click

Google Rolling Out "Google Me," Their Facebook Killer, Very Soon [Unconfirmed]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5573953/rumor-google-rolling-out-google-me-their-facebook-killer-very-soon

Well this is kinda wacky. Citing a “very credible source,” Digg founder Kevin Rose tweeted that Google is readying “Google Me,” a social service intended to go toe-to-toe (face-to-face?) with Facebook. It’s like Google stalking, but official, and thus marginally less creepy!

Google Buzz, their most recent foray into social networking, was not a resounding success (read: total privacy shitshow) and I imagine there’s some lingering skepticism about Google’s ability to actually keep all of its users information on lockdown.

Then again, they already know just about everything there is to know about you, so maybe it’d be easier to forget Facebook altogether and just click a button in Gmail that says, “Yes! Cull your extensive records to make a “Google Me” profile in my best image, selectively including the photographs and personal interests likeliest to get me laid.” Kidding, kidding, I promise that’s not what I’m all about. Seriously! Google me! [Kevin Rose via Runnin Scared and SF Weekly]

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Sunday, June 27th, 2010 news 1 Comment

More and more tools to block ads and other “distractions”

As more and more users adopt tools to de-clutter web pages and remove all distractions (such as ads) the effectiveness of display ads will continue to decline, despite innovations and advancements in targeting technologies.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5568752/add-safari-reader+like-powers-to-firefox-and-chrome

Add Safari Reader-Like Powers to Firefox and ChromeThe Safari 5 feature that’s caught the web’s attention is the Reader button, which strips down articles and blog posts into an ad-free, highly readable format. Two add-ons for Firefox and Chrome do a good job of recreating that convenience.

Add Safari Reader-Like Powers to Firefox and ChromeIf you missed our round-up of what’s new in Safari 5, the short explanation of Reader is that, while many bookmarklets have come along to offer a simplified, less-cluttered reading experience, Safari is the first major browser to go ahead and offer that kind of feature by default, as an address bar button. If you’re a fan of bookmarklets, and your bookmarks aren’t too cluttered to lose them in, we recommend the tools from arc90′s Readability, the Instapaper Text bookmarklet, and the Readable app for highly customized formatting.

But maybe you want your Firefox or Chrome rig to offer that kind of button-click functionality. You’re in luck. First off, here’s the Top 10 feature we’ll try our reading tools out on—click the image for a larger view:

Add Safari Reader-Like Powers to Firefox and Chrome

Now here are two add-ons for Firefox and Chrome, and a look at how they do at getting all minimalist with the text and pics. Click any of the images below, too, for a larger view

Readability (Firefox)

Add Safari Reader-Like Powers to Firefox and Chrome
Baris Derin rolled the Readability bookmarklet into a full-fledged add-on for Firefox, but also added in a pretty neat auto-scrolling feature for the true lean-back-and-read experience. Readability tends to keep more of the text and formatting in and around the page, but strips out all the marketing and navigation material. It places an “R” button in the lower-right status area of Firefox, which isn’t the most convenient spot for our use, but some may prefer having it hidden away until needed. Notice the transparent icons, too, that provide printing, email, and refresh functions for live-updating posts.

iReader (Chrome)

Add Safari Reader-Like Powers to Firefox and ChromeMhd Hejazi’s iReader is directly inspired by Safari’s Reader function, offering the same kind of pop-out white box that darkens the rest of the page, a button right in the address bar, and very, very minimal decoration—as you can see, it pared down our Top 10 feature quite a bit. There are also keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac to activate iReader, and options to change the background opacity, font and formatting, and add a “Send with Gmail” link to your articles. Neat stuff.


Both add-ons are free downloads. Know of another reading/simplifying extension that gets the job done? Tell us about it in the comments. Thanks to emmikkelsen for the inspiration!

Readability [Add-ons for Firefox]
iReader [Google Chrome extension gallery]

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Monday, June 21st, 2010 news No Comments

Why the power of the people is the only way to go

When the founder of Wikipedia and/or a small team of volunteers deletes purportedly “pornographic” images per their right, activists and others have a problem with that — even ones who support the concept. But in an automated system (where when enough members of the community click “flag as inappropriate” the content is removed) the community has spoken and the community has policed itself — the way Flickr, YouTube, and Amazon (flagging inappropriate reviews) do it.

