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April 2008

April 30, 2008

Politics, Religion, Race, and Paid Search

A day after Senator Barack Obama denounced his former pastor and his statements, a search for "rev. wright" brought up these sponsored results:

The first to appear comes from PreachingSermonsToday.com. The site says it has over 300 sermons for sale, including the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.'s "The Audacity to Hope" speech. It's available as a Word file for $4.95.

Another paid link, labeled "The Audacity of Hate," leads to a column in the Philadelphia Church of God's publication. The "audacious message of hate…does little in the way of helping the black community," Steven Flurry, the columnist, writes.

"Jeremiah Wright Supported," links to a site registered to Boyce Watkins, a CNN commentator, a finance prof, and self-described "huge fan" of Rev. Wright. "The point that Pastor Wright makes is both correct and clear: America is a racist country. It has been in the past and continues to be to this day," Watkins writes.

And they say politics and religion don't mix. Need further proof?

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IAC Earnings: Rising Google Lifts All Search Partners

IAC's media and advertising revenues enjoyed a Q1 boost thanks to the company's renewed ad partnership with Google. Ask.com improved both its revenue per query and overall revenues during the period, "even excluding the benefits of the renewed contract." However it's clear from IAC's statement that the company's buddy up in Mountain View deserves much credit for its solid search performance, especially considering total queries were down. A reduced marketing budget also helped profits.

Meanwhile, there was predictable pain over in IAC's Lending Tree unit, which is set to be spun off along with other non-advertising businesses. The company noted it had lowered its marketing investment for lending products, which translates to reduced spending on online lead generation. Again, no surprise there.

IAC's not the only Google partner sitting pretty today. Another party to benefit greatly from its relationship with the borg is TW's AOL, which today reported strength in search advertising thanks in part to the relationship. Meanwhile display advertising revenue on its own sites shrank -- largely due to anticipated factors, it should be said.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A New Journey for Gawker Travel Blog

Curbed Network, an urban real estate blog,
takes possession of Gawker Media's Gridskipper travel blog tomorrow.

On the phone with Curbed president Lockhart Steele today, he mentioned Gridskipper will go into "quasi-hibernation" until it relaunches before Memorial Day. (Steele is Gawker's former managing editor, while Gawker's Nick Denton has a stake in Curbed.)

Count on Gridskipper, billed as "the urban travel guide," to pare back its coverage of smaller cities such as Austin, TX. "I have nothing at all against Austin," Steele said. But while he was at Gawker, Gridskipper had focused on the "best stuff from the most important cities."

Last month, Gawker Media shed three of its 15 titles including Gridskipper, Wonkette, and Idolator. Wonkette was sold to Buzznet, while Wonkette was spun off to its managing editor.

Challenge is, can each of these site's new owners do a better job at attracting revenue and readers than Gawker?

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Artist Doodles

The MET in NY has a special exhibit right now Jeff Koons on the Roof, which possibly I can see a glimmer of from the roof of my building. Possibly that's why Google's doodle of the day is inspired by the work of the same artist.

Google has collaborated with almost 70 artists to create iGoogle art themes. Artists, designers, rock stars, pop stars, dancers, and athletes are involved: Jeff Koons, Dale Chihuly, Coldplay, Diane von Furstenberg, Dolce & Gabbana, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Michael Graves, Philippe Starck, Robert Mankoff, Mark Morris, Oscar de la Renta, Anne Geddes and Tory Burch, to name a few.

Here's info on the doodles. And the full gallery of artist themes.

My Search Engine Watch colleague Kevin Heisler has a somewhat racier post about iGoogle's work with artists.

Posted by Enid Burns at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When Failure Is the ROI Goal

Shouldn't marketing be more than just going through the motions?

Over coffee the other day, one of the top e-mail consultants in the country told me about a surprise revelation from a client, one of the major broadband providers in the country.

She's charged with an e-mail retention program aimed at the telco's broadband subscribers. So naturally you'd think that the more subscribers who re-upped their annual contracts, the better the program was performing, right?

Not so fast.

In a recent meeting, the client let drop that subscribers who don't renew their DSL contracts are charged higher monthly fees, and that the majority of lapsed subscribers simply don't notice the rise in costs. "So," my friend incredulously asked her client, "you're telling me that the more this program doesn't work, the more money you make?"

"Well...yes," came the reply.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twitter, Tiny but Tweeting Away

This in from Hitwise: Twitter, a social network/micro-blog, has seen traffic climb 60 percent over the past month.

Hitwise puts Twitter's size into perspective. Even with all its growth and buzz, Twitter's still tiny. Hitwise stats show Twitter is No. 439 among all social networks and forums, and No. 4309 among all categories of Web sites.

Still, Twitter's potential impact on brands should not be overlooked as Pete Blackshaw points out in his ClickZ column, "Customer Service Meets 'Lord of the Twitters' ".

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 29, 2008

STD's: No Laughing Matter

Except when they are. Planned Parenthood nails the sex ed instructor shtick with a new video site at TakeCareDownThere.org. It's funny and filthy stuff, just the way teenagers like it. Bonus points for use of "blow-jays."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Grand Theft Auto: Not the Placement You'd Expect

Rockstar Games released the fourth installation in its Grand Theft Auto franchise today, an d the game's soft porn Web ads are popping up in some odd places. See exhibit above. Two ClickZ reporters spotted this one on the Times home page just now, suggesting its not targeted on behavior.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Publicis Digital Revenues Now 18 Percent of Business

Its acquisitions of Digitas and Business Interactif last year helped boost Publicis' digital revenues to 18 percent of the total pie in Q1 as the holding company continues to expand online and in emerging markets. The strongest growth rates were in its digital businesses, which soared over 20 percent, followed by media activities.

That said, the quarter just ended was a fairly quiet one for Publicis on the digital front, though it did trumpet a new relationship with Google and rebrand its India and Singapore-based marketing services unit as Solutions | Digitas. Publicis's Asia-Pacific, Africa and Middle East businesses grew at a much higher rate than did its North America and Europe operations, where it makes its big money.

Publicis' other units include media services powerhouses Starcom MediaVest and ZenithOptimedia. Big account wins for the quarter included Delta (Digitas), BT, Cadbury, Bank Of America (Starcom Mediavest), L’Oréal (ZenithOptimedia), and Miller (Saatchi & Saatchi).

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Report: Adify Sold to Cox for $300M

Advertising network Adify is being acquired by Cox Enterprises for $300 million, the Associated Press is reporting. The deal is said to be announced today.

"We're absolutely convinced at Cox that online revenue is continuing to grow," John Dyer, Cox executive vice president for finance, told The Associated Press.

Adify is one of many ad networks that have emerged over the past year.
It got its start in the niche vertical network world by introducing a network of blog sites associated with Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More E-mail Marketers Hugging Trees

Retailers promoting Earth Day in their e-mail messages this year increased to 16 percent, up from a measly 4 percent in 2007.

That trend was noted by RetailEmail.Blogspot, which tracks the e-mail marketing campaigns of more than 100 large online retailers.

Tactics varied among retailers. Some such as Banana Republic donated a slice of sales to green charities; others such as OfficeMax promoted energy-efficient products, said Chad White, editor-at-large of the Email Experience Council and founder of RetailEmail.Blogspot.

Other retailers promoted green products in recent weeks, but didn't specifically mention Earth Day. Among them: REI, whose e-mail discussed recycling's merits.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

The WB Will Not Be Televised

"The next great network will not be televised."

With this, and other grandiose pronouncements, Warner Bros. Television Group unveiled two major new broadband sites, a couple of virtual worlds, and named some of the advertisers that will support the launch.

The WB.com, which comes out of beta in August, will be an online video-on-demand network featuring both library content and original Web productions. "We're in the digital storytelling business," noted Warner Bros. TV Group President Bruce Rosenblum, "and making a significant investment in our digital initiatives."

The company was more tight-lipped about advertising opportunities, but did reveal initial sponsors include Mattell, McDonald's and Johnson & Johnson.

In addition to distrubution partners including Comcast, AOL, Fancast.com, and some mobile carriers, WB created an application on Facebook. All content on the WB site will be available for viewing from within Facebook, and vice-versa: users can peruse Facebook from inside The WB.com.

