MoveOn Solicits Agency Assistance for Presidential Campaign

Political nonprofit MoveOn.org is seeking creative entries from agencies in order to help steer the 2008 Presidential election in its favor. MoveOn's political "ad network" will be organized by Fenton Communications, the PR firm representing MoveOn. Jonathan Cranin, formerly chief creative officer at McCann Erickson, shall act as chief talent recruiter and director. Agencies of interest will […]

Posted: Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Barack Obama Takes Lion's Share of Online Video Viewerships

Barack Obama enjoyed the highest number of online video viewers in March, compared to other presidential candidates, reports Nielsen Online. The research group reported "very little viewer overlap" between candidates, suggesting watchers have already committed to whom they plan to vote for. All told, Obama's website drew 518,000 unique visitors in March alone. Hillary Clinton lagged significantly […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Olympics Channel Launches Amid Strikes in Beijing, Torch Trouble in Paris

The NewsMarket debuted the Beijing 2008 Olympics Channel today. The destination will provide free news content about the Beijing games in both English and Chinese. It will also include video for use by journalists and bloggers. The page went live despite drama about the pending state of internet access over the course of the Games. According […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Wikimedia Receives $500K Donation

The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind Wikipedia, has received a $500,000 donation from philanthropists Vinod and Neeru Khosia. Neeru is the co-founder and chair of CK12, a non-profit organization that supports the worldwide creation of "flexbooks" — collaborative open-source textbooks. In the coming years Wikimedia shall foreground outreach projects to encourage Wikipedia content contributions from groups […]

Posted: Friday, March 28th, 2008

Spot Runner Bakes Up Ad Templates for Politicians

Spot Runner has launched a site designed for political candidates, reports Broadcasting & Cable. The political ad site is stocked with spots on education and taxes, all of which await tweaking from a creative but time-constrained candidate. The spots can be customized and aired in 24 to 48 hours and for as little as $499. As with […]

Posted: Thursday, March 27th, 2008

IBM Puts CIA on Fast Track to Virtual Worlds

IBM announced it will integrate a virtual world platform into Lotus Sametime, a collaboration software that will be used by the US intelligence agencies to discuss topics like terrorism. Analysts believe the move may lead to increased adoption of virtual worlds nationwide, as IBM may encourage other users of Sametime to go virtual, reports IDG News […]

Posted: Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

Web Won't Undermine TV; Viewership to Be Bolstered by Olympics, Election

Viewers are going back to favorite TV shows after the writers' strike, with some heading online — but many more anticipating viewing upcoming special-event TV programming, including the Olympics, presidential election and American Idol, according to Carat, MarketingCharts reports. Some primetime viewers reacted to the end of the writers' strike by watching more TV (9 percent […]

Posted: Monday, March 24th, 2008

Top 50 Web Rankings Issued: Love, Taxes, Politics, Economy on Visitors' Minds

Yahoo Sites edged Google Sites out among US web properties with 137 million visitors vs. 136 million, as traffic to tax, greetings/Valentine's Day, politics, and news sites increased, according to a monthly analysis by comScore's Media Metrix service, MarketingCharts writes. Among the February data released by comScore: Top 50 Properties (Unique Visitors) Among the highlights: Microsoft Sites, with more […]

Posted: Thursday, March 20th, 2008

BIGresearch to Clinton, Obama: New Media an Alternative to High-Priced TV Ads

Members of all US political parties are using new media in large numbers, making it a smart, cost-effective alternative to expensive television ads for the campaigns of the still-battling Democratic Presidential candidates, according to BIGresearch (via MarketingCharts). The top three new media used most among Democrats, Republicans and Independents are cell phones, videogames and instant messaging, […]

Posted: Thursday, March 20th, 2008

Heavy Bloggers Engage with News, Entertainment Sites

"Heavy bloggers" — 20 percent of US blog visitors, which account for 84 percent of all time spent on blog sites — are more likely than the average internet user to consume news and entertainment content online, according to a comScore study, writes MarketingCharts. They are also more likely than the average to consume content at […]

