Tuesday, March 8, 2016

HOT OFF THE PRESS: On Relationship Marketing, Fake Twitter Profiles, and Being Painfully Honest with...

HOT OFF THE PRESS: On Relationship Marketing, Fake Twitter Profiles, and Being Painfully Honest with Yourself

This is a tough one for me.

When I first read this guest post submission from +Aviva Blumstein, I agreed with every word of it.

I bet you would too - hard not to!

Read the post and let me and Aviva know what you think: http://ift.tt/1XaomTt

However... most of us are in the business of... well, building a business and NOT just building relationships hoping they would lead to business.

Is automation a necessary business evil? Or do we automate the life out of our followers? Is there a happy medium?

Again, would love to hear your thoughts: http://ift.tt/1XaomTt

Mentioned (linked out to) in the post: +Mike Allton +Jeff Bullas +Nicholas Cardot +Jonathan Crossfield

#ns




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Anyone in the U.S. can now sign up for Google’s Project Fi

Anyone in the U.S. can now sign up for Google’s Project Fi

Google announced (http://tgcafe.it/1Ysronf) that its Project Fi cell service is now available to anyone in the U.S. without an invitation.

Quick background (thanks to VentureBeat http://tgcafe.it/1OYKavi):

Google first introduced Project Fi in April 2015. The idea was to blend the best of Wi-Fi access with wireless access from two carriers — T-Mobile and Sprint — on certain phones. The rollout effectively turned Google into a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), not just the company behind the Android mobile operating system.

Up until now, Project Fi was available by invitation only. If you were dying to have your cell phone service backed by T-Mobile and Sprint (ahem!), you are in luck - as of now, Project Fi is available to all.

To sweeten the deal, Google is offering LG’s Nexus 5X smartphone, which supports Project Fi, for $199 — $150 off the retail price — for the next month when you buy and activate through Project Fi.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Monday, March 7, 2016

Facebook Messenger on Android gets a Material Design makeover

Facebook Messenger on Android gets a Material Design makeover

Facebook today began rolling out a new, Material Design-styled version of Messenger on Android to all users worldwide.

The updated Messenger now features a bright blue navigation bar at the top of the screen with buttons to access chat, groups, settings and more.

Also, in place of the bottom blue bar with separate buttons for composing new chats, search and making phone calls, there’s now a new floating action button that appears instead at the bottom-right of the screen.

This button, when pressed, lets you take those common actions, including search, adding contacts, making a call, writing a message, and so on.

Sources: FB post http://tgcafe.it/1LaSI7H and TechCrunch http://tgcafe.it/1QD2b81

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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[new Blab feature] A new way to embed Blab on your site

[new Blab feature] A new way to embed Blab on your site

Blab has launched Tiny Player, and it’s going to take embeds a step further.

Tiny Player is an embedded Blab player that will popup in the bottom corner of your website when you go live - that way your audience won't miss anything!

It sounds like Blab's Tiny Player can be used in addition to or instead of regular embedding.

How do you get Tiny Player on your site?

1. Go to tinyplayer.blab.im
2. Enter your site and username
3. Copy and Paste code to your website

And here are instructions for regular Blab embed (just in case): http://tgcafe.it/1U9bGNh

Source: Blab announcement http://tgcafe.it/1OY3loV

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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The good, the bad, and the ugly of a real-life product launch

The good, the bad, and the ugly of a real-life product launch

This is awesome...

Imagine being a fly on the wall listening in on a private team meeting discussing a recent product launch. And not just any product launch, but +Ray Edwards' product launch.

Imagine no more - here it is: http://tgcafe.it/6figure-product-launch

In this episode of the Ray Edwards Show, the team talks about:

♨ How to bring in the right partners to promote your product. This is the fastest way to bring in sales that would otherwise elude you.

♨ The three things that will ensure a smooth and successful launch.
Skip these and you better have a large supply of aspirin nearby, ‘cause the headaches are a comin’.

♨ The truth about the importance of copy in your launch.
You may have the greatest product in the world, but if you can’t communicate your message effectively your launch is over before it starts.

♨ The single most effective way to turn total strangers into a tight-knit community of raving fans.
This free bonus will also identify the people who are ready, willing, and able to go to the next level with you.