KidsWB.com is the juvenile version of WB content on the Web. Integrated within the platform are two virtual worlds: Warner Zone, featuring characters from WBs extensive cartoon library, and DC Hero Zone, where Batman and his ilk can be encountered. It goes live sometime next month.

It's interesting to note that "mix, mash, share" is a motto. Give Tweetybird a mohawk, turn the Tasmanian Devil into a tutu-wearing avatar - WB doesn't care. That's massive, considering the proprietary attitude entertainment conglomerates have traditionally taken toward the sanctity of their characters. On the adult site, users will be encourage to re-mix episodes of, say, "Friends," and share them with their own friends.

Are you listening, Mouse?

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Obama Local Media Spending

Barack Obama's campaign paid over $145,000 to local media buying firm Centro in February and March, according to FEC filings. The Illinois Senator's camp paid the Chicago-based company $138,000 in February.

My guess is that money went towards a pre-primary effort aimed at Texas and Ohio voters in February. The campaign went through Centro to buy homepage placements on Texas and Ohio newspaper and TV sites. In addition to purchasing media for the effort, Centro produced the creative. So, just how much of those dollars went towards creative services and other costs for the video-enabled ads vs. actual local media is unclear.

I'll be discussing this campaign during a talk I'll give on local online political advertising Thursday morning at the Kelsey Group's Drilling Down on Local Conference. We'll also be distributing a booklet on how the presidential campaigns have used local online media during the primaries.

You can download a PDF version of All Primaries Are Local: 2008 Presidential Campaigns Buy Local Online for free today!

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google, Champion of Small Biz on Capitol Hill

Please don't stifle online advertising! That was Google's plea during last week's House Committee on Small Business hearing on "The Role of Small Businesses in Stimulating the Economy." The company's VP Online Sales and Operations David Fischer spoke to lawmakers, stressing the benefits of Google AdSense to small Web site publishers, bloggers and educators.

Sure, most of them make very little off their AdSense ads. Rather than providing a range of incomes the more successful small businesses garner from AdSense ads, Google chose to focus on the obvious outlier. According to Fischer, Ohio-based AsktheBuilder.com collects an average of $42,000 each month from the ads.

He went on to say some 2,000 businesses based in the first district of Ohio earned $1.6 million in total last year through AdSense. It just so happens Republican Congressman Steve Chabot is a ranking member of the committee and represents that district.

Fischer ended his speech by petitioning members to think twice about proposing laws that could affect small businesspeople online. "As the committee continues its important work as a champion of small business I would encourage you to constantly consider how any new laws and regulations will affect these online entrepreneurs," he said.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ClickZ Job Board: Start Your Hunt Here

Looking for an Internet marketing job? Newly posted openings on the ClickZ Job Board include online program director, senior art director, Web designer, natural search consultant, e-mail marketing manager, and others.

The Craigslist Foundation, Yahoo, Agency.com, and Wal-Mart are among the companies seeking talent.

Start your job search today by posting your resume here; go here to set up an account for job search alerts and store your resume.

Be assured, privacy controls are in place to mask your identity and keep your resume anonymous.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

April 25, 2008

Rinaldo to Replace Kosinski in Yahoo Political Sales Team

Richard Kosinski has been the guy selling Yahoo ads to political advertisers for awhile now. But no longer. According to a tip-off from Eric Frenchman, who handles a lot of online search and display buying for John McCain's campaign, Kosinski will take a senior position at WestwoodOne.

I checked in this morning with Kosinski, then heard back from Yahoo PR that, indeed, he'll be replaced by Diane Rinaldo, "a four year Y! veteran." She'll "assume the leadership of the political ad sales team," the e-mailed statement said. Evidently she's been working with the presidential candidate campaigns and party committees since joining the political sales team last year.

When I first met Kosinski in January 2007, we were perched high atop Manhattan for a sunlit lunchtime presentation about Yahoo's Personal Finance section redesign. At the time, he was Yahoo's business and finance category development officer. I have to say I was kind of surprised when I saw him on an online ad industry event panel representing Yahoo's political advertising.

Not that he isn't perfectly capable of selling Yahoo to political advertisers, it's just that it caught me off guard. As a good source in the online political ad world has suggested to me (not necessarily regarding Kosinski), media firms often pluck an ad salesperson from a standard vertical focus to handle political advertising when presidential primaries kick into gear.

It's worth noting, at least according to Nielsen Online data, Yahoo ran the most display ad impressions by presidential candidates in 2007, compared to any other individual Web site. Though networks like Google and Advertising.com also definitely raked in some dough from the three big online ad spenders -- Barack Obama, John McCain and Mitt Romney (remember him?) – Yahoo appears to have done well thus far.

According to my calculations based on Nielsen Online data, nearly 90 million ad impressions from the candidates, or 32 percent, ran across Yahoo -- from its Movies and Sports sections to its highly-trafficked e-mail pages. MSN grabbed about 30 million or 11 percent of display ads run by presidential hopefuls, mainly Obama. Excite's e-mail section and homepage garnered over 16 million or 6 percent of impressions, while AOL scored about 4 percent or 11 million. Sites including FoxNews.com, The New York Times, MSNBC, Newsmax and HuffingtonPost.com also got some prez campaign dollars in '07, and continue to.

As for why Kosinski is leaving, I don't know, but no matter what reason he gives, observers are sure to speculate that it has something to do with Yahoo's ongoing upheaval and unsure future.

According to the Yahoo spokesperson who confirmed his departure, "First and foremost, politics and elections will continue to be a focus for the company, especially as the presidential election nears."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Still Need to Make a Call to Buy on AOL's Spot Market

What exactly is AOL’s Platform-A Spot Marketplace? I couldn't tell from the company's press release what's different from what Advertising.com's offered all along. Well, a Platform-A spokesman told me what's significant is the ability for advertisers to bid on AOL's non-guaranteed CPM inventory. That includes stuff like Moviefone, AOL Sports and e-mail pages.

Apparently, non-guaranteed AOL inventory has been sold only on a performance basis until now. The main difference is it's available now on a CPM basis. Chandler was unable to tell me how much inventory is represented in this so-called spot market, since it's constantly in flux.

Don't go jumping to conclusions, though. Terms like "marketplace" in the online world have come to connote some sort of Web-based buying and selling system. Not so here. "You have to work with a sales rep on this," according to Chandler.

And, since AOL is all about hyping Platform A these days, it's given the new division a cool new logo. I admit, the design major in me digs it.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

QuadOne Integrates Network Sites, Running Ad Test

I had a chance to meet with Dana Hayes, interim CEO for quadrantOne, yesterday. The online newspaper network was recently formed by Gannett Co., Hearst Corp., Tribune Co., and The New York Times Co. and recently added Yahoo's newspaper partner troupe to its list of publishers. In addition to heading quadOne, Hayes is also Tribune Interactive's SVP of sales. We talked about his goals for the nascent network, including his hopes for attracting big national brand advertisers that want local reach.

A couple updates on the progress of the network:

- About 150 network sites are fully integrated on the quadOne platform (technology supplied by Collective Media).
- 325 sites will be integrated by the end of June.
- A large retail advertiser is running an ad test on 6 network sites.
- 32 additional sites will be added to that ad run next week.
- Network publishers have dedicated pre-roll video inventory, in addition to standard display and rich media.

"We want to be positioned as a large niche site," said Hayes, who noted the network expects Olympics content to bring in lots of ad dollars.

Just as a side note: I've been working in or coming into NYC for work for over ten years, and I've never experienced an office building with quite so clandestine an operation as the Helmsley Building, on Park near Grand Central, where I met Hayes. Weird place. After getting a visitor's pass with a digital photo, I made it to the 10th floor, where I was told to meet him. The 10th floor receptionist told me to have a seat. A couple minutes later, another woman prompted me to come with her. She said I should go to the 7th floor. Once I got there, a receptionist lured me past a set of glass doors. Finally, I was at my destination.

I felt like I was meeting some highly-protected diplomat in an undisclosed location. Next time I'll bring my bug detection device....

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Platform A's Bold New Upskirt Logo

Madison Avenue types may be more susceptible than the average Joe to voyeuristic advertising, but is this really in good taste?

