Tag: lorem

Mozilla Introduces “Do Not Track”, Hopes to Make It Industry Standard

Mozilla has proposed a "do not track" browser feature, which would allow Firefox users to opt out of any third-party ad-based tracking. Such a feature would work by transmitting a Do Not Track HTTP header with each click or page view in the browser.

Alex Fowler the Global Privacy and Public Policy Leader at Mozilla, writes on his personal blog:

The Do Not Track header builds on the work the advertising networks have done to date without the cookie-based systems they make available to people online. The advantages to the header technique are that it is less complex and simple to locate and use, it is more persistent than cookie-based solutions, and it doesn’t rely on user’s finding and loading lists of ad networks and advertisers to work. We’re not the only ones who think this approach makes sense. The FTC calls for a “more uniform and comprehensive consumer choice mechanism for online behavioral advertising. In addition, the HTTP header technique has been proposed before (see the good work by donottrack.us and the UBAO add-on).

The challenge with adding this to the header is that it requires both browsers and sites to implement it to be fully effective. Mozilla recognizes the chicken and egg problem and we are taking the step of proposing that this feature be considered for upcoming releases of Firefox.

A couple weeks ago, Mozilla made the latest Firefox Beta available for4 testing, as it works toward the final release of Firefox 4.

It’s worth noting, as Fowler does, that the header-based Do Not Track mechanism will only work if both browsers and sites implement it.

The feature is only in proposal mode at this point, and will be the subject of discussion among the Mozilla community. Mozilla also aims to get more of the tech and advertising communities involved, and make the header an industry standard.

January 24, 2011
Schmidt Out as Google CEO
Google just dropped a bombshell: Eric Schmidt is out as CEO (as announced in the company’s earings report. We’ll be covering the company’s earnings call, which is sure to have more on this.

He will step down from the role starting April 4, and co-founder Larry Page will take charge of Google’s day-to-day operations as CEO. Co-founder Sergey Brin will devote his energy to strategic projects like working on new products.

Schmidt will assume the role of Executive Chairman, focusing externally on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership–all of which are increasingly important given Google’s global reach. Internally, he will continue to act as an advisor to Larry and Sergey.

Update: More from the call. And more here.

Schmidt tweeted the following a few minutes ago:

Day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed! http://goo.gl/zC89pless than a minute ago via webEric Schmidt
ericschmidt

On the Official Google Blog, Schmidt writes:

When I joined Google in 2001 I never imagined—even in my wildest dreams—that we would get as far, as fast as we have today. Search has quite literally changed people’s lives—increasing the collective sum of the world’s knowledge and revolutionizing advertising in the process. And our emerging businesses—display, Android, YouTube and Chrome—are on fire. Of course, like any successful organization we’ve had our fair share of good luck, but the entire team—now over 24,000 Googlers globally—deserves most of the credit.

And as our results today show, the outlook is bright. But as Google has grown, managing the business has become more complicated. So Larry, Sergey and I have been talking for a long time about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making—and over the holidays we decided now was the right moment to make some changes to the way we are structured.

For the last 10 years, we have all been equally involved in making decisions. This triumvirate approach has real benefits in terms of shared wisdom, and we will continue to discuss the big decisions among the three of us. But we have also agreed to clarify our individual roles so there’s clear responsibility and accountability at the top of the company.

Larry will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths, and starting from April 4 he will take charge of our day-to-day operations as Google’s Chief Executive Officer. In this new role I know he will merge Google’s technology and business vision brilliantly. I am enormously proud of my last decade as CEO, and I am certain that the next 10 years under Larry will be even better! Larry, in my clear opinion, is ready to lead.

Sergey has decided to devote his time and energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products. His title will be Co-Founder. He’s an innovator and entrepreneur to the core, and this role suits him perfectly.

As Executive Chairman, I will focus wherever I can add the greatest value: externally, on the deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership that are increasingly important given Google’s global reach; and internally as an advisor to Larry and Sergey.

We are confident that this focus will serve Google and our users well in the future. Larry, Sergey and I have worked exceptionally closely together for over a decade—and we anticipate working together for a long time to come. As friends, co-workers and computer scientists we have a lot in common, most important of all a profound belief in the potential for technology to make the world a better place. We love Google—our people, our products and most of all the opportunity we have to improve the lives of millions of people around the world.

Earlier Schmidt wrote an ineresting post at Harvard Business Review today indicating that Google’s strategic initiatives for the year are all about mobile. He wrote:

First, we must focus on developing the underlying fast networks (generally called LTE). These will be 8-to-10- megabit networks, roughly 10 times what we have today, which will usher in new and creative applications, mostly entertainment and social, for these phone platforms.

Second, we must attend to the development of mobile money. Phones, as we know, are used as banks in many poorer parts of the world—and modern technology means that their use as financial tools can go much further than that.

Third, we want to increase the availability of inexpensive smartphones in the poorest parts of the world. We envision literally a billion people getting inexpensive, browser-based touchscreen phones over the next few years. Can you imagine how this will change their awareness of local and global information and their notion of education? And that will be just the start.

Here’s the full release including the financials (see the balance sheets here):

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – January 20, 2011 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter and the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.

"Q4 marked a terrific end to a stellar year," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. "Our strong performance has been driven by a rapidly growing digital economy, continuous product innovation that benefits both users and advertisers, and by the extraordinary momentum of our newer businesses, such as display and mobile. These results give us the optimism and confidence to invest heavily in future growth — investments that will benefit our users, Google and the wider web."

In addition, Google has also announced plans to streamline decision making and create clearer lines of responsibility and accountability at the top of the company.
- Starting from April 4, Larry Page, Google Co-Founder, will take charge of Google’s day-to-day operations as Chief Executive Officer.
- Sergey Brin, Google Co-Founder, will devote his energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products.
- Eric Schmidt will assume the role of Executive Chairman, focusing externally on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership–all of which are increasingly important given Google’s global reach. Internally, he will continue to act as an advisor to Larry and Sergey.
Commenting on these changes, Eric said: "We’ve been talking about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making for a long time. By clarifying our individual roles we’ll create clearer responsibility and accountability at the top of the company. In my clear opinion, Larry is ready to lead and I’m excited about working with both him and Sergey for a long time to come."

