Nintendo Enters The Real World, Makes DS More Marketer-Friendly by Steve Smith

Nintendo's handheld console game market finally gets friendly with brand partners. Coming a little late in the game, though, isn't it? ...Read the whole story

  • Microsoft May Barely Break The 'Surface' With Upcoming Tablets by Steve Smith

    Microsoft faces an uphill battle grabbing market share from Apple iPad, says ABI Research. The company may fall prey to the same issue of fragmentation that stymied development for the Android tablets. ...Read the whole story

  • electronics Deloitte: Smartphones Helping, Not Hurting, Retail Sales by Aaron Baar

    People may be using their smartphones as a shopping tool in the stores, but that doesn't mean they're buying less from the retailers. In fact, the influence these mobile devices will have on annual in-store sales is expected to increase. ...Read the whole story

  • AOL Brings Premium Ad Units To Mobile by Mark Walsh

    Extending its Project Devil initiative to mobile devices, AOL Wednesday unveiled premium display ad formats for smartphones and tablets similar to those it rolled out for the desktop. At launch, AOL is offering five types of applications for the mobile ads, powered by its Pictela content management technology. ...Read the whole story

  • search Marin, RevTrax Link Paid-Search Campaigns To In-Store Sales by Laurie Sullivan

    Marin Software has formed a partnership with RevTrax to connect online paid-search ad clicks and analytics to in-store purchases. This should give marketers running campaigns across channels the tools to closely match budgets to media. The agreement supports data analysis on margin and redemption that aims to support brands. ...Read the whole story

  • Mobile Ad Volume Up, Pricing Dips by Mark Walsh

    Mobile advertising platform Smaato said ad volume increased 26% in the first quarter, but pricing on average was 30% higher in the fourth quarter because of higher advertiser demand during the holiday shopping season. The new Smaato index for the first quarter shows wide differences among regions worldwide. ...Read the whole story

  • Post IPO, Analysts Differ On Facebook Ad Prospects by Mark Walsh

    Many analysts are taking a wait-and-see approach to Facebook, initiating coverage with neutral ratings over concerns about monetization. While a recent report concluded Facebook is now an "experimental buy" for major brand advertisers, they have yet to make full budget commitments to the social network. ...Read the whole story

  • Travora Media Unveils Mobile Ad Network by Mark Walsh

    Travora Media, which operates a vertical network of more than 300 travel lifestyle sites, is launching a new mobile-focused ad network. Dubbed Mango (Mobile Ad Network on-the-GO), the network will offer inventory of more than 350 million monthly page views across mobile Web sites and apps of its online properties. ...Read the whole story

  • Olympic Mobile Audience To Hit 1 Bil, Coverage Expands by Mark Walsh

    A new eMarketer report projects at least a quarter of the expected audience of 4 billion for the London Olympics will be on PCs and mobile devices, including phones and tablets. Major broadcast rights holders, such as the BBC in the U.K. and NBC Universal, are investing heavily in providing online and mobile access. ...Read the whole story

  • BlackBerry's Mobile Share Drops, Microsoft's Stabliizes by Mark Walsh

    The outlook for Research in Motion grew even grimmer last week with news the company cut 5,000 of its 16,500-person workforce and will delay launching the latest version of its BlackBerry platform until next year. Microsoft's share of the smartphone market stabilized over the last three months at 4%. ...Read the whole story

  • search IgnitionOne: Growth Slows For Paid-Search Spend by Laurie Sullivan

    Marketers continue to allocate budgets to U.S. paid-search advertising campaigns, but growth slowed to 15.5% in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the prior two quarters. The IgnitionOne report, a MediaPost exclusive, points to an increasing reliance on mobile paid-search ads that support less expensive clicks, as well as new ad formats generally lower in price. ...Read the whole story

The Value of Checking In (Or Not) by Chuck Martin

The check-in ritual continues to look for models that provide value, establish real relationships with brands, and avoid pointlessness. ...More

  • How To Make Mobile Video To Complement The TV Experience by Daisy Whitney

    Mobile is both its own beast and an increasingly important venue for video. You've seen all the reports on mobile video viewing increasing. Much of that increase comes from a growth in complementary TV viewing -- either in looking up videos related to TV content, or tuning into TV shows or clips. But the mobile viewing experience isn't always pleasant for consumers. ...More

  • Apple Rediscovers Its Own Post-PC Vision: Yes, The Podcast by Steve Smith

    With its new Podcasts app, Apple reminds us of the grand idea for personalized, portable, media on-demand it started with years ago. ...More