Facebook's iOS version 5.5 has a few notable features, including one that service providers may not like. Users can now call a friend for free when viewing their profile. Calls are made via wifi/data plan and won't count against minutes from a carrier. This calling feature was released back in January, but could only be found in the Messenger app. Facebook's even been cutting deals with 18 carriers in 14 different countries that would cut out the data usage incurred with these calls altogether. While none of these discounts have hit the U.S., the idea is an interesting one. Ad [...]

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

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: App.net Adds Free Accounts App.net, previously only available via paid memberships, has added a free service tier to help open up the service to new members. But it’s happening on a limited basis: New members must get an invite from an existing App.net paid subscriber. And once in the system, the new free-tier members will only be able to [...] Facebook and Google Advertising, SEO Sessions in the Spotlight – SMX West in Two Weeks! J [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day

App.net, previously only available via paid memberships, has added a free service tier to help open up the service to new members. But it's happening on a limited basis: New members must get an invite from an existing App.net paid subscriber. And once in the system, the new free-tier members will only be able to follow 40 users, and will also have limits on file storage and file size in their accounts. In his announcement, founder Dalton Caldwell says the free tier was always in the company's plans and now's the right time for it because there are plenty of third-party apps across multip [...]

Related Topics: App.net | Channel: Social Media | Social Media Marketing | Top News

Just two months into 2013, and Facebook has introduced Graph Search and Google enhanced AdWords to improve multi-channel campaign management. These are just a couple of the developments we’ll be covering in-depth at Search Engine Land's SMX West in San Jose, March 11-13. You’ll hear firsthand about Facebook Graph Search and other paid advertising options in a Keynote Conversation with Grady Burnett, VP of Global Marketing Solutions. We’ll follow that up with Meet Facebook Graph Search, a deep dive into the opportunity for internet marketers. Hear directly from Google about the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Internet Marketing Industry: Search Marketing Expo - SMX | SMX & DMD Alerts

There were several reports from late last week indicating that Google is negotiating with major labels in anticipation of the launch of Spotify-like music streaming service. As part of these negotiations, according to the LA Times, "Google is proposing a premium subscription service" on YouTube that would encompass music videos and perhaps audio-only songs. The suggested launch window is fall 2013. A well-executed streaming capability would potentially threaten smaller services such as Spotify or MOG. Apple is also rumored to be preparing a streaming Internet radio competitor to Pand [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Business Issues | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Google: Partnerships | Google: YouTube | Legal: Copyright & Trademark | Top News

She wasn't a marketer. She didn't optimize that infamous post on Facebook, or time it based on social media studies. Heck, she didn't even spell all its words right. She just knew Elton would die if she didn't get the word out, and that was enough. Late last month, a Jackson, TN, woman who runs a Facebook account devoted to finding homes for animals at the local shelter posted a new update. The story of the "gay dog" quickly spread, from Facebook to local media to Gawker to CNN to as far away as international news sites. "No one expected this one story to spread so far and wide, fr [...]

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

Kara Swisher reports that Yahoo has made a decision to require all their employees to work within a Yahoo office. So for all those hundreds of work-at-home employees, you either start figuring out how you will get to work every day or find a new job. The internal memo explains that Yahoo is making this change to increase the speed and quality of the work. Yahoo said that "speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home." Yahoo goes on to explain that working side-by-side with your fellow Yahoo employees fosters communication and collaboration which can lead to new ideas, be [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Yahoo: Business Issues

Data is so often discussed and so very misunderstood! Data is nothing more than values of qualitative or quantitative variables. It turns out that the term [Data] is as generic as the term [Food]. There are all kinds of food, food groups, and food ingredient combinations. You see, data is the lowest level of abstraction. On its own, Data carries no real meaning. Data viewed in context then produces information. Information tested and interpreted then results in knowledge. Experimental Data In online advertising, there is a potential treasure trove of audience data. The lowest level of kno [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Google is planning a second campus in Mountain View called "BayView." Vanity Fair magazine got the scoop in an article that includes an interesting architect's sketch of the new Googleplex (shown above). According to the article, the BayView complex: will be built in Mountain View, but closer to San Francisco Bay will have nine "bent rectangle" buildings totaling 1.1 million square feet, all of which will be connected by bridges will have greenery on some roofs will keep Googlers in close proximity; no one "will be more than a two-and-a-half-minute walk from any other" wi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google | Google: Business Issues | Top News

If you're a privacy advocate you might find it creepy or worrisome. But if you're a marketer, you might be thrilled by the moves that Facebook is making to bring the online and offline worlds together. AdAge highlights a number of initiatives that Facebook has undertaken to both show the offline sales impact of its ads as well as to bring offline consumer data to online targeting. Both involve the two-way flow of consumer data between online and traditional offline databases. Facebook isn't the first company to try any of this, but its scale puts it in a better position than others to su [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Facebook: Advertising | Facebook: Business Issues | Facebook: Privacy | 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: B2B Ad Targeting, Elasticsearch & ID Card Checkout This week in marketing was short on drama and long on the future. We saw innovative search applications, new ad targeting capabilities and identity advances. This is … Marketing Biz. Elasticsearch Closes $24M Series B Round and Exceeds Two Million Downloads Milestone Elasticsearch is on a mission to organize data and make it easily accessible. [...] Sprint Beats Veri [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day

