Google announced today that it has added 88 new categories to its list of topics than AdSense publishers can block from their sites. New categories include apparel, business, family and sports.
Publishers can block up to 50 categories. The choices are applied across ads of all targeting types and formats.
“Before blocking a general category, please keep in mind that blocking ads can have a negative impact on your potential earnings, as it removes eligible ads from competing in the ad auction,” says Google’s Gavri Smith. “To help you make informed decisions and understand the impact of any blocking choices on your ad performance, we show you the revenue and ad impressions for every category from the last 30 days.”
“We hope that these extended options help you quickly and easily control the ads on your sites, and we look forward to continuing to enhance these controls in the future,” Smith adds.
Google also announced that it has increased the number of languages for category blocking. New languages include Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese. It was already available in English, French and German.
“This investment underscores our focus on enhancing the performance of both our guaranteed and non-guaranteed display business across Yahoo and our partner sites and, combined with Yahoo!’s reach and advertising leadership, will deliver a powerful solution for marketers,” said Ross Levinsohn, EVP, Americas region. “interclick’s innovative platform will allow Yahoo! to expand its targeting and data capabilities to deliver campaigns with stronger performance metrics.”
Today, Yahoo announced that the acquisition has closed.
Yahoo VP, Sales Seth Dallaire says Interclick brings new solutions and expertise that will benefit Yahoo advertisers and publishers in the following ways:
Audience-targeting technologies and campaign-reporting tools will help advertisers hit the right audiences for improved campaign performance, and help publishers earn more for their inventory.
Campaign-reporting tools will help Yahoo! provide richer and more detailed insights on campaign performance to our advertisers.
The interclick team is experienced in selling audiences across disparate sources of pooled inventory, which is key to succeeding in today’s large, complex digital marketplace.
The new premium supply will extend Yahoo!’s reach and grow our audience.
Yahoo says that with the deal now closed, it will begin to incorporate interclick capabilities into the Yahoo ad platform, and Yahoo Network Plus. It will also integrate the two teams.
In terms of group deals, it’s worth noting that more businesses surveyed intend to use Google Offers than Groupon in the future. I’d say there are two main reasons why it is in last place for those people have used right now. For one, it’s still fairly new. For two, it’s not available in a whole lot of markets yet, though it is rapidly expanding.
It’s a pretty good sign for Google Offers that it is so close to LivingSocial in the chart. It’s really interesting to see that nearly twice as many people are using “other” as Groupon, though it makes sense, with all of the local-based and vertical-based deals offerings out there.
Is marketing ruining social media? I’m interested to see the responses we get on this one, considering that many of you are marketers to one extent or another. There’s no questions that social media presents a plethora of marketing opportunities, many proven to be highly effective, but what about users? Is the experience suffering? I’m not going to come right out and say that it is, but I think it’s an interesting discussion.
It didn’t take long, however for marketers to jump in on that connection. And who could blame them? Social media has, without question, opened a direct line of two-way communication with customers and prospects that wasn’t really possible before.
“I remember the early days of the web, and everybody freaked out that there was…’oh no, you’re gonna ruin it by making money,’ but let’s face it. Businesses have to exist,” said Chapman. “They exist for a reason. The online space continues to grow, and the tools and technology are there, and businesses are never going to go away.”
However, “Common sense gets forgotten,” he said. “Basic manners. Basic talking to people seems to get lost in the megaphone of the Internet. Companies suddenly realize they can say whatever they want, and say it to thousands of people. They forget that at the end of the day…people buy from people still.”
“I think at the end of the day, the company that has basic common sense – basic manners, and still has a good product, and is out there, I’m going to connect. I’m going to buy from them a lot more.”
Forrester CEO George Colony led an interesting discussion at LeWeb this week about social media saturation. He says we’re in a bubble for social startups, that we’re moving to a post social world, and that post social startups will dominate. What does that mean for social media in general?
Here’s some video of his speech at the conference.
“We are in a bubble for social startups,” he said. “This is going to sweep away some of the nonsense, like FourSquare. We are going to move to a post-social world that’s a little like the Web in the year 2000. A lot of companies launched, but they did not survive.”
Well, the “right now” social media powerhouses (like Facebook, Twitter and Google) are all about the advertising, and increasingly about the brands. Is this a good trend for users?
