WhatsApp users on devices with older operating systems were on the receiving end of a New Year’s Eve surprise. Manish Singh of Mashable reported that the Facebook-owned messaging application no longer supports: Android 2.2 Froyo or older versions of Android iOS 6 or older Windows Phone 7 or earlier…

EA Mobile released a new social feature in SimCity BuildIt on mobile. The feature is called the Mayor’s Club, and it allows players to join clubs with other users. With this update, players who have reached at least level 18 can access the new Mayor’s Club House near the Cargo Ship Dock in their…

It seems these days that eight months in Twitter’s executive ranks makes one a grizzled veteran. Kathy Chen , who joined the social network in April as managing director for China, became the latest exec to shuffle through the company’s revolving door . Chen announced her departure via tweet ,…

Attending CES can be an overwhelming experience, but the Consumer Technology Association, Twitter and Conversable teamed up on a solution to combat the confusion. Starting a direct message on Twitter with @CES will give users access to the new CES Twitter Guide, where they can access information on…

As 2016 has come to a close, brands and marketers alike will begin to look back at what was successful for them and consider what strategies to implement as 2017 kicks off. This year saw several marketing and advertising strategies take off— even Pokemon Go got into the act –but one method in…

Social media is every marketer’s not-so-secret weapon. Acting as a direct link between brands and consumers, social platforms offer marketers the chance to learn the factors driving customers’ habits, preferences and buying decisions. Customer-service representatives can respond to claims made on…

Until recently, social media platforms have needed to build and remain inside their walled gardens to avoid sharing their competitive intelligence. However, Facebook’s recent announcement that it would collaborate with third parties to verify its viewing metrics signifies the inevitable and…

Despite its ups and downs , social commerce has experienced huge growth in recent years. While adoption among brands and certain consumers is on the rise, social commerce still faces significant roadblocks in the form of consumer sentiment and general reluctance. A report from Sumo Heavy Industries…

Niantic launched a new event in Pokemon Go as part of the game’s ongoing holiday celebration. From the afternoon of Dec. 30 through the afternoon of Jan. 8, players will be more likely to encounter the game’s first three partner Pokemon—Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander—as well as their evolutions,…

Nobody’s correct all the time. Your blog posts, on the other hand, should be correct all the time. Why? Because if your blog gets the facts wrong, your readers won’t take you seriously. Instead of being an authoritative resource, your blog will become a joke. It’s harsh but true. Assuming you’re not…

Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey wants to know what Twitter users would like to see from the social network in 2017. Dorsey sought suggestions via tweet , using the hashtag #Twitter2017: Following in the footsteps of ( Airbnb co-founder) Brian Chesky : what’s the most important thing you want to see…

By on Dec. 29, 2016 - 1:45 PM Instagram had a big year in 2016, and Robert Katai , visual marketer and brand evangelist for online banner creator Bannersnack , summed it up in infographic form . Milestones achieved by the Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing network in 2016 included:

Predicting is a notoriously foolish undertaking, but here’s an easy call: That mobile device you’re reading this on (or is at least within arm’s length right now) will be the center of the media universe. 2017 is the year, after all, when mobile ad revenues are projected to eclipse their counterpart…

In trying to make sense of how influencer marketing will evolve over the next year, one of the most intriguing insights could be found in considering the new, highly elusive items that people across the U.S. are dying to get their hands on this holiday season: Snapchat Spectacles . Since early…

The transition from text-based to visual marketing is already well underway, as customer demand drives organizations to rethink how people communicate on the most basic level. Cisco estimates video will constitute 80% of all consumer Internet traffic by 2019, and although marketers are racing to…

Twitter is letting its users say farewell to 2016 and welcome 2017 with stickers and a hashtag-triggered emoji . The social network introduced the New Year goodies in a tweet , and the hashtag #HappyNewYear will automatically add a fireworks emoji to tweets. Readers: Are you ready for 2017? New…

2016 has been a year of shifts in social media, technology and digital marketing. Influencer marketing went mainstream , the internet became all about video and every digital marketer is looking for a way to connect business outcomes to their social media efforts. So what’s in store for 2017? We…

Search engine optimization sounds great on paper, but when put into practice, it’s a bit tougher. Marketing in your specific niche can be slow and painful, especially if you’re just starting from scratch with a new website. Although it may feel like every keyword already has hundreds of thousands of…

By on Dec. 28, 2016 - 11:00 AM Klei Entertainment announced the release of Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked on iOS. Created in collaboration with Capy , the game is an expansion of the original Don’t Starve, and it challenges users to help Wilson survive on a tropical archipelago. In Don’t Starve:…

