Facebook and The Nielsen Company has launched Nielsen BrandLift in the UK, a web analytics system that uses Facebook polls to measure the effectiveness of online brand advertising. The move follows the products US launch in 2009, and marks the first product available outside the US from Facebook’s and Nielsen’s global, multi-year strategic alliance.

The alliance, formed in September 2009, is designed to help marketers better understand the value of the Internet in the overall marketing mix. Nielsen BrandLift uses opt-in polls on Facebook to measure the impact of advertising on consumer attitudes including brand perception, ad recall and purchase intent. So far, more than 70 studies have been conducted in the US across the FMCG, Retail, Media & Entertainment, Technology, Telecom, Financial and Automotive sectors.

01/02/2010

Continue reading "Facebook and Nielsen offer ‘Brandlift’ analytics to UK advertisers " »

CMW has been appointed to create the social media and broader digital strategy for the launch of new Kellogg’s brand, Krave.

The Krave brand marks two new directions for Kellogg’s. Firstly, it’s the first time the company has created a cereal exclusively aimed specifically at the youth market (16-25 year olds) and secondly, it’s the first time that Kellogg’s has embarked on a heavyweight social media campaign to support a brand in the UK. Details of the social media strategy are yet to be revealed however it’s expected to build upon the above-the-line brand idea that has been developed by Leo Burnett.

01/02/2010

Continue reading "Kellogg’s begins social media push for new ‘youth’ cereal brand " »

Apple has unveiled its much anticipated new tablet device the iPad, with a likely UK launch this summer.Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive unveiled the touchscreen device at an event in San Francisco, describing the tablet, which will cost between $499 and $829 in the US, as a "third category" between smartphones and laptops.

The device, which looks like a large iPhone, can be used to watch films, play games and browse the web. The firm has also secured a deal with publishers including Penguin, Macmillan and Harper Collins to allow e-books to be downloaded directly to the device through a new iBook Store.

01/02/2010

Continue reading "Apple’s iPad set for June UK launch? " »

Yahoo posted its best results since hiring Carol Bartz as chief executive a year ago, as the online media giant plans a huge marketing blitz during 2010 to make up lost ground on market leader Google. Revenue remained in a funk during the latest quarter, slipping 4% to $1.73 billion. That still marked progress from the first nine months of 2009, when Yahoo's revenue dropped 12%. Yahoo's sales have now declined in five consecutive quarters, its deepest contraction in eight years.

01/02/2010

Continue reading "Yahoo makes profit, plans $100m campaign " »

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, UK, December 2010

UK audience reach for top 10 parent companies, December 2009

Monthly internet use: key indicators for UK web users, December 2009

UK shoppers spent £5.46 billion online in December – an equivalent of £88.93 per person, 17% up on December 2008, according to new research from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. Sales rose by 3.8% compared to November 2009, demonstrating typical growth for the month of December.

The peak week for online Christmas shopping was the second week in December. This was one week later than in 2008, as a combination of November postal strikes; shoppers holding out for bargains; increased confidence in delivery services; and Christmas falling on a Friday delayed the annual spending spree.

01/26/2010

Continue reading "Online retail sales up 14% in 2009 " »

Mobile ad network AdMob has released its December 2009 AdMob Mobile Metrics Report, looking at regional changes in manufacturer and smartphone Operating System (OS) share. The report found that Apple and the iPhone OS leads in Western Europe, North America, Latin American and Oceania behind strength of millions of iPhones and iPod touches sold this year and heavy application usage.

Meanwhile, Nokia and the Symbian OS continues to lead in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe with its vast portfolio of devices. The December 2009 AdMob Mobile Metrics Report breaks down, by region, trended manufacturer share across all mobile devices, smartphone OS share, and the top handsets and smartphones in the AdMob network.

26/01/2009

Continue reading "Global smartphone handset use: Apple and Nokia lead in different regions " »

Google has stressed it wants to continue to have a strong presence in the Chinese market, following its threats last week to pull out of the country altogether, amid security concerns and a sweeping cyber attack.

CEO Eric Schmidt spoke to analysts after the Q4 results were announced, saying Google remains "quite committed to being in China." But he reiterated that it would stop censoring its search results there, in “a reasonably short time from now. We like the Chinese people and our Chinese employees. We like the business opportunities there and we'd like to do that on somewhat different terms than we have.”

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called on authorities in Beijing to investigate the recent cyber attacks on Google. She said all companies should refuse to support "politically motivated censorship".

Continue reading "Google in China: Hackers, politics, strategy and new security patches for Internet Explorer " »

The government is today launching data.gov.uk, a website it hopes will enable developers to create new applications by offering free access to data collected by public bodies. The site will offer reams of public sector data, ranging from traffic statistics to crime figures, for private or commercial use.

The target is to kickstart a new wave of services that find novel ways to make use of the information. World wide web founder Tim Berners-Lee, was hired by PM Gordon Brown in June 2009 to oversee the project.

22/21/2010

Continue reading "UK government data: Open access for developers at data.gov.uk " »

Apple is reportedly planning a subscription style music streaming service for iTunes, offering a rival to Spotify’s business model. The Wall Street Journal reports that the rumoured move would follow Apple’s $85m acquisition of music streaming site LaLa in December.

It’s thought that LaLa’s infrastructure will form the framework of a newly rebadged iTunes music-streaming service to take on the likes of Pandora and Spotify. Along with free music streaming, the mooted iTunes overhaul will allow users to back up their music to online libraries, letting them stream their own tunes on their iPhones and the like while on the move, while an overhaul to the iTunes music store will see you able to buy and download music without first installing the iTunes software.

22/01/2010

Apple is reportedly in talks with Microsoft to turn Bing into the default search engine on the iPhone, as the company’s rivalry with Google deepens.

Google is currently the default search engine on the iPhone. A deal between Apple and Microsoft may mean iPhone owners would automatically get Microsoft's Bing as the main search engine, possibly requiring users to actively change phone settings if they want to search via Google. BusinessWeek magazine reports that the talks between Apple and Microsoft have been underway for weeks, citing ‘two people familiar with the matter’.

21/01/2010

Continue reading "Apple to make Bing default search engine for iPhone? " »

YouTube is launching a video rental service, initially featuring five movies shown at this year's Sundance Festival, with plans to expand later in the year. The first five films for rent are "The Cove," "Bass Ackwards," "One Too Many Mornings," "Homewrecker" and "Children of Invention." The service will go live on 22 January and will only be available in the US.

21/01/2010

Continue reading "YouTube tests online video rental market " »

Amazon is to stop paying commission to UK affiliates using paid and natural search techniques to drive customers to the retailer’s website.

The move follows similar action taken on the retail giants US affiliates several months ago. Amazon has sent an email to their UK affiliates preventing them from using certain paid search techniques and search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques to drive sales to Amazon.

20/01/2010

Continue reading "Amazon drops payments to affiliates using search ads " »

Microsoft is to shorten the time it stores users' addresses from its Bing search queries from 18 months to six months, following a request from a European Union data privacy panel. It said the change would make its Bing search a better choice for privacy-conscious users than the world's leading search engine Google Inc., because Microsoft will delete the entire Internet Protocol address from search queries — the string of numbers that shows a computer's location.

"We believe that the balance between privacy and efficiency is very much in the mind of consumers," Microsoft's associate general counsel John Vassallo told reporters. "Getting the balance right does make the search engine more attractive."

20/01/2010

Continue reading "Search privacy: Microsoft cuts IP address storage to 6 months " »

YouTube is to begin streaming live cricket from India’s premier league, seeking sponsors in the process.The move marks the video sharing’s site first foray into live sport streaming, and is the result of a partnership between Google and Cricket’s IPL (India Premier League).

From March, 60 IPL matches will be shown and YouTube are on the lookout for a global sponsor as well as local ones. While this is the first sports event YouTube has agreed to broadcast, YouTube has streamed live concerts before, namely U2’s in October which had 10million viewers worldwide.

