Read more from DAC
Google adds “Neighborhood Vibe” to Maps
DAC | October 19, 2022
Wouldn’t it be nice if Google Maps gave you an instant flavor of the particular area you’re looking at? The platform, after all, is no longer used for driving directions alone—it’s a fully fledged discovery…
5 marketing trends CMOs need to watch now
DAC | September 9, 2022
Having spent literally decades anticipating and implementing new marketing strategies based on industry trends and developments, we know all too well that the CMO role is continually evolving. It’s also a challenge to stay ahead…
DAC turned 50! Highlights from our Next Level celebrations
DAC | August 4, 2022
After 50 years of delighting clients, rising to every challenge, and making unforgettable memories along the way, DAC is celebrating an extraordinary milestone. And celebrate we did! Earlier this summer, we came together in Toronto…
How we’re making every day Earth Day
DAC | April 22, 2021
“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” –Barbara Ward As we celebrate Earth Day, we are reminded to be kinder to our…
Google’s shift away from cookies and personal ad IDs
DAC | March 9, 2021
In a move that has the industry buzzing (again!) about how we use data to build personalized ads, Google has announced that “once third-party cookies are phased out, we will not build alternate identifiers to…
Google’s quiet move: Responsive Search Ads are now the default format
DAC | February 22, 2021
If you are anything like me, you watched The Queen’s Gambit and now fancy yourself a learned chess player and scholar. As such, Google’s announcement that responsive search ads, or RSAs, are now the default…
Google deprecates broad match modifier keywords: What you need to know
DAC | February 9, 2021
On February 4, 2021, Google announced that it would be deprecating broad match modifier keywords and rolling their functionality into phrase match targeting. It’s a huge announcement, so let’s explore what it means, the implications…
2021 predictions: How the top 3 data trends can go right (or wrong)
DAC | January 26, 2021
Thought last year was a little crazy? Then hang on to your hat because 2021 might just go down as the most predictably unpredictable year on record (in the world of data analytics, anyway). Unfortunately,…
2021 predictions: 5 imminent trends in UX, UI, and design
DAC | January 12, 2021
Like every digital discipline, design is being steadily reshaped by the “new normal”. Although users may yearn for the beforetimes—familiar click paths, comforting colors—the pandemic has changed the way they interact online, and accelerated a…
2021 predictions: Keep a close eye on these 4 upcoming SEO trends
DAC | January 6, 2021
Meet the new year, same as the old year? If January isn’t exactly turning the page on a crazy 2020—with certain aspects likely to take much longer to improve than we had hoped—we can at…
2021 predictions: Breathe new life into your content after a tumultuous year
DAC | December 29, 2020
As we pass the halfway mark in our seven-part prediction series, it’s time to focus our attention on the weird and wonderful world of content strategy. Will 2021 be the year voice search fulfills its…
2021 predictions: 5 developments to factor into your digital strategy
DAC | December 22, 2020
Part three of our predictions series brings us to digital strategy–where decisions are driven by data, research reveals surprising truths, and there’s no such thing as too much coffee. Join us as we pick out…
2021 predictions: Automation, digital TV, and the end of the cookie
DAC | December 15, 2020
We’re focusing on paid media in the second part of our 2021 predictions series. This time, we gaze into our crystal ball to double down on a previous prediction, envision a world without (third-party) cookies,…
2021 predictions: 3 ways local listings will evolve next year
DAC | December 10, 2020
You don’t need us to tell you that the year 2020 will go down as one of the most disruptive on record. Yet, despite the disruption and disorder, there was significant progress made in a…
Podcasting is the new radio—and it offers priceless opportunities
DAC | October 21, 2020
Like the sense of suspense in an old time radio drama, digital audio has been steadily establishing prominence over the past decade. According to eMarketer, in fact, digital audio accounted for most time spent on…
DAC at Ad Age Women to Watch: Leading innovation during crises
DAC | September 22, 2020
At the Women to Watch conference and awards, Ad Age not only recognizes and celebrates the achievements of women who have made strides in advertising and marketing, but focuses on the challenges facing women—and others—in…
4 ways we’re creating a more diverse workplace
DAC | August 26, 2020
Over the last couple of months, DAC’s People and Culture team has taken the time to audit our existing policies, practices, and training. We’ve evaluated how they support our long-held values around diversity and inclusion,…
Local Search Masterclass recap: How financial brands can drive customer acquisition and retention during re-openings, and beyond
DAC | June 16, 2020
Reopening can be complicated for businesses with distributed local footprints, especially in the highly regulated financial services industry. That’s why we hosted a Local Search Masterclass to help industry marketers get the most valid information…
5 reasons why now is the time to invest in content
DAC | June 3, 2020
Understandably, most businesses are focusing their attention on operations right now. Many are retrofitting to be able to continue delivery of goods and services to customers while sustaining as much revenue as they can. For…
Impromptu debate: Google’s free Shopping ads
DAC | May 20, 2020
Google’s decision to include organic listings in its expanded Shopping platform has prompted a ton of healthy debate across the industry—including our own interpretation for what it means for advertisers. Never ones to shy away…
Round table recap: Marketing leaders share their pandemic insights
DAC | May 6, 2020
The word “disruption” has taken on new meaning for businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It no longer refers to iconoclast brands tearing up industry norms, but to the fact that the pandemic has reset organizational…
Google Shopping’s free expansion: What it means for advertisers
DAC | April 28, 2020
Google recently announced an enormous change to the Google Shopping tab. In an effort to move more SMBs into an ecommerce-first model, Google has expanded its Shopping platform to include free, organic listings on the…
Enhanced Ecommerce can help your business win—now more than ever
DAC | April 23, 2020
Where on your site are products being viewed? What product colors and sizes are users looking at? Is the product on sale? How many items are customers adding to their cart? Which items are being…
How the pandemic is changing consumer behavior
DAC | April 13, 2020
COVID-19 shocked the world. Now it’s creating an entirely new world that consumers and businesses must adapt to; a world in which abnormal is the new normal—and it can be overwhelming. So, how are consumers…
Digital media in a COVID-19 world
DAC | April 9, 2020
By this point in the pandemic timeline, every business that advertises online has had to make a series of decisions about their digital advertising programs. Should they keep their programs on? If so, which tactics…
Live from their living rooms: Adobe Summit 2020 highlights
DAC | April 3, 2020
The Adobe Digital Experience Conference is a major annual event in our world. Usually, it’s a massive extravaganza (last year’s was held in Las Vegas) that brings together thousands of top industry professionals through offline…
How to be data-driven in a crisis
DAC | April 1, 2020
In times of extraordinary change, how should businesses navigate and interpret the massive quantities of data coming their way? Here at DAC, our strategic planners, analysts, and insights specialists spend all day every day interpreting…
Our lasting adaptations will create the new normal
DAC | March 30, 2020
Nasser Sahlool has just nicely articulated the human imperative for a return to normalcy, as well as the sureness that what follows the COVID-19 pandemic will be a new normal. And it’s true: we’re experiencing…
5 urgent pandemic lessons from European businesses
DAC | March 23, 2020
While COVID-19 is quickly spreading across North America, we are (hopefully) close to the peak of it in Italy and Spain. With full lockdowns in place to maximize social distancing and fines for people leaving…
DAC statement on COVID-19
DAC | March 17, 2020
As communities around the world grapple with a global pandemic, DAC has taken precautions to ensure the safety of our staff and partners, and, importantly, to deliver on our commitments to our clients. With the…
Behind the Headlines: How coronavirus is affecting our digital behavior
