2007 July - MarketingVOX

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Digital View Streamlines Secondary Signage Implementation

Digital View has just developed a method by which retailers can add secondary messaging to digital signage at a lower cost than standard, according to a recent press release. The offering is a media player that outputs the name of a... continue reading »

Pageflakes to Invade Social Networking with a Blizzard

This July Pageflakes will be marking its foray into social networking with its latest offering of Blizzard, reports Mashable. Originally slated for June 28, the launch was pushed back to accommodate more requests from users. Blizzard makes Pageflakes "totally social," with... continue reading »

Paper Clip into House Bartering Scheme Gets Chinese Knock Off

Remember the 2005 story where Canadian Kyle MacDonald started with a red paper clip and used the Internet to barter his way into a house? The incredible story got its first Chinese clone, thanks to Internet promoter Yang Xiuyu. A former... continue reading »

Amazon Pushes 'Prom Queen' for Download

Amazon will begin offering the online drama Prom Queen for download through its Unbox service, reports the Associated Press. Prom Queen originally appeared as a series of 80 short online episodes. Edited together as a full-length film, the drama will... continue reading »

Global Advertising Spend to Grow 6.4 percent in '08

Carat on Wednesday said it forecast 6.4 percent growth in global ad spending in 2008, and did not revise its forecast of 5.8 percent for 2007, only slightly less than the 5.9 percent growth in 2006, writes MarketingCharts. Carat is... continue reading »

Data Glut Needs Dealing-With

IBM's Dave Turek has identified retrieval of the vast amounts of digital data being produced as one of the great challenges of the near future, reports The Globe & Mail. With so much information being produced and shared it's not... continue reading »

MySpace Considers Opening Doors Third-Party APIs

One of MySpace's founders has speculated the popular social networking site will soon open itself up to third-party widgets and more, reports The Financial Times. Co-founder Chris DeWolfe said MySpace could open up parts of its source-code for developers to... continue reading »

Fred Thompson Aims for Republican 'Blogger-in-Chief'

"Law & Order" star and former Senator Fred Thompson is aiming for the title blogger-in-chief of the Republican party as he gears up for a 2008 presidential bid, reports Reuters. Thompson contributes frequently to conservative websites, posting on a range of... continue reading »

Savage Program Turns Email into Cinema

Software creator Robert Savage has just developed an email program called 3D Mailbox, which turns the standard email experience into a cross between a video game and a movie, according to Smart Money. "For the person in the program, it's meant... continue reading »

Wikipedia Foresees Death of Wrestler's Wife

Wikipedia knew something was amiss with pro wrestler Chris Benoit's family before cops even arrived at his home, finding a horrific murder-suicide, reports Globe and Mail. The unsourced entry stated the wrestler missed a match Saturday, June 23 due to "the... continue reading »

iZoho Adds White Collar to iPhone

Last week Zoho released iZoho, an iPhone application for accessing Zoho's online office tools, including Writer documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, from the Safari browser. The iZoho interface was optimized to support access via iPhone's touchscreen, with features like simplified menus and... continue reading »

EMI, Snocap Shake on Artist-Direct Sales

Music label EMI will partner with distribution company Snocap to allow artists to sell music directly from their own sites, reports Forbes. Snocap is the newest venture from Napster creator Shawn Fanning. Designed to let artists set up their own... continue reading »

iPhones Still Available After Launch Day

Though the iPhone perhaps enjoyed the most talked-about tech launch in history, there was plenty left after day one (Friday, June 29) on both coasts, reports ZDNet. Apple retail stores had lines stretching for blocks in New York and San Francisco,... continue reading »

.asia to Debut this October

Beginning in October a select few will be able to register their websites using the new ".asia" domain, reports The Globe & Mail. The addresses will first be available to regional governments and those with trademarks registered prior to March... continue reading »

TV, Online Video Remain Worlds Apart

The tension between the online and traditional video dimensions came into sharp relief during an OMMA conference on video, reports MediaPost. Where traditional video producers such as Disney want, and to a large extent need, to maintain control over their... continue reading »

Triple-Digit Mobile Video Revenue and Subscriber Growth in Q1

Mobile video is rapidly becoming a significant new media distribution platform, with nearly 200 percent growth in first quarter US revenues compared with the year-earlier period, and more than 150 percent growth in the number of subscribers in the same... continue reading »

Congress Opts Not to Help Webcasters

A Congressional committee has signalled it will not be involving itself in the dispute between the music industry and small webcasters, reports BusinessWeek. The move comes as webcasters sought Congressional aid for salvation from what they feel are oppressive new royalty... continue reading »

FTC Gives Net Neutrality the Big 'What For?'

