Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 30, 2008

Clouds Keep Gathering Over ValueClick

ValueClick already warned investors back in July that it's performance for the rest of the year would suffer owing to a number of factors. One of those factors was the defection of sites and advertisers from its lead-gen programs in the wake of an FTC investigation of the company. Another is the well-documented trend of falling prices for display ads.

So it should come as no surprise the company continued to struggle in the third quarter. In its just-announced Q3 earnings report, ValueClick reported net income of just $2 million, down 88 percent from $16.8 million for the year-ago period.

Afterward, UBS Analyst Ben Schachter added some discouraging commentary to the bummerfest. According to his research note, ValueClick will have a harder time drawing search traffic to its comparison shopping sites, and may lose ground in display as Yahoo, AOL and others build more sophisticated platforms.

"While it has not been impacted significantly yet, we are concerned that the platform display ad approach from YHOO/GOOG/others may affect VCLK’s Display biz (though the impact is admittedly unclear)," wrote Schachter.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LinkedIn, Amazon Hook Up

LinkedIn's getting more connected.

The business networking site is making a dozen or so applications available to LinkedIn members.

Of potential interest to marketers: the Amazon Reading List. It opens the door for other brands to develop a utility that LinkedIn members might find relevant.

Then there's CompanyBuzz. I tried to give the test drive this afternoon, but the application wasn't working. Stay tuned.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

October 29, 2008

New Layoffs at WildTangent, Digital Influence Group

It's been interesting to watch the responses to ClickZ's layoff tracker, which tallies job losses in the digital media and marketing landscape. Some have called the feature morbid and unseemly, others grim but useful. It's certainly not happy reading. However, we continue to believe it offers readers a helpful way to quantify the impact of the global financial meltdown on this sector.

The past few days have lengthened the list, adding companies like W2-owned social marketing firm Digital Influence Group and casual gaming firm WildTangent. Closer to home for many ClickZ readers were the layoffs at Dallas-based IMC2, which cut 17 percent of the agency's 430 positions.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 28, 2008

Google, WPP Partner to Research Online Media's Impact

Curious about how online media influences consumer behavior? Google and WPP are. They're willing to contribute a collective $4.6 million over the next three years in grant money to endow the Google and WPP Marketing Research Awards Program, a joint research program to look into how online media influences consumer behavior, attitudes, and decision making.

The program will be overseen by professor John Quelch, senior associate dean of Harvard Business School and a non-executive director of WPP; Dr. Hal Varian, Google's chief economist; and professor Glen Urban, former dean of the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The committee will work with WPP and Google to decide which grant proposals will be funded and ensure the integrity, delivery, and impact of the research. The program is immediately reviewing grant applications, and information is available here.

This is another case in which Google is forging stronger relationships with agencies. Last month the search giant outlined its relationship with Publicis, which was initially announced in January.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Sign Human Rights Ethics Code

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have signed an industry code of ethics designed to safeguard human rights and freedom of speech online. The Global Network Initiative guidelines, drawn up by Internet firms, academics and human rights groups, will aim to limit the data that is shared with authorities and governments around the world.

Under the guidelines, participating companies will attempt to reduce the scope of government requests that conflict with free speech and other human rights principles.

In a statement, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang said the new guidelines "provide a valuable roadmap for companies like Yahoo operating in markets where freedom of expression and privacy are unfairly restricted."

Yahoo found itself in hot water last year when it handed over information to Chinese authorities which eventually lead to the imprisonment of two dissident journalists. Google has also encountered difficulties in China, and has agreed to censor local searches for terms such as "democracy" and "Tiananmen Square" in response to requests from Chinese authorities.

Ironically, these firms are constantly under fire from privacy advocates surrounding their use of consumer data in Europe and the U.S. Just last month, Google followed the lead of Yahoo and Microsoft and cut the amount of time it stores users' IP addresses from 18 months to nine in response to scrutiny from European regulatory bodies and privacy campaigners.

Outside of the EU and the U.S. however, it seems that internet firms are concerned about quite the opposite - the need to safeguard personal information from prying government eyes.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How to Succeed in Advertising

Recession got you down? Been laid off or downsized?

One man, Joel Moss Levinson, has earned over $200,000 in cash and prizes, becoming the king of CGM in the process. Today's NY Times profile describes, and links to, campaigns Levinson has created videos for brands as diverse as Best Western, Klondike, Little Penguin wine, Delta, and the American National CattleWomen, to name just a few.

His contest-winning is due in no small part to a social media marketing strategy, asking his Facebook and Twitter friends and followers to vote for his entries.

