Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs) have been around for more than a year, but the transition of Product Search into Shopping announced in May brought them to the forefront and put the search engine in direct competition with Amazon. With improvements to Facebook's search and social recommendation Q&A engine, the industry could see another rival to the group.

Google influences the majority of metrics affecting business, as more transactions go online. Not just ecommerce on desktops, smartphones or tablets, but the ability to find information online that eventually leads consumers to purchase in stores. Where do you fit in?

The world watches and waits for Mark Zuckerberg to announce a search engine to rival Google, but the search engine the Facebook CEO plans to build will integrate capabilities closer to Ask.com.

Social analytics will become the next tool to identify whether social buzz and campaigns can support search engine marketing, as more marketers integrate a variety of media. Determining the success of social campaigns, however, remains challenging. One method that Greenlight's COO Andreas Pouros believes will make it easier points to a pay-per-performance model.

Social media identifies buzz that points to trends in specific geographic areas and topics, but can advancements in analytics produce the insight to really identify increases in search behavior and interest?

Valentino, Gucci, Chloe, Michael Kors -- know the designers? BagBorrowOrSteal.com (BBOS) lets consumers rent, buy, and sell designer handbags online. The Seattle-based site got started connecting with consumers on PCs, but sales and rentals from consumers accessing the site from mobile devices continue to rise.

It seems simple. Marketing campaigns designed to work on a brand's Web site don't always produce positive returns on investments in search, social and mobile. Reasons vary depending on the message. If it comes close, the campaigns can produce so much data it muddies the message. Do companies need a CMO (chief measurement officer)?

Merchants and brands could capitalize on co-op digital marketing opportunities, especially when it comes to search engine marketing and advertising for local and neighborhood stores and services, but a "very substantial portion" of co-op agreements prohibit all Internet advertising, according to a whitepaper released Wednesday.

Google announced at the end of May that it would transition Google Product Search into Google Shopping, dropping the free service that requires merchants to pay for product listing ads (PLAs). Similar to a distributor, Google's online service connects people to brands and products. And while some merchants struggle with the transition from a free to a paid model, it has become clear that the change remains one more way to clean up the garbage online.