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March 2009

March 30, 2009

Mzinga Layoffs, Part 2

Like piranhas that sense blood, Mzinga's rivals and others are circling the wounded social network software vendor that laid off 40 earlier this month.

Sparta Social Networks, Lithium, and consultancies have apparently bid on the keyword, "mzinga," so they show up as a sponsored link when someone searches for "mzinga" on Google.

As seen on Google this morning:

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 29, 2009

Mzinga Layoffs Hit the Social Grapevine

Tweeple are a twitter over layoffs at social media software vendor Mzinga this month.

A bostonglobe.com column, "Social downsizing," published Sunday follows the online and offline drama over the March 19 layoffs of 40 employees - or about 18 percent of the vendor's workforce.

"This was a layoff for our Twittery new times," writes Scott Kirsner, a Globe columnist. "Though layoffs are always painful, there's something new going on here -- especially in the way these laid-off employees weren't silent, and in the way their network of friends and contacts leaped in to help them."

Ashley Quincy, a laid-off Mzinga worker, reached out to the Twitter network with this tweet, below. In a follow up note to me on Facebook, she wrote: "I have been fortunate where many recruiters and companies have reached out to me because of that particular tweet. It just reinforces how powerful social media can be and how it can be leveraged for job searches."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 26, 2009

Google Invests in 'In-Photo' Ad Firm Pixazza

Photo-based ad network Pixazza has secured backing from Google as part of a $5.75 funding round involving several investors, CNET and others reported this week.

The start-up is developing a platform that harkens to the fabled "Jennifer Aniston's Sweater" scenario for commerce-enabled television. Except that instead of TV, Pixazza is enhancing online photos with product information.

The company's system will require no additional ad real estate from publishers, who can use it add a layer of commerce to its photos. Consumers can then mouse over an image to navigate products.

From the media seller's perspective, it's conceptually similar to in-text advertising. On the buy side, Pixazza claims to be integrated with 60 merchants representing 2 million products -- possibly through their affiliate programs. Merchants include Zappos and Amazon.

Companies such as DoubleClick, United Virtualities and VideoClix.tv have sought to develop such enhanced product placement technologies for video, but few have done so for simple photographs. NBC and Hasbro are among the advertisers to have experimented with the video variety.

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

Free Online Political Ad Event in D.C. April 10

Just a reminder that the Interactive Advertising Bureau is hosting an event on online political advertising April 10 in Washington, D.C. And it's free (just need to register)! I'll be there to speak about my new book, "Campaign '08: A Turning Point for Digital Media," and to moderate a discussion on the subject on online political ads.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

ClickZ Readers: Get in with Online Political Insiders!

Our friends at Personal Democracy Forum (the folks who have been covering the convergence of politics and technology for years, and brought us TechPresident), have a special offer for ClickZ readers. PDF has a new premium membership section they say is "Perfect for anyone in politics, advocacy, and non-profits looking to harness the power of new technology and journalists looking to understand this transformation."

Normally, there's a fee to join, but PDF is offering the first 10 ClickZ readers to register to join for free. Members get blogging and commenting privileges, access to exclusive content like invite-only conference calls with industry experts, and a 1-year subscription to mags like The New Yorker and Wired.

Oh, and there's a $60 discount on the upcoming 2009 Personal Democracy Forum event, which seems to get bigger and more relevant every year. (I'll definitely be there this year - June 29 and 30 in NYC).

The members-only conference calls seem really promising, too. The next, "Politics at the Speed of Light: Campaign Tactics in the Digital Age," will be held on April 2, and feature
Phil de Vellis, a senior associate and VP of new media for Murphy Putnam Media. He's the guy who created the "Vote Different" ad.

Here's what you need to do to get free membership to the PDF Network:

Visit the registration page and create a membership. Then select "PdF Network" as your membership option, and on the subsequent page, enter the promo code 535PDFCOMP promotion code field.

(If you're already a PdF member, login, visit the member subscription page, and use promo code 535PDFCOMP.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 25, 2009

Carat Predicts Dip in U.K. Online Ad Spend, But No Contraction

Aegis-owned media buying firm, Carat, has predicted that global ad spend will fall by 5.8 percent in 2009, with investment contracting in every major market except China.

The firm did not break out predictions for digital ad revenues specifically, but a spokesperson told me the agency expects U.K. online ad spend to continue expanding throughout the downturn, growing by around 4.8 percent in 2009, and 7.7 percent in 2010.

