by Josh Constine Instagram has always been a social network where you follow friends and creators, but today it’s evolving with a new way to follow hashtags so you see top posts and Stories about a topic on your home page. Rather than having to dig this content out of search or the Explore tab, you can see the best #Slime videos or #FloralNails tutorials no matter who posts them.

Today’s change will require some smart filtering by Instagram to prevent objectionable content or spam from being distributed by hashtag following. But it has the potential to help users see beyond their own social graphs and dive deeper into niche communities they care about, making Instagram more endless. Eventually, hashtag following could give the app more powerful ad targeting data and an opportunity to show more interstitial ads between Stories, but the company says it’s not doing either right now.  More

by John Marcinuk Today’s search engines are one of the primary paths to content experiences on the web. Shopping, research, directions and questions all pass through Google (and to a lesser extent Bing and Yahoo) as the entry point to solutions-seeking. Generally, the experience is the destination, and search engines have done a fine job of channeling users to the precise experience they’re looking for.

What if, however, the end result could be reached earlier, circumventing today’s path? Changes in paths to consume content and experiences have emerged through technologies that offer a glimpse into what search may look like in the not-so-distant future.  More

Are you sharing visual content on social media? Do your images stand out? Creating and curating clever visual content can engage your audience on a personal level. The more consumers relate to you and your company, the more likely they will invest in your social media presence and your brand. [Source: SocialMediaExaminer.com] More

In regular Google SEO, paid links and advertising are negative link-building signals, but sometimes Google works with double standards. It seems both Google Play and the iOS App Store love all your installs, paid or not. Effectively, buying your app install base makes you rank in popularity lists, rank for great keywords in app search, and gets you the attention of popular review sites. Each bought install will get you at least two free organic installs as an indirect result. Time your app promotion well! [Source: SearchEngineWatch.com] More

Do you run giveaways using social media? Have you considered partnering with an influential blogger? Working with the right blogger for a giveaway drives sales and grows brand awareness for your products or services.

In this article you’ll discover how to partner with influencers for a successful social media giveaway. [Source: SocialMediaExaminer.com] More

Turning to our smartphones when we need something — a forgotten word, a better price, a movie time — has become a reflex, according to Matt Lawson, ‎director of search ads marketing at Google.

In a new article on Think with Google, Lawson says, "We want things right, and we want things right away. As a result, the consumer journey looks markedly different than it did just five years ago. Instead of a few moments of truth, it’s a series of 'micro-moments' when we turn to mobile to act on a need." [Source: SearchEngineWatch.com] More

The success of your online marketing depends largely on one thing: content.
Content is complicated. There are times when you should create content and there are times when you should share content. Knowing some best practices for each can help improve your chances of online success. [Source: SociallyStacked.com] More

Instagram hit a major milestone last December. The mobile photo-sharing social network reached 300 million users, passing Twitter’s number of active users.

Now that Instagram is the platform to be on, you need to know how you get your brand in on the action – the right way.

To help you do just that, we created a free downloadable Instagram getting started guide. This guide will teach you the best practices for gaining new followers and earning credibility on the creative-driven social network. [Source: SociallyStacked.com] More

A recent analysis of revenue and financial performance between Internet giants by Frédéric Filloux at MondayNote shows that Google isn't just dominating search, but digital advertising across the board. Of course, you probably already knew that Google generates a massive amount of ad revenue each year – more than $61 billion last year, in fact. [Source: SearchEngineWatch.com] More

From Social Media Examiner... Do your headlines capture the attention of the right people?Need some good ideas to enhance your headlines? A great headline gets your audience to stop, read and share your content. More