How much should companies spend on SEO services? That's a question Joayson DeMers tries to answer in a post that highlights SEO payment models. He analyzes monthly retailers, contract services, project-based pricing, hourly consulting costs and more. He also provides a list of "suspicious" things marketers look for, such as monthly costs lower than $750, and so-called experts that promise "instant results." Read the article here.

Google has released an application programming interface (API) to help brands create live streaming content on YouTube, which in aggregate gets more than 1 billion unique visitors every month. The YouTube Live platform give brands the ability to embed real-time code for a range of video qualities to support many devices and networks. The bandwidth makes adjustments, so viewers see the highest-quality stream their network supports. DVR-like controls allow viewers to pause, fast forward, and rewind during a live stream. Read the article here.

Stuart Clayton, co-founder of Digital Pigeon, takes us through a case study on how a free version of a product can provide benefits, yet create challenges. The company provides services based on large file deliveries. It all started when the startup wanted to launch a free version of its service. Clayton uses Google Analytics and KISSmetrics tools as examples. The first benefit Clayton points to comes from posts by bloggers who want to tell folks about free stuff. He also covers new page layout designs, because as he determined, the placement can have a major influence on preferred plan choices. …

Google has acquired several patents from The MicroOptical Corp, the predecessor to MyVue, which folded last year. Mark Spitzer, the founder of MyVue, is now the director of operations at Google X. It seem Google acquired the patents and the assets, but also the employees. Would that make it an acquisition? Read the article here.

Google filed an update to a smartwatch patent last week that the company orginally filed in 2011, demonstrating how search will become the platform for all Internet-connected devices. In the hosing of the wristband consumers will find a processor, and a wireless transceiver in communication with the processor with the ability to connect to a wireless network. It will become another device that supports a network of app developers and APIs.      

One more town gets 1 gigabyte per second Internet speed. Google said Thursday evening that the Shawnee, Kansas, Council officials approved a vote to bring Google Fiber to the city. It makes Shawnee the fifth Johnson County municipality to strike a deal for TV and Internet access subscriptions. There is no estimate on timing. Read the article here.

Search marketers writing copy for content need to start taking a closer look at how the words and images display in ads and columns on mobile devices. Say good-bye to "one visual identity" -- because copy, articles, and books that marketers produce now have multiple looks, according to Dan Virgillito. Think module when designing mobile sites. He tells us that while tabs, accordion and toggles are not new, they offer pieces of content to the reader as they explore the site and look for more information on a specific subject or product. Read the article here.

Sean Quadlin shows marketers how to identify the best place to set frequency caps for newer campaigns running on the Google Display Network. A video demonstrates how to use a reach and frequency strategy per day. Quadlin says the amount of data should identify the point in which the ad stops being effective, and the number of times someone sees the ad. Too many times can risk securing a successful conversion. Read the article here.

AdWords rules that automate AdWords campaign bids to some extent by determining when a keyword should increase or decrease in value can save time for search marketers who are managing many accounts. Andrew Lolk tells us that the bid management process is 90% repetitive, and marketers can find themselves continually making the same incremental changes to their bids for the majority of keywords. He introduces the conversion value cost metric as a way to automate bids, and warns that even the most experienced marketers should not lean back to hope for the best, but rather keep a close eye on …

When a Google Penguin update buries a brand's Web site in the search engine results pages, it's time to review and evaluate strategies that will "prune some of those low-level backlinks." Crispin Sheridan tells marketers how to audit links and reach out to folks at sites who can remove the low-level links before compiling the data for a disavow in Google and Bing to maintain a more positive stance with the search engines. Read the article here.