Here’s a quick look at what the team at 435 Digital is reading this morning:

Online reviews are so widely used and important to impressions that customers have of a business. Trustworthiness of reviews is good for both businesses and their customers.

Starting Thursday, whenever Yelp catches a business paying a customer or individual for a review, the site will flag that company’s page with a notice that reads, “We caught someone red-handed trying to buy reviews.” Consumers will even have the option to click on the alert and see the fake reviews.

“We want to make sure consumers are making informed decisions,” Yelp said in a blog post Thursday announcing the consumer alert labels. “Yelp’s automated review filter is working around the clock to flag these types of biased reviews, and we believe that you deserve the right to know when this type of activity is taking place behind the scenes.”

Just keep wowing your customers, and those excellent, legitimate reviews will keep coming.

Our SEO department is up on all of this excellent input and advice from Andre Weyher, previously part of Google’s Search team.

Andre Weyher, a former member of Google’s Search Quality team, sat down for an interview and gave some SEO advice. Most of his advice sounds like things that good SEOs should already know, like making sure that linkbuilding campaigns focus on a wide variety of website types and anchor text. But there was also some other interesting gems. For example, according to Wyher, one of the most important things you can do for your website is to make sure it has a good domain name. “Good domain names are expensive for a reason.” Other tips included thinking of a linkbuilding campaign as more of a relationship management campaign, and if you want to please Google with your SEO, don’t make it look like you’re trying to manipulate Google, but as though you’re just really passionate about whatever it is you do.

We’ll be chatting with Google over at their Chicago offices, but we won’t need anyone’s maps to find our way today.

And who doesn’t love a love story on a chilly morning? A man falls for Siri. You knew it was inevitable.

From the author of parody children’s book Goodnight iPad comes a charming new love story about a man who falls for Siri, the woman inside his iPhone.

Siri & Me: A Modern Love Story (Blue Rider Press) by David Milgrim follows a blogger named Dave, who — like many of us — spends the majority of his day in cyberspace. He’s developed a special infinity for voice-command software Siri, noting that she’s easier to talk to than any girl he’s ever met. Well, most of the time…

The post What We’re Reading: Yelp Helps Legitimate Reviews, Google SEO Tips, and a Siri Love Story appeared first on 435 Digital.

Here’s a quick look at what the team at 435 Digital is reading this morning:

Our Social Media and Web Dev departments are both talking mobile a lot. This morning, we hear that 19% of new Facebook fans now come from mobile, which is significant mostly for the huge increase.

Almost one in five new Facebook fans came from mobile devices in August, an increase of 280% in four months, according to a new research report.

PageLever looked at more than 500 Facebook Pages with 100,000 or more Facebook fans and found only 5% of new fans came from mobile in May, but that number jumped to 19% in August.

People’s social activity online is often done on a mobile device, which means that all websites need to be ready for mobile viewing, too.

More on the social front: another Google Penguin update for SEO helps social media.

At least these SEO updates have cute names like Panda and Penguin. The latest Penguin update has been released and it reportedly effects 0.3% of all English websites. For you social media managers you should be thanking Google for Penguin as the Penguin Update helps social media by increasing the quality of content out there. It means your hard work isn’t going unrewarded. . .

Most social media managers don’t believe me when I say there are websites out there flooded with links and spam people land on everyday. I guess they would like to just live in the Matrix or assume they’re too smart to ever land on one of these websites. How foolish. Google has been monitoring the space for years and a simple google search (oh the irony) will showcase how people have manipulated and twisted SEO practices in the past for their personal gain. Did I say personal? I meant profitable. Highly profitable. Like millions and millions of dollars.

We appreciate, and practice, legitimate SEO that holds its value over many years. Thanks, Google!

To continue with cute animals, we have a new baby gorilla right here in Chicago at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

The Lincoln Park Zoo welcomed a new baby gorilla last Thursday, one of the critically endangered Western lowland gorillas native to central Africa. The baby’s sex has not been determined, as it is sticking close to its mother Bana, 17. The zoo says father Kwan has been watchful over the two, and the other gorillas in the group have kept their distance. This is the zoo’s 51st gorilla birth.

We hope that brings a smile to your morning!

The post What We’re Reading: Facebook Fans Are Mobile, Google Panda, and a New Baby Gorilla appeared first on 435 Digital.

Here’s a quick look at what the team at 435 Digital is reading this morning:

Our Social Media department is always on top of things and wants to share this 7 Hot Trends in Social Media Marketing nicely presented by Mashable:

As marketers’ understanding of online social networking evolves, their use of various platforms has become more sophisticated. Many brands and public figures, after ascertaining that consumers respond well to images and humor, for instance, have begun to use both. Others have found that new channels, like Pinterest and Reddit’s “Ask Me Anything” section, are effective promotional tools. We’ve rounded up these and other emerging trends in the social media marketing space. . . .

Our favorite? Brands gain a sense of humor.

Here’s an infographic in case you have not enjoyed one yet today. From Ada Lovelace to Marissa Mayer: The Rise of Women in Tech

Did you know that Ada Lovelace, a computer scientist from England, is considered to be the first computer programmer? With her code-like language, she created a model for Charles Babbage’s analytical engine in the mid-1800s.