Dispute brews over pornographic images on Wikimedia

A row over sexually explicit content on the web encyclopaedia Wikipedia and related sites has escalated.

Co-founder Jimmy Wales has given up some of his site privileges following protests by contributors angered that he deleted images without consultation.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10104946.stm

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Monday, May 10th, 2010 Uncategorized 1 Comment

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/EPIG2PU6xqU/what-do-you-buy-online-vs-in-stores

500x buy online Online advertising company Permuto pulled data from the U.S. Census Bureau into a nice infographic comparing people’s purchasing habits in-store vs. online, and it got us wondering: What do you buy online vs. in stores?

(Click the image above for a closer look.)

According to the Census Bureau’s data, the old brick and mortar stores are still responsible for the majority of sales in most of the categories, save for a few notable categories, including books, clothing, and electronics. Since Lifehacker readers are a more tech-savvy crowd than most of the public, we’d guess you tend more toward the buy online crowd. Are you more of a virtual shopper, or do you still prefer to touch and feel before you buy? It certainly varies depending on what you’re buying, so tell us about it in the comments.

What are People Really Buying Online? [Permuto]

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Monday, March 1st, 2010 Uncategorized No Comments

How to tell who has Google Buzz … and follow them

Lots of people have asked if I have invites for Google Buzz … but I didn’t see a way to invite them … but here’s a trick to give them buzz

1. go into Google Buzz

2. Click the link that says “Following X people”

3. scroll all the way to the bottom of the popup window

4. select contacts link

5. type a letter — e.g. “a” and see the list of others who have Buzz, who you can follow

6. select them and click add, then refresh the screen by clicking “load more” so you see them in the list

google buzz followers1 How to tell who has Google Buzz ... and follow them

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Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 Uncategorized No Comments

The Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing

The Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing

  1. Thou shalt not target customers with messages they don’t want.

  2. Thou shalt be truthful.

  3. Thou shalt respect your customers.

  4. Thou shalt make it easy for people to find you.

  5. Thou shalt be useful.

  6. Thou shalt make it easy for people to pass along.

  7. Thou shalt measure and optimize.

  8. Thou shalt listen to customers.

  9. Thou shalt remove any organizational barriers to speedy, collaborative innovation.

  10. Thou shalt not do brand-ing.

Thanks for all the retweets!

WSI_ComandixI’m not Moses, but here’s The Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing http://ow.ly/TQuh

iamdanmoriartyThis is awesome – the 10 commandments of modern marketing http://bit.ly/7l8aBw – All very true, but especially #9!

tombutlin10 Commandments of modern marketing http://bit.ly/8MNo8g by @acfou. It doesn’t get clearer than this.

SuzzicksRT @AnnaMariaVirzi: How true, @acfou! Online marketing commandment no. 5: Thou shalt be useful http://www.clickz.com/3636027

acfouThou Shalt Not Target Customers (even with #BehavioralTargeting): Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing #marketing – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

matt_mcgowanRT @AnnaMariaVirzi: How true, @acfou! Online marketing commandment no. 5: Thou shalt be useful http://www.clickz.com/3636027

indie_preneurThe 10 commandments of modern marketing — are you playing nicely? http://www.clickz.com/3636027 /via @AnnaMariaVirzi

pedrogomezGreat read: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing: http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

AnnaMariaVirziHow true, @acfou! Online marketing commandment no. 5: Thou shalt be useful http://www.clickz.com/3636027

horacemitchell10 commandments of modern marketing http://short.to/12npj

fonstuinstra10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ http://ow.ly/TOgq (h/t Jan van den Bergh)

GetPushingRT @GranerCreative: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://tinyurl.com/y8mahr5 #marketing

MarComNetworkRT @GranerCreative: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://tinyurl.com/y8mahr5 #marketing