20/01/2010

Yahoo has claimed to become another victim of cyber–attacks in China, losing support from its own affiliate network Alibaba in the process. Last week Google issued a surprise challenge to the government in Beijing, threatening to pull out of China, after it suffered sophisticated cyber attacks on its network.Now its US rival, Yahoo, has been pulled into the dispute. Yahoo said that like Google, it too, had been a target of similar attacks in China.

Yahoo said it supported Google's position that the cyber attacks were deeply disturbing, and that violation of internet privacy should be opposed. But Yahoo's decision to support Google prompted its own partner in China, Alibaba, in which Yahoo owns a 40% stake, to call the move "reckless".

19/01/2010

http://cn.yahoo.com/

Google plans to submit a formal request to the Chinese government “in the coming days” for information about the hacking attacks launched from the country. The world's most popular search engine said last week it was thinking of pulling out of China after a “sophisticated” attack on its network that resulted in theft of its intellectual property.

Sources said the attack, which targeted people who have access to certain parts of Google networks, may have come from Google China's office. “We're not commenting on rumour and speculation. This is an ongoing investigation, and we simply cannot comment on the details,” a Google spokeswoman said.

19/01/2010

Continue reading "Google and China: Hackers, government and a stormy 2010 " »

The huge success of comparethemarket.com’s ad campaign featuring meerkat character Aleksandr Orlov has given a boost to the TV ad sector, according to a news report.

Speaking to the Guardian this weekend, Ian Millner, co-founder of ad agency Iris, said price comparison websites are “ploughing money into TV advertising, where agencies can make their name with creative ideas, because with no real-world presence these websites win or lose on their brand marketing”.

Since hitting TV screens last January the meerkat character Aleksandr Orlov’s impact on the ad industry has been compared to that of Howard Brown on banking advertising after the all-singing, all-dancing Halifax employee debuted on TV on Boxing Day 2000.

19/01/2010

Continue reading "CompareTheMarket: Upbeat findings for TV ad campaigns " »

The former founder of file-sharing site OiNK was last week found not guilty of "conspiracy to defraud" by the Teesside Crown Court. Alan Ellis, aged 26, was the defendant in the UK’s first file sharing trial. He set up Oink 2004 as a BitTorrent (P2P) file sharing tracker website that hosted links to copyright content such as music and films.

OiNK was shut down in 2007 following a two year investigation by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a court case followed. It's estimated that the website aided in the download of 21 million music files. In the end it proved too difficult for Rights Holders to win a criminal case against a P2P torrent links website, partly because such activity is still considered to be a civil matter and P2P sites do not actually host any illegal content themselves. Alan Ellis, who made £35k per year from OiNK, was unanimously found not guilty by the jury of 12.

18/01/2010

Continue reading "UK's first file sharing trial: Mixed messages from copyright court " »

Marketing budgets at UK companies were cut for the ninth quarter running at the end of 2009, but the rate of decline was the slowest for two years as marketers switched their budgets to the web, according to a new report.

The latest Bellwether Report, released by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and accountancy group BDO, also found that companies were at their most optimistic for five years. The report said 25 per cent of companies reported a fall in total spending, while 18 per cent reported an increase. The balance of -7 is a marked improvement from the -15 the previous quarter and was "the highest since the first quarter of 2008, and well above the record lows seen in late 2008 and early 2009".

18/01/2010

Continue reading "Internet advertising trends: Bellwether shows how recession drove switch to web " »

Nine in ten (90%) of Brits always tick the opt out box on marketing communications to prevent their data from being passed to third party, according to a new survey. The study, from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), shows that marketers are continuing to underestimate the percentage of consumers who readily welcome items of direct marketing.

The 2009 Marketing-GAP Tracking Study, conducted by online market research company fast.MAP, found that the expert panel expected 57 per cent of consumers to always tick the ‘opt-out’ box on marketing communications to prevent their data from being passed to third party, when in fact 90 per cent of consumers always do so. The study looked into consumer attitudes to marketing has revealed that email is consumers’ favourite direct marketing channel.

15/01/2010

Continue reading "9 in 10 Brits tick third party opt out box for emails " »

Spanish audience reach for top 10 parent companies, December 2009

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, Spain, December 2009

Monthly internet use: key indicators for Spanish web users, December 2009

Habbo Hotel, a virtual world for teens, has signed up to Facebook’s Connect service to bring users of both services together. Sulake's 15 million regular unique users of Habbo Hotel can now use Facebook Connect to find their Facebook friends in Habbo Hotel.

Established in 31 countries and generally popular with a teenage audience, Habbo Hotel offers a more gaming orientated environment than Facebook, and encourages users to customise rooms, train pets and even invent social games. Founded in Finland, Sulake has also been exceedingly successful in courting big brands, which regularly invest in a virtual presence in Habbo Hotel.

14/01/2010

Continue reading "Habbo Hotels syncs users up with Facebook " »

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Schools Secretary Ed Balls have announced that 270,000 low income families are to get free computers and broadband access. The £300 million investment in the ‘Home Access’ programme is designed to give young people access to a computer and internet at home for their education, and help get parents better involved and keep in touch with their child’s progress.

Families with children in years three to nine, who are entitled to free schools meals, will be able to apply for a grant to buy a computer and broadband connection from an approved supplier.Looked after children up to the age of 18 will also receive laptops, and the scheme will offer bespoke packages to provide more support for SEN children.

13/01/2009

Continue reading "Low income families to get free computer and internet " »

Google has announced that it will no longer abide by China’s censorship laws, and may shut it’s ‘google.cn’ website altogether, following a cyber attack aimed at gathering information on human rights activists.

In a company statement, David Drummond, Google senior v.p., corporate development and chief legal officer, said: We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.” The search giant attributed its change in stance to cyber attacks from China on dissidents using its Gmail service and on companies.

13/01/2010

Continue reading "Google threatens to quit China over censorship rules " »

AOL plans to slash a third of its workforce will lead to a significant reduction in UK jobs, as the Internet media giant looks to cut 1,200 jobs worldwide. AOL, which spun of from Time Warner last month, announced in November it would be cutting 2,300 jobs around the world.

Since then, 1,100 employees have taken voluntary redundancies. AOL still needs to cut some 1,200 jobs to reach its goal of slashing its workforce by a third. In a statement, AOL said it would be announcing redundancies in the US tomorrow, and had begun meeting with European employees.

13/01/2010

Continue reading "AOL to cut more UK jobs as German and French offices close " »

Digital marketing group Latitude has been bought out of administration by its management team, following funding issues dating back to its aquisition in 2007. The Daily Telegraph reports that the move will write off millions of pounds in loans from Barclays as part of the ‘pre-pack deal’ to Latitude.

The bank provided a £10m loan to Vitruvian in 2007 to aid the acquisition of the company. Latitude management has team has now increased its stake in the company and has raised additional capital to accelerate the growth of the business.

13/01/2010

Continue reading "Latitude jobs safe after MBO " »

Carphone Warehouse is to drop the Tiscali name for its broadband service following its purchase of the company back in may last year. The move will see Carphone’s Talk Talk brand replace all Tiscali services. Carphone Warehouse paid £236m for Tiscali UK, making TalkTalk the largest ISP in the country, with 4.25 million residential customers. Tiscali UK's business customers are now subscribers to Opal, Carphone Warehouse's business ISP.

12/01/2010

Continue reading "Carphone Warehouse phases out Tiscali brand name in UK " »

France is planning a tax on search engine ad revenue to raise money to invest into creative industries weakened by the digital revolution. Besides Google, the tax would target other large operators in Europe such as Microsoft and Yahoo! whether or not their offices are in France.

Google's European headquarters are in Ireland, but under the proposal, the operator would pay a levy every time a French internet user clicks on an advertising banner or sponsored link on its sites. The proposal is outlined in a government-commissioned survey, and forms part of the counties latest drive to regulate the internet, which has seen it enact some of the world's toughest antipiracy legislation.

11/01/2009

Continue reading "France plans 'Google tax' on internet searches " »

Ford has unveiled new technology that could allow drivers to use Twitter, stream online radio and search the web from behind the wheel.The technology, Called MyFord Touch, the system is powered by Ford's SYNC technology and has been designed with Microsoft. It was revealed last week by Ford's chief executive Alan Mulally at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Mulally said: 'We are bringing the internet to the car. All the applications you can get on mobile phones, we'll bring in the car. It will all be absolutely hands-free and voice activated – keeping the driver focused on the road'. Some of the applications promised by Mulally include Wi-Fi connectivity for up to five users in the car, text messages or tweets read aloud to drivers, and the ability to stream internet radio.