Nearly two centuries later, there are some very impressive women working in technology, such as Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. However, women still only make up just 25% of the workforce in STEM — that is, science, technology, engineering and mathematics — careers

This infographic takes a look at some of the brilliant ladies whose contributions to the STEM fields are an inspiration to all women — and men.

This inspiring infographic was created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

And if you somehow missed the excitement that Felix Baumgartner provided the past couple of days, here’s some further analysis of what happened and what it means:

Here, in the midst of our safety-obsessed, earthbound, jaded culture, was a moment that took us out of ourselves, reminding at least eight million viewers who watched live (and millions more who caught it later) what it feels like to push the boundaries of the possible.

Go out there and push boundaries today!

Enjoy!

The post What We’re Reading: Social Media Marketing, Women in Tech, and Pushing Boundaries appeared first on 435 Digital.

Here’s a quick look at what the team at 435 Digital is reading this morning:

Our Web Development department will be happy to see that Mashable has begun beating the drum on mobile development for small businesses:

With increasing numbers of consumers using mobile devices to make their holiday purchases, smartphones and tablet computers may be elbowing aside elves as Santa’s helpers this year, experts predict. But small businesses remain woefully unprepared to attract and engage these holiday shoppers, several new studies show. They’ve yet to climb aboard the mobile bandwagon.

Last year, consumers spent more than $20.7 billion shopping using mobile devices, according to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research. That figure is sure to swell this year, experts said.

Though a mobile or responsive design site seems like a no-brainer in the age of the smartphone, most small-to-medium-sized businesses continue to plod along with sites that are not optimized for mobile viewing. So does your business need a mobile-optimized website? The answer is probably “yes.”

Getting pushback from the higher ups on the importance of search engine optimization? You’re in luck. Search Engine Watch tells you how to prove the value of SEO in ten minutes:

Convincing others of the importance of organic search and the need for SEO management has admittedly become easier over the years. Many have followed suit with competitors to jump into SEO endeavors to keep pace and many are coming to see that online organic ROI often times is much better than traditional marketing, is better targeted and easier to measure.

However, there remains a skeptical, more “old school” crowd, that still needs to be shown the need for organic search devotion. Whether you work for an agency trying to make a sale or on an in-house team tired of not drawing leads, taking a look at your Google Analytics data with this 10-minute drill down on what organic is doing for you can make a great impact.

This terrific piece goes on to instruct the reader on how to answer all the usual and predictable arguments against SEO, including why organic search is important, why direct traffic isn’t the answer, and how to discuss conversion. And if YOU’RE not sold on SEO, you will be by the end of this article.

Finally, if you were rained in like we were yesterday, you undoubtedly spent part of your day glued to your television or laptop, watching a guy jump out of a really, really, really high balloon. Apparently, everyone was watching it, because Felix Baumgartner not only broke three freefall records yesterday, he also broke one of YouTube’s record:

It’s official: Felix Baumgartner’s jump from the edge of space broke a record for the “live stream with the most concurrent views ever on YouTube,” according to the video-sharing website.

At peak, there were more than 8 million concurrent live streams, YouTube said in a Sunday blog post. The jump was broadcast on Red Bull’s YouTube channel.

What’s maybe most amazing about this particular record is that there were 8 million concurrent live streams on YouTube while the entire event was being shown live on the Discovery Channel. It looks like we’re quickly approaching the age when people are just as likely to click on a live stream as they are to flip on the TV.

Happy Monday!

The post What We’re Reading: Mobile Holidays, Defending SEO, and Fearless Felix appeared first on 435 Digital.

Here’s a quick look at what the team at 435 Digital is reading this morning:

We’ll start off with the big news this morning: Rumors are swirling fast and furious that Apple will launch the iPad mini on October 23, 2012

Apple is expected to announce its new ‘iPad Mini’ product on October 23, likely unveiling its new 7.85-inch tablet at an invite-only event at the company’s Town Hall Auditorium, AllThingsD reports today.

According to ATD’s John Paczkowski, Apple will break from tradition and hold the event on a Tuesday, launching just days before Microsoft launches its Windows 8 operating system and it’s highly-anticipated Surface tablet.

We can’t help but wonder if the quick launch of the iPad mini is the result of several recent articles likening the iPad Mini to an over-sized iPhone. Even so, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t curious to see this thing, already. Will Apple be able to tap into the mini-tablet market that Amazon and Kindle have so successfully mined? We’re all about to find out.

Will the 2012 Presidential Election go down as the first “mobile” election in history?

A month before Election Day, it’s unclear whether Obama or Romney will become the president of the United States for the next four years. But there’s one thing we already know: Each campaign has set a mobile precedent for future political races.

The candidates’ efforts to reach younger and tech-savvy voters over the past several months have proved useful, and perhaps necessary. Both camps have seen success thus far, but only in November will we be able to elect a winner.

