The digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation said Monday that it agreed with the McCain-Palin campaign that TV networks have overreached in demanding that YouTube remove political ads. In a letter to CBS, Fox, NBC and the Christian Broadcasting Network, the advocacy group complained that the networks' approach is "contrary to the law" and also threatens "to silence an exciting new source of political expression." "It is our sincere hope that in the final days of this election season, you will stop sending DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices that target the use of short clips of news footage in election-related videos, whether posted by the presidential campaigns or by individual citizens expressing their views," states the letter by Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Fred von Lohmann. The letter was sent on behalf of a coalition of civil rights groups including the ACLU, Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard's Berkman Center and Public Knowledge. Last week, the McCain-Palin campaign asked YouTube to stop removing campaign videos automatically in response to takedown requests by news organizations. The campaign's general counsel, Trevor Potter, complained that the videos only incorporated a few seconds of footage in its ads, and said that doing so was lawful under the "fair use" doctrine. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows uploaders to challenge takedown requests, but restoring a video can take between 10 and 14 days--"a lifetime in a political campaign," Potter wrote to YouTube. Potter said the TV networks had overreached on their copyright claims and urged YouTube to revamp its procedures and review videos uploaded by both presidential campaigns before removing them. CBS and Fox are among the networks that complained about McCain's clips. One ad axed from YouTube briefly showed footage of Katie Couric, while another showed Fox correspondent Major Garrett. NBC also previously complained about an Obama campaign video. YouTube responded last week that it did not have the resources to assess all clips before taking them down in response to complaints. The company also said that determining whether clips made fair use of copyrighted material was rarely simple. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act safe harbor provisions generally provide that companies like YouTube will not be liable for copyright infringement for clips uploaded by users, but only if those companies remove the clips upon complaints by copyright owners. The Electronic Frontier Foundation also asked YouTube to revamp its policies--but for all users, not just the presidential campaign. The group argued that YouTube does not need to worry about qualifying for the copyright law's safe harbors if the videos don't infringe. "We understand that whether a particular video constitutes fair use can be a difficult determination to make," states the letter. "Nevertheless, there are clear cases, particularly where short news clips are used in the course of a political video intended as commentary or criticism." But some other Internet lawyers say that even the use of short clips can pose thorny legal questions. Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, previously told Online Media Daily that clips of news anchors might also implicate their right of publicity, or right to control the use of their image, and TV networks' trademarks.
With an eye toward more advanced video advertising, PointRoll has tapped video ad delivery platform Panache. Through the partnership, expected to be announced today, PointRoll hopes to better facilitate video campaigns with its existing publisher clients, as well as Panache's publisher clients. With Panache's platform, publishers can combine any ad format, with the ad network and ad server of their choice when running rich media campaigns. Flash maker Adobe has signed on so that ads will run smoothly on The Adobe Media Player. First and foremost, the collaboration will enable new creative opportunities like synchronizing in-page and in-video campaigns, according to Max Mead, vice president of business development and strategy at PointRoll, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. "Synchronizing banners with activity inside the video player was possible before this partnership, but it would have been very, very painful to execute," Mead said. "That's the perfect example of how Panache makes it easier for everyone involved in the video execution process." Founded in 2006, Los Angeles-based Panache's technology enables Internet video sites--including Break, CBS, Scripps and Yahoo--to deliver any ad format directly into video content from a third-party ad server or ad network. Panache's open ad-insertion platform will provide a connection between PointRoll's in-video ad units and publisher sites, offering PointRoll advertisers better scale to deliver those units to publishers, regardless of video player technology. With Panache, publishers are given the choice to combine any ad formats--proprietary, third party, Interactive Advertising Bureau standard--any ad network and any ad server. The partnership also enables publishers to use the tracking and reporting capabilities offered by both Panache and PointRoll. The broader strategy behind the deal is to accelerate the shift of ad dollars from TV to the Web. According to eMarketer, brands increased online video advertising spending by 55.9% in 2008. "By streamlining the process, we make it much easier for advertisers to think of video as integral to their campaigns," Mead said.