This week in marketing was short on drama and long on the future. We saw innovative search applications, new ad targeting capabilities and identity advances. This is ... Marketing Biz. Elasticsearch Closes $24M Series B Round and Exceeds Two Million Downloads Milestone Elasticsearch is on a mission to organize data and make it easily accessible. We deliver the world’s the most advanced open source search and analytics engine available and make real-time data exploration available to anyone. I admit, I didn't know that much about Elasticsearch. I'd heard of them and understood their [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Samsung has sold more than 20 million Galaxy S3 handsets to date around the world. Accordingly, the Galaxy S3 is the most popular Android handset and has eclipsed all other Android phones in the market. That's in part because of Samsung's aggressive, multi-million dollar global advertising campaign for the device. It's a very nice phone, but not the best current Android handset. That distinction, in my view, belongs to the LG-made Nexus 4. In addition, in Q4 the S3 lost its position as the world's top-selling smartphone to the iPhone. Below is a Strategy Analytics "shipments" chart showi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Statistics: Market Share | Statistics: Mobile Marketing | Statistics: Popularity & Usage

Facebook is notifying Page owners that a bug in its analytics system has affected both the reach and impressions data that's been showing in Page Insights -- and it impacts both paid and organic numbers. Logged-in Page owners should see an alert at the top of their Page the next time they visit, which points to this explanation of the problem. The company says the bug impacts data related to Paid Reach, Organic Reach, Paid Impressions and Organic Impressions - along with other data points that rely on those numbers, such as Virality and Engagement Rate. Facebook emphasizes -- particularl [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Analytics | Facebook | Facebook: Insights | Facebook: Pages | Social Media Marketing | Top News

Can you feel the frenzy building over Google Glass, the smartglasses that Google announced last year? Earlier this week, the company invited non-developers to pitch why they should get a pair. Today, over at The Verge, is news they'll be for sale later this year for less than $1,500, along with an in-depth look at the spectacles in action. I'm on low-bandwidth today, so I can't watch The Verge video of the glasses in action. But you should, as well as read Joshua Topolsky's account of beta testing the glasses. I had an opportunity to try a pair on last fall, for a far shorter time, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Glass | Top News

Among the things you might never have expected to hear: Google's Sergey Brin helping Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg try on a pair of Google Glass glasses. That happened yesterday, as Zuckerberg expressed that he couldn't wait to get a pair of his own. The surprising encounter happened thanks to the recent Life Sciences Breakthrough prize. The project was founded by Art Levinson, Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan and Yuri Milner to recognize excellence to those that target cures for intractable disease and extending human life. Yes, you saw that correctly, the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google | Google: Glass | Top News

Those of us who have been in the affiliate space for a while know that the industry is predicted to grow to $4.5 billion by 2016. Meanwhile, did you know that there continues to be a steady rise in the amount of active bloggers? According to Nielsen data, there are 6.7 million people publishing blogs on blogging websites and another 12 million that are writing blogs using social networks. Given the rise of bloggers and the anticipated growth of the affiliate industry, it stands to reason that more bloggers would get on board. However, it’s not that simple. Monetization Doesn't Mean Givin [...]

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

If you manage a Twitter account, you likely know the endless phishing attacks that come with the territory. Twitter has long been the target of various scammers who do their darnedest to make their email appear to be official Twitter messages. Well earlier this month Twitter began using a new technology, DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance,) to combat phishing attempts. Basically DMARC uses authentication for those emails that are trying to cloud the specific domain where they are being delivered from. Using established authentication protocols, those us [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Twitter | Twitter: Accounts & Profiles | Twitter: Legal

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: Despite Mobile Email’s Growth, 58% Of Email Marketers Not Designing For It There’s a disconnect between how consumers are reading commercial emails and how marketers are conducting email marketing campaigns. On one hand, there’s the report earlier this week that says 41 percent of all commercial email is opened on mobile devices — a number that’s expected to surpass PC/desktop opens by the end of the year. [...] Billboard 100 & [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Marketing Day

There's a disconnect between how consumers are reading commercial emails and how marketers are conducting email marketing campaigns. On one hand, there's the report earlier this week that says 41 percent of all commercial email is opened on mobile devices -- a number that's expected to surpass PC/desktop opens by the end of the year. On the other hand, there's the new 2013 Email Marketing Benchmark Report from Marketing Sherpa that says more than half of email marketers aren't designing their emails with mobile devices in mind. Almost 1,100 marketers took the survey and, of that group [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Mobile Marketing | Statistics: Email Marketing | Statistics: Mobile Marketing | Top News