Erik Qualman's Blog, page 540

Vox Media to acquire technology news site Re/code

The Washington Post – Washington-based Vox Media is adding the well-respected but financially pressed technology news site Re/code to its growing portfolio of new media properties, the two companies said Tuesday.

Re/code founders Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg announced the news in an official blog post on their news site, which they launched in January 2014 after splitting from the Wall Street Journal at a time when many star journalists struck out to create their own start-up media sites.

Vox, which is led by former AOL executive Jim Bankoff, has been raising venture capital recently to fund an aggressive acquisition spree. Over the last two years, the company has purchased a number of niche sites to create an online publishing empire that covers sports, news, gaming, technology in a way that would be attractive to millennial readers.

Neither company disclosed the terms, but The New York Times, which was first to report the news, said the acquisition was an all-stock deal. Vox is privately held, but Bankoff has made no secret of his plans to take the company public.

Re/code is highly respected within technology circles for regularly breaking news out of Silicon Valley’s top companies. But the site has struggled to win the kind of attention readers give to more established publications. Since its start, Re/code never broke 2.5 million monthly unique visitors, data from traffic-monitoring site Quantcast show.

Vox’s own tech site, called The Verge, draws nearly 12 million readers, according to comScore, although in a press release from Vox, the company said The Verge has an audience of over 25 million.

Re/code, whose top investors included NBCUniversal News Group and media executive Terry Semel’s Windsor Media, was launched during a wave of new media start-ups focused on name-plate news personalities. Statistical star writer Nate Silver in 2013 defected from the New York Times to start FiveThirtyEight, a data-based news site owned by ESPN. Vox Media itself launched a blogging news site called Vox.com with online commentator Ezra Klein, who founded Wonkblog at the Washington Post.

“This is the next big step in our mission to bring you quality tech journalism, because our work will now be amplified and enhanced by Vox Media’s deep and broad skill set,” Swisher and Mossberg’s note to Re/code readers said.

Mossberg, Re/code’s co-executive editor, declined to comment further.

Though Re/code has struggled to attract readers, it has long counted much of its money through must-attend industry conferences and tech events, which have boasted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Apple chief executive Tim Cook as speakers.

Events have become a key revenue stream for online media outlets starved for ad bucks and increasingly competing with not just news rivals, but Facebook, Google and a generation of other digital distractions.

The Re/code purchase would give Vox and its partner blogs a launchpad for hosting events tied not just to tech, but to fashion, food, sports and the other interests it covers.

Re/code’s “renowned tech and business conference division will continue to grow,” Vox Media spokesperson Fay Sliger told the Post. She added that “Vox Media will explore ways to apply Re/code’s leadership in this space to its other media brands over time.”

The change marks an intriguing step for tech media, as Mossberg and Swisher, two of the industry’s most renowned digital veterans with roots in legacy media, find themselves working alongside a sprawling blog ring that launched, in the case of sports blog SB Nation, as a chaotic network of amateur fans.

The news was announced ahead of Re/code’s Code conference, which starts Tuesday night near Los Angeles.

Vox Media now runs seven media brands, including sports site SB Nation, gaming blog Polygon, dining site Eater, fashion blog Racked and its namesake news blog.

Re/code would seem to budge into the territory of The Verge, and Mossberg and Swisher noted the two “occasionally overlap.” But Swisher and Mossberg said that they plan continue to publish at Re/Code’s existing Web site and focus mainly on tech business news and analysts, while Vox said the Verge would continue to emphasize tech culture and lifestyle. The two sites’ review teams, however, will merge, with Mossberg writing for the Verge,wrote Nilay Patel, the Verge’s editor-in-chief.

Re/code will also join Vox’s publishing platform, a combination that Swisher said “will give us access to the new tools and talent we need and want to make Re/code stronger and better.”

Article by Hayley Tsukayama and Drew Harwell for The Washington Post

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Get Social on Your Retirement Travel Plans

It’s never too early to think about retirement.

Some people start planning when they fill out the paperwork for their first job. Others wait a bit down the road, but it makes sense to think about it before it is too close.

