Yahoo estimates it will get 20% of its search traffic from mobile devices before the end of 2012, according to Shashi Seth, Yahoo Connections SVP. That insight was gleaned during an analyst call about the company's browser, Axis, released last week for smartphones and tablets, along with a plug-in for desktops.

Paid-search audit tools identify failing campaigns, allowing marketers to quickly make changes and optimize content. But small businesses don't always have access to these tools. So this week iProspect made available a set that allows marketers to review paid-search campaigns in Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter.

Can a software or cloud computing company become successful building and selling its own smartphone? Of course it can -- but analysts believe Facebook will need more than a $1 billion investment in Instagram or a wish upon a starry-eyed dream. Does it all come down to data generated by searches, member profiles, and clicks on ads?

Convertro, a cross-channel marketing and optimization company, plans to publish a white paper on cookie stuffing, a phenomenon where marketing affiliates insert their code to receive credit for traffic that would have gone to a company's Web site anyway.

Anything that increases Facebook's stock price is bad for search engine marketers, according to Needham & Co. Managing Director Laura Martin. For starters, the events pushing up the price move clicks from the open Web behind closed walls.

Mickey Mouse, palm trees and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Americans will head for those destinations this summer -- so search engine marketing might want to start thinking about serving up paid-search ads that tie into entertainment, sun and fun.

Digital audience targeting company Collective began running ads this week on New York City trash trucks and on bus shelters, telephone kiosks, and newsstands close to ad agencies with campaign messages like "Is This Where Your Ad Dollars End Up."

Microsoft's Duane Forrester offers tips to search engine marketers for avoiding getting hit hard by Google's Penguin and Panda updates. While he fails to mention Bing's rival by name, the post -- titled "Penguins & Pandas Poetry" -- clearly serves up advice on how to manage continually changing algorithms that influence a company's Web site structure and query rankings.

Some 76% of people search in two or more languages, according to a study released this week from digital marketing agency Greenlight. The data, which breaks down into occupation and country, provides insight to be considered when designing paid-search campaigns or Web sites to appeal to a specific audience. This is similarly true when linking to content on Facebook, Google+ or other social sites.

Think of Google's Knowledge Graph as an infant, growing and learning as it develops. It could take years before the industry realizes the technology's full potential. Semantic search means having the ability to ask complex questions and get accurate answers by cross-referencing data.