DAC | March 5, 2020
A new day, a new coronavirus headline. Over the last month, news outlets have reported extensively on the development and spread of the disease. While the threat to human life has (rightly so) been the…
Webinar highlights featuring Forrester: Brand and performance marketing
DAC | March 3, 2020
Brand and performance marketing complement each other—and compete with one another. The two are often talked about separately because they focus on different parts of the customer life cycle and marketing funnel. Brand marketing influences…
Oscars 2020: Retail marketing lessons from the red carpet
DAC | February 6, 2020
The Oscars are back! As usual, we’re not content to simply predict the winners and losers of the Best Picture race. The real big question on everyone’s mind is: who will be the best- and…
The best ads of the decade: 2010-2019
DAC | December 27, 2019
It was the best of ads, it was the worst of ads… Actually, we’re not going to talk about the worst, because who needs that negativity going into 2020?! What a decade it’s been. And…
Digital Marketing 2020: Get ahead of these 3 trends in SEM and display
DAC | December 20, 2019
There’s no shortage of digital marketing predictions this month, most of which center around a few core themes—including the continuing rise of automation and, by proxy, the loss of marketers’ granular control over their campaigns.…
Digital Marketing 2020: 5 content developments you need to prepare for
DAC | December 3, 2019
If 2019 was the year of product-focused marketing, short-form video, and provable content ROI, it seems that 2020 will be the year of audio experiences, data innovation, and in-app ecommerce. Here are the five developments…
Digital Marketing 2020: 5 ways your strategy needs to evolve
DAC | December 1, 2019
Our Strategic Insights practice is all about using data to forecast trends. So, we’re only too happy to dust off our trusty crystal ball to predict what’s coming—and what marketers should be paying attention to—in…
Hey, BERT! Meet the Google AI set to change search forever
DAC | November 27, 2019
For all its myriad patents, products, services, and initiatives, Google’s goal is neatly summed up in a concise mission statement: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. The search giant’s…
Behind the Headlines: Looking at another pizza the problem
DAC | October 11, 2019
Another week, another tale of woe for brick-and-mortar businesses. This time, we learned that British restaurant chain PizzaExpress was at risk of folding, following in the footsteps of Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurants and long-established travel…
3 ways restaurants can use data to their advantage
DAC | October 8, 2019
“The evolution of relevance will be data,” said Ryan Ostrom, former Chief Digital Officer at KFC, at the Collision tech conference back in May. So, how is data analytics reshaping the restaurant industry? Data has…
Behind the Headlines: Is time running out for the big boys?
DAC | October 3, 2019
This week the world of tech presented us with a couple of mouthwatering heavyweight showdowns: Google Shopping vs. Amazon, and TikTok vs. Facebook. Are the champions’ reigns at an end? Will we see new kings…
New VPs at our Toronto, Montreal, and Chicago Offices
DAC | September 27, 2019
It’s not only the leaves that are changing this season—we’re welcoming three new faces to our talented office leadership team. Adam Luck joins as VP/GM of our Toronto and Vancouver offices, Sonia Allard is VP/GM…
Behind the Headlines: Artificial Intelligence, Voyeuristic Mattresses, and Pink-Eyed Terminators
DAC | September 27, 2019
It sounds like the beginnings of a bad joke: “What do artificial intelligence, voyeuristic mattresses, and pink-eyed Terminators have in common?” The answer is even more amazing: Boris Johnson. That’s right. While he was away…
OMMA Awards 2019: And the Winner is… DAC!
DAC | September 24, 2019
We did it! We brought home the gold in two of the three categories in which we were finalists at the 2019 OMMA Awards. Good job we dressed for the occasion and practiced our acceptance…
Forrester Names DAC Among the Most Significant Performance Marketing Agencies
DAC | September 18, 2019
Influential research and advisory firm Forrester has named DAC a contender in The Forrester Wave™: Performance Marketing Agencies, Q3 2019, citing us for bringing a unique offering to multilocation brands. Nasser Sahlool—Vice President, Client Strategy—is…
4 SEO Strategies to Boost Traffic to Your Ecommerce Site
DAC | September 17, 2019
You’ve established your brand, your products have hit the market, and your ecommerce website is up and running. But how do you promote your online business in a way that can generate traffic and quality…
Dust Off The Tux! We’re Finalists for 3 OMMA Awards
DAC | September 10, 2019
They say good things come in threes, right? We couldn’t agree more after MediaPost named DAC a finalist in not one, not two, but three categories at the 2019 OMMA Awards. Our longstanding partnership with…
Google’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’ Invigorates Data Transparency Debate
DAC | August 23, 2019
Tech giants have to tread a fine line between protecting user privacy and offering up enough user data to entice advertisers. Although people have become increasingly wary of how their data is harvested, they’re rarely…
Apple Update: Subvert Safari’s Tracking Rules and You’ll be Treated as Malware
DAC | August 21, 2019
The murky issue of user trust and tracking in digital marketing is making headlines again. This time, Apple has updated its own tracking method in a move that is sure to compel vendors to rethink…
Hotel Moneyball: Supercharge Your Marketing with Total Revenue
DAC | August 13, 2019
Siloed data is a serious challenge for many hotels. Reservation records may sit in the booking engine, restaurant and bar spend in another system, spa and leisure bookings elsewhere, and marketing activity in separate online…
DAC Announces Proove Intelligence
DAC | July 30, 2019
What happens when your web analytics team evolves into a breakthrough center of excellence? You double down, re-imagine the possibilities, and give it the freedom to create transformative, data-driven change for your clients. So, we’re…
Caring Isn’t Creepy: Personalization in the Travel Industry
DAC | July 16, 2019
On a recent business trip, I was greeted at my hotel check-in desk with a pleasant surprise: “Thanks for staying with us again, Ms. Stein. As usual, we’ve provided you with a feather-free room on…
DAC’s Own Felicia DelVecchio Wins Search Marketer of the Year 2019
DAC | July 3, 2019
We’re delighted to congratulate our very own Director of Digital Media, Felicia DelVecchio, on her big win at this year’s Search Engine Land Awards. Named Search Marketer of the Year, Felicia has been recognized for…
TikTok: The New Social Platform Making Waves
DAC | July 2, 2019
There’s a new kid on the block. Just when we started to think that Facebook and Google have almost completely taken over with their social media weaponry—Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube (Twitter and LinkedIn sold separately)—something…
How to Engage Independent Travelers in the Digital Age
DAC | June 11, 2019
Click. Click. Click. Click. The familiar sound of convenience. But do you remember what it was like planning a trip before the internet was a thing? No websites, no apps, no e-tickets, no online bookings.…
The Future of Tech: 4 Key Insights from the 2019 Collision Conference
DAC | May 30, 2019
With 25,000+ attendees from 125 countries, 900+ journalists, 3,750+ CEOs and a long list of speakers from groundbreaking startups and Fortune 500 companies, Collision is one of the fastest growing tech conferences in North America.…
The Sky Is Not Falling: Apple ITP 2.2 and What It Means For Marketers
DAC | May 17, 2019
When Apple announced this week that it would be introducing an updated version of “Intelligent Tracking Prevention” on Safari II and IOS 11, it caused quite a stir in the marketing community. What is Intelligent…
Staying Power: The Importance of Review Management for Hotels
DAC | April 16, 2019
Gone are the days of consumers complaining to no avail. Thanks to the advent of the internet and social media, customer complaints no longer fall on deaf ears—quite the opposite, in fact. Nowadays, online reviews…
Let’s Talk About Voice! Join Us at The Gathering 2019
DAC | February 19, 2019
The continuing rise of voice search is staggering. There are 1.6 billion digital assistants in use; there are more than 1 billion voice searches every month; and half of all searches will be voice by…
Feed Your Search Engine: A New Era in Ecommerce
DAC | February 19, 2019
If you’re an ecommerce retailer, you already know how hard it is to acquire new customers and drive sales while competing against the giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Overstock. But digital marketing for ecommerce is…
