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October 2007

October 31, 2007

Truveo Brings Video Search Around the World

AOL's video search engine Truveo gets a reported 40 million users per month, according to comScore data. AOL says a large percentage of its traffic comes from outside the U.S. and is launching localized sites in key markets including France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the U.K.. AOL has plans to continue an international roll-out with video search portals Australia, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Russia, and Turkey. The plans to reach other countries with video content in their local languages and matching regional interests comes just days after Google and YouTube launched Chinese language sites in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The pair had recently set up targeted versions of sites in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and The U.K., according to Search Engine Journal.

With the Truvio announcement, AOL also said it launched in India with content available in Hindi and Tamil languages. "India is a very important market for AOL, and these announcements show our commitment to serving online consumers here with a robust portal and industry-leading video search tools," said Ron Grant, president and COO of AOL, in a corporate statement. "These are important steps in our ongoing efforts to make AOL a truly global company."

The number of Internet users in urban India has grown by 28 percent in the past year, and 60 percent of the country's Internet population of 30 million prefer to read in local Indian languages, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Google Gets Social

Google is handing out a Halloween treat to Web developers today by making its OpenSocial common API available. With OpenSocial, developers will be able to write one application that can be distributed in multiple Web sites and social networks, if they go along with it of course.

Social networking firms including LinkedIn, Hi5, iLike, Ling, Slide and Google's own Orkut network have signed on as part of the launch of OpenSocial, but distinctly missing are the big names of social networking…Facebook and mySpace.

Facebook made big news and developed a lot of momentum by opening its platform last May, but still holds the reins over its more proprietary APIs. It's worth noting that both iLike and Slide have been major Facebook developers. As more advertisers try to get in on the social networking marketing bandwagon, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Google may bring more partners to its OpenSocial system and Facebook and mySpace will be obligated to provide access to their networks via OpenSocial APIs.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

MTV.com to Mess with a Good Thing

I love the background images on MTV.com, all of which are originally commissioned artworks. Go to the site and hit refresh a bunch of times or click around a bit and you'll see what I mean. The frequently rotated graphics spill out to the right and left of the central pane, so if you're seeing the site on a large screen it's pretty powerful.

I learned recently MTV's about to start plugging ads into that space, beginning with a sprawling placement for upcoming Robert Zemeckis flick Beowulf. Now I'm usually in favor of such experiments but this move strikes me as a mistake for two reasons. First, you're replacing something very cool (indie drawings: non-commercial and an MTV tradition) with something uncool by comparison (pitch for a special effects blockbuster). But media companies do that sort of thing all the time (see: Campbell-sponsored recipes on AOL Food). The bigger error is that from what I've heard the Beowulf ad in its current form makes heavy use of the wider aspect ratio on the site, so they're building the full experience for 10 percent or less of the audience -- the ones with monitors over 21 inches.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worldwide Mobile Subscriber Forecast

Data released by the Shosteck Group and its strategic partner the Mobile World forecasts 3.3 billion mobile subscribers worldwide by year end. Of those subscribers, roughly 2.6 billion are served by GSM, GPRS, and EDGE networks; 190 million operate on W-CDMA networks; and 422 million on CDMA2000 standards. The remaining few use technologies such as iDEN. By 2011 the research anticipates 5.4 billion mobile subscribers globally. The breakdown will be roughly 2.8 billion on GSM, GPRS, and EDGE networks; 1.8 billion on W-CDMA; and 783 million on CDMA2000.

Posted by Enid Burns at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Kentucky 527 Group Buys Big Online

Who says 527s aren't advertising online yet this election season?

A 527 group formed earlier this year is taking aim at Republican Governor of Kentucky Ernie Fletcher through a $60,000 video ad buy. The Bluegrass Freedom Fund, which aims to “encourage a public discussion about education, jobs, healthcare, and other issues,” is using expandable video ads showing a TV commercial that calls out alleged corruption in the Fletcher administration.

The :30 ad expands to display a form for submitting a name and e-mail address to sign a petition demanding that “the governor and legislature pass real ethics reform.”

My source on the campaign said the ads have run on Courier-Journal.com, Kentucky.com, WKYT.com, BGDailyNews.com, and have been geo-targeted to Kentucky users on Cincinnati.com. Non-video banners are also running on blogs like Page One Kentucky and others.

As of last week, over 2 million of the ads had been served, and 52 percent of those who were served the ad interacted with it. The commercial video had been viewed in full 37 percent of the time.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 30, 2007

E-Mail Fraud Scheme Targets FTC

Internet fraudsters have taken aim at the Federal Trade Commission, an agency that's waged campaigns to help people avoid e-mail scams.

Yesterday, the FTC issued a warning about a bogus e-mail that appears to come from the commission's fraud department.

The e-mail says it's from "frauddep@ftc.gov," and includes an attachment, when downloaded, and links, when clicked on, will unleash a software virus. The subject line, in many instances, read: Complaint update for [name of e-mail recipient] (Case id: #6473) .

