A lengthy article in today's USA Today discusses Google's AdSense program, an automated advertising system that matches advertiser's text ads with website content, and how it is making money for publisher with little effort by publisher. Some publishers are content to bring in $300-$500 per month.
Chris Pirillo, publisher of gadget site Lockernome and former TechTV host, says he makes $10,000 per month. We can say from experience, as a small publisher, it's the easiest, most painless way to make money.
Tara Reid can't seem to keep her boobs out of the press. First, they're protruding ponderously following a dramatic breast enlargement. Second, the boob job is displayed for all to see as the strap of her dress falls off at a press conference revealing one of her now mammoth, yet freakish looking breasts. And third, that event spawned a reference in an ad for the luxury high rise Sky Las Vegas. Copy in the ad reads, "Dear Tara Reid. Come let it all hang out."
Unsurprisingly, she has filed a lawsuit. Perhaps a bit of advice is needed here: Tara, if you're gonna increase the size of your breasts three to four cup sizes, people are gonna notice. I know it doesn't make sense. After all, they are just bags of flesh. Well, in your case, saline or something. But anyway, people like to look at big breasts and talk about them. And take pictures of them. Sure, you didn't know you bared your boob for all to see while looking like a mindless bimbo and I suppose we can forgive you for that. Afterall, fake boobs don't move much, do they? How could you have known one of them had fallen out? Tara, If you didn't want all the attention, you shouldn't have strapped on fake fun bags. Oh wait. I'm sorry. You do want the attention! After all, your acting isn't getting you any.
BlogAds Founder Henry Copeland has published the firm's second blog readership study. The results align closely with last years. Highlights include: - 75% are over 30
- 75% are men
- 43% have HHI over $90K
- Most, 14%, are employed in education
- 71% have signed a petition
- 66% have contacted a politician
- 50% (highest of any media) rank blogs tops in usefulness for news and opinion
It's an actively involved, upscale, intelligent audience. Readers of blogs also read Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, The New Yorker, National Geographic, The Nation and The Wall Street journal. Clearly, not the People magazine audience. The entire study results are here.
Former copywriter and creative director Rich Siegel has written a book, Tuesdays with Mantu: My Adventures with a Nigerian Con Artist, recounting his 7 week "experience" with a Nigerian email scam operation. It's a mix of fiction and non-fiction with the "experience" part being fiction and the scam background and scam emails being the non-fiction part. We haven't read it but it does sound interesting.
Oddly, it has Hollywood movie written all over it in our opinion.
Writing on the WeatherBug weblog, Chief Privacy Officer Dan O'Connell discusses the varying definitions of adware, spyware and ad supported software and calls for clearer definitions. O'Connell points out the terms are thrown about almost interchangeably which, he claims, can be hurtful to legitimate companies.
Hoping to clarify the confusion, O'Connell writes, "A year ago, I said in a Comment to the FTC, 'An important distinction should be drawn, however, between Adware ("any software that serves or facilitates advertising.") and 'advertising-supported software.' Unlike Adware, whose sole functionality is to display advertisements, advertising-supported software presents a core value proposition and functionality that is of benefit to the consumer, and separate and apart from its ability to serve advertisements. The CDT, in its Comment of March 4, 2004, highlighted the Eudora email application as a 'successful and user-friendly example of ad-supported software.' Advertising support is a legitimate revenue model that allows software developers a means to offer beneficial software at little or no cost to consumers. Other examples of successful ad-supported software products include AOL Instant Messenger, eFax, The Weather Channels Desktop Weather, and WeatherBug."
It's clear that concise definitions are needed. It's also clear the definitions will continue to be twisted to the benefit of the less than reputable companies doing business in this area. But the effort must be made in spite of continued abuse by scumware purveyors.
Harkening back to the glory days of document management, Remote Approach has launched a new service that enables companies to track and manage Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents through multiple distribution channels.
The online service allows users to easily tag their PDF documents so that when distributed, perhaps as part of a viral campaign, the PDF automatically interacts with a reporting system. The company says this allows companies to see whether their documents are being read, not just downloaded, and if they are being forwarded and distributed through channels like email and peer to peer.