Facebook has had brand pages for quite some time. Now Google+and Twitter have them. Twitter is also focusing more and more on monetization, which means ads, ads, ads. Facebook’s ad market share is growing dramatically. They’re even using people’s non-commercial activity and turning it into commercial offerings for advertisers. I keep hearing that people are often seeing that I “like” Bing on Facebook a lot, simply because I liked their page to follow news ages ago. Because I did that, now it looks like I’m a huge Bing advocate. Whether or not that’s true is beside the point.
Facebook, the indisputably most successful social network ever, became a hit initially because of the personal connections it provided among people. Now, for better or worse, it is a commercial behemoth (and getting ready for an IPO).
Google already dominates online advertising, and rumor has it that they’re looking to start plastering display ads all over Google+.
While all of this may be fine and good, there’s no question that these social networking services are simply much more commercial and brand-heavy. A lot of people don’t like that kind of thing. Is it hurting the social media experience?
Users may initially “like” brands on Facebook because they genuinely do like those brands. Sometimes they may do so to get some kind of deal. Eventually what can happen is that you get more brand updates than actual friend updates in your news feed (and this could really go for Twitter and Google+ too). That can really affect the user experience. And there’s a pretty good chance that even if a user really does love a brand, they don’t necessarily care about 95% of the updates that brand makes.
The main takeaway from this is: as a brand, make your social media presence something that users do care about. Things that they will enjoy or benefit from. You’re not the only one potentially annoying them on Facebook (or Twitter or Google+). You may be adding to the problem though, and in the long run that could hurt all brands.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard a lot of people say recently that they are spending less time on Facebook, and that’s not necessarily because they’re using Google+ or Twitter more. They’re just tired of it. Sure, a user is ultimately in control of their own news feed, but sometimes people just don’t have the time or care enough to take the steps necessary to clean it up they way they’d prefer. It’s easier to just do something else.
What do you think? Are brands damaging the user experience of social networks? Tell us what you think.
The holiday shopping season is in full swing, and this year, trends show that consumers are heading to social networks to shop. For the past several years, we’ve seen a growing shift to online shopping, so it’s not really surprising that social networks would be the next stop for gift ideas.
Are you utilizing social networks to gather gift ideas this holiday season? Let us know.
According to a GfK survey released in October, 39 percent of consumers plan to look to social networks before they make purchases. Laura O’Shaughnessy, the CEO of Facebook advertising agency SocialCode, told us that social networks played a large role last year but were expected to play an even bigger role in this year’s shopping season.
“What we saw last year, and we expect even more of a bang this year, is that social networks are really just key to holiday shopping,” she said.
As a result of this trend, marketers have another area in which to reach consumers. In order to leverage social networks, O’Shaughnessy told us that marketers should have a clear goal for social networks whether it be to introduce a new product, to purchase a product, or to increase brand awareness.
Secondly, she said marketers should be very specific in identifying their target audience. As she explained, social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn make it very easy to target particular groups.
Thirdly, O’Shaughnessy advises marketers to drive an action through their social media effort. Marketers should, however, make sure that they are taking advantage of the social power of the networks in order to encourage sharing.
If marketers can integrate a gaming aspect to their campaign, the results can be powerful in this way as well.
Once these elements are implemented, O’Shaughnessy said that marketers need to have tracking tools in place so that they are making the most of their marketing dollars.
Are you utilizing these opportunities this holiday season, marketers? We’d love to know.
NeuroFocus, a neuromarketing company owned by The Nielsen Company, has released the results of a study they conducted recently about the effectiveness of advertising in various contexts.
The study (PDF) was intended to examine a variety of so-called “premium web site experiences.” As such, NeuroFocus tested the New York Times homepage, Yahoo’s non-personalized homepage, and a Facebook news feed. The selections are intended to represent a hardcore news/commentary site, a light news/entertainment site, and a social media site. The study measured customer response according to three metrics: attention, emotional engagement, and memory retention. The second part of the study gauged users’ responses to the same advertisement in three contexts: TV, a corporate site, and a Facebook brand page.