11/01/2010

Continue reading "Ford launches first ‘Twitter car’ with web apps " »

Apple has acquired Quattro Wireless for a reported $275m, as the iPhone maker looks to challenge Google in the mobile advertising arena. Quattro announced the deal in a blog posting Tuesday by Andy Miller, now vice president of mobile advertising at Apple. "We are thrilled to let you know that Apple has acquired Quattro," Miller wrote. "We want to share with you our excitement about this news and what it means for our customers.

"We have built our business by enabling advertisers to reach the right consumers across the mobile web and in applications," Miller added. "We remain focused on delivering more engaging, relevant and useful ads to mobile devices, and improving the measurement and execution of digital campaigns. Together with Apple, we look forward to developing exciting new opportunities in the future that will benefit our customers."

Sources indicated Apple would pay $275m for Quattro. Quattro is a competitor to AdMob, which Google agreed to acquire in November for $750m.

07/10/2010

Continue reading "Apple buys mobile ad network " »

Disney has unveiled plans for its online storage service, called 'Keychest', that will give users access to the studio's movies and TV shows online, offering an alternative to DVDs and Blu-rays. Using Keychest, consumers would purchase access rights to a film or TV show, rather than have physical ownership of material on a disc.

Disney hopes the technology will be deployed before the end of 2010. KeyChest will let consumers buy films or television shows from various distributors, store them on remote servers, and play them on multiple platforms ranging from TVs to computers and phones. Disney said it plans to roll-out KeyChest for both the U.S. and the international market, and that it will soon announce partners who will participate in the program.

07/01/2010

Continue reading "Disney to launch online storage scheme ‘KeyChest’ by end of year " »

Facebook is testing a new application that allows its users to moderate content posted by others on the social network. The Facebook Community Council application is currently being tested with a very small number of users, selected on an invite-only basis.

An FCC member can check items published on Facebook for offensiveness along the lines of personal attacks, violence, drug abuse and so on. FCC members are only allowed to click on one of the following alert flags inside a special FCC members-only app if they find something objectionable: Spam, Acceptable, Not English, Nudity, Drugs, Attacking, Violence.

07/01/2010

Continue reading "Facebook enlists users for ‘online safety council’ " »

Skype is now offering video calls on PCs in 720p high definition (HD), as well as Skype software embedded into Internet-connected widescreen televisions from its consumer electronics manufacturer partners.

The latest version of Skype for Windows can deliver up to 720p HD-quality video calling at 1280 x 720 resolution, at up to 30 frames per second. To make an HD video call, users will need a high-speed broadband connection, a new HD webcam, a PC with a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor and Skype 4.2 Beta for Windows.

Continue reading "Coming to a TV near you: Skype goes high definition " »

Google's Chrome web browser has overtaken Apple's Safari to become the third most popular web browser, according to new research. The data, from Net Applications, puts Chrome in third place with 4.63% of the market, ahead of safari with 4.46%.

Google’s browser, which launched just over a year ago, still has a lot of ground to make up to match market leaders Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (63%) and Mozilla’s Firefox (25%). Chrome's 0.7 percent jump from November to December can partly be attributed to the beta launch versions of the Chrome Web browser for Mac OS X and Linux.

04/01/2010

Continue reading "Google Chrome now third most popular browser " »

Google has finally launched its much-anticipated smartphone, Nexus One, which aims to rival Apple's iPhone. The device, made by Taiwanese company HTC, will be sold through Google's website from today and initially be available on T-mobile in the US followed by Vodafone in the UK in the first quarter of 2010.

A Vodafone spokesman said it was the first operator to "bring the Google phone to the UK" but stressed it was a "non-exclusive agreement", meaning that other networks could also offer it soon. Direct from Google the sim-free handset will cost £331. Google said the phone would ship from launch day.

06/01/2010

Continue reading "Google starts selling first-ever mobile handset 'Nexus One' " »

The Conservatives are planning on running a competition for web developers to create a website that would allow large groups of people to help shape new policies- provided they win the next general election. The £1m taxpayer-funded prize would be rewarded to the online platform deemed by the Tories to best harness 'the collective wisdom of the British people'.

The winning product must deliver an effective and available site for the public to post their ideas on, as well as a truly beneficial outcome for it to be worthy of the £1m payout, which the party says would be the biggest prize offered by a British government in the modern era.

05/01/2010

Continue reading "Tories to offer web developers £1m prize for user-generated policy site " »

The FT expects the revenue from subscriptions to overtake the money it makes from print ads for the first time this year.

FT Group chief executive, John Ridding attributed the growth to cover price rises, online charging and a rising number of corporate clients.

FT circulation revenues rose in 2009, despite a drop year on year in print circulation and it says revenues from FT.com digital subscribers rose 30% over the year, as readership rose around the world mirroring a strong appetite for financial news during the economic downturn.

05/01/2010

Continue reading "FT subscription revenues ‘to overtake ad income for first time’ " »

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has criticised Ryanair for introducing a new online fee on its customers, calling it "quite puerile," according to a newspaper report.

The low-cost airline last month started charging the five-pound (5.6 euro) fee per passenger for a ticket bought using a commonly-used Electron card, which had previously been free.

OFT chief executive John Fingleton has criticised the carrier for charging online customers for using a common type of bank card, adding it was operating within "the narrow letter of the law."

Ryanair advertises taxes and other fees upfront but only mentions charges for paying by plastic at the end of a booking on the grounds that customers could escape the fee by using a less-common prepaid card.

01/04/2010

Continue reading "Watchdog slams Ryanair over ‘puerile’ internet charges " »

The BBC Trust has provisionally approved the BBC's involvement in Project Canvas, a service that will allow UK viewers to watch free-to-air broadcasts and Internet content on television.

The trust, an independent body that oversees the license-fee funded BBC, said that "the likely public value of the proposal justifies any potential negative market impact," after it faced criticism from pay-TV companies, in particular British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSY.LN).

Project Canvas is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV, BT, Five as well as recent additions Channel 4 and Carphone Warehouse.

01/01/2010

Continue reading "BBC allowed to take part in internet TV service ‘Project Canvas’ " »

YouTube has launched a new URL shortening service, putting the video sharing platform in direct competiton with market leaders bit.ly and TinyURL.

In a blog posting, Google engineering manager Vijay Karunamurthy announced youtu.be as a shortener for all YouTube video links. and nothing but YouTube links. So you can rest assured that when you see a link with this URL, you are indeed about to click on a YouTube video. Also, because the link contains the ID of the video you're going to see, developers can do interesting things like show you thumbnails, embed the video directly, or track how a video is spreading in real time."

01/01/2010

Continue reading "YouTube debuts own short URL service " »

The French government is fining Google the equivalent of $14,300 until it stops displaying excerpts from copyrighted literary works on its Google books service.

A Paris court also ordered the search giant to pay $430,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere, which brought the case on behalf of a group of French publishers. Google attorney Alexandra Neri said the company would appeal.

22/12/2009

Continue reading "France fines Google $14,300 a day for book copyright breach " »

Twitter will make around $25m from the search deals struck with Google and Microsoft in October, enough to push the site into profitability, according to a report.C iting ‘people familiar with the deal’, Bloomberg reports that the deal to make Twitter’s messages searchable on Google netted the micro-blogging firm some $15m, while a similar deal with Microsoft’s Bing search engine will earn Twitter about $10m. Bloomberg’s sources asked to remain anonymous because the terms aren’t public.

21/12/2009

Continue reading "Twitter 'made $25m from Google and Microsoft search deals'" »

People in the UK watched more TV and sent more texts than people in many other countries, but had slower broadband, according to new research. The study, from telecoms watchdog Ofcom, found the UK remains the country with the highest proportion of households with digital TV on their main set - at 88%. The Ofcom study compared the UK with 12 countries including France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the US.

The Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Japan and the Irish Republic were among the other countries included in the study. The report also looked at the communications markets in four "emerging countries," namely Brazil, Russia, India and China. It found the UK had seen the highest average rise in TV viewing in 2008, up by 3.2% to 3.8 hours a day.

21/12/2009

Continue reading "Brits watch more TV online- but have slower broadband " »

Iran, Swine Flu, Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle and Harry Potter all featured in the top trending topics on Twitter during 2009. Twitter "helped us understand what was happening around the world, showing us that people everywhere can be united in concern," Twitter chief scientist Abdur Chowdhury said.

Twitter was born just three years ago from a day-long brainstorming session by the board members of a podcasting company, Odeo, but found its breakthrough at the South by Southwest music festival a year later.

Last year, businesses, media and celebrities latched onto the system, skewing the demographic toward older adults.But as 2008 unfolded, Twitter took hold during the U.S. presidential election and as a disaster communications tool during the attacks in Mumbai. CNN declared social media "came of age" in Mumbai as people used the medium to track victims and injuries.

18/12/2009

Continue reading "Twitter reveals top trends of 2009 " »

Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle's first audition was the most watched video on YouTube during 2009.

The talent show runner-up's surprising rendition of 'I Dreamed A Dream' has been watched by more than 120 million viewers worldwide, making it more popular than the next three most-watched videos combined. The list marks the first time YouTube has revealed its most popular videos.

In second place, with more than 37 million views, was ‘David After Dentist’ a video featuring a disorientated seven-year-old boy recovering from dental work. Third place went to JK Wedding Entrance Dance, which showed an convoluted dance routine featuring members of their entourage just before their wedding. The video garnered 33 million views, prompting Sony, which owned the rights to the Chris Brow song that provided the soundtrack to the video, placing a link next to the video allowing people to buy the song and also shared profits from sales of ads on the site.

17/12/2009

Continue reading "YouTube reveals top videos of 2009 " »

Only 13% of internet users would be prepared to pay for access to online media, although Brits show a higher than average willingness to fork over cash for Internet content, a survey has found.The research, carried out by GfK on behalf of the Wall Street Journal Europe, examined internet use in 16 European countries and the US.

80 per cent of respondents said they wanted continued free access to information online, and of the 13 per cent of users willing to pay, 8 per cent would accept a charge for advertising-free content, and 5 per cent would pay for content with advertising.

17/12/2009

Continue reading "Brits ‘more willing to pay for online content’ " »

Our final news round-up of the year saw more 2010 trends take centre-stage. Google's search getting more mobile and personal (long awaited, and sure to shift the market), and the paid for consumer content movement continued to push forwards (sure to trundle forwards, though with far less likelihood of success).

Government policy made headlines with a storm around the Digital Economy Bill and the 50p broadband tax that got the green light in the UK's pre-budget report. Linked to this is the way regulators will play a much bigger role in 2010 - the first spotlight will be on the MS/Yahoo tie-up and the second on privacy. Facebook's lead on safety (giving kids a special "panic" button) is a shrewd move in delivering what's needed, and here in the UK we've been helping the Information Commissioner's Office develop the thinking around what's needed for the hundreds of thousands of small firms now routinely using personal data.

You'll find lots more ideas to fuel your strategy in the news, research and data we've written up below. Click on the links for 50 full stories, forward around to colleagues, and let me know if you need more of the background as you develop your own 2010 digital strategy.

Read December 2009

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The overall number of entertainment & media (E&M) insolvencies has now reached record levels from the early days of the credit crunch, according to new research. Autumn 2009 marked a milestone of 1000 insolvencies in the UK entertainment and media sector since June 2007, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) business recovery analysis.

But publishing failures alone jumped nearly 25 percent this year (January to October inclusively) on 2008 despite a recovery for other sectors such as advertising. In fact publishing failures account for a third of all E&M insolvencies.

16/12/2009

Continue reading "Over 1000 UK media companies went bust in past 2 years " »

Twitter is testing a new feature that lets businesses run shared accounts on the micro-blogging service. The "Contributors" feature enables companies to have accounts that workers can share when it comes to sending text messages to customers or others. Accounts bear the names of businesses, but workers fielding questions or announcing developments would get bylines identifying their tweets.

16/12/2009

Continue reading "Twitter debuts first business app ‘Contributors’ " »

90% of European internet users go online weekly to search for information, while more than 4 out of 10 consumers search for information on brands and products via comparison, expert and user review sites, according to new research.

The new report, from Marketers & Consumers, Digital & Connected was conducted in 16 European countries.It also found that the web is the platform for a lively peer-to-peer economy, a third of European internet users have sold something to another user via online classified or auction sites.

15/12/2009

Continue reading "Study reveals European web habits " »

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has extended its remit to online-only publications.

Until now, online versions of newspapers and magazines have come within the remit of the PCC but online-only publications have not. The Press Standards Board of Finance (PressBoF) said the change will relate mainly to online magazines, where the publisher and editor must subscribe to the Editors' Code of Practice.

15/12/2009

Continue reading "Press complaint body extends remit to cover online-only publications " »

Scandinavian operator TeliaSonera has become the first mobile network operator to launch commercial LTE mobile broadband services, offering mobile download speeds 10 times faster than standard 3G services.

The services went live in the centres of Oslo and Stockholm on Monday, offering theoretical maximum speeds of 100Mbps and real-world speeds of 20-80Mbps. Mobile users in Norway and Sweden will be able to buy a mobile dongle that supports the ‘4G’ network (the official IEEE definition of that term cites 100Mbps as a minimum speed.)

15/12/2009

Continue reading "Norway and Sweden get world’s first '4G' mobile broadband " »

Google is working on the development of its own mobile phone device, which is currently being tested by the company's employees. The search giant has teamed up with handset maker HTC for the project. As yet, the company has not released an official name, although codenames are believed to include Phone 88 and Nexus One, a reference to the film Blade Runner.

15/12/2009

Continue reading "Google unveils plans for smartphone " »

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is facing a backlash from privacy advocates following comments made during a TV interview last week.

When asked during an interview for CNBC's recent "Inside the Mind of Google" special about whether users should be sharing information with Google as if it were a "trusted friend," Schmidt responded, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

14/12/2009

Continue reading "Google CEO faces privacy backlash after talk show comments" »

AOL and Time Warner have formally split after almost 10 years as one company. The companies merged back in 2001, in what was dubbed the "deal of the century" at the time.
However, AOL soon started loosing market share as it was slow to react to the shift from dial-up to broadband internet access. In 2002, AOL had 26 million dial-up customers, now it has 5.4 million. However, it still earns 43% of its revenue from these die-hard subscribers and runs several successful media sites including tech blog Engadget. On Thursday, investors will get their chance to rate AOL's prospects when the shares start live trading. The occasion will be marked by AOL's chief executive, Tim Armstrong, who will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

11/12/2009

The government's controversial broadband tax has been given the go ahead by chancellor Alistair Darling in his pre-Budget report. The £6-a-year levy will be imposed on all households with a fixed line phone. The money made will be put into a fund to ensure rural areas of the UK do not miss out on super-fast broadband services.

Mr Darling said the government would provide super-fast broadband to 90% of the UK by the end of 2017. Announcing the tax, Mr Darling said: "We are modernising the UK's digital infrastructure and, in the process, creating thousands more skilled jobs. We have provided funding to help extend the opportunities of the broadband network to more remote communities. We now want to go further, so we can provide the next generation of super-fast broadband to 90 per cent of the population by the end of 2017."

11/12/2009

Continue reading "50p broadband tax gets green light in pre-budget report " »

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 5th Dec 09.

Search terms ranked by clicks for the weeks ending 5th Dec 09.

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 5th Dec 09.

Nearly 100% of government transactions will be carried out online by 2014, saving £400m in three years, according to a new report. The Putting the Frontline First report outlines how the government expects to free-up money for public services by streamlining back-office processes.
The government hopes that putting all services online will lead to better services and free-up staff to deal personally with individuals.

09/12/2009

Continue reading "Government plans to put all public services online by 2014 " »

Online advertising overtakes TV for the first time during the first half of 2009.

Paid for search dominates with two-thirds of the digital advertsing spend during the first half of 2009.

