Political unrest in Cairo has been attributed to bringing down the Internet in Egypt, amid ongoing protests against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Reports suggest organizers fed the conflict through posts on Facebook, keeping fires fueled with messages on social sites such as Twitter.

The search marketing industry will see many more patents filed and granted in the coming year. They will improve processes and run backend systems behind the scenes, certainly not meant for those searching the Web to see. These behind-the-scene gems will work to make online search advertising and marketing more efficient, so brands can serve less ads and gain better returns on investments (ROIs). They must as the industry matures. It's part of growing up.

Supporting search engine marketing (SEM) globally in multiple markets will become a focus for many agencies this year. Not all, however, will have the opportunity to tap Ming Lei's expertise. Lei, Baidu's former chief architect, stepped into an advisory role for BrightEdge at the end of December to help the company take SEO international.

Online marketers crave self-service ad platforms, so much so that Twitter has begun work to build one, too. The company introduced a platform late last year in which some advertisers have been beta testing. Some say the platform is self-serve. A Twitter rep says it isn't. Well, what's your definition of self-service? Twitter spokesman Matt Graves explains the platform is not self-serve because an account rep must set up the account. Clix Marketing Founder David Szetela calls it self-serve, insisting marketers only need the rep to set up accounts and gain access to the platform.

An increase in consumer spending on mobile phones through emerging technologies such as near field communication (NFC), a technology Google and others continue to invest in, will push advertisers to spend more than $1 billion on mobile marketing campaigns in the U.S. this year, according to a study released by Forrester Research Tuesday.

Many musicians long ago discovered social media and search. They make the connection with fans through texts, posts on Facebook home pages, and Twitter tweets. Others sing about it. In her song Turn on the Radio, Reba McEntire sings "Try to call, Twitter me, text until your fingers bleed. Oh, the DJ's the only way you're ever gonna hear from me. If you're reminiscing and you're missing me this much and you really wanna stay in touch you can hear me on the radio."

During Google's earnings call on Thursday, Jonathan Rosenberg, senior vice president of product management at Google, told investors, analysts and media that local and commerce are two emerging sectors Google plans to nurture this year. During Google's earnings call on Thursday, Jonathan Rosenberg, senior vice president of product management at Google, told investors, analysts and media local and commerce are two emerging sectors Google plans to nurture this year. Rosenberg said five million businesses claimed their Google Place pages. The tech company also recently started testing a new ad product called Boost, aimed at giving businesses a fast way to …

What if Google developed ad technology that would call the Web site, determine the ad the site should buy, and automatically purchase and place the ad in the unit? Would it eliminate the need for keywords? How would the ad bidding process work? Some ad execs already believe the Mountain View, Calif., company has begun to experiment with this or a similar feature. Aside from near field communication (NFC), a new business use for radio frequency identification (RFID) technology could also be down the road.

A Deutsche Bank report released Tuesday suggests Google, IAC, MediaMind and comScore should benefit from improved ad trends, while GSI Commerce should benefit from higher online ad commitments among its retail clients. Amazon.com remains a consistent growth story, with incremental revenue coming, in part, from the ereader Kindle.

Steve Jobs became a wildly successful CEO based on his ability to visualize the benefits that tie together a variety of digital content across media, music to movies, from companies such as Apple and Pixar. It's about having a vision, finding the perfect combination, and putting heart and soul into making it happen, even when stricken with pancreatic cancer. No doubt about it. Jobs built a brand icon. There are many perfect combinations.