Articles of the Day
Experiment, But Know What You Want To Get From Virtual Worlds - A recurring theme at this week’s Virtual Worlds Conference in Manhattan was the idea of targeted experimentation–the notion that marketers can only profit from virtual world investments after they have established well-defined goals.
The Anti-Spam Militia - If you are like most US e-mail users, you’re pretty experienced at it. You fight spam with purpose and multiple tactics, according to a new survey by the E-Mail Sender & Provider Coalition conducted by Ipsos. Almost three-fourths of respondents said that they have used e-mail for six or more years. Over 80% read their e-mail daily. E-mail users are also willing to expose spam at the drop of a hat. Over 80% of respondents said that they report spam or unsubscribe from e-mail lists.
Google Prepares DoubleClick Answer - It’s a strange fact of life that Web “frienemy” (yes, we love that word) Google, doesn’t accept third-party ad tags. Given the news that competitor Microsoft is considering a bid for the ad-server DoubleClick, which serves graphical CPMs for a huge portion of the ad world, rumors have surfaced that Google is planning to build its own third-party ad server for graphical ads.
Photobucket Cheap at $400 Million? - Photobucket has hired Lehman Brothers to explore a possible sale, and the firm believes Photobucket to be worth something in the neighborhood of $300-$400 million — cheap, given its growth.Even thought the company’s still in debt, sources say Photobucket is close to breaking — even without having used most of the $15 million it just raised in venture capital. The insiders say the company made $4.35 million in 2005, $9.34 million in ‘06 and is expected to breach $32 million this year. But how is it making this money? Premium accounts and advertising, of course.
Is The Google-Too-Powerful Argument Passé? - Given that the search giant is still a long way away from cornering the new media market, these Google-will-takeover-the-world stories seem either anachronistic or ahead of the their time, depending on your bias. Nevertheless, Business Week offered a story on the potential dominance of the multi-billion dollar company that started it all with a search box.
Barry Diller Sounds Off On Old Media - Media mogul and IAC/InteractiveCorp chief Barry Diller sat down with the Financial Times to discuss the current state of the media business, dropping his two cents on the News Corp.-NBC joint venture, Google, YouTube and Viacom, and other media developments. Regarding News Corp. and NBC, Diller recalls the old saying that media doesn’t want anyone else in control, adding, it’s inevitable for traditional media companies to try and move into video with a degree of control.
Study: Gender Gap For Online Video Will Shrink By 2011 - Around seven in 10 male Web users viewed online video last year, according to a new report by research firm eMarketer. While women also turned to online video, they did so in smaller proportions; just 55% of female Web users watched online video last year, according to the report. The gender gap will shrink considerably by 2011, when an estimated 89% of online men and 85% of online women will view video over the Web, according to the report.
Trad Agencies Must Narrow Their Interactive Credibility Gap - By now you have probably read about the new Forrester report, “Help Wanted: 21st Century Agency,” that sheds light on the widening capabilities gap between traditional ad agencies and the smaller, specialized digital shops when it comes to new media marketing. If you haven’t yet seen it, the report placed the spotlight on the demand from marketers expecting their agencies to deliver expertise in emerging areas, such as search engine marketing and interactive advertising, and marketers’ growing discontent with their agencies. The report identified technology being at the heart of the skill gap that appears to be growing and leading to marketers’ dissatisfaction with their agencies of record.
SonyBMG, Six Apart Launch A&R Social Net, Kill Off Demo Tapes - Once upon a time, aspiring rock stars sent dozens of demo tapes to record label bosses in the hope of getting signed. Now, in the age of MySpace, SonyBMG is scrapping that system - the label has partnered with blog software maker Six Apart to offer artists sites that, from next Monday, will be its primary method of hearing unsigned new acts in the UK. “If you want our A&R team to hear your music, then don’t send a CD, REGISTER A BLOG,” the world’s number two record company says.
Spire Capital has acquired SalvageSale Inc. - SalvageSale is an online marketplace and services provider for commercial insurance salvage and corporate end-of-life assets. The deal was done in partnership with company management, while sellers included Securitas Ventures, American Re and Merrill Lynch Ventures.
About.com Expands Health Content With Purchase Of UCompareHealthCare.com - NYTCO’s About.com has acquired UCompareHealthCare.com (UCHC), a health care ratings (doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, specialty centers), search and info site. Consumers get access to some layers of info free; UCHC charges corporate and healthcare providers for services. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Framingham, Mass. The purchase adds more content to About.com Health, which has some 5 million monthly uniques. The site is already identified as being “from About.”
