Monday, August 25, 2008
America’s Commercials at the Olympics
http://www.nytimes.com/

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Does an Advertiser Know You Clicked on This Story?
http://www.sciam.com/

Monday, August 11, 2008
What Obama Can Teach You About Millennial Marketing
http://adage.com/

Baby boomers and Gen Xers declared mass marketing dead long ago. We live in a world of fragmented media surrounded by cynical consumers who can spot and block an ad message from a mile away. But what Gen Xers and boomers may not realize is that the unabashed embrace of select brands by millennials, from technology to beverages to fashion, has made this decade a true golden era of marketing for those who know what they're doing. And when it comes to marketing, the Barack Obama campaign knows what it's doing. Read more

Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Investors flock to online advertising market
http://www.bizjournals.com

Digital media investors continue to target online advertising as a potential pot of gold, even as a weak economy threatens ad spending. Though many investors say online advertising is oversubscribed, the industry is still growing because of two factors: the massive adoption of high-speed Internet and the migration of dollars away from print and broadcast media. Read more

Monday, July 28, 2008
Ex-Googlers Debut Cuil, A(nother) Anti-Google
http://www.marketingvox.com

A mutiny of ex-Google employees, and one from IBM, launched Cuil ("cool"), a search engine whose name comes from the Gaelic word for "knowledge" and "hazel," reports the BBC. Founders include ex-Googlers Anna Patterson, Russell Power and Louis Monier; as well as Tom Patterson, who worked on search and storage technologies for IBM. Read more

Monday, July 21, 2008
Goodman Marketing Partners takes a Top International Creative Award at 2008 Summit Creative Awards
http://www.istockanalyst.com/

Goodman Marketing Partners (GMP), a full service marketing company in San Rafael, CA, is a silver winner in the 2008 Summit Creative Awards® competition for its creative work for Autodesk. "We're honored that our work has been selected for inclusion among some of the top creative firms in the world," says Carolyn Goodman, founder, president and creative director of GMP. Read more

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
P&G's chief marketer retires
http://www.sfgate.com/

The marketing chief who directed about $8 billion a year advertising products such as Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and Gillette shavers is stepping down, the Procter & Gamble Co. said Tuesday. Global marketing officer Jim Stengel, 53, will retire from the company — the nation's biggest advertiser — in October after 25 years. P&G said Marc Pritchard, 48, will take over global marketing on Aug. 1. Pritchard is 26-year company veteran who is currently president for strategy, productivity and growth. He previously was president for global strategy and before that, headed P&G's global cosmetics business. Read more

Monday, July 7, 2008
Big-name brands booking ads on Facebook
http://www.sfgate.com/

Throw a stapler at a Facebook friend, courtesy of Microsoft Office. Become a fan of Victoria's Secret Pink to discuss favorite bra colors. Show off your love for Slim Jim snacks with a virtual poke. With millions of users riveted to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, big-name brands are venturing into the newly charted territory of social media advertising, seeking to unravel the real opportunities from the flurry of hype. Read more

Monday, July 1, 2008
Marketers Join the (Gay Pride) Parade
http://adage.com/

Steve Roth June is Gay Pride month, the kickoff to scores of LGBT Pride parades and festivals across the country. Gay Pride month commemorates the Stonewall Riots that began on June 28, 1969, a pivotal moment in the fight for gay rights. "Pride," as it's known in the gay community, has evolved many times and in many ways since then, and so has the role of corporate America in it. Participating in Pride can be a great marketing tool for many companies, but only if done smartly and as part of a larger, well-integrated marketing communications program. Read more

Monday, June 23, 2008
America Has Spoken: In Google We Trust
http://adage.com/

The most reputable company in America: Google, which toppled Microsoft from the top perch in the 2007 Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient study released today -- and sent it tumbling all the way down to No. 10. But what should be even more eye-opening to the companies rounding out the top 10 -- which include Johnson & Johnson and General Mills -- and the rest of the list is that Google's victory shows that a company that spends nothing on advertising can still be the most positively perceived by consumers. Read more

