Facebook has just announced Facebook Home, a new home screen experience that it's launching first on Android devices. Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg just previewed Home at an event that we're also live blogging as it continues. Facebook Home essentially turns the Android home screen and lock screen into a Facebook content-based experience with what it calls "Cover Feed." Content loads while the phone is sleeping, Zuckerberg says, and the user can then easily flip/swipe through it when waking up the phone. Facebook Home supports notifications that pop-up on the screen and can [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook | Facebook: Home | Facebook: Mobile | Features & Analysis | Top News

According to a study commissioned by iContact, small and midsize businesses are allocating the largest share of their marketing budgets to email, with more than half spending up to 20 percent of their total marketing dollars on email marketing efforts. Edge Research was commissioned by iContact, an email service provided by Vocus, to conduct an independent study surveying 601 email marketing decision makers at companies with an annual revenue of $1 million to $50 million and no more than 1,000 total employees. Respondents had to be involved in email marketing decisions, have knowledge of ho [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Features & Analysis | Statistics: Email Marketing | Top News

Want to know who will get early versions of Google Glass, Google's forthcoming smart eyeglasses? There's an awesome new list out with lots of names you'll know. Last month, Google announced it would expand its "Explorer" program beyond developers and invited people to apply through submissions via Google+ or Twitter, with 8,000 openings up for grabs. The Google Glass #ifihadglass Winners list from Andrej Karpathy (spotted via BetaBeat) looked for confirmations that Google began posting to winners on Twitter this week, then backtracked to show what their entry was. The list is order [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Features & Analysis | Google: Glass | Top News

Email is the most common activity that U.S. adults do on their smartphones, with Web browsing and using Facebook a close second and third, respectively. That's according to "Always Connected," a new study from IDC that was done earlier this month and includes responses from more than 7,400 iPhone and Android users between 18 and 44 years old. Facebook sponsored the study, and so much of the data surrounds how Facebook helps users connect with others via their smartphones. According to the study, 78 percent of respondents say they check email on their smartphones, compared to 73 percent w [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Facebook | Facebook: Mobile | Facebook: Statistics | Features & Analysis | Mobile Marketing | Social Media Marketing | Statistics | Statistics: Mobile Marketing | Statistics: Online Behavior | Statistics: Social Media | Top News

I am one of the 8,000 people to be accepted into the early Google Glass explorer program. Although, I am told those who applied to the earlier version of Google Glass Explorer program have not heard back from Google about when they will receive their Google Glass. But, those who completed the Google Glass Explorer contest from a month ago are now being told they will hear within a few weeks where and when they can pick up their Google Glass. How did I get approved to receive Google Glass? It started with reading the how to get one, which is now closed, but Google will open it up agai [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Features & Analysis | Google: Glass

Yahoo's partnership with a toolbar provider has led to questionable affiliate links showing up in the latest version of the Yahoo Toolbar for both Firefox and IE. How questionable? In one case, an affiliate was redirecting traffic from Ticketmaster.com to a competing online ticket seller. In other cases, it's unclear if the websites that a user visits are aware that Yahoo is showing affiliate coupons when the page loads. The coupons are visible to all U.S. users of the Yahoo toolbar that have installed or upgraded to the current toolbar version. The Coupons app is currently turned on by [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Channel: Content Marketing | Features & Analysis | Top News | Yahoo | Yahoo: Toolbar

There's no getting around it: the search experience on Quora was never all that great. As you typed a search, Quora would show results if your text was found in a question, in a topic name, or a user's name. And rather than get a page of matching search results, you'd have to click on one result at a time from the search box dropdown. Quora has changed all that with its launch of full-text, keyword-based search. The dropdown still offers quick navigation to people, topics and blogs on Quora ... ... but those keywords at the bottom of the list now lead to a more traditional, keywor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Features & Analysis | Quora | Top News

Need to jot down quick notes to organize your information? That company which aims to organize your information, Google, has a new service designed to help: Google Keep. For Android & The Web, For Now Currently, it's only available for Android 4.0 and higher or through the Web, the service offers to sync your notes across devices, plus take in written (typed) notes or transcribe them when you talk. From Google's blog post: With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you. Your notes ar [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Features & Analysis | Google: Keep | Top News

A Coca-Cola executive threw cold water on social media buzz earlier this week when he told an advertising conference that the company doesn't see a relationship between online buzz and the company's short-term product sales. But the company has followed-up today with a clarification, saying that social is "crucial" and has been driving in-store purchases. As AdAge reported on Monday, Coke's Eric Schmidt (no relation to Google's Eric Schmidt) told the Advertising Research Foundation's Re:think 2013 conference that online buzz about the company only affected sales by about 0.01 percent. "W [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Features & Analysis | Social Media Marketing | Top News

Some have noticed that pages from Digg were no longer appearing in Google today. Both the social media news site and Google confirm this was the case, due to mistaken malware issue. It's now been solved. Matt Sawyer tweeted that Digg seemed to be off Google earlier today, and it was picked up by State Of Search and even Hacker News. Digg: We're Not Malware Digg told us that the cause seemed to be that pages from Digg's previous life continue to link to content from across the web — some of which may become malware infected — which causes Digg itself to have issues with Google. Digg [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Digg | Features & Analysis