Last week the FTC issued a report dismissing claims that the government must help preserve the fairness of online networks in the U.S., according to Ars Technica. "This report recommends that policy makers proceed with caution in the evolving, dynamic industry... continue reading »

Supreme Court Ruling Could Have Drastic E-Commerce Impact

A new Supreme Court ruling regarding minimum retail prices could have a dramatic impact on e-commerce, reports MarketingPilgrim. The Court ruled last week that manufacturers can set a minimum retail price that retailers must use. That rolls back an antitrust... continue reading »

Game Ad Spend to Exceed $2 Billion in 2012

Game advertising spending in the US will grow from $370 million in 2006 to nearly $2.1 billion in 2012, according to a Parks Associates forecast, with ad spend increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent during... continue reading »

Growing Pains: Power Issue Puts Facebook Down Friday

Stating a power issue at one of its data centers was to blame, Facebook experienced technical difficulties Friday due in part to the breadth of activity sparked by user-generated applications, reports Mashable. After opening its back-end to developers to create any... continue reading »

Assets of High-Net-Worth Individuals Reach $37.2 Trillion

Driven by a strong global economy, the wealth of the world's high-net-worth individuals (HNWI*) increased 11.4 percent to (U.S.) $37.2 trillion in 2006, according to the 11th annual World Wealth Report, released last week by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, MarketingCharts... continue reading »

Good Gamers Make Great Leaders, Say IBM and Seriosity

Maybe sci-fi novels like "Ender's Game" are less fiction than corporate incubators. IBM and Seriosity published a report that compares leadership qualities found in players of massive multi-player online games (MMOGs) to the corporate world, reports Next Generation. "Smart organizations are... continue reading »

Online Destinations Can Overlook Domestic Minorities

While corporate America expands its Web presence overseas, it often looks right past minority audiences here at home, reports BusinessWeek. The findings come from a report from the Common Sense Advisory, which looked at the sites of 102 of the... continue reading »

SEM Conceives Arch-Nemesis: Negative SEO

Forbes reports the latest trend in boosting a website's cred for the Google algo: not SEO, which is so yesterday, but negative SEO - a direct jab into competitors' territory. "Negative SEO" is a new label for optimization behavior that, while... continue reading »

Google Sued Over Web Content

A lawsuit has been filed against Google by a man claiming to have been offended by the content he found through a search, reports Computing. In his lawsuit, UK resident Brian Retkin says Google led him to what he believes... continue reading »

Broadband to Launch Video Ad Marketplace

A number of agencies have signed up to test the new video ad platform from Broadband Enterprises, reports MediaWeek. Agencies representing companies like Nissan and Staples will be the first to try vComm, the new Broadband Enterprises platform. The system... continue reading »

Down but not Out, HD DVD Allows Owners to Re-Edit '300'

HD DVD unveiled a new feature that empowers anyone that connects their HD DVD player to a broadband connection with the ability to re-edit a film by arranging scenes as they please, reports BusinessofVideo.com. Users can then upload their re-edit... continue reading »

Cable Users Liberated from Set-Top Box Rentals

As of July 1 the FCC has ruled that cable TV subscribers will no longer have to rent set-top boxes from their cable companies, reports BusinessWeek. Cable TV subscribers currently number 65 million in the US. Cable operators are now prohibited... continue reading »

'Blue Pill' Malware Harder to Create than Claimed

It appears that the creation of undetectable malware is harder to accomplish than originally thought by a developer who thought she'd accomplished it, reports Ars Technica. About a year ago developer Joanna Rutkowska claimed to have created an undetectable bit... continue reading »

Enterprise Software Pirate Bounty Sings to Tune of $1M

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has just increased its reward ceiling for piracy reports to $1,000,000, reports Ars Technica. The increase is part of a special promotion that will feature in online and radio ad campaigns. The offer expires in October;... continue reading »

Record-Breaking Media Mergers/Acquisitions in First Half of 2007

The media and information industries M&A market set new record highs with 399 transactions announced totaling $76 billion in deal value in the first half of 2007 across 11 media and information sectors tracked by New York-based investment banking firm... continue reading »

South Korea Begins Taxing Virtual Worlds

As of July 1, South Korea has begun adding value-added tax to "real-money transactions" in virtual worlds, reports Next-Gen (via IM69).Those who sell between $6,500 and $13,000 will have taxes added automatically as part of financial transactions. Those who... continue reading »

Study: Virtual Worlds Educate Kids on Facts of Life

Despite a recent banning in the UK and the AMA's attempt to declare video games an addiction, a new study finds massive multi-player online role-playing games may be investing young people with "vital lessons in learning about other races, the... continue reading »

