advertising | Internet Marketing Blog

Carol Bartz on Yahoo: It's all about data

Yahoo is celebrating its 15th birthday this week, and a lot has changed since 1995. The company once known for its search business has ceded control of that area to Microsoft in a deal that is still waiting for regulators to come to fruition. But Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz thinks the company has a leg up on the competitors in one area: data.

Speaking at the American Association of Advertising Agencies' Transformation Conference in San Francisco on Monday, Bartz reiterated what her company has to offer:

"We have so much data at our fingertips; we're drowning in data."

And she had one piece of evidence to prove how powerful that data can be — a new ad partnership with Walmart.

by Meghan Keane 02 March 2010 23:08pm 0 comments

Murdoch: Technology is content

As most newspapers cut back on their budgets and staff, Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is expanding — launching a new New York section to rival The New York Times' coverage (and steal some of its rival publication's advertising).

Today, Murdoch outlined his logic in growing the paper while other papers shutter their local bureaus. Speaking at the Real Estate Board of New York meeting, he put it simply:

"Technology is putting a premium on content."

by Meghan Keane 02 March 2010 20:51pm 1 comment

The Wall Street Journal's play for local could steal New York Times advertisers

Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is making a major play for local this year. The newspaper has hired a large, capable staff (disclosure: many are my former colleagues from The New York Sun) to create a New York focused arts and culture section. The section won't debut until the Spring, but when it does, chances are, it could take a large chunk of The New York Times' advertisers with it.

Why? Because luxury advertisers are often based in New York or targeting its residents and they are more likely to reallocate their ad budgets than increase them in the coming year.

by Meghan Keane 26 February 2010 16:33pm 0 comments

CitySearch is creating a directory of local business tweets

With all of the landgrabbing going on in local marketing right now, Citysearch is trying its best to retain relevance in the space. The latest in its bid to help local business (and its bottom line) is a directory of local business tweets that will help position CitySearch as the go-to for real-time business information.

by Meghan Keane 25 February 2010 22:58pm 1 comment

Three possible ways to cash in on Twitter ads

Twitter ads are apparently almost here. After what seems like years and years of speculation, Twitter says that a roll-out of an ad-driven business model is "imminent".

The revelation came during a panel discussion at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting 2010. One of the panel members, Anamitra Banerji, is Twitter's head of product management and monetization. In response to a question about timing, Banerji seemed to indicate that Twitter could begin a launch of some sort within the next month.

by Patricio Robles 24 February 2010 10:29am 4 comments

Citysearch debuts CityGrid, a local advertising network

It may be awhile since you've thought about CitySearch, but the local listings site is not ready to roll over and let Google or Yelp corner the local ad market. Today CitySearch announced the launch of CityGrid, a bid to turn the company's voluminous local listings into the largest content and advertising network for local.

by Meghan Keane 29 January 2010 23:11pm 3 comments

NBC will track digital dimes for the Winter Olympics

NBC chief Jeff Zucker has made it clear that he doesn't want to share major sporting events on the web in real time, because of the dollars that will be lost from broadcast television advertising.

But that doesn't mean the network isn't interested in seeing where its digital dimes could be going. This year for the Vancouver Winter Games, NBC plans to track consumer consumption across channels.

by Meghan Keane 29 January 2010 20:09pm 0 comments

Online advertisers bring a little blue square to the privacy debate

Can a little blue square save the online advertising industry from regulation? The Future of Privacy Forum hopes it will. The advocacy group created the icon (at right) to provide more information to consumers about the ads being served to them online.

Now they just have to hope that consumers click on it.

by Meghan Keane 27 January 2010 18:31pm 0 comments

How small newspapers can make money from Twitter

Big newspapers are joining Twitter at an alarming rate, in part because it offers another avenue for story ideas and scoops. Some newspaper execs are also trying to find a way to make money from Twitter.

This is a tricky area, because the people who use Twitter have shown that they are not fans of spam, or anything remotely resembling spam, and will take swift action (unfollow, possibly report the account) if it is suspected.

For big newspapers, which often have big debt loads and vastly diverse audiences, using Twitter as an advertising platform is challenging. But for small and medium-sized titles, an opportunity exists.

by Ben LaMothe 18 January 2010 09:36am 7 comments

Pepsi sits out the Super Bowl, but advertisers still want in on those audience numbers

Pepsi and General Motors may be skipping the Super Bowl this year, but that doesn't mean that CBS is hurting for advertisers. The network announced today that 95% of its ads are sold out for next month's game.

While Pepsi's decision may have led a VP at the soft drink company to declare that "brands should not blindly anchor themselves to history" last month, pre-sales for the game prove that as long as America's most popular sporting event continues to reach over 90 million viewers a year, advertisers will keep biting.

by Meghan Keane 05 January 2010 00:08am 3 comments