Monday, June 16, 2008
California Comes Out With a Marketing Niche
http://adage.com/

When California opens its doors to same-sex nuptials this week, it will be a boon for its economy and savvy marketers. The wedding industry pumps billions into the coffers of retailers, hotels, florists, bands and caterers each year, with the average price of wedded bliss now tallying $28,704, according to the Wedding Report. Read more

Friday, June 13, 2008
Bill seeks to turn down sound on TV ads
http://www.sfgate.com/

Fed up with TV ads so loud that they send viewers scrambling to hit mute on their remotes, a Bay Area lawmaker is pushing a new bill that would force federal regulators to ratchet down the volume of commercials. The proposal was introduced this week by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and it isn't winning her any friends in the broadcasting or advertising industries. But Eshoo's House colleagues are warming to the idea, which could address a daily annoyance for millions of TV viewers. "I've had it with these loud advertisements," said Eshoo, who said she was motivated after being jolted by one too many ear-splitting ads. "If I'm not close to my remote control to push the mute button, it practically blasts you out of the house. It's that annoying. And it's totally unnecessary. Read more

Monday, June 9, 2008
How Agencies Are Helping Their Clients Help the Environment
http://adage.com

What started as a low rumble as marketers began talking about green issues has grown to a rather loud din. And as marketers recognize the best business practices of sustainability, they more frequently turn to their marketing partners for guidance. These are some agencies coast to coast that are helping fuel the green machine. Read more

Monday, June 2, 2008
Even Google Has to Advertise
http://adage.com

Google has built the most powerful brand in the world with nary a bit of brand advertising. But as ads for Google Maps crop up on buses in San Francisco and trains in Chicago, it's clear the company is willing to shell out ad dollars to grow a product that's key to both local and mobile search. The branding push promotes the service's transit features and comes at a time when Google is courting brand advertisers to buy online display ads, TV and radio. Incidentally, its own campaign focuses on the one medium Google hasn't dabbled in selling: outdoor. Read more

Monday, May 26, 2008
Crocs Outfits Young Travelers, Deploys Them Across Globe
http://www.marketingvox.com/

Crocs, Inc. has launched Cities by Foot, a "travel video guide" where young Crocs-wearers record their adventures in six major cities: Aspen, Denver, Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Francisco and Vail. In the style of E! Network's travel show Wild On!, the hosts visit restaurants and other attractions while sharing trivia about the area. Their feet, ensconced in varying pairs of Crocs, enjoy frequent close-ups. Read more

Thursday, May 21, 2008
Nvidia Selects Cutwater
http://www.adweek.com

Nvidia today confirmed that it has hired Omnicom Group's Cutwater for creative and media chores. Estimated billings are $30 million. Derek Perez, director of communications for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based manufacturer of high-tech graphic cards and related technology, said the agency's first work would break in the second half of the year and include both business-to-business and business-to-consumer outreach. Read more

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Goodby, Silverstein agency celebrates 25 years
http://www.sfgate.com

The best advertising tells the truth. But, if truth be told, the 1989 campaign for Skippy dog food had a bit of an assist. As Jeff Goodby, the co-founder of the San Francisco ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, recalls the events, the client that had the Skippy brand at the time, Heinz Pet Foods, believed Skippy looked better than the competition. So the ad people dumped a can of the other stuff into a dish - and left it standing in the shape of a can. The Skippy dog food was arranged in a far more appealing fashion, more like "beautiful beef stew or something," said Goodby. Read more

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Google, Mobile Marketing Association Pursue Differing Ad Standards
http://www.clickz.com

When the Mobile Marketing Association last week issued guidelines for mobile ads, one thing stood out. Four proposed banner ad formats differed in size from Google's mobile image ads, which were shown off publicly for the first time last week. Which begs the question: will the emerging mobile channel suffer from the lack of standard ad formats? Mobile marketing experts contacted by ClickZ News don't think so. Read more

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
"Got Milk" Gets Extreme Web Makeover
http://www.adweek.com

