• 2014 SEM Predictions
    It's the end of 2013 as we know it, so without further ado, here are my sage predictions for what SEM will look like in 2014. The predictions are ranked in order of likelihood of occurring, so they get wackier as you go!
  • Evolutionary Hotspots In Marketing
    The Pramos are remarkable places: grasslands that sit above the tree lines in the Andes, some 10,000 feet above sea level. They just happen to be the place on earth where evolution happens the fastest. In biology, evolution is measured by the rate of mutation. In the business world, mutation equates to innovation. So if we accept that corporate evolution is a good thing, and we want to increase our mutation/innovation rate, then it makes sense to seek our own organizational "Pramos."
  • Cyber Monday And Current Search Trends
    Last year, I finally succeeded in emerging from my post-Turkey-Day tryptophan stupor to take advantage of the sales surrounding Thanksgiving, and it was decadent. Seems I wasn't the only one rejoining the holiday shopping kickoff. According to Experian's "Magical Insights for the Savvy Holiday Marketer" report, there was significant year-over-year growth in online traffic on Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. Some shoppers may go direct from one retailer website to another, but search gets the biggest half of the wishbone: it's the number one form of navigation for transactions and research, with the usual suspects (G, Y and Bing) driving …
  • Cross-Device Tracking Will Expand Mobile Advertising
    Tracking activity between desktops and mobile devices is finally a reality. Google announced it would begin showing advertisers paid search conversions that begin on one device, like a smartphone, and end on another, like a laptop. Microsoft followed with plans to build its own tracking system across devices. New companies, like Drawbridge and Tapad, have also developed proprietary technologies that retarget desktop users with ads on mobile devices. Cross-device tracking will open up incredible advertising opportunities on mobile devices. But are advertisers ready? Here are just a few mobile trends advertisers can expect from a cross-device tracking world.
  • Google's Etymological Dream Come True
    Yesterday's Search Insider column caught my eye. In it, Aaron Goldman explained how search ads were the original native ads -- and why native ads work. The funny thing was, the use of the term "native" in today's more politically charged world struck a note of immediate uneasiness. On a gut level, it reminded me of the insensitivity of Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins. There's nothing immoral about the term itself, but it is currently tied to an emotionally charged issue.
  • Paid Search: The Best Native-Ad Format Ever
    Native ads are all the rage these days. Look around; you can't escape them. The thing is, native advertising is not a new concept. It's been around as long as the Internet. Well, almost that long.
  • Yahoo Under The Mayer Regime
    OK, it has a new logo. The mail interface has been redesigned. But according to a recent New York Times piece, Yahoo still doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. Marissa Mayer seems to be busy, with a robust hiring spree, eight new acquisitions, 15 new product updates, a nice 20% bump in traffic and a stock price that's been consistently heading north. But all this activity hasn't seemed to coalesce into a discernible strategy -- from the outside, anyway.
  • Google Glass Is The New Screen
    Over the past few weeks, fellow Search Insider Gord Hotchkiss and I have been bantering about the viability of Google Glass, via columns and comments. Gord is not convinced. But as an actual user and beta tester of Google Glass, I am. So today I want to discuss a few reasons I feel strongly about Glass and other wearable "glass" technologies -- why it will become the "new screen."
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