Larry said: "Eric has clearly done an outstanding job leading Google for the last decade. The results speak for themselves. There is no other CEO in the world that could have kept such headstrong founders so deeply involved and still run the business so brilliantly. Eric is a tremendous leader and I have learned innumerable lessons from him. His advice and efforts will be invaluable to me as I start in this new role. Google still has such incredible opportunity–we are only at the beginning and I can’t wait to get started."

Q4 Financial Summary

Google reported revenues of $8.44 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2010, an increase of 26% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the fourth quarter of 2010, TAC totaled $2.07 billion, or 25% of advertising revenues.

Google reports operating income, operating margin, net income, and earnings per share (EPS) on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. The non-GAAP measures, as well as free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, are described below and are reconciled to the corresponding GAAP measures in the accompanying financial tables.
- GAAP operating income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.98 billion, or 35% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $2.48 billion, or 37% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP operating income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $3.38 billion, or 40% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $2.76 billion, or 41% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009.
- GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.54 billion, compared to $1.97 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.85 billion, compared to $2.19 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009.
- GAAP EPS in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $7.81 on 326 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $6.13 in the fourth quarter of 2009 on 322 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $8.75, compared to $6.79 in the fourth quarter of 2009.
- Non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin exclude the expenses related to stock-based compensation (SBC). Non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS exclude the expenses related to SBC and the related tax benefits. In the fourth quarter of 2010, the charge related to SBC was $396 million, compared to $276 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. The tax benefit related to SBC was $89 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 and $62 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Q4 Financial Highlights

Revenues – Google reported revenues of $8.44 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, representing a 26% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenues of $6.67 billion. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting TAC.

Google Sites Revenues – Google-owned sites generated revenues of $5.67 billion, or 67% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010. This represents a 28% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenues of $4.42 billion.

Google Network Revenues – Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $2.50 billion, or 30% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010. This represents a 22% increase from fourth quarter 2009 network revenues of $2.04 billion.

International Revenues – Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $4.38 billion, representing 52% of total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to 52% in the third quarter of 2010 and 53% in the fourth quarter of 2009. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the third quarter of 2010 through the fourth quarter of 2010, our revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010 would have been $201 million lower. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the fourth quarter of 2009 through the fourth quarter of 2010, our revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010 would have been $132 million higher.
- Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $878 million, representing 10% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to 12% in the fourth quarter of 2009.
- In the fourth quarter of 2010, we recognized a benefit of $25 million to revenues through our foreign exchange risk management program, compared to $8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 18% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 11% over the third quarter of 2010.

Cost-Per-Click – Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 5% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 4% over the third quarter of 2010.

TAC – Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $2.07 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to TAC of $1.72 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 25% in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to 27% in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The majority of TAC is related to amounts ultimately paid to our AdSense partners, which totaled $1.74 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. TAC also includes amounts ultimately paid to certain distribution partners and others who direct traffic to our website, which totaled $333 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Other Cost of Revenues – Other cost of revenues, which is comprised primarily of data center operational expenses, amortization of intangible assets, content acquisition costs as well as credit card processing charges, increased to $877 million, or 10% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $688 million, or 10% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Operating Expenses – Operating expenses, other than cost of revenues, were $2.51 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, or 30% of revenues, compared to $1.78 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, or 27% of revenues.

Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) – In the fourth quarter of 2010, the total charge related to SBC was $396 million, compared to $276 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

We currently estimate SBC charges for grants to employees prior to January 1, 2011 to be approximately $1.6 billion for 2011. This estimate does not include expenses to be recognized related to employee stock awards that are granted after December 31, 2010 or non-employee stock awards that have been or may be granted.

Operating Income – GAAP operating income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.98 billion, or 35% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $2.48 billion, or 37% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP operating income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $3.38 billion, or 40% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $2.76 billion, or 41% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Interest and Other Income, Net – Interest and other income, net increased to $160 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $88 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Income Taxes – Our effective tax rate was 19% for the fourth quarter of 2010.

Net Income – GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.54 billion, compared to $1.97 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP net income was $2.85 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $2.19 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. GAAP EPS in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $7.81 on 326 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $6.13 in the fourth quarter of 2009 on 322 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $8.75, compared to $6.79 in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures – Net cash provided by operating activities in the fourth quarter of 2010 totaled $3.53 billion, compared to $2.73 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. In the fourth quarter of 2010, capital expenditures were $2.55 billion, which was primarily related to the purchase of our office building in New York City, as well as IT infrastructure investments, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment. Free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. In the fourth quarter of 2010, free cash flow was $981 million.

We expect to continue to make significant capital expenditures.

A reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities, the GAAP measure of liquidity, is included at the end of this release.

Cash – As of December 31, 2010, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $35.0 billion.

Headcount – On a worldwide basis, Google employed 24,400 full-time employees as of December 31, 2010, up from 23,331 full-time employees as of September 30, 2010.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

A live audio webcast of Google’s fourth quarter and fiscal year 2010 earnings release call will be available at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html. The call begins today at 1:30 PM (PT) / 4:30 PM (ET). This press release, the financial tables, as well as other supplemental information including the reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, are also available on that site.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements regarding our continued investments in our core areas of strategic focus, our expected stock-based compensation charges, and our plans to make significant capital expenditures. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted include, among others, unforeseen changes in our hiring patterns and our need to expend capital to accommodate the growth of the business, as well as those risks and uncertainties included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, and our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, which are on file with the SEC, and are available on our investor relations website at investor.google.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, which we expect to file with the SEC in February 2011. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of January 20, 2011, and Google undertakes no duty to update this information.

ABOUT NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which statements are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP EPS, and free cash flow. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP results of operations measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures" and "Reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow" included at the end of this release.

We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity by excluding certain expenses and expenditures that may not be indicative of our "recurring core business operating results," meaning our operating performance excluding not only non-cash charges, such as stock-based compensation, but also discrete cash charges that are infrequent in nature. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to our historical performance and liquidity as well as comparisons to our competitors’ operating results. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making and (2) they are used by our institutional investors and the analyst community to help them analyze the health of our business.