An optimization platform that delivers targeted ads becomes available today from Interwoven. The Optimost Adaptive Targeting service allows businesses to offer the best combination of advertisements and content based on click patterns and characteristics of those visiting their sites. Optimost Adaptive Targeting integrates into content management systems, not necessarily from Interwoven. Supported as a software as a service (SaaS) through the premium package, companies are given a line of code. Once inserted into Web pages, the code calls on Interwoven's servers to send HTML instructions on the best way to render the page for individual visitors. The data captured from Web pages remains the client's proprietary information, said Mark Wachen, managing director of Optimost at Interwoven. "We're not capturing data Internet-wide," he said. "The platform doesn't collect personal identifiable information. That's something we're sensitive about. We want to make sure our customers are compliant with rules they set up, too." America's Test Kitchen, which increased premium registration on the site by 11.2% and free trial registration by 21.8%, began testing the service in July. The company was one of six that participated in the pilot that began about four months ago. Think of adaptive targeting as an overall approach to connecting with Web site visitors, Wachen said. Adaptive targeting accounts for behavioral data, but also encompasses a range of targeting techniques, he said. Combine the range of data attributes with multivariable testing of potentially millions of variations to deliver targeted content to a specific audience. While Interwoven has focused on rules-based and geographical targeting in the past, the platform now collects more behavioral and demographic information that maps third-party data to non-identifiable personal visitor data from IP addresses, down to the ZIP code. It also automates processes, continually capturing data and modeling information based on demographics, connection speeds, page views and frequency, time spent on pages, time of day and day of week, and more. From that information, marketers can profile residents in the area to ensure that messages resonate with visitors. The data can calculate average household incomes, may show site visitors are sensitive to price changes, or have better-than-average credit scores and drive a Mercedes. It can also suggest that the site requires larger type and buttons because most people in the specific ZIP codes seeing these pages are older residents. Personalization has become more important to consumers, whether monogram cuffs or collar on a man's dress shirt or information sent electronically across the Web. "Personalization and engagement increases the ability to turn a target into a good customer," said Robert Passikoff, president at Brand Keys, New York. "Ten years ago the percent of contribution that engendered was about 6%, and now it's closer to 18%."
Female-focused e-publisher and ad network Glam Media on Monday announced the launch of Brash.com, a vertical network and content hub of sites targeting men ages 18-49. Online Media Daily reported late last month that a men's network was in the works, but under the name CodeBlue. "Like the women's category, we're going to offer advertisers better-defined opportunities with better reach," said Samir Arora, chairman and CEO of Glam Media. "The men's category, as it's traditionally defined by 'laddie' magazines and upscale fashion magazines, is too narrow in its focus." At launch, the Brash Network is composed of several dozen lifestyle, entertainment and technology sites, blogs and publishers, including ArtistDirect, DigitalTrends.com, eCoustics.com, InGameNowSeriousWheels.com; Squidoo, and MonstersandCritics.com. Brash content partners include Time, Rolling Stone, TheCarConnection.com, sports site SB Nation, and Cnet. Major launch advertisers on the Brash.com network include Unilever's Axe brand deodorant, H&M, HP, and Sony Pictures' "Quantum of Solace." Also debuting is BrashTV, a rights-managed video distribution platform built on GlamTV supported by the likes of Sony, Cinelan 3-Minute Films, Howcast.com and Vidcat.com. Faced with leaner economic times and fierce competition, male-focused Web publishers--including Heavy Media and Glam Media--have recently had to cut staff and the scope of their operations. Despite those measures, now is as good a time as any to launch Brash, said Scott Schiller, EVP of global marketing at Glam Media. "The timing is right," said Schiller. "Advertisers still want to reach a niche audience of the right scale with tightly focused messages." John Trimble, who joined Glam Media from Fox Interactive, is serving as the EVP of sales at Brash, while Richard Pérez-Feria, formerly the editor in chief of People en Español, is the launch editorial director and curator of Brash.com. For Brash, Glam has to refocus its Glam Evolution service to allow vertical targeting of men by audience, content, prime-time and placement. With close to 10 million U.S. unique visitors a month at launch, the Brash Network is launching with five channels: men's lifestyle, including style, fitness, travel, food and drink; entertainment, including music, movies, TV, and games; tech, including audio, gadgets, PCs and Macs; auto, including luxury, sport, SUV, and sedans; and news, including world, U.S., politics and technology. Other publishers joining the Brash.com Network at launch include Freshnessmag.com, SpiralFrog.com, and StreetFire.net.
Looking for new ways to boost its Web audience, CBS Interactive has added a feature that lets viewers chat and interact while watching the network's TV shows online. CBS's "social viewing rooms" allow friends to gather in virtual rooms to watch top programs such as "Survivor" and "CSI" at the same time, evoking the collective experience of sitting around the living room TV. "In many respects, for people on the online side today watching video is a one-to-one experience, leaning forward into the computer screen," said Anthony Soohoo, senior vice president and general manager for entertainment at CBS Interactive. But in a social viewing room, "a friend who is 3,000 miles away will actually feel like he's sitting right next to you." While watching synchronized playback of TV shows at CBS.com, viewers can chat, comment, and participate in polls and quizzes and even virtual objects such as tomatoes or kisses at the screen. The service debuts Wednesday with 15 prime-time and daytime programs with plans to expand social viewing rooms to other CBS properties such as the CW and Showtime. Intel is the exclusive sponsor of the launch. "The main purpose is that we want to build critical mass across our content," said Soohoo. "We want to have a good amount of users in a (social viewing) room--at least three or four." He declined to say what specific audience goals CBS had for the service, but said the network would be able to gauge the response after a quarter. CBS is not the first media company to try simulating screening rooms online. Entertainment portal Lycos two years ago started a similar service allowing people to convene to watch movies and TV shows, including ABC's "Wildfire." CBS may hope its own social viewing effort will help boost TV ratings as well . At a recent industry event, Patrick Keane, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at CBS Interactive, noted that 35% of the networks' viewers say they are watching more TV because of programs distributed online.
