Change is a permanent part of the marketing landscape. But change is never easy and this week was full of change. We get to review updated data on mobile payments; test a new version of bitly; transition from Google Places to Google+ Local; prepare for a rumored Facebook smartphone and assess a new Google Shopping experience (and business model). Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Payment Transaction Value to Surpass $171.5 Billion "We expect global mobile transaction volume and value to average 42 percent annual growth between 2011 and 2016, and we are forecasting a market worth $617 bill [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

This week Google took substantial steps to ensure that it remains the dominant way in which users access the Internet both on mobile platforms and desktops. These major news items may not have gotten as much notice with the Facebook IPO and iAcquire link buying scandals. And maybe you missed funding news for GitHub, the acquisition of PowerReviews by Bazaarvoice or launch of Keyword Lift by LivePerson. That is ... unless you're reading Marketing Biz. Google gets China OK to buy Motorola The approval brings the Internet search giant closer to sealing its biggest acquisition ever. Bu [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Warning: This column contains no Facebook IPO news. But there sure was a lot going on outside of that particular media circus, from new product launches by Twitter, Majestic SEO and Hubspot to new rounds of funding for Pinterest, Quora and Bit.ly. The best of Twitter in your inbox This new email digest also features the most engaging Tweets seen by the people you follow, even if you don’t follow those who wrote them. You can see who from your network retweeted or favorited these Tweets and click “View details” to retweet, favorite, reply or view the conversation around them. This is t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Once again, this week felt like an episode of Melrose Place, with fashion gossip, porn and the unraveling of lies. Thankfully, there was alternative programming available with notable start-ups (Drawbridge and Mixpanel) raising a round of funding and advances by Google and Foursquare in the convergence of social, local, mobile and commerce. Drawbridge Comes Out of Stealth With $6.5m in Funding and a Solution to the World’s Mobile Ad Problems Under the leadership of former AdMob lead scientist Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, Drawbridge has found a way to match user behavior between devices [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Happy Star Wars Day. The force did seem to be with us this week. LinkedIn acquired SlideShare, both SEOmoz and AVOS landed new rounds of funding and Bing did some spring cleaning. But the dark side did rear its ugly head as Tumblr's President departed and Yahoo's CEO was caught lying on his resume. SlideShare and LinkedIn sitting in a tree… What does this mean for SlideShare the company? I will continue to run SlideShare and our team will continue to do what we’ve been doing, which is to develop new features and make the site even better. Over time you will see some integrations that tak [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

This week search took center stage as Google implemented the Penguin Update targeting black-hat SEO. Meanwhile Facebook was busy buying those AOL patents from Microsoft but declined to purchase Bing. (No we would not like fries with that.) We also got insight into Android and Automattic, while being reminded of our Web marketing history. Microsoft Shuttles AOL Patents to Facebook On Apr. 9, AOL announced that it would sell over 800 patents to Microsoft and grant the software giant a nonexclusive license to 300 more, for a price of $1.056 billion in cash. Now, Microsoft says that it purchase [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

This week saw the continuing convergence of social, local, mobile and commerce with Facebook and Groupon making strategic acquisitions. In addition, micro-blogging platforms Twitter and Tumblr both moved forward with advertising initiatives. Of course, we still had drama with Larry Page giving Bill Clinton-like testimony and Marissa Mayer taking a page from Eric Schmidt's playbook. Introducing the Innovator's Patent Agreement The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers. It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents c [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

The drama has subsided this week and instead we find out just how far 1 billion dollars can go in today's economy. But if you really need your feuding fix, look no further than the torrid triangle between Amazon, Apple and book publishers. Here is why Facebook bought Instagram Facebook was scared shitless and knew that for first time in its life it arguably had a competitor that could not only eat its lunch, but also destroy its future prospects. Why? Because Facebook is essentially about photos, and Instagram had found and attacked Facebook’s achilles heel — mobile photo sharing. O [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

