National brands must learn how to build a regular stream of content for people in a specific area they can share with others. This will drive business to local shops and stores -- even for franchise locations. National brands will account for $51 billion of total local media spend by 2017.

U.S. retail ecommerce holiday sales will rise 15% to $61.8 billion this year, projects eMarketer. Sales through mobile devices will account for 16%, up from the data firm's 15% previous estimate. The numbers will have a domino effect on advertising and media buying. As a search marketer, how will you prepare for the increase?

Consumer behavior makes measuring the health of a brand complex. Search marketers must learn how to mine social data that supports other media. Crunching numbers reveals insights into why sentiment changes or remains the same. You might find that a slight change in the Web site sends potential customers packing.

Google bought Motorola's mobile business, in part, for patents. Now Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's business gives the company access to patents. In fact, about 8,500 design patents related to the ownership of the Lumia and the Asha brands, and a ten-year license deal to use the Nokia brand on phones. The company also gains Nokia's utility patents, a portfolio of about 20,000 patents and applications. By the way, the Lumia 1020 phone supports a 41-megapixel camera.

Research from Compete sets out to discover the demographics behind DuckDuckGo. Some of it might surprise marketers, given recent events and adoption by some prestigious organizations. I'm not going to analyze why the search engine appeals more to older, richer men. I'll leave that up to you.

While some experiences are intended to rock your world, drive-in movie theaters simply want to create a feeling of community, similar to online social networks. Many kids can't fathom the feeling -- an outdoor gathering where people would share time and ideas in the real world. The last few drive-in movie theaters near my home in Orange Country, Calif., closed years ago. Honda wants to save the remaining ones throughout the United States.

Marketers have finally caught up to the increase in use of mobile search by consumers. Not tablets, but rather smartphones. Google and Facebook will grab most of the mobile market share.

The need for authenticity in marketing from search to social continues to strengthen. So it seems obvious that information marketers upload to their company's Web site to describe products or services should reflect the actual product or service. Some companies still don't get it. Not only does it discredit the business in the eyes of potential and existing consumers, but eventually the poor ratings and reviews will pull down search engine rankings on Bing, Google and Yahoo. Bernard Luthi, COO, and CMO of Rakuten.com Shopping, offers some advice on building brand advocates.

Search marketers are finding more often that their responsibilities for campaigns expand into other media such as social, display and video. The agency model continues to change, and along with it methods and best practices. The industry also could see consolidation or companies changing their name to reflect the transition. Here are a few insights that marketers need to know.

Microsoft said Friday that long-time CEO Steve Ballmer would retire from Microsoft within the next 12 months after the company chooses a successor. One analyst chimes in with a recommendation for a replacement.