Brad Garlinghouse, who led Yahoo's communications and communities group and authored the infamous "Peanut Butter Manifesto" that critiqued the company's business strategy, is among the latest to exit the Web portal. In addition to Garlinghouse, two more executives have decided to jump ship, according to reports published Thursday by two blogs--AllThingsD and TechCrunch--and The New York Times. The reports were based on unnamed people with knowledge of the departures. The exodus comes amid reports that Yahoo is planning a reorganization that would centralize many key product lines, including search, mail and its home page into one integrated team. According to a report in today's Wall Street Journal, the plan is being pushed by Yahoo President Susan Decker, and details could announced as soon as next week. Qi Lu, Yahoo's EVP engineering for search and advertising technology group, and Vish Makhijani, the senior vice president and general manager of search, were following Garlinghouse out the door. Makhijani is to become CEO of Yandex, Russia's top search engine. Earlier in the week, Jeff Weiner, executive vice president of Yahoo's network division, left the company and will split his time as an entrepreneur-in-residence at a pair of venture capital firms. And Jeremy Zawodny--an evangelist for the open-source movement within Yahoo, who last week said he was leaving--is heading to Craigslist. Got all that? To help keep track of the executive exodus, TechCrunch yesterday published a spreadsheet listing more than 50 senior managers who have left Yahoo in the last 18 months and where they ended up. Of course, if some Yahoo-watchers are correct, CEO Jerry Yang could soon be joining them.
Revenue Science has named Jeff Hirsch its new CEO. Hirsch succeeds Bill Gossman, who was the behavioral targeting firm's CEO for more than five years, and will stay on as a member of the board. The move comes less than two months after Hirsch was promoted from chief revenue officer (a role he had held since his start with the company in 2006) to president. "As president, I didn't have responsibilities for our technology and finance operations," Hirsch said. "It was more of an external-facing role. But now I'll be responsible for the company's strategic direction overall and making sure we execute." Hirsch told Online Media Daily what advertisers could expect from Revenue Science in the coming months, as well as the state of the behavioral targeting industry overall. OMD: Given the regulatory scrutiny that behavioral targeting has undergone lately--from the Federal Trade Commission to the New York Assembly to consumer privacy groups, how do you see Revenue Science, and the industry as a whole, moving forward? Hirsch: I think behavioral targeting gets scrutinized largely because there's so much confusion on the part of consumers and the agencies themselves--particularly about whether it's an invasion of privacy. At Revenue Science, we've taken a proactive stance to make sure that we address consumer privacy concerns. We don't collect any personally identifiable info (PII), and we make sure that the companies we have relationships with have rock-solid privacy statements as well. And we've also spearheaded a standards consortium to try to get the dialogue going. OMD: The Behavioral Targeting Standards Consortium (BTSC) kicked off at OMMA Behavioral in February. How has it progressed so far? Hirsch: Over 150 people have joined including publishers, advertisers, networks and even manufacturers. We're prepping for our second meeting, and to be honest, just sorting through the tremendous amount of responses we received. OMD: Do you think that self-imposed standards and organizations like the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) will be enough to stave off legislation? Hirsch: I do, once we get consumers to understand what behavioral targeting is about. Take frequency capping, for example. It's just making sure that when people visit a site they don't see two ads in a row. But it's still behavioral targeting, because the behavior you're tracking is seeing the ad once, and it's been around since the inception of online advertising. So it's just about educating them and getting them to understand the practices. OMD: Revenue Science faces competition from networks like AOL's Tacoda, Yahoo's Blue Lithium, and even ISP-side services like NebuAd. How do you plan to compete in an increasingly crowded market? Hirsch: Well, we have a highly differentiated technology. It affords us the ability to store massive amounts of data, and it's flexible enough to stretch across many audiences. That's our major advantage, and the challenge is to take our technology and leverage it in meaningful ways. In the coming months, we'll be working on the advertiser side to help them understand and take advantage of the data they can get. We're working toward becoming the fulcrum in the utilization of data in the ad marketplace.