Google has unveiled its much anticipated real-time search service, the result of a series of partnership deals struck with leading social networks facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Amit Singhal, Google fellow, introduced the real-time section during an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. "We are here today to announce Google real-time search," Singhal said, describing it as: "Google relevance technology meets the real-time web".

Twitter messages and other fresh content streamed into a box on Google's main search page in a demonstration of the new feature, which will be rolled out at all English-language search sites in the coming days.

09/12/2009

Continue reading "Google links with Twitter, MySpace and Facebook for real-time search " »

Google has begun testing a new search product called ‘Goggles’, which lets users scour the Internet with mobile telephone cameras or spoken words in multiple languages. The service uses online using pictures taken with cameras in mobile phones based on its Android operating system.

"When you take a mobile phone camera and connect it to the Internet, it becomes an eye," Google mobile search vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said while demonstrating Goggles in Mountain View, California.

09/12/2009

Continue reading "Google uses phone pics to conduct searches " »

Google' has begun tracking the search behaviour of all its users to offer more refined results and targeted ads, expanding the service beyond those with a Google account. The move will see Google using a cookie placed on users' machines to track their search behavior and offer personalised recommendations, even when they are not logged into a Google account.

08/12/2009

Continue reading "Google expands personalised search to non-account holders " »

Google is in talks with US TV networks to charge viewers for streaming ad-free shows on YouTube, according to reports. Technology website All Things Digital reports that that "preliminary discussions" are taking place in the US between Google, which owns YouTube, and some of the major television networks. The move would see viewers charged around $1.99 to watch episodes of their favourite shows online, without any adverts, the day after they were first broadcast on TV.

08/12/2009

Continue reading "YouTube to start charging for ad-free shows? " »

News Corp. is joining a new, independent digital publishing consortium in the US, according to a news report. The Financial Times reports that the consortium - which also involves Time Warner's Time Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst Corp. and Meredith - could be announced this week. The paper reported that the five US publishing giants are set to this week target the e-reader market 'to wrestle control of its digital future' from the market leaders Amazon, Apple and Sony.

08/12/2009

Continue reading "News Corp joins US ‘digital newsstand’ " »

Yahoo has just launched its Ad Interest Manager designed to make online advertising more transparent. The opt-in service gathers information based on searching habits to provide relevant advertisements to the user. The Ad Interest Manager site lets the user see a summary of their online activity on Yahoo’s content network. They can then determine their level of exposure to interest-based ad served by the Yahoo Ad Network.

08/12/2009

Continue reading "Yahoo puts users in control of ads they see" »

Facebook and other networking sites are to install panic buttons enabling children to alert administrators if 'inappropriate' material is posted. The Sunday Times reports that 140 companies, charities and other groups have signed up to the code and that Home Secretary Alan Johnson is set to announce the new scheme today (Tuesday). The initiative also includes the obligation for sites to provide 'safe search' facilities, allowing parents to restrict access to offensive pages. The government will also launch a national advertising campaign aimed at parents, teachers and kids.

08/12/2009

Continue reading "Facebook forms safety board, gives children ‘panic’ button " »

Apple has bought US-based online music store Lala for an undisclosed sum, fueling rumours the company could be adding subscription-based music services via iTunes. The New York Times confirmed the purchase last Friday, citing a person with knowledge of the deal. Lala lets users listen to a catalog of around 8 million songs for free through the Web. According to Lala's site, users can pay 10 cents for unlimited plays of a song; they can also download an MP3 version for 89 cents.

08/12/2009

Continue reading "Apple’s Lala buy to pave way for iTunes subscription service? " »

Microsoft and Yahoo have finalized the terms of a broad search and advertising agreement intended to help them compete more effectively with Google. The deal was first announced in July, letting Microosoft’s new Bing search engine to power Yahoo’s search results. In return, Yahoo will provide premium search-advertising services for both companies. They had hoped to finalize the deal in late October but needed more time to work out the details.

08/12/2009

Continue reading "Microsoft cements Yahoo search ad deal– but still awaits regulator approval " »

Five has become the second broadcaster to sign a deal with YouTube to show its programmes on the video sharing website. The three-year deal follows a similar link up between YouTube and Channel 4 last month. The move will see full versions of popular shows from Five available on YouTube for up to 30 days after they are broadcast, providing an alternative viewing method to Five's current on demand service.

07/12/2009

Continue reading "Channel Five signs on demand deal with YouTube " »

This week the audience of socnet giant Facebook broke the 350m user barrier, setting new records for social networking both globally and here in the UK. The national numbers see Facebook’s audience rise to a staggering 23m uniques a month, but the jaw-dropping statistics are in the frequency of use. Half of all British Facebook users return daily, confirming the platform’s position as the most engaging social media player.

When we spoke with Stephen Haines who is the UK Commercial Director of Facebook UK, he explained that it’s simply about knowing what people want. “We’re all about the user at Facebook. That’s as true today as when the platform launched. Our focus is on understanding what people want and having a team of outstanding developers to make this possible.”

07/12/2009

Continue reading "Facebook use smashes social media records " »

More than 1,200 illegal internet shopping websites that have made millions of pounds for criminals have been shut down by Scotland Yard in the biggest operation of its kind in Britain.
The sites claimed to sell heavily discounted designer goods, including Ugg Australia Boots, ghd hair straighteners and jewellery from Tiffany & Co and Links of London. Buyers either received counterfeit products or nothing at all. It is also likely that their credit card details have been used to fund other illegal activity. It is estimated that British shoppers have spent millions on the sites but police are convinced that by shutting them down consumers have been saved millions more.

07/12/2009

Continue reading "Police shut down over 1,200 illegal shopping sites in UK " »

Search terms ranked by visits for the week ending 5th Dec 09.

Search terms ranked by clicks for the four weeks ending 5th December 09.

Sony’s chief executive, Howard Stringer, has unveiled the technology giant’s plans for an all-in-one online network that pipes Sony’s films, music, games and other content to its TVs, Walkmans and PlayStation game machines. In an interview with reporters this week, Stringer said the project, known as the Sony Online Service, which will combine the company’s digital content and hardware. The company, based in Tokyo, expects to book its second consecutive annual loss in the fiscal year that ends in March, after losing 98.9 billion yen, or $1.12 billion at the current exchange rate, last year.

04/12/2009

Continue reading "Sony outlines plans for all-in-one online media network " »

MySpace has launched a UK version of MySpace Music in a bid to compete directly with streaming sites like Spotify and Last Fm. The service, already available in the US, Australia and New Zealand, claims it has "the most comprehensive catalogue" on the internet, and will allow users to buy DRM free downloads via a partnership with iTunes. It will offer free streaming access to entire back catalogues of artists on both major and independent labels.

04/12/2009

Continue reading "MySpace takes on Spotify with music streaming site " »

Internet giants Google, Facebook, eBay UK and Yahoo have joined forces to fight one of the measures in the Government's proposed Digital Economy Bill. In a joint letter to business secretary Lord Mandelson, Google, Yahoo!, Facebook and eBay have expressed "grave concerns" about plans in the Digital Economy Bill to give ministers powers to amend copyright law without primary legislation.

03/12/2009

Continue reading "Web giants unite to fight Government’s Internet copyright plans " »

Yahoo will let users of its email, photo-sharing and other online products link their content and activities directly into Facebook.

Yahoo's support of the Facebook Connect service, which it said it expects to begin in the first half of 2010, represents an important move in Yahoo's efforts to tap the popularity of social networking and underscores the growing clout of Facebook, which now counts more than 350 million worldwide users.

Earlier this year, Yahoo allowed users to preview messages from their Facebook friends directly on the Yahoo homepage, as part of a broad revamping of the Yahoo front page.

The new move takes the integration between Yahoo and Facebook a step further, by automatically pushing activities performed on Yahoo sites, such as photos shared on Yahoo's Flickr, into the Facebook news feed.

03/12/2009

Continue reading "Yahoo plugs email and Flickr into Facebook " »

Two-thrids of all searches by searches by Americans are carried out using out using Google, Oct 09.

