David Moth
In the digital age newspapers have been left in limbo as they face the dilemma of what business model to pursue online.
As we reported last week, some favour monetising their free content with online ads while other have opted for subscription models or paywalls.
Publishers also have to decide how to offer their content on iPad.
Most, including the Guardian, Times and Telegraph, charge for their iPad app and this model is also advocated by Johnston Press CEO Ashley Highfield.
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by David Moth
27 March 2012 12:00pm
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An estimated £1.02bn worth of online shopping transactions were abandoned in 2011 by UK consumers, according to Experian.
One in five of these abandoned transactions were not taken elsewhere as individuals cancelled their shopping attempt altogether, resulting in £214m worth of net lost revenue for UK retailers.
The study found that 44% of UK shoppers have abandoned at least one online shopping transaction in the last year having become frustrated with the length and complexity of certain older forms of identity verification.
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by David Moth
27 March 2012 10:17am
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Mobile payment company Square has rolled out several upgrades to its Card Case app, including an Android version and new geo-fencing technology.
The app has been rebranded as ‘Pay with Square’ and redesigned to make the interface more user-friendly.
The focus is now on merchant discovery, so the user’s smartphone can automatically notify them when they are near a Square-enabled business.
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by David Moth
26 March 2012 14:15pm
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Facebook is offering free consultation to US automotive companies to help manage directory information and generate leads for local franchises.
ClickZ reports that Aamco and Cottman Transmissions Systems have been offered the new service to help understand “how Facebook can be utilised to increase sales.”
The consultation comes as brands seek to improve coordination between brand and local franchise search results, and also to optimise social media pages for mobile search.
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by David Moth
26 March 2012 12:35pm
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Mobile devices accounted for 15.1% of the UK’s paid search clicks in December, according to Marin Software.
This is a 180% growth from January to December 2011, and means that globally the UK is second only to Japan and Australia in percentage of paid search clicks from mobile.
Looking at 2011 overall, the Eurozone showed strong growth with share of mobile paid search clicks growing 177% from 2.1% in January 2011 to 5.8% in December 2011.
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by David Moth
26 March 2012 11:35am
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Just like Facebook, Twitter has been working hard to extend and improve its advertising platform recently, including rolling out Promoted Tweets to mobile.
This is part of an effort to increase ad revenues and monetise its estimated 150m active users.
One of the key benefits Promoted Tweets offers is targeting – brands can target ads at their followers and users who may share similar interests.
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by David Moth
26 March 2012 10:30am
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47% of companies are expected to increase their inbound marketing budget for 2012, according to data from online business community G+.
It's no wonder, since the average cost to acquire a new lead through outbound marketing in 2011 was $373, compared to just $143 from inbound marketing.
The main reason for this budget increase however was found to be past success using inbound tactics, which attracts customers by offering useful, relevant information.
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by David Moth
23 March 2012 13:00pm
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Only 13% of European consumers have scanned a QR code within an outdoor advert, according to research from CBS Outdoor and Kantar Media.
This is despite that fact that the study showed awareness of QR codes to be at 40%.
Interestingly though, in comparison to other interactive mobile technologies, QR codes are still performing well.
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by David Moth
23 March 2012 12:33pm
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Almost two-thirds of mums say that after having a child they would prefer to do all their shopping online, according to a survey by parenting website BabyCentre.
Nine out of 10 mums surveyed said they had shopped online in the past 30 days.
This shift appears to be motivated by the convenience of online shopping, since respondents reported feeling more guilty (+186%), rushed (+121%) and stressed (+39%) when shopping offline, compared to how they felt before having children.
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by David Moth
23 March 2012 11:30am
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FC Barcelona has launched a Facebook app called 'FCB Alert', which it hopes will allow the club to engage better with the 28m fans it has on the social network.
Designed by MicroStrategy, the app includes exclusive content, news, interactive features and the ability to buy merchandise within Facebook.
Fans can interact with games, polls and a range of other multimedia content which can also then be shared with other Facebook users.
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by David Moth
23 March 2012 10:15am
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