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October 7, 2007 - October 13, 2007

October 12, 2007

Lead Gen Acquisitions Continue Despite Industry Scrutiny

This post was reported and co-written by Jack Marshall.

Following a small investment in 2006, The Washington Post Company has acquired the remainder of stock in online lead generation provider CourseAdvisor for an undisclosed sum.

CourseAdvisor generates student leads for the post-secondary education market. Reportedly, more than 1.5 million students utilise the company’s online directory to unearth degree and certificate programs from over 500 educational institutions.

The lead gen sector is facing increasing scrutiny from the FTC, as well as increasing pressure from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and others in the industry to establish best practices.

The good guys in the sector (as well as the black hats disguised as white hats) are finding it increasingly compelling to reach out to press outlets like ClickZ to ensure us most industry players are on the up and up and, despite some internal industry spats, they're working to get solid standards in place.

ClickZ has no indication that CourseAdvisor has engaged in any bad practices, or that the firm has been questioned by the FTC in its broader investigation. Still, when a large, well-known firm with a reputable brand name buys a firm doing business in an industry that's under government scrutiny, it piques our interest.

When quizzed on the FTC’s recent investigations into the lead generation industry, Rima Calderon, director of corporate communications for WashPost told ClickZ News, "We are not aware of any investigation into any of the business practices of CourseAdvisor.”

As for what the firm will do with its new acquisition, she stated, Washpost are looking to CourseAdvisor to “continue its current business as it explores new lines of business." The company will continue to operate as a subsidiary to the Washington Post Company, and independently of Kaplan, their education services provider company.

Lead gen observers have said education advertisers continue to fuel the industry, which has suffered from a dip in investment from financial services firms following the recent credit crisis.

Other acquisitions of lead gen firms are taking place -- or rumoured to be in the works-- including Azoogle’s purchase of lead gen firm Bazaar Advertising, suggesting the recent negative attention surrounding the lead gen segment is by no means acting as a deterrent.

Kate Kaye co-wrote this post.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 11, 2007

IPhone Am Legend

Is the Apple iPhone enough of a technology platform to warrant its own specialty ad campaign? Crew Creative Advertising is betting that it is, and they've launched a site specifically for iPhones promoting the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow’s film version of I Am Legend.

The special site links to an iPhone compatible trailer on apple.com, and provides a synopsis of the film, a photo gallery, an RSS news feed and wallpapers all specially made to be viewed on iPhones. And I must admit, as a horror novel purist, I'm not completely taken with the idea of another movie version of Richard Matheson's 1954 vampire story being made again, but the snazziest feature from the site is clearly the sunrise/sunset widget. Just like the story's hero Robert Neville knows he has to be home before sunset, Web site visitors can install the widget that will track the oncoming night directly from their iPhone.

Take that, vampires.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Omnicom Joins Millions of Us

Holding company Omnicom has made an undisclosed investment in Millions of Us, a digital agency that specializes in virtual world and social networking advertising campaigns.

The investment was made by Diversified Agency Services, which is a unit of Omnicom Group, and while other digital agencies like Agency.com, Organic, Tribal, DDB and Critical Mass, have been bought outright by Omnicom, Millions of Us will still retain its independence.

"We're in control of the company completely, and it's a great deal for us and for Omnicom," Reuben Steiger, founder and CEO of Millions of Us told me. And while he wouldn't disclose how much of an investment the company had made in his agency, he did say "They don't tend to invest tiny amounts."

"They have a reputation among the holding companies from an entrepreneur's perspective. They bet on the entrepreneur, and let you operate," he said.

Steiger said that Omnicom made its investment in his company because virtual worlds and social networks are no longer a niche play, but have become a global category defined by hundreds of millions of users in reach, and because Millions of Us is an agency specializing in that space instead of operating as a virtual world business.

"It represents a pretty significant endorsement on the part of both of the category of virtual worlds and the broader category of social networks and online communities on the part of a large and influential company," he said.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 9:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Azoogle Buys Another Lead Gen Firm as Sector Scrutiny Persists

Lead generation firm Azoogle.com announced today it has purchased another lead gen firm, Bazaar Advertising. No deal terms were disclosed.

Of course, the term lead gen has gotten a bad wrap since the Federal Trade Commish has been poking around the sector and since ValueClick confirmed it's among the firms being investigated by the FTC for its lead gen practices. So, in the press release, Azoogle is calling itself "an end-to-end online marketing solutions provider," and Bazaar "a marketing services and search engine management company that specializes in the discovery, purchase and optimization of online search campaigns."

