Top Story

• Facebook makes last-minute holiday push for Gifts service
  Facebook is targeting last-minute Christmas shoppers with Web and mobile banner ads touting its Gifts service and reminding users that recipients receive instant notifications of their gifts. The campaign, combined with the service's recommendations engine, might make sending virtual Gifts an appealing option for flustered shoppers who've missed the window for Christmas gift delivery, notes Josh Constine. TechCrunch (12/22)     

Trendwatch

• Food brands take aim at children's smartphones
  Food marketers are shifting their ad spending to mobile and social in a bid to target smartphone-wielding children, according to a Federal Trade Commission report. Social campaigns and branded mobile applications are seen as a cost-effective way to target young consumers, researchers say. "These online media are not necessarily as costly as display advertising, yet potentially have a farther, and more immersive, reach than display advertising," the report notes. The Wall Street Journal (12/23)     

Getting the Word Out

• Privacy-policy fight could delay Instagram's ad strategy
  Instagram is backtracking on changes to its privacy policy after users complained the revised rulebook apparently allowed the service to claim ownership of their photos. The uproar could force the site to rethink, or at least delay, its monetization strategy. "We are going to take the time to complete our plans, and then come back to our users and explain how we would like for our advertising business to work," Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom wrote in a blog post. Adweek (12/21)     

Developer Update

• How aliases can make your site more user-friendly
  Apache's aliasing function lets developers ensure that meaningful results are returned even when users request files that don't exist, writes Diana Eftaiha. That can be especially valuable when you want to reconfigure your site, perhaps by changing to a different URL architecture, she notes. NetTuts+ (12/21)     

Design Corner

• Write your way to a better Web design career
  Writing about Web design on other people's blogs, branded websites or other platforms is a great way for designers to hone their skills, raise their profile and even make some extra pocket money, writes Rakhitha Nimesh. People who can both design and write well are relatively rare, so well-written design articles will get you noticed by your peers as well as potential clients. 1st Web Designer (12/23)     

Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs

• Mobile, social were top technologies for SMBs in 2012
  Small businesses' customers are embracing social media and mobile technologies -- and that's leaving SMBs with no choice but to follow suit, Rieva Lesonsky writes. Studies show that in 2012 many SMB owners actually wished they could spend less time using these technologies, Lesonsky notes. "But they can’t, because that’s where the customers are." ReadWrite (12/19)     

Association News

• The gift that keeps giving
  The holidays are a time of gift giving and what better gift can you give yourself than to be recognized for the hard work you put into to your web development work! Enter the Web Marketing Association's IAC Awards before the January 31st deadline and you might receive a beautiful crystal statue to show your co-workers, friends and even your boss! Awards are also a great way to reward teams of individuals who come together to create a great digital masterpiece. Enter the IAC Awards or the WebAwards (starting in April) in 2013 and win the recognition you deserve.     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by readers in the past week.

• Amazon is on track to become ad-industry giant, experts say (Adweek)

• Retailers say e-mail is still sexy (Bloomberg Businessweek)

• A usability toolkit for Web designers (SiteReviver)

• 3 ways to reward your brand's biggest fans on Facebook (Advertising Age (tiered subscription model))

• What does your LinkedIn profile say about you? (The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (tiered subscription model))

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

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Editor's Note

• SmartBrief will not publish Tuesday
  In observance of Christmas, SmartBrief will not publish Tuesday. Publication will resume Wednesday. Enjoy the holiday!     

SmartQuote

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." --William Blake, British poet and painter