360i released a report, The 7 Habits of Highly Digital Brands, to accompany a blog series outlining the seven common traits among successful brands of the Digital Age. The report outlines each habit in detail, such as what it means to be a skilled conversationalist, authentic, data-driven, discoverable, relevant, creative, and constant. Aside from outlining each, the report provides detailed insight into why each matters, and three keys to success.

By the end of 2013, mobile will contribute up to 30% of all Internet search traffic. The Business Insider provides reasons why Google outpaces Bing when it comes to search engine market share, such as being the default engine on Apple's iPhone or focusing solely on mobile search. Many experts fail to point to marketing techniques and product design as the differentiation between the two companies. Familiarity breeds adoption. Microsoft failed to combine the look and feel of desktop and mobile user interfaces -- something it historically did in the past in variations of its software business and personal products, …

Search marketers have had to become "expert generalists" during the past year, as social infiltrates search results and content and real-time bidding techniques become more important. Art Markman explains the importance of knowledge and finding the commonalities between topics -- in the case of online marketing, the commonality between media and how to use techniques successfully in display advertising to support search, for example. Becoming an "expert generalist" allows marketers to create new experiences and more successful techniques.

Formulate a hypothesis to build a framework to execute paid-search campaign tests. Noran El-Shinnawy shows marketers how to use this as a reference for understanding and interpreting results. Testing the hypothesis means starting with a question, such as "why aren't people clicking my ad?" The answer could be "maybe because I don't have a free trial offer." She provides a list of action items to consider when building out the test, such as promotion language, headlines, and display URLs.

How to drive value through an integrated digital marketing approach will become one of the most important strategies for marketers in 2013. It enables marketers to uncover new search engine optimization (SEO) opportunities to integrate campaigns and ad targeting. Todd McDonald points to social, email, paid search, SEO, and other channels. He suggests starting small and with an actionable item. Think about how to benefit other channels the organization relies on, and how to break down silos so that all will benefit.

The 300 e-retailers in the Social Media 300 from Internet Retailer will generate an aggregate of $1.6 billion in 2012 sales from visitors arriving on their sites from social networks. Internet Retailer released a study ranking retailers by the percentage of traffic to their Web sites from social networks, a measure of the effectiveness of their social media strategies. The findings identify PetFlow as getting 30% of its total traffic from social networks, while Fab.com and Coastal.com each separately garner 25%.

Social proof, a psychological strategy that relies on the interest of human beings encouraging them to take the same actions, now has a more important place in search engine marketing. That's according to Rand Fishkin, who points to Web site rating services and offerings based on friend preferences. Most consumers are influenced to make a purchase by one or more friends and/or relatives. He provides tips to implement this strategy.

Despite reports from Google that its mission isn't to help consumers cut the cord on traditional TV services, many of them will connect directly to the Internet to get away from high service costs. As more move from traditional TV, searching the Internet or using apps will become more prevalent. The NPD group reports from 2013 CES that Panasonic and Samsung will introduce "notable" improvements to their connected TV interfaces, including on-demand programming and voice interaction. For example, LG announced a feature on their smart TVs that enables TV users to change the channel by drawing the number in the …

Reuters reports that Apple's CEO Tim Cook met with China Mobile's Chairman Xi Guohua Thursday to discuss "matters of cooperation," citing a spokesman for China Mobile, which supports the most mobile carrier subscribers in the country. Apple has a deal in China to sell its iPhones through China Unicom and China Telecom. In an effort to move more predominantly into the country, Apple won't likely take a stand against Chinese censorship. Google, not willing to compromise, moved its Chinese search engine to Hong Kong in 2010.

@WeCare, a cause marketing platform generating funds for nonprofits, is holding a Charity Challenge where Twitter tweeters can tweet a registered brand's handle to donate to a cause. The company, focusing on shopping, searching and viewing ads, launched the #MillionDimes $100,000 Charity Challange to give away funds. For example, every tweet -- up to five daily -- will earn a $.10 donation for the registered charity whose handle appears in the tweet. Twitter tweeters can support up to five charities daily, one charity several times a day, or any combination. All tweeters must Follow @WeCare on Twitter, and the tweet must …