@Publish

Upgrading your connection from 1Mbps to 2Mbps halves the PLT, but quickly thereafter we are into diminishing returns. In fact, upgrading from 5Mbps to 10Mbps results in a mere 5% improvement in page loading times!

For every 20ms improvement in latency, we have a linear improvement in page loading times.

Latency on the other hand affords no such "easy" wins. Yes, the equipment can be improved to shave off a few milliseconds, but if you want significant improvements, then the answer is simple: you need new, shorter cables to reduce the propagation delay.

Google’s Matt Cutts said that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if mobile search exceeded desktop queries this year. A similar comment was made by a Google speaker informally during a roundtable discussion at the International Franchising Association conference in New Orleans earlier this year

The comments above refer to global query volumes not in the US or North America where PC-based search still far outstrips mobile queries. However in many developing countries, such as India, mobile internet traffic has eclipsed the desktop.

Globally mobile traffic is about 30 percent of all internet activity. That’s also the case in North America.

The average active Twitter user has just 61 followers, compared to the 200 friends an average Facebook user has

The hashtag, for instance, was created by a user, not the company.

According to the book Hatching Twitter, cofounders Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass and Ev Williams all had different visions for the company that eventually morphed into what Twitter is today—an amalgamation of status updates, breaking news, and memes. 

Overall desktop ad spending set to decline in 2014 while mobile grows 83.0% Desktop search in the US is poised for a significant decline this year as paid clicks on Google shift toward mobile devices, according to new figures from eMarketer. US mobile search ad spending grew 120.8% in 2013, contributing to an overall gain of 122.0% for all mobile ads. Meanwhile, overall desktop ad spending increased just 2.3% last year, according to eMarketer.

desktop search ad spending will drop $1.4 billion this year, a decrease of 9.4% from 2013, while mobile search will increase 82.3% year over year. Mobile search will total $9.02 billion, compared with $13.57 billion for desktop search. Overall, US spending on advertising served to desktops and laptops will decline 2.4% in 2014 to $32.39 billion, down from $33.18 billion in 2013. Google will have a notable influence on the overall shift from desktop to mobile search spending. In 2013, 76.4% of the company’s search ad revenues came from desktop. However, that share will fall to 66.3% in 2014 due to a $770 million decrease in desktop search ad revenues year over year, eMarketer estimates. At the same time, the company’s mobile search revenues will increase $1.76 billion, totaling approximately one-third of Google’s total search revenues.

Up from 19.4% in 2013, mobile search will comprise an estimated 26.7% of the company’s total ad revenues this year. Desktop search declined to 63.0% of Google’s ad revenues in 2013, having already fallen from 72.7% in 2012.

This year, for the first time ever, the amount of time UK consumers spend with digital media (desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones) will surpass the amount of time spent viewing television

This year, for the first time ever, the amount of time UK consumers spend with digital media (desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones) will surpass the amount of time spent viewing television

This year, for the first time ever, the amount of time UK consumers spend with digital media (desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones) will surpass the amount of time spent viewing television,

Why are they known as Gen C? Because they thrive on Connection, Community, Creation and Curation; they’re engaged and they want their voices to be heard. They’re not a generation in the traditional sense – about 65% of Gen C are under 35, but regardless of how old they are, they’re the sort of mavens who shape opinion and lead thought. Put simply, Gen C isn’t a quirk of when or where you were born; it’s a way of life.

59% say the internet is their main source of entertainment and 38% turn to their phone first when they want to be entertained, with 66% spending the same amount of time or more time watching online videos compared to TV. They haven’t abandoned traditional TV viewing altogether, but they have augmented it with shares, ‘likes’, +1s, comments and retweets, all of which add to the first screen viewing experience.

The act of creating has become second nature to Gen C, but they’re selective, only adding something when they think it’s relevant and they can have an impact. Eighty-three percent of Gen C have posted a picture they took but only 42% post pictures every week, while 65% have uploaded a video they created, but only 25% upload videos every week.