While teh idea of mobile marketing is just now starting to pick up steam in the world of e-commerce, the two Presidential candidates have been way head of the curve,employing digital strategies that incorporate mobile fundraising, rolling out apps, and even pushing out political ads via smartphones. If only corporate America would embrace mobile marketing as quickly and completely as President Obama and Mitt Romney have!

Finally, yesterday Facebook was called out on the carpet for allegedly shady ad practices:

Two prominent social media marketing executives have gone on record to accuse Facebook of quietly altering one of its key algorithms in September, so that companies with pages that have large numbers of followers can now only reach a fraction of the followers they used to with each post.

Jeff Doak, head of social measurement at WPP ad agency Team Detroit (which handles the Ford account) and Social@Ogilvy vp/digital strategy Geoffrey Colon, both claim that Facebook has altered its “Edgerank” algorithm, which controls which Facebook posts end up in fans’ news feeds. (Ogilvy is also a WPP shop.)

“The change resulted in many pages losing 40-50% (or more) of their organic reach,” Doak said in a blog post:

This news echoes what social media mangers have suspected for some time: that Facebook has deliberately decreased the reach of brand pages to encourage advertisers to invest in Facebook’s “Promoted Posts” and “Sponsored Stories.” Sadly, Facebook didn’t exactly deny the allegations, stating only that they continue to tweak their algorithm frequently for many different reasons. As a result, brands are not happy, brand managers are not happy, and Facebook’s PR department isn’t happy.

We hope that YOU are happy and that you have a great weekend!

The post What We’re Reading: The iPad Mini is Nigh, the Election Goes Mobile, and Facebook Gets Shady appeared first on 435 Digital.

Here’s a quick look at what the team at 435 Digital is reading this morning:

Facebook Exchange continues to take the digital marketing world by storm: goes here.

We recently came across this great interview on allthingsd.com featuring Triggit CEO Zach Coelius further explaining the future of the Facebook ad exchange, something we are keeping a close eye on. With this concept gaining more and more attention lately, our interest lies in finding out if we will really see more value from the current Facebook ad platform. Coelius has a unique perspective on the situation and explains it simply. Sneak peek:

Why else do you think the Facebook ads work?

On most of the other exchanges that we buy, the traffic patterns and the usage of those Web sites is often either search-driven traffic or browsing traffic. Traffic where the user is looking to do something, or looking to find something, or read about something. Facebook is a communication utility; it’s something that people always have open, and they’re there…

Notice anything different about Tweetdeck, lately?

Tweekdeck got an update today, if you hadn’t already noticed. The goal of the update, according to Twitter, was to make “TweekDeck easier to use with design enchancements, personalization options and the addition of several frequently-requested features.”

Last December, we launched a new version of TweetDeck built on a framework that helps us develop new features and integrate your feedback. Since the start of the year we have been making continued improvements to the TweetDeck apps.

Speaking of Twitter, you could soon be posting video via Twitter’s very own video service:

Twitter just acquired a mobile video startup named Vine, which could indicate that Twitter might be moving toward offering its own video service. Currently, they’re using third party services like TwitVid and yFrog. It should be interesting to see exactly what they do with this new video startup and whether or not this signals new advertising options as well.

Yesterday, Twitter acquired mobile video startup Vine, which hadn’t officially launched before the purchase happened.

Its unclear whether or not Vine, which stitches together mini-montages of your recorded short video clips, will still launch as a standalone service. If not, the acquisition supports a rumor that Twitter is considering its own video service, which would effectively allow it to stop depending on third-party hosting services such as yFrog and TwitVid.

Twitter’s come a long way from its original 140-character limitations. In addition to text, the modern tweet now also has rich-media support for photos, videos, and news article previews, all in an attempt to get more people to stay on the platform.

Have a great day!

The post What We’re Reading: Facebook Exchange, Tweetdeck Updates, and Twitter Video? appeared first on 435 Digital.

Here’s a quick look at what the team at 435 Digital is reading today:

You no long need to have actual money in your bank account to use Google Adwords:

At a time when small businesses may have trouble getting access to credit, Google is partnering with banks in the U.S. and U.K. to offer credit cards that can only be used to buy AdWords advertising.

The company has been piloting the AdWords Business Credit program since July in the U.S. and says 1400 small businesses are already signed up. In a survey conducted after the pilot launched, Google said 74% of participants were using the MasterCard as their primary method of paying for AdWords.

Don’t hold your breath waiting to send in your application for your Adwords credit card, though. Google will only be inviting a small number of advertisers to apply for the card via email. Google is piloting the program in the UK this week and selected US businesses can expect their invitations next month.
 

Speaking of Google, Twitter has taken recent steps to allow for better crawlability of tweets:

Twitter has quietly launched a user profile directory that it hopes will bring it more search engine traffic.

It’s Twitter’s second SEO play in recent weeks, coming on the heels of a change in its robots.txt file. With that change, Twitter made its content-based search results — i.e., search results for tweets and hashtags, but not search results for users — crawlable.

With the new directory, Twitter is finishing that process by making its user profiles more discoverable by Google, Bing and other search engines. When asked why Twitter launched the user directory, a company spokesperson said it’s “to help people find the accounts they’re looking for with various search engines.”