It’s Official: We’re Adobe Certified Experts
DAC | February 12, 2019
Change is inevitable, but growth takes vision and enterprise—especially in the fast-evolving world of digital, where the right tools and expertise can make the difference between getting ahead and getting left behind. That’s why every…
3 Digital Media Trends You Need to Know in 2019
DAC | December 18, 2018
In 2018, businesses and brands were again faced with rapidly changing consumer trends in digital display media—and were repeatedly challenged to adjust their tools and technology just as fast. From chatbots to voice search, this…
3 Strategies to Drive Lead Gen in Higher Education
DAC | November 29, 2018
With global competition and rising acquisition costs, there’s no question that the digital age has made student enrollment a Sisyphean task for higher education brands. Up against local, regional, and even international rivals for the…
The Rise of Conscious Consumerism
DAC | November 20, 2018
Consumers are increasingly conscious of the impact of the products they purchase. While their priorities differ, some consumers have started consciously (or unconsciously) changing their purchase behavior, deciding where to shop and who to purchase…
3 Ways to Level Up Your Business’ Pinterest Strategy
DAC | November 13, 2018
The days of creating vision boards and having to browse through catalogues to plan your next purchase are long over, thanks—in part—to the creation of Pinterest. What’s the big deal about Pinterest? Unlike content on…
US Search Awards 2018: Behind the Nomination
DAC | October 16, 2018
The US Search Awards is regarded as the premier celebration of search engine optimization, PPC, and content marketing in the United States. It celebrates and rewards the expertise, talent, and achievements of the search industry.…
Google’s Birthday Updates: 6 Changes You Need to Know
DAC | October 10, 2018
Google turned 20 last month (let that sink in for a moment…). To celebrate, they released a series of updates intended to represent a “fundamental transformation” in how we think about search. We assume there…
Four Key Takeaways from Lean In Canada’s Women and Entrepreneurship Event
DAC | September 27, 2018
Last week DAC attended Lean In Canada’s monthly speaker and networking event. This month’s theme was Women and Entrepreneurship: How to Lead and Succeed. The event took place at the Art Gallery of Ontario in…
The UX of Voice User Interface (VUI): What it Means for Brands
DAC | August 24, 2018
In the last few years, Voice User Interface (VUI) based personal assistants, like Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Siri have become a familiar part of our daily lives. Thanks to improvements in voice-recognition accuracy, VUIs…
Multi-Touch Attribution: What’s the Real Value of Branded SEM?
DAC | August 15, 2018
Savvy clients are always asking us questions like, “What’s the real value of branded Search Engine Marketing? How do I know I’m not just paying for clicks I’d get organically anyway?” These questions have been…
The Drum Puts the Spotlight on DAC’s Brand Refresh
DAC | July 12, 2018
UK-based global marketing publication The Drum has taken note of DAC’s brand refresh and asked our CEO and Managing Partner Norm Hagarty about what prompted our new look—and where the digital marketing agency is going…
5 Simple Ways to Make Good Content More Powerful
DAC | July 5, 2018
We’d all love to have the marketing budget of some of the giants—Disney, AMEX, Coca-Cola. This article is not for them. This article is for the underdogs. Those who have just a couple thousand dollars…
Case Study: DAC Drives a Seamless, Integrated Experience Throughout the Customer Purchase Journey for Bridgestone Paid Search From Brand to Retail
DAC | June 30, 2018
DAC drives significant individual program gains of over 103% in conversions and 84% more store visits. The alignment of the programs have driven over $1M dollars in cost efficiencies, with net gains in traffic and…
A Bright Future is Here
DAC | June 27, 2018
Throughout our journey, we have reimagined and reinvented the way we work, the way we think, and the way we drive growth for our clients. It has enabled us to navigate successive revolutions—technology, media, data—and…
Landy Awards 2018: Behind the Nomination
DAC | June 14, 2018
DAC was in good company at this week’s Landy Awards, hosted by Search Engine Land. Our work with two of our favorite clients earned us finalist status in two categories – Best Integration of Search…
You Are What They Search
DAC | May 31, 2018
Over the past year, there seems to be a trend amongst digital marketing professionals to uniquely reposition their products and services—or at least control the language around important brands—in order to differentiate them from competitors.…
DAC Wins SEMPO Award for Best Paid Search Campaign
DAC | May 17, 2018
The team behind our work with Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO) has been recognized with a prestigious SEMPO award – a global honor recognizing the best in paid search. The award recognizes exceptional integration efforts between…
DAC Offers Local Presence Management (LPM) on Microsoft Azure
DAC | May 15, 2018
As leading brands seek to deepen connections with customers and meet them where they are, local presence management continues to be a foundational aspect of digital marketing strategy. DAC’s local presence management platform is now…
DAC Launches New Reseller Partner Division ConvergenSEE™
DAC | April 25, 2018
DAC, the leading digital agency focused on location-based solutions and hyper-local marketing for enterprise brands, is proud to announce the formal launch of ConvergenSEE, our white-label reseller partnership division. ConvergenSEE is built to provide industry…
Voice Search and the Future of SEO
DAC | April 19, 2018
The rise in smartphones and digital/home assistants (Google Home, Amazon Echo, etc.), and improvements to voice recognition via machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and AI are a clear indication that the use of voice…
The State of UX: In-Store and Online
DAC | February 8, 2018
I recently decided to purchase a pair of pants at a high-end retail store in downtown Toronto; as I made my way into the store, the scent of the dark oak wood floors, the sound…
What it Means to be a #GeekWithPersonality
DAC | January 23, 2018
What does it mean to be a #GeekWithPersonality? Between the free breakfast and snacks, four weeks’ vacation, flex hours, treadmill desk and ping pong table, it’s almost easy to forget that we’re one of Toronto’s fastest-growing…
UX Predictions: 2018
DAC | December 19, 2017
2017 was a big year for the state of digital user-experience across industries and around the world. It gave rise to new chatbots and emphasized the use of scalable pattern libraries (a collection of design…
Travel White Paper: Departures, Destinations and Disruptors
DAC | December 15, 2017
We’re thrilled to launch our latest white paper, Departures, Destinations and Disruptors, which examines how forward-thinking brands use digital channels to engage today’s demanding and digitally-savvy travelers. The report combines original research and expert interviews…
Getting More Personal, Conversational and Political: Digital Strategy Predictions for 2018
DAC | December 12, 2017
2017 has been quite a year in digital marketing. From the rise of artificial intelligence to the decline of brick-and-mortar retail, this year was proof that, in the digital landscape, the only thing that ever…How to Rock Your Digital Agency Interview
DAC | November 16, 2017
I’m sure you’ve been there. Walking out of an interview and not having a clue how it went. Not sure if you asked enough questions, said the right things… or if the interviewer actually found…
DAC Wins Landy Award for Best Local Search
DAC | October 30, 2017
The talented team behind DAC’s work with Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO) took home some hardware at last night’s Landy Awards, presented by Search Engine Land. When deciding on the winner for Best Local SEM Initiative,…
Reducing Click Per Acquisition at the Local Level with Display Media
DAC | October 3, 2017
When it comes to getting results with digital advertising, bigger isn’t always better. If you are still building big national campaigns, you might be missing a lucrative opportunity at the local level. With a localized…
280-Character Tweets: The Debate
DAC | September 28, 2017
The Internet is all a-twitter with the news: instead of the 140-character limit that has existed since the inception of the network, some Twitter users are getting the ability to double their tweet length to…
Why Even Great Marketers Still Don’t Fully “Get” Digital (and How a Better Understanding Can Drive Greater Results!)