In any case, Platform A Prez Lynda Clarizio argues the graphic “effectively communicates our distinct competitive advantage of scale and reach. And its bold and simple design fits with our mission of providing advertisers and publishers with effective, impactful and easy-to-use solutions to their digital advertising needs.”

Also, a touch literal, no? I mean, it's a Platform. It's an A. It's a... Platform A! Clearly someone's been pouring over their old Rebus Puzzle books from grade school. Ah, the memories.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

Obama Looks Ahead to North Carolina, Indiana

Barack Obama's camp is wasting no time looking ahead to the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. The campaign has been targeting ads to North Carolina and Indiana Web users for at least a few days now, in the hopes of getting them to register to vote. They're showing up on local TV station and newspaper sites, according to online ad tracking firm The Media Trust Company.

Obama for America already has reached out to voters in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island with similar online ad messaging. (Still, he lost to Clinton in all four states.)

Some believe registering new voters, who tend to be young, will benefit Obama, which may be why Clinton has stuck to asking for campaign contributions in her more rare display ad efforts.

Thanks to The Media Trust Company for this ad image.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DOJ Notified of Yahoo's Google Ad Test

The U.S. Justice Dept. evidently is looking into or at least has been notified about Yahoo's recent Google ad test. According to a New York Times report, the companies informed the DOJ about the test before it began, but the Dept. won't comment.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is Verbing the Sincerest form of Flattery?

First Google said it's not OK to "Google" someone or something on the Web. Now Microsoft in the Netherlands says it's not OK to use the verb "MSN-ing" as a synonym for sending messages through instant messenger. I'm not sure how to say IM in Dutch, but "MSN-ing" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

To add insult to injury to Microsoft, while pursuing legal action in the Netherlands the company was shown a list of existing domain names related to "msn" such as msncam.com, msntest.com, msn-beta.com, and 62 others. When Microsoft executives said they were unfamiliar with the list, a judge reportedly told them to "Google" more.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

New U.K. Advertising Regulations Have Online Implications

Online word of mouth and buzz marketing techniques are to be governed by new U.K. legislation, which comes into effect on May 26, subject to parliamentary approval.

Under the new Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading regulations, it will be illegal to "Falsely claim or create the impression that the trader is not acting for purposes relating to his/her trade, business, craft or profession," or to "falsely represent oneself as a consumer."

In layman's terms, it will be a criminal offense to plant positive messages about a brand in blogs or forums, use brand ambassadors or buzz marketing specialists, and to seed viral ads, without clearly stating that these actions are being carried out by, or on behalf of a brand.

In addition, there are new implications for ads including an "invitation to purchase." These will now be required to include a full description of the advertised product, which could prove difficult given the limited space available in many interactive ad formats such as banners, buttons and text messages.

In practice, it seems highly unlikely that these laws can, or will be enforced, given the sheer scale of the Internet and its global nature. That said, it will undoubtedly be in the interests of major advertisers to keep firmly within the confines of the law.

As Marina Palomba, IPA Legal Director noted, "While many advertisers will continue with such campaigns and get away with them, this is in my view a risky and undesirable way forward. If advertisers and their agencies ignore the ethics of responsible advertising, the damage to the advertising and marketing industry generally will be considerable, undermining all commercial messages, their effectiveness and the self regulatory systems."

The new regulations will implement the European Union's Unfair Practices Directive (UCPD) in the U.K., which should have already been introduced by the end of 2007.

U.S. regulators have also looked into the WOM marketing industry.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Online Security Firms Seem Non-Committal about Phorm Blocking

Behavioral ad targeting company Phorm could find its controversial technology automatically blocked by some online security firms.

The BBC reported the likes of Symantec, Trend Micro, and McAfee are "scrutinizing" the ad-system, and could decide to block cookies needed for its operation, should they deem it "adware."
With a vast number of users worldwide using security software on their machines, this could have a devastating effect on Phorm's audience numbers, and ad revenue opportunities as a result.

This is not the first time Phorm has faced issues over security. In its previous incarnation as 121 media, a piece of software it was responsible for titled PeopleOnPage was considered by some to be spyware, a fact that is unlikely to help the company's reputation.

Being objective however, isn't the role of online security firms to do exactly that: identify and monitor potential security risks?

A statement from a Symantec spokesperson in the BBC story seemed non-committal: "At this point we are assessing the full implications of this technology and how it fits into the established criteria we use for categorising and classifying new technologies such as Phorm's."

Similarly, Greg Day, security analyst at McAfee, is reported to have said, "At this point we have not rushed to give it a classification."
According to Phorm, its relationship with security companies is one of complete cooperation. Radha Burgess, marketing and communications director said, "We are currently in the process of talking with security firms, and taking them through the system in order to evaluate it properly."

Ultimately, therefore, it appears security firms are avoiding jumping to conclusions, and will continue to monitor and evaluate the system, classifying it as and when they deem necessary.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What Time Is It in the Cloud?

These days, my head is in the cloud.

More and more companies are rolling out cloud computing solutions and applications. On the consumer level, it's getting easier and easier for documents, spreadsheets, e-mail, calendars, presentations, you name it, to live in the ether somewhere above the hard drive, always on and always accessible.

Way cool, and an emerging opportunity for advertisers and marketers to push relevant, contextual messages to cloud computing users.

But what time is it in the cloud? I'm wondering this as I shuttle between the East and West coasts, wielding a battery of BlackBerry, mobile phone, and the laptop I'm using to access the book I'm writing entirely on Google Docs (not a word of the manuscript is on my hard drive).

Some of these devices are set to the time zone I'm actually in, others are set to the one I live in. So how's an advertiser to know what's relevant messaging? Should an ad be pushed for a business or service in Sonoma (where I'm speaking today), or New York (where I live?). Does the cloud know if I'm working at lunchtime or at dinnertime?

Geo- and daypart targeting has long been used in traditional as well as interactive marketing. When life literally shifts to online -- as users move into the cloud -- how will this element of targeting be achieved?

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ads on Twitter: Japan to be Testing Ground

Do you Twitter? The micro-blogging phenomenon appears to be mid-tipping point, having spilled over from the developer/tech community into the general populace. Well, into the marketing community anyway. Agency execs are there, as are ad rag reporters, and yes, a bunch of ClickZ writers and editors. (See feeds for Rebecca Lieb, Erin Brenner, Pete Blackshaw, Kevin Ryan and yours truly)

So the inevitable next step for Twitter is how to get ads on the platform without alienating users. It's a tough question. The application is more personal and conversation-based than blogging ever was, which naturally makes it a touchy place to stick marketing messages.

Its investors appear to have hit on a partial solution with a new Japanese version that includes ads from Toyota and others. Joi Ito, whose Digital Garage bought its Twitter stake in January, detailed the launch and the ad strategy in a blog post last night.

In addition to display ads across Twitter, Toyota has its own account where it can talk about events and products. Ito writes: "The ad directs people to their Twitter account where the users can follow that account. Toyota can easily see who their fans are and follow what their fans are saying about them." The car maker appears not to have posted to its profile yet.

It may be Twitter's revenues will come from placing ads on multiple overseas versions, while keeping the U.S. product free -- for now. Look for ads down the road when (Twitter hopes) everyone's grandma is tweeting updates from the retirement home musical theater audition room, and we're all too hopelessly reliant on the service to object to commercial interruptions.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Going Green at EMS

Going green appears to be good for business.

Eastern Mountain Sports entices green-minded customers to open up its e-mail message with the subject line: "Why recycle...just reuse!"

The pitch leads prospects to this colorful line up of water bottles.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

Organic's Mark Kingdon Flies to Linden Lab

News just dropped that Organic Chief Mark Kingdon has flown the coop to join Second Life developer Linden Lab as CEO. Congrats to Mark, a longtime friend of ClickZ. Here's hoping he can help marketers wrap their brains around the virtual world -- something that hasn't exactly panned out so far.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Demo Tools

There's no question consumers like the ease of e-commerce. But the Internet still can't replace the demo nature of brick and mortar. A salesperson can sell by demonstration. This is true especially when it comes to categories such as hardware and power tools. Both on its on site, and on its e-commerce partner sites, DeWalt has built demos for its power tool products through a technology partner Easy2 Technolgies.

Users click on the demo to get a pop-up window, and click on highlighted areas of the product to read about the features and view closer images or video. They can also see images of the tools in action, and get product specs, depending on what DeWalt provides. The demo also provides a 360-degree rotation and zooming view of each product.

