With all the hype on the newest technologies and latest apps, behind the scenes the three major search engines continue to battle each other with M&A, new product offerings and advanced technologies of their own.  Google’s new indexing technology Caffeine allows the platform to index new web pages faster than ever before.  More and more smart phones are driving consumers to Google search elevating revenue behind their bread and butter – paid search text links.  So much more to come here – for more detail, read MediaPost’s write up here:  MediaPost & Google

Hulu has done well at commanding a decent CPM and really strong “big name” advertisers.  While not profitable yet, media professionals are seeing Hulu as a nice extension to television, putting all video in one category (either TV, Online, or Mobile).  Sight, Sound and Motion builds brand.  Regardless of the forum, video is huge to communicate brand attributes.  Six months ago, Vevo launched and cut deals with major networks including Google to provide a monthly unique impression total of more than 44 million.  Not too shabby.  They have also signed huge advertisers.  Their model (at least for now) is to provide subtle marketing – one advertiser per short play video and some corresponding banner units.  They offer their video content for free and make money from marketing dollars. 

ABC’s model is different in that they will make money from consumers through a sub base – even if it is low cost.  I don’t think it will work.  Consumers have been trained to gain content online for zippo.  I don’t think they will pay to watch ABC vids.  Even with the consumer sub, ABC would play “fewer” commercials. Not a good combo.  If they are going to charge a sub, they need to eliminate commercials.  The two won’t mix well.  While Hulu is moving to a pay for model, I’m not sure that will work well either.  They are doing so as they try hard to figure out how to turn Hulu profitable.
 
Time will tell – to me, it seems the sub strategy has been tested before and it fails quickly.  The model that seems to get results is as follows:  High quality content, high quality video, massive unique impression totals and one advertiser for maximum ownership and the least amount of annoyance to the consumer possible. 

Link:  MediaPost ABC

This is crowd sourcing in a small way, implemented by the FDA through an unusual approach. Always known as being overloaded and understaffed, the FDA has established the “Bad Ad Program” in which it has asked medical professionals to review and report back to the FDA via anonymous email address, any marketing material that is not complaint with fair balance or suggested for use through off-label marketing as established by the FDA. 

The FDA has been in the news a ton lately with tremendous scrutiny on an Ann Taylor blog nailing them for incentivize customers to write about a brand, they have issued severe warning letters to many pharma companies for improper marketing and now again with this HCP enabled review committee.  What’s next for the FDA – time will tell.  As partners to all of our pharma clients, we MUST ensure all of our media and creative efforts are fully compliant.

Read up here:  FDA Deputizes Doctors

Preparing today for an AdClub event in which I’ll be participating in a discussion on metrics and insight.  As I prep, I’ve been reflecting on the incredible progress we’ve all made as it pertains to data accountability.  One thing is true – it seems that innovation is always pushing the conversation to new level.  As we talk to our clients about new digital marketing tactics / vehicles such as 4Square, the changes to FaceBook coming out of the F8 conference on the west coast and the iPad and iAd, it seems metric sources are becoming more variable.  It will take a keen focus in 2010 to connect the dots to reveal the true story behind the data.  More to come …

Not to be outdone in the iPhone apps department, Yahoo! is getting onboard with a few additional apps of their own.  Yahoo!’s recently launched Sketch-A-Search and Yahoo! Search App take Google’s Mobile App to the next level.

The Sketch-A-Search allows users to quickly find restaurants (other categories to launch on an ongoing basis) simply by drawing a circle around the general area on a map.  This comes in handy when you have neither the zip code nor the name of the area where you’re searching.  Once an area of the map is identified, a list of restaurants appears on the screen; by clicking on a restaurant one can read reviews, see pictures, prices and can even narrow down by type of cuisine, ambience and/or rating.  It’s fun to play with too.

The Yahoo! Search App offers “a fast and beautiful experience that integrates voice search, embedded maps, and information from Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Movies, Yahoo! News, and other sources that appears directly in the results.”

Read more…

Recently Google announced an exciting new update to their mobile offering where participating retailers like Best Buy, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and West Elm with listings in Google’s Product Search can not only indicate their proximity to users who are searching for them on their smart phone devices and list available items, but can also specify whether or not an item is in stock and at which location. Just look for the blue dot and click on the “In stock nearby” link, and you will be taken to the seller’s page, where you’ll see whether the item is “In Stock” or has “Limited Availability” near you.

Google is also accepting retailers interested in participating.

Read more…

Experian® Hitwise® announced last week that Google accounted for 70.95 percent of all U.S. searches conducted in the four weeks ending Feb. 27, 2010. Yahoo! Search, Bing and Ask.com received 14.57 percent, 9.70 percent and 2.84 percent, respectively. The remaining 73 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1.94 percent of U.S. searches.

Important to note is that Bing increased its share of US searches for the third straight month.

The FWA aka Favorite Web Awards, has been around for a minute now.  With offices located in the UK, this awards site has definitely made a name for itself by handing out fake ribbons to the industry best developed sites.  Launched back when fully flash sites were the hotness, the FWA has stuck to what they know best, awarding flash sites day after day.

As our industry changes and both mobile applications and SEO friendly sites become the norm, it will be interesting to see if the FWA changes its focus or sticks to what it knows best.

Their new site just launched and I happy to admit that I really like the design. Yes, it is a flash site, which in my opinion could have been easily designed in CSS and AJAX, but when you receive over 100,000 visits a month, does it really matter – goes to show WOM will beat out SEO any day.

If you visit, make sure to check out the FWA PHOTO.

Glam Media, a network of over 1,400 properties that sees nearly 160 million unique monthly worldwide visitors, has just recieved a new round of venture capital from aeris CAPITAL for $50 million.  areis CAPITAL is a Switzerland and Silicon Valley based private equity fund, whose funding has rumored to help value the vertical advertising network at $750 million.

Glam Media will use this new round to purchase stock from existing employees/founders as well as early venture investors, with the rest focused on new investments within the business and strategic acquisitions.

In 2009 Glam Media generated $55 million in revenue, up from $40 million in 2008.

Every morning as I drive to the train station I keep one hand on the wheel and the other on the horn. Some people say I have fits of road rage. I prefer to think I am just an aggressive and capable driver.

There are rarely, if ever, parking spots near the train and things start to heat up when 2 cars are racing around the corner for the same coveted spot.

I’m sure the creators of ParkShark must have had similar experiences.

ParkShark is a new parking space sharing app, designed to reduce the aggravation that comes with trying to find a parking spot in NYC. Basically, members of the ParkShark community will share their spots in real-time. All you have to do is specify the time your space will be available for other members looking for a spot in your area.

Check it out here.