MarketingHits

What mind-blowing breakthrough will result from the advent of Google's high-tech specs? Maybe redesigned men's rooms?

Google is facing another competition investigation, according to the Financial Post. The Canadian Competition Bureau has informed Mountain View of its plans to launch a formal investigation of its Canadian operations. It has not yet requested any information or documents from Google but has informed the search giant of its intention to launch a probe.

The Bureau declined to comment on the scope of the investigation, noting that it is obliged by law to conduct investigations confidentially. Asked for comment on the probe, Leslie Church, Google Canada’s head of communications and public affairs, told the Post: “We will work co-operatively with the Competition Bureau to answer any questions they may have.”

The Canadian Competition Bureau administers and enforces Canada’s Competition Act, among other laws. Among the types of behaviour it investigates are abuse of a dominant position involving anti-competitive practices that “substantially lessen competition in the market, or are likely to do so”.

Google’s search engine is by far and away the dominant player in Canada. According to StatCounter data for April 2012 to 2013 Google’s share has declined over the past year but only very marginally, from more than 90% last year to just under 90% in April this year. The second largest search engine, Microsoft’s Bing, took less than 7% of the market in April 2013.

In light of Facebook’s new policy that allows for cover photos to include calls-to-action (CTAs), here are five ways to start converting visitors.

The cover photo of your Facebook Page is a great piece of marketing real estate. But how can you use it to drive user actions and conversions?

In light of Facebook’s new policy that allows for cover photos to include calls-to-action (CTAs), I analyzed a few dozen cover photos and came up with 5 sure-fire ways to turn them into great CTAs. These will make it fast and easy for you to create your own and start converting visitors.

An outdoor poster campaign for a children's charity is unlikely subject matter for a YouTube hit. What is the magic behind its success?

Advertising and marketing are often met with cynicism, probably for good reason. Brands have a long history of lying or massaging the truth to put their products or services in a better light. Advertising has a reputation for deception.

The tech world is mystified and frightened by teens. At the same time, tech companies are desperately catering to them, knowing that teens will shape the industry's future. 

In a recent report from BI Intelligence, we analyze how teens and their mobile-first habits threaten to upend the tech industry.

Getty Images touches people in a new campaign created by AlmapBBDO. It gives continuity to the awarded campaign "From Love to Bingo" to divulge the videos from the image bank that is the world leader in the creation and distribution of visual content.

While many bloggers think that blogging is about lovingly crafting each post, the reality is that you need to promote your content to ensure each post reaches its widest possible audience. To this end, think outside the blog

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Since social media feeds on a never-ending stream of content, it’s ideal for accomplishing this goal.

Here are thirty-three tips for using social media to expand your blog’s readership by driving traffic from an array of platforms.

Our latest infographic on Mobile Friendly Emails will walk you through the importance of adapting responsive mobile email techniques in 2013

Suffering from underperforming marketing KPIs? Read this post and learn how to fix those guys!

Due to the wealth of real-time analytical information now available through today’s software, being a marketing director is much like being a bookkeeper during horse racing season; jubilation can shift to humiliation pretty darn quickly.

Months are no longer tracked and measured on the 31st. Instead, each day stands alone as a projection of your business goals, acting as a small part of a bigger picture that we can now analyze, pixel by pixel.

This is great when things are going well and goals are being hit, but when they’re not, you’ll often find yourself on the wrong side of a tongue lashing. The bottom line is as marketing directors and managers, we’re all responsible for fueling the machine that makes everything else possible. So what happens when our KPIs are underperforming?

Well … start by controlling your breathing with the nearest brown paper bag.

After that, you’ve got to grab your marketing by the bootstraps and make the necessary adjustments in order to provide your CEO with the ROI they’re looking for. Below I’ve detailed six metrics highlighted by CMO Mike Volpe on this very blog, how to identify when they’re underperforming, and how to make the necessary adjustments to save your bacon. Here’s how.

1stfone is a credit card-sized mobile device designed for children aged 4 to 9 as an alternative to the smartphone, which may not be suitable for kids that young. While the 1stfone has no screen, internet access or texting capability, it does have customizable buttons and can be programmed with important numbers so that children can keep in touch with the people they need.