Non-GAAP operating income and operating margin. We define non-GAAP operating income as operating income plus stock-based compensation. Non-GAAP operating margin is defined as non-GAAP operating income divided by revenues. Google considers these non-GAAP financial measures to be useful metrics for management and investors because they exclude the effect of stock-based compensation so that Google’s management and investors can compare Google’s recurring core business operating results over multiple periods. Because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types that companies can use under ASC Topic 718, Google’s management believes that providing a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes stock-based compensation allows investors to make meaningful comparisons between Google’s recurring core business operating results and those of other companies, as well as providing Google’s management with an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating Google’s own recurring core business operating results over different periods of time. There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-GAAP operating income versus operating income calculated in accordance with GAAP. First, non-GAAP operating income excludes some costs, namely, stock-based compensation, that are recurring. Stock-based compensation has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in Google’s business. Second, stock-based compensation is an important part of our employees’ compensation and impacts their performance. Third, the components of the costs that we exclude in our calculation of non-GAAP operating income may differ from the components that our peer companies exclude when they report their results of operations. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from non-GAAP operating income and evaluating non-GAAP operating income together with operating income calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP net income and EPS. We define non-GAAP net income as net income plus stock-based compensation less the related tax effects. We define non-GAAP EPS as non-GAAP net income divided by the weighted average outstanding shares, on a fully-diluted basis. We consider these non-GAAP financial measures to be a useful metric for management and investors for the same reasons that Google uses non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin. However, in order to provide a complete picture of our recurring core business operating results, we exclude from non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS the tax effects associated with stock-based compensation. Without excluding these tax effects, investors would only see the gross effect that excluding these expenses had on our operating results. The same limitations described above regarding Google’s use of non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin apply to our use of non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS and evaluating non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS together with net income and EPS calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Free cash flow. We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities minus capital expenditures. We consider free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business that, after the acquisition of property and equipment, including information technology infrastructure and land and buildings, can be used for strategic opportunities, including investing in our business, making strategic acquisitions, and strengthening the balance sheet. Analysis of free cash flow also facilitates management’s comparisons of our operating results to competitors’ operating results. A limitation of using free cash flow versus the GAAP measure of net cash provided by operating activities as a means for evaluating Google is that free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash balance from operations for the period because it excludes cash used for capital expenditures during the period. Our management compensates for this limitation by providing information about our capital expenditures on the face of the cash flow statement and under the caption "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K. Google has computed free cash flow using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter and year to year.

The accompanying tables have more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures.
January 20, 2011
Google Updates Ad Preview Tool

AdWords advertisers who prefer not to go with the "guess and check" method when trying to attract customers are in luck. This afternoon, Google announced some improvements to its Ad Preview Tool, allowing users to get a good idea of how their ads will appear without wasting any time or money.

Gordon Zhu, an associate product marketing manager, wrote on the Inside AdWords blog, "If you’re signed into your account while previewing your ads, you’ll now see integrated keyword diagnosis results. In this example below, we’ve entered our keyword red roses to see if it’s triggering ads in New York:"

Zhu then continued, "[T]he Preview Tool now specifically confirms whether your ad is showing and links to the relevant campaign and ad group. If your ad isn’t showing, the Preview Tool will tell you why, helping you understand if you need to adjust your bids, location targeting, daily budget, or optimize your account."

And as you may have noticed from the screenshot, it’s now possible to check the results for specific mobile devices, along with different mobile carriers.

These tweaks are sure to come in handy, and could indeed prove quite valuable to marketers. Google, in turn, probably hopes the marketers will then be more inclined to pay it more money.

January 19, 2011
Adobe Acquires Data Management Platform Company Demdex

Adobe has acquired data management platform company Demdex, which it says will help it "bring audience optimization to $109 billion global online ad market. The company will add it to its Adobe Online Marketing Suite, powered by Omniture.

The company says, "The online ad market is undergoing fundamental changes as advertisers increasingly shift from buying content-driven placements to buying specific audiences. This helps advertisers more efficiently spend ad dollars and avoid advertising to audiences that don’t meet their criteria. Publishers are increasingly seeking to provide audience data to match advertisers’ requirements so they can deliver ad inventory at premium rates. This shift to buying and selling audience segments requires advertisers and publishers to gather, consolidate and more easily share anonymous audience data. This has created a highly fragmented and complex ad buying and selling process."

"Our customers rank among the world’s largest advertisers and publishers and they have been asking us to help them optimize how they buy and sell online ads," said Brad Rencher, VP and general manager of Adobe’s Omniture Business Unit. "With the addition of Demdex, the Adobe Online Marketing Suite will enable advertisers to be smarter with their advertising spend and publishers to leverage their audience data to generate more revenue. With audience optimization, Adobe is literally changing how online ads are bought and sold."

"Adding our technology to the capabilities and vision of Adobe is a powerful combination for advertisers and publishers,” said Demdex CEO Randy Nicolau. "We will continue to evolve our technology as part of the Adobe Online Marketing Suite to help customers stay ahead of the rapidly evolving online ad market."

With the acquisition of Demdex, Adobe is partnering with Evidon (formerly Better Advertising) and becomes part of Evidon’s Open Data Partnership (ODP).

January 18, 2011
Facebook: Bing Scam Site Was Never Advertiser, Let Alone 3rd Largest

Updated – See below.

AdAge published an article that sent ripples throughout the blogosphere with some questionable information. While not the basis of the article (that was mainly about how Facebook has become a dominant force in advertising), the article suggested that "the third-biggest advertiser [on Facebook] was a completely unknown brand called Make-My-Baby.com, citing "ComScore’s third-quarter analysis."

As more information has surfaced throughout the day, we’ve learned that comScore claimed (in an email to Danny Sullivan) that "Make-my-baby was not one of the top advertisers on Facebook." It remains unclear whether comScore was just initially wrong and AdAge passed on the wrong info, or whether the inaccuracy started with AdAge.

Brandon McCormick, a spokesperson for Facebook itself, tells WebProNews, "Not only is make-my-baby.com not one of our largest advertisers, they are not an advertiser at all. In fact, their practices are against our ad policies and would be rejected as a result. This is true whether they tried to run ads with us or an affiliate did."

So let’s back up for a minute. The practices referred to, which are the practices that made this a compelling story from the get go, were that make-my-baby.com was forcing users to install a toolbar that switched their default search to Bing, as the site was apparently run by a company trying to capitalize on a Microsoft affiliate program.

Google’s Matt Cutts, who discovered the practice and wrote about it on Google Buzz last night, noted that he was quickly able to find additional sites that were doing the same thing. All of this led to us questioning how much of this was actually taking place, and whether it could be playing a role in Bing’s impressive growth. I think this is still a valid question, but there is a pretty big difference between such a site being one of the top advertisers on the world’s largest social network (with 1.75 billion impressions, as reported by AdAge), and not advertising on Facebook at all. That greatly changes things in terms of reach.

