Rumors of Wenda Harris Millard's imminent plans to join MySpace are categorically false, the former head of Martha Stewart Living Co. told Online Media Daily on Thursday afternoon. "It's not true, and I'm furious that this is being reported as fact," said Millard, who is presently vacationing on the Adriatic Sea. "This has ruined my vacation." Rather, consultancy firm Media Link -- where Millard has served as president since April -- was recently hired by MySpace to advise the company on matters regarding ad strategy, according to Millard."We are working with Media Link to improve our advertising product for our users as well as for our advertising partners," MySpace chief executive Owen Van Natta wrote in a blog post on Thursday afternoon. "As part of the broader strategic relationship Media Link will help manage our day-to-day sales organization under the leadership of Wenda Harris Millard."Van Natta also confirmed that Berman has decided to leave MySpace "to explore other opportunities" after nearly three and a half years at the company. Early Thursday afternoon, All Things Digital reported that Millard "is poised to take over all advertising sales at MySpace," citing an unnamed source. This accompanied news that MySpace's current ad sales head Jeff Berman is leaving the company. In the post, the industry blog did clearly state that Millard would remain in her job at Media Link, "which has also been hired by MySpace to advise on restructuring the social networking company's salesforce." Still, Millard emphasized to Online Media Daily that her relationship with MySpace would be no different than that of any company that hires Media Link. "We're a consultancy -- hello?!" said a clearly perturbed Millard. "I just made a big move a few months ago; I'm the president of Media Link; I wouldn't make this change now." Millard joined Media Link from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, where she has been co-CEO and president. Previously, Millard was chief sales officer at Yahoo, and prior to that was chief internet officer at Ziff Davis Media and president of Ziff Davis Internet.
An open source tool that Google created to test and compare site search results from two separate search engines has been made available for free. Side-by-Side, offered through Enterprise Labs, lets employees test and rate results from two different search queries on the same body of data while searching a company's intranet to determine the one that provides the better results. It allows users to tell search administrators whether the correct results come to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) by allowing them to compare two engines side by side. For example, it would allow users to view side-by-side results from a company's existing site search engine, and Google Search Appliance 6.0, the latest release. People who use the tool see two panes on the screen, each containing a set of search results. Only 25% of businesses have enterprise search solutions, says Cyrus Mistry, Google product manager for Side-by-Side, citing a recent stat from the marketing department. "I would have thought most companies have something," he says. "We think of enterprise search as an overarching search-all-of-your-system solution, but many times companies will have a portal and tools that come integrated with search." The company's administrator decides the set of queries, and users visit an internal Web site where they see the queries and vote on the set of search results they prefer. After voting, a side-by-side tool reveals the site that received the most votes. It also lets companies test configurations, shows results, and determines whether there's enough data to be statistically significant. Side-by-Side is available for free on the Google Enterprise Labs Web site. Mistry says Google developed the tool for internal use when Google employees needed an easy way to test one search configuration versus another. "We experimented with many of the old-fashioned ways that were very cumbersome," he says. "We would make them rank every query for every result -- literally all results." When Mistry first arrived at Mountain View, Calif.-based Google three years ago, he was given 75 queries to test. Knowing there is a much easier method to accomplish the same task, he put a bug in the ears of Google engineers to create a side-by-side comparison tool to see the two sets of results. The tool would enable users to vote on the one that performed better. In the end, users just want to see the best results at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), he says. About 25,000 enterprise search customers use one of Google's site search tools: Google Site Search, Google Search Appliance, or Google Mini.
Seeking as large an audience as possible, Lifetime Digital has decided to stream full episodes of "Project Runway" online. The show's sixth season -- but its first on Lifetime Television -- is set to debut Thursday night. This marks the first time that the show's full-length episodes will be available online. Available on Lifetime On Demand, the full episodes will add to the more than 500 exclusive video clips, including behind-the-scenes footage, to be rolled out throughout the season. "Our goal is to satisfy the most passionate fans of the show," said Dan Suratt, EVP of digital media and business development at Lifetime Networks. Critics and fans alike are watching closely to see how Lifetime handles Project Runway, which has flourished for five seasons on NBC Universal's Bravo. Lifetime -- jointly owned by Hearst and Disney -- only recently won the rights to promote and broadcast the reality show after its producer, Weinstein Co., and NBC Universal settled a lawsuit over contract rights. Pulling out all the stops, Lifetime Digital has created a highly interactive destination site for the show, including community features, discussion forums, groups, member profiles, and photo "face-offs." A "Project Runway" Buzz Room custom application was designed to aggregate Twitter messages and Facebook public posts around popular tags and keywords. Providing fans with a centralized digital location to tap into the show's "buzz," the Buzz Room will also feature posts from show designers and models, and designers from previous seasons. Previous "Project Runway" designers Nick Verreos, Andrae Gonzalo and Chris March will each provide weekly blog updates on the "Project Runway" show site following each episode. Their blogs will join a lineup that includes weekly updates from hosts Nina Garcia and Michael Kors, and the official "Project Runway" and "Models of the Runway" blogs, written and updated by Lifetime Digital producers. Designed as an open platform, site visitors can access the Buzz Room with their Facebook Connect or Twitter log-ins, and have the option of simultaneously surfacing their posts in the room on their Twitter or Facebook pages. In addition, an interactive photo gallery will now allow fans to view multiple design photos and zoom in on images for a closer look.