57 percent use Facebook to coordinate social plans at least once a week; and 62 percent use Facebook to post about what they’re doing, where they are, and/or who they’re with.

It’s a matter of culture and how they consume. They publish everything to the world. They like to share, are open to share, and want to share. They want people to know what they’re doing. They don’t think about privacy and are more transparent.

A recent Pew Research study found that while millennials are more lax on their privacy, they are less trusting of others than previous generations.

In 2013, 19 percent of Google’s ad revenue came from mobile search ads, and it’s expected to rise to 30 percent over the next 3 years, according to eMarketer.

the company projects that mobile devices will account for 50 percent of all paid search clicks on Google in the United States by December 2015. Last year in the US, the share of paid search clicks from mobile devices rose from 21.8 percent in January to 34.2 percent in December. Paid search clicks from smartphones almost doubled throughout 2013.

In the US, conversion rates on tablets rose above desktop for the first time. Smartphone conversion rate still lags at 4.4% compared to 5.3 percent on desktop and 5.5 percent on tablets.

National Geographic has a wealth of information about Bengal tigers, but if the knowledge graph provides just enough information for the searcher, will he or she click on the National Geographic result?

There is currently no “opt out” option for Knowledge Graph. But I would argue that if the knowledge graph result will be showing anyway, wouldn’t you want your brand and your link in it instead of Wikipedia or a competitor as the source? At least if your website is present in the Knowledge Graph, your site may receive clicks via the link to more information in the Knowledge Graph result. Another approach to consider is to fight fire with fire: beat the Knowledge Graph altogether. How? Currently, one type of content that is not appearing in Knowledge Graph yet is video. However, video content, when well-optimized, often realizes more clicks than text entries.  A 2011 study by AimClear demonstrated that video can receive as much as 41 percent more clicks in organic search over text results.

Fewer people are seeing Facebook posts from brands, businesses and celebrities, the social network has acknowledged. 

It is unclear how page views have been affected, but a report from Valleywag today claims the company is slashing organic reach to just one to two percent of people who have clicked a Page’s Like button.

Each day, there are an average of 1,500 stories the company can show in someone’s news feed, and Facebook said in December that as a result of the increased competition for post views, many pages will likely see a decline in organic reach.

Market-research outfit eMarketer projected that Facebook will account for 21.7 percent of the global mobile ad market in 2014, up from 17.5 percent in 2013 and just 5.4 percent in 2012. Google still commands the lion’s share of the sector, with eMarketer pegging it for a 46.8 percent share in 2014, and attributing its drop from nearly 50 percent in 2013 to the social network’s growth. eMarketer also predicted a modest gain for Twitter, to 2.6 percent in 2014, from 2.4 percent in 2013 and 1.5 percent in 2012. For the sector as a whole, eMarketer projected that mobile advertising will jump 75.1 percent in 2014, to $31.45 billion, accounting for nearly one-quarter of total worldwide digital ad spending.

In 2012, only 11 percent of Facebook’s net ad revenues worldwide came from mobile, and last year, that figure jumped to 45.1 percent. In 2014, eMarketer estimates that mobile will account for 63.4 percent of Facebook’s net digital ad revenues. Mobile accounted for 23.1 percent of Google’s net ad revenues worldwide in 2013, and eMarketer estimates this share will increase to 33.8 percent this year.

people will go to great lengths to avoid reading.

even the best content can’t undo the effects of poor design and graphics that essentially say “don’t read me.” Good design isn’t everything, and it certainly doesn’t negate the need to create strong wording. However, bad design can negate even the strongest wording in its entirety

What’s the worst thing about the Oregonian‘s strategy? For me, it’s the singular focus on pageview growth as a measurement of performance.

I would much rather that the Oregonian and other papers focused on something approaching engagement metrics instead of pageviews, whether it’s through the kind of approach that Forbes takes — in which returning visitors are seen as 10 times as valuable as first-time readers — or some other measurement that shows whether reporters are building long-term relationships with their audience.