ClickZ News Blog Items

The editors of ClickZ opine on the business trends in Internet marketing, search engine marketing, e-commerce marketing, online advertising, branding marketing and interactive media.

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Publicis Acquires Korean Agency Portfolio
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Publicis Groupe announced recently it has acquired South-Korean full-service digital agency Portfolio, adding to the group's existing Asian operations in Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taiwan, and New Delhi.

The agency will be integrated with Publicis' existing digital global network, Publicis Modem, and re-branded as Publicis Modem Korea.

Portfolio currently provides services such as site development, and search and display campaigns for major international brands including Microsoft Korea, Marriott Hotels, and Nissan.

In a statement, Martin Reidy, CEO of Publicis Modem, said, "Asia is a critical market for Publicis Modem and a key part of our global expansion," citing the group's strategy of targeting high growth international markets.

Publicis has acquired two major Chinese digital players in the past year -- EmporioAsia in May, and Communication Central Group last July.

The Group also released second quarter results today, claiming it's on track to reach its aim of generating a quarter of revenues from digital by 2010. Digital constituted 18.8 percent of business in the first half of the year, up from 12.7 percent the previous year.

Quote of the Day: NYT's Nisenholtz on 'Bifurcation' of Premium and Remnant
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

?We?ve seen decent price increases on major display units. There has been a bifurcation between premium positions and remnant, which largely includes banner. At NYTimes.com, we don?t see any cannibalization from the remnant business. At About.com, we?ve seen softness in display, mainly due to execution issues, which current investment proposals are attempting to address.?

-Martin Nisenholtz, SVP, Digital Operations for The New York Times Company, commenting on ad prices during the company's Q2 earnings presentation. (via Paidcontent.org)

Sugar Scraps NBC Ad Rep Agreement, Creates In-House Sales Team
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Sugar Inc., operator of PopSugar and 14 other sites aimed at women, has nixed its ad sales relationship with NBC Universal and brought those functions in-house. The company is now in the process of hiring a 20-person sales team along with a VP of sales who has yet to be identified. The move comes just a year after Sugar agreed to let NBCU package and sell its inventory alongside that of iVillage.

A blog post about the decision gives little indication as to Sugar's precise motives, though it's common for maturing publishers to create a sales team as soon as doing so becomes feasible. That's because ad network or reseller relationships typically give the seller a cut of between 20 and 40 percent of revenue. (Update: Sugar PR said yesterday NBC had a 50 percent cut)

When Sugar fell in with NBC last summer, CEO and Publisher Brian Sugar told ClickZ the firm wanted to build out its own sales staff from the beginning. However, he said, "we realized it takes a large, experienced team to really execute on that. We, as a small company, had to make some decisions early on."

NBCU brokered deals for Sugar with brands such as Neutrogena, HGTV, Red Bull, Baileys, and AT&T, according to the blog post.

NBC Universal retains an investment stake in Sugar.

Online Video Ads: Tools and Trends to Watch
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

At ClickZ's Online Video Ad Forum yesterday, a fantastic line up of two dozen speakers offered up examples of their latest creative work and some shared info on tips and tools they think are worth watching.

During the day-long program at the Millennium Broadway Hotel, participants picked up intelligence on these things:

*Deep Focus' Ian Schafer credited a subtle change in an ad-serving format with improving results for one video ad campaign he worked on. Historically when video ads ran on a site, a loader screen would appear and then the ad would start. A change in DoubleClick's technology, he said, enables the video ad to launch immediately -- without the loader screen. That change, he said, resulted in a 30 percent increase in the interaction rate for a video ad promoting "Recount," an HBO film.

* In looking to the potential for a richer future for online video ads, Dorian Sweet, a digital strategist, pointed to a cool tool called PicLens. Using this tool, a Web site visitor can view photos or videos from a site such as YouTube on a "3D wall."

* Vibrant Media, which has technology called IntelliTXT that enables advertisers to "buy" keywords in content and then serve up text ads, has extended that feature so video ads can be viewed when someone mouses over a keyword in a blog or other online content, according to one speaker.

* Making online video content optimized for search engine remains a daunting task. Even though there have been some recent technology advances, the culprit are objects in Adobe Flash multimedia technology that cannot be read by search engine bots, another speaker said.

For more in-depth coverage of online video ad campaigns and other trends, check out my column here on Friday.

Mobile Demos Skew Older and Older
Monday, July 21, 2008

The most interesting thing about the IAB's mobile forum this week?

It's not just about the kids any more.

In case study after case study, advertiser and marketers spent the day demonstrating how, well....old mobile advertising demos are becoming. Mike Anderson of Live Nation's ConcertVision Program probably put it best when he said that response to SMS promotions at "dinosaur" acts (such as Cheap Trick and Voyager) was all but nil a year ago, and through the roof this season.

