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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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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