GM Hopes 'Transformers' Will Transform Sales Revenue

General Motors is hoping its wide-ranging promotional deal with the big-screen Transformers movie will turn around sales woes, reports the Associated Press. GM supplied the real-world cars for four of the heroic Autobots in the movie, a Chevy Camaro, Pontiac... continue reading »

Universal Music Balks at Long-Term iTunes Contract

Universal Music has declined to sign another long-term contract to make its music available through Apple's iTunes store, reports The New York Times. Instead, Universal Music has said it will market its artists to iTunes on an "at will" basis.... continue reading »

Amazon Launches Answers Site, Virtual World on the Way

Amazon is jumping on the social networking train with the soft launch of Askville, reports CNN. Similar to Yahoo Answers, Answers.com and wis.dm, Askville allows users to post any question they want and get answers from real people. Users will rate... continue reading »

Nielsen to Serve Up Ad Stats for Sony PS3

Sony has signed up with Nielsen to measure the effectiveness of in-game advertising, the beginning of a much larger relationship, reports Next-Gen. Because its able to measure anything that hooks up to TV, Nielsen will use the same 12,000-household U.S. People... continue reading »

Report: Multimedia Future of Next-Gen Game Consoles Uncertain

Though 80 percent of game console households own a console capable of some form of DVD playback or online download, only 13 percent have used their system for movie viewing (some eight million US households), according to new research from... continue reading »

Helio Gets Atomic Wedgie for Mobile Channel

Mobile service provider Helio has tapped Atomic Wedgie to create a mobile channel for its users' enjoyment, reports Variety. The Wedgie-created channel will bring both short comedy videos either, originally created or re-purposed from elsewhere, to Helio users sometime later... continue reading »

ZenithOptimedia Optimistic about Ad Spend Growth

ZenithOptimedia apparently has a rosier view than other recent ad market prognosticators, and only slightly decreased its 2007 forecast of U.S. advertising spending growth year over year - from 3.4 percent to 3.3 percent - despite a 1.7 percent anticipated... continue reading »

Proliferation of Personas Sparks Market for Impersonators

Those who understand the importance of online networking, but are unable - or simply disinclined - to invest the time necessary to keep myriad profiles, blogs and newsfeeds updated, may consider paying someone to do it for them, per the... continue reading »

Yahoo Creates Behavior-Based Ad Format

Yahoo has unveiled a new ad-targeting format dubbed SmartAds, which allows for more real-time adjustment and greater behavioral targeting, reports MediaPost. SmartAds work by allowing advertisers to create a group of creative assets that sit in the Yahoo database until... continue reading »

Grunwald: Teens Willing to Work With Advertisers

A new study has been released that shows online teens are pretty accepting of brands sharing their social network space, reports ClickZ. The report from Grunwald Associates is titled "Social Networking and Advertising" and seeks to identify attitudes and behaviors... continue reading »

iPhone-Related Searches Generate 2MM Click-Throughs to Apple.com

Americans have conducted an average of 274,000 iPhone-related searches per week since the beginning of the year, and they generated more than 2 million click-throughs to Apple.com, according to a study by comScore, reports MarketingCharts. When the product was first... continue reading »

Fees, Regulations Bring VoIP Closer to Standardization

In what can perhaps be considered a silver lining for VoIP proponents, the FCC is increasingly treating VoIP services like traditional phone services, having recently required operators and equipment manufacturers to support disability access such as the 711 dialing service,... continue reading »

GrandCentral Users: Google Has Your Number

Google has just confirmed its acquisition of GrandCentral, a service that unifies all existing phone services utilized by a user, reports TechCrunch. And while secondary competitors such as 1Num and RingCentral have held their own, the VoIP-based service has no... continue reading »

Respectance: Social Networking for the Bereaved

Yet another niche social networking site has launched, this time for those who've passed on, according to TechCrunch. Called Respectance, the site "provides a space for family and friends to honor their dead loved ones by creating online tributes." Though similar tributes... continue reading »

eBay Cleans Up Site so Sellers Can Clean Up on Sales

eBay has announced plans to dust up what some feel is a site that's become too cluttered, reports Bloomberg News. The online auction site has seen sellers complain about lower sales resulting from poor user experience. The site, they say,... continue reading »

Microsoft's Xbox Earns Double-Digit Growth from VOD Service

Microsoft's Video on Demand service, offered on the Xbox Live Marketplace, is growing by double digit figures month after month, according to The New York Times. Xbox Live currently offers members some 2,000 hours of programming from Paramount, Warner Bros., MTV,... continue reading »

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