DAC | September 27, 2017
Despite the ubiquity of digital and mobile in marketing today — from Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” campaign to Let’s Go Hollywood themed ads — many marketing professionals don’t truly understand the digital…
Top 6 Content Marketing Tools of 2017 (So Far)
DAC | September 12, 2017
Content marketers in the digital space understand the complexities that come with aligning messaging and content with users throughout the purchase funnel. Developing and curating content can be a challenging task that requires analysis and…
DAC Named Search Engine Land 2017 Awards Finalist
DAC | September 11, 2017
Internationally recognized program honors excellence in digital marketing among the world’s top marketers. Leading industry publication Search Engine Land recently included DAC amongst the short list of nominees in the 2017 Landy Awards, selected from…
Know Thy Audience: How to Segment and Target for Business Results
DAC | September 5, 2017
For advertisers looking to use their ad dollars as effectively as possible (so… pretty much everyone), identifying the best message to send to the right person at the right time is key. So how do…
DAC is a Finalist in The Drum Search Awards USA
DAC | August 14, 2017
We’re excited to announce that DAC is a finalist in the Best Use of Local Search category in the 2017 Drum Search Awards USA for its local search campaign with Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO). BSRO…
DAC Appoints Kelly McCoy Williams as VP, Enterprise Business Development
DAC | August 8, 2017
As DAC continues to grow, we are thrilled to welcome Kelly McCoy Williams as VP Enterprise Business Development. Kelly will work with the senior leadership team to build new business through outreach to enterprise level…
3 Ways Google and Apple’s Ad Blocking Tech Will Impact Advertisers
DAC | July 10, 2017
Ad blocking has been around for years, mainly used by individuals downloading programs to remove “annoying” advertising from their online experience (think pop-ups and flashing banners). But in the past month, Apple and Google have…
DAC and Ad Age Bring the Power of Local to Cannes
DAC | June 26, 2017
According to a recent study conducted by AdAge, local digital advertising budgets are getting bigger. But with only one third of marketers confident in their ability to successfully integrate all the necessary elements into those…
Whitepaper: Customer-First Approach is Key for Retailer Marketers
DAC | June 16, 2017
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our latest white paper, Customer-First Retail, examining the importance of local and customer experience for retailers hoping to connect with today’s digital-first shoppers. As we witness the…
White Paper Identifies Key Marketing Opportunities for Mid-Sized Financial Institutions
DAC | March 1, 2017
We’re thrilled to announce that DAC has launched a new white paper, The Apple Effect, which examines the importance of local and user experience for the mid-tier banking and financial services industry. As large banks…
Jenna Watson Joins DAC as VP, Digital Media Services
DAC | February 15, 2017
As DAC continues to expand its services and international footprint, Jenna Watson is joining the company in the role of VP, Digital Media Services. Watson will work with the senior leadership team to manage DAC’s…
Local SEO Pt. 3 – Bringing It All Together
DAC | February 8, 2017
In the first blog post of this three-part series, I identified why together, mobile and Google will dominate the near-future of all online search for a physical business. If you think about Google search’s current…
DAC Named a Finalist in the 2017 Finny Killer Content Awards
DAC | February 3, 2017
We pride ourselves on generating measurable results for clients – and it turns out the judges behind the Finnys, an awards program honoring “killer” content marketers, are also impressed! We’ve been named finalists for our demonstrated…
DAC Wins Kenshoo 2017 Infinity Award
DAC | February 3, 2017
We’re thrilled to announce that DAC is the winner of a prestigious Kenshoo Infinity Award for Outstanding Mobile Paid Search Optimization for our work with auto care and tire industry leader Bridgestone Retail Operations (BRSO).…
DAC Featured in eMarketer’s Digital Video Advertising Best Practices 2017 Report
DAC | January 25, 2017
US digital video ad spending stands to approach $18 billion by 2020 – it’s a bright spot in the digital advertising market, but also presents unique challenges. In their January report, Digital Video Advertising Best…
Independent Research Firm Identifies Location Management Platforms for Brands
DAC | January 25, 2017
In today’s digital world, location information is more fragmented than ever and consumers are demanding far more than basic name, address and phone number information when deciding where to go. Despite this, a recent Forrester…
The Best and Worst of Digital Marketing in 2016
DAC | January 12, 2017
2016 was a year filled with innovative, witty and surprisingly controversial campaigns. As we all adjust to the fact that it’s 2017, let’s take a look at some of last year’s best (and worst!) digital…
Fit4Less by GoodLife Names DAC as Digital Agency of Record
DAC | January 9, 2017
Fit4Less, the budget-friendly fitness chain owned by Canada’s leader in fitness, GoodLife Fitness™, has appointed Toronto-based digital performance agency DAC as its digital agency of record. The fitness chain currently has 70 locations across Canada…
Where Do We SEO From Here?: Organic Search Trends for 2017
DAC | December 23, 2016
Savvy marketers will need to master the art AND science of SEO best practices to stay ahead of the pack this year. Here are our top four tips. 1) Mobile will grow (but don’t forget…
2017 Trends for Online Display Advertising
DAC | December 20, 2016
As we enter the new year, data and technology will continue to drive innovation and performance of online display advertising for savvy brands. Here are the top six display trends on the horizon. 1) Online…
AR, Social Commerce and Nostalgia Tech: Digital Predictions for 2017 and Beyond
DAC | December 12, 2016
The Strategic Insights team at DAC spends all day each day digging into data, looking for insights and trends that can teach us something about what is likely to happen in the digital landscape over…
eMarketer Taps DAC for its Latest Report: Digital Marketing Trends in Canada
DAC | December 5, 2016
After speaking with top Canadian marketers from companies including Honda, the Internet Advertising Bureau of Canada and our own Mario Lemieux, President of DAC / Canada, eMarketer has identified three key challenges and three opportunities…
Here are the Top 5 Content Trends for 2017
DAC | December 2, 2016
From data tools to digital asset management, content marketing will see a huge tech boost in the coming year, and companies that embrace and leverage the right tools for their objectives are the ones that…
Scotland’s Ambergreen Joins DAC
DAC | November 16, 2016
We are pleased to announce that Edinburgh-based Ambergreen, ScotlandIS Digital Agency of the Year 2016, is the newest member of the DAC family. The digital marketing agency was founded in 2001 and has been a pioneer…
eMarketer Features DAC Europe in UK Holiday Shopping Preview
DAC | November 4, 2016
As the holiday season nears, DAC Europe President David Jowett was interviewed for eMarketer’s latest report, UK Holiday Season Shopping Preview 2016. Drawing from original research and the expertise of leading marketers and retailers, the…
Now You See Me, Now You Don’t – Local SEO Pt. 2
DAC | November 2, 2016
In part 1 of this series I introduced the concept of local SEO and illustrated its importance to digital marketing. In the second installment, my goal is to provide actionable insights into two questions: 1.…
DAC’s Round Table Series Touches Down in Vancouver
DAC | October 25, 2016
Some of the best and brightest digital marketers from several of Vancouver’s top companies came together last week at DAC’s Digital Marketing Round Table to discuss challenges and solutions related to current digital optimization trends.…
5 Ways Penguin 4.0 Impacts SEO
DAC | October 14, 2016
Google Penguin 4.0 is now officially rolled out – and while it’s just one of many factors that can affect organic search, it’s a significant one. Here are the top 5 implication for brands and…
DAC Creates Mobile-First Website for AlarmForce
DAC | September 15, 2016
As part of its recent rebranding, Toronto-based AlarmForce has launched a new mobile-first website, created by DAC. We have been working with AlarmForce for over two years and beat out five multinational full-service advertising agencies and a…
Independent Research Firm Highlights the Importance of Local Search for Brands
DAC | September 13, 2016
In the August 22, 2016 brief by Forrester Research, Attract Customers Through Local Search, the respected independent research firm outlines the new expectations consumers have of how brands show up in local search – and…
Now You See Me, Now You Don’t – Are You Losing In Local SEO?
