Patricio Robles

Report: 35% of US adults now use social networks

Social networks have come a long way since Friendster, MySpace and Facebook jump-started one of the hottest online trends in the past decade.

A new Pew Internet & American Life Project report indicates that social networks have made great inroads with adults in the United States but still are predominantly the domain of teenagers and young adults.

by Patricio Robles 16 January 2009 09:00am 1 comment

Report: remnant ad prices fell nearly 50% in Q4

Companies with exposure to online advertising are entering 2009 facing a lot of uncertainty.

Will the global economic slowdown result in drastic cuts to online ad spend as some have predicted? Or will online hold up well as others have predicted?

by Patricio Robles 15 January 2009 10:00am 0 comments

Google launches Apps reseller program, sitemaps generator and new local ad features

The past several days have seen several Google announcements.

Here's a run-down on the most important.

by Patricio Robles 15 January 2009 09:00am 0 comments

Google Chrome, Quick Search Box coming to a Mac near you

For Mac users who didn't feel a lot of love from Google when it released its browser, Chrome, and only included PC users in the fun, things are about to change.

A version of Chrome for the Mac is reportedly on the way and Google has released an experimental Quick Search Box for the Mac.

by Patricio Robles 14 January 2009 09:52am 0 comments

Seth Godin reveals his blogging philosophy

It's a question that most bloggers grapple with at some point: how frequently should I blog?

If you don't post often enough, you risk losing your audience. If you post too much, you risk posting for posting's sake.

by Patricio Robles 14 January 2009 08:59am 0 comments

Petsky Prunier: interactive ad industry dealmaking down in 2008, but not a bad year

M&A activity and investments in the interactive ad industry declined in 2008 according to a new report issued by Petsky Prunier.

Deals were down 29% and acquirers and investors spent five times less than they did in 2007.

by Patricio Robles 13 January 2009 18:35pm 0 comments

Is Yahoo's proactive account 'optimization' legal?

Many advertisers were disappointed and angered last week when it was widely-reported that Yahoo has changed its 'Sponsored Search and Content Match Program Terms' to permit Yahoo to automatically make modifications to the campaigns of its advertisers.

by Patricio Robles 13 January 2009 16:05pm 0 comments

Another newspaper considers going all-digital

2009 is shaping up to be an interesting year for the newspaper industry.

As the economic downturn accelerates the severe declines in print revenue most major newspapers have been experiencing, the imperative for change will only get stronger. Indeed, 2009 may be a make or break year for many of them.

by Patricio Robles 12 January 2009 18:49pm 1 comment

Balderton Capital raises £285m for downturn startup investments

Who said that funding wouldn't be available to startups in the downturn?

Balderton Capital, which was formerly Benchmark Europe, made $140mn when portfolio company Bebo was sold to AOL and a small fortune when another portfolio company, MySQL, was sold to Sun. Its other investments have included Betfair, the UK's most popular betting exchange, and Yingli Solar, a Chinese solar company that is now public.

by Patricio Robles 12 January 2009 16:48pm 0 comments

5 link building techniques

Last week I discussed the ongoing debate around the use of paid links for SEO. As I noted, there seems to be a growing consensus that the use of paid links is a risky proposition.

Most SEOs, even those who still utilize paid links, tend to agree - building links the old-fashioned way (i.e. earning them) is the best long-term approach.

by Patricio Robles 12 January 2009 09:00am 5 comments