♨ What tools to never be without during your launch. These vital systems can make the difference between success and failure.

♨ The truth about recruiting affiliate partners.

♨ ...and more.

What else can I say?... this is a sweet listen. http://tgcafe.it/6figure-product-launch





from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Are you using Custom Content Type Manager Wordpress plugin? Then listen up

Are you using Custom Content Type Manager Wordpress plugin? Then listen up

Do you use a WordPress plugin called Custom Content Type Manager (CCTM)?

It appears the plugin was either sold to a new author who promptly updated the plugin to install all kinds of nastiness to anyone who auto or manually updated the plugin, or the new author hacked ownership.

So, you will want to stop everything and change ALL your user passwords, roll back (or use the latest release) of CCTM, as well as patch a list of files compromised thanks to the new plugin user who installed a backdoor and had the plugin email him login credentials upon each site being compromised, as +Jennifer Slegg reports http://tgcafe.it/1UNEFqB.

Sucuri also has a lot more details on how this plugin turned malicious on sites, with their step by step research once they discovered the exploit in the wild. They also include a much more detailed version of instructions to clean it up. http://tgcafe.it/1UNF38p

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook announced a WordPress plugin that lets publishers easily create Instant Articles

Facebook announced a WordPress plugin that lets publishers easily create Instant Articles

Facebook Instant Articles will be available to anyone starting April 12, when Facebook holds its annual F8 developer conference in San Francisco.

Instant Articles, similarly to Google AMP (http://tgcafe.it/1X7jSgl), load articles in Facebook’s News Feed up to ten times faster than standard web articles, and are optimized for the mobile reading experience.

To bring Instant Articles to the Wordpress blogging community, Facebook is partnering with WordPress.com’s parent Automattic to release an Instant Article WordPress plugin.

The plugin creates a special RSS feed that automatically optimizes posts to appear as Instant Articles.

The plugin is open-source and customizable. Its documentation is available on Github http://tgcafe.it/1nrL3q0.

More info: Wordpress blog post http://tgcafe.it/1LMp48w, Facebook post http://tgcafe.it/1TZPO8n

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Friday, March 4, 2016

[wow] Meerkat is ditching the Livestream - and chasing a video social network instead

[wow] Meerkat is ditching the Livestream - and chasing a video social network instead

You heard me...

Two weeks ago, Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin sent an email to his company’s 48 investors laying bare an observation that he’d made peace with months earlier: Meerkat, the livestreaming app that played the role of darling one year ago at the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, was failing.

“The year started on a high note. … But over the year, it became rougher waters,” the email read. “Mobile broadcast video hasn’t quite exploded as quickly as we’d hoped. The distribution advantages of Twitter/Periscope and Facebook Live drew more early users to them away from us and we were not able to grow as quickly alongside as we had planned.” (you can read the entire email on Medium http://tgcafe.it/1nmrQG9)

So... The Meerkat app still works, but its creators have shifted time and resources elsewhere.

What? A social network where “everybody is always live,” Meerkat CEO Ben Rubi told Re/code in an interview http://tgcafe.it/1Txk7Ug.

Rubin won’t talk much about his company’s new focus. It sounds more akin to Google Hangouts or Skype, with a priority on smaller, group video chats with people you know versus strangers tuning in.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see...

Gotta love the image Re/Code has created for the blog post! ;)

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook launched Your Business Story video-creation tool

Facebook launched Your Business Story video-creation tool

Facebook's new Your Business Story is a tool that combines still images and music to quickly create videos for your FB page.

http://ift.tt/1ni3T2D

Why did Facebook create it?

_"At Facebook, we’re in the business of helping your businesses grow. We’d like to give a big thanks to you and the millions of other advertisers who believe in us to do just that.
Join us in celebrating the millions of businesses around the world that are using Facebook to grow their business by sharing your business story with the world."_ http://tgcafe.it/1QwJaDW

Even though the word 'advertizing' comes up a few times in FB blog post announcing feature http://tgcafe.it/1QwJaDW, it looks to me like this tool has nothing to do with ads - any FB can create a video with Your Business Story, whether you are a small business or not.