DAC | September 1, 2016
From single location businesses to massive brands with hundreds, or even thousands of stores, “local search” and “local marketing” are buzzwords that we’ve been hearing for a number of years. Smartphones started becoming popular in…
Attribution Modeling – Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
DAC | July 20, 2016
Even as a digital marketer I can’t pretend to operate in isolation. As a brand, you have multiple channels to choose to invest in including digital, OOH, TV, radio and print. All of these have…Attribution Modeling – Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
DAC | July 20, 2016
Even as a digital marketer I can’t pretend to operate in isolation. As a brand, you have multiple channels to choose to invest in including digital, OOH, TV, radio and print. All of these have…
You Are What You Tweet – Eating in a Digital World
DAC | June 8, 2016
There are few businesses left untouched by the massive changes brought about by our digital-first world and the food industry is no exception. We’re taking a look at the changes the internet is having on…
Context is King as Google AdWords Announces Major Changes
DAC | June 6, 2016
Google’s announcement of a bevy of changes to the AdWords and Analytics platforms at their Performance Summit last month felt like a list of long-awaited answers to questions that search marketers have been asking for…
DAC Does Colour Me Rad
DAC | June 1, 2016
Members of DAC participated in Colour Me Rad on May 28th, 2016. The race was held at Downsview Park in Toronto and was attended by thousands of participants all looking for a new take on…
Game changers and industry shakers: Lessons from C2 MTL
DAC | June 1, 2016
Part networking event, part celebration of creative innovation, part circus: C2 Montreal is the conference that’s hard to label. Last week, I, along with some of my Montreal colleagues, attended this three-day event. Drawing thousands…
Digital Mannequins – Are Google Shopping Ads For You?
DAC | May 25, 2016
As consumers become more tech savvy the marketing industry has had to update their practices. One innovation was the introduction of Google Shopping Ads and their Merchant Center – a variation of traditional paid search…
Rob’s Roundup: Five Questions From ClickZ Live New York
DAC | May 13, 2016
DAC attended ClickZ Live in New York City in April and asked some of the smartest digital experts in the world five questions about social, data, apps and more.
The Future of Ad Blocking with Dr. Johnny Ryan
DAC | April 25, 2016
While attending Ad-Tech Canada 2016 in Toronto last month, I sat in on a panel discussing the pros and cons of ad blocking where I was introduced to the concept of ‘ad blocking blockers’. I…
Are You Customizing Every Stage of the Consumer Journey?
DAC | April 18, 2016
DAC was privileged to recently hold a Digital Roundtable at its Chicago Office, in which it had C-level executives from top organizations throughout the Chicagoland Area. There were a number of different topics covered, but…
DAC Wins Best Education Online Campaign in 2016 IAC
DAC | March 29, 2016
The results are in. DAC wins Best Education Online Campaign with Sylvan Learning “Campaigns By Centre”! DAC is proud of the work it does for Sylvan Learning Centres in website optimization, geo-local lead generation and…
Rob’s Roundup: 5 Questions From DX3 2016
DAC | March 25, 2016
DAC attended DX3 in Toronto in March and asked some of the smartest digital experts in the country the same 5 questions.
The Art of Native Advertising – Part II
DAC | March 23, 2016
Native Advertising – If You Build It Will They Come? I hope Part I – The Art of Native Advertising has left you with a solid foundation in understanding native advertising. People often say, knowing…
The Art of Native Advertising
DAC | March 17, 2016
Part one of this two part series will provide a working level understanding of native advertising – what it means, what it looks like and why it improves performance. In part II, we will apply…
Rob’s Roundup: Amazon’s Future Homes, Facebook Messenger Gets Ads, Virtual Rollercoasters
DAC | March 4, 2016
In this week’s roundup, we look at some new technology offerings from both Amazon and Samsung that are making our world look more like The Jetson’s, as well as Facebook opening up its Messenger platform…
Rob’s Roundup: Tech Giants Back Apple, Google Tracks Photos, LinkedIn’s Oscar Commercial
DAC | February 29, 2016
In this week’s post, we look at the ongoing legal battle between the FBI and Apple as key tech companies weigh in, Google’s scary-but-awesome image tracking software and take a peek at LinkedIn’s first TV…
The Future of Retail – Business Reporter Interview
DAC | February 23, 2016
DAC Europe, President, David Jowett sits down with Business Reporter, UK, Alastair Greener, to discuss the future of retail. Catch the full interview below where David dives into how retail brands can utilize granular search…
What Google’s Dumping of the AdWords Right Rail Means for Marketers
DAC | February 23, 2016
In what certainly seemed to many like an abrupt move, Google rolled out a global change to its search engine results page (SERP) layout for desktops and tablets late last week, effectively ending its long-standing…
Rob’s Roundup: B.O.B. and Neil deGrasse Tyson get into Twitter Rap battle
DAC | January 29, 2016
Seconds after the first tweet came the first twitter battle. This week B.O.B gets into a Twitter rap battle with physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Why the Ad Blocking Scare Will Make Us Better
DAC | January 28, 2016
It’s hard to avoid the chatter around the concept of ad blocking if you work in the digital marketing industry these days. Since Apple released iOS 9 last fall and started approving ad blocking apps,…
Rob’s Roundup: Mozilla Founder Announces Brave Browser That Blocks Ads
DAC | January 22, 2016
Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich unveiled his latest project, the open source Brave browser that automatically blocks ads and then replaces them with ads of its own. The company behind it, Brave Software, will take a…
Rob’s Roundup: Best of the Best of 2015 Lists
DAC | January 15, 2016
It’s been another wild, inventive, funny and odd year online, so we’ve rounded up all the best lists of the best (and worst) digital advertising campaigns of 2015.
