Advertising and marketing

AOL profit rises thanks to boost in ad revenue

AOL has continued to shed subscribers but managed to turn a decent profit last quarter thanks mostly to its advertising trade.

The online Internet provider scored a 9 percent increase in global advertising revenue for the first quarter, compared with the year-ago quarter. Global display revenue climbed by 8 percent year over year thanks to 6 percent growth in the U.S. and ongoing double-digit growth abroad.

AOL also saw a 9 percent rise in search revenue due to gains in global queries and higher revenue per search at AOL.com.

"Growth continues at AOL," AOL CEO Tim … Read more

Yahoo reportedly looking to dump Microsoft search pact

Marissa Mayer has previously noted her disappointment in Yahoo's Web search partnership with Microsoft and now reportedly wants to get out of the deal altogether.

The Web giant's chief executive has been trying to find a way to escape the foundering arrangement but has so far been unsuccessful, a person familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal. Mayer has been looking to cancel the deal since leaving Google to take over Yahoo last summer, the Journal reported.

The two companies entered into a 10-year search partnership in 2010 in which Microsoft would power Yahoo search and … Read more

Microsoft extends revenue guarantee with Yahoo

Microsoft is going to continue to pay Yahoo a guarantee for the revenue-per-search (RPS) shortfall that is continuing to persist.

Reuters noted that Yahoo disclosed the latest year-long extension of the guarantee, which had expired on March 31, on May 7. The guarantee took effect on April 1, according to Yahoo's latest 10-Q filing.

Search Engine Land recapped RPS this way:

"(W)hen Yahoo & Microsoft signed a search deal in 2009, Microsoft promised that Yahoo would earn a set amount of money for each search that happens, a 'revenue per search' or RPS. If this didn't … Read more

Google's beautiful 'thank you' to mothers

For a company that is desperate to have you behave like a nonhuman with a peculiar penchant for spying and bad taste in glasses, Google still has a level of humanity buried deep within what's left of its soul.

One of the very best ads of last year was a Google Chrome ad called "Jess Time," in which a father and daughter try to come to terms with the death of Jess' mother.

Now, just in time for Mother's Day, Google has released a quite beautiful homage to the woman who always held it all together … Read more

Stellar examples of 6-second marketing on Vine

Just three months after release, Twitter's Vine video service for creating 6-second clips has already become the muse of marketers looking to reach people through imaginative messaging.

Brands such as Lowe's, Urban Outfitters, Taco Bell, and Bacardi, with the help of their digital agencies, have embraced the platform to test unconventional campaigns on social audiences who seem to appreciate their business-as-unusual approach.

What follows is a panoply of creative Vine brand campaigns. If advertisements as looping, GIF-like videos scare you, I suggest you turn away now.

Note: If for some reason a particular clip below shows up as nothing more than a black box, you can click on the white banner along the top of the box to open the clip in a new browser tab.… Read more

YouTube to advertisers: You need us to attract a younger crowd

NEW YORK--Google on Wednesday made its pitch for advertising on YouTube, telling companies that the site is a vital way to reach the highly desired 18- to 34-year-old demographic and a way to build a base of loyal fans.

However, the company didn't announce any new major projects or partnerships. Instead, executives positioned YouTube as hip and in tune with what younger viewers desire -- something it said its online rivals and traditional cable networks lack. And it noted that the transition to online viewing has already happened.

"The future is already here," Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt … Read more

JC Penney's begging ad criticizes former Apple exec

It wasn't us, it was him.

Yes, that man with the weird ideas we hired from Apple. He made us do all those things that drove our customers away in droves.

So now that he's gone, please come back. We beg you. We'll be the old JC Penney. The one you all loved.

Although maybe you didn't all love it enough to keep shopping there, which is why we hired the man with weird ideas from Apple.

But we were wrong. You were right. Well, many of you. We think.

This seems largely the subtext of a new ad released by JC Penney.… Read more

Tumblr CEO says average cost of ad campaign tops six figures

NEW YORK -- Companies are spending, on average, "north of six figures" on advertising campaigns on Tumblr, the CEO of the blogging platform said Wednesday.

David Karp, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, noted that advertising remains Tumblr's biggest challenge, but it's seeing good traction with its efforts.

"Budgets are starting to ratchet up," Karp said. He noted that "some of the best advertisers in the world" are turning to Tumblr.

Tumblr sits alongside the Internet elites in terms of audience, but the 6-year-old blogging medium has lagged far … Read more

eBay, retail partner to open NY shop with touch-screen window

NEW YORK--eBay is working with Kate Spade on a pop-up shop in New York that will feature a digital touch-screen storefront window, the e-commerce and digital payments giant said Tuesday.

CEO John Donahoe, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York earlier today, said the store will launch this summer and will allow eBay to reach consumers away from its traditional Web site. Donahoe at the time did not name the retailer.

An eBay spokesperson later told CNET that Kate Spade Saturday will be the partner for the pop-up shop. The spokesperson didn't provide other details about the … Read more