Staples gave the "easy button" an IoT makeover with help from IBM Watson. The button, originally intended as a metaphor for quick delivery of office and school supplies, moved into the next generation.

Will Google create a fund to cover the declining reputation of a brand that buys media against fraudulent web traffic? Liz Miller, SVP of marketing at the CMO Council, had that question when she first learned that Google would reimburse marketers who bought on DoubleClick.

WordStream analyzed some of the most "super competitive" words running in Google AdWords and found that keywords for the category Business Services include Data Room or Network Security Monitoring, demonstrating the challenges companies now face with data theft and malware.

Some 60% of consumers become less loyal to brands after poor website and app performance, a survey reveals, with more than 80% saying they would consider telling friends about their poor experience.

Some 45% of choices were based on established relationships where the client either had an existing personal connection with the company or was referred by a friend or colleague. About 43% stated that company attributes factored into their decision, such as leadership, knowledge, staff experience, reporting and transparency, or customer service.

Brand marketers who understand how consumers search for their products on marketplaces gain a competitive advantage in using and optimizing campaigns based on non-branded search terms.

When it comes to pay-per-click advertising, paid-search text ads remain the best performer for marketers, according to the 87% who participated in a recent survey by Hanapin Marketing.

Marketers can no longer rely solely on general search and content optimization strategies to rank content higher on Google, research confirms. As machine learning gets smarter, it changes the requirements.

Hotels seem to be doing a better job of driving consumers directly to their websites from search engines. Of the top 10 brands, six show an increase for actual confirmed direct bookings in May 2017, compared with the year-ago month, according to a study released in July.

Marketers are not preparing for a world where mobile, voice and local search, and reliance on intelligent agents like chatbots, change consumer interactions with brands -- yet IDC estimates IoT spending will total nearly $1.4 trillion by 2021, as companies invest in hardware, software and connectivity.