What device drove the most online traffic vs. sales in the week leading up to Valentine's Day 2014? IBM released data Friday that provides insight into the online shopping trends. The data from its Digital Analytics Benchmark report analyzes mobile traffic, social influence, and sales. It turns out smartphones drove more online traffic, but consumers still love their tablets when it comes to completing the sale.

Type in a URL or click on a link that takes you to a Web page, but the load time takes too darn long, so you close the browser window and try again. This may occur less frequently these days, but it happened to Coca-Cola, Dannon Oikos, Budweiser, Cheerios and RadioShack during the last Super Bowl. The television ads drove an increase in traffic to their respective Web sites following the game, but the sites couldn't support the weight.

Plucking the petals from a daisy will not work to determine the bond a brand has with consumers. Customizing and personalizing paid-search or product listing ad messages will, and rewards to the most loyal will keep them. Several studies and campaigns suggest that having the ability to create a classic campaign produces a timeless message -- one that brands can use to reach many consumers for years. A nationwide survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults found that consumers are more likely to build a relationship with brands when the message matches the individual's behaviors and preferences, and unfolds over …

The same day the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, appeared to be near collapse resulting from a flaw in the software, Microsoft announced conversion tools and charts for the virtual currency on Bing. The search engine rolled it out Monday at the top of the Bing results page, supported by the digital wallet company Coinbase, which lets people use and accept Bitcoin currency. It seems like a mixture between bartering and gold and silver exchanges.

I smile every time someone complains about online ad targeting, and think to myself -- you have no idea what's coming. Advertising industry execs may be concerned about protecting consumer privacy on search engines and publisher sites, but a new breed of automobile will flush all their ad targeting and search retargeting cares away. Apple, Google and Microsoft all have a stake in helping automotive companies connect with consumers, and cars will have the technology to trigger digital billboards while rolling down the street.

Digital ad spend for the Winter Olympics from brands like Liberty Mutual continues to rise and will account for a significant piece of the event's overall ad revenue, but who do advertisers, marketers and brands really reach through the advertising spots?

Some may remember Verizon and other telecommunications companies rolling out platforms several years ago that repurpose television advertisements to serve up on publisher sites for mobile or desktop. Brands just needed to provide the content, and the platforms would do the rest -- sort of like responsive design where the Web site adapts to the screen on the device. Now Jeff MacGurn, Covario VP of earned media and SEO, believes the industry will move toward the same type of concept for content.

Content related to cooking and food is the fastest-growing genre on YouTube for both men and women, per research from Google. Some 370 million views were generated by the top 20 cooking and food channels on the video site in 2013. Last year, the top 20 cooking shows and food channels experienced an increase of 2.4 times in subscriptions.

Marketers continue to struggle with measuring their return on investment in a variety of marketing channels, and the cause remains unclear -- whether it's the speed in which technology develops, the decline in search marketing proficiency, or changing definitions.

Automakers battled it out during the Super Bowl at a cost of $4 million for 30 seconds of airtime, while Edmunds.com offered real-time stats on how the automaker's ads resonated among consumers on the company's Web site. The company analyzed manufacturers experiencing an increase in searches, clicks and shares.