Facebook has begun letting third-party developers sell virtual and physical goods through the Facebook Gift Shop, signaling a major expansion of the social network's virtual e-commerce business. According to the Inside Facebook blog, Facebook last night began allowing a limited number of users to buy virtual -- and for the first time, physical -- gifts like flowers and stuffed animals, from a set of four app developers: American Greetings Interactive, GreetBeatz, Someecards and Real Gifts. The move also broadens Facebook's online payment system, which the social network began testing in a few third-party apps in May and lets users pay for virtual or other goods with its virtual currency--Facebook credits. When someone clicks a "Pay with Facebook" button, a box appears showing the total price in Facebook credits and offering credit purchase options such as MasterCard and Visa. Facebook's own virtual gifts will still generally sell for $1 (10 credits equal $1) -- but some physical gifts, such as a dozen roses, will go for up to $50, or 500 credits. Developers will generate an estimated $300 million to $500 million in revenue this year from transactions within apps on Facebook that currently offer payment options via credit card, PayPal and other providers such as Offerpal Media and SuperRewards. If Facebook can grab a portion of this growing market, it could evolve into a key revenue stream for the company. "Between the Gift Shop and payment service for developers, Facebook is in the unique position to build a robust commerce business and simultaneously create powerful new monetization opportunities for developers," wrote Inside Facebook's Justin Smith. "And because all items in the Facebook Gift Shop are purchased with Facebook Credits, a growing gifts business expands the footprint of Facebook's virtual currency." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in June told Smith that payments could play a big part in the company's future. "I think it has the potential to be really important. Its potential correlates with how valuable it is to developers and users," he said. He also suggested that its payment system could expand online via Facebook Connect, its system for letting users log onto third-party sites with their Facebook ID. Opening up its virtual store also offers new e-commerce opportunities for well-known brands and celebrities. Facebook last week began selling a new set of virtual gifts emblazoned with images of Britney Spears for $2 apiece in partnership with the pop star. It's not hard to envision other celebrities and corporate brands following suit. For its part, Facebook said it is testing the inclusion of third-party apps in the gift shop with the initial small group of developers, and will provide more details on the programs as it goes forward.
The lawyer defending the first person accused of felony cyberbullying in Missouri says his client intends to fight the charges on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional. "The law criminalizes behavior that, but for the medium -- which in this case is the Internet -- would otherwise be legal," says attorney Mike Kielty. "That's in and of itself patently ridiculous." He represents Elizabeth Thrasher, who was arrested this week for allegedly posting photos of a 17-year-old girl -- as well as her email address, cell phone number and place of employment -- on Craigslist's casual encounters section. The listing also included language "that could be construed as sexual in nature," according to the court papers. The teen is the daughter of the girlfriend of Thrasher's ex-husband. Thrasher was charged with violating a one-year-old Missouri law that makes it a felony for an adult to recklessly cause emotional distress to someone under the age of 18 by posting material online. That law was enacted after a victim of an Internet hoax, 13-year-old Megan Meier, killed herself. Kielty argues that the same conduct that Thrasher allegedly engaged in wouldn't be considered criminal if it occurred offline. He characterizes the Craigslist ad as equivalent to writing "For a good time, call Jane Doe" on a bathroom wall -- activity that, he says, would not be a crime in Missouri. Not everyone agrees. "He's absolutely dead wrong," says Parry Aftab, a national expert on Internet crime and safety. She says that criminal laws are not unconstitutional simply because they target online activity. For instance, a federal law on the books since 1999 makes it a felony to use the Internet to provoke the sexual harassment or exploitation of children 16 and under. While the victim in this case was 17, the law itself is constitutional even though it's specific to the Web, Aftab says. Aftab also says that Thrasher might have violated other federal statutes here. "All I can say is, what was she thinking?" Aftab says. "I am very angry that anyone would do something like this to a minor." But Kielty says that the incident has been blown out of proportion. He says that the alleged conduct was "inappropriate and a bad idea," but adds that all of the facts have not come out yet. "This didn't happen in a vacuum. There's a lot that's led up to it," he says. The next hearing in Thrasher's case is scheduled for Aug. 31.