While it was never my intent to suggest that Bing owed its impressive growth entirely to sites like this, it seemed possible that it could at least be padded to some extent, and could still be even if to a much, much lesser extent.

Either way, the whole thing appears to have worked out for the best, as a Microsoft spokesperson told us, "Distribution deals and affiliate programs are an important part of how all search engines introduce their product to customers. That said, we have been made aware of some practices from a specific publisher that are not compliant with the guidelines, best practices and principles put in place by Bing. As a result, the relationship with this publisher will be terminated."

So, for now, the mystery remains how AdAge came up with the idea that make-my-baby.com was the third largest advertiser on Facebook, if ComScore, the alleged source has denied the information. The original AdAge article has yet to be updated as of the time of this writing. We’ll update further as more info comes to light.

Update: Sullivan was sent a copy of the comScore report by AdAge. Apparently the confusion stemmed from make-my-baby.com being listed as the third largest adertiser in social networking, based on comScore’s information – a category, which was comprised of Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking sites). So while the site may not have been a big advertiser on Facebook, it would appear that it was still a big social media advertiser – and still a problem.

January 18, 2011
Is Bing Growth Being Inflated By Shady Sites?
Article updated. See below. I have also posted a new piece based on new information that has come to light.

Facebook took in an estimated $1.86 billion in advertising revenue last year, according to eMarketer, and AdvertisingAge says that the top two advertisers were AT&T and Match.com. Google was number five.

It is the third-largest advertiser on Facebook, however, that has raised a few eyebrows, including those of Google’s Matt Cutts. The advertiser is something called make-my-baby.com – not a well-known brand that you’d expect to see in the top three.

Update: Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineLand writes: "An Ad Age article suggests that Make-My-Baby is Facebook’s third largest advertiser, based on a comScore report. But comScore tells me this isn’t so." That certainly changes things, but it is still unclear where the confusion stems from, and it doesn’t really change what is happening, even if the ads aren’t being shown on as large a scale as initially thought (reports stemming from that AdAge piece have make-my-baby.com, which has now been taken down, buying 1.75 billion ad impressions in the third quarter alone).

Have you been to any sites lately that urged you to install a browser plug-in changing you default search? Let us know.

Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam team, said the following in a Google Buzz update early this morning (via Marshall Kirkpatrick, who has an interesting write-up of the situation):

Visiting make-my-baby.com instantly prompts you to install a browser plugin. The "terms and conditions" link takes you to http://mmb.bingstart.com/terms/ which has phrases like "If Chrome ("CR") is installed on your PC we may change the default setting of your home page on CR to Bingstart.com."

I also noticed this phrase in the Zugo toolbar section: "To uninstall the Toolbar, please visit the Toolbar FAQ ( http://www.zugo.com/toolbar/faq/ )." Sadly, that url is a broken link. It looks like a few people have had trouble uninstalling the Bing/Zugo toolbar, according to pages like http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/746034 or http://mymountain.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-remove-bingzugo-toolbar-hijack.html

If make-my-baby.com is Facebook’s 3rd biggest advertiser, I wonder how many people are installing this software without reading the fine print that says "Installing the toolbar includes managing the browser default search settings and setting your homepage to bing.com" ?

The toolbar comes from a company called Zugo (as Cutts mentioned), which is apparently an affiliate company trying to drive traffic to Bing so it can make some money from Microsoft. After some discussion about the find, Cutts also says, "It’s entirely possible, even likely, that FB and MSFT didn’t realize this was going on. I wouldn’t assume they were aware of what was going on."

Cutts did point this out to Bing publicly via Twitter, but there has been no response from Bing thus far (at least publicly).

@bing was reading http://goo.gl/CQIze and found some interesting stuff: http://goo.gl/1jac9 They bought 1.75M ad impressions on FB in Q3?less than a minute ago via webMatt Cutts
mattcutts

At the time of this writing, both Microsoft and Facebook have been silent on the matter (we’ve reached out to both for comment, and will certainly update if we get a response).

Update: We’ve now received comment from a Microsoft spokesperson, who tells us:
```
"Distribution deals and affiliate programs are an important part of how all search engines introduce their product to customers. That said, we have been made aware of some practices that are in conflict with Bing's principles and are addressing them directly with this affiliate partner." 
```
Update 2: We’ve now received an updated comment from a Microsoft spokesperson, which now says:
```
"Distribution deals and affiliate programs are an important part of how all search engines introduce their product to customers.   That said, we have been made aware of some practices from a specific publisher that are not compliant with the guidelines, best practices and principles put in place by Bing. As a result, the relationship with this publisher will be terminated."
```
Update 3: We finally received comment from Facebook, and this one definitely changes things. Facebook’s Brandon McCormick tells us, "Not only is make-my-baby.com not one of our largest advertisers, they are not an advertiser at all. In fact, their practices are against our ad policies and would be rejected as a result. This is true whether they tried to run ads with us or an affiliate did."

It would appear AdAge got some bad info, that set this whole chain of events into motion. I will be posting another piece on this with more clarification.

One has to wonder how much of Bing’s growth can be attributed to practices like this. It might not be a substantial amount, but on the other hand…third largest advertiser on Facebook? And this is just one example of a site like this. It didn’t take Cutts long to find several more with a quick search. There’s no telling how many site like this are actually out there.

"It’s pretty remarkable that even at the top of this giant success story of Facebook advertising, and perhaps near the top of the story of Bing’s steady rise as a search engine, is a Web 1.0-style pulling the wool over the eyes of gullible internet users," says Kirkpatrick.

Bing’s share of the search market rose from 11.8% to 12.0% from November to December, according to comScore numbers released last week.

It’s worth noting, as mentioned by a commenter in the Buzz conversation, that Cutts broke this story using Google Buzz, which goes to show – it doesn’t matter if the site is called Twitter, Quora, or Google Buzz – if there is interesting content there, it’s got to have some value.

Webspam in a growing problem. Watch our exclusive interview with Blekko CEO Rich Skrenta, who talks about the trend.

Update: Sullivan was sent a copy of the comScore report by AdAge. Apparently the confusion stemmed from make-my-baby.com being listed as the third largest adertiser in social networking, based on comScore’s information – a category, which was comprised of Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking sites). So while the site may not have been a big advertiser on Facebook, it would appear that it was still a big social media advertiser – and still a problem.

