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An unusually mild winter this year (along with with a recovering economy) resulted in an earlier jump in search queries for garden, patio and outdoor equipment. By mid-March, query volume on Google for the outdoor and patio category had already reached May 2011 levels. Many advertisers benefited from this earlier spike in interest though more sales earlier in the year. Those who succeeded most were the ones with competitive search bids and daily budgets that were already set up to capture demand when it occurred, regardless of the time of year.

We live in a Google-dominated world; more accurately, we use a Google-dominated internet. The search engine (and purveyor of social media, cloud services and other daily necessities) accounts for over 80 percent of the online query market, making it safe to assume that it set the standard for internet search functions. When choosing to shop online, modern consumers expect no less from the search boxes of the virtual stores they're browsing than they do from King Google.

Social media is continuously being mentioned as the most dominant force in the future of the internet. It started with blogs, followed by MySpace, then Facebook and Twitter, and now the latest craze, Pinterest. Social media is an ever-evolving means of online communication and, as an e-commerce retailer, it's imperative to keep up with the trends. Although recent trends have brought social media closer to e-commerce retailers, for the most part they've been unable to capitalize on the social realm quite yet.

With over 20 percent of Google searches now containing a location element, rising to over 40 percent of mobile searches, retailers are becoming increasingly focused on using online mapping to their advantage. Google has launched a new site (www.whenisamap.com/retail) aimed at showing the ways in which mapping can be put to work for retailers, and have found it interesting to see the varying ways retailers have chosen to use Google Maps for Business. The site has examples of great implementation, ranging from classic store locators to promoting in-store events to indoor mapping.

Innovations such as Google's Project Glass suggest there will come a time when we’ll no longer converse with each other, but instead exchange data like a bunch of GPS-enabled cyborgs. While that may not be quite how it plays out, a highly connected future is definitely on its way. Data already shows that more than one-third of American teens own an iPhone. It’s easy to see what life will look like for the next generation of consumers, but will marketers be prepared? That will largely depend on whether they’ve considered these five post-mobile trends.

In a move it tried — and abandoned — once before, Google began selling a smartphone directly to consumers through a new online store on Tuesday.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, Pinterest is primarily image-based. Engagement is all about leveraging visual images to establish quick connections between brands and consumers while promoting social sharing and ultimately driving traffic to the brand's website.

Wal-Mart announced this week the nomination of Google executive Marissa Mayer to its board of directors. Mayer, 36, joined Google in 1999 as its first female engineer and 20th employee and quickly ascended the executive ranks, first as vice president of search and now as vice president of local and maps. She also sits on Google’s operating committee, an elite group of executives that oversees every critical product launch and decision. It’s not difficult to see why Wal-Mart would want Mayer. She's a minor celebrity as a young, self-described “geek” succeeding in a male-dominated field.

So you're looking through Google Analytics and notice that you're losing some remarketing visitors on the shopping cart page. Or maybe you rarely or never have repeat customers and don't want to serve ads to people who already purchased. How can you tailor your remarketing strategy keeping those issues in mind? Custom combinations allow marketers to combine remarketing lists to reach a more targeted audience.

If at first you don't succeed … Coming off an unsuccessful attempt to sell an Android smartphone back in 2010, Google is planning to launch an online store similar to Amazon.com and Apple to sell co-branded tablet devices, according to The Wall Street Journal. Google's move comes as Apple has gotten a boost from its new iPad and Amazon has made a splash with its Kindle Fire tablet. Apple dominates market share of the category with Android devices a distant second.