Google is to limit the number of news articles users can read for free via its search engine. The search engine is changing its ‘First Click Free’ programme so that readers would not be able to look at more than five pages in one day. The programme lets readers get around paying subscriptions or registration to news sites by accessing news articles through Google.

The move means users who now click on more than five articles in a day may be routed to payment or registration pages. Google's senior business product manager Josh Cohen said: "Previously, each click from a user would be treated as free. Now, we've updated the programme so that publishers can limit users to no more than five pages per day without registering or subscribing."

02/12/2009

Johnston Press has become one of the first regional UK publishers to start charging for its online content. Johnston Press owns more than 300 local newspapers including the Yorkshire Post and 'The Scotsman'. The move will see the publisher put content from six of its titles behind ‘paywalls’. From yesterday, readers of three Johnston titles, the Nothumberland Gazette, the Whitby Gazette'and the Southern Reporter, will pay £5 (€5.40) for a three-month online subscription.

02/12/2009

Continue reading "Johnston Press starts charging for online content " »

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, US, Oct 09

US internet audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Oct 09.

The BBC Trust has said that the corporation's online operation could be scaled back in the future following recent criticism from industry stakeholders. The BBC was also ordered by its internal regulator to rein in the activities of BBC Worldwide, its commercial arm, after competitors complained that the corporation’s huge financial muscle was giving it an unfair advantage. The Trust has also published an ongoing strategic review document for the entire BBC operation.

In his chairman's commentary, Sir Michael Lyons discussed the prospect of streamlining BBC Online services to "narrow the focus on distinctive content and help to create a more open BBC". Lyons said he wanted BBC Director General Mark Thompson to ask what "licence fee payers really expect to get from their licence fee and what they might be surprised to see the BBC doing in the online world".

He indicated that some areas, such as the iPlayer and news online, are safe when he asked: "Beyond the core offer of news, sport, education, children's and the iPlayer, which parts of the online service are essential to the BBC's mission and which could be stopped?"

01/12/2009

Continue reading "BBC may be forced to cut websites " »

Online advertising network Adconion Media Group has acquired certain assets from the online video service Joost, for an undisclosed sum. In June, Joost announced a change in its business strategy to focus on providing white-label video platforms, and Adconion plans to pursue this strategy.

Tyler Moebius, CEO, Adconion Media Group, said: “Through the acquisition of the Joost assets we will be able to provide advertisers, content owners and website publishers with an end-to-end global video platform and cross-channel video and display ad-serving solution.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "Adconion buys video assets from Joost " »

Google has teamed up with TiVo in the US, in a bid to capitalise on TV ads. TiVo will provide Google TV Ads with second-by-second viewing patterns of time-shifted programs in order to "enhance the measurement and accountability of ad impressions," the companies said in a joint statement.Google TV Ads is a 2-year-old initiative from the Internet search giant for auctioning off television ad inventory on a CPM basis, charging advertisers only for the ad impressions viewed.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "Google teams up with TiVo for TV ad data" »

Google has bought ad targeting software firm Teracent for an undisclosed sum.The move will give the search giant software that will help its display ads better target web users. Teracent's software selects elements of ads, such as images and colors, that can be optimized for users based on criteria such as geographic location and language. Teracent was founded in 2006, and is based in California.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "Google buys ad targeting firm Teracent " »

Twitter has confirmed it will be rolling out paid-for business accounts next year, as the micro-blogging service looks for new ways to monetise its service. The paid-for commercial accounts would offer extra services to help companies tweeting to understand how the service is working for them, providing analytics, statistics and feedback. The plans were revealed by twitter co-founder Biz Stone in an interview with the BBC. Stone stressed that the micro-blogging service would remain free at a fundamental level, on both personal and commercial fronts.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "It’s official: Twitter to launch commercial accounts next year " »

Vodafone is testing a new system that lets business customers pay a premium for priority access to the network during peak times. The technology, which was launched in Spain last week, means that business customers can choose to pay a data tariff of €49 (£44) a month to ensure enhanced access. Businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on mobile phone applications beyond traditional e-mail data services, but, as the number of smartphones has increased, mobile networks have struggled to cope with thousands of customers using iPhones to watch videos and other bandwidth-heavy applications.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "Vodafone tests priority network access for ‘premium’ subscribers " »

Google has revealed the UK’s top search trends in 2009, with Swine Flu, the death of Jade Goody and the popularity of Susan Boyle topping the list.Google's annual "zeitgeist", which analyses the firm's search trends, revealedf that top website searches included Hotmail, eBay, Yahoo and social network Bebo. The fastest rising search queries of the year included the BBC's iPlayer and Bing.

"Britons had mixed feelings as they headed online this year to search for their favourite online tools, to learn about celebrities new and old, and to find a good bargain," said Google spokesperson Anthony House. "People searched about new sensations like Lady Gaga and Susan Boyle, but they also turned to the web to learn about the deaths of Stephen Gately, Jade Goody and Michael Jackson."

01/12/2009

Continue reading "Google reveals top UK search trends of 2009 " »

Google is planning to release its first mobile device next year, according to a new report. Times Online reports that an analyst is predicting in 2010, Google will launch their own smartphone, running a new version of Android. The report says the device will feature a larger-than-usual touch screen and a speedy Qualcomm processor that trumps the one powering the iPhone 3GS. The gadget will likely run the as-yet-unseen "Flan" version of Google's Android operating system and support Google Voice, the phone management service Google offers free that lets users ring their home, work and mobile numbers through a special Google number.

01/12/2009

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article6924233.ece

The Newspaper Society has launched Locally Connected, which it claims to be the UK’s first integrated print and online audience currency. In the first research released using the new metric, the trade body has revealed that local media websites increase the unduplicated reach of regional and local newspapers within their circulation areas by 14%, particularly among upmarket and core middle age groups.

The project was instigated in 2006 by the NS, working alongside JICREG and ABCe with the aim of extending the regional press readership database to encompass newspapers’ online audiences and provide agencies and advertisers with a geographical system for analysing the combined net reach of a newspaper and its website within circulation areas down to postcode sector level.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "New metric unites print and online under one currency " »

The new ‘broadband tax’ will be applied to each phone line rather than per person, leaving nearly two million households paying up three times the £6 announced by the government, according to a new report. A document, leaked to the Conservatives and reported in The Times, shows the Treasury stands to gain a further £30 million annual windfall by applying VAT to create a tax upon a tax. Plans by Revenue & Customs show that ministers will apply the tax to each phone line rather than per customer — affecting more than 1.7 million homes with more than one phone line — and will also add VAT to the cost.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "Broadband tax 'could treble for homes with multiple lines' " »

Tesco Mobile is to start selling iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Tesco Phone Shops and online through Tesco Direct in the UK. The move is made possible through its joint venture partnership with O2. The company sells exclusively Tesco Mobile branded services in Tesco stores, online and through Tesco Direct, across the UK using O2’s technology and network.

01/12/2009

www.tescomobileiphone.com

Four top US publishers, Time, Conde Nast, Meredith and Hearst, are to launch a digital newsstand company for publications in a variety of digital formats, according to a report. Hailed as an 'iTunes for magazines,' the new company and service will have the four rival publishers as equity partners. The New York Times quotes an anonymous source familiar with the deal, which admits that the publishers are eager to get more control over digital readership while print circulation continues to go down.

01/12/2009

Continue reading "US magazine publishers unite for ‘digital newsstand’ " »

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, Worldwide, October 2009

Global audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Oct 09.

Behind the scenes every firm's gearing up its 2010 digital strategy, and retailers are looking forward to that sudden seasonal uplift in online sales. Many are running our digital marketing audits to look for areas where they can boost effectiveness without increasing budgets, as ROI looks set to be the key theme for 2010.

This month's news was dominated by the changing relationships between publishers and search engines and that's another theme we're expecting will characterise next year. A related issue is the Murdoch-led quest to charge for online content, and wider concerns about the business models for web media. There's also a sea change to the mobile web from a fixed web, and in Western Europe, the US and many parts of Asia, mobile should be a core element in the 2010 plan.

This month's country focus is Italy, and for all the headlines there are full details on click through.

