Digital Intelligence

Google is set to launch its ‘Google Editions’ electronic book store early next year in the UK, taking on the likes of Amazon and Apple in the growing online publishing market, according to a news report. Bloomberg cites a person familiar with the company’s plans, stating that will open an online store for electronic versions of books in the U.S. this year and internationally in 2011.

The report said Google is already working with book publishers to sell hundreds of thousands of e-books, said the person, who asked not to be identified because details of the project haven’t been made public. Google Editions will be a completely separate venture than Google’s existing Book Search feature, which digitizes and sells out-of-print books. The Google Books, initiative has been held up in court until a settlement with publishers is approved.

01/12/2010

01/12/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile Games revenues are set to reach $11bn by 2015, with more players opting to buy games while playing the free version, according to new research. The study, from Juniper research, indicates how App stores are driving changes in monetisation, but discoverability still remains an issue on some platforms.

Juniper Research forecasts that revenues from in-game purchases will overtake the traditional pay-per-download model as the primary source of monetising mobile games by 2013. With Apple’s in-app billing mechanism showing the way forward, total end-user revenues will surpass $11 billion annually by 2015, nearly double what they were in 2009 ($6bn).

01/12/2010

01/12/2010  |  Full story...

Google is close to buying e-commerce coupon website Groupon for as much as $6bn (£3.9bn), according to a news report. The New York Times reports that the deal could be struck as soon as this week but people with direct knowledge of the matter cautioned that the talks between Google and Groupon might still fall apart.

Groupon, a privately held, Chicago-based company which was launched about two years ago sends its members daily emails with about 200 deals for goods and services. The deals are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to make a purchase, giving Groupon clout to negotiate steep group discounts on products and services.

01/12/2010

01/12/2010  |  Full story...

Leading Russian search engine Yandex is set to go public with a billion-pound IPO, according to a report. The company will list at the beginning of 2011, an unidentified source at Yandex told RBK Daily, with the London Stock Exchange the most likely destination, although the US-based Nasdaq has also been mooted.

Russian portal and email firm Mail.ru raised just under $1 billion with an IPO on November 3, and the stock has continued to rise since the initial listing. Yandex is Russia’s largest search engine, accounting for over 60 per cent of searches, while major rivals Google lag behind because its searches in Cyrillic are not as effective as their English service.

01/12/2010

01/12/2010  |  Full story...

While 58 % of top online UK retailers are ‘mobile ready’, only 19 % of consumers plan to shop online this Christmas via their handsets, according to new research. Research from social and search agency Tamar, shows that the Christmas Online Retail 2010 study reveals that security and complexity of payment processes are seen, in general feedback from some consumers polled, as obstacles to mobile adoption, for example, keying in credit/debit card details while on the move.

Of those surveyed, the slowest adopters of mobile shopping are the over 55s (10 per cent). Surprisingly, the 18-24 age group were not far behind, with only 11 per cent saying that that they would definitely use mobile for holiday season shopping. The most engaged age group for mobile were the 25 to 34-year-olds (29 per cent), which contrasted with the 35-44 age group (18 per cent), and the 45-54 age group (20 per cent).

01/12/2010

01/12/2010  |  Full story...

News Corporation is reportedly willing to sell Myspace, the former social media market leader it bought back in 2005. MySpace COO Chase Carey told Reuters that the company is open to a sale, partnership, or some other option.

“There are opportunities here to do 20 things… but that doesn’t mean you’re going to do any of the 20. If there’s something there that makes sense you ought to think about it,” Carey said. Myspace’s recent redesign and rebranding efforts are an attempt to make the site more attractive to possible buyers, and Carey stuck by his position that the social networking platform had “quarters, not years” to turn itself around. “We need to deal with this with urgency,” he said today.

02/12/2010

02/12/2010  |  Full story...

Cable giant Virgin Media has launched its new broadband internet based "next-generation entertainment platform" and Set Top Box (STB), which uses Video-on-Demand (VoD) technology from TiVo. The service will roll-out from mid-December 2010 and cost from £26.50 per month. The STB itself will cost £199 and standard installation costs apply (£40).

Virgin Media said the product will not eat into the traffic management restrictions of existing customer broadband accounts. Instead, the box uses of its own dedicated 10Mbps broadband Cable Modem connection. The new service sees Virgin Media beating the much-vaunted YouView (Project Canvas) service to market, which is due to appear from ISPs BT and TalkTalk in 2011.

02/12/2010

02/12/2010  |  Full story...

Yammer has received $25m in third-round funding, as the US-based business-based social network looks to expand to Europe and Australia. The latest round of funding, led by US Venture Partners, brings the San Francisco company's total financing to $40 million.

Yammer's previous investors, including Emergence Capital, Charles River Ventures and Founders Fund, also contributed to the latest round. Founded in 2008, Yammer started off as a micro-blogging site for corporate employees. In September, the company redesigned its service to become a full-fledged social network. Yammer today has more than 90,000 companies in 136 countries using its service, including more than 80% of the Fortune 500.

02/12/2010

02/12/2010  |  Full story...

For the US holiday season-to-date, $13.55 billion has been spent online, marking a 13% increase on the same period last year, according to new data. ComScore reports that this week’s ‘Cyber Monday’ reached $1.028 billion in online spending, up 16 percent versus year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history and the first to surpass the billion-dollar threshold.

02/12/2010

02/12/2010  |  Full story...

Myspace has launched a new mobile site and iPhone application, as the social network looks to gain lost ground on market leader Facebook and promote its music-sharing tools.

The new Myspace site, which officially re-launched at the end of October 2010, is now accessible on iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Palm and a range of Nokia and Blackberry devices. Myspace said more than one third of it’s users access the site via mobile daily, and its hoped these changes enable them to consume and engage with more content on the go.

02/12/2010

02/12/2010  |  Full story...

Japan's anti-monopoly watchdog has approved a tie-up between Yahoo Japan and Google but warned it will keep checking for possible violations. The commission said Thursday it didn't see any problems as long as the two companies continued to be separate and offered distinctive services.

Yahoo Japan has said it plans to launch a search service using Google's search and advertising technology here by the end of this year. Online shopping mall operator Rakuten and Microsoft have both filed petitions with the commission to further investigate the search engine technology tie-up plan.

03/12/2010

03/12/2010  |  Full story...

US political heavyweights have forced Amazon to remove controversial whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks from its server. According to The Guardian, the online retail giant was contacted by the office of Joe Lieberman, the chairman of the Senate committee on homeland security, 24 hours before Amazon took the site down from its servers. Wikileaks has claimed that the ousting breached freedom of speech under the first amendment of the US constitution.

03/12/2010

03/12/2010  |  Full story...

The UK’s major toy retailers must upgrade their online offering if they are to beat competitors to the Christmas rush, according to the 2010 Toy Retail Report compiled by eCommerce display experts Brandbank.

Amazon, Early Learning Centre and Argos are the three top performing toy retailers online, while WH Smiths and Toy Master bring up the bottom of the table, falling below the average standard of the expected online shopping experience.

03/12/2010

03/12/2010  |  Full story...

UK shoppers buy more products online and spend more money than internet users in any other European country, according to new research. The study, from communications regulator Ofcom said that UK consumers spent an average of £1,031 between June and November last year – nearly double that spent in next-placed Germany.

In its International Communications Market Report, Ofcom said no single factor could explain the popularity of online shopping in Britain. It added: "It is likely that the early launch of Amazon in the UK in 1998, the historic popularity of catalogue shopping, high penetration of credit cards and the willingness of UK consumers to trust online payment all contributed."

03/12/2010

03/12/2010  |  Full story...

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) unveils its first research study “The New Rules of Engagement”. The new research examines advertising engagement: the relationship between consumer engagement with website content and particularly their reaction to advertising on different website types: original content sites, portals and social networks.

The findings in the study, conducted by GfK NOP, show that engagement and advertising responsiveness is strongest on original content sites compared to other site genres. Respondents are almost twice as likely to trust advertising and brands on content sites vs social media sites, while they are almost three times more likely to believe that content sites are better than social media sites at influencing positive brand opinion.

03/12/2010

03/12/2010  |  Full story...

AOL is actively exploring a breakup involving a complicated series of transactions that may lead to a merger with Yahoo, according to a news report. AOL is actively exploring a breakup involving a complicated series of transactions that may lead to a merger with Yahoo, according to a news report.

Sources familiar with the deal told Reuters that the plans are still in the exploratory stage and Yahoo has not been contacted. The sources declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

06/12/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

Shopping deal webiste Groupon has rejected a $6bn bid from Google, saying it is planning a possible public offering instead. The sale was expected to fetch up to $6 billion in a deal which had set tongues wagging on Wall Street about whether such a valuation represented good value for Google.

However Groupon had been playing hard to get, spurning offers from previous firms such as Yahoo and walking away from a deal with Google in favour of a possible public offering in 2011. Groupon, a privately held, Chicago-based company which was launched about two years ago sends its members daily emails with about 200 deals for goods and services. The deals are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to make a purchase, giving Groupon clout to negotiate steep group discounts on products and services.

06/12/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

Google's browser Chrome is taking an increasing share of global Web usage, while Microsoft’s market leader Internet Explorer is in decline, according to new figures. Chrome usage rose from 8.5 percent of worldwide Web usage in October to 9.3 percent in November, according to statistics from Net Applications, whose analytics software monitors Web traffic extensively.

Chrome claimed most of that share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which dropped in overall usage from 59.2 percent to 58.3 percent. Chrome's gains means Google has an easier time pursuing its agenda--adding new features for Web programmers, modifying Net communication protocols to make them faster, and generally trying to make the Internet a place where people spend more of their lives.

06/12/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC is working on a version of its iPlayer to be launched in the US, in the form of a paid-for iPad application, according to a new report. The FT.com reports that the 'Global iPlayer', which is in pilot form until it passes scrutiny by the BBC Trust, will only be available outside the UK, where the broadcaster is allowed to charge for access to its content.

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the publicly-funded broadcaster, said that it would make the iPlayer available to iPad owners in certain target markets in the middle of next year. Luke Bradley-Jones, managing director of BBC.com, said there would be a monthly subscription and that the US would be among the first markets to get access to the iPlayer app, with a decision on where the iPlayer app would launch first to be made in the new year.

06/12/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

Google plans to crack down on pirated content, pledging to remove material which infringes copyright from its main search service “within 24 hours”. In what could prove a very big blow to the activities of internet pirates, Google has announced a number of new policies designed to limit the accessibility of illegal content online.

Measures include removing terms “that are closely associated with piracy” from appearing in its Autocomplete search function, and expelling groups in breach of copyright from its AdSense advertising program. In a document entitled 'Making Copyright Work Better Online' on its Public Policy blog, Google has ledged to radically increase its support for rights holders.

06/11/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

Amazon has invested $175m (£112m) in Living Social, a rival to popular deals site Groupon. Living Social plans to use the cash injection to strengthen its positioning in more locations.

At present it has 10 million subscribers in the UK, Ireland, US, Canada and Australia and says it expects to turnover $500 million (£320 million) in revenue next year. Living Social has also secured a further $8 million (£5 million) from Lightspeed Venture Partners. The investment by Amazon comes as Google looks close to securing a deal to acquire rival deals site Groupon.

06/12/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

Today (Monday 6th December) is set to be the busiest online shopping day of 2010 in the lead-up to Christmas, as sales and traffic levels have begun to gather momentum towards Mega Monday, according to new forecasts from key players in the UK ecommerce sector. Sales levels have been steadily increasing since Sunday 28th November, with the sales increase on Wednesday far higher than that of Monday 29th, which was Cyber Monday in the US.

Wednesday was the first of the month, and the sharp rise could have been influenced by everybody now having been paid for November. While the rise in online activity could have been influenced by the recent weather conditions, it is very difficult to tell as it has coincided with the festive shopping period accelerating and the beginning of a new month, when traffic generally rises.

06/12/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

The majority (74%) of consumers are always or sometimes actively looking for adverts related to entertainment brands and products online, from home cinema and audio equipment, to video games and gadgets, according to new research. The report, from eBay Advertising released, highlights the opportunity for brands to engage with consumers via e-commerce platforms when they’re already in the purchase mindset.

The research of over 3,000 online shoppers in the UK also showed that factors such as the economic downturn had also led to a growing receptiveness to ads related to entertainment items, such as home entertainment systems and video games consoles. More than a quarter (27%) of consumers claimed they were now more likely to click on an advert offering further information or offers, as opposed to before the downturn.

06/12/2010

06/12/2010  |  Full story...