While the California Milk Processor Board's "Got milk" campaign has been a trailblazer offline, the effort has remained decidedly behind the times online. Unlike its cleverly crafted TV spots, GotMilk.com has remained the epitome of "brochureware" -- a site that serves up static information extolling product benefits. The Milk Board hopes to change its staid online image with an overhauled flashy Web site set to launch today. The venue attempts to combine health information and entertainment in a single destination. Read more

Thursday, April 17, 2008
San Francisco Reaches Out to Immigrants
http://www.nytimes.com

The city of San Francisco has started an advertising push with a very specific target market: illegal immigrants. And while the advertisements will come in a bundle of languages -- English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese -- they all carry the same message: you are safe here. In what may be the first such campaign of its kind, the city plans to publish multilanguage brochures and fill the airwaves with advertisements relaying assurance that San Francisco will not report them to federal immigration authorities. Read more

Friday, April 10, 2008
Yahoo alumnus to run Web advertising challenger
http://www.latimes.com

OpenX marks the new spot for former Yahoo Inc. executive Tim Cadogan, who is taking over as chief executive of the advertising start-up and plans to move its headquarters from London to Pasadena. Cadogan, 37, is a key hire for OpenX, which is backed by such prominent venture capital firms as Accel Partners and Index Ventures. He spent five years at Yahoo, most recently as a senior vice president. Read more

Monday, March 25, 2008
Ad Legend Hal Riney Dies at 75
www.adweek.com

Hal Riney, who wrote "It's morning again in America," brought a distinctly Western voice to the New York-dominated advertising industry, was nominated for an Academy Award and led the passengers of an airliner on a daring escape from terrorists, died Monday of cancer at home in San Francisco. He was 75. Riney created (and often narrated in his own resonant voice) advertising campaigns for Bartles & Jaymes Wine Coolers, Gallo Wines, Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve beer, Perrier waters and Saturn automobiles, among others. Read more

Friday, March 14, 2008
Google's New Ad Service Serves Display Ad Goals
www.clickz.com

Google has added to its ever-expanding suite of ad services with an application that helps small to mid-size publishers manage and optimize their ad inventory, even if they sell those ads themselves. The new service, called Ad Manager, debuted just days after Google completed its $3.1 billion acquisition of ad management firm DoubleClick. The search giant said the service is intended as a complement to DoubleClick's Revenue Center, a similar offering for powering vertical ad networks aimed at publishers with larger sales forces. Read more

Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Facebook Finds New No.2 for Mark Zuckerberg
adage.com

Facebook has appointed a No. 2 for 24-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Sheryl Sandberg, a Google veteran who most recently served as VP-global sales and operations. Ms. Sandberg was hired on as Facebook's chief operating officer, a title most recently held by Owen Van Natta before he became chief revenue officer. Facebook last month said Mr. Van Natta is leaving the social-networking site. Read more

Tuesday, February 17, 2007
Generation MySpace Is Getting Fed Up
www.businessweek.com

If you want to socialize with Chris Heritage, you won't find him on Facebook. The 27-year-old Port St. Lucie (Fla.) business analyst joined the social network last year after his buddies bugged him to get an account. But he soon became fed up with the avalanche of ads, especially those detailing what his friends were buying, and he quit the site in November. Now, Heritage expresses himself through a blog, happy to pay $6 a month to publish on a promo-free Web site. "It's worth it to not have to look at the ads," he says. Read more

Tuesday, February 5, 2007
Super Bowl Ads of Cartoonish Violence, Perhaps Reflecting Toll of War
www.nytimes.com

Time Warner plans to split its AOL unit into two divisions separately focused on Internet access and online services and advertising, executives announced during the company's Q4 earnings call today. The company did not elaborate on its exact motives for the separation. One option, oft-discussed by executives and investors, would be to sell or spin off its access business at some future point. Read more

Monday, December 17, 2007
Coke, Pepsi, A-B Attracted to Metal
www.brandweek.com

Coca-Cola’s iconic contour bottle is getting a new metal attitude. The cola giant, next year, will begin testing Coke and Coke Zero products in aluminum bottles. Coke joins Budweiser, PepsiCo and a small handful of other beverage makers who are embracing this cutting edge form of packaging. Read more