Before the digital age, selfies were self-portraits taken with cameras by creative photographers. Selfies evolved as the years rolled by and, in 2013, the word “selfie” was ranked as the most popular of the year by Oxford Dictionaries . Fast-forward to 2016: Taking selfies has become a normal…

There has been quite a stir lately in the U.S. in the wake of the 2016 election over fake news that has made its way into Facebook’s News Feed . While we’re focused on this controversy, we should take a look at scam ads, as well. For instance, an ad recently ran in Facebook’s News Feed that…

Flurry Analytics released data analyzing device and application activation throughout the week leading up to Christmas and the start of Hanukkah. The data showed that for every Samsung device activated from Dec. 19 through 25, two Apple devices were activated. Specifically, during this time frame,…

Snapchat parent Snap Inc. made another acquisition last week: Israeli augmented reality startup Cimagine Media . Cimagine’s augmented reality technology allows potential customers to visualize products “in their own environments” in 3-D, and according to its website, clients include Coca-Cola, Shop…

After the recent news of Facebook’s video-viewing overestimation , the company has experienced a mixed response. While the consensus seems to be that the backlash is a bit of an over-exaggeration, the truth of the matter is that the miscalculations come at a time when businesses are spending…

With the rise of new opportunities for commerce and marketing and more user engagement than ever in the mobile space, mobile-first has been the focus for 2016. Still, some marketers are still struggling. A study from Opera Mediaworks provides some insight into this year’s growth. According to Opera…

According to data from The CMO Survey , overall marketing budget devoted to social media is expected to more than double over the next five years, from 11 percent now to 24 percent by 2020. Unfortunately, 53 percent of businesses do not know whether social media is working for them. Also, recent…

In its third-quarter-2016 earnings call , Facebook reported that 1.71 billion people used its service in June. That’s nearly one-quarter of the earth’s population! Yet in spite of these impressive numbers, Facebook is expecting much lower ad revenue growth over the next two quarters. The reason?…

On the surface, it doesn’t appear Bing gets much search traffic, but when you consider it also powers Yahoo, you start realizing that perhaps optimizing for Bing isn’t such a bad idea. Here’s what Bing and Yahoo’s search traffic looks like compared to Google’s: Although even combined, they still…

There are a lot of theories floating around about how we wound up with (shudder) President Donald Trump . The Bernie Sanders camp is crowing, “We told you so, Bernie would have won!” The media likes to go on about how little Hillary Clinton was trusted; an impression created entirely by the media.…

Where is Santa Claus? When will Father Christmas arrive? Millions of children around the world are asking these questions on Christmas Eve. To help, two there are two great services that stand ready: NORAD Tracks Santa and Google Santa Tracker . As usual, Search Engine Land stands ready with its own…

After dabbling with games created by advertisers , Snapchat rang in the Christmas season with a native game of its own. The messaging application confirmed its entry into native games to Josh Constine of TechCrunch after a game called Santa’s Helper was discovered inside one of its lenses . Constine…

Facebook’s Nearby Friends feature is providing less specific information these days. The social network introduced Nearby Friends for iPhone and Android users in April 2014 , and the optional feature notified users when friends who had also opted in were nearby, complete with maps and specific…

Niantic announced the release of Pokemon Go on Apple Watch . First announced in September , the Apple Watch version of the game allows users to receive notifications about nearby Pokemon, collect items from PokeStops and more. With this release, players can receive notifications about nearby Pokemon…

Social media is bringing the world together like never before, providing an unparalleled platform for global interaction. One of the many positive effects of this technological evolution is that people are connecting in ways not possible a generation ago. One of the many negative effects is that…

Twitter has had an extraordinary year by any measure. Regardless of the headlines, though, leading brands continue to invest in the platform to achieve a variety of marketing objectives and insights. Twitter’s open nature lends itself to this approach. As Insightpool CEO Devon Wijesinghe put it…

If there’s one thing that consistently leads to higher sales figures, it’s social proof. And customer reviews and testimonials are among the most effective social proof techniques available. Thus, it follows that if you use product reviews in your marketing strategy, you’ll enjoy higher sales. Why,…

Facebook Live started out as a feature of the Facebook Mentions application for celebrities, public figures and journalists, and the social network rolled out a host of updates for Facebook Live on Mentions. Engineering manager Jesse Chen and product manager Chris Hatfield detailed the following…