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The more active a brand is on Facebook, the better chance consumers will "Like" it. This was the key finding from a recent study on retailers' growth on Facebook and Twitter conducted by marketing agency Media Logic. However, a follow-up study released this month shows that the majority of brands on Facebook saw their growth on the social media site lose steam as the holiday season came and went.

Google has launched the third generation of Google Commerce Search, a search solution for e-commerce websites. When it first first launched Google Commerce Search, the focus was on improving search quality and speed to help retailers provide a better shopping experience and convert more visitors. 

The traditional definition of convergence has evolved to mean something much more than the ability to view media across three screens (computer, mobile, television). The term now represents the blurring of the lines between media delivery, social interaction, mobile experiences, and even the physical and digital worlds. Here are nine things that happened in the last year to bring convergence into focus:

One of the big shifts in online shopping last year was the emergence of social e-commerce. Brands and retailers started to realize that social networks aren’t just a means to extend their visibility, but also a way to pull in more revenue.

A tremendous shift is taking place in online advertising right now. Google is pushing its display capabilities to new levels, Project Devil at AOL is bringing art back into advertising and organizations like the Interactive Advertising Bureau are pushing the industry to innovate with new ad formats. However, regardless of creative execution, the holy grail of advertising is the ability to reach the right person with the most relevant story — whether it’s through rich media or custom sponsorships — at the right time. At the end of the day, ads have one simple goal: to influence and drive purchases.

Google is making some changes to its data requirements and feed specifications in order to help Google Product Search shoppers accurately compare prices and learn more about the products they want to buy.

Over the past three weeks, there's been a spate of discussion in the search engine marketplace about the reduced quality of Google's natural search results. The discussion has centered around two key issues:

Consumers are smarter than ever and utilize Google to hunt for sales and promotions, especially around holidays. Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or Presidents Day (both of which were wildly successful this year), shoppers are now trained to search for deals around these dates. St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and looking at historical search volume, queries for ‘St. Patrick’s Day sale’ terms were up 92 percent from ’09 to ’10, and three weeks out from the big day, advertisers are already advertising on holiday sale terms.

There you are, minding your own business, buying something online, when a pop-up appears asking if you'd like to take part in a survey about your experience. There might have been a time when being asked for your opinion was in some measure gratifying, but for the most part, checking boxes on a form isn't a rewarding experience. It feels uselessly indirect if you have a specific grievance and pointlessly congratulatory if you’ve just purchased something.

Sales originate through traffic. Google is the number one source of traffic, accounting for up to 80 percent of total traffic on e-commerce sites (organic, paid, and shopping). Does Google like your site? And, most importantly, does Google like and deliver traffic to your product page?