Hey, we all know CGM's big. But who knew it can be a living? Maybe you don't need that new agency gig after all.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AOL Dumps Its Online Video Player

AOL's online video player heads to the digital junkyard, sharing the same fate as the vinyl record player.

AOL, a unit of Time Warner, will instead use Brightcove's technology, for online video, according to published reports. It will also integrate its online video ad technology into Brightcove's, according to a WSJ.com report. Typically companies that use Brightcove's video player also use its ad technology.

Fred McIntyre, senior vice president at AOL, told Multichannel News, that the change will allow AOL to deliver content more efficiently than it could using its internally developed tools.

He said it will also enable AOL to devote more resources to its video search technology, Truveo. AOL acquired the video search company more than two years ago.

In the latest development, Truveo last month launched a trial of Truveo Mobile Video Search, which is intended to make it easier for mobile phone users to find video from the Web on mobile phones.

AOL had put resources into media player technology ever since it acquired Nullsoft, the developer of Winamp, back in 1999. AOL took a minority stake in Brightcove of Cambridge, MA, in 2006.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 27, 2008

Gazing Into the 2009 Crystal Ball

In light of the economic downturn, will online ad spending continue to climb?

Henry Blodget, editor-in-chief of the Silicon Alley Insider, posed that question to a panel of speakers at the Digital Publishing & Advertising Conference today in Manhattan. He pointed to the latest pronouncement from Geoff Ramsey, eMarketing CEO, who predicts online ad pending will keep growing.

Such predictions, Blodget said, remind him of what prognosticaters had been saying back in 1999 before the dot-com bust.

David Cohen, EVP, U.S. director of digital at Universal McCann, said it's too early to predict what 2009 will bring. "We've seen a very slight softening in the fourth quarter," he said, adding that one key will be how retail fares during the coming holiday season.

Jeff Minsky, director of Next, OMG Digital, said digital advertising has been holding up. He said a downturn could bring at least one benefit. "If you go back to the last bubble popping, you had a lot of crap get out of the market -- which hopefully will happen again."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

October 24, 2008

Microsoft Ad Business Strong, But Display Ads Threatened

Among Microsoft's diverse revenue streams, its display ad business is the most vulnerable to economic conditions. That's according to CFO Chris Liddell, who yesterday told investors the company still has great expectations for its online services business, which includes its search and ad platforms.

According to Microsoft's earnings report yesterday, online services revenue grew an impressive 15 percent to $770 million for the quarter just ended. It experienced an overall loss of $267 million, but that's not surprising in light of Microsoft's heavy R&D investment in search.

The picture's far from rosy however. Microsoft said it expects less aggressive growth of between 6 and 10 percent for the current quarter, and between 10 and 13 percent growth for the entire fiscal year (July 2008 to June 2009). Liddell said online ad revenue by itself will grow a slightly more robust 15 percent for the year, a rate he called "still healthy in a more difficult advertising spending environment."

In other words, Microsoft anticipates single-digit growth for the first six months of next year. Web advertising performance beyond that is anyone's guess.

As Liddell put it, "Our display advertising business is probably the most economically sensitive of our revenue streams and therefore has the highest potential to either under or outperform depending on the state of the economy."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ClickZ Welcomes Augustine Fou

Integrated marketing has become essential, though tougher than ever to perform efficiently as marketing channels evolve and approaches for measuring results mutate.

Helping ClickZ readers work through these challenges is Augustine Fou, SVP of digital strategy at MRM Worldwide.

This week, Augustine joins ClickZ's roster of Expert columnists, writing the Integrated Marketing column. Here, he'll discuss best practices and share his insights for integrating and optimizing marketing initiatives.

Check out his inaugural ClickZ column, "Make Digital Work for Your Customers."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 23, 2008

Google Analytics Upgrade: A Game Changer?

Checked in this morning with Bryan Eisenberg, author of "Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer," about the latest enhancements to Google Analytics.

Eisenberg's calling the new features "game changing" for analytics. He especially likes how easy it's to create custom reports. For instance, someone can find out how many visitors on Web site A were referred from Web site B -- and read at least eight articles on Web site A.

Another interesting move: Google is making it easier for third parties to create applications for Google Analytics, potentially creating another cottage industry.

Do you think GA's new features are game changers?

And who is most threatened by these upgrades? Yahoo, which launched Yahoo Web Analytics, a free tool two weeks ago? Or the big guns like Omniture, WebTrends, and Coremetrics?

Post a comment, below, or e-mail me your thoughts: annamaria at clickz.com

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Quote of the Day: Martha and Wenda at Odds?

"It's no secret that Martha isn't the easiest person to work for... It wouldn't be the end of the world if [Millard] were to leave."