The virus, the FTC says, apparently installs a keystroke logger program, which could enable a scammer to obtain an unsuspecting person's passwords and account numbers.

Jackie Dizdul, FTC spokeswoman, today said thousands reported the malicious scam.

It is not the first attack against FTC. "It's somewhat standard, spoofing an institution that people respect, such as a bank, a well-known e-commerce site, the IRS or FTC," Dizdul said.

Government agencies have been taking measures to securegovernment e-mail messages, including one initiative to certify mail.

Some 150 federal agencies certify e-mail using Goodmail, although the FTC isn't a customer, according to David Atlas, Goodmail's senior vice president of worldwide sales. He's quick to point out that certified mail wouldn't have prevented this week's scheme targeting the FTC.

"Anti-phishing, anti-spam, and anti-virus technologies filter out bad mail, and we see the limitations of those filters," he said, thus giving rise to Goodmail's technology that certifies e-mail from a trusted source. In December, Goodmail expects to deliver one billion certified messages, up from 100 million in June

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Clock Ticks on E-Tailer SEO Plans for Holidays

On your marks, get set… "Merchants have less than a 30 day window from now, until roughly the end of November, to get some of those last-minute structural changes in place," said Brian Klais, VP of search at Madison, Netconcepts, a Madison, WI-based search engine marketing firm. He's referring to search engine optimization, and getting Web sites running smoothly and cataloged by the search engines. At the top of the list are cleaning up structural changes in URLs, fixing any 301 redirect issues, and reviewing on-page content.

"What retailers can do now with very little spare time is to think about merchandising strategies. If free shipping is featured in the merchandising mix, then retailers can maximize the offer by keeping an eye on those dates for searchers," Klais advised. He went on with a few tips: Make sure the title tags and the content on the pages have an offer within. Include the words free shipping in the title tag. "It might be enough to convert searcher activity into a click and then into a sale," he said.

Ideally, SEO will be in place by mid-November for most retailers, if it's not already done, in order to allow for indexing by the search engines. That requires about a two-week buffer to obtain proper indexing and link juice, according to Klais.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Esurance and Cisco Among Hulu Beta Advertisers

After testing the new Hulu video site from NewsCorp and NBC Universal, launched in beta today, we’ve experienced some smooth streaming, and some video that sputters at best.

As for the ads, there’s a variety of formats already running from advertisers like Cisco, Esurance and Crest. For instance, 5 quickie spots from Esurance appeared intermittently throughout an episode of NBC’s “Heroes.” Most of the serial-style ads were about 5 seconds each, while the second was about 20 seconds. The same types of spots ran during another Heroes episode for Cisco.

A more standard video ad format was seen when viewing a clip from NBC’s “Journeyman” on MSN, one of Hulu’s many distribution partners. Before that clip played, a pre-roll spot for Crest Whitestrips was served alongside a banner for the same advertiser.

Expect to see lots of different formats in Hulu video, from overlays during short-form content that play only when users initiate them to sponsored banners, interstitials and end plates displaying advertiser logos after content plays. Viewers watching longer-form full-length episodes and movies from MGM will see more ads. However, while shows on TV feature 8 minutes of ads along with 22 minutes of programming, Hulu video of the same shows will feature 2 minutes of ads. The video will maintain the natural ad breaks of the TV shows.

Hulu won’t say much about how ads are targeted yet, but it’s probably just contextual at this point.

In conjunction with the launch, Hulu announced top execs running the project. The company had already announced its hire of Amazon alum Jason Kilar as CEO in June, noting a focus on customer experience. The top ad sales head honcho is Jean-Paul Colaco, SVP of advertising; Colaco was most recently SVP of business development at Walt Disney Company.

Other newly–announced execs include SVP and CFO Tom Fueling, formerly of Ascent Media and ARTISTdirect; and SVP of Content Acquisition and Distribution Andy Forssell, previously from Siebel Systems where he ran Oracle’s CRMOn Demand Hosting Operations. User-experience man Eric Feng was named CTO and SVP of audience for Hulu; Feng founded Mojiti, an online video operation acquired by Hulu in September.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 29, 2007

Responsys Manages Team, Campaigns for You

How do you track the status of all the moving parts on your ad campaigns? Responsys' CMO Scott Olrich said companies use spreadsheets and basic software, or invest upwards of $500k for a management platform to assign and track each component of a campaign or project. Responsys added Interact Team to its existing on-demand marketing automation Interact platform product.

Team includes visual workflow diagramming and management, digital asset management, task assignment, online reviews and approvals, and best practices including repeatable and reliable execution of activities. The system addresses distributed workforces with members in different offices or telecommuters. It also allows a company to give access to an agency rep to get automated in the process. The cost? For a typical range of approximately 15 users, a year will run between $60k and $70k.

I expect digital marketing folks to be among the early adopters of Interact Team, though its ability to tie together multiple channels of marketing and advertising may be a step toward breaking down the silos that divide marketing departments. "If you think about what marketers are having to do today, marketers have to put together e-mail, search, mobile campaigns. These marketers are trying to figure out a way to become more efficient," said Scott Olrich, CMO of Responsys. Interact Team allows marketers to "make sure they're capturing key learnings across the company," he continued.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

New and Returning Clickstream

Hitwise today enhanced its clickstream reporting to include competitive intelligence on new and returning visitors. While you might get this data for your own site from a Web metrics package, access to competing sites, partner sites, or publishers you're looking to advertise on isn't automatically available. The data lets you understand the strategy and effectiveness of competitive marketing programs to see if competitors are more focused on traffic-driving campaigns versus retention; identify where new and returning visitors go after visiting a Web site, which can reduce churn if used effectively; and analyze a competitor's audience in terms of new and repeat traffic.

Posted by Enid Burns at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

MSLO Names Three Execs, Signals Upcoming Online Changes

Expect Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to make a bigger impact in online before too long. Under MSLO President of Media Wenda Harris Millard's leadership the company named Jacki Kelley EVP of Media Sales, Lee Heffernan SVP of integrated marketing, and Tom Barreca SVP of digital and emerging media. A statement from the company states, "All three executives bring a broad range of media experience to MSLO as the company expands its multimedia footprint." While the release teases of major enhancements to come, MSLO execs aren't yet ready to talk about what those are.

The hires in themselves attract some attention Jacki Kelley comes from Yahoo, where she was VP of worldwide sales strategies and solutions. As Millard herself was at Yahoo not too long ago, it follows a long succession of executives exiting the major Internet company. Heffernan has worked with MSLO as a consultant, and Barreca was previously EVP of WWE Enterprises.

Posted by Enid Burns at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 26, 2007

Direct Revenue and Best Offers Bite the Dust

Alleged spyware purveyor Direct Revenue is kaput. Notices on the firm's sites, direct-revenue.com and bestoffersnetworks.com, state, "Best Offers and Direct Revenue have ceased operations."

All that remains are instructions on how to uninstall the company's software.
Direct Revenue has come under legal fire in federal court for deceptive practices, and been investigated and fined by the Federal Trade Commission, and sued by New York and in federal court.

New York's investigation of the company exposed advertisers fined for using the service, including Priceline.com, Travelocity.com and Cingular Wireless.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Because It's Friday...and Beacuse It's Technically Worksafe

It's a longstanding editorial policy that we do not -- ever -- reprint press releases. Herewith, the single exception to that rule in our 10+ years of publishing.

A new media opportunity. Enjoy.

Businesses Flock to Buy Woman's Pubic Hair

A unique and highly creative website owned by an anonymous UK based female has rapidly become one the most talked about sites on the Internet.
Milliondollarpubes.com has been set up to finance the costly treatment of laser hair removal from the bikini area of the lady in question. Having tried every treatment available to retain her silky smoothness including waxing, shaving and creams, she concluded that the only way to achieve her dream of ultimate smoothness was by laser treatment, hence Milliondollarpubes.com was launched.

Each pubic hair is offered for sale at $200, but it’s not just a hair that you get for your money. Along with the sale of each and every hair is a 10 x 10 pixel advertisement on the homepage of Milliondollarpubes.com, a website that has already attracted nearly 50,000 visitors in a matter of days.

Each advertisement is also accompanied by a short description and a direct link to the advertisers’ website.

Businesses can instantly purchase one or more pubic hairs by visiting the site at www.milliondollarpubes.com and simply clicking on the ‘BUY PUBIC HAIR’ link. You can then select exactly where on her body you would like your advertisement and link to appear. Upon checking out you also have the option to have the pubic hair posted to you. The owner of the site said “I hope that as many people as possible would like to receive my hair, but if you would prefer to just place your advert then that is fine too!”

The site has already attracted a number of serious businesses who have seen the initiative as a fun way to achieve effective advertising and a great return on investment. Cost-per-click has never been so much fun!

5,000 pubic hairs are on offer to raise the owner’s magical $1,000,000 goal.

With nearly 200 hairs already purchased interested businesses who want to gain great exposure at a low cost are advised to act quickly, and take advantage of this unique ‘hair today-gone tomorrow’ opportunity.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 25, 2007

Millions of Virtual Artists

Is virtual art still art if it's not really real? It's a question that Millions of Us, a digital agency specializing in virtual worlds, isn't worried about. Instead, the agency has launched its own artist-in-residence program to "discover and celebrate" the work of artists in the virtual world and social networking space.

The first artist recognized by the program is U.K. based Rob Wright, aka "Robbie Dingo," who made a splash in the Second Life virtual world with a short film interpretation of Van Gogh's "Starry Nights." His first project in conjunction with Millions of Us is a film adaptation of electronic music artist Kirsty Hawkshaw's song "Meteors," seen at left.

