Google used to be in the business of directing users to third-party resources. The search giant is still doing that, but it’s also handling a greater number of queries itself. Regarding queries, Google writes in its annual securities filing: “Now we are increasingly able to provide direct answers.” As The Wall Street Journal notes: “The move away from providing only links has affected virtually every facet of Google’s search service in recent years.” 

Anonymous data doesn't exist. I've been writing about this for years. Now MIT scientist Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye has published a paper showing how anonymous credit card data can be reverse engineered to identify individuals' transactions. The article does not provide details about online data, but those who are Internet savvy can do the same with online data collected from Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter and other sites and companies. About 90% of the time, De Montjoye identified individuals in the dataset using the date and location of just four of their transactions. Scott Berinato explains.

Merkle RKG details 18 trends for 2015, and tells us why each one will become more important this year, compared with last. No. 4 on the list is creation of local landing pages. Research has shown that brands with crawlable local landing pages for each brick-and-mortar store are more likely to have more local search impressions in the results compared with those that do not.

How long does it take for today's SEO strategies to work? Joshua Steimle asks that same question. He tells us that ranking matters, but not as much as some marketers think. Marketers should reorder their thinking priorities and focus more on SEO as a way to generate leads. He lays out a six-month plan to give marketers insight on what to expect.

Nationwide salary ranges for mobile app developers, Big Data engineers, and wireless network engineers have seen some major salary spikes in the past year, while the most challenging skill sets to find locally are database developers, help desk, and desktop support. Most of the data in this report focuses on information technology, but there are some good nuggets on mobile app developers, ecommerce, and operations support. Here's a quick guide with a link to the full report.

Rand Fiskin goes over some basic questions about SEO he received recently. Some of them includes whether marketers need to put subsections of their Web site on subdomains or in subfolders, and whether it's important to use a rel canonical or a 301 redirect to move content on a separate site over to the main domain. And when multiple Web sites all link back to a main site, does that help or hurt the site's SEO?

Brands selling traditional Valentine's Day gifts from flower shops, candy stores, and jewelry stores are not the only items that can capitalize on the day. With 62% of consumers participating, Americans spent more than $17 billion on the holiday last year. Laura Scott believes there is an opportunity for advertisers to convince lovers everywhere to give more than flowers and candy this year. Here's how.

A panel of advisers is advising Google not to expand its “right to be forgotten” search policy beyond Europe’s borders. “That was the majority opinion in a recommendation … by an eight-person committee set up by Google to provide guidance over how the search giant should comply with a landmark privacy ruling,” The New York Times reports. 

U.S. company executives may understand the importance of protecting data, but many continue to make the information available online to create what some consider the global economy and easy access to information through search and Web sites. Health insurer Anthem, which serves 37.5 million U.S. customers, reported Wednesday that hackers had breached one of its IT systems and stolen personal information relating to current and former consumers and employees.

San Mateo, Calif-based 3Q Digital has appointed Craig Weinberg to VP of mobile strategy to build the agency's mobile practice as well as spearhead the strategy and mobile campaigns on behalf of its clients. Weinberg, based in New York City, also will help build a footprint in major East Coast markets. Weinberg comes to 3Q from Mindshare where he served as director of mobile for the company's Mobile Practice Lead. He also served as lead mobile strategist on the P&G account at MediaVest, where he oversaw North American mobile investments for the brand, and held senior executive positions at Sony Music Entertainment, where he was …