Digitally Crafted – a round-up of the week in digital marketing

Welcome to the first in our new series of weekly posts, as Crafted rounds up the most important topics in digital marketing over the last seven days.

In the fast paced world of online marketing, it can be difficult to stay ahead of the game. In each edition of Digitally Crafted, we’ll make it easier for you to keep your finger on the pulse with a summary of the top stories to hit the newswires each week.

Design & development

iPad still dominates web traffic but Barnes & Noble Nook on the move
Recent figures released by ad network Chitika showed the iPad’s continued domination of the tablet market, with a market share of 91.07%. However, there appears to be a shift in momentum with a few Android devices beginning to gain in popularity. The most notable is the Barnes & Noble Nook, which has seen sales outstrip the more publicised Kindle Fire. Read more

mCommerce

23% of UK smartphone owners access retail sites on their device
The number of mCommerce shoppers has nearly doubled in five of Europe’s biggest markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), with one-in-six smartphone users accessing online retail stores and apps on their devices. New statistics from comScore suggest that, although smartphone shoppers convert at a much lower rate than tablet or desktop users, the market is still very much growing. Read more

Organic search marketing

Google+ integration arrives for Blogger, with more new features on the way
Google has moved to streamline the process of sharing for writers who distribute blogs on their Blogger network by integrating Google+ sharing within the Blogger dashboard. Bloggers already using Google+ can share and notify followers when new content goes live. Read more

Google explains new link warnings, says don’t panic but don’t ignore
Google has distributed further information regarding the latest link warnings in an effort to calm the fears of SEOs worldwide. Google has reiterated its tough stance on unnatural links pointing to a site, whilst offering crumbs of comfort to those held at the mercy of directories or blog networks who charge to take links down or point blank refuse outright. Read more

Paid search marketing

Microsoft explains removal of age and gender targeting from AdCenter
Microsoft AdCenter has explained its recent removal of targeting capability of age and gender, citing the inherent problems of asking people to input information accurately. Instead, Microsoft suggests that advertisers increase bids on specific age and gender groups, rather than exclusively targeting and missing out on other relevant users. Read more

AdWords remarketing gets tag makeover, new features
The process of putting tags on websites for creating remarketing lists is undergoing a substantial change within Google AdWords. The changes will enable paid search marketers to use a single piece of code on every page based upon the URL, rather than putting a separate remarketing tag on every page they want to create a list for. Read more

Social media

Spammers and web marketers hate the new Digg
There has been a mixed response to the launch of the new Digg site, with long-time users of the site dismayed by the lack of user influence. In a move that will infuriate genuine web marketers and spammers alike, the placement of stories on the site is now influenced by their popularity on Twitter and Facebook, while the appointment of three editors to curate the Digg homepage has further disenfranchised its users. Read more

Pinterest adds new categories and is rolling out a redesigned repinning process
The rapidly-expanding social ‘pinboard’, Pinterest has recently added new categories to its site and is preparing to release a redesigned version of its repinning feature, according to reports. The three new categories, ‘Quotes’, ‘Tattoos’ and ‘Weddings’ are rather specific and suggest that there will be more niche categories added as the site’s popularity continues to grow. Read more

Twitter’s approach to Trust and Safety and private information
Twitter has taken to its blog to provide an explanation of its general Trust and Safety policies and procedures. The move came after users vented their anger against the social network, following the account suspension of Guy Adams, a foreign correspondent for the Independent. Adams was banned without warning after posting a series of critical tweets about NBC’s coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games. Read more

Bing adds friend-tagging to Social Sidebar
Bing has announced a minor tweak to the way in which its Social Sidebar functions, with the ability to now tag up to five Facebook friends to share relevant search results. Prior to this change, the Social Sidebar would automatically show suggested Facebook connections, but there were limitations because users could either notify or ask those suggestions or ask all of their Facebook friends at once. Read more

Facebook introducing ‘save for later’ feature
Facebook looks set to update its mobile platform, allowing users to save friends’ posts to read at a later date. According to reports, users will soon be able to view notifications letting them know they can ‘press and hold anywhere on a story to save it for later’. This handy update for busy professionals is set to be included in both the mobile website and iOS apps. Read more

Google+ launches Olympics hub
Google+ has rolled out its own Olympics hub across the social network with a host of interactive content designed to keep users up to date with the latest results and medals. The hub also includes an intuitive “cheer on” app which encourages users to ‘hang out’ online with friends and watch the Games together. Read more

Bitly is working on an “Internet attention ranking engine” called Realtime
The company that introduced the use of short links in social media, Bitly, is preparing to launch a brand new service under its “Bitly Labs” umbrella. The development, Realtime, is an internet attention ranking engine that gives users powerful tools to analyse the most popular topics the world is paying attention to at the present time. Read more

Buffer adds Analytics upgrade for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn shares
Popular social sharing app, Buffer has unveiled a brand new set of “Buffer analytics” designed to give users more information on their shares to contacts. Previously, Buffer users could see clicks and re-tweets from an article, however the new analytics will enable users to track clicks, re-tweets, mentions, reach and favourites in real time for instant tangible measurement. Read more

Report: Major brand adoption of Facebook and Google+ has dropped
In its latest Social Share Report, BrightEdge has found fewer “top brands” are choosing to interact using Facebook and Google+ than eight months ago. 90 of the world’s leading brands have Facebook pages and 75 have Google+ pages as of July 2012. Eight months ago, in its previous Social Share Report, 93 top brands were on Facebook and 77 were active on Google+. Read more