-A source "close" to Wenda Harris Millard, speaking to the New York Post about a worsening feud between Yahoo's one-time sales chief -- now CEO at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia -- and the company's chairman and namesake.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More Layoffs: Experian Interactive/LowerMyBills, Permission TV, DMA

The last 48 hours has brought numerous reports of new job losses in the digital marketing/media sector, and so we've updated our layoff tracker. The biggest news was Yahoo's decision to cut at least 10 percent (roundabout 1,400) global positions this quarter. Others followed yesterday: Experian Interactive/LowerMyBills, Mania TV, Permission TV, and Imeem are all shedding employees. You can find more information on the layoff tracker page.

Additionally, the DMA is thinning its executive ranks, partly owing to the glut of conferences in the digital ad space, reports Direct.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Russia’s Blossoming Online Ad Market

More news from the blossoming Russian ad market…

Bolstering its presence among the growing ad competition in the region, Russia's largest search site, Yandex, has acquired display ad agency Mediaselling for an undisclosed fee.

Mediaselling already had a deal with Yandex through which it sold ads on some Yandex properties. Writing on the company blog, Mediaselling CEO Lev Gleyzer said the firm has "relied on partnership and friendship" with Yandex over the past few years. The firm also represents other Russian sites including Eurosport.ru, Kommersant.ru and Gazeta.ru.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 5:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 22, 2008

Quote of the Day: Can Phorm, NebuAd Be a Check on Google's Power?

"Technology from companies like Phorm can help small websites and ISPs compete with Google for a slice of their rapidly growing advertising income. There are now many companies across the world that rely on Google for as much as half of their sales, via paid search and direct response advertising. Those worried by this domination of the paid search market should be supporting this new competition."

-British media expert Peter Bazalgette, making the case for ISP behavioral targeting.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 21, 2008

Electronic Frontier Foundation Backs McCain on YouTube

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is backing John McCain's campaign in its request that YouTube stop taking down some of McCain's videos based on "meritless copyright claims." The EFF sent letters to four TV networks as well as YouTube. The group wants the networks, CBS, the Christian Broadcasting Network, Fox, and NBC, to quit asking YouTube to remove election-related videos featuring clips of its broadcasts.

In its letter to YouTube, the organization asked that counter-notices protesting copyright takedowns "should be immediately reviewed by YouTube staff, and the video immediately restored if it is a clear case of fair use." EFF also suggested, "once a user has already provided a valid counter-notice, then YouTube should also review any further takedown notice issued to any video posted to the account."

In its reply to the McCain campaign, YouTube already pretty clearly said it would not give preferential treatment to any one category of videos. I wouldn't expect them to change their minds on this one anytime soon, even considering the closeness of the election.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quote of the Day: Fred Wilson on Bulletproof Ad Models

"The next 12 months may be a period of the 'haves and have nots'. Last night the Spotted Pig was mobbed but the new hot place down the block was not. There are bulletproof restaurants (the pig), bulletproof ad models (paid search) and bulletproof brands (all things apple). In tough times the money will keep flowing to the best companies and will stop flowing to the worst."

-Fred Wilson, venture capitalist, writing on his blog today.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 20, 2008

Candidates Want You in the Kitchen

Last week while perusing my Gmail account, I got a kick out of a note sent to me from the Ralph Nader campaign (yes, he's running for president again, in spite of the media's utter disregard for him or other third-party candidates). He wanted to give me an old family recipe for hummus in exchange for a campaign donation.

Today another recipe-related missive arrived in my inbox, titled, "My Mom's Apple Cake Recipe."

"If you donate to Nader/Gonzalez by midnight tonight an amount that has the number two in it (two being the number of lemons in my mom's apple cake recipe -- the number of apples will remain a secret, for now), we'll e-mail to you Rose Nader's apple cake recipe tomorrow."

Wait a minute. I thought Ralph didn't like lemons.

Seriously though, another recipe pitch? Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and bake, but somehow the domestication theme doesn't feel right for Ralph. It also felt a little forced way back in June 2007 when Democratic primary hopeful
John Edwards did it. The campaign sent e-mails promising a secret family pecan pie recipe in exchange for donations.

Campaign manager Joe Trippi even appeared in a pie-making video demonstration. Of course they burnt the pie. Comedic genius! Yuk yuk.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Parties Back McCain and Obama’s Online Ad Strategy

An interesting point made in SendTec's latest report on Barack Obama's and John McCain's search ads is that “the McCain campaign is not bidding on any terms relating to [William] Ayers.”

