MediaPost | Online Media Daily

Google, EU Spar Over Privacy Changes

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:49 -0500

Privacy regulators in the EU have asked Google to delay its plan to start compiling more detailed profiles of its users. Google indicated it would reject the request.

adCenter Refines Mobile Targeting, Campaigns

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:05:00 -0500

Yahoo and Microsoft Thursday announced a trio of updates to Microsoft's adCenter that included more refined targeting on mobile devices.

Mobile Advertisers Score Touch-Screen Touchdown

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:58:36 -0500

With all its amazing "hoopla" and extravagance, the Super Bowl is a great example of how informed marketers are grabbing the eyeballs that TV previously owned. A Harris Interactive survey found that 60% of mobile phone users plan to use and view their phone while watching the game.

Social, Search Identify Super Bowl Favored Team, Ads

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:51:00 -0500

If the U.S. held an election asking residents to cast a vote for their favorite football team, the New York Giants would likely win. Clearspring ran sentiment analysis from its AddThis sharing platform showing the team fans in each U.S. state favor, based on overall clicks, searches and shares. The New York Giants took more than 40 states; New England, the remainder.

Undertone Ups Revenue Streams For Publishers

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:44:00 -0500

Continuing to position itself as more than an ad network, Undertone just signed exclusive agreements with 12 publishers, including American Media, AccuWeather, Bonnier Corporation, and Britannica.

VivaKi's Hecht Excited About Mobile's Dimensions

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:34:00 -0500

In August, VivaKi's Nerve Center launched a new "lane" focused on tablets as part of its Pool initiative to develop new digital ad formats. Chief Curt Hecht, now based in Paris, who is leading Publicis Groupe's R&D center, sounds off on table efforts and mobile marketing.

Follow Some Hail Mary Tweets At #MPSuperAds

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:15:05 -0500

Or tweet some yourself at Twitter hashtag #MPSuperAds Sunday before, during or after the kick-off of Super Bowl XLVI at 6:30 (ET) on NBC. MediaPost, in collaboration with TargetCast interactive chief Steve Minichini, will host a special tweet-up of impressions, reactions and predictions of industry pundits surrounding the Big Game, and the big ad campaigns that break during it. Or just sit back and watch the action unfold live on www.mediapost.com/publications.

AOL Taps Right Media Exchange

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:15:05 -0500

AOL selected Yahoo's Right Media Exchange as the platform to provide real-time access to its inventory as part of the display advertising agreement that AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft entered into last fall.. The three companies agreed to pool each others' unsold inventory to boost ad pricing and enhance reach for advertisers and agencies.

CPG, Health Top Video Advertisers, Digital VIdeo To HIt $5.4B

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:15:05 -0500

Throughout 2011, CPG brands spent more than any other group on video advertising -- making up 24% of all dollars spent, according to new data from YuMe. Health and pharmaceutical brands came in second -- with a 16% share of the video ad market -- despite a 400% year-over-year increase in spending.

Romero To Horizon VP, Digital Media

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:15:05 -0500

Horizon Media has named Ramond Romero vice president-digital media activation. He joins from Omnicom's OMD unit where he was group director-U.S. digital on the PepsiCo account.

Brand Electrodes?

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:15:00 -0500

By implanting electrodes directly into a part of participants' brains, scientists at UC Berkeley (where else) have found a way to reconstruct words someone hears based on their brain waves.

Google Can't Weigh In On 'Used' Digital Music Case

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00:00 -0500

The battle between EMI's Capitol Records and "used" digital music store ReDigi has drawn the attention of Google, which this week attempted to file a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.

Super Bowl XLVI Ads Get Counted In Real-Time

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:53:00 -0500

Involver has created a near-real-time ad meter that will tally votes on Super Bowl XLVI ads from sites across the Internet. The Facebook platform has been built into the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter, giving the social tool a facelift.

Facebook Ad Growth Outpaces Search Marketing

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:35:00 -0500

Budgets for advertising on Facebook continue to grow at a faster clip compared with paid search, according to Kenshoo Social. But are budgets growing faster because social appears as the shiny new object, or have marketers finally figured out how to calculate ROI from Facebook campaigns?

Yahoo Hires NYT's Heffernan

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:54:00 -0500

Former New York Times digital media reporter and columnist Virginia Heffernan has joined Yahoo as a national correspondent, covering culture and politics from “a digital perspective.” Yahoo says Heffernan will cover a range of topics from how the 2012 presidential campaign plays out online to how social issues are shifting in a digital age.