Friday, December 11, 2007
Google Expands YouTube Ad Partner Program
www.clickZ.com

Based on the early success of an ad revenue sharing program aimed at YouTube's most prolific uploaders, Google has decided to offer a great many more YouTubers the ability to carry its fledgling overlay ad format and to share in revenue. YouTube’s ad partners are now monetizing "millions of video views each week," according to a spokesperson, and the company said in a statement that prolific partners whose videos routinely score over a million views are earning several thousand dollars a month. Read more

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Online Ad Spend to Continue Growth Through 2010
www.clickZ.com

An ad spend forecast released yesterday by ZenithOptimedia expects online ad spending to surpass magazine advertising in 2010. That's one of three major milestones for online advertising in the three-year forecast. In 2008 online is expected to overtake radio advertising in terms of spending, a prediction included in an earlier forecast. The following year online advertising's share of the total global ad spend is expected to reach a double-digit share of 11.5 percent, and then 15 percent in 2010. Read more

Thursday, November 27, 2007
Current TV Challenges Viewers to Create Online Ads
www.clickZ.com

Look out, interactive advertising agencies. Current TV, the cable television network built on viewer collaboration, is asking its audience to create online advertisements. Up until now, Current TV has tapped viewers to create :30 and :60 television ad spots known in Current's world as Viewer-Created Ad Messages (VCAMs). These ads have been part of Current TV since it launched in 2005 with the help of Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. Read more

Friday, November 23, 2007
S.F. ad shops spend big on visual effects
www.bizjournals.com

The return of big advertising to the Bay Area is creating a surge in commercial work for local visual effects firms, further solidifying the region's reputation as a digital arts stronghold. "Over the last year or two, there's been a huge resurgence of the Bay Area advertising community, and we've definitely felt the benefit of that," said Paul Grimshaw, a vice president and executive producer at the Orphanage. Read more

Friday, November 9, 2007
Dave Morgan to Guide Global Ad Strategy at AOL
www.clickZ.com

AOL has named Dave Morgan, who joined the company through the September acquisition of Tacoda, to a global advisory and communications role. As EVP of global advertising strategy at Time Warner’s morphing portal and ad network unit, Morgan’s duties include courting Madison Avenue, building partnerships in the U.S. and abroad, and making sure AOL's internal divisions support the company's core display ad business. Read more

Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Details About Facebook's New Ad Program
www.sfgate.com

Some questions and answers about Facebook’s new ad program:

Q. How will advertisers target pitches based on the behavior of Facebook users?

A. Facebook is launching a program called “Social Ads.” It starts with an online action taken by a friend -- for example, adding a review of a local restaurant, declaring admiration for a band or buying a vacation package at a travel site. That can happen at an outside site that embeds coding called a Beacon -- auctioneer eBay Inc. and movie tickets vendor Fandango are among the 44 initial participants. The online action can also occur on one of more than 100,000 company Facebook pages that are launching. A user will see an alert, known as a "News Feed" item, indicating that the friend has bought a DVD or posted a review. The social ads could appear next to those alerts -- with the friend's photo, though marked "sponsored" -- or as a banner ad on the left. Read more

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Four in Five US Adults Go Online - Usage, Users Profiled
www.marketingvox.com

The number of adults online at home, in the office, at school, the library or other locations continues to grow at a steady rate. The figure increased 10 percent in the past year to an estimated 178 million* - or nearly four out of five US adults, according to the latest Harris Poll, reports sister site MarketingCharts. Read more

A lot of advertisers want to have a conversation with consumers on the Web, but they haven't been able to do much more than stand by and listen to what people are saying about them. BuzzLogic, a Bay Area start-up, aims to change this through a new kind of ad delivery called "conversational targeting." Read more

