• Tips For Creating Search Content
    Sourcing successful B2B content is challenging. Marty Weintraub believes it's easier, however, for a B2B marketer to do a better job these days because of the abundance of data that can help determine the content to create. He takes us through 11 successful content creation strategies that he believes are effective. Among the tips: take inventory of valuable assets, and tap into FAQs for multichannel visibility. He also tells us why roundups and serialized curation work.
  • Study Finds Brands Missing QR Code, Mobile Search App Opportunity
    DMEautomotive released a study Tuesday that details what consumers want in auto service providers' QR codes, mobile apps, coupons and ability to schedule online appointments. It turns out that consumers are far more likely -- at 44% -- to search and use mobile apps than QR codes -- at 18%. The study suggests that marketers are missing an opportunity to communicate with consumers because most brands simply link product information or static Web pages to the scanned QR code, rather than make them interactive.
  • Yahoo Debuts Cost-Per-Lead Search Ads
    Yahoo has introduced cost-per-lead search ads that allow marketers to add contact forms to listing in search results, which should increase engagement and encourage consumers to provide more information about themselves like email addresses, according to the company. Cost-Per-Lead for Search Ads tested with the Match.com dating site, for example, opens a new tab automatically from search results, so the site visitor can fill out their online dating profile once a user submits the information and receives a thank you message. Google has tested and run something similar.
  • The Ad, Site Search Obstacles Frustrating Online Shoppers
    It turns out that the Google Analytics Product Team has a sense of humor. A series of videos demonstrate some of the trials and tribulations consumers face when using site search to make online purchases, from forgetting passwords to being bombarded with irrelevant search results or ads. Make sure ad text leads visitors to a page that matches what was featured in the ad, write Clancy Childs and Jon Day, providing tips that help marketers understand the missteps that site visitors make to improve landing page performance through site search data.
  • Google Could Tweak Search Results
    Google could make voluntary changes to its search algorithm that would limit the use of restaurant and travel reviews from other Web sites and allow the ability to easily port search campaigns into rival services, reports Politico. It would end an antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The news organization tells us the FTC is prepared to settle over how the company uses its patents against competitors if the changes are made. The agreement means curtailing patents that it picked up with the Motorola acquisition to block competitors from infringing on the technology.
  • Search: Take That Down
    Google counts 2.5 million takedown requests weekly, up from around 250,000 in late May when it first began to publicly post the notices. The requests allow people or companies to ask Google to remove links that infringe on their copyright, according to The Verge. The post links to the site where Google houses the report, along with traffic stats.
  • Google Confirmed Clicks Combat Fat Fingers
    Fat fingers? No problem. Google introduced an app for that to combat the accidental click, which typically happens at the edge of the ad. Google expanded "confirmed clicks" to in-app image ad banners to improve user experience in mobile apps. In our initial tests, the company found that "confirmed clicks notably improve mobile conversion rates, with a slight decrease in clickthrough rate as accidental clicks are avoided."
  • Mobile Gaming Gains Ground
    eMarketer reports that in the U.S., mobile gaming is quickly surpassing casual and social gaming. This year, mobile gaming in the U.S. will reach 102 million, compared with 93.7 million for online casual gamers and 76.5 for social. The post explains that U.S. mobile gaming revenue will come from a combination of paid downloads, in-game purchases of virtual goods and in-game advertising. Mobile games also present an opportunity for search marketers to tie campaigns into games. 
  • How To A/B Test For Performance
    Testing doesn't come easily, and results don't often come fast. Typically it's a long, drawn-out process. Lars Lofgren takes us through the steps needed to achieve the best results and ways to determine the tests to run. He reminds marketers to find the statistical significance, track the entire marketing funnel, and stay simple and to avoid things like multivariate tests unless there's a good reason. Data will continually change the campaign.
  • The Good And Bad Of Search Ad Rotations
    Kayla Kurtz looks back to the AdWords update in April to vent and provide insights about her biggest challenge for the year: ad rotation settings. She explains that it's the change that told account managers that Google would start making ad testing decisions for marketers. That's how Kurtz describes it. She guides us through the series of changes made by Google, the influence it had on campaigns, and how she managed to successfully overcome this and move on.
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