Advertising and marketing

Will video ads supercharge Facebook's revenue engine?

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer describes her scheme for fueling company growth as a kind of chain reaction. It goes like this: great people leads to great products and increased ubiquity, which drives user growth and higher engagement, leading to higher advertiser spending and ultimately more revenue.

That chain reaction underlies almost every business offering free services dependent on advertising to pay the bills. Like Mayer, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is seeking ways to get his chain reaction into a higher gear. Last year, Facebook generated more than $5 billion in revenue, but spent more than $4.5 billion to produce … Read more

Facebook reportedly wants $1 million for each video ad

Would you spend $1 million for a video ad on Facebook?

That's allegedly what the popular network is aiming to squeeze out of advertisers when it starts rolling out video ads sometime this summer, says a story today in Ad Age.

Citing information from one "executive briefed on the product," Ad Age reported that the video ads would carry a price tag upwards of $1 million, run for no longer than 15 seconds, and be scheduled so that no Facebook user sees more than three such ads per day.

Facebook has been chatting up ad agencies to … Read more

Google: 'Glassware' developers prohibited from displaying ads

Google, which relies on advertising for some 95 percent of its revenue, doesn't want ads on its hotly anticipated Google Glass eyewear.

The blanket prohibition came in the fine print of a policy made public this evening, which says "Glassware" developers may not "serve or include any advertisements" and they "may not charge" users to download apps for the device.

Today's announcement, which coincided with news that Google Glass Explorer Edition prototypes were about to ship, indicates that the Mountain View company is proceeding carefully, even slowly, when allowing third-party developers access … Read more

Google reportedly offers search results changes in EU probe

Google has proposed an overhaul of how it displays search results in Europe to allay concerns that the Web giant is abusing its dominant position in the market.

The search behemoth, which was put under the European antitrust spotlight in 2010 after rivals lodged allegations of anticompetitive behavior, submitted a package of concessions with the European Union last week, but details remain under wraps. Critics and competitors have accused Google of promoting its own services in search results over those of its competitors.

In its proposed remedy, Google has offered to "make users clearly aware" when the search … Read more

'The Matrix' is back (in your hospital)

So you're in the hospital. You want a reassuring environment. You want everything to go well.

But who's that man in the dark suit? The one with the shades. The one with the very suspicious face and accent.

Why, it's Agent Smith. The very same Agent Smith who contributed to making "The Matrix" something of a cult classic.

The very same Agent Smith who can occupy your body, or a version of it. How might this affect your surgery?

Please try not to worry. For the moment, this is just an ad for GE software. … Read more

Foursquare to sell check-in data for ad targeting, says report

Foursquare may be looking to monetize its business and settle up outstanding debts with an aggressive new game plan: selling the data buried behind 3.5 billion check-ins to help advertisers target their advertisements.

The company, which has shifted from check-ins to local search to compete with Yelp, is shopping around a product designed to let advertisers more finely target the ads they purchase through ad exchanges, using Foursquare's location and behavioral data, according to a report in Ad Age.

Ad Age cited "executives familiar with the situation," but Foursquare declined to confirm the existence of the … Read more

Facebook boosts ad targeting with partner categories

Ever amping up new ways for advertisers to engage with users, Facebook began rolling out a new feature today that doubles down on the social network's use of ad targeting.

Dubbed "partner categories," Facebook's new feature aims to target ads to more categories of people. These categories use data from third parties, such as Acxiom, Datalogix, and Epsilon, to glean information about what users buy on the Web.

Here's more from a Facebook blog post:

For example, a local car dealership can now show ads to people who are likely in the market for a … Read more

Facebook and GM restore ad relationship after public spat

When General Motors pulled its $10 million advertising campaign from Facebook last year, it caused quite a commotion. Now, the carmaker seems to be having second thoughts.

GM has confirmed that it will reignite its ad campaign on the social network, according to Ad Age. This is a major turnaround from last year, when it proclaimed that Facebook ads simply didn't work.

"Chevrolet is testing a number of mobile-advertising solutions, including Facebook, as part of its 'Find New Roads' campaign," Chevrolet's U.S. VP of marketing, Chris Perry, told CNET. "Yesterday, Chevrolet launched an industry-first, '… Read more

Facebook wrestles Google for control of your phone

Facebook doesn't want anything to come between you and your friends, not even Google or Android.

Facebook today unveiled a new downloadable user interface that takes over your smartphone's home screen, lock screen, and wallpaper. Instead of the regular Android features, you're treated to a slideshow of updates, photos, and shared links.

Facebook wants to take direct control of its user base, and it's going about it in a smart way. Home, which will be available for download on April 12 on select Android phones, isn't a new phone or operating system, or even a … Read more