Microsoft's search engine Bing might resemble a fast-moving train this year, as the search engine lines up a variety of product launches -- as many as one a week, depending on the country, Bing GM David Pann told MediaPost. Bing will make a foray in click-to-call ads geared toward specific market segments in a few months, with help from the Windows mobile team. The product road map in the future leads to click-to-call video ads that will allow consumers to contact merchants through Skype technology, depending on the client installed on the phone. Pann said Bing and Skype teams are working together to build call metering and phone-number generation features. Advertisers will have the ability to provision 800 numbers within Bing ads. Microsoft, once known as a 1,000-pound gorilla impossible to move, has become an agile beast. An accelerated product release cycle underscores Pann's enthusiasm for a long list of new features and services. "We are probably releasing somewhere in the world one new capability weekly," he said, noting that the engineering team is "designing features and capabilities advertisers want." The company continues to fine-tune the offering with a handful of large advertisers. Bing's product ads offering will launch this year and look similar to Google product listing ads. The plans to test Bing PLAs on mobile devices in specific vertical markets mean slightly different formats depending on the device, Pann said. The change in thinking drove higher market share for Bing in 2012. The company experienced declines in 2011, but managed to grab paid-search ad share last year. In fact, marketers spent 54% more on Bing in 2012, on 39% higher click-volume growth and 11% higher cost per clicks, according to Rimm-Kaufman Group. In December, Microsoft Sites rose 0.1 percentage points to 16.3% organic search market share, according to comScore. Bing Ads wants to enable in 15 minutes what takes 45 minutes in Google AdWords, making it easier to participate in the marketplace, Pann said. Today the platform allows marketers to upload campaigns from Google AdWords in a read-only format -- but in time, a Bing Ads feature will synchronize changes such as description, word or price. If the campaign changes in Bing Ads, marketers will have the option to alter the campaign in Google AdWords. Pann also touched on the Yahoo and Bing search alliance, explaining that Microsoft's revenue per search guarantee payment to Yahoo ends in March. On a recent earnings call with analysts, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said the company remains excited and happy to work with Microsoft, but expects "modest headwind from the combined impact of anticipated loss of the Microsoft RPS guarantee and the closure of operations in Korea."
Pioneered by Hulu and other platforms, giving content consumers multiple ad options continues to gain traction. Some marketers even see the model as a solution to low mobile engagement rates. At clients' request, for instance, Selectable Media is now making its ad selector service available via mobile devices. “We have run mobile campaigns with Google and Ebay over the last six months,” said Matt Minoff, CEO of Selectable. “We expect clients will start to make mobile [and] tablet a part of all campaigns over the next 12 months, given the success we have had on PC efforts.” Selectable specializes in tools that give consumers access to digital content in exchange for viewing ads, or somehow interacting with brands. Clients yet to test Selectable’s ad selector tool via mobile include NBC, Wendy’s, Kraft, HBO and Samsung. So far, the startup’s mobile strategy has performed better than expected, said Marc Rothschild, COO of Selectable Media. “Our mobile campaigns are seeing completion rates of more than 96% and click-through rates of higher than 10%,” he said. More broadly, ad selector models have been shown to drive better performance for brands, including 290% higher ad recall, and 109% click-through rates when compared to standard pre-roll, according to research by Vivaki. Late last year, Selectable got a boost when it was accepted into Microsoft’s Bing Fund. In a blog post, Rahul Sood, General Manager of Bing Fund, said of the union: “Bing Fund will be working closely with the [Selectable] team to exhaustively explore and identify the paths to help them reach the next level whether that’s through access to domain expertise Microsoft possesses, technology resources, business development opportunities, or funding.” Game developer 50 Cube is just the latest client to adopt Selectable’s ad selector tool for mobile.