For those thinking about it, it’s not just the day to day stuff on their minds, but also things like, say, travel.

With people staying in better health well into their retirement years, travel is something many look forward to doing in their retirement. It doesn’t have to be just bingo and early bird specials; retirees can see the world.

As the following article looks at, sometimes planning for retirement travel around the world takes a little help, and believe it or not, social media can do just that.

Social Media Sites

Whether it’s a site geared toward travel or retiring or both – it’s out there. Retirees can use a plethora of social media to plan great adventures.

Facebook – Facebook is good for pretty much everything, and finding travel information is one of those things. You can use your own feed directly to ask your Facebook friends about places they’ve enjoyed and what they’ve done in the planning. You can also get advice on retirement planning.
Meetup – Meetup is a site where anyone can form any group. You can organize a new group or join an established one. Whether it’s about retirement planning, travel, or a combination, this is a great venue for finding people with similar goals and shared experiences.
Twitter – By using a hashtag, you can find virtually anything on twitter. It’s a great forum for finding blogs and expert opinions and insight on your topic. You can follow experts and with the short tweets, only spend time reading what you find is interesting to you.

Considerations:

When planning for retirement travel, you ‘ll need to think about a few things.

For instance:

• What are your travel goals? – Do you want to vacation and relax, or travel and immerse? There is a difference, and you’ll need to assess your goals when deciding what to do.

• Think about your financial situation – Are you all set? Do you still need to save? Does extravagant travel fit your plans, or do you need to stick to a strict budget?

• How is your health? – Will walking around all day wear you out? Maybe you’d rather have transportation everywhere you go and travel with a group. These are things to consider.

• How long do you like to be away? – Does a week away make you nervous? Think about any obligations you have at home, can they do without you? Try to figure out how long you can comfortably be gone before planning anything.

Retirement can be an exciting, adventure-filled time.

Don’t wait too long to start your planning, and call upon social media to help you with your travel plans.

Bon voyage!

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Shutterstock

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5 Rules for Artists When Using Social Media to Promote Art

As an artist, you have your work cut out for you when it comes to promoting the art you make. There is a considerable amount of competition, and if you don’t employ the correct techniques, you’ll fall far behind. One of the best ways to promote your art is to do so through social media, but it will only be successful if you go about it the right way.

1. Optimize Your Website for Search

To begin with, one of the most important things you can do to optimize your SEO campaign as a whole is to make sure your website is optimized for search. To do this, make sure your website is up to date with the latest algorithm updates from Google. You should especially make sure your page is optimized for mobile so that the 80 percent of mobile internet searchers can open your website on their device.

Your website needs to be fresh, run smoothly, and load quickly, or else your social media efforts will be in vain. If you can’t convince a visitor to stay, your first SEO priority should not be social media marketing.

2. Create Content for Sharing Purposes

As per SEO rules, blogging is one of the best ways to make your page visible to web searches. Once you’ve created a fair amount of relevant content with appropriate links and keywords, you’ll want to share it through social media.

To make your content more shareable as an artist, you’ll want to write on topics that are relevant to your trade. You might also want to offer special treats in your content, like a “behind-the-scenes” look at your studio or your art creation process. You can do this through blogs, infographics, videos, or other media. Just be sure that it has a compelling, clickable title.

A good sign that your content is working is when your post receives multiple shares, likes, and comments. If it’s not working, you might want to rethink your strategy

3. Make a Facebook Page

According to this list of statistics from Socialnomics, Facebook is almost always the number one ranker for weekly traffic in the United States. It’s the biggest social network in the world today, and because of that, it’s extremely important that you get a Facebook page devoted to your brand.

Facebook is an excellent vehicle for building awareness of your trade and for promoting your artwork. It’s also one of the best places to connect with galleries. For example, according to this press release from Park West Gallery, they now have a Facebook page “with a large number of members that grows daily.” By connecting with galleries such as this one, you can gain important connections from both prominent galleries and other artists.

4. Establish a Social Presence

Though Facebook is the most prominent of social media networks, it’s not the only important one you should be using to connect. Twitter helps you build a following for your art gallery. Pinterest is the perfect place to show off your artwork. Google Plus can help you find local attention and connect with professionals. A social presence in any network is essential for finding followers who will love and share your work.