Among the study’s most notable findings are that the New York Times, Facebook, and Yahoo tend to be much more engaging than the average website. Unsurprisingly, users respond differently to different websites. The New York Times, for example, scored highest on memory retention, while Facebook scored highest on emotional engagement. Yahoo was in the middle of the pack on emotional engagement, and lowest on memory activation. Also unsurprisingly, the study found that consumers’ responses to ads varies significantly based on medium. The Facebook brand page, for example, elicited a higher degree of emotional engagement than the same ad on a corporate website or on television.
In contrast to the more traditional self-reporting methods employed by studies of this kind, the NeuroFocus study gathered its data by measuring the brainwaves of participants. In the first study subjects were shown a series of images in random order: their own Facebook page, a generic but recent New York Times homepage, and a generic but recent Yahoo home page. For the second study a new group of subjects were divided into three groups. One group saw their own Facebook page, one a recent generic New York Times pages, and one a recent generic Yahoo page. Each page included a typically-placed advertisement. Participants watched as the ad was clicked on, and were taken to either the Facebook product page (in the Facebook group) or the corporate home page (in the other two groups).
The company compared the results of this study to data from a prior study comparing ads on TV to those on Facebook and elsewhere on the web, which showed that the Facebook ad scored higher in emotional engagement and attention than TV, and higher in overall effectiveness than either TV or elsewhere on the web.
NeuroFocus CEO Dr. A. K. Pradeep emphasized the value of the study for understanding the role of users’ subconscious minds in their response to advertising in a variety of media. This understanding will, he said, allow advertisers to make better decisions regarding where and how best to advertise their products.
What do you think? Do you find you respond better to ads in different contexts? Does the concept of neuromarketing creep you out? Let us know in the comments.
Last year, it seemed like the sky was the limit for Groupon. Every major Internet player had to have a Groupon clone, Google even tried to buy Groupon. Everybody was talking about the service. This year, while some of those things may still be true (Google decided to just move forward with its own deals offering), a much greater percentage of the news about Groupon has been negative.
Even when there’s good news, the bad is always a click or two away, it seems. Today is no different.
Groupon is being sued by BidMyCrib.com as it is being accused of altering emails of agreements with merchants after terms had been accepted. Bloomberg reports that Groupon is being accused of violating the Stored Communications Act.
Groupon is reportedly in some hot water with regulators over breaches of the advertising code (apparently they’ve had 50 of them this year). Two recent ones in particular have drawn regulators’ attention, including one about a breast enhancement ad deemed misleading, and one for a non-existent Ocado product price. The former apparently made a promise that was not consistent with the information obtained at the merchant’s spa, and the second was a delivery pass advertised as “usually priced at” a certain price, and that it was determined that no such product ever actually existed at that price. (via TheGuardian)
A CRM company called Groupion sued Groupon for trademark infringment, but the court has found the suit to be without merit. In an official court document (via Eric Goldman), the judge says: “Groupion failed to make a showing that there is a likelihood of confusion between its and Groupon’s mark. Therefore, the Court finds that Groupon fails to demonstrate that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on its infringement claim and, thus, denies Groupon’s motion for summary judgment.”
Groupon’s stock managed to climb back over the company’s initial stock price of $20 a share. As of the time of this writing, it’s at $21.15.
In other Groupon news, the company announced the launch of a new calendar service called Groupon Scheduler today.
The company was also the butt of a Michael Ian Black joke:
ZenithOptimedia has put out a new report looking at global ad expenditure, predicting that it will end this year at US$464 billion, which would be 3.5% higher than in 2010. The firm also predicts that this will accelerate to US$486 billion, and expects it to grow 5.2% in 2013 and 5.8% in 2014.
“Most of the growth in global ad expenditure is now coming from developing markets, which we
forecast to contribute 58% of new ad dollars between 2011 and 2014,” the firm says. “Asia Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe and Latin America are all expanding much faster than the developed world, driven by both their current economic performance and their future potential.”
“Over the next three years we expect Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) to grow by an average of 10.4% a year, Central & Eastern Europe to grow 9.6% a year and Latin America to grow by 7.3% a year,” the firm adds. “The exception is the Middle East & North Africa, where political turmoil has disrupted media production and distribution, and made advertisers wary of attracting negative attention. We forecast the Middle East & North Africa to grow at an average of 1.3% between 2011 and 2014. Overall we expect developing markets – which we here define as everywhere outside North America, Western Europe and Japan – to increase their share of the global ad market from 32.3% in 2011 to 35.9% in 2014.”
