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""With YouTube external annotations, we're trying to make it a very seamless process," said Lisa Green, industry director at Google. "If while you're watching it, you see something you really want, you can click... We've allowed the user to make the decision to make the purchase" in the video. The beta feature is available to all existing clients, although Google won't disclose how many advertisers have shown interest or signed up thus far. Juicy Couture, one of the first brands to adopt the shoppable feature, released a new video directed by Terry Richardson featuring Candice Swanepoel at the famed Chateau Marmont hotel. The fashion label features nineteen different products in the second video. YouTube's shoppable video ads will display a shaded rectangle in the middle of the screen whenever a product appears. When a user rolls over that embedded video link, the product name is displayed with a link to the purchase page. Google's product and sales teams are working with advertisers to bring these new ads into their videos on YouTube, Green said."

"800,000 Instagrams were tagged [Hurricane] #Sandy, and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom thinks that makes it the most digitally captured event in history. But "how do we mine all these photos, make sense of them so you can consume the most interesting photos about Sandy?" he asked today at GigaOm's RoadMap conference. His conclusion was "We're going to need to be a big data company." Systrom says Instagram's focused is on "making meaning of all the data coming in, and improving the experience of curating." For example, he said that there were only 85,000 #SuperBowl Instagrams, compared to the 800,000 #SandyGram. People can't consume 800,000 photos, but they still want to pull valuable information from them."

Brands are starting to hire out teenagers as interns to help make marketing decisions that make their brand more relevant.

daily 10.25

"Walmart began recruiting top Silicon Valley talent and acquiring start-ups last year. For instance, Walmart acquired Kosmix, a company that specializes in making web design more seamless, for $300 million. That team has been working for over a year to fix Walmart's systems and improve its website.  Walmart is investing in the "social gifting" market. A year ago, Walmart launched "Shopycat," which makes gift recommendations based on friends' Facebook profiles. The site is now called "Walmart Gifts" and allows customers to log in and get personalized recommendations based on Facebook and Twitter profiles.  The retailer got a better search engine. A dozen top engineers took 10 months to build it, and while the company won't discuss sales figures, they said the new system is more user-friendly. "If you search for cotton socks now, you'll actually find them," Manjoo writes.  Walmart is trying to lead the charge in same-day shipping. Its at an advantage considering that 96 percent of Americans live within 20 miles of a Walmart.  Walmart is investing like crazy in its mobile app. "Walmart imagines that as you go through an average day, you'll remember things you need--milk, bread, a new tennis racquet, a toy truck for your nephew's birthday--and tell the voice-enabled Walmart app. The app will list each item's location inside your local Walmart and include product info; eventually, it will also learn your preferences and offer recommendations. And once you're actually in the store, you'll be able to summon an associate to help you," Manjoo says. "

Kopin Golden-i Wireless Headset, a head-mounted computer that enables firefighters to analyze a situation and make smarter decisions. Much like Google's forthcoming Project Glass, the Golden-i headsets house a camera, microdisplay, GPS locator, speech recognition and gesture control. This allows users to benefit from computer technology while keeping their hands and concentration free on the task at hand, making it especially suitable to servicemen. Using data such as maps, heat profiles, oxygen levels and heart rate - as well as audio and visual connectivity to colleagues and staff - firefighters can gain a better overall view of the situation, helping to save lives as well as protect themselves.

when using 4sq online, there is now an option that lets you make a reservation

"Unsurprisingly, Google is still at the top of the pile: it will account for 56% of all mobile ad sales. Perhaps more surprisingly, Twitter is doing better than Facebook in driving revenues where mobile ads are concerned: the world's biggest social network will make half as much as Twitter in mobile ads this year: $72.7 million versus $129.7 million, the analysts say. However that is bound to be reversed over time: eMarketer predicts that by 2014, Facebook will be making $629.4 million in mobile ads, compared to $444 million for Twitter, putting Facebook at a distant second to Google. Longer term, eMarketer predicts that U.S. mobile advertising will generate sales of $12 billion by 2016."

