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July 2005
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Anti-Click Fraud Firm Alleges Google Abets Click FraudMediaBuyerPlanner.com reports that Google is again the subject of a suit claiming it isn't doing enough about click fraud - the practice of producing fake clicks in order to boost the amount that advertisers must pay for their search campaigns.... continue reading »Watershed Publishing Launches Marketing Trade PubMarketingVOX's parent firm Watershed Publishing early this morning launched an online trade magazine geared to media buyer/planners in all media. The MediaBuyerPlanner.com site has an editorial staff of four and will publish a daily email newsletter starting on Bastille Day... continue reading »Apple Takes Podcasts Mainstream with Million SignupsApple said subscriptions from the new iTunes Podcast Directory surpassed the 1 million mark within two days of being offered as part of iTunes version 4.9, released Tuesday, according to TechWeb News. Apple's Steve Jobs said yesterday that the launch... continue reading »From Cars to Cat Food - Advertisers Giving Podcasts a TryCar and pet-food marketers are kicking the podcast tires and beginning to scratch the surface of what the new medium might have to offer, write AdAge and ClickZ, reporting on new campaigns making use of the emerging technology. Toyota's Lexus... continue reading »Miva to Build U.K. Pay-Per-CallMiva and Ingenio will build a pay-per-call lead-generation solution for the U.K. market and expect to launch it in the third quarter, ClickZ writes. The service, available in the U.S. since September, allows companies without an online presence to bid... continue reading »Ask Jeeves Shopping AccountAsk Jeeves said yesterday that it put its account up for review, but wouldn't offer up much more information. AJ's public relations director Patrick Crisp did say that incumbent Chiat Day "is participating in the review." Just two weeks ago,... continue reading »AOL Video Search Now On LineAmerica Online launched its video-on-demand search service Thursday, allowing internet users to view music videos, news segments and other content from parent company Time Warner, CNET reports. AOL's Singingfish multimedia search engine will help send users to available audio and... continue reading »Google Hush-Hush Project Searches Subscription ContentGoogle is testing a search service that will access "Deep Web" content, providing searchers with free previews of restricted or subscription content, reports BetaNews (via paidcontent). The service is being tested with a few sites, which are under confidentiality agreements,... continue reading »Offermatica, DigitalGrit to Help Optimize Online CampaignsWeb marketing firm DigitalGrit and hosted testing and optimization services provider Offermatica announced a partnership this week to help online marketers to maximize revenue from their search engine marketing campaigns, online advertisements and email campaigns via targeted A/B and multivariate... continue reading »SBC Broadband Price Cut Spurs Promotions by OthersAfter SBC slashed the price of its high-speed internet service last month, its phone and cable competitors have begun to introduce promotions that include significantly lower rates, the Wall Street Journal reports (via paidcontent). Although many of the latest deals... continue reading »Honest Opinions, for a Fee, on BlogsCorporate America's discovery of blogs, and their sometimes less-than-savory co-optation as marketing tools, is the topic of a Boston Globe piece from early in the week. With a growing number of businesses using blogs to help promote their products, sometimes... continue reading »Online Job Ads Up, Print Ads DownOnline job ads have continued to increase, as print ads in newspapers have decreased, writes MediaPost. It cites the Conference Board's May Help-Wanted Advertising Index, released Thursday, showing that the volume of help-wanted advertising in print editions of 51 major... continue reading »Raids Target Global Online Piracy; RIAA Sues Hundreds of File-SharersIn an 11-nation assault on online piracy, the FBI in the U.S. and agencies in other countries last week seized hundreds of computers and shut down eight major servers for illegally distributing copyrighted content, the AP reported last week. Meanwhile,... continue reading »RSS Fast Becoming Vital Marketing Tool"Not only is RSS being used as an ad medium by companies ranging from Google to Pheedo, it's now an official marketing tool," writes ClickZ's Rebecca Lieb and provides and excellent overview of how RSS is being used by marketers... continue reading »Interactive Ad Campaigns Co-opt Consumers"Have it your way" doesn't apply only to burgers (or any product, for that matter) but also the advertising trying to sell the product. And if online consumers want more control over their online experience, including ads - don't fight... continue reading »U.S. Asserts Hegemony over Internet DomainsAssistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Gallagher announced Thursday that the U.S. will not transfer control of the internet to any other entity and will "maintain its historic role in authorizing changes or modifications to the authoritative root zone file," CNET... continue reading »Legit Emails May Look Fishier