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June 25, 2008

Sarah Fay, the Real Deal

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

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

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

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

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

June 13, 2008

ClickZ Welcomes Denuo's Todd Krieger

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

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

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

Welcome, Todd!

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

May 30, 2008

The Heat is on 50 Cent

Online video is a knife that cuts both ways for rapper 50 Cent.

While ClickZ today examined how 50 Cent uses online video to build brand loyalty, a video on celebrity gossip site TMZ is bringing attention to problems in his personal life.

A multi-million dollar home -- and the center of dispute between 50 Cent and an ex-girlfriend --- was destroyed in a suspicious fire. Six people, including 50 Cent's 10-year-old son, went sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation and were released, according to the Associated Press.

In a video interview on TMZ.com, 50 Cent's former girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins said she and 50 Cent were fighting over the house. She also complained that 50 Cent "made no contact to see how his son is doing" after the fire.

Newsday.com reported that 50 Cent was in Louisiana at the time of the fire. According to reports, his spokesman said any suggestion that the rapper was involved in the incident is "outrageous."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 13, 2008

Entrepreneurs: Random Musings on Web's Past and Future

A group of top tech entrepreneurs paneled in New York tonight. Talk was lively, if not deep, given the audience ofINSEAD alums hailed mainly from the relatively distant shores of Wall Street.

Discussion encompassed online media and marketing. Some highlights:

Start-up vet Kevin Ryan was anything but bullish on mobile. "Not one single company in mobile is valued at $1 billion. The carriers are blocking all the innovation."

Moderator Henry Blodgett asked the panel how to fix newspapers. Bain Capital Group's Daniel Allen thinks they ought to capitalize on their relationships with local advertisers and teach them the ropes of online marketing.

What's hot that should be not? The Ladders co-founder Alexandre Douzet thinks Ning's value lies primarily in co-founder Marc Andressen's name. Indeed's Paul Forster votes for Twitter's lack of a business model.

And while there was general agreement things are about to get a little grim, none of these entrepreneurs believe online is on the verge of a recession that even approaches the severity of the last bubble, or dot-bomb. Ryan laughingly reminisced about a week in 2000 when he went skiing and DoubleClick's market cap soared $1 billion while his out-of-the-office e-mail auto-responder was, essentially, running the company.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 9:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 21, 2008

ClickZ's Kate Kaye Promoted to Senior Editor

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 18, 2008

Nicholas Carr: Google Rewiring the World

Declaring "we're at a major turning point in the history of computing," author Nicholas Carr today said major change is underway with ramifications for business, commerce, marketing, media, and the society.

Carr, author of "The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google," likens the change in running computer systems to electricity generation.

In the second half of the 19th century, factory owners had to build and operate their own power generation facilities. Then, between 1910 and 1930, electricity generation shifted from manufacturers to centralized utility companies, which distributed power at lower cost thanks to economies of scale. With that change came an "explosion of innovation at the socket," said Carr, speaking at SES New York.

Computing, he said, is moving to a similar model as electricity. It's becoming available for less money -- a trend that too, will result in technological innovations that will affect businesses and consumers alike. And Google, which is building data centers and offering applications online, is one of the companies leading the new computing approach.

Consider these trends: software as media (e.g., Google) and media taking on characteristics of technology companies (e.g., NBC's entertainment "portal").

Plus, innovation is coming from companies with far smaller staffs than their traditional counterparts. When eBay purchased Skype, the Internet telephony service had only 200 employees and served the same number of customers as BT, the British telecom service, which employed 100,000. Likewise, Craigslist publishes an online classified ad network with only 20 employees, a fraction of the number of people selling ads in newspapers and other publications.

"Whenever you have technological and economic change of this magnitude, it's difficult to predict" what will happen, he warned.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 10, 2008

Live By the Crowd, Die By the Crowd

The SXSW conference has been all about bottom-up media; individuals and crowds creating, selecting and elevating content above and beyond whats doled out to them by traditional media outlets and corporations.

Sure, Business Week journalist Sarah Lacy's keynote interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg yesterday was a trainwreck, an abortion, went down in flames and every other metaphor for disaster. Why? Because Sarah was all about Sarah, all the time (except when she was dissing her audience). The media took her to task for it. So did the blogosphere and the Twittersphere (to which her "screw all you guys" response bears special mention).

In real time.

