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January 25, 2009 - January 31, 2009

January 30, 2009

Hulu's Secret, and Super Bowl Ad Gallery

Hulu is staging its own Super Bowl coverage as a companion to broadcast partner NBC. It plans to post each commercial just moments after it airs on Sunday during the Super Bowl XLIII game, the same as last year. What's new is the ad gallery, and the ability for users to vote on their picks for the best ads during and after the game. Hulu also created a widget, found here, with ads from last year. As the game airs and ads are shown, the new ads will populate the widget as it's posted on users' blogs and Web sites.

That's just the teaser. Hulu says during the Super Bowl it will "reveal the secret behind our service," but there's been no advance look at what that secret may be. We'll find out with you what Hulu will look like on Monday.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 29, 2009

E*Trade Baby Has Nothing to Say on Twitter

Twitter has demonstrated value for companies with something to say and an eagerness to engage. Unfortunately not all who use it fit that description.

Zappos, Ford, JetBlue, Whole Foods and Dunkin' Donuts stand out as shining examples of brands using the platform to share information and listen to their customers and prospects. The E*Trade baby? Not so much.

Since setting up the account several days ago to drive buzz for the precocious infant's upcoming Super Bowl spot, the online trading company has posted a total of five tweets. Three of these are virtually identical, promoting an outtakes reel for the upcoming ad. In an unconvincing attempt to generate an aura of secrecy for something that's not secret at all, the most missive pleads with followers to "Keep this link on the DL." Sorry E*Trade, you're going to have to do better than that.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

January 28, 2009

On Newspaper Sites, Ad Spam, and Lack of User Experience Foresight

We all know the dire straits the newspaper industry is in. It's understandable, with online newspaper ad revenue growth dwindling, that these sites want to monetize with as many ads as they can. But some seem to forget user experience.

The fact is digital media is their future and if they can't get the user experience right, nobody's going to visit their sites. And if nobody visits their sites, well, they're screwed.

Here's what prompted this rant. I just read a really interesting Washington Times article about the new "Che" flick and how its star, Benicio Del Toro, walked out of an interview with the Times reporter (even though the guacamole at the restaurant was really good). The article even includes a supplementary video conversation with the reporter and lots of absorbing user comments.

Great! They get it -- they're taking advantage of multimedia and social media. These are two very important elements that could help newspaper sites succeed.

But, man, was the user experience bad.

First off, I'm served an ad I've seen around the Web a lot lately that I find pretty repulsive, and I'm probably not the only one. You know, the ad with a woman's flabby "before" gut beside a flat "after" one? It's for one of those acai berry diet products. I decided to include it here -- sorry.

Ad networks and publishers: why are you accepting this crap? Maybe if everybody rejected more terrible ad creative we wouldn't have to be confronted with so much of it. Maybe it could actually improve user experience.

Not only do I have that image in my peripheral vision as I read what is -- again -- good content that should be treated with more respect, I'm served an ad in the video. The ad, like the display ads on the page, has zero contextual relevance nor behavioral relevance for that matter (unless someone's been browsing diet sites on my computer when I'm away from my desk). It's in an obnoxious format, too: an overlay text ad for -- you guessed it -- the berry diet. But the overlay obscures the reporter in the video and won't disappear until I click the magic "X."

The article is what I'd call of short feature length, about 1,200 words. But I have to click through to two new pages to get through it. The Washington Times certainly isn't the only site that uses this approach, but it's apparent the only purpose for this is to generate more pageviews. It's of no value to the user and to me is a turnoff.

But that's not all! After I closed my browser window, guess what appeared? Yep, two or three pop-unders. The only other site I frequent that does this is Mets.com (and they shouldn't be doing it either).

Again, I realize it's tough for newspapers and their Web sites right now, but bombarding users with one annoying experience after another is no way to build a loyal readership.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

January 27, 2009

Catch ClickZ at Online Marketing Summit

If you're attending the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego next week, stop by the ClickZ panel I'm moderating, "Doing More With Less: Making Data-Driven Decisions."

The session, set for Feb. 6, should be informative with presentations planned by ZAAZ CEO Shane Atchison, Napster Online Marketing Director Jeff Ferguson, and Elixir Interactive CEO Fionn Downhill.

If you're in town and would like to meet up, drop me a line here or on Twitter: annamariavirzi

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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