Easy2's platform is called "Make Your Own" and is as easy and user-friendly as using Microsoft Word. Other clients working with Easy2 include Circuit City, Cub Cadet, Buy.com, Samsung, Lowe's, InSinkErator, and Moen.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Warming up to Earth Day

Whether you're worried about global warming or rising fuel costs, Earth Day has gained a new generation of supporters. Started in 1970 as a grassroots movement to promote environmental conservation, Earth Day years later took a back seat to gas guzzling SUVs.

Fast forward to 2008. Even Chevy Tahoe is promoting its hybrid model at AOL.com today.

And, organizations buying the keywords, "Earth Day," on Google today included TCP Inc., the maker of compact fluorescent lights, and Ashworth University, which is promoting courses in conservation.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another Day, Another Interactive Ad Group

Just when you thought there were enough interactive advertising task forces, councils, and advisory groups, here's the latest.

Break Media, an online community for men and an ad network, has decided there's more to life -- and business -- than hot women, gear, and gossip. That includes the all mighty dollar and figuring out how to calculate online video advertising's return on investment.

The company, which operates sites such as Chickipedia (a wiki of hot women) and Cage Potato (Mixed Martial Arts news), announced today it's taking the lead to form a council to examine the effectiveness of online video ads.

Online Video Advertising ROI Council is represented by some high-profile brands, agencies, and technology vendors. (The new media company made the announcement today at the historic 21 Club in midtown Manhattan. Jacket required.)

Break chief executive Keith Richman, in an interview, said traditional advertisers want assurances that money spent on online video ads is beneficial. Before that can occur, advertisers must reach some agreement on what metrics to use to help with that assessment.

The advertising ROI council members include Ogilvy One, truTV, National Geographic Channel, AT&T, Starcom, eMarketer , Panache, Lotame, Visible Measures, Horizon Media, and Initiative Media. It also brought in Visible Measures, to help establish metrics to determine ROI and intends to meet every three months to share information among its membership.

The council's formation comes just as the IAB is updating digital video ad format guidelines for in-stream, overlay, and video companion ads. That undertaking is intended to simplify ad specs plus other goals.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"We" Campaign Gets a Little Boost from an Ad Vendor

It's odd to see a major ad campaign, even a cause-based one, pay its way with donations. But that's exactly how the "We" ad campaign, courtesy of the Alliance for Climate Protection, is going about it. (Check out ClickZ's coverage of the digital side.) Al Gore has pledged his Nobel Peace Prize winnings to the group, which he chairs, along with his earnings from hit documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Meanwhile the film's distributor has promised to kick in 5 percent of profits, according to the Washington Post.

Even online ad firms are pitching in. EyeWonder, which is supporting the "We" campaign's rich media ads, yesterday said it would donate a portion of it’s streaming ad services.

The main theme of the ad blitz is that climate change is an issue everyone can agree on (ads show the likes of Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton sitting on a sofa together). It would seem that also applies to corporate givers, including interactive ad firms.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

ClickZ and Arianna Huffington Tomorrow in NYC!

How's this for cool? I'll be interviewing the one-and-only Arianna Huffington, political pundit extraordinaire and HuffingtonPost co-founder at tomorrow evening's 212 Interactive Ad Club event! Expect a lively talk on online political advertising and related issues (and a standing room only crowd).

As you probably know, in our Campaign '08 section, ClickZ is dedicated to following what the presidential campaigns are doing online, particularly when it comes to advertising.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ClickZ's Kate Kaye Promoted to Senior Editor

Kate Kaye, who joined ClickZ in March 2006, has been promoted to senior
editor.

At ClickZ, Kate launched a special section, Campaign '08, devoted to
covering how the presidential candidates have integrated interactive
into their campaign advertising and marketing mix.

As part of her ongoing dedication to covering online political
advertising, Kate will interview The Huffington Post's co-founder and
editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington on the topic at tomorrow evening's
212 Interactive Advertising Club event.

In addition to the political beat, Kate routinely breaks news stories
involving the overall interactive industry. Today's story, "AOL Cuts
Four Senior Tacoda Execs Including President Daniel Jaye," is one such scoop.

If you're attending the Kelsey Group's Drilling Down on Local '08 conference in Seattle
April 29-May 3, you can meet Kate there. She'll be speaking on the
Big Thinkers panel May 3.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

China Surpasses U.S. in Internet Users

In a first, the number of Internet users in China has surpassed the United States.

China had more than 220 million users as of February, according to a report in USA Today. The United States had 214 million at the end of 2007.

There's still lots of room for China's Internet usage to grow; it has a population of 1.3 billion compared to 304 million in the United States.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 18, 2008

Marketing to the Media...Continued

The flurry leading up to ad:tech prompted a bit of a rant last week about best practices for marketing to the media.

That discussion will continue in a much broader context next week at the New Comm Forum in Sonoma, CA. SEO PR expert Sally Falkow and I will be discussing the opportunities -- and the threats -- that online media, search, and the social Web are presenting to the media and other communications professionals.

If you make it to the conference, please be sure to say hello.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 17, 2008

Rebecca Lieb Leaves Post as ClickZ Editor-in-Chief

Rebecca Lieb announced today that she will leave her post as editor-in-chief of the ClickZ Network to pursue independent opportunities in the interactive marketing industry. She will remain with CZ as an editorial consultant.

Rebecca, a sought after speaker and commentator, has been an influential voice in the marketing industry for years. Her editorial leadership of the ClickZ Network has created the world’s leading Web site for information pertaining to the interactive marketing industry.

“I have enormous personal and professional respect for Rebecca”, said Gary Lynch, Managing Director, North America for ClickZ “she is a brilliant editor who has built a market leading Web site. She will be missed”.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Unshackles Website Optimizer

Google decided its Web site optimization tool will stand apart from its AdWords platform.

Previously, someone using Google Website Optimizer had to sign up for an AdWords account, although advertising on AdWords wasn't required.

The change, announced yesterday, appears to be intended to give the free tool its own identity and encourage Web designers and others to use it -- not just interactive advertisers or marketers.

Like before, the tool enables people to test two or more combinations of designs and content, including headlines and images, on a Web page. Through testing, marketing professionals and others should be able to identify what approach will better help them meet goals such as keeping visitors on a site longer or engage in transactions.

"You don't have to flip a coin" to figure out what Web site design and content is most effective, said Tom Leung, a Google business product manager. (Check out ClickZ columnist Bryan Eisenberg's interview last year with Leung about Google Analytics.)

In another announcement, Google's making its analytics tool available as a for-fee product when downloaded and installed on a company's server. Called Urchin, the tool was the basis of Google Analytics, an application that remains available for free on a hosted basis.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 1:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

NBC Expects $1B from Digital Properties in '08

George Kliavkoff, chief digital officer for NBC Universal, said the company's digital properties are on track to generate $1 billion in revenue this year, up 40 percent from 2007.

Speaking this morning at ad:tech SF, Kliavkoff said "a lot" comes from ad sales, though a portion represents theme park and other ticket sales. Operating profit is increasing 50 percent, year over year, he said.

On another front, Kliavkoff praised Google's YouTube for becoming more aggressive about removing pirated NBC content from the video site. "It's significantly less than a couple months ago," he said.

Digital represents a small slice of NBC Universal's $15.4 billion revenue in 2007, but its growth, nonetheless, would be significant if other advertising and revenues on broadcast or cable properties were to decline or level off. (Kliavkoff gave no indication that would occur, though.)

In an interviewed with Adam Lashinsky, senior writer for "Fortune,"
Kliavkoff spent a chunk of time talking about Hulu, the NBC Universal-News Corp. joint venture for a premium video portal. The ad sales teams at NBC Universal and News Corp., he said, have the first right to sell inventory on Hulu or distribution sites a couple months in advance of the Hulu sales team. When that occurs, Hulu gets the same revenue split -- without the cost of sale.

About a month ago, consumers were given two options for viewing advertisements on Hulu, according to Kliavkoff. People can opt to see either one movie trailer before a program, or five :15 spots.

At one point, Lashinsky asked Kliavkoff what it was like to yank NBC programming from Apple's iTunes. Kliavkoff suggested "yanked" was a loaded word. Lashinsky, with humor, fired back: "How did it feel to give Steve Jobs the finger?"

