After 2.2 million tweets sent on the day of the UK election, the Conservative Party has come out as the most discussed political party. According to Twitter, the Conservatives received 39 percent of mentions followed by Labour on 36 percent, the Scottish National Party on 9 percent, Liberal Democrats on 8 percent, UKIP on 7 percent and Green with 1 percent. Twitter was displaying the tweets around the General Election through its heat map, with 160,000 tweets sent using #IVoted.

The 2015 general election is slated to be the first in history where social media has been hugely influential, according to analysis of Facebook and Twitter accounts linked to Britain's main political parties. Figures have shown that the Conservatives benefitted from the most engagement on their Facebook page with 467,000 likes, with supporters generating more than 50,000 comments. By contrast, Labour was able to dominate discussions on Twitter courtesy of its 210,000 followers, with a total of 225 verified accounts helping to get their message across.

Facebook has moved to link its app install ads with custom in-app purchase pages upon completion of each app download to create a new tool for direct marketers seeking to sell their products and services. Direct marketers value the Web for the ease with which consumers can purchase after viewing an ad, but the sector is hamstrung on mobile where merchants rely on people first downloading a specific app. Now it is hoped that consumers will be more likely to press ahead with their app purchase specified by an ad.

Dark social refers to content shared in an "untrackable" way, such as links within emails, instant messenger or chat apps, as opposed to more public platforms like Twitter. According to a study by RadiumOne, around two-thirds of political content is shared this way in the UK. The firm studied 500,000 shares made using link shortener po.st, and found just 22% of politics-related content was shared on Facebook, while 10% was shared on Twitter. The parties are too preoccupied with Facebook and Twitter, which are relatively ineffective.

From a touring pink bus to #milifandom, this year's election campaigning has seen a move away from traditional advertising as the main parties, particularly Labour, have tossed aside posters and instead embraced local engagement initiatives and the power of user-generated content. Featuring claims that there are 1.75 million more people in work and 760,000 more businesses since the coalition came to power, the Conservative Party's first election campaign poster set the tone for its entire platform.

The company is looking to appoint an agency to oversee media requirements and advise on media strategy as it looks to expand its presence across Europe. For the first time, the five-year contract will include activity in France and Belgium, in addition to work in the UK worth GBP6 million. Arena has handled the UK business since June 2011. The review will be led by Lionel Benbassat, the head of marketing and brand at Eurostar, who has stated his ambition to better embrace digital and develop a more personalised relationship with customers.

Dyson, the vacuum cleaner brand, has appointed R/GA London as its global digital agency of record after a competitive pitch. There is no incumbent on the account. Dyson previously handled the work in-house. R/GA London has been tasked with global strategic activity for the brand. Matt Lodder, the vice-president and managing director at R/GA London, said: "It's a real privilege to partner with such an iconic British brand that shares our own DNA in design and innovation. We can't wait to start collaborating together."

Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google will face more unwelcome scrutiny from Brussels after the European Commission announced a wide-ranging investigation of the role they play online and whether competition rules should be tightened in response. The probe was announced on Wednesday as part of sweeping reforms designed to realise the Commission's long-held ambition of a single market for goods and services online.

Sainsbury's boss says customer data will be a "key component" of its strategic plan to return the supermarket to growth after its first loss in more than a decade. CEO Mike Coupe said yesterday that the supermarket needs to make more of the fact that it "knows more about its customers than anyone else" to drive other facets of the business. It has data on its customers from its Nectar loyalty scheme, as well as through its online shopping and financial service businesses.

Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift headset, has announced that the technology will begin shipping to consumers in the first quarter of 2016 with pre-orders beginning later this year. In a company blog post, Oculus VR said: "In the weeks ahead, we'll be revealing the details around hardware, software, input, and many of our unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences coming to the Rift." It also said it will share more of the technical specifications regarding the Rift on its company blog next week.