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) decreased the amount spent on advertising and promotions by 23.5% to $2,092 this past year, compared with the previous year, according to a study released Thursday. The Kelsey Group's study, "The Local Commerce Monitor Wave XIII," suggests that the penetration of digital and online media rose to 77% in August 2009 -- up from 73% in August 2008 -- while traditional media declined to 69% from 74%, respectively. Despite the overall decline during the past 12 months, on average SMBs increased spending on Web sites and profile pages by 26.8% to $769 in 2009, up from $608 in the previous year. The study also suggests an increase in SMBs using the Internet to track or measure sources of new business leads. Of businesses that track lead sources, the percentage that taps the Internet via clicks or e-mails rose to 30% in 2009, up from 22% in 2008. As a percentage of total advertising for the SMBs surveyed, digital and online increased from 22% to 36.8% during the past year, according to the study. While it's no surprise that small and medium-sized businesses have accelerated the shift to digital and online advertising, taking money from traditional media, Steve Marshall, director of research, The Kelsey Group, says "it's the degree in which the shift is happening, because last year the SMBs told us contributions to both online and traditional advertising would remain about even." It's no surprise that this year's study suggests SMBs have hunkered down to hunt for new customers and retain existing ones. More are experimenting with video advertising, and some with mobile, and others have ventured into contextual targeting ads. Behavioral targeting, which relies on browser cookies and Web site page code, remains a bit complicated and out of reach. About 18% of the SMBs participating in The Kelsey Group study use blogs, which remains flat from the year-ago study. While Marshall chose to keep some details from The Local Commerce Monitor Wave XIII study under wraps until mid-September, he did say that SMBs have increased their use of directional media that targets specific consumers to take action, email and direct marketing. The study released August 2008, suggests that 9% of SMBs bought pay-per-click (PPC) advertising -- up slightly this year. Last year's study also revealed that 40% used search engine optimization (SEO) to make it easier for engines to find, index and serve up their sites. "In this year's study, the use of pay-per-click advertising was weaker than expected," Marshall says, but more companies with Web sites or business profiles are using SEO. The latest wave of BIA/Kelsey's Local Commerce Monitor study was conducted with research partner ConStat. The study defines "penetration" as the percentage of SMBs using a given type of media, regardless of spending level. The survey, conducted at least once yearly since 1999, provides insight into 40 questions, covering subjects from media budgets to sales channels. The sampling comes from 300 companies.
Forrester Research social media guru Jeremiah Owyang announced Thursday on his blog that he is exiting the firm after two years, promising to disclose his new gig next week. In an interview, Owyang said he's heading to a small consulting firm where he will continue to focus on social media and emerging technologies. He wouldn't say what firm he was joining. Former colleague and prominent technology and business analyst Charlene Li left Forrester last year to found digital strategy firm Altimeter Group. With Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff, she also authored "Groundswell," a business-oriented guide to social media. Owyang declined to comment on whether Altimeter Group would be his next employer. While at Forrester, he gained prominence as a social media expert through public appearances and his actively updated Web Strategy blog. Now, he will parlay that experience into working more directly with companies on digital strategy. "As one would expect, one of the greatest benefits of being an industry analyst is seeing where trends are pointing and identify the direction of the market. Having studied this market in-depth as an analyst, I'm looking forward to getting back into the field to apply them," he wrote Thursday.
Online advertising raises retail sales of consumer packaged-goods by 9% -- one percentage point more than TV ads, according to comScore and DunnhumbyUSA, which monitored the online behavior and CPG purchases of 200,000 consumers (out of comScore's total panel of 2 million). comScore and Dunnhumby USA collected data on each panelist's purchase behavior via supermarket loyalty cards. Data on purchase decisions can be matched anonymously to data about online behavior through supermarket loyalty cards, which typically identify the holder with a unique number corresponding to a bar code. The research companies claim this methodology allows them to correlate CPG purchase decisions with exposure to online ad campaigns by comparing the behavior of consumers exposed to CPG ads versus those who didn't. Product categories included cereal, cookie mixes, pizza, juice drinks, snack bars, pasta, tea, deodorants and toothpaste. The brands and products in question were advertised with both static and "rich media" online display ads. The study found four out of five online CPG display ad campaigns produced some measurable increase in supermarket CPG sales, with an overall sales lift of 9%. This compares with figures of 36% campaign impact and 8% retail lift from TV ads. The latter figure was drawn from a study by Information Resources, based on data collected by IR's BehaviorScan system; like the comScore-Dunnhumby study, IR compared the purchase behaviors of two groups of TV viewers, one of which was exposed to certain TV CPG ad campaigns. For several years, media researchers have touted the potential of loyalty card systems in combination with behavioral tracking as a way to measure the offline impact of online ads (the effect on "brick-and-mortar" retail sales). This approach can also be piggybacked or combined with coupon incentive systems -- already included in most loyalty programs -- that invite consumers to download virtual coupons to their loyalty account or mobile device. Most big supermarket chains have moved to offer more coupons via mobile devices and loyalty cards. In May, Tom Thumb and Randall's -- both owned by Safeway -- revealed they are cooperating with General Mills, Unilever and Kimberly-Clark to offer shoppers 21 coupons for goods like prepackaged tossed salad and children's cereal. Shoppers who have a loyalty card can view and select the digital coupons they want by visiting the store's Web site on their computer or mobile device. The selected coupons are registered on their loyalty account, and automatically deducted when the cashier swipes their loyalty card. The infrastructure for the system was created by Cellfire, a company specializing in mobile coupon distribution; it also handles operations and other technical issues.
Tasked with developing a national broadband plan by February, the Federal Communications Commission is now seeking the public's help in defining the term. "The Recovery Act requires the Commission to develop a national broadband plan that seeks to ensure access to broadband capability for the entire United States. An understanding of what constitutes 'broadband' thus is essential to evaluating the extent to which 'broadband capability' is available," the agency said in a public notice issued Thursday. In the past, the FCC was criticized for using outdated definitions of "high-speed." Until last year, the FCC defined broadband as Web service that allowed downloads at a speed of at least 200 kbps. Last year, the agency re-defined broadband as service that's at least 768 kbps. A report earlier this year by Akamai said that U.S. Web users had average broadband speeds of 3.9 Mbps -- lower than average speeds in 16 other countries. The FCC is requesting input on a variety of factors, including how to account for the rapid pace of technological change. "The Internet and broadband networks have been characterized by rapid evolution and change," the agency stated. "While a static set of objectively measured thresholds may be useful to compare networks at a given time, or over time, a static definition will fail to address changing needs and habits."
Studio One Networks, a leader in content syndication, launched a business model 10 years ago that married old media to new. It's proven so viable, president and CEO Andrew Susman, now celebrating his company's milestone, touts its progress as a "decade of delivery." Given the volatile media landscape, SON is a study in bottom-line economics embracing changing content delivery systems. Founded by Bob Blackmore, formerly the head of sales for NBC TV Network and chairman of the American Advertising Federation, and Susman, former director, business development, Time Inc., Studio One's total network reach, according to its latest numbers, is 112 million users. Susman says that is built on a foundation of 500 media partners, 50 advertisers and 25 content categories. The CEO credits his company's success to "better quality content, enhanced user engagement, lower costs for our media partners and stronger consumer bonds at scale for our sponsors." The winning strategy was lifted from the golden age of radio and TV -- to create targeted programs underwritten by corporate sponsors. (Think Jack Benny and Jello, Milton Berle and the Texaco Star Theater.) The modern twist -- to run them cross-platform from the Web to TV to radio, syndicated in partnership with major media outlets such as CBS, AOL, ABC and World Now. The formula may sound old-school -- high involvement content, business to lifestyle, without commercial saturation -- but in an age of clutter, it has clicked. Studio One is part of the content inventory of its media partners, not the ad inventory. Currently, the network has 10 programs online sponsored by five top marketers and carried by more than 500 publishers -- including the Web outlets of the five major broadcast networks, as well as Facebook and Twitter. Part of its survival is due to fiscal discipline: SON only runs shows that a sponsor will support, created by an expert, that reach a targeted, responsive audience. For example, "Driving Today," SON's longest-running show, is sponsored by Bridgestone. The managing editor is Jack R. Nerad, who co-hosts "America on the Road" on the Mutual Radio Network. "Driving" has 350 online media partners and is broadcast on more than 300 radio stations. Similarly, shows such as Nestle's "Your Baby Today" get an opening and closing credit and a "brought to you by" line. Research conducted by American Demographics and Next Century Media confirmed that the average visit to a SON site was 14 minutes. In partnership with AD, new methodology -- the sponsorship effectiveness index -- was produced. The findings, first published in the Advertising Research Foundation Journal in December 2006, found the lift in awareness, consideration and purchase intent was seven times the TV average, while click-through rates on programs approached 8%. Finding success at home, SON went global. "Your Security Resource," sponsored by Symantec, is in 14 languages worldwide and syndicated to Toshiba, EarthLink, Hewlett Packard, E- Bay, Lenovo Web sites. Building on its international appeal, SON launched its latest big initiative: Studio One World Service. "We are currently syndicating in France, India, Russia, Germany and Mexico and will be expanding the networks according to demand. We are especially excited to move into China and Japan," adds Susman. In conjunction with Studio One World Service, SON joined the board of Business for Diplomatic Action, chaired by former DDB exec Keith Reinhard. Together, alongside companies like Pepsi, McDonald's and Hughes Aircraft, the goal is to extend the positive perception of America internationally through business cooperation. To solidify its professional base, Studio One also chartered the Internet Content Syndication Council, which now counts 80+ members, including Reuters, Google, AP, P&G, Brightcove and IDG. Next up, Studio One is eying mobile apps. It has done short flights with Sprint and Nextel, but plans to do more as it moves into Asia, where mobile reach and engagement figures are higher. "When looking into the future, we feel anybody can develop around a new technology or medium," says Susman, "but not anybody can create differentiated content."
If you have ever been to Europe in August you are familiar with the notion of businesses locking the door for the month while the owners take to their vacation villas and cabanas. That you can't get your dry cleaning back until after Labor Day is your problem. It used to be the advertising and media businesses were kinda like that with half days on Friday so buyers and planners could beat the traffic out to the Hamptons. But thanks to the internet/mobile-accelerated pace of business, August is just as busy as October, only you are struck with pre season NFL games instead of Florida vs Alabama. The news is no exception. Look at these tidbits you missed (if you kept your promise to your wife and stayed off your crackberry while the kids were in the lake): There Goes the First Amendment... A Vogue cover girl has won a precedent-setting court battle to unmask an anonymous blogger who called her a "skank" on the Skanks in NYC blog. In a case with potentially far-reaching repercussions, Liskula Cohen sought the identity of the blogger who maligned her so she could sue him or her for defamation. A Manhattan supreme court judge ruled that she was entitled to the information and ordered Google, which ran the offending blog, to turn it over. Since I don't have a lawyer on retainer I will refrain from my usual hysterically funny item-ending commentary such as "If you saw the picture of Liskula that accompanies the story, you might..." If God Didn't Like Them, Why Didn't He Just Strike The Buses with Lightening?... Ads, sponsored by the Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers, reading: "Don't believe in God? You are not alone," were yanked off the side of buses by the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority after receiving complaints, then after meeting with the atheist group, reversed course and put the ads back up. The ad campaign is part of an expanding national effort by Washington D.C.-based United Coalition for Reason, which has placed ads on buses or billboards in several cities, including Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, Phoenix, New Orleans, Charleston, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Mo., Denver, Boulder, Colo., Long Beach, and most curiously of all, Moscow, Idaho. The Transit Authority has since decided its advertising policy was outdated, and is changing it to better align with other policies regarding civil rights, the state's obscenity and profanity laws and the diversity of the community. The word God will be allowed under the new advertising policy. The recession in ad spending had no impact on the decision; I swear to God. If They Made Cars in Your City, Time Inc Would Kiss Your Ass Too... Time Inc has established a "reinvention bureau" in Detroit operating from a 95-year-old home, recently purchased by the company, in the city's historic West Village neighborhood. Writers and editors will live in the house for a year, blogging and writing about rebuilding Detroit. The articles will appear in Time-owned publications in business, sports, real estate and in shelter magazines like Real Simple and Coastal Living. To make it perfectly clear there is nothing eleemosynary about rooting for the Spiritual Capital of the Rust Belt, Time has begun to pitch advertisers a group-buy across titles running the reinvention coverage. I presume that includes a $4500 clunkers discount. Jonsing for G-Mail... An Internet 'detox' center looking to cure online addicts -- a first of its kind in the U.S. -- recently opened its doors in Fall City just a few miles away from Microsoft's headquarters. The 45-day program -- which costs $14,500 -- is designed specifically "to help internet and video game addicts overcome their dependence on gaming, gambling, chatting, texting and other aspects of Internet Addiction." Thankfully there was no mention of porn.