Speaking like the lawyer that he is, Kliavkoff said it was inappropriate for him to discuss a matter involving a distribution partner -- and added that NBC has a film distribution deal with Apples iTunes. He declined to discuss details, though, including the revenue-sharing arrangement.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kudos to Pete Blackshaw

Pete Blackshaw is one of three Internet marketing pioneers given an industry achievement award last night at ad:tech SF.

Blackshaw, a ClickZ columnist, is EVP, strategic services for Nielsen Online,
a combination of Nielsen BuzzMetrics, a firm Pete helped co-found, and Nielsen/NetRatings.

"Let's stay credible, let's stay trusted, and let's keep the consumer front and center in what we do," he said upon receiving the award.

At the ceremony that's part of this week's advertising technology conference in San Francisco, the two other lifetime achievement award winners were: Kate Thorp, CEO of Real Girls Media and founder of Lot 21, and Rich LeFurgy, general partner of Archer, an advisory services company, and founding chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

Kodak, Out of the Dark (Room)

Eastman Kodak's Jeffrey W. Hayzlett doesn't mince his words when he discusses the 128-year-old's company changing business model and marketing approach.

As the sale of digital cameras took off, Kodak saw the revenue from film sales slide.

So, the company had to reinvent itself.

In one major change in its product lineup, Kodak sells a photo printer with low cost ink refills that cost $9.99 per cartridge (black) and $14.99 (five-color) compared to the higher prices for rivals' products.

To promote its EasyShare printers, Kodak cut a deal to sponsor and be featured on NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice." During the episode, teams of celebrity contestants were charged with creating a Kodak mobile printing station in New York City promoting Kodak's printer lineup. "We put the Kodak Moment experiment into action on the sidewalks of New York," said Hayzlett, Kodak chief business development officer, during the keynote speech today at ad:tech SF.

Sales of the printer doubled the week after the episode aired, according to Hayzlett.

"My job inside within the company is to create tension. To get people to the edge of the table, not go over the edge," said Hayzlett, who estimates that at least 10 percent of Kodak's advertising budget is allocated to online initiatives.

Kodak also recently launched an online video, which features Vincent Pastore (better known as Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero from "The Sopranos" feeding a Kodak rival's printer to the fish.

Hayzlett especially liked a headline about that video. It reads: "Big Pussy Beats The Shit Out of a Printer in the Name of Low Ink Prices."

"I would love to write that headline, but I cannot," he said. "This is great. This is f*cking awesome," said Hayzlett.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google TV Ads: General Release Confirmed for Next Few Weeks

Don't look now Ma, but your favorite soap's about to run its first ad for DogShoes.com.

Google has confirmed it will soon offer its TV Ads program, in trial mode since it launched a year ago, to all U.S. advertisers. In the next few weeks, AdWords customers large and small will be offered a shot at the broadcast glitz, complete with production referrals for those lacking TV-ready video assets.

The move indicates the company has resolved the volume issues that hobbled the program during its first months. As of late August 2007, just 50 clients had tested the system and the minimum spend was a modest (for TV) $10,000 a month, according to a source.

"Over the past months, our partnerships with DISH network and Astound Cable have scaled and we are pleased to expand our Google TV Ads program to more U.S. advertisers," the company said in a statement.

A story yesterday in Multichannel News had some additional details sourced to Keval Desai, Google product lead for the TV initiative. Desai told the pub advertisers including Lenovo and Priceline.com had placed ads through the system. “We serve millions of impressions daily," he reportedly added.

Desai was unavailable to comment today. Google would only add that it believes the wider advertiser launch "will ultimately lead to better, more relevant ads on television."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lead Gen Firm Q Interactive Expands into U.K.

U.S. based lead-gen network Q Interactive has announced that it is extending its operations to the U.K., and has engaged a London-based staff. The firm's TrueLeads service gathers consumer contact information from partner sites (by consent), and passes this on to marketers for sales and CRM purposes.

The move will seek to continue the company's U.S. success in a "rapidly expanding U.K. market," according to Q Interactive President and CEO Matt Wise.

The network currently includes publisher sites Weather.com and About.com, and advertisers such as Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo.

Gayle Guzzardo, SVP of product management at Q Interactive, currently chairs the Interactive Advertising Bureau Lead Generation Committee, which seeks to generate and maintain standards and best practices in an area subject to scrutiny from regulatory bodies and consumer organizations.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Clinton: Bitter about Search Ads?

McCain remains the clear frontrunner in paid search, and Clinton isn't spending much at all. While more Web users from all political persuasions searched for "Barack Obama" than "Hillary Clinton" or "John McCain," McCain is still number one in paid search.

According to a new iCrossing report, McCain's camp spent an estimated 60 percent of the total spent by the three top presidential candidates. Obama came in with 25 percent and Clinton an estimated 15 percent. Just how much that is in actual dollars is unclear.

"McCain is also the only candidate with paid coverage on competitors’ names in addition to his own, including candidate keywords hillary clinton, barack obama, obama, and clinton," notes the report, released today. I'm not sure how many years Web consultants have been telling political campaigns to buy their opponents' names....

The presumptive Republican nominee's campaign (i.e., mainly this guy) did the bulk of issue-based search ad spending among the three hopefuls. McCain spent an estimated 70 percent of dollars spent on issue-based keywords, including abortion, border security, campaign spending, Republican nomination, and universal healthcare, among others. Obama accounted for the remaining 30 percent, with paid links showing up in results for Democratic nomination and Democratic party.

The study follows up on a similar one conducted by the search firm last July. At the time, McCain's campaign also led the way in paid search.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As Economy Flags, Will U.S. Shops Look to Europe?

Interactive budgets are growing way faster in Europe than they are in the U.S. ZenithOptimedia forecasts spending will accelerate approximately 95 percent in Western Europe between 2007 and 2010, compared with 40 percent here. Central and Eastern European ad spending will grow even faster.

So it's ever more important for U.S. based agencies to develop strong footholds there, especially as the economy flags this side of the Atlantic.

That's just what iCrossing's done with the acquisition of Germany-based 3GNet, whose clients have included eBay and ESPRIT, and O2 Germany. The agency, which offers paid search, SEO and affiliate marketing services, will be iCrossing's first outpost in mainland Europe. It already has a presence in the U.K.

3GNet was founded in 1999. Its 70-member team brings iCrossing's headcount to 620 in 15 offices. “Their understanding of the European search market, particularly in leveraging affiliates, as well as their technical expertise, makes them a perfect fit for iCrossing,” CEO Jeffrey Herzog said in a statement.

Is your agency engaged in business development in mainland Europe? If so, I'd like to hear about it.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 14, 2008

Sony U.K. Froths Up Another Viral

The ad team for the Sony Bravia team in the U.K. has released a series of viral videos on the Web: First there was "Balls," then "Paint," and Bunnies followed. A new series of videos, Sony Foam City, made its way on YouTube, and a supporting microsite for Sony's new line of digital cameras an camcorders.

The video is a similar piece where a neighborhood of an urban area is taken over by, in this case foam, and it's affect on the area residents. Many are armed with Sony cameras to capture the event.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Take That, Victoria's Secret!

While downmarket Victoria's Secret fusses its advertising might be "too sexy," the much tonier lingerie purveyor Agent Provocateur "wears its carnal appeal like a badge of honor."

In tandem with Story Worldwide, the brand just added an "online party" to its Web site that will be updated as different stages of the 2008 collection are rolled out.

In addition to more or less of safe-for-work videos (depends on where you work, I suppose), visitors can drag garments that catch their eye off the models and into an individual cloakroom (read: shopping list). Some visitors will doubtless be disappointed that this action does not, in fact, actually remove the garments from the models. They remain fully lingerie'd.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 11, 2008

Net Neutrality: Sign the Petition Before Next Week's Hearings

The FCC is holding a public hearing on Net Neutrality in Palo Alto next week.

In case you haven't gotten the message, this issue has the potential to affect every single person in the United States who uses, or benefits from, the Internet. It's also an issue interactive marketers simply cannot afford to ignore.

Telcos and cable companies including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner are working to pave the way for "network management" practices that would allow blocking of certain content in favor of those Web sites and services the access providers prefer.