Mobile social network Path agreed to create a comprehensive privacy policy to settle charges that it deceived users by secretly uploading their address books, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday. The social network also agreed to pay $800,000 to settle separate allegations that it violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting names and other personal data from children. The address-book uploads occurred between November 2011 and February 2012, the FTC alleged in a complaint made public on Friday. During that time, the Path App for iOS automatically gathered and stored contacts in users' address books, regardless of users' preferences, the FTC said. Path's interface gave people the option of uploading their contacts in order to find friends, but the app allegedly imported the information in all cases. "As a result, the user had no meaningful choice as to the collection and storage of personal information from the user's mobile device contacts, and the user interface options were illusory," the complaint reads. The first report about Path's address-book uploads surfaced last year, when developer Arun Thampi reported it on his blog. Path CEO Dave Morin quickly apologized in a blog post and said the company had deleted the data. In addition to implementing a privacy program, Path also agreed to obtain outside audits. Google, Facebook and MySpace previously agreed to similar terms to settle privacy charges. Path isn't the only mobile app developer to engage in questionable privacy practices. Last February, it emerged that mobile app Hipster had also uploaded users' contacts. Hipster CEO Doug Ludlow acknowledged that the company had done so and apologized for the data collection. Both Path and Hipster are now facing potential class-action lawsuits. The FTC also charged Path with violating COPPA by knowingly collecting personal data from around 3,000 children under 13 without their parents' permission. The FTC alleged that Path asked users for their birthdates and then proceeded to collect emails, names, phone numbers and other data from users who said they were under 13. The company allegedly did so between November 2010 and May 2012. Path said in a blog post on Friday that it has closed the accounts of all children under 13. "From a developer’s perspective, we understand the tendency to focus all attention on the process of building amazing new things. It wasn’t until we gave our account verification system a second look that we realized there was a problem," the company said.
The mobile company Hipster has been hit with another privacy lawsuit alleging that it wrongly uploaded users' address books.The lawsuit, filed this week in federal court in the Northern District of California, marks at least the second time that Hipster has been sued for allegedly importing users' contacts without their consent. The case comes the same week that Path settled FTC charges for allegedly deceiving users by uploading their contacts.The new case against Hipster, now owned by AOL, was filed by three Texas residents -- Francisco Espitita, Vanessa Zendejas and Joe Sanchez Frairer. They allege in a potential class-action that Hipster was able to obtain addresses of users' family and friends, as well as "highly sensitive personal information, revealing contact address data for professional treatment involving sexuality, mental illness, alcoholism, incest, rape and domestic violence."Texas-based attorney Joseph Malley, who has brought privacy cases against Facebook and other Web companies, is representing the consumers who sued Hipster.The case stems from a February 2012 report stating that Hipster's app uploaded users' address books without their consent. Then-CEO Doug Ludlow confirmed the report, which was published by an outside developer, and apologized for the data collection. The company was acquired by AOL the following month.Last year, Hipster was one of more than 12 mobile companies named in a potential class-action privacy lawsuit. That case, brought by Texas resident Marc Opperman, was recently transferred to the Northern District of California.Online companies accused of privacy violations typically argue that users can't proceed in court without some form of economic injury. The group that is suing Hipster addresses that hurdle in its complaint by alleging that the data collection drained their battery life and bandwidth. They also allege they incurred costs to "remove embedded code" and reinstall other programs.It's not yet clear whether they will be able to proceed based on those alleged injuries. But a federal judge in California recently ruled that a user who is suing Path could proceed, based on his contention that removing the app's "tracking software" could cost as much as $12,500. Path said that deleting the code was "a simple act requiring no more than two swipes" on the iPhone, but the judge ruled that the issue couldn't be decided without more evidence.
