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June 2008

June 27, 2008

IAB Membership Extended Way Beyond Publishers

Perusing the Interactive Advertising Bureau's membership pages, I came across a host of companies I was surprised to see, including several non-publisher firms listed as "General Members." I thought general membership (as opposed to associate membership) was exclusive to online publishers. Not so, anymore, I've been told.

According to chief Randall Rothenberg, the group revised its bylaws. Now membership is "open to sellers of interactive advertising inventory."

OK. So how come ad tech companies like Eyeblaster and ISP ad targeting firms NebuAd and Phorm, which serve and target ads rather than selling ads, are general members?

"We're still a sellers' organization," he responded. "But you always have to qualify that by saying there is so much breadth and diversity, the lines aren't as clearly drawn."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 26, 2008

Political Conference Message Applies to Web Marketers, Too

This week's Personal Democracy Forum, the annual conference dedicated to exploring the convergence of politics and technology, was its usual confluence of politicos, bloggers, tech geeks, media observers, and rabble-rousers. Topics like Net neutrality, government technological know-how, infrastructure and broadband access, and John McCain's computer literacy were among many discussed. Good stuff.

I was there Tuesday to speak on a panel about "New ways of making (and spending) money online," where I talked about how much the Obama and Clinton campaigns spent on online ads in the primary season.

While most of the subject matter at PDF steers clear of advertising and marketing, there was one interesting point relevant to ClickZ made during – of all things – a session on National Tech Policy. During the Q&A period, a representative of ocean advocacy group Oceana lamented the fact that government staffers often ignore mass e-mails sent in affiliation with issue advocacy campaigns. You know – those online form-generated e-mails – "Tell Senator Tankerbell you want to keep fluoride out of your tap water!"

The fact is even a few years ago, staffers were, to a certain degree, taking such mass messages with a grain of sea salt. I wrote a piece while associate editor of Personal Democracy Forum's site about the issue as it related to the nomination of John Bolton as UN Ambassador. At the time, Senator Lincoln Chafee's press secretary told me, “Ultimately, from a campaign point of view, these mass efforts can take away from the impact that individuals can have – the folks who read about it in the paper and decide on their own to make contact.”

With that as a backdrop, it was interesting to hear the response of Alec Ross, EVP External Affairs for tech nonprofit One Economy to the Oceana attendee's mass e-mail woes.

"You can't go with what worked 5 or 6 years ago when MoveOn was growing so rapidly," said Ross. "You've got to get creative."

I suppose for Web marketers, the same notion should be applied when something that used to work doesn't cut it anymore: get creative.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

NBC to Offer Show-Specific Data on Streamed Content

NBC Digital Entertainment will begin offering demographic data on individual shows streamed on its site. NBC.com's show-specific will be provided courtesy of Nielsen Online's VideoCensus beginning in July.

Digital Media Sales SVP Peter Naylor said advertisers have been requesting the show-level data. NBCU claims it's the network to carry Nielsen's tags on its streaming video content. How long before CBS, ABC, Fox and Hulu begin offering similar granular visibility into their online video audiences?

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 25, 2008

Sarah Fay, the Real Deal

Sarah Fay, the chief executive of Aegis Media North America is described as smart, brave, and the most powerful woman in advertising. She was named to the position in April.

At a ClickZ networking event in Boston last night, Fay discussed her vision for interactive marketing and how it fits in with television, print, and radio. And how mobile and social marketing fit into the mix.

Heading up an organization with 2,000 employees, what's her key to success? "It's keeping your head down…and trying to be as apolitical as you can be, which is hard when there are a lot of political people around," she told a group gathered at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. "Keep the interest of the companies and clients at heart."

Look for more in my "What's the Buzz" column on Friday.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 24, 2008

How Will Google Ad Planner Promote Network Inventory?

In his presentation at the ARF Measurement conference yesterday, Wayne Lin, business product manager at Google, stuck mainly to what the company had already announced about Ad Planner, its new audience research and media planning product.

Things got a little more interesting during the Q&A, when someone in the audience asked him how Google would promote sites in its own network. It was the first time Google has addressed its conflict of interest with the free tool. Lin said he believed the right approach is to follow the formula it used for organic versus paid listings in search.

"If we do benefit sites in our network, we should clearly label that," he said.

It's interesting to note he said the company "should," not that it "would," disclose properties its peddling. Keep an eye on this aspect of Ad Planner.

Designed for media planners, Ad Planner alllows its users to save their media plans or export them as a DoubleClick MediaVisor file. It uses the same data sources as the company's new Google Trends for Websites measurement play -- which is to say it pulls from search data, Google Analytics data, panel data and third party market research. (In retrospect, it was obvious what Google had in mind when it recently began asking Analytics users to specify whether their site data could be shared anonymously with its other apps.)

Lin said Google is now weighing whether to pursue Media Ratings Council accreditation, which would validate its measurement approach. One audience member called it "regrettable" that some firms had sought to create reliable audience estimates by fusing together different databases willy-nilly.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

June 23, 2008

Rumor: Google Android Development Stagnates

Last fall reports of a G-Phone were quelled with the announcement of Android, an open source operating system that would run across all carrier networks. Google established the Open Handset Alliance with the existence of Android, and set to work on the operating system, developers creating handsets, and applications with a goal of availability in the second half of this year.

Demos of Android, on compatible handsets, have been shown at conferences and events here and there, but that’s been few and far between. The Wall Street Journal by reports today the release will be Q4 or later. Carriers and developers are having problems developing for the system. And carriers, in particular, are have issue making it theirs, according to the Journal.

This morning I met with Marcus Colombano VP of marketing from LightPole, a geo-contextual content publishing and advertising platform for mobile that works with companies such as Yahoo Local, Mappy Hour, and Yelp. He who wasn’t surprised by the news. He said his first take last year was “that there was “that there wasn’t more meat” to the Android announcement. While LightPole intends to develop for Android, the next development platform for his company will be the iPhone. “As a small organization, it makes more sense to develop for platforms that exist,” he said.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

HotJobs and Monster Turn Text to Display

Post written by Kate Kaye

Yahoo HotJobs and Monster each see promise in distributing recruitment listings via display ad units. Each firm today touted new offerings allowing employers to post job ads that will be seen beyond the standard text listings framework. Neither offering is entirely new, though they both indicate the current trend towards enabling any advertiser to easily create and run online display ad campaigns isn't going anywhere.

