Stephanie Chan says, “Google is reportedly purchasing video game livestreaming platformTwitch for $1 billion. A Google spokesperson has declined to comment on the rumors. Twitch, the world’s largest gaming website and community, lets gamers broadcast their live videoplay for viewers. It’s like the Netflix or Hulu for livestreamed games“. With Twitch, Google Could Dominate The World Of Gaming Videos ReadWrite  [...]

Christina Warren says, “As previously rumored, Google is reportedly going to acquire Twitch for $1 billion. The newest report comes from Dean Takahashi at GamesBeat, citing “sources familiar with the matter.” Although the terms of the deal — and the timing of the announcement aren’t known, Takahashi says the deal is a lock. YouTube will reportedly take control of the acquisition and Twitch will be used to expand YouTube’s global video dominance into the growing segment of users who broadcast — or watch broadcasts — played other users playing video games”. Google’s... [...]

Graham Charlton says, “We’re pretty big on measurement on this blog, and we use analytics to identify key topics, improve our content, and prove our effectiveness.  To this end, we’re big users of Google Analytics, supplemented by paid tools from Moz and others. We use a bunch of custom reports, segments and dashboards for measurement but I’ve only recently come across the Google URL builder, thanks to our Head of Social Matt Owen”. How to use Google Analytics URL builder to track campaigns ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

David Moth says, “All digital marketing activity is measurable. Right? It’s nice to think that’s the case and there are a lot of people who believe it, but unfortunately it’s simply not true. The reasons for this are numerous, not least that companies are struggling to keep up with the constantly shifting digital landscape. In the past digital analytics mainly focused on desktop activity, but now businesses have to employ a broader range of analytics products to measure activity across relatively new channels such as mobile and social”. Which analytics tools do marketers use?... [...]

Kevin Webster says, “It’s fairly simple to come up with a list of “goals” that describe a website’s success. These typically include lead generation, downloads (i.e., coupons, menus, or whitepapers), and ecommerce transactions. Noted web analytics writer and practitioner Avinash Kaushikdescribes these as “macro goals” that are clear and easy to define. But these end points aren’t the only actions a user can take on your website that have value. Enter the concept of a “micro goal.” A micro goal may well be a step in the conversion funnel, such as adding a product to a shopping... [...]

This is a reminder for the Website Magazine webinar scheduled on July 31. Website Magazine is hosting a webinar on Thursday, July 31 at 2.00 pm EDT. The topic of the webinar is “Did Google just penalize me?”. The WM team says, “That’s the first question everyone asks when their traffic drops. The mystique of search engines, and how they do what they do, lends itself to sensationalism. Mainstream media fans the flames with reporting about websites violating terms of service, with results ranging from penalties to page rank downgrades. The truth is, today few businesses... [...]

Christina Warren says, “Google on Thursday finally released a version of Google Analytics for the iPhone. The iPhone app [iTunes link] comes more than two years after Google released Google Analytics for Android. Like the Android app, Google Analytics for iPhone lets users check in on their website analytics — including real-time visitor reports — from the comfort of their smartphone. In addition to real-time and time-based reports, the app can be used to view behaviors, conversions and more”. Finally, Google Analytics App Arrives on iPhone Mashable  [...]

Isia McKetta says, “Write it and they will come. That’s the drum we’ve been beating for a long time now. We optimize our pages and our content to please search engines and cross our fingers and hope that customers will convert. We can do better. But to do it, we have to think beyond Google. Yes, you still need to check all your standard SEO boxes to make your site crawl friendly. Then it’s time to stop catering to the bots and start catering to the users instead. That means we have to—no, we get to—think bigger when we think of SEO. As Rand said in his Whiteboard Fridaylast... [...]

Adam de Jong says, “Everyone seems to know that quality content is the foundation of a strong organic online presence, but everyone can’t always agree on iswhat “quality content” actually means. The mystery is understandable, considering that the search landscape is in the midst of tremendous change and volatility. So what does it mean to produce quality content? More and more, it means creating content that answers specific questions your users have. In the last three years, there have been 45 Google Search algorithm updates, all of which have enhanced the search engine’s ability... [...]

Seth Fiegerman says, “Google‘s venture capital arm is turning its attention to Europe. Google announced on Thursday that Google Ventures will launch a $100 million fund to invest in European startups. The operation will be based out of London. “We believe Europe’s startup scene has enormous potential,” Bill Maris, a managing partner at Google Ventures, said in a statement. “We’ve seen compelling new companies emerge from places like London, Paris, Berlin, the Nordic region and beyond — SoundCloud, Spotify, Supercell and many others.” Google Ventures started... [...]