Google Maps is analyzing Thanksgiving trends from the last three years to uncover the most useful information to make consumers' holiday plans go a little bit easier, from traveling or last-minute grocery shopping, to Black Friday deals to brave the holiday crowds. Pierre Petronin breaks down the days leading up to the holiday weekend to shed some light and remove some of the stress.

Jayson DeMers looks at what 2015 SEO best practices to see which will remain relevant in 2016. Social media will become more important for search visibility, and information-based content traffic will cease, he believes. He also provides a list of the best practices he think won't be phased out.

Apps are getting smarter. Microsoft recently told us it can determine the mood of a person by the emotions in a photographic image of a face. Now Google says it sees vast improvements in the way its app interprets the meaning of words and phrases by breaking down a query to understand semantics of each piece.

The red-cup Starbucks controversy set off by Joshua Feuerstein in a YouTube video after discovering the company's holiday cups do not have the words "Merry Christmas" written on them seems priceless considering the publicity the company continues to receive -- not only in social media, but also search engine queries.  Feuerstein's video went viral recently after he denounced the company, saying that Starbucks removed Christmas from its cups because it hates Jesus. Starbucks didn't respond, which Mike O'Brian notes seems to contradict what agency partners typically tell their clients. "We recommended brands to respond quickly and own up to their mistakes," …

Google recently began allowing business owners to set holiday hours, followed by the ability to sign up for SMS promotion subscriptions about Black Friday, Cyber Monday and general holiday deals. Dave Davies explains how marketers can make the most out of these two features.

Ryan Gibson moderates a panel with Merkle|RKG clients Harman and Wine Enthusiast to discuss strategies that help the company stand out from the competition. In the video, the group provides insight on ways to leverage paid-search campaigns and product listing ads, targeting customers by their device, geography, behavior, and intent. 

Google has begun addressing concerns from users that it has too much personal information about them. It likely prompted the service "Google About Me." The latest update to the new "About me" page allows users to change the information that other users of Google services can see about you, including personal info such as birthdate and phone number. 

Duane has been an icon for the search engine marketing and advertising industry at Microsoft for many years, and last year won the U.S. Search Personality of the Year award, and soon after was laid off from Bing, only to return later that year. In recent years the two seemed to have a love-hate relationship. As of Friday, Nov. 13, that relationship will come to an end.

Moz released on Thursday Moz Local Search Insights to help marketers gain a better understanding of their local search presence. The tool provides daily updates for reporting for location page performance, search engine ranking pages, and reputation management. David Mihm explains.

Adam Singer gives us some best practices to increase subscriber lists, enhance brand loyalty, and drive traffic to Web sites. He believes marketers can use these strategies to create and measure engaging content. Strategies include cleaning up site templates using analytics, and defining content strategy and data to replicate previous success.