Looks pretty simple to do. You can see sample videos created with the tool at http://ift.tt/1ni3T2D

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Your Business Story
Make a video that celebrates what your business brings to the world. Your Business Story is a free tool built by Facebook.


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Yesmail Q4 2015 Benchmark Report: The Implications of Ignoring Responsive Design

Yesmail Q4 2015 Benchmark Report: The Implications of Ignoring Responsive Design

Email marketing provider Yesmail just released its Q4 2015 Benchmark Report, where it analyzed the impact email responsive design had on mobile and desktop email open and click rates.

According to the data, the way consumers interact with emails on a mobile device, beyond the initial open, is largely dependent on whether an email employs responsive design.

While you should read the report for yourself (http://tgcafe.it/1OVte91), here are a few key numbers:

♨ Over half of all email opens happen on a mobile device, even for brands that are not sending any responsive emails.

♨ Brands that have fully embraced responsive design see 24% more clicks coming from mobile than those that have not employed responsive design.

♨ Brands with responsive design in all of their emails garner a 55% higher mobile CTO (click-to-open) and a 23% higher desktop CTO than brands that have not implemented responsive in any of their campaigns.

♨ The number of emails received by subscribers has increased by 10% YoY and by 15% over the last two years, yet clicks per clicker and opens per opener continue to increase.

♨ The average order value (AOV) has increased by 13% YoY for desktop purchases and by 15% YoY for mobile purchases.

Did you hear this?

Brands that embrace responsive design for all of their mobile email marketing efforts earn 24% more clicks than brands not using responsive design, but only 17% of marketers have fully adopted responsive design!

Makes me want to give marketers a hearty 'what on earth are you thinking?!' slap...

Are you writing mobile responsive emails?
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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Apple launched an official Twitter support account @AppleSupport with tips, tricks, and customer service...

Apple launched an official Twitter support account @AppleSupport with tips, tricks, and customer service

The account says: "We’re here to provide tips, tricks and helpful information when you need it most. We’re available every day to answer your questions, from 5am-8pm PST."

https://twitter.com/AppleSupport

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Apple Support (@AppleSupport) | Twitter
We're here to provide tips, tricks and helpful information when you need it most. We're available every day to answer your questions, from 5am-8pm PST. Cupertino, CA. ·apple.com/support · 18 Following136K Followers. Apple Support. Tweets; Photos · Likes ...


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Medium plans to monetize within a month, considers paywalls and premium content

Medium plans to monetize within a month, considers paywalls and premium content

Medium founder Evan Williams — who also cofounded Twitter — told the BBC http://tgcafe.it/1p5ofy4, “We’re building monetization into the product right now,” predicting a roll-out of the features within a month or so.

What kind of monetization?

Williams was quick to stress that it won’t be messy banner ads; it will more likely be sponsored content.

There could be some sort of paid model that gives users access to additional content.

“I think there are ways to [run ads] that are respectful to the user experience and privacy. We’re not limiting ourselves to advertising. I also think there’s a lot of potential for premium or subscription or even user-paid content, some sort of paywall or membership.”

Question is, is Medium planning on making money for Medium or will it be sharing the profits with those who make Medium worth a read - its publishers?

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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WhatsApp adds support for document sharing, but only PDFs at launch

WhatsApp adds support for document sharing, but only PDFs at launch

Though the company hasn’t yet made an official announcement, a number of WhatsApp users have seen the feature pop up alongside other sharing options, like photo or video sharing, contact sharing, or location sharing, for example, TechCrunch reports http://tgcafe.it/24GzSeS.

The feature works similarly on both iOS and Android devices.

On Android:

Tap the attachment icon then press the new “Document” icon that appears. (To make room for the option on the pop-up window, WhatsApp compressed “Photo” and “Video” sharing options into one “Camera” option instead.)

On iOS:

Tap the arrow icon in the chat then pick “Share Document” from the menu that appears.

At launch, users are able to select documents from cloud storage services including Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, and others, but the feature is unfortunately limited to only PDF files at this time.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Am I the only one still confused between FB Messenger and WhatsApp?...

Am I the only one still confused between FB Messenger and WhatsApp?...



#ns


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Getting AMP’d: What You Need To Know About Accelerated Mobile Pages & Google #SMX

Getting AMP’d: What You Need To Know About Accelerated Mobile Pages & Google #SMX

A lot has been said about Google's new AMP project during this week's SMX West conference.