Commenting on the overall numbers in today's press release, Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Aegis Media, said, "China aside, no major market will see growth this year. But we are seeing some signs for optimism in some countries in 2010. We believe that the U.K., parts of Europe and Asia will start to stabilize."

He went on to attribute the relative resilience of the online market to the fact that clients are gravitating to "proven and accountable communications," and focusing on ROI from their media spend.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Video Watch: Super Bowl Ad Propels Hulu Past Microsoft

We knew last week that Hulu's Super Bowl ad and its subsequent TV spots drove a surge of new users and viewing activity to the site. This week we learn a little more about just how much it benefited.

According to ComScore data released yesterday, Hulu beat out Microsoft-owned Web sites for the first time in both video views and unique video viewers, and now reaches a quarter of Internet video viewers.

The data show Hulu had roughly 240,000 video views in December, and 250,000 in January. Then, in February, the number leaped almost 30 percent to 332,000. Its unique users nearly doubled from roughly 24 million in December and January to 34 million last month. That growth is all the more striking when you consider how short the month was.

Of course, all that premium video viewing means the site will have scads more ad inventory, and we'll be watching to see how well it manages to sell that space. Of course Hulu's marketshare is still tiny compared with YouTube, which hosts 41 percent of all videos viewed, but given its premium content, it's vastly more saleable.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 24, 2009

Google Responds to Behavioral Targeting Questions - Sort of

Privacy groups were up-in-arms when Google announced recently it would start testing behavioral ads in its AdSense network. Now the company has responded to inquiries about the new ad targeting -- but not to the privacy concerns.

Yesterday Google's AdSense blog listed answers to "the most common questions" about what it refers to as "interest-based advertising." Among the questions is one about whether AdSense will no longer serve contextual and placement-targeted ads. Not to worry, says Google. "Interest-based ads will compete in the same ad auction as contextually- and placement-targeted ads, and we'll continue to show only the ad(s) that will generate highest earnings for [publishers]," notes the post.

Google does touch on privacy though. Publishers are told to update their privacy policies by April 8th (a day before the new targeting will begin). Of particular relevance, the new privacy policy states, "Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet." I don't know what it said before, but I'm guessing the bit about "other sites" is new.

Even if an AdSense publisher opts-out of enabling all the behavioral ad targeting capabilities, the privacy policy change is required. Here's why: "This is because your site may still show ads based on a user's previous interactions with an advertiser, such as past visits to that advertiser's site."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twitter Accepts Its First Ad Payment, Will 'Suggest' ExecTweets

In what may technically be its first ad deal, Twitter is accepting payment from Microsoft and John Battelle's Federated Media Publishing to promote ExecTweets, a service that aggregates tweets from top business executives.

According to FM Publishing, ExecTweets is "a real-time tool that helps you to find, follow and engage with the world's most prolific and successful business executives on Twitter."

While FM says ExecTweets does not represent an important revenue model for the service, Twitter's leadership has given the ad seller its blessing. In a post to the company's blog, founder Biz Stone wrote, "if you're a major brand and you want to sponsor a topic-focused social media experience with Twitter, we suggest Federated Media -- they'll fix you up right."

On a first glance, the interface would appear to have been rolled out a bit prematurely. For instance, the media and advertising category -- where FM should be well-equipped to generate rapid value -- is slim pickings for anyone not exclusively interested in Web publishing. Featured here is a who's who of overexposed digerati: Joi Ito, Guy Kawasaki, Tim O'Reilly, and Pete Blackshaw.

Whatever its flaws, ExecTweets is notable for one big reason. It appears to be the first time any brand has worked with Twitter on a paid basis. While its not clear how much Twitter received from Microsoft for supporting and promoting the tool, Battelle wrote in a blog post that "Federated Media felt that Twitter should share some of the revenue associated with ExecTweets since this project is made possible using their open platform."

A noble sentiment to be sure. However FM stands to benefit greatly -- arguably more than Twitter -- by being the first to engage the thunderously popular service in a paid relationship of any kind. That is a huge selling point for any ad seller.

For its part, Twitter must tread carefully. Having agreed to promote ExecTweets on its homepage and "suggested users" page, the company must now give careful thought to disclosure to avoid provoking user skepticism every time it recommends a product or Twitter user.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 7:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 23, 2009

RNC's New New Media Guy a Web Video Guru

The new head of new media for the Republican National Committee knows Web video. Todd Herman, the RNC's just-named New Media Director was with Microsoft till 2007; there he served as GM media strategy and monetization for MSN. According to an RNC press release, he "wrote the initial strategy and business plan for [the] MSN Video Product Unit."

