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Back in the day, they called them Crackberrys. The first real viable mobile email devices were compellingly addictive. Like, say, an iPhone or Android device is to most consumers now. It’s their pocket watch, their security blanket. And now, the company newly renamed BlackBerry has set the stage for its devices and operating system to […]
Google may be endearing itself to New Yorkers by providing free wi-fi in Chelsea, but the company’s contribution — or lack thereof — to Internet infrastructure in France is reportedly making it enemies. That’s why ISP Free earlier this year put in an ad blocker to strip out ads from Google sites and any sites […]
It’s been a few months since the testing and opening of the Facebook Exchange (FBX), the network that opens up Facebook display inventory for real-time bidding and retargeting. Now, with the holiday season under its belt, one of Facebook’s partners, Triggit, is releasing some impressive stats about the program’s success for its clients. The company’s […]
Which ad networks are — deliberately or inadvertently — contributing to piracy of movies, TV shows and music by running ads on the sites that enable the illegal distribution of this copyrighted material? Answering that question was the aim of a USC Annenberg Innovation Lab study released today that found that Google, Yahoo and Quantcast are […]
If you wondered whether Instagram’s apology and revised new terms of service mollified all of the user anger out there, the answer is no. And at least one user, San Diego resident Lucy Funes, and her attorneys have filed suit, seeking class action status for their complaint. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court […]
Just two days after a social media storm erupted over Instagram’s proposed new terms of service, the Facebook-owned company — as promised — has come up with revisions, in an effort to “communicate our intentions clearly.” Rather than say the company’s plans themselves led to the controversy, co-founder Kevin Systrom has painted it all as […]
Those of you looking forward to Facebook rolling out the mobile ad network it’s been testing can just keep looking forward for now. Though the test is wrapping up at the end of the year, the social media firm has no plans to expand it anytime soon, as first reported by AllThingsD and confirmed by […]
Internet Advertising revenues in the US continue their upward trajectory, climbing to a record quarterly high of $9.3 billion in the July to September period, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) found in its latest report. That’s 18% higher than the same period in 2011 and a 6% increase from Q2 of this year. IAB execs […]
If you go by my Facebook and Twitter feeds, you’d think Instagram is finished — users are packing their bags (downloading their photos using services like Instaport) and migrating to other services like Snapchat or even the venerable Flickr. This because the Facebook-owned photo-sharing service announced changes in its terms of service due to take […]
Next year looks to be a strong one for email marketing according to a StrongMail survey of more than a thousand marketers released today. The survey found that marketers plan to deploy more budget to email, social and mobile next year — which makes sense given a second study by ReturnPath found mobile open share […]
How many times have you accidentally clicked on a mobile display ad, when you meant to hit the adjacent content on that tiny phone screen? More importantly, how many of your pay-per-click ads have been clicked on accidentally? This is the problem Google is trying to solve with new “confirmed click” functionality for its in-app […]
Working with Google to deal with alleged policy violations can sometimes be Kafkaesque for AdSense publishers, with accusations of invalid activity coming down from on high with little explanation or understanding. In acknowledgment of this history, Google says it is undertaking to be more proactive and positive in its dealings with publisher partners regarding click […]
Despite being a public company with billions in revenue, there’s still a lot of doubt about Facebook advertising. The company’s Global Marketing Solutions VP Carolyn Everson is trying to dispel that doubt, reportedly sharing at a conference this week that Samsung — though “sophisticated” targeting and other techniques — brought in $129 million in sales […]
Back in April, Google released new AdWords features aimed at marketers of apps, including the ability to track conversions in the Google Play store. This week, the company followed up with a similar feature for iOS, which allows tracking of iOS downloads in the Apple app store when they are generated by an ad served in a […]
Mobile advertising grew 95% from the first half of 2011 to the same period in 2012, though the sector still only represented $1.2 billion in revenues, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which jointly release revenue figures for the industry every quarter. The industry as a whole grew to an all-time high […]
Google today launched a new form of expandable display ad that it calls a “Lightbox ad” — it begins as a standard display ad, but expands to a super-sized image after a two-second hover — long enough, the company says, to eliminate nearly all accidental expansions. Marketers pay when users interact with the ad, rather […]
At a time when jobs are top of mind in the national consciousness, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released a study showing that the ad-supported Internet is responsible for 5.1 million jobs in the U.S. and contributed $530 billion to the economy in 2011. The report was funded by the IAB, along with members […]
Under the stewardship of new CEO Marissa Mayer, Yahoo is launching a new contextual advertising network — similar to Google’s AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network it abandoned in 2010. This time, the company is partnering with Search Alliance ally Bing, and technology provider Media.net. The idea, apparently, is to bulk up the amount of […]
Google and Facebook are by far the dominant players in the display ad space, together expected to command 30% of the overall market in 2012. And their substantial lead is set to become even greater, according to an eMarketer report that predicts the two will sell 37% of all display ads by the end of […]
The much-rumored Facebook ad network is taking another step closer to reality. The social network has confirmed that it is testing a mobile ad network that utilizes Facebook’s data to target ads to users when they use mobile apps or visit certain mobile web sites. The mobile ad network test builds upon what Facebook has […]