+Bruce Clay's team has done a great overview of two AMP-related keynote sessions: by +Dave Besbris of Google and +Paul Shapiro (http://ift.tt/1rFhPBD) - read their full post here http://tgcafe.it/1pqAUeF.

Here's how Google thinks about AMP:

The World Wide Web is about 20 years old. It’s a rich ecosystem with different media players, analytics systems, ad platforms.

The browser doesn’t know all that. It only knows that this is a script tag. There is a lot of redundant code — we see this a lot with analytics and ads.

Since the browser doesn’t understand this, the browser will jump around while uploading things. All of this is because the browser doesn’t understand the semantics of the page.

So AMP is to help the browser understand content in a content-forward way. AMP is implemented with straight-forward web technologies and the addition of a proxy cache.

Paul Shapiro talked a lot about the practical side of implementing AMP on your site. Read more about it in +Bruce Clay SEM post http://tgcafe.it/1pqAUeF, also a link to Paul's SlideShare presentation below.

And if you are thinking of playing with AMP Wordress plugins, definitely read +MaAnna Stephenson's overview of them first: http://tgcafe.it/1ozqTLA.

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Get AMPed Now! By Paul Shapiro


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook adds email sign-up forms to Instant Articles

Facebook adds email sign-up forms to Instant Articles

Looks like Facebook is letting some publishers test newsletter sign-up messages at the bottom of their Instant Articles.

The New York Times and The Washington Post are among those who are participating.

The test messages are hard to spot because they’re not being shown to all readers, and publishers said it was either too early to share results or that they wouldn’t ever be sharing them, according to the post at +Digiday http://tgcafe.it/1L7uye2.

Marketing Land came across an example of these forms when checking out an Instant Article on The New York Times’ Facebook page on Wednesday (screenshot below - http://tgcafe.it/1QqOFCU).

“One of the other things we heard is that publishers want to build a more direct relationship with their readers through Instant Articles, and one way to do that is through more regular contact with those readers. It’s very early days for this test, but we look forward to working in conjunction with our partners to test and iterate on the product," Facebook said in a statement to DigiDay.

As noted in the post at MarketingLand, the email sign-ups appear to be a way for publishers to own some of the audience they’re borrowing from Facebook by hosting articles on the social network.

They are also in keeping with the idea that Instant Articles — and social distribution in general — can be a form of marketing for publishers.

This is certainly great news considering Facebook's Instant Articles will be rolled out to all publishers starting April 12 (http://tgcafe.it/2108pWf), even though it's unclear whether this specific feature will be released to the public in April launch as well. We can certainly hope, right?...

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Instagram starts blocking ‘add me’ deeplinking for Snapchat, Telegram

Instagram starts blocking ‘add me’ deeplinking for Snapchat, Telegram

Looks like Instagram is shutting down ‘add me’ deeplinking for some other social media services within its apps - namely, Snapchat and Telegram.

Previously Instagram users were able to include ‘add me’/’follow me’ links in a website section on their profile page, directly linking out to any other profiles they had on third party social services’ apps.

Now attempting to type one of these links to a Snapchat or Telegram profile, within the Instagram app’s website field on a user’s profile, results in the following message (see screenshot below).

A spokesman for Instagram confirmed the change to TechCrunch (http://tgcafe.it/1QY54SE), providing the following statement: “We’ve removed the ability to include ‘add me’ links on Instagram profile pages. This was a rare use-case, and not the way our platform was intended to be used. Other types of links are still allowed.”

With that said, deeplinking to other social services — including LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, VK and Periscope — does still work.

Selective discrimination?

Full story at TechCrunch http://tgcafe.it/1QY54SE

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Google+ Web Preview update March 3

Google+ Web Preview update March 3

Google+ has received yet another update (see the screenshot below of what to look for).

♨ Search history
You'll see a dropdown list of your recent searches when you start typing in the Search box.

♨ Improved Collection sharing
G+ users will see prompts to follow Collections from post embeds. (don't see this one yet, but should definitely increase Collection awareness)

♨ New pinned post indicator on Collections, Communities, and Profiles (you can now pin posts in all three)

Plus, this update has fixed 41 bugs and 2 accessibility issues.

