By Natalie Kleopfer, Account Coordinator

Looking to enhance your local and mobile advertising efforts? Learn how Google’s new updates can help.

On October 19th, Google unveiled several new mobile ad features and formats that will have a significant impact on pay-per-click (PPC) advertisers. Here’s a rundown of some of the key changes:

The distance between a user and an advertiser’s business is now factored into mobile search ad rankings. Local already accounts for 40% of mobile searches and the addition of proximity as a scoring factor will only cause that percentage to rise. Search Engine Land suggests that marketers start using  Location Extensions, a feature in AdWords that allows the addition of dynamic addresses to ads. While previous ads only allowed description lines and a URL, Location Extensions lets companies include their  names, addresses and phone numbers, too. This, combined with the new proximity factor, will help businesses drive more mobile traffic at a lower cost.

Another new Google feature is custom search advertisements for apps. Google will now place relevant ads in searchable mobile apps. If a user has an app that lets them search for a local movie theater, he or she will now see relevant movie theater and film advertising within the app.

Circulars, a new Google advertising format, is not restricted to mobile. Here’s how the new format works: When a user clicks on a search or display ad, he is directed to another ad featuring pictures and relevant products or offers. If the ad is viewed on a desktop computer, the user can email it to his mobile device. He can then take it to the business location to redeem the offers. This format is currently being tested with retailers Best Buy and Macy’s.

For more information about Google’s new offerings, visit the Google Mobile Ads Blog.

By Amanda Jurgens, Account Manager

Today Google announces its acquisition of Zagat. Last month the big news was Motorola Mobility. Let’s see what Motorola might mean to the powerhouse.

Last month, Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility in a $12.5 billion dollar deal, giving the search giant increased access to the phone and tablet manufacturing industry.

The proposal was one of the most aggressive in Google’s history. In 2008, Google bought DoubleClick, an online advertising service, for $3.2 billion. While that deal took nearly a year to close, Google plans to complete the Motorola acquisition by the end of the year.

The deal will give Google rights to Motorola’s wealth of patents, giving the company a competitive edge over Apple and Microsoft and the ammunition to defend the Android operating system against possible infringement claims. In addition, Google will gain the ability to integrate its struggling Google TV product with existing Motorola set-top boxes.

Google’s purchase of Motorola could mean exciting changes for the smartphone and television space in the coming months. Stay tuned!

By Kinnick Wheaton, Account Coordinator

Over the past two decades, techonological innovation and consumer expectation have changed dramatically making marketing according to consumer expectation more important than ever.

As technological innovation speeds to satisfy consumer needs, consumer expectations increase to mirror technological innovation. And so the cycle continues.

Over the last decade, evidence of this rapidly evolving pattern is everywhere. “We have entered a period of history where digital technologies are driving massive disruption and incredibly rapid change in consumer behavior and expectation,” explains Jeremy Lockhorn in the ClickZ article, “The Expectation Epidemic.” In particular, Lockhorn identifies the innovation of apps and the touch screen as the catalysts for the rapid speed increase in the Technology Adoption Lifecycle—a purchasing philosophy created in the 1950’s.

Joe M. Bohlen and George M. Beal first introduced the Technology Adoption Lifecycle in 1957 at Iowa State University. The original purpose of this process was to analyze the purchasing pattern of farmers buying hybrid corn. The process is measured by the actions of five groups of technology adopters: the innovators, the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority and the laggards. In the last few years, the rate at which technology is adopted by each these groups has increased significantly.

By Steven McKenzie, Intern

QR codes offer a way to bridge the gap between traditional advertising and new interactive platforms.

In this industry, it is often difficult to gauge which new technologies and techniques provide valuable ways to reach out to customers and which are just popular for their innovative shock value. The surge in QR code popularity has marketers wondering which of these two directions the trend will go. Do we really need another way to deliver content or re-direct information to our target audience? Industry-leaders seem to think so. Brands like Ford, Audi, Pepsi, Starbucks, Best Buy, Macy’s and McDonald’s have all created programs with embedded QR codes over the last few years—and have had great success.

These programs have also aided in a growing QR code awareness among smart phone users. According to information collected by JumpScan and published by Mashable.com, the use of QR codes increased 1,200% between July and December of 2010. Additionally, survey results from MGH, an advertising agency in Baltimore, revealed that 65% of smart phone users have seen QR codes, and of those, nearly half have used them.

QR codes have great potential as devices to finely tune targeting for programs and content. They allow marketers to bridge the gap between printed or traditional marketing materials and interactive programs. They also provide a great way to extend discounts, deals and offers directly to customers. And of course, the technology associated with QR codes makes them an ideal tool for measuring the success of a campaign through trackable conversion data.

By Annie Hay, Marketing Associate

A location-tracking feature in Apple’s popular iPhone 4 and iPad 3G has users concerned for their privacy and advertisers wondering about future geo-targeting uses.

A recent discovery by computer security researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warsden has many Apple iPhone 4 and iPad 3G users nervous. In an interview with NPR, Warsden claimed that while uploading information from his iPhone, he noticed that a file called “Location D” popped up on his computer.  The file contained latitude, longitude and text map data that traced virtually everywhere the phone had been.  It seems that Apple has inserted a secret location-tracking feature that does not rely on GPS tracking, but instead finds its location relative to cellular phone towers and WiFi signals.  The data is kept in an unencrypted file on the phone. A software program already created by Allan and Warsden allows anyone to make a detailed map tracing the user’s every movement.

Apple has not commented on the findings, but has directed concerned users to their terms of use, which clearly state:

“We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behaviour and improve our products, services, and advertising.”

While it does not seem as though Apple is using the information it collects, the data is transferred to the user’s computer as the phone syncs. This has privacy experts concerned that the data might be used in lawsuits, federal investigations, or by computer viruses and hackers. Advertisers are also interested in how this information might be used in the future for geo-targeted mobile campaigns.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos, explained to BBC News: “I think there are some legitimate privacy concerns and people will probably look for a way of obscuring that data . . .But it is an object lesson about reading the terms and conditions.”

As we continue to live our lives in an interconnected digital age, the discovery is a good reminder of how little we understand about our privacy.

By Ciara Cole, Account Coordinator

As the popularity of online advertising grows and revenues continue to soar, 90octane predicts an exciting year for those watching ad spend.

Just this past year, the internet (including mobile) surpassed newspapers in ad revenue, making them the number two ad medium behind television, according to Advertising Age. Over the next year, we expect this trend to continue as online ad spending grows and rebounds further from a low point in 2009 attributed to the recession. Jack Marshall of Click Z, using predictions by Zenith, reports that online ad spend worldwide will increase 14% year-to-year, and will be as high as $70.5 billion in 2011—or 15.2% of overall ad spending. And, apparently, that is a conservative estimate. GroupM foresees a 37% growth in ad spend thanks to digital spend, and predicts it to rake in $82 billion in revenue.

As internet advertising continues to provide new and innovative approaches to their online promotions, products and services, online marketers are recognizing new and exciting opportunities. The expanding presence of businesses in social networking spaces, such as Facebook and Twitter, have created a more interactive platform for advertising, allowing consumers to communicate more directly with businesses than ever before. As a result, companies are investing much more heavily in their online and social media marketing arenas. As the Atlanta Businesss Chronicle notes, it isn’t a question of “if” a company should pursue a social advertising initiative, but rather how extensive it should be and how quickly the business should enact its strategy.