Articles of the Day
Agencies Warned: In Digital Media, Change Or Die - Developments in digital marketing and media are happening at such breakneck speed that marketers must prepare to navigate them–or be left behind. The same goes for the agencies that advise them. And the consensus among a panel of experts appearing at OMMA Hollywood earlier this week is that agencies are not ready, not by a long shot.
People Engage More With Small, Branded, Well-Lit Communities - What smaller online communities lack in size they can often make up for in stronger engagement levels, reports Communispace, in a study of 66 private online communities. What’s more, consumers prefer to participate in fully transparent and branded ones.
Semel’s Smiling As Research Firm Forecasts Yahoo Comeback - Terry Semel was all smiles at an industry confab yesterday over the effects of Panama, as a new report forecasts a comeback for the Yahoo portal based on the strength of Panama and expansions by the portal into social-networking, video and mobile services.
Pixsy Offers Widget Delivering Thumbnail Feeds - Pixsy Corp has released a widget allowing Web site publishers, bloggers and others to grab an automated thumbnail feed and add it to their home page for no fee. The company’s media search platform already powers private label image and video search engines.
Google Offers New Customizing Option - Google has launched a new customizing option so consumers can have a panoramic, ever-changing background set against its hugely popular search box. Users can either have the sparse logo and search box remain as it has always been, or they can choose a background that morphs along with the time of day and the outside weather.
Online Advertisers Bet on Video but Count on Display - Nearly all Web sites with streaming content are monetizing it with video advertising, according to a survey of sites in the Advertising.com network. While the network does not represent all Web publishers, its reach makes it a good indicator of overall trends. Not only did all video streaming sites surveyed say that they run video ads, 80% more sites plan to suppport video in 2007 than did in 2006. Asked which online ad formats would lead revenue growth, respondents overwhelmingly chose large rectangles. Video was far down the list.
Massively Multiplayer Games Challenge Marketers - In-game advertising is estimated to reach $589 million in 2010, up from $182 million in 2006, according to a January 2007 study by Oppenheimer & Co. that examined data from IDC, Yankee Group and Parks Associates. This would all seem to be great news for marketers. The oft-sought-after 18-34-year-old male demographic is heavily into gaming. MMOGs offer the potential for viral communication, both in the games themselves and in dedicated message boards. Despite the heady estimates, eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna says that marketers need some perspective when considering how to associate their brands with MMOGs.
NBC Unveils Social Net, New Online Content - NBC is adding a few degrees to its year-old TV 360 internet strategy. At a meeting with advertisers Thursday, NBC will discuss plans to develop a social networking tool, revamp its media player and unveil new online content related to its summer series, The Hollywood Reporter says. Starting in June, NBC.com will allow users to embed videos of the networks’ shows on their own sites, create profile pages that will let viewers upload their own videos, launch fan groups and share viewing suggestions from like-minded users through its NBC Rewind media player.
NBCU-News Corp. Announce Video-Sharing JV; AOL, MSN, MySpace, Yahoo Will Distribute - NBC Universal and News Corp. say the new venture (which they call a strategic alliance) will debut with thousands of hours of full-length programming, movies and clips—and AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo as initial distribution partners. Those sites reach 96 percent of the monthly U.S. unique users, the companies say, and their users will have unlimited access to the content. They will be able to share, embed, mix and mash.
CD Sales Plunge As Music Shift Accelerates - In the tech circles, bloggers are shouting “hooray” at the news that CD sales for the first three months of the year declined 20 percent from a year earlier. This latest sign indicates that the seismic shift in the way consumers get music is accelerating. Sadly for the music industry, CD sales still represent 85 percent of all sales, despite the decline. According to The Wall Street Journal, music retailers are already going the way of the dinosaur: approximately 800 retail stores closed nationwide last year.