High speed broadband will be available to every community in Britain by 2015 under plans announced by the government on Monday. A £830 million investment over the next seven years will see "digital hubs" created across the country in an attempt to ensure every home has Internet access.

The hubs, which would be linked to the nearest exchange by fibre-optic connections, will bring "superfast broadband" to 90 percent of the population, the government hopes. The fibre upgrades will allow Internet service providers to routinely offer packages with speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (mbps).

07/12/2010

07/12/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook is updating its profile page, claiming the changes will make it easier for users to ‘tell their story’ to their friend on the social network. The profile now begins with a quick overview of basic information such as where the user is from, where they went to school and where they work.

Facebook claims the new profile will allow users to introduce themselves via typical 'conversation starters' they'd use with someone they have just met. The new-look profile will also include a row of recently tagged photos of the user. The tabs have also been moved to the left of the site, under the profile picture, which remains unaffected in the change, though it looks like photos are a prime concern of the redesign.

07/12/2010

07/12/2010  |  Full story...

The hacking of search giant Google was orchestrated by a senior Chinese official who searched for his name and found critical articles via the search engine, according to new documents released by the website Wikileaks. The attack, which took places ealier this year, resulted in Google walking away from a potential market of 400m internet users in China.

The WikiLeaks report claimed the hacking was “100% political in nature”, the Observer reported. Senior Chinese official Li Changchun searched for his own name, the cables allege. The cable quoted a ‘well-placed contact’ telling US diplomats that leading members of the Chinese politburo coordinated the attacks late last year.

07/12/2010

07/12/2010  |  Full story...

The UK has seen its busiest ever day for online shopping, with Brits spending £831,000 spent in 1 minute at its peak. Early figures from the IMRG reveal that yesterday's much-anticipated 'Mega Monday' achived sales some 21% higher than same day last year. Its 'busiest minute' was at 13:15, when £831,000 was spent online.

The figures come from IMRG member Retail Decisions (ReD), a card fraud prevention and payment processing firm. The October release of the IMRG's eCSI report revealed that over 60% of people were looking to start their Christmas shopping early.

07/12/2010

07/12/2010  |  Full story...

Online music service Last.fm has dramatically narrowed its pre-tax loss, announcing a £2.8m loss for last year, compared to a £17m loss the previous year. The CBS- owned site said revenues climbed 74% year-on-year to £7.3m, although net liabilities climbed from £19m to £22.2m. The music streaming and recommendations service said £5.4m was earned in advertising and £1.3m from subscriptions.

07/12/2010

07/12/2010  |  Full story...

Only 23 percent of UK’s top 57 fashion retailers have a transactional mobile site or application, according to new research. Integrated mobile and digital communications business, Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) today unveiled its Christmas Sock Report.

The research evaluated the UK’s top 57 retailers against their mCommerce capabilities, in particular testing them against the question: how easy is it to find and purchase the most popular Christmas present - a pair of socks? The report concluded that only 16 retailers had a mobile application with only nine of these being capable of processing a transaction. In addition, only four retailers had an optimised transactional mobile site.

07/12/2010

07/12/2010  |  Full story...

UK police have arrested WikiLeaks founder and owner Julian Assange on an arrest warrant from Sweden, where he is accused of sexual crimes. The 39-year-old Australian was arrested in the morning after he voluntarily appeared for an appointment at a London police station.

Earlier, Assange told a court in London that he would fight any attempt to extradite him to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sex crimes. The founder of the whistleblowing website that has released reams of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables has denied the allegations. He has not yet been charged.

08/12/2010

08/12/2010  |  Full story...

Consumers are a fickle bunch when it comes to banking online, with nearly a third (31%) of banking customers end up selecting a different brand to their preferred one when browsing online, according to new research.

The study, from Google and international customer experience research partner Global Reviews, also found that the majority (77%) of customers didn’t know the product they chose existed when they started looking. The research found that the challenge for providers of credit cards, current and savings accounts is that customers looking for financial products are not loyal to a particular brand when exploring products and brands online and will not tolerate websites that fail to deliver basic content or help choosing a product.

09/12/2010

09/12/2010  |  Full story...

Google has released its annual Zeitgeist report into the UK’s search habits online browsing habits, listing the terms most commonly searched on its site this year. The lists are collated in an attempt to give a snapshot of the country's online interests.

According to the Google Zeitgeist 2010, the webcam chat site Chatroulette was the UK's fastest rising search term, while tickets to see the re-formed band Take That were the most commonly searched in their category. Perhaps reflecting the higher voter turnout at this year's general election than in 2005, the top two searches in the news category were "election 2010" and "register to vote".

10/12/2010

10/12/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has added a function to its Internet Explorer 9 web browser enabling users to designate sites which will be blocked from tracking their online behaviour. The new feature will allow users of Internet Explorer 9 to create and subscribe to lists of sites with which they don't want to share information, including ads that target people based on their surfing behavior.

The Wall Street Journal reported that this is the resurrection of a feature that Microsoft considered for an earlier version of Internet Explorer but dropped due to advertiser opposition. Microsoft execs couched it as part of their ongoing talks with regulators in Washington and Europe on the issue of web privacy.

10/12/2010

10/12/2010  |  Full story...

For a brief period last week, cybercriminals managed to infect Google's and Microsoft's online ad networks with malicious advertisements that attacked users' PCs, according to a new report. The attacks started around 5th December and lasted a few days, sending victims who clicked on the ads to malicious Web pages, according to security consultancy Armorize.

Those pages took advantage of known software bugs to install backdoor programs that gave the attackers control of the victims' PCs, or to install software that made it appear as though the PCs were filled with malicious software.

13/12/2010

13/12/2010  |  Full story...

The busiest day for pre-Christmas online shopping was 'Cyber Sunday' December 5th, with Lego the most searched for gift, according to new research. Data from Experian Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence service, reveals that the recent flurry of snow pushed last Sunday above 'Cyber Monday' December 6th in terms of visits to the online retail sites.

Visits on Cyber Sunday to Experian Hitwise's Shopping and Classifieds category was 4.2% higher than on Cyber Monday, setting a new peak for the year. However, Cyber Monday was also a key day for retailers - together Cyber Sunday and Monday form the busiest 2 days for online retailers in the run up to Christmas.

13/12/2010

13/12/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has added more than 100 million registered accounts in 2010, and is now being used by 8% of all American internet users, according to new data.

A post on the company's blog marked the occasion with an infographic showing some of the more famous joiners this year, including Bill Gates, the Dalai Lama, Conan O'Brien, Diego Forlan, Leonard Nimoy, Cher, Hugo Chavez, Tiger Woods and Kanye West. The site now has around 200 million users, and is widely recognised as a vital source of breaking news and views, providing real-time, eyewitness accounts of events such as the Iran election protests, the crash-landing of an aircraft on the Hudson River, and the earthquake in Haiti.

14/12/2010

14/12/2010  |  Full story...

YouTube has looked back on the year to launch a video of its most watched clips of 2010, including Old Spice, annoying oranges and bed intruders...

15/12/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has revealed the UK’s list of top trends in status updates in the UK, giving a unique insight into the sporting, TV and cultural moments which prompted national conversations. The Facebook Memeology study looked at what terms grew the most in status updates in 2010 compared to the year before.

It reflects the politics, pop stars and events which captured the imagination of the 26 million UK Facebook users based upon the content and status updates that they shared with friends and family across the site throughout 2010.

15/12/2010

15/12/2010  |  Full story...

France is set to introduce what has been dubbed a 'Google tax' on online advertisements on January 1 2011, parliament decided Tuesday. The tax on companies based in France would be amount to one per cent of the net amount spent on online advertising.

The measure was dubbed 'Google tax' because it was originally conceived as a direct tax on the search engine and its competitors. The parliamentary commission has for some time been working on a deal for the 2011 national budget, which has already been approved by the two houses of parliament.

15/12/2010

15/12/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter is set to open its first overseas office in London, according to a news report. The Sunday Telegraph reports that the US-based social-networking company will open an office in either the West End or the so-called ‘Silicon Roundabout’ area of Old street.

"There were a few of us in London this week," a Twitter spokesperson told the Telegraph. "We are considering London and other European locations to create an initial and small presence in 2011." Representatives from the site are said to have looked at property in both the West End area of London as well as a neighborhood the Telegraph calls "Silicon Roundabout." It gets that name because there is a high concentration of tech companies based there.

15/11/2010

15/12/2010  |  Full story...

TV catch-up services ITV Player and Channel 4's 4oD have joined existing service BBC iPlayer on the PS3 console. The move means PS3 users will be able to catch up on popular shows from ITV, such as Coronation Street, Gossip Girl and Emmerdale, and some of Channel 4's content which includes Peep Show, Hollyoaks and Misfits.

The ITV Player and Channel 4’s 4oD service will launch the first commercial TV video content that can be watched via the PS3, available to users who have broadband access. The BBC’s iPlayer launched on the PS3 console last year.

15/12/2010

15/12/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has revealed the top trends of 2010, with Inception, vuvuzuelas, the Gulf oil spill and Justin Bieber being the most tweeted subjects of the year. The most popular term of all was 'Gulf oil spill', referring to the accident on board the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April which caused the biggest environmental disaster America has ever seen.

Second most popular overall was the FIFA World Cup, then Inception and the Haiti Earthquake.
Also in the top ten were the Vuvuzuela, the deafening horn used by supporters at the World Cup, Apple’s iPad and the Google Android phone. The most popular film on Twitter was the science fiction film Inception, followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and action comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

16/12/2010

16/12/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo! has announced the loss of 600 jobs, representing 4% of its workforce, as the internet media giant looks to boost its revenue as it looks to compete with the likes of Google and Facebook. The New York Times reports that the cuts will affect Yahoo!’s products division in the US, and the is still recruiting on a global basis.

The latest cuts are the fourth round of redundancies in three years at the internet media firm. Yahoo! said the cuts are part of its strategy “to deliver differentiated products to the marketplace.”

16/12/2010

16/12/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been named as Time Magazine’s annual Person of the Year, marking him out as the figure it believes had the most influence on events in 2010. The 26-year-old billionaire was the subject of a 2010 film, The Social Network, charting Facebook's rise.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange earlier won a Time readers' poll on 2010's most influential person. The annual feature has been a fixture since the 1920s, with the winner appearing on the front cover of Time.

16/12/2010

16/12/2010  |  Full story...

BBC Online’s budget will be slashed by 25 percent, as the broadcaster pledged to ‘do fewer things better’ when its comes to digital, the BBC Trust has confirmed. In a strategy document released today, called ‘The BBC’s Strategy, Putting Quality First’, the Trust said that it is reducing BBC Online’s budget in an attempt to improve services.

“We will pursue a 25 percent reduction in the BBC Online budget, to improve the overall quality and coherence of the service and ‘do fewer things better’,” the Trust wrote in its report, adding that more details about the changes involved will be revealed “soon”.

16/12/2010

16/12/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has raised $200m in a funding round that valued the micro-blogging site at $3.7bn, up sharply from the estimated $1bn last year. New backers include Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr, who was an early investor in internet groups including Google and Amazon.

The new funding round comes less than a year after Twitter began its first serious efforts to make money. The funding, from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and existing Twitter investors, underscores the high hopes that investors have for Internet social networking companies.

17/12/2010

17/12/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has enhanced its face detection feature, with a new "tag suggestions" tool, helping users automatically tag friends across a series of photos. The new feature will begin rolling out to US users next week, according to Facebook Vice President of Product Chris Cox.

When users are offered the chance to tag groups of your friends in an album, Facebook will utilize its facial recognition technology to group similar faces together and automatically suggest the friend they can tag them with. Facebook fills in the "Who is this?" box with its suggestion, leaving the user to click the "Save Tags" button to accept.

17/12/2010

17/12/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has produced a map that displays friend connections around the world, with the UK and US among the most connected on the social network. The map, designed by Facebook’s Paul Butler shows the social networks friend connections mapped onto the world. As well as highlighting the most popular friend connections, it also reveals some key markets that Facebook is yet to crack, including Russia, China, Africa and South America.

17/12/2010

17/12/2010  |  Full story...

Video sharing site YouTube is in talks to buy US web video producer Next New Networks, according to US reports. The New York Times said a deal would be the Google-owned firm’s first foray into content production.

No terms have been disclosed, but the NYT quoted analysts applauding the potential acquisition. YouTube has sought to increase its share of professionally produced content as it faces competition from the likes of Hulu, a joint venture whose backers include media companies News Corp, Walt Disney Co's ABC, and NBC, controlled by General Electric.

