• Open Source: A Web of Cable
    Every cable operator wants to be Hulu now. Because if they're not, they could wind up a big old dump pipe instead. The fear of the dreaded dump-pipe possibility, coupled with the realization that there's gold in them there Internet-video hills, is driving cable operators to develop radically integrated methods of serving up their programming. But you can bet that the content and its platforms will remain in walled gardens -- with machine-gun snipers guarding access.
  • Patent Panting
    Friendster was on top of the social networking world when it applied for what some dubbed "the patent on social networking" back in 2003. By the time Friendster actually received the patent, in 2006, the site was already on the downside of a precipitous slide from relevance. But despite being passed in the American market by Facebook, MySpace, and numerous other social networking venues, Friendster is still alive and kicking, and continuing to pile up patents.
  • Web U: Pieces of the Puzzle
    Fragmentation leads to different approaches My 2-year-old loves jigsaw puzzles. I mean, he loves them. I enjoy watching Ankur sort through a handful of chunky cardboard shapes, trying to find the right fit (and occasionally putting them in his mouth). On the one hand, I'm obviously proud of my child's interest in problem solving and hitting other developmental milestones,but it's also fun to watch him experiment with trial and error.It reminds me quite a bit of how online marketing has matured. Consider the good old days of interactive marketing, back when you only had a few channels at your …
  • Behind the Numbers: I Want My Web TV
    TiVo might be a verb, but it's not an action for most of the younger generation. Instead, Internet television is the preferred digital video recorder for the youth of America. When they miss a show, they're opting for online video over a dvr, according to new evidence from Solutions Research Group.
  • Industry Watch: We're With the Band
    The music industry has never been more challenged - okay, threatened - in its entire existence than it is now. Still, creative marketing (take Pearl Jam's Ten game in this issue, for example) and a return to grassroots has given it new hope. From Radiohead's groundbreaking decision to let people download their album online and decide how much they want to pay, to John Mellencamp and his label focusing on exposing his work through commercials as opposed to radio, the business and the artist are, believe it or not, bouncing back.
  • Logging In: Unlocking the Word Hoard
    Once upon a time the Web was all about directory structures, blink tags and a highly memorable flame graphic. Web design evolved relatively swiftly, but great Web copy lagged far behind. The Web remained over-designed and underwritten well into 2004. Looking back on online marketing it's possible - and very sad - that Subservient Chicken may be the most iconic online execution thus far. Not exactly "Where's the Beef?" or "Bartles & Jaymes."
  • The Good and the Bad of Ad Network Proliferation
    If Jack Myers' predictions, shared by Wenda Harris Millard during her keynote at the IAB annual meeting in late February, are true, then we are staring at a major industry contraction.
  • Focus: Boomers Crashing the Social Media Party
    "Congratulations! Your parents just joined Facebook. Your life is officially over." Such is the greeting visitors receive upon entering the blog "Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook," which -- as the name implies -- chronicles the well-intentioned but oft-hilarious wall posts, quiz results, group memberships and status updates of an older generation of social network converts.
  • 5 Questions for Andy Monfried
    Andy Monfried is perfectly aware that the name of his company is often unintentionally mangled when people say it aloud. "They mispronounce it 99.9 percent of the time," Monfried says. "It's pronounced low-tah-me. It's a combination of locate, target and message." The name certainly generates more conversation than that of Monfried's previous company, Advertising.com, where he served as CEO.
  • RAM: A Free Press
    Who will be the YouTube of the bubbling eBook revolution? Online document-sharing service Scribd.com is making a case with 50 million users each month, coupled with recent deals with major publishing houses, including Random House and Simon & Schuster, to offer some of their books free of charge on the site. Sure, Google and Amazon have offered free books online for years, but Scribd stands out because it builds Web features into its service so other blogs and sites can embed books and documents, too.
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