Twitter To Start Including Promoted Accounts In Search Results

Twitter announced the launch of a new feature today giving Promoted Accounts a more prominent home by including them in search results. Promoted Accounts are an ad unit that allow you to give your tweets special placement in the timelines of users who follow you, as well as have your account show up in the “Who to Follow” list to be seen by users who don’t follow you.

Now another benefit of Promoted Accounts will be special placement in Twitter’s search results, similar to what Twitter has already been doing with Promoted Tweets. They also come with precise targeting options, you can target your Promoted Account to reach more people who are similar to your current followers, or you can target by demographics and interests.

With this launch, relevant Promoted Accounts can be presented to users in search results along with recommendations of people to follow. We automatically select relevant search queries for presenting Promoted Accounts based on an advertiser’s targeting choices, so no additional action is required for your business to access this capability.

As Twitter is built around conversations of events around the world unfolding in real time, one of the best ways for users to instantly find out what’s happening at that moment is through search. Search is now also a powerful way for marketers to connect with customers.

Based on an August 2013 study, 72 percent of consumers said they’re more likely to buy from a brand that they follow on Twitter.Also, 34 percent of those surveyed interacted with a brand after seeing an ad with their Twitter handle. So there are proven benefits to reaching more people on Twitter through Promoted Accounts.

See Who’s Posting From Your Facebook Page With Facebook’s Latest Feature

Facebook has quietly launched a new feature designed to make Page Managers accountable for their individual posts on a Facebook page. If you’ve ever managed a Facebook page along with several other admins you’ve probably had a “I wish I knew who posted that” moment at least once.

With Facebook’s new feature you’ll know exactly who posted it. The name of the publisher will appear underneath the company name, visible by all admins.

This information will show up whether the post was made directly on Facebook, or through a third-party app like Buffer. Another thing to note is that the feature is not retroactive, it will only show up on posts made on or after February 20, 2014.

It looks something like this:

The information showing who made the post is only accessible to other admins, it’s not made publicly available. As you can see it’s a small update but extremely important for Facebook Page managers.

Knowing who published specific posts is great for assessing an individual’s performance on Facebook. If your business has multiple people in charge of posting on Facebook you’ll know who’s publishing posts that really click with your audience, and who might need a little extra social media training.

On the flip side of that, if someone publishes a posts that really makes your company look bad, whether accidental or not, you’ll be able to hold them accountable. This is a small, but necessary update to make everything run a bit smoother.

Matt Cutts Answers If Google Uses EXIF Data From Pictures As A Ranking Factor

Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, answers a question about image search in his latest Webmaster Help video where a user writes in to ask:

Does Google use EXIF data from pictures as a ranking factor?

Before getting to Matt’s answer, let me explain a little bit about what EXIF data is. I’ll be the first to admit I had no idea what it was, so I had to do some research. I’m sure there’s many others who aren’t familiar with it, If you’re not an avid photographer you may not have heard of it.

I found this info via exifdata.com

EXIF is short for Exchangeable Image File. Almost all new digital cameras use the EXIF annotation to store information on the image such as shutter speed, exposure compensation, F number, what metering system was used, if a flash was used, ISO number, date and time the image was taken, whitebalance, auxiliary lenses that were used and resolution. Some cameras may even store GPS information so you can see where the images were taken!

Does Google use any of this information as a ranking factor? Matt says Google reserves the right to use EXIF data in order to help people find information about an image. In a previous version of image search, Google used to show this information in a sidebar when it was available.

Google reserves the right to use this information in rankings as well, Matt says, which sounds as though it’s not currently a ranking factor but could be in the future.

Matt suggests to embed EXIF data in your images if the option is available with the camera you’re using. If there’s a demand for people being able to search by EXIF data, such as camera type, it could be a useful source of information. Matt adds you shouldn’t worry about adding EXIF data if it’s not there already.

To hear Matt’s response in his own words, please see the video below:

Bing Updates iPhone App With New Search Widget, Bookmarks Manager & Shake Feature

Within a week of releasing three new Windows phone apps, Bing announced a series of updates for its iPhone app, including a search widget to help with navigation, new image tiles, and a shake feature to see what stories are trending.

According to the announcement, the new Bing iPhone app search widget has four buttons, allowing users to: return to the homepage, do a voice search, perform a text search, or view recent searches.

Bing’s iPhone app also now lets users do multiple searches, and manage recent searches from the “Recent” page:

Swipe a tile off the screen if it’s no longer relevant, open a new one to do a new search, or close them all.