17/12/2010

17/12/2010  |  Full story...

Google has reportedly requested some manufacturers delay the launch of TV sets based on the internet company's software.The Wall Street Journal reports that the internet giant sent out word to some hardware makers last week asking them not to announce additional products yet, saying the delay may allow the company to improve its software. The initial Google TV devices are offered by Sony and Logitech.

20/12/2010  |  Full story...

Independent research commissioned by Callcredit Information Group has today revealed consumers’ attitudes towards giving out personal details in store, as 38% of Brits never divulge their details to retailers, and almost one in ten (8%) admit to giving out fake contact details to avoid being contacted.

Surprisingly, the YouGov research reveals that almost two thirds (64%) would be likely to give out their contact details for future marketing communications if they were signed up to the store’s loyalty programme (35%), or offered a small financial incentive like a discount off a future purchase (38%).

20/12/2010

20/12/2010  |  Full story...

AOL has acquired Pictela, a provider of an award-winning global technology platform for serving and distributing high- definition brand content across online advertising and social media. The transaction brings further scale to AOL’s suite of premium advertising tools for advertisers, agencies and publishers, including the company’s new ‘Project Devil’ display advertising format which AOL intends to roll out further in the UK during Q1 in 2011.

20/12/2010

20/12/2010  |  Full story...

2010 was the year video mainstreamed on the web in Western Europe, so when YouTube released their top 10 clips, we thought it time to collate some of the video stories from the last year. Together they provide an important reminder of the scale online video has grown to. So as you plan your web strategies for 2011, if video is not already high on the agenda, then be sure to review its potential. Online video can tell stories as powerfully as television, create interaction as strong as games, showcase products as well as an in-store demo, and engage your audiences as deeply as social media.

Read Digital Intelligence online video special report

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

20/12/2010

In our review of the year, Facebook and Google dominated our headlines with weekly product development announcements. They played key roles in the UK election - as digital political strategies step-changed - and influenced the fortunes of every firm online. Social media strategies became critical for consumer brands, with the digital media mix broadening for most organisations into: sites, search, social and sales.

The Times launched its paywall (and lost most of its readers), while Twitter explored ads for its digital revenue strategy. Apple entered the ad market with $60m of pre-bookings for the launch of iAds, and both online and mobile adspend set new records. Digital content strategies embraced video - forcing firms large and small to look for video assets - and YouTube reached new heights in audiences.

The key trends we predicted a year ago in mobile, social, privacy and video all proved true, yet many firms still waste much of their budgets by not having the right digital strategies in place. The ROI of digital is often less than half what it should be in most organisations, and that's why digital talent - the digital calibre of teams across a business - will be just as critical next year.

Read Digital Intelligence: 100 top stories of 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

31/12/2010

Cult comedy icon Alan Partridge is set to return next week in a series of short web videos funded by beer brand Fosters. The character, played by Steve Coogan, will appear on the Fosters Funny Website in a dozen 11-minute long episodes, beginning on 5th November. A trailer goes live on the site tomorrow (29th October).

The site, at www.fostersfunny.co.uk, was created by Naked Communications, and forms part of a wider comedy initiative by Foster’s, which includes sponsorship of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and the comedy strand on Channel 4. Foster’s branding will be evident throughout the series, which is set at regional radio station North Norfolk Digital where Partridge hosts the 'Mid Morning Matters' segment.

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

The internet is worth £100bn annually to the UK economy, comprising 7.2% of the gross domestic product, which is expected to reach 10% within five years, according to a survey commissioned by Google. The figure represents a higher proportion than the construction, education and transport industries.

The share is also likely to grow to 10% by 2015, putting the internet's contribution on a par with the financial sector. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said 60% of the £100bn came from ‘internet consumption’ - via online shopping and the cost of devices and connections to access the internet. The remaining £40bn comprised internet infrastructure investment, government IT spending and net exports.

01/11/2010

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

Pictures of Sony Ericson’s widely rumoured ‘PlayStation phone’ have been released, confirming speculation that the electronics giant is set to take on Apple in the smartphone market. Speculation that a Sony PSP (Play Station Portable) mobile smartphone was in development have been circulation since early September.

Now the rumours have been confirmed, with a source leaking a prototype of the device to technology news site Engadget. The device features a slide out gamepad (along with PlayStation’s familiar shoulder buttons) and will run on Android’s latest 3.0 Gingerbread software under a standardised PlayStation Skin so to keep the handset in-line with the console's brand design.

01/11/2010

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

Nearly two thirds (60%) of people who ‘like’ or share branded content online are not its customers, with many feeling positive about the company after, according to new research. The study, from YouTube and supported by the Internet Advertising Bureau, highlights the real opportunity for marketers to include harder messaging in their social media content and advertising.

The study investigated the ways in which 3000 consumers across the UK, France and Germany use YouTube and Facebook and how they feel about branded content and advertising on each. The results provide essential lessons for many marketers when it comes to engaging with consumers in social media - the majority of people (75%) who share content or ‘like’ a brand on either of these sites feel more positive about the brand afterwards, compared with around a quarter of people (25%) who feel ‘no different’ as a result.

01/11/2010

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

Virgin will roll out its superfast 100Mb broadband service from December onwards, with pre-registration to sign up for the super-fast network already being accepted. The service offers Virgin customers nearly twenty times the UK’s average broadband speed, which is 5.2Mb, according to Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds report.

Virgin says its 100Mb service will allow users to download a music album in five seconds, a TV show in 30 second and a high definition movie in approximately seven minutes. The cost of the new service when bought as part of a bundle will be £35 per month or £45 when bought as a solo product.

01/11/2010

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

Tesco has updated its Groceries iPhone app to include a barcode reader that lets shoppers add items to a their online home delivery order. The tool is being targeted at busy parents and time-poor professionals who want to be able to add specific items to their online shopping basket at any time rather than browsing for groceries to add to their shopping lists.

Tesco said the tool would be useful for those times when a customer tries a new food at a friend's house that they want to buy or a child has finished the last of their favourite yoghurt while out and about – a quick scan will see the item added to a shopping basket where it will remain until the customer is ready to checkout.

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

Most visited web properties in Poland ('000 people per month).

01/11/2010

Google has set a new internet traffic record, accounting for 6.4% of global internet traffic during September, according to new data. The figure, from US-based web security and monitoring firm Arbor Networks, places Google among the largest traffic handlers in the world.

Arbor Networks estimates that the 6.4% share places the search firm ahead of all but one of the world's internet service providers. "While the business press may debate Google's future, its traffic growth continues apace with massive corresponding impact on the network topology, peering arrangements and the overall internet infrastructure," wrote Arbor Networks chief scientist Craig Labovitz in a blog post. The true share of web traffic that Google operates could be even larger when a margin for error and traffic from the Google global cache is factored in, Labovitz said.

01/11/2010

01/11/2010

Amazon is set to introduce and e-book lending service for the Kindle e-reader. The e-books can be loaned for a period of 14 days and rather like physically lending someone a book, Kindle users will not be able to read the book during that period.

However, not all books may be lendable with publishers ultimately retaining control over which titles will have the feature. At least some are sure to sign up to the service if only to enable a chain of word of mouth marketing and the potential incremental sales as a result.

01/11/2010

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

The government’s revival of a multibillion pound plan for communications companies to store data on UK emails, web traffic and phone calls has been criticised by the Information Commissioner. Christopher Graham UK information commissioner said the government's plans for an "intercept modernisation programme", which would allow security services to track all UK email, social networking and web traffic, appear "disproportionate when any perceived benefits that might be gained from retaining this data are set against the risks to privacy involved".

Speaking to the Finacial Times, Graham’s stance could pose a major obstruction to the scheme, which was formerly launched by the Labour administration and had been opposed by a number of internet service providers. The revival of the government’s email and web data storage plans, in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, marks a policy U-turn by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

01/11/2010

01/11/2010  |  Full story...

WPP has seen its revenues climb 12.2% during the third quarter of this year, with the advertising giant cautiously optimistic heading out of the global economic crisis. Q3 trading update reveals reported revenues up 12.2% to £2.253bn.

Total year-on-year sales from the UK were up 7.4% to £262.3 million in the three months ending September 30, compared with 0.2% growth in the first quarter and a rise of 5.1% in the second quarter. The figures from WPP, led by chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, are viewed as an important bellwether of the economy because companies' spending on advertising and marketing can reflect their confidence and strength.

02/11/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

People in the Netherlands racked up the most website visits per month in Europe, and spent the most time on web portals, according to new data. The 11.9 million internet users in the Netherlands age 6 or older spent an average of 31.9 hours online in September 2010, with the Web portals category, which includes Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL, leading the way at 7.2 hours.

Instant messengers ranked second with an average of 6.9 hours per user, followed by social networking sites, such as Hyves, Facebook and Twitter, at 3.5 hours per visitors in September. Dutch internet users spent more time on social networks than on E-mail, Multimedia, Online Gaming, Auctions or Classifieds sites.

02/11/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

YouTube's CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley is stepping down from the position to take on an advisory role at the site. The transition has been undergoing and his duties at YouTube have shrunk for the past two years.

Hurley revealed the move at a TechCruch event in Ireland, announcing that Salar Kamangar, currently VP of product management at Google, has been has been the de facto leader of YouTube for the last couple of years.

11/02/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

Climbers at the top of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, will now be able to make video calls and surf the Internet on their mobile phones, a Nepalese telecom group claims. Ncell, a subsidiary of Swedish phone giant TeliaSonera, says it has set up a high-speed third-generation (3G) phone base station at an altitude of 5,200 metres (17,000 feet) near Gorakshep village in the Everest region.

02/11/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

Despite its vast potential, many companies have yet to capitalise on social media's ability to not only listen to customers, but analyse conversations and turn the information into bottom-line benefit, according to a new survey. Many organisations cling to old paradigms, using social media for one-way flow of marketing messages, instead of capitalising on the opportunity to monitor, analyse, and participate in millions of conversations among consumers.

02/11/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

Apple has reportedly teamed with SIM-card manufacturer Gemalto to create a 'special' SIM card that could allow the company to offer telephony services direct rather than rely on third party carriers. According to a report on technology news site GigaOM, the move would let customers buy and activate iPhones directly from Apple's stores. They could also connect online via Apple's iTunes App Store.

02/11/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

People in the Netherlands and the UK racked up the most website visits per month in Europe, according to new data.The study, from ComScore, revealed that the Netherlands ranked highest among European countries in terms of frequency of internet visitation with 78.2 visits per visitor in September 2010.

Dutch internet users also exhibit strong engagement with an average of 31.9 hours per visitor spent online in September 2010. Users spent most of their time on Portals (7.2 hours), followed by Instant Messaging (6.9 hours), Social Networking (3.5 hours) and E-Mail (3.1 hours).

02/11/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

Social networks are sending nearly 13% more traffic to online retailers this year than last year, according to Experian Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence service. The company's analysis, taken from their latest report "Getting to grips with Social Media" reveals that social networking sites accounted for 11.6% of all UK Internet visits during September, representing a year on year growth of 4.3%.

02/11/2010

02/11/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile subcribers who watch TV/ video on Mobile phones, July 2009 vs July 2010 ('000 people per month).

02/11/2010

Millions of unique monthly visitors to socila networking sites in August 2010.

03/11/2010

Average number of hours spent on social networking sites, per visitor in August 2010.

03/11/2010

News Corporation has revealed that 105,000 readers have paid to read The Times and Sunday Times online and via mobiles, since both broadsheet papers’ websites went behind a paywall four months ago. The media giant revealed a further 100,000 people have a joint subscription to read the newspapers digitally and in print, the papers add.

The figures have been eagerly awaited by publishers and advertisers since the two papers went behind an online paywall four months ago. Times readers are charged £1 for a day’s digital access – the same price as the weekday newspaper – or £2 for a week’s subscription to the Times and Sunday Times sites. Print subscribers gain free access, while international visitors face charges of $2/€1.50 a day or $4/€3 a week. The Times iPad app costs £9.99 a month.

03/11/2010

03/11/2010  |  Full story...

Graduate unemployment has risen to its highest level for 17 years, with many UK university leavers valuing remote working, according to new research. According to a recent study, the graduate class of 2009 found that 8.9 percent were out of work in January 2010, the highest unemployment level since 1993.

According to the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) survey, the graduate unemployment rate has risen with just over 21,000 students known to have been out of work in January. Graduates are entering into a bleak employment market with many of them now looking for alternatives. A recent study conducted by mobile-giants Orange involving 1,000 university leavers found that one-in-ten graduates were planning to start their own business straight after graduation.