I'm sure what observers will be wondering now is can this guy operate in the world of politics? And, what exactly does the head of new media at the RNC do anyway? Is it the same role as Cyrus Krohn, the RNC's former cyber strategist, held until recently

Maybe Herman's outside-the-beltway roots will be seen as a plus among people who liked Krohn for the fact that he was more a tech guy than a mere party guy. But don't think he's apolitical. Apparently he was a radio talk show host in his younger years and his show assisted in toppling House Speaker Thomas Foley '94.

If anything, the move seems to indicate RNC Chairman Michael Steele is dedicated to pushing the RNC toward a digital-centric future.

"Todd brings the kind of outside of the beltway, real-world experience to Washington D.C. and to our party that we need as we reclaim the lead in the use of digital media to communicate with America," noted Steele in the release.

According to the press release he is a "Christian, husband and father."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Quote of the Day: Departing Design Lead Attacks Google's Data Fetish

"When a company is filled with engineers, it turns to engineering to solve problems. Reduce each decision to a simple logic problem. Remove all subjectivity and just look at the data. Data in your favor? Ok, launch it. Data shows negative effects? Back to the drawing board. And that data eventually becomes a crutch for every decision, paralyzing the company and preventing it from making any daring design decisions."

"Yes, it's true that a team at Google couldn't decide between two blues, so they're testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better. I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case. I can't operate in an environment like that. I've grown tired of debating such minuscule design decisions. There are more exciting design problems in this world to tackle."

-Douglas Bowman, visual design lead at Google, blogging his reasons for leaving the company. Bowman said he joined in hopes of guiding Google toward a new design approach, but the company wouldn't go there. "I won't miss a design philosophy that lives or dies strictly by the sword of data," he said.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 20, 2009

OPA's Ad Program: Extra Large Units Not Yet in Circulation

Did you spot that enormous swath of blue and green on the New York Times homepage today? Did you wonder for a minute if it might be part of the new test of XXL formats unveiled by the Online Publishers Association. You're not alone. Silicon Alley Insider was among those to speculate that the ad for Lowe's (displayed below) is one of the new units offered through the recent program to create more impactful display advertising.

Turns out the ad has nothing to do with the program. A spokesperson for the Times just told me the Lowe's unit is one NYTimes.com has used before. She said the site has pledged to offer at least one of the OPA units by July 1st.

An OPA rep confirmed the new ad units had not begun to appear. She said if the ad unit were part of the program, the ad would move down the page as a user scrolled down.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spiral Frog Croaks, Burdened by Debt and Unproven Ad Model

Spiral Frog, one of the early entrees in the ad-supported music area, has ceased operations. The company's Web site went dark yesterday evening and its assets forked over to creditors, according to CNET. During its fleeting three years in business, the company endured many problems, including unwilling labels, management in-fighting, and DRM problems. The killing blow may have been a $10 million debt burden it just couldn't keep up with, details of which were reported by Digital Music News last month.

After making a splash in mid-2006 with a deal to distribute free, ad-supported music from Universal Music Group and EMI, Spiral Frog struggled to pick up additionally studio partners. It launched officially in September 2007, but faced wide skepticism in light of its incompatibility with Apple devices.

Did advertiser interest, or lack thereof, play a part in Spiral Frog's failure? It's likely. In an era where digital marketers are cutting their experimental ad buys, it's arguably tough for any audio-based ad service to make the cut. Additionally, Spiral Frog is the second ad-supported music service to shut down recently. CNET noted a similar service, Ruckus, called it quits last month. Remaining in the market is QTrax, a peer-to-peer download service that's still in beta. In light of the struggles faced by its competitors, one wonders when -- or if -- version 1.0 will come along.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

March 19, 2009

A Modest Proposal for the Online Ad Industry

Like most people clued into the security and privacy issues surrounding digital advertising, I understand why people are concerned about them, and why some have called for better disclosure of what data is gathered and how it's employed and stored.

But that doesn't mean I wasn't surprised to read about what marketing professor Joseph Turow of the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania thinks is a good solution.

According to Saul Hansell's NYTimes.com Bits blog post, Turow wants online ads to feature "an icon on each ad that signifies that the ad collects or uses information about users. If you click the icon, you will go to what he calls a 'privacy dashboard' that will let you understand exactly what information was used to choose that ad for you. And you'll have the opportunity to edit the information or opt out of having any targeting done at all."

Here's some more insight into Turow's grand scheme: "You will see what part of [the ad] was customized -- the product, the price, the image and so on. You will also see the data used -- your surfing habits, outside data vendors, inferences from your I.P. address, etc. You can click to learn more specifics about exactly where the data came from and to delete or modify the information used about you."

Imagine the logistics. That would mean not only immediately presenting data from multiple players -- advertisers, publishers, and who knows how many third party tech firms -- but translating it in a way that would be comprehensible to your average Joe. If it were possible -- and I imagine it's not IMpossible -- could the user be confident that the data displayed indeed represents the entirety of the data employed to serve that particular ad?

There are so many variables a play in targeting, optimizing and customizing online ads, if something like this were to gain momentum as a good solution, the online ad industry would go into a tailspin.

Again, I totally understand the privacy and security concerns, many of which are very legit. But I have to wonder, why just online ads? Why aren't other media held to these standards? Consumers would turn pale if they knew what kind of data direct mail marketers know about them.

I'm not saying the online advertising industry couldn't use some cleaning up, more disclosure, etc. But this is still an incredibly young and quickly evolving industry involving technologies that change everyday. Could such a proposed method actually keep up with the rapid pace of transformation?

And what could it do to the only advertising sector that's actually growing in these gloomy economic times?

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

March 18, 2009

Short Term Memory Loss re:Google/WPP OCTOBER Deal?

Anybody else trying to figure out what's new about the Google research deal with WPP that's been making headlines today? According to Wall Street Journal coverage, "The ad holding company and the Internet giant have teamed up to fund research on how ads in traditional and digital media work together with consumer choices."

The firms are committing a combined $4.6 million to the project.

Funny thing, the two firms said back in October they're committing the same amount of money to pretty much the same thing. According to our October coverage, the companies would be engaging in a "joint research program to look into how online media influences consumer behavior, attitudes, and decision making."

It seems that, 5 months later, the companies were willing to talk in more detail about the actual types of research studies they'll be commissioning. The Journal story -- titled, "WPP, Google to Fund Web-Ad Research, Duo Will Spend $4.6 Million on Business Analyses, Psychological Studies" -- mentions study topics to "determine the best ways to allocate ad spending between traditional and digital media, as well as how online ads affect a company's sales and brand image. Another will use psychology and neuroscience to analyze how the brain determines whether Web ads are relevant."

As my colleague Enid Burns noted in October, here's yet another example of Google trying to buddy up with agencies in the hopes of scoring brand ad dollars. (Ok, Enid put it a lot more eloquently).

I look forward to next week's headlines about Google's new partnership with Publicis. (They announced one of those early last year.)

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Free Webinar Today: Post-Click Marketing

Bryan Eisenberg, FutureNow cofounder, will discuss, "Post-Click Marketing: Maximizing Conversions Once Visitors Arrive," at a free ClickZ-Search Engine Watch Webcast today at 1 p.m. EDT / 10 a.m. PDT.

Bryan, a ClickZ Experts columnist, will explain how to transform your visitor's journey from first click through the completion of Web site's forms (both retail and lead gen) to maximize conversions.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

March 16, 2009

U.K. Online Ad Spend Up 17% in Q4, but Growth Slowing

U.K. ad spend declined across all mediums besides online during the fourth quarter of 2008, according to numbers released today by the World Advertising Research Center on behalf of the Advertising Association.

Despite advertiser cutbacks, the report states that online achieved a 17.3 percent year-on-year increase in spend during Q4 - substantial growth when compared with newspaper spend which suffered a 12 percent fall, and TV which accrued a 4.9 percent decrease. Online growth did slow dramatically, however, falling from a 39.5 percent increase between Q4 '06 and Q4 '07.

Overall, total U.K. ad spend fell by 3.9 percent in 2008, while spending in Q4 recorded a decline of 9.6 percent year-on-year.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did Tim Armstrong Unfound Associated Content?

Associated Content has been criticized for helping to fuel poor-quality Web content, but is it rewriting history, too?

Since Tim Armstrong, once touted as co-founder of AC, has been making headlines for ditching Google to take the CEO role at AOL, I figured I'd poke around the AC site and see what his affiliation with the firm is currently. Well, lo and behold, Armstrong's name seems to have been scrubbed from the corporate info on the site. Once more than willing to broadcast that Armstrong was a co-founder of AC, the company's site currently states, "Associated Content was founded by Luke Beatty in Denver, Colorado, in 2005."

I guess Armstrong went back in time and disassociated himself.

AC has been the subject of criticism over the years for serving to contribute to the clutter of spammy sites loaded with invaluable content used solely for link building to boost search rankings. I was one of if not its first public critic, and the likes of Gawker and WebProNews followed.

UPDATE I asked AC when Armstrong left the company's board - he was also a board member. According to a spokesperson, he left the board in March 2008, but "He's still an active investor."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 13, 2009

McCain's Got a Basketball Jones

John McCain's bracket picks are back. You might recall his 2008 presidential campaign's use of a NCAA basketball-related message to drum up signups. Now his Country First PAC is getting in on the game. From the e-mail, subject line: "McCain Basketball Brackets Challenge is Back":

March is here and that means it's almost time to fill out your basketball bracket! For the past two years, thousands of people have enjoyed comparing their picks to John McCain's, and this year is no exception. Sign up today and you'll receive an invitation to join John McCain's bracket group. You may even receive an autographed copy of John McCain's bestselling book, Faith of My Fathers.

With the games tipping off next week, make sure to sign up today to receive your invitation to join the Country First basketball bracket group!

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 12, 2009

Twitter as Pledge Drive: Micro-Celebrities Cash in for Good Causes

If you run in digital ad circles, you probably brushed up against Tide's charity contest last night. At the event -- structured as a contest -- interactive agencies, senior execs of major Web companies, and P&G's internal marketing brains converged to compare notes and raise cash for charity.

The proceedings were structured this way: Those present were divided into four teams, competing through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other channels to see who could sell the most Tide t-shirts at $20 a pop. $50K in e-commerce sales, doubled by P&G matching funds, were raised for the non-profit Feeding America.

Contestants used various tactics, including paid media, video and coupons. But the preponderance of activity seemed to be around social platforms -- in particular Twitter.

"I'm looking at charity T-Shirt sales LIVE right now," Deep-Focus CEO Ian Schafer twittered to his nearly 2,000 followers."If your company buys 50 shirts at http://www.tide2.com I'll take you to a Mets game."

The way Schafer and other contestants used Twitter at P&G is similar to how public radio broadcasters raise money. In fact, at least one listener-supported station has been using Twitter this way. WFMU in Jersey City has been hitting up its 2,470 or so Twitter followers to tune in and give during the station's annual fund drive, which is wrapping up this week.

One of the station's programs -- Tom Scharpling's "Best Show on WFMU" -- went a step further, using multiple Twitter accounts to raise dough. Friends of the show, including author and famous person John Hodgman (@Hodgman) and comedian Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins), appeared in-studio for the pledge drive and while on the air asked their Twitter followers to tune in and pledge. It's hard to say how much credit those efforts, and Scharpling's too, deserve for the $120,000-plus in pledges "Best Show" eventually brought to the station.

Tomkins and Hodgman are far better known than Ian Schafer and Pete Blackshaw, who are both anonymous outside the interactive ad sector. But they're still not huge in the grand scheme of American celebrity. Yet all four of them have enough clout to use burbles of text to sway at least a few fans to give for a good cause.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Reports on Parliament's Behavioral Targeting Talk Miss the Point

A number of news reports from yesterday's Parliamentary event on behavioral advertising appear to have missed the crux of the debate, and have, in my opinion, wrongfully implied that members of the panel were denouncing the practice of behaviorally targeted online advertising.

Speaking with ClickZ today, Robb Topolski, a software engineer and U.S. Federal Communications Commission panel member who sat on yesterday's panel, said, "For the panel, the primary position was, 'The middle of the Internet should not be used for an electronic monitoring point.' Certainly there are some who will want to discuss the privacy and data storage implications of 'traditional' behavioral advertising as performed by Google or Revenue Science or many others. It's an important, but different debate."

Contrary to some reports, Tim Berners-Lee, for instance, did not express concerns surrounding behavioral targeting in general, but instead questioned the way in which data for this targeting is collected. During yesterday's session, these questions applied specifically to ISP-level targeting offered by companies such as Phorm and NebuAd, and not to the publisher-led and ad network solutions currently on offer from firms such as Audience Science (formerly Revenue Science), Specific Media, and as of yesterday, Google.

In fact, Berners-Lee seemingly expressed support for the practice, providing that data was not intercepted by ISPs themselves. "I don't have a problem with behavioral advertising; I think it's an improvement, but there are so many ways to do it without ISPs snooping," he said.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 11, 2009

Has the Search Ad Slump Arrived? It Depends How You Define Slump.

Google's unexpectedly great fourth quarter earnings may have been its last truly upbeat news for awhile, as indicators begin to pile up suggesting the recession has caught up to search.

Agencies have begun to say publicly and privately that their clients are spending less on search advertising -- or at least less than they'd expected. Razorfish noted last week that while the category has so far been relatively inoculated against the fall-off in demand that's hurt display ad sellers, that will change. "We do anticipate that as budgets tighten, search will also be impacted by the economy this year," the agency said in its Digital Outlook Report this week.

Meanwhile a survey of search marketing pros suggests spending will increase by about 9 percent this year, to $14.7 billion. That may sound like the search business is still riding a gravy train, but the growth rate would be less than half what was projected in 2007.

"Issues constraining growth include the global economic recession, which affects both demand and supply-side factors, including a drop in inventory in certain categories as consumers scale back spending (and consequently searches)," according to the report. "However, the global recession also means advertisers are looking for the accountability and efficiency provided by search engine marketing."

The recession's ongoing impact on search budgets will become more clear when Google reports its Q1 earnings next month. Eric Schmidt, speaking at an investor conference last week, acknowledged Google is "not immune" to the increasingly generalized economic pain. However any negative impact on the search marketplace as a whole will likely mean slower growth for Google; bets are the company will not lose money. As Schmidt put it in January, "We're certainly prepared to get through this no problem."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

March 10, 2009

In Odd Move, Local.com Nabs 14K Small Biz Clients from Live Deal

Here's an oddball local ad deal if ever there was one. Local.com announced this morning it will "acquire" 14,000 small business customers from Live Deal. Live Deal itself will not be sold, but rather will surrender management of those customer listings to Local.com, which will charge them about $33 per month for listings on Local.com and other sites.

While certainly unique and inventive on Local.com's part, the arrangement doesn't speak well for how small businesses perceive some online marketing opportunities. The fact that Live Deal is able to transfer customers to another company in a straight cash deal (up to $3.1 million, to be completed this month) suggests those marketers -- presuming they go along with it -- don't much care how their marketing fees are spent on the Web. Perhaps this won't come as news to those who know how beleaguered (and frankly Web-ignorant) many regional business owners are, but if they are so blithely willing to be foisted off on a new ad management partner, then the value they perceive from the interactive channel is arguably lower than local digital ad boosters might have hoped.

For Local.com, the deal brings its customer count to 30,000, a big step toward its goal of amassing 50,000 local business advertisers by the end of the year.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

ClickZ at Politics Online Conference in D.C. in April

I'll be moderating a panel at this year's Politics Online Conference in D.C. on Tuesday, April 21. This is the premier annual online politics event, hosted by George Washington University. I'm glad to have been asked to participate again! My panel is billed as "Social Media Analytics: Monitor, Measure and Manage Your Reputation on the Wild Wild Web of Social Media."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 6, 2009

Faith No More Goes to 11 (Yrs Between Blog Posts, That Is)

All you viral, WOM marketers out there will get a kick outta this. Some of you may remember Faith No More, the alt-metal band popular in the early 90s. Well, apparently they're back from the dead, according to a recent blog post:

"Meanwhile we find ourselves at a moment in time with zero label obligations, still young and strong enough to deliver a kickass set, with enthusiasm to not only revisit our past but possibly add something to the present. And so with this we've decided to hold our collective breaths and jump off this cliff....BACK, GOD FORBID, INTO THE MONKEY CAGE!!!"

But the blog could be the ultimate study in how NOT to blog. That is, don't wait eleven years to publish your second post. Perhaps if these guys actually had a more robust social media presence all these years, there might be more of a fan base who actually cares that they are back together.

And you thought the fact that they let that fish almost die at the end of their video was bad....

Thanks to WFMU's Twitter feed for the tip...

UPDATE: I'm loving all these comments, below, even though most of them fail to recognize that this post was not about the quality or viability of Faith No More or its music. I was merely commenting on the lack of regular posts on the FNM.com site.

I do want to acknowledge, that as some have mentioned in the comments, the band does have a Facebook page which appears to be updated regularly, and the band's bassist Billy Gould has a Twitter account, which looks like it was started earlier this month.

Also -- the band does not appear to have an official site, although it looks as though they may use the FNM.com site going forward since Gould links to it on his Twitter bio.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)

Quote of the Day: Tiara in the Toilet

"[GoFish] was a tiara in the toilet," says Matt Freeman, CEO at Betawave, the company formerly known as GoFish, in an interview with BusinessWeek. Question is, who's going to have to wear that tiara once he fishes it out of the toilet?

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YouTube and Universal Teaming Up to Better Monetize Video?

Google's YouTube and Universal Music are in advanced discussions surrounding the launch of an ad-supported music video hub, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal suggests the arrangement, dubbed 'Vevo,' could see YouTube working with the label to better exploit its video content by providing a more attractive environment for advertisers. The report, which cites "people familiar with the matter," also states that YouTube could provide sales support and aid content distribution to third party sites.

YouTube already has licensing agreements in place with Universal, through which the label is entitled to a share of the ad revenue generated through its content. Presumably, Universal is hoping any new deal will help extract greater revenues from this content. The WSJ also suggests YouTube could be in discussions to offer a similar service to other major labels.

A Google spokesperson would not confirm or deny the report, citing the firm's policy on not commenting on "rumor or speculation."

Posted by Jack Marshall at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 3, 2009

Yahoo's Bartz Makes the Call to Cut Ads in Some Regions

Yahoo's freshman CEO recently made the call to reduce the number of ads the company displays to its Mail users in low-bandwidth regions. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Tech Conference, Carol Bartz said the decision was made to improve performance in places where connection speeds were hindering the user experience with the company's core product.

"We have to keep Mail core especially as we're building our international properties," she said.

Doubtless the move also had something to do with what the company can make from those ads. Especially in developing countries, where audience growth is more imperative than revenue, the CPMs it can command for such inventory don't justify the negative buzz or lost loyalty that result from slow page load times.

In other comments, Bartz said online advertising has become "same old, same old" in recent years, but that "class 1" advertiser spend is coming back, and that Yahoo remains well positioned to ride that wave. She says Yahoo has benefited as media buyers have consolidated their spend with one or two ad sellers.

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

CNBC Latest NBC Offering in Google's TV Lineup

Ah...the beauty of digital vs. traditional media: things can disappear so easily (and we don't even need a memory hole).The latest example is Google's "Let's Take it Offline" blog, once dedicated to the latest news from Google's TV, Audio and Print ad teams. Now, after shuttering the other two, it's just "the latest news from the Google TV Ads team."

Anyway, the latest news is that Google has added CNBC to its network lineup, following its deal with NBC Universal. "You can reach affluent males by targeting CNBC network and its popular business news content, including programs like Fast Money, Power Lunch, and Squawk Box," notes the blog post. Google also plans to make inventory from MSNBC, Oxygen and SciFi available "in the coming months."

Will advertisers bite? Well, I talked to a lot of people about the program for a
recent ClickZ story on Google TV, and it seems as though the company has yet to see an influx of smaller search advertisers using the service, which has appealed mainly to direct response TV advertisers.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft Testing New Brand, Features for Live Search

Microsoft is testing a new identity and interface for Windows Live Search that it hopes will accelerate its conquest of consumer search activity. The name given to the experimental new version of the service, Kumo.com, is one of a handful of possible new monikers. According to a memo from SVP Satya Nadella, obtained by the Times, new features such as a rollover preview and single-session history will enhance the experience.

"We believe we can provide a better and more useful search experience that helps you not just search but accomplish tasks," he wrote. "During the test, features will vary by country, but you'll see results organized in a way that saves you more time."

Testing is so far limited to internal staff at Microsoft.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 2, 2009

Standout Ads: Sleight of Hand Beats Grotesquery in Banner Creative

Wiggling insurance ads, flab-in-your-face diet pitches, and other ham-handed attempts to commandeer our attention online using banner ad space show no signs of letting up. However there are many great ads out there, and we industry reporters should be talking more about them.

To my mind some of the most impactful banners in recent memory use subtlety, not grotesquery, to confound our expectations of IAB standard units and make a point. Take the latest in Apple's series of groundbreaking roadblock experiences on NYTimes.com. In the screen caps below, you'll see what may be the most understated floating ad execution in history. It's blink-and-you'll-miss-it creative innovation at its best.

Seen a great ad? Post a comment here or send me an email and I may blog about it.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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