Rob’s Roundup: Google’s on Autopilot and MIT Makes Things Unforgettable
DAC | December 18, 2015
This week we look at two technologies that are replacing the human factor – Google’s driverless cars and MIT’s image recognition algorithms. Both of these technologies are poised to shake up their respective industries, albeit…
Rob’s Roundup: Who’s Always Online and Seeing Torrent Ads
DAC | December 11, 2015
This week we look at a new study showing how 21% of people are online constantly, as well as how some advertisers are taking advantage of the marketing opportunity Torrent clients provide. Put your phone…
5 Big, Bold Digital Strategy Predictions For 2016
DAC | December 10, 2015
Digital strategy is an ever-changing area of digital marketing. We’ve certainly come a long way from the days when having a digital strategy simply meant building a website. With the proliferation of new technologies, platforms…
Today we say goodbye to a founding partner of DAC, Merv Werry.
DAC | December 9, 2015
Merv, affectionately dubbed one of the “Three Musketeers”, joined DAC in 1973, partnering with Wayne Fulcher and Jeff Hallett to establish the agency’s first office specializing in directory listing management. Merv’s contribution to location and…
Rob’s Roundup: Google Makes the Jump to Lightspeed with Star Wars Integrated Campaign
DAC | November 27, 2015
In what might be the biggest cross-brand collaboration since McDonald’s started selling the Barney Rubble Bacon Double Cheeseburger for the Flintstones film, Google and Disney have partnered to create the #ChooseYourSide campaign. So how did…
How To Take Your Business Global: A Tactical SEO Guide
DAC | November 16, 2015
If you’re in Digital Marketing, you’re probably familiar with the term “Glocal.” It’s about thinking global but acting local. Thanks to the internet, everyone’s your neighbor (yes, even that wild-haired hoarder who lives down the hallway)…
Rob’s Roundup: YouTube music App, Happier Without Facebook, Mobile Still the King
DAC | November 13, 2015
This week we’ll take a look at YouTube’s long-awaited music app, a study that finds people are happier when they leave Facebook, and another report that says – you guessed it – people hate a…
Why Google’s New Customer Match is Great News for B2B Marketers
DAC | November 9, 2015
For more than a decade, paid search has been a go-to channel for digital marketers. It’s not hard to understand why. It’s measurable and accountable. It plays right at the bottom of the funnel where the…
Rob’s Roundup: Breaking Your #Twitterheart
DAC | November 4, 2015
#Twitterheart, Google and Amazon get physical Twitter is breaking hearts with its shift away from the star favorite icon while Google and Amazon move into retail and delivery services – though what company is doing…
Fee Fie Foe Thumb: 5 Tips for Mobile Web Design
DAC | October 27, 2015
With the introduction of the “phablet” and ever-growing physical size of smartphones, the mobile growth trend no longer only applies to the increase in device usage. Browsing on less than 4” screens is on the…
Rob’s Roundup: The Blue Jays Awaken the Force in Justin Trudeau
DAC | October 23, 2015
The internet exploded this week, especially in Canada, as Monday night saw a perfect storm of digital offerings that had something for everyone: The 2015 federal election, the Blue Jays triumphant (and crucial) win against…
How to Craft a Content-Focused SEO Strategy
DAC | October 7, 2015
Since the beginning of time content has always been at the heart of SEO. Without quality content, brands won’t be found in the search results and without higher search engine rankings they miss the opportunity…
Investing in Change: A Project Management Take on Refreshing the DAC Brand
DAC | October 5, 2015
I think a common problem for any digital agency is keeping their website current with the times – design, technology, content. It’s so hard to do it for yourself when you’re busy doing it for…
The Most Important Takeaways of #CMWorld 2015
DAC | September 14, 2015
It’s been a whirlwind week for content geeks, but having emerged from the orange haze of Content Marketing World 2015, now is the time to reflect on the lessons gleaned at this year’s conference. Those who were…
6 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid in Agency Life
DAC | August 18, 2015
Advertising and media agencies have a culture all their own (No. Mad Men doesn’t exactly do it justice). To mark and celebrate my sixth year in the industry, here are six things I wish someone…
Gone in a Flash? HTML5 Leads the Way for Rich Ads
DAC | August 14, 2015
Ready or not, here it comes. Various groups in the digital community have been trying to say goodbye to Flash advertising for a long time. Flash ads have given us so much: rich, interactive brand…
What Ronald McDonald Can Teach Us About Glocalization
DAC | August 7, 2015
I love to travel, but no matter the destination there’s always one ever-present to-do on my vacation itinerary: a visit to McDonald’s. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m just as conscious about my daily McNugget…
Laying the SEO Foundation of your Digital Home
DAC | July 24, 2015
In digital marketing, we often find that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an afterthought for large brands looking to make a splash in the online space. A combination of lack of understanding, minimal immediate results…
SEO and SEM: Search The Whole Picture
DAC | July 15, 2015
Since beginning my career in search, the industry has chopped, changed and thrown me a number of curveballs that have challenged and forced me adapt. Through it all though my eagerness to learn both sides…
That Time I Got My Brain Scanned
DAC | June 26, 2015
Recently, I participated in a unique study hosted by Brainsights at the University of Toronto. Brainsights is one of a handful of Canadian companies operating in the nascent field of neurological advertising, or neuromarketing. For…
Rob’s Roundup: Facebook Lead Generation, Content Marketing and Mobile Necessity
DAC | June 25, 2015
Facebook Testing Mobile Lead Generation The goal of every company is to convert people into customers – this is an obvious truth, and yet bringing in higher conversion rates for online visitors remains a challenge…
10 Content Predictions Bill Gates Got Right in 1996
DAC | May 11, 2015
Twenty years or one score ago — during the dawn of email, Yahoo’s first IPO offering and Sandra Bullock’s magnum opus The Net — Bill Gates penned the 1996 essay “Content is King”. An ambitious…
Rob’s Roundup: Apple Watches, Google Wireless and High-End e-Commerce
DAC | April 24, 2015
So much happens in the digital space every day — it can be difficult to keep up. Below, one of DAC’s digital strategists, Rob Walker, shares his recap of some of the more interesting bits…
Best Practices for your Google My Business pages
DAC | April 17, 2015
Google My Business is a vital piece of any brand’s online and presence management strategy plus, a key factor in search ranking. Below, DAC’s Rory Scherer guides us through the process. Thanks Rory!