When asked to identify their top five priorities for the year, social integration and improving analytics were highest on the minds of email marketers, with 37% of those surveyed choosing each goal. That’s according to a new study conducted by the Relevancy Group and sponsored by Return Path. The survey was conducted in August 2012 […]
The White House reportedly requested that Google reconsider its decision to keep up the controversial video of Mohammed that sparked protests, and a deadly attack on the US Embassy in Libya, in the United States. But the search giant, which owns and operates YouTube, declined, though it has already taken down the video in Libya, […]
Have you checked out the #RomneyStrength hashtag on Twitter yet? If you have, you’ll know it’s mostly sarcastic comments about the Republican presidential candidate, mocking a news story about a Romney advisor who essentially said the attack in Libya would never have happened if Romney were president. It looks like the Romney campaign hasn’t noticed […]
After a beta period lasting a couple of months, the doors are open on the new Facebook Ad Exchange (FBX), which makes the social networking giant’s inventory available to real-time bidding (RTB) and retargeting. Facebook is working with the exchanges of a generous number of partners, including AdRoll, AppNexus, Brandscreen, Criteo, DataXu, MediaMath, Nanigans, Kenshoo, […]
Google has released several new AdWords features designed to help application developers promote downloads from Google Play or the iTunes Store. One change is extending the Conversion Optimizer feature to better service app advertisers, so they can set a target CPA rather than bidding on a CPC basis. The Campaign Optimizer then uses historical conversion […]
AdSense publishers earning more than $25/week will now have the option to contact Google by email when they have problems or questions, according to an FAQ item discovered in a WebmasterWorld forum thread. These publishers can request email support by filling out contact forms that will appear for them in the Help Center. Smaller publishers […]
Mobile advertising may still be in its infancy, but if a new study by Trademob is correct, click fraud on mobile ads is already quite well developed. The mobile app marketing company conducted research that showed that 40% of mobile ad clicks are either accidental or fraudulent. The company conducted the study by looking at […]
Google is shutting down its TV Ads initiative, begun in 2007, which allowed AdWords advertisers to buy television ads via the AdWords interface and auction model. The company distributed video ads nationally in the US via its partners Bloomberg, DISH Network, DIRECTV, CBS College Sports, Cox Media and Verizon FiOS, among others. But Google is […]
One of the most longstanding complaints about Facebook’s advertising opportunities is that one couldn’t find existing customers, or visitors to their web site, to retarget them while they’re on the mammoth social networking site. Besides participating in ad exchanges, Facebook appears to be attempting to address this concern in another way. According to a report […]
If you’re one of the many AdSense publishers who recently received a notice from Google about rejected ad requests… well, never mind. Google says it’s a known bug that it’s working to resolve. Several days ago, publishers began coming to forums saying they’d received a notice saying, “You have rejected ad requests, which will result […]
If you’ve been using DoubleClick AdPlanner to research anything other than sites on the Google Display Network, you’re about to be out of luck. Google this week has been sending out notices to AdPlanner users telling them of dramatic changes due to take effect September 5. Folks in the digital marketing space have grown accustomed […]
For 25 years, Microsoft’s brand has been associated with a bold, black, sans-serif font. Most people probably don’t even remember any other version of the software company’s logo. But now, Microsoft is modernizing, with a colorful, softer-looking logo, which features a symbol for the first time in the company’s history. That symbol, a square made […]
Skippable pre-roll AdWords for video are coming to YouTube on mobile devices. As the use of smartphones and tablets — including for video viewing — grows dramatically, Google AdSense is rolling out its True View in-stream ads to its YouTube mobile platform. Since last November, the company has offered in-search and CPM-based in-stream video ads […]
If you use Google AdWords and Analytics as well as AdSense, the changes coming to the publisher interface over the next few days will look very familiar. As part of its “simpler and more beautiful” initiative, Google is rolling out a new look for AdSense. Though Google says the general structure of the account interface […]
President Barack Obama has long gotten credit for being particularly online-savvy in his communications and fundraising efforts, and we’ve seen plenty of evidence of this in his race for re-election. But now, at least when it comes to online display advertising, the gap between Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, has narrowed, according to […]
It’s such a small thing — only 16 pixels by 16 pixels — but, when folks are browsing along day-to-day, the favicon is how they find the browser tab that has Google.com open, or the favorite link to Google. And Google has changed this iconic image this week, for the first time since 2009. The […]
Just as many are beginning to bulk up their wardrobes for fall and back-to-school, a new study shows the surprising, and growing, influence of mobile and video for apparel purchases. The research, put together by Compete on behalf of Google, found that more than 1 in 5 apparel consumers use their tablets or mobile devices […]
As was widely expected, the Federal Trade Commission has given final approval to the privacy settlement it reached with Facebook last year. The agreement — unlike the $22.5 million agreement with Google announced yesterday — doesn’t call for any monetary penalty. It does, however, require Facebook to undergo privacy audits from an independent third party […]
It’s official. As earlier reported, Google will pay $22.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it placed tracking cookies and served targeted ads to Safari browser users, after it said it wouldn’t. The cookie placement violated the privacy settlement Google reached with the FTC in October of last year. It’s the largest […]
Google to marketers: we may be a bit, uh, behind in social, but come buy social programs through us anyway. That seems to be the gist of what the search giant is saying with its acquisition of Wildfire, a social media marketing platform that works primarily with Facebook, but also with Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest […]