The Week in Review

Google+ Will Never Have Ads

Google’s Bradley Horowitz, chief of Google+, said the search giant’s social network will "never include advertising." This is a bold, hard-to-believe claim, but there’s something to be said search and local makes advertising unnecessary. (WebProNews)

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Crafting an Email Message

Truly benefiting from the power of email marketing requires doing it right. Among the 10 mistakes to avoid are: don’t over-clutter, don’t make it too long, don’t hide your call-to-action, don’t go overboard with images and don’t use outdated images. (MailerMailer Blog)

The 10 Best Comparison-Shopping Engines

After analyzing more than 4 million clicks and nearly $8 million in revenue, CPC Strategy has come up with the top 10 comparison-shopping engines based on "traffic, revenue, conversion rate, return on spend, average cost-per-click (CPC), quality of merchant tools, and merchant response ratings." The list includes Google Product Search, Nextag, Shopzilla and Pronto. (Search Engine Watch)

Facebook Introduces Studio Edge and Creative Council

Facebook unveiled Facebook Studio Edge, which is a place where ad agencies can keep up-to-date on Facebook products and best practices. The social network also introduced its Creative Council, a sounding board for Facebook product ideas and agency needs. (Marketing Land)

Microsoft Shows off New Ad Concepts for Windows 8

Dovetailing with its unveiling of its Surface tablet, Microsoft has introduced examples of potential Windows 8 ad experiences for advertising and publishing partners. It has partnered with creative agencies to come up with the ideas. The featured mock-up shows an Adidas ad occupying a third of the screen. The ad leads to a three-paneled landing page. (Microsoft Advertising Asia Blog, MediaPost)

Facebook Acquires Face.com

In an unsurprising and long-anticipated move, Facebook has acquired facial-recognition technology company Face.com for a price around $100 million. The move could improve Facebook’s mobile tagging options for photos. (TechCrunch, Face.com)

Yahoo Hires Former Google Director to Lead Its Advertising Revenue Efforts

Yahoo has hired former Google director Michael Barrett to help its efforts to re-emerge as an entertainment and information destination that rakes in advertising revenue. Barrett’s job title will be "chief revenue officer." (Reuters)

You Do Not Have Privacy on Facebook

You have to be a fool to believe you’ll have any sort of privacy on Facebook. The social networking site is a free service paid for by advertising, which means you’ll have to accept some "creepy" ads. While "sponsored stories" and similar forms of advertising are illegal in California, those who have a problem with this concept should just stop using Facebook and sites that use similar forms of advertising. (ZDNet)

Facebook Is Working on a Location-Based Mobile Advertising Product

Facebook is working on a location-based mobile advertising product to enable companies to target users with real-time data indicating their location. The company’s vice president of global marketing solutions noted that this development is of special interest to retailers. (Bloomberg)

Setting up a Google AdWords Campaign

If you’re completely new to Google AdWords or if you just need a refresher, this thorough, step-by-step post offers what you need to know about how to set up an AdWords campaign. The first step is to create a killer keyword list, which requires understanding the difference between general and specific keywords, among other things. Then it’s off to using the Traffic Estimator tool and actually creating an AdWords campaign. (HubSpot Blog)

A Review of SEO Effect, a Keyword Research Tool

SEO Effect is a new Dutch keyword research tool. The tools and SEO Effect’s flexibility are its strengths. The tools are divvied up into four groups: research keywords, site optimization, link strategy and monitoring trends. "SEO Effect works around the concept of multiple, flexible assets within a campaign." (Search Engine Watch)

Vendors vs. Consultants

If you’ve ever wondered what the differences are between vendors and consultants, this Whiteboard Friday session is for you. Vendors talk strategy with the client then informs the tactics, tools, implementation and reporting done for the client — strategy is coming from the client. Consultants receive the business goals from the client then communicate the strategy back to the client — they also potentially manage vendors. (SEOmoz)

A Really Nice Trigger Email

Here’s an example of a great trigger email, courtesy of Crate & Barrel. The email included care instructions and is a brilliant way of keeping the conversation going. (Responsys New School Marketing Blog)

Is Google’s New Local Ratings System Costing Businesses Clicks?

Some local businesses might be losing a significant number of clicks due to Google’s switch from its star-rating system to its current Zagat scores for local search results. The problem may be partly attributed to using Zagat scores, traditionally for restaurants, for all types of businesses; and the red font. (WebProNews)

A Microsoft-Branded Tablet Is on the Way, for Better or Worse

Microsoft doesn’t exactly have a bright history when it comes to its own hardware, but that isn’t stopping the company from unveiling its own iPad competitor next week. Releasing its own branded tablet would mean Microsoft would be competing against other Windows tablet makers, something that didn’t work out well when it released Zune. Also, this could mean no one is willing to make a Windows RT tablet. (VentureBeat, PCMag.com)

How to Tell if a WordPress Theme Is Good for SEO

Despite claims made, not all WordPress themes will help your site’s search engine rankings. But how do you tell which ones actually are actually good for SEO? Among the things to keep in mind, look out for and do are: don’t use any Flash-based templates – ever; a solid site map; and categories over dates for archiving. (Smashing WordPress)

Twitter Extends a Lifeline to the Content Industry

Twitter recently enabled users to listen to SoundCloud sounds right on Twitter.com. The social network is stepping up its game as it encroaches more and more on Facebook’s territory. Content providers should dig Twitter’s approach more than Facebook’s. (GigaOM)

The 5 Forces of Keyword Competition

Porter’s Five Forces analysis can help marketers and SEO pros forecast and understand the competitive intensity and rivalry for keywords. Here’s a look at the “Five Forces of Keyword Competition”: 1) entrants, 2) suppliers, 3) buyers, 4) substitutes and 5) competition. (Search Engine Watch)

Google, Twitter and Facebook Team up to Fight Bad Ads, Malware

Google, Twitter and Facebook are among big-name Internet companies putting their weight behind a nonprofit campaign aimed at fighting back against bad ads, malware and online trust issues. StopBadware is partnering with these and other companies for these causes. (The Next Web)

Facebook Will Unveil Real-Time Bidding for Ads

Facebook is planning to introduce real-time bidding for sidebar ads on its site, something Google and other Web companies have used. Facebook exchange, set to launch within weeks, will enable advertisers to target specific types of Facebook users based on their browsing history. (Bloomberg, AllFacebook)

Applied-for gTLD Names Announced

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) unveiled the list of the 1,930 applied-for generic top-level domain (gTLD) names, which is set to "change the Internet forever," according to Rod Beckstrom, president and CEO of ICANN. The list runs from .AAA to .Zulu, and includes some gTLD names in other languages. Amazon and Google make frequent appearances on the list of applicants. (PCMag.com, INFOdocket)

SMART: A New Search Engine That Uses Physical Sensors

Computer scientists at the University of Glasgow are working on a project to build a search engine that will get its results from sensors located in the physical world. The search engine, dubbed SMART ("Search engine for MultimediA Environment geneRated content"), would utilize public access to Internet-connected sensors such as cameras and microphone arrays. "By matching search queries with information from sensors and cross-referencing data from social networks such as Twitter, users will be able to receive detailed responses to questions such as ‘What part of the city hosts live music events which my friends have been to recently?’ or ‘How busy is the city centre?’" (University of Glasgow)

How Facebook Could Die

Every great empire falls, and Facebook will eventually follow suit. But when and why will it happen? The emergence of a "parallel Internet," strain imposed by its IPO, privacy, Web 2.0 not going mobile and the difficulty of breaking into the Chinese market could do the trick. (Mashable)

Facebook Unveils Official WordPress Plugin

Facebook has made it easier for WordPress users to integrate the social network into their sites. The official WordPress plugin for Facebook has been launched, and it makes it easier for publishers to socially publish all their posts when pushing content live. The plugin also enables publishers to mention other friends or pages that have been mentioned in the article. (Marketing Land)

How to Create a Killer YouTube Advertising Strategy

Here’s an overview of how to create a YouTube video advertising strategy that is optimized and user-friendly, along with some examples. The various tools available on YouTube include promoted videos, in-stream ads and text overlay ads. (Search Engine Watch)