Marketing Google

Have a local business Page on Facebook? Soon you’ll be able to give your Page an official stamp of authenticity.Facebook today started rolling out verified badges for local businesses. The badges come in the form of gray check marks — to differentiate them from the blue checks displayed on verified Pages for celebrities, public figures, sports teams and other media and entertainment organizations — and are available for businesses with a physical location in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.The new badges will display in Facebook search results and Pages in the familiar way:The badges will help people “find the right and authentic accounts” for local merchants, Kirsten Bury, a Facebook product marketing manager for Pages, told Marketing Land. “At scale there will inevitably be duplicates and multiple entries for the same business,” said Bury, noting that there are 45 million business Pages on Facebook. “So this is one way businesses can make it easier for peopl…

Today Microsoft has managed to put on a great show, unveiled the newest Lumia 950 and 950 XL, the Surface Pro 4 and the quite unexpected Surface Book. Microsoft also announced the Lumia 550, but it didn’t talk too much about it, only saying it’s going to be available this December for a price of $139.We already knew pretty much all of the specs of the Lumia 550 thanks to a leak from two weeks ago. The Windows 10 smartphone has a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 210 processor and LTE but the rest of the specs haven’t been yet officially announced.However, if recent leaks are indeed true, then we should expect a 5-inch HD display, 5MP/2MP cameras, 8GB of storage with support for microSD and a 1,905 mAh battery. Compared to the he Lumia 520 and 530, the biggest difference on the Lumia 550 is the larger screen, up from only four inches in previous models to five.The 5-inch device is meant to replace the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL as Microsoft’s budget phone for developing countries, and budget…

It's no secret that Amazon is the retail sector's biggest disruptor. As to why that is, BloomReach research found top-notch personalization to be the e-commerce giant's greatest strength.

via Search Engine Watch

It seems that Microsoft has started to learn how a successful event should look like. And at least in my opinion, what makes an event successful is a surprise launch, and that’s what Redmond has offered us today – the Surface Book, an obvious take on Apple’s MacBooks which have been a big name in the laptop/notebook industry for quite a while.

We knew that there was a Surface Pro 4 in the works, as well as the Lumia 950, 950 XL duo, but we didn’t expect something like the Surface Book to be announced. But now that it’s here, let’s have a look at what it brings aboard in its effort to take on Apple and the rest of the competition.The laptop comes with the latest Intel processors, Nvidia GeForce GPU with GDDR5 memory and 12 hours of battery life. There’s a precision glass trackpad onboard with 5 points of touch. Microsoft claims that it gets the best-in-class key stroke and it also features backlit keys for those moments when you have to work at night.The Surface Book has a 13.5-inch Pi…

Microsoft has finally unveiled its flagship lineup in the form of Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL, and well they look exactly like the leaked images. This time around Microsoft just like any other smartphone manufacturers are sticking to a small and a large screen variant of the Lumia 950 XL device, and this is indeed a nice thing to do.The Lumia 950 is fitted with a 5.2-inch display and the larger sibling 950 XL comes with a larger 5.7-inch display. The Organic OLED display comes with an improvised glance screen which lets user take a look at the important notifications right on their screen without waking up the device and the best part is the claim that this feature consumes Zero battery life. Adaptive antenna technology blends signal from two antennas, so no matter how you are holding the phone connectivity remains unperturbed.Lumia has been sticking to the cardinal rule of providing a well balanced imaging experience and this time around it’s no different. Not only has Microsoft i…

Twitter launched its long awaited curated news product Moments today without any advertising component, but that lack of commercial messaging won’t last long.A Twitter spokesperson told us that the company is talking to brand partners about Promoted Moments and that it would start testing them soon, in “weeks, not months.”“Moments is entirely focused on helping people find and digest great content and stories, on any topic,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “This experience reflects many of the same fundamental attributes that make Twitter so powerful for marketers today – reaching an audience of people who are in a mindset to discover new information, ideas, and stories. With the immersive media canvas within Moments, we believe there will be many opportunities for brands to integrate content and stories in the future.”Promoted Moments will give brands the opportunity to tell complete stories in the multimedia format, which is especially immersive on mobile devices. They will be t…

As it was pretty much expected, Microsoft has unveiled its newest Surface Pro 4 during its event today. The Surface Pro 3 was unveiled back in May, 2014, so Microsoft fans have been waiting for quite a while the release of the Pro 4, but Microsoft was quite busy with Windows 10.But now that Windows 10 is out in the wild, it seems that Microsoft is confident that the Surface Pro 4 too is ready to take on such newly born rivals as the iPad Pro and the Google Pixel C. As it’s usually the case, the newest generation of the Surface Pro is thinner, lighter, and more powerful, but also features larger display than its predecessor.Just like a true flagship tablet, if we can say so, The Surface Pro 4 comes with the latest Intel Skylake processors and Microsoft’s Windows 10 with all of its newest features. The tablet, if we can still call it like that, comes with a fingerprint sensor on the keyboard and Cortana integration inside, which makes it a modern and trendy piece of gadgetry, if you ask…

