Google’s decision to weight its +1 button and display Google+ results has created a very interesting contretemps. On one hand, Google is puting its thumb on the scale they invented. On the other hand they are monetizing their unique IP and stitching together their own technology, ostensibly to serve us better. Google presents and spins these changes as a consumer benefit. Google transforms “into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships,”  they claim. The three new features are: personal results, profiles in search and people and pages. The so-called benefit is that your Google search results will be even more personalized, thanks to information shared on Google+. Predictably Microsoft is crying foul, arguing that Google unfairly weights its own stuff above everyone else’s and in so doing skews the real value of search engine results. They have begun to aggressively use this move to switch pitch users and advertisers. Google streaked to success by offering a different way to categorize and rank search engine results based on inferred popularity and usefulness. They’ve used this mantra to cloak every subsequent move. At the same time, they’ve taught us all how to search. Google is both a verb and an... Read more

Face it, the old ways of marketing are dead and that means you need to be executing expansive online marketing campaigns. With over 1 billion active users on Facebook and Twitter alone, it’s obvious that social media is the new crux of your video game marketing campaigns. To be successful, there are 8 things you need to do. Read this and then go do it. Who’s in charge here? Establish your Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Google+ as the go-to authority for all the information your fans need. First, develop and release creative content on a regular basis. Write and schedule updates well in advance that include events, contests, videos and other content. Be prepared to throw some of that out the window and update on the fly as needed. Second, have a social media manager in place that is engaging and replying to users’ questions, comments and responses in real time. Do (and continue to do) those two simple things and fans will know you’re the boss. Let’s Get Hardcore! Hardcore gamers are fewer than casual gamers but they are the most vocal, and therefore influential in the success or failure of your campaign. Get them on your side fast by gaining public support from... Read more

The importance of PR in your organic search strategy: Find out how your company’s press releases play positively into Google’s Panda, Social Signals and Freshness updates giving the most important search engine on the web exactly what it wants.

Well, another year has come to a close. And in terms of the technology and marketing world it’s been a big one: we’ve seen mobile and tablet shopping take a huge jump, mourned the loss of Steve Jobs, embraced another new Google invention: Google+, made way for QR codes in many marketing and merchandising assets, and the list goes on. From my seat, I’ve also seen more and more marketers embrace A/B and multivariate testing as a must-have in their ecommerce tool kit (Yay!). With DIY tools like Google Website Optimizer, almost anyone who has time, a little patience and bit of knowledge, can start to test various customer experiences on their website. Website Magazine even released a comprehensive list of tools and vendors who provide such services. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said such website "optimization" is growing as Web retailers try and emulate the likes of Amazon.com Inc., which does "a/b" testing to compare which website layout works better. Earlier this year, Amazon tested a new home page that is less cluttered than its old one, with fewer buttons, more white space and a bigger search box; the page also emphasized digital goods over physical... Read more