3/11/2010

03/11/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has announced plans to include Promoted Tweets into the stream of user updates, and has begun testing user reaction to the service on the micro-blog’s partner site HootSuite. In a blog post announcing the move, the company said it has reached the third step of a multi-part process.

First, it introduced Promoted Tweets into the search results on Twitter.com, before making those ads visible to searches in applications like HootSuite. Now, the company is introducing ads directly into the stream on HootSuite. Once Twitter has seen how users react on HootSuite, it will start introducing ads on the main Twitter site.

03/11/2010

03/11/2010  |  Full story...

Samsung Electronics has become the first UK advertiser to run display advertising on YouTube’s mobile site to promote its iPad rival, the Galaxy Tab. The YouTube mobile advertising forms part of a wider marketing launch campaign for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, which will run across in-game advertising with Playstation, reach blocks on Facebook, online search and display, mobile advertising, OOH and print.

The campaign will also include a wraparound of the Evening Standard on the 4th November – with the front page of the paper incorporated within the screen of the Galaxy Tab. This marks the first time the Evening Standard has featured its own, same day editorial content as part of a front page advert. Built around the creative platform ‘Life Without Limits’, the campaign will focus on the size and portability of the new product.

03/11/2010

03/11/2010  |  Full story...

More than 90% percent of the Spanish internet population use the web for search and social networking, according to new data.

03/11/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has bought most of Drop.io, an online content-sharing service, for an undisclosed sum. Drop.io is a service that lets users create a "drop" where they can share documents, videos and other digital content.

The user can set a time for how long the drop will exist, decide who can view the content, set permissions for who can alter the content and share content in a variety of ways, including on Facebook. Drop.io has positioned the service as one that is ideal for real-time collaboration because people can add new content to a drop and the people they are sharing it with see it immediately, without having to refresh their browsers.

03/11/2010

03/11/2010  |  Full story...

Advertising is beginning to pay off for Google's YouTube, and it has now has served 500 million views of its paid Promoted Videos, a service it launched less than two years ago. The news follows Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s recent hints that YouTube is "nearing profitability."

Ads are becoming increasingly prevalent on the site, which is the fourth most popular destination on the Internet, attracting 90 million unique visitors each month, according to Google. The company recently said that YouTube now monetises 2 billion views per week, which is about 15 percent of total views, but up 50 percent over last year. Promoted Videos works by letting advertisers upload their video to YouTube and choose keywords they want to trigger a promotion.

03/11/2010

03/11/2010  |  Full story...

Based on thousands of unique visitors, July 2010 vs July 2009

03/11/2010

UK consumers were exposed to 221 billion display ads during the thirds quarter of this year, representing a 34% rise on the same period last year. 221 billion display ads during the third quarter, marking a 34-percent increase versus year ago (which stood at 164,734 billion impressions).

“Following the ad recession that occurred from late 2008 through most of 2009, we are now seeing a strong resurgence in the online display ad market,” said Mike Read, SVP and Managing Director, comScore Europe. “A key driver of this growth is the retail sector, which increased over 300 percent in terms of impressions delivered since last year. In the run up to Christmas with consumers searching for gifts, the growth in online advertising is likely to continue its ascent.”

04/11/2010

04/11/2010  |  Full story...

US electricals retail giant Best Buy has launched its UK transactional website, including customer recommendations from a partnership with Reevoo. BestBuy.co.uk will incorporate the advice offered its in-store team, ‘the Blueshirts’, as well as invite and involve the opinions and recommendations of consumers.

Customers will be able to find over 350 ‘Inspiration and Advice’ guides and articles on the latest technology, product and service information written in plain English. An exclusive series of interactive video buying guides, including topics on home appliances, televisions, Blu-ray, computing and digital cameras, will launch in the next few weeks.

04/11/2010

04/11/2010  |  Full story...

Google has launched the first pedestrian-eye view of Germany’s streets as part of Street View service, following months of wrangling over privacy. The first town to be mapped on the service is Oberstaufen, in Bavaria.

Germany is the first country to have negotiated with Google to allow citizens to opt out before the service goes live. Almost 250,000 Germans have requested that their properties be pixellated in the final imagery. But in a recent blog on the German roll-out the search giant warned that it would not be able to respond to all requests immediately.

04/11/2010

04/11/2010  |  Full story...

More than 16 billion internet-enabled devices will be hooked up to the web by the end of the next decade, according to a new report. Consultancy firm Analysys Mason predicited that even fridges of the future could be connected to the web, and able to place an order with your local supermarket to replenish dwindling supplies

The “internet of things” will expand to encompass around 16 billion devices by 2020, the report found. The “internet of things” refers to a growing number of internet-enabled devices that can be hooked up to a network to communicate with other web-enabled gadgets and services.

4/11/2010

04/11/2010  |  Full story...

Gap is giving away 10,000 pairs of jeans today (November 5) in the US, via Facebook Places, the social network's recently launched location tool. Starting at the time of store opening at 10 am EST, Gap is offering one free pair of its basic five-pocket jeans to the first people who visit a men's or women's Gap store in the US and "check in" via Facebook Places while they're there.

05/11/2010

05/11/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has launched a new ‘deals’ service on its mobile application, which send users special offers to users based on their location. The move offers advertisers another way to target Facebook users geographically, and the social network looks to boost its ad revenue. The service will initially launch in the US, and Facebook has not disclosed when ‘Deals’ will roll-out internationally.

The service lets Facebook Mobile users look for a list of "nearby places," with deals being denoted by a yellow price tag or sticky to the right of them. There are four kinds of deals: individual deals, loyalty deals, friend deals, and charity deals. The service also offers a ‘virtual punchcard’ for loyalty deals, with discounts for those users who bring new friends and customers.

05/11/2010

05/11/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook and Google will invest in the East End of London to help create Britain's own Silicon Valley, the Prime Minister has announced. David Cameron said he wants the proposed East London Tech City, which will encompass the Olympic Park, to become the global centre of technological innovation.

The initiative is intended to create private sector jobs and fuel growth in the economy. Cameron also unveiled special visas for foreign entrepreneurs who have financial backing from leading firms and a review of intellectual property laws to make sure Britain can keep up with the "internet age".

5/11/2010

05/11/2010  |  Full story...

The majority of all UK print and television advertising now includes a web address, with British consumers preferring to be be directed to .uk addresses than .com, according to new research.The study, from domain name organisation Nominet UK, reveals the increasing use of website addresses in UK advertising. The research is included in Nominet’s annual Domain name industry report for the first time.

05/11/2010

05/11/2010  |  Full story...

Smartphones generate 65% of global traffic, despite accounting for 13% of the market, according to new research. The study, from research firm Informa, found that average traffic per user (ATPU) will increase by 700 percent over the next five years, as consumers continue to use the internet and smartphone figures rise, the firm said.

Smartphone ATPU in the UK is forecast to reach 776Mb per month by 2015. ATPU per smartphone currently averages 85Mb per month, said the company, with the iPhone –generating the most traffic followed by Android devices.

05/11/2010

05/11/2010  |  Full story...

Almost half of mobile advertisments send traffic to sites.

05/11/2010

Comparing year-on-year revenue growth of different mobile advertising verticals from Q3 2009 to Q3 2010.

05/11/2010

Random or stock images on websites are often ignored by users, who generally prefer to look at ‘real’ people, according to a new report. The study, from web design consultant Jakob Nielsen, used an eye-tracking survey to discover that “big feel-good images that are purely decorative” are mostly ignored online, while stock photos or generic people are also intentionally disregarded.

In contrast, when users know that a picture of a person is real they will engage with the image for extended periods of time. Nielsen then applies the study’s findings to products sold online saying generic photos add more clutter to the page and don’t necessarily help from a business standpoint.

08/11/2010

08/11/2010  |  Full story...

London is the centre of internet use in the UK.

09/11/2010

AOL is exploring strategic options for the company which include a possible combination of assets from itself and Yahoo, according to a news report. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that a tie-up of AOL and at least a part of Yahoo's assets are just one of the directions the company is exploring via an advisory team, the Journal reported.

"Among the scenarios being examined by AOL are a combination of Yahoo and AOL's online businesses after a spin-off of Yahoo's Asian assets that would return capital to shareholders, people familiar with the matter said," according to the paper. "Another scenario would have private-equity firms take a stake in the combined operations, along with a plan to pay a dividend to Yahoo shareholders", the paper added.

09/11/2010

09/11/2010  |  Full story...

Tesco Direct has launched a mobile website, letting shoppers buy non-food and household items, directly from mobile phones. This launch is the first step in the supermarket’s strategy to expand and develop mobile websites for core Tesco sites, with others set to follow.

It follows closely on the heels of the Tesco’s grocery app launch, featuring barcode scanning for iPhone – the first ever by a UK supermarket. The initiative forms part of a wider commitment to make Tesco Direct available to "everyone, anywhere, at anytime", whether that be through the Tesco Direct catalogue, in-store, online, or by phone.

09/11/2010

09/11/2010  |  Full story...

The Queen has launched a Facebook page for the British Monarchy, attracting over 100,000 ‘likes’ in its first day. The official British Monarchy page was launched at 8am yesterday on Facebook, allowing users to connect with the Royal Family online.

The British Monarchy page provides a digital version of the traditional Court Circular, detailing the daily engagements of members of the Royal Family and allowing users to comment on the arrangements.

09/11/2010

09/11/2010  |  Full story...

ASOS is developing a new feature on its online fashion that it hopes will encourage smaller, independent designers to sell through its website. The company said the 'ASOS Marketplace' initiative - allowing small boutiques to sell their fashion products to ASOS customers - should boost traffic to its site and drive further sales when it is launched before Christmas.

Another new feature, Fashion Finder, will let customers search for brands the company does not ordinarily sell, and a more rapid expansion in overseas markets, will also boost performance.

09/10/2010

09/11/2010  |  Full story...

Google is bringing its contextual AdSense ads to its AdMob platform, the mobile advertising technology it bought in 2009. Google's AdSense focuses on context, serving up ads the software believes match the website's content. The move means AdSense ads aimed at either iPhone or Android users will now be dropped into apps running AdMob – albeit only when a standard AdMob ad is not to hand.

"In the coming weeks, eligible iPhone and Android application developers in the AdMob network will be able to show Google AdSense ads when an AdMob ad is not available," said Google Mobile Ads product manager Jason Morse on the firm's blog.

10/11/2010

10/11/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC has announced plans to make its popular iPlayer online video platform available for International users, for a fee. The announcement was made by John Smith, Chief Executive of BBC Worldwide.

Although there has been no official statement as yet from the BBC Trust, Smith has already gone ahead and announced the approved plans in an interview with the Telegraph by stating “Not only will that mean international fans of, for example, Doctor Who can get their fix legitimately, but it has the potential of opening up a new revenue stream for the entire UK production industry.”

10/11/2010

10/11/2010  |  Full story...

Google has launched a new tool that allows searchers to see previews of websites before clicking on them in the results page. The "Instant Previews" feature announced Tuesday is meant to help people bypass websites that are either irrelevant or simply too visually cluttered for their tastes.

It works for Google Web searches, as well as searches for news, video and local businesses.
After clicking on an icon of a magnifying glass, people will see a picture of the website in the white space to the right of the search results within a tenth of a second.

10/11/2010

10/11/2010  |  Full story...

Nearly 1.3 trillion display ads were delivered to U.S. Internet users during the third quarter, up 22% on last year, according to new data. comScore’s overview of the U.S. online display advertising market for Q3 2010, which showed strong gains following softness for much of 2009.

“The U.S. online display advertising market exhibited considerable strength in the third quarter with nearly 1.3 trillion ad impressions delivered,” said Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president. “Just one year ago we were still in the midst of an advertising recession, but several growth drivers have contributed to sustained improvements over the past few quarters."

10/11/2010

10/11/2010  |  Full story...

More than a third of people intend to reduce their spend this Christmas, with 65% of people planning to start their shopping early in order to spread the cost in the wake of the Government's spending cuts, according to a new forecast.

The latest e-Customer Service Index (eCSI) survey conducted by eDigitalResearch and IMRG revealed that while the impact may be felt on the high street, online retail sales could provide a vital uplift, with 28% of people expected to do more shopping online this Christmas than last year. Competitive pricing, more extensive product ranges and the sheer convenience factor are driving more people online this year, with 61% planning to do 50% or more of their shopping online.

10/11/2010

10/11/2010  |  Full story...