Rob’s Roundup: I Coulda Been an E-Contender
DAC | April 10, 2015
So much happens in the digital space every day – it can be difficult to keep up. Below, one of DAC’s digital strategists, Rob Walker, shares his recap of some of the more interesting bits…
Not ready for Google’s mobile update? Here’s what you can do
DAC | April 9, 2015
These days, Google isn’t really trying to hide that fact that they’re pretty frustrated with the pace of mobile-friendly content development across the Internet. That’s why it wasn’t terribly surprising when the search giant took the…
Rob’s Roundup: Everyone’s talkin’ ’bout Meerkat
DAC | March 20, 2015
It’s been a busy week. Here’s a recap. Everyone’s talkin’ ’bout Meerkat SWSX 2015 just finished up, ending the jockeying quest of thousands of marketers, entrepreneurs and major brands for that coveted social media and…
If your campaigns are performing but you can’t communicate results, did they really perform?
DAC | March 19, 2015
A blog post on Barry Inc. training. One of the biggest challenges we have as digital marketers is communicating. The work that we do is technical, the platforms where we deploy our tactics are complex,…
DAC Awarded One of Canada’s Top SMEs for 2015
DAC | March 10, 2015
Award recognizes privately-held agency’s commitment to employee well-being and professional performance Toronto, Ontario (March 10, 2015), DAC is proud to announce it has been named one of Canada’s Top Small & Medium Employers for 2015…
Google to once again drink from the Twitter firehose:
DAC | February 27, 2015
Why the new deal works for both of them, and how brands can make it work for them In early February, Twitter confirmed rumors that it would once again offer Google access to a live…
2014 Local Search Recap
DAC | January 20, 2015
Don’t Let Rating and Review Tampering Tarnish Your Brand (or, Empty Your Pocketbook!)
DAC | December 10, 2014
In the age of digital advertising, citizen journalism and social engagement, brand integrity, reputation and storytelling are largely defined by the consumers who admire (or despise) them. With authenticity a fundamental concern for any brand,…
Creative + Technology = Today’s Digital Impact
DAC | November 19, 2014
Recently, I attended AdTech in the Big Apple and my passion for what I do was immensely reignited. The Javits Convention Center was packed with hundreds of speakers and exhibitors and easily thousands of attendees; it…
DAC @ ClickZ Live, Chicago
DAC | November 13, 2014
November 3-6, over 700 marketers, planners and digital professionals gathered at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, for ClickZ Live Chicago. A three day digital marketing event for industry thought leadership, shared best practices and peer…
Ranking Reports…Valuable or Hogwash?
DAC | November 6, 2014
Look beyond keyword ranking to define and track success online. By trading in single metric tracking for big picture thinking teams can better optimize results to drive performance. 5 Key Performance Factors to Focus On…
Google’s Pigeon Update: What it means at the local level
DAC | September 30, 2014
It’s been just over two months since Google quietly rolled out the locally-focused Pigeon update. At DAC, we’ve been watching this like a hawk (pun intended), as local search marketing is a critical part of…
Four takeaways from the BrightEdge Share14 Conference
DAC | September 11, 2014
Share14 was high on my list of 2014 conferences not to miss, and it delivered. The impressive speaker line-up included SEO professionals from large enterprise organizations such as BING, Google, M3 and Marriott…
Why John Oliver is Wrong about Native Advertising
DAC | August 19, 2014
Originally posted on Strategy Online – August 18, 2014 On his HBO show Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver recently took an admittedly pretty funny shot at the concept of native advertising. His basic point…
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): What it is and how do you leverage it in SEO?
DAC | July 24, 2014
Webmasters and SEO Gurus regularly seek new methods to optimize their web properties and content for Google. What if I were to tell you, there is actually an old system used by Google’s algorithm to…
Google’s about-face on real names is good news for businesses– here’s why
DAC | July 22, 2014
Last week, Google announced that it is reversing its policy requiring people to use their real names across its ecosystem, including Google+ and YouTube. After a couple of years of asking, begging and cajoling people…
Why the Smart Watch is the Next Big Thing and What Marketers Can Do About It
DAC | July 3, 2014
In the not-too-distant future, we’ll look back at last week’s Google I/O developers conference as the day the smart watch really went mainstream. Google announced three new smart watches from LG, Samsung and Motorola that…
Man vs. Robot: The SEO Perspective
DAC | June 18, 2014
In follow-up to our recent recap of SMX Advanced, I wanted to expand and share some takeaways from an SEO perspective. As always, the SMX team did a fantastic job of assembling a stellar lineup…
SMX Advanced 2014 Recap: Facing the New Realities
DAC | June 16, 2014
After last year’s SMX Advanced conference in Seattle, I wrote about how the pace of change seems to be accelerating in the search marketing space. The evidence of that rate of change was certainly on…
The Scoop on Converged Media From ClickZ Live
DAC | May 26, 2014
On May 15, I had the opportunity to speak at ClickZ Live Toronto. Representing DAC demands that a strong case be made for optimizing results, and the session did just that. In the age of…
Click Fraud: The Dark Side of Digital Media
DAC | May 22, 2014
Recently, a number of DAC clients have expressed concern around Click Fraud and the impacts, if any, it could have on their media programs. I remember in the early 2000`s, long before automated PPC bid…
5 Tips for Managing Reputation at the Local Level
DAC | April 17, 2014
How do we get more people talking about us? We have hundreds of franchise locations and most of them don’t have any reviews. How do we get more? Someone left us a scathingly negative or…
Keyword Data “not provided” for Paid Clicks
DAC | April 9, 2014
Citing ongoing privacy and security concerns, Google announced today that it will withhold search term data from paid clicks in much the same way it has from non-paid search traffic since the end of 2011.…
FIND and SEEK Consumer Online Behavior Study
DAC | February 6, 2014
DAC and Kantar are proud to release the results of their latest consumer search behavior survey. In its fifth year, the comprehensive study uncovers trends and improves the understanding of consumer media usage in Canada…
Social ROI – We know you love your mother
DAC | January 13, 2014
From the early days of social media, measurement was an afterthought. At first, the investment in the channel was relatively low, and companies were willing to take the risk of just putting stuff out there…
Winning Consumers Hearts (and Wallets)
DAC | November 29, 2013
As retailers throughout North America meticulously manicure showrooms and display windows, more and more consumers are cozying up by the fire to complete their gift-giving shopping online sans parking wars, long lines and well, let’s…
Being Human: Lessons from Social Media Strategies Summit
DAC | November 12, 2013
It was somewhere between the Dungeons & Dragons analogies, the Mike Myers Shrek impressions, and the musical question period that I realized it: This was no typical social media conference. Social Media Strategies Summit, held last week…
What Hummingbird Means for Paid Search
DAC | October 31, 2013
When you lead a paid search team, it’s tempting to sit back and breathe a sigh of relief when a major Google algorithm update like Hummingbird is announced. Let the SEO’s handle this one, right?…
Never Underestimate the Power of Sitelinks
DAC | September 19, 2013
A few years ago, I was interviewing for a search engine marketing position and the interviewer (who happens to be an SEM guru of sorts) asked me what my favourite Google innovation was. “Sitelinks,” I…
Password overload, fingerprints and the new iPhone 5s
DAC | September 13, 2013
“Your password must have at least 16 characters, including at least one lowercase and one capital letter, one number, one special character and an underscore. But no dashes. And you have to change it every…
SMX Advanced 2013 Recap: The Accelerating Pace of Change
DAC | June 13, 2013
One of the big risks you run when you attend a lot of search marketing conferences is the issue of hearing the same things over and over again. I came out to this year’s SMX…
Geo-granularity in Paid Search
DAC | May 10, 2013
We all know by now that search is an effective channel for local marketing. Marketing through search at the local level is best practice for businesses with physical locations (and even for some without), but…
Twitter Launches New #Music App
DAC | April 19, 2013
Not even six months off the launch of Vine, and Twitter swoops in to steal the media spotlight once again with the launch of its #music app and discovery service yesterday. Announced during a segment on…
Coca-Cola: Why Social is More Than Just Buzz
DAC | April 1, 2013
A senior marketing executive at Coca-Cola sent the digital marketing world reeling when he told a conference audience that he sees no link between social media marketing and sales. Well, no, actually, he didn’t. What…Dx3 Canada Spotlight Part 2: Everything About Retail is Going to Change… or Will It?