Of course, it's not as though Millions of Us is giving Wright, or any other artists the company plans to sponsor over the coming year, any funding for the virtual art. Instead, Millions of Us will provide "technical resources" and informal collaboration to the artists from its staff. Still, it's nice to see companies supporting the arts, even if it’s virtual support.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Major Digital Advertiser AT&T Hands All Media Duties to MEC

Mediaedge:cia has triumphed over Omnicom's OMD, GSD&M's Idea City, and Publicis's Digitas in the agency shootout for 100 percent control of AT&T's estimated $3.4 billion media account. The business comes with a hefty digital ad budget, as AT&T Wireless has consistently ranked among the top ten online advertisers in the U.S.

In July 2007, AT&T Wireless ranked 11th among online advertisers with $7.4 million in media spending. A month earlier it ranked 9th with $7.7 million. Web expenditures for the remainder of its businesses, including its landline services, don't show up on TNS's list of the top 50 U.S. advertisers.

Winner MEC already had control of a goodly portion of AT&T's digital spend prior to the win, having handled all planning and buying for AT&T Wireless since its acquisition of Bellsouth/Cingular. Before that it handled Cingular's account. According to reports, GSD&M had handled media buying for the landline services and Digitas had some digital responsibilities.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cammie Dunaway Wants You...

...to play video games, if you don't already, that is.

Oh, and they have to be on a Nintendo device. After announcing her departure from Yahoo last week, Dunaway told the New York Times she'll be the new EVP for sales and marketing at Nintendo of America, starting Nov. 5.

Anybody recall about a year ago Yahoo launched the first of its "brand universes" for none other than Nintendo Wii? I'm not sure how much connection with the client Dunaway has had as Yahoo CMO, but you can't help but wonder.

Dunaway's been accused of "bleeding purple," the jab often used to describe brainwashed Yahoo execs. But it looks as though she's already become a Nintendo loyalist, or at least a video game evangelist.

She told the NY Times she aims to "make gaming relevant whether you’re 5 or 95," and noted, "there are still a lot of people to be converted."

Yikes.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

'Guitar Hero III' Plays Up Product Integration

There's game franchises that remain largely untouchable to in-game advertising and product integration, such as "Halo" and "Call of Duty." And then there's game franchises that fit so well you wonder why it's not until the third game in the series before every brand and their subsidiaries wants in. For "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" due in stores on October 28, the product integration really moves the needle on the virtual amp, so to say. Brands present in the game? Gibson, Guitar Center, Audio-Technica, Crate, Ernie Ball, Krank, Line 6, Mackie, and Zildjian on the instrument and equipment side. Post performance, players can view their reviews in Alternative Press, Decibel, Guitar Player, Kerrang, and Paste magazines.

If the direct music tie-ins aren't enough, branding from Pontiac and Axe, among other brands, appear in the game. Serious shredders will also want to upgrade the controller from the standard guitar to the Guibson Guitar Les Paul model for about $10 more.

Brands eager to align with the popular title likely haven't yet missed the window. There's unlockable content, rock venues (including the Pontiac Garage), and Activision and Red Octane plan to keep the game updated with downloadable content. Each of those game events offers opportunity for sponsorships.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Two Views of Advertising's Future

Author and academic Douglas Rushkoff sounded a wake-up call to advertisers and marketers: your business will be dead unless you work with companies and products that produce exciting products that inspire you.

Likewise, David Weinberger, co-author of "The Cluetrain Manifesto" and a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Institute for Internet and Society, said companies can no longer control and manage product marketing. "Real marketing [that's] people talking with one another," he said, referring to social media. "We need to respect these conversations, honor them. Not intrude."

Rushkoff and Weinberger discussed advertising's past and prognosticated on its future on Wednesday at a ClickZ 10th anniversary dinner and awards ceremony celebrating a decade of innovation and excellence in online marketing and advertising.

Rushkoff exhorted marketers to convince their clients to come up with compelling products. "Teach them how to get back into the business they are in," he said. "Then you don't have to make up a story about them."

While the broadcast advertising model is based on developing one message for many, Weinberger said that's a dangerous model. "By having more generic messages, you end up dumbing down messages. That's disastrous in the political sphere…it's a disaster for democracy," he warned.

Rebecca Lieb, ClickZ's editor-in-chief, looked at interactive's highlights and low points during the decade. Remember when, she said, venture capitalists -- not hedge fund managers -- were rock stars. Or when advertisers had to be reminded to add URLs to print and broadcast campaigns? How about vortals?

"My Dad would get excited when he’d find articles I wrote online. So excited that he’d print them out and mail them to me from his home in Arizona," she said.

On a more serious note, Lieb recognized that the interactive industry survived tough times. "We pulled through. The industry pulled through. You pulled through, too. And now, we're mainstream, not margin," she said.

For "ClickZ Marketing Excellence Awards: The First Decade," Google was named "Innovation of the Decade." Other awards were given for best products, services, businesses, and people who made the most significant overall contribution to the industry.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Did he just say Internet marketing doesn't work?

Did Rushkoff really just say that? Sheryl and I peered at one another in disbelief. We were seated next to eachother at last night's grand ClickZ 10th Anniversary gala, soon-to-be-former IAB GM Sheryl Draizen and I. We listened intently as Douglas Rushkoff explained his observations on the advertising industry -- how and why it arose, and, yes, how the promise of the Internet has been squelched by over-commercialization.