Yahoo HotJobs has expanded its Smart Ads system for use by job advertisers. The "pilot program" generates display ads from recruitment listings, and targets them to job seekers, according to criteria including HotJobs registration information and behavioral data. Then it serves up those ads across Yahoo, according to a press release. The Smart Ads system, launched in July 2007, constructs display ads using creative assets and direct feeds of available offers provided by advertisers. The company today also unveiled a branded company profile product for recruitment advertisers.

Meanwhile, Monster has made its listings-turned-display ad product available through a new channel. The Career Ad Network product now is available through Monster‚s self-service eCommerce channel. The Network distributes listings-based display ads "across diverse affiliated network websites," according to the company."

Both companies launched the new offerings in conjunction with the annual Society for Human Resource Management Conference in Chicago.

The DIY ad phenomenon is getting a lot of traction. Part of the goal is to tap into the pool of small and medium businesses that have yet to spend much online but have dabbled with other self-serve platforms like Google AdWords. Most likely, the display ad component is aimed at generating higher ad rates than standard text listings enable. Plus, by having Monster and Yahoo worry about the media placement and targeting end of things, small advertisers can get their ads out in more places beyond HotJobs, Monster and their distribution partner sites.

Speaking of partners, Yahoo's relationship with the so-called newspaper consortium started as a HotJobs distribution play and has evolved for some of those partners to include a display ad cross-selling deal. I haven't heard back yet from HotJobs on this, but I'd imagine the Smart Ads option may be available through Yahoo's newspaper partners in the future.

Getting back to Monster, Classified Intelligence just reported (from the big HR convention) the company has signed deals with 11 new newspaper partners, and has "inked deals with several media companies to form distribution agreements that it says will offer employers 'the option of easily extending the reach of their print ads to include Monster's job-seekers.' "

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

ClickZ Live, in NYC and Boston

This week, ClickZ editors will be speaking at three events in New York and Boston.

At 212, New York's Interactive Advertising Club, I'm moderating a discussion tonight that examines trends in online retail marketing with a dynamic group of pros. They are: Matt Bailey of Hanover Direct; Eric Nadler of Danskin.com; Jim O’Brien of Barnes & Noble, and JupiterResearch's Patti Freeman Evans.

Tomorrow, on day two of the Personal Democracy Forum in New York, ClickZ Senior Editor Kate Kaye explains how candidates have found new ways of raising -- and spending -- money online. She'll be joined by Blogads' Henry Copeland, ClickToBlue cofounder Ben Geyerhahn, and A.J. Schuler, a partner at CommonSense Media.

On Tuesday in Boston, ClickZ and Search Engine Watch is hosting a meet up for interactive marketers. The featured guest is Aegis Media North America CEO Sarah Fay, (left) one of the most powerful people in digital advertising. And she'll participate in an informal "fireside chat" with ClickZ's Rebecca Lieb. This reception is free if you >pre-register here. Hope to see you!

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 20, 2008

IAB U.K. Talks to Ad Exchanges after Right Media Ad Misplacement

Following recent instances of ad misplacement involving major U.K. brands, the IAB U.K. has announced it will meet with ad exchanges in order to bring them in line with its IASH (Internet Ad Sales House) accreditation system.

IASH is the IAB U.K.'s official ad network council, which seeks to "encourage best practice among online advertising sales houses through the adoption of an effective code of conduct."

Although only ad networks qualify for full IASH accreditation, IAB U.K. President, Guy Phillipson, believes that exchanges should still follow the council's guidelines.

"Although exchanges, in my opinion, cannot be fully IASH accredited, what they can be is IASH affiliates. Exchanges are showing a willingness to come and discuss this with us, and we will conduct meetings to assess how they can be IASH compliant," he said.

One exchange under scrutiny is Yahoo-owned Right Media. Philipson confirmed that it had been implicated in an ad misplacement, and that it would engage in talks with IASH to address the issue.

He added, "This highlights the way the market is becoming more complicated. The message to advertisers and agencies here is to only deal with networks and exchanges that are IASH compliant."

IASH currently has a total of 19 fully audited and accredited networks, including the likes of Tacoda, ValueClick and Oridian.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo Reorg Coming as More Execs Fly Coop

It's been fully 10 months since the last reorg from Yahoo, a company that shakes up its executive ranks almost as often as chronic reshuffler Microsoft. Even setting aside its habitual restructuring, that's an eternity in Yahoo-time. Way back in August 2007 -- when it named Hilary Schneider to lead the new Global Partner Solutions unit -- the company was still basking in praise for Panama, new CEO Jerry Yang had yet to complete his 100-day evaluation, and the thought an imminent deal with either Microsoft or Google would have seemed outlandish to say the least.

Given all that's come to pass, it's probably appropriate that top brass has now decided to reassess Yahoo's reporting structure.

Yahoo is so far mum on the details of its impending realignment, reported today in The Journal. However it seems the new regime won't have a profound impact on the company's ad products or advertiser relationships. Rather it will consolidate numerous products, such as mail, search and homepage operations, into a global unit. President Sue Decker is apparently driving the changes in the interest of facilitating better communication between domestic and overseas product groups.

Decker reportedly stepped up the pace of planning for the new division after the departure last week of Network Division EVP Jeff Weiner. She'd better hurry, since the general impression right now is that executive staffers are storming the exits. At least eight mid- to senior-level execs either have left or are expected to leave in short order. They include Dr. Usama Fayyad, the company's EVP of research and strategic data solutions; Jeremy Zawodny, a long-time technology lead who bolted to join Craigslist as chief technology officer; Communities and Front Doors SVP Brad Garlinghouse (of peanut butter manifesto fame); Qi Lu, EVP of engineering for the search and advertising technology group; search group SVP Vish Makhijani; and Flickr founders Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aegis Buys Thai Search Firm

Aegis Group has added a new international outpost to Isobar's iProspect search marketing unit. The purchase of Globlet in Thailand brings the division regional expertise in retail, technology, healthcare and real estate marketing for search environments. The agency will be rebranded iProspect Thailand.

