Sunday, January 30, 2005

Version 2.0 of World's First Video Game Advertising Technology

Massive Incorporated Announces Version 2.0 of World's First Video Game Advertising Technology: "NEW YORK, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Massive Incorporated, the creator of the world's first video game advertising network, today announced the availability of version 2.0 of its AdClient SDK to enable developers and publishers to quickly and easily integrate their games into Massive's advertising network. Titles in the Massive Network can contribute $1.00 to $2.00 in incremental profit per unit sold. Titles in the network enjoy the benefit of cross-promotional marketing support from some of the largest advertisers, as well as informative play data that gives developers useful insight into gamer experience with their game, in real time."

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Web's Biggest Wiki Search Engine

Ross Mayfield's Weblog:
"It leverages existing search engines and scrapes the whois database.  The spider captures summaries, which is all the engine searches, which gives you easy breadth, but not depth.  The summaries are far from perfect, but it seems the idea is they are meant to be changed.  A smart hack, if legal (Andy Beal wonders if this violates whois guidelines).

Users can edit search results and must provide their email addresses to be notified when there is an edit.  Past edits are stored below.  This doesn't make it a wiki whatsoever, its closer to blog comments, but an annotated search engine isn't a bad idea.  The founding concept for Google wasn't a search engine, but developing the annotated web.  Kwiki-based Wikalong is the closest to that in the wiki world, blogs are the analog."

Gettting behind Apple's DRM - if you think the sharing game's over ...

JHymn Goes Behind Atoms and Apple To Bring DRM-Free Music: "Like all matter in the universe, MPEG-4 files are also made of 'atoms' -- it's the term given for the set of nested data that comprises the structure of an MPEG-4 file. Atoms are key to the way the audio and video data within an MPEG-4 file are accessed. They figure in how Apple's digital rights management (DRM) scheme is used to protect music file purchases from its iTunes Music Store. (Apple uses the AAC file format; AAC is the audio layer in MPEG-4 files.) Atoms also factor in how hymn is able to 'scrub' protected AAC files of Apple's DRM."

BBC NEWS: Berners-Lee gets award - well-deserved

Web inventor is 'Greatest Briton': "The inventor of the world wide web has been named Greatest Briton 2004 at a ceremony attended by Gordon Brown."

Verizon wants its Microsoft TV

CNET News.com piece reports key US MS success in IPTV.

Friday, January 28, 2005

Behavioral and integration

MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory: "ACCORDING TO THE 2004 USC Internet Report, the time people spend online in the United States has grown 33 percent over the past four years. Marketers might assume this growth has come at the expense of time spent with traditional media, but that is not necessarily the case."

Underlying boost for Sanctuary

FT.com: "Sanctuary Group, the independent music company, nearly trebled profits at its merchandising division last year as new online retail services meant the business was no longer confined to live touring events." Needs sub.

HOW THE OBESITY DEBATE BECAME FAT WITH DISINFORMATION

AdAge: "I am overweight. Not according to my doctor, my mirror or the waistband on my pants. No, I made this discovery on the National Institutes of Health's Web site when I entered my height and weight into the Body Mass Index calculator and clicked 'Compute'."

MCDONALD'S ADS TARGET CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 4

AdAge: " testimony at yesterday's one-day food marketing hearing at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science, a McDonald's Corp. executive said the company takes Ronald McDonald to elementary schools and is talking to children as young as 4 in its advertising."

Video Looms Larger in iVillage Site Overhaul

AdWeek piece: "NEW YORK iVillage said it has redesigned its Web site with an eye to expanding its video advertising inventory.

Visitors to the women-focused site now see video offerings on each Web page. IVillage recently upgraded its video content through its $17.2 million acquisition of Healthology, a medical information provider with a library of 1,200 streaming videos."

Yahoo eats out again

Internet News Article | Reuters.com: "Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) began offering on Thursday a new tool that allows users of its local search service to send restaurant or business information in the form of a text message from a computer to a mobile phone."

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Techworld.com - Bluephone's Wi-Fi future revealed

Read a pretty comrehensive analysis of the new BT mobile play and its development trajectory.

The Challenges of Yield Management

iMediaConnection: "CheckM8's Oren Netzer talks about how online publishers can take a page from the airlines to maximize revenues from ad inventory."