The thing is, though, the Republican National Committee has been buying Ayers-related keywords; the RNC uses Campaign Solutions, the online consulting firm handling McCain’s Web efforts. Last week I spotted an RNC ad in search results for “Obama domestic terrorist” and “Obama Ayers.” Those link to BarackBook.com, a Facebook spoof naming Ayers as a member of Obama’s “Friend Feed.”

The fact is the presidential campaigns have been in lock-step with their parties, at least when it comes to some campaign components. The Obama campaign, for instance, has run the same display ads as the Democratic National Committee – aimed at voter registration.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Obama's National Search Campaign

SendTec has a new report out based on research conducted after the last presidential debate. The SEM firm looked at three of the most-searched political keywords: Economy, William Ayers and, of course, Joe the Plumber.

SendTec’s reports have drawn fire from Eric Frenchman, the guy who runs John McCain’s search ad efforts. Rather than delve into that drama, I do want to note one of the key points made in the latest report. According to the company’s research, “McCain is outbidding Obama in the battleground states, while Obama is bidding nationally….”

As an example, SendTec says, “The McCain campaign is bidding on Joe the Plumber and variations of that keyword in battleground states only. McCain is not bidding on these terms in states that are firmly established as either voting Democratic or republican (such as Illinois or Texas).”

In contrast, “The Obama campaign is bidding on Joe the Plumber and variations of that keyword in every state.”

This appears to follow Obama’s television ad strategy, which has also famously involved a lot of national ad buys. It could also be a function of the campaign’s huge campaign budget. Maybe the campaign isn’t limiting its Google buys to specific geographic areas because it doesn’t have to – it’s got enough money to blanket all states with them.

Which leads to my question about McCain’s camp. Is battleground state targeting a result of limited funds, or pure search strategy? It’s probably a blend of the two, but we’ll have to wait till after the election to find out for sure. Obama’s decision to run national ads is a novel one; McCain’s targeted approach is certainly the norm for political campaigns.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 17, 2008

Digital Remainders: Viral Videos, YouTube Search Ads, Huge Spam Ring Busted

It’s been a busy week in digital marketing land. In addition to the big stories we've covered, here are a few you may have missed:

Agencies dote on their viral videos, but can't agree on metrics. Seventy percent of agency execs plan to increase budgets for viral, according to a survey conducted by Feed Company. But about equal numbers said their videos were a success if viewed 100,000 times, 250,000 times or 500,000 times. For those who doubt those budget increases, remember that in the scope of a large media buy, these projects cost peanuts.

YouTube is experimenting with sponsored placements in its search results. However marketers should be wary of assertions that the site operates the "second largest" search presence, ahead of Yahoo, as has been reported. Truth is, many of those queries are better thought of as navigation than search.

World's largest spam ring busted. A network of unsolicited e-mailers peddling prescription drugs and "herbal male-enhancement" remedies was the biggest in the world, according to Spamhaus. The FTC coordinated with New Zealand authorities on the crackdown.

Blog search pioneer Technorati bought an ad network. AdEngage, a network for independent sites, will be combined with Technorati's four-month-old media network. The idea is to develop a self-serve ad network spanning blogs and other social media sites. The platform now exists only in "private alpha" mode.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Takes Out Personal Ad for Yahoo Deal Advocates

"Desperately seeking marketers to support the Yahoo search ad tie-up."

Well, not exactly. But TechCrunch reports the company's attorneys have directly contacted at least one large AdWords advertiser. The lawyer told this person, the proprietor of ReverseMortgageGuides.com, that the company was "looking for large advertisers who use both Google and Yahoo (we do) who would be willing to provide public testimonials in support of outsourcing Yahoo’s search ads to Google."

Here's the full text of Google's voice mail:

“Hi Darren my name is Donald Burke. I’m calling on behalf of Google to talk with Adwords advertisers about the new proposed Google/Yahoo Advertising Agreement. If you have a couple of minutes to talk with me, my number is…Thanks very much. Take care.”

And Darren's response: "I told him I’m a free-market competition kind of guy so he tried to address my concerns for about 15 minutes and then called it quits."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

M&M Goes Viral, Online and Off

by Douglas Quenqua

In its seemingly never-ending quest to make sentient beings out of snack foods, Mars has unveiled a new viral effort that allows people to upload photos of themselves on M&Ms, both real and digital.

Visitors to TheCandyLab.com can upload photos of themselves or friends onto a singing M&M and share their creation by e-mail. The anthropomorphic candy can sing one of two songs, I Want Candy (for obvious reasons) or You Blinded Me With Science (a reference to the site's mad scientist theme).

