advertising

Can Joost be saved? Web-based version reportedly on the way

This post was updated at 10:12 AM PT to correct the spelling of Joost CEO Mike Volpi's name.

Could a browser-based version of its peer-to-peer software save Joost, the heavily hyped video start-up founded by the creators of Skype and Kazaa?

Portfolio's Kevin Maney wrote a lengthy profile of the once-hot company, and buried inside is a juicy tidbit about a future development: "This year, viewers will be able to watch Joost videos in a browser window," the profile read. Right now, Joost requires a software download, which critics have said is one of its … Read more

Q&A: Battelle talks blog roll-ups, Google, and Federated Media's future

John Battelle knows tech booms and busts. He's been at the forefront of them for nearly two decades.

In 1993, he co-founded Wired, a print magazine that set a standard in technology coverage and spawned popular sites like Hotbot and Suck in a move to build an online Condé Nast--before its time. (Condé Nast now owns Wired.) Then in 1998, he co-founded The Industry Standard, a clubby tech publication that grew much like the overvalued dot-coms it covered, and it eventually imploded with the pack.

A longtime journalist, Battelle turned his attention to the zeitgeist in 2003: … Read more

Study: Subliminal ads warp your brain

Science has proven, once again, that advertising is effective. Who knew?

Researchers from upset-destined Duke University (fill out those brackets, people) and the University of Waterloo have published the results of a study that suggests that brief exposure to Apple's brand logo drives higher levels of creativity than exposure to IBM's logo. In fact, the researchers suggest that subliminal advertising is actually more effective than regular advertising, because people don't have time to raise their anti-ad defenses.

The researchers tested 341 students, who were told they were taking a "visual acuity test." The test involved … Read more

Are Internet ads better than TV ads?

BURLINGAME, Calif.--Here's a figure you want to remember: 80 percent retention rate.

Approximately 80 percent of people who watched videos on the Web site of broadcaster ABC (through the company's player) could remember the sponsor/advertiser of the program, said Brad Davis, senior vice president of online media sales and marketing for the Walt Disney Internet Group, during a presentation at the Digital Living Room conference taking place here. The study was commissioned by Walt Disney Internet Group and ABC. (Walt Disney is the parent company of ABC.)

As a result of the recall issue, the cost … Read more

New blogger/podcaster ad network tackles health care

It seems TechCrunch beat Blogger & Podcaster magazine to the punch Monday by announcing the trade publication's new advertising network, which is expected to eventually include access to a group health care plan.

In response to the TechCrunch report, Blogger & Podcaster Publisher Larry Genkin confirmed his company's plans for the Blogger & Podcaster Media Network, or BPN, and added a few more details about the program he said will allow participants "to earn a living from being a full-time blogger/podcaster." The BPN is open to all bloggers and podcasters, regardless of subscriber count, unique … Read more

'Internet Week' digital-culture fest to hit NY in June

It might not be Austin's South by Southwest Interactive, but New York City will be getting its own digital-culture festival.

Called Internet Week New York (OK, they could have picked a better name), it will span June 3 to 10 and encompass several existing events like Federated Media Publishing's Conversational Marketing Summit, Advertising Age's Advertising 2.0 conference, and the 12th annual Webby Awards.

In addition, a number of tech and media companies--PaidContent, Flavorpill, The Onion, Thrillist, and Nokia, to name a few--have announced preliminary plans to host events in conjunction.

The office of New York … Read more

CBS to bloggers: Install our widgets, and we'll split the profits

CBS Television Stations has launched a new program to get its local news headlines onto blogs and social-media sites, the CBS division said Monday.

Called the CBS Local Ad Network, it's a way for participating region-focused blogs to pull in extra cash by embedding CBS news widgets on their sites and splitting the revenue of accompanying ads with CBS.

On Monday, the program was launched in a selection of the TV network's regional markets: Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Denver, and Chicago. Within the next few weeks, CBS has said, the CBS Local Ad Network will come to … Read more

Berners-Lee wary of unsolicited Web tracking--of any kind

Update, 1:23 p.m. Monday: Background was added about the debate in the U.K. over the use of Phorm's tracking software.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and senior researcher at MIT, recently described his vision for a semantic Web that, instead of analyzing statistical data focused on people, would draw on a layer of metadata to highlight more-complex connections between all types of data, from your banking activity to your photo collection to your business calendar.

But Berners-Lee's enthusiasm for innovation on the Web is tempered by anything that might compromise user … Read more

Schmidt: Microhoo would hurt the Net

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Google doesn't want Microsoft to acquire Yahoo.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Beijing, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that his company "would be concerned by any kind of acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft," according to a Reuters story published Monday.

Without citing specifics, Schmidt said his observation is based the "things that (Microsoft) has done that have been so difficult for everyone."

He added: "We would hope that anything they did would be consistent with the openness of the Internet, but I … Read more