Wednesday, October 25, 2007
Two Views of Advertising's Future
www.clickZ.com

Author and academic Douglas Rushkoff sounded a wake-up call to advertisers and marketers: your business will be dead unless you work with companies and products that produce exciting products that inspire you. Likewise, David Weinberger, co-author of "The Cluetrain Manifesto" and a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Institute for Internet and Society, said companies can no longer control and manage product marketing. "Real marketing [that's] people talking with one another," he said, referring to social media. "We need to respect these conversations, honor them. Not intrude." Read more

Thursday, October 25, 2007
Facebook extends mobile reach with BlackBerry version
www.sfgate.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook is trying to grow up. Not only does it have a real bank account now, with Microsoft's infusion of $240 million, but it's wooing older customers. Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, speaking at a cell phone convention in San Francisco Wednesday morning, introduced a mobile version of the social-networking site designed for BlackBerry users. Read more

Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Wikipedia team plans move to San Francisco
www.sfgate.com

The Wikimedia foundation, the force behind the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia, is moving its headquarters to San Francisco this winter. Founder Jimmy Wales said Wednesday the small operation is packing up its office in St. Petersburg, Fla., and moving to San Francisco in an attempt to create a larger brand, attract more talent and make better inroads in developing countries, particularly in Asia. Wikipedia, which is edited largely by volunteers, is among the 10 most visited Internet sites in the world. Read more

Monday, October 8, 2007
In War on Phishing, eBay Completes Journey to Total Authentication
www.clickZ.com

E-mail authentication measures such as DomainKeys (define), referred to as DKIM, and Sender ID (define) only go so far by themselves to block phishing (define) attempts. A partnership between Yahoo and eBay, including its online payment system PayPal, aims to minimize the influx of messages pretending to be from eBay and PayPal to Yahoo Mail readers. Read more

Thursday, October 4, 2007
House May Conduct Hearings on Google/DoubleClick Deal
www.clickZ.com

Two Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives are mulling hearings on Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick. If placed on the committees' schedules, the proceedings would follow a hearing already conducted last week by the Senate Judiciary's Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee. Sources at the House Energy and Commerce and the House Judiciary Committees indicated separate hearings, or possibly a joint hearing, could take place, but nothing is on the calendar yet. Read more

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
MySpace’s Ad Supported Mobile Site to Target with Profile Data
www.clickZ.com

Social network MySpace is launching an ad supported mobile version of its site. Free to users, the mobile offering provides advertisers with sponsorship opportunities and the promise of targeted ads based on profile information in the near future. News Corp division Fox Interactive Media (FIM), which operates MySpace, also plans to offer ad supported mobile access to several other sites oriented towards young adults, including IGN, FOXSports.com, AskMen and RottenTomatoes.com. Beyond the MySpace mobile site itself, it shouldn’t be surprising that FIM is offering advertisers access to the users of this group of sites considering their demographic, said Dan Berger, an FIM spokesperson. Read more

Thursday, September 13, 2007
Chronicle Names New Head of Advertising
www.sfgate.com

San Francisco Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega announced Wednesday that a new leader will take over advertising operations for the newspaper Oct. 8. Michael LaBonia, a former New Orleans television station executive and newspaper multi- media and advertising manager, was named the new senior vice president of advertising at The Chronicle. LaBonia now works at the Minneapolis Star Tribune as senior vice president of sales and strategic development. "Mike is a highly respected professional within our industry with a strong track record in sales and business development across a variety of media platforms. I am delighted he is bringing his expertise to The Chronicle," Vega said. Read more

Monday, September 3, 2007
Sprint, Goodby Craft Paper Trail
www.adweek.com

On July 15, an employee of the Chicagoland Speedway was helping clean up Sprint Nextel's hospitality suite at the USG Sheetrock 400 Nascar race when he came across a scrap of paper with some writing on it. "Martin Truex Jr.," read the note, along with a phone number. "Ask him about a million dollars." Concerned the driver's personal phone number might fall into the wrong hands, the employee hastily turned it over to Sprint Nextel marketing executives. Read more

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Digital Ads Add Up in 'South Park' Deal
www.brandweek.com