Announcement: +Luke Wroblewski on G+ http://tgcafe.it/21NNpiq
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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook plans to let publishers distribute content through Messenger

Facebook plans to let publishers distribute content through Messenger

MarketingLand is reporting (http://tgcafe.it/1WZUZ6f) that Facebook Messenger will soon let publishers distribute their content automatically through the social network’s messaging service, according to three people familiar with the company’s plans.

Facebook plans to announce the move with a number of participating publishers in April at its annual developer conference, F8, the people said.

There's no official confirmation from FB, but german newspaper Bild appears to have been the first publisher to use the still-private tool to distribute articles through Messenger when it began doing so in January, according to NiemanLab. (http://tgcafe.it/1TYVA8M - see screenshot below)

This might be interesting indeed... Messenger would be a new distribution platform for publishers. ALL publishers? Or select few for now? I suppose we'll have to wait till April.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Google: position 10 in SERPS gets more clicks than 8 and 9 combined

Google: position 10 in SERPS gets more clicks than 8 and 9 combined

+Paul Haahr, one of the senior folks at Google who work on search rankings, said at SMX West yesterday that position 10 gets way more clicks than positions 8 or 9.

Why?

Apparently, searchers don't really want to click to the next page, so they are more likely to click on the 10th and last search result.

Paul Haahr added that position 7 does get more traffic than position 10.

Sources: +Jennifer Slegg on Twitter http://tgcafe.it/1L7py9x, +Barry Schwartz' post http://tgcafe.it/1pqtisJ

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook Messenger now integrates with Spotify

Facebook Messenger now integrates with Spotify

Facebook Messenger is about to become a lot more musical - it now allows users to share songs, artists or playlists from Spotify.

Spotify now appears as an option when users composing messages click the “more” menu, and users who select it are taken to the Spotify app, where they can “search for something to share.”

Users who receive Spotify content from their friends can simply click on the thumbnail to open Spotify on their devices and listen to the songs, artists or playlists that were shared with them.

When will this feature be available?

Facebook told VentureBeat (http://tgcafe.it/1Qw46ej) the integration will be “available broadly soon,” and TechCrunch says that all iOS and Android users who installed Thursday’s update have access. (http://tgcafe.it/1RMG9yv)

Story sources: FB Messenger announcement on Facebook http://tgcafe.it/1RMG9P5, Adweek http://tgcafe.it/1L7ntdC

I am yet to give Messenger a chance. Do you use it? How do you like it?

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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House of Cards Season 4 is H-E-R-E!

House of Cards Season 4 is H-E-R-E!

I'm thinking on calling in sick... Oh wait, I work for myself... better clear the rest of the weekend then.

Are you watching it anytime soon?

And in case you need a refresher on Season 3 highlights: http://tgcafe.it/1TYHzIo




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

AdWords Editor 11.3 is now available to all advertisers globally

AdWords Editor 11.3 is now available to all advertisers globally

To help you get more done in less time, AdWords Editor [https://goo.gl/V60KaT] now has bulk support for TrueView video campaigns, callout extensions, and HTML5 ads.

Here’s the Skinny on what’s new:

♨ TrueView video campaigns [https://goo.gl/g86dY]: you can now use AdWords Editor to create and optimize in-stream and in-display TrueView video campaigns at scale.

♨ Callout extensions [https://goo.gl/aqnH9a]: Callout extensions help make your ads more helpful and relevent by providing additional descriptive text. AdWords Editor 11.3 streamlines the creation and editing of callouts with bulk management support.

♨ HTML5 ads [https://goo.gl/Mu7tV]: AdWords Editor 11.3 now supports HTML5 ads.

♨ Meta-words in Append Text tool: This version lets you use meta-words, such as "[campaign]" and "[ad group]" when using the Append Text tool.

♨ New user list types: Two new user list types are now available in the user list picker: "Customer list" and "Similar."

Learn more about AdWords Editor 11.3 [https://goo.gl/NcmO7A]

Source: Adwords post on G+ http://tgcafe.it/21HLz2t
ht +Barry Schwartz http://tgcafe.it/1TR22ji
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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Wow US military launches cyber attacks on ISIS in Mosul, openly announces it probably for the first ...