He went on a bit more, and then he pronounced, "Internet marketing doesn't work."

I'm not quite sure what he said directly after that because by then I was whispering something about how incredible the statement was to Sheryl, her mouth agape.

Marketers and ad execs squirming in their seats? Oh yes.

But, that was sort of the point. As ClickZ Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Lieb said when Rushkoff had left the podium, he'd been invited to provoke conversations. It wasn't about being comfortable; it was about stimulating thought.

One response regarding the notion that the promise of the Internet has been ruined by excessive advertising may have been, "Hey, I'll bet you like all that free content and all those free platforms for connecting with people, don't ya?"

It's cliché, but true. The fact is advertising -- the work of the people in the audience and the once-scrappy startups that have revolutionized the industry, along with groups like the IAB and, yes, publications like ClickZ -- is what enables a whole lot of those platforms for communication and democratization we often take for granted.

Sure, the adification of the Web can be annoying, even to the people involved in producing it. There remain years, decades even, of working out the kinks, but whether it works is something many have already decided. Take Intel, or any of the countless companies that have continually re-allocated more and more dollars to interactive. Yes, one reason for that additional spending is more people are spending more time online (connecting with other humans, learning, exploring the world from multiple perspectives, working, creating new industries out of the ether, and more).

But if those advertisers didn't think marketing to those people on the Web works, they wouldn't keep doing it.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 24, 2007

Targeting Mobile Campaigns by Carrier

At CTIA this past spring Millennial Media launched its Decktrade mobile ad network. Now at CTIA this fall, it's releasing Decktrade 2.0, which offers benefits for advertisers including improved campaign creation, one-click campaign management, and improved reporting and purchase history. Within the campaign management Decktrade allows advertisers to create one campaign across multiple carriers, which previously required separate buys and budget allotments for each carrier. On the publisher side, Decktrade cleaned up the campaign approval process, payout process, performance statistics, and code integration.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

More on MySpace Games

In the wake of the news of the upcoming MySpace Games channel, I wanted to highlight the quality and engagement potential casual games can add to the site. Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer called run-of-site ads on social networks "among the worst performers," and said ads in and around casual games have potential to be more effective as games foster a captive audience, and there's less to compete with.

Ad effectiveness in casual games on MySpace has been and will be proven before the channel even launches in 2008. "MySpace is all about depth of engagement by connecting users," said Daniel Stein, CEO and founder of EVB, a creative agency with clients including Adidas, 2K Sports, and VO5.

"It makes perfect sense to use multiplayer games to take this concept to the next level. As brands look for ways to be relevant to the digital consumer, multiplayer gaming is going to make a lot of sense for an advertiser." EVB will soon launch a multi-platform campaign for client VO5 which includes a partnership with MySpace as a gateway to a game.

Will a games channel provide a clean environment for CGM-shy brands to advertise? "I would say probably not, but that's fine. Social networking isn't a clean or controlled environment, which makes it cool and interesting. Whenever the user controls or creates an experience, there is always unpredictability. Brands that presently utilize MySpace as part of its digital marketing already understand this and likely embrace it."

Posted by Enid Burns at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Is it True There's Free Mobile Games?

Yes, the days of mobile handsets coming pre-installed with a free game of Snake may be coming to an end. But while Mobile Magazine is reporting the free game is winding down, it fails to mention the emergence of ad-supported mobile games from sources like Greystripe, and various developers using a platform from Amobee and Exit Games. Plus, there's advergames like one from DHL. Handset manufacturers don't have to provide games anymore, users will find them whether they want to pay for the game or see ads in order to gain access. Nokia was among the handset makers to provide games, and is now building out its N-Gage platform and moving into mobile social networking and other ad-supported media.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Google Pairs with Nielsen on Data for TV Ads Program

Google's bid marketplace for television ad inventory has gotten off to a slow start by many measures. By August a Google source told ClickZ just 50 clients had tested the system, and the minimum spend had been set at a modest (for TV) $10,000 a month.

There are signs the marketplace is maturing, if only by small increments. In addition to doubling the inventory in its systemv, Google will now use demographic data from Nielsen in combination with set top box data that allows the company to bill customers only for actual impressions, as opposed to the industry-standard GRP-driven billing model.

As part of the partnership, users of Google TV Ads within the AdWords platform will be able to gauge the demographic composition of audiences through data taken from Nielsen's TV ratings panels. The companies also plan to "work together" to measure other online data and media, but declined to comment further.

Google launched its Google TV Ads advertising platform earlier this year. Last week In-Stat analyst Gerry Kaufhold said the trials so far "didn't seem to satisfy all the needs" of broadcasters. "Google has quite a ways to go to get into that broadcast arena."

Matt Nelson contributed to this post.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 23, 2007

Search Continues to Drive NYTimes Co Traffic and Revenue

The New York Times Co's digital business revenues grew 26.5 percent in Q3 over the same quarter of '06, the company said during today's earnings call. The firm's digital businesses, which include its flagship site and About.com, accounted for 11 percent of total revenue.