GranerCreative10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://tinyurl.com/y8mahr5 #marketing

jevedebe10 Commandments of Modern Marketing. http://tr.im/JJ1A

TemplateZonepretty solid guidelines – maybe someone should carve them into stone tablets! http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

theviragomedia10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7HKYGI

GreeneMarketRT @acfou: Thou Shalt Not Do Brand-ing: Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing #marketing #whatwereyouthinking – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

MoniqueElwellexcellent reading: Augustine Fou Thou Shalt Not Do Brand-ing: Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing #marketing http://htxt.it/E3ut

PeteHealyAugustine Fou’s “10 Commandments of Modern Marketing” @acfou http://j.mp/5MWrLr #in

jessweissAll communications must be relevant, respectful, etc. @sarahebourne @andylarrimore The 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://ow.ly/TLCI

sarahebourneTrue! RT @andylarrimore I think I will revise these slightly to the 10 Commandments of Web Content – http://ow.ly/TI0V

blakeandwhite10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – from @ClickZ. Great list, @acfou! http://bit.ly/5MWrLr

TachmanRT @PDMAffiliates 10 Modern Marketing Commandments: http://bit.ly/5MWrLr #advertising

TdF_ConsultantsRT @berteloot: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

DecorcatsRT @berteloot: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

BrandojoRT @acfou: Thou Shalt Not Do Brand-ing: Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing #marketing #whatwereyouthinking – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

acfouThou Shalt Not Do Brand-ing: Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing #marketing #whatwereyouthinking – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

berteloot10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

pamdyerColumn: Modern marketing must focus on today’s consumers http://bit.ly/8g3EGJ 10 commandments for marketing in 2010

TaiKolenkoAn awesome article on Modern Marketing! I like the comment, “the sun is setting on the era of big “push” advertising.” http://bit.ly/5MWrLr

KFinneganThe 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – http://bit.ly/90GhVq

DistribionDMRT @AdLocal: Reading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027

AnteroDiasCommandments of Modern Marketing – A list of the 10 rules every marketer should follow to meet consumer needs in 2010: http://bit.ly/5MWrLr

AdLocalReading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027

patriciahader#Measure and optimize on the 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing list http://bit.ly/8vQ1w6 via ClickZ

_Vanessa_V10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027

HamiltonWallaceRT @acfou: Ten Commandments to help “marketing sinners” become saints – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

seewhatcouldbe10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 via @addthis

winsell10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 via @addthis

mnm8312Reading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027

andylarrimoreI think I will revise these slightly to the 10 Commandments of Web Content – http://ow.ly/TI0V

PedroBravoNada de hacer branding y otros 9 mandamientos de marketing moderno http://www.clickz.com/3636027

davidamoore10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ http://bit.ly/5MWrLr

shannonholatoRT @cmo4hire: Read 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing, #10 No Brand-ing :) http://www.clickz.com/3636027

everyspoon10 Commandments of Modern Marketing. Learn them. Love them. Live them. Especially #5: Thou shalt be useful. http://www.clickz.com/3636027

zapalaFZKReading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027

joshua_dthou shall be useful & truthful – RT @gerardodada: Reading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027 – all true

MMG_Works10 Commandments of Modern Marketinghttp://bit.ly/8UVG1J

gerardodadaReading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027 – all true

PDMAffiliates10 Modern Marketing Commandments: http://bit.ly/5MWrLr #affiliate #advertising

BizIncubationRT @mediatrustpete 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 by @acfou chief digital officer

mediatrustpeteMust Read for Marketers : 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 by @acfou chief digital officer

MetaResponse10 Marketing Tips; http://bit.ly/5MWrLr

shiraadattoBrilliant as always! RT @acfou Ten Commandments to help “marketing sinners” become saints – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

raysmannaTen Commandments to help “marketing sinners” become saints RT@acfou http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

acfouTen Commandments to help “marketing sinners” become saints – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

gmcdanielGood #marketing advice. Thanks for sharing! RT @Intouchsol: The 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing- from @ClickZ http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

ChurchChair10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 via @addthis

IntouchsolThe 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing- from @ClickZ http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

delpierreReading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027

AdsMitchell#Marketing | 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027

Datadude09Reading 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://www.clickz.com/3636027 Nothing we don’t already know but still interesting.