An animated series is redrawing the lines of television mega-deals. The eye-popping $75 million pact unveiled Monday by Comedy Central and the creators of South Park may be the most prominent example of the Internet as a bona fide backend window alongside syndication and DVD. The duo of Matt Stone and Trey Parker will get a 50/50 ad split on digital platforms, but not on television. Read more

Friday, August 24, 2007
Video Game Sector Boosts Online Ad Spending
www.clickZ.com

Mention video games in a conversation about interactive marketing, and in-game advertising immediately comes to mind. Yet video game publishers are online advertisers in their own right. And while interactive ad spending from this sector was for several years less than what one might have expected from an industry focused on the young and hyper-digitized, its investment in online ads has increased of late. Read more

Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Popular virtual world 'Second Life' bans gambling
www.sfgate.com

The virtual world "Second Life" has banned gambling, a cautious legal maneuver that could dent revenue and spark anger among fans. Although "Second Life" is home to large corporations such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Intel Corp., which have virtual advertisements and marketing promotions, thousands of gambling shops dominate commerce. Virtual characters, known as "avatars," may compete at baccarat, poker, slots or other games. Read more

Monday, July 30, 2007
Papers Losing Real Estate Ads to Online
www.sfgate.com

It's bad enough that a cratering housing market is leading to a slump in real estate advertising at newspapers, as a dreary series of earnings reports showed last week. What's worse is that a lot of that advertising may never come back to newspapers even if the real estate sector recovers. That's because a significant chunk of those advertising dollars are moving—you guessed, online. Read more

Friday, July 27, 2007
FOUR BAY AREA BUSINESSMEN INDUCTED INTO POPAI HALL OF FAME
Eileen Duhné - Public Relations

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) POPAI, international trade association for the marketing at-retail industry, inducted four core members of the San Francisco POP Show Committee into the organization's Hall of Fame at its annual Industry Leadership Conference held in St. Louis, MO on June 7, 2007. Read more

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Nielsen and Sony Pair to Measure Game Network Advertising
www.clickz.com

Game network traffic and other information from Sony Playstation3 systems and the Playstation Network will be shared with The Nielsen Company as part of a new system that will help measure game and game network advertising. The goal of the endeavor is to "help make game software a more competitive advertising platform," while helping to reduce risk to game advertisers and spark growth of the burgeoning industry, said the companies in announcing the initiative. Read more

Monday, July 2, 2007
Nokia Hands $300 Million Creative Account to Wieden
adage.com

SAN FRANCISCO (Adage.com) -- Nokia has named Wieden & Kennedy as the lead strategic and creative agency for its estimated $300 million mobile phones account, following a review. Wieden's first executions for Nokia's cellphones are expected to air early next year. Wieden, working through its London office, will handle all global campaigns. “We expect this relationship to help take us to our goal of becoming the most loved and admired iconic brand,” Jo Harlow, senior VP–marketing, mobile phones, Nokia, said in a statement. Wieden’s first executions are expected to air early next year. Read more

Wednesday, June 29, 2007
iPhone Then and Now: Fewer Willing to Buy; More Willing to Pay
www.marketingvox.com

The percentage of shoppers reporting they were "very likely" or "extremely likely" to purchase an iPhone actually fell from 26 percent to 15 percent between the period after the launch announcement and the first week of June, according to Compete surveys of consumers shopping for or researching iPods in January and June, reports MarketingCharts. Read more

Wednesday, June 27, 2007
New Marketing for Sprint Nextel
www.sfgate.com

Sprint Nextel, which has struggled to attract customers with marketing criticized as confusing and unfocused, will try again when it rolls out new advertising this weekend. Gone are the gimmicks of the past, such as the face-slapping cowboy, the businessman threatened by vultures or the guy from "Office Space" talking about the company's wireless network warding off meteors. Read more

Friday, June 22, 2007
iTunes was 3rd biggest music retailer by units sold in 1Q
sfgate.com

Apple Inc.’s iTunes online music store was the third-biggest overall music retailer in the U.S., based on its share of units sold in the first quarter, leapfrogging ahead of Amazon.com and Target Corp., a market research firm said Friday. ITunes was ranked behind No. 1 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co., according to consumer surveys conducted by The NPD Group. The firm tabulated units sold, not revenue from sales. Read more

Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Mapping Company Adds Dynamic Ads to Online Maps
www.clickz.com

Each day, Internet users view more and more online maps to plan a trip, search for a local business, or access any number of other applications. One mapping technology provider believes there's a better way to provide advertising to them than a series of unchanging ads along the side of a page.