Mainly driven by increases in broadcast messages, per-subscriber email volume has grown tremendously over the past decade.When I tracked per-subscriber email volume sent by retailers from 2007 to 2012, I found that it more than doubled — from an average of 95 emails during 2007 to 210 emails during 2012. That’s a 17 percent compound annual growth rate, on average.And it’s continued to grow at roughly that pace since. For instance, during the second quarter of this year, email marketing volume from all brands grew 16 percent on average compared to the same period last year, according to Experian CheetahMail research.It’s an impressive growth streak — and a testament to consumers’ strong preference for brands to communicate with them via email versus other channels.It’s also a streak I think is about to end. Here’s why…The sea change that’s occurring in email marketing is that triggered and transactional emails are accounting for more and more of channel revenue.These messages are incre…

Your Twitter feed may look a bit different this morning thanks to a new feature that’s rolled out called “Moments”. This is a format that gives users a quick view of the best stories happening on Twitter at the moment with top Tweets and content around each topic.New! Find the best of Twitter in an instant with Moments: https://t.co/QAKGUSVBbThttp://pic.twitter.com/KAjfkysVKC— Twitter (@twitter) October 6, 2015To enable a moment, users can simply click on the lightning bolt tab on their phones or destop and they’re transported over to a list of ‘happening’ stories. These Moments will be typically the top, most talked about stories that are occurring across the platform. Moments are also categorized by topic so users can choose what to see while looking back on Moments that have occurred over the past few days. Each moment contains a handy progress bar so you can see the length while viewing and amount of Tweets left.Each Moment starts with an introduction that includes a title and de…

The two-year old Snowden-NSA spying revelations have fueled a growing climate of hostility toward Google, Facebook and other US tech companies in Europe. And earlier today the European Court of Justice (CJEU) cited Snowden to kill a long-established Safe Harbor agreement that allowed the transfer and processing of data between servers in the US and Europe.The case has broad implications for companies that do business in Europe beyond the tech sector. As a practical matter every company moving any kind of data or personal information involving EU citizens outside of Europe will need to comply with stringent EU privacy rules. It also potentially “Balkanizes” privacy enforcement across Europe, likely giving country level regulators more power over non-EU entities and corporations.The ruling probably also sets the stage for private legal remedies by EU citizens against corporations doing business in Europe before local data protection authorities and courts. The Safe Harbor agreement had …

The relation between man and machine has always been a pivotal point for the advent of technology, and the fact that robots started getting so much better speaks volumes about the future of droids. Ever wondered what would happen if your smartphone grows a pair of legs and arms? Here is the answer- Sharp’s RoboHon, a cute little robot that is filled to the brim with features. The smartphone sized robot needs to be carried everywhere just like a small girl with a doll, but mind you, the RoboHon is something much more than just a doll. The Robot talks, has an articulated arms, legs and it also has an inbuilt projector.So just to clear out the confusion in the air, Robohon is a smartphone which is also a robot and just like any other smartphones you need to tag it along. Phew! The specifications of the phone seems to be dwarfed by the feats the tiny little bot can perform. The RoboHon is quite heavy at 390 gms and is almost 8-inch tall, which makes it as large as an average tablet. The W…

Windows 10 has been out for weeks — how about some nice new devices from Microsoft to run it? That’s what we’re expecting today in Microsoft’s big Windows 10 device event. We’ll have all the news as it comes, in our live blog below.What’s expected? The Verge has a good rundown that’s been echoed by other publications: new Lumia phones, the Surface Pro 4 and the Microsoft Band 2 all seem safe bets. There may be other surprises, too.The event is being live streamed here at 10am ET. Our live blog begins at the same time, in the box below.

via Marketing Land

The decade of mobile is finally upon us, and that’s leading many to conclude that companies and marketers must make mobile their top priority for communicating with customers.Unfortunately, that’s mobile wrong.Let me explain.In an effort to be more nimble in this theoretical mobile-first world, many marketers have created tiger teams to focus on mobile and mobile development work. The only thing these groups do is concentrate on how to market to people using mobile devices.With smartphones transforming the technology landscape, a wave of enthusiasm for mobile apps has flooded mobile tech companies with new venture capital money. As more VCs seek to capitalize on the trend, they’re pouring money into mobile-only companies to the point where many businesses literally do nothing but mobile.Mobile First Is Not Mobile OnlyThe problem is that many now myopically confuse a mobile-first perspective with a mobile-only world.Some of us may love pizza, while others spend their free time hang gli…

With 100 million monthly active users, Pinterest is a powerful and rapidly growing platform for marketers. A session presented at last week’s SMX East by Intel’s Laura Ann Mitchell and Scott Jaworski, titled, “Why Intel Investments in SEO Paid Dividends on Pinterest,” discussed the following:The company’s data-driven approach to a Pinterest strategy.How to optimize campaigns for maximum engagement in Pinterest.Mitchell manages SEO for Intel, while Jaworski is global social media and digital strategist for the company. The session highlighted some inspirational (and highly actionable) insights on creating engaging content on Pinterest.First of all, I have to say that Mitchell is an incredible presenter. (I had the pleasure of presenting alongside her at last year’s SMX West on “Life After Not Provided.”) She is factual and inspiring, and she really knows her topics well.She also never fails to highlight the work her agency is doing. (Agencies always appreciate that show of support.)Mit…

