Insights from Nebo

It’s 9 p.m. and after a long day at work, you’re taking some time to unwind with a glass of wine. You feel relaxed… calm… happy. In fact, you’re in just the right mood to… shop?

It may only be the second month of 2015, but we’re well on our way to another exciting (and busy) year in paid media. Here are a few of the newest industry updates and headlines to pay attention to from the past month. 

We’re all setting goals to be healthier and happier in 2015, and some of us are also looking for ways to improve our careers. In the ever-changing world of SEO, January can be a great time of year to reevaluate your “SEO best practices”. Here are a few simple goals to accomplish during 2015 to ensure you’re growing in your SEO career and staying on top of the biggest shifts in the industry.

A slight vibration on your arm wrests you from a night of sleep. You wake up feeling groggy, a little less than well rested. As you make your way out of bed and into the kitchen, a notification catches your eye. You open up your personal display as you’re making your morning commute to the coffee maker, only to see an entire list of tips and advice for coping with sleep deprivation. Coffee at 7:30 a.m. isn’t one of them.

Instead, you opt for a breakfast of mixed fruits and whole grains. While you’re eating, that same display mentions a few ways to keep your energy up during the rest of your day: how long to sit, when to take breaks, how much water you should drink and what afternoon snack will make or break your workday.

This may sound like the beginning of a classic dystopian novel, but it’s not. It’s a world we’re quickly approaching, and paid media is helping to make it happen.

In the early 1940s, there lived a woman by the name of Florence Foster Jenkins. She was a semi-famous opera singer in and around New York City. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about her. Except one thing.

Despite her fame and success, she was an absolutely dreadful singer.

Things have a history of making their way to America.

And it’s not much of a surprise since, well, most of what we know today as “American” came from somewhere else. For hundreds of years immigrants have braved oceans and seas to reach the Americas, bringing along bits and pieces of their own cultures.

Today we live in a nation of immigrants, and it shows.

But in recent years, a certain phenomenon has started taking the United States by storm. No, it’s not fútbol, and thankfully it’s not K-pop.

No, it’s a pasty, deceptively tasty spread with a history worth sharing.

Hummus. Oh, heavenly hummus.

It’s the best friend we never expected. It’s our saving grace from the tyranny of fatty dipping options. It’s the spread we needed but didn’t deserve. America is falling fast for hummus, and we’re here to tell you how it all began.