Read November 2009

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Search terms ranked by visits for the week ending 14th November 2009

Search terms ranked by clicks for the 4 weeks ending 14th November 2009

Social networking service uSocial has agreed to stop selling groups of Facebook "friends" to clients after it was given a cease and desist notice by the social network, but has said it will continue selling fans.

Facebook ordered an investigation into the company's actions in September, but according to uSocial's founder Leon Hill, the site has now sent a letter to the company claiming it has broken several laws, including illegally accessing the site. But while Hill says the company will no longer sell "friends", it will continue its business of selling "fans" for marketing purposes.

23/11/2009

Continue reading "Facebook clamps down on friend-selling service " »

Microsoft is reportedly in talks with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to pay the media company to remove its news websites from Google. According to the Financial Times, Microsoft is talking to other publishers to get them to remove themselves from Google too.

The move would see the publisher being paid revenues by Microsoft's search engine Bing if it “de-indexes” its news content from arch-rival Google. The plan puts pressure on search juggernaut Google to start paying for content, the FT said.

23/11/2009

Continue reading "Microsoft to pay Murdoch for News Corp search results? " »

Haymarket Publishing is to close its Revolution and Media Week magazines, as part of a major restructuring programme. Media Week will continue online, with a full-time digital editor taking the reins. It will be integrated into the existing Brand Republic portal. A "centralised hub" of reporters will now cover news from the media, advertising and marketing sectors for the website.

Meanwhile digital media publication Revolution will become a quarterly supplement within Marketing magazine. Revolutionmagazine.com will also cease to exist as a standalone entity, with the site absorbed into Brand Republic over the coming weeks.

23/11/2009

Continue reading "Haymarket shuts down Media Week and Revolution print titles " »

Facebook is adopting a new simplified privacy policy which allows users to delete their profiles entirely. Comments and other information shared with friends will remain on the site, but deleted names will no longer be attached to the comments. Instead they will appear as anonymous. According to a blog post by Facebook deputy counsel Michael Richter, the new terms were accepted without a member vote because Facebook received fewer than 7,000 comments on the proposed changes over a seven-week notice period, the majority of which were positive.

20/11/2009

Continue reading "Facebook lets users delete profiles " »

YouTube has launched a new ad-funded channel that lets UK viewers watch full length TV shows from more than 60 partners, including Channel 4 and ITN. YouTube has launched a new ad-funded channel that lets UK viewers watch full length TV shows from more than 60 partners, including Channel 4 and ITN.

At launch, YouTube is posting around 5,000 videos, of which almost 4,000 are full-length programmes, from more than 60 partners. YouTube said it "expects this to significantly increase in the coming months". The new section provides the first shows from the landmark deal with Channel 4 agreed last month.

20/11/2009

Continue reading "YouTube's full length UK TV show channel goes live " »

AOL is looking to cut more than a third of its work force as it prepares to spin off from Time Warner next month. AOL, which now employs 6,900 workers, is asking for 2,500 volunteers to accept buyouts and plans to resort to layoffs if it does not get enough people. The voluntary offer is open to all employees from 4th – 11th December. Time Warner, the New York media conglomerate, plans to spin AOL off as a separate company, AOL Inc., on Dec. 9.

20/11/2009

Continue reading "AOL looks to shed 2,500 jobs " »

Newspapers should become ‘radically open’ if they want to make money in the online world, the co-founder of social networking site Twitter has said. Speaking an event organised by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) in London, Biz Stone said that he would "love to see what happens" if newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch went ahead with plans to block Google from his websites.

20/11/2009

Continue reading "Twitter founder urges Murdoch to be open " »

Spotify has become the UK's second favourite music service, and is gaining ground on iTunes, according to a new study looking into the nations favourite web services. The ‘Connected Life’ study, which asked 2,000 UK internet users about their favourite services, found 60% of music users stream music directly from the internet.

17/11/2009

Continue reading "Survey uncovers the nation's favourite websites " »

Google has hinted that loading time may become a ranking factor on its search results for webpages in 2010. The move could encourage media owners to host their websites on faster servers to ensure they rank highly on Google. Google's Matt Cutts unveiled the company's proposal at last week's PubCon in Las Vegas, where page loading time was included in a list of 'what to expect in 2010.'

Cutts explained that page loading time is already a factor in AdWords advertising searches, and that there is a strong push to make speed a quality factor in Google's organic search ranking algorithm. However, there are currently more than 200 ranking factors being taken into consideration by Google's search algorithm, and the system is only expected to punish webpages that take an excessive time to load - around 20 seconds or more.

17/11/2009

Google UK tops the search engine list with 3/4 of all searches in UK

Google UK maintains its dominance as the UK's most visited search engine

The Government finally set out its plans to cut off illegal file-sharers in this week’s Queen's Speech, but the £6 broadband tax is delayed till next year.

"My government will introduce a bill to ensure communications infrastructure that is fit for the digital age, supports future economic growth, delivers competitive communications and enhances public service broadcasting," the Queen said in the speech, which sets out the programme of legislation till the General Election next year.

19/11/2009

Continue reading "Queen sets out Government plans to tackle piracy " »

Iran’s election protests, the shutdown of Napster and the 2008 US presidential campaign have been named amongst the top 10 Internet moments of the 2000s. The events were singled out by New York-based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences which bestows the annual Webby Awards.

19/11/2009

Continue reading "Top 10 internet moments of the decade" »

The Times has outlined plans for its online payments model, dismissing micro-payments in favour of a 24-hour access charge for the online version of the paper. Speaking at the Society of Editors conference in Stansted, Essex, James Harding, editor of the Times, said the paper would charge for 24-hour access to that day's edition of the paper alongside a subscription model. Harding pledged to "rewrite the economics of newspapers", and warned the newspaper business had to avoid the mistakes of the music industry in making ‘free’ the norm.

18/11/2009

Continue reading "Times Online ditches micro-payments for 24- hour charges " »

Twitter users in Europe will soon be able to tweet to each other via their TV sets while watching entertainment and sports shows, following a deal between Orange and the micro-blogging service. Under the deal, Orange is aiming to integrate Twitter into football coverage, news, entertainment shows and films. Orange, which is owned by the telecommunications giant France Telecom, runs TV services in France, Spain and Poland and mobile and internet services internationally, including in the UK.

18/11/2009

Continue reading "Orange strikes Twitter TV deal" »

Google has revamped its Translate service with a raft of new features, including a speech tool.

The new-look service features a new layout, alongside instant translation, phonetic input and text-to-speech engine.

‘Instant Translation’ allows the user to see a translation of the text as they type it - in the same way as Google can display results before a user finishes typing their query.

The text-to-speech engine means that users can hear translations spoken by clicking a small speaker icon.

17/11/2009

Continue reading "Google updates Translate service with speech tool " »

YouTube has launched a new channel that gives online news editors video access to footage posted by citizen journalists and even request such video be shot by amateurs seeking attention. ‘YouTube Direct’ works on a purely voluntary basis, with no commission paid to users whose videos are used, but they will receive credit. Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube, said: "It's an incentive to upload great video, because of the recognition you'll get from legitimate news organizations".

17/11/2009

Continue reading "YouTube launches channel for citizen journalists " »

Swindon is to be become Britain’s first “wi-fi town” with free internet access available to all its 186,000 residents. A £1 million network of 1,400 “access points” similar to the wireless routers installed in millions of homes will be sited at strategic locations around the Wiltshire town. The free network, named the ‘Swindon mesh’, will allow all residents access to the internet but will not be fast enough for streaming films without a fee. Subscribers can sign up for 20Mb upgrades for “significantly less per month than major broadband competitors” following a free three-month trial, the council said.

17/11/2009

Continue reading "Swindon to become first UK wi-fi town " »

Google has hinted it will soon launch Caffeine, its much –anticipated new search engine that is designed to offer faster and more relevant results. The company has provided no specific launch date, but says Caffeine should be fully deployed early in 2010.

In a blog posting on Tuesday, Google principal engineer Matt Cutts said Google was ready to move to the next stage of the rollout by going live with Caffeine at one of its datacentres. "This means that a small percentage of Google's users will benefit from the technology behind Caffeine in their regular searches," Cutts wrote.