I have no idea what that means, but on the Bazaar site, it clearly states, "Bazaar Advertising is a lead generation company focused on developing and applying proprietary web-search advertising technology for our clients."

The lead gen industry is getting a lot of attention lately, including from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which just put out a release today calling on lead gen firms "to adopt the recently released 'Lead Generation Data Transfer Best Practices' by April 1, 2008." (See Matthew's post below.)

Expect the spotlight on this sector to grow hotter before it flames out.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IAB Throws Down the Gauntlet for Lead Generation Advertisers

It seems the lead generation advertising industry isn't taking the hint from The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and its Lead Generation Committee, and now the IAB is publicly challenging companies to adopt the provisions in its “Lead Generation Data Transfer Best Practices” report by April 1, 2008.

The IAB issued its report from the Lead Generation Committee last August, citing the importance of security and standard data formats and setup. The purpose of the best practices guidelines is to safeguard consumer data and improve operational efficiency for the $1.3 billion lead generation category, according to the IAB. Already a number of companies have signed off on the guidelines, including 360i, Active Response Group, AzoogleAds, Return Path, SendTec, ValueClick, WebTrends and others, but clearly the IAB intends to get everybody on board.

Of course, there's no word of what the "or else," might be as part of the challenge.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite Reports, DoubleGoo Still Portrayed as a Merger of Competitors

A Reuters piece today notes various predictions about whether the DoubleGoo acquisition will go through, concluding it will. A couple people interviewed, including Mark Kovner, an antitrust lawyer with Kirkland & Ellis, said the Federal Trade Commission probably wouldn't block the merger since it's a vertical one, rather than one between "head-to-head" competitors.

Thing is, the opponents of the merger, particularly Microsoft, are doing their damndest to portray it as just that: a merger of direct competitors. Along with a lawyer representing Microsoft, an industry observer at last month's Senate hearing on the acquisition, Scott Cleland, president of tech industry research and consulting firm Precursor, took pains to categorize the two firms as competitors.

In his testimony, Cleland suggested the companies compete for the same ad dollars and are "interrelated" by sharing the same viewers, advertisers, publishers and data. "It's like saying your eyes and your ears don't compete for your brain's attention," Cleland said, later adding, "Google will create a brain where it controls all of the major networks [of viewers, publishers, advertisers and data.]"

Microsoft SVP and General Counsel Brad Smith backed him up, saying the acquisition raises questions regarding the economic implications of allowing the "largest company in Internet advertising" to buy its "most significant competitor."

If these folks have as much influence as they'd like to, and if they manage to convince Senators and those in the House who may hold a hearing on the deal, it may not simply glide by the FTC.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

eBay Joins Social Network Caravan

What do coffee lovers have in common with jewelry shoppers?

They were among the most active eBay members participating in the online commerce site's neighborhoods, a feature rolled out this week that takes a chapter from Facebook and other social networks.

eBay members must join a neighborhood before they are permitted to start a discussion or blog, post comments or photos, and invite a friend to participate.

eBay established several hundred online neighborhoods, according to an announcement posted this week by Nathan Sacco, eBay's senior manager, buyer engagement. The neighborhoods, he wrote, are based on popular items and searches.

Neighborhoods encompass broad categories such as Italian fashion and specific brand names like Versace or Manolo Blahnik.

In discussions, members tend to exchange information or debate a product's merits. On the blog posts, many entries appear to promote eBay members' stores and product offerings.

Close to 200 eBay members joined the jewelry neighborhood, which included advice to someone who asked for information on the best places to find jewelry to resell on eBay.

In contrast, the coffee lover neighborhood reported over 400 members, many of whom are passionate and/or addicted to roasted beans.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Uniqlo Employees Jump for Ads

Japanese-based casual wear retailer Uniqlo enlisted 650 employees from its stores worldwide to act as models in its ads. The Uniqlo Jump Web site features a slideshow that is fun, but borderline seizure-inducing. It shows employees from the retailer's stores in five countries (Japan, U.S., U.K., South Korea, and China). The pictures are full of energy, mostly with the sales staff jumping in the air, and certainly having fun.

