MediaPost | Around the Net In OMD Europe

Multimedia Tool Launches In Hungary

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:54:51 -0400

A new visual storytelling tool, which enables users to bring together video, text and interactive polls into a single multimedia package, has officially launched. Soo Meta, built by a Budapest-based team, offers a simple drag-and-drop system to pull in content from across the web into its online workstation, with the ability for users to search for videos, images, text within Twitter and audio. Users can either 'collect' content in the sidebar 'library' for later use, or 'insert' it directly into the player. The end product can then be password protected, or publicly available and embeddable.

Future Print Revs Down But Digital Way Up

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:53:28 -0400

Consumer magazine publisher Future has reported a narrower pre-tax loss for the first half of 2013 compared with last year. The publisher of Total Film, Total Guitar and T3 made a loss of GBP1.5 million in the six months to the end of March 2013, down from a GBP2.2 million loss in the same period 12 months ago. While print revenue fell 9% from GBP40.8 million to GBP37 million, the group grew digital turnover by 33%, from GBP9.3 million to GBP12.4 million.

Hyperlocal News Websites Get Carnegie Funds

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:52:01 -0400

Five hyperlocal news websites have received GBP10,000 each as part of a new funding project. The Port Talbot Magnet in South Wales, Your Thurrock in Essex, the Brixton Blog in London, Whale Arts in Edinburgh, and Cybermoor in Cumbria, each received the grant from the Carnegie Trust. They were chosen from nearly 80 applicants across the UK and Ireland to become a Carnegie Partner in the 'Neighbourhood News' initiative.

Pirate Movie Sites Blocked By ISPs In UK

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:50:38 -0400

Most of the UK Internet service providers (ISPs) have started blocking access to two websites accused of violating copyright laws. The blocks follows UK courts ruling in favor of the Motion Picture Association, which accused the two sites of breaking the UK Copyright, Design and Patents Act by allowing users to download or stream movies. The sites Movie2K and Download4All have been banned by UK ISPs including BT, Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk and EE.

'Derek' To Debut On Netflix In U.S. In September

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:12:23 -0400

All seven half-hour episodes of the comedy starring Ricky Gervais - first aired on Channel 4 - will be made available to Netflix subscribers in the US, Canada, Ireland, Latin America, Brazil and the Nordics from Sept. 12. "Ricky Gervais is one of the most distinctive comedy voices of his generation," said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix. "With Derek, Ricky takes on new territory and mixes comedy with drama that is sometimes touching and sometimes heartbreaking. We are proud to partner with Ricky to present this unique and wonderful series to our members."

How They Hacked The Telegraph

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:10:03 -0400

Telegraph Media Group employees began to receive emails purporting to come from external organisations. Containing a polite, formal greeting, they looked just like hundreds of legitimate emails that are received every day. In what turned out to be a classic 'phishing attack', recipients were invited to click a link, and once they had done so asked to enter both their Telegraph user account and password details. After one user entered her details, she soon noticed an alert from Google Apps, which provide Telegraph email services, saying that her account was also being accessed in Russia, and alerted internal IT security services.

BBC Online Fails To Meet Target Of 65%

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:05:40 -0400

Despite a surge in the use of BBC Online during last summer's London Olympics, the number of users then fell and is currently at around 60% of adults with internet access, a similar level to late 2010. In a report, the BBC's governing body the BBC Trust calls on the organisation's management to make various changes to the service, including improvements to the provision of local news and information which it said was "not particularly comprehensive".

Meanwhile, Over At Apple, The Irish Question

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:04:34 -0400

Apple CEO Tim Cook will face tough questions today when he testifies before a Senate subcommittee on possible billions in tax avoidance. U.S. Democratic Sen. Cal Levin and Republican Sen. John McCain say two Apple subsidiaries were established for the purposes of exploiting the gap between American and Irish tax policy.

Google Appears To Have Dodged UK Taxes

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:55:33 -0400

The UK HM Revenue and Customs is initiating new lines of investigation into Google's tax affairs upon interviewing the search major's former executive who gave anonymous evidence to parliament. According to Guardian, Barney Jones, who worked for Google between 2002 and 2006, surrendered thousands of electronic documents. The documents reportedly reveal how Google's London sales staff negotiated and signed contracts with British customers, and cash was paid into a UK bank account, while the deals were technically booked via its Dublin office to reduce its legal responsibilities.

Planet Ivy Plans To Avoid Publishing Boring Things

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:51:26 -0400

Under the mantra "don't publish anything boring", Planet Ivy has grown into a site with a network of more than 150 young writers publishing around 80 articles a week between them and reaching up to 400,000 unique users a month. Six months on and back in at Google Campus, where the three paid employees of Planet Ivy are based, the founder and the editor of the title told Journalism.co.uk about the site's model and how they have received investment from an angel investor and from Ascension Ventures.

LinkedIn Named Top Generator Of Social Sales

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:50:33 -0400

When it comes to generating sales via social networks, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) say LinkedIn is by far the most effective tool. This is the finding of a new study from Fasthosts, which well and truly established the key role that online services are having on business development. As reported by freshbusinessthinking.com, the UK-based web hoster surveyed 100 IT and business decision makers to find that most had found their way online in some capacity. In fact, one in three (28%) said they could lose up to GBP30,000 in sales should their internet go down for just one day.

Trust Urges BBC Online, Red Button Merger

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:49:46 -0400

The BBC Trust has said that the BBC needs to merge its Red Button and online services, as well as looking to improve navigation across the different parts of BBC Online, improving links and design consistency and better search functionality. In terms of online and the Red Button, the review found that both services are popular, offer a wide variety of distinctive content that can be accessed on different platforms including computer, mobile device or television, and audiences trust their content. It was, however, noticed that there could be some improvement.

Ex-Google Exec Has Tax-Avoidance Evidence

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:48:47 -0400

A former Google employee has said that he will provide evidence to the UK tax authorities about how the company avoided paying taxes in the country. BBC reported that Barney Jones, who worked as sales executive at Google from 2002 to 2006, claimed that some arrangements were completed in the UK when he was working. Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt is scheduled to meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron at the quarterly meeting of Business Advisory Group in Downing.

BBC, Guardian Most Likely Google News Results

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:47:55 -0400

The BBC and Guardian websites have been named as the most likely to appear in Google UK's news search rankings amongst all, according to a new study. Both sites edged out the Daily Mail which ranked a distant third in a survey of news results which were automatically returned by Google for certain keyword searches. Searchmetrics found that in addition to the media big beasts Google is now also devoting greater prominence to smaller sites, with a 15% uptick in the use of such sites during 2012.

Tech City News In 'Transatlantic Alliance'

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:55:20 -0400

Tech City News, which launched in January and reports on the technology sector in London, has announced a "transatlantic tech news alliance", partnering with Silicon Valley-based Venture Beat and Berlin's Venture Village. The partnership will involve the sharing of some content and enable international investigations.

Sun Kills Huhne Bullying Article After Complaint

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:54:23 -0400

The Sun has removed a story from its website claiming that Chris Huhne had been bullied whilst in prison following a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. The complaint from the former energy minister's partner Carina Trimingham related to an article published on 13 March. It claimed that Huhne had been "ridiculed" by a prison officer who had called him to breakfast over the prison Tannoy system.

Google's Schmidt To Talk Taxes With Prime Minister

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:53:17 -0400

Given the grilling that Google has gotten this week in Parliament, you might think that Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of the company, would be persona non grata in London these days. Not so, it appears. Schmidt is one of 16 high-level corporate executives who have been invited to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron next week. They are members of the Business Advisory Group, which regularly gathers at Cameron's office to bat around economic issues.

Facebook Bans Beast Over Bea Arthur's Breasts

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:52:18 -0400

The Daily Beast was temporarily banned from Facebook after posting a news report containing a photograph of a painting due to come under auction at Christies in London. The artwork, which sold on Friday for $1.9 million (US) was painted in 1991, and is entitled "Bea Arthur Naked". Brian Ries, social media editor for The Daily Beast, said the journal was banned from Facebook while the social network investigated the potential violation of its terms.

FT Site Hacked With Syrian Horror Video

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:51:25 -0400

One FT blog and multiple social media accounts were hacked into on Friday morning, a spokeswoman for the FT confirmed to Mashable. On the FT.com blogs page, the headlines of some recent posts read, "Tech blog: Hacked By Syrian Electronic Army," according to screenshots obtained by The Telegraph. The group also posted the message, "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here," to various FT Twitter accounts, including @FTMarkets and @thelexcolumn.

