Articles of the Day
MPAA Wins Copyright Case Against TorrentSpy; Judge Cites Deliberate Evidence Destruction By Site - A federal district court judge in California has found that peer-to-peer company TorrentSpy deliberately destroyed evidence in a copyright infringement case brought by the Motion Picture Association of America and, as a sanction, has ended the case in the MPAA’s favor.
Digitas Shoots For Photo Enthusiasts With Samsung Camera Phone Campaign - The effort courts photography enthusiasts and ‘trendsetters’ with rich media, video and social networking elements from JPG Magazine.
IAC To Employ Brightcove Platform For Web Video - Web video company Brightcove has reached a deal with media company IAC to provide IAC’s properties with a platform to create, manage, publish, distribute and monetize video on the Web. Ticketmaster, Citysearch and 23/6 are among the first IAC brands to use Brightcove’s service. IAC has been a minority stakeholder in Brightcove since December 2006.
Social Media Future Bright, Challenging - Social media applications will attract over one billion broadband users within five years, according to Strategy Analytics’ “The People’s Revolution: Implications of Web 2.0 and Social Media Applications” report. “The long term financial viability of even the largest social media sites depends heavily on the ability to develop targeted advertising techniques that are as yet largely unproven, or may ultimately be thwarted by privacy regulations,” said David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics.
Widgets Catch Fire With Advertisers - The proliferation of widgets, or embeddable software applications, was arguably the story of 2007. CNET reviews how widgets are changing the way people interact with the Web and what the innovation means for advertisers. Facebook really opened a can of worms in May when the company said it would let third parties develop programs specifically for its Web site. The innovation greatly enhanced the social networking giant’s popularity, leading to similar vein announcements from rivals like MySpace, LinkedIn, Bebo, Google and even mobile carriers like Verizon Wireless.
Facebook Building Online Payment System - Facebook is enlisting platform developers once again, this time to create a payment system. There are still few details, but the new system will most likely be built using Facebook’s micropayments software that was developed for sending virtual gifts (you know, send a friend a virtual teddy bear for $1, etc.). Yet Facebook’s app-vertising economy is scarcely developed. “Most of the apps making money are … advertising other apps.” There is no established standard for effectively advertising using widgets. Nevertheless, third-party app-making agencies are popping up all over the place, ahead of what’s expected to be an advertising gold rush.
Should Striking Writers Get Involved in the Web? - According to a recent Los Angeles Times piece, writers in Hollywood are trying to sidestep the need for Big Media’s marketing and distribution power by creating Web media ventures with Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Bad move, at least right now, because precious few pieces of original content on the Web make any money.
Yahoo’s Map Upgrade And The Fight For Local Search Supremacy - Yahoo Maps has added new “drag and drop” functionality for routes, giving users the option of customizing their driving directions for things like shortcuts and traffic avoidance. Yahoo has also upgraded the search interface, putting photos and reviews right inside the window that pops up for business listings.
Below-The-Radar Metrics To Track in 2008 - Rohit Bhargava lists the metrics that brands should focus on when it comes to Internet marketing next year — deeming his list “The Top 10 Most Underappreciated Metrics to Track in 2008.” For search, Bhargava says that marketers should focus on doing a qualitative assessment of the inbound links a site gets. Take the time to figure out how authoritative the sites that drive traffic to your site are. Go beyond PageRank and judge the quality of their content directly, as well as the quality of the audience they bring to you.
Two Giants - And Google Foes - Do A Deal - Two Google enemies, Microsoft and Viacom, have banded together in a deal reportedly worth $500 million. The agreement calls for Microsoft’s recently acquired Atlas to serve ads on all Viacom Web sites. Currently, DoubleClick — which has agreed to be acquired by Google — serves ads for Viacom, according to the Associated Press.