Wow US military launches cyber attacks on ISIS in Mosul, openly announces it probably for the first time

The Battle for Mosul Has Begun
ISIS is under air, ground, and cyber attack as Iraqi and coalition troops encircle the group’s final stronghold in Iraq, the Joint Chiefs chairman says.


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel says Snapchat users view 8 billion videos a DAY

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel says Snapchat users view 8 billion videos a DAY

According to a report from Bloomberg http://tgcafe.it/1Ux5WgJ, Snapchat’s CEO Evan Spiegel recently boasted to an audience at the Morgan Stanley technology conference on Monday that the app’s video views are on par with that of Facebook, or at least has managed to catch up.

According to Spiegel, Snapchat’s daily video views has hit the 8 billion mark, similar to that of Facebook last year.

Snapchat's app has more than 100 million daily users who spend an average of 25 to 30 minutes on the app each day, Spiegel also told the audience.

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Snapchat's Spiegel to Investors: We Have 8 Billion Video Views a Day


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Instagram lovers, meet AppAction - "a better way to share your Instagram posts on social media"

Instagram lovers, meet AppAction - "a better way to share your Instagram posts on social media"

Instagram is one of the few “authentic” social networks that disallows automated posting - i.e. it doesn’t allow you to create posts through its API, you have to use the app itself to upload or capture images.

There's also no good way to repost your Instagram posts on other social networks. The best workarounds people have found is using IFTTT.

In comes AppAction, launched out of beta testing today.

AppAction takes a fresh "approach to Instagram posting by wrapping your photos into optimized posts on Twitter and Facebook, then deep-linking the contents back to the original image within Instagram," according to VentureBeat post http://tgcafe.it/1RkraJo.

As a result, your Instagram photos look attractive and display correctly across three networks at once, and you gain useful data on the users who are liking your photos, commenting, and following your account as a result.

“Now that there is more ranking throughout the product (Search, Explore, Top Posts for Hashtags, Trending), it is critical to have strong organic engagement in the first ten minutes of a post’s life. AppAction’s deep-links enable our users to drive audiences from other platforms into Instagram where they can engage during those first ten minutes, impacting organic reach throughout the app,” - said Colin Treseler — cofounder at AppAction, and former product manager at Facebook, where he worked on Instagram’s search and explore redesign — to VentureBeat.

AppAction provides 3 membership tiers, including a free one, which I happily signed up for.

You can too: http://ift.tt/1OZ8vGn

Now all I need to do is to actually work on my Instagram presence! (I did take the first step - downloaded +Sue B. Zimmerman's Instagram guide; apparently, that's not enough. Now I need to actually read it!)

(Sue, if you see this post, please drop the link to your super-Instagram guide in the comments

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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New Blab feature - 'On Blab' - lets you find what conversations your friends are currently in

New Blab feature - 'On Blab' - lets you find what conversations your friends are currently in

Blab has replaced the tags section with On Blab -  a way to quickly find what conversations your friends are currently in, and join them in one click.

You'll see On Blab in the left-hand sidebar of your screen.

What do the icons mean?

Camera icon: your friend is on air
Green dot: your friend is in the chatroom.

What if I don’t want others to see that I’m online?

You can go offline by toggling the status button.

The new feature is apparently "...just the start. The homepage is going to be evolving over the next few weeks. There are thousands of new blabs each day, we are going to make it easier & easier to find conversations that you’re interested in." (from Blab blog post http://tgcafe.it/1WTJXPN - there, you can also vote on how you like the new On Blab feature)

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Facebook tweaks its News Feed to feature live videos over recorded ones

Facebook tweaks its News Feed to feature live videos over recorded ones

This makes a lot of sense.

Facebook announced that Live videos on Facebook will be considered as a “new content type” different from normal videos.

Thus, Facebook is making a small update to News Feed so that Facebook Live videos are more likely to appear higher in News Feed when those videos are actually live, compared to after they are no longer live.

"People spend more than 3x more time watching a Facebook Live video on average compared to a video that’s no longer live. This is because Facebook Live videos are more interesting in the moment than after the fact." http://tgcafe.it/1TluN8e


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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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