For mens’ lifestyle guide Thrillist, the email newsletter has always been at the heart of its content strategy. It’s how the site keeps its 2 million subscribers in the know about new restaurants, bars, and places to shop in 21 cities nationwide from New York to Seattle. But as properties from Facebook to Pandora to LinkedIn are finding, more and more of its users are now accessing its content from mobile devices rather than the desktop Web. Over the last year or so, the share of readers coming to the newsletter via mobile has grown from a small fraction to 30% to 40%, according to Thrillist CEO Ben Lerer's estimates. That meant mobile users had to “pinch and zoom” the screen to enlarge text and images because the email publication had not been optimized for mobile. “We said we have to optimize…so about six months ago we started coding for mobile first,” said Lerer. A big part of that effort has been simplifying things for the mobile environment. In practice it has meant tailoring images to the smaller format, reducing the amount of text and stripping out extra buttons that tend to clutter up the mobile screen. Instead, Thrillist focused on the key features thay users valued most -- getting contact and mapping information for a venue, and the ability to save and share content. “We pared it down to the stuff that people wanted,” said Lerer. Likewise, the company optimized its native ad units, labeled as “Allied” content for the mobile screen, with a prominent image above a paragraph of text that links to a site or ad landing page. A Cartier ad, for example, features an eye-catching photo of a watch in the brand’s Calibre de Cartier line, with a chunk of text and links to the Web page for that collection. Since updating the custom ad format for mobile, Thrillist has seen click-throughs more than double. The company says mobile visits to the Web site via mobile have also more than doubled (up 121%). The email click-through rate is up 35%. The property also operates a mobile site and has iPhone, iPad and Android apps, updates are in the works. The current mobile version of its site launched only a month ago and will be continuously refined in the coming weeks. The Thrillist apps will also get a refresh during the first half of the year. Lerer pointed out that the company’s app for its JackThreads sub-brand, which he called a “best-in-class “mobile experience, provides a model for how the Thrillist app will be upgraded. But while the fashion-focused site now drives about 20% of its ad revenue from mobile, Thrillist itself hasn’t seen mobile revenue reach that level yet. “We now have the supply if people want to shift dollars that way; we have real mobile engagement on a daily basis, and an ad product that can be really valuable. But we haven’t seen a massive shift in ad dollars moving in that direction yet,” said Lerer.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau unveiled the schedule for the 2013 Digital Content NewFronts, April 29 through May 3 in New York City. This weeklong series of presentations marks the second year the IAB has overseen the initiative, which originally began as a series of events hosted by Publicis' Digitas unit. The IAB said the six founding media partners of the new version of the NewFronts -- Digitas, AOL, Google, Hulu, Microsoft Advertising and Yahoo -- will host events featuring "native digital video content," alongside 12 other leading online publishers. Ad-supported digital video publishers were invited to present at the event, based on a survey conducted by the IAB among the top 200 ad agency media buyers. Other companies presenting include Alloy Digital, Blip, Buzzmedia, CBS Interactive, Condé Nast Entertainment, Crackle at Sony Pictures Television, Digital Broadcasting Group, Disney Interactive, VEVO, The Wall Street Journal, The Weather Co. and Zynga. Each partner will host and manage their own independent, invitation-only event. The schedule is as follows: Monday,April 29 Tuesday,April 30 Wednesday,May 1 Thursday,May 2 Friday,May 3 8:00AM-11:00AM Wall Street Journal Hulu Disney Interactive Alloy Digital 11:30AM-5:30PM The Weather Company Digital Broadcasting Group Blip Digitas Crackle at Sony Pictures Television 2:00PM-5:00PM Microsoft Advertising AOL Condé Nast Entertainment Buzzmedia 6:00PM-9:00PM Yahoo! CBS Interactive Google VEVO (6-8) Zynga
Swiping a move from Netflix, Amazon has a deal for sole rights to the PBS hit series “Downton Abbey” for an online subscription service. The move comes as Netflix and others are increasingly focusing on offering exclusive content.Netflix has offered season one of “Downton,” but all three seasons will move solely to Amazon Prime Instant Video later this year. Season three, currently on PBS, starts there in June, while Amazon has exclusive rights to season four and a possible season five.Amazon says season one and two are the “most watched TV seasons” ever on its service. The company’s deal is with PBS Distribution. An arm of NBCUniversal is one of the show's producers.Amazon, Netflix and Hulu Plus are becoming more fierce competitors in the online subscription video on demand arena for TV series.Netflix launched 13-episode original production “House of Cards” starring Kevin Spacey on Friday. Netflix has exclusive deals to stream AMC hits “Mad Men” and “Walking Dead.” It recently made a deal with Disney, too.Netflix has predicted it will come close to 29 million subscribers by April.
