Adam Audette tells us how to optimize different product types, sizes and colors for search engine optimization. He provides three recommendations for product variations. For example, place color variations in the interface as a hover, so the URL doesn't change. It provides an inherent canonical URL, and requires only one rather than many, which means all links support one URL rather than many. He points to REI as a good example.

Building a loyal customer base similar to the one that Apple supports requires work. Brafton points to a report showing that 98% of studied business sites use online newsrooms to tell brand stories that engage and re-engage clients, but more encounter challenges. Some 35% struggle to keep news up to date, and 51% fail to present quality images within articles. Furthermore, 38% do not categorize, tag or optimize their news content. While the negatives and challenges might seem overwhelming, there is a positive side too. Brafton explains.

What if marketers could predict consumer response to content based on comparative analysis of data? Google and Bing attempt to serve up content based on a similar method. Andrew Edwards suggests that it also takes convergence analysis --  a subset of predictive analytics -- to carry out analysis correctly. It requires accurate collection of data from a variety of sources, and the ability to combine it to gain insights.

Would Google pay Apple as much as $1 billion annually to remain the default search engine on Apple mobile devices? An analyst suggests that amount could rise during the next three years. That shouldn't come as a surprise. Google pays about $300 million annually to include the search engine on Mozilla Firefox's home screen, according to ZDNet.

Ever try and make a point with pictures and video rather than words? Distilled published a practical guide to online video marketing in, yes, a video that guides marketers through the process. In pictures, rather than words spoken by a talking head, it explains why video is valuable and the best ways to generate ideas. While it's not a tutorial on how to create a great video campaign, it does offer up food for thought.

When search engine optimization efforts get siderailed by Google Penguin or Panda, and recovery efforts are a bit slow going, Paolo Vidali suggests paid-search campaigns to offset any setbacks. He calls it a hybrid strategy. Although Google claims no connection between SEO and paid-search strategies, Vidali explains how he recently experienced a case that identifies how the synergy exists.

Google has launched two features in an effort to improve the Google+ Hangouts experience. The bandwidth slider at the top right of every hangout lets users adjust the bandwidth preferences in real-time. The audio-only mode lets users send and receive audio only.

Ever wonder why your online marketing department is "all screwed up?" Andrew Delamarter tells us. He provides a look at what most marketing organizational charts look like today, and then makes suggestions about how to change the situation. Highlighting the integration of social and mobile into traditional media like search, Delamarter provides alternative perspectives on breaking down the problems, guiding principles toward change, and how not to lose company experts amid the shakeup.

Bing provides a video on how to activate campaigns, along with adding the payment method, confirming active status, and delivery options. For example, add a payment method to activate the campaign. Click on the "payment method" link to confirm. The Delivery column confirms that the ad is eligible to run. 

In a long trail of "errors," Zach Bulygo details the positive in Mark Zuckerberg's road from startup to corporate CEO. He points to Facebook's ability to "move fast and break things," scale well, present a great user interface, and trademark of may top companies. (The industry sees the same in Twitter, but the founders of the 140-character social site were experienced entrepreneurs by the time they started the company.) Now the company has launched Graph Search, and it remains to be seen whether Zuck can pull that off, too.