Isobar already has a Thai outpost, online media planning and site development firm Digithais, which it acquired in 2005. It has completed work in the region for clients such as Coca-Cola, adidas, Honda and Nivea.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 19, 2008

So Long, Yahoo: Garlinghouse, Qi Lu, Flickr Founders Exit

Yahoo's starting to resemble an anthill that's been bombed with firecrackers. The latest to walk, according to reports: Communities and Front Doors SVP Brad Garlinghouse (left, of peanut butter manifesto fame), plus Qi Lu, EVP of engineering for the search and advertising technology group, and search search group SVP Vish Makhijani, who's reportedly headed to Russian search firm Yandex Silicon Valley research facility Yandex Labs.

Additionally, Flickr founders Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield are leaving the company. Fake's last day was Friday the 13th, while Butterfield will leave July 12, according to reports.

The departures come just a week after two other senior execs made their exits: Jeff Weiner, EVP Network Division, left to become executive-in-residence with venture capital firms Accel Parnters and Greylock Partners. Dr. Usama Fayyad, EVP of research and strategic data solutions, is also heading for the hills.

Amid the latest brain drain, Yahoo is rumored to have put a chill on new hires. However in recent comments to investors North American Sales VP David Karnstedt said the company continues to hire aggressively.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did Your Phone Help Elect Bush/Cheney?

With approval ratings for the current administration at all time record lows, Credo Mobile came up with this near-irresistible e-mail subject line.

The body copy and call-to-action are no less compelling:

Sorry to say, but the political action committee at AT&T contributed the maximum amount allowable by law to the Bush/Cheney campaign — twice. So, go ahead, check out your mobile phone company. And then check out the mobile phone alternative you can trust. It's called CREDO Mobile, and it's mobile phone service that stands up for your values, brought to you by Working Assets.

On the other hand, if you're happy with your mobile service just the way it is, accept this photograph as your gift from a real, ahem, Richard.

To get your phone in line with your values, click here.

Just a hunch, but this is going to get Credo onto consumers' radar - fast. Particularly the ones whose major gripe with the telco until now has been its indefensible anti Net neutrality stance.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Alibaba Aspires to Overtake the China Ad Market

Alibaba, known for its eBay-like online auction site in China, is apparently getting some traction for its free online auction service called Alimama.com, Reuters U.K. reports. The Alimama service was launched last year.

Since then, it's reached a milestone. According to reports, it has currently 400,000 registered Web sites and 2.8 billion daily page views in the 10-month trial run, according to the Reuters article.

The goal for the subsidiary is to build the largest share of online advertising in China within three to five years, according to a source quoted in the article.

The Chinese company may just have an edge over its foreign competitors, said Josh Crandall, managing director of Media-Screen, a strategic market research and consulting firm that looks at the markets in both the U.S. and China.

"Albaba is a strong company based in China, so it has a leg up," he said. "It knows small businesses and already has a relationship with small businesses." Crandall said global and American companies won't find it so easy to compete with Alimama.com once it has established a relationship.

Alimama.com will have to compete with existing China-based advertising companies such as Baidu.

Posted by Enid Burns at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 18, 2008

MySpace Redesign: First Takeover Ad is for The Dark Knight

Batman's been made over so many times, in comics, TV and film, that the character is now defined by reinvention. So it's fitting that a MySpace homepage takeover ad for the latest flick in the franchise is the first to accompany the site's big redesign.

Fitting, but not extraordinary. You'd expect MySpace to pull out the stops for its first major ad execution under the new design regime. Instead it has produced a pretty standard backdrop execution consisting of the film's poster art -- which is naturally amazing -- with some flickery motion graphics tossed in to accentuate the image's apocalyptic flames. Oh, and a video with link to The Dark Knight's profile page. Nothing to criticize here, but, well I believe the word for it is "meh." (Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer agrees.)

Having said all that, three cheers for MySpace. Its new design really is a big improvement, and advertisers have already taken notice.

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

Yahoo Sales "Hiring Aggressively" Amidst Freeze Rumors

As rumors of a Yahoo hiring freeze soar , the company's SVP North American Sales David Karnstedt told the crowd at today's William Blair and Company's annual growth stock conference Yahoo "continue[s] to hire aggressively." At least, that's the case for the sales department, as indicated by Karnstedt during a Q&A at the Chicago get together.

The notion of hiring aggressively doesn't exactly jibe with the gossip that Yahoo is in the midst of a hiring freeze, or at least a very restrictive hiring environment.

"Attrition has been very low on the [sales] team," he said, adding, "Retaining people and bringing new people in has been the call of the day."

Asked whether the recent Microsoft hullabaloo or general negative talk about the company's status has affected the ability to hire salespeople, Karnstedt said, "It has not had any impact." In fact, he added, Yahoo exceeded its expectations when it comes to filling sales positions in the first half of '08.

Still, Yahoo seems to be falling prey to yet another exodus of top execs.

If indeed Yahoo is hiring salespeople "aggressively," even as other departments feel the pinch of a tighter budgetary belt, there's at least one explanation: You can't bring in big ad dollars from brands and agencies without salespeople.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008

SignOn San Diego Could Join Yahoo

I had a great chat with Mark Davis, VP Strategy at San Diego Union Tribune this afternoon. Following some significant interactive exec departures, Davis is heading up strategy for the publisher's interactive operations (in addition to strategy for the overall business). He's got a lot of decision making ahead of him, but one of those decisions may involve Yahoo's newspaper consortium.

"We're also looking at the Yahoo consortium," Davis told me, stressing no deal has been signed. He wasn't involved when Yahoo originally made its offer a couple years ago, so he couldn't (or wouldn't) say exactly what's prevented the Union Tribune from joining the growing alliance in the past.

"I think that it's just one of those things where in the initial negotiations with that...didn't look right for us. It just sort of fell off the radar screen." Now, he continued, "We took another look at it and said this may work for us."