The campaign then extends to consumer-generated, or in this case employee-generated media including a blog on Hatena, photos on Flickr, and a collection of videos on YouTube featuring similar slideshow footage from each of Uniqlo's locations and other mash-ups. The Jump Web site also has map to locate each store. Uniqlo is using its staff's energy to sell its clothing, and sees recruitment as a secondary goal of the campaign.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 10, 2007

Metrics, IBM and Dancing Avatars at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo

Amidst the dancing women in body suits and the corresponding avatars tracking their movements onscreen, the attendees and businesses at the Virtual World Conference and Expo in San Jose this week all seem to agree that virtual worlds are still clearly in their infancy, and have lately been getting a bad rap.

While they acknowledged that there are clearly a lot of marketing efforts that have failed spectacularly in virtual worlds like Second Life, as cited by ClickZ's own Editor-In-Chief Rebecca Lieb recently, they insist virtual worlds shouldn't be counted down and out quite yet.

"Seven out of 10 businesses fail in the real world, and over 15 years it's nine out of 10," said Jared Freedman, president of Code 4 Software. "You're going to see a lot of losses."

Even so, several companies used the show to release tools and software efforts to help bolster marketers' and advertisers' ability to track and manage virtual campaigns online. Code 4 Software quietly started offering its AdSoft SL Powered Networks as an ad network system specifically for Second Life. Although the company will officially launch the system November 15th, Code 4 customers can now purchase ad space in the virtual world which the company monitors and tracks using its own V-Tracker application. V-Tracker will log how long a users' avatar is near an advertisement, said Freedman. "It tells you how many people came, where they went, what they did," he said. "I'll need to know how long you were there to get the impressions. Ad networks need to have verifiable return on investment."

Another company, Clear Ink, is also tackling the metrics problem with Second Life's virtual world by releasing Slogbase as an open source avatar tracking system. Slogbase uses beacons around a virtual marketing site that identifies the Second Life identity and position of avatars, and transmits the information to the Slogbase server via Second Life's standard LSL code, according to Steve Nelson, EVP, chief strategy officer for Clear Ink (and is no relation to yours truly).

"As in all other marketing efforts, measurement is crucial to success. And we developed this because it's what we needed," said Nelson. He said Clear Ink decided to give Slogbase away free because "Part of what you're doing by giving things away open source is that you're helping the overall community."

Second Life itself got a boost in its cachet through a partnership between IBM and Linden Lab, the creator of the virtual world. Together the two companies intend to develop open standard technologies and methodologies for 3D virtual worlds, with the eventual goal of creating interoperable virtual world platforms so users can bounce from one to the other.

And finally, at least one virtual world, There.com, used the show to crow over its recent success stories online. Not only did There.com sign teen publication CosmoGirl magazine to its service and will create a virtual village with fashion shows CosmoGirl readers, but it also released statistics from a recent promotion with music recording giant CMG. Following a 10-week period of virtual events with bands like Korn, Yellowcard, Mims and the Beastie Boys on There.com, the company said they saw 17,500 visits to the CMG virtual area, with 2,600 visits to the company's minisite. It also sold 1,258 pieces of virtual merchandise from the events, according to Michael Wilson, CEO of There.com, who said that CMG surprised him by allowing them to discuss their results.

"They are willing to talk about it, so they must be proud of it," he said.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AlmondNet Pairs up with National AdForce

Behavioral targeting firm AlmondNet has aligned with interactive site rep firm National AdForce, enabling the company to offer AlmondNet's targeting and ad serving services to advertisers.

While speaking with AlmondNet CEO Roy Shkedi today about the deal, he reminded me of AlmondNet's unique focus on collecting purchase intent data, as opposed to just browsing data. If users have simply viewed articles or Web content in a certain category, he continued, "There's not as much of an interest as if you read a product review or did a search for a product."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Opposite of SEO

You probably don't want to do this for your business...

Tonight, I'm meeting a friend at a super-secret new New York City bar. You have to know the address. You have to know the phone number. You have to know how to get in, which involves an access code for a telephone booth at the back of an innocuous hot dog stand which opens a concealed panel, Get Smart-style.

Would you believe a place this secret has a Web site? Well, they do. An opposite-of-optimized Web site. The URL is an acronym of the bar's name. There's no metadata. There aren't any links. And all the text (which consists only of a name and a phone number) is contained in a graphic.

It's an almost perfect example of how to build a Web site that's nearly impossible to find.

Unless your business is mega hyper-buzzworthy, I wouldn't try this at home. (And sorry, I can't provide the URL -- they'd never let me in!)

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mobile Bar Code Resolve

Bar codes for mobile applications are big in Japan. Everybody talks about how a 3D bar code can be scanned by a mobile user to get more information, or respond to an advertisement. Then those people say, "We can't do that here because most handsets don't have the technology." That's true, to recognize 3D bar codes a handset requires technology not built in to most U.S. handsets, but you can use traditional bar codes.

