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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 […]
Passed over for the top job in favor of former Googler Marissa Mayer, former interim CEO Ross Levinsohn is departing Yahoo, as first reported by AllThingsD and confined by a Yahoo spokesperson. Levinsohn had headed up the company’s key Americas unit, including overseeing advertising sales. According to the terms of the separation agreement and 8K […]
Consumers respond better to tablet ads that are interactive, but, so far, marketers are letting them down. That’s the conclusion of a new study released by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK, and conducted by Ipsos in partnership with Renault and their agency, Publicis. “There is a clear expectation from consumers for tablet advertising to match […]
Most Americans woke up to the horrifying news of the deadly mass-shooting in Aurora, Colorado, at the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises”. If you learned about it online, especially via social media, you may have gotten to know one of the 12 who was killed — through her own words. Jessica Ghawi, who […]
What did it take to lure Marissa Mayer from Google to the CEO post at Yahoo? A package that could be worth as much as $71 million in salary, bonuses, and stock grants over the next five years, according to a regulatory filing. Mayer will receive an annual salary of $1 million and be eligible […]
As the industry engages in back-and-forth about the efficacy and relevance of Facebook advertising, agency TBG, which specializes in social media marketing, has released a report showing that CPMs and clicks have increased on the social network over the past year, though CPCs vary across geographies. The stats, aggregated from more than 275 of TBG’s […]
Ever since local/mobile firm Foursquare released the latest version of its consumer application a month or so ago, the company has been promising a revamp on the merchant side. There have also been rumblings of a new product to allow advertisers to promote their specials more aggressively throughout the app. Well, that’s all now coming […]
There’s no turning back now. A little over a year after introducing the new version of Google Analytics, the company is removing links that allowed users to revert back to the previous version. The new GA, which is built on an entirely new platform, includes the user interface changes first announced last May. In addition, […]
With Marissa Mayer’s appointment as Yahoo’s new CEO, a painful two-month period since disgraced CEO Scott Thompson left has drawn to a very welcome close. Though many believed that interim CEO Ross Levinsohn would eventually be handed the reins at the troubled internet media giant after Thompson’s resume scandal-fueled departure, Mayer’s appointment signals the opening […]
In just the last few months, the percentage of search ads being clicked on tablets, and the percentage of spend dedicated to the devices, has grown by several points. That’s according to the latest report by Marin Software, which regularly examines trends among all the ads placed by its 1,500 clients. When it comes to […]
What’s next for the social network that has 900 million users? An ad network like Google’s AdSense, many believe. And today, InsideFacebook spotted the first hints of what such a thing might look like. On Zynga.com, the independent web presence of the gaming company whose apps also populate Facebook, users are now seeing Sponsored Stories […]
WPP PLC, the world’s largest advertising company, has added one of the last and largest independent digital agencies, AKQA, to its ranks, agreeing to purchase the firm for a reported $540 million. The purchase price, if correct, makes it one of the largest digital advertising agency acquisitions. The San-Francisco-based agency will remain an freestanding unit […]
In the coming weeks, Facebook plans to allow advertisers to begin purchasing its Marketplace ads on a real-time bidding basis. The idea is to increase the value of this inventory by allowing advertisers to use their own data for targeting. Though there’s been much speculation about Facebook starting an ad network like the Google Content […]
Along with spam and malware, bad ads — whether they’re for illegal or counterfeit goods, delivering malware or trying to scam users — are a scourge on the internet, eroding trust and poisoning the environment for legitimate marketers. A few months ago, folks at some of the internet’s biggest ad sellers — AOL, Google, Facebook, […]
Microsoft Advertising is rolling out what it calls a “Conversation Ad” for Skype — a 300×250 medium rectangle that sits in the Windows version of the client when a non-paying user is on a call. It’s the first new advertising format since the company bought Skype for $8.5 billion last year. “Right from the start, […]
The first quarter of 2012 was a very good one for the interactive advertising industry — the best first quarter on record, in fact, according to the latest Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) figures. Those surveyed by the IAB and Pricewaterhouse Coopers said they brought in $8.4 billion, 15% more than recorded in the year-ago period. […]
A new analysis by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and partners finds the global mobile advertising market was worth $5.3 billion in 2011. Of that, $1.7 billion, or 31.4%, was generated in North America. The study was undertaken by the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, the IAB Europe and the IHS Screen Digest, in an […]
If there’s one thing that’s characterized the digital marketing universe, it’s fragmentation. Marketers use one tool/platform to implement one campaign element, another tool to implement a second, and never the twain shall meet — not in trafficking, and certainly not in reporting. And, of course, there are usually many more than two elements. This Achilles’ […]
Facebook is working with developers and agencies to offer premium ad inventory in a more automated way — through its API and desktop Power Editor campaign management software, a company spokesperson confirms. And ClickZ is reporting that it’s the first step toward making these ad types — previously only available via a relationship with a […]
Most analyses of General Motors’ pulling of its $10 million Facebook ad spend last week focused on the shortcomings of the social network — the ads aren’t immersive and engaging, the tracking isn’t what it should be. Perhaps that’s understandable in a week when the world’s critical eyes were on the 8-year-old company that was […]