Don't let this happen. Support Net Neutrality. A good place to start might be signing this petition in support of the Markey-Pickering bill, which would mandate the FCC to "guard against unreasonable discriminatory favoritism for, or degradation of, content by network operators based upon its source, ownership, or destination on the Internet."

Thanks.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

ClickZ Blog Twitter Feed

If you're a Twitter user and read this blog, why not follow our Twitter feed?

More ClickZ content on Twitter soon.

Tweet!

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TTYL, FCC

Uncle Sam wants to text you -- but only when there's bad news.

The Federal Communications Commission has approved a plan to deliver emergency alerts to mobile phones via SMS. The messages will be delivered with an attention-getting "unique audio signature" and "vibration cadence."

Three types of grim alerts qualify for the program: a national alert from the president, likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster; "imminent threats," e.g. natural disasters such as tornadoes or university shootings; and child abduction emergencies.

Mobile device owners will be able to pt out of the program, and it's possible carriers won't charge for delivery of such messages. The plan is expected to go into effect by 2010.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 10, 2008

Ad-Supported Wi-Fi Coming to NYC Parks?

AnchorFree is in talks to have its advertising service help support free Wi-Fi in some New York City parks.

Mark Smith, AnchorFree chief operating officer, says the company is testing its ad-supported service and network for WiFi Salon.

Marshall Brown, chief executive of WiFi Salon, says it's premature to discuss plans because a deal hasn't been signed.

WiFi Salon, which has a concession from the the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, runs 17 hot spots in city parks, including Union Square, Washington Square, and Central parks. In 2006, WiFi Salon and Nokia started working together to provide the service.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Newspapers Got 27 Percent Online Local Ad Rev in '07

In preparation for its upcoming conference in D.C., the Newspaper Association of America requested some preliminary data from Borrell Associates’ local online revenue study, expected in May. The NAA reported that, as found by Borrell, newspaper sites grabbed almost 27 percent of local online ad market share in '07, or over $2 billion in local online ad revenue. Paper sites also grabbed 26 percent of the$363 million spent on local video ads, according to the NAA's report.

Local YP and TV sites individually accounted for just under 10 percent of the market, and radio stations around 2 percent.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Euro RSCG Creating Creative Commune

Jeff Brooks, who heads Euro RSCG's New York presence, is on a mission not only to un-silo digital from the agencies other operations, but to put digital "at the heart" of every activity and client engagement.

To this end, he's planning to remodel the shop's sizeable New York offices with the goal of putting all the creatives -- from digital to direct to broadcast and print -- on the same floor to foster (or force?) collaboration and interaction.

"There are going to be fights," he admits. "Then they're going to laugh, make up and go out for drinks and dinner together."

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ad Vets Pereira and O'Dell Take a Non-Different Approach

-post written by Fred Aun.

Tired of trying to be different?

Marketing and branding experts the world over are spending endless hours trying to help their clients differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Well, ad industry veterans P.J. Pereira and Andrew O'Dell, in announcing the formation of a new agency called Pereira & O'Dell, not only eschewed witty creativity in naming the agency but also said "fugetaboutit" when it came to the Holy Grail quest for differentiation.

"Pereira & O'Dell is being built more on excitement than differentiation," said co-founder Pereira in a statement announcing the new agency. "A lot of great agencies focus so much on being different from each other, on specializations and new business models, that they spend more energy on becoming efficient technique-wise rather than inspiring."

So what we have here is something rather different: An agency that's being different by saying it's not trying to be different.

"We're not obsessed with becoming the next revolution; we just want to do things as they should be done today, mixing new and old techniques without any assumptions or prejudice," added Pereira.

The new company, based in San Francisco, also announced that LEGO Systems and PONY are among its first clients. It is starting out with a team of 15 full-timers and some per-project specialists.

Pereira & O'Dell has secured $30 million from ABC International "to support growth initiatives."

For the past three years, Pereira, 34, and O'Dell, 38, worked at AKQA. Pereira was executive creative director and O'Dell was president.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 9, 2008

Microsoft/Yahoo Maneuvers: Curiouser and Curiouser

There's seemingly no end to the improbable machinations swirling around Microsoft's unsolicited bid for Yahoo. A flurry of late breaking rumors and announcements today conjured up a series of outlandish scenarios, including the combination of Yahoo and AOL's Internet operations, a possible joint bid for Yahoo by Microsoft and News Corp, and the (confirmed) outsourcing of a portion of Yahoo's search ads to Google.

The very latest developments, reported by WSJ this evening, are that (1) Yahoo and Time Warner's AOL are busy "closing in on a deal" to combine their businesses, yet another desperate maneuver to escape Microsoft's embrace; and (2) Microsoft is in "serious talks" with News Corp. about a plan to combine forces in a bid for Yahoo. No additional details were mentioned about this previously undiscussed scenario.

According to the report, Time Warner would contribute AOL along with a cash investment in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the company. The deal would be contingent on the approval of Yahoo's shareholders.

The latest rumors come at the end of a frenetic day for Yahoo, which this morning announced the planned acquisition of analytics platform IndexTools and this afternoon reluctantly stated it would conduct a test of Google's search ads on its own results pages.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Advertising.com Launches Inventory Management Platform

And you thought PubAccess meant you were watching Nova or Jim Lehrer. Nope, it's the new Web-based ad management platform for smaller publishers from AOL's Advertising.com. The service will allow publishers in the Advertising.com display network to block advertisers or ad categories, view activity reports and access the network's optimization technology. The company claims this will generate higher CPMs for publishers.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Georgia Court Lesson: Check Metatags with Lawyers

Marketing tech law blogger extraordinaire Eric Goldman has a thorough post on an 11th Circuit Court decision on the use of trademarks in metatags, as they affect search results. The case involved two medical device firms. One, Axiom, employed trademarked terms of its competitor, North American Medical Corp. in its metatags. The court ruled this is trademark infringement.

According to Goldman, the decision "distinguishes (and denigrates)" the 2nd Circuit's 1-800 Contacts/WhenU ruling because it involves metatags rather than URLs and since Axiom apparently caused its competitors' TMs to show up in its search result copy linking to its site.
The court also said use of another firm's trademarks in metatags causes consumer confusion. It argued people would be misled to think Axiom's products came from the same source as those of the actual owner of the trademarked brands in question, or that there was some relation between the two companies.

Goldman calls the decision "bizarre and frustrating," but notes two lessons to be learned from it. First, he recommends having metatag data reviewed by the lawyers "just like any other ad copy."

He also writes, "if you are going to use keyword metatags, you must ensure that competitive trademarks do not appear in your keyword metatags, period. It's just not worth it. They don't buy you much juice with the search engines anyway, and it will leave you exposed to irrational judicial freakouts about keyword metatags if ever tested in court."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 8, 2008

Scripps Shoots for "Total Category Dominance"

Dropped in on the Scripps Networks upfront this morning. Deanna Brown, who's been president of its Interactive Group for the past year, has set the rather ambitious goal of "total category dominance" for the group's five cable properties: HGTV, Food Network, DIY, Fine Living, and GAC.

To achieve that goal, Brown is focusing on what she told advertisers is "new" new media, i.e. mobile and social channels. Given the predominance of contests, shopping lists and other participatory programming on the stations, Scripps is particularly well postioned to leverage social media and has already done so with successful initiatives such as Blog Cabin.

Chatting afterwards, Brown told me that what she's really concentrating on over the next few months is an extensive rebuild of Scripps' backend, particularly the CMS, to bring more Web 2.0 functionality to the networks' numerous sites. "After eight years of the same CMS, it's time for a change," she said.

Users won't see a difference, but will be able to use the sites differently and in deeper, more engaging ways. Methinks this is an issue many media companies are going to have to address -- and invest in -- to remain competitive, retain audience and attract advertisers.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ESPN Gets Video Reach through AOL Deal

Not only has ESPN.com reportedly ditched selling through online ad networks, the site needs more video inventory to satisfy advertisers. In a bid to expand reach for its advertisers, the sports site will distribute its video content through AOL Video and AOL Sports. Game highlights, along with shows like "SportsCenter Right Now" and "Pardon the Interruption" will now be seen via an ESPN video player on AOL, in addition to ESPN.com.