As far as online ad revenue breakouts, the company said display ads account for over 40 percent of online ad dollars, 23 percent comes from classifieds and 15 percent comes from sales of its paid archives.

SEO is directing much of the traffic that's driving the firm's steady online growth. "Over the long term, we expect to see the scale and inventory benefits that accrue to us through [SEO] significantly outweighing the revenue stream" from "the paid tier," said SVP and CFO James Follo.

Follo also noted some recent digital-only advertisers on NYTimes.com, including Amex and Tiffany. Chanel was another; the luxury brand promoted a watch via a homepage image of the timepiece displaying the correct time.

The company will introduce a new online property, T Online, to complement its T Magazine style print mag in early December. "We're in the process of selling this exciting new digital magazine to luxury advertisers," said President and CEO Janet Robinson.

Other significant Web related events in Q3 included a restructuring of About's operations, including the hiring of additional sales staff, as well as the launch of a new NYTimes.com branding campaign with the slogan, "All the News That's Fit to Click."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Habeas 'E-Mail Insecurity Factor' Findings

This week Habeas released the results to a study on e-mail study on e-mail, in which it found a certain e-mail insecurity factor among Internet users. Don't worry; e-mail is still one of the more relied-upon communication channels, particularly online. However consumers segregate communications among multiple accounts depending on trust factors in an effort to filter spam and other security threats. Habeas plans to present its findings and a detailed report in a Webinar, "Multichannel Revolution, How Web 2.0 and Online Reputation Changes Strategy and Results," on November 13 at 2:00 p.m. EST/11:00 a.m. PST. You can register for the Webinar here.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Mozilla Revenues Soar with Search Marketing Fortunes

Mozilla continues to grow by leaps and bounds, largely owing to the long-standing search distribution deal between Firefox and Google. Between its open source foundation and its corporate arm, Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker yesterday reported 2006 revenues were $67 million, up 26 percent from 2005, when we first looked closely at the foundation's results. The money comes from payments Google makes to Mozilla with every search query originating from Firefox. The foundation gets the cash regardless of whether a searcher clicks an ad, though a Mozilla source suggested the amount of its commission rises when ads are clicked.

All total, Mozilla now has some $74 million in the bank, money its using to expand its open source programs and to fund accessibility initiatives for the blind and disabled. It gave $300,000 to such efforts in 2006, an amount it calls "a small first step."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

No Ad Revenue Lost from NBC Pulling YouTube Clips

There are lots of stories out there today about NBC Universal hoisting its promo clips off YouTube.

A couple important points to note as confirmed with ClickZ by an NBC spokesperson:
1. These were regularly rotating short clips intended to promote upcoming NBC shows.
2. They were removed to support the launch of Hulu, the NBC/NewsCorp site and distribution play, expected to go live by the end of the month.
3. "THERE WAS NO ADVERTISING" associated with the NBC Universal content on YouTube, according to the NBC spokesperson. Sure, NBC got marketing benefits out of the deal, but she stressed, "We didn't make money from this."

NBC and YouTube introduced the promo partnership last June, a rapprochement following a skirmish prompted by YouTube's hosting of user-uploaded clips of SNL's "Lazy Sunday."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

GuardianAmerica.com Launches Today

The Guardian today launched its new U.S. website, which will offer Guardian U.K. and international content tailored to an American audience.

Following the lead of the FT’s online operation, and more recently BBC.com, it’s unsurprising to see yet another U.K. publisher attempting to tap the international online market with an ad supported model.

According to the Media Guardian website, the growing U.S. audience now accounts for nearly a third of Guardian Unlimited’s readership, and attracts in the region of 5.5 million unique visitors from the U.S. every month. The potential for monetization therefore is clear.

The Guardian site states that “over time the site will introduce reader services such as holidays and dating, and will eventually include opportunities for recruitment advertising.”

The Guardian's U.K. editor Alan Rusbridger stated that the aim of the site was to “provide a discerning US audience with quality multimedia journalism, and the very best comment and analysis."

The site kicked things off today with an exclusive interview with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Eyes Have It

Congratulations to our longtime paid search columnist Kevin Lee. His new (and first) book, The Eyes Have It: How to Market in an Age of Divergent Consumers, Media Chaos and Advertising Anarchy, was just released.

It's so new, we haven't even received our review copy yet, but we do know that in the book Kevin addresses digital marketing issues far beyond the scope of search alone. Topics include how marketers can know if their agency is capable of executing a profitable digital marketing campaigns; how agencies can ensure they remain competitive; how to build an in-house digital marketing team; auction-based media markets; and media planning in a dynamic digital environment.

If you follow Kevin's columns on this site, or have ever heard him speak on digital marketing (which he does virtually non-stop), you know this is one book that's going to be worth picking up.

Good going, Kevin!

