TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT

  • A Nielsen/Facebook study released Friday shows that social media beats television in reaching Millenials and Hispanics.
  • A new service from Amazon lets you print custom tshirts, cups & other swag for your organization–complete with Prime shipping.
  • Yahoo’s ongoing reorg outsources small business and local listings toYext.

And that is what you need to know for this week without the hype.

News You Should Know

Facebook Reaches Millennials
Facebook: We Beat TV for Reaching Millennials, Hispanics

A Nielsen study commissioned by Facebook shows the social network now edges the top 10 TV networks in reaching millennials and Hispanics.

Amazon Launches Merch: Sell Swag T-shirts Printed on Demand
Amazon Launches Merch: Sell Swag T-shirts Printed on Demand

The eCommerce giant Amazon has launched Merch by Amazon, a services that lets businesses and ind…

Yahoo Small Business Turns Over Local Listings Management To Yext
Yahoo Small Business Turns Over Local Listings Management To Yext

Following in the footsteps of MapQuest last year, Yahoo Small Business is outsourcing local listings management to Yext.

Tech in our Lives

How the USGS Detects Earthquakes Using Twitter

Short, urgent tweets help the government separate big earthquakes from those too small to be felt.Facebook Advertising, Yahoo Local

TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT

  • You can now block email senders in Gmail
  • Twitter Buttons Changing to Remove Number of Shares
  • Your next blogging platform may be Facebook Notes
  • Big algorithm changes will affect your Google experience as a searcher and your organization’s prominence over the coming weeks.

And that is what you need to know for this week without the hype.

News You Should Know

Gmail adds Block & Unsubscribe
Gmail adds Block & Unsubscribe

Filtering email from someone was a bit cumbersome for many users so Google has added block and unsubscribe features to Gmail.

Twitter Removes Counts From Buttons
Twitter Removes Counts From Buttons

We advise almost every client to use buttons WITHOUT counts because most of our clients don’t get thousands of tweets and likes on most posts. Anything less looks anemic. Twitter is solving part of that issue by changing its buttons so they no longer include counts. Information for your developers is at the link.

Facebook Notes Becomes Pseudo Blogging Platform
Facebook Notes Becomes Pseudo Blogging Platform

Facebook calls their new feature “beautiful” and “customizable”. Adding the ability for cover photos and formatting changes on a new Facebook notes section is the perfect way to lock in more longer content from people. See samples of the new feature rolling out by clicking this article link.

Google Panda 4.2 Algorithm Rolling Out
Google Panda 4.2 Algorithm Rolling Out

Google has confirmed that the Panda 4.2 update that started rolling out 2 1/2 months ago is still rolling out. The SEO industry is convinced that the update was reversed, but now appears to be back on track. And its twin update Penguin is coming soon. Why should you care? Together, they are two of the most potent Google algorithm changes. This affects your organization’s prominence and your own searches.

TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT

  • New data on mobile usage
  • The 200+ factors accounting for local search
  • Google expanding its hotel advertising portal.

And that is what you need to know for this week without the hype.

News You Should Know

Most Online Time is Now on Mobile

More time on mobile. You knew that, Did you know that millenials on mobile spend an hour each day on Facebook? There is a free report from Comscore at this link with lots of great detail.

Local Search Ranking Factors 2015 - Local SEO and How to Rank in Google - Moz
Local Search Ranking Factors 2015 – Local SEO and How to Rank in Google – Moz

Local marketing experts rank the most important factors that influence Google’s local search algorithm. They evaluated more that 200 signals for local search presence. Did you know there were that many? And that’s why search optimization isn’t going anywhere despite mobile.

Google Hotel Ads Expand to Smaller Hotels
Google Hotel Ads Expand to Smaller Hotels

Google continues broadening its travel advertising offerings in the hotel segment. In addition to information upgrades in the US, Google is adding 24 countries to the program.

Ad of the Week

How This Agency's Completely Blank 4-Minute YouTube Video Got 100,000 Views
How This Agency’s Completely Blank 4-Minute YouTube Video Got 100,000 Views

Still obsessed with YouTube views as the key metric for knowing whether a video really connected with your audience? Not so fast, says ad agency Solve, which embarked on an experiment recently to see whether it could make literally the most uncreative video go viral. HINT: Views is not the metric you are looking for.