As newspapers struggle with plummeting print ad sales and slowing online ad growth, they need more online advertisers, pronto. Part of the attraction of partnering with Yahoo, Davis said, is the ability to increase local reach for advertisers through Yahoo inventory.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brightcove Promises More Video Inventory Through New Platform

Brightcove has launched the latest version of its video player, which could result in more ad inventory for publishers using it. Essentially, by better optimizing video content for search engines, and enabling better distribution of video clips throughout publisher sites, the company expects more users to flock to that video. More usage = more ad inventory.

The new platform presents each video on its own Web page, giving it a dedicated URL. Brightcove founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire believes this will create "more real estate for advertising," since the entire page can be utilized as opposed to ads displaying only within the video player. Also, unlike players that are typically invisible to search engines, the Web page-based platform can be crawled by search engines and surfaced more readily within a publisher site.

"You'll be able to introduce video into far more places in your Web site…which increases available video inventory," explained Allaire.

The platform has also been altered to enable higher quality, long-form video. Allaire thinks as more longer-form video is viewed, takeover ads and overlay ads will become more popular with advertisers.

At this point, though, the new platform's impact on advertisers is more about inventory potential than anything else. Still, Allaire hinted the firm will launch the platform on a broader commercial basis in the autumn, at which time other ad-related news may be announced.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MySpace Anti-Spam Machine Whacks Another Mole

MySpace claimed another legal victory yesterday in its offensive against spammers, which ClickZ covered in depth last month. The latest victory is a $6 million award against Scott Richter's shady Media Breakaway affiliate marketing network handed down by the American Arbitration Association. The AAA is not a court but rather a private concern that's commonly involved in business dispute resolution and written into contracts for that purpose. Also under the AAA order, neither Richter nor his affiliates may use the site for commercial purposes.

Somewhat amusingly, the order also commands the so-called "Spam King" to disclose the account and contact info for affiliates involved in spam and phishing attacks on MySpace, "irrespective of whether MySpace in fact discovered a given attack." Yeah, good luck with that.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

Yahoo-Google Confounds Digerati, Marketers Universally Miserable

One hundred hours later, opinion makers still can't agree on whether Yahoo's search ads deal with Google was a brilliant move long overdue or the beginning of the end.

For those in the latter camp, perhaps the most stinging indictment came from Joe Nocera, who wrote in the Times that Yahoo has "chosen to become a pawn of the most dominant company on the Internet." That's a strong remark, given the deal allows Yang & Co. to retain a control lever they can use to ratchet up monetization when flagging earnings seem to call for it.

The more they use that lever, the less pleased marketers will be. Many fear price hikes as Google boosts its control of search ad spending to 90 percent or more. Increases are probably not around the corner however, except insofar as advertisers give up on Panama and spend more on Google, thus bidding keywords higher. Under that scenario, Google will encounter less pressure to create competitive value for advertisers. That could manifest in higher campaign costs down the road.

As distasteful as Google's embrace is to Yahoo, it's nothing compared to what Microsoft's feeling -- especially given it lit the fuse on the bomb that just blew up in its face.

Indeed, if the six-month drama surrounding Yahoo's fate were a drawn-out Looney Tunes episode, the screen would now display a blackened Wile E. Coyote (Microsoft, a.k.a. Eatibus Anythingus) moments after an elaborately concealed explosive device detonates on top of him. The singed coyote can only look on in despair as Road Runner (Google, a.k.a. Hot-rodicus Supersonicus) casually polishes off the platter of bird seed laid as bait. The comparison breaks down a bit at this point, since Yahoo clearly has to be both the pile of Acme brand TNT and the bird seed.

Whatever. The big question now is, what's Wiley planning next? It was only a year ago that its loss of DoubleClick in a fierce bidding war with Google drove Microsoft to hotly pursue a purchase of much larger aQuantive. There is no acquisition target bigger than Yahoo, but many smaller snacks remain on the table -- for instance AOL, Facebook, ValueClick, AdBrite, Tribal Fusion, and Specific Media.

Finally, many believe an eventual acquisition of Yahoo is still very much in the company's plans, and that Yahoo's Google deal has merely bought it time. It's entirely possible regulators will block the relationship on anti-competitive grounds, in which case pressure will mount for Yahoo to return to the negotiating table.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Publicis Experiences Strong Digital Growth

French advertising group Publicis is experiencing strong growth in interactive, according to its CEO Maurice Levy.

In an interview with French business daily La Tribune, reported by Reuters, Levy said the group was on track to beat its target of generating 25 percent of its sales from online by 2010.

"In the first three months of the year, 18 percent of our sales came from the (Internet) and the interactive sector," he said.

"We had fixed the objective of reaching 25 percent by 2010 and we will make it. The same thing goes for emerging markets, we're already at 21.3 percent," he continued.

Levy attributed the group's strong digital position to the acquisition of Digitas last year, and also stated that the deal with Google, announced in January, offered "strong potential."

He added that Publicis has "quite a lot of growth and some investments to make" in emerging markets, to be funded by 3 billion euros ($4.60 billion) in cash or available credit.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 15, 2008

iPhone Applications, Google, and PPC

Over the weekend, a Google search for "iPhone applications" turned up an assortment of sponsored links.

Google Mobile appeared as the top sponsored link in the right-hand column. (See right.) Visitors who clicked on that link were directed to applications, including maps and search, designed for the iPhone or BlackBerry.

And, AT&T was touting its "Media Mall," a site to download games , ringtones, and other applications for cell phones. AT&T is the exclusive provider of the Apple iPhone.

And Apple appeared in the sponsored links that appear across the top of the search engine results page, along with Zinio, which was promoting magazines for the iPhone.

For the words, "AT&T and iPhone," Google Mobile also turned up as the top sponsored link, followed by AT&T Internet, which was promoting DSL service for $19.95 a month.

The estimated average CPC for the keywords "phone application" was $2.24, while "cell phone application" was $2.74, according to Google AdWords. It did not show an estimate for "iPhone application."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 13, 2008

ClickZ Welcomes Denuo's Todd Krieger

Denuo SVP Todd Krieger today joins ClickZ's roster of Experts, providing insights into the evolution of video content creation, distribution, and monetization.

Look for Todd to examine a wide range of topics, everything from watershed moments and cultural shifts in audience consumption to CPMs. You'll find his first column here.