Parents, apparently, have learned to text from their kids.

Again and again, we saw case studies from companies such as Jaguar and RIM, which don't exactly appeal to 20-somethings, but are gettign through-the-roof responses to mobile campaigns from older, affluent demos.

Could this mean that one day soon, the oft-promised year of mobile advertising may become a reality>

Yahoo Compromises with Icahn, Repeats Must Buy Mantra
Monday, July 21, 2008

In anticipation of its upcoming annual meeting of stockholders, Yahoo settled with activist investor Carl Icahn after weeks of wrangling over a potential proxy battle. According to Yahoo, eight members of its current Board of Directors will stand for re-election, and Icahn agreed to withdraw his nominees for consideration at the meeting. He also said he will vote his Yahoo shares in support of the Board's nominees.

"Following the 2008 annual meeting, the Yahoo Board will be expanded to 11 members. Carl Icahn will be appointed to the Board and the remaining two seats will be filled by the Board upon the recommendation of the Board's Nominating and Governance Committee from a list of nine candidates recommended by Mr. Icahn," according to a company statement.

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang couldn't pass up the opportunity to tout the firm's goal to be the Web's "starting point" and an advertiser "must buy."

"This agreement will not only allow Yahoo to put the distraction of the proxy contest behind us, it will allow the Company to continue pursuing its strategy of being the starting point for Internet users and a must buy for advertisers," he said in the statement.

Is anybody else getting tired of this mantra?

The thing is, Yahoo still has the Microsoft drama that started the Icahn subplot to deal with before it can truly focus on becoming the "starting point" and "must buy."

As Seen On...
Sunday, July 20, 2008

... a t-shirt for sale at a boardwalk shop in Wildwood, NJ.

FTC Makes Antitrust Education Easy
Friday, July 18, 2008

Ever wonder how the Federal Trade Commission arrives at its decisions regarding whether to approve acquisitions such as Google's earth-shattering DoubleClick buy? No worries: The commish has put together a resource with 25 fact sheets on stuff like antitrust and price discrimination. With some huge Yahoo deal still looming, this could come in handy.

U.K. Government's Digital Spend Balloons
Friday, July 18, 2008

The U.K. government's digital media spending increased 57 percent year-on-year in the twelve month period ending March '08, according to the Central Office of Information's (COI) annual review released this week.

According to the office, the increased digital outlay "demonstrates that government - like the private sector - is following audiences online." The growth was attributed to a number of campaigns surrounding issues such as climate change, army recruitment, road safety and tobacco control.

Of the £156.9 ($314) million the COI spent on advertising media, £35.4 ($71) million of it went on digital - almost a quarter of its total spend. What's more, overall media spend only rose by 15.4 percent year-on-year, suggesting that the budget is moving online rapidly.

"From events and direct marketing to research and digital, both COI's established and newer channels have shown growth over the year," said Alan Bishop, COI Chief Executive, in a release.

EBay U.K. Ads go Behavioral
Friday, July 18, 2008

EBay has informed users it will begin rolling out behaviorally targeted ads in the U.K. this month, presumably using technology from AOL's Tacoda, as it did in the U.S. in October.

The AdChoice system will serve ads based on previous on-site searches and items purchased, as well as "information from other companies," according to an e-mail sent to U.K. members on Tuesday. eBay did not respond to queries as to which companies this may include. Existing publishers in Tacoda's network include the likes of Conde Nast, New York Times, CBS Digital Media, and Dow Jones.

A statement from eBay, e-mailed to me today simply read, "AdChoice provides a more personalised and relevant shopping experience for our users. Participation in this programme is entirely optional and does not involve disclosure of personal information to any third parties."

Though the AdChoice system will offer users an opt-out, members that are not happy with the resulting changes to the site's privacy policy are invited to close their accounts.

A Moment of IAB Appreciation
Thursday, July 17, 2008

On this, a heat-index alert day, IAB head Randall Rothenberg's blog (or "clog," as he insists on calling it), is a breath of fresh air.

Today's entry, once you get past the "join the IAB" call-to-action, elegantly and articulately enumerates the scary regulatory and legislative threats (both on the state and Federal levels) facing online publishers.

Consumers and legislators don't understand what online advertising is, or how it works. Too many Internet publishers and advertisers, meanwhile, are tuning a blind eye to the implications of their ignorance, namely, bad laws that can carry significant negative economic consequences to those making a living off interactive publishing and advertising.

