The Week in Review

17 Million Tablets Shipped in 2010

According to IDC, 4.8 million tablets were shipped in the third quarter of 2010, up 45 percent from the 3.3 million units shipped in the previous quarter. The iPad accounted for roughly 90 percent of the tablets shipped worldwide in that span. IDC expects that nearly 17 million tablets will have been sold by the end of last year. In 2011, it could grow to 44.6 million, with 40 percent of that being sold in the U.S. (paidContent.org)

What Parents on Facebook Mean for E-mail Marketers

Parents joining Facebook isn’t just an awkward trend to get squeamish at — it’s a call for e-mail marketers to tailor their social and e-mail integration efforts with an eye toward older subscribers. (MediaPost)

Facebook Backs Off of Sharing Addresses and Phone Numbers — for Now

Just days after announcing that developers would be allowed to access users’ phone numbers and addresses, Facebook is putting the feature on hold to give the company time to make the process clearer to users. (VentureBeat)

Facebook: $1.86 Billion in Ad Revenue in 2010

According to an estimate from eMarketer, Facebook raked in $1.86 billion in worldwide advertising revenue, an 86 percent boost from its estimated ad revenue in 2009. Sixty percent of the 2010 figure, or $1.12 billion, was earned from smaller companies, "those more likely to be using self-serve tools rather than work through a media agency." (AdAge.com)

The Dawn of Paid Search Without Keywords

New ad formats, an emphasis on display and a local PPC push will all lead to 2011 being a game-changing year for paid search. Search marketers have become accustomed to "buying based on intent as expressed in the search query." In paid search without keywords, intent is just one of five ways we’ll target prospects, along with audience, business type, product and behavior. Though keywords aren’t going anywhere, "it’s clear that everyone needs to get comfortable with audience based buying, starting first with retargeting." (Search Engine Watch)

CPM Trends in Display in 2010

Publishers’ concerns that display exchanges would push down CPMs could be "offset by the increased demand from evermore market participants looking to take advantage of the new opportunities in the display channel." In fact, since the summer, CPMs have doubled through November. (Efficient Frontier)

Paid Search Benchmarks (or the Lack Thereof)

While it’d be wonderful to be able to compare your paid search program with the likes of others in your industry, the problem is that helpful, objective benchmarks don’t exist. Focus on your own data, practices and account. (Search Engine Land)

5 Reasons Why Your Site Isn’t Getting Leads

Here are five reasons why small and medium-sized business websites fail to attract customers and how you can overcome them. Among the reasons are no sign of life, people not being able to find you and the lack of a point of differentiation. (Reuters)

Facebook Developers Can Get Users’ Phone Numbers and Addresses

Concerned consumers and Facebook haters can get their pitchforks and torches ready again: the social network is enabling developers to request permission to get users’ phone numbers and addresses. "Though the risks are high, Facebook should not impede innovation for fear of spammers, but instead push forward while minimizing negative outcomes by helping users make more informed decision." (WebProNews, Inside Facebook)

DoubleClick Ad Exchange Improves Large Publishers’ Advertising Returns

According to a whitepaper Google released, "when publishers make ad space available in the Ad Exchange, and the Exchange wins the auction, publishers generate, on average, 188% more revenue compared with indirect sales to ad networks and other third-party buyers." (Official Google Blog)

Search and Display in 2011

Search marketing has become the largest piece of digital marketing, thanks to its auctionability, trackability and instant gratification. In 2011, marketers need to know how to put the pieces of the puzzle together and build a holistic approach with search and display tactics. Here are some tips in the most exciting time of search and display marketing. (Search Engine Watch)

Google’s Mobile Keyword Tool Could Make 2011 the Year of Mobile Marketing

Google’s Mobile Keyword Tool has a magical stat: mobile query demand. Mobile marketers have powerful data available to them, which means that 2011 will be the year of mobile marketing. (Search Engine Land)

Will Search Drive Mobile Ad Revenues?