Before joining Denuo, Todd was executive producer at Yahoo Media Group and senior manager of business development at Microsoft TV.

Welcome, Todd!

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 11, 2008

FTC Wants Civil Penalties in its Anti-Spyware Arsenal

Look out spyware perps. Today Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection Deputy Director Eileen Harrington told members of the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that stronger penalties for perpetrators of spyware might be a good idea. “Legislation authorizing the Commission to seek civil penalties in spyware cases could add a potent remedy to those otherwise available to the Commission,” said Harrington, according to an FTC statement.

The FTC's current enforcement involves "consumer redress or making the operators give up their ill-gotten gains." But that may not be enough to deter bad actors. Harrington said the commission supports legislation that would provide the FTC the ability to slap spyware disseminators with civil penalties.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Go2 Offers Animated Mobile Banners

If the mobile Web is following in the footsteps of the Internet, then Go2 Mobile's announcement today that it's begun offering animated mobile banner units should come as no surprise.

The company first rolled out the 10- and 15-second loop animations within mobile banners as early as the beginning of the year, and will now offer the unit to all clients. Early advertisers include Best Buy and the Navy.

The Web-based animated banner has not always been well received. While it can provoke higher response rates than static ads, it also runs the risk of annoying consumers. The same principle will apply in mobile environments, only more so.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

European Union to Intervene over B.T.'s 'Secret' Phorm Trial?

The European Union still could intervene in the use of a controversial ad-targeting technology by U.K. ISP British Telecom.

B.T. has admitted it conducted trials of controversial ad-targeting technology from Phorm without the knowledge or consent of its customers, in 2007.

In response to complaints from B.T. customers, the U.K. information commissioner's office stated in May it would not pursue B.T. over its actions, or potential breaches of European privacy laws.

However, reports this week suggest the European Union could still intervene.

Quoted in a story published by The Register on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner for Information Society and Media is reported to have said, "This is first of all a matter for the U.K. authorities to deal with, as it is their responsibility to apply E.U. law in the U.K. In case of incorrect application of E.U. data protection law by a national authority, the Commission could start infringement proceedings against the country concerned."

Conversely however, in a story published by Zdnet today, an information society and media spokesman by the name of Martin Selmayr is quoted as saying, "We are looking into [the BT and Phorm trials], but a national sovereign state's decision can only be challenged if it commits a serious mistake. We're looking into it, but so far there has been no indication of that."

It's therefore unclear as to where the European Commission currently stands on the matter, but it appears at this point, B.T. is unlikely to be penalized for the trials conducted in 2007.

The ISP is currently carrying out a second round of trials, with the full consent of 7,000 of its customers.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Webby Awards: Keep it Short and …

The Webby Awards, which honors excellence on the Internet, insists winners adhere to one simple rule when making an acceptance speech: Keep it to five words.

That's an ingredient for keeping things interesting at the event, which took place Tuesday night at Cipriani Wall Street in lower Manhattan.

Take TBWA\Media Arts Lab, which won in the online commercial for category "Don't Give Up on Vista," referring to Microsoft's operating system. "In Steve Jobs we trust," was the agency's poke at the Microsoft rival.

"My second best night ever," cracked Robert Morehouse, creative director from Vermilion. His agency picked up an award in the professional services category for Boulder, CO, based Action Marketing Group's corporate Web site.

For Trapeze, a Toronto, Canada, agency recognized for developing the Ikea Mattress Web site, had this to say, "We enjoyed sleeping with you."

MTV Networks' Nick.com was the People's Voice winner for best youth site. "Sponge Bob is our sugar daddy," said one wag.

"The New York Times" won eight awards, including one for best online newspaper. "Thank you, Elliot Spitzer," said one NYT recipient, referring to New York's governor who resigned after it was revealed he had a tryst with a prostitute.

The Huffington Post was named for best political blog. "President Obama sounds good, right," said Arianna Huffington, the site's editor-in-chief.

Obama was top of mind for another site, FactCheck.org, that checks the accuracy of candidates' statements. "No, Obama's not a Muslim," said FactCheck's designated speaker.

Was it as surprise that Flock, which bills itself as the social Web browser, was a Webby Award winner for social/networking? "No sh*t, we beat Facebook," bragged a Flock executive. Not so fast. Facebook was the People's Voice winner in the same category.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 1:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 10, 2008

Giving up on the Year of the Mobile

For some time, people have ceased saying "it's the year of mobile."

Instead, they offer up explanations as to why it isn't the year of mobile.

Enough is enough. This has been going on long enough, folks. It's no longer necessary to explain away.

Why? There probably won't ever be a year of mobile, and it's OK. Mobile will emerge as an advertising channel as every other channel before it.

"I think mobile has had a very healthy last 12 to 18 months," said Paul Palmieri, CEO of Millennial Media in a debate panel at the Mobile Marketing Forum in New York. "2007 has been a pretty formative year." Palmieri and his fellow panelists agreed it may be the decade of mobile advertising.

"I think the question, if this is the year of mobile, it's off the mark. It took 10 years to come to life," said Steen Andersson, co-founder and VP of marketing of 5th Finger. Think of this as the decade of mobile, it takes time for agencies and carriers to realize and learn. [This is] the year of the big uptake…growth, the great time of education and growth in the marketplace."

Dan Rosen, group head of U.K. AKQA Mobile, sees it another way. "I don't think there's going to be a eureka moment, the trend we're seeing is mobile tends to be now, where entertainment meets utility," he said. Mobile now is combining the two, where mobile meets the sweet spot.

The maturation of mobile campaigns is an indication of advertisers' acceptance and uptake of the media, even if there never was a clear "year of mobile." Do we need a blockbuster year? Or can we move on and cultivate a more sustainable growth?

Posted by Enid Burns at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mobile Marketing, a Look Into the Crystal Ball

At the Mobile Marketing Forum in New York, a panel was asked to describe what will be different one year from today. Here's what they had to say:

--Richard Ting, executive creative director, R/GA: "There will be different things in the marketplace, platforms out there encouraging developers to develop applications on the handset. [such as] GPS applications.

--Jeff Sellinger, EVP, mobile at CBS: It's proliferation of the mobile Web, he said. "The low-cost iPhone, the viral effect of people surfing."