Expect the new $199 iPhone 3G to push down prices on rival devices, says a new report by technology research firm Current Analysis. The cheaper, faster version of the iPhone will put a $99 price ceiling on entry-level smart phones while putting downward pressure on handsets now selling for between $149 and $199. That includes models such as Motorola's Q9, Pantech's Duo and T-Mobile's HTC Shadow. "With a 3G/WiFi/8GB iPhone starting at just $199, touchscreen feature phones from Samsung and LG (and old-fashioned feature phones) are now starting to look badly overpriced," wrote Avi Greengart, research director for mobile devices at Current Analysis, in a report advising wireless competitors how to take on the new Apple device due out July 11. It looks like the much-hyped iPhone 3G is already having an impact. Sprint's answer to the iPhone, the Samsung Instinct, goes on sale today at $130 (with a $100 rebate and a two-year contract) rather than the $200 it announced earlier this month. Pricing on service will be about the same, with Sprint offering an unlimited data plan starting at $70 and AT&T requiring a $40 voice plan and a minimum $30 monthly data sign-up for the iPhone. But Greengart warns rivals against unleashing would-be "iPhone-killers" in an effort to sell more smart phones generating higher revenues. "Rather than go head-to-head with Apple, vendors should go where Apple is not," he wrote. "The iPhone is not rugged, it has mediocre imaging capabilities, it lacks a physical keyboard, and it is available at just a single carrier. Change the game." While all carriers should offer an entertainment-oriented touchscreen phone, "deliberately inviting direct comparisons to the iPhone is stupid," Greengart added. So build a better touchscreen. Noting that iTunes is Apple's "secret weapon," he also encourages handset makers and others to develop competing software and content assets as Nokia is doing with its Nokia Music Store. The Current Analysis study also suggests that iPhone competitors try to anticipate Apple's next step rather than play catch-up. For example, if the company's next move may be introducing a low-end iPhone, why not beat it there? After all, $199 is still a lot more than most handsets. Despite the media and technophile hullabaloo, a majority of online consumers do not plan to purchase an iPhone, according to a separate report data from Experian's PriceGrabber.com. Los Angeles-based PriceGrabber.com surveyed more than 3,000 online consumers over about three weeks as part of its Consumer Behavior Report, finding that some 54% of respondents said that they did not intend to purchase an iPhone. And price was the most discouraging factor, as 41% of those non-buyers said that the mobile device "costs too much." Others said that AT&T was the barrier--as 22% said that they preferred another service provider. Given Apple's latest announcement of the lower-priced iPhone 3G, however, PriceGrabber.com analysts said that the personal electronics giant "may see online consumers changing their minds about purchasing an iPhone" in the coming months.--with Tameka Kee
Single mother Jammie Thomas, ordered to pay $220,000 for allegedly sharing 24 tracks on Kazaa, is getting some help from law professors and a major digital rights group. A law school and a group of copyright scholars from around the country have filed separate friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of Thomas, arguing that a federal judge wrongly interpreted the law during Thomas's trial. The civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation will also file a friend-of-the-court brief today. The judge in the case, Michael Davis of Duluth, Minn., instructed the jury that simply making tracks available on a peer-to-peer site was enough to violate the record companies' copyright. But last month, Davis questionedwhether he made the right decision. He asked for an additional briefing and said he might order a new trial. One friend-of-the-court brief filed by 10 legal scholars from around the country argues that tracks online are not "distributed" for copyright purposes unless they are downloaded. "Merely making work available to the public, whether over the Internet or otherwise, by itself does not constitute a distribution," the brief states. Another, submitted by the William Mitchell College of Law's Intellectual Property Institute, criticizes Davis's jury instruction as a broadening of copyright law. "Positivist rulings by the judiciary that expand copyright protections, even under the guise of protecting authors' interests, risk upsetting the delicate balance established by Congress," the institute argues. Niels B. Schaumann, a William Mitchell faculty member, said lawmakers need to hammer out new nationwide policies covering copyright in the digital era. "We shouldn't just hand this off to record companies and judges around the country," he said. In recent months, other courts throughout the country have come to different conclusions about whether making tracks available can constitute a copyright violation. A federal judge in Arizona, Neil Wake, ruled that making tracks available wasn't in itself enough to prove copyright infringement. Instead, Wake held that a download must also take place to prove piracy. But a federal judge in New York decided that simply offering tracks can potentially violate a copyright holder's rights. In some cases, the record companies do not have any evidence that tracks found on a person's Kazaa folder were ever downloaded by anyone else. But in other cases, the record industry's investigators downloaded the tracks before a lawsuit was filed. In those instances, however, it's unclear that the distribution was unauthorized. Much is at stake for both individuals like Thomas--who are potentially liable for up to $30,000 for each track they have placed in a shared music file--and the record industry, which has seen tremendous disruption to its business model in recent years. The record industry's revenue plunged to around $10 billion last year, from around $15 billion in 2000. The record labels' first reaction was to sue Web companies like the original Napster. When that didn't stem the declining sales, the industry began pursuing a strategy of litigation against alleged online file-sharers. Since 2003, the record labels have sued or threatened to sue an estimated 26,000 people. Jammie Thomas is the first and only person so far found liable after a jury trial.