SEE NEW PIECE ON TOPIC WITH UPDATED INFO.

Do you think sites like make-my-baby.com have contributed to Bing’s growth? Share your thoughts.
January 18, 2011
118% Increase In Facebook Ad Revenue Expected This Year

If and when Goldman Sachs begins selling shares of Facebook, the banking and securities firm is almost guaranteed to have no trouble finding buyers. Adding to the existing hype, a new report from eMarketer predicts that Facebook’s ad revenue will soar from $1.86 billion in 2010 to $4.05 billion this year.

That works out to a year-over-year increase of about 118 percent, which is rather remarkable. Facebook’s good fortune isn’t supposed to end there, either, with eMarketer forecasting that its ad revenue will hit $5.74 billion in 2012.

That should be possible in large part due to overseas growth. As the graph below shows, eMarketer thinks spending there will eventually match U.S. spending, making for a much faster expansion, percentage-wise.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson even wrote in the report, "If Facebook can continue to increase its global user base and boost the amount of revenue it generates per user, it could even surpass these forecasts."

U.S. social network ad revenue on the whole is supposed to increase, too, by the way. eMarketer predicted it’ll rise from $1.99 billion in 2010 to $3.08 billion in 2011 to $3.93 billion in 2012.

January 18, 2011
Groupon Apologizes for Deal Gone Bad in Tokyo

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason apologized to users in Tokyo for a deal that went bad a few days before the New Year’s holiday. The deal involved the delivery of food, and became too popular for the business providing the deal to handle.

They sold 500 "Groupons", and the business was unable to process the orders, leading to late deliveries, and deliveries of product in "terrible condition", as Mason describes it.

The incident reflects concerns many businesses have had with Groupon, which Mason recently referred to as the "savior of small business". A common line of thinking is that while Groupon may be a great way to get customers in the door. It might be too great a way, leading to too many customers and not enough supply to meet demand – or not enough resources to meet demand.

When demand isn’t met by a supplier using Groupon, it’s not good for anybody. The customer doesn’t get what they want, or doesn’t get the standard of quality for what they expected, and they are unsatisfied. The business is damaged by taking a shot to its reputation (and has to worry about the unsatisfied customers telling all of their friends), and Groupon’s reputation takes a hit as well, though probably not to as large an extent as the business who failed to live up to demand.

The subject is not lost on Groupon though. "We’ve had to help businesses grapple with an entirely new class of problem – what happens when you have more customers than you can handle – and to do that, we’ve developed capacity planning formulas to help merchants figure out (based on how big their restaurant is or how big their salon is) the number of customers they can handle over a period of time," said Mason.

Update: We’ve spoken with Groupon more about these capacity planning formulas.

"Now, while we have that in place in the United States and in many of our other countries, we haven’t rolled it out in Japan yet, basically because the popularity of Groupon Japan has grown so quickly, it took us of guard. We weren’t expecting to run into this problem so quickly."

See the irony?

"So, we have now begun the process of educating all of our representatives on how to work through capacity planning, so a merchant doesn’t end up selling more Groupons than they can handle – not only in Japan, but we’re doing this in all of our new countries as soon as we launch," added Mason. "Groupon is kind of an uncharted territory. We’re on the forefront of figuring out how to bring local commerce to the Internet, and as we do that, we’re going to hit bumps in the road. We’ve made mistakes before, and we will make mistakes again, but the one thing I can promise you is that we’ll do everything in our power to make sure we’ve learned from these mistakes, and don’t repeat the same mistake twice."

Groupon also hit a few snags in the UK, as some of its ads were flagged by an advertising watchdog in that country as being misleading. In response to this, the company indicated that there was a likelihood of some degree of human error, but that they would seek to address this through staff training and incorporating quality control safeguards (via Advertising Standards Authority).

It’s interesting to note (as Mason did in the video) that the Japanese business who was unable to meet demand in the incident discussed, had been featured by Groupon in the past, successfully. (Hat tip: Hacker News)

January 17, 2011
Irrelevant Keywords Can Be Costly

Some Google AdWords advertisers are not pleased with what they are finding in Google’s Search Query Performance reports for their campaigns. These reports show advertisers what keyword queries are surfacing their ads, and some are finding some of these keywords questionable.

Are you losing money on clicks from questionable keywords? Let us know.

You might think that an ad impression is an ad impression, but when you’re charged by the click, you want the clicks to come from people who are likely to buy what you’re selling, considering that you are paying Google for each click.

A Wall Street Journal piece has put the spotlight on some of these advertisers, including a New York dentist who claims irrelevant keywords have cost him nearly $3,000 over the last year or so. The problem allegedly stems from Google’s session-based broad match feature, which shows ads to users not only for a single query, but also for subsequent queries in the users same search session.

Google explains the feature in the AdWords Help Center:

"When determining which ads to show on a Google search result page, the AdWords system evaluates some of the user’s previous queries during their search session as well as the current search query. If the system detects a relationship, it will show ads related to these other queries, too."

"The system considers the previous queries in order to better understand the intent of the user’s current query. The added information allows the system to deliver more relevant ads."

"This feature is an enhancement of broad match. It works by generating similar terms for each search query based on the content of the current query and, if deemed relevant, the previous queries in a user’s search session. Your ad will potentially show if one of your broad-matched keywords matches any of these similar terms."

Sounds good in theory, but the advertisers complaining appear to disagree with what Google is considering to be relevant. The dentist from the WSJ story cited "penis enlargement" and "[Chinese characters] in Chinatown" as examples – not exactly dentist-related. The story also cites a plastic surgeon, who counted "olivia newton john photos" among questionable keywords.

The WSJ spoke with Google’s Nick Fox:

Mr. Fox acknowledged there are "edge" cases in which search queries "does not appear to be relevant to the ads, but the context of previous queries indicated that the user would have a strong interest in that advertisers’ ad." In addition, he said, "a user must be interested enough in an ad to want to click on it." He said a very small percentage of ad clicks are session-based and that advertisers can limit the scope of their campaign to halt session-based clicks.

…

Google’s Mr. Fox said: "It has to be the case that the users, in the very recent history, searched for terms he’s advertising on."

It’s worth noting that Google says that whenever an ad is served based on the associated keyword’s relevance to the previous search queries, the ad’s performance has no effect on that keyword’s Quality Score.

