Digital Marketing Blog

Yahoo! launches Panama in quest for relevance

Yahoo late last night flipped the switch on a new search marketing system it hopes will help it close the gap on sector leader Google.

Codenamed "Panama", the new model gives sponsored ads higher billing based on keyword matches to page content. In the old approach, ads were ordered only by which marketers bid most.

A new user interface and dashboard was already being tested by customers before Yahoo! yesterday launched what senior engineer Awa Awadallah called the "quality-ordering marketplace".

by Robert Andrews 06 February 2007 11:37am 0 comments

Apple vs Apple: Jobs and McCartney bury hatchet

All they needed was love. Now Apple and The Beatles have kissed and made up - and it could see The Fab Four's catalogue added to iTunes.

The band's Apple Corps. label last year lost a High Court lawsuit in which it had claimed Steve Jobs' computer company had reneged on a prior agreement not to confuse matters by entering the music business using the "Apple" name.

by Robert Andrews 06 February 2007 11:30am 0 comments

The Times unveils £10m website redesign

The new look Times Online site launched yesterday, ditching the old black and white design, in favour of colour-coding, though the site has been experiencing teething problems so far.

The Times' website, which was redesigned in-house by Tomaso Capuano and Jon Warden, now features lime green in the masthead, and green, blue and grey throughout the rest of the site. The information architecture was designed by Melissa Fleck.

Times Online revamps website

Obvious font issues aside, we think it looks pretty good...

by Graham Charlton 06 February 2007 10:59am 0 comments

Sales of virtual goods stopped by eBay

Auction giant eBay has prevented the sale of virtual goods for online games such as EverQuest and World of Warcraft on its site.

All listings related to these virtual goods, which include currency, characters, weapons, and online game accounts are being removed by eBay due to legal concerns.

by Graham Charlton 05 February 2007 17:48pm 0 comments

Location networking startup Plazes raises £1.8m

Plazes, a social networking site based in Berlin, has announced that it has raised £1.8m in a first round of founding led by Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures.

Plazes is a social network site with the added dimension of location tracking. Plazes automatically detects your location and connects you with people or places nearby.

by Graham Charlton 05 February 2007 12:46pm 0 comments

Mobile networks 'mull new-build search engine'

European mobile phone networks could start their own mobile search service as they consider how to increase revenue from search advertising, according to a report.

The companies will use the 3GSM World Congress, the world's largest mobile industry exhibition and conference, in Barcelona next week to consider a joint initiative aimed at replacing lost revenue from falling access costs with that from on-the-move ads.

by Robert Andrews 05 February 2007 12:41pm 0 comments

Google Earth takes local AdSense 3D

Google AdWords customers can now place sponsored local ads inside Google Earth. The new feature lets advertisers place contact details and a logo on a map marker in the 3D environment.

by Robert Andrews 05 February 2007 12:39pm 0 comments

Viacom asks YouTube to remove 100,000 clips

Viacom, the parent company of MTV and Comedy Central, has requested YouTube to remove 100,000 clips of its programming.

Viacom had been negotiating with Google over a deal that would allow the clips to be shown on YouTube in return for a share of ad revenues, but pulled out of talks after failing to reach an agreement.

by Graham Charlton 05 February 2007 12:26pm 0 comments

Bloggers get paid for video product placement

PayPerPost, the company that caused controversy by paying bloggers to write about clients' products, is to roll out the same model in the video blogging arena.

Advertisers in the network's client base will next week begin paying bloggers to create videos about their goods, according to a report.

They will also get to place their own messages at the start or end of clips, ensuring a positive message even if the blogger offers a bad product review.

by Robert Andrews 02 February 2007 17:13pm 0 comments

TV leads to web as rebate hunters flock to search

Search engines saw an explosion in the number of Britons searching for Council Tax last week after a documentary showed how thousands may be elligible for a rebate.

Martyn Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com appeared on TV to report how hundreds of users of his site's forum had claimed up to £1,000 because their homes were incorrectly banded.

That prompted an avalanche of search traffic form rate-payers Googling for more information, according to data from Hitwise.

by Robert Andrews 02 February 2007 17:12pm 0 comments