Rothenberg deserves a shout-out. Under his leadership, the IAB is meeting all sorts of challenges the organization too long ignored. Bringing smaller companies into the fold is just one of these. The much bigger picture is aggressively addressing threats to the industry on the legislative level. It's a far cry from the days when the body stood idly by while other measure, such as CAN-SPAM, wended its way through the FTC and ultimately, Congress.

Take a moment today to read Randall's most recent post. The goings-on in Washington may appear distant today, but the impact on your business is going to matter tomorrow.

Lawmakers Press NebuAd Offensive, Lean On Another ISP
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

U.S. Congressmen have called out another Internet service provider for working with behavior tracking and ad serving firm NebuAd.

House Representatives Edward Markey, John Dingell, and Joe Barton this week penned a letter to Embarq, one of the behavioral targeting vendor's early ISP partners. The missive requests detailed information on early tests the company conducted with NebuAd.

Depending on how you count, it's the second or the third time lawmakers have raised questions about ISPs' recent interest in tracking their subscribers' Web meanderings for ad serving purposes. Charter Communications was the first to table its plans to work with NebuAd after Congress raised public concerns over the deal.

Right after that move, Rep. Markey urged other broadband companies considering "similar user profiling programs" to hold off while the privacy implications are addressed. In short order, DSL provider CenturyTel called off its own plans with NebuAd.

The latest move by Markey and his fellow lawmakers suggests Congress is unlikely to let the issue die down. Embarq is being asked to cough up a range of info, including how many subscribers were involved in the test, how Embarq notified them of the tests, and whether it conducted a legal analysis with regard to consumer privacy laws before flipping the switch. The Reps are also asking Embarq to provide a copy of the notifications used to inform subscribers of the test.

Embarq declined to comment, saying only that it has received and is reviewing the letter from Reps. Markey, Barton and Dingell.

In a statement on his Web site, Rep. Markey characterized the data NebuAd collects as potentially "highly personal and sensitive."

He continued, "Embarq's apparent use of this technology without directly notifying affected customers that their activity was being tracked, collected, and analyzed raises serious privacy red flags."

Win a Free Ticket to ClickZ's Online Video Ad Event
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Give us three good reasons why you'd like to attend ClickZ's Online Video Forum, which takes place next Tuesday, July 22 in Manhattan, and we'll let you in for free.

This show is a must-attend. Our speaker line-up is a who's who of the nation's leading interactive video experts -- representing Carat, Starcom USA, Enlighten, Ogilvy, MediaVest/Publicis Media Groupe, Denuo, Saatchi & Saatchi New York, Campfire, EVB San Francisco, IQ Interactive and more. You'll also get to hear from YouTube's Brian Cusack and Hulu's Kevin McGurn. Visit the conference Web site for more information.

What are you waiting for? Send your ideas to Anna Maria Virzi, ClickZ's executive editor, by 11 PM ET Thursday. We'll let you know by 2 PM Friday whether you'll get a free pass to this one-day event.

Viacom-YouTube Reach Privacy Deal over User Info
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Google's YouTube won't be required, after all, to hand over user IDs to Viacom.

The measure is part of an agreement reached yesterday in U.S. District Court in New York City in connection with a Viacom copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube. In that lawsuit, Viacom claims Google failed to stop the distribution of Viacom content on YouTube.

Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered Google to hand over to Viacom the following information: YouTube user IDs, visitor IDs, and the IP address, which is used to connect computers over the Internet. Under the new agreement, Google will be able to substitute the IDs and IP addresses for "unique values." As a result, the privacy of users should be better protected, while Viacom should still be able to establish what videos were watched.

"We are pleased to report that Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories," the "YouTube Team" wrote on YouTube's blog.

Most visitors posting entries on the YouTube blog applauded the development. "thanks, Youtube. It's good to know that at least one organization is committed to our privacy," wrote arcadianraider.

Others asked when Google would reduce the amount of information it obtains from users. "Great! So when are you going to let us OPT OUT of information collection?" asked thestranger.

After AdTech Transition, AOL to Stay with DoubleClick for Some Clients
Monday, July 14, 2008

AOL has begun implementing AdTech's ad platform across some of its properties, as reported by AdAge today. I confirmed this with a company spokesperson, who told me in an e-mail that AOL's properties will be fully transitioned from DoubleClick's Dart for Publishers to AdTech's platform by early to mid 2009. AOL bought the German ad management firm last year.

"DoubleClick is fully aware of the transition, and we're working with them so that everything runs smoothly," the spokesperson told me.

As for the future of the DoubleClick/AOL relationship, that won't end all together: "We'll continue to use Dart for Advertisers for some clients. However, as the relationship applies to Dart for Publishers, the transition will be complete next year."