Here’s what the firm has by medium:
And market share:
As you can see, Google dominates by a pretty significant margin. “ Over this time Google has tightened its grip on global search (raising its share of searches from 72% in 2006 to 85% now) and established a lead in traditional display and online video with the help of the acquisition and development of companies like DoubleClick and YouTube,” the firm says.
What’s interesting is that while Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL have all been on the decline, Facebook’s share appears to be growing steadily, and could be well on its way to jumping Microsoft. “Since 2006 Facebook has established itself as a major supplier, increasing its market share from just 0.2% to 3.1% in 2010,” the report says. “Last year Facebook doubled its share and overtook AOL; at its current pace of growth it is likely to overtake Microsoft by the end of 2011.”
As you may know, Microsoft is launching a big Xbox update, and rolling out a whole bunch of entertainment apps. Along with all of that, of course, comes plenty of advertising.
Microsoft’s Shawn McMichael talks about this on the company’s advertising blog. He says the launch “represents a new era of interactive TV advertising and a couple of firsts for advertising on Xbox Live.”
These would be standard TV ad spots within traditional TV content on Xbox Live, and Kinect-enabled branded destination experiences on Xbox Live.
“This makes Xbox LIVE the largest next generation TV platform to offer advertisers the ability to purchase 30 second TV spots within entertainment content. It also makes Xbox the only place on TV where advertisers can use the power of gesture to engage with audiences!” he says.
“From the moment Kinect launched, a little over a year ago, the industry has been asking us, what does this mean for advertisers?” he continues. “There has been a lot of talk about how Kinect voice and gesture controls have the power to transform TV and, in truth, the creative possibilities are endless. But we needed to develop formats to help advertisers take advantage of those possibilities and today I’m pleased to announce that we’ve delivered on that promise. At launch, we now more than 100 unique campaigns running with Kinect-enhanced BDEs, reaching the highly engaged audience of 35 million active Xbox LIVE subscribers around the globe.”
Content providers (like The Today Show, for example) are also partnering with Microsoft to sell standard 30-second ad spots within their content on Xbox Live.
The launch of all of the new apps will certainly make the Xbox a much more accessible to a wider audience, and that definitely means more ad appeal.
Google has launched a new version of its AdWords Help Center, based on feedback from users. Presumably that means you.
Changes include: simpler navigation (a new menu at the top of each page), visible contact options (“contact us” button at the top right of each page), and more screenshots and videos.
Google is rolling out the changes gradually, on a topic-by-topic basis, starting with 60 of “the most important” topics. The changes will be rolled out globally over the next few quarters, the company says.
If you want the new Help Center now, you can opt into it by clicking “try the new look” from the yellow bar at the top of the page. You can go back to the old one for the time being if you don’t like it.
A Brazilian advertising agency found an interesting way to market condoms, albeit violating Facebook’s policies, to potential customers on the social network.
The advertising campaign, “Unexpected Babies”, sent unsuspecting men a “friend request” from their unborn child, with the message “Avoid surprises like this one. Use Olla Condoms“.
Each faux-child shared the name of their father, with a “Jr.” slapped on, essentially scaring the bejesus out of the recipient. Upon clicking the profile, they were greeted with an advertisement for Olla Condoms stating: “Olla Condoms. Several types of preservatives for you to enjoy without any surprises.”
The ad agency put out the following about the marketing campaign:
Facebook spokeswoman, Annie Ta, told Pay Dirt, “Facebook has always been based on a real name culture, and we believe this his leads to greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for the people who use our service … It’s a violation of our policies to use a fake name or operate under a false identity.” Ta went on to encourage people to report anyone doing this via the report link, which can be found on nearly every page of Facebook.
It would be one thing if this campaign offered free condoms, or at the very least discounted ones, since yesterday was World AIDS Day. Overall this guerilla marketing campaign comes off as a gimmick or a stunt.
What do you think of the “Unexpected Babies” marketing campaign? Tell us your thoughts in the comment area below.