British firms are neglecting the needs of consumers accessing websites from mobile devices, according to research released today by 1&1 Internet. From a study of 530 small firms, 53 per cent have never checked the appearance or functionality of their website for Smartphone users.

From companies that have, 41 per cent admit their website has a reduced appearance, and 36 per cent offer reduced functionality. 65 per cent of firms have not optimised their websites for mobile usage and have no plans to do so.

10/11/2010

10/11/2010  |  Full story...

Top ten advertisers based on billions of online display advertising impressions (221 billion impressions (221 billion impressions, Q3, 2010).

11/11/2010

Ask.com is cutting 130 engineering jobs and outsourcing its search technology, as the internet icon finally concedes that it cannot compete with Google and Bing in the search market. In a move similar to Yahoo, which recently outsourced its search technology to Microsoft, Ask.com will stop working on its search algorithm and instead hire a third-party company to provide that technology.

The company is laying off engineers based in Edison, New Jersey, and in China, althouth it has not disclosed which companies it is approaching about a search partnership. Ask.com, which digital conglomerate IAC bought in 2005, plans to focus on developing its online question-and-answer service, in which actual humans field customers' queries. An "ask the community" program launched in July.

11/10/2010

11/11/2010  |  Full story...

Around 19.2 million UK households are now online, but just 26% of those on the lowest incomes have access to the web, according to new research. In its first ever collation of trends in "e-society", the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that 83% of families with children have online access.

The figures, published by the ONS, show that the proportion of UK households online has grown from 57% in 2006 to 73% in 2010. Of those, 96% of the highest 10% of earners were online, compared to little more than one-quarter of the lowest 10%.

12/11/2010

12/11/2010  |  Full story...

Rivalry between Google and Facebook is intensifying, with the world’s two biggest internet companies locking horns over the export of user’s contact data from GMail to Facebook, with Google even encouraging its users to file a complaint against the social network. Recently, Google blocked Facebook access to the GMail contacts API, saying that it would no longer let other services, including Facebook, automatically import its users' email contact data for their own purposes, unless the information flows both ways.

This week, Facebook responded by offering users a work-around solution to Google’s block. It added a link, allowing users to first move their Gmail contacts to a PC and then upload them to Facebook. "We're disappointed that Facebook didn't invest their time in making it possible for their users to get their contacts out of Facebook," a Google Spokesperson said. "As passionate believers that people should be able to control the data they create, we will continue to allow our users to export their Google contacts."

12/11/2010

12/11/2010  |  Full story...

Three in four (75%) of YouTube Mobile users say that their mobile is the number one device they use to watch YouTube videos, according to new stats issued by Google. According to Nielsen, YouTube Mobile is the number one video viewing mobile website in the US, with more than 7.1MM monthly unique users.

In response to this growing demand, Google is introducing a new ‘daily roadblock’ ad format to brands. The daily roadblock allows advertisers to own all available ad impressions for 24 hours. Ads run on the Search, Browse and Home pages of the mobile website.

12/11/2010

12/11/2010  |  Full story...

Google has denied building a social network to compete with Facebook, despite months of rumours that the internet giant was working on a new social platform ‘Google Me’.

12/11/2010

12/11/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile internet devices outsold computers in 2009 by 144 million units.

13/11/2010

Billions of searches: Worldwide internet searches increased from 90 billion in December 2008 to 131 billion in December 2009, a rise of 46%.

14/11/2010

Netherlands and UK lead in intensity of web use. Number of times the internet was accessed by average visits per visitor (September 2010)

14/11/2010

Facebook accounts for almost one third of all ad impressions among top publishers (billions, Q3, 2010).

15/11/2010

Sector size as a share of 2009 GDP.

15/11/2010

Indonesia eclipses the United Kingdom as the second-largest Facebook market behind the united States, with 29.8 million users.

15/11/2010

YouTube is trialing a new service called ‘Topics on Search’, giving viewers examples of related searches. The tool, available on the video sharing site’s beta testing area ‘TestTube’, uses an algorithm that looks at video tags, comments, shares, viewing patters, and other signals.

YouTube is hoping to keep viewers on the site by providing videos on topics that they might be interested in seeing. Topics also can work in combination with their original search to help find the exact video they’re looking for. The typical YouTube user spends 15 minutes a day watching YouTube content, according to BBC. The more videos they watch, the more ads they are likely to see, driving revenue for parent company Google.

15/11/2010

15/11/2010  |  Full story...

Newspapers will increasingly to act more like cable channels as they move to the web and mobile apps, creating a wholesale marketplace for advertising, according to James Murdoch, James Murdoch, News Corp.’s chairman for Europe and Asia.

“Digital news will look like cable channels with affiliated revenue,” Murdoch said at a media conference in Monaco last week. He added that titles will compete for ad revenue across this market and media buyers will “make a big commitment” to purchase advertising, rather than making bookings for just a month at a time.

15/11/2010

15/11/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has launched a next-generation online messaging service that gives the user a Facebook.com email addresses, in a move seen as a shot across the bow of Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled what he called a "convergent" modern messaging system that "handles messages seamlessly across all the ways you want to communicate."

The messaging service blends online chat, text messages and other real-time conversation tools with traditional e-mail, which Zuckerberg said had lost favour for being too slow for young Internet users. "It is true that people will be able to have Facebook.com email addresses, but this is not e-mail," Zuckerberg said at an event in downtown San Francisco. "It handles email."

16/11/2010

16/11/2010  |  Full story...

Google has given all of its 23,000 employees a pay hike, in a bid to stem defections to rival technology companies such as Facebook, according to a report. The raise will become effective in January, according to The Wall Street Journal, quoting 'people familiar with the matter'.

The report also reveals that roughly 10% of Facebook's employees are Google veterans. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt informed employees of the Mountain View, California-based company of the pay raise in an email, the Journal said.

16/11/2010

16/11/2010  |  Full story...

AOL is testing a new version of its email system, dubbed ‘Project phoenix’, which aims to bring together a number of communication formats, including social media, texts and emails, into a one-stop media platform.

Phoenix was designed and built from the ground up as an innovative and intuitive email solution that fits the way consumers communicate today. AOL said its Mail service remains an important part of AOL’s business, representing 45 percent of the page views on the AOL network today.

16/11/2010

16/11/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook is now worth more than eBay in terms of privately held stock, making it the third- largest US internet business, and fueling speculation that the social network could sell shares to the public in the not-to-distant future. Facebook’s stock is trading at more than $16 on SecondMarket, an exchange for shares of privately held companies, said a person familiar with the latest pricing data.

That would put its worth at about $41 billion, more than EBay’s $39.3 billion valuation on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Facebook only trails Amazon, worth $74.4 billion, and Google, valued at $192.9 billion, among US Internet companies.

16/11/2010

16/11/2010  |  Full story...

Apple and music group EMI have agreed to sell The Beatles' back catalogue on iTunes, after a decade of legal wrangling. The Beatles were one of the few big names in music still not available through iTunes.

The agreement signalled the end of a 10-year deadlock between the two companies over sales of the band's music. In addition, the surviving band members and the estates of the others have been famously reluctant to sign up, saying that the quality of digital music isn't good enough to do their catalogue justice.

17/11/2010

17/11/2010  |  Full story...

AOL UK has launched SafeSocial, a bespoke social media monitoring tool, providing parents with an overview of their children's interactions across social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. SafeSocial works to protect younger users by alerting parents to any irregular or concerning behaviour arising whilst spending time on social networks.

SafeSocial encourages positive dialogue between parent and child and requires consent from the young person before monitoring can be activated. It does not require a parent to befriend their child on a specific network, and provides an overview of their online footprint including a 'report card' of overall activity and the identification of any potential red flags.

17/11/2010

17/11/2010  |  Full story...

Professional social network LinkedIn has launched a pan-European campaign called BrandYou, to highlight the increasing importance of personal brand management. As job mobility increases across Europe and more Generation Y employees enter the workforce, the campaign will seek to help more people discover how managing a personal brand and reputation can play an important role in their career tool set alongside their experience and qualifications. The campaign includes exclusive insights, tools, content and personal BrandYou surveys shared across Europe and a new LinkedIn Group set up for discussion and interaction.

17/11/2010

17/11/2010  |  Full story...

Almost half of UK consumers (45%) would leave their current operator if they did not sell the handset they wanted, according to a new survey. The research, from ecommerce technology provider ATG give operators valuable insight into the types of services customers would like to see integrated into their brand experience.

The research also demonstrates that a large proportion of consumers across Europe don’t feel loyalty to their current mobile operators, with 31 per cent of those surveyed saying they have been with two mobile operators in the last five years. A further 10 per cent of consumers reported they have been with three or more mobile networks in the last five years.

17/11/2010

17/11/2010  |  Full story...

Excessive use of the internet is very high among children in the UK with one in five admitting they have gone without food or sleep to stay online, according to a new survey. A study of online habits from the London School of Economics and Political Science also shows that more than half of young people confess they spend less time than they should on family, friends or schoolwork because of the internet.

In all categories, the survey found 43 per cent of British children agreed they used the internet too much. For Europe as a whole, the figure was just 30 per cent. Use of social network sites (such as Facebook and Twitter) is also high for young people in this country – 65 per cent of 9-16 year olds have their own profile on one or more sites compared to 57 per cent across Europe.

17/11/2010

17/11/2010  |  Full story...

In the past few years, CTR for Standard Banners has been steadily declining. The good news is that in 2010 it seems to have stabilized, according to new data. In its recently released Global Benchmark Report, MediaMind Research analysed billions of impressions to help advertisers make the most of their Standard Banner campaigns.

The report contains detailed performance benchmarks for all popular formats for six regions and 50 countries. The Report, titled “Standard Banners –Non-Standard Results” shows that global Clickthrough Rate (CTR) stopped declining in 2009 and 2010 and remained fixed at around 0.09%.

17/11/2010

17/11/2010  |  Full story...

Popular streaming sites such as the BBC, Youtube and LoveFilm could be forced to pay for the data traffic they generate under plans floated by the Government culture minister yesterday. Ed Vaizey has given his support to controversial plans for broadband access to be subject to a "two-sided" system.

Critics warned the approach would spell the end of so-called ‘net neutrality’ in which Internet users have access to all websites on an equal basis. Speaking at the FT World Telecoms Conference in London, the communications minister stated it is important for broadband providers to adopt new business models in their attempt to provide consumers with "what they want".

18/11/2010

18/11/2010  |  Full story...

Google is running a test on its Google’s photo recognition tool, that will display adverts to users based on pictures taken by their smartphone cameras. The ‘offline marketing experiment’ utilises visual search and optical character recognition [OCR] technologies to allow users to find out information about certain products.

The experiment will see Google work with five major brands, T-Mobile, Diageo, Disney, Buick, and Delta Air Lines, each launching special print ads designed to tie into its Google Goggles mobile app. When an individual takes a photo of an ad from one of the brands using Goggles, they will be redirected to either a website or video with more information about the advertised product.

18/11/2010

18/11/2010  |  Full story...

Price comparison service Moneysupermarket.com has acquired rival company Financial Services Net in a £9million deal. The Welsh company will pay an initial £4.6m, rising to up to £9m depending on performance, for the Coventry-based operator of Financialservices.co.uk.

The company said the purchase would allow the firm to expand across the UK and beyond.
Chief executive Peter Plumb told Business Post: “The acquisition of FSN will enable us to further expand our brand offering to new customer segments in the money and insurance business.” Financial Services Net (FSN) was controlled by the Panesar family and the purchase will incur expenses of about £600,000 for Moneysupermarket this year.

18/11/2010

18/11/2010  |  Full story...

Consumers value brands being honest on social media sites, and prefer to deal with a human face rather than anonymous messages, according to a new study. The study, from market research company Firefly Millward Brown looks into consumers’ general attitudes and behaviours towards brands in social media.

Millward Brown says the research, which was conducted using the company’s purpose built private social network, will provide companies and their brands with valuable insight into how to navigate social media more effectively.

19/11/2010

19/11/2010  |  Full story...

Online ad spend in the US continued to accelerate in the third quarter, as the market rebounds from a slowdown last year, according to new data. The Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers found that marketers spent $6.4 billion in online ads, up 17% year-on-year and the highest quarterly total ever.

Online ad spending has been gaining speed in the US this year, having grown 11.3% to $12.1 billion in the first quarter and on track to making 2010 the best year so far on record. Last year, economic uncertainty and troubles led marketers to cut down on online advertising and spending shrunk 3% to $22.7 billion.

19/11/2010

20/11/2010  |  Full story...

World of Warcraft continues in top position: Top 10 PC games titles ranked by percentage of total minutes played, from the top 100 non-casual / pre-installed PC games measured.

22/11/2010

Top 10 PC games titles ranked buy the average number of minutes played per week.

22/11/2010

MySpace, once the dominant online social network, has signed a ‘mashup’ agreement with Facebook to allow people to sign on to MySpace using their Facebook login. This means that the content they are engaging with on Myspace will be automatically ported over to their Facebook profile page through Facebook Connect.

Myspace CEO Mike Jones said: "We feel this is a complementary service to Facebook. This new feature is a great illustration of our strategy around social entertainment and enabling the real-time stream." Myspace currently has around 130m users globally while Facebook has more than 500m.

22/11/2010

22/11/2010  |  Full story...

Apple could risk a European operator revolt if it proceeds with plans to embed its own brand SIM card in its new iPhones, according to a news report. The Financial Times quoted an unnamed European telecoms executive as saying Apple risks a “war” over its reported plan to begin selling iPhones with embedded Sim cards, with operators potentially refusing to offer subsidies for the device.

The new technology could enable a customer to buy an iPhone, sign up for service on Apple's website and begin using the device immediately. The customer could then shift with relative ease from one operator to another or insist that the carrier provide a shorter-term contract, the FT said.

22/11/2010

22/11/2010  |  Full story...

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton could result in a £515.5m spending bonanza in the UK, with 6.5m Brits likely to mark the occasion in some way, according to new research.The study, from shopping comparison site Kelkoo, found that £76.9m (14.9%) of the total spend will be carried out online.

Kelkoo said the current average of royal merchandise sold online is 10.5%.
Around 25.9% (£57.7m) of Royal wedding merchandise (souvenirs and memorabilia) will be bought online, while internet sales will account for almost 60% of purchases by overseas customers.

22/11/2010

22/11/2010  |  Full story...

After years of anticipating the mobile web, it seems most marketers are struggling to make it work for them. Latest research here in the UK revealed half of firms don't check their sites on mobiles - and we'd speculate that for those that do the findings can be pretty uncomfortable. Most brands fail to ensure their sites work well on mobile browsers, and fail to give consumers what they're most likely to be looking for on the move. Digital strategies need to play to the consumer's mindset as well as the strengths of the channel, and like the early days of the web, more brands get it wrong than right.

Exceptions include Gap in the US, where this month their Facebook places promotion (10,000 jeans for the first 10,000 consumers to use their mobiles to 'check-in' at their checkouts) was clearly a great route to crowd-sourcing in mobile social spaces, creating 10,000 signposts for other consumers to follow.

Facebook also had us adding more 'fan' badges as their online ad targeting propelled them to take nearly a quarter of US web display ads. For media planners the offer of campaigns with almost no media wastage is intoxicating, and even the British Royal Family are now targetable - embracing Facebook with the launch of their first monarchy page; time to become 'Friends' maybe?

And finally if you're a busy digital exec planning to escape off the grid this Christmas, rest assured you can now check your emails even while climbing Everest - thanks to the Nepalese telco planting the mountain's first 3G base station. You never need be away from email again!

Read November 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

22/11/2010

Yahoo! is testing integration of GetJar apps into Yahoo! mobile search queries, to make it easier for people to discover the apps they’re looking for when on-the-go. Yahoo! is the first search engine to pursue this kind of integration. The search results for the apps - of which there are 75,000 - will work by keyword.

Yahoo! users conduct searches on http://m.yahoo.com for whatever interests them, and the relevant mobile applications from GetJar will be displayed within the Yahoo! mobile search results.

23/11/2010

23/11/2010  |  Full story...

Video games ranked by what gamers are looking forward to buying next.

24/11/2010

Games consoles ranked by percentage of usage minutes (Aug 2010).

24/11/2010

The latest Hot shops list, compiled by the IMRG and Hitwise, reveals the top 50 online retailers in the Uk in the run up to Chistmas. The big news is the dramatic rise of Ticketmaster UK which broke into the top 10 for the first time in Hot Shops history.

The fast movers for the quarter were Ticketmaster and GAME thanks to the announcement of the Take That 2011 tour and the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Boots was also among the fast movers (up 15 places) and showed strong year-on-year growth for the second consecutive quarter.

24/11/2010

24/11/2010  |  Full story...

User-generated local review site Qype has raised 3.5 million euros from Vodafone Ventures and a further 3.0 million euros from its existing three investors, Advent Venture Partners, Partech International and Wellington Partners.

Launched in March 2006, Qype’s communication platform is Europe’s largest site for user-generated reviews and recommendations of places, events and experiences. Qype covers more than 158,000 European towns and cities and has 17 million unique visitors per month. The additional funds will be used to develop Qype’s mobile business.

24/11/2010

24/11/2010  |  Full story...

Thousands of unique visitors per month to financial information and advice websites. (Sept, 2010)

25/11/2010

Millions of online display advertising impressions (Sept, 2010)

25/11/2010

The popular NHS Choices health website has been exposed automatically ‘tracking’ all Facebook users that visit, according to new research. The study, from Garlik has lead the online identify theft and fraud firm experts to call for third party tracking to be banned from all Government websites, particularly those carrying information on personal and sensitive topics such as health and benefits.

Research by Garlik staff on the NHS Choices website demonstrated that personally identifiable information on visitors is automatically sent to Facebook, even if a user is not logged in to Facebook, or does not click the Facebook ‘Like’ button.

25/11/2010

25/11/2010  |  Full story...

Online video site SeeSaw has launched a new ad tool Ad Selector, that lets users choose which video ad they want to watch prior to streaming programmes.The move comes as a result of a partnership with technology company Brainient.

The Ad Selector format will offer SeeSaw viewers the opportunity to choose from three separate advertisements. This gives brands the opportunity to target viewers with a choice of tailored advertisements.

25/11/2010

25/11/2010  |  Full story...

Open source social network Diaspora has launched, offering and more privacy-focussed’ alternative to Facebook. The social network was founded earlier this year while Facebook was under fire for its privacy settings- in particular, the company's terms and conditions that give it complete rights over all your personal data and the inability to remove your user account completely from the site.

Diaspora, by contrast, is based around the premise of giving its users full control over their personal data at all times. The community-funded project is currently only open to a small number of invited people, but the company hopes to begin adding more people in the coming weeks.

25/11/2010

25/11/2010  |  Full story...

Christmas is fast approaching and retailers are preparing themselves for the busy festive season. There will be several days where sales will be high, but Mega Monday this year will fall on 6 December according to IMRG, the UK’s industry association for e-retail, when figures from Retail Decisions (ReD) suggest that hourly online retail sales between 12:00 and 13:00 will peak at £23.2m.

This coming Monday, 29 November, will be Cyber Monday in the US. This is the day that follows Thanksgiving (25 November) and marks the unofficial launch of Christmas shopping. This will be a busy day for online retailers in the UK too, but our analysis shows that Monday 6 December will have the highest sales of the year.

25/11/2010

25/11/2010  |  Full story...

71% of mums using apps and over 50% using social networks.

26/11/2010

Sony has launched its video-on-demand service Qriocity in Europe, making its catalogue of movies available via its internet connected TVs, but not its popular PS3 console. Sony, which competes in Hollywood with the likes of MGM, Universal, Disney and Warner, has successfully signed up its rivals to the store for distribution and will make their films equally available on Qriocity.

In order to access Qriocity, users need to sign up to the service, have a 2010-series Internet TV or Blu-ray player/home theatre and be able to pick the Qriocity icon from the device's XMB menu. Strangely enough, the PS3 has been left out of supported devices, even though there far more users hooked up to Sony's PS3 than to their 2010 Internet TVs.

26/11/2010

26/11/2010  |  Full story...

This Christmas is set to be another big success for online retailers, with IMRG estimating that £6.4bn will be spent throughout December. In this article, six of the UK’s biggest online retailers make their predictions for the best-selling gifts during the festive season.

26/11/2010

26/11/2010  |  Full story...

Top 15 web properties ranked by thousands of unique visitors (Aug 2010).

29/11/2010

The value of UK ecommerce transactions hit £408bn in 2009, excluding non-financial transactions, marking a rise of 25% on 2008, according to new research. The study, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said this £409bn figure represented 16.7% of all UK sales outside the financial sector.

Sales from websites rose 23.6% to £115bn, while the value of non-web online transactions (eg Electronic data interchange) hit £293bn, 12% of all non-financial sales, it said. The ONS, which compiled the figures from companies with more than 10 staff, said 76% had a website, but only 14.9% sold goods through it.

29/11/2010

29/11/2010  |  Full story...

Online video service SeeSaw has launched a new “NonStop” feature, giving viewers the choice to either watch their programmes free with adverts or pay a small fee to enjoy uninterrupted viewing. The service will launch for an introductory price of 99p until 31st of December, going up to its standard price of £2.99 per month thereafter.

The move will see SeeSaw become the only online viewing platform to offer 4oD and Demand Five content without ads. Driven by customer research, NonStop was crafted to give Seesaw users flexibility to either watch their favourite content free with ads or pay a small fee to enjoy the experience uninterrupted.

29/11/2010

29/11/2010  |  Full story...

On the day it began leaking US embassy cable communications, Wikileaks says it was hit by hackers. Wikileaks claimed to have been hit by a “mass distributed denial of service attack” yesterday.

The revelation came over the organisation’s Twitter page on the day Wikileaks started to release a range of US Embassy cable communications. Wikileaks’ website is now up and running as it continues to leak documents. A hacker going by the name of ‘th3j35t3r’ claimed over Twitter to have been responsible for taking down the website.

30/11/2010

30/11/2010  |  Full story...

Get set for another online retail record-breaker: next Monday is 'Mega-Monday' when online stores hit meltdown in the shopping frenzy. £6.4bn is the UK forecast for December, with over £20m/hr spent on Monday. Recessionary 2009 saw a 25% leap on 2008 for total online sales (here in the UK) so expect similar this year. Christmas retail triggered a frenzy of last minute traffic grabbing with Search Ad Buys pushing bid prices up and squeezing retail margins - left me thinking that smarter SEO strategies in the summer could have saved a few million dollars on paid ads. All too common to see firefighting rather than getting the strategy in place at the start.

For 2011 we're encouraging consumer brands to evaluate greater roles for marketing through gaming, so we've included video games and console platform sales in the US. And this edition also covers top sites in Russia, Mobile Phone Moms in the US, Finance and Retailer sites in the UK because that's what brands asked us for.

Read November 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

30/11/2010

Facebook is trying to work out a deal to integrate Skype's Internet phone service into the social network's site, according to reports. Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal is expected to be announced in the next few weeks, would enable Facebook users to have a voice chat and video chat with their Facebook friends using Skype services.

Neither Facebook nor Skype would comment on the reports. The move would again pit Facebook against Google, which announced last month that it would offer the ability to make phone calls over the Internet via its popular Gmail service.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

AOL has bought TechCrunch for a reported amount of $40 million, as the struggling Internet giant looks to boost its audience and ad revenue with one of the most influential blogs in the technology industry. AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong joined TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington onstage Tuesday to make the announcement at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.

Arrington, 40, has become one of the best-known journalists in the technology field, setting up TechCrunch in 2005 to chronicle the rise and fall of young technology companies. At the conference, Arrington said San Francisco-based TechCrunch would operate as a subsidiary and retain its editorial direction. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but a person familiar with it said the all-cash deal was worth $30 million plus incentives.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Blackberry maker Research In Motion unveiled its much anticipated tablet computer that it hopes will challenge Apple's iPad . The tablet, named BlackBerry PlayBook, has a seven-inch screen and dual facing cameras.

The device also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth but needs to link with a BlackBerry smart phone to access the mobile network. "It's ultra-mobile and it's ultra-thin," co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis told the developers, who responded with intermittent applause. "PlayBook delivers a no-compromises web experience," he said.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

AOL launched a new online advertising system that it hopes will transform the way advertisers reach consumers on the Internet. Titled "Project Devil," the system offers advertisers cleaner ad formats than before and more utility, such as the locations of local car dealers.

Project Devil is the latest development from AOL and part of a broader strategy to resurrect the 25-year-old company once synonymous with dial up Internet access into one of the web's main online entertainment and news destinations.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook is likely to go public sometime after late 2012, in what is likely to be one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings of the decade. Speaking to Reuters, Facebook board member, venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel said the flotation on the stock exchange is likely to happen in late 2012.

