Two months ago, Google rolled out an interesting new twist to Google+ posts, the addition of interactivity. Rather than just text, images or links, Google+ interactive posts allow for calls to action or a specific "deep link" directly within a post. This allows for smarter targeting from companies and smarter, easier, pre-filled updates by users and pre-loaded Google+ buttons. From RSVP-ing to an event, to applying, to finding a table to reserve at a restaurant, the action types available are many. Google officially states that "Interactive posts can drive new users to your site, improv [...]

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

Google's "predictive search" service Google Now has finally arrived for iOS users, after being Android-only since it launched last June. Ironically, the ground-breaking service is now available to more iPhone and iPad users than Android ones, because on Android, only the minority with Android 4.1 or higher can access Google Now. We have full coverage of the roll-out on our sister-site Search Engine Land: iPhone & iPad Users To Get Google Now, As It Comes To iOS: News about the launch & how Google Now is part of the Google Search App The Amazing “Google Now” — When Google [...]

Related Topics: Apple: iOS | Apple: Siri | Channel: Search Marketing | Google: Android | Google: Search

Google has launched new tools and reports on the AdWords Web UI for researching and planning Google Display Network campaigns. The new Google Display Planner functions somewhat like the existing Google Display Network Ad Planner, but the UI is much simpler.  You start by entering keywords, categories or websites you know your audience is interested in and the landing page for your campaign. Then, much like the Display Network ad planner, the tool suggests websites, mobile applications and video channels on the Google Display Network (GDN) based on the information you entered. From there [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Google: Display Advertising | Top News

Google announced today that it has received Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for Active View, the company's viewability measurement solution.  With Active View, advertisers will be charged only for impressions that meet the IAB’s proposed viewability standard of at least 50% on screen for one second or longer. Google says it will be building the viewability standard into products for both advertisers and publishers. Active View reporting will be available on the Google Display Network (GDN) and in DoubleClick for Advertisers and DoubleClick for Publishers this year. Google' [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Google: Display Advertising

With today's announcement of their viewability measurement tool, Active View, receiving accreditation from the Media Rating Council, Google released new data highlighting CTRs of display ads based on viewability metrics. According to their findings, users are up to 21 times more likely to click on a viewable ad. The viewability metric measures the percentage of an ad that is viewable on screen and the length of time the ad is displayed. To meet the IAB's standard for viewable impressions, at least, 50 percent of the ad must be viewable on screen for one second or longer. After comparing [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Display Advertising | Marketing Tools: Analytics | Statistics: Online Advertising | Top News

Not that long ago many people were speculating about when smartphone penetration would reach 50 percent. That happened relatively early in 2012. And today US smartphone ownership stands at roughly 60% according to Nielsen. Yesterday IDC reported another milestone: smartphone "shipments" surpassed non-smartphone shipments for the first time in Q1. According to the device-tracking firm, "more than half (51.6 percent) the total phone shipments in a quarter were smartphones." The following chart shows top global phone vendors (all phone shipments) according to IDC: Samsung lead all ot [...]

Related Topics: Apple: iOS | Apple: iPhone | Channel: Mobile Marketing | Google: Android | Statistics: Market Share | Statistics: Mobile Marketing | Top News

Yahoo's unique video viewers rose to 50.3 million, up from 43.6 million in February, bumping the company up a rung to the  number four U.S. Online Video Content Property according to comScore's March 2013 US Online Video Rankings, In March, the number of Americans watching online content videos rose 2.5% from February. Nearly 182.5 million Americans watched 39.3 billion online content videos. Ad video views hit an all-time high at 13.2 billion, up from 9.9 billion in February. Yahoo moved up a rung to number four and closed in on VEVO this month. (It will be interesting to watch what impac [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Facebook: Statistics | Google: YouTube | Statistics: Market Share | Yahoo

Google is introducing "The Customer Journey to Online Purchase" analytics report today, a new benchmarking tool that provides insight into the various elements impacting a single campaign. Leveraging data from 36,000 of their largest advertisers across 11 different industries in seven countries, Google's new interactive analytics tool offers advertisers a broad view of online buying behaviors and interactions. Using information from Ecommerce and Multi-Channel Funnels, the benchmark data illustrates how buyers move toward a purchase and the length of time it takes to make an online buying de [...]

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

As many of you know, Google Glass started shipping to Google Glass Explorers last week. I wanted to share with you some of the lucky people to get Google Glass early, what their experiences have been and where to track who else is getting Google Glass. First, those getting Google Glass within the Explorer group are those who signed up at Google I/O last year. They have been notified one by one, typically in order of their Glass number, to pick up the Glass at one of Google's offices, typically in Mountain View or New York City. Another group of Explorers are those who were selected throu [...]