MediaWeek recently reported that ESPN.com will no longer sell inventory through ad networks. Like that news, the AOL distribution deal indicates the site has more demand for advertisers than it can fulfill. So, it needs eyeballs from AOL viewers. While publishers struggle with trying to sell inventory, particularly trying to boost revenue from non-premium inventory, ESPN.com appears to be an anomaly in its ability to sell so much of its media direct.

Still, the site may need to branch out its ability to target audiences it doesn't reach enough of on its own property.

At this point, ESPN.com wouldn't tell ClickZ News anything about advertisers or sponsors. It plans to test AOL usage patterns before forecasting ad inventory.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 7, 2008

Clinton Raising Cash for PA Web Ads

Hillary Clinton's campaign site has a giant homepage image dedicated to fundraising for specific types of ads targeted to Pennsylvanians, including online ads. "Help us recruit supporters and get out the vote in Pennsylvania with targeted online ads," reads the plea. The goal is $2.5 million for TV and $100K for Web.

So far, they've collected about $28.5 K for online ads and about $285K for TV. The numbers were each at around $27K and $270K this morning, which would indicate the campaign is attributing a specific portion of the total donations towards Web and TV to each medium, rather than showing what people are actually donating for each medium.

Then again, it could be a coincidence....

The camp is also collecting cash for radio, and signs, and has reached its goals for door hangers and get-out-the-vote vans.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

'Tis the Season

Spring preening moves into high gear in New York City with the arrival of warmer weather. That means pedicures, wax treatments, and more.

This not-so-subtle reminder appears on Facebook thanks to Lifebooker, an online service for booking appointments at spas and salons in NYC.

Ewwww! Heat up that wax, like, now.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When Online Ads Drive Offline Sales

An online search and display-ad campaign brought online and offline dividends to a retailer, comScore's chief executive Magid Abraham reports.

In an article published by the "Harvard Business Review," Abraham said the retailer's sales in the United States increased by 40 percent online and 50 percent offline over a three-month period. The identity of the retailer, which has $15 billion in annual revenue, wasn't disclosed.

By using both paid search and display ads in combination, sales increased more than if the search and display ads were used in separate campaigns, comScore found.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 4, 2008

Microsoft Gives Deadline to Yahoo Board

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has given Yahoo's board three weeks to approve Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo. If the board doesn't sign off on the bid, Ballmer said Microsoft will take its case to Yahoo's shareholders.

"The substantial premium reflected in our initial proposal anticipated a friendly transaction with you," Ballmer wrote to Yahoo's board members. "If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal."

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and chairman Roy Bostock, in a statement today, reiterated that Microsoft's bid undervalues Yahoo. They insisted they aren't opposed to Microsoft taking over Yahoo -- they just want the bid to reflect Yahoo's value.

Since Microsoft made the bid two months ago, Ballmer said the public equity markets and overall economic conditions have weakened. "At the same time, public indicators suggest that Yahoo!’s search and page view shares have declined. Finally, you have adopted new plans at the company that have made any change of control more costly," he wrote.

In response, Yahoo's executives replied that the company has continued to launch new products and to take actions "that leverage our scale, technology, people and platforms as we execute on the strategy we publicly articulated."

The Yang-Bostock letter takes a personal tone. "We regret to say that your letter mischaracterizes the nature of our discussions with you," they wrote. "Moreover, Steve, you personally attended two of these meetings and could have advanced discussions in any way you saw fit."

Plus, Yang and Bostock point out that Microsoft's stock price has declined since its bid, meaning that the value of Microsoft's proposal is lower than it was two months ago.

On Friday, Bloomberg.com reported that Microsoft may cut its $44.6 billion bid for the company, suggesting the economic slowdown could hurt Yahoo's business.

Earlier Friday, Reuters said Microsoft was "evaluating" its bid to purchase the company. Reuters, quoting unnamed sources, pointed out that Yahoo has lost key personnel since Microsoft made its Jan. 31 offer, plus other factors.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Behavioral Ads on Meth: More Info on U.S. ISP Practices

The Washington Post has some new information on the scope of ISP behavior tracking in the U.S. According to its story this morning, ad vendor Front Porch claims it's already observing and targeting ads to 100,000 U.S. broadband subscribers through secretive partnerships with its ISP partners. NebuAd meanwhile said it has deals that cover 10 percent of U.S. customers.

The relatively new method for behavioral targeting works by sniffing data packets on virtually all of a consumer's online activities (and anonymizing those packets, the companies involved will be quick to tell you). Ads are then served to consumers through cut-rate remnant network inventory. ISPs and their vendors only buy impressions where the IP address of the user matches up to its subscriber database.

Two ISPs, Wide Open West and Embarq, have modified their terms of service to permit the activity, and WOW named NebuAd as a partner, according to the WaPo story.

Reaction of the U.S. public and press to such activities has been muted in the U.S. The U.K. is a different story. There newspapers and public interest groups have loudly protested the development. A dedicated protest site was created at badphorm.co.uk, and a Web page has been set up to petition the Prime Minister to scrutinize the practices.

Our earlier coverage:
-ISPs Collect User Data for Behavioral Ad Targeting
-Questions for Bob Dykes, NebuAd CEO

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At AOL, No Place Like a Home

Like a home with an inviting welcome mat, AOL has attracted visitors and advertisers alike to its real estate portal.

With 3.1 million unique visitors in February, AOL Real Estate ranked No. 4 among real estate sites, according to comScore. Only Move.com (that includes Realtor.com), Yahoo Real Estate, and MNS Real Estate had more visitors. In December 2007, AOL wasn't even on comScore's list of top real estate sites.

Looks like AOL has lined up a diverse mix of advertisers, too Advertisements on the AOL property appeared today included Pfizer's Viagra, Avis vehicle rentals, Toro's Z series line of lawn mowers, AT&T, and Continental Airlines.

In building this site, AOL picked up on a popular feature first seen on Zillow, that displays home value estimates. Working with Cyberhomes, the AOL site shows home market values, based on address, a house's size, and other information.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Super Targeted Facebook Ad: You're Aiming Too High, Get a McJob

Facebook has offered powerful ad targeting since last fall, but I had no idea its algorithms had gotten this advanced. As you can see from the above ad which appeared in my feed yesterday, the company has not only strip-mined my profile for demographic, psychographic and interest-based data, but also somehow read between the lines to discover my inadequacies at work. I am truly humbled by this insight, Facebook and McDonald's, and I thank you. Click to see landing page.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 3, 2008

Facebook Group Created to Build McCain Facebook Group

Talk about meta. Can one Facebook group be created for the sole purpose of fueling friends on another group? Republican Web strategist Patrick Ruffini set up his "John McCain Facebook Challenge" group just for that. "The point of this group is pretty simple: Get every Republican on Facebook to go to John McCain's Facebook page (facebook.com/JohnMcCain) and become a supporter."

The group even offers supporter rankings (kinda like Bush deemed top fundraisers "Rangers" after his beloved Texas baseball team):

** State / Region / School Chair: Invite as many friends as you can from your personal network.
** Co-Founder - 200 invites.
** Founder - 500 invites.

Not surprising, there's a very specific strategy suggested, involving posting the challenge group to your profile, getting added as a supporter on John McCain's page, and sharing "McCain's page with your friends (you can message 20 at a time or post to your profile) This keeps the movement growing by making it more likely to appear in your friends' newsfeeds."

I realize social networking sites have moved way beyond their original organic approach. It's all about quantity rather than quality when it comes to the size of a group or number of friends. And I recognize that organizations and candidates want to use every means possible to get their message out and drive people to their sites to volunteer or donate.

Still, it all seems so contrived. I wonder what the actual measurable value of having more friends than Hillary Clinton's Facebook group really is. Does it really drive more donations or signups or is it just another empty number?

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Southpark: Internet Theoretical Dollars

Trey Parker and Matt Stone were nice enough to the Writer's Guild of America to leave a short waiting period after the end of the writer's strike to riff on the Hollywood standoff. "Southpark" Episode 1204, "Canada On Strike" mirrors the union action with the entire country of Canada picketing until it gains the appreciation of the rest of the world. When asked for what it wants? The WGA: World Canadian Bureau demands: "Money. Those Internet dollars."

