It's only been about a week since the Salesforce.com acquisition closed and digital marketing services company ExactTarget is already busy with new projects. The latest is called the HubExchange app marketplace. The platform aims to help marketers install third-party apps into ExactTarget's Interactive Marketing Hub, in a move to help bring their data together into one location. The HubExchange gives marketers access to and the ability to integrate with apps built by ExactTarget and its global ecosystem of technology providers. At launch, the exchange has more than 50 apps available.

The House Appropriations Committee passed legislation on Wednesday that will protect the privacy of Americans' email exchanges. The legislation will require federal agencies, including the IRS and the SEC, to get a warrant in order to access the private email exchanges of citizens. The measure prevents agencies funded by the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations from using their budgets on investigations that treat Americans' email any differently than "hard mail and other private documents." This legislation does not impact investigations conducted by the National Security Agency or the FBI.

The average worker spends 28% of their time using email, according to a report from McKinsey Global Institute which came out this month. For full time workers that work 8 hour days and 40 hour weeks, that equates to about two hours a day spent in the inbox. To help fight back against this time bandit, Forbes has put together a list of tips on how to better manage one's inbox. Tips include using email early in the day, taking advantage of digital assistants and being brief.

Blackberry is reportedly allowing the Indian government to track emails sent through the company's network. A leaked document from Indian government's Department of Telecommunications explained, "Baring a few minor points for improvement of viewers, the lawful interception system for BlackBerry Services is ready for use." According to IT Pro, security agencies will not be able to access emails sent through Blackberry's corporate email service, but they can get access to a list of users.

Two-thirds of email marketing messages are opened on the first day that they are delivered in the inbox and a third are opened within two hours of being sent, according to Epsilon. "After 48 hours,your email is effectively dead," Quinn Jalli, SVP of digital marketing solutions at Epsilon told a room full of marketing executives last week, according to Direct Marketing News. Jalli also revealed that 96% of email clicks occur within three months of a customer's last interaction. In addition, half of all people who engage with a brand via email do so in the first week.

Retailers are spending 15% of their marketing budgets on email marketing and 40% of their budgets on search this year, according to "The State Of Retailing Online 2013: Marketing And Merchandising," a new study released today by Forrester Research and Shop.org. For the report, Forrester surveyed 65 e-commerce companies in April and May about their marketing strategies. About a third of respondents generate $100 million or more in annual revenue. The average marketing budget across the group is $7.6 million annually. The report also revealed that retailers are hiring experts in digital marketing channels. For instance, 35% of respondents plan …

Google's redesign for Gmail is now live on the desktop version of the email service. Gmail users now have their emails sorted into three different categories -- primary, social and promotions. Marketing messages land under the promotions tab, which is the third section within the inbox. While it may not seem ideal to be relegated to folder number three, the nice thing about the new inbox is that emails are more organized and less overwhelming. Users can go directly to the promotions tab when they are looking for a deal, and they are more likely to be in the mindset …

Former Republican from New Hampshire Senator Gordon Humphrey emailed Edward Snowden yesterday to show his support of the whistleblower. The Guardian confirmed the authenticity of the email and published the email exchange. "Provided you have not leaked information that would put in harms way any intelligence agent, I believe you have done the right thing in exposing what I regard as massive violation of the United States Constitution," he wrote. Snowden responded via email writing, "Thank you for your words of support. I only wish more of our lawmakers shared your principles - the actions I've taken would not have …

Contrary to news reports, Microsoft does not allow the National Security Agency to access its customers' email accounts directly, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. Recent news reports have suggested that the online giant was helping the NSA get around encryption in order to spy on Outlook.com email accounts. "We do not provide any government with direct access to emails or instant messages," Smith wrote.

Salesforce.com has completed its acquisition of digital marketing services firm ExactTarget. The company announced the acquisition last month. The acquisition expands Salesforce's digital marketing tools, bringing tools for building email, mobile and social media campaigns under its umbrella. Salesforce purchased ExactTarget for $ 2.5 billion.