Idelix software is currently testing an application programming interface (API) for its map-based advertising model called Lat49, scheduled for full release in August. The API is intended to integrate with mapping software from companies like Google, Microsoft Live Search Maps, Yahoo Local, Mapquest, Pushpin and others. Using the Idelix API, map developers will be able to offer advertisers the ability to place ads directly onto map results and to update those ads as viewers move their perspective to other portions of the map. Read more

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Microsoft Grows IM Through Philanthropic Campaign
www.clickz.com

Microsoft's "i'm Making A Difference" campaign looks to get college students using Windows Live Messenger by donating a share of ad revenues generated by the instant messaging client. A word of mouth component of the campaign was executed by RepNation to target college students. Causes and college campuses go hand-in-hand, which made it a natural venue for Microsoft's "i'm Making a Difference" campaign, where users of Windows Live Messenger can select one of nine charitable organizations to give a share of ad revenues. To gain students' attention, word of mouth marketing firm RepNation enlisted 70 college students as ambassadors on 35 campuses to craft their own campaigns under the i'm initiative. Read more

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
US Privacy Update: Experts Offer 6 Strategies to Build Consumer Trust
www.marketingsherpa.com

(Interview) SUMMARY: With 30% of the online population wary of giving out their personal information due to privacy concerns and 51% not trusting search engines to keep their search data secret, it’s an understatement to say that privacy is still a hot-button issue — for consumers and marketers alike. We talked to a former Federal Trade Commissioner and a privacy expert about collecting cookie data, ways to build consumer trust and five privacy failures. Plus, three marketers’ policies you should emulate. Read more

Monday, May 28, 2007
Facebook Adds Partners
www.brandweek.com

The social network disclosed a major makeover Thursday, revealing dozens of new partners to embed a dizzying array of applications–known as widgets–into the site from companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Warner Bros. Records. Read more

Thursday, May 24, 2007
Google Testing In–Stream Video Ads
www.clickz.com

Google has begun an in-stream video ad test with a small group of U.S. publishers and advertisers using AdSense. The trial explores the best methods of matching video-enabled ads with online video content for each publisher.

According to Google, participating sites within the network will test using each publisher's Flash player, instead of on YouTube or Google Video-hosted executions. Ad creative will be less than :30 and made skippable for users. Publishers will be able to select which videos to monetize, and track their performance using AdSense. Publishers can also choose where the ads will appear within the videos. Akin to standard AdSense deals, ad revenue will be split between the website publisher and Google. Read more

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
AOL Buys Third Screen Media
www.marketingvox.com

AOL has snapped up mobile ad network Third Screen Media, reports AdAge. The acquisition comes after a long period of rumors that the firm was triggering acquisition interest from both AOL and Microsoft. AOL's purchase is likely powered by Third Screen's capabilities in delivering ads in text and a variety of other formats, including downloads. Much of its business comes from the sale of banner ads, highly valued by brand advertisers. Read more

Monday, May 7, 2007
Q&A: Cutwater's McBride, Harrington
www.brandweek.com

SAN FRANCISCO Fresh from their victory in the Jeep review, Chuck McBride and Brad Harrington of recently formed Cutwater sat down with Adweek West Coast editor Gregory Solman in separate interviews to discuss how their boutique fits into the industry landscape. Chuck McBride, ecd of Cutwater Q: Why does the advertising world need another boutique? A: The big agencies won't be as flexible as a small group of smart people--in a larger agency I couldn't create the changes that I'd need to create. Read more

Tuesnday, May 1, 2007
Yahoo Campaign Invites Users to 'Be a Better...'
www.clickz.com

Yahoo has launched an integrated branding campaign with the tagline, "Be a Better..." and ad placements spanning online, TV, print, radio and cinema. Creative duties were split between Soho Square and OgilvyOne Worldwide, and media was handled by Ogilvy's Neo@Ogilvy.