debbieswiderLove this from the ClickZ crew: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing! http://bit.ly/6f3F5d

cmo4hireRead 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing, #10 No Brand-ing :) http://www.clickz.com/3636027

CollinsCompany10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 via @addthis

susanjspauldingRT @RoyMorejon: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – http://zi.ma/86997a

pablorazziRT @gnewell: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/4RC4K1

gnewell10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/4RC4K1

glenngabe10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/75GhEK -great post by @acfou. I found myself nodding in agreement through most of it. :)

RoyMorejon10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – http://zi.ma/86997a

acfouHappy 2010! Ten Commandments to help “marketing sinners” become saints – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

Sharon_Higbee10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/6khoUG

thenameshopnz10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 via @addthis

Spunky_PR10 Commandments of Modern Marketing: http://www.clickz.com/3636027 http://bit.ly/8B5DZ7

jenkins123110 Commandments of Modern Marketing: On the other hand Sweetriot came out of nowhere, used no paid advertising .. http://bit.ly/5yKvpX

jenkins123110 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/5yKvpX

Jeff_Scarpo10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/5yKvpX

beeyourfriend10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: Some people start the new year with resolutions. I thought, why not … http://bit.ly/5hjQZJ

friendfollower10 Commandments of Modern Marketing – ClickZ: Some people start the new year with resolutions. I thought, why not … http://bit.ly/5hjQZJ

2koolsales10 Commandments of Modern Marketing: With digital tools, devices, and channels data and feedback can be obtaine.. http://bit.ly/5yKvpX

col250401RT @sponsordiddy: 10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/8uC7up

2adproshop10 Commandments of Modern Marketing: http://bit.ly/5GVRTl

EnterSuccess10 Commandments of Modern Marketing: On the other hand Sweetriot came out of nowhere, used no paid advertising of … http://bit.ly/6HLwmZ

jamieohler10 Commandments of Modern Marketing: On the other hand Sweetriot came out of nowhere, used no paid advertising of … http://bit.ly/4B39X4

marketingbot“10 Commandments of Modern Marketing” http://tinyurl.com/y8mahr5

GINFrank10 Commandments of Modern Marketing http://bit.ly/8dJM9l

HartHootonMarketing and #SocialMedia tips from Augustine Fou | RT @acfou: Ten Commandments of Modern Marketing #marketing – http://bit.ly/8U3iI6

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Thursday, January 7th, 2010 Uncategorized No Comments

Map of IP addresses around the world used to commit Click-Fraud

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/QE1Gthuy4_k/3-million-in-click-fraud-over-two-weeks-just-the-beginning

500x clickfraud Map of IP addresses around the world used to commit Click FraudA recently disbanded click fraud ring in China racked up $3 million worth of clicks in two weeks. $3 million that we’re aware of. Just how detectable is this whole business of racking up fraudulent ad revenue clicks?

That intricate mess of lines above represents a portion of DormRing1, the click fraud bunch that was caught in China. The lines show the relationship of some of the IP addresses involved in the fraud and how they are connected to some fraudulent ad clicks. The whole network actually “involved 200,000 different IP addresses and racked up more than $3 million worth of fraudulent clicks across 2,000 advertisers in a two-week period.” Impressive and scary at the same time.

The trouble is that no one really knows how much ad revenue DormRing1 collected before they were caught. Click-fraud monitoring services such as Anchor Intelligence, the ones behind this catch, are evolving to keep up with the scale on which these rings are operating. It’s still difficult to judge just how well they’re doing as they’re having to infiltrate forums and gain the trust of the perpetrators in a manner reminiscent of drug busts. But as the criminals are getting more elaborate, the investigations are too.

That good news aside, do me a favor: after you read this post, comment, and all that jazz, refresh the page a few times and—Ah…I mean, heh…just kidding. [Tech Crunch]

 Map of IP addresses around the world used to commit Click Fraud

 Map of IP addresses around the world used to commit Click Fraud
 Map of IP addresses around the world used to commit Click Fraud

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Friday, October 9th, 2009 Uncategorized No Comments

RTB – real-time bidding may make ad exchanges more efficient, but it still won’t save display (ads)

in response to this mediapost article
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113621

While RTB will make ad exchanges even more efficient, it may not be that necessary.

RTB depends on 3 things: 1) inventory, which depends on how many people hit the page to generate an impression, 2) clicks, which depend on people clicking something, and 3) bidders, the more niche you get, the fewer bidders there will be.  Inventory does not change rapidly. Clicks take time to accumulate (to yield click rates, which are a necessary ingredient in the RTB calculation). And if there are too few bidders the price of the auction “item” won’t appreciate or depreciate much or rapidly. Because of these 3 things, making bidding real-time versus non-real-time (i.e. overnight) may not make it significantly better or move the needle much on efficiency and ROI.

And RTB will still not save “display” ads. The golden age of display was in the mid 90s when people tolerated ads when they read content. They are now trained to avoid looking at the top and right of web pages So while RTB may increase the ROI of display ads by increasing click rates from a percentage with too many zeros to count to something sligtly higher, display ads are still ignored by users and will still not generate measurable business impact for advertisers.

real time bidding what is it RTB   real time bidding may make ad exchanges more efficient, but it still wont save display (ads)

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Saturday, September 19th, 2009 display advertising 1 Comment

This is what happens when 99% of the inefficiencies are cut out of a system (advertising industry)

Update: Including Q3 09 numbers

Source: http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=140125

While no holding company’s results are pretty these days, Interpublic Group of Cos. last week posted particularly poor numbers, swinging to a net loss of over $35 million for the first nine months of 2009 from almost $60 million in profit during the same period in 2008. IPG’s third-quarter revenue fell 18% compared to declines of 14.4% at rival Omnicom Group, 8.7% at WPP (factoring out the effect of acquisitions and currency shifts) and 5.3% at Publicis Groupe. WPP’s reported revenue, including revenue from its big Taylor Nelson Sofres acquisition, rose 16.7%. In the same quarter, net income attributable to IPG tumbled 47.3%, more than double the drop of Omnicom (down 22.5%).

wasted ad dollars This is what happens when 99% of the inefficiencies are cut out of a system (advertising industry)

Google changed the game by changing the business model from paying for impressions to paying only when the advertiser gets the click.  This helped to cut out the 99% of waste and inefficiency which existed in the industry.


sorrell060407 This is what happens when 99% of the inefficiencies are cut out of a system (advertising industry)
WPP Profit Dropped 47% in Second Quarter More Than Half of Company’s Revenue Came From Nontraditional Advertising

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Using words such as “severe” and “surprise” to describe the recession’s impact on its business, WPP, the world’s largest advertising conglomerate, today said its profit was down 47% for the second quarter. And WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell said it will be a while before marketing executives begin to spend and take chances the way they did just a few years back.

arrow This is what happens when 99% of the inefficiencies are cut out of a system (advertising industry) FULL ARTICLE – Source: http://adage.com/article?article_id=138673

______________________________________________________________________

In a first half earnings statement released this morning, WPP Group announced that digital and direct marketing-related services now comprise 25% of its body.

WPP Group owns labels like 24/7 Real Media, Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom, Mindshare, GroupM and Outrider.

Digital and direct garnered $1.7 billion in revenues in the first half of ‘09, with a projected annual run rate of nearly $3.5 billion total. But it is digital media and advertising that appear to be dominating the segment.

Overall, first half revenues fell 2.9% to $6.4 billion in the first half on a reported basis, MediaPost reports. Like-for-like, however, total revenues slid 8.3% against the first half of 2008.

According to WPP, traditional advertising and “media investment management” have been the hardest-hit amidst the economic downturn.

“On a constant currency basis, advertising and media investment management revenues fell by 7.5%, with like-for-like revenues down 7.8%,” it stated.

Branding and identity, healthcare and specialist communications — which includes direct, internet and interactive — were least affected.

The media conglomerate committed to prioritizing the growth of digital communications, customer insights and strong geographic markets.

Related topics: Online Advertisers, Data Updates,

Sourcehttp://www.marketingcharts.com/updates/digitaldirect-marketing-now-25-of-wpp-group-10211/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink

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Thursday, August 27th, 2009 Uncategorized 1 Comment