than Phishing ScamsA small study by email-marketing software firm Lyris, conducted to see whether email users could identify phishing attempts found that improperly rendered, though legitimate, emails were considered even more suspicious than the scam emails, according to a Lyris news release.... continue reading »Claria Quits Collaboration with KazaaBehavioral marketing and adware firm Claria has severed its relationship with file-sharing service Kazaa, its controversial distribution partner, MediaPost and ClickZ report. The move comes as details were leaked of acquisition talks between Microsoft and Claria - and days after... continue reading »A One-Man Anti-Spam CrusadeIf the Federal Trade Commission won't, Joe Wagner will. Fight spam, that is, even if it originates from legitimate companies likes Kraft and Bob Vila. A Wired piece profiles the 37-year-old mechanical engineer's efforts, through lawsuits, to bring to justice... continue reading »Mobile Video and TV - a World of 'Walking Couch Potatoes'SmartVideo Technologies last week announced a content deal with Two Minute Television, a production company, to offer a free, ad-supported mobile TV channel featuring shows like "Adventures in Speed Dating," Internet News writes. SmartVideo takes broadcast-quality video and adapts it... continue reading »Live 8 Benefits AOL, AdvertisersClick to enlarge Despite Live 8 promoter Bob Geldof's comments that the event is "not for charity, but political justice" - which might have alienated some marketers, especially since some thought the campaign might be tinged with an anti-capitalist sentiment -... continue reading »FeedNation Aims to Dominate RSS Market"Serial entrepreneur" Ivan Pope, among the earliest internet players in the U.K., has launched a beta site for syndicated news feeds, aimed at both consumers and publishers, writes NetImperative. FeedNation.com is designed to help users manage their incoming subscriptions to... continue reading »CheetahMail Reaps Harvest SolutionsEmail marketing firm CheetahMail has acquired web analytics provider Harvest Solutions, in a bid to integrate the email and web analytics and reporting solutions of the firms and offer them to customers separately or bundled, DM News reports. "A lot... continue reading »Aussie Paid Search to SurgeThe pay-per-click (PPC) paid search market in Australia will grow 85 percent this year, reaching Australian $130 million, up from A$70 million in 2004, according to Frost & Sullivan forecasts, eMarketer reports. The market is project to grow to A$350... continue reading »Advertisers Wading in as Podcasts Flow into MainstreamPodcasts may have become mainstream overnight thanks to Apple iTunes, but marketers have to surmount the various challenges - including those related to metrics and fragmented audiences - associated with the novel phenomenon before ad dollars begin to flow, writes... continue reading »Eye-Tracking Tech Applied to Email MessagesThe increased demand for measuring campaign results and new technologies that create more natural test settings have prompted some ad agencies to again take a gander at a research discipline that's been around a while: eye-tracking. AdAge writes that WPP... continue reading »AOL Launches Video Search, Announces New Video Content and HubAs anticipated, America Online today announced online video initiatives for finding and watching videos online. AOL officially launched its Video Search via both AOLSearch.com and its new beta portal. It is also previewing an enhanced version of the AOL(R) Video... continue reading »China Joins Global Anti-Spam BattleChina, the world's second-largest source of unsolicited emails, agreed on Monday to join an international effort led by the U.S. and the U.K. to combat spam by adopting the London Action Plan on Spam Enforcement Collaboration, ChinaTechNews reports. At a... continue reading »Sweden Outlaws Unauthorized File-SharingSweden, which until now had no law against downloading copyrighted movies and music, has now banned the practice, reports the BBC (via paidcontent). One in 10 Swedes takes part in file-sharing, making the Scandinavian haven of Socialism a haven for... continue reading »Online Retailers Discovering, Testing BlogsOnline retailers are starting to test blogs to give their stores more personality - and their customers a reason to visit even when they're not buying - reports the New York Times. But blogs are so different from typical retail... continue reading »Digital Marketer Panlogic Expands into ChinaU.K.-based digital marketing consultancy Panlogic has established operations in Shanghai and Beijing, reports NetImperative. Panlogic will initially work with the FA Premier League to promote its Chinese website through an online media campaign on the country's main portals, backed up... continue reading »Google Click Fraud Suit a Winner in CourtGoogle won its suit against an AdSense partner publisher that it had accused of deliberate click fraud. Two months ago, a California judge granted Google a $75,000 judgment against Auction Experts, a Texas firm, according to MediaPost. In its complaint,... continue reading »Classified Ventures Buys HomeGainOnline classified advertising company Classified Ventures Friday announced that it has acquired HomeGain, an online real estate site, reports MediaPost. The deal