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 22, 2007

Viewpoint and Interwoven both make Acquisitions to Strengthen their Content Management Offerings

Internet marketing technology company Viewpoint is acquiring Springbox, an interactive marketing firm. The Austin-based Springbox provides creative and marketing technology for clients like AMD, Callaway, Dell, Disney, Hoovers, Lance Armstrong and Siemens, but Viewpoint intends to combine its Premium Rich Media system with Springbox's content management technology.

Viewpoint is comprised of several campaign management groups, including TheStudio creative services group, the Unicast online advertising group, and its KeySearch search engine marketing consulting practice. There's been no word as to how Springbox will be integrated into any of the various groups. The deal itself is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007 based on an initial consideration of approximately $5.5 million in stock and cash, according to the company.

In a separate deal, content management company Interwoven is acquiring Optimost for approximately $52 million in cash for all its outstanding shares. The deal with add Optimost's real-time multivariable testing and Web site optimization to Interwoven's technology to allow its customers to maximize keyword search ad results, Ben Kiker, chief marketing officer for Interwoven told me.

"What the acquisition of Optimost allows a company to do is really get very creative around developing targeted landing pages and figuring out what is the best thing to present when someone clicks on that search terms," said Kiker. "So you can grab them and they don't hit the back button."

The acquisition is also expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007, and the company will continue to use the Optimost name.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Shelter Media Is at Home with Adify

Home and Garden content and retail site network Shelter Media is the latest to use Adify's ad sales and management platform. The network features 33 publisher sites reaching 1.3 million visitors, according to Adify, including Absolutehome.com and BuildersSquare.com.

Other recent additions to Adify's ad platform clients include education content network Hot Chalk and sports blog network Yardbarker.

As the Web continues to splinter off into more and more niche sites and networks, platforms like Adify are filling a gap between Google AdSense-style contextual networks and larger networks, allowing small publishers to have more control over their ad offerings and campaign management. Platforms like Adify are also giving small publishers the tools to sell direct to advertisers and agencies.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 18, 2007

Military Advertises for Jobs on Gay Web Site

Thousands of job openings in the Army, Navy, and Air Force were mistakenly advertised this week on a Web site for gays, USA Today reported today. The Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibits gays from military service if they are open about their sexual orientation.

"We didn't knowingly advertise on that particular Web site," Maj. Michael Baptista, advertising branch chief for the Army National Guard, told the newspaper. The ads appeared on Glee.com, a Web site for gay professionals.

Jobs ranged from Army National Guard and active Army positions, as well as Navy openings for doctors and dentists. Some listings included civilian jobs, which apparently are not covered by the ban.

The military services reportedly used private ad agencies to purchase Monster's "diversity and inclusion" package, which includes Web sites for blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and gays. Most of the ads were pulled, USA Today said.

Betty Huang, director, engagement and retention, at Community Connect Inc. (CCI), said the online social networking company is an official partner of Monster Diversity. Community Connect sites, including Glee.com and BlackPlanet, receive a copy of all jobs posted to Monster Diversity, while Monster communicates with its clients, she said. "It is unknown to CCI the origin of the job postings and if a client or an agency posted the jobs," Huang said.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 17, 2007

Sony gets Chummy with MySpace, while Skype Places the Call

Musical artists from local garage bands to chart-topping megastars have long ago figured out how to use MySpace profiles to promote their acts, and now Sony BMG Music is making things more official. The music label is partnering directly with MySpace to provide streaming music videos, as well as select audio material and other content, on the social network site, directly from its artists' MySpace profile pages.

The two companies have agreed to split sponsorship and advertising revenue from the content, and MySpace has agreed to help promote Sony BMG's artists throughout the site. Of course, social network sites like MySpace have been doing their best to dodge lawsuits from content owners when their users started sharing the odd song or image, but this seems to be more of a "if you can't beat them, join 'em!" move on Sony's part.

In a separate announcement, MySpace also partnered with eBay's Skype service to provide the free Internet phone call technology directly from the social network users' profile pages. Users with a Skype account will be able to click a single button in their MySpace profile to call the computer or telephone of another member, even if they're not online at the time. Again, the two companies have agreed to share revenues as part of the partnership, as the basic Skype service is free, but premium features like voice mail and a personal phone number cost extra.

The combined Skype and MySpace service does have some potential concerns, according to security experts who claim that the combination of the corporate "time-waster" social network along with the Skype system which opens up firewall ports to network traffic can play havoc with a corporate network. Personally, I'm more concerned that once all the teenagers using MySpace also figure out how to use the free phone system and all start making calls, it will bring the entire Internet to a screeching halt.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

ADSDAQ Exchange Opens for All Publishers

ContextWeb's ADSDAQ ad exchange opened to all site publishers today following a testing period during which A&E Television Networks and others supplied inventory. The company's Web app lets publishers set CPMs, and if inventory can't be sold for a publisher's required minimum CPM, ADSDAQ plugs in ads from networks including Google AdSense, Advertising.com and Yahoo's Right Media (another ad exchange firm).

