advertising

Google's ad strategy dissected

Google invited a few journalists to the Googleplex on Tuesday to meet with Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management for the company's advertising programs. She didn't make any big announcements (much to the chagrin of fellow attendees), but she talked about the industry and reminded us that online advertising isn't going away anytime soon.

"The (core ad) business we have is a huge business, and it is still growing at a healthy rate," she said in response to a question about concerns that Google is a one-trick pony. "We expect to continue to … Read more

Advertising the open-source way with Openads

Openads is one of the most interesting open-source projects/companies on the planet. Period. It's an open-source ad server. Like DoubleClick without the lock-in or fees. In other words, it's open source--100 percent GPLv2. I guess it should be no surprise that the world's most popular ad server, powering Web 2.0 business models, is open source, just as the LAMP stack is the technological basis for Web 2.0 sites/services.

I've been following Openads since May, when my friend Bryce Roberts indicated that he was considering investing in the company. (And so he/O'Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures did, along with Index Ventures, Mangrove Capital Partner and First Capital in a $5 million Series A round of funding, as Tim O'Reilly reports.)

I caught up today with Scott Switzer, Openads' founder and CTO, to learn more about the company and what it does. Unlike most open-source start-ups, Openads isn't focused on enterprise software. It provides an ad server. This sounds great, but what does it mean? And why does open source matter in this market? That's what I asked Scott.… Read more

Microsoft acquires 'ad exchange' company AdECN

Underscoring its commitment to the advertising business, Microsoft on Thursday announced it has bought AdECN, a company that is a technology platform for buying and selling display advertising.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Speaking at Microsoft's Financial Analysts Day, Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's Platform and Services Division, told financial analysts that the deal complements Microsoft's adCenter software and its planned acquisition of Aquantive.

He said that AdECN provides an ad exchange, like electronic stock trading markets, that allows publishers and advertisers to broker the sale of display advertising.

AdECN is a venture-backed company … Read more

Microsoft serving up Digg's ads now, promises no dancing monkeys

Digg seems to have outgrown Google as its ad provider, as today marks the start of a new three-year deal with Microsoft to serve up ads on the popular social news service. Microsoft is replacing Google for serving up many of the ads you see on Digg's pages. The rest are provided by Federated Media, which also works with Digg to create special branded pages like the newly-updated Arc visualization in Digg labs.

Digg is claiming the move is about scalability, and positive reviews from Facebook who also uses Microsoft for their contextual advertising. What does this mean for … Read more

NFL to require pro photogs to advertise Canon

National Football League rules for the upcoming season require press photographers to wear red vests that sport Canon and Reebok logos, and some shooters are objecting.

A Wall Street Journal story mentioned the new rule, and the National Press Photographers Association objected on Wednesday.

"It totally goes against our Code of Ethics to force photographers to advertise as if they were some sort of Nascar vehicle," John Long, chairman of NPPA's Ethics and Standards Committee, said in an article on the organization's Web site. The article also quoted Pete Cross, photography managing editor for The Palm … Read more

Facebook makes top marketing hire

Facebook has hired Chamath Palihapitiya, a former AOL marketing executive to the post of Vice President of Product Marketing and Operations, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The 30-year-old Palihapitiya, who has been an investor at the Mayfield Fund venture capital firm since December 2005, will gradually make the transition out of his current job over the next two weeks before moving to his new role at Facebook.

Facebook, which still lags behind social networking leader MySpace in user numbers, has become a hotter Web property than ever since opening its service up to developers with its Facebook Platform initiative. … Read more

AdPerk: Get paid to watch

"You won't see this on TV," Barry Soicher, CEO of AdPerk told me as he fired up his demo. AdPerk is a company that helps magazine publishers make more money, by putting its advertisers' videos in front of readers and potential subscribers. Readers also get paid (after a fashion) to watch the vids.

From the user's perspective, it works like this: on the magazine's Web site, you're given a pitch to "Watch and be Rewarded." You're presented with a collection of videos, and can select which ones you want to watch. … Read more

eSnailer proves there's no free lunch

Despite the ubiquity of e-mail in all of our lives, most of us probably know someone who still doesn't use it. (Hi, Grandma!) And when was the last time any of us wrote and sent a letter via snail mail? A new service called eSnailer promises to bridge that gap by sending your virtual messages to actual mailboxes for free, but the whole process may cost you much more time and aggravation than the price of a first-class stamp.

If eSnailer seems too good to be true, you're right. It is supported by advertising, and in order to … Read more

Google strikes Sicko in ploy for pharmie funds

Lauren Turner is a blogger. Unlike many bloggers out there, she does not blog for herself, she blogs for her employer. As a writer for the Google Health Advertising Blog, Ms. Turner decided to make a post about her reaction to Michael Moore's latest film Sicko. In her recent post, Does negative press make you Sicko, Turner criticizes the new film arguing that, "Moore attacks health insurers, health providers, and pharmaceutical companies by connecting them to isolated and emotional stories of the system at its worst. Moore's film portrays the industry as money and marketing driven, and fails to show healthcare's interest in patient well-being and care." Given what I know about Moore's approach to film making, I'm inclined to think that this is somewhat on point, but I've yet to check out the film, and I suspect Turner hasn't either.

It's true that Michael Moore uses specific examples to paint a broader picture, and it's true that he only includes evidence that supports his thesis, but these were the exact instructions given to me by my high school English teacher when I was taught how to write an essay. Turner, being the good corporate blogger goes on to explain how Google advertising can help these poor little health insurance companies "get the facts" out and better manage their reputations against the publics perception that these companies value profits over patients.

Sony, Nielsen collaborate on in-game advertising metrics

Sony Computer Entertainment America has joined forces with ratings mogul Nielsen to develop a measurement system for the nascent in-game advertising industry, according to a joint release from the two companies on Monday.

Sony will now share its game network data from the PlayStation 3 console as well as the PlayStation Network (which encompasses its new virtual world, PlayStation Home). Nielsen will then combine this with its game usage data, which currently encompasses the activities of more than 12,000 U.S. households. Then, beginning this fall, Nielsen will begin tracking audience statistics and user activity through its GamePlay Metrics system, … Read more