• Amazon Leads BestBuy, BoA And Apple By Miles In Mobile Search Buys
    The #1 desktop search advertiser online is also the top advertiser in mobile search -- Amazon. But after that the disparity between mobile and desktop search spend is remarkable. Even brands that otherwise seem heavily invested in mobile seem underpowered in search.
  • Brand Modesty: When Throwaway App Tchotchkes Work
    Purina's new Beggin' Nosecam app benefits from low ambitions. More brands should take this lead. Stop trying to get us to like you. Instead give us something we enjoy or like...even if for a few minutes.
  • The M-Payment 'Duh Factor:' Try Figuring Out the Value First. No, Really This Time
    At Mobile World Congress, MasterCard revealed a pilot project that makes cell phones the key to adding security to credit cards. At least these companies are starting to glean what Apple and Starbucks already know about how digital wallets will finally make sense to consumers.
  • Welcome To Mobile World Congress: BTW, The Smartphone Is Dead
    A provocative report from ZenithOptimedia/Performics suggests that after the role of smartphones peaks, the dispersal of connectivity to an Internet of Things will make these personal devices obsolete. Maybe. You could argue the opposite as well.
  • Facebook Video Use Rises Sharply Ahead Of Ad Launch
    A lot of us dread the prospect of auto-play video ads in an already polluted Facebook stream. But the social network will be releasing its long-awaited format into favorable trending -- strong growth in video consumption on its platform in January.
  • As Mobile Ad Reach Doubles, Are Consumers Waking Up To The True Value Of Their Own Data?
    Mobile ad reach grew substantially in the last year, but most users don't think they are paying for the data that ads consume. But little things like data caps and even fitness apps are helping to enlighten consumers that all data is a commodity -- some of which they already own.
  • The Mobilization Of Music Video
    The majority of music videos from the leading source of the form are now viewed off of the desktop. Mobility could be a key driver in the current revival of a form that seemed to exhaust its creativity and cultural power more than a decade ago.
  • Apple Wants To Get Into Your Head...And Media Will Start Reading Us
    A new patent award for Apple shows plans for biometric headphones that can read head gestures, heart rate, and perspiration and perhaps interpret psychological states. We are on the edge of having media read us rather than us reading it.
  • Fallon App Doesn't Promise Much 'Tonight Show' Edge
    Jimmy Fallon occupies the revered "Tonight" show chair this week, and a mobile app launches to accompany him. While it has some of the host's own quirks, it is as tepid and uninspiring as the show the host is inheriting.
  • Microsoft And Starcom To Bring Video Content Across Screens
    Yet again, Microsoft is trying to leverage the diverse video assets it has stitched together across gaming, Web and now devices and even video calling. SMG will develop new cross-screen video programs with the software giant.
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