The maker of entertainment guide and discovery app NextGuide, Dijit Media Inc. announced it is in the process of acquiring GoMiso, maker of the Miso, SideShows and Quips apps, which enhance TV viewing. Dijit says it will continue to support both the Miso app, which enhances TV content, and SideShows, which identifies actors, fashion and other aspects of on-screen content. Quips, which pulls quotes and image grabs from TV content for social sharing will be discontinued. GoMiso founder Somrat Niyogi will act as an advisor to Dijit. In its announcement, Dijit CEO Jeremy Toeman says “this acquaition will give us more tools to give our users a guide experience that redefines how people discover content. Dijit’s NextGuide app taps into the broad range of multimedia on demand and broadcast channels, from the TV grid to Amazon, Netflix and Hulu premium services and iTunes to personalize media recommendations and discovery. NextGuide so far has emphasized content discovery rather than synchronized, enhanced experiences. This acquisition give Dijit technology and a footprint in that second-screen world. GoMiso was among the earliest entrants in the “second screen” app category that tries to enhance or guide TV and multi-screen experiences. The founders said on their company blog that the Miso and SideShows apps and their community of users will live on under Dijit. They claim to have been among the first to use media “check-ins” and to offer synchronized second-screen experiences. The acquisition is another sign that second-screen apps are maturing into a new phase of possible consolidation and partnership. After a protracted courtship Viggle walked away from merger plans with GetGlue. UK entrant Zeebox penned a partnership with Comcast that allows the app to act as a remote control for cable boxes. With the most lucrative medium yet invented in play, the social TV space is already mightily cluttered with startups, white-label solutions serving networks and show producers and platforms like Twitter now moving more aggressively to stake a claim to all the second-screen activity that goes on across devices.
This is the last Super Bowl ad you’ll have to look at. It’s for a B-to-B service worth about $150 million, and desperately needed. The customer base is quite broad, comprising automotive, soft drinks, beer, sneakers, consumer electronics, fast food, real estate, stock brokerage and of course, pistachio nuts. Those are the categories of advertisers on the big game. All but eight of them squandered their money and their sole annual opportunity for a mass audience. Some of them damaged their brands. Volkswagen, for example, with its “Be Happy” spot. Me, I thought it was cute: ultra-white Midwesterners talking in dead-on Jamaican accents. Kingston, via the Twin Cities. Very adorable, especially in the post-racial society we’re supposed to be edging toward. It may show up in USA Today as the best-liked ad in the game. Amid a shitstorm over racism charges, already underway. Look, this gag would not have been an issue in a movie or TV show. But -- for the 16 trillionth time -- advertising isn’t the movies. The rules and expectations and levels of permission are very different. The fact is, West Indians are overwhelmingly black, and you don’t get to make ethnic jokes. Period. Some of them will feel caricatured and ridiculed -- as anybody with a lick of sense and fiduciary responsibility would have seen coming from 16 trillion miles away. Someone needed to step in and wave a red flag. Which, by the way, does not signal “proceed with caution.” It means “stop.” Twenty years ago Just for Feet ignored the red flags (including mine, 4 days before the game) over a Super Bowl ad about a Kenyan runner being tracked by white people in a Humvee. They thought it was “a humorous way to call attention to the brand.” The uproar precipitated a chain of events that left the chain out of business. The VW spot -- which, not that you noticed, was supposed to advertise the Super Beetle -- will probably get somebody fired. Not because it was clearly racist, but because $4 million bought VW the opportunity to fend off racism accusations for the foreseeable future. Well done. Coca-Cola made the same mistake. We shall never know what prompted them to restage familiar Hollywood sequences in the desert with Arab actors. Maybe they thought it was a nice counterpoint to the anti-Muslim bigotry pervading the Western world. (No, that’s not it.) Or maybe they thought portraying a Bedouin on camelback was an archetype, not a stereotype. (Possible). Or maybe they just weren’t thinking. Ah. That’s it. The tension between the Arab world and the West is so fraught with hatred, suspicion, violence and historical catastrophe that there is virtually nothing an advertiser can say that won’t inflame public opinion. So why in the world go there? Why? The American Arab community has already officially protested, and we can only imagine what will happen -- especially in the Middle East/North Africa market -- once Al Jazeera weighs in. There were a number of poor decisions made this year that don’t quite rise to that level of recklessness, but nonetheless evinced deep, deep mediocrity -- i.e., uninteresting and unfunny stories in service of no apparent brand benefit or even brand relevance.