Articles of the Day
Cyber Monday: Shop ‘Til You Drop….or Flop? - Will today be one of the top-selling days of the holiday season for online retailers–or just another Monday? Retail experts expect a surge of online shopping today, but industry watchers appear divided over whether “Cyber Monday”–the online counterpart to Black Friday–will exceed last year’s sales as consumers begin their online shopping earlier than ever.
Study Analyzes Social Engagement Marketing - That social networks are monopolizing an ever greater share of consumers’ time is clear. It is less clear exactly how marketers in the United States and abroad can most effectively measure their engagement across these burgeoning channels. JupiterResearch recently analyzed the European market for social and engagement marketing, which highlights key findings about how marketers and their agencies measure the effectiveness of engagement in marketing campaigns.
CPG Starts Thinking Outside the Box - After decades of relying on television and print advertising, US consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers are finally moving a larger proportion of their marketing budgets online. This year, eMarketer projects that CPG companies will spend $920 million on all forms of Internet advertising, up 33% over 2006.
Facebook’s Dangerous Data Game - More than 13,000 Facebook users have signed a petition against the new advertising practices laid out by the company a few weeks ago. An opt-out recommendation system that sends notices to users’ friends about the products and services they buy is among the ad “innovations” that have been identified by the group as compromising user privacy. Blogger/Web entrepreneur Jason Calacanis calls the new advertising tools “extremely innovative, extremely rude, extremely helpful, and extremely disconcerting.”
Facebook, ABC Strike Political Partnership - The social network Facebook may be turning itself into something of a media hub–having struck a partnership with ABC News that allows Facebook users to electronically follow political news through a new “U.S. politics” category that allows users to follow ABC reporters, view reports and video and participate in polls and debates. The two companies also announced that they would be jointly sponsoring the upcoming Democratic and Republican presidential debates in New Hampshire.
The Sorry State Of The Mobile Web - Small gains have been made recently, but the mobile Web still has a long, long way to go, says The New York Times’ Michael Fitzgerald. Apple’s iPhone is encouraging, and so is Google’s Open Handset Alliance–which allows developers to make programs for Google’s operating software, Android–but for the most part, companies are offering mobile services that people just don’t use. According to Fitzgerald, “disaster” is “lurking like your next dropped call.”
The Big Four: Who’s Best At Specific Kinds Of Searches? - According to comScore’s latest qSearch data report, Google (surprise!) gained the most ground in terms of market share and number of search queries. But in an informal poll, the SEO Space team asked searchers which of the Big Four (Google, Yahoo, ASK and Live Search) they liked best for specific variations on core search. Surprisingly, ASK took the top spot in over half of the categories, while Google ranked best for only one.
Online Revenue Grew 21% In 3Q For Newspapers - Advertising revenue for online newspapers’ operations grew 21% in the third quarter to $773 million, according to figures released Tuesday by the Newspaper Association of America. Overall, online now accounts for 7.1% of total advertising revenue in the newspaper industry–up from 5.4% in the third quarter of 2006.