Bing has also added full screen tiles to display trending queries and images:

Bing says users can now open search results via the browser, or bookmark sites and open them within the app using the new Bookmarks manager.

 

The Bing iPhone app’s new shake feature lets users shake their phone to see new trending stories. The app’s auto-suggest feature has also been updated, letting users expand search query items.

Oracle To Buy BlueKai, Adding A Data Management Platform To Its Marketing Cloud

Consolidation in the marketing cloud continues. Today Oracle announced it has signed an agreement to buy BlueKai, the data management and analytics solution that fuels personalized cross-channel marketing campaigns.

According to the press release, “BlueKai will be integrated with both Responsys for B2C marketing automation and Eloqua for B2B marketing automation in order to deliver orchestrated and personalized customer interactions across all marketing activities and channels.”

Oracle adds both BlueKai’s data management platform (DMP) and mobile DMP to its cloud stack with the acquisition.

BlueKai’s Audience Data Marketplace, the biggest of its kind, gives marketers access to third-party data sources. That piece will be integrated with Oracle’s Marketing and Social solutions.

Steve Miranda, Executive Vice President, Applications Development at Oracle said, “The addition of BlueKai to the Oracle Marketing Cloud enables marketers to act on data across both known customers and new audiences and precisely target customers with a personalized message across all channels.”

The acquisition is one of a string Oracle has made recently to boost its cloud-based stack, including B2C marketing platform Responsys in December 2013 for roughly $1.5 billion, and marketing automation platform Eloqua for some $810 million and social marketing solutions firm Virtue for roughly $300 million in 2012.

The BlueKai deal is rumored to be valued around $400 million.

Google Launches Private Ad Exchange With The Local Media Consortium

Google announced today a deal with the Local Media Consortium, an industry alliance comprised of more than 800 daily newspapers and 200 local broadcast stations. Google will offer the publisher group access to a suite of its ad products.

The most significant aspect of the deal is the launch of a new private ad exchange, powered by DoubleClick Ad Exchange technology. The exchange will allow the local publishers to attract programmatic ad budgets and give advertisers a way to buy local at scale. Google says the exchange will offer 10 billion monthly impressions from video and display inventory.

The Local Media Consortium members will also have access to the DoubleClick for Publishers ad management platform and the option to run AdSense ads on their sites.

Local Media Consortium members include individual properties as well as publishing groups such as Hearst Communications, Cox Media and the McClatchy Company.

Boost Traffic, Rank, Engagement & Sales – Attend SMX West In Two Weeks!

SMX West returns to San Jose in just two weeks! Here is what’s in store:

Up-to-date Tactics: SMX West sessions provide you with the latest tactics to cope with algorithm changes, understand evolving paid advertising options and leverage emerging platforms and opportunities. See the agenda.

Expert Faculty: Over 100 of the best minds in internet marketing will share what makes them successful in SEO, paid search, social media marketing and more. Take a look at who’s speaking!

Indispensable Networking: Connect with others who share your interests at the structured and social networking events woven into SMX West. Check out the details on all networking events here.

Best-of-breed Solutions & Tools: Visit the SMX Expo Hall and review the latest tools and solutions to help you reach your audience, convert your visitors and optimize your results. View the list of exhibitors and sponsors.

Register by March 10 and save with pre-conference rates. Three day All Access passes are an incredible value at $1695. Other passes are also available, including free Expo+ passesfor.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Offers Upgrades But May Not Excite

At a Mobile World Congress press event today Samsung unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, two new smartwatches and a fitness wristband.

The new S5 outmuscles the iPhone 5S in terms of specsbut it doesn’t appear significantly different than its predecessor from a design standpoint. It’s a solid improvement over the S4 though it may not electrify smartphone buyers.

The same was said about the iPhone 5S, which sold extremely well in Q4. The iPhone 6 is supposed to be announced this summer and released in the fall.

We’re not in Barcelona and have not had “hands-on” time with the handset. However, reports and press materials indicate the following list of upgrades from the S4. These are the highest level changes:

• A slightly larger (5.1″) screen
• Front and rear cameras with more megapixels (16MP in back)
• Improved camera and screen technology
• Longer battery life, faster processor
• A “soft touch” surface on the back, similar to original Nexus 7 instead of plastic
• A new fingerprint unlock sensor (a la the iPhone) and a heart-rate monitor
• A number of proprietary software improvements, including S Health
• Water resistance (the phone can apparently be submerged briefly without damage)

Because Samsung is the dominant Android handset maker and such a marketing juggernaut the device is all but guaranteed to sell well. Yet expectations are almost as high for Samsung now as they are for Apple. And despite selling tens of millions of units last year, S4 sales were still regarded as something of a disappointment by investors.