In order to establish a strong presence on any network, be sure to show your artwork instead of just telling followers about it. Short tweets about something you’re working on are great, but they aren’t nearly as impactful as visual representations.

5. Try Facebook Ads

Finally, if it’s in the budget, experiment with Facebook ads. These ads are a relatively budget-friendly way to promote your work and connect with buyers.

You can place ads for individual art pieces, or sell tickets to a gallery you’re hosting. Though many people ignore the ads, a large number of your followers will be looking to purchase what you’re selling, especially if you use targeted marketing techniques.

As an artist your social strategy is only as good as your efforts, and with the right resources and marketing, you’ll eventually find that your name climbing the list of artist rankings.

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Rare iOS bug can cause text messages to crash your iPhone

CNET – A quirky bug in Apple’s iOS can crash and reboot your iPhone if you receive a certain text message.

First revealed by a Reddit user on Tuesday, the bug works as follows: Someone texts you a message with a specific string of Arabic characters. If your iPhone is locked, and you receive a notification of the new text, iMessage crashes and your iPhone proceeds to reboot.

iOS bugs are nothing new. Since its release last September, iOS 8 has been beset by glitches that have forced Apple to continually issue updates to resolve certain issues. But this latest bug is much more random and rare than others, so it’s not something that would affect a wide audience. And it’s one that users can resolve themselves without waiting for Apple to issue a fix.

What’s the cause behind this newly-discovered bug? It’s not the Arabic characters per se but the way iOS tries to handle the full text string, as described by AppleInsider. The Unicode characters that attempt to render and display the string chew up too many resources when your phone is locked and the notification of the message appears.

The folks at AppleInsider sent the same text string during a normal iMessage conversation, and the iPhone did not crash or reboot. That test suggests the glitch lies more within iOS’s notifications process and not within the iMessage app.

Several iOS users have chimed in on Reddit and Twitter to report the problem. But it’s not one likely to affect most people. First of all, you’d need to be texted that specific string of characters while your iPhone is locked. That means you’re not going to receive it accidentally but rather from someone who knows your mobile number and is purposely trying to crash your iPhone for some reason.

What if you do bump into this particular bug? There are a few ways around it.

You can always turn off notifications for text messages, but that’s hardly an ideal solution. Instead, you can simply trigger another text message. You can ask the person who sent you the original message to send a new one, assuming that person didn’t send it maliciously. Otherwise, you can send yourself a text message easily enough by telling Siri to do it or using an iOS app that lets you share content via iMessage. The new text message essentially supercedes the older message, so you can use iMessage again.

Apple knows about the problem and is working on a fix.

“We are aware of an iMessage issue caused by a specific series of unicode characters and we will make a fix available in a software update,” an Apple spokesperson said.

Apple didn’t say when the fix would roll out, but it could pop up as soon as the next iOS update appears. Developers are currently beta testing iOS 8.4, so Apple may have time to squeeze in a fix before it rolls that latest update.

Article by Lance Whitney for CNET

 

Thumbnail from Shutterstock

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Top 5 Focus Areas that Every Mobile App Developers Should Know

To talk of focus areas as per recent mobile app development trends there are too many things to talk about. Most of these areas are into limelight to make majority of mobile app development companies eyeing for them. There are increasing focus on enterprise apps and quicker development. There is also renewed focus on mobile gaming from last year. Obviously, wearable tech has come in a big way to enliven many hopes and upset a few calculations and it is there to stay. Incorporation of business analytics through mobile apps is another horizon that is looming large. While there is a really bucketful of focus areas in mobile app development and you cannot write off any of them, there are few that deserve more attention. Let us have a closer look at our chosen 5 focus areas that every mobile app developers should know.

