Consumers share what they want from brands
We surveyed over 1,500 consumers to understand what they want from the brands they do business with. Our industry experts break down the trends you need to know.
Topic: SMS
Google Analytics 4 can now be integrated with Salesforce Marketing Cloud
For the first time, integration is accessible to both GA4 standard and 360 properties.
Content marketing in times of disruption
What brands need to consider to produce timely content and stay relevant during market upheavals.
Text messaging is the most effective marketing channel most retail brands aren’t using
More than 50% of consumers said they want to text with their favorite brands.
SearchCap: India fines Google, Bing Webmaster Tools login & Chrome on HTTP
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Effective July 2018, Google’s Chrome browser will mark non-HTTPS sites as ‘not secure’Feb 8, 2018 by Michelle Robbins After years of pushing for ‘secure by default’ web sites, Google will identify […]
The evolution of phone marketing
In the beginning, there was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. And it was not good. By 2017 standards, it was barely a phone. Virtually zero coverage, a price tag that translates to almost $10,000 of today’s dollars, and completely devoid of apps. It also had a 10-hour charge time that only translated into about a half-hour […]
Yext announces conversational ‘Knowledge Assistant’ for local data management
The company is also adding structured markup for events and events data syndication.
Google My Business tests a messaging feature to chat with your customers
New pilot feature in Google My Business lets you do live chat with your customers directly from the Google search results.
Google AdWords click-to-text message extension is coming out of beta
With the new mobile ad extension, users will be able to connect with advertisers via SMS.
Google AdWords testing click to SMS ad extension
Wouldn't it be cool to allow prospects to text you for more information? Well, Google is now testing an ad format that lets your prospect message you.
Google Is Promoting Holiday Shopping Deals Via Text Alerts
Consumers can subscribe to get promotion and deal alerts sent to their phones.
Another One Bites the Dust: Google SMS Search Shuts Down Without Warning
After trying to perform searches via Google SMS Search last week, many users discovered that the mobile search service had been discontinued. In the Google Web Search Help forum, a Google spokesperson wrote, “Closing products always involves tough choices, but we do think very hard about each decision and its implications for our users. Streamlining […]
Bing Maps Expands Sharing, Editing Options
Bing has added new options for editing and sharing inside of Bing Maps. The “Send” link on a Maps search result now has an option to send a business listing to a mobile phone via SMS. This is available to users in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Italy. There’s also a “Share” […]
Google Plus: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
When I first logged into Google+ I was a bit underwhelmed, but the more I used and explored the site, the more I liked it. While it has already been deemed Google’s Facebook competitor, it is quite different. I want to share my opinion on the pros and cons of the site to help shine […]
Live Blog: Twitter CEO Dick Costolo At D9
Dick Costolo will be interviewed today by Walt Mossberg at the D Conference. Having survived another drive across the nearby Portuguese Bend landslide here in Palos Verdes, I stand ready to live blog. Let’s do this thing. Walt: Asking about the Pew study today with new stats on Twitter usage (see Pew: Twitter Usage Grows […]
Placecast and AT&T Launch Geo-fenced Mobile “ShopAlerts”
Mobile carrier AT&T is introducing location-based “ShopAlerts” with Placecast in four US cities: NY, SF, Chicago and LA. This is opt-in “push” marketing via SMS or MMS tied to “geo-fences.” Privacy is a non-issue because of the opt-in dimension. Once a user has opted-in, which can happen on AT&T’s site, Facebook or many other places […]
Google Promotes Goggles As Aid To Traditional Marketing
Google is busy using product search and local search to build bridges between online research and offline transactions. Now with its visual search app, Goggles, the company is trying to promote the idea that marketers can use it to connect traditional media (e.g., print or outdoor ads) to “immersive” and dynamic online experiences. This is […]
How The New Facebook Messages & Email System Works
At one end of the spectrum, Facebook says it’s “simple” and “fun.” On the other end, some are saying it’s Facebook’s version of Google Wave. And just about everyone spent the weekend suggesting that it’s a “Gmail killer.” “It” is Facebook’s new, Whatever-you-do-don’t-call-it-email-but-hey-here’s-a-Facebook-email-address-for-you email and messaging system. Facebook says it’s more like chat; and it’s […]
Live Blogging The Facebook Messages / Email Event – With Screenshots!
