During the fourth quarter, brands saw average video viewing time double to just over two minutes, as the overall number of views also doubled. This suggests marketers are improving the quality of their content and connecting with receptive audiences, according to the latest quarterly study from Web video ad and analytics firm TubeMogul and video provider Brightcove. The jump in engagement could also reflect a seasonal bounce as people watched product demo videos more in connection with holiday buying. Among other key findings, broadcasters led in total minutes streamed last year, with 1.7 billion, as well as in average minutes per view. Newspaper sites finished the year second in total minutes streamed, followed by magazine sites and online media. But newspapers had the highest number of player loads (giving a user the opportunity to view a video), indicating that newspapers have video players across more pages and more total page views than other media categories. Newspapers also continued to upload new videos at a growing pace, posting 1.2 million titles in the fourth quarter -- triple the number in the prior quarter. The study found that usage rates overall increased quarter-to-quarter, with audiences watching online video longer and completion rates moving higher (up 5.7%). Broadcasters and online media had the highest completion rates in the fourth quarter, with both pushing past 50% -- the first time any categories have achieved that level. A Nielsen report last week found that time spent watching video last year climbed 45%. As a video referral source, Twitter and Facebook accounted for the highest engagement rates (as measured in minutes viewed) across all categories. Brands, however, saw the longest viewing times with referrals from Yahoo at 2:30, as compared to the two social sites, Google and Bing. Facebook was responsible for one in 10 referred video views, second only to Google as a referral source. Facebook's referral traffic increased 11% in the fourth quarter, while Google's was roughly flat, Yahoo's dropped 6%, Bing's went up 4% and Twitter's dipped 2%. The TubeMogul/Brightcove report attributed Facebook's uptick to growing support on the site for embedded video that plays in-stream, allowing for contextual viewing without requiring any redirect of traffic.
Telemundo announced the launch of its new strategic social media arm to better connect with the growing Hispanic presence on online social networks. Dubbed Social@Telemundo, the new unit will be led by Borja Perez, vice president for digital media and integrated solutions at the Spanish-language media company. The five-person group will focus on delivering interactive content across key social platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, tied to each of Telemundo's shows and telenovelas. It will also build on efforts like the broadband series "Telemundo Live" by sharing more access to the broadcaster's programming and stars in Spanish and English. "U.S. Hispanics are incredibly active consumers of social media and are 1.5 times more likely then the general market to be active in this space," stated Peter Blacker, executive vice president of digital media and emerging businesses at Telemundo. He added that traffic to Telemundo's Facebook page had grown seven-fold in the last year and five-fold on Twitter. There's still a lot of room for growth. Telemundo has drawn about 52,000 fans on Facebook and 90,000 followers on Twitter, just a fraction of the millions of loyalists top brands or celebrities attract on those sites. MTV, for instance, has 13.8 million fans on Facebook. But Telemundo is counting on the burgeoning Hispanic online audience to fuel its social-media efforts in the months and years ahead. It cited comScore data showing 29 million U.S. Hispanics outline, with growth outpacing the general population by 50%. Latinos are also overrepresented when it comes to online video, with 42% watching entire TV shows on the Web compared with 28% of non-Hispanics. Telemundo cited SIMM Survey data showing 54% of U.S. Hispanics are on Facebook and 11.4% on Twitter, compared to 43% and 4.8% of the overall population. But a Pew Hispanic Center study released this month found U.S. Latinos overall are less likely than whites to access the Internet, have a home broadband connection or own a cell phone. Hispanics also trail African-Americans in home broadband access, but use the Internet and mobile phones at similar levels.
Fran Hauser has been promoted to president of digital for Time Inc.'s Style & Entertainment and Lifestyle groups. Per her promotion, Hauser will also be managing Time Inc. Digital Labs, a new program at the company of which little is known. " I am working with [Time EVP and Chief Digital Offer] Randall Rothenberg and other digital leaders in the company to launch a Center for Digital Innovation," Hauser told Online Media Daily regarding Digital Labs. "The goal is to amplify innovation around both consumer and advertising products. It is still very much in its early stages ... We are thinking through structure, culture and process. It's a critical initiative for the company." More broadly, Hauser will oversee all of Time Inc.'s women's brands, including lifestyle titles such as Real Simple, Southern Living and Myrecipes.com. She previously managed digital sides of People, InStyle and Entertainment Weekly. "The overall objectives of all of these products are consistent," Hauser explains. "To be loved by consumers and to produce great results for our advertising clients." "The biggest difference I see is in the purpose of news-driven sites like People.com and EW.com and service-oriented sites like Realsimple.com and Myrecipes.com," she added. "There is more of an immediacy to the content on People and EW, as opposed to the evergreen content that is featured on the Lifestyle sites." Hauser will work under Time Inc. EVPs Paul Caine and Evelyn Webster; she is expected to grow her groups' online reach. To date, Hauser has served as president of digital for the Style & Entertainment group for over two years, during which time she oversaw the acquisition of Stylefeeder and led various e-commerce and social media initiatives. "StyleFind just recently launched, and we are pleased with the initial results," Hauser said. "It hit 1 million monthly uniques in its first month and has hundreds of thousands of registered members. We are excited to continue developing the features and functionality of the product and integrate the product more tightly into other Time Inc. titles." Hauser was recently credited with helping People.com top 1 billion monthly page-views in January. According to Hauser, Time Inc. presently reaches over 28 million women digitally.