According to Michael Bates, co-founder and CEO of mobile and online classifieds site IQzone, the company's servers can take in and resolve bar codes from photos sent by consumers. The difference is that with a 3D bar code the number is resolved on the phone, then sent to the server for more information. With a traditional bar code a consumer sends a photo and the number is resolved at the server, then sends information back to the consumer. The same can be done with ISBN numbers, serial numbers, and even something recognizable like a movie poster.

IQzone uses bar code recognition to make it easier for its users to post classifieds. If you're selling a book why not take a photo of the ISBN number to populate the description with a summary from sources including The New York Times Book Review and Muze. IQzone also allows its users to send pictures of the bar code from consumer electronics and other items to post goods for sale. It then pulls from data sources to populate the listings with a description, which saves the thumbs of users actually posting items from their cell phones.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CSI Goes Virtual to Track a Killer

In his real world presentation at the Virtual World Convention today in San Jose, the creator of CBS's popular crime show franchise CSI, Anthony Zuiker, detailed his plans to take his real world show and plunge it into the virtual world of Second Life, all while inviting advertisers along for the ride.

Zuiker, speaking as the opening keynote presenter for the show, explained that characters from his CSI: New York television show will chase a murder suspect online during its October 24 episode. As part of that show, and two :30 spots that will run with it on CBS, viewers are going to be invited to log onto a specially designed section of the virtual world created by digital agency The Electric Sheep Company, which CBS took an investment stake in earlier this year.

More than just a plot line gag, Zuiker explained that (spoiler alert!) the villain from the upcoming episode will manage to escape investigators during the shows cliffhanger season ender, and then return when the show begins again in February. In the meantime, viewers are going to be able to hunt for the killer, CSI style, in the virtual world. In fact he'll provide new killers to start hunting every month.

What interested me however, was the fact that those virtual investigators will be using a "Cisco Teleconferencing Center" to process the clues they find online. And Zuiker invited advertisers to come and talk to him about putting their products within his virtual world, joking that everybody from consumer goods firms to caffeinated drink companies can have a kiosk where investigators could gather.

"Why? Cause investigators need to be caffeinated to solve crime," he joked.

I did ask Zuiker how advertisers can successfully put their brands online in a virtual world, especially considering the spate of bad press such efforts have seen lately, but he said having the backing of CBS air time will bring in viewers and having engagement online will keep them there.

"Some product are not happening in Second Life cause there's no interaction," Zuiker told me. "The key to do this is to feature things on air, and then in a gaming mechanism in the world so the product is in use. Not just background that no one is going to pay attention to."

As to who the killer is in the upcoming episode? I'm not telling.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 9, 2007

Google Competitor Ads in Video on AdSense Blog

We couldn't help but chuckle this morning when checking out Google's AdSense Blog post about the new video content/ad network Goo(we're not a media company)gle is running with YouTube.

The first ad that loaded into the video player sample was for none other than an AdSense competitor, ADS-click. Now that's a coup.

Hmmm...you'd think Google would have employed its own Competitive Ad Filter, eh?

Posted by Kate Kaye at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 8, 2007

Podaddies Joins the Video Ad Insertion Race

Updatable video ad insertion, especially for mobile devices, has a lot of potential for advertisers looking to provide new ads to already downloaded videos, even if the technology is still clearly in its early running. This week another horse got into the race in the form of Podaddies, which is a combination of video ad network and a technology that can be linked directly to videos so they can have new ads played with them.

I met up with Nate Pagel, CEO of Podaddies, in San Francisco's South Park and he told me that his system will not only provide updated ads to videos on Web pages, but also to devices like the video iPod when its connected to the Internet, or through other mediums like blogs or e-mail.

"Everything you can do on a Web page, you can do on a download," he said of his system's ability to provide updated ads by placing code directly into online videos.

Podaddies has been around since it launched last December, but is now trying to get the word out to advertisers and agencies that its service is available after securing some $1 million in additional funding from The Band of Angels, The Angels Forum and other investors. Pagel told me he recognizes companies like Kiptronic, ScanScout and YuMe are his competitors, but he believes Podaddies' ability to do dynamic ad insertion will win out. His system works with Quicktime and Flash formats, but not with Windows Media as it's not as highly adopted with podcasters. He is watching Microsoft's recently released Silverlight technology however, and told me "I'm a fan, and we're looking at it, but it's not on the roadmap."