"A lot of clients don't measure their full audience, relying only on their web site statistics," said John Bielby, President of Remote Approach. "Using this service will allow them to realize how widespread their PDF documents are being distributed. From a dollars and sense perspective, it's particularly important to companies trying to establish return on investment metrics for their online distribution channels."
Using a graphical reporting interface, Remote Approach clients can view and analyze reports in real time. Several pre-built reports provide access to high level analysis and functionality to export raw logs into the reporting or analysis tool of a company's choice.
Event planning company WhizSpark, located in Massachusetts is launching a series of social networking events for those in the advertising, entertainment and media industries. Called, appropriately, the Entertainment, Advertising and Media Industry Mixer, the events bring together entertainers, advertisers, radio station personalities, ad agency people, photographers, designers and brand managers for business networking. Out of these networking events, WhizSpark hopes to initiate collaboration on existing and new projects among industry practioners. The next event is March 29.
Pontiac has launched "Catch A G6," a website where visitors can submit pictures of Pontiac G6's they have taken, get a free ringtone and be entered into a drawing to win a million dollars.
Smartly, the site provides dealer listing info so those in search of the million dollar prize will, if that can't find a G6 on the road, walk into dealerships to take the picture. You can be sure the sales force will be ready to pounce. Simple but smart promo.
When we received this press release, we responded to the sender there'd be two ways to go with this story. Neither complimentary to the company in question. Still, we were urged to provide coverage. Obligingly, we are happy to do so. Here's the two headlines we came up with. You can choose which one suits your take on the story. AdBumb to Ban Spam, Spyware, Adware Ads From Newsletter, Lays Off Staff As Ad Revenue Plummets. [Ed. Well, not yet, at least] And now , the release: ADBUMb, Inc., (http://www.adbumb.com) the #1 Online Advertising newsletter, today announces its decision to ban from its pages advertisements that promote spam, spyware or adware installed without user permission. In so doing, ADBUMb, the industry leader, becomes the first publication in online advertising to adopt a formal policy prohibiting such advertisements.
"The editorial team at ADBUMb came out long ago as being strongly opposed to the prevalence of spam and spyware in this industry," explained Elizabeth Hines, the Editor-in-Chief of ADBUMb. "We consider ourselves a watchdog publication, protecting the community from precisely these kinds of bad faith initiatives. Formally adjusting our advertising policy to reflect our beliefs is simply a natural progression, and we hope to see other publications take a similar stance in their own policies."
According to Arthur Barbato, Director of Advertising at ADBUMb, "Its important to remember that the vast majority of online advertisers do not support the use of this kind of technology. Our advertisers are professional businesspeople who do not care to be associated with unsolicited email and other illegal operations, and this move will go a long way in helping advertisers feel comfortable with the company they are keeping when they advertise in ADBUMb."
The proliferation of spam, spyware and non-permission based adware has of late become a central challenge to the integrity of online advertising. To assist in cultivating a law abiding industry that refuses to condone non-consensual actions taken against consumers, ADBUMb has made the choice to take a firm stand on what kind of products it will promote in its ad space.
In adopting this new policy, ADBUMb hopes to encourage fellow industry members to move toward a prosperous future in legal, permission based usages. Well, which headline is better?
While it would be so much fun to jab McDonald's for its recently launched, duplicitous eat healthy ad campaign, we're going to restrain ourselves.
We're not going to call it a veiled effort at heading off lawsuits or a double-talk marketing strategy similar to tobacco company funded anti-smoking campaigns. We're not going to call attention to the fact that maybe, just maybe, the millions spent on this campaign are simply being spent to further increase McDonald's market share. We're not going to point out the ludicrous analogy of showing animated fast food paraphernalia demonstrate proper exercise in the ads. We're not going to suggest a great headline for this campaign would be, "Don't Eat At McDonald's." And, we're not going to point out that it's parents, not McDonald's, that need to be hit over the head with a nutritionally balanced 2 X 4. No, we're just going to sit back, smile, and enjoy one of the most expensive, grasp at survival, PR campaigns launched in recent history.
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