Robert Andrews

Viewers call the Super Bowl ad shots

Chevrolet and Doritos will buck the trend during the commercial breaks for the Super Bowl on February 4, airing advertisements produced or influenced by their customers.

by Robert Andrews 08 January 2007 12:36pm 0 comments

Google embeds ads in videos

Google has begun placing advertisements inside clips on its Google Video upload site.

The video of a recent episode of the Charlie Rose show, a programme from the PBS network, is among the first to feature embedded ads that interrupt the clip being watched.

by Robert Andrews 08 January 2007 11:20am 0 comments

Connected questions from LinkedIn pros

LinkedIn, the web network for professional reputations, has launched a new question-and-answer service for its registered business folk.

Following the successful Yahoo! Answers model, LinkedIn Answers allows users to post a question using their member identity and to share it with the whole community or just their closest contacts.

by Robert Andrews 05 January 2007 13:41pm 0 comments

'360-degree' view of site metrics

Feed management service Feedburner has rolled out a new website statistics package following its acquisition of blog tracking service BlogBeat.

While Feedburner previously only offered metrics on subscribers' RSS feeds and clicks to corresponding pages on the main site, the integration of the new features allows publishers to tackle the thorny problem of marrying stats for both web and feed views.

by Robert Andrews 05 January 2007 09:43am 0 comments

Google services begin to trump rivals

The popularity of two of Google's key Web 2.0-style applications has overtaken those of rival portals in recent weeks, according to the latest data.

Google Calendar last week overtook MSN's competing offering and is due to beat even Yahoo!'s sector-leading calendar in the next couple of months, after the Mountain View outfit's schedule tool surged in popularity, Hitwise statistics show.

by Robert Andrews 04 January 2007 17:20pm 0 comments

Social networks to boom while net spend 'slows'?

Growth in internet advertising spend could slow in 2007, according to predictions from the US.

Trend analysis aggregator eMarketer suggests online advertising will grow from $16.4bn in 2006 to $19.5bn this year.

by Robert Andrews 03 January 2007 13:35pm 1 comment

ITV launches broadband TV assault

ITV aims to launch the UK's first mass-market free broadband TV portal before the end of March, beating rival BBC in the internet television race.

Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster today announced it has hired a new broadband managing director in Annelies van den Belt, who previously led a digital convergence strategy as the Telegraph's new media director and took the paper to a new multimedia headquarters.

by Robert Andrews 03 January 2007 13:14pm 0 comments

Mobile users 'annoyed' by text ads

Mobile marketers have been warned they must ditch intrusive SMS ads in favour of text-message coupons, quiet banner ads and ad-supported widgets if their straight-to-phone messages are to succeed.

A report published by technology research firm Forrester after Christmas found that 79% of mobile users surveyed are "annoyed" by the prospect of receiving advertising on their handset.

by Robert Andrews 02 January 2007 17:36pm 0 comments

Q&A: Jyri Engeström of Jaiku

A former senior product manager for Nokia's internet tablet devices in Finland, Jyri Engeström this year left to form his own startup, Jaiku . It is part of a new wave of mobile presence services designed to help inter-company groups and loved ones stay in touch.

At the Le Web 3 conference in Paris, Robert Andrews asked Engeström why the world should know where you are and how serendipitous connectivity turns into effective communication.

by Robert Andrews 19 December 2006 15:47pm 0 comments

Interview with Gil Penchina of Wikia

The founders of Wikia have announced a new site allowing anyone to create their own online news and opinion zines.

OpenServing came into being after Wikia purchased community sports news site ArmchairGM. Robert Andrews sat down with Wikia CEO Gil Penchina at the Le Web 3 conference in Paris in December to discuss the latest in user-generated content.

by Robert Andrews 20 December 2006 11:32am 0 comments