Today, Facebook is widely expected to announce that it is offering email to its members. Will that be the case? We’ll all find out soon enough. I’ll be live blogging the Facebook event that begins at 10am Pacific Time. Also see our expanded piece: How The New Facebook Messages & Email System Works
Report: 7 Percent Of Mobile Internet Users Have Checked Out Location-Based Services
The Pew Internet Project published findings from a recent survey about usage of “location-based services” (LBS). According to the Pew data, 7 percent of mobile Internet users are on location-based services and 4 percent of all internet-using adults “use a service such as Foursquare or Gowalla that allows them to share their location with friends […]
Google Cuts The Cord On GOOG-411
Google announced they are discontinuing 1-800-GOOG-411, a voice activated local search service they launched in 2007. The service will go offline on November 12, 2010. Google said they offer many smart phone search options now, including voice search, voice input and voice actions. Google promised to put “all of our resources into speech-enabling the next […]
Transcript: Twitter’s Ev Williams Answers An Hour’s Worth Of Questions, On Twitter
Talk about eating your own dogfood! Today, Twitter CEO Evan Williams took questions for an hour on Twitter, about Twitter, replying from his own account. What was he asked? Many questions about how the new Twitter works, from people who don’t yet have it. And if he likes cats (yes). I’ve compiled a transcript, below. […]
Twitter Expanding URL Shortener To Long URLs In Tweets
The Twitter Blog announced they are now testing expanding their Twitter based URL shortening service, t.co on URLs that are long. The main difference here is that they will show a portion of the real URL, but pass it through t.co for security reasons. Twitter explained: When this is rolled out more broadly to users […]
comScore: Android Shows Strength As Mobile Web Usage Grows
Metrics firm comScore released some new quarterly mobile data that shows strong growth for Android handsets in the US and an increase in mobile web usage: RIM showed modest growth while the iPhone’s growth, according to these figures, flattened. Meanwhile WinMo and Palm lost ground. Of course with the advent of Windows Mobile 7 and […]
Bing’s New Mobile Voice Search Available On New Samsung Phone
The Bing Search Blog has announced a new mobile voice search capability that competes with, and even one-ups the more well known mobile voice search tools from Google. The Bing voice search tool has three capabilities: search Bing by speaking a query dial a contact’s phone by speaking the number compose a text message by […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 24, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Launches “Place Pages,” Gets Rid Of Tabbed Info Bubble Google is swapping its “info window” in Maps out in favor a much richer full-page experience that offers more information and […]
Matching Mobile Ads To Consumer Intent
In my last article, “Matching Local Advertising to Consumer Intent,” I encouraged local advertisers to consider the intent of the consumers that they wanted to reach with their advertising distribution sources. The same idea can be applied to mobile, including the types of advertising that best fits your desired action (i.e. an enticement for an […]
Google Voice For Mobile: One Number To Rule Them All
Google has created a mobile app for its Google Voice service, right now only for Android and BlackBerry with an iPhone app to come. Think of this as Skype for mobile only more so, because there’s a usable number associated with the service and integration with your phone’s contacts. Effectively what the mobile app allows […]
Twitter’s Biz Stone: Thoughts On Repositioning Twitter, Search Ads, The Twitter Ecosystem & More
Last Thursday, I talked with Twitter cofounder Biz Stone on a variety of issues about Twitter but especially focused around search. In the interview, he discussed: how Twitter may redesign its home page to better reposition itself as a sharing and discovery service; how discovery might be enhanced by perhaps by allowing people to share […]
Google’s Recent Bugs: SMS Spam, Safe Filter Stuck, News Fonts & Google Docs Spam
In the past day or so, I have spotted at least four somewhat major bugs with Google’s various products. They include Google sending dozens of unwanted SMS messages to thousands of users, Google’s safe filter not working properly, Google News using an unusually large font size and Google Docs has a major spam issue as […]
Google SMS Search Is Down … For The Count?
Search Engine Roundtable reports today that Google’s SMS Search service isn’t working: When you send a search term to 466453, Google quickly replies that your query “did not return any results.” Barry Schwartz used “Lakers” and “RustyBrick” as examples to show what’s happening: The SER report says Google is looking into the problem, but the […]
Verizon Enters The ‘Voice Search’ Fray With 1-800-THE-INFO
Verizon is formally launching an ad-supported free directory assistance/voice search product in the US called 1-800-THE-INFO. It joins an increasingly crowded field that already features Google, Microsoft, and AT&T, among others. As I said yesterday in my post about the launch of a new voice search offering from ChaCha, most consumers are still unaware of […]
Search Engine ChaCha Expands Mobile Service To Include Voice Input
Human-powered search engine ChaCha launched in late 2006 to somewhat mixed reviews. It sought to entice users to search with expert guides in real time via IM chat windows. It also offered algorithmic search but the human-guided search was the hook. The concept was great but the practical experience was often uneven. In January ChaCha […]
Yahoo’s Yang Outlines Vision For An Integrated, Open Yahoo 2.0
Yahoo’s Jerry Yang took the stage at CES yesterday to offer a vision for the company’s future as a more integrated, open platform and “starting point” for consumers on the internet. Much of the news surrounding Yahoo yesterday was about the new mobile application Go 3.0 and related widget platform for third-party developers and advertisers. […]
ChaCha Goes Mobile With TextChaCha
Social search engine ChaCha, which has struggled to gain traction and usage on the desktop, is introducing a new text-based mobile service called “textChaCha” (short code: 242242). The same human “guides” who provide assisted search on ChaCha.com answer potentially any question from mobile users. Accordingly, it’s broader and more flexible than free directory assistance (DA) […]
CallGenie Buys Mobile “Ad Exchange” PhoneSpots
Voice services provider CallGenie announced the acquisition of mobile content provider and ad exchange PhoneSpots. The mostly stock transaction was valued at $5.75 million and provides a range of new client relationships and capabilities to Canada-based CallGenie.
Google Buys Mobile-Social Site Zingku
Google Operating System reports (and confirms) that Google has acquired a mobile service called Zingku, which had been in private beta. Around since 2005, the service uses text messaging and picture messaging to provide a platform for (what appears to be) entertainment and events-related communication but also has commercial potential. Zingku also integrates the desktop […]
Gpay: Google To Enable Payments On Mobile Devices Via SMS?
Friday, a Google patent application filing named Text message payment was posted at the US Patent & Trademark Office site. The patent described how “GPay” can be used to make payment via text messages. An example of how Gpay can be used includes mostly offline scenarios such as paying for items in vending machines or […]
Yahoo Takes Beta Label Off New Mail, Adds Features
Yahoo has taken the “beta” label off its new Yahoo Mail service. Here’s an overview from the Yodel Anecdotal blog. Arguably the most interesting aspect of the new features is the capability of sending text messages to mobile phones from Yahoo Mail.
Google Provides More Hints On Mobile Phone Rumors
Google Offers New Details On Its Cellphone Strategy from the Wall Street Journal reports Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, revealed more information on Google’s mobile phone plans. While Schmidt did not confirm rumors to build their own phone, it is believed that Google is building a mobile phone operating system. Schmidt said, “the new model of […]