The hiring is the latest move by the Web portal to gear up coverage for the 2012 election and its news operation more broadly. Last April Yahoo opened a Washington news bureau and in October the Internet giant announced an alliance with ABC News for joint national news coverage and programming.

"Hunger Games" Game Debuts On Facebook, Dovetails With Film Release

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:03:00 -0500

With the movie premiere of "The Hunger Games" set for March 23, Hollywood is probably hoping the film version of the wildly popular young adult novel will also be a huge hit. So is Funtactix, the company behind the forthcoming social game based on the book, which is timed to launch on Facebook in tandem with the movie.

NYTCO: Digital Revs Slide 5%, Digital Subscriptions On The Rise

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:44:00 -0500

So much for The New York Times Co.'s phoenix-like return to digital prosperity. Due to declines in cost-per-click and display advertising at the About Group, total digital ad revenues decreased 4.9% to $95.7 million in the fourth quarter.

Jumptap: Android, Apps Up Traffic Rates

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:17:04 -0500

Thanks to the proliferation of Android-powered smartphones, however, the Google platform strengthened its position as the dominant mobile operating system overall on Jumptap's network, which reaches 95 million U.S. mobile users per month and 142 million worldwide.

Facebook Files $5 Billion IPO

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:14:00 -0500

Facebook Wednesday filed for an initial public offering to raise up to $5 billion in a deal that could ultimately value the social network at an estimated $75 billion to $100 billion. Though less than the $10 billion rumored, the transaction would be the largest IPO ever by an Internet company, easily eclipsing the $1.9 billion raised by Google in 2004.

Senate To Examine Verizon's Partnership With Cable Companies

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:09:00 -0500

The head of the Senate antitrust subcommittee said Tuesday that he intends to convene a hearing to examine a proposed alliance between Verizon and three cable companies. The issue is competition in the wireless and video markets.

Yahoo, Disney Partner For New Show

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:52:00 -0500

Yahoo is partnering with Disney Interactive on its latest video show starring comic actress Ali Wentworth.

ABC Takes 'The River' To Xbox Live Kinect

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:34:00 -0500

ABC Entertainment's promotion for the new series "The River" running on Xbox Live, the first Microsoft Kinect-powered branded experience, taps hand gestures. It aims to reach an audience a bit younger than those viewing the broadcast TV show.

Papczun To U.S. President, Performics

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:48:00 -0500

Performics, the performance marketing agency owned by Publicis Groupe, upped Eric Papczun to U.S. president.

AOL Exceeds Expectations, Bolsters Display, Global Ad Revs

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:28:00 -0500

Thanks to strong display advertising, AOL once again beat quarterly expectations. Excluding select items, fourth-quarter profit hit 42 cents a share, while display advertising rose 15% year-over-year.

Mobile Use To Soar During Super Bowl

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:11:00 -0500

Nearly 60% of mobile phone users plan to look at or use their phones during this year's Super Bowl, according to a new survey by Harris Interactive. The finding underscores the broader shift toward two-screen viewing to augment traditional TV watching. Eight out of 10 viewers plan to use their mobile devices as much or more than they did during last year's Super Bowl.

Mobile Banking On Rise, Financial Giants Deliver

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:10:00 -0500

Chase, Citi and USAA ranked as the top bank or credit card brands when it comes to mobile services, according to a new study. On the brokerage side, Charles Schwab, The report points to iPad apps as a key to mobile leadership in the financial services area, with most category leaders providing a custom offering for the Apple tablet.

NFC Adoption Rates Rising In Advertising, Marketing

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:44:00 -0500

Expect approximately 100 million near field communication-enabled smartphones to ship in 2012. The forecast released by VDC Research suggests that consumer demand will create a "pull" effect for hardware manufacturers and application developers, as more brands attempt to influence buying decisions from mobile devices that can read the software driving transactions.

Acxiom Taps Stirratt As Chief Revenue Officer

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:15:04 -0500

Nada Stirratt, former Chief Revenue Officer at MySpace and former digital ad sales chief at MTV Networks, has joined marketing database giant Acxiom as Chief Revenue Officer, a new position.

Digital Marketers: Approach Content Strategically

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:15:04 -0500

If you go through the trouble of creating great content, an online marketer needs to adapt to new consumption habits. Content needs to be device- agnostic, and the message needs to be communicated in an interactive way.

Publicis Acquires Dubai's Flip Media, Folds Into Leo Burnett

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:04:10 -0500

Publicis Groupe this morning announced the acquisition of Dubai-based digital agency network Flip Media, which will be foled into its Leo Burnett Worldwide division.