Some 171 million US Internet users watched online video in January 2011, engaging in nearly 4.9 billion viewer sessions during the month, according to comScore Video Metrix. Google Sites, driven primarily by viewing at YouTube, was the top video content property, attracting 144.1 million unique viewers, followed by Vevo with ... more

You may still be a bit worn out from a crazed holiday season, and you might not want to think about in-depth analysis and reporting. But, as Kelly Lorenz of Bronto says, this is "the perfect opportunity … to improve [your tactics] for future years' holiday seasons." Although Lorenz acknowledges that ... more

"The most successful websites may start with an aggressive initial push to obtain links," writes Samantha Wells at the Daily SEO Tip blog, "but afterwards, it is inevitably the case that those sites retain authority because people willingly link to them. The challenge thus becomes to find influencers and readers ... more

In a recent post at Search Engine People, Wayne Barker notes that keeping up with SEO trends can be truly challenging, even for those who work within the industry. Staying current can be even tougher for small businesses that operate without much of a marketing budget, let alone an SEO ... more

Google's Android operating system (OS) accounted for 40% of smartphone visits to Myxer's mobile content site in December 2010, up from 12% a year earlier, toppling the once unshakable BlackBerry from its leadership position for the first time, according to a report by Myxer. more

Nearly one-half of mobile apps users (47%) say when using apps, they click or tap on ads more often by mistake than on purpose, suggesting that click rates may not be the best measurement of mobile ad effectiveness, according to a survey from Pontiflex. more

Yahoo Sites comprised the top-ranked Web property in December 2010 attracting 181.2 million unique visitors, followed by Google Sites with 179.3 million and Microsoft Sites with 177.0 million, according to comScore Media Metrix service. Meanwhile Amazon recorded its highest month of traffic on record from the holiday shopping surge. more

Some 13.36% of email message opens occur via mobile device with the iPhone comprising more than 65% of that activity on average, according to a study from Knotice, which also finds that mobile email open levels are highest in the early-morning hours but vary dramatically by industry. more

US direct and digital advertising expenditures are forecast to reach $163.9 billion in 2011, up 6.2% from 2010 levels, according to a report from the Winterberry Group. Of that total, digital spending is expected to reach $31.6 billion, up 14.0% from the previous year. more

Google Sites led the US explicit core search* market in December 2010, accounting for 66.6% of total searches conducted during the month, followed by Yahoo Sites with 16.0% and Microsoft Sites with 12.0%, according to data from comScore qSearch. more

Your About page is one of the most important pages on your site, says Lisa Banks in a post at the Site Reference SEO blog. Done right, it can help boost rankings and stimulate inbound links, she notes. Banks' interest in About pages was recently stirred by influential blogger Chris Brogan's ... more

Mobile campaigns continue to be a powerful ad channel for marketers, outperforming online advertising by roughly three times across a variety of metrics, including ad awareness, message association, and purchase intent, according to a study by InsightExpress. more

One way to build trust is to position yourself as an authority on topics associated with your product or service. Blogging helps, but any blogger knows that expert blogging demands research, dedication of time, community management, consistent cross-marketing—and it can take months, even years, to gain an appreciative audience. So you say ... more

Only one-half (50%) of B2B marketers formally measure the return of their online marketing investments, but those who do say online is more effective than traditional marketing channels, according to a report by AMR International. more

Though few consumers actually make purchases using mobile devices, smartphones are playing an increasingly important role in shoppers' buying decisions, particularly when they are visiting physical stores, according to a new study by ForeSee Results. more

You've no doubt optimized your site and marketing materials for top keywords, but have you thought about the influence they can wield in less traditional ways? Consistently optimized messaging across all of your company content—from its name and description to your employees' titles to your site content—helps create an image ... more

The ad recovery is gaining momentum: Total US measured advertising expenditures reached $94.06 billion in the first nine months of 2010, up 6.4% from the same period a year earlier, according to data from Kantar Media. Ad spending in the third quarter was up 8.7% over 3Q09 levels—the largest quarterly ... more

Google's Android mobile operating system (OS) is rapidly gaining market share in the US—particularly among new smartphone buyers—though it hasn't overtaken Apple's iOS, according to a report from The Nielsen Company. more

Though the adoption of emerging Web activities such as social media is still dominated by Millennials, older generations are making sharp gains, according to Pew Research. Moreover, key Internet activities such as email and search are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups. more

Online video is becoming more important as a source of business information and as a driver of work-related buying decisions among today's senior executives: 83% are watching more online video today than they were a year earlier and 65% say they have visited a vendor's website after watching a work-related ... more

In a recent guest post at It's All About Revenue, Brian Posnanski shares tips on finding just the right keywords to boost standings in search results. "Keywords are the ingredient that make content searchable and discoverable," Posnanski notes. That's why TrafficPRM—Posnanski's interactive agency—created the Seven Keys to Keyword Research guide to ... more

Digital media is trouncing traditional channels among up-and-coming Millennials: 81% of affluent Gen-Y adults use Facebook every day—roughly double the number who read newspaper content (45%) or watch TV (44%) daily, according to a new study by L2. Moreover, 45% of such consumers read at least one blog every day. more

With the end of the year comes the compulsion to synthesize what we've learned about the ebb and flow of social media in 2010. Toward that end, John Antonios, writing at the Social Media & Personal Branding blog, has made a list of 100 social media tips to ponder for ... more

"[I]n an effort to reach as many customers as possible at minimal financial cost," writes Mark Smith at Chief Marketer, "many marketers overlook the pricey consequences that can result from sending mass, untargeted emails to their entire audience." To help you avoid that outcome, Smith recommends uplift modeling, which predicts how marketing ... more

Most online adults (61%) say they're aware advertisers use their online browsing history to target ads to them, and roughly two-thirds (67%) say they are opposed to such tactics, even if those tactics help keep Web content free, according to a survey from Gallup and USA Today. more