Articles of the Day
AOL Relaunches News Site In Blog Format - Over the past 18 months, AOL has proven willing to break a few molds. This time, it’s rebuilding its news site—until now part of the portal cookie-cutter set—into a bloggy/Web 2.0ish version. The main news column literally is in blog format with links to full coverage, comments, polls, etc. The actual launch is scheduled for Tuesday; the beta is here. Lewis D’Vorkin, SVP-AOL News and Sports, is following on the blog-style format used with raging success TMZ.com, an AOL JV with sibling Warner Bros.
EBay Ends Google AdWords Blackout - Two weeks after pulling out of Google’s AdWords system, eBay will begin using the search ad network again, although at a smaller scale. As we reported previously, the split occurred when Google invited eBay power sellers to a special event (which was hastily canceled) during the annual eBay Live convention earlier this month in Boston.
NBC, Universal And Scripps Increase Online Ad Spending - NBC has ramped up interactive ad spending for its TV shows 15 percent from last year. Online ad spend now comprises 25-35 percent of the network’s overall budget. For Scripps Networks’ home and gardening channel, HGTV, digital spending on average is 16 percent, up from 11 percent last year. And while Universal Studios has upped digital spending to 12 percent from 7 percent last year, the film company still views broadcast and in-theater ads as more crucial than interactive efforts.
Blinxx Unveils New Business Lines - Video search engine Blinkx is preparing two new ad-supported business lines. The first is a video ad targeting platform called AdHoc, which will debut this summer. AdHoc analyzes and indexes a variety of information within and around a video’s content, including words spoken in the clip, visual analysis of the video’s content and in-page text and metadata appearing on the same page as the movie. The second is a Joost-like peer-to-peer video platform dubbed Broadband TV (BBTV) and is scheduled for a fall launch. It is currently working on setting up distribution deals for the channel.
Liquor Marketers Look To The Web - For its ad campaign introducing Icelandic vodka Reyka, William Grant & Sons, the company’s agency, decided to go online only. It helped create a dedicated site, and will advertise on sites like nerve.com, theonion.com and thrillist.com. While digital moves like Anheuser-Busch’s Bud.tv continue to struggle on, alcoholic beverages and spirits marketers are undaunted about relegating more of their ad budgets to online ads.
Aegis + Bluestreak = ‘Watch Out, DoubleClick’ - DoubleClick shouldn’t be threatened by Aegis Group’s purchase of the Bluestreak ad network–or at least not yet, according to Sarah Fay, U.S. president of Isobar, Aegis’ digital network. “I’d like them to know we have alternatives now.”
Wizzard Conjures New Keyword App: Podcasts - Keyword search advertising has transformed much of the online business. Now it’s about to impact a growing, but still largely underexploited, area of online content: podcasts. Wizzard Media, the fledgling advertising sales unit of technology firm and podcast aggregator Wizzard Software, is poised to introduce a keyword advertising feature to thousands of podcasts it offers for sponsorship to national advertisers and agencies.
Time To Go Quigo For Contextual - Marking its biggest one-time deal to date, contextual ad service Quigo Technologies has secured an exclusive, multi-year partnership with Time Inc. The companies estimate that ad revenues will top $100 million over the first three years.
Ingenio: Search Could Gain Lion’s Share of Mobile Ad Revenue - A recent Ingenio survey found that 22% of consumers anticipate using a search engine like Yahoo or Google on their mobile phones by 2010 - more than three times the current 7% use of search by mobile users.
Demands Of The Digital Generation - Social networking and other Web 2.0 services have created a globalized youth culture. A funny YouTube video could easily make its way from San Francisco to Dubai. These people may one day all become friends when translation services make social networking becomes truly global, too. Marketers need to understand this demo are used to being marketed to, but they want something in return: entertainment, contests, widgets on social networks, etc. There are pitfalls here though: While young consumers are more connected than ever before, not everything that works for one country will work for another.
Social Networks Near 100% Penetration Among Kids - Social networking penetration is at a whopping 96% among those 9-17, according to Alloy Media & Marketing. That figure refers to teens who connect to a social network at least once a week–they even use them to connect with their parents in many cases.
Friendster Up 40%: More Web 2.0 Cake For Everyone - Friendster experienced a 40% page view growth rate in May, according to the latest comScore traffic figures published at Venturebeat. Friendster currently sits in 4th place on the list of popular social networking sites, behind MySpace, Facebook and Hi5, but ahead of Tagged.com, Bebo and Piczo.
