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Google Wants You To Have Music and Games Wherever You Go

posted on May 17, 2013

15-14_33_36-01-IMG_0054Google just wrapped up their developer conference and I’m about to wrap up my coverage . . . for now. Google introduced so many new ideas this week, it’s hard to say which will still be important a month from now or a year from now. But for the moment, there are a few more significant upgrades that I wanted to discuss.

First, let’s talk about Google’s move into the world of streaming music. It’s called Google Play Music All Access – which doesn’t exactly roll trippingly over the tongue. Perhaps we should call it GPMAA? Before GPMAA, you could only use Google Play to stream music you purchased through the system. Now, you can listen to just about anything for the low, low price of only $9.99 a month.

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Google’s AdWords Express Gets a Makeover

posted on May 17, 2013

Google-Adwords-Express-Logo1Google’s AdWords Express which is designed to help small businesses take advantage of paid search by literally doing the heavy lifting for them through placement of ads on behalf of the advertiser, got a facelift of sorts.

Google is on a push to make things more beautiful and efficient. I get it in theory but the whole beautiful part sounds so forced although it is a company mantra these days.

The Inside AdWords blog tells us

Today, when you log into AdWords Express, you’ll notice a brand new look. We’ve listened to your feedback and worked with a lot of small businesses to streamline the AdWords Express experience. It’s part of our ongoing efforts to make Google products more beautiful and efficient.

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Google+ Updates from Google I/O

posted on May 16, 2013

Google-Plus-Glossy-IconThe news was flying fast and furious out of the Google I/O event yesterday. If you missed Matt McGee’s live blogging you missed more than a few chuckles but hey, that’s the way the Google Glass crumbles (yup, that was awful).

As we often do here at Marketing Pilgrim, we will turn over some of the reporting to Google itself regarding changes in Google+. Until these changes are realized by all it seems pointless to analyze or predict what they do or don’t mean. Besides, my crystal ball is in the shop following it’s prediction that Justin Timberlake would make MySpace relevant again.

So here is a series of videos to bring you up to speed on the new and improved Google+. Enjoy.

First up from the Google+ blog post about the changes covers

A multi-column layout. You’ll see one, two, or three columns of content depending on your screen size and orientation.

Awesome-sized media. Photos and videos can fill the entire width of the stream, making it easier to scan, and nicer to look at.

Delightful animations. The sharebox bounces, the menus slide, and the cards flip and fade — just to name a few.

Next up is a look at related hashtag implementation

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[Infographic] In a Mobile World Customer Reviews Matter More Than Ever Before

posted on May 16, 2013

customer-feedback-matters-previewThe Internet world is indeed a mobile world. There is no longer proof needed for that to agreed to amongst any marketers.

What that mobile world has created, however, is a brave new world for the consumer who now wields more power than ever. That power comes mostly in the form of reviews of a business’ products and services. It all leads to a customer who can voice great joy or great dissatisfaction with a business and that is power.

According to Gib Olander, CEO, Local Viewpoints,

Word-of-mouth advertising has long been recognized as the primary factor behind 20% to 50% of all purchasing decisions; in today’s mobile friendly, digital world, consumer testimonials and online reviews have become the default way within search results for consumers to judge the viability of a business to meet their needs.

The folks at Local Viewpoints put together an infographic to help further explain this reality of today’s online world.

Here it is.

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Pinterest Adds Duplicate Warnings on Site and Search Features on Mobile

posted on May 15, 2013

Want to know something Pinteresting? America’s favorite image pinning site just added a bunch of new features on the web and on the mobile app!

Okay, I can’t take credit for the whole “pinteresting” usage, but it’s cute, it works, so let’s run with it. . . straight to the website.

pinterest repeat

This is Pinterest’s new duplicate warning system. It will pop up and warn you when you’re about to pin something you already pinned. Pinterest says users have been asking for this feature which is funny because there are billions of images in the world, so what are the chances that you’d accidentally pin the same image twice?

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[Infographic] Do Facebook Friend Recommendations Influence Purchasing?

posted on May 15, 2013

Our friends at PPC Associates have put together an infographic to hopefully clear up the age old (as in the social media age) question about the importance of recommendations in the purchase process.

We don’t know for sure but we sure do ‘like’ this infographic and we hope you do as well.

facebook-purchasing-infographic-final-791x1024

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Microsoft’s Animated Skype Opera Uses Story to Showcases Ad Opportunities

posted on May 13, 2013

skype proposalBuying and selling advertising space isn’t very entertaining. It’s all facts and figures, boxes and percentages – it’s boring. Sorry, ad sellers, it is. . . but it doensn’t have to be.

Microsoft UK set aside the facts and figures in favor of a sweet, animated video series called a SkypeOpera. These digital shorts use storytelling to show how effective advertising on Skype can be. The current series is called Skype: The Proposal. It’s a five-part series featuring Charlie and Lizzie. Charlie wants to create an amazing proposal experience but things never go as planned.

In each episode, the couple uses Skype to get in touch with each other and with friends. Along the way, they encounter all the different types of Skype advertising. Each ad is perfectly tailored to their current situation (of course) and contrived though it may be, it’s still a solid example of how Skype ads can work for your business.