In January, Facebook will release guidelines geared toward search marketers on how to build creative ads. Facebook Attribution Lead Rob Creekmore at the MediaPost Search Insider Summit said some of the advice focuses on knowing where on the ad to focus the message, allowing the ad viewer to easily recall the brand, and making sure the tone fit with the brand's personality.

If you're a large U.S. retailer, chances are you're already investing heavily in search. Combining those efforts with an intelligent Facebook marketing strategy can increase return on ad spend by upwards of 30%! So Rob Creekmore, attribution lead at Facebook, told attendees of MediaPost's Search Insider Summit on Monday -- citing research that Facebook recently commissioned.

Predictions based on weather data allow marketers in January to determine when consumers will purchase specific products. Not just in January. that's just an example. Demonstrating the power of targeting search ads based on the weather, Vikram Somaya, GM of Weather FX at Weather.com asked MediaPost Search Insider Summit attendees to close their eyes and think of a place with cooler weather. Think about the types of clothes needed, food to eat, travel arrangements. Then change the weather by 20 degrees and go through all the types of clothes needed, food to eat, and travel arrangements again. Those changes reflect …

During the last year, major shifts occurred in the search industry. Many of those changes will be addressed at the MediaPost Search Insider Summit during the next three days. Search happens outside of the search engine. Many of them happen on a mobile device. It forces search engine marketers to multitask in search, social and mobile. Search marketers must focus on good quality content. Search moved from being the step-child to standing on its own, per Rob Griffin, EVP, Global Director of Product Development, Havas Media, during the opening remarks.

At a OMMA RTB Seattle panel, “Better Aim: Improved Targeting Through Better Data and Inputs”, executives mulled the idea of data costs equalling digital media costs  -- in some instances. But down the road many believe prices could drop. “Marketers have had 15 years to evaluate media online; it has been only a few years in evaluating data,” says Jeff Lanctot, president/chief executive officer of Mixpo. “Long term, the cost will probably drop.” When asked whether data costs are now matching media costs in some instances, Jeremy Lockhorn, vp of emerging media for Razorfish, said, for example, …

During the "After the Cookies Crumble" panel at OMMA RTB Seattle panelist David Shim, CEO of Placed, made an excellent point about the value of seemingly precise data -- a consumer's GPS coordinates, you know their physical latitude and longitude.

Digital ad standards continue to be tough to come by for marketers, media agencies, and publishers. As OMMA RTB Seattle moderator, Kevin Ryan, chief executive officer/founder of Motivity Marketing, notes: "It took 13 years to define a click."

Location, location, location. "Transparency" moderator, Kevin Ryan, remembered that adage midway through another anecdote, turning to the OMMA RTB Seattle crowd, and suggesting the audience "google it" to find out for themselves. He caught himself midway, and added, "or Binging it, Microsoft people."

I wasn't exactly sure how Kevin Ryan was going to convert that one, upon introducing the "Transparency" panel at OMMA RTB Seattle, but somehow, he managed to pull it off -- sort of.

Measured by domestic impression volume, programmatic ad buying surpassed direct media buying for the first time, last month. So Gabe Gottlieb, CEO of ad firm Adomic, told attendees of OMMA RTB Seattle, on Wednesday. To be clear, direct still eats up the vast majority of online ad dollars -- because it commands higher CPMs -- Gottlieb noted. Stateside, eMarketer estimates that advertisers will spend $3.36 billion on RTB, this year, and $8.49 billion by 2017 -- or nearly 30% of all display display advertising.