Brands and agencies invested more ad dollars for search ads running across Google and Bing during Q1 2014, compared with the year-ago quarter, per The Search Agency. Among its clients, investments in Bing grew at 60% during the quarter, about double the rate of Google at 29%.

Some 47% of consumers searched for local restaurants on a mobile device in the past 30 days, followed by 44% for pizza and 38% for retail stores, per a survey from the Local Search Association (LSA) and Thrive Analytics.

Restaurant reviews not only tell us if we're eating healthy, but provide insight into the minds of consumers. A study that appeared in the April issue of the journal "First Monday" provides examples of how scientists could begin using online review tools at sites like Google+, Facebook and Yelp to predict future psychological ailments, depression, and more. Could -- and should -- marketers use these reviews in an audience segment to target other types of products and services?

Search and social compete for ad dollars. Analysts from J.P. Morgan believe this occurs most between Google search and Facebook Exchange, Google display and FBX/news feed ads -- and, in the future, will occur most between YouTube and auto-play video ads.

Just 22% of consumers trust emails from companies or brands, 13% trust ads on Web sites, and only 32% trust ads in any channel, per research released Thursday. Only 30% of consumers participating in a Forrester Research study trust sponsored search engine advertisements from engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Codenomicon engineers and researchers at Google have discovered an Internet security flaw in OpenSSL, the open-source encryption technology used by an estimated two-thirds of Web servers, while testing its own products? The bug compromises the secret keys used to identify service provides and encrypt traffic such as user names and passwords.

How-to searches related to tax preparation rose 37% since 2012, and this year began to trend earlier in the season compared with 2013, suggesting more people are doing the work themselves, per Google. The top five searches related to tax refunds were for specific purchases.

Google already has several back doors into the consumer's living room through television, but the next one will give it a clean line of sight through a Web of Internet-connected devices. Reports now put Android TV at the center of the company's foray into the living room from the Web through a set-top box. The television becomes one of the last cross-channel connected devices that Google needs to gain a complete view of consumer behavior.

Seventy-nine-year-old Mervis Diamond Importers uses site retargeting to connect with consumers looking to purchase fine jewelry. The business model supports a one-on-one connection in the physical store. A major shift in the type of audience segments and content now on the site represents a significant change from the way the retail store reached consumers in the past. Jonathan Mervis, who leads business development for the family-owned business, refers to the strategy as "retargeting an ad based on the buying cycle."

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) has launched a public service announcement (PSA) for its Just Play campaign. The spot features 17 real, amateur musicians playing in harmony Pachelbel's Canon in D. NAMM's aim in putting together the PSA is to encourage people to add music-making into their lives for a positive boost. Here's how the message, along with the music, resonates with consumers.