--Steen Andersson, founder and VP, marketing, at 5th Finger: "Android and iPhone are going to generate ecosystems in their own right."

--Paul Palmieri, CEO of Millennial Media: "Advertising will explode and deepen, because media will be made simple to buy."

Posted by Enid Burns at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Accepts Atlas Tags

When Google announced its acceptance of third party ad tags (finally) last month, there was a gaping hole where one of the largest ad management platforms should have been. Atlas, owned by Microsoft's aQuantive, was missing from the lineup of firms whose tags were listed, including DoubleClick (duh), Valueclick's Mediaplex, Eyeblaster, Dynamic Logic and others.

Of course, jumping to conclusions on this one was the reaction many, including the folks here at ClickZ had. Certainly, despite the fact that Atlas has a huge chunk of the ad management market, it looked as though Google may have been snubbing Microsoft's platform. Hey, they're not exactly friendly.

But, today Google announced it will accept Atlas tags, in addition to tags from Tumri, an ad targeting system. Still, there are lots of technologies advertisers and agencies use everyday missing from the list.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hulu Adds Comedy Royalty to Catalog

Hulu already has deals with 70 media partners that provide upwards of 700 TV and film titles. So what's it stand to gain by adding a couple new shows to its media menu? Quite a bit actually, if those shows happen to be The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. The premium video portal has begun posting entire episodes of both programs, with archives going back about a month.

Here's a screen grab of how yesterday's episode of The Daily Show looks on Hulu, sponsored by DirectTV.

And here's how it looks on The Daily Show's own Web site, sponsored by Master Card:

In addition to the Comedy Central relationship, Hulu will begin offering PBS programs NOVA, Carrier, Scientific American Frontiers, and Wired Science.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 9, 2008

Monster to Shutter Tickle, Social Net and Quiz Aggregator; Layoffs Planned

Monster will lay off an undisclosed number of staffers as it moves to shut down Tickle, the quiz aggregator and social net it acquired in 2004 for about $90 million. By way of explanation it said it wants to focus on core strengths, of which Tickle's focus on social networking was apparently not one. The recruiting giant has also begun to decommission Tickle's subsidiary brands Love Happens, a dating site, and Ringo, a photo and video sharing service.

Monster hinted Tickle's capabilities would live on in some form. "Online tests and quizzes are an engaging format for online self-discovery and will continue to be leveraged across Monster sites," said the company's statement.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 6, 2008

New Obama Ads Ask for Unity

Our friends over at Media Trust Company spotted a new Obama campaign ad creative on the Web, and it's all about unity. "Let us unite in common effort to achieve our greatest hopes and highest aspirations," declares the display ad. The call to action is the same as always for Obama's online ads: "Join Us."

Media Trust saw the ads on sites including Parenting.com, MSN.com, NYTimes.com, Politico.com, and Kentucky.com.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 5, 2008

Glam Aims to Dominate Social Hip Hop...Maybe

"We really don't want to enter markets unless we can be dominant."

That's what Glam Media CEO and Chairman Samir Arora said during this week's EconAds conference here in New York. It seemed pretty bold, and I thought about it when I read this morning about how Glam is partnering with Global Grind, a social network for hip-hop fans. Global Grind is using Glam's Managed Vertical Network platform for a new "hip-hop based vertical network" that's now part of Glam's Entertainment Channel. Evidently, Russell Simmons is a financial backer of Global Grind.

"Global Grind will recruit the best sites and blogs to the co-branded publisher network, while the Digital Primetime brand ads will be managed by Glam Media," notes the press release.

Digital Primetime is Glam's targeting technology.

"Prime time" seems to be part of Arora's regular lexicon. At the conference he commented that compared to TV advertising, "The Internet is really backwards…. [I don't understand why] most companies have been really focused on remnant inventory rather than focus on what the prime time inventory is." The goal of Glam, he said, is to "completely and totally focus on brand advertisers."

He continued saying his firm never moves into a vertical without having an "anchor" site, meaning a Glam-owned property, to ensure the company understands the vertical they're entering.

It's all starting to come together, sort of. According to the press release, the new hip-hop network will be "anchored by Global Grind."

(OK, there's no affiliation to MTV's old hip hop dance show "The Grind," but I couldn't resist throwing in an image).

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ford and Microsoft Sync Up for Viral Roadtripping

Microsoft has teamed with Ford for a highly experiential, super soft-sell microsite around Microsoft SYNC.

SYNC is a voice-actived gizmo for your car that's kind of like an iPod crossed with a Blackberry: it does music, text, and telephone. Cool, but it's a sell with a high educational curve.

Sync My Music, which lives on MSN, features a game, tons of content and a number of video webisodes about Kim and Seana, two music-obsessed girls, who road-trip across America in a SYNC equipped Ford in their respective quests to become a singer/songwriter (Kim DiVine is the real thing, actually), or to hook up with hot male indie band members.

The game unlocks additional content such as wallpaper and MP3s; the Explore section of the site is a region-by-region guide to the myriad cities the girls visit in their travels. It contains info on local clubs and bands and planning your own road trip. Which may prove difficult, as most of the links are crosswired. Select NYC's hippest bands, for example, and you land on Atlanta's arenas, clubs and cafes.

Oh, well. Given current gas prices, you probably weren't really going to do the roadtrip thing this summer, anyway.

Microsoft wants users to digg, blog and forward the site to a friend. Given the chicks meet popular local indie bands from time to time, the viral has got some real potential. Not just from the fans, but from the bands, who are promoting the heck out of the site on MySpace already.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Facebook Collecting User Feedback on Ads

Facebook is soliciting user feedback on the quality and relevance of its ads. KnowledgeBid founder Rob Webb spotted a new thumbs up/thumbs down icon, posted below, similar to what it's used to let people rate notifications. The feedback mechanism is fairly detailed, allowing a person to critique the ad for accuracy, relevance, offensiveness, and so on. ClickZ hasn't yet been able to spot the feature in the wild. Based on the screen grab however, it appears to apply only to the company's branded Facebook Ads units, which are not IAB standard formats, and not to the skyscraper ads that are brokered through Microsoft.

