Ginny Marvin says, “It’s a common refrain that consumers are moving faster and changing habits more quickly than marketers can keep pace with. We’ve seen it happening in mobile and a new study underscores how businsses are missing out on key connections throughout the so-called “customer journey”. With devices at our fingertips, we want and seek out information in the moment. When companies aren’t there to meet us, well, we quickly move on to the companies that will. In this study, a survey of 600 digitally savvy consumers and marketers commissioned by Kitewheel, a real-time marketing... [...]

Lara O’Reilly says, “Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and five other big names in digital media in the UK are rallying together next week as they bid to steal share of advertising dollars from TV broadcasters – by replicating the same tactic TV broadcasters use to sign huge “upfront” deals with advertisers. They’re hoping to shift tens of millions in spending their way. Next week the UK will host its first “Digital Upfronts”, a week-long event where digital media owners will tout their wares to advertisers and agencies in the hope... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “To make ads copy easier to read, Google is rejiggering how AdSense text ads display on mobile devices. In the new look, shown above, the headline (in blue) and description are bigger than in former iterations. That’s a good thing for users, no doubt. The next step Google’s taken here in the name of a “more interactive experience” is a bit odd. Now a swipe or click on the dot will show the advertiser’s . . . display URL. It seems unlikely users are going to feel a sense of gratification or satisfaction at that reveal for the effort it took to swipe. Presumably... [...]

Martin Beck says, “What does Google+ have that Facebook doesn’t? Starting today, Google’s social network is giving pages and profiles the ability to create and post polls. That’s a feature that Facebook took away from users in 2012 and Pages last year. The Facebook “Ask Question” polling feature is still available on Facebook Groups and some major media partners have access as well, but it’s not generally available to Pages to the dismay of many small business owners. There’s a long tail of complaints about it on this post in the Facebook help community. When it eliminated... [...]

Greg Finn says, “The insanely popular temporary photo and video sharing network Snapchat is on the verge of monetizing the service according to CEO Evan Spiegel. Since turning down Facebook’s roughly $3 billion dollar offer, the social network has been valued near $10 billion dollars, but has yet to capitalize through advertising. According to the Wall Street Journal, the ads will be untargeted, disappearing ads, something that may be a challenge to advertisers. These ads will appear directly within the Snapchat Stories section, between photos and videos from users and won’t be targeted... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Facebook has solidified its position as the top social login provider, accounting for 46% of the industry total, according the third quarter report by online customer management firm Janrain. Facebook increased its share of logins on Janrain’s network by 2 percentage points, its second consecutive quarter-over-quarter gain, and the social network extended its lead over second-place Google to double-digits for the first time since the first quarter of this year. Google’s share dropped 3 percentage points, its second consecutive quarterly decrease. Twitter’s share... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Add another survey to the mix of contradictory data about teens and Facebook. This one — by investment bank Piper Jaffray — found a huge dropoff in the last six months in the number of teens who say they use the social network. How huge? Teen’s Facebook use plunged 72% in the spring of 2014 to 45% this fall. According to these results, Facebook is the third most-popular social network among teens, after Facebook’s photo sharing app Instagram, used by 76% of the 7,200 U.S. students surveyed, and Twitter (59%). The results certainly jibe with the common belief that... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Joining the drumbeat against clicks as a flawed metric for user engagement and interest, Yahoo Labs scientists have published a paper that finds time spent on content items — dwell time — is a better indicator of what people enjoy online. It’s essentially the same argument long made by Chartbeat, the real-time analytics firm that last week announced that “attention minutes” had been accredited by a national metric standards board. Namely, that clicks to a page don’t mean as much as time spent there because people can be fooled by click-bait headlines or just... [...]

Seth Fiegerman says, “Facebook‘s mobile ad business is about to get another boost. The social network announced Tuesday that its mobile ad platform, called Audience Network, is now open to all marketers and mobile developers. SEE ALSO: Ello’s Creator Knows His Social Network Sounds Stupid Audience Network, which was first announced in April, allows businesses to use Facebook’s ad targeting tools to better serve ads on mobile applications not named Facebook. In one example offered by the social network, Shazam used Audience Network to sell native ads in its own app, including... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “Facebook might soon offer the option for users to share with one another completely anonymously. The social network is preparing to launch a standalone app that will allow users to anonymously interact with each other, according to a report in the New York Times. SEE ALSO: 20 Things Your Most Annoying Friends Do on Facebook According to the report, the app will launch in the coming weeks and allow people to use pseudonyms so they can have discussions about topics “which they may not be comfortable connecting to their real names.””. Report: Facebook Readying... [...]