Podaddies first task is bringing small and medium sized video content distributors to its service he said. "Right now it's about independent video sites that don't have a way to monetize their content," Pagel said. "We help those folks stay in business by providing them advertising."

Posted by MatthewNelson at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

GPhone Guessing Game

Google's mobile phone ambition centers on convincing mobile phone manufacturers and wireless carriers to offer phones based on Google's software, The New York Times reports today.

Google is working on a mobile phone operating system based on open-source Linux software that would compete with Microsoft's Windows mobile, according to an unnamed industry executive quoted by the Times. Applications reportedly include mobile search, mapping software, and Web browser.

Mobile advertising may subsidize a portion of the phone's costs, the report says.

The Google phone, or GPhone, is seen as a way for Google to make a grab for additional mobile advertising, a growth market.

Over this past year, there's been widespread discussion over Google's planned phone, including the possibility it may include a phone service subsidized by mobile advertisements. Others have speculated what the phone will look like.

In its report about the GPhone, BusinessWeek last week cranked up the volume on that discourse and examined other advertising-subsidized phone services, such as Virgin Mobile's Sugar Mama. Oh, that's sweet.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

'Jam Sessions' on YouTube

Ubisoft wants your "Jam Sessions" footage on YouTube. To promote its Nintendo DS title "Jam Sessions" where players strum the touch-sensitive DS screen with a stylus as if it were a guitar pick to compose music, Ubisoft created a contest on YouTube where gamers can submit videos of themselves of any original song with lyrics, played using "Jam Sessions" on the DS. It's a creative use of a YouTube contest. And the videos Ubisoft pre-populated the site with include a producer walkthrough to explain the game mechanics, and performers singing, rapping, playing the harmonica, and playing "Jam Sessions" as the rhythm guitar along with other instruments.

YouTube users will select the winners. Does the prize match the contest? Winners will be featured on YouTube's main page. The winner will also be flown to New York to perform live on FUSE TV.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Crossing the Rubicon… Into Beta

Rubicon Project, a publisher-side ad management platform, opened its invitational beta today granted to the first 500 publishers to sign up. According to company founder Frank Addante, the Rubicon Project addresses two trends: a lack of advertising technology available for Web sites, and rapid growth of ad networks. The system lets publishers optimize their inventory across the 300-plus ad networks, which continues to grow as specialized ad networks form.

"Tap into one of these networks, and you're not reaching the full, available market," said Addante. He also said media buyers spend across multiple networks. The interface used by publishers allows for a site to adjust inventory allotments across all ad networks, and shows real-time statistics on each ad network.

Addante has founded five companies, including L90/adMonitor which was eventually acquired by DoubleClick. The founder reunited with key members of his original team to form The Rubicon Project.

Posted by Enid Burns at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No Ads on Orkut, but Apps May Come

Last week The Wall Street Journal reported Google's social networking play, Orkut, will no longer run ads. The site, popular in Brazil, wasn't running many in the first place though. According to a Google statement e-mailed to ClickZ News, "Ads on orkut were in an early-stage testing phase (less than 1% of the communities were being served with ads) when Google made the decision to withdraw all ads from the site. Google is temporarily withdrawing the tests on ads to evaluate and enhance the system."

The ads were removed because they had been found running alongside child pornography. Google said this is old news since ads were discontinued in August, as a result of complaints from nonprofit Safernet, along with Brazilian regulators.

Search Engine Journal also reported as early as last December that ads in Orkut were running ads against profiles associated with the likes of Al-Qaida and Hezbollah.

While Orkut is a blip on the social networking screen here in the U.S., Google could change that if it does open up its API to developers, à la Facebook; as reported by Business Week and others, this is in the works.

"BusinessWeek.com has learned that third-party developers based in India have been told that the code, known to developers as an Application Programming Interface (API), would be made available around Nov. 5."

The app onslaught is certainly driving more traffic to Facebook, and apparently Google hopes U.S. developers creating for its API will lead social site junkies to Orkut. Still, if the company can't get its Orkut ad model figured out, what's the point? I expect ad master Google will figure something out.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Handsets to Media, Advertising

Nokia said today it completed its acquisition of Enpocket. No additional details since the acquisition was first announced. With this most recent acquisition, the creation of Mosh, and other moves the handset manufacturer has recently made, the company is on its way to becoming a global media presence for the mobile Web.

Posted by Enid Burns at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flickr Knows Esther Dyson is in Germany

Nice execution of cross-border geotargeting.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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