UV Intros Clickable Video


UV Intros Clickable Video
: "Called Shoshmosis, the unit adds a Flash layer to any streaming video format, enabling users to roll over or click on individual elements within the frame. Marketers can apply it to repurposed television content, their own TV ads ported to the Web, or original Web programming."

Amazon search pictures your destination | CNET News.com

New Amazon search service under way: "People can call up a business listing to find contact information (with an Internet-to-phone dialing service), reviews, a local map and a photo of the business' facade. With a feature called 'block view,' people can also click to see adjacent businesses or surrounding neighborhoods."

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

P&G dips toes in cold (web) water first with Tide campaign


ClickZ piece
:
"Procter & Gamble has placed the Web at the center of a big, new initiative for the Tide brand. Tide Coldwater detergent was introduced via viral interactive marketing before offline efforts begin later this month."

Pepsi + iPod promo hacked ... twice!

Gizmodo on a brand goof I had to mention ...

Steve Rubel on tagging explosion - "ultra-context" (new word, use it!)

Micro Persuasion piece relevant if you're into behavioral.

MTV piece on podcasting

Worth a read if you like what's happening with blogs.

AOL Help : Accessing AOL Newsgroups

What do you think?

"The AOL Newsgroup service will be discontinued in February 2005.

For members using AOL over a dial-up connection, you will no longer be able to access AOL Newsgroups.

If you have a separate high-speed connection, you can contact your broadband provider to see if they offer Newsgroups.

Newsgroup services can often be accessed through a third party reader, such as Mozilla Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/).

Alternatively, you can access Newsgroups via Google at http://groups.google.com/.

We apologize for this inconvenience."

What works part 2

What works part 1

MarketingSherpa.com provides useful survey results on what top online marketers are experiencing in terms of effectiveness and ROI.

Claria person on customer-centric measurement

iMediaConnection piece looks at the new metrics demanded by growth in behavioral and rich media.

Jeff Einstein on changing role of creative

MediaDailyNews 01-26-05 piece from opinionated but credible and passionate thinker ... worthy and worth reading.

Google video reactions incoming ...

MediaDailyNews 01-26-05: "Given the proliferation of broadband video, expectations for the video search marketplace are high, but the conspicuous absence of streaming video or paid search listings on Google's beta version illustrates how nascent the video search marketplace still is."

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Cialis fishing for improved consumer engagement

Pioneering drug marketers make another interesting move: "In the case of ESPN and its fishing tournament sponsored by Bass, an anglers' association and sponsor, and Cialis, the erectile dysfunction drug marketed by Lilly ICOS, all hope to lure viewers and consumers to its fishing broadcasts."

Mattel focuses on online game for new toy launch

MediaDailyNews 01-25-05: "On the eve of the kids TV advertising upfront, toy maker Mattel announced plans to market its new BattleX toy line largely on the basis of an online game, as well as a series of animations produced and hosted by online game producer www.Shockwave.com."

Telecom Industry Is Fastest-Growing Online Advertiser

Networking Pipeline piece says: "the telecommunications industry was the fastest growing industry in online advertising, increasing six percentage points in 2004 over the previous year in share of impressions, according to the Nielsen//NetRatings' AdRelevance service."

Second piece on Branded Entertainment

First of interesting 2-parter looking at Branded Entertainment

How Johnny worked magic with advertisers

The New York Times > Seeking the Key to the Carson Ad Mystique looks at Carson's role in the development of the market, and looks back - a bit wistfully - to the days when brand and medium were - more or less - on the same side ...

FT.com - Google to launch TV programme search service

Yet more Googleplans:

"Google, the leading internet search engine, will announce on Tuesday it has linked with broadcasters to provide a service allowing web users to find content in television programmes.

Google Video will appear in the Google Labs section of its site as a work in progress, but content will be available immediately from US TV networks such as Fox, PBS and C-Span."

Needs sub.

Monday, January 24, 2005

WSJ.com - Super Bowl XXXIX: Obstacle Course vs. 'Potty Palooza'

Some innovative ad strategies to be seen at the live event of this year's definitive adfest. Oh, no breasts then?

New Google Adwords API gives advertisers more control

From Silicon Valley Watcher: "Scoop! Google is about to unveil a completely revamped Adwords/Adsense program to counter inroads from competitors such as Kanoodle."