Posted: Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

Hip Hop Action Summit Encourages Kids to Vote with Bells, Whistles, Celebrities

The Hip Hop Action Summit is turning to the web to get young people out voting this November. The youth empowering nonprofit is harnessing stars like Snoop Dogg and George Lucas to reach Hispanic and African-American teens through online video. Online ad network CPX Interactive worked with HHAS on the campaign and will post the videos on […]

Posted: Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Bloggers: Younger, More Educated, Ethnically Diverse

Bloggers are younger and better-educated, but earn less than the general US adult (18+) population. They are also more likely to be single, male, and actively engaged in new media, according to a study by BIGresearch, MarketingCharts reports. Of users that blog occasionally or regularly (26 percent of those polled): 53.7 percent are male. Nearly half (44.7 percent) are […]

Posted: Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Writers Strike (Officially) Comes to End

Early today the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) agreed to end the three-month strike. 92.5 percent of 3775 writers that voted ruled in favor of returning to work, the WGA reported. The next order of business will be to ratify a three-year contract, which shall involve new […]

Posted: Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Mobile Advertising Alters Voter Attitudes, Behaviors

Considering Super Tuesday hasn't settled who will run for US President on the Democratic or Republican ticket, mobile advertising may be an effective way for candidates to change voter attitudes and voting behavior, according to a report from Limbo, reports MarketingCharts. A January SMS advertising campaign the firm conducted for Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and […]

Posted: Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Obama Leads in Online Buzz, Favorite Sites by Visitors' Party Affiliation Issued

In the weeks (January 1-29) preceding Super Tuesday (today), Barack Obama drove the largest share of blog discussions* among presidential candidates still in the running, accounting for 0.59 percent of the total, while rival Hillary Clinton ranked a close second, according to Nielsen Online, MarketingCharts reports. Online buzz about candidate Clinton accounted for 0.51 percent of […]

Posted: Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

Newsmax on the Market for GOP-Loving Advertisers

Conservative news site Newsmax is going all out to attract advertisers looking to reach Republicans. The site is launching a multi-platform campaign to convince advertisers it's the go-to destination for moneyed Conservatives. Potential advertisers can also obtain demographic data, including how many readers have college degrees (62 percent) and how many are financially well-off (41 percent earn […]

Posted: Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

Electronic Billboards Display Roving Super Tuesday Results

Clear Channel Outdoor will provide digital reporting of primary election results via its high-tech LED billboard networks and a partnership with MSNBC and CNBC, reports MediaBuyerPlanner. Throughout Tuesday February 5, digital displays in Albuquerque, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Memphis will air election figures. Real-time content will be supplied as an automated MSNBC feed from […]

Posted: Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

comScore Releases US Internet Year in Review

comScore issued a report highlighting the major trends in US internet activity in 2007, including top gaining properties and site categories, and core search market growth. Top internet brands, including Google, Facebook, Wikipedia and craigslist, were among the winners of 2007, writes MarketingCharts, citing comScore's data. Top-Gaining Properties in 2007 A study of the growth in visitors […]

Posted: Friday, February 1st, 2008

875MM Consumers Shopped Online, Up 40% in 2 Years

Over 85 percent of the global online population has used the internet to make a purchase, increasing the market for online shopping by 40 percent in the past two years, according to the Nielsen Global Online Survey on internet shopping habits, reports MarketingCharts. Globally, more than half of internet users have made at least one purchase […]

Posted: Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Microlender Kiva Runs Out of Loan Recipients

Kiva, a nonprofit site that organizes microloans for entrepreneurs in developing countries, has run out of people to lend to. In toto, Kiva brought in $19.5 million worth of loans from 220,000 lenders, reports The New York Times. Though it may seem risky to dole $450 out to a restaurant owner in Nigeria, or $1,200 to a […]

Posted: Tuesday, January 29th, 2008