Many reviewers and consumers didn’t see the the Galaxy S4 as a significant upgrade over the S3. By the same token the S5 is physically quite similar to the S4, although its performance will be improved.

Samsung had been trying to differentiate its phones from other Android makers in part with increasing amounts of proprietary software. However Google reportedly succeeded in getting Samsung to “dial it back” recently and thus make its phones less unlike other Android devices.

Samsung and Google have had at times a fraught relationship behind the public statements of mutual admiration. The latest expression of that is the Korean company’s decision not to use Android in its second-generation smartwatches and instead go with its own operating system Tizen.

AdStage Adds Optimizely And Other Ad Solutions To App Suite, Launches New API For Marketing App Devs

AdStage, which launched just last year, is aiming to loosen the grip Marin, Kenshoo and Adobe have on ad management by giving SMBs self-serve access to an ad management platform and third-party advertising tools. Advertisers can create and analyze campaigns across a suite of networks including Google, Bing, LinkedIn and Facebook  simultaneously and plug into a number of advertising tools including ReTargeter, Unbounce, MixRanks and ThinkStock through its app system.

This week at LAUNCH festival — where it won “Best Business” last year –the companyannounced the addition of new tool providers to its app suite including Wordtracker for keyword discovery and Optimizely for landing page optimization. Ad Scrambler, AdStage’s own tool allows advertisers to launch and test creative across networks automatically, is also new to the app suite, bringing the total number of apps offered to 10.

AdStage also launched a new App Partnership Program which will allow marketing app developers to integrate into AdStage with a new API. App partners can manage, market and monetize their apps to advertisers on AdStage through the app gallery and co-marketing campaigns.

“Our goal with apps isn’t to create a massive marketplace,” said Sahil Jain, AdStage CEO and co-founder. “The idea is to bring the most relevant and high-value cohort of apps under one roof for paid marketing, make them easy to access within the context of campaign management and extend the feature set of AdStage for our users.”

AdStage, still in beta, is offering advertisers access for $99 a month after a 30-day free trial. The company also secured $1 million in seed funding by Digital Garage, bringing its total funding to over $2.5 million since launching last year. The company is focusing on growing its user base, adding support for more ad networks and ad types and plans to grow from a team of 11 to more than 20 by year-end.

As LG, HTC Prep Smartwatches, Samsung Ditches Android On Its New “Gear” Devices

The promised Google and Apple smartwatches have yet to materialize but there are at least half a dozen other offerings already in the market from Samsung, Qualcomm (Toq), Pebble, Sony and a couple of others. None have broken through to mainstream awareness or adoption.

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear device was the most visible of this group of “1.0″ smartwatches. However it was rushed to market (to beat Apple) and generally panned by reviews. Simultaneously too ambitious and not ambitious enough, in terms of user experience and design, many were sold but it fell dramatically short of expectations.

Galaxy Gear sought, perhaps too expansively, to be a new computing platform for mobile developers. The new generation of Samsung’s smartwatch is called simply called “Gear,” ditching the “Galaxy” label.

Samsung also ditches Android in favor of its own OS Tizen for the new Gear devices, which include Gear 2, Gear Neo 2 and Gear Fit. That was a very interesting choice and once again suggests Samsung’s desire to have independence from Google.

The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are smartwatches very similar to Galaxy Gear in appearance and outward design. By comparison the Gear Fit is a fitness wristband. Samsung unfortunately didn’t discuss pricing for any of these devices.

Right now the most mainstream and popular “wearables” are wristbands such as Fitbit and Nike Fuel Band. It makes sense then that Apple, Google and others would lead with health-related functionality as they prepare their smartwatches.

According to the Wall Street Journal, LG is building the forthcoming Google smartwatch. LG made the Nexus 4 and currently makes the Nexus 5. The specifics of the anticipated Nexus watch’s capabilities weren’t disclosed.

HTC is also building not one but potentially two smartwatches according to Bloomberg. One may be based on the Qualcomm Toq reference design and the other is reportedly built around Google Now. A Google Now-based experience makes sense because it’s about contextual push rather than asking users to solicit information from a watch as they would a smartphone.

The winning smartwatches will offer value (sub $250), functionality and a certain level of aesthetic refinement, which arguably none of the existing designs have yet achieved.