Nice breakdown not only of how many people are making purchases on mobile, but also what they're purchasing

The video, entitled 'What's a VIDEO worth?' is designed to show just how big online video has become, how big it is expected to grow and why brands would be remiss not to hop on the online video bandwagon.  Just a few of the statistics that companies and brands will find hard to ignore in the video are as follows: 68% of viewers share video links (and sharing means more promotion for your brand!) More than 50% of the videos on YouTube have been rated or include comments from the community (which means a brand new way to engage with your customers!) Having a video on the landing page of your website makes it 53% more likely to show up on the first page of a Google search (and who doesn't like higher ranking in search results?) The average user's visit to a text and image-based website lasts only 43 seconds; for a website with video, the average visit lasts 5 minutes and 50 seconds (ding! ding! ding!) Customers that watch videos of products or services are 85% more likely to make a purchase (ka-ching!)

What Matters to the Junkweb? There are probably 3 key ways one might engage the Junkweb for your own betterment: Make interesting graphics worth sharing. Make it easy to share them. Evoke an emotion. That last one is tricky. But when you do it right, it works quite well. People share emotions in the Junkweb. Oh, and I predict that the tech will adapt to better support this kind of web. It's mobile. It's fast. It's something that will fairly quickly stand a chance of replacing the Smartweb.

Called Samsung London 2012 Predictor, this app makes it fun to predict winners of events by letting you go up against your friends on Facebook.

The vast majority that clicked on ads was likely to take some action, including receiving a coupon (51%), research a product (49%) or making a purchase (46%). After coupons, ads featuring specific product searching, favorite brands, and location information were most likely to entice smartphone users to interact with them. When it comes to mobile platforms, the study found iOS users trumped Android device owners in ad responsiveness. People using iPhones and iPads were more likely to make a purchase than Android-based users. The findings, presented Monday at the IAB's Mobile Marketplace conference, were based on a survey conducted by ABI Research of 552 U.S. adults who use a smartphone with data service at least once a week, and 563 corresponding tablet users. The sample was split evenly by gender and covered those18 to 65+. The study also emphasized that mobile no longer means merely "on-the-go," with virtually all tablet and smartphone owners using their devices at home-the most common place for mobile activity. Tablets are viewed mainly as media consumption devices;  smartphones are considered "mission-critical" tools that 70% won't leave home without.

app that lets kids make pasta art digitally -- for each noodle used in the art they will 10 noodles to feeding america.

Gimme the Gig's focus is on the redesigned 2012 Ford Focus Ford will record the winning bands on the spot and upload the tracks to iTunes using the Focus's in-car wifi feature, chevy teamed up with band Ok Go -- Chevy Sonic is used to make the music: OK Go's members drive a specially equipped Sonic through a track lined with musical instruments and other sound-generating objects. Devices attached to the outside of the car play the instruments and devices along the route, resulting in sounds that make up the song.

To make a construction zone more pleasant for the brand image. Dynamic social forest that adds a leaf every time someone walks by. Linked to Kinect so you could connect with Facebook to make bigger community leaves

site will make embeds from instagram, youtube and other sites responsive.

"Booking a dinner date through Facebook is getting a bit easier for iOS users today. The company has just updated its iOS app with full OpenTable integration, meaning you won't need to leave Facebook to make restaurant reservations. Simply visiting a restaurant's Page within the app, choosing a date and time, and specifying your party size will present a list of available reservations. Restaurants will need to be participating with OpenTable for the option to be visible, but Facebook's users don't need existing OpenTable accounts to use the feature. Once you're set up, it's just as easy to cancel a booked meal - all it takes is a tap to alert a restaurant that you won't be making it out."

By Zeus, seems obvious in hindsights but wow, what couldn't you make? Will this eliminate the need for stocking inventory and make everything customizable?

"Roblox has thrived as a Lego-like virtual world because its members have created games that everyone wants to play. So the company behind it is giving back to those creators by creating a Developer Exchange program where it pays the game creators for making popular titles within the Roblox community."

daily 7.23