AOL Jobs
Adam Dince equates an earned media specialist with an online marketing word-of-mouth marketer and delves in to define what earned media specialists do. Although it depends on the company, here's a refresher for those who are knee-deep in the marketing media.
Los Angeles Times
Clipper co-owner Shelly Sterling said the Sterling family trust has agreed to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Ballmer won the bid and the negotiated sale will move to the NBA for approval. Although Ballmer retired from Microsoft, it will become interesting to see whether fans see a Microsoft or a Bing on the team's Web site.
Search Engine Watch
Longer search engine queries are growing in popularity as consumers realize they can find what they need by detailing the query, but when it takes more than one query to find the information the subsequent searches can lead to a lift in click-through rates, per Richard Stokes. He calls the subsequent searches "refinements," defines the tactic, and suggests that marketers consider the practice when creating campaigns.
Huffington Post
Carina Kolodny believes that even those who think they know all the tricks to search for information they don't know them all. She provides 14 Google search tricks that can make life easier, from typing in "do a barrel roll" to searching for a related word or excluding a word in a search query.
MSN Money
General Motors, which Tim Higgins explains is developing its own autonomous vehicle technology, doesn't want to race Google to the finish line to create driverless cars, but does see the Mountain View, Calif. company as a competitive threat. Last year, GM demonstrated its Super Cruise technology, which supports semi-automated driving features similar to a self-park feature that some cars offer.
Econsultancy
Bill Loller makes a list of ways that marketers can use behavioral analytics to detect fraud. He guides us through identifying suspicious customer activities, taking advance of forensic software tools, understanding the full impact of the data breach, and notifying the affected parties to ensure minimal damage to consumers and brand reputation.
WordStream
Miranda Miller shares some valuable content marketing tips from the latest Inbound Ask Me Anythings (AMAs) conversation on Reddit. The topics range from how to begin, value of content, why most remains "crap," how to use infographics, the downside of visuals, and ways to get better at content creation.
eMarketer
Some 33% of the industry’s digital ad spending will go toward mobile in 2014. The computing and the consumer electronics industry will contribute 54% of digital advertising dollars, or $2.05 billion, on direct-response this year, and 46% of ad spending, or $1.75 billion, on branding, per eMarketer.
Moz
Rob Ousbey put together a cheat sheet on the more than 50 things that search experts should learn about their clients, to help them communicate more efficiently and discuss issues that might hinder campaign or Web site performance. It's about getting to know personalities and understanding how to communicate.
Econsultancy
The U.K. Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report published by Econsultancy and Latitude analyze the search marketing activities most commonly outsourced to an agency. The study reveals three in 10 companies outsource the paid-search campaigns; and 28%, the display advertising; yet 75% of companies handle their own analytics in house, along with 73% for social media. Although marketers are having a more difficult time nailing down the nuances to make the most out of analytics and social media campaigns, they are more likely to keep the numbers and the media they know least about closer to the vest until they feel …