Social media advertising revenue—now dominated by Facebook and Twitter—is forecast to reach $9.8 billion in 2016, up from an estimated $3.8 billion in 2011, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.0%, according to BIA/Kelsey's US Local Media Annual Forecast. more

What can gardening techniques teach you about growing a keyword plan? Quite a lot, it turns out. "When you plant seedlings, you need to plant them in groups according to how much sun they need and how aerated the soil should be," writes Jenny Halasz at Search Engine Land. "You ... more

Mothers are more present, more active, and more engaged users of social networking sites than other women, according to a study by Performics. Moreover, moms are 45% more likely than other women to say they have made a purchase as a result of a recommendation via social media (42% vs. ... more

Advertisers are warming to Facebook's new social ad formats: Over the past 12 months, the proportion of Facebook ad budgets allocated to "social ads" has increased fourfold, from 5% in March 2011, to 23% in March 2012, according to a report from Marin Software. more

B2B marketers are increasing marketing budgets 6.8% on average in 2012, according to a survey from Forrester Research. Across various industries, gaps in marketing investment growth have narrowed from levels reported in 2011. more

At MIPTV in March, YouTube's Joe McDermottroe introduced the company's latest Creator's Playbook—a bible of video production gold—by giving away tips on how to make the best of your own YouTube video content. While of course it's up to you to produce unique content that captivates users in the first few seconds, ... more

Though Hispanics use smartphones to help with in-store shopping, most tend to visit stores with friends and family, relying more on the opinions of their companions when making purchases and less on user-generated reviews and ratings via smartphone, according to a study by Sensis and White Horse. more

When you work in SEO, it might seem that Google is always trying to trip you up. But that's not really the case, argues Brandignity: "They don't dislike all SEOs because ... we actually help catalog information and pages; that in turn helps their search identify which pages make sense to ... more

More than two in five surveyed global executives (43%) say they "use many apps" on their smartphones and tablet devices with news and weather apps among the most popular, according to a survey from Doremus and the Financial Times. more

Television is still such a big part of people's lives: More than one-half (58%) of those surveyed say they would give up social networking if staying online meant they could no longer watch TV, according to a survey from Ipsos. more

Most brands and ad professionals say video advertising should be more aligned with TV rather than online display, and 48% are already planning TV and video together, according to a survey from Adap.TV and Digiday. more

"I get asked about pay per click (PPC) marketing quite frequently by my full-service SEO and B2B SEO consulting clients," writes Nick Stamoulis in a guest post at the Resource Nation blog. "They want to know how much of an impact PPC is really going to have on their online ... more

Smartphones, Wi-Fi access, and social media have liberated business executives from the confines of their offices; however, the flip side of that freedom is that very few can separate themselves from work after hours, according to a study by gyro and Forbes Insights. more

"Blogs increase your credibility, boost your traffic, and put a personality behind your brand," writes Lindsay Atkinson at the Renegade Search blog. "But how should [a blog] be executed? Should it be hosted on your website or on a completely different domain?" The short answer is: It depends. To help you ... more

Word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations from friends and family and user-generated content (UGC) are sources most trusted for information about the products people want and need, according to a new report by Nielsen. more

Digital Natives, consumers who grew up with mobile technology, subconsciously move between devices and media platforms (e.g., TV, tablets, and smartphones) far more frequently than Digital Immigrants, those who learned about mobile technology in their adult lives, according to a study by Time Inc. more

Tablets are fast becoming the mobile shopping device of choice among consumers: 64% of tablet owners say they have made at least one purchase via their device in the previous six months, compared with 48% of smartphone owners who say the same, according to a new survey by Local Corporation ... more

Pinterest is now the third most popular social networking site in the US, behind Facebook and Twitter, according to a new report by Experian Hitwise. Web traffic to Pinterest surged 50% from January to February of 2012, enabling the invitation-only site to overtake LinkedIn, Tagged, and Google+ in total monthly ... more

"Local search is one of the fastest growing categories of online advertising, expected to increase as much as 10% per year through 2015," writes Jon Schepke in an article at MarketingProfs. And with good reason. Consider the ROI of a local search campaign that Schepke's company implemented for an international hotelier: ... more

Google Android continued to widen its lead in the US smartphone market in February 2012, crossing the 50% threshold to capture a majority share for the first time in its history, according to data from the comScore MobiLens service. more

Online video has moved to the mainstream: 81% of senior marketing executives now use online video content in their marketing programs, up from the 70% who did so a year earlier, according to a report by the Web Video Marketing Council (WVMC) and Flimp Media. more

You've put an SEO program in place—but how can you tell if it's working? "Ultimately, the only factor that determines success is the bottom-line; like any investment, we do not think that our services are truly successful unless we can provide positive ROI," writes Taylor Cimala at the Renegade Search ... more

Despite the high cost of acquiring new customers (vs. retaining current ones), only one-half (49.6%) of surveyed marketing executives say they know who their most loyal customers are and how best to reach out to them, according to new study by Acxiom and Loyalty 360. more

Active "social TV" viewers—people who watch television and simultaneously engage with others via social networks—tend to watch more live TV so they can be part of social conversations in real time, according to a study by iModerate Research Technologies. Social TV is also enabling viewers' desires to influence programming, via ... more

Second- and third-generation Hispanics—American-born and English speaking—now account for the majority (60%) of the nation's Hispanic population, according to a new study by Yahoo. Proud of their ethnicity, such later-generation Hispanics are sensitive to the media's portrayal of their ethnicity, but are far less likely to seek out content tied ... more