Advertising and marketing

Microsoft extends revenue guarantee with Yahoo

Microsoft is going to continue to pay Yahoo a guarantee for the revenue-per-search (RPS) shortfall that is continuing to persist.

Reuters noted that Yahoo disclosed the latest year-long extension of the guarantee, which had expired on March 31, on May 7. The guarantee took effect on April 1, according to Yahoo's latest 10-Q filing.

Search Engine Land recapped RPS this way:

"(W)hen Yahoo & Microsoft signed a search deal in 2009, Microsoft promised that Yahoo would earn a set amount of money for each search that happens, a 'revenue per search' or RPS. If this didn't … Read more

Google's beautiful 'thank you' to mothers

For a company that is desperate to have you behave like a nonhuman with a peculiar penchant for spying and bad taste in glasses, Google still has a level of humanity buried deep within what's left of its soul.

One of the very best ads of last year was a Google Chrome ad called "Jess Time," in which a father and daughter try to come to terms with the death of Jess' mother.

Now, just in time for Mother's Day, Google has released a quite beautiful homage to the woman who always held it all together … Read more

Stellar examples of 6-second marketing on Vine

Just three months after release, Twitter's Vine video service for creating 6-second clips has already become the muse of marketers looking to reach people through imaginative messaging.

Brands such as Lowe's, Urban Outfitters, Taco Bell, and Bacardi, with the help of their digital agencies, have embraced the platform to test unconventional campaigns on social audiences who seem to appreciate their business-as-unusual approach.

What follows is a panoply of creative Vine brand campaigns. If advertisements as looping, GIF-like videos scare you, I suggest you turn away now.

Note: If for some reason a particular clip below shows up as nothing more than a black box, you can click on the white banner along the top of the box to open the clip in a new browser tab.… Read more

YouTube to advertisers: You need us to attract a younger crowd

NEW YORK--Google on Wednesday made its pitch for advertising on YouTube, telling companies that the site is a vital way to reach the highly desired 18- to 34-year-old demographic and a way to build a base of loyal fans.

However, the company didn't announce any new major projects or partnerships. Instead, executives positioned YouTube as hip and in tune with what younger viewers desire -- something it said its online rivals and traditional cable networks lack. And it noted that the transition to online viewing has already happened.

"The future is already here," Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt … Read more

JC Penney's begging ad criticizes former Apple exec

It wasn't us, it was him.

Yes, that man with the weird ideas we hired from Apple. He made us do all those things that drove our customers away in droves.

So now that he's gone, please come back. We beg you. We'll be the old JC Penney. The one you all loved.

Although maybe you didn't all love it enough to keep shopping there, which is why we hired the man with weird ideas from Apple.

But we were wrong. You were right. Well, many of you. We think.

This seems largely the subtext of a new ad released by JC Penney.… Read more

Tumblr CEO says average cost of ad campaign tops six figures

NEW YORK -- Companies are spending, on average, "north of six figures" on advertising campaigns on Tumblr, the CEO of the blogging platform said Wednesday.

David Karp, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, noted that advertising remains Tumblr's biggest challenge, but it's seeing good traction with its efforts.

"Budgets are starting to ratchet up," Karp said. He noted that "some of the best advertisers in the world" are turning to Tumblr.

Tumblr sits alongside the Internet elites in terms of audience, but the 6-year-old blogging medium has lagged far … Read more

eBay, retail partner to open NY shop with touch-screen window

NEW YORK--eBay is working with Kate Spade on a pop-up shop in New York that will feature a digital touch-screen storefront window, the e-commerce and digital payments giant said Tuesday.

CEO John Donahoe, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York earlier today, said the store will launch this summer and will allow eBay to reach consumers away from its traditional Web site. Donahoe at the time did not name the retailer.

An eBay spokesperson later told CNET that Kate Spade Saturday will be the partner for the pop-up shop. The spokesperson didn't provide other details about the … Read more

Google to integrate app activities into Search

NEW YORK--Google plans to integrate information on app activities into its Search page, giving users insight into what peers are doing and linking Google+ more closely with Google's other offerings.

The company in February launched its Google+ sign-on service that allows Google accounts to be used when logging into third-party apps and Web sites. Users taking advantage of the Google sign-in also can instantly download the Android app version without having to turn on their phones. The move was viewed as a way for Google to weave its accounts more tightly into the fabric of the Internet and a … Read more

Twitter ads now available for all U.S. users

NEW YORK--Twitter on Tuesday opened up advertising on its site to all businesses and individuals, giving the company another avenue for generating money.

Twitter has allowed organizations to pay for promoted tweets and promoted accounts since last March, but it was on an invite-only basis. It now has given everyone access to its self-service advertising platform, Kevin Weil, Twitter senior director of product for revenue, said Tuesday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York.

"Business has been on Twitter since Day 1," Weil said. "We're very excited everyone will be able to leverage Twitter advertising.&… Read more