1. Enterprise apps and rapid development

Businesses are experiencing highest ever demand for mobile apps and with this increasing demands and expectation mobile app development companies are expected to deliver apps faster than ever. Reducing the development time is now the prime focus of most developer firms. Equally faster pre-launch preparation and marketing endeavors are guaranteeing that an app can hit the market in record time meeting expectations and gunning for downloads at a rapid pace. In this context rapid app development tools and frameworks are enjoying great popularity among developers. Rapid development in spite of consistent focus on business conversion, better user experience and monetization is increasingly becoming a force to drive app development. Huge growth in enterprise apps became the prime factor in pushing this growth.

As predicted by IDC a whopping 35% of large corporate will leverage enterprise mobile app development platforms for the sake of developing and deploying mobile apps across various business verticals and organizations under their banner.
In anytime soon enterprise app stores will be a reality as there will be millions of enterprise apps. Such mobile app stores will help B2B application exchanges.
Rapid and agile development will continue to gain focus as addressing business concerns and solving problems through mobile apps will be crucial for competitive edge.

2. Cloud driven mobile app

Cloud is not mere storage option for non-device specific access to information in a mobile age. Cloud technology now plays a key role in the development of mobile apps across various niches. 2015. The focus on the capacity to integrate and sync mobile apps over a range of different mobile devices will be decisive factor. The non-device specific sharing, storage and networking capacity is already considered as a standard capability for vast majority of mobile app niches and in the time to come with rapid cloud adoption this will encompass every mobile app niche in the vicinity. The cloud approach will continue to remain as important for mobile app development companies as this would make developers capable to build apps with wider accessibility across all devices without letting the user compromise on functions, feature set and data.

With widespread adoption of BYOD cloud capability will get bigger push.
Rising enterprise apps will make cloud capacity more demandable.
Cloud capability in mobile apps will clear all device and location constraints businesses face in leveraging mobile apps.

3. Wearable Tech

Apple Watch after its launch became the most hyped wearable tech device in 2014. With a sales figure that quickly touched around 15 million it shown how consumers were expecting the device with hands crossed. If the whopping sales figure is one aspect of the growth story that wearable devices and apps are experiencing then on the other side there are burgeoning capacity of mobile apps on this new platform. Though until now apps on these wearable devices are mainly companion apps that are run in unison with mobile apps, they are showing increasing capacity with standalone feature and design element on their wearable version.

Mobile app developers are bound to give equal focus on wearable device apps and mobile apps, because both versions will complement each other, in usability and sales.
Smartwatch apps will soon have standalone feature irrespective of their mobile counterparts.
Wearable apps will continue to grow as a key contested area among developer companies.

4. Internet of Things

Use of multiple devices in our daily lives with increasing digital capability to communicate with each other will make Internet of Things the new horizon to explore by the mobile app development companies.  Already fluid interaction through apps among a range of devices including smart TV, smartwatch and home automation devices is shaping this new reality and multi-device tech interface.

With Internet of Things apps will not only engage number of devices but they will grow bigger and richer with contextual capabilities as per the device in use.
Multi device responding capability will be a big determinant factor in making many apps popular.

5. Big Data and Business Analytics

The huge volume of digital data which is increasing in big leaps with every passing day will revolutionize analytics in every field. But the impact will particularly be awesome in business analytics. With increasing number of enterprise apps and Big Data analytics being exposed to them, will really prove huge for the decision makers. In the one hand, employees will be brought forward more into decision making because of their constant mobile engagement in and out of workplace through enterprise apps and on the other hand, variety of business data across niches, people and locations will produce higher accuracy and agility in analytics.

App developers have to look for more robust data analytics tool for enterprise apps.
Real time business analytical input from employees through their enterprise apps will play key role in business decisions.
Processing niche specific data for faster business insights will be sought after increasingly in mobile apps.

The areas mentioned above only represent the most prominent avenues of change that mobile apps across niches are showing these days.

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Criminals use IRS website to steal data on 104,000 people

CNN Money - A “sophisticated” organized crime syndicate used the IRS website to steal tax forms full of personal financial information on 104,000 taxpayers, the agency said Tuesday. 

Until the IRS discovered this latest data leak, its website provided a service called “Get Transcript.” It’s an easy way to download several years of tax forms for tasks like applying for a mortgage, or college financial aid.