Google VOIP news

The Industry Standard: "Comments from a U.K. industry analyst have added to speculation that Google Inc. is planning to offer a voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephony service. 'This would be an obvious development for the world's leading search engine. Millions have downloaded the 'Google toolbar,' so why not a VoIP client too?' said Julian Hewett, chief analyst with Ovum Ltd., in a note distributed to reporters on Monday."

Massive Incorporated Announces Version 2.0 of World's First Video Game Advertising Technology

More on convergence of gaming and ads. Big stuff, keep watching.

More on Yahoo!'s drive into the heart of media

MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory commentary on more Yahoo! deals in TV. Keep and eye on this one.

Search engine users give it up ...

Key Pew Internet report re consumers and search has some surprises and insight here.

Predictable online fuss at Midem

Reuters article details what the Napsters, Rhapsodies and so on are saying. To each other, mainly!

Campaign fails to halt movie net piracy

FT.com / Business / US - Campaign fails to halt movie net piracy: "Traffic on the BitTorrent file-sharing network appears set to rebound just one month after Hollywood studios launched legal attacks against key operators helping internet pirates use the service to swap illegal copies of movies and music files." Needs sub.

Will the court route ever solve piracy? I don't think so. The solution lies in looking away from the content, towards innovative service models that cluster value around the tunes etc.

Kobalt hints at listing after launching royalty database

FT.com: Kobalt hints at listing after launching royalty database: "Kobalt Music Group, the music publisher and royalty collection company, has raised the prospect of a flotation to fund an expansion of its technology business." Needs sub, but watch Kobalt - they look at me like the future of publishing.

Napster may offer movie and video downloads

FT.com: Napster may offer movie and video downloads: "Napster, the fast-growing US digital music service, is considering moving into films and video games in an ambitious drive to win new subscribers." Needs sub.

Goodbye to one of the true greats ...

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Wi-Fi Surpasses Ethernet In Home

Networking Pipeline snapshot of interesting survey:

"More households now use Wi-Fi networking than Ethernet, a trend that will lead to an explosion of new applications, according to a survey released this week by Parks Associates.

'This is truly a watershed finding,' John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates, said in a statement. 'Establishing a solid base of wireless home networks is crucial for the adoption of next-generation services. Many applications such as home control, home security, or even multimedia distribution are impractical with an Ethernet-only network.'"

Telco's win BB battle vs cable guys

Reuters.com report on new Dutch survey indicating that cable's broadband share will drop to a mere 15% by 2010. Financial shortfalls reckoned to be the big killer. Important piece.

USATODAY.com - Despite promises, gadgets still don't talk to each other

Reality check on convergence of devices. Good reading for mad evangelists.

And here's the NY Times angle on Powell's resignation

Media reformers cheer Powell's departure

Free Press News piece reports media cheers as controversial and not that popular son of Colin moves off from chair of FCC ... no doubt big repercussions for the biz down the track. Musical chairs, anyone?

Making instant stock trade a reality with new ML

No comment on this piece from Reuters, but you need to know about it:

"XBRL, which stands for extensible business reporting language, is a language derived from the code of the World Wide Web. It consists of thousands of 'tags' that correspond to items on financial reports, including balance sheets and income statements, making the filings understandable by a computer.

The technology has won support from major accounting firms and investor relations groups and has even gained a preliminary nod from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has proposed a voluntary program for XBRL. (Reuters Group Plc is also a backer of XBRL.)"

Bill Gates plots a Windows future

BBC NEWS interview gives us the living room As Bill Sees It:

"The vision is that people should have the ultimate in convenience. Being able to get the things they care about on the appropriate device.

So you have got to have a very simple user interface, you have got to have a richness of software that's there and available and you have to bring together all the elements.

Communication because you want to send photos around, the TV guide because you care about watching that, the latest interactive games that are always improving in very dramatic ways, you want this to be very holistic. So the user thinks: 'Hey I just sit down and I can access what I want'."

Note the most significant emphasis here: the focus on quality and convenience of service, NOT access to content. Why? Because the content is , with obvious exceptions, an advertiser>consumer thing. It's the service that provides the lock-in that Microsoft, and others, seek.

Saturday, January 22, 2005

Sony learned its lesson in digital music, says exec

Internet News: The Industry Standard piece that sketches Sony's direction, after several damp squib moves in the space.

Yahoo! and Monty Python on Broadway? Yep ...