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

Google AdSense is now offering 970x90 ad units, a newly adopted IAB standard size also known as 'super leaderboards'. The new larger size is designed for ad placement on wider screens with the goal of appealing to brand advertisers wanting to make a larger impact on their advertising audience. Because this is a new ad unit size, Google AdSense notes that advertisers will mainly see text ads in this format for now. Image and rich media ads that are enabled for the 970x90 size will initially show up as 728x90 display ads; as the inventory of image and rich media ads for the 970x90 ad units gr [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Google: AdSense

Want to understand all the ways that Google Analytics can help you learn how people are interacting with your site? A new "periodic table" may prove useful. Created by Jeff Sauer, the table from his company Jeffalytics covers everything from "As" (AdSense Reports) to even stuff Google Analytics can't report -- "Np" for Not Provided. Here's a look: Be sure to visit the actual Periodic Table of Google Analytics page, where you can get a PDF version of the chart to print, embed code to put the chart on your site plus an interactive version that lets you hover over an element to underst [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | Infographics

The consensus view is that Google bought Motorola Mobility in late 2011 for its patent portfolio. The company spent $12.5 billion, Google's largest acquisition by far and a major bet by Larry Page. During the acquisition approval process Google said that it would treat Motorola the same way it treated any other Android OEM and keep the division at arms length, giving it no special access or Android favors. Yet, Motorola has continued to lose market share and revenues. Last week, Google said that its Motorola division lost $271 million and revenues declined from $1.51 billion in Q4 to $1.02 [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile Marketing | Google: Acquisitions | Google: Android | Google: Business Issues | Google: Mobile | Mobile Marketing | Top News

When I started publishing online back in 1998, I didn't have a shred of traditional marketing experience. It may sound counter-intuitive, but that ended up giving me a huge advantage. The first marketing book I read was Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing in 1999, which sparked my "aha" moment regarding how the Internet worked from a marketing standpoint. Godin made it clear that the Internet was a direct-response environment that required an evolved form of direct marketing. You didn't buy mailing lists. You built audiences. Likewise, my company, Copyblogger Media, began a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Content Marketing | Content Marketing Column | Google: SEO | Social Media Marketing | Word Of Mouth Marketing

Along with co-author and foreign policy expert Jared Cohen, Google Executive Chairman is doing the rounds on radio and TV in support of their new book The New Digital Age. This evening, both were interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered program. I don't have an advance copy of the book and haven't read it. But, the interview made me curious. If it's any indication, there's considerable time spent on the darker political and social implications of the Internet and the way it may play out differently in various parts of the world. Schmidt and Cohen appear to have a very balanced -- one m [...]

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

A recent survey conducted by the USC Annenberg Center for Digital Future and Bovitz Inc., revealed "Millennials" (those 18-35)  have a different attitude than Internet users 35 years and older when it comes to sharing their personal data online with businesses. While 70 percent of Millennials agreed with the statement, "No one should ever be allowed to have access to my personal data," 56 percent said they would share their location with a nearby company in return for a relevant coupon or promotional deal. Only 42 percent of users 35 years and older agreed they would share their location. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Facebook: Privacy | Google: Privacy | Internet Marketing Industry: Stats | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Privacy | Statistics: Online Behavior

Smart social media marketers know that some tactics are totally off the table. Spamming that Google Plus community with your off-topic links? That's a no-no. Auto-DMs to new Twitter followers? No way. Then there are tactics that aren't inherently bad, but you may not want to use them every day. Like pop-up ads, advertising jingles or re-targeting campaigns, these tactics can be just shy of annoying if used incorrectly, but often get the kind of results that make them irresistible to try. Let's call these "yellow light" social media tactics. When you come to a yellow light in traffic, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook | Google: Google+ | Pinterest | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Marketing Column | Twitter

Google announced an update to AdSense link units today. In select countries and site verticals, when users click on a link unit keyword, the resulting page will show thumbnail previews of advertisers' landing pages. Instead of a list of ads, here is an example from Google showing what the new page of ads looks like: Google says their testing showed better click-through rates with the thumbnail images. The update to the new ad previews will automatically occur for publishers using link units in the affected countries and site verticals. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Google: AdSense

Google has announced upcoming changes to the AdSense Terms and Conditions. Starting April 23rd, AdSense users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, or North America will get a notification to accept the new T & Cs. Publishers in the Asia-Pacific region will get a notice at a later date as the roll-out continues. In addition to a new layout designed to make the terms easier to navigate and smaller changes throughout, Google notes two updates in particular: With mobile being one of the big trends in 2013 and beyond, we’re expanding our Terms to cover mobile properties mor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Google: AdSense

To borrow a famous quote from Yogi Berra: It's like deja vu all over again. YouTube beat Viacom again today in the long-running copyright battle the two have waged, and Viacom is again saying that it plans to appeal the ruling. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news and has posted the court's decision, too. In today's ruling, Judge Louis Stanton -- who also ruled in YouTube's favor back in 2010 -- wrote that "the burden of showing that YouTube knew or was aware of the specific infringements of the works in the suit cannot be shifted to YouTube to disprove." That's a fundamental concept of [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google | Google: Legal | Google: YouTube | Legal | Legal: Copyright & Trademark | Top News

Two reports over the past two days from ad network Chitika shed light on adoption of the much anticipated BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen phone, as well as the current state of tablets in North America. The new iOS and Android competitor is generating 5.3 percent of all BlackBerry traffic, which reflects a "doubling in usage share since the Z10’s US release 20 days prior." That's impressive until those figures are put into context. Chitika also told me that "BlackBerry-based Web traffic as a whole constitutes about 1 percent of all mobile Web traffic on our network." So, in fact, the Z10 is [...]

Related Topics: Amazon | Apple: iOS | Apple: iPad | Channel: Mobile Marketing | Google: Android