It’s also worth noting that not everyone is unhappy with the session-based clicks. Jordan McClements, commenting on a Clixmarketing post on session-based broad match says, "If you are in a niche where there is not much search traffic, and a new client/sale is worth a lot of money to you then it is probably a good idea to keep all your ‘broad’ options open."

John Lee, who wrote that post, says, "I want advertisers to be aware that in the case of session-based broad match – you can’t turn it off. My recommendation is to remain vigilant in reporting, primarily with Search Query Reports to ensure that the session-based query matches that do come through are relevant. If they aren’t, roll that knowledge (and those queries) into your negative keyword lists."

Probably good advice.

Perhaps the real question is how much of the problem is Google and how much is the advertiser?

Speaking of negative keywords, Google actually just released a new feature this week to manage negative keywords across multiple campaigns with negative keyword lists.

Have you wasted money on irrelevant session-based clicks? Comment here.

January 13, 2011
Google Changes Display URLs for AdWords Ads

Google will be changing the way display URLs look in AdWords ads in the next week or so. The domain portion of the display URL will always be showing in lowercase letters. For example, Subdomain.Example.com/Subdirectory will appear as subdomain.example.com/Subdirectory. Google suggests that the move can actually boost clickthrough rates.

"In any given month, we experiment with hundreds of subtle variations of the Google search results page, testing everything from font sizes and colors to layouts and spacing, as well as dozens of other variables," says Lisa Shieh of Google’s Inside AdWords Crew. "Recently, we found that by standardizing the look of the URLs on the page, we were able to improve many of our user metrics, including ad clickthrough rates."

"As you’ve probably figured out by now, we believe that regular website testing is the best way to ensure an optimal user experience, and we encourage you to test variations of your own website," she says.

More specifically, Google suggests using its own Website Optimizer tool for such testing.

Advertisers need not worry about editing their own ads. Uppercase letters in display URL domains will automatically be changed to lowercase when the change goes into effect.

Google also introduced a new way to manage negative keywords across multiple campaigns in negative keywords lists.

With the lists, advertisers can manage groups of negative keywords in their account’s Control Panel and Library, and associate them with multiple campaigns.

"For example, say you have a set of negative keywords you always add to any campaign running on the Search Network," explains Google’s Dan Friedman. "Previously, you’d need to copy that set to every new search campaign you created in your account. Now, with shared lists, you can simply create a single negative keyword list and associate it with each search campaign. If there’s a new negative keyword you’d like to add to all of those campaigns, just add it to your list and it will automatically update across each campaign. Similarly, if you create a new campaign, you can add your negative keyword list to exclude all of the necessary terms with just a few clicks."

More on this here.

January 13, 2011
New Online Exhibit Features 60 Years Of TV Commercials

The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) has introduced an extensive online exhibit at museum.tv called “We’ll be Right Back: 60 years of Television Commercials.”

The online exhibit features MBC’s archives of more than 10,000 commercials and nearly 100,000 hours of content. “We’ll be Right Back: 60 years of Television Commercials” spans more than six decades, and showcases more than 100 of the best television commercials from the 1940s through today.

“We’re very excited about the debut of this online exhibit that both celebrates and preserves our rich television heritage and supports the Museum’s educational mission,” said Bruce DuMont, President and Founder of the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

“Television programming and advertising are mirrors that reflect popular culture. Preserving our television heritage is a way of preserving our past, and offers future generations the chance to experience that culture in a very real way.”

The online exhibit features classic spots from brands such as Tootsie Roll Pops, Chevrolet, Texaco, Tang, Life Cereal, McDonalds, Alka Seltzer, Dunkin Donuts, Coca Cola, Budweiser, American Express, Lexus, Gillette, Apple, Target and others. It also offers a look at Super Bowl advertising featuring the most memorable spots from 1969 to 2010, Political advertising, Infomercials, Public Service Announcements and examples of Product Placement on programs like “I Love Lucy” and “Modern Family.”

Each section features links that let visitors watch classic commercials and editorial that provides a brief history of the era or genre and helps visitors put the content they view in context with the times.

“From the beginning, brand sponsorship of television programs was the foundation by which content was produced… providing a decade by decade narrative clearly demonstrates the role advertisers played in the growth of the media,” says David Plier, Vice President of the Board of Directors for the MBC, CEO of advertising agency Retail First Corporation and curator of the online exhibit.

January 12, 2011
Groupon Raises $950 Million to Continue Rapid Growth

Groupon announced that it has completed its $950 million round of financing, which has been discussed in the tech press over the last couple weeks. The company says it will use the funds to fuel global expansion, invest in technology, and provide liquidity for employees and early investors.

The funding comes from Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mail.ru Group, Maverick Capital, Silver Lake, and Technology Crossover Ventures. Past funding rounds were led by New Enterprise Associates, Accel Partners, and Mail.ru Group (formerly DST).

"We’re thrilled that Groupon has earned the confidence of some of the world’s most respected investment firms," said CEO and founder Andrew Mason. "With their support, we will continue on our mission to change the way people shop locally and serve the world’s local businesses."

In the announcement, Groupon took the time to point to a few of it accomplishments from the past year, which include expanding into 35 countries, launching in almost 500 new markets, growing subscribers to over 50 million, saving consumers over $1.5 billion, working with 58,000 local businesses, and serving over 100,000 deals.

That was 2010, but 2011 may be even brighter given this new funding. Groupon is also gearing up to advertise during the Super Bowl pre-game show next month (the big game was sold out). TV campaigns could greatly expand Groupon’s brand recognition among consumers and lead the way for significantly more growth.

While Groupon is battling its way into Australia (it launched there under the name Stardeals for the time being) against a Groupon clone that apparently took its name out from under it, there have also been complaints of misleading deals, though the company has said it is working to improve its quality control process.

These would appear to be minor hiccups in a pretty impressive journey to deals domination. Competition is coming from all sides, however, and that includes from some pretty big players like Google, LivingSocial (with funding from Amazon), and Facebook. All the more reason to advertise on Super Bowl Sunday.

January 10, 2011
Super Bowl Pre-Game Will Reportedly Feature Groupon Ads

If Groupon’s not already a household name, it may be soon. According to AdAge, the company is getting ready for some big time TV advertising, starting with spots during the Super Bowl pre-game show (the Super Bowl itself was already sold out).