He added this would depend on the company hitting certain revenue targets and how its business model develops. "It probably will IPO at some point. The lesson from Google seems to be that you don't go public until very late," Mr Thiel told Reuters on the sidelines of the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco yesterday.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Among those who report downloading an app in the last 30 days

01/10/2010

Blockbuster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, as the one-time market leader in DVD rentals struggles to keep up with online competition such as Netflix and LoveFilm. The move will mean Blockbuster will be able to keep its stores and kiosks open as it reorganises.

Increasingly, people are watching movies via video subscription services like Netflix in the US and LoveFilm in the UK. In a submission to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, the company said it reached an agreement with bondholders on a recapitalisation plan.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Online ad network VideoEgg has bought blogging network Six Apart for an undisclosed sum, forming a new media firm SAY Media. Going live this week, Say Media will specialise in creating "conversational and interactive." advertising campaigns, with the combined company reaching 345 million global unique visitors.

Launched in 2005, VideoEgg has gone through several business models and has so far generated $50 million this year. Six Apart, founded in 2001, owns LiveJournal, designed MovableType blogware and the TypePad blog hosting service. Its blogging platform Vox is set to shut down at the end of September.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Last month, organic searches conducted on Yahoo were migrated to Microsoft's search engine. While the transition happened mid-month and B2B online marketers won't be sure exactly what effect the transition has had on SEO campaigns, recent comScore reports indicate the two search engines combined accounted for one-third of queries.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google has launched a new website, called 'Google New’, showcasing its latest ventures, alongside information about all of its products. Google New brings together all the latest information about Google products including web search, Gmail, Google Earth and Google Maps.

The site aims to educate users about its addition services, outside of its core search service.
Google employees typically spend 80 per cent of their working week on a specific product, then spend the other 20 per cent on developing new projects and ideas.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

A Spanish federal court has dismissed copyright infringement charges against Google’s YouTube that could have brought the online video service to a halt by forcing it to monitor every piece of content.

Telecinco, a Spanish broadcaster, had brought the charges against YouTube, arguing that it should be liable when users upload material that violates copyright protection. Google, which owns YouTube, praised the court’s decision to reject the charges on the basis that YouTube offers users tools to remove content that infringes on copyrights.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

AOL has renewed a search agreement with Google, continuing a decade-long partnership between the two online giants. The new five-year deal includes a revenue share on a per-search basis. AOL can also place its content on YouTube with both camps sharing ad revenue placed against the video.

For the six months that ended in June, AOL's advertising revenue associated with the Google relationship was $209 million. AOL is also working with Google to create an AOL mobile search product.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Search advertisers could soon be paying up to 78 per cent more on the Bing search engine's cost-per-click (CPC) ads for top branded keywords, according to a new study. The study, from ad media company GroupM Search, attributed the hike in prices to Bing-owner Microsoft integrating Yahoo Search onto its own search platform.

Microsoft said it will complete the transition by the end of October, after which Bing will power all of Yahoo's search queries.GroupM also expects a premium of 64 per cent for non-branded keywords during at least the first three weeks of the transition.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

AOL UK has launched MyDaily, a new destination site for women, as the company looks to boost its consumer and advertising services. MyDaily UK joins AOL's portfolio of content networks, as part of its strategy to become the ‘world’s largest content creator’. The site features numerous formats for advertisers.

“AOL aims to be the global leader in sourcing, creating and delivering high-quality, trusted, original content to consumers. We have adopted a new editorial approach, blending the best of premium publishing traditions with our rich heritage in online content, advertising and technology,” said David Shing, Head of Media & Marketing, AOL Europe.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

UK online gambling firm Sportingbet has agreed to pay $33m (£21m) to settle a US investigation over alleged illegal internet gambling, US prosecutors said.

01/10/2010

01/10/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has introduced its latest efforts to monetize its popular micro-blogging platform,, with a new scheme called Promoted Accounts that will let companies pay to be included in Twitter's "Who to Follow" lists. The company also said it will phase out its @earlybird deal feed in favor of its promoted products platform.

Promoted Accounts builds on the company's existing Promoted Tweets platform, which it introduced in April. With the new addition, companies could pay to be included in the "Who to Follow" suggestion lists Twitter displays to its users. Like Promoted Tweets, Twitter would serve up relevant Promoted Accounts based on your Twitter activity and preferences.

02/10/2010

02/10/2010  |  Full story...

The Nielsen Company has unveiled a new tool that will give online advertisers audience or viewer data, similar to that given in television ratings. The research firm will combine data provided by online partners, including Facebook, with representative panel data to develop a Gross Rating Points (GRP) score for individual ads.

It will provide reach, frequency and GRP measures for online advertising campaigns of nearly any size, with reporting available within days after a campaign launch. Procter & Gamble, Verizon Wireless, and major media agencies such as Starcom MediaVest, and Facebook are on board with the system, which is expected to be commercially available in 2011.

02/10/2010

02/10/2010  |  Full story...

Top brands have been accused of using tricks to deceive web users as part of a new campaign set up by a web design consultant. Harry Brignull has set up the website Dark Patterns to expose the secrets that go behind website design and the use of intentionally misdirected elements to ‘force’ users to click on something they usually won’t.

Facebook, Yahoo, Ryanair and Comet are some of the big brands that are alleged to employ crafty tricks that snare an unsuspecting user into signing up for a membership, buying insurance they don’t need, or giving up personal information. Tactics include trick questions, hidden charges and ‘sneaking’ products into web shopping baskets, said Brignull.

02/10/2010

02/10/2010  |  Full story...

While many celebrities might have millions of people following their lives on the web, the most influential Tweeters are actually less known “experts”, according to new research. Researchers at Northwestern University in the US have used new technology to sift through the tens of millions of tweets sent each day on the micro-blogging website to pinpoint the most influential people on the hot topic of the day.

Popular celebrities who are part of the Twitterati include Ashton Kutcher, the actor, his wife, Demi Moore, the actress, Justin Bieber, the teenage pop star, Lady Gaga, the controversial singer, and Stephen Fry, the broadcaster. However, the scientists concluded that most “influential” users on Twitter were actually people with much lower profiles but who were experts in their own fields rather than celebrities with the most followers.

02/10/2010

02/10/2010  |  Full story...

Sony is to unveil what it bills as "the world's first internet television" on 12 October in New York, with built in support for Google’s much anticipated TV service. Running on the Android operating system, the TV will also support third party apps. Technology site Electronista adds that the device will have a full Chrome browser and Flash support.

Google TV is a software platform for set-top boxes and HDTVs (high definition televisions) co-developed by Google, Intel, Sony and Logitech. The project was officially announced by Google and its partners in May this year.

02/10/2010

02/10/2010  |  Full story...

More than two in five (44 percent) of firms automatically 'opt-in' customers for marketing emails, rather than letting them decide if they want to receive the emails, according to new data. The study, from Spam Ratings, singled out PC World, B&Q and, the Arcadia Group among the firms guilty of this.

By automatically opting-in customers to mailings, brands are ignoring advice from the Information Commissioner's Office which states the onus is on companies to ensure that proactive consent has been obtained before emails are sent and a pre-ticked opt-in box for consent to send email marketing should not appear.

02/10/2010

02/10/2010  |  Full story...

Global market share, 2010 forecast.

02/10/2010

Google has launched its ground-level mapping service in the world's most barren continent - Antarctica. The move will allow Google users to navigate around the snow-capped mountains, coastline and icebergs of Antarctica - a place that few people ever get to visit in person.

They will also be able to spot several penguin colonies captured by Google's cameras. The expansion to Antarctica means that Street View is now present on every one of the world's seven continents.

04/10/2010

04/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google has launched a new image format, called WebP, which the company claims will result in smaller file sizes for commonly shared small image files, in amove that could threaten the dominance of the popular JPEG image format used across the Web. According to Google, photos and other images make up about 65 percent of all content accessed via the Web, and therefore all Web traffic.

Those same files re-encoded with WebP will produce files that are, on average, 39 percent smaller than other formats, reducing the load on servers, ISPs including mobile carriers, and the Web browser clients themselves.

04/10/2010

04/10/2010  |  Full story...

UK online TV platform YouView, previously known as project canvas, has dismissed claims it will damage investment in the fledgling UK IPTV market. YouView, the on-demand TV service backed by BBC ITV, BT and Channel 4, is set to launch as a beta test in the first quarter of next year. The site aims to bring video-on-demand programming and services to Freeview and Freesat.

The company said many people in the UK’s technology start-up community see YouView as an opportunity to put their content and applications before a wider audience, because it shifts the best of the internet from the PC to the living-room TV set. But several local television companies, a set-top box manufacturer and Virgin Media have written to Ofcom asking the media regulator to investigate YouView, which is backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva.

02/10/2010

04/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has outlined his company's ideas for the future of search technology, where we are never lonely, never forget anything, never get lost, never run out of ideas, are never bored and never need to drive a car because it will drive itself. Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Schmidt outlined a vision of the future where computers will be able to suggest useful information based on past preferences, the location of the user and the time of day.

He said: "We are at one of those points in technology where something interesting is about to happen. We're building an augmented version of humanity - getting computers to help us do the things we are not very good at and have humans helping computers do the things they're not very good at."

04/10/2010

04/10/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC offers viewers the most usable Video on Demand (VoD) / catch up TV website with its iPlayer service, while Sky’s Sky Player service fails to match other broadcasters in terms of usability, according to new findings released today.

The ‘Video on Demand: playing catch up’ report from user experience consultancy, Webcredible, revealed that BBC iPlayer is leading major UK broadcasters in the VoD usability stakes with a score of 88 per cent, followed by Scottish broadcaster STV with its STV Player coming in second with 76 per cent. Sky Player on the other hand scored just 55 per cent, with admittedly a more complex commercialised offering, failing to clearly explain its different subscription packages to users on the site.

04/10/2010

04/10/2010  |  Full story...

The money spent on internet ads in the UK increased 10% in the first half of this year, with advertisers spending a total of nearly £2bn on the medium, according to new data. The study, from the IAB and Price Waterhouse Coopers , found that video and social advertising fuelled online display’s return to growth, while the FMCG and Entertainment sectors ramped up investment to become two of the biggest spenders in the sector.

The boom in online video, social and ‘performance’ marketing contributed to the 10% increase in online advertising spend during the first half of 2010 (compared with the same period of time in 2009), which saw UK marketers invest £1,968.6 million, lifting the medium to a record market share of 24.3%. The return to double-digit growth for the internet mirrors the general recovery of the entire advertising industry, with total UK expenditure increasing 6.3% to £8.1 billion between January and June 2010.

05/10/2010

05/10/2010  |  Full story...

Internet Eyes, a new website which pays the public to monitor live commercial CCTV footage online is set to be launched in Devon. The site will pay up to £1,000 to subscribers who regularly report suspicious activity such as shoplifting.

Managing director Tony Morgan said the scheme would reduce crime and help prevent other anti-social behaviour. However, the site has met criticism from civil liberties campaigners, who say the idea is "distasteful" and encourages private citizens to spy on each other.

05/10/2010

05/10/2010  |  Full story...

Some of the most popular apps written for Google's Android phones do not tell users what is done with data they gather, according to a new study. The research, conducted by a team of computer scientists from Intel Labs, Penn State, and Duke University chose 30 out of the 358 most popular Android apps that, when installed, ask for permission to get at location, camera and audio data.

Half of 30 applications studied share location information and unique identifiers with advertisers.
Information about the data gathering was collected using software developed by the team. App creators should provide more information what will be done with harvested data, they say.

05/10/2010

05/10/2010  |  Full story...

BT is to map the demand for broadband across the country, and give the five keenest areas an upgrade by 2012. The move will give the opportunity to communities deprived of high-speed web access the chance to get investment from the telecoms firm.

The online survey, running until the end of the year, aims to identify demand “hot spots”. The data gathered will also inform BT’s decisions on which areas to upgrade as part of its already announced £2.5 billion commitment to provide two-thirds of the country with high-speed broadband by 2015.

05/10/2010

05/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google has acquired BlindType, a company that specialises in touch typing software for mobile devices, to boost company’s Android mobile operating system. The BlindType system aims to solve the problems of typing on small touch screens, buy creating self-learning technology that constantly adjusts to the user's 'perceived' keyboard and typing style. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

05/10/2010

05/10/2010  |  Full story...

Dominance of major social gaming players on Facebook, ranked by daily users (millions).

06/10/2010

Apple has launched its much aniticipated TV device in the UK this week, letting users stream films from its online store direct to their TV sets. Apple TV costs £99, and the device plugs directly into TVs to stream films as well as play music from an iPad, which can act as a remote control for the box.