According to a new study released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, mobile advertising is an important driver of smartphone shopping activity and the majority of respondents (70%) found mobile ads as a welcome personal invitation from brands, rather than an invasion. Additionally, when asked why they performed a particular mobile commerce activity, 22% credited mobile […]
It couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Facebook, which has its initial public offering of stock later this week. General Motors has decided to stop advertising on the social networking giant, citing concerns about the site’s effectiveness. Meanwhile, a Forrester analyst says other companies are having doubts The GM news comes from a Wall […]
How does earning $56K a day sound? That’s what former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson just walked away with, after 124 total days (and fewer business days) on the job and a departure marred by a resume scandal. Though Thompson isn’t receiving a severance payment, he gets to keep the “make-whole” cash bonus and restricted stock […]
It was a busy weekend for the Yahoo board. Former EVP of Americas and media guy Ross Levinsohn has taken the helm after Scott Thompson stepped down to end a 5-month tenure — including the last two weeks of uproar about incorrect educational information on his biography. Thompson is also reportedly battling thyroid cancer, which was […]
A new study by Chitika finds that, among users of Internet Explorer (IE), people with the most updated browser version (IE 10) were most likely to click on ads. The findings seem to jibe somewhat with the idea the less-sophisticated users are more likely to click, in that the savviest users are more likely to […]
Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, who has been accused of fudging his resume by adding a computer science degree when he had none, told the company’s board yesterday that he never provided Yahoo with a resume, according to a report by Reuters. Instead, the executive search firm that presented him to Yahoo prepared a package that […]
Social check-in service Foursquare will start displaying personalized coupons as a part of its application in July, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. When the start-up releases the next version of its mobile app, it will include functionality that displays promoted personalized local specials purchased by advertisers. For merchants, offering specials is […]
Social network MySpace told users it wouldn’t share personally identifiable information (PII), but then it gave advertisers individual Friend IDs that could be easily connected with user profiles and the information publicly posted there, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The agency says MySpace also incorrectly told users it complied with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor […]
In the last 12 months, the percentage of Facebook ad budgets allocated toward social ads — such as Sponsored Stories — has increased from 5% to 23%, according to analysis of user data by campaign management software firm Marin Software. By the end of the year, Marin predicts, social ads will account for nearly half […]
It’s a critical time for Yahoo, as the company tries to get back on track with a new CEO after recent layoffs and years of challenges. Now, it turns out this new CEO, Scott Thompson, came in with an inaccuracy in his resume — his bios in various places claimed he had a computer science […]
Professional social network LinkedIn today announced it has agreed to acquire presentation sharing service SlideShare for $118 million in stock and cash, while also reporting earnings of $5 million on revenues of $188 million in the first quarter. Analysts had only expected $179 million in revenue. The SlideShare acquisition will help LinkedIn add additional features […]
Though Yahoo has handed over its search and PPC advertising business to Microsoft, the company still provides services to small businesses such as web hosting. ecommerce through Yahoo stores, and domain registration. As part of its suite of tools, the company today rolled out a small business marketing dashboard — meant as a one-stop shop […]
The majority of email messages will be read on mobile devices by the end of 2012, predicts email services firm Return Path. In a newly-released study, the company says email open rates have increased 82.4% between March of 2011 and March of 2012, now accounting for nearly 30% of email opens. Apple devices — iPhones, […]
Companies’ spend on online content marketing grew to nearly $16.6 billion last year, with video showing the strongest growth of all media measured. These stats come courtesy of a new study conducted by the Custom Content Council and ContentWise which was released this week. Survey trends reveal that online content marketing is likely to surpass […]
Google is opening its AdWords for Video up to the masses, making a big push for small- and medium-sized businesses to jump aboard. The functionality, which brings YouTube video buying into AdWords, began its public beta in September, and Google has made a few tweaks to reporting and measurement for the wide release. “A lot of […]
Location-based check-in service Foursquare is planning to launch an advertising platform this summer, according to an Ad Age article citing “a person familiar with the matter.” According to the report, the new functionality will be a part of the company’s merchant platform, which currently allows businesses to claim their profile on the service and offer […]
Online advertising spend topped $30 billion (coming in at $31.7 billion) for the first time in 2011, with a 22% growth rate over 2010, marking a return to pre-recession rates of growth. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) today released revenue numbers for the full year of 2011, which also included the […]
Citing the conventional wisdom that a lack of branding impact metrics is hindering ad dollars from moving online, Google today unveiled an initiative it’s calling “Brand Activate,” which involves the adoption of branding-oriented metrics and the roll-out of tools to measure them across its product portfolio. The initiative gives a strong push to industry-wide standards […]