Top daily deals service Groupon is no stranger to controversy – whether it be related to their early November IPO, or charges from small businesses about the efficacy of the service. But now Groupon faces problems across the pond as the Office of Fair Trading, the UK’s consumer and competition agency, is set to launch an investigation into the company’s advertising practices.
The referral to the OFT comes from another regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who decided to report to the OFT based on 48 advertising code violation perpetrated by Groupon in 2011.
Following repeated breaches of the Advertising Code by MyCityDeal Ltd t/a Groupon, the Advertising Standards Authority is now referring complaints that we receive about Groupon’s ads to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). We are referring complaints that specifically concern Groupon’s:
Failure to conduct promotions fairly, such as not making clear significant terms and conditions
Failure to provide evidence that offers are available
Exaggeration of savings claims
We are taking this approach because, given Groupon’s track record, we have serious concerns about its ability to adhere to the Advertising Code. It is in the public interest that we refer the matter to the OFT, the OFT being better placed to address any underlying issues concerning Groupon’s trading practices generally.
In 2011, the ASA has formally investigated and upheld complaints against Groupon’s advertising on 11 occasions. We have also informally resolved 37 cases. We will continue working closely with the OFT on these issues to ensure consumers are protected.
The OFT already has an ongoing investigation of Groupon – one which they started in July. The original investigation concerned trading practices, but they have added the ASA’s complaints about advertising practices to the list.
Last week, the ASA banned a Groupon deal offering a discount on cosmetic surgeries like breast enlargements and rhinoplasties in their customary 24-hour window. They said that the deal was nixed because it forced people to make huge life-altering decisions in a hurried amount of time.
Groupon has responded to the investigation, saying:
Groupon constantly strives for business practices that are in the best interest of consumers. We are constantly evolving business process to ensure customers receive the best possible experience at the highest standards. We are cooperating fully with the OFT to ensure that the rights of consumers are protected.
Groupon burst into the UK when they acquired CityDeal, a European deals service headquartered in Berlin, in May of 2010.
Do you remember back in January when news came out that Twitter users would be able to create two types of self-serve ads (promoted tweets and promoted accounts)?
Twitter is now testing self-service ads with some of its existing advertisers. This allows them to run their own promotions and pay with their credit cards.
This was revealed by Twitter Chief Revenue Officer Adam Bain at a Business Insider conference:
(He also says some other interesting things about Twitter advertising. For example, he discusses a successful campaign for Paramount for the movie Super 8. He wouldn’t say how much they made, but he did at least say that they knew what they were paying up front, as opposed to that being based on ticket sales).
“Self serve has materialized for a handful of these businesses now that are testing with us this year,” he said. “We’ll continue to learn and scale that out over the next bit.”
Regarding the self-service ads, Twitter’s Matt Graves is quoted as saying:
This is an important step in continuing to grow Twitter’s business. Our Promoted Products can help small and medium-sized businesses build their audience on Twitter and better engage with the people they want to reach.
As with all of our advertising efforts, we’re starting small, testing carefully and making improvements as we learn what works. We will slowly roll this capability out to more advertisers in the coming weeks and months.
This could be the beginning of the real moneymaker from Twitter. It could also be the beginning of a lot more people bitching about ads on Twitter.
Today’s infographic round-up looks at which industries are using Google AdWords the most, the social media situation in China and the world’s population put into perspective.
You probably do because it was pretty effective in establishing the “cool” cult of personality that most people identify with Mac while simultaneously categorizing PCs as a square, inadequate, and just not very hip to be seen with.
The thing is, Apple may have done too good of a job with this ad campaign, and their competitors have been taking notes. You may have heard about the patent dispute currently going on between Samsung and Apple and, more amusingly, have likely seen Samsung’s latest commercial for their Galaxy S II:
Yup. Samsung is trying to turn the cafeteria tables on Apple by taking a page out of Apple’s own playbook. I gotta admit, that’s a pretty bold swipe Samsung took with their new commercial by accentuating the risible and affected archetype so often associated with Apple’s legion of fans. Stepping up this spirit fight of the hip tech culture, Samsung has now released a Facebook app where users can compare specs of the new Samsung Galaxy S II with the iPhone 4S as well as… an old cordless phone from the 80s and a couple of cans attached by a string. The app also allows visitors to post comments about how much cooler they think the Galaxy S II is than the iPhone4S. While the campaign grabs your attention pretty quickly, there’s also this uncomfortable suggestion of techno-virility (or impotence, depending on which device you use) loaded in each of their tag-lines on this app:
“The next BIG THING is ALREADY HERE.”
“I’m experiencing serious phone envy.”
“It’s so thin… and that screen is massive!”
See where that’s going yet? Thought so.
Still, lumping the newest iPhone in with examples of communication devices you’d find in an Acme Corporation catalog is a pretty hilarious move from Samsung. It remains to be seen whether it’s effective enough to even cause a blemish on Apple’s shining armor of cool, but this is a pretty good start. What do you think of this latest move in Samsung’s ad push for the Samsung Galaxy S II? Effective or egregious? Leave your comments below
Starting on January 1, 2012 a new agreement will take effect, which will allow ABC to begin selling ads and providing clips of entertainment to Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT) infused New York City cabs. At the moment, that’s about 6,600 cabs that will receive ABC’s content.
Cabs will be able to offer weather, news, and news-you-can-use features, which will run in a loop.
Dave Davis, President and General Manager of WABC-TV in New York stated that this, “significantly expands the growth opportunities ahead for our taxi TV programming and advertising business,” according to Deadline.
The deal also encompasses cabs located in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Anaheim, Kansas City, Denver, Columbus, and Charlotte. With those additional cabs, that brings the total to around 10,000 cabs where ABC content will be shown.
According to the companies, this deal will “lay the groundwork for additional expansion into new markets… in the coming months“.
What do you think of advertising in cabs? Tell us what you think in the comment area below.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau is reporting that third quarter revenues from internet advertising are up 22% this year over the third quarter of last year. Revenues have climbed to $7.9 billion in the eighth consecutive quarter of year-to-year growth.
President of the IAB Randall Rothenberg attributes the staggering growth – which also represents a rise of 2.7% over the second quarter of 2011 – to an increasing awareness among advertisers of the importance of digital advertising space. The following chart shows the steady rise of internet ad revenues over the past eleven years:
In addition to the increasing awareness among advertisers cited by Rothenberg, it seems likely that the increasing use of mobile devices, namely phones and tablets, in web traffic plays a role as well. This would account for the sharper rise in revenues beginning near the end of 2009. What is perhaps most surprising, though, is that even in the difficult economic climate of the past few years, ad revenues have consistently grown by leaps and bounds.
Founded in 1996, the IAB is a group of media and technology companies that together sell over 85% of the advertising space on the internet. The organization began collecting and publishing revenue data in 1999, and its reports are widely regarded as the most accurate gauge of internet advertising revenue.
In what campaign officials are calling a “tiny” ad buy, President Barack Obama is launching the first television ads of his reelection bid. The ads are a test to see if television is a good way to find volunteers for the campaign.
The ads, primarily on satellite TV stations at the moment, are an attempt to recruit by urging viewers to call a number on the screen or visit the website JoinObama.com.
First ad: Building an Organization
I need you to do me a favor – it’ll only take a minute. The 2012 campaign is underway, and the outcome will depend not on what I do, but on what YOU do. Starting right now, call the number on your screen or visit JoinObama.com to help build our campaign in your community. It’s up to you to fight for the values we all share. Don’t sit this one out. I’d love to see you out there.
Second Ad: A Movement Starts With You
It starts with one person making a decision — that things need to change, and they’re going to help change them. That person finds another person who shares their values. They go out and find a few more. And before long, neighborhoods come together. Communities organize. A movement builds. It all starts with you, making a decision to get involved — because we’ve got SO much more to do. Call the number on your screen or visit JoinObama.com to let me know you’re in.
What did you think of the ads? Let us know in the comments below.
Recently Bing announced a new holiday marketing campaign for its Bing search engine.
The new campaign finds Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and his friends, taking center stage in four separate advertisements for Bing. Each advertisement was done in the same stop-motion puppet animation that was used in the original 1964 TV special, so it will have a nostalgic feel for most.
Check out the advertisements below. Each video is accompanied with the official video description:
“Bumble”, the more beloved name for the Abominable Snow Monster, features the lovable Bumble, who has lost his scary roar. He uses Bing to search for “scary monster” and once inspired by a few Bing Videos, perfects his roar to be appropriately scary again.
Santa and Mrs. Claus get a little crazy in the workshop with bubble wrap, search on Bing Video for bubble wrap how-to’s, and hilarious antics ensue.
Hermey, Yukon and Bumble are tired of the winter weather and are in dire need of a vacation. Bing Travel saves the day via a “fabulous island resort” search, highlighting Hermey’s friends who have “liked” specific resorts, leading to Bing Travel and the perfect destination.
Yukon Cornelius becomes exhausted from pulling Hermey and Rudolph on his sled and collapses in the snow. Luckily, Bing helps him find the closest hot yoga studio using Bing Local.
The holiday season is an opportune time for search engines, as this is when people do more searches – to find gifts, sales ads, party supplies, airfare, and literally anything else. With more people online, this means more ads that can be targeted and displayed by the search engine.
What did you think of the Bing holiday centric advertisements? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
During the early hours of the morning, Jon Burke, of Automattic made an announcement which looks to help certain WordPress users monetize from their blogs. The program is called WordAds, and is being implemented through a partnership with Federated Media.
The announcement not only introduced users to WordAds, but explained the timing and reason for it, “Over the years one of the most frequent requests on WordPress.com has been to allow bloggers to earn money from their blog through ads. We’ve resisted advertising so far because most of it we had seen wasn’t terribly tasteful, and it seemed like Google’s AdSense was the state-of-the-art, which was sad. You pour a lot of time and effort into your blog and you deserve better than AdSense.”
Ouch. Burke explains that there are over 50,000 WordPress blogs created everyday and their new advertising program will provide these users with a tasteful and effective option for advertising.
If you’d like to apply for the program, they’re accepting applications now. However, only certain sites will be accepted with a custom domain being a requirement. The selection process will be based on level of traffic, content, and language utilized on a blog. WordPress uses BoingBoing and Apple Insider as examples of sites which use Federated Media as an advertising partner.
A little over a month ago, Federated Media issued a press release concerning their partnership with Automattic, providing them an option to represent WordPress users through advertising.
Deanna Brown, CEO, Federated Media Publishing, said this at the time, “WordPress.com contributors epitomize the idea of passionate and influential publishers on the Independent Web. They have ardent followings and they present information in a very focused, conversational format, which is exactly the type of media offerings found in the rest of our existing portfolio. They really are an excellent fit for us.”
Twitter has been responding to the news, with most people focusing on Burke’s jab at Google’s Adsense:
It’s interesting that Burke would announce this as a rival to AdSense, considering the program looks to be exclusive and through a partnership with Federated Media. Judging from the ads provided on AppleInsider and BoingBoing, it seems as though there will be very few WordPress sites which would meet the standards set from the application process. Comparing this to the Adsense platform which is massive and represents a large number of sites seems a bit of a stretch at this point. As sites adopt the program, we’ll be able to see the potential it has to rival Google.
It would appear that Facebook users may be getting more control over their privacy and how their personal information is used.
Reports have indicated that the company is close to settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which would keep Facebook from changing privacy settings without users opting into them (as opposed to the strategy of making changes, and requiring users to opt out if they don’t like them).
Now, the European Commission is set to introduce an initiative in January, according to the Telegraph, which would ban the kind of targeted advertising that Facebook ads are based on.
Facebook allows advertisers to target based on location, age/birthday, interests, education, and connections.
“Interest targeting allows advertisers to target users based on information they’ve provided in their profile (timeline),” says Facebook. “This includes listed likes and interests, the Pages they like, apps they use, and other profile (timeline) content they’ve provided.”
In other words, if you’ve provided the info to Facebook, it’s fair game, as far as Facebook is concerned.
Facebook also allows advertisers to target by connections. That means those who have become a fan of the advertiser’s Page, a member of their group, RSVP’d to an event, or used their app in the last month. Advertisers can also target friends of people who have engaged in these actions.
The Telegraph report says Facebook could face legal action or a massive fine if it doesn’t comply with the new legislation.
With an IPO expected to on the way, this is hardly a great time for Facebook’s money making machine to be compromised, even if it’s not a worldwide compromise.
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5 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