The company said it plans to start testing a self-serve app for advertisers and agencies not already invited to the exchange early next year.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Superpages Goes Live with Local Video Advertising System

The local online ad market is getting busier, as Superpages.com has brought its Superpages Video advertising product out of beta phase and into national availability. Targeting local small-to-medium-sized businesses, Superpages.com will send a professional video team out to shoot an ad for a business, or repurpose existing video ads, and then make them shareable online.

If this sound familiar, it's because you've heard about such systems before on ClickZ, with companies like TurnHere, and local search companies like Yellow Book and CitySearch getting in on the game.

Superpages.com, which is owned by Idearc Media, launched its Superpages Video advertising product nationally after conducting its beta trials in Seattle, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay areas, but clearly one should expect that competition and price differentiation will play a hand in getting local businesses online with video ads, as they realize they have more than a few choices to pick from.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 16, 2007

Display Ad Creation and Trafficking System Launches

A former Classmates.com online exec is launching his latest venture today. The new AdReady system, aimed at medium-size regional and larger local businesses, lets advertisers create standard sized display ads based on ad templates.

"These advertisers have basically found display to be a black box they really haven't been able to access," Rob Ransom, VP Marketing and Products at AdReady, told me.

They can alter the ads using licensed images, upload their own logos and images, or alter text such as car financing details or contact info. The system also gives advertisers without the benefit of having an agency a leg up by showing average click-through rates of template ads. So, they can base their own creations on ads with a proven track record.

"We're marrying not only creating the ads, but also having the best ads to create… the best templates or best ads to choose from," said ex-Classmates exec and AdReady CEO and co-founder Aaron Finn.

The company also enables media buying and ad trafficking through its system, which is connected to Google, Right Media and Advertising.com. Advertisers don't pay to use the ad creation system, but are charged a percentage of the media buy.

So far, about 30 advertisers are using the system, including a local Toyota dealer, Alaska Airlines and ShareBuilder.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I Network, Therefore I Shop

Hardcore social networkers are more likely to visit retail Web sites for music, luxury goods, consumer electrics, and apparel, a study reports.
comScore, which measures Internet usage, said Monday more than 95 percent of "heavy" social networkers visited retail sites in August, compared to 80 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience. comScore defines heavy networkers as the top 20 percent of visitors, based on time spent on social networking sites.
Of 61.2 million unique visitors to apparel sites, 24.8 percent were considered big-time social networkers. Apparel and fashion sites that cater to young adults, such as Alloy and Abercrombie & Fitch, attracted a strong share of these networkers, comScore reported.
Thus, says comScore Chairman Chairman Gian Fulgoni: “Apparel retailers -- especially those geared towards younger consumers -- can benefit by considering the use of social networking sites as a marketing channel.”
The study, however, didn't address whether hardcore social networkers are more likely to make online purchases than Internet wallflowers.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Al Gore's TV Network Plays up the Internet

Current TV, a television network that sets out to encourage "citizen journalism," has overhauled its Web site to encourage more audience collaboration.

The television network, co-founded in 2005 by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, is supported by advertising, including viewer created ads.

Current.com will likely follow a similar model that includes sponsorships, said Joshua Katz, president, marketing at Current. However, he emphasized that the business model will evolve, based on audience feedback.

Katz, in an interview Monday, characterized the television network's initial Web site, current.tv, as serving the producer community. There, participants could submit pods, or short-form video, and vote on the videos they wanted to see televised.

The updated Web site, he said, is designed as a social news network. There, participants can take assignments to produce video as well as add links and comments to other content, among other activities online. "What makes this different [from other television networks] is that there's real collaboration between us and our audience," Katz said.

"This is intended to be a two-way conversation -- interactive TV influencing the Web, with the Web influencing TV. The cycle continues between the two, creating a new form of citizen journalism."

In September 2006, Current struck a partnership with Yahoo to launch several ad-supported video channels on Yahoo Video. When asked about that partnership, Katz said it no longer exists. "It wasn't a partnership we found beneficial," he said. Current continues to work with Google, which provides reports on the top clicked news headlines.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 15, 2007

Not Sure What Gift to Get Her? Try Real Gift Cards for Virtual Clothes.

Prepaid gift cards seem to be all the rage these days. Walking out of your local convenience store it's possible to get cards for everything from movie tickets to books to groceries. But here's a new one… cards for virtual clothing for virtual teen girls.

Stardoll, a virtual world destination specifically for "tween" and teenage girls, has signed an agreement with GMG Entertainment to begin producing, distributing and marketing prepaid cards for sale at 1,500 retail stores in the United States. The cards will be available in denominations between $10 and $25, which is then converted into the site’s virtual currency of “Stardollars” and can be used to buy virtual clothing and accessories for users to put on their avatars. Each Stardollar is approximately 10 cents, and the virtual clothing prices usually range between three to seven Stardollars, according to the company.

What I have to wonder is if you get a card that doesn't have any real money on it, and give it to your teenage daughter to let her buy nonexistent clothes at pennies on the dollar, are you really teaching her fiscal responsibility? Or are you just trying to be "cool?"

Posted by MatthewNelson at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack