Beginning what some analysts see as the beginning of a slippery slide away from wholly ad-supported models, Hulu on Tuesday debuted Hulu Plus -- its premium service that will charge consumers $9.99 a month for carte blanche content access over multiple platforms. When Hulu debuted in mid-2007, it was viewed as a potential threat to cable and satellite providers that charge a premium for content -- and in some cases ad-supported content. Hulu Plus, which will include some advertising, could therefore be seen as an admission that advertising alone is not enough to support premium content online. Not so, says senior eMarketer analyst David Hallerman. "It's an expansion of Hulu's business rather than a failure," he says. "What they're offering here is a deep catalog of content, and studies I've seen show that about a quarter of [consumer] respondents are willing to pay for that." Meanwhile, Hulu is positioning its subscription service as the perfect vehicle for marketers to target advertising across four screens. Initially, Hulu Plus is partnering with Nissan and Bud Light, and said it expects to include additional advertisers shortly. Hulu says is has been profitable for several quarters, and it is reportedly on pace to generate $200 million in advertising this year. Still, it's unclear whether any of its five owners -- NBC Universal, News Corp., Disney, and Providence Equity Partners -- are presently earning what they consider to be meaningful revenue from the site. Sweetening the deal for potential subscribers, Hulu Plus will be available over multiple platforms, including Apple's iPhone and iPad, as well as on some television sets via select 2010 Samsung Blu-ray players and Blu-ray Home Theater systems. Soon, Hulu says Hulu Plus subscribers will be able to access content through the PlayStation3 and Xbox video game consoles. Hulu Plus subscribers will have access to episodes of more than 45 current series from ABC, Fox and NBC -- from "Modern Family" to "Family Guy," along with full series runs and numerous back seasons of dozens of classics from "The X-Files" to "Miami Vice." In total, the Hulu Plus library aggregates content from more than 100 providers across broadcast networks, major studios and independent content creators. Still, isn't $120 a year a lot to pay for content, much of which can be consumed to varying degrees online? Not for many consumers, insists eMarketer's Hallerman. "The underlying key to all this is available content," he says. Late Friday, Hulu said its founding CTO and SVP of audience Eric Feng was leaving the company -- the first key departure for the company. Three existing Hulu executives will be taking over Feng's responsibilities beginning with Eugene Wei, who is taking on the audience business; Rich Tom, who will be heading technology, and Ting-hao Yang, who will be leading the China tech team.
As the ad industry waits with anticipation for Apple to unleash a new era in applications-based advertising with its new iAds, new consume research indicates app users are prone to use them when making purchase decisions, and are much more likely to be influenced by them than by other emerging platforms, including social media. The study, "Smartphone Apps: General and TV-Related Usage," which is being released today by Knowledge Networks, also finds marked differences among users of various smartphone technologies, including iPhone, Android and Blackberry operating systems. "The portability of apps means that they can travel with people as they shop, and the proportion of smartphone users - particularly iPhone users - already using them while shopping is eye-opening," stated David Tice, vice president and group account director at Knowledge Networks. "We also found that, even before [the] iAd has launched, advertising in an app is an effective way to take advantage of this symbiosis. Taking the opportunity further by creating a custom app is another, potentially more powerful approach." Specifically, the study shows that 40% of smartphone users turn to them when making shopping decisions, and nearly a third say they are more likely to purchase products from companies that use apps, twice as many as those who said the same for companies that utilize social media (see table below). The findings, which are based on an online survey conducted in April among 1,004 smartphone owners ages 13-54, also indicate that smartphone owners are generally receptive to advertising in apps, but that iPhone owners appear to be more receptive than owners of other smartphones. The study also found that iPhone users are about three times more likely to have paid apps, and average about 29 apps on their phones vs. 19 for Android users and only four for Blackberry users. Inclination To Purchase From Advertisers In Emerging Media Smartphones HDTV Social Media I am more inclined to purchase from companies advertising on... 32% 19% 16%
AOL on Tuesday relaunched MapQuest with a new "brand identity" and features to support consumers' increasing demand for locally relevant Web content. As such, the site now integrates directory information from AOL's hyper-local news and information platform Patch into its search results. Patch's directory includes restaurants, stores, government offices, local services, parks and schools. Christian Dwyer, SVP and general manager of MapQuest, said the changes reflect AOL's renewed focus on content, and finding creative ways to incorporate it into consumers' Web experience. "Under the new leadership at AOL, we have invested in creating a new user experience that helps users discover what is there, nearby and along the way, making it more than how to get from Point A to Point B," said Dwyer. Other new features include one-box search for finding directions, maps and businesses; improved My Maps with a simpler login process using existing services from OpenID to Twitter; and the ability to more easily save and customize information -- including My Maps trip itineraries -- and share it with friends via social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. MapQuest reached more than 49.1 million users in May, according to comScore. Still, the service has faced competition from Google Maps, and newcomer Bing Maps. Jon Brod, EVP of AOL Ventures, Local & Mapping, describes MapQuest as "a central part of AOL's Local and Mapping strategy." Therefore, "enhancing the brand identity, improving the UI and incorporating original content from Patch are all steps toward revitalizing the MapQuest brand and making it more relevant to consumers." AOL has therefore created a new logo for MapQuest, featuring the service's initials, and which Brod considers equal parts simple, clean, and fun. Trying to stay one step ahead of mobile rivals, MapQuest recently announced the availability of basic voice guidance on MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone. As part of AOL's broader local push, the company recently announced plans to revive its City's Best brand in 25 markets by September. City's Best is an eight-year-old brand, which AOL stopped funding in late 2008. The site, which features entertainment recommendations, is expected to combine professional editorial with consumer opinions and straightforward voting features.
What a difference two years makes. In its latest monthly metrics report, AdMob looks at changes in the mobile ad landscape between May 2010 and the same period two years earlier. The study highlights some dramatic shifts. In May 2008, for instance, the Nokia N70 accounted for the largest share of ad requests, with 10.8%, compared to 3.5% for the iPhone. Fast forward to last month, and the iPhone generates nearly 40% of ad requests, while the N70 has only 2.5%. That's a snapshot of the diverging fortunes of Apple and Nokia in the last couple of years, with the Finnish mobile phone giant losing ground to Apple and other competitors in the smartphone race. Smartphones overall have proliferated, driving 46% of ad requests last month compared to 22% in 2008. High-end phones running Google's Android operating system in particular have a fast-growing presence on the AdMob network. While the iPhone is still by far the leading device by ad requests, 7 of the top 10 phones are Android phones, including the Motorola Droid, HTC Magic and HTC Hero. Android's gains have come at the iPhone's expense--the 40% of ad requests the Apple device drives is down from 48% a year ago. Devices running Apple's iOS platform and Android phones both show higher proportions of mobile Web and app usage than other smartphone platforms. Apple, for example, had a 15% share of the smartphone market as of the first quarter, but accounted for 40% of usage. Obviously, the 200,000 apps available in the App Store play a big part in driving up Apple's share of data use. Android devices, likewise, represented 10% of smartphones sold in the first quarter, but generated 26% of Web browsing and app usage. BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion, by contrast, had 19% of smartphone sales, but made up only 6% of usage on AdMob's network. While iPhone and Android users have similar habits, twice as many iPhone (and iPod touch) users regularly download paid apps as their Android counterparts. Half of iPhone owners said they bought one or more apps a month compared to 21% of Android users and 24% of Palm (webOS) users. Again, Apple's dominance isn't surprising since it offers a much bigger app catalog than either of the other two smartphone systems. When it comes to the iPad, AdMob said the bulk of users of the Apple tablet so far have been in the U.S. (58%), followed by Japan (5 %), United Kingdom and China (each 4%), and Canada (3%). AdMob rival Millennial Media said ad requests on its network from the iPad were up 160% in May over April, when the device was released. Since then, Apple has said more than 3 million iPads have been sold. With its May report, AdMob said in a blog post it plans to take a break from issuing its monthly analytics reports "while we consider how to re-invent the report to make it more useful and relevant." The company's $750 million acquisition by Google was approved in May after a six-month antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. AdMob's research is based on data collected from ad requests across its network of more than 23,000 mobile Web sites and iPhone, Android, webOS and Flash Lite applications.
Facebook's $9.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit stemming from the Beacon program is facing additional legal challenges from users who say they should have been compensated for alleged privacy violations. The users, Benjamin Trotter and Megan Marek, late last week filed an appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg's decision approving the controversial deal. They join privacy advocate Ginger McCall, who last week filed a separate appeal of the settlement. The agreement calls for Facebook to shutter Beacon and create a $9.5 million settlement fund, two-thirds of which will be used to launch a new privacy foundation; the remainder will go to attorneys' fees). That organization will be directed by a three-person board that includes Facebook's director of public policy, Tim Sparapani. The new foundation won't launch until the appeal is resolved, Facebook said. Spokesperson Barry Schnitt said in a statement that the company is "disappointed to see an additional delay of the foundation's important work." He added that there were no grounds to vacate Seeborg's decision approving the settlement. The deal stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by 19 consumers over Facebook's Beacon ad program, which told users about their friends' online retail activity. The program initially operated by default, but Facebook later moved to an opt-in system. Facebook also has agreed to pay the 19 plaintiffs amounts ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. No other Facebook members would receive any monetary compensation under the deal. Trotter and Marek first objected to the settlement in February, arguing that it was "woefully inadequate" because it didn't involve any monetary payment to the vast majority of people whose privacy was allegedly violated by Beacon. They also argued that the settlement gave Facebook too much control over the new foundation. "The fact that the foundation is to be administered by Facebook and its minions in the absence of clear and concise guidelines for external independent oversight and monitoring is a major problem which cannot be glossed over," they argued. David Stampley, a partner in KamberLaw -- the firm that represented the plaintiffs -- said the decision approving the settlement was correct and that consumers will benefit from a speedy resolution of the appeal.
BlueGlass Interactive will soon have a chief executive officer to lead the newly formed agency. The CEO could come from Zimba, which Yahoo bought for $350 million and then sold to VMware, according to a source close to the deal. Chris Winfield, chief marketing officer and managing partner at BlueGlass, declined to discuss the high-profile new hire, because negotiations continue. He did, however, talk about the company's direction after merging 10e20, Search & Social, Brent Csutora, Inc. and SecondStep Search. BlueGlass plans to build out a suite of tools -- free and paid -- that it will introduce in July and then make available in mid-August for prospective clients to try. The free tools introduced next month will focus on social media, supporting tracking comments and clicks across sites. The decision stems from requests by several hundred agencies and small companies to try the tools. The platforms range from complex SEO auditing tools to matching writers with subjects, and social media tools. The four companies and seven partners took less than a month and a half to reach an agreement that created five business sectors for the agency, ranging from social media marketing to viral content to pay-per-click (PPC) search advertising and search marketing. Winfield had been in the middle of acquisition talks with larger search companies and digital agencies looking to buy a social media arm and SEO firm when the merger came down. This is not the first time Winfield tried to negotiate a buyout or partnership with another company. But talks broke down and he walked away after spending more than a year in negotiations. Nice to be in high demand, but Winfield lost about a month of sleep most recently before finally rejecting the buyout offer from one of the bigger firms. The merger puts BlueGlass offices in four cities where 40 employees support about $10 million in combined annual billings. Integrating the IT backend infrastructure becomes the biggest challenge the combined company faces today. Each ran on a different enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, but will consolidate on NetSuite, a cloud computing app from Salesforce.com. The project scheduled for completion. BlueGlass will operate under a traditional agency model and run four trade show conferences yearly. The next hits Los Angeles in July, followed by one in New York later this year. If you're wondering where the "BlueGlass" name originates, Winfield offers no clue about the "blue" but the "glass" comes from having a clear view to get through all the "bullshit, BS," or muck.
When it comes to display ads, rich media and Flash-based ads account for 40% of impressions, according to a new study of online display formats introduced Tuesday by comScore. That proportion is close to the 42% of impressions captured by static JPEG-based display ads. Animated units using the GIF format accounted for 14% of impressions. ComScore defines rich media as as encompassing high interactivity and in-page video, expandable or retractable and floating or between-the-page units. The technology behind them is powered by companies including PointRoll, EyeBlaster, EyeWonder, Unicast, and Interpolis, Motif/DoubleClick. Flash Ads can include animation, click-through functionality, and various levels of interactivity. In its new Ad Metrix Creative Summary report, comScore also looked at share of impressions by ad size. The breakdown was fairly even across different formats, with banners accounting for 23.1% of impressions; rectangles, 22.7%; non-standard ads, 22.1%; buttons, 20.7%; skyscrapers, 10.6%; pop-ups and pop-unders, 0.7%; and large ad units introduced last year by the Online Publishers Association, 0.1%. The three oversized units launched by the OPA, including a pushdown unit that has become more common on sites such as The New York Times and ESPN, were aimed at delivering higher-impact brand campaigns. "While the OPA ads are still very small in terms of total impressions, they are bound to grow and they tend to run at much higher CPMs than more standard ad formats," said Andrew Lipsman, senior director of industry analysis at comScore. While rich media and Flash command a large chunk of impressions, rich media last year accounted for only 7% of overall ad spending, according to data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. While still a small segment, digital video is one of the fastest-growing formats, increasing 39% in 2009 to $1 billion. Display ad spending overall increased 4% last year to $8 billion. The much-maligned banner ad still attracted 23% of ad dollars, about equal with its share of impressions. Adobe Flash, of course, has been banned from Apple devices by CEO Steve Jobs, but still remains a pervasive ad technology online.
Click Forensics has secured $6 million in Series "C" venture capital funding led by Austin Ventures with support from Sierra Ventures and Shasta Ventures. The company, which plans to announce the funding on Wednesday, plans to build out new audience verification products for the display advertising market to complement similar offerings available to search advertisers. Stanford University also invested a small amount in this round, and participated in the Series "B" funding. It's all about increasing transparency in search and display advertising. During the past four months, Click Forensics has been working with a handful of advertisers to build out and perfect a display advertising platform, says Paul Pellman, chief executive officer of Click Forensics. "We'll bring the same capabilities like machine learning, predictive modeling and traffic quality for clicks to the impressions space to help advertisers do a better job of verifying audiences," he says. Although it's a new market for Click Forensics, it leverages many of the capabilities, infrastructure, dashboard, and service offerings. Thomas Ball, partner at Austin Ventures, told MediaPost the firm gave Click Forensics the funding to help more quickly develop solutions for the more than $22 billion annual market, as companies continue to face challenges related to display ads and audience verification because of all of the new players trying to help automate ad and audience delivery. Austin Ventures also participated in the "A" and "B" rounds, along with providing $500,000 in seed funding to kick-start Click Forensics. "We don't normally plan out the number of rounds we'll make," Ball says. "We decided to raise the Series C round to help speed the delivery of new offerings for the display advertising market." Although Ball declined to discuss Click Forensics' exit strategy, whether he sees an initial public offering or acquisition in the company's future, he explained how technology could fill the gap for transparency and accountability technology. The advent of third-party ad networks, exchanges, and DSPs has provided advertisers with more opportunities to reach larger audiences more cost-effectively, according to Ball. "Right now, however, there are really no products in the market that confirm that the audience the display advertiser bought is indeed the audience they reached," he says. "Click Forensics' experience providing these solutions for search advertisers make it suited to deliver them for display."
Yahoo Search began displaying an unexpected "Warning: Dangerous Downloads" notice for PRWeb-related search queries earlier this week. The warning began serving up midday Monday, but the press release service did all it could on its own before alerting the search engine and McAfee to the problem. PRWeb emailed McAfee on Tuesday morning and by the end of the day the company known for protecting Web searches against viruses, malware and more claimed to have the problem fixed. No word on exactly what caused the glitch, but McAfee says the problem has been fixed and it's just a matter of time until Yahoo crawls, indexes and updates site files. Yahoo Search partnered with Web security company McAfee to scan search results for dangerous Web sites years ago. SearchScan by Yahoo Search, powered by McAfee, helps alert consumers to sites with security concerns such as hacking risks, downloads, and unsolicited emails. A Yahoo spokesperson told MediaPost the glitch was not related to the Yahoo-Microsoft search alliance. The error messages did not serve up in Bing search query results. The tool remains in beta. Jiyan Wei, director of product management at PRWeb, says the majority of URLs serve up in search results with the McAfee warning flag. "The flag links to McAfee's full report, along with a diagnostics report that includes an overall evaluation," he says. "The files indicated no threat, and point to specific files. Domains have executable files McAfee lists." The site also has a meter for those executable files. They download those files on their servers and test them. One file indicated a "6" on a 10-point scale out of 33 executable files PRWeb hosted. 31 shows a "0" and one indicated a "3." PRWeb tested the files. No viruses were found. The files link to photos, presentations or Web sites that augment press releases sent out as part of the service. Wei removed all executable files, so the Yahoo results would serve up clean. Although queries may serve up clean in the long run, it's not clear if PRWeb's reputation will come out of this untarnished. Gerry Bavaro, vice president and managing director at Resolution Media, an Omnicom Media Group company, says similar to quantifying the impact of negative listings to core brand queries when managing reputation in search, if this is a Yahoo glitch tied to the deal with McAfee, there could be quantifiable impact to PRWeb in which Yahoo or McAfee should compensate. McAfee thought a downloadable file on prweb.com was detected as a Trojan, but diagnosing the issue proved otherwise, according to a McAfee spokesperson, who declined to detail the problem. The warning began disappearing from Yahoo search results late Tuesday afternoon, Pacific time. PRWeb explained the problem in a blog post.
Canadian construction company Govan Brown & Associates is seeking to unmask two anonymous Gmail users who allegedly blasted the company in an email stating it had "defrauded" the Ontario Lottery Corporation. "Using anonymous email identities and other means of secreting their identities, certain persons or entities distributed highly disparaging and defamatory remarks about [Govan Brown] to members of the Canadian project and construction management community," the company alleges in court papers filed last week in federal court in the Northern District of California. Govan Brown alleges that it initially attempted to unmask the users in Canada, but says Google refused to reveal the IP addresses connected with the accounts unless a U.S. court ordered it to do so. Google declined to comment on this lawsuit, but a spokesperson said the company's policy is to not release information about users "unless it's reasonably necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request." Govan Brown alleges in its court papers that someone used the account privateemailss@gmail.com last October to send an email accusing the company of running a "scam," according to court papers. That email allegedly went to Govan Brown's competitors as well as the police and the media. The message allegedly included assertions that Govan Brown "is corrupt," "knowingly works with corrupt subcontractors," "charged or kept fees for non-existent work," and that the company has bribed officials to obtain jobs and contracts," according to Govan Brown's court papers. The following month, the president of the company received an email from toddschmtz85@gmail.com was sent to the president of the company. On that same day, the company allegedly learned about a "defamatory" letter sent to Fidelity Investments Canada asserting that Govan Brown "took part in price fixing and/or kick back schemes." Govan Brown's lawyers declined to comment for this article. This case marks one in a series of lawsuits in which people have attempted to unmask email users and bloggers. Last year, model Liskula Cohen successfully unmasked a blogger who created the site Skanks In NYC -- which a New York state judge ruled potentially defamed Cohen. But earlier this year, a judge in New York rejected a request by Sandals to learn the identity of a Gmail user who allegedly sent an email criticizing the vacation resort's hiring policies as racist. The judge in that case ruled that the email wasn't defamatory because it was opinion.