Archive for September, 2006

10 Things That Will Make or Break Your Website

http://blog.auinteractive.com/10-things-that-will-make-or-break-your-website
Good summary of some points from the Future of Web Apps Conference 2006. #9 lists some new tech we need to at least look into.

http://blog.auinteractive.com/10-things-that-will-make-or-break-your-website

Good summary of some points from the Future of Web Apps Conference 2006. #9 lists some new tech we need to at least look into.

Yahoo buying Facebook? YouTube next?

http://www.bizreport.com/2006/09/yahoo_buying_youtube_selling.html
The rumors about Yahoo buying Facebook are getting very strong now. It’s starting to sound far more likely than not.
And I’ve always thought YouTube would be a perfect compliment to their Flickr and Delicious acquisitions. But it sounds like this one is less certain. Yahoo recently launched a revamped version of their video service in [...]

http://www.bizreport.com/2006/09/yahoo_buying_youtube_selling.html

The rumors about Yahoo buying Facebook are getting very strong now. It’s starting to sound far more likely than not.

And I’ve always thought YouTube would be a perfect compliment to their Flickr and Delicious acquisitions. But it sounds like this one is less certain. Yahoo recently launched a revamped version of their video service in the last couple months and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they could take Flickr to the next level by adding in video functionality.

The Nine Pillars of Successful Web Teams

Adaptive Path is one of the industry leaders on usability and information architecture. I found this article and the PDF that it has linked and found it interesting. It is a 2003 article, but i think still heavily applies.
Thought it was worth the read.

Adaptive Path is one of the industry leaders on usability and information architecture. I found this article and the PDF that it has linked and found it interesting. It is a 2003 article, but i think still heavily applies.

Thought it was worth the read.

Google To PPC Branding: Drop Dead

THE DEBATE ON THE BRANDING value of pay-per-click search ads may be over before it was ever properly resolved. Google has spoken, at least indirectly, in a couple of news items from the Googleplex.
“When you bid on a CPC (cost-per-click) basis, our technology tries to maximize the number of click-throughs you’ll receive. If your ad [...]

THE DEBATE ON THE BRANDING value of pay-per-click search ads may be over before it was ever properly resolved. Google has spoken, at least indirectly, in a couple of news items from the Googleplex.

“When you bid on a CPC (cost-per-click) basis, our technology tries to maximize the number of click-throughs you’ll receive. If your ad fully conveys your message without requiring the user to click through to your site, this could lower your overall quality score and in turn signal our system to not serve your ad. With CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) bidding, you assign a value to a user seeing your ad–our system then optimizes delivery in order to show the ad to more people. CPM bidding helps you maximize your exposure across sites in the Google content network.”

Google’s drawing the lines clearly here. Pay for video ads on a cost-per-click basis, and you’ll potentially lose opportunities to display those ads. Pay on a cost-per-thousand impressions basis, and your ads will run everywhere, amounting to more branding. Get the whole scoop>>

Advertising isn’t always the answer

A new breed of agencies is advising clients about solutions to business challenges that may or may not involve advertising. While some of these new-era agencies are tying their fortunes to the success of their clients, most old-line agencies are still grappling with the problem of how to get paid for their ideas, rather than [...]

A new breed of agencies is advising clients about solutions to business challenges that may or may not involve advertising. While some of these new-era agencies are tying their fortunes to the success of their clients, most old-line agencies are still grappling with the problem of how to get paid for their ideas, rather than for their time or by the size of their clients’ media buys. THIS IS A MUST-READ ARTICLE!! The Washington Post

My favorite quote from the article:
The premise is simple: If you go to a coal company looking for an energy supply, you’ll get coal as the recommended solution. It’s the same with most advertising agencies, which rarely meet a marketing problem that cannot be solved or a sales goal that cannot be met by a TV and radio campaign supported by direct marketing, some pop-up ads on Web sites and a bit of public relations. It’s what they do, the way they are organized and how they make their money.

What’s the BUZZ for Your Clients

The Web is about two-way communication and listening. It’s high time everyone learned how.So herewith, a list of the simplest (and free) ways to monitor the chatter out there. What people are saying may be good, bad, or indifferent. But ignorance isn’t bliss. You can’t react if you don’t know what customers, prospects, the media, [...]

The Web is about two-way communication and listening. It’s high time everyone learned how.
So herewith, a list of the simplest (and free) ways to monitor the chatter out there. What people are saying may be good, bad, or indifferent. But ignorance isn’t bliss. You can’t react if you don’t know what customers, prospects, the media, and bloggers are saying about your company, products, brands, and executives. Read more>>

Live (and free) SEC football online

Yahoo’s actually been hosting this for awhile now - at least since last year. It’s almost always the JP/LF game though so not quite the marquee matchups you’ll get from the CBS package.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/collegebroadcast/
This week the Georgia blowout of Colorado will be on the menu.
The quality’s pretty decent actually for a free broadcast. I watched a [...]

Yahoo’s actually been hosting this for awhile now - at least since last year. It’s almost always the JP/LF game though so not quite the marquee matchups you’ll get from the CBS package.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/collegebroadcast/

This week the Georgia blowout of Colorado will be on the menu.

The quality’s pretty decent actually for a free broadcast. I watched a bit of the Alabama/Arkanasas game on it last year.

Fox tries to thwart DVR fast-forwarding

Fox is running a 30-second television spot with just one static image in an effort to reach viewers who fast forward through ads using digital video recorders like TiVos.U.K. advertisements for Fox’s new drama, “Brotherhood,” which premieres in Britain in October, simply shows an image of Providence, R.I., where the show is set, and the [...]

Fox is running a 30-second television spot with just one static image in an effort to reach viewers who fast forward through ads using digital video recorders like TiVos.
U.K. advertisements for Fox’s new drama, “Brotherhood,” which premieres in Britain in October, simply shows an image of Providence, R.I., where the show is set, and the program’s logo.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14935685/

Consumer Video Reviews on ExpoTv.com

I was doing a search for Little Debbie on the Google Video site just to see what there was (several reviews) and I stumbled onto ExpoTv.com. It’s a site dedicated to video reviews of every consumer product you can imagine. Here’s the search results page for Little Debbie.Devil Squares review on Google video.
Here’s one for [...]

I was doing a search for Little Debbie on the Google Video site just to see what there was (several reviews) and I stumbled onto ExpoTv.com. It’s a site dedicated to video reviews of every consumer product you can imagine. Here’s the search results page for Little Debbie.
Devil Squares review on Google video.

Here’s one for Bayer Advanced 2 in 1 Rose & Flower.

USAToday.com Overhauls Travel Section

USAToday.com will relaunch its travel section today with a range of new or revamped features offering marketers increased advertising opportunities. The redesigned site will place greater emphasis on consumer input, travel tools and blogs. - Read the whole story…

USAToday.com will relaunch its travel section today with a range of new or revamped features offering marketers increased advertising opportunities. The redesigned site will place greater emphasis on consumer input, travel tools and blogs. - Read the whole story…