There are two main reasons Marketers should block spam traffic from referring sites: corrupt analytics data, and server load and security. Jared Gardner explains both. He also provides a list of popular referral spam domains, reasons they might hit your sompany's site, and how to stop spam bots.

There were more than 40% of search clicks from mobile devices in Q4 of 2014, estimates Merkle|RKG. The results revealed in a Digital Marketing Report show the revenue per click (RPC) of tablets was just 76% of desktop, while smartphone RPC was 33%. A video walks through some of the reasons why fewer mobile visitors convert, and provide five tips to increase mobile conversions.

Apple is extending its mobile advertising network to music streaming iTunes Radio service through programmatic ad buying. Previously, advertisers had to buy through Apple's iAd sales staff. The new feature also comes with updated targeting capabilities, using customer phone numbers and email addresses that can be cross-referenced anonymously against marketers' data.

Marin Software announced support on Wednesday for Bing's update of device targeting designed for campaign management across multiple devices. The services allow marketers to create Bing campaigns using the unified device targeting capabilities, streamline workflow by importing existing Bing campaigns into Marin, increase control by targeting mobile and tablet devices by setting campaign-level mobile bid adjustments and creating mobile preferred ads, and improve insights by viewing the campaign type, bid adjustment value, and ad preference in their respective grid views.

Push notifications from Google Chrome made it into the latest Beta release. Chrome Beta 42 comes with two new APIs that allow Web sites to send notifications even if the browser isn't open. Each message comes with "Site Setting," although it provides a way to quickly switch off notifications from that particular service or Web site.

Bing is testing a new Favorites feature that allows users to bookmark images when signed into their Bing accounts on a desktop. The Favorites are organized by searches. Users can view them by clicking on "Images" in the top navigation bar. They remain available as long as they remain available on the Web. 

Google has disabled a new project creation on Google Code, and is providing developers with links to migrate certain tools to GitHub exporter to help them shift projects elsewhere. The company will offer migration support to those who need help during the next three months. By August 24, the site will switch to read-only. Google has set a final shutdown date of January 25th, 2016, per TechCrunch.

Alibaba is investing in Snapchat in a deal that values the company at $15 billion, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing two people familiar with the deal. A previous investment last year from Yahoo and venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers valued the messaging startup at $10 billion. 

Carl Jung demonstrated how archetypes connect the unconscious with the conscious and the past with the present. Most novelists believe stories require an archetype before they can become a classic. Gianluca Fiorelli believes great marketing campaigns do too. He says archetypes can be also used for differentiating a brand and its messaging from others in our same market by giving it a unique voice -- but not too unique. This requires consumers to relate, and feel familiar and comfortable with the message. It works with search marketing too. Fiorelli explains.

Bing Ads will roll out an upgrade later this month to its advertising management tool. Lisa Raehsler tells us that for advertisers this means a streamlined way to target searchers, regardless of where they search. It also means all campaigns will target all devices by default, but it's still easy to adjust bids to increase impressions on one device or another. She explains the impact on advertisers, what to expect, and steps to take before Bing makes the migration.