makes it so effective for marketing. Thousands of people may see your message (depending on the size of your list), but the conversation ultimately happens in one person's inbox at a time. Because email feels so personal, your messages need to connect with the people you're talking to. You need to keep each individual engaged with your message so that your email can sell. Here are four ways to draw a person into conversation in the inbox. 1. Draw Them In With Killer Headlines The subject line is your conversat [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Email Marketing Column

Here's our daily recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web. From Marketing Land: Why Your CEO Doesn’t Care About Content MarketingIt’s not her, it’s you… Your CEO didn’t get to that position by being clueless about increasing revenue and attracting customers (well, in most cases, but that’s another story…). If your CEO doesn’t care about content marketing, it’s highly likely it hasn’t been communicated in a way that makes them care. Resistance from the top [...] Google +1 [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day

It's not her, it's you... Your CEO didn’t get to that position by being clueless about increasing revenue and attracting customers (well, in most cases, but that’s another story...). If your CEO doesn’t care about content marketing, it’s highly likely it hasn’t been communicated in a way that makes them care. Resistance from the top shouldn’t be met with defensiveness, but rather seen as a chance to look at content marketing from your CEO’s perspective. How does content marketing tie into your overall business objectives?  Do you lay awake at night wondering why yo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Content Marketing | Content Marketing Column

In its continued push to Google+-ify the internet, Google is launching +1 recommendations to all +1 buttons across the web.  The new recommendation  functionality will find similar recommendations that have already been discovered on the site: Included in the recommendations will be +1 stats and circled friends who have already +1'ed the recommended content.   Recommendations will only be from the same domain or sub-domain, no outside content will be recommended.  There will be no need to swap any code, +1 buttons will be automatically updated.  Recommendations will begin showin [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Google | Google: Google +1 | Google: Google+ | Social Media Marketing | Top News

The evolution of the digital marketing universe is sometimes quirky and funny, and sometimes it’s just downright sad. Ten years of writing op-ed for various publications, well in excess of 15 years working in, around, or at the helm of agencies in the digital marketing sector, and it still surprises me when I see odd behavior in the client, vendor, trade press or demand funnel. Search marketing has always been its own animal. Abject bad behavior aside, I’ve assembled a short list of afflictions and disorders I’ve witnessed over the years (not necessarily ordered chronologically or [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Search Marketing | Search Marketing Column

A new metric appeared on the pages report on Google Analytics recently. The pages report provides basic information for each page viewed on websites. It shows the number of times a page was viewed, how long (in average) visitors stayed on the page, what is the Bounce Rate of the page and what percentage of visitors left the website through a specific page (direct link to report). However, since yesterday we started seeing a new column: Entrances. This metric tells us how many of the visits to a specific page were also the first page seen in the session. Bounce Rates are calculated as vi [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | Top News

Social networks are unique in that they facilitate interaction with consumers in a common language and culture native to the platform. These channels enable the creation and organic spread of magnetic content that attracts rather than distracts a consumer in a participatory mindset. For brands, every Tweet, Like, or share is an opportunity to respond in real-time, amplifying positive sentiment or shifting negative perception. Promoted  Tweets and sponsored stories are accessible to consumers in the social context because they are in their native language. Companies like Intel [...]

Related Topics: Analytics & Marketing Column | Channel: Analytics | Facebook | Social Media Marketing | Twitter: Marketing

Instagram is taking steps towards more customized content with the release of version 2.5 and the "explore" tab.  Instead of simply showcasing top photos as the previous "popular' tab did, "explore" looks like it will offer more tailored content.  The new tab features a search directly on the screen allowing users to pull up any type of photos quickly and easily: The sheer name change "popular" to "explore" (and the compass like icon) hint at both a custom tailored content and location based content - something that should be much more appealing to casual users. In addition to explore [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook: Mobile | Mobile Marketing | Social Media Marketing

Historically users chosen a selected email that displays on their profile pages. However, Facebook has recently swept through forcing all displayed email addresses to the @facebook.com option.  The new Facebook messages and email system was launched late 2010, but usage never quite took off. One of the biggest complaints with the change is that it truly changes the way messages are delivered to the user.  The Facebook email addresses send email content directly to the Facebook Message inbox, something that looks nearly identical to traditional Facebook messages. Messages that arrive di [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Facebook | Facebook: Business Issues | Facebook: Privacy