MediaDailyNews 01-22-05 notes intelligent and creative moves by Yahoo! as it moves aggressively to become not just the most interesting ad brand in town, but also a media player in its own right - on Broadway, for example. If you're a student of this space, look behind the hype and get to grips with this development ... it points the way.

Friday, January 21, 2005

Quote from the master ...

... to take me into the weekend:

"Examination of the origin and development of the individual extensions of man should be preceded by a look at some general aspects of the media, beginning with the never-explained numbness that each new extension brings about in the individual and society." The last paragraph of MacLuhan's introduction to "Understanding Media".

Oh. Published 40 years ago, btw.

When blogging can get you locked up:

CNET News.com piece, that makes me wonder if I should take down today's blogs!

Maybe pants not square enough, Bob?

CNN.com - Christians issue gay warning on SpongeBob video reminds us who actually votes for GWB. Praise the Lord for their vision and honest-to goodness sanity!

CNN.com - Protesters jeer Bush in Washington:

This, on the other hand, shows that that Bush person has a little hearts and minds issue to deal with at home ... heartening. A bit.

China Reports Almost 600 Detained in Major Internet Gambling Case:

China Reports Almost 600 Detained in Major Internet Gambling Case - from TBO.com reminds us that - unlike the UK - not every country looks fondly on a little flutter ...

Vendors to cooperate on mobile VOIP

Vendors to cooperate on mobile VOIP: Internet News: The Industry Standard tells how big players are (at least talking the talk on) collaborating on standards and protocols in the US. It's not just good to talk ... it's more or less free! Look for advertiser involvement in the space soon.

Expert advice on online and sponsorship


Not Your Grandfather's Sponsorships
from Heidi Cohen on ClickZ nails the key issues. Such an interesting issue as ads and what I called "rights-owned" content blur ... I think this is where rich media and behavioral go next, if you must know!

FMQB: Impact of iPod ownership on future of radio

Not a subject I look at often - and I should - but this commentary is worth a look.

Avenue A/Razorfish Releases First-Ever Online Media Outlook Report:

Key report from biggest indie media buyer on state of the nation available here

AOL and ads

AOL announces more big intentions in the ad space, headed by a firmer commitment to search.

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Broadband, retail and consumer needs:

InternetRetailer.com - Daily News for Thursday, January 20, 2005 carries an interesting view of the retailer media strategies suggested by the success of broadband penetration. Rich media is not always best.

Lessons Learned from TV's Battle (3 of 3):

From iMediaConnection this is the final part of a wild and wooly but insightful and fresh discussion between 2 key online ad players. Recommended.

Wired News - Like It or Not, Blogs Have Legs:

Bemused piece that still provides useful outsiders view of the role and value of blogs.

Rich people on the web more ...

DMNews.com piece summarises profiles and stats for current (US I guess) user base. If I use the web more, does this mean I'll get rich too mommy?

Useful snapshot of music download market:

MediaDailyNews 01-20-05 also tells of why the MP3 market is where it is.

BMW mobile strategy for new 3 series:

MediaDailyNews 01-20-05 details current and past interactive work by the auto firm, covering the new mobile campaign and going back to THOSE ads with Clive Owen et al that were so heavily downloaded.

Bits and bobs worthy of note:

Notes from the Thursday marketing media, in particular New Media Age - the bible really - and Marketing Week, (both available via centaur.co.uk) with maximum respect for my friend Alan Mitchell who continues to thrive 3 - 5 years ahead of the pack with articulate, well-grounded vision of what's happening in marketing and why ... or in this case, perhaps, what's not happening and should be. Here's his conclusion re the view of marketing as a discipline and function and how it must be allowed to evolve:

"The fundamental value-creating contribution of marketing is better matching and connecting. Over time, this matching and connecting role came to be seen in terms of a particular set of mechanisms and processes such as market research, advertising and promotion. In reality, however, these were just the best ways to do the job given a particular set of historical conditions. For some brands, they may still be the best way. But as new approaches to matching and connecting become possible, they may not. In fact, the opportunities and potential breakthrough innovations in marketing are now tantalising." Yeah, uh ... what he said. Great work.

Other stuff of note ...