Word-of-mouth is highly influential on purchases made by at-work consumers, with 95.6% advising peers on products and services, according to new study conducted by consumer intelligence firm BIGresearch. What's more, the study on media and shopping behavior of consumers at work found that 92.9% seek such advice from peers before making purchases. The BIGresearch study examines the shopping behavior of consumers during the workday, including the role of online search as a catalyst to retail purchase, grocery shopping, casual and fast-food dining preferences, new media consumption during the workday, word-of-mouth dynamics and its role in influencing purchase decisions in the workplace. "As marketers are looking to maximize ROI, the importance of targeting gainfully employed, value-seeking consumers is essential," said Phil Rist, EVP-Strategy at BIGresearch. At-work consumers research products online before purchasing, with almost half of them--47.2%--reporting having researched electronics online in the last 90 days during the workday before making an in-store purchase. "The American workplace has become the most lucrative marketing channel for advertisers looking to connect with consumers where they eat, shop and socialize," said Stephanie Molnar, CEO of WorkPlace Media, a marketer to the at-work consumer. "Targeting consumers at work, where they make the majority of their spending decisions, is just smart business." Since the workplace is full of conversation among peers, according to BIG, it presents an ideal environment to create buzz for product introductions and new store openings. A full 67.8% of at-work consumers report socializing with co-workers while on break, while 42.2% indicate they communicate with friends and family during the workday. Wal-Mart leads the grocery category, with 14.5% of at-work consumers reporting that they shop at the discounter most often for groceries. Kroger and Publix round out the top three grocery destinations among at-work consumers, with 8.4% and 8.2%, respectively, shopping the stores most often. At-work consumers still report getting the bulk of their fast food from McDonald's--23.3%--followed by Wendy's--16.2%--and Taco Bell--8.0%. When it comes to casual dining restaurants, Applebee's, Chili's and Olive Garden appear to be the top destinations of choice among at-work consumers. The At-Work Consumer Media & Shopping Behavior survey was conducted by BIGresearch in December 2007 from a national sample of 3,989 U.S. employees across a variety of industries.
In an effort to bring some fiduciary order to the chaos that is the Internet--where extensive quoting and even copying of entire news articles is common--The Associated Press said it will attempt to define how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on the AP's copyright. The notion of "fair use" is vague to begin with, so the AP must draw a line somewhere between allowing reviewers to appropriate some of its copy and bloggers who post entire AP stories to attract traffic. While this has freeloaders up in arms, threatening to tie up in court whatever decision AP makes for the next couple of decades or so, one has to sympathize with the world's largest newsgathering organization. It pays to have stories reported, written and edited, but an increasingly smaller percentage of publishers--if in fact that's what bloggers are--are paying no restitution to the AP. The only solution for the AP is to simply hold back. Thus, these future stories: Atlanta (AP) - The Centers for Disease Control announced today the worst food contamination in American history, warning citizens to immediately stop consuming this particular food that has already killed tens of thousands across the nation. "This is far deadlier than hemorrhagic fever or the Black Plague," said the CDC in a statement given to the AP. "This could be the end of civilization as we know it." Seattle (AP) - In the largest merger in American corporate history, a bunch of geeky guys who are already filthy rich will soon be disgustingly wealthy when they receive the proceeds from their merger with this really big media company based about 3,000 miles to the east. "Frackin' A," says the chairman of the geeky company--"Who cares if gas prices go to $25 a gallon?" Omaha (AP) - In one of the most dramatic finishes in College World Series baseball history, this one team came back from 10 runs behind in the bottom of the ninth to beat this other team, whose players are pretty down about the whole thing. New York (AP) - A really major agency guy who everyone thought was going to be the next CEO left yesterday to join the clergy. "Never saw the guy in a church in 30 years," said this other really important agency guy who you'd know in a heartbeat. "I mean, I heard him praying to win accounts, or for choppy flights to land safely, but never in a million years did I see this coming." Washington (AP) - The most powerful man in the world yesterday announced something REALLY important about Iraq. It was about ending the war in the next 30 days or so, as long as this thing or that thing happened. Thousands of Armed Services families wished that the AP had broader fair-use rules, since they have enough details to be hopeful, but not enough to take down the yellow ribbons. Los Angeles (AP) - One of the biggest banks in the world admitted yesterday that it has been skimming dollars off customer accounts--especially those of the elderly and less educated--for nearly 40 years, producing additional profits of over $2 billion annually. The bank, known very well to AP reporters who have covered it regularly, says unless someone rats them out, they won't parse out makegoods to customers. "We were only enhancing shareholder value," said the bank's senior VP of communications. New York (AP) - During a panel discussion at an advertising industry event, one woman who everyone in the industry knows called another a "whore" for apparently having slept with the first one's husband during a business trip to Cannes. An audience of nearly 500 fell silent as the accused shouted back... (for the complete story, click here and pay $2). The story you have just read is an attempt to blend fact and fiction in a manner that provokes thought and, on a good day, merriment. It would be ill-advised to take any of it literally. Take it, rather, with the same humor with which it is intended. Cut and paste or link to it at your own peril.