Microsoft is betting big on the social enterprise. As we and others reported a couple of weeks ago the company is acquiring Yammer, which has been described as "Facebook for Enterprises." Microsoft said earlier today that it was buying Yammer for $1.2 billion in cash. Yammer will become part of the Office division and current CEO David Sacks will continue to run the team and the product, which will continue to have a stand-alone identity. Sacks will report to Kurt DelBene, head of Microsoft's Office Division. Over time Microsoft will integrate Yammer more deeply into a variety of its p [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Microsoft | Microsoft: Business Issues

Here's our daily recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web. From Marketing Land: Social And Mobile Bring Truly Personal ComputingIt’s become rather fashionable in the last year or so to talk about the post-PC era, most notably after Steve Jobs did so back in 2010. I’ve certainly been guilty of it, including during a presentation where I used to it to describe the fact that more smart phones are now shipped globally than desktop computers (whether [...] Google (7-Inch) Nexus Tablet Finally ArrivesIt w [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day

It's become rather fashionable in the last year or so to talk about the post-PC era, most notably after Steve Jobs did so back in 2010. I've certainly been guilty of it, including during a presentation where I used to it to describe the fact that more smart phones are now shipped globally than desktop computers (whether Windows or Mac based), and that in many developed markets now, smartphone penetration is at, or about to reach, 50%. Whatever we call it, there's certainly a tipping point around the corner. But the fact is that, if we think about what PC actually stands for, it's clear [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Marketing Column

[caption id="attachment_15261" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image Credit: Gizmodo"][/caption] It was something of a non-secret that Google would be launching a 7-inch tablet this week at its developer conference, Google I/O, in San Francisco. However we get an early look (apparently) at the device courtesy of Gizmodo Australia and CNET. What's being reported is that there are two models: a 8GB unit that will cost $199 and a 16GB model coming in at $249. The hardware maker is apparently (as rumored) ASUS. However the tablet will be branded Google Nexus according to reports. [...]

Related Topics: Amazon | Channel: Retail | Google | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | Top News

Engagement will go down in history as the most ambiguous advertising buzzword of all time. Influencers all over industry are talking about it, but the lack of a definition for engagement in online advertising is creating confusion. Is it the amount of time consumers spend with their mouse on an ad? Is it how long they watch a video? Is it a “like” on Facebook? Is it an ad’s recall-ability? In the interest of full disclosure I'll admit that my company, mediaFORGE, is guilty of contributing to the convolution of engagement. But we’re repenting. So what is engagement? It’s m [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

A new feature has been released to help Facebookers connect with other users who are near to their physical location.  TechCrunch reported that the 'Find Friends Nearby' feature (once internally titled "Friendshake") is available for both mobile and mobile web versions of Facebook.  Instead of meeting someone and having to searching for them on Facebook, users can leverage Find Friends Nearby to quickly find and connect with others. Facebook has been pushing is mobile presence hard as of late.  With iOS6 integration, mobile likes to App Center to Instagram, Facebook has beefed up their o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook | Facebook: Mobile | Social Media Marketing

You may know that Twitter recently moved. The growing company has new digs at Market Square, a decidedly not-very-modern-looking property that was completed in 1937. (It's classic California Art Deco, as you'll see below.) But make no mistake, the interior of Twitter's space is decidedly hip, technically capable and seems to fit the company like a glove -- at least the portions that several Marketing Land/Search Engine Land editors were allowed to see during a visit last week. We thought we'd share a few of the photos that we took and, at the end, we'll include a slideshow of photos fr [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Features & Analysis | Top News | Twitter | Twitter: Business Issues

After seeing yet another "hands-on" review of the Microsoft Surface tablet, I thought it would be interesting to shed more light on what exactly the journalists who assembled in Hollywood this week for the Surface launch event actually got to do with the tablets. In short, not a lot. Come along as I explain the hands-off reality of what I saw. Anticipation, It's Making Me Wait... When everyone checked-in before the event started, they were given small plastic cards with a time printed on them. We weren't told what these were for. Mine said 5:50pm. The purpose became clear after the event e [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile Marketing | Features & Analysis | Microsoft: Surface | Top News

Here's our daily recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web. From Marketing Land: Marketing Biz: U Mad Bro? Teens Bailing On Facebook, Anger at ICANNThere’s an undercurrent of hostility in the marketing world this week. Google and Apple continue to joust, sending not-so-subtle messages about their intentions. There was also news that teens might not be liking (pun intended) Facebook as much as they once did. Ditto goes for Bret Taylor, Facebook CTO, who is leaving the company this [...] Are We Seeing The Begi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day