This week was full of drama. We've got Yahoo and Facebook in a schoolyard patent fight. Grudges? Look no further than TripAdvisor and their antitrust complaint. Betrayal? Check out Skype's new ad campaign or track the Google Wallet exodus. Money problems? Groupon's got that covered. So who needs the lame looking Silicon Valley reality show on Bravo? Yahoo layoffs signal more upheaval at flailing firm In his first three months on the job, CEO Scott Thompson has imposed the largest layoffs in the company's 17-year history, reshaped the board of directors, picked a potentially disruptive fig [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

This week's news revolved around the growing ways in which marketers and advertisers can optimize their digital marketing efforts, from better insight into advertising metrics to 'instant' market research. In parallel, we see changes to the business strategies being implemented by Google and Groupon, and track the launch of new products in social media management and search marketing verticals. comScore Releases Full Results of vCE™ Charter Study Involving 12 Leading U.S. Advertisers These findings suggest that measuring all dimensions of ad delivery for every placement in a holistic fa [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Evolution and transitions seem to be the major themes this week. Twitter and Pinterest are both transitioning from scaling to monetization. Adobe continues to improve their digital marketing business while Google Wallet and CityGrid Media look for better ways to grow their products and properties. Meanwhile Yahoo and ICANN continue to devolve in different and sad ways. Pinterest Hires Facebook’s Former Director of Monetization During his tenure at Facebook, Kendall created the “sponsored stories” that show which of your friends like the product being advertised. How he will apply his e [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Two contrary forces were at work this week with many companies living in the past while others sought to claim the future. Experian Hitwise Launches AudienceView Using AudienceView, retailers can track and trend the online behavior of existing and potential consumers to better optimize online media planning and target their messages to reach and retain the most profitable and relevant segments. AudienceView combines anonymous data from the Hitwise online sample of 10 million users in the United States with the offline Experian Marketing Services ConsumerView database, which provides insight [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

There were a few interesting and contrasting trends this week. The first was around enterprise-level solutions to Internet marketing challenges. Major brands and Fortune 500 companies are investing in solutions that can help them with both SEO and social media. At the other end of the spectrum you have solutions for SMBs and every day people who, ultimately, have similar challenges in leveraging the Internet for their personal brand or business. The thread through both is that it all comes down to us, the people, and what we really want and how we respond. Twitter & Facebook share a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

This week brings us a new IPO darling, a mix of concerns around privacy and more movement from those looking to capture the SoLoMo market. Yelp shares soar more than 60% in IPO Yelp (YELP), a San Francisco-based ratings and reviews site, priced its IPO late Thursday at $15 per share. Shares jumped to $24.55 in midday trading, valuing Yelp at $1.47 billion. Internet IPOs are back! Yelp shares spiked over 60% in their initial public offering, following successful IPOs by companies like Angie's List, Zynga, LinkedIn and Groupon. This was the right time for Yelp to go public. Getting out before [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

This week brought a number of contrasting stories around tracking and privacy along with significant hires to support the ongoing evolution of major Internet properties. Groupon snatches up local-data startup Hyperpublic for better deal targeting “We have everything. Need Twitter handles of vegans in the East Village? Done. Millions of display ads referencing places in Chicago? Done,” the product description explains. I'm not a big Groupon fan (from a business model standpoint) but think that this acquisition is very smart. Hyperlocal deal targeting could expand the Groupon footprint an [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Welcome to the first edition of Marketing Biz, a new weekly column dedicated to business-related news and announcements in online marketing. Each Friday we'll deliver the most interesting news items in the past week coupled with a quick take and perspective. Marketing business news for the week revolved around the accelerating changes in search, social, local and mobile. Chaos at web 1.0 survivors were mixed with new product launches and startup hopes. Marin Software Raises $30M, Aims (Eventually) For IPO The new round was led by Asian investment firm Temasek, with funding from SAP Ventu [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz