Articles of the Day
Widget Marketing Metrics That Matter - This past summer, when comScore launched its Widget Metrix Service, the industry was served notice that widgets are big. One hundred and seventy-seven million big. Widgets aren’t just big because comScore is now measuring them, but because 177 million of anything is big. However, millions of widgets across the Web alone don’t really say anything meaningful to advertisers. While the figure may pique their interest, it doesn’t help them measure or target or even conceptualize a campaign.
MySpace, Google To Open Platforms - As novel an idea as the Facebook Platform certainly was, there’s absolutely nothing stopping other social networks from opening their borders to third-party software developers, too. According to separate reports from TechCrunch, Google plans to take the “open” concept to the next level by allowing developers to create programs across its many Web properties and services, while MySpace is gearing up to launch its own developer platform sometime next week.
IBM, Linden Lab Seek Virtual World Metaverse - IBM and Second Life creator Linden Lab are teaming up to create “universal avatars” that let patrons of virtual worlds move from one to another using the same identity. An interesting vision, to be sure, but a “borderless” virtual world society presents all kinds of data integration problems–of course, this is where IBM comes in. The integration of identities also calls for standards to be developed to allow for things like secure business transactions and porting business and personal data over from one world to another.
BitTorrent’s Streaming Technology Is Beside The Point - BitTorrent, founder of modern (illegal) file-sharing, is reinventing itself once again. In its bid to turn straight, the company’s new plan, introduced this year, is to help media companies stream videos over the Internet–which is a little weird, as Forbes’ Andy Greenberg points out. “[The] company whose name has long meant digital piracy to content owners now wants to be the online media industry’s humble servant,” he says.
Ask.com Still Needs Google - This finance-focused piece uses feedback from investment analysts to examine Ask and Google’s symbiotic relationship — and the repercussions for the smaller search engine if it is unable to (or chooses not to) renew its ad and content distribution deal with the search giant. The deal expires at the end of this year - and there’s been no word yet on whether the two engines have been able to set agreeable revenue-sharing terms.
Is PPC Dying? - Gary Stein’s look at the state of paid search today combines a historical overview of the practice with a focus on new developments — and begs a heavy, albeit hypothetical question: With all the advancements in rich media and display ads and the ever-present issue of click fraud , is PPC as we know it becoming extinct? Stein admits that pay-per-click advertising isn’t dead yet — but it’s rapidly being eclipsed by more targeted, efficient models like CPA.
