Q&A: Yahoo's Sue Hunt on real-time bidding
Though real time bidding (RTB) has been around for a few years now, it has so far failed to revolutionise the industry as predicted when it first emerged.
Statistics vary, but overall RTB made up about 10% of the overall UK display advertising in 2011.
While this is predicted to grow rapidly during 2012, there is a feeling that ad exchanges still need to convince marketers of the benefits of investing in RTB.
On the face of it, the positives are obvious: it allows advertisers to set the price they are willing to pay to target specific users.
Facebook launches homegrown mobile photo app
What's cooler than spending $1bn on a mobile photo sharing app?
The answer: spending $1bn on a mobile photo service and then launching your own mobile photo sharing app service weeks later.
Tablets now 20% of mobile ad impressions: report
The future may be mobile, but capitalizing on the mobile opportunity hasn't exactly been easy for many publishers and advertisers.
As companies like Facebook and Twitter are learning the hard way, delivering effective ads to consumers through mobile devices can be tough.
Despite the fact that mobile devices are always on and always connected, they have natural limitations which restrict where and how many ads can be served.
Yahoo builds a browser, and people actually like it
Yahoo has made a lot of big mistakes over the years, and today it finds itself in the fight of its life to stay relevant on the modern web.
The big questions: what can Yahoo do to recapture some of its past glory, if anything at all?
One possible answer is so obvious that nobody thought of it earlier: build a browser.
Six clever examples of branded Facebook apps
Facebook apps are a good way for brands to engage with their fans in a way that doesn't feel like a hard sell.
They also have the added bonus of scraping lots of useful consumer data. However, apps aren’t necessarily right for all brands.
They need to be in keeping with the company's values and offer users something they want to engage with and share with friends.
Here are six examples of brands that have put Facebook apps to good use.
Oracle goes social with Vitrue acquisition
It's been a rough week for the world's most prominent social networking company, Facebook, and the week isn't over yet, but that doesn't mean that social media is going away any time soon.
That explains why software giant Oracle has purchased cloud-based social marketing platform provider Vitrue.
The Mirror's response to EU cookie law compliance
With just a few days left before the ICO begins to enforce the EU e-Privacy Directive, we are starting to see a few sites unveiling their approaches to compliance.
Two such sites are FT.com and Mirror Online, which are both using pop-ups to alert visitors to the sites' use of cookies.
As well as taking a look at the two news sites' responses to the EU directive, I've been asking Malcolm Coles, Product Director, digital at Trinity Mirror Group, about the Mirror's approach.
Turn your digital technology provider from supplier to partner
As the online industry has grown, so have the number of moving parts we have to consider.
As the cogs in the machine continue to multiply, everyone has had to acquire cross functional skills to manage the different channels that come under the remit of the online marketer.
Whether it be PPC, SEO, re-targeting, social, mobile, or local; the one entity in this eco-system that should have a working knowledge of all of these areas is your technology provider.
Are You a Human brings gaming to CAPTCHAs
CAPTCHAs or conversions? While just about every business hopes to boost its conversions, the ill effects of spam bots and screen scrapers have driven countless companies to implement CAPTCHAs on their websites.
In some cases, CAPTCHAs are poorly implemented, leaving users (and potential customers) scratching their heads as they try to decipher text so distorted as to be incomprehensible.
The power and growth of mobile marketing: infographic
If you are a frequent reader of the Econsultancy blog, you’ll be well aware that mobile is an extremely important channel for marketers.
The ability to target consumers anytime, anywhere, is a massive opportunity for brands and advertisers, so it’s no wonder that mobile marketing investment is predicted to triple in the next four years.
But in order to make best use of the opportunity, advertisers need to understand who is using mobile and what they are using it for.