But the effort extends offline as well. Users can order the candies with their faces on it for real, just in time for Halloween. Executives who worked on the effort claim it's the first time the product of a viral media effort can be purchased and shared offline. Maybe true, and thankfully so when you consider the real-life implications of Monk-e Mail or (shudder) The Subservient Chicken.

The avatar technology was created by Oddcast, and the site itself was built by digital agency IMC2.

A word of warning: I visited the site several times over the past couple days, and every time it slowed my computer's performance down to a crawl. Granted my desktop is older than most of The Jonas Brothers, but this is M&Ms were talking about, your grandma's favorite non-butterscotch candy. One assumes early adopters are not the target demographic. A word of advice: Tone down the graphics.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 16, 2008

Google Strikes Back-End Deals to Support TV Ambitions

Google has struck up two partnerships to support its steadily expanding TV Ads service.

The first is meant to help with inventory supply: Harris Corporation will allow cable nets that use its service to forward available inventory to Google TV Ads for sale. The second is on the buy side: CoreMedia Systems, provider of reporting tools for direct response advertisers, will integrate data from Google's platform. Using that system, marketers can match the airing of a Google TV ad to response and sales data from client call centers and e-commerce systems.

Well and dandy. But what Google really needs to power up its television ambitions is much more basic.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More on Joe the Plumber

As the morning moved on, more businesses and organizations bidding on the keywords "Joe the Plumber" or "Joe Plumber" started to crowd the search engine results page on Yahoo and Google.

A plumbing service out of North Carolina called Mr. Rooter topped the sponsored listings on Yahoo with "Joe Plumber." While Donald Glovan is listed as the contact at Mr. Rooter -- and no Joe -- the business appears to have a connection to a Joe. That is, Joe, NC.

A directory of plumbers, hosted by Shapel Directory, also appears in the paid results for "Joe the Plumber," along with three other businesses.

Over at Google, the Obama-Biden campaign purchased the keywords that link to a Web site that includes a calculator. There, taxpayers can input their annual salary to see how Obama's tax plan would affect them.

Cafe Press, which makes custom T-shirts, joined in the fray with its "Joe the Plumber" T-shirt.

The screen grabs, below, show sponsored Yahoo results (left) next to those of Google.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Joe the Plumber, Advertised

Fresh off his starring role in last night's debate, Joe the Plumber has already inspired AdWords advertisers in the travel, apparel, and yes, political sectors.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quote of the Day: Chad Hurley's Brave New World

YouTube founder Chad Hurley spoke yesterday at the MIPCOM conference in Cannes, France. He spent a good deal of time assuaging media companies' fears about rights management. He also hit the theme of advertiser accountability in a down economy. A few nuggets:

"There is no old media. There is no new media. There is one media with one common purpose: to inform, move and inspire the world through information, art and entertainment. Together, we can find a solution that will benefit everyone in this ecosystem, from consumers to advertisers to the content owners alike."

"...Weezer launched their music video “Pork and Beans” on YouTube resulting in over 4 million views in just two days. Using our sophisticated analytics tool, the band was able to then get an in-depth look at the video’s views. This data provided an online focus group of sorts, enabling them to prepare more effective and powerful marketing campaigns. It even helped Weezer understand where their videos were being watched and then plan their upcoming tour."

"...Online video began as a playground for advertisers where they could test ideas, drive brand awareness and create consumer engagement through clever viral video campaigns. In the current economic climate, this platform also provides advertisers with an affordable distribution channel and metrics to help gauge the success of a campaign and drive engagement numbers up."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 14, 2008

How Low Will They Go? Google/Yahoo Discuss Deal Limits with DOJ

With all the negative attention on their search ads deal, it would be a surprise to learn that Google and Yahoo are not in active talks with the Justice Department. They are of course, and the Wall Street Journal has delivered some additional details on those negotiations, courtesy of "lawyers close to the effort."

According to the Journal's sources, the DOJ is seeking a handful of general concessions such as a cap on the ads Yahoo can outsource to Google and a reporting system to monitor those caps. No details are provided on what the ceiling would be as a percentage of Yahoo's total ad volume, and frankly, we may never know if the negotiations are fruitful. The important question for Yahoo is whether it can still deliver the upside it promised investors back in June, when it called the deal an "$800 million annual revenue opportunity."

Prosecutors are also looking for assurances from Yahoo that it will keep innovating on search ad monetization. That's a little tough to measure, but should still be a slam-dunk for Yahoo, which really does still want to be a contender in this area. And it may advance that goal through the deal, by observing the ads Google matches to its queries.