Based on my personal experience observing Facebook Ads, it would seem the company has a lot of work to do on relevance and value before it begins asking people what they think. Offers I'm seeing today include ads for executive coaching (I'm not an executive), Halo Wars (I'm not a gamer) and a semi-pornographic "high school cheerleaders" ad (I'm not a, uh, cheerleader).

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ClickZ Talks Political Ads on Canada’s Biz News Network

The race for the presidency is so fascinating this election season, even the folks up north in Canada want to know more about it. I had the pleasure of discussing online political advertising by the presidential hopefuls Tuesday night on Canada’s Business News Network (live via satellite from CNN’s studios in New York).

The discussion centered on Barack Obama's online ad spending, much of which ended up going to Google paid search (and some display, though we're not sure how much). Check out the clip. (By the way, ClickZ is actually pronounced "ClickZee," rather than "Clicks" as the esteemed Howard Green says it.)

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

No ROI in Listening?

As a marketer, you know you're supposed to track user feedback, comments, consumer reviews, and other types of online chatter about your brand or product.

Do you? And when you hear something -- positive or negative -- how do you react?

Do you even react?

Nope, agreed a panel of marketers at Advertising 2.0. On the client side, everyone's too busy.

Well, what about your agency?

"Agencies aren't paid to move on a dime like that," affirmed Liz Ross, president of Tribal DDB West.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hillary Still Wants Yer Money

Hillary may be on her way out, but she still wants your money. I had to chuckle when a message arrived in my inbox this morning, signed by Hillary Clinton, affirming her plans to "extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy" Saturday.

The message is what you'd expect. The New York Senator "has been privileged and touched" by the dedication of her campaign volunteers. She'll support Barack Obama's candidacy but she'll "never back down." (Cue the Petty tune.)

Oh, and she can't express her gratitude, so "simply, thank you. "

So far, so good.... But then there's the giant glowing red "Contribute" button at the bottom of the e-mail.

Did I miss something? You're not running anymore but you still want my hard-earned, plummeting-in-value greenbacks?

The button links to her standard online contribution page. I'd imagine the campaign realizes the button is in the e-mail. Still, I have to wonder whether someone unwittingly plugged the e-mail copy into the standard template without recognizing there's a great big "give me yer money" link at the bottom.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

E-mail Design: 23 Percent 'Unintelligible'

A new study from the E-Mail Experience Council turned up this frightening fact: e-mail from 23 percent of the retailers reviewed was "completely unintelligible" when viewed in an inbox.

The reason? When designing e-mail marketing messages, marketers overlook the fact that images are blocked, by default, for approximately one in two e-mail users. The e-mail council points out that workarounds -- namely the use of HTML text and images -- are not sufficiently being used in e-mail design.

A Broken Image From My Inbox:

Need further proof? Here's one message from my inbox, right.

The survey of 472 marketing executives, sponsored by SubscriberMail, also found that 47 percent of the respondents had taken action as a result of image blocking. Those actions include incorporating a "click to view" image link in the upper portion of the e-mail or adding alt tags.

Why results can marketers see if they optimize messages for image blocking? Jeanniey Mullen, executive chairwoman of the Email Experience Council, points out that e-mail marketing current generates an estimated return on investment of $48 for every dollar spent. If messages are optimized, she said estimates show the return could climb to $53 by increasing the open rate, clickthroughs, and conversions.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 4, 2008

Mobile Scam Suit against Google Akin to Investigations of Vendors and Carriers

Google is being sued for what seems to be the same thing companies like AzoogleAds (now Epic) and World Avenue were investigated for by Florida's Attorney General's Office. Those ad firms agreed to pay $1 million each for allegedly duping consumers into signing up for supposedly "free" mobile content services and other gifts that actually cost them.

Those firms served the lead-gen driven ads or bought ads on sites like Google promoting the offers. The AG's Office also got AT&T to agree to pay $2.5 million for aiding what they considered free mobile content scams. As a carrier, AT&T billed customers for such "free" services.

There's a chance other carriers, ad firms and even publishers like Google are on the Florida AG's investigation list.

Now, as reported by Tech Marketing law blogger Eric Goldman, a class action suit has been filed against Google for helping these allegedly fraudulent mobile offers to perpetuate. Goldman doesn't like it. He calls it a "misdirected lawsuit," and believes Google shouldn't be sued just for running the ads.

"The plaintiffs in this putative class action lawsuit feel like they got fleeced by providers of these subscription services," writes Goldman. "If they did, I hope they get appropriate redress from the wrongdoing vendors. But instead of suing the allegedly fraudulent vendors, the plaintiffs think Google should cover the losses for the sole reason that Google ran ads for the services….. An analogy might be that dead-trees newspapers should stand behind any losses suffered by readers who transact with newspaper advertisers. Sounds ridiculous? It does to me, whether the publisher is online or off," he continues.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 3, 2008

MSN Jumps on Celebrity Dirt Pile in Pairing with BermanBraun

BermanBraun, the studio launched by former Yahoo entertainment chief Lloyd Braun and film industry vet Gail Berman, has entered a deal with Microsoft to create an MSN-branded celebrity gossip and entertainment site. Kara Swisher first reported the launch yesterday, along with the tidbit that BermanBraun will also produce a daily "Lunacy Report" roundup up weird news appearing on Yahoo. Sounds very similar to Yahoo's recently-folded "the 9," which ran for two years but now redirects to Yahoo Entertainment.

MSN is the last of the traditional portals to do the gossip destination thing, having previously taking the approach of integrating its coverage of such stories as Bill Murray's infidelities with harder news content. The new site will join a congested field that also includes AOL's TMZ, PerezHilton.com and Yahoo's OMG. BermanBraun will share ad representation with Microsoft, Swisher also reported.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WSJ: Icahn Seeks Yang's Ouster

In the latest volley, Yahoo investor Carl Icahn is calling for the ouster of Yahoo's chief executive Jerry Yang, according to wsj.com.

Icahn has previously called for the replacement of Yahoo's board, which includes Yang.

The latest report comes a day after a Delaware judge unsealed a class action lawsuit against Yahoo's board and Yang. The suit alleges Yahoo's board set up "roadblocks" to Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo, especially an expensive employee severance package.

A copy of the unsealed lawsuit can be found at the Web site of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann, the firm suing Yahoo on behalf of on behalf of Detroit's Police and Fire Retirement System, Detroit's General Retirement System, and other Yahoo shareholders. "Yang convinced the [Yahoo] board to adopt change-in-control employee severance plans that impose tremendous cost and risks for an acquirer, throwing sand in the gears of Microsoft's plans for a smooth integration," the lawsuit alleges.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Obama Targets Ads to South Dakota Primary Voters

Like it has done much of the primary season, Barack Obama's campaign is running display ads targeted to voters in South Dakota today. In the past, similar ads have urged people to vote early or make sure they're registered to vote. The ads suggest they confirm their polling place. (Oh, and let's not forget they tell viewers to "Vote for Barack Obama.")

The Media Trust has spotted these on South Dakota news sites AberdeenNews.com, ArgusLeader.com, KSFY.com, though I'd imagine similar ads are on Montana sites today, too.

Ad image below provided by online ad tracking firm The Media Trust Company.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quote of the Day: Digital Voodoo's Dave Evans

"I asked a lady next to me in Wal-Mart if she Twittered or Plurked. She almost killed me. Security told me not to come back. Luddites."

--Dave Evans, co-founder of Digital Voodoo and ClickZ columnist, on Twitter.com

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 2, 2008

Swiffer, Social Media's Cinderella

At the Interactive Advertising Bureau's forum on social media, speakers tossed out examples of good social network applications. One example: a Fedex virtual gift where someone can build a package, seal it, "fling" it to a friend, who can then open it.

But finding a social application for some brands, especially consumer-packaged good companies, is tougher.

Take Swiffer, a sweeper.

"Swisher…Swiffer. I wouldn't put that on my [Facebook] profile," said Tim Kendall, Facebook's director of monetization.

Don't tell that to a dozen or Facebook groups devoted to Swiffer, although these groups are sparsely populated. "Ive Discovered The Joys of Swiffer and I Can't Stop..." has 55 members. "I love my swiffer duster!!!" has five members who made this appeal: "Cleaning nerds that love there swiffers should join this group...because we f*ing rule!!"

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At IAB Social Media Conference: All Media Are Emerging

The best moment of the Future is Now panel at the IAB's UGC and Social Media conference had more to do with the past than the future. Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer noted television isn't purchased the same way today that it was a year ago. "All media is emerging in one form or another... It's all up for grabs."

Organic's Chad Stoller chimed in: "Look at outdoor. For years you'd buy billboards with one constant impression. Now you can have 30 [creatives] up in an hour. We're talking about outdoor in terms of the daypart."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quote of the Day: YouTube's Brian Cusack

"Our success story today is a success story about users and traffic. It's not a success story about monetization. That's coming... With a site as large as ours is we have the opportunity to give you cuts of every segment you might be looking for."

-Brian Cusack, YouTube sales manager, speaking at IAB's UGC and Social Media conference.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Social Network CPMs: A Penny Arcade

Run-of-network ads on social communities fetch a measly 5 cents per CPM, while those associated with a social application command 70 to 80 cents, says Seth Goldstein, chief executive of SocialMedia.

"We have to march beyond $1 CPM and move to $2 to $3 to $4," he said, speaking today at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's forum on user-generated content and social media.

Keep in mind that Goldstein has a vested interest in the success of social media applications. After all, he's building a business to help advertisers use social media.

When asked how social applications differ from widgets, Goldstein said applications are more engaging than widgets. "This is one man's view. Widgets are from '06 or '07. They tend to be more one-way," he said. "You cannot have an application for one."

Pointing to an example of an engaging application, he pointed to one developed for BMW's 1-Series that let Facebook users design their own car and invite friends for a virtual road trip.

Asked an application's lifespan, Goldstein said: "An application is like a song. You rarely have a song that's popular forever. Bands are popular, singers are popular."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bad Trend: Press Releases for Press Releases

Post written by Doug Quenqua

Note to PR professionals: Let your press release do the talking.

That is what it's for, no? Your client or company has news to share, so you write up a press release and e-mail it to the relevant reporters. This is a good system.

But a troubling trend has taken hold. It seems lately that every press release we receive is prefaced by three to four introductory paragraphs in which the otherwise level-headed PR professional sending the e-mail describes -- often in terms identical to those of the release itself -- what the news is, why we would find it interesting, and how we can follow up to find more information.

Then comes the press release, which tells us what the news is, why we might find it interesting, and how we can follow up to find more information.

This never used to happen. Back in the days of faxed press releases, which some of us are just old enough to remember (we assume prior to that they were physically mailed, but we would have to rent some old journalism movies to be sure), nobody prefaced their news releases with a handwritten page explaining what to expect on the next page. So why now?

I have my theories. Perhaps PR people feel too much pressure to develop a one-on-one relationship with reporters, and press releases seem so impersonal in the age of digital over-sharing (just think of all the things Facebook has taught you about your "professional" contacts). Perhaps they are trying to make their release feel more like a privately shared tip, which is how most reporters prefer to get their information. There is also the fact that e-mail makes it easier than ever to pound out 500 word missives about any old thing.

But we all have less time than ever these days. So let's do us both a favor. You keep the pre-release chit chat to a minimum—"Hey Doug, hope you find the following useful. Would love to hook you up with an interview if you have time. Thanks!"—and we'll not use our Facebook status updates or Twitter feeds to bitch about you. At least not as much.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 1, 2008

'Sex and the City' and Facebook

It was the girls' night out at the movies and Facebook this weekend with the release of "Sex and the City."

Offline, women organized cosmo parties before heading out to see the movie.

Online, more 80,000 people signed up as a "Sex and the City" fan on Facebook as of early Sunday, many writing enthusiastic reviews. "OMG-This is the Girls at their absolute best!," wrote one fan.

(Who's counting, but fans of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," released more than a week ago, totaled 72,000 as of today.)

And, Pogostick.com developed a Facebook quiz, "Which Sex and the City Character Are You?" that has nearly 4,000 fans. Complete it to learn whether you're sexy like Samantha or correct like Charlotte.

How about you?

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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