John Gagnon tells us how mapping data geographically can paint a stunning picture that tells marketers how to reach their audience smarter. He tells us about a tool called PowerMap that can "unlock insights to drive campaign performance." Gagnon describes it as a combination of Excel and Bing Maps because it charts data with 3D columns overlaid on a map that occurred over time. Read the article here.

Kristin Kovner takes us through six lessons for marketers that want to explore native advertising, and tips for applying these tactics in other media. She examines what the growth in native advertising can overall teach brands about digital marketing. One of the more important points she stresses is to treat ads like content, which makes sense when thinking about Google's view on ads as sources of information. The thinking falls directly in line with Larry Page's long-term strategy of turning ads into information and content. Read the article here.

LinkedIn said its Transparency Report doesn’t include requests related to U.S. national security-related matters because the U.S. government prohibits the company from doing so. The company and government continue to discuss making the information public, but discussions "recently reached an impasse." LinkedIn community members should know this, especially in light of recent revelations about the nature of U.S. government surveillance, according to the company.

Content now generates 20% higher click-through rates in email for InsideOut Development, and 83% of the company's email channel leads. Site visitors come to read the valuable information, but not all companies want to share their "trade secrets." Adam Sutton outlines a four-step case study and the main guidelines that the team took to complete a successful strategy of 87% lower opt-out rate, and 388% more leads. Read the article here.

Rich Miller estimates that Google has invested more than $21 billion in its Internet infrastructure since the company began building its own custom data centers in 2006, compared with Microsoft's disclosure of $15 billion. He tells us how these numbers provide insight into its powerful cloud computing platforms that power Web apps and services, and provides a list of expansions.

Stone Temple Consulting released the results of a new study that suggests sharing content on Google+ doesn't contribute to higher ranking. Aside from the ranking, Eric Enge sums it up by telling us that sharing content across Google+ does drive discovery. The signals probably drive indexing, with some possibility of error in this stage of the testing. The goal was to evaluate the impact that sharing content across Google+ has on discovery, indexing, and ranking of content. Enge notes that the study has limitations -- and provides a detailed examination of them along with the findings.

Microsoft wants to change Bing's image, so it created a new logo with a simpler typeface and revamped how it displays search results on the engine, moving from three columns to two. For Bing, the focus has become the warmest colors on the palette -- primarily orange and yellow, Scott Erickson, senior director, brand and creative at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post. The new Bing identity becomes more than a logo and a color palette, but rather a brand architecture that allows the engine to evolve. Some believe that evolution turns Bing into the foundation supporting Microsoft apps and …

Disneyland's ability to create loyal followers has remained strong for years. D Bnonn Tennant analyzes how the company has created and maintains that following through four strategies he believes are worth thinking about such as themes, engagement, feeling special, and creatives. He takes those four strategies and tells us how to apply them to search engine marketing campaigns and content on brand Web sites. Read the article here.

Remember last summer when Google compartmentalized Gmail in Primary, Social, Promotions, and Forums? Well, apparently retailers are not that happy with the change. Fewer people now see the promotional emails -- a marketing strategy that most retailers depend on to catch the attention of consumers. One retailer told The New York Times that Gmail users might sign on to their email account several times daily, but look at promotions once weekly.

Over the weekend, Microsoft posted then pulled several videos mocking Apple's new iPhones from the Windows phone YouTube channel. A few of the videos still live on the Web. The other six videos in the series now unavailable for viewing have been reported as "tedious and unfunny."