Celador buying up brand rights to place at the core of new interactive programming concepts ... told you so ... Dennis Interactive's Guy Sneesby revealing a strong vision for matching creative with data on pubslisher sites ... and what's more they're testing it, not just largeing it ... Blinkx trumpets new in-video search capability based around voice recognition applied to the audio track ... sounds a little cludgy, but surely the consumer relavance aspect points the way ... BBC jumpy about Ofcom's PSP initiative ... surprise ... key piece in NMA = "Getting up close", how driving consumers from TV to web is promising greater relavance and time with brand ... Sing it: "Ooooh the okey-cokey ... (so) that's what's it's all about." Or something.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Download this ... the real poop on the Digital Music Revolution:

Spirited debunk from p2pnet of the "It's a bird! It's a plane" school of legal download gushes we've become used to. Excellent mental floss.

OK, cut the crap, let's talk about people-tagging!

BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis looks at the real endgame for tagging ... people. Is this HBML?

Thoughts on the Google service without a revenue model ...

John Battelle's Searchblog: Thoughts on Picasa and Google's Marketing Strategy thinks about Google's Picasa photo product, and wonders when they'll start marketing in earnest.

Heeeeeere's ... Johnny! Again ...

CNN.com - Letterman's secret writer: Johnny Carson - Jan 19, 2005 prompts our first "Life after Retirement" award - apparently Letterman's using gags that JC - now 79 - sends in when the muse (or in this case an irresistable new story) grabs him. Love it.

Ads, folks and the long arm of the law:

Free Press News : The new ad age looks at struggles in court of media to make damn sure we watch those pesky ads.

Always interesting - as with the file sharing lawsuits of last year - when m'learned friends extend their icy tentacles into the biz. I still nurse a pet theory that the music industry went south, not when "Home taping is killing music" (remember that idea?) was being shouted, nor the more recent Napster and Kazaa dramas, but when the lawyers took over the running of things starting, more or less, in the 70's ... it was suddenly about copyright protection over getting great work to the market.

Endgame? Your call.

Deloitte speaks out on media futures:

A neat summary in MediaDailyNews 01-19-05 of recent pronouncements from Deloitte's TMT practice. Good in particular to see them pick out "the trend toward embedded advertising strategies, including text hyperlinks, software toolbar buttons, on browsers and mobile phones, as well as in-game advertising in videogames".

I've been rambling on for a while to anyone who'll listen about "life-embedded value" as being a necessary future focus for brands looking to retrieve engagement with consumers. Sad to say (at least so far), the technology vendors I talk to still look to consumers to pay for these life-enhancing services - just think what could be done with some smart tech and a half-decent ad budget ...

More on this to come ... a pet subject.

That man Andy Chen on Behavioral again ...

Useful piece from ClickZ ruminates on the future - and impact on the adscape - of behavioral marketing, considering its potential as "the next search" ... sensible piece worth a look from good thinker. One point he does make, or at least remind us of, is that agencies and brands are still feeling their way here. The game's just beginning.

MP3 players continue to boom in 2005:

Reuters.com report says there'll be loads more of the little fellas, segment continues to grow with new competitors entering.

VW Polo viral - the punchline kills ...

This you have to see. Real or not?

New Agency Opens Creative to India Outsourcing:

New Agency Opens Creative to India Outsourcing · MarketingVOX makes me think of the well-meaning yet somehow entirely remote call centre experiences I've had recently, Amex in particular, with Indian staff. If you already thought creatives were a breed apart, well ... good luck guys!

WSJ.com on the first 10 years of the WWW:

10 Years on the Web is a broad and generally useful look back at what's happened.

WSJ.com piece on Fastclick IPO:

Fastclick Taps Rebound in IPOs, Ads from WSJ today provides some interesting insight into online ad trends and competitors.

It's official - big leap in $$$ on the WWW:

Yahoo's Profit Surges
Amid Ad Boom
according to Jan 19th WSJ, predictably explained by bigger brands putting bigger dollars into the online market.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Advertisers are embracing video, will Yahoo?

CBS Marketwatch analysis of the broadband to TV evolution, in particular the implications for ads.

POW! Stan Lee Goes Wireless Around The World With Vidiator:

Businesswire reports interesting exploitation deal between comics uber-publisher and mobile platform

What's the form?

iMediaConnection today - Don't Sign Me Up looks at the relative user benefits of registration pages vs behavioral smarts. Thoughtful.

