Google launches in-app subscriptions on Google Play
For developers building mobile and tablet apps, in-app billing is an indispensable monetization tool.
After all, it's often easier and more profitable to give an app away for free and then charge for extra features. This is particularly true for gaming apps.
But there's another monetization tool that many developers, particularly those building content-rich apps, have been eying: in-app subscriptions.
PayPal partners with 15 retailers in big offline push
PayPal may already be ubiquitous on the web, but the payments giant has its sights set on much bigger fish offline.
In an effort to bring PayPal purchasing to the masses wherever they shop, the company yesterday announced pacts with 15 major retailers in the United States that will give consumers the ability to pay for their purchases using PayPal.
UK jobs moves: RAC, ITV Creative, Yahoo, WPP
Once again we compile the most senior, surprising and influential job moves in the UK.
This time we cover new hires for RAC and ITV Creative, a loss at Ogilvy & Mather and promotions at Yahoo and Tata Global Beverages.
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Only 16% of businesses use data to form a single customer view
While digital media has given businesses numerous channels to engage with their customers, only 16% of companies currently use that data to form a single customer view (SCV).
Creating a SCV gives businesses the ability to track customers and their communications and purchase behaviour across channels.
A survey by Experian found that while 72% of businesses recognise the benefits of using data to offer customers a joined-up multichannel experience, 84% aren’t able to use the data effectively.
More than two-thirds (70%) believe that a SCV would lead to cost savings, with 20% claiming it would help to reduce their bad debt.
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.
Jury sides with Google in Oracle patent infringment suit
Google executives are probably breathing a sigh of relief today after a jury ruled that the search giant did not infringe upon Oracle's patents in the high-profile intellectual property battle being waged between two of the world's largest and richest technology companies.
The jury was tasked with determining whether Google was guilty of patent infringment on eight separate claims involving Android.
Which of these smartphone card readers will win the mobile payments race?
The mobile payment industry is constantly evolving and extremely complex.
NFC gains a lot of attention largely thanks to the fact that Visa has thrown its weight behind the technology. However, as yet, it has failed to take off because access to NFC enabled devices is limited and consumers are still largely sceptical.
In the short-term, it seems likely that mobile card readers will prove to be more popular with merchants and consumers.