Groupon has already been growing like a weed, based mainly on web-based word-of-mouth. A big television campaign could be just what the company needs to truly get the masses interested, and it will be interesting to see the approach they take with the ads. AdAge reports:

Groupon has been ramping up by quietly tapping a variety of agencies to handle various marketing duties. It’s expected to partner with MDC Partners’ Crispin Porter & Bogusky for traditional advertising, and, considering that shop’s reel of creepy (Burger) Kings, talking mannequins and Volkswagen Beetles, Groupon appears to have no intention of playing it safe.

It has also added a media agency of record in Publicis Groupe’s Starcom. Over the Christmas holidays Groupon CEO Andrew Mason sent a note to cable networks alerting them to the new relationship. And last month, Groupon tapped Havas-owned Euro RSCG, Chicago, for help with customer-relationship marketing strategies, a move that Groupon Director of Marketing John Becvar last month said was part of an effort to "test different programs with our growing base of Groupon subscribers."

As you may know, Groupon recently rejected a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google, but as Google’s Marissa Mayer recently pointed out, Google already has some weapons in its arsenal that compete directly with companies like Groupon.

Last year, Google ran its first TV commercial during the Super Bowl.

Groupon continues to grow, both in terms of funding and geography. Groupon most recently expanded into Australia, though it has been forced to operate under a different name in that country, due to a Groupon-clone owning the name there. Groupon is currently fighting this.

Groupon is likely to become more attractive for small businesses as it boosts brand name recognition through TV advertising. More consumer interest in Groupon means more potential customers for businesses who offer deals. Groupon CEO Andrew Mason recently said his company is the savior for small businesses and that he wants it to do for local businesses what Amazon did for buying products.

January 10, 2011
Yahoo Brings “Broadcast Interactivity” to Connected TV

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Yahoo announced that it’s introducing some new connected TV features, partnerships and apps.

For one, Yahoo announced "Broadcast Interactivity" to launch with select national broadcast and cable TV providers and brand advertisers. The company is collaborating with ABC, CBS, HSN, and Showtime on content for a pilot program in the first half of 2011. Brand advertisers Ford, Mattel and Microsoft are also planning to work with Yahoo on this.

"Our collaboration with leaders in television and brand advertising, combined with the innovative technologies we’re pioneering, signals the beginning of a new era of highly personalized, Internet-enhanced television," said Ron Jacoby, VP, Yahoo! Connected TV. "Imagine an immersive, real-time TV experience that brings people even closer to the programs and brands they love by enabling them to play along while they watch their favorite shows."

TV programmers will be able to create TV apps that let viewers vote for reality TV participants, get more info about characters, and even make e-commerce purchases while watching a show.

That last one is one of the most significant aspects of where this whole connected TV thing is going (not just with Yahoo) that businesses should pay close attention to. Getting to people in their living room can be huge for sales and simply capturing attention. This is going to be a very important space to keep an eye on – watching for opportunities in advertising and app experiences.

Yahoo! is working with distribution partners including Broadcom Corporation, D-Link, Haier, MediaTek, Sony and Toshiba for pilot program this year.

Yahoo also demoed three-screen connected device interactivity – interactivity amont tablets, mobile phones and tablets.

More info here.

January 6, 2011
Misleading Groupon Ads Flagged by UK Watchdog

Groupon has had a few ads flagged after some issues with the Advertising Standards Authority, an independent watchdog for ad standards in the UK.

The ads in question were found to be misleading, because they failed to make clear certain terms, such as the fact that one person had to pay full price for a meal to get a second one at a discounted price, or that another deal didn’t apply to weekends. One "misleadingly exaggerated" the savings it offered, according to the ASA.

"We told Groupon to ensure that all significant terms and conditions of promotions were made clear in future and that they did not exaggerate the extent of any savings that could be achieved," says the ASA.

Groupon’s response to complaints about the ads, according to the ASA:

Groupon said they had no commercial interest in misleading their customers; if an offer was poorly described on their website, that detrimentally affected their relationship with customers and business partners, undermining the investment they made in acquiring both. Further, in presenting in excess of 50 deals per day, there was a likelihood of some degree of human error. However, they sought to address that through extensive staff training and by incorporating quality control safeguards. (Via TechEye)

More details about Groupon’s response on a case-by-case basis can found here. We’ve contacted Groupon for further comment, and will update this post accordingly.

Groupon has other things to worry about at the moment, besides its quality control practices. CEO Andrew Mason announced yesterday that the company is suing a company known as Scoopon in Australia, which acquired the company name Groupon Pty Limited and controls the domain Groupon.com.au. This has presented a hurdle for the company’s Australian expansion, and Groupon is now operating under Stardeals in that country – at least for the time being. Mason said the suit could take over a year to be resolved, but is hopeful that the company will take a generous cash offer instead of forcing it to play out.

January 5, 2011
AdKeeper Lands $35 Million In Funding

AdKeeper, a company that allows users to save online ads for later viewing, said today it has raised $35 million in Series B funding led by Oak Investment Partners

The round raises AdKeeper’s total funding to $43 million since it came out of stealth in October and is set to publicly launch in February.

AdKeeper allows users to save ads in personal “Keepers” to review the ads later. Users can click on the “Keep Button” which is embedded in the ad.

AdKeeper clients include Allstate, AT&T, Best Buy, CBS, Ford, Gap,Macy’s, McDonald’s, The Home Depot, Unilever and Warner Bros.

Fred Harman, Managing Partner of Oak Investment Partners will join AdKeeper’s Board of Directors. Harman is currently on the Boards of several Internet media companies, including Demand Media, Federated Media and the Huffington Post and was previously on the Board of Internet advertising services company aQuantive.

“We believe AdKeeper’s solution for keeping ads will be an important and welcome addition to the Internet ecosystem,” said Harman.

Oak joins earlier investors, including DCM, True Ventures, Spark Capital, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures, Stan Shuman, The New York Times Company, Betaworks, David Cowan and Scott Kurnit.

January 3, 2011
Yahoo-to-Microsoft Ad Transition Period Drawing to a Close

The deadline for Yahoo Search Marketing advertisers to transition their campaigns to Microsoft’s adCenter is approaching. You’ve had ample time to do, but there are no doubt some procrastinators out there.

"Given what a busy time of year this is for everyone, both personally and professionally, you may have the feeling that there’s something you’re supposed to do, but haven’t yet. Did you forget something?" asks Microsoft’s Ricky Poole.