The creative executions use various Yahoo properties as a jumping off point. One ad for Yahoo Answers, dubbed "Be a Better Handyman," was developed for both TV and the Web. The broadcast spot shows a couple decorating their living room; the man vaporizes his wife when he uses a laser level he "bought at a surplus store." As the scene resets and he uses a laser level he "found out about on Yahoo Answers," pictures and other crooked objects in the room automatically straighten. Read more

Monday, April 30, 2007
CC Enters Social Networking Business
www.brandweek.com

Radio giant Clear Channel is getting into the social networking business. The company's online music and radio division will introduce a dozen station-branded social networks this summer. Each social network will function essentially as mini-MySpace, but will be focused on the local community served by the station running it. Clear Channel expects to monetize the sites with targeted online spots from local advertisers. Read more

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Golden Gate? 'SF Chron' Defends First Front–Page Ad
www.editorandpublisher.com

Adding to a quickly advancing trend, the San Francisco Chronicle published its first front-page ad today. Unlike many other cases, it is not a narrow strip along the bottom but a chunky box in the lower right corner, six inches across and five inches deep. The advertiser is Pacific Gas & Electric. Editor Phil Bronstein defended the decision to place an ad on Page One, saying it would not affect news coverage and is just part of the expanding effort to draw revenue. Read more

Monday, April 16, 2007
Q&A: Butler’s Cotton
www.brandweek.com

SAN FRANCISCO Ed Cotton, director of strategy at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, is considered the shop's secret weapon for new business by his fellow executives. His reputation is confirmed by clients of the independent Sausalito, Calif., ad agency, which is best known for its Mini and Priceline work . . . Cotton, 43, slowed down to share his views on the future of branding and the restless nature of modern consumers . . . Read more

Thursday, April 5, 2007
Sony Attempts To Go Slapstick
www.brandweek.com

Pledging not to take itself too seriously, Sony broke new ads this week meant to make consumers feel good about the brand. In the past, Sony put the technology first but with the help of new agency BBDO, New York, the consumer electronics giant is now trying to put the consumer first using a more humorous tack. Read more

Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Study: Marketing, IT Must Mesh
www.brandweek.com

SAN FRANCISCO The marketing and IT departments of most corporations are worlds apart, but the two groups must work more closely together to speed innovation and boost the bottom line, according to a new report by management consultancy Sapient and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Read more

Tuesday, April 3, 2007
ZenithOptimedia: Internet Ad Spending Will Overtake Radio Next Year
www.clickz.com

Corporate spending on Internet advertising worldwide is "rocketing" while money allocated for campaigns on traditional venues continues to slide, according to a new report. The study, conducted by London-based ZenithOptimedia, says Internet ad appropriations "will grow six times faster than traditional media between 2006 and 2009" and the Web will increase its share of the ad market from 5.8 percent to 8.7 percent over the same period. Read more

Monday, April 2, 2007
$1.2 Bil. Sprint Selects Goodby
www.adweek.com

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners has bested Ogilvy & Mather to land creative duties on Sprint Nextel's account, the client confirmed. Estimated revenue on the business is $40 million. Sprint, which spends about $1.2 billion annually in major measured media, launched the review in January and on Tuesday narrowed the field to Omnicom Group's Goodby in San Francisco and WPP Group's Ogilvy here, eliminating WPP's Young & Rubicam in New York. Read more

Monday, April 2, 2007
FTC May Go After Celeb Endorsements
www.brandweek.com

Celebrities and consumers making incredible-sounding claims in ads may soon get new scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC, which some say has gotten more combative of late, is considering tightening the rules, which could affect everything from celebs' claims about brands on talk shows to fact-checking assertions of weight loss in ads. Read more

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