DAC | March 12, 2013
Note: This is part two of a two part blog series covering Dx3 Canada 2013, which took place on March 6th and 7th in Toronto. You can read part one here. Turbulent times for retail.…Dx3 Canada Spotlight Part 1: The Great Debates
DAC | March 11, 2013
Note: This is the first of two posts about Dx3 Canada 2013, which took place on March 6th and 7th in Toronto. This year’s Dx3 Canada conference featured a lot of great questions. It was…
How to Avoid Dead Social Media Syndrome
DAC | February 20, 2013
A quirky little news item today caught my eye: A newly-announced Twitter app called LivesOn will allow people to keep tweeting after they die. It promises to scan the content of your Twitter feed, and…
Screens Collide with Google’s New Enhanced Campaigns
DAC | February 6, 2013
Today Google announced some of the biggest changes to its Adwords platform in recent memory. With the roll out of what it’s calling Enhanced Campaigns, the search giant is doing a pretty dramatic 180 in its approach…Google looks to bridge clicks and bricks with Zavers coupon service
DAC | January 16, 2013
Without a doubt, one of the biggest challenges of online marketing has always been understanding the relationship between online and offline behavior. This has been an enormous problem for marketers, but also for Google. Their…
Matt Cutts: Don’t Count on Google to Know What You Mean
DAC | January 2, 2013
Google has a reputation for having a pretty good idea of what people are really looking for when they conduct a search. This reputation is richly deserved (those of us who suffered through the experience…
SMX Social Media Marketing Part Two: Going beyond 140 characters
DAC | December 19, 2012
This is part two of a two part series covering SMX (Search Marketing Expo) Social Media Marketing 2012 at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. With 340 million thoughts shared daily, 140 million…
SMX Social Media Marketing 2012 Part One: Putting a Face behind Facebook.
DAC | December 17, 2012
This is part one of a two part series covering SMX (Search Marketing Expo) Social Media Marketing 2012 at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. I couldn’t think of a better city or…
Social Media for Lead Generation Finally Getting Its Due
DAC | November 13, 2012
My social media feeds are full of people looking for things. This morning, a friend of mine who is a parent of young toddlers posted a desperate plea on Facebook for a recommendation for a…SMX East 2012 Day Three Recap: Search Marketing Grows Up
DAC | October 5, 2012
This is part three of a three part series covering SMX (Search Marketing Expo) East 2012 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Read part one here and part two here. Perhaps my favorite line of SMX East 2012…
SMX East 2012 Day Two Recap: The Mobile First Movement
DAC | October 4, 2012
This is part two in a three part series covering SMX (Search Marketing Expo) East 2012 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Read part one here. Today I attended a very worthwhile session on mobile…
SMX East 2012 Day One Recap: The Changing Face of Search Marketing
DAC | October 3, 2012
This is part one in a three part series covering SMX (Search Marketing Expo) East 2012 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. I went into this year’s SMX East Conference expecting a whole lot of…
Why Apple’s Move Away from Google Maps is a Big Deal
DAC | September 24, 2012
By now most of us have heard the story of late Apple founder Steve Jobs declaring “thermonuclear war” on Google’s Android operating system. That war, it seems, is in full effect on multiple fronts. Of…
Google Engage Canada Event Recap
DAC | September 24, 2012
Google Engage Canada for Agencies celebrated its one-year anniversary on Monday, September 17 with half-day events held simultaneously across Canada in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. The events, connected by Google+ Hangout, brought over 250 Google…
How Not to Respond to Negative Reviews
DAC | September 10, 2012
An Ottawa restaurant owner was convicted of criminal libel this week after she harassed a customer who had posted a negative review of her restaurant. Instead of ignoring — or, better yet, responding nicely —…
Google’s Domain Crowding Problem
DAC | August 17, 2012
Search quality has undoubtedly been Google’s watchword over the past 18 months, as unprecedentedly prickly algorithm updates have sent shock-waves through the SEO community. As search marketers have squawked and scrambled to adjust, Google has…
No more anonymous reviews?
DAC | July 23, 2012
Google’s decision last May to replace the Places channel with the new, socially-integrated Google+ Local has led to a new interface and some new features. Among these, some changes were made to the way Google…
Why Subdomains Are Not Bad for SEO
DAC | July 16, 2012
One of the biggest pitfalls of adhering to so-called “SEO best practices” is that human beings are creatures of habit. As such, we cling to ideas that have been relevant to us based on personal…Could the Facebook “want” button be the answer to ad revenue questions?
DAC | June 29, 2012
Even before Facebook’s IPO stumbled its way onto the scene, pundits have been making a bit of a sport out of predicting the social behemoth’s demise. The general themes center around why Facebook won’t be…“Don’t Be Stupid!”–Words Of Advice From Avinash Kaushik
DAC | June 21, 2012
Among the standing room only crowd at the SES conference in Toronto last week, Avinash Kaushik, the Google Marketing Evangelist spoke about the things that annoy users and keep businesses from maximizing their online results. There…
DAC breakfast with Google in Toronto
DAC | June 15, 2012
We had the pleasure of hosting a breakfast for prospects on Wednesday, June 13 at The Spoke Club in downtown Toronto with our partners at Google. The breakfast was well attended and featured content by Adam…Apple vs. Google: The war that everyone is talking about
DAC | June 13, 2012
Apple’s recent launching of its own mapping software, to replace the default Google Maps on iPhone and iPad devices, has been described by industry pundits and observers as the latest escalation in a war that…
Has Penguin Finally Killed Link Building?
DAC | May 17, 2012
Since Matt Cutts announced the Penguin update some weeks ago (aka, the over-optimization penalty), the SEO industry has been trying to figure out exactly what it means. Penguin officially rolled out late last month, and…
Cleveland AMA Recap: Digital Lead Generation Minus the Guesswork
DAC | May 16, 2012
DAC held an American Marketing Association (AMA) lunch series session titled “Digital Lead Generation Minus the Guesswork” yesterday at the Doubletree Hotel in Cleveland. DAC’s Vice-President of Client Strategy Nasser Sahlool led the afternoon seminar.…
GM snubs Facebook. Is social advertising dead?
DAC | May 16, 2012
The announcement by Big 3 automaker General Motors that they will no longer be advertising on Facebook is probably leading a few companies to question their media strategy. Should they be questioning their media strategy?…
