Nearly twenty years ago, a battle was waged against the tobacco industry regarding the inaccuracy and blatant deception in cigarette ads over the past half a century. Last month, the repercussions took full effect with a series of transparent “corrective statements” paid for by big tobacco themselves that warned of the effects of smoking.

In any given minute, social media explodes with new content. There are 66,000 Instagram photos posted, 500,000 tweets, and 3.3 million Facebook posts created every 60 seconds. It is safe to say that social media presents users with a content overload. Competing with thousands, even millions, of other posts makes it difficult to get the right message in front of the ideal consumer.

Earned advertising, especially that in the form of recommendations from family and friends, has been the reigning champion of influential communication for many years now.

Spark Interiors is a Denver-based interior design firm run by local businesswoman Megan Thompson. After being founded in 2013, Spark Interiors quickly reached and surpassed a number of milestones, including acquiring some major commercial accounts, such as the Arvada Chamber of Commerce. It was this experience with corporate interior design that led to Spark Interiors' goal of becoming a leading design firm for commercial spaces.

Over the past two decades, digital advertising has evolved at an exponential rate. Programmatic television advertising has been a major player in the evolution of highly-specific, targeted ads.

Voice-activated technology has become a staple in our cell phones, our laptops, and our vehicles. It is changing the way we set our alarms, make phone calls and find information. From Siri on the iPhone to Alexa for Amazon, voice-activated “assistants” are a new way that consumers are getting things done. The new capabilities of voice search are changing consumer behaviors and it's forcing SEO marketers to change their tactics as well.