A final point of interest: WSJ's sources say DOJ investigators continue to put together an anti-trust lawsuit to prevent the arrangement -- an expected measure that may be partly a negotiating tactic.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Obama's XBox Race for White House

Barack Obama’s up on a virtual billboard in a high-speed driving game. Yep, his campaign is running in-game ads. The closest thing to running in-game ads I can recall a political candidate doing is when Virginia Governor and early presidential possibility, Mark Warner (now running for Senate) held an event in Second Life in ’06.

I first read about the gaming ads in GamePolitics last week, and confirmed yesterday with EA that the campaign is running ads in Burnout Paradise. They wouldn’t tell me anything else – how long the ads have been running, if any other political or advocacy advertisers have run ads with them -- nothin'.

My question, and I’m sure one others have as well is, “Is it a novelty or will Obama actually get some…er…traction…out of ads in a racing game?”

I’ll try not to judge but it’s hard not to think of this as a blip-on-the-screen novelty that gets a little word-of-mouth and a perhaps a positive brand impression of Obama among gamers.

I asked Michael Bassik -- VP of interactive marketing for political direct marketing firm MSHC Partners, and the new chief digital officer for Air America Media – what he thinks. Here’s what he told me via e-mail:

“Candidates are clearly waking up to the 21st century and realizing that voters are no longer glued to the television. To reach voters, you have to go where they are. And in a race this close, I wouldn't be surprised to see political ads on the back of bathroom stalls. No stone should be left unturned.”

UPDATE: It looks like, according to beltway pub The Hill, Obama's camp is running the ads in a bunch of other games, too, and targeting them to 10 battleground states.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Myers Bullish on Online Growth

Longtime media analyst Jack Myers just released his 2009 Advertising and Marketing Investment Forecast.

While Jack predicts a 4 percent overall spending drop across all media, he believes online spending will rise nearly 14 percent, while clocking robust 60 percent growth in mobile marketing.

The forecast breaks advertising and marketing spending down into every conceivable channel, from satellite radio to trade show spending. It's well worth a read.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 13, 2008

ClickZ Marketing Excellence Award Winners Named

Three DoubleClick tools, which now are part of the Google family, were named winners of ClickZ Marketing Excellence Awards. Omniture, Responsys, Marin Software, and Bazaarvoice Ask & Answer rounded out the list of award recipients.

DART for Advertisers was recognized in the ad management category; DoubleClick Mobile for its mobile marketing tool, and DoubleClick HD Video for video ad format or platform.

Other award recipients were: Bazaarvoice Ask & Answer for social media marketing; Marin Software for its search ad management tool; Omniture SiteCatalyst for analytics, and Responsys for e-mail marketing.

Special thanks to more than 1,000 people who submitted entries. You brought attention to lots of different tools that enable marketers to spend more time worrying about marketing than technology.

Also much thanks to our judges who evaluated finalists and winners.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google, ValueClick Score Big on Wall Street

Tech vendors in the digital advertising and marketing business got a nice bump in stock prices today -- a sign that the sector holds promise among investors.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 11.8 percent, Google ended the trading day at $381, up 14.7 percent. Still, Google is nowhere near its 52-week high of $747.

Meanwhile, Yahoo's stock price climbed 9.8 percent to $13.49.

ValueClick, which has not been a Wall Street darling lately, also did better than the Nasdaq, closing the day at $8.41, an increase of 19.3 percent.

The optimism didn't carry over to all companies. Lyris, which provides tools for e-mail marketing campaigns, analytics, and PPC bid management, saw its share price drop to 39 cents, a decline of 11.4 percent.

Will Wall Street's enthusiasm for the digital marketing and advertising sector bode well for these businesses? Take a chapter from history -- and don't count your tulip bulbs until they flower.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sign of the Times: Recession Marketing

"Try i Trulli's Recession Remedy," reads the e-mail subject line from one of my favorite Italian restaurants in New York City.

The restaurant promises all you can eat and drink at a garden party for $45.

That seems steep, though still a bargain compared to a trip to Southern Italy.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight in NYC: Talk Search, Have a Drink in Hell's Kitchen

Together with my esteemed colleague Kevin Ryan, I'm talking search tonight at a Brandhacker MeetUp in New York at 7:00 p.m. - in my own Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.

Kevin will cover the fundamentals of paid search advertising, while I'll do likewise on the topic of organic search optimization. OK, so this is slightly smaller in scale than Search Engine Strategies or SMX. But at least you won't have to pay thousands of bucks to hear us expound on our favorite topic (unless it's Kevin's second-favorite topic, after "South Park").

