Articles of the Day
Facebook Revamps Beacon Program Amid Protests - Facebook capitulated to MoveOn.org protesters late Thursday evening, announcing that it would require users’ opt-in consent to the Beacon program. Confronted with growing resistance to its new ad program said it would no longer publish information about users’ online purchases without their explicit consent.
IAB Forum Panelists Underscore Need For Clarity In Web Metrics - A panel of online audience research specialists grappled Thursday with issues ranging from simplifying Web metrics to reconciling server and panel-based data to how many Web metrics firms the market will support. The panelists–featuring top executives from Nielsen Online, comScore, Hitwise and Microsoft, among others–were convened for the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s first Audience Measurement Leadership Forum.
Huffington: Next Big Thing On Internet = Logging Off - To the agency world, digital is like that stalking cyborg in James Cameron’s sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” That’s according to Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of The Huffington Post. At first, the Terminator seems like a threat to the movie’s mother-and-son protagonists, Sarah and John Connor. But, “little by little, [Sarah] realized that it was her only true friend,” she says. In other words, just like the Connors survived by embracing the Terminator, Huffington said, “the only agency people who’ll succeed are those who fully integrate.”
Disney Exec: Online Revenue Could Be Double - Online ad revenues could be double what they are if Internet audience metrics were simpler and clearer for marketers to grasp. That was one of the conclusions of Steven Wadsworth, president of Walt Disney Internet Group, who gave the keynote address at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s inaugural Measurement Leadership Forum on Thursday.
What Are Marketers Thinking? - Have you ever wanted to get inside another marketer’s head? That is exactly what researchers from Anderson Analytics set out to do. At a moment when the marketing environment may more difficult than at any time in history, they surveyed over 600 members of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) to identify the “Top Marketing Trends for 2008.”
TV Companies Make $120 Million Online in 2007 - While Hollywood writers continue to strike over royalties for digital work, the four major U.S. television networks will generate around $120 million from free Web streams of their content. That’s according to Tracey Scehppach, senior vice president of leading media-buying agency Starcom, which claims that advertisers are flocking to reproductions of shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “Heroes” on the Web. The $120 million figure is an estimate based on what Starcom has been paying for spots across the four networks.
No Truth in Online Advertising - If you’re looking for one truth in online advertising, it’s that there is no truth. At least that’s what Bob Ivins, one of the leading men at Web measurement firm comScore Media Metrix says. comScore is in the business of telling advertisers what they’re paying for.
Intuit to Acquire Homestead Technologies - Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU - News) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Homestead Technologies Inc., a leader in Web site and Web store solutions for small businesses. The cash transaction is valued at approximately $170 million, including the assumption of Homestead’s outstanding options and restricted stock units. This transaction will enable Intuit to offer Web site creation and e-commerce solutions that help small businesses acquire and serve customers through the Internet, which are increasingly important factors to entrepreneurial success and business expansion.
American Greetings to acquire PhotoWorks for $26.5MM - Greeting card maker American Greetings Corp (AM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will acquire PhotoWorks Inc (PHTW.OB: Quote, Profile, Research), through its unit, for about $26.5 million, the companies said. American Greetings will make a cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding common shares of PhotoWorks at a price of 59.5 cents a share.
Big Fish Games Purchases Thinglefin - Thinglefin, a developer of massively multi-player online casual games, was acquired by Big Fish Games (Seattle, WA). Terms of the transaction are undisclosed. Prior to this transaction, California Technology Ventures was the company’s investor.
Social Gaming Company Aims To Snag Brand Dollars Via New Acquisition - Sites that serve the online gaming community tend to feature ads shilling “gamer-friendly” products like electronics, but GuildCafe Entertainment CEO Jon Radoff is betting that lifestyle brands will jump on the bandwagon in the next 12 months. That’s part of the reason why GuildCafe has acquired Uberguilds, a network of high-profile gaming communities that connect players of online games like Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft and Sony’s EverQuest series.
