Commercials getting shorter

Are commercials getting shorter to grab viewers' attention?

Read this story to find out > Five-second ads try to counter TiVo Companies are using shorter ads to battle the ad-skipping feature of the DVR. For example, Honda's commercial for its new hatchback model, Fit, is a mere five seconds.

Are TV viewers "Ready" for DVR ads?

Are TV viewers "Ready" for DVR ads?

Please touch that dial KFC, Coca-Cola and GE are among the marketers experimenting with "DVR ready" ads that contain hidden messages or scrambled entertainment to keep viewers from surfing past them.

But it remains to be seen whether the gimmick will catch on with viewers, and therefore convince skeptical advertisers of TV's marketing viability in the digital age.

Managing creativity

Managing creativity On Advertising: Can artists count beans?

"The problem with management is that it doesn't like to take a risk with creativity," said Michael Conrad, formerly worldwide chief creative officer with Leo Burnett and currently affiliated with the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.

Conrad's goal is to create an advanced curriculum that will enable managers to better understand the role creative risk plays in advertising and marketing.

Google scares rivals, but why?

Google scares rivals, but why? Is it because So Much Fanfare, So Few Hits?

Despite its unquestioned dominance in the field of online search and search engine advertising, Google's forays into other Web sectors have not produced a long list of market leaders.

Though its maps and online e-mail offerings are widely used, they are still outmatched by rivals in terms of usage. Other niche offerings like its finance site and blog search are less popular.

Companies seize podcast opportunity for marketing

Companies seize podcast opportunity for marketing > Companies Tap Podcast Buzz To Sell Contact Lenses, Appliances

Such companies as Johnson & Johnson, General Motors Corp. and Whirlpool Corp. have been tapping into the podcast buzz to target specific consumers.

Corporate programs on podcasts, or free audio programs for downloading onto portable music players or computers, are said to be responsible for boosting brand awareness of products such as Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue brand contact lenses, according to Naomi Kelman, president of the J&J unit responsible for Acuvue.

NBC dials up YouTube for online distribution

NBC dials up YouTube for online distribution, NBC and Web-video hosting site YouTube have announced a partnership in which NBC will get a branded page on the YouTube site that will feature promotional content related to NBC TV shows.

While the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, there was a price for YouTube, it announced it would be more aggressive in deleting user videos that contain copyrighted material used without permission.

Read this NBC to Team With YouTube and this NBC Taps Popularity Of Online Video Site
While video posted by users is compelling, it is not going to pay the rent, the company said.

Google's new concept: Computer "hears" TV, serves up content

Google's new concept: Computer "hears" TV, serves up content: Listen to This: Google Plan Lets Laptops Hear Your TV

Under a new interactive concept being tested by Google, a computer could "listen" to its user's TV, and serve up social networking, editorial and ad content relating to what's being watched.

The system is not based on new technology, but instead uses a computer's microphone to receive the TV audio and match it to a database that serves up the related content.

Group maps out guidelines for mobile Web sites

Group maps out guidelines for mobile Web sites: Tech companies agree on mobile Web rules

The Worldwide Web Consortium, a group that includes Nokia, Vodafone Group and Google, said it has set up guidelines for developers to design Web sites for the mobile Web.

Among other things, the guidelines suggest developers design sites with minimal graphics and with content appearing at the top of the screen.

RealNetworks streams ads in online games

RealNetworks streams ads in online games: RealNetworks to Put Streaming Ads in Free Online Games

RealNetworks announced it will begin serving streaming-video ads via its RealArcade gaming site, which offers free previews of downloadable games.

Since very few users of the site purchase games, the plan is to monetize the visits of non-paying users through advertising.

CBS goes mobile with Weathernews

CBS goes mobile with Weathernews: CBS Broadens Mobile Video Push

CBS has inked a deal with Weathernews Inc. to supply weather and sports content from 10 of its owned-and-operated CBS stations to Sprint mobile subscribers.

The CBS video will appear in Weathernews' "LiveLocal" package, which costs subscribers $4.99 per month.

Google Tool for Crisis Management

The Internet is at the center of many of the crises that prompt clients to call me these days, specifically the ease by which negative information proliferates online and how challenging it can be to both track and counter the negative.