Her self-justification in this YouTube interview only makes something bad something much worse indeed.

Ironically, Sarah has, in unifying thousands of conference attendees against her (and providing the burning topic for conversation at last night's parties) become the most valuable object lesson in what's so endlessly discussed here in Austin. The word made flesh.

If you doubt the pundits, experts, panelists and pontificators, the Story of Sarah proves them right. In a highly weird way, it's almost the best thing that could have happened here. Except, of course, for Sarah herself.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 4, 2008

Welcome to NYC, Space150

Space150, a creative agency based in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (better known as Minnesota) has set up shop in New York City.

The firm marked its arrival with an open house last week at its second-floor loft in fashionable SoHo.

The agency's headed up by William Jurewicz, chief executive and creative director. The firm worked with American Express to redesign the financial service's expresspay site and "We are the Web" on its Net neutrality project.

At the open house, I got a chance to meet Space150's team members, including Lori Yeager, vice president; John Grudnowski, director of modern media; Marc Jensen, technology director; Troy Linck, director of account management, and Jarrod Riddle, associate creative director.

Nice digs!

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 8, 2008

How to Profit from Online Publishing? Start Here

Okay, so you don't know what an Underwood is. Even if you don't -- and you're in publishing -- you're still probably trying to figure out how to make money from online publishing.

Today, we welcome back interactive media strategist Vin Crosbie as a ClickZ Experts columnist.

Vin's one of two pros writing for ClickZ about online publishing. They'll guide traditional and online publishers on how to navigate the difficult terrain.

Next week, look for digital strategist Lee Huang's new online publishing column here. Now a consultant, Lee previously was director, digital strategy and product R&D, at Nielsen Business Media, which includes Billboard and Adweek.

BTW, long-time ClickZ readers should remember Vin. He offered his insights about online publishing in a ClickZ column from 2002 to 2004.

These days, Vin's been very busy. He's a professor and consultant at Syracuse University and is managing partner of consutancy Digital Deliverance. And

Welcome Vin and Lee!

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 27, 2007

Benazir Bhutto, A Voice Silenced

Three days before her assassination, Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto made an online appeal for donations. "The Pakistan People's Party is ready to lead our beloved country into a brighter future of prosperity, peace, and security," she wrote.

Bhutto showed a knack for using the Internet to get attention. Most notable, Pakistan's former prime minister explained in a Huffington Post blog back in September why she was returning to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai. "My husband and children accept and understand that my political responsibilities to the people of Pakistan come first," she explained at the time.

And, her Pakistan People's Party Web site provided a mechanism for supporters to make an online campaign contribution before Pakistan's election on January 8. The Web site, she wrote, "makes it possible for friends of Pakistan to participate in the democratic process, even from a distance."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 25, 2007

Two Views of Advertising's Future

Author and academic Douglas Rushkoff sounded a wake-up call to advertisers and marketers: your business will be dead unless you work with companies and products that produce exciting products that inspire you.

Likewise, David Weinberger, co-author of "The Cluetrain Manifesto" and a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Institute for Internet and Society, said companies can no longer control and manage product marketing. "Real marketing [that's] people talking with one another," he said, referring to social media. "We need to respect these conversations, honor them. Not intrude."

Rushkoff and Weinberger discussed advertising's past and prognosticated on its future on Wednesday at a ClickZ 10th anniversary dinner and awards ceremony celebrating a decade of innovation and excellence in online marketing and advertising.

Rushkoff exhorted marketers to convince their clients to come up with compelling products. "Teach them how to get back into the business they are in," he said. "Then you don't have to make up a story about them."

While the broadcast advertising model is based on developing one message for many, Weinberger said that's a dangerous model. "By having more generic messages, you end up dumbing down messages. That's disastrous in the political sphere…it's a disaster for democracy," he warned.

Rebecca Lieb, ClickZ's editor-in-chief, looked at interactive's highlights and low points during the decade. Remember when, she said, venture capitalists -- not hedge fund managers -- were rock stars. Or when advertisers had to be reminded to add URLs to print and broadcast campaigns? How about vortals?

"My Dad would get excited when he’d find articles I wrote online. So excited that he’d print them out and mail them to me from his home in Arizona," she said.

On a more serious note, Lieb recognized that the interactive industry survived tough times. "We pulled through. The industry pulled through. You pulled through, too. And now, we're mainstream, not margin," she said.

For "ClickZ Marketing Excellence Awards: The First Decade," Google was named "Innovation of the Decade." Other awards were given for best products, services, businesses, and people who made the most significant overall contribution to the industry.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 25, 2007

Reach & Frequency: RIP

Shuttling back and forth between MIXX and OMMA during New York's Advertising Week has been more hectic than rewarding (two simultaneous conferences in the same city is bad for the industry, guys, not to mention speakers, exhibitors and vendors).

While it's impossible to catch everything, overall the discussions at both events has largely underwhelmed. Too many "it's about the user" and "the consumer is in control" platitudes.

So it was refreshing to hear CEO of both Carat and Isobar US this morning with a more tangible take on the state of the industry. Reach and frequency are over, said Sarah. "I do not believe an agency can succeed by putting a good media plan together." Rhetorically, she asked, "what is YouTube, creative or media?"

Bottom line, Carat is saying that the brands that will win are the ones whose consumers tell the best stories. Instead of mere B2C advertising, the new model, she argues, should be B2C + C2C (consumer-to-consumer) campaigns. As an example, she cites client Adidas' MySpace page, engendering 21.5M brand encounters per month (page visits, downloadable media, etc.).

This following an audit of one year of adidas advertising from which it was determined yielded a total of 6 minutes of contact with the target consumer. "That didn't make any of us feel happy."

None of this is earth-shatteringly new, of course. What's impressive are the data Carat is using to back up their claims.

Sarah closed her talk with an example of regression analysis. Paint a house, and like an advertising campaign, its value starts going down from Day One. C2C advertising is "more like planting a tree."

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 29, 2007

Commercial Alert Executive Director Steps Down

Gary Ruskin, who as co-founder and executive director of Commercial Alert has waged a mini-campaign against P&G's Tremor unit and other online word of mouth efforts, is stepping down after contracting Lyme disease.

Ruskin wrote in an email to constituents today that he's unable to work and will be replaced by longtime commercial alert advisor Robert Weissman. He'll remain on the board however.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 21, 2007

Ajello Departs Agency.com

Agency.com Group Creative Director Tom Ajello is moving on after nearly three years with the firm. He joined the agency's itraffic subsidiary in 2004 and became briefly notorious last year for spearheading Agency.com's YouTube pitch for Subway. The company is interviewing candidates to replace him as head of creative for its New York office. His is the latest in a string of executive departures at Agency.com.

"This has been a tough decision for Tom, but he is ready to move on to a bigger role that was not available to him at Agency.com," the company said in a statement. The statement added Ajello is a new father and will spend time with his new baby before pursuing future opportunities.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 22, 2007

Bloglines Founder Launches B2B Resource for Smallest Start-ups

Mark Fletcher, who founded Bloglines, the preferred feed reader of four out of five ClickZ reporters, has launched an online resource for start-ups and the entrepreneurs behind them. No ads yet, but Startupping.com would appear to hit a sweet spot for B2B marketers, judging from a recent Jupiter Research finding that owners of the tiniest businesses are extremely heavy Web users.

The site has forums, blogs, a wiki-driven start-up guide and special features, such as a "best decision/worst mistake" feature on the homepage right now with commentary from notorious Web entrepreneurs.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 9, 2007

dMarc Founders Exit Google

Chad and Ryan Steelberg, the founders of dMarc broadcasting, acquired only a year ago by Google, have moved on.

Google issued a brief statement emphasizing its ongoing commitment to "the audio business."

"We will continue to gather feedback during the Audio Ads beta test and are happy with the progress to date," the statement said. "We remain focused on delivering value to the radio industry as we continue to expand radio station inventory and enhance the product so that it's ready for all advertisers."

The news was first reported by PaidContent yesterday.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 11, 2006

Microsoft May Scuttle 'Live' Branding

If you haven't followed all the ins and outs of Microsoft's efforts around search and online services, the New York Times has a good up-to-the-moment summation. The story centers on Steve Berkowitz, former steward of Ask and now head of Redmond's online business group, and the befuddling pile of Internet brands he's inherited.

ClickZ's own Kevin Lee is quoted here, to the effect that Widows Live hasn't earned the verb status Google and Yahoo have. That's clear. Office Live and Windows Live simply haven't taken off as brands, and according to Berkowitz himself, may eventually be scuttled. “I don’t know if Live is the right name," he told the Times. For the moment though he's more focused on improving the search experience.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 7, 2006

Our Condolences James Kim and Family

We at ClickZ would like to express our heartfelt sympathy to the family of CNET technology journalist James Kim.

CNET has set up a site where everyone can leave thoughts and condolences for the Kim family and there is a separate site for donations.

Posted by Enid Burns at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 20, 2006

Yahoo's Goober Peas

"A peanut sat on a railroad track, His heart was all a-flutter, Round the bend came number ten. Toot! Toot! Peanut butter!" –children's song

The industry's heart was all a'flutter over Yahoo's goober peas only a few short months ago. Then came the now-famous Semel/Decker guidance warning in September, closely followed by a NY Times smackdown about the company's lagging efforts in technology, media deals and talent retention.

And now it's come to this: A leaked internal memo, written by "Communities and Front Doors" SVP Brad Garlinghouse to top Yahoo management, comparing the company's sprawling services and revenue streams to thinly-spread peanut butter. And, in case the metaphor isn't clear, Garlinghouse writes, "I hate peanut butter." See Paul Kedrosky for the full memo.

Another day, another exhortative internal communiqué from a big-three Web giant. It was only last month that Sergey Brin issued his mandate that Google engineers should improve existing products before developing new ones. Yahoo's call to action hasn't been received as nicely as Brin's however.

There are a couple points missing the analysis I've seen this morning. One is that this memo is fully a month old, since it references "last Thursday's" NY Times article," actually published on October 11. So it should really be thought of as a self-inflicted lash added to the week long flogging the company took then, rather than a recent continuation of it. The other is that Garlinghouse is clearly not a top insider (e.g. "I imagine there's much discussion amongst the Company's senior most leadership around the challenges we face.") So why are we so eager to hear his plea, which was clearly directed skyward? Maybe because it's a memo, and memos are only written by top executives. The rest of us just send e-mail.

I'm not saying Garlinghouse doesn't make good points -- "sculpt the strategy" and "lose non-core and redundant assets" both seem sage pieces of advice -- or that Yahoo isn't struggling. There's clearly a consensus that the company has been blindsided by the sheer number of new sites and channels where automotive and financial advertisers can divvy up their ad spend. But those sectors are the only places where it's admittedly seen weakness, discounting its ongoing search woe. And the heavily critical response to the "peanut butter manifesto" seems to me out of proportion to the proof of crisis that spawned the memo. We shouldn't forget the company's successful acquisitions of many start-ups (take flickr, stewarded much more skillfully than Google's Blogger). The company's talent for acquisition was expressed well this morning on the blog of start-up Tabblo, in a post called "Screw all of this Yahoo bashing":

Yahoo is indeed facing a formidable set of challenges, but we should all take a moment to be clear on the fact that it would be a much worse world for all of us little startups if the big purple giant was to disappear.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 15, 2006

AOL Courting NBC Exec?

According to a report in the New York Times, Time Warner is currently in talks with Randy Falco, the president of NBC Universal Television Group, to take a senior operating role at AOL.

It's not clear whether Falco would take over as CEO from chairman and CEO Jonathan Miller, or in some other role in AOL's transformation from subscription-based access provider to ad-supported media company. An AOL spokesperson declined to comment.

At NBC, Falco has operational responsibility for the television group, including working with advertisers, affiliates and distribution partners. He is also leading the National Broadband Company (NBBC) online video distribution business the company launched in September. Falco has worked for NBC since graduating college more than 30 years ago.

UPDATE: Time Warner has indeed hired Falco to replace Miller.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 14, 2006

Amanda Ungeeked

Amanda Congdon, the first online video star and sex idol to a million Web geeks, has gone all big media on you and signed separate agreements with ABC/Disney and HBO to develop online and boob-tube shows. For ABC, she'll be videoblogging for ABC News and occasionally appearing on other broadcast news and talk programs. For HBO, she'll be involved in the development of a new cross-platform comedy show that she says will have original programming for both the Web and TV components. She makes the announcement here.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 14, 2006

Demand Measurement, But Respect Creative Experimentation

Quote of the Day: “Companies, marketing departments and the top-level executives need to give a little room for experimentation. I don’t think you want to allow measurement to override creativity and the adventure of new media.� –Tony Ponturo, Anheuser-Busch's global veep of media and sports marketing, talking with WSJ about measurement and Bud.TV (via Brand Autopsy)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 29, 2006

Dylan Goes Electronic

Forty years after Newport and the guy's still coming up with surprises.

Yesterday, it was the announcement that AOL Radio will simulcast Bob Dylan's XM Satellite Radio show, as well as simulcast the premiere of Dylan's new album, "Modern Times" (am I the only one still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Dylan the DJ?).

Today, Mr. Zimmerman shows up on the Apple site in a new iPod ad. Alongside the ad, of course, is an invitation to pre-order the album.

Wow. You know you're starting to get old when you can still remember the analog Dylan.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 25, 2006

Bratton Makes Way for New Chair at ad:tech

Every industry has its version of Harry Caray, the legendary Chicago Cubs announcer who for 15 years sang the windy city's perpetually disappointed baseball fans through their seventh inning stretch. For the digital marketing space, that figure is Susan Bratton, chair of the longest running trade show in the business. So it was perhaps fitting that she of the big hair and permasmile chose ad:tech's Chicago event to announce she's stepping down.

Bratton will stay on as chair emeritus, but production and programming of the conference will now largely be handled by Drew Ianni, former CEO of BBDO's Atmosphere interactive unit.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Treffiletti Joins SF Digital Agency Real Branding

Cory Treffiletti, who left the Bay Area and a cushy job with Carat Fusion to come to NYC earlier this year, is heading back to the left coast to work for Real Branding. Treffiletti has twice seen companies he's helped build be acquired, and he told me he's all about the independent houses these days.

"Traditional is starting to understand banners and portals and buttons, but there's so much going on that they're not going to be paying attention to for a while," he said. "As online expands, they're always going to be behind the eight ball."

At Real Branding, he'll focus on integrating various digital media channels, such as digital television, mobile and digital outdoor, among other projects.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 18, 2006

DJO Promotes Quinn Again, Plus Four Others

Dow Jones Online came out with some key sales promotions yesterday. Most notable is the expansion of Brian Quinn's role to include oversight of all advertising for DJO sites, including WSJ.com, MarketWatch.com (where he initially hailed from) and Barron's Online.

Additionally, Rich Knopke moves up to eastern region manager, Ken Detlet to executive director of sales and Dana Berger to ED of advertising.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 28, 2006

Digital Hires and Business Wins: Dizzying Activity

The bloat lately in our thrice-weekly Execs & Accounts column is perhaps a better indicator than any ad spend estimate or executive survey of the sheer volume of activity in this space. Today's edition chronicles no fewer than 21 customer wins and executive moves at About.com, Organic, YellowPages.com, Coremetrics and others.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 15, 2006

Google's Schmidt at Conde Nast Lunch Today

Microsoft is not as much a threat to Google as Yahoo is. That's one tidbit Google CEO Eric Schmidt shared during a luncheon interview for Conde Nast's new business magazine Portfolio this afternoon at the Four Seasons here in NYC. One reason he said Yahoo makes for more direct competition is its "strong advertising network." Commented Schmidt, "We always worry about Microsoft because of its history," but "a lot depends on how each company executes."

More on Microsoft

Speaking of history, Schmidt was asked by Portfolio Editor in Chief Joanne Lipman about an article he penned in '96 for US News and World Report that apparently argued that Microsoft was "too big and too powerful." Of course, the same fightin' words have been flung at Google in recent years. Schmidt shifted in his seat a little at, but ultimately defended Google, saying that his firm is different from Microsoft in its efforts to push partnerships and share revenues with other companies.

On the Up-and-Coming GBuy Online Payment Product

Schmidt lamented the fact that the press has made this out to be a quest to conquer PayPal. "It's not like PayPal at all," he explained, noting that their new system will not be aimed at consumers, but at advertisers. Although it appears as though the new system will benefit advertisers by displaying a GBuy symbol in search results (thus designating them as trusted merchants), consumers will still be using GBuy as a payment system. Of course, PayPal hasn't made major inroads when it comes to getting online merchants to accept PayPal in lieu of credit card payments.

Later, Schmidt added in reference to PayPal, "It makes no sense for us to go into businesses that are occupied by an existing leader….Let's solve a new problem."

On the Print Ad Network

Schmidt said the firm has recently begun a new test, mainly of magazine placements, commenting that it's easier to work with magazines than newspapers because they have a longer, more manageable planning cycle.

On GoogleBase

Schmidt said GoogleBase will "ultimately become part of Google.com." The discussion of the Craigslist-esque offering came up after Dorian Benkoil, editorial director of mediabistro.com, asked how Google jibes its objective to "do no evil" with the fact that a product like GoogleBase "could end up destroying your industry" if you work for a publication that sells classified ads. Schmidt's response: "Our primary focus is on benefiting the end user."

On the Online Ad Industry

Schmidt predicted that the online ad industry could grow a lot more quickly than it has been, particularly because new advertiser categories entering the market will boost growth.

On Google's Future

"The way to think about the future is to imagine much larger indices, a lot more information and a lot more personal[ization]."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 20, 2006

SEMPO Names 2006 Officers

The new board of directors for the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) voted in its slate of officers for 2006.

Chairperson:
Gordon Hotchkiss, president and CEO of Enquiro takes over for Did-it's Kevin Lee, who remains on the board of directors.

President:
Dana Todd, EVP of SiteLab will serve a second term.

Vice President:
Jeffrey Pruitt, president of iCrossing replaces Zunch's John Sanchez.

Treasurer:
Sara Holoubek, consultant (former chief strategy officer at iCrossing) takes over for Jeffrey Pruitt who served a double role as Secretary/Treasurer last year.

Secretary:
Dave Williams, chief strategist, 360i takes over the other half of Pruitt's double role as Secretary/Treasurer last year.

Rounding out the 13-member board of directors are Chris Boggs, G3 Group; Julienne Thompson Hood, Advertising.com; Bill Hunt, Global Strategies International; Mick Jolly, PRWeb; Mauro Lupi, Ad Maiora; Daniel Perry, Career Education Corporation; and Bill Tancer, Hitwise.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

Meet Up in Vegas Next Week?

Jonathan Asher, president of Dragon Rouge, has invited me to participate on a panel at The Conference on Marketing in Las Vegas next week. I'll be discussing the media's role in brand building along with journo-colleagues from "Ad Age" and "Brandweek."

Give me a shout if you'll be there, too, and would like to meet up.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 9, 2006

Clios Honor R/GA's Bob Greenberg

At this year's Clio Awards and Festival in Miami's South Beach, a Lifetime Achievement award will go to Bob Greenberg, co-founder, chairman, CEO and chief creative officer of R/GA, part of Interpublic Group.

He is recognized for his multi-platform work including feature film. And also his efforts to develop educational programs in the advertising discipline in his role on the boards of a handful of educational institutions.

The growing list of Clio Lifetime Achievement Awards honorees include John Hegarty, BBH; Lee Clow, TBWA\Worldwide; Neil French, formerly of Ogilvy and WPP; David Abbott, Abbott Mead Vickers; and Tony Kaye for his work as a director and cinematographer.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 1, 2006

Craigslist CEO as Blasé as Ever

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster issued his refrain of "We don't compete, we take care of our community" during an on-stage Q&A today at the SIIA Information Industry Summit.

"If you focus exclusively on your users or customers' well being and blot out everything else, I don't know of a better strategy than that," he said.

Ok, well if that's true, how do you explain blocking those aggregators' crawlers?

"That was not a problem for us from the standpoint of piracy," he said. "It is a system load issue. Any time we have robots trying to repeatedly download [listings] from our site it's a problem because it's competing with our own users from a traffic standpoint. We block activities on a daily basis from all sorts of parties. It's a daily struggle to keep robotic software from interacting with our site for… sub-par reasons."

I can't decide whether to believe him. Thoughts, readers? Leave them in comments

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 24, 2005

From COO to CPT?

Who knew Dynamic Logic COO Tom Deierlein graduated from West Point and, once-upon-a-time, was an Airborne Ranger? A lot of his industry colleagues discovered these tidbits this week, after Tom came home to a packet of military orders in his mailbox. In an e-mail to contacts, Tom wrote:

No joke.

I am being called up to serve for 545 days reporting first to Fort Jackson and then to Fort Bragg and then likely to Iraq. Yes, I guess it has gotten so bad they are calling up 38 year old, beer bellied has beens.... Something told me not to fight this but rather to embrace it and go ahead and serve my country with honor, dignity, and pride.

Tom's been in the Army's Individual Ready Reserve for 12 years but hasn't worn a uniform or done any training since October of 1993.

I've known Tom for a bunch of years now. Our paths have mostly crossed at industry cocktail parties, where we've chatted about everything from industry issues to whether a woman in the room should get her eyebrows waxed (remember, Tom?). Nowhere in there did he mention his elite soldier past, so this took me by surprise. Our best to Tom as he shifts roles from COO to CPT (Cadet Captain).

So far as Dynamic Logic goes, Tom is taking a leave of absence and transitioning duties to CEO Nick Nyhan and others.

Tom attached a copy of the Ranger Creed to his e-mail, and requested I link to it in my blog entry about his story. "It helps explain why I answered the call and threw my tidy little life up into chaos," he said.

Posted by Pamela Parker at 7:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Web Looms for Merging Alt-Weekly Publishers

In the wake of the New Times/Village Voice Media merger, presuming it goes through, VVM CEO David Schneiderman will be president of the combined entity's Internet division.

In a memo to staff, he writes, "The Internet will be a critical part of our future and it is essential that we use the talent and resources of the combined company to become important players in that world. My immediate goal is to grow our online audience by utilizing our existing resources, and to break new ground in delivering fresh and compelling content to an ever-expanding audience in any way they wish to receive it."

How about fresh and compelling classifieds? New Times has the beginning of an answer with Craigslist knock-off BackPage.com.

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

October 7, 2005

The Human Cost of the AOL/WIN Deal

No, not that human cost.

I'm talking about the miserable guy who recently got stuck with Jason Calacanis' old cell phone number.

"This is Mark," he said, somewhat desparately, when I called yesterday. I asked for Jason.

him, clearly exasperated: "This is his old number. Who is Jason?!"

me: "He runs a bunch of blogs. You know what a blog is?"

him: "Like personal diaries online right?"

me: "You're going to be getting a lot of calls today."

Jason, I know you do the Plaxo thing. For Mark's sake, use it!

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 27, 2005

Maurice Levy Adores Fragmentation

Advertising Week, Day One: Interviewer Charlie Rose kept asking Publicis CEO Maurice Levy about the Internet and fragmentation. Snippets:

On the changes being wrought in agency culture:
"I think that when digitization and the Internet and cell phones become the core of what we are doing, it will change the lives of advertising agencies… The most exciting challenge is to reinvent ourselves, to reinvent the way we are working, to groom new talent, and to think differently. We are at a crossroads. We have a fantastic opportunity to learn something new."

On mobility:
"We all believe that the biggest media in the world will be the cell phone, when it has the features and possibility for ads."

On the role of the account manager going forward:
"We will have one single navigator coordinating the work of the media agency and the creative agency."

On why ad-skipping is a good thing for good agencies:
"It is not a problem. It's a big issue, but it is not a problem. The more there are issues of this kind the more the knowledge we have of the consumer is something that will help make our service indispensable to help advertisers get over to the consumer."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bill O'Reilly Hates CGM

Bill O'Reilly loathes the thought that Sally School Teacher in Tupelo could one day replace him.

The O'Reilly Factor host interviewed Infinity Broadcasting CEO Joel Hollander yesterday at the Museum of TV and Radio as part of the Advertising Week festivities. In response to a question from the audience about the impact of the consumer generated media trend on radio, he grabbed the spotlight and said this:

"Regular civilian people taking a shot at creating their own format, it's a thousand to one shot that they're going to succeed. When you go in and [try to create] a format, it can't be [successful] just because you like it and your friend Dicky likes it."

Let's see… if 30,000 podcasters each have a thousand to one shot at being a radio star, does that mean 30 DIY radio celebrities are coming down the pipe? Sounds like pretty good odds to me, Bill.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 24, 2005

CEO Shift at Viewpoint

There's a new top dog at rich media firm Viewpoint. Jay Amato, who joined the company in 2003 and oversaw the firm's acquisition of Unicast, is taking off. Amato confided news of his departure to business contacts in an e-mail missive.

His shoes will be filled by Patrick Vogt, a Viewpoint board member who hails most recently from Sony Electronics.

Amato's being cagey about his future plans. In his e-mail, he bragged about his success at Viewpoint and said only the glaringly obvious about his next venture: "you might see my name associated with another enterprise in the future." C'mon, Jay... spill the beans!

Posted by Pamela Parker at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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