Lessons Learned from TV's Battle (1 of 3):

Part one of mindful series of reflections, “All Things Video -- Key Lessons Learned From TV’s Battles," led by Tom Morgan, co-founder and CEO of DiMA Group (Digital Media & Advertising Group), and Tim Hanlon, Senior Vice President Director Emerging Contact at Starcom Media Vest Group.

Uh ... I think you should see this:

Kraft surprised to find ad on racist Web site we learn from JS Online. A whole new dimension of brand guardianship emerges, as the US food maker inadvertently hooked up with whitesupremacy.com

Stop washing that brain, America!

USA Today tells (today, obviously ...) that Disney plans to mix ads, video games to target kids, teens. So you know, it's called advergaming.

BUT ...

'... ad critics such as Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy decry them as "digital infomercials" that blur the lines between content and commercials and often collect data on consumers playing the games.

"These are not just harmless games. It's part of the brainwashing of America," Chester says.'

I thought we'd done that already? Ha ha.

OK, that's enough ... stop now:

Want Truth in Advertising? Try a Blog:

The link between great marketing and blogs is argued in Fortune with Steve Hayden, O & M senior VP and creator of, among tons more, the famous Mac 1984 Superbowl ad.

Hear, click and buy on digital radio:

Reuters.com piece on seamless digital radio opp'y as radio companies look to respond smartly to apparently sagging ad sales. Watch this space - the growth of digital radio and the serach for new revenue models will be mighty interesting!

WSJ report on new pharma transparency in UK:

Britain to Publish Patient Reports On Web About Drug Side Effects details a new initiative that will make patient experiences publicly available online ... Big Pharma will need to act fast and with complete integrity to avoid the obvious potential impacts from this type of development.

Talking to my car:

In CNET's piece, Car, play me Eminem's latest hit we learn about voice rec and telematics developments where drivers can control the stereo (and one assumes other accessories) with commands.

Exciting, or dull as hell? Depends on what comes next, I'd argue, in particular on exploitation models ... these types of peripheral services still struggle to open the consumer wallet.

Electronic Arts and ESPN Sign 15-Year Deal to Sell Games:

In today's New York Times, a deal worth over $750m (to ESPN) giving EA exclusive rights to the brand, and one hopes, a little more ... wonder how this'll migrate online, and if so, what are the types of advertising opp'y that may develop?

Find the 50% that works ...

Real Media Riffs - Monday, Jan 17, 2005 details a new, unified and apparently comprehensive method for measuring the impact of all key media on consumer spend.

Monday, January 17, 2005

The Autumn of the Moguls ...

... by Michael Wolff is the must-read media book of the year. No more to say. Read.

Balancing media with creative in behavioral marketing

Read this useful reminder by Andy Chen, Creative: Behavioral Targeting's Essential Ingredient, which argues for balance and maturity in developing online campaigns. He also points up some intriguing gaps in the value chain.

Melanie Wells On Advertising And Marketing

A pleasantly brisk and decent read on, basically, ad futures in this column from Forbes early January.

Two wrongs?

Today's (Jan 17th) NY Times points to one convergence that DOES need our attention, with the report Interpublic to Buy Stake in Endeavor Ad Agency.

The Hollywood comes to Madison Ave (and perhaps one day Charlotte Street ???) story is an interesting one, not least because, as so beautifully articulated in Michael Wolff's superb (genuinely) "Autumn of the Moguls", no one gets it wronger than the big guys when they fall hard ...

So what's the difference? Why should we care? Isn't this just King Biscuit Hour coming round again?

Worth noting here that despite the waffle about synergies etc etc, both sides - the content and the ad business - are more than a little uncertain about what comes next ... Sound familiar? No? OK, how about AOL Time Warner.

I love the idea - doesn't everyone - but the commercial reality may be that these two old foes on the same side of the table ... well, might not create any new value, and may just erode a whole lot of the old.

The money's moved. Does huddling together seem like the right response here, or do these guys need to read "Who Moved My Cheese"? Now then, which sneaker brand would look best in the "find new cheese" sequence?

Foot still to the floor on online ad growth (US)

When USA Today speaks, the world may not listen, but you do know the issue in question has hit the headlines, as we see in Growth of online ads hits high speed, another (one of thousands) piece on THAT subject ...

