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 […]
Facebook’s average CPM rates globally have increased by 41% since the first quarter of 2011, and 15% since the fourth quarter of last year. Meanwhile, CPCs have risen 23% in the top 5 markets versus Q4. That’s according to new global research released by social media agency TBG Digital for the first quarter. In the […]
Word-of-mouth recommendations and reviews, either from someone they know or a stranger’s opinions online, are the most trusted sources of information for buying decisions, according to the latest Nielsen’s latest Global Trust in Advertising report, The findings speak highly for information gathered through social media or other forms of user-generated content. Meanwhile, though traditional paid […]
Though Apple is known for its engaging TV advertisements, last quarter an Android OS device — the Samsung Galaxy Note — won the ad effectiveness battle on television. According to ad analytics firm Ace Metrix, the Samsung Galaxy Note spot that appeared on the Academy Awards was the top ad of the first quarter of […]
Not only are an average of 31% of display ads never even seen, but there’s little to no correlation between the CPMs sites are charging and the value they’re delivering to the advertisers — where value is defined as ads being viewed and delivered to the primary demographic target. That’s the conclusion of the full […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized its recommendations for protecting consumers’ online privacy, using public input and new developments to build upon its preliminary staff report of December. The report is aimed at outlining how it thinks Internet companies should be protecting consumers’ privacy, mostly via self-regulation but legislative measures are also called for. […]
Fewer emails — only 76.5% — landed in inboxes worldwide in the second half of 2011, a significant decline from the typical 80% rate that has held for the past 3 years, according to a new study released by deliverability firm Return Path. This is the first time the company has seen a major decline. […]
The partnership that has Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo cross-selling display ads on the other sites is now open for business and up and running, according to a blog post from Microsoft. The relationship, which first came to light in September of last year, is partly a reaction to Google’s increasing dominance in the display ad […]
The ads are classics: Coca-Cola’s Vietnam-era “Hilltop” ad, where a chorus sang of wanting to buy the world a Coke; Volvo’s introduction to the U.S. with an ad that invited people to “Drive It Like You Hate It,”; Alka Seltzer’s “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”; and Avis’s “We Try Harder” spot — […]
The days of the good old medium rectangle, wide skyscraper and leaderboard may be numbered. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released a new standard display ad package that includes the 970×250 Billboard, the 970×90 Pushdown and the 300×600 Filmstrip, among others. It’s the first time the IAB has introduced a new standard ad portfolio […]
Google is emailing participants in its hosted AdSense for Domains (AFD) today to inform them that the sometimes-controversial program is headed for closure in mid-April. The change will only affect domains that Google hosted. “After evaluating the benefits of our partner network, we’ve decided to retire the Hosted domains product within AdSense,” Google wrote in […]
Advertising auctions for cost-per-click (CPC) placements on Google’s AdMob mobile ad network will soon take quality score into consideration, as the company moves AdMob closer to its core AdWords product. Previously, the highest bidder won the impression on AdMob. The change will take place globally on February 15, at which point the ad displayed for […]