An unnamed cybermafia used this app to download forms full of personal information. They posed as legitimate taxpayers, and tried to download forms on 200,000 people between February and May. They got away with half of them, the IRS said.

The crooks used about 15,000 of them to claim tax refunds in other people’s names.

But the potential damage is worse. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said he believes the criminals’ true mission was to gather vast amounts of personal information. Armed with that info, fraudsters can open bank accounts, credit lines and steal tax refunds in the future.

“This is just the latest manifestation of people getting enough data to masquerade as a taxpayer,” Koskinen said.

Last week, the IRS spotted an odd flood of computer traffic and initially thought its website was facing a cyberattack to block its services. But on further investigation, it discovered that the slew of requests were pulling data from its “Get Transcript” service and the agency immediately cut off communication.

This cyberattack wasn’t a hack in the traditional sense. The IRS said criminals were able to use the Get Transcript service, because they plugged in personal data they had already stolen: Social Security numbers, birthdays, physical addresses and more. They even answered correctly those personal identity verification questions — the ones we all know as being too specific, annoying and difficult to answer ourselves.

This shows their intent was to gain even more personal data: accurate salary information, and details on specific tax deductions people take.

It was an attack the agency wasn’t well suited to combat, Koskinen said. “We’re dealing with criminals with a lot of money and using expensive equipment and hiring a lot of smart people,” he said during a conference call Tuesday.

The IRS has temporarily disabled the “Get Transcript” service. It was too easy to game, Koskinen said. The agency had tried to make the service difficult for fraudsters — but not too burdensome for the average person trying to get a hold of previous years’ tax returns.

The agency is now trying to increase the security on the app — and figure out the right balance, Koskinen said.

This is a popular tool. In recent months, Americans used it to download 23 million transcripts, the agency said. Taxpayers can still request previous years’ documents, but they’ll have to do it via the older and slower process — by paper.

The IRS said it will notify by mail all 200,000 people who might be affected by this. They will all be placed on a list of Americans whose tax profiles are more closely monitored next year. To assist the victims, the IRS is also offering paid credit protection programs for them.

The agency is offering a secure PIN to the 104,000 whose tax forms the IRS is sure were exposed. It’s not offering that protection to the other 100,000 people — even though they arguably need it too (given that criminals already have their Social Security numbers and can already claim tax refunds in their names).

The PIN program is a permanent security feature that requires taxpayers to use a six-digit passcode when filing taxes. Currently, all that is required is a Social Security number.

PINs are currently only available to tax fraud victims and residents of Florida, Georgia and Washington. The agency wants to take this pilot program nationwide.

Koskinen said there is “no indication there is any connection” to the recent wave of fraud involving TurboTax preparation software.

But he said this is just more proof criminals are ramping up their theft of personal data for illicit gain.

“These guys are very good at data analytics. They have volumes of data available they can match up,” he said. “The criminals can answer questions better than you can.”

IRS law enforcement agents are now hunting for the fraudsters who did this, and the agency’s own internal investigator is looking into how this happened.

Article by Jose Pagliery for CNN Money 

Thumbnail from Shutterstock

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Instagram is trying to lure back users with ‘highlights’ emails

MASHABLE - Instagram is reportedly getting ready to spam you with email blasts.

If you’re not continuously checking the photo-sharing platform throughout the day, Instagram is experimenting with a way to show you what you’ve missed to entice you back onto the platform.

Similar to strategies previously embraced by Twitter and Instagram’s parent company Facebook, Instagram is building email digests to keep users connected with the platform, according to TechCrunch. The email blasts, called “highlights,” compiles photo updates from those you follow in reverse chronological order, with the latest posts shown at the top.

While Instagram declined to comment on the initiative, it confirmed to Mashable that a “highlights” email will let people know what they missed.

While email newsletters are nothing new, the move shows how Instagram is trying to get casual users back onto the site and app. Instagram already nudges users with push notifications when others interact with their pictures or if they haven’t visited recently. But this is the first time Instagram is testing a promotional and re-engagement email blast.

The report notes that there isn’t a way to unsubscribe from the email blast. While this may be offputting, Instagram’s efforts could be useful. Some users are notorious for dominating photo feeds with continuous posts. A highlights collection would call out what you may have missed and actually care to see.

It’s unclear as of now how often users will receive “highlights” emails — or if only certain users will receive them, based on their activity and frequency.

Article by Samantha Murphy Kelly for Mashable 

Thumbnail from Shutterstock

 

 

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10 Startups To Help Your Business Cash Flow

Understanding how money moves in and out of your business is one of the most important roles that a business owner needs to learn. After all, cash flow problems are one of the leading causes of failure for businesses. However, spending the time and resources to either understand cash flow yourself or finding a trusted professional isn’t always a top priority. That’s when a web-based solution can come in and save the day.

To help narrow down the selection from a wide selection of options, I’ve listed 10 startups that can help businesses of all size manage, organize, and understand their cash flow.

1. Fundbox

Fundbox removes a common cash flow concern for business owners; eliminating the net 30, 60, 90-day problem. Simply add your invoices and select any that haven’t yet been cleared so that you can have access to your funds. Each repayment includes principal, transaction fees, and advance fees.

2. Due

Not only can you create professional looking invoices with Due, you can also use the revamped timer so that you can easily keep track of the time spent on projects. There’s even a performance graph that helps with expenses by providing invoicing trends and suggestions on your project management. Pricing ranges from a free plan to $99 per month.

3. Monchilla

Monchilla is an easy-to-use alternative to QuickBooks and ADP. Through Monchilla, you can simplify your payroll, report taxes, invoice customers, and track your income and expenses securely. You can sign-up for up and pay only $5 per month, per company, for accounting software plus $5 per month per employee for payroll.

4. Flowzr

With this expense manager and budgeting tool you can record expenses and schedule payments so that you have a full view of either your personal or business finances. With this information you can plan a budget and free up some additional time. The Android app is available for free, but for $1.99 you can have an unlimited number of users on an unlimited number of devices.

5. Bilbus

Instead of spending hours of time managing your cash flow and receivables, you can automate invoice follow-ups and tracking. You can also use Bilbus to create 12 week and 12 month cash scenarios and use it as an add-on to Google Apps, QuickBooks, and Xero. Pricing starts at $19.99/month.

6. CloudBooks

Besides using CloudBooks to create invoices, keep track of the time you spend on a project, and generate estimates, you can also categorize and automate recurring business expenses. CloudBooks also sends you detailed reports, such as sales reports. Plans range from $0 to $20 per month.

7. Kashoo

Kashoo is a secure way to send invoices, collaborate with bookkeepers, sync bank records, prepare taxes, and manage business expenses. Through the Kashoo dashboard you also have a view of your business’s financial health. Monthly plans, which includes unlimited technical support, begin at $4.99.

8. Dryrun

Dryrun is a flexible cloud-based tool that gives small business owners a glimpse into scenarios like revenue, profit, and cash flow. Dryrun can be also used to help you set goals and make important financial decisions by keeping tabs of money inflows and outflows and make predictions regarding your sales pipeline. Plans start at $15/month.

9. Float

Float is a real-time financial dashboard that assists businesses with their cash flow by setting budget bars and issuing a sales forecast. Float also integrates with accounting tools like  Xero and FreeAgent – Quickbooks and Sage One are coming soon. Pricing starts at $25/month.

10. DreamFunded

Looking to get funded? DreamFundeds mission is to provide investors with a platform that enables simple, fast, and smart investing opportunities. They make it easy for companies to raise capital from lots of different angel investors using the platform they created. Membership is free for both investing and raising capital.

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Promote Retail Brands Using Social Media Tools: Analyzing ’TrueView for Shopping’ in Detail

Google has been making a few announcements off-late but the latest one involving TrueView for shopping is what keeps the retails interested. This cohesion readily integrates YouTube Videos with the product listing advertisements, resulting into something known as TrueView for shopping. If utilities are concerned, this featured tool allows online retailers to be in complete control of the advertisements, appearing alongside the displayed images and videos alike. Other details and action calls also resort to these freebies, offering the retailers with an option that concerns brand promotion.

The ideologies which can be paired along include video reviews, instructional snippets and many more. The following options allow the user to add in the desired number and genre of advertisements—enlisted besides the product categories. The TrueView for Shopping actually encourages pay per clicks by adding in the preferred number of advertisements along. Now get the most suited ad for your business with the TrueView support on-board.

This social tool allows the promoters to zero in on the perfect moment when the ad gets converted into a click or even starts selling out. The concept is explained as follows:

Landing pages have a number of video schemes integrated within and with TrueView at work one can determine as which need compelled the audience to click on the same and go through the motions. Be it the call for action or the featured components in the middle of the snippet, the exact time of click can be summarized with this prudent tool at work.

TrueView for shopping isn’t all about the promoters or retailers but also packs in several options concerning product information and PPCs. The dots are connected as this tool offers instantaneous intimations once the clicks have been initiated.

This social media tool works perfectly across multiple platforms and even for the mobile optimized consoles. All the ad units work pretty well across the featured devices with 50 percent of YouTube accesses are translated via the mobiles. If integrated properly with the mobile centric consoles, using TrueView for Shopping is even easier than putting up the best WhatsApp status onto the system.

We often wonder as how to match up the product listing advertisements with the desired videos but if TrueView for Shopping is integrated, things turn seamlessly easy. This has been due to the perfect integration of Google’s Merchant Center with the Video advertisements.

How to make the best use of TrueView for Shopping is certainly a much debated topic with several answers underlining the same. If the step-pronged approach is concerned, one must first connect the campaigns with the feed associated with the Merchant center. The products can then be dynamically added into the concerned videos. The best part however is the customizable nature of the ads, allowing one to pair in the demographic info and location details.

For the enthusiasts, the TrueView for Shopping is expected to roll out in a few months’ time, only if the process has to be initiated via the Google’s Front End. For those having an access to Google’s Account Manager, things might not be delayed and those retailers can start right away with brand and product promotions.

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Summer Camps Make Tracks with Social Media

Summer camp – ah – the place where memories are made.

For some adults, looking back on summer camp brings back some of the fondest times.

Today, there are camps for almost anything your child enjoys, from the classic camp on a lake filled with sports and activities ranging from sing-alongs to horseback riding, to STEM camp to ballet camp to basketball camp.

If you want it, you can find it. And the thing is, with social media, it’s that much easier to find just the right camp.

Camp directors and organizations are realizing they need to hit up the social media market to attract campers, counselors and to engage the community in general.

As the following article looks at, “What’s the secret of why camp is so special for kids?”

For many, it’s the first venture into independence.

Kids are on their own for the first time without mom or dad to make their food, get them out of bed or bandage their knees.

They have to hang with kids they’ll love and kids they won’t be able to stand. They’ll try new things and probably want to go back next year. That’s why it’s important for mom and dad to find just the right one. Social media is just the connection for this.  

Camps Utilizing Social Media

• Blogs – Blogs are great ways for camps to use social media throughout the year to not only gain new campers, but to stay in touch with old ones. Camps can keep campers and their parents in the know about new activities, new staff members, new ideas. They can let families know when registration begins, dates and payments, and blog about packing lists, first aid, and care packages … .the list goes on.

• Facebook – Most camps have a Facebook page, and it’s great for campers to stay connected. It’s also a great marketing tool as prospective campers can check out all the fun pictures and posts.

• Twitter and Instagram – Marketing works well, here, too. Camps can post about open spots, promote special rates and even run contests offering discounts.

More Reasons to Use Social Media

• On any camp website, there should be links to all social media – With social media and the Internet; prospective campers are going to want to see where they’ll be and what they’ll be experiencing. Social media is the venue for this.

• Social media is affordable marketing – Often, camps don’t have large advertising budgets, and paper mailings are expensive, but social media isn’t. It’s a great alternative to traditional marketing, and it’s what kids want to see.

Summer camps should definitely be utilizing social media.

It’s a great way to win over kids and parents, and it’s affordable.

If you’ve been looking for a way to attract more campers, this could be it!

Photo credit: Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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