16/11/2009

Continue reading "Google to give search a Caffeine boost after Xmas " »

Social networking site Bebo has been forced to cut jobs and freeze its web TV projects such as KateModern, following cutbacks at its parent company AOL. The move will see Bebo freezing commissions from its web TV production arm, which has been responsible for shows including KateModern, Sofia's Diary, The Secret World of Sam King and The Gap Year.

The social networking site aimed at teens is making redundancies at its UK, US and Australian operations. The company employs around 20 staff in the UK and it is understood the team will be cut back to a minimum.

16/11/2009

Continue reading "Bebo cuts UK jobs, halts web TV projects " »

Italian audience reach for top 10 parent companies, October 2009

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, Italy, October 2009

Monthly internet use: key indicators for Italian web users, October 2009

Google is testing skippable ads on YouTube, as the search giant looks to find new ways to monetise the video-sharing site. The concept of the ad unit is that while users are given the tools to skip the ads they don't want to see, when they do in fact watch them, they will do so with more engagement.

Google is opting-in advertisers running video campaigns via AdWords for the test. It will display a small text option in the right-hand corner of the viewer, reading, "Skip this ad." Clicking that text takes users directly to the videos they wish to play. YouTube is running the experiment on clips produced as part of its partner program with creators who have elected to include in-stream ads.

12/11/2009

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Three-quarters of Brits would consider paying for digital content if it only cost 10p or per article, with Jeremy Clarkson the most likely columnist to entice punters to hand over their cash, according to a new survey. The report, by Continental Research, found The Sun's Jeremy Clarkson, the Guardian's Charlie Brooker and the Daily Mail's Richard Littlejohn are the UK national press's most "valuable" columnists online. The poll indicated that micropayment systems looked more palatable to consumers than monthly or annual subscription systems.

12/11/2009

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LinkedIn and Twitter have struck a deal that lets users publish their status updates across both social networks simultaneously.

LinkedIn is the largest professional social network, with 50 million members around the world who post information about themselves, such as resumes, to help find jobs or employees, and to stay in touch with each other.

LinkedIn’s update box allows inputs of up to 140 characters, conveniently the same size as that allowed by Twitter.

11/11/2009

Continue reading "LinkedIn and Twitter sync status updates " »

Sky has launched a live television iPhone application letting users watch live news and sport, including live premiership matches, TV coverage via their mobiles. The Sky Mobile TV App uses a WiFi internet connection to stream channels including Sky Sports, Sky Sports News, Sky News, ESPN and At The Races. It is free to browse the schedule and programme guide on the Sky mobile service but a subscription to watch live television will cost £6 a month.

10/11/2009

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Google is to buy mobile advertising firm AdMob for $750m (£449m), making the search giant the largest player in the mobile market. AdMob specialises in selling adverts displayed on small screens, a growing market given the popularity of smartphones such as the iPhone and the Blackberry. The deal will see Google use new mobile technology to drive mobile advertising, helping to decrease its reliance on desktop Internet ads, where growth is slowing.

10/11/2009

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Play.com has apologised for accidentally giving out customers' personal details following an email error.

The online retailer sent confirmation emails to customers that hadn't placed any orders, containing names and addresses of other Play.com customers.

Complaints were sent to the BBC while the Play.com help lines were jammed. One Play.com customer told the BBC that he woke up to find 80 emails from the website for orders he hadn't placed.

10/11/2009

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The consortium of private investors looking to buy Skype from eBay have agreed to settle litigation with the web phone firm’s founders. The settlement will see Skype’s founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, get a 14-percent stake in the Internet phone service in the transaction. eBay is selling Skype in order to focus on its core online auction and payments business.

9/11/2009

Continue reading "eBay Skype sale gets Greenlight " »

News Corp is likely to remove its content from Google searches entirely, as the media conglomerate looks to encourage people to pay for content online. In an interview with Sky News Australia News Corp founder and CEO Rupert Murdoch claimed that Google and others are stealing News Corp content.

When asked about who he was talking about when he talked about plagiarists, Murdoch said: “The people who simply pick up everything to run with, and steal our stories…they just take them..without payment. That’s Google, Microsoft, Ask.com..a whole lot of people.”

09/11/2009

Continue reading "Murdoch to boycott Google entirely? " »

Google has launched a search product for online retailers, as the company looks to expand further into the ecommerce arena.

Google Commerce Search will s include Google´s spell checker, query stemming and synonym recognition to help retailers .

On a blog about the new product, Google said visitors spend an average of just eight seconds before deciding whether or not to remain on a website, meaning that a good search tool is important for turning visitors into buyers.

06/11/2009

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Google has bowed to user’s privacy concerns by launching an online tool that lets its account holders know how much of their personal data the search giant holds.Google Dashboard provides users with a single view of all the data associated with their Google accounts.

The tool reveals information about user’s Web usage, email usage and when they are logged into Google services such as Gmail, YouTube and Google Calendar. Dashboard will also let users delete information as well, a move that could help to address privacy concerns that have been raised surrounding Google's collection of so much data about its users' online habits.

06/11/2009

Continue reading "Google reveals how much it knows about you " »

Google has introduced a new ad format that lets consumers compare text adverts side by side in their search results.Currently only available in the US, ‘AdWords Comparison Ads’ will initially be limited to mortgages and will see a limited rollout over the next week.

Writing in his Google blog, Dan Friedman, from Google’s Inside AdWords team, said: “AdWords uses a host of targeting and relevancy signals to determine the best ads for each query. However, sometimes a user’s query doesn’t provide enough information for us to confidently predict what they want.

5/11/2009

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Orange is to launch its new iPhone range on November 10, priced from £30 a month on a 2 year contract. The iPhone 3G and 3GS will retail in Orange shops, Orange on-line, Orange HMV concessions, Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U from with early opening times from 7am on November 10th, with other stores across the country keeping their doors open until late. Orange globally now offers iPhone in 28 countries and territories.

03/11/2009

Continue reading "Orange iPhone to launch next week " »

T-Mobile has expanded its free texts for life scheme to now include free internet access for up to 40MB of data a day.The move marks a further shift in the mobile market as operators move emphasis from calls and texts towards email and internet access. By topping up £10 each month, T-Mobile customers will be able to use their credit solely for making calls.

03/11/2009

Continue reading "T-Mobile gives pre-pay customers ‘unlimited’ web access " »

Uplift in branding is high for all website visitors, slightly higher among those typing URLs directly into browser

Online marketing's greatest impact is on patients refilling their prescriptions.

Online ads work, rich media works better, but brand websites are best of all

Reach fluctuates throughout the year giving a yearly average reach of 47.6%.

People who use peer-to-peer filesharing websites like Pirate Bay to illegally download music spend over £30 more on music per year than those who do not download illegally, according to new research.

Internet users who claim to never illegally download music spend an average of £44 per person on music per year, while those who do admit to illegal downloading spend £77, amounting to an estimated £200m in revenue per year.

A new poll commissioned by Demos found that almost one in ten adults (9%) aged 16-50 who have internet access admit downloading music illegally. But this group are also active music buyers, with 8 in 10 buying CDs, vinyl or MP3s in the past year. The poll also found that 42 per cent of illegal downloaders agree that they 'like to try things out before I decide whether to buy them.'

The findings suggest that government plans to disconnect repeat illegal downloaders from the internet, announced yesterday by Lord Mandelson, could do the music industry more harm than good by punishing core consumers. The poll showed that the availability of new, appealing legal music provision services is the step most likely to encourage illegal downloaders to stop, above fines or the threat of disconnection.

Continue reading "Illegal downloaders ‘are music industry’s biggest customers’ " »

Amazon has launched a new online payment service that lets users pay for goods on the internet by entering a phrase and a PIN number. The service, called ‘PayPhrase’ links two-word phrase and a four-digit PIN number to the users’ credit card and shipping details already stored on their Amazon accounts. Currently only available in the US, the system lets users create their own phrase or use the one provided by Amazon. Each PayPhrase is unique, and can vary in length from only four to 100 characters.

02/11/2009

Continue reading "Amazon speeds up payments with ‘payphrase’ " »

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