helps Classified Ventures shore up its real estate ads, which are facing serious competition. The company is jointly... continue reading »Journalist 'Shield' Bills Leave Bloggers ExposedAs a group of Senators draft a bill to protect journalists from jail terms for not giving up names of anonymous sources, bloggers are being left out in the cold, writes Wired, because according to the language in the measure... continue reading »Google Toolbar Now for Firefox, TooGoogle is expected to release tomorrow a version of its toolbar for the Firefox browser, according to information sent to developers of an open-source toolbar alternative, reports ZDNet. Google's toolbar provides easy access to spellchecking and translation and has been... continue reading »Longer RSS Ads Catch More ClicksAs Google, Feedster, Yahoo and Pheedo offer ad options in RSS, and companies like Verizon are testing the RSS waters, consumer use of the technology is growing, reports the New York Times (via MediaBuyerPlanner.com). Visitors to nytimes.com via its own feeds,... continue reading »Study: Best to Keep Ads, Editorial SeparateReaders best remember sponsorship ads placed in the middle of online newspaper stories, but those ads also annoy them the most, reports BtoB Online, citing a study by University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism professors aiming to find out whether... continue reading »SEM and DRTV Made for Each OtherDirect response television (DRTV) - infomercial - advertising significantly increases search engine query requests, according to a study by direct marketing services company SendTec. The study concludes that direct response marketers should have corresponding SEM campaigns to support marketing efforts... continue reading »Online Sales Up 24 Percent for WeekFor the week ending June 12, online sales were up 24 percent, increasing to $1.26 billion from $1.02 billion in the corresponding week a year ago, reports Internet Retailer, citing comScore figures. Online travel sales were down 3 percent for... continue reading »Getting Ready for 'Google Store'At least one search engine marketer believes that Google's experiments with an online payment system (termed Google Wallet) augurs the opening of a "Google Store." Emmanuel Ide, a marketer for the U.K.'s Jazar (a website developer) says all the pieces... continue reading »Sponsored Podcasts Slated for Slate.comSlate.com will begin offering podcasts of two or three stories per day, with DaimlerChrysler as a sponsor, writes MediaPost. Ads will appear at the beginning of each podcast and will show up throughout the Slate site. DaimlerChrysler will likely promote... continue reading »Concepts, Not Just Keywords, Catch the Eye on Google Search PageBased on studies using eye-tracking technology, a new report from Enquiro, Did-It and Eyetools looks at how users interact with Google search results, writes Search Engine Watch. Viewers scan Google search results in an F-shaped pattern, with the eye traveling... continue reading »Yahoo Now Offering Jobs SearchYahoo has entered the vertical search market, with the quiet launch of a job search engine on HotJobs, reports paidcontent, citing an HR blog. A job search on HotJobs serves up not only listings from HotJobs but also includes some... continue reading »Yahoo, Chrysler Team Up for Free Online RadioChrysler is sponsoring four commercial-free channels on Yahoo Music's free version of LAUNCHcast online radio service, and Yahoo has begun promoting through its various offerings the "Listen Now!" service launched last month, reports ClickZ. The companies won't discuss the financial... continue reading »Forrester: Outside Firms Should Audit PCI ComplianceOutside auditors, not internal ones, should validate whether midsize-to-large merchants are in compliance with the data storage protection standards of MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover according to Forrester, writes Internet Retailer. June 30 was the deadline for complying with... continue reading »Al-Jazeera, Already Strong on U.S. Net, to Try English ChannelThe Globe and Mail (via MediaBuyerPlanner.com) reports that Al-Jazeera will attempt the launch of an English language satellite station, broadcast from its home country of Qatar. The satellite network took only a few years to dominate Arab and Muslim country... continue reading »Nick Moves Programming to 'NetNickelodeon launched a new broadband internet channel called TurboNick, allowing its audience members to see full-length programming, such as episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, whenever they want. The top ranked cable network said it will produce 20 hours of original programming... continue reading »Microsoft Announces CRM 3.0Microsoft unveiled its delayed CRM software update yesterday, displaying its new capabilities for current users and new options for small businesses, reports Internet News. The announcement came at TechEd 2005 Europe in Amsterdam. Microsoft CRM 3.0 will provide CRM functionality... continue reading »Online Users Learn to Avoid SpywareThe vast majority of online consumers have changed their computing behavior because of the threat of spyware and viruses being downloaded onto their computers, according to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, with 9 out of... continue reading » |