One in four Brits on net for Porn ... but look at the other numbers too

A sobering (unless you're a porno purveyor of course) piece of research from ISP Homecall tells us that "23 per cent of Britons are getting broadband for the porn, and it's by far the most important factor in getting wired. 12 per cent cited access to music videos, 8 per cent access to movie trailers, and a gratifying 9 per cent for radio, which is undergoing a renaissance in the UK ...

Only five per cent cited social factors, such as the ability to share photos and information with friends and family, which has spurred the latest round of Silicon Valley bubble investment. (Friendster, Flickr et al). And education didn't even figure.

Strikingly absent from the survey of 5,000 members of the public is any mention of illicit file sharing. The survey was conducted after the London-based copyright lobby group launched the first wave of suits against British file sharers."

These numbers need cold consideration if we're to help brands connect right.

Vonage launches in UK

So what does the launch of the US VOIP firm mean in adland, as monthly phone costs get driven ever lower?

Is there a way to bring brands into the equation to shore up collapsing consumer telecoms spend? Sure there is, but what's the service model? Is there some "life-embedded value" that can be evolved to introduce brands into this most intimate of comm zones? I think so. More on this to come, no doubt.

And a new blog ad agency to go with it ... Blog 360

... as MWW Debuts Blog Marketing Practice. New naming opp'y here too, btw ... good thing they're part of a group eh?

BURST! now selling ads on blogs

A blogging breakthrough as BURST! announces this expected but still somehow jarring development.

... and now sending TV to the mobile, we have Orb Networks

The Orb Networks start-up beams TV to your hand, if the TiVo laptop play's not slick enough for ya ... sure hope the brands are paying attention here!

The latest in the TiVo saga points up the media service model

What does it mean for ads now that TiVo goes mobile with new free service that ports (authorised) programmes across to laptops etc? It means that the new entertainment plays are all about helping consumers manager their experience across all channels - a tough business but full of opp'y.

Is content king here? No, but context is. If providers want consumers to crack the wallet, they need not compelling content, but compelling service models that follow the consumer's purposes across location, channel and device, and domain (that means comms, media too).

Everything else? I think it's back to advertising.

Can't pronounce the company's name, but like the report!

Dotomi teamed up with the Ponemon Institute to conduct the first-ever study about consumer response to opt-in communication on the Web.

Out of the 1,700 consumers surveyed:

84% want control over the types and frequency of Internet ads sent from a specific marketer.

64% felt that if they had control over the types of online communication they received, they would be more likely to trust the marketers that sent it to them.

56% feel respected when marketers attempt to understand their individual consumer interests.

89% would let a trusted marketer share their personal interests with a third party without permission in order to increase the quality of services and products produced.

However, only 20% would let a marketer share information in order to track their buying behavior and project future purchasing decisions."

Hey, don't knock the blog! There's $$$ there ... somewhere

If you're in any doubt about the marketing potential of the blog Intelliseek's BlogPulse site will straighten you out! A serious business, this ...

Singingfish - the audio/video search engine

Despite the name Singingfish is another tool worth a look.

Videora - BitTorrent RSS Reader

If you're interested in smart media tech, this is worth a look.

How Will Behavioral Behave in 2005?

Check out
this piece
for a quick summary of behavioral issues for the coming year.

... and here too ...

More webby TV stuff here ...

A serious US player with a serious IPTV push

Reuters on SBC's IPTV push which seems timely and savvy - the whole of this year's SEC in Las Vegas is about the battle for home entertainment. Hope it's worth it ... why are we hearing so little from the tech boys about the advertising piece? Not for the first time!

I carry your picture everywhere ...

BBC piece BBC NEWS | Technology | Portable media gadgets get moving talls a lot about Archos and the portable video thing ... wish I felt more confident about this one ... there seems to be lacking a consideration of user mode ... or am I just an old fart that doesn't get this stuff any more?

Online ads may finally come of age

The IHT tells us in Online ads may finally come of age how the growth trajectory looks. Seems like a lot of the growth may come from Europe (albeit from a low low base ...), as our pals across the pond are flattening their curve a tad.

Your Favorite TV Show Is Calling

In Your Favorite TV Show Is Calling BusinessWeek looks at soaps heading for mobile screens. A little difficulty matching huge cost of build and delivery with LCD (no pun) audiences with zero willingness to pay subs, and little appeal to advertisers? Naaaah!

MediaDailyNews 01-17-05

According to MediaDailyNews 01-17-05 we're starting to see the ad and music download markets converge. 'Bout time too!