Tesco Best At Social Media Customer Service

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:22:32 -0400

A new survey has revealed that supermarket giant Tesco was the best performing brand in Q1 2013 when it comes to customer care via social media. Research from Socialbakers, reported by thedrum.com, discovered Tesco representatives answered 65% of user questions in an average of 81 minutes.

Google Under Gun On UK Taxes Again

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:21:38 -0400

The UK Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is set to question Google on its tax affairs in the country for the second time. Between 2006 and 2011, Google reportedly generated more than $18 billion in revenue from the UK sales, but paid just $16 million in taxes. In November last year, the PAC questioned Google UK chief executive Matt Brittin about the company's tax affairs.

Burcher To Head MediaCom's Social Media

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:20:35 -0400

Nick Burcher has joined MediaCom from ZenithOptimedia Worldwide, where he was head of social media and digital innovation. He has been tasked with driving social thought leadership, innovation and technology development to ensure that the agency has the most compelling and competitive capabilities in EMEA.

The Conversation Is Launched In The UK

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:19:39 -0400

A news website has launched which has eight editors - but hopes to draw on the expertise of 10,000 specialist contributors. The Conversation is the brainchild of former Observer and Sunday Herald editor Andrew Jaspan and first launched in Australia two years ago. The site has journalists as editors but draws on the expertise of academics and researchers to write its specialist content.

Court To Google: No Auto-complete Entries

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:18:33 -0400

A German federal court has ordered Google to remove auto-complete entries from the search engine after receiving complaints. The case centred on a complaint filed by an unnamed food supplements firm and its CEO identified only as R.S. The person found that when they typed their name into the search box of the site www.google.de, the auto-complete function suggested results with the added words 'Scientology' and 'fraud'.

Guardian's Model 'Fundamentally Changed' By Mobile

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:16:55 -0400

Nearly half (44%) of all traffic coming via tablet and smartphones in April, according to the Guardian's revenue director Tim Gentry. Speaking at the Internet Advertising Bureau's (IAB) Mobile Engage event Thursday morning, Gentry said mobile is a core part of the newspaper's strategy and vital to the future of journalism.

Sullivan: Dish Not Likely To Reach $900,000 Goal

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:46:00 -0400

When Andrew Sullivan, founder of the popular politics blog The Dish, announced in January that he was leaving the Daily Beast and taking the blog independent, the goal was to raise $900,000 to keep business up and running in the first year. After an early influx of reader subscriptions, though, the money has been flowing in much more slowly, and Sullivan said in a blog post Tuesday that it's "unlikely" the Dish will reach its goal.

Grazia's Bruton: 'You Can't Read An IPad In The Bath'

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:45:00 -0400

Grazia chief Jane Bruton has rejected the idea that the days of the printed glossy magazine are numbered, arguing it will always have a place in a world where "you can't read an iPad in the bath". Bruton, editor-in-chief of the top-selling women's weekly, said quality print magazines still have that added dimension that will save them from digital extinction. "I think there will always be a place for magazines," she told the Professional Publishers' Association annual conference on Wednesday. "

Blogger: SEO 'Nothing' Without Good Writing

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:44:00 -0400

Brands looking for effective marketing need to look beyond just SEO and use web content as well, blogger Andrew Boulton toldthedrum.com. Boulton argued that SEO will often see brands targeting individual keywords or small selections of key phrases. To provide a website that is a destination for consumers, however, he claimed businesses needed interesting content as well.

Vaizey: Copyright Law Reform Vital To IP-based Publishing

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:43:00 -0400

Copyright rules must be adapted to ensure the publishing sector can continue to thrive in an intellectual property (IP)-based landscape, according to minister for culture, communications and creative industries Ed Vaizey. Speaking at the Professional Publishers Association annual conference Wednesday in London, Vaizey described publishing as the "giant" of the creative industries, contributing GBP5 billion to the economy each year.

News International To Bow Digital Commercial Unit

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:42:00 -0400

It is expected to help drive new advertising innovation for clients and agencies. The new department, to be headed by NI Commercial's ex-head of technology Mark Peters, work collaboratively with brands and agencies in order to provide new insight into NI's digital consumers and also to experiment with new digital advertising approaches.