Chris Sonjeow, co-founder and CMO of LoveBook, said the company has seen a 57% increase in return on investment in the most recent year compared with a year ago, working with Google AdWords, Google Analytics and data. It wasn't easy -- and it took work to understand the company's customer base. Here's his story.

Messaging creates a new form of search advertising simply by returning information based on chatbot queries. Last week at the Bing Ads Next event, Microsoft demonstrated how companies like airline ticket site Skyscanner, as well as Delta Airlines, use a chatbot by pulling information from their Web site to answer questions.

Envision a home where glass in kitchen cabinets, on walls and in picture frames doubles as video phones. Where blackboards keep a running tally on the future plans of those living in the household, and smart shelves with sensors tell you why your basil in the potted plant is dying or thriving.

Sometimes markets change consumer behavior and other times companies push that behavior to the market. Think about when Apple dropped the floppy disc and how it shifted the whole industry forward.

Building progressive Web apps isn't easy, especially ones that are easily indexed in Google search results. So Google has published its first set of best practices and recommendations on how to get PWAs indexed, discovered, and ranked higher.

Advertisers have yet to build an open search platform through a PullString chatbot where someone can ask a question and the chatbot would reach out to the Internet for answers, but CEO, co-founder and former Pixar employee Oren Jacob says there are several companies building a customer service chatbot scheduled for release in a few weeks that will reach into a pre-populated database to respond to some questions and queries such as phone numbers and addresses.

Google will show election data in search results on Tuesday after the polls close. The data will include presidential, senatorial, congressional, and gubernatorial races as well as state-level referendums and ballot propositions in more than 30 languages worldwide.

Atlas Informatics has built and released a search engine that reaches across social, email, and apps on devices from phones to computers to find content in attachments, files or folders.

What role do smartphones play in influencing holiday searches and purchases? For me it all starts with my iPhone, Google or Bing, and a tap on the microphone to conduct a voice search. After all, mobile devices will account for 75% of global Internet use in 2017, according to the Zenith Mobile Advertising Forecasts released this week.

Businesses can create a financial opportunity for themselves when they acknowledge customer ratings and reviews on their Web site or by responding to Facebook posts or service-related Twitter tweets, even if it's by a chat bot.