"With all of the holiday hustle and bustle, I wanted to take a minute to remind any of you in the US and Canada who may still have campaigns in Yahoo! Search Marketing that the transition tool will be closing on January 5, 2011," he adds. "If you have not yet transitioned your PPC accounts from Yahoo! to adCenter, after January 5th you will need to do so manually through exporting and importing your campaigns."

Yahoo and Microsoft completed the search transition in the U.S. and Canada in October. Microsoft even extended its adCenter support hours during the transition.

If you still have questions about the transition, you should be able to find your answers here.

December 26, 2010
Google And MySpace Renew Search Advertising Deal

MySpace and Google have reached an agreement to renew and expand their search and advertising partnership, which is good news for the struggling social network.

Under the terms of the deal, Google will continue to operate MySpace search and advertising and will also provide additional display advertising services to improve the entertainment content on MySpace.

“We’re excited to deepen our partnership with one of the largest social Web properties in the world, Myspace,” said Henrique de Castro, Vice President of Global Media and Platforms at Google.

“We’re pleased that our technology will benefit Myspace’s users on its newly redesigned site, and that Myspace has chosen our display advertising solution to increase its returns.”

Specifically, the agreement provides Myspace with:

*Web search and search advertising

*Full display ad solutions (including participating in the Google Display Network and DoubleClick Ad Exchange)

“We’re thrilled about renewing our partnership with Google. Their best-in-class technology will continue to provide our consumers with a robust search experience,” said Nada Stirratt, Chief Revenue Officer of Myspace.

“We look forward to participating in the Google Display Network and DoubleClick Ad Exchange to increase yield across our display ad inventory.”

December 16, 2010
AOL To Bolster Display Ad Offerings With Pictela Pick-Up

AOL announced that it has acquired ad platform firm Pictela. The company makes what is described as a "high-definition brand content platform" for online advertising and social media. This follows other recent acquisitions by AOl, such as that of TechCrunch, Thing Labs, 5min Media, and StudioNow.

AOL says the pick-up will bring further scale to its suite of ad tools for advertisers, agencies, and publishers, and that it will specifically be used in AOL’s "Project Devil" display ad format.

Project Devil ads feature all functionality within the ad, so users don’t have to leave the page, and can include rich media content. "Devil Pages" have only a single ad on a page to give advertisers "complete ownership".

"Pictela is an outstanding fit for AOL as we re-imagine the intersection of content, advertising and the consumer experience," said Jeff Levick, AOL’s President of Global Advertising and Strategy. "Pictela’s product development team is best-in-class, and its beautiful, content rich, media display formats meet Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Online Publishers Association (OPA) standards that run across AOL Media properties and other publisher sites. We’ve taken one important step towards spotlighting quality ad content with Project Devil on AOL Media properties, and now we’re taking a second by bringing Pictela into the AOL Advertising family."

"We believe that joining AOL is an outstanding opportunity to combine with a company that is as committed to redefining brand advertising on the Web as we are," added Greg Rogers, Co-Founder and CEO of Pictela. "As one of the world’s premium publishers, AOL will not only be one of our biggest customers, it will also be our greatest resource with the scale, technology and commitment to world-class content to help realize the true potential of the online environment."

Pictela will remain a separate group within AOL Advertising, and will continue to provide its products and services to outside partners. Financial term of the acquisition were not revealed.

December 16, 2010
Google Tries to Thank Advertisers with Bees, Dominoes, and Moon Writing

Last month, Google celebrated the ten year anniversary of AdWords, and now the company has taken the time to thank all of the businesses who have used AdWords to advertise.

Gooogle being Google had to go all out of course, and give thanks in interesting and creative ways…or at least try to. They ran into some hiccups as this video would indicate. Working with robotic bees, large amounts of dominoes, and writing on the moon aren’t the easiest tasks, we would imagine.

Watch the entire video here.

Twellow thanks Google for going to such great lengths.

Google recently invited advertisers to tell stories about their businesses to help celebrate the anniversary, and the company shared those on a global map.

/td>

You can still upload your story either as text or as video. If you prefer, you can just add a picture of yourself, your team, or your business. These can be uploaded here.

December 15, 2010
Google Lets Advertisers Use Seller Ratings Extensions in Mobile Ads

Google announced that its extending its Seller Ratings extensions for AdWords ads to mobile. These let advertisers show users when they have positive ratings, which can of course inspire clicks.

"Everyday consumers are using their phones to search Google and a growing number are turning to mobile to complete a variety of purchases," says Anna Khesed with Google’s Mobile Ads Marketing Team. "In fact, according to internal Google data, in Q3 Google searches from mobile devices grew 130% year over year. Additionally, a Mobile Marketing Association study found that 59% of holiday shoppers said they plan to use their mobile phones to facilitate holiday shopping. So this year we are creating a better mobile shopping experience by helping consumers identify highly rated online merchants."

"Having a great online reputation is key," she continues. "Now with Seller Ratings on mobile, businesses can extend this important information from desktop to mobile devices. By showcasing relevant and useful rating information for your business, the extension can help differentiate you from your competition and guide potential customers to purchase from your site. Seller Ratings are aggregated from merchant review sites all around the web and the extension will only show when a merchant’s online store has a rating of four or more stars and at least 30 reviews. As seen in the example below, the ad will display the merchant’s star rating as well as a clickable link to the seller’s reviews."

To maintain positive reviews, Google suggests starting with good customer service (contrary to the exposed practices of one business, which led to Google changing its algorithm). The company also suggests reading the reviews about your business and being proactive about resolving issues. Another thing mentioned on a help page worth noting:

To help ensure that customers submit ratings to the right businesses, be sure to confirm that Google Product Search review sites display the correct business name and website URL for your business listing. Your business name and website URL should be consistent across review sites, and should also be consistent with your Google Merchant Center account if you have one. This helps customers identify the right businesses and helps avoid ratings for other businesses being included within your own seller ratings.

The extensions will automatically transfer to mobile when advertisers are using them for the desktop, but they must already be showing campaigns to users of "high-end devices" with full Internet browsers. The extensions are only available for Google.com, Google.co.uk, and Google.de thus far.

The extensions can also only be used for advertisers with paid godos or services or those that enable the buying and selling of goods or services. The ratings only apply to the merchants, as opposed to products themselves.

To use the extensions, you can’t use another extension plus box (like product extensions, location extensions, etc.) or sitelinks.

December 13, 2010