The boys post a music video on YouToob and go to what looks like an employment office to collect their money. In the waiting room, they encounter many Internet sensations including Tay Zonday, the Numa Numa guy, and the sneezing baby panda. They were all waiting for their millions in Internet theoretical dollars.

What moral does "Southpark" leave you with? Kyle said, "We thought we could make money on the Internet. But, while the Internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn't matured as a distribution mechanism to the extent that warrants a trade of real and immediate income opportunities for the promise of future online revenue. It will be a few years before digital media distribution on the Internet can be monetized to an extent that necessitates content producers to forego their fair value in more traditional media."

Meanwhile at Canada's victory party, Terrance and Phillip, Canada's comic TV duo, point out the cost of the strike to writers, uh Canadians.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 2, 2008

DoubleClick Layoffs, Performics Sale Confirmed

The New York Times reports the DoubleClick layoffs are official, and imminent. They're also more widespread than expected, representing about 25 percent of DoubleClick's 1,200 U.S. employees.

Acquisitions breed layoffs, and these come as no surprise. Neither does the fact that Google will be selling off Performics, DoubleClick's SEM firm. Google owning an SEM firm would just plain look bad to clients worried about getting a clean deal from a search agency owned by the world's biggest search ad seller.

It would be like a large Web publisher owning an ad agency or something…. (Microsoft, anyone?)

Who might buy Performics? Valueclick has expressed an interest. At a conference in December, the company said it would want to be on the short list of suitors.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the Wires from CTIA

If it happens in Vegas this week, it's not staying there. Too much news to get out:

• Mobile technology provider Velti announced it worked on strategic campaigns for Wrigley's and Western Union. For Wrigley's Orbit gum, consumers text a unique code to enter a sweepstakes competition. They then take part in games with the overall goal to increase sales during the duration of the sweepstakes. For Western Union, Velti will use its messaging platform globally to update customers about special events and sweepstakes. Customers will be able to amass points and win prizes based on their frequency of Western Union transactions.

• Bango released benchmarking data from its analytics platform showing click through and conversion rates from mobile advertising campaigns. Though its analytics, Bango finds banner and text ads on mobile Web sites typically have a click through rate of 2 to 8 percent with a conversion rate of 2 to 5 percent, though on some networks conversion can be as high as 12 percent.

• AOL unveiled a WAP-based games portal at http://wap.aol.com/games. AOL partnered with Cellufun to provide games such as Call of the Pharaoh, Space Wars, and Ice Fishing, which will be available for free. Advertising inventory will be sold by Platform-A's Third Screen Media.

• Fox Mobile Entertainment launched the Fox Entertainment Mobile Network. A wireless Internet portal as a single destination for everything the nextwork has to offer from Fox, FX, Speed, National Geographic Channel, Fox Reality Channel, and 30 other mobile Web sites with programming from shows including "The Simpsons," "24," "Family Guy," "Nip/Tuck," "NASCAR," and "Dog Whisperer." JumpTap signed on as the advertising provider, in a deal similar to the one announced with NBC.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Art Imitates Life

When creating an ad campaign for Miller Brewing's Sparks caffeinated beer, Digitas got inspiration from its customers.

Turns out, people who drink this brew end up with orange tongues. And many have a proclivity to stick their tongues out, pose for a camera, and then post the photo on Facebook, Flickr, or elsewhere.

"These people aren't watching a lot of television. You cannot reach them in traditional media," Digitas chief executive David Kenny told the audience gathered at the Advertising Research Foundation's annual meeting.

The hand drawn Sparks.com site was designed with those customers in mind. The site "speaks to the feeling of this brand and the insights of those consumers who created the brand equity from top to bottom," Kenny said. Visuals were taken from YouTube and Facebook pages.

In building this brand, Miller has reportedly bypassed traditional advertising.

Marketing Sparks.com, Kenny said, illustrates how marketers and advertisers can listen and learn from consumers.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When Web 2.0 Attacks: Modernista!'s Nifty Non-Site Backfires

Everyone loves Modernista's distributed Web presence. The forward thinking site has drawn accolades from all manner of creative types for sending visitors elsewhere in their quest for agency info and client samples. See for yourself. Clicking through ought to keep you here but with the addition a red navigation widget in the upper left corner. The menu taxonomy consists of links to a Wikipedia entry on the firm, client creative hosted on Flickr and Yahoo, social bookmarking links and a Facebook presence. Very 2.0. Here's an agency that gets it, is the general view.

Except there's one little snag. Electric Artists CEO Marc Schiller twittered yesterday about a new note on the agency's Wikipedia entry citing the reference site's displeasure with being used as a vehicle for marketing. Here's the huffy objection:

The website for this company obscures our logo with their own, and may lead the viewer to believe that Wikipedia serves as their homepage provider. This is not correct. Wikipedia has no affiliation with Modernista and has requested that Modernista cease this use of our website.

Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia written from a neutral point of view and does not endorse nor condemn Modernista, but is opposed to being used as a promotional mechanism in this manner for any third party.

Not a huge catastrophe for Modernista, but fascinating nevertheless. Just goes to show: even though the ethics of Web 2.0 clearly favor open communication, including linking, the interests of individual players within that ecosystem may still collide violently.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 1, 2008

Report: BT Tracked 18,000 Subscribers for Ad Targeting

A new outcry in the U.K. today about ISPs' interest in tracking Internet users for ad targeting purposes. The source this time: a news report claiming that BT tested a system for tracking and serving ads to 18,000 of its broadband subscribers without their consent.

According to documents obtained by The Register, the 2006 technology trial was undertaken in partnership with adware firm 121Media, which is now called Phorm. The pilot reportedly involved an earlier iteration of Phorm's technology which inserted JavaScript tags onto pages visited by BT subscribers; these were used to call up ads. That eventually led to a major deal for consumer tracking deal between Phorm and the three largest U.K. ISPs: BT, Virgin Media, and TalkTalk.

U.K. newspapers and public interest groups have loudly protested the development. A dedicated protest site was created at badphorm.co.uk, and a Web page has been set up to petition the Prime Minister to scrutinize the practices.

The U.S. reaction to such practices has been more muted, partly because no ISPs have publicly announced relationships with behavior tracking vendors such as Phorm and NebuAd. However numerous ISPs have been testing such technologies here on the sly, trying to assess the potential backlash and profit potential.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ncludr: All You Never Knew You Didn't Need in a Social Network

Ok, I don't go in for most April Fool's pranks, but all-inclusive social platform nclüdr deserves your lunch break attention. Plus it has the best LowerMyBills.com parody ad ever. (Register to view animated version.)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft Unlikely to Raise Yahoo Bid: WSJ

Having evidently determined it has a better grip on Yahoo's shareholders than Yahoo itself does, Microsoft has decided not to raise its bid for the Internet giant as it had been rumored to do, Wall Street Journal reported this morning. Declines in Microsoft's market value since it made its $45 billion cash and stock offer two months ago have reduced the real value of the bid to around $42 billion. Many expected Microsoft would counter a little higher and seal the deal after Yahoo's rejection of the offer on the grounds it undervalues the company.

Of course, we have to take the Journal's sources on their word that this latest leak isn't planted. "Such pronouncements are standard in deal negotiations but people close to Microsoft insist the stance isn't posturing," the story notes.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gmail Solves Time/Space Continuum

Gmail's now allowing you to post-date e-mail messages with a new feature, Custom Time. Cool.

How does it work? "Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality," the brainiacs at Google inform us.

Who could pass up customer testimonials like this one?

"I just got two tickets to Radiohead by being the 'first' to respond to a co-worker's 'first-come, first-serve' email. Someone else had already won them, but I told everyone to check their inboxes again. Everyone sort of knows I used Custom Time on this one, but I'm denying it."

April not-so-fooled again.

UPDATE: Google Australia, being on the other side of the globe, is manipulating time in the other direction.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April Fools Shocker

The April Fools jokes are piling up on the Web, but the best interactive advertising prank today just might be one that occurred offline. (Admittedly, it's early yet).

Blogads staffers put one over on their boss, Henry Copeland, when the entire staff arrived at the office this morning wearing suits and ties. "I'm in shock," Henry tweeted.

Wonder if anyone at my bank is wearing flipflops and tank tops today? Somehow doubt it.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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