Whether you use Bing Ads or Google AdWords, these suggestions can help you avoid common grievances that can arise while planning and managing budgets for paid search efforts.

via Search Engine Watch

Apple is the most valuable brand in the world, and Google is No. 2, according to the latest edition of Interbrand’s 2015 Best Global Brands rankings.It’s the third consecutive year that Apple and Google have held the top two spots. Interbrand’s rankings are based on financial performance, a brand’s ability to influence consumer behavior and create loyalty, among other factors. Interbrand gives Apple an estimated worth of $170 billion, up 43 percent over last year’s rankings. At No. 2, Google carries an estimated value of $120 million, up 12 percent since last year.Other tech-related companies in the top 10 are4.) Microsoft, $68 billion, up 11 percent
5.) IBM, $65 billion, down 10 percent
7.) Samsung, $45 billion, unchanged
10.) Amazon, $38 billion, up 29 percentOutside the top 10, notable tech and marketing-related companies on the list include Facebook at No. 23, eBay at No. 32, Adobe at No. 68, PayPal at No. 97 and Lenovo at No. 100. Interbrand says tech companies represent 33.6 per…

Using the patent for "User Path Abandonment Analysis," this examines how Google processes data from user paths, AdWords Quality Score, and discusses the development of an automation system based on user behavior.

via Search Engine Watch

Meizu m2 has been the slightly stripped down version of its popular sibling the Meizu M2 Note. Meizu entered India with its MX5, m1 Note and the m2 Note, and now the company has announced that it will be making the m2 available for the Indian market starting next week. The Meizu m2 boasts of a unibody construction and it comes with a metal finish to bring elegance to the table in the trademark Meizu style.Meizu m2 is equipped with a 5-inch 720p display and GFF full lamination which apparently minimises the reflection and improves the quality of the display. The device is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6735 quad-core processor and paired with a 2GB of RAM. On the imaging front, Meizu m2 boasts of a 13-Megapixel Samsung primary sensor and a 5-Megapixel secondary sensor. The camera software comes with handy features like zero-delay shooting technology and the recently updated FotoNation beautifying feature.The Meizu m2 will run on Android 5.1 wrapped in the company’s Flyme 4.5 UI which i…

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There have been rumors about Apple drastically increasing the prices of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in India as compared to last year’s launch prices for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. And we can confirm those rumors now. The iPhone 6s will start from Rs 62,000 for the 16GB version and will go on till Rs 82,000 for the 128GB, while the iPhone 6s Plus will start at Rs 72,000 for the 16GB and goes on till Rs 92,000 for the 128GB.Last year, the iPhone 6 pricing started at Rs 53,500, while the iPhone 6 Plus started at Rs 62,000. Since then the Indian rupee has depreciated by around 7% to US Dollar, but even considering that, the new prices are rather steep. We should also consider that the Indian government recently increased the import duties of smartphones to around 12% (from 6%) in order to push the ‘Make in India’ campaign. All these have taken a toll on the final pricing.Apple has sent out a circular with updated pricing of other existing models as well. As expected, the iPhone 6 (…

A new report from researcher Aite Group is getting a lot of play on the one-year anniversary of the introduction of Apple Pay. The firm says so far Apple Pay has been slow to take off and asserted that its use impacts just 1 percent of retail transactions in the US.There are various explanations offered for the slow uptake:Limited availability of NFC terminals in retail stores (roughly 19 percent penetration according to Aite)Apple Pay is only available on newer iPhonesLack of exposure/awareness among many iPhone usersThere’s also the oft-heard quip that there’s nothing broken about swiping a credit card at a POS terminal. Yet any experience of using Apple Pay makes that view look silly in retrospect.Apple CEO Tim Cook has said several times, without providing specifics, that Apple Pay has “great momentum.” This Aite report appears at least superficially to contradict that claim. But upon closer inspection it probably doesn’t.The total value of US retail sales is more than $4.5 trilli…

Lenovo unveiled two new smartphones under the new P series at IFA 2015 in Berlin early last month, and it seems both Vibe P1 and Vibe P1m are set to launch in India later this month, most probably in the fourth week (week of 19th October). The two devices are backed by 5000mAh (on P1) and 4000mAh (on P1m) batteries and also come with a dedicated button to switch on the ‘Power saving’ mode. Also, both devices can turn into power banks to charge your other devices. So it’s crystal clear who the target audience are for these handsets.Lenovo has been one of the early pioneers for battery centric smartphones under the P series. But most of these devices came with mediocre hardware (other than the battery, of course). With the new Vibe P series, Lenovo is trying to offer a wholesome package, which can appeal to more consumers.The Lenovo Vibe P1 comes with a 5.5-inch FHD (1080p) display with 401 ppi pixel density and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top of it. The phone is powered by the 64-bit oc…