However, Google Tool for Crisis Management is apossible remedy.

When you look at a broader term, e.g., "crisis management," once again the results aren't what one might expect.The top three languages in which the term is searched the most often are Greek, Tagalog and Finnish. English is fourth.

When you look at the top 10 cities, the first U.S. city is ranked 8th (Washington, D.C.), with the top ranked being Athens, Greece.And when you look at the regional rankings, the U.S. doesn't even make the top 10, which starts with Pakistan and ends with Indonesia.

Google explains the ranking system as follows. Read more, click the link provided above.

Niche new-media sites find financial backing

Niche new-media sites find financial backing: Bloggers Find Financial Backers For Their Independent News Sites

Rafat Ali's paidContent.org and Om Malik's GigaOm.com are just two of the highly focused new-media blogs that have attracted not just an attentive online audience, but investor dollars as well.

While the dollar amounts involved are small, the trend suggests that the specialized audiences drawn to small, online niche publications are increasingly of interest to advertisers.

Searching for big spenders online

Searching for big spenders online As Online Ads Grow, Eyeballs Are Valuable Again on the Web.

It is more critical than ever for marketers of high-cost items like real estate and automobiles to get their offerings in front of online consumers, and as a result, advertising rates are on the rise at niche sites that cover these sectors.

Forrester Research analyst Carrie A. Johnson told The New York Times, "There's a ridiculous thirst for advertising" online.

Big agencies chart a digital course in Cannes

Big agencies chart a digital course in Cannes In digital age, the soul of wit

The future is the big theme at this year's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, with holding company chiefs delivering keynotes spelling out survival strategies for the digital era.

Google tests new ads

Google tests "cost-per-action" ads.

In this article Google tests new ads Google is experimenting with a new advertising model in which marketers are only charged for an advertisement that leads directly to a sale or a sales lead. The cost-per-action method provides marketers with protection against click fraud that is not available in cost-per-click advertising.

And in this article Google Makes Commercial Videos Available Free Online Google makes commercial videos available for free: Google has begun offering free, ad-supported videos of some TV programs and films, which had sold for between 30 cents and $14.99. The online giant said it would continue to sell downloads of shows such as CBS Corp.'s "Survivor."

'Millennials' Big for Media Biz

"Millennials" outnumber baby boomers.

The so-called Millennial generation, the 79 million Americans aged 9 to 28, regularly consume 20 hours of media per day, all of which is crammed into seven hours of actual clock time.

That means they are surfing the Web, watching TV, listening to music and playing video games simultaneously, making it difficult for marketers to reach them amid the general clutter.

Are you one of them? Find out here > 'Millennials' Big for Media Biz

U.S. tops in online category for Cannes fest

U.S. tops in online category for Cannes festival.

According to this report U.S. agencies show their prowess in online category In the online category of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, U.S. shops dominated the international competition, by snaring the most trophies, 25, including two best-in-show Grand Prix.

However, in print, the biggest category of the competition, American agencies fell short, winning just four Lions.

What is the future of mobile video?

What is the future of mobile video?

Well, here is the full report > Analysts Predict Small, Successful Niche For Mobile Video

Two studies examining the future penetration of video services among mobile device users come to very different conclusions. While ABI Research predicts mobile video will attract 500 million users worldwide by 2011, a Jupiter Research study estimates that video will reach only 12 million U.S. mobile subscribers by 2010.

Web titans spend big on hardware

Web titans spend big on hardware. This is the correct link for this post.

Business 2.0: The rush to feed the Internet giants As Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft beef up their offerings in a race to compete for users, the real winners might end up being the companies that provide the hardware and switches that power these giants' massive networks.

Building a Web Presence on the Cheap

Going online for less. Cash-strapped start-ups needn't devote precious resouces to going online. While new companies should have some Web presence, or at least some sort of directory listing, it doesn't have to be expensive.

Building a Web Presence on the Cheap > This is the correct link for this article. I apologise for my previous post, erroneously mentioning the wrong link.

Thank you for your appreciation. The correct article for previous post follows.