Brands should never have to hear "it's not my job" from media buyers and planners, so Mediasmith developed a bundled service that supports emerging technologies, social media and search in one package. The San Francisco-based company will introduce the offering, dubbed M3, today. The bundled service puts Mediasmith at the helm of managing and executing several parts of any campaign to eliminate chaos and calm the nerves of buyers at brands trying to direct and outsource projects. Technology has opened the door to give brands hundreds of options for where to place ads and grab consumer attention. One agency might handle search, while another supports social media because it involves content distribution and seeding. While supporting content on Facebook, for example, may not require a media buy, it still involves strategy, tactics, trafficking, distribution and optimization. Offering the service through a bundled service creates a one-stop shop for clients, according to David L. Smith, founder and CEO, Mediasmith. "The media buying world has begun to see the affects of Moore's Law," Smith said. "The number of new options available to us is growing. How many different sites like Digg and Reddit are available? How many microblogging options for Twitter? In China there are between eight and 10." Similar to the growth spurt now in social and media sites, the observation made by Intel cofounder Gordon Moore suggests that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits has doubled every year since ICs were invented. Moore predicted that this trend would continue. Smith said buyers and planners now must consider hundred of options when planning media buys for clients and the hope is the new bundled service will ease the process.
The National Association of Broadcasters has asked the Federal Communications Commission to delay a Nov. 4 vote on whether to approve use of the "white space" spectrum for wireless broadband. In an emergency request filed late last week, the group argued that it needed more time to review a 400-page report outlining test results that was made public last Wednesday. "In light of the complexity of the report and critical issues raised by this proceeding, the Commission should issue a public notice seeking comment," the group argued. The broadcast organization is asking the FCC to delay a vote for at least 70 days for additional comments. FCC chair Kevin Martin has been a big proponent of the plan to open the white space spectrum, or unused TV airwaves, for wireless broadband. Internet access advocates like Free Press also support the plan, which they say will spur growth of wireless computing. Because the airwaves used for television transmit through walls and over large areas, it should be easier for companies to blanket an area with wireless broadband by using white spaces rather than the less powerful Wi-Fi spectrum. A large portion of the radio airwave spectrum will be free in February, when TV stations stop broadcasting on analog airwaves. Google and Microsoft back the plan, but traditional broadcasters oppose it, on the theory that using white spaces for wireless broadband could interfere with TV signals. FCC spokesman Robert Kenny said the agency was still mulling the broadcasters' filing. "We just received their request and are reviewing it. It is, however, important to note that this proceeding has been open for several years and recently included multiple rounds of testing in the lab and field, which were open to the public and provided all interested parties with ample opportunities to comment and provide input," he said. Last week, the FCC said the tests showed "proof of concept" that white spaces could be used for broadband as long as spectrum sensing and geo-location techniques were deployed. But the broadcasters said that tests showed that spectrum-sensing isn't reliable.
Despite the increasing interest in online advertising, there remains a perception that brands can target men best by hitting them on the couch while they're staring at the tube. But old viewing habits are changing faster than people think. To get a better sense for this shift, we commissioned a study to understand men ages 18-34 and to better gauge their thoughts on online advertising. The results clearly demonstrate that you need to reach them online with a variety of ad types, engagement and humor. We surveyed 500 men ages 18-34, with the help of Hall and Partners, and found that the Internet is far more essential to men's daily lives than TV. Nearly 70%, for instance, said they could not live without the Internet, compared with about 30% who said the same thing about TV. In addition, 40% of men polled indicated that they use the Internet for nearly a full day (22 hours) every week, often for entertainment and socializing. These findings support the notion that the Internet now rivals television as the primary destination for content consumption, within this demographic. Nearly 60% said they notice online ads, and nearly half said they have purchased a product as a result of an online ad. Those are powerful numbers in today's economy and in an era when the Internet and television networks are battling for marketing dollars. Our findings also found that mobile is the up-and-coming platform, with nearly two-thirds of the respondents saying they own a smart phone, and a quarter saying they surf the Web from a mobile device. The wave of Web-surfing via mobile devices is also gathering momentum, and we predict exponential growth in demand for mobile Web entertainment and information during the next 12-24 months. When crafting a message, it is clear that men will always be men. In 1902, a book called "Successful Advertising: How to Accomplish It" advised in a chapter on advertising to men: "He wants a quick story, interestingly told....a joke or a wee bit of humor helps the ad once in a while. But humor must be used right." Those words have staying power 106 years later. Our survey found that not only does humor rank among the top video preference, but men were also more receptive to ads that were incorporated into contests or had interactive components. Humor a century ago was the chief way to engage men; today it's that plus more literal engagement activities. Brands that embrace and create campaigns specific to the digital space will better reach men, ages 18-34. Through this research we wanted to create a guide for advertisers looking to validate online ad spend and determine the best creative ad formats to help drive engagement and build brands. Clearly the online medium is delivering the message. With more men spending more time with the growing online medium, brands that want to reach the male 18-34 consumer must make online advertising part of their marketing mix.