According to BIA/Kelsey, mobile ad revenues in the U.S. will reach $2.9 billion in 2014. While SMS and display ads generate the most revenue in the mobile realm, search is expected to eclipse those two categories in the next five years. (Search Engine Watch)

The Science of the Hashtag

For Twitter users, the almighty hashtag is no small deal. A Twitter employee shares a case study (regarding #LessAmbitiousMovies and #LessAmbitiousFilms) in just how powerful hashtags can be. The moral of the story is that “getting a great hashtag in front of the right audience is more important than getting it in front of a big audience.” (Twitter Media)

Social Media ROI is Critical This Year

According to a survey conducted by Altimeter, 48.3 percent of social strategists say that creating ROI measurements is the top internal social strategy objective in 2011. Internal education and training (37.3 percent), determining an organizational model (34.7 percent) and applying social insights to product road maps (34.7 percent) are also top objectives. (eMarketer)

Bing Sees 5% Boost, Enhances Auto Answers

According to the latest numbers from Experian Hitwise, Bing saw a 5 percent month-over-month boost in the number of searches it handled in December. The search engine has also added car listings to its already-helpful auto results. (Hitwise, Search Engine Land)

E-mail = Papers?

The recent government order for Twitter to turn over private information about users associated with WikiLeaks digs up a big question: "Should personal information that people store online, from e-mail messages to photos to location updates, be treated the same as telephone calls or paper documents stored in a person’s home?" Right now, they’re not. (NYTimes.com)

Predictions for SEO in 2011

Here’s a roundup of what some pundits from The Search Agency think about what to expect in the realm of SEO in 2011. Among the forecasts are a continuation of the Google landgrab, Bing’s continued emergence as a competitor to Google and increased pressure to show ROI. (The Search Agents)

Becoming a Search Ninja

Simply searching on Google is for noobs. Read this post to learn how to harness the power of advanced search tactics (filetype:, intitle: and more) to find what you’re really looking for. This is just Part 1. (ZDNet)

Android Surpasses iOS in Ad Impressions

According to Millennial Media, Android has leapfrogged iOS in terms of ad impressions, breaking a two-month tie. Android boasted 46 percent of ad impressions in December, while iOS followed with 32 percent. Android also widened its lead in ad revenue from applications to 55 percent to 39 percent for iOS. (GigaOM)

Social Gaming: $1.1 Billion in 2011

According to a forecast by eMarketer, total social gaming revenues in the U.S. will reach $1.1 billion this year and $1.3 billion by 2012. By 2012, 59.9 percent of this will come from virtual goods, 20.5 percent from advertising and 19.6 percent from lead-generation offers. (eMarketer)

Ad Disclosure Icons

Last week, Specific Media became the first Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) member to begin using the Advertising Option Icon across all its online display ads. “Clicking on the icon in or around an ad unit lets consumers read disclosure statements regarding data collection and use associated with that advertisement. Consumers also can opt out and stop receiving future behaviorally targeted ads from the company.” (MediaPost)

Google vs. Bing: The Fallacy of the Superior Search Engine

It’s hard to think that Google’s dominance is based on its ability to return superior search results. Here’s a small “test” to see how, for instance, Google stacks up against Bing. The quick and dirty conclusion is that Bing won. But what about the likes of Facebook and Quora? SEO is surrounded by a lot of big questions. (Search Engine Land)

New AdSense Interface Features

Among the new feedback-driven changes to the AdSense interface are an updated blocking drop-down selector, “Ad requests” as a name for ad unit impressions and queries, and updated definitions for ad types. (Inside AdSense Blog)

Verizon iPhone: Good for the Overall Mobile Ad Market

The Verizon iPhone is poised to be a game changer in more ways than one. The CEO of Greystripe expects that advertisers will now be able to reach 50-70 percent more of their target customers thanks to the number of new iPhone users expected. He even expects iPhone ad impressions on his company’s network to double this year. For application developers and publishers, “It presents an opportunity for at least doubling ad revenue in 2011 alone.” (ClickZ)