Hope to see you there. You can RSVP for the free, pay-for-your-own-drinks event here.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Newspapers Saw Worst Online Ad Revenues Ever in Q2

Despite lifelines from Yahoo and quadrantOne, the newspaper industry is gasping for air as its online ad revenues continue to sink. It’s worse than ever. Second quarter revenues actually contracted for the first time, following disappointing Q1 growth of less than 10 percent.

In Q2, online ad revenues were around $777 million, down from $804 million in Q1 2008, amounting to a -2.4 percent change.

Now, in addition to battling steeper-than-ever declines in print classifieds revenues, newspapers must contend with a severe drop in Web ad dollars – the only hope the industry has had for counteracting print ad decreases.

With ad budgets steadily tightening, I think it’s safe to say we can expect the waters to get even choppier for newspapers. Hopefully they can hang on without the need for desperate measures.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 10, 2008

Friday Afternoon Poll

If someone falls for this ad, does he deserve protection from regulatory bodies such as the Federal Trade Commission, or does he merely need protection from himself?

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

McCain's Search Man Calls Out Bad Search Coverage

Ouch. McCain's search marketing whiz Eric Frenchman has some strong words for search marketing firm SendTec for reporting what he calls "curious data" on the paid search efforts of the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns. He also tears into Mediapost for covering the information.

"SendTec and MediaPost should just stop trying to figure out what the two campaigns are doing when it comes to Search Marketing.... the campaigns are far more sophisticated than you observers give us credit for."

For the record, ClickZ News hasn't published any of SendTec's data in our Campaign '08 coverage, but that's not saying we won't. Also, many of us in the media are culprits of basing a story on what may be considered too narrow a scope of information. (The New York Times Mag's 'guys with cats' trend piece being, perhaps, the most egregious example of late).

Now, the other day, I wrote a post asking, "Where's McCain's Keating Search Response?" Knowing it probably would bristle the hairs on the back of Monsieur Frenchman's neck, I based it on several searches conducted out of ClickZ's Manhattan office. I know New York is not in play and the McCain campaign could very well be running ads based on Keating-related keywords in battleground states. I noted as much in the post, and also based my commentary on the fact that I saw no organic links to McCain's site to counteract the Keating/savings and loan scandal-related attacks against McCain.

Anyway, the reason media outlets cover these kinds of reports, or do stories based on searches from one location is because there's no other information available. We're curious, and there's just not much comprehensive data out there about how the campaigns are using paid search. As Gov. Palin might put it, "Doggone it, we wanna know!"

Posted by Kate Kaye at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 9, 2008

Web Gets Obama (Chump) Change

Barack Obama's campaign spent over $3 million on TV ads in one state on Monday.

He's spent about double that on the Web since January.

Yep, according to my calculations based on FEC reports, his campaign spent around $5.45 million on paid online media on the Web, into August.

How's that for sharp contrast?

As I wrote in my recent Reuters commentary piece on Obama's online ads:

The fact is political advertisers typically don't use Internet ads to sway voters the way they do television ads. When it comes to the Web, they rely on things like video on YouTube and their official sites to have persuasive impact.

Not only is advertising on television a tough-to-break habit for political campaigns, they have yet to see online ads affect an election in an undeniable way.

Until there's proof that an online ad moved people to vote for or against a candidate, the first full-fledged Internet election may be far off.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 8, 2008

Google Ogles Digital Game Advertising

Google's jumping into yet another corner of the digital advertising arena.

Google announced yesterday the launch of AdSense for Games, which integrates video and text advertisements into Web-based games. Advertisers will be charged based on cost-per-impression or cost-per-click, and ad revenue revenue will be split between Google and game developers or publishers.

Google disclosed it's working with a handful of advertisers on a trial basis: Esurance, Sprint, and Sony Pictures.

It's also working with these game developers and publishers: Konami, Playfish, Zynga, Demand Media, games network Mochi Media, and others.

To date, digital game advertising represents only a tiny slice of the digital advertising pie. Yet, according to ClickZ Expert columnists Matt Story and Kevin Carney, this emerging sector holds lots of promise.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 7, 2008

The Worst Part of an E-mail RFP? No E-mail!

So on Monday, I sent an RFP out to half a dozen e-mail service providers. By Tuesday, all but one had gotten back to me. By phone.

Of these five, only one vendor left their personal e-mail contact information. Now, I don't know about you, but in my book, phone tag is about the most inefficient communications method out there. None of the candidates' messages indicated when they could be reached via vox. And I've called every single one of them back and spoken with...their voicemail systems.

Is this an overly grumpy reaction to what you've got to admit is a pretty old skool communications method? (I've never claimed to be a phone person.) But you really would think ESP sales departments might avail themselves from time to time of the channel they are, after all, selling: e-mail.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Where's McCain's Keating Search Response?

