Online video pubs seek variety
in in-video advertising
Ad Networks and Analytics:
- Federated Media has launched Green Federation, a network of Federated Media properties focused on eco-friendly media and publishing.
Biz Buzz:
- Widget maker RockYou has taken $1 million in financing, enough to keep things going while the owners mull either a sale or the pursuit of a larger round.
- The European Commission hopes to get one-quarter of government bodies and households using IPv6 by 2010. IPv6 enables users to connect to the internet more easily and build their own private networks. The current system, IPv4, has been in use since 1984.
- Hands-On Mobile Korea is being acquired by Electronic Arts and will be folded into its Korean mobile operations.
- Rumors are again circulating that Time Warner may buy NBC Universal, potentially financing the deal with money raised in shafting Time Warner Cable.
- Lycos Europe is having a hard time finding a buyer, despite having appealed to AOL and a handful of German publishers.
Cross Media:
- While networks played up some cross-media options at their upfronts, it was reportedly only CBS that mentioned out-of-home digital networks in any depth.
- General Motors will be the premiere sponsor of Planet Green, a green-centered network from parent company Discovery Communications. It will will use the sponsorship to advertise its Chevrolet Marque.
E-Commerce:
- The Gap has integrated its four retail sites with a single checkout basket, allowing shoppers to buy across stores and have all items shipped together.
- After seven years of using Amazon to manage its online storefront, Borders is taking over its own online presence. It will also offer in-store pickup and more advantages for loyalty program members.
Legal, Government and Regulation:
Mobile:
- A report by Juniper Research predicts mobile ad spend will hit $7.6 billion by 2013, well over this year's projected $1 billion.
- Google's Larry Page is heading to Washington, DC to continue making his case in favor of unfettered public access to a portion of white space.
- To honor a three-year deal between itself and Orange Signature, Nokia will build more Orange Signature-ready handsets and sell music, mobile games and maps through a co-branded service.
Online Content:
- Condé Nast's Reddit will debut a show called YourNews on PBS, which highlights stories chosen by users.
- One of the things that makes video attractive to advertisers is companies' willingness to customize the content to meet advertisers' needs.
Publishing:
- The Magazine Publishers of America says magazine sites enjoyed a 11.9 percent increase in unique monthly visitors.
- Digital versions of magazines are also very popular among consumers. 89 percent of readers said they were satisfied with, or happier with, the editions. 90 percent said they take some sort of action on the ads.
- People.com bought Celebrity Baby Blog, which People hopes will increase its female readership. (Perhaps, among content networks, pregnancy is the new black.)
- Publishers are calling on agencies to provide more variety in their in-video advertising so they don't have to keep showing online viewers the same ones again and again.
Signs of Doom:
- Microsoft seems to be ceding book search to Google as it announces the shut-down of Live Search Books and Live Search Academic.
Tools and Software:
- The New York Times is releasing an API that allows developers to manipulate its content for user in mash-ups or whatever else they can dream up.
- Microsoft says sales of its Windows Mobile software are expected to rise 50 percent per year as devices get smarter and more capable of handling such software.
User Experience:
- Google is still blocked from Facebook Connect, which likely has more to do with the likelihood that Facebook will lose control over the exchanged data, than with privacy concerns.
- Embeddable episodes will be just one of the new features on ABC's online video player when it revamps for Fall season debuts.