The New Jersey Devils launched a media hub at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., where select fans rotate on schedules to monitor social media buzz before and during games. The fans, dubbed "army generals," monitor the buzz from a high-tech room, Mission Control, on the third floor of the building. The plan is to "become a well-oiled social media machine" that supports the New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center, including the concerts, boxing and other events held there. Costs run $250,000 for equipment and capabilities, which Richard Krezwick, president of Devils Arena Entertainment, the operating company for the franchise and building, considers a marketing expense. The project is about 80% complete," including two new positions that report into marketing, he says. "The plan is a living document, and we will change and adapt with it." The project's Twitter account -- @DevilsGenerals -- and blog -- DevilsArmyBlog.com -- provide a firsthand voice from about 25 devoted fans that broadcast along with the franchise's management that began late last year. The call to action for social savvy fans who do it gratis went out in November 2010 on Facebook and Twitter. Those already chosen had a strong presence on Twitter and Facebook. They monitor the conversation around the Devils, whether positive or negative. The tweeters and bloggers also share their own insights based on the game and players. While none of the Devils team players use Twitter to tweet during games, NHL senior director of social media marketing Michael DiLorenzo says the league does not yet have a mandated policy regarding player tweets. As for the Devils, the franchise looked outside the NHL for new ideas related to online social experiences. The brands Dell and Gatorade provided the inspiration for the project. Both companies use similar strategies to monitor online social media sentiment. Jeff Vanderbeek, owner of the franchise, does not have a technology background similar to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, but he knows fans are comfortable with social media. He believes the franchise needed a dedicated resource to more closely connect with fans. Earlier this month, the franchise made available an iPad rental program, where fans can rent the mobile devices filled with sports- and NHL-related apps. The social media efforts don't currently tie to search marketing campaigns today, but they could in the future.
Not even Google is immune to brand hijacking. A message containing text promoting a drug that prevents hair loss and links to a blog on a popular free blogging site bares Google, but according to Symantec's MessageLabs Intelligence business unit, the campaign is a scam. Those following the link are directed to the spammer's blog containing content and links to a pharmaceutical site. An image contains the Google logo with the two "o" letters replaced by differently shaped tablets. MessageLabs calls the logo a "realistic technique given Google's famous 'doodles.'" Paul Wood, MessageLabs Intelligence senior analyst at Symantec, told MediaPost it's the first time the online security company has seen Google's brand hijacked to promote online pharmacy sites. "We aren't sure exactly who is behind it, but from its scale most likely a major botnet," he says. A Google spokesperson responded by saying the company has a track record of fighting similar types of scams, and also recommends users carefully review online offers that look too good to be true before entering any of their information. Nick Johnston, senior software engineer at Symantec, points to the text below the logo that incorrectly claims Google launched a "pharmaceutical interface," followed by more text and blue underlined text that appears similar to a link. The latest image is not hosted on the blogging platform, but rather a Russian site. The file name claims that the image is a GIF file, yet it is actually a JPEG file, and the link ("vriagrav - make sesxx" [sic]) points to the spammer's pharmaceutical site. "This is obvious brand hijacking: Google does not host or approve any pharmacy sites," Johnston wrote. In the past two days, MessageLabs has blocked about 250 similar spam-created blogs, according to Johnston. Google in February 2010 disclosed in a blog post that it would enforce tougher standards on advertisements from online pharmacies. It would restrict Google AdWords ads only from online pharmacy sites in the U.S. accredited by the National Association Boards of Pharmacy VIPPS program, and from online pharmacies in Canada that are accredited by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA).
Virginia resident Thomas Robins is trying for a second time to bring a class-action lawsuit against controversial online data broker and aggregator Spokeo. Robins' first complaint against the Web site was dismissed last month after a U.S. District Court judge in the Central District of California ruled that Robins had not adequately alleged that he was harmed by the information on Spokeo. In his new legal papers, filed on Wednesday, Robins asserts that inaccurate information on Spokeo has cost him money by hampering his job search. "Robins has been actively seeking employment throughout the time that Spokeo has displayed inaccurate consumer reporting information about him and he has yet to find employment," he alleges. "This harm is also imminent and ongoing." Robins' lawsuit is one of several actions brought recently against Spokeo. The company operates an online search engine that allows Web users to search for detailed reports about individuals by name, email address, screen name or phone number. Spokeo gleans information from a variety of databases, including social-networking sites. It offers some basic information for free, but also sells a variety of data, including estimates of individuals' financial wealth. Robins says that Spokeo correctly lists neighborhood and siblings' names, but that most of the other data is wrong -- including his age, marital status and field of employment. Critics argue that the site compromises people's privacy; the legal allegations against the company center on whether it is violating the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act by offering inaccurate data about consumers without effectively allowing people to remove incorrect reports. In addition to Robins, Illinois resident Jennifer Purcell also filed a potential class-action lawsuit against the site last year. That case is pending in federal court in the Northern District of California. In addition, the digital rights group Center for Democracy & Technology filed a complaint about Spokeo with the Federal Trade Commission. Spokeo takes the position that it is not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act because it isn't a consumer reporting agency. The company also argues that it is immune from liability under the Federal Communications Decency Act, which generally provides that Web sites aren't responsible for content created by third parties.