As McCain-running mate Sarah Palin pairs Barack Obama with “domestic terrorists,” the Obama camp is flinging mud right back. The campaign is counteracting the William Ayers-related attacks, while dredging up John McCain’s Keating 5 past.

You may have heard about the new site from the Obama campaign, which houses videos and links to news articles about his rival’s connections to the financial scandal we forgot about: the Savings and Loan crisis. McCain and four other Senators were investigated in ’89 for involvement in improperly intervening on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association at the time.

Google searches for “Keating 5,” “Keating,” and “McCain Keating” all turn up sponsored links to the site, paid for by the Obama campaign.

Another problem: the McCain site isn’t well optimized when it comes to the issue. None of the organic links on the first page of results for those searches goes to a McCain-affiliated page. In contrast, the Obama camp has used search to refute attacks throughout the election season. A search on “Obama Muslim” turns up a sponsored link that reads “Barack Obama is a Christian. Get the facts at his official site.”

As for the latest connecting Obama to William Ayers of Weather Underground fame, a sponsored Google link in search results for “Obama domestic terrorist” and “Obama Ayers” reads, “Obama Ayers Connection? FightTheSmears.com/Obama Don't Believe the Lies. Get Facts About Anti-Obama Swift Boating.”

The Republican National Committee is taking up the Ayers attack mantle, though. Those same searches turn up a link to BarackBook.com, a Facebook spoof naming Ayers as a member of Obama’s “Friend Feed.”

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Quote of the Day: Barry Diller's headache

"You really want to get a headache? Try to understand Internet advertising. Social networking advertising is being discounted because there is so much inventory [of available ad spots], and because methods have not yet been found to make it very effective. Will that get figured out? I absolutely believe it will. What form will it take? Absolutely unknown."

-IAC CEO Barry Diller in an interview with WSJ.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 6, 2008

At Least One Ad-Related Start-up Still Pulling Investors

It's evident by now that the credit crisis will cast a pall over the ad sector, but how bad will it get? One indicator of the future health of the space is the abundance of venture capital. Are any marketing technology start-ups still boasting new funding rounds?

Well, there's the one anyway. (Update: make that two. Appsavvy funding round detailed at bottom of post.)

BlackArrow said today it has scored a $20 million B round investment to continue development of its on-demand ad management system for TV and other platforms. Its new investors are the same as the old ones: Cisco, Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital, Mayfield Fund and Polaris Venture Partners.

The BlackArrow system is designed to dynamically serve ads into live and time shifted TV content. It's compatible with a variety of ad types, sales models, and distribution methods, or so the company claims. Here's what we wrote about the company last year:

"What Black Arrow provides could be used by all the venues that serve up advertising," said Gerry Kaufhold, an analyst with In-Stat who was briefed on the technology. With its contextual, time of day and demographic targeting capabilities, he said Black Arrow's system can "make a real time decision about which group of ads fits [and] which actual ad gets served," which is of course the longstanding secret sauce of online ad serving.

Of course it's too early to say whether the big money will gravitate to cross-platform plays like BlackArrow's and away from pure Web start-ups, but it's interesting to see multiplatform video win a vote of confidence in such a bleak season.

Another ad firm to beat the economic chill: Media ad network Appsavvy. The firm announced a $3.1 million series A round. It sells ads for apps and app developers like 42 Friends, Bantr, Flixster, FrozenBear, MesmoTV, Playfish.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 3, 2008

McCain's Ad Quickness

Our pals over at Media Trust Co were working overtime last night post Palin/(O')Biden. It looks as though the John McCain camp launched a couple of brand-spanking-new display ads to commemorate the debate.

Here they are, 'cause the American People deserve it, doggone it.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 2, 2008

Dana Todd: (News)Force of Nature

Chair of SEMPO, partner in Sitelab, Dana Todd continues to be something of an interactive marketing force of nature. And now, she's one of the founders of a new advertising/PR hybrid play called Newsforce.

The newly-founded company places press releases - in their entirety - in premium ad positions on major publisher sites. Really major publisher sites, like WashingtonPost.com, USA Today, Time, and Slate.

As you'd imagine, Newsforce gets the PR game. Naturally, they're already generating their own media coverage.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 1, 2008

Welcome ClickZ Expert Dan Solomon

ClickZ couldn't resist an offer from Dan Solomon, CEO of interactive communications firm Virilion, to examine online marketing lessons from the 2008 campaign for U.S. president.

Dan's first column can be found here.

The column, "Campaign '08 Lessons," will be in addition to in-depth news coverage written by Senior Editor Kate Kaye in ClickZ's Campaign '08 section.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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