[caption id="attachment_36725" align="alignright" width="324"] The Pebble[/caption] Consumers have only recently gotten used to smartphones and barely integrated tablets into their routines. Soon they'll be presented with yet another mobile device: wearable computers (watches) from both Apple and Samsung. There are other companies offering or developing versions of a "smartwatch" as well. One such device is the Pebble smartwatch (pictured at right), which raised a record $10 million through kickstarter. It integrates with the iPhone and Android smartphones. The anticipated Apple iWatc [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Apple: iOS | Apple: iPhone | Apple: Siri | Channel: Mobile Marketing | Features & Analysis | Google: Android | Google: Glass | Google: Mobile | Mobile Marketing

Findings from a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive and inContact, a provider of cloud contact center software, prove companies cannot rely on brand loyalty when it comes to keeping existing customers or winning new ones. The survey, conducted online February 11 through February 13, 2013 using a nationwide sample of 2,191 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older, examined changing consumer behavior trends and customer service preferences. Survey findings confirmed that consumers are less likely to make buying decisions based on brand loyalty, and more likely to choose a company that of [...]

Related Topics: Branding | Channel: Strategy | Features & Analysis | Statistics: General

You've probably heard this before: Business.com has recently launched a new brand, a new website and new products that aim to extend the company's appeal to both B2B marketers and buyers. The site has gone through a number of changes over the years since its founding in 1999, but the new Business.com is more of a matchmaking service than it's been before. The new home page walks B2B buyers into the process of selecting a provider and asks questions along the way to help the site connect the user with the best matching vendors. "We do see ourselves as the e-Harmony for small-to-medium ent [...]

Related Topics: Branding | Channel: Industry | Features & Analysis | Features: 5 Questions With | Internet Marketing Industry | Interviews | Top News

We all know the day of multi-device and cross-screen usage is here. The challenge for marketers is to understand how to communicate effectively with consumers as they engage with multiple devices simultaneously and sequentially throughout the day. A new study commissioned by Microsoft, titled Cross-Screen Engagement, aims to help marketers learn how users are engaging with multiple screens and to find opportunities to reach consumers "in their moment". In the two-phase study, Flamingo Research and Ipsos OTX interviewed consumers in five markets—Australia, Brazil, Canada, the UK and t [...]

Related Topics: Branding | Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Features & Analysis | Internet Marketing Industry: Stats | Microsoft | Mobile Marketing | Search Marketing | Social Media Marketing | Statistics | Statistics: Mobile Marketing | Statistics: Online Advertising | Statistics: Online Behavior | Statistics: Popularity & Usage | Top News

Samsung formally unveiled the latest in its Galaxy S line-up of smartphones, the Galaxy S4 (or officially, the Galaxy S 4). The phone features a 5" screen without getting larger than the Galaxy S3 plus an array of features that seemingly put Samsung's own brand ahead of Google and Android. For more about the lack of Google in today's announcement, see our separate story: Samsung Introduces Galaxy S4 With Nary A Mention Of Android Or Google. As for the phone itself, you'll find the formal rundown below. Even further below, you'll find our live blogging coverage. The Specs Samsung said [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile Marketing | Features & Analysis | Gadgets | Google: Android | Samsung

Want a good replacement for Google Reader? Perhaps it's appropriate that another brand from the Reader heyday, Digg, is planning to build that. From Digg's blog post today: We’ve heard people say that RSS is a thing of the past, and perhaps in its current incarnation it is, but as daily (hourly) users of Google Reader, we’re convinced that it’s a product worth saving. So we’re going to give it our best shot. We’ve been planning to build a reader in the second half of 2013, one that, like Digg, makes the Internet a more approachable and digestible place. After Google’s announ [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Digg | Features & Analysis | Google: Google Reader | Top News

The scramble is on. With news today that Google Reader is shutting down on July 1st, its users are on the hunt for a solid RSS reader alternatives. Here are some options you might want to consider if you're a Google Reader user: 1.) Newsblur This is a top choice from one of our corresponding editors, Gary Price. It's accessible via the Web and also appears to have iOS and Android versions. There's even a Google Reader import tool that will no doubt prove popular. Newsblur has a basic version that's free, but limits the number of feeds you can follow, and news stories show up in th [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Features & Analysis | Google | Google: Google Reader | Top News

Google Reader user? Say goodbye. Google has announced the service is closing on July 1. The news came today in a "Spring Cleaning" blog post from Google, where the company said: We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next fo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Features & Analysis | Google | Google: Google Reader | Top News

The "Pinterestization" of Facebook continues. The company today introduced changes to Timeline that allow users to more easily and prominently display collections of things they like (via apps). This was part of the introduction of an overall Timeline redesign. Images in posts are larger and are seen on the right (a mirror of some of the recent News Feed changes), while other photos, music and recent activity are clustered in a slightly narrower column on the left. There's also a bigger emphasis on apps as sources of self expression. App-based custom collections (movies, books, im [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook | Facebook: Apps & App Center | Facebook: Open Graph | Facebook: User Interface | Features & Analysis | Top News

Twitter advertisers will have access to expanded data about their campaigns as part of an upgrade announced today to the Twitter Ads center. There are a number of changes and additions that I'll highlight here: reporting of Promoted Tweets now includes all engagements, not just those the advertiser paid for more detailed campaign reports that show how different audiences engage with Promoted Tweets and Promoted Account campaigns -- including reporting based on device, location, gender and interest deeper reporting about the interests of advertisers' most engaged audiences Here's [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Social Media | Features & Analysis | Social Media Marketing | Top News | Twitter | Twitter: Advertising