The move sees Apple muscle in on Sky and Virgin Media's territory, who both offer video on demand services. In the US, Apple has agreements with broadcasters to offer 99 cent rentals of TV shows, but currently no deals have been signed with UK content providers.

05/10/2010

06/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google has secured new content partnership deals with media and internet companies, including NBC Universal's CNBC, Time Warner's HBO and Amazon, for its forthcoming Google TV service. Turner Broadcasting is working to optimise some of its websites for viewing on Google TV, including CNN and Cartoon Network, Google said on Monday.

NBC Universal will bring access to financial news television CNBC, while HBO will also provide programming. Meanwhile, Amazon Video On Demand offers access to over 75,000 titles for rental or purchase, and Netflix will offer the ability to instantly watch unlimited movies and TV shows. Google said it was also working with news websites like The New York Times and micro-blogging service Twitter.

06/10/2010

06/10/2010  |  Full story...

IPC Media has sold its popular internet magazine Web User to Dennis Publishing, for an undisclosed sum. The move comes as part of the review of IPC Media’s niche and specialist titles.

Web User is the UK's best-selling internet magazine, offering internet news, reviews and computing advice, alongside a large number of user generated forums. The deal sees Dennis acquire the brand – currently published within the IPC Inspire portfolio – with immediate effect. There will be no interruption to the publishing schedule of the title.

06/10/2010

06/10/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has unveiled several new features on its social network, including one that makes it easier for its 500 million members to separate online friendships into groups and another that lets them archive personal information posted on the website. The new grouping feature is designed to share comments, photos and other links with others based on relationships and interests. For instance, you can now group Facebook friends by family, work, sports teams and college.

The tool means Facebook users will be able to pool their friends in different groups or circles and send messages to, or hold mass-chats online with, those groups. For instance, mailing an image to the group email using your phone will eventually post the photo on the group's wall. Since the group's visibility to everyone is disabled by default, only group members will get the notification about that photo and will be able to view it.

07/10/2010

07/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google is testing a preview pane tool that lets users see a sample of the pages returned in search results, before deciding to click through to their chosen site. When users hover over a search result, Google will display a preview of the entire website.

The tool will also highlight segments of the page that correspond with the conducted search in orange, making it easier for prospective clients to quickly scan websites for relevant information. In addition to the page previews, Google is also enabling the same site to appear multiple times. Previously, multiple entries would be indented and displayed beneath a company's first mention.

07/10/2010

07/10/2010  |  Full story...

New research into online video ads shows that consumers want to investigate brands in their own time, and are more open to receiving ads around quality video content. The results of a year-long study from Sky and the Internet Advertising Bureau – the trade body for digital advertising - reveal the true branding effectiveness of online video, showing how consumers prefer to ‘store’ advertising information, rather than clicking-through immediately.

The study, run by media research company Decipher, found that whilst 6% of people who recalled a video ad clicked to make an immediate purchase, around 54% of people chose to delay a purchase or investigate the brand in their own time, once again calling into question whether click-through rates are the best measure for online branding campaigns.

07/10/2010

07/10/2010  |  Full story...

Internet Explorer's share of the worldwide browser market has dropped below 50 per cent, according to new data. According to StatCounter findings, in September, the Microsoft browser's market share was 49.87 per cent - down from 58 per cent this time last year.

It has even dropped to 40 per cent in Europe, yet IE still narrowly dominates the market in North America at 52.3 per cent. This fall has been coupled with a rise in both Firefox (31.5 per cent) and Google Chrome (11.54 per cent). Chrome has jumped from 3.63 per cent this time last year.

08/10/2010  |  Full story...

People who spend the most hours on Facebook are the most likely to be "defriended" on the social networking site, according to new research. Researchers from Colorado University found that friends' frequent posts about nothing in particular were most likely to lead to a severing of online ties. This was followed by comments about polarising topics like religion and politics.

Computer scientist Christopher Sibona, who surveyed more than 1,500 Facebook users on Twitter to get to the bottom of the new phenomenon of 'unfriending', said: "The 100th post about your favourite band is no longer interesting."

08/10/2010

08/10/2010  |  Full story...

Digital Ethnic marketing firm Indoor Media has been acquired by Komli Media, Asia Pacific’s leading digital media network platform. The deal marks Komli’s second acquisition since June, as it aggressively expands its international operations.

Founded in 2007 by Murly Tiwari and Jay Rai, and headquartered in London, Indoor Media has established itself in the UK as the leader in online ethnic marketing. It provides online solutions to brand marketers reaching out to the UK’s 7million strong ethnic minority consumers through its proprietary ad network, AdMasala.

08/10/2010

08/10/2010  |  Full story...

Over nine in ten (92%) of American mothers share information about their children online, according to new research. The study, commissioned by information-security company AVG and carried out by Research Now, surveyed 2,200 mothers of young children in US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan for a week in September.

The study showed that American parents had a higher tendency to share information about their children online than parents from the other countries. One-third of US mothers surveyed said they had posted pictures of their newborn infants. 34 per cent of American respondents also admitted to posting sonograms of their unborn babies online.

08/10/2010

08/10/2010  |  Full story...

Ranked by daily active users (millions).

09/10/2010

People in China and the Middle East use the web far more than their Western counterparts, according to 'the largest ever' global study of online habits. The Digital Life study by global research firm TNS also found Malaysians are the most sociable online with an average of 233 friends on social media websites, while the Japanese are the least friendly with just 29.

The research shows four out of five online users in China (88 per cent) and over half of those in Brazil (51 per cent) have written their own blog or forum entry, compared to only 32 per cent in the United States. TNS said the study was the 'largest ever global research project into people's online activities and behaviour', surveying almost 90 per cent of the world's online population through 50,000 interviews in 46 countries.

11/10/2010  |  Full story...

Search and social conversion agency Tamar has published a white paper, called Mobile 2010, showing that desktop/laptop search has fallen by 15% while mobile search engine traffic has seen an increase of 247% in the past year.

Tamar’s research also found another key trend, a big increase in users who accessed websites directly via mobile. This figure more than doubled from 2009-10.

11/10/2010

11/10/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft is gearing up to unveil its new Windows Phone 7 operating system and a compatible range of devices at a New York event today, as the software giant looks to take on the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android in the fast growing smartphone market.

The company has been building up to the launch in the past week, giving hints about its plans for Windows Phone 7-based smartphones and a possible iPad competitor running on Windows 7 by the end of this year. The company will be launching the smartphones in the US along with AT&T, followed by a European launch within a week. Microsoft's hardware partners include HTC, Asus and LG.

11/10/2010

11/10/2010  |  Full story...

Daily online access by region - among those who have access.

12/10/2010

Over two-thirds of comments on Twitter go without response, with the first hour being critical to a Tweet’s lifespan, according to new research. Sysomos, maker of social media analysis tools, researched 1.2 billion tweets over two months and reported results that appeared less than influential on a worldwide scale.

Of all the tweets produced, the majority, 71 percent, received no response (retweet). Of the 29% of tweets that produced a reaction, 19.3% were retweets and the rest replies. This means that of the 1.2 billion tweets examined, 6%, (or 72 million) were retweets. The study found that of all tweets that generated a reply, 85% have only one reply. Another 10.7% attracted a reply to the original reply - the conversation was two levels deep.

12/10/2010

12/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google has developed cars that can drive themselves, testing seven such automobiles on 140,000 miles across the roads of America, in a move that could one day revolutionise the transport industry. Google said that the seven Google cars have driven 1,000 miles without any human intervention, apparently the 140,000 mile number includes occasional human control. These cars are a modified version of the Toyota Prius, and there is one Audi TT as well.

Google says it has gathered the best engineers from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Challenges, which have promoted autonomous-vehicle development. And the company is also quick to point out that safety has been the first priority in this project. The driver's seat is never unmanned, and a trained software operator sits the passenger seat to monitor the software.

11/10/2010

12/10/2010  |  Full story...

Orange and T- Mobile have finally unveiled their ‘Everything Everywhere’ brand, following the merger of the two mobile networks last year. The launch, dubbed the ‘big switch-on’ allows the company’s combined 27 million customers to access coverage on both networks, and is backed by a £4m advertising campaign.

Orange customers are now able to make calls and send texts on the T-Mobile network and T-Mobile customers are able to do the same using the Orange network. Customers who want to sign up for access to both networks will benefit free of charge, with no changes to their existing tariff or call or text charges.

12/10/2010

12/10/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has partnered with China’s largest online retailer Taobao.com, using Bing to power the web results for its new shopping search engine Etaosite. Taobao, which is a part of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, launched Etao as a public beta version, calling it a shopping search engine.

The site also offers a range of search categories, including general web results that are powered by Bing. Microsoft already has a Chinese version of its Bing search engine, also still in its beta version, but it currently holds an extremely small share of the search engine market at less than one percent, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

13/10/2010

13/10/2010  |  Full story...

Nearly half of web users have shared their internet passwords with at least one person in the past year, with youngsters being the most reckless with their sensitive information, according to new research. Research released by Webroot has revealed that most commonly used password-protected sites among consumers are banks (88%), personal email accounts (86%), and Facebook (72%) - all of which are rife with sensitive information.

Webroot surveyed more than 2,500 individuals across the US, the UK and Australia and found that 4 in 10 respondents shared passwords with at least one person in the past year, and nearly as many people use the same password to log into multiple Web sites, which could expose their information on each of the sites if one of them is compromised.

13/10/2010

13/10/2010  |  Full story...

UK shopping and comparison website mySupermarket has closed a $7.4m round led by Greylock Partners and Pitango Venture Capital and angel investors. mySupermarket has raised $22 million to date. Greylock and Pitango are both leading venture capital firms, and Greylock’s investments include Facebook, Pandora, Wonga and Linkedin.

In tandem with the fundraising, mySupermarket also announces the appointment of former co-CEO and President of Wix.com, Allon Bloch, as CEO. Allon will be driving the expansion of mySupermarket’s business, as well as focussing on website development for its one million site visitors.

13/10/2010

13/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google has launched a new ‘Price Index’ tool, which will be based on the cost of goods sold online and could use real-time search data to forecast official figures. The Google Price Index could prove more accurate and up-to-date than official statistics due to the instant nature of the transactions measured.

Google's mountain of web shopping data could also be used by the online group for economic forecasting ahead of the publication of official statistics, the Financial Times reported. Google's chief economist Hal Varian said that he is working on "predicting the present" by using real-time search data to forecast official figures which often are published at least a month after the period they cover.

13/10/2010  |  Full story...

When exciting new research landed from TNS, we thought we'd share it straight away rather than wait till the end of the month. Here are the topline points, with more on research and announcements from the global giants that caught our eye over the last two weeks.

Digital Life is a global study into people's online behaviour. TNS interviewed around 50,000 people from over 45 countries to explore the different ways internet behaviours are evolving. They used consistent questions and built an interactive dashboard that lets you compare the data.

Other stories we've been tracking include the race to TV (launches from Google and Apple), UK online adspend rising 10% (to just under £2bn in the first half of 2010), YouTube winning the copyright case in Spain, and in Antarctica Google's Streetview making its debut.

As you plan your 2011 digital strategy, let us know if you need more on any of these areas, or support from the management coaches at the Digital Training Academy to ensure you choose the right digital channels for your audience.

Read October 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

13/10/2010

Nearly six in ten Britons (60 per cent) believe online advertising is neither relevant nor well targeted, according to a new YouGov survey. The research, carried out for the technology and media company Collective shows that brands are simply not connecting with the right audiences and wasting money on ineffective campaigns.

According to the online survey, only a quarter (25 per cent) find targeted adverts to be relevant in anyway. Despite that, 57 per cent said they would choose targeted adverts over a blanket approach if it meant there were fewer of them, which indicates that brands who can be relevant, will connect with a receptive audience and induce purchasing intent.

14/10/2010

14/10/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has launched two new features aimed at making the social network more secure.The company has introduced ‘one-time passwords’ aimed at people accessing Facebook on a public or shared computer, where other people could access profiles through browser history and stored cookies.

Users can now text "otp" to 32665 to be sent a unique password. This password only lasts for 20 minutes and will be sent to the mobile number they have synced with their Facebook account. Facebook has also introduced remote logout. This means that users can see how many other computers or devices they are logged into on Facebook at any one time and sign out from them if necessary.

14/10/2010

14/10/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo’s shares rose 11% yesterday on the back on speculation that the struggling online media giant is the object of a takeover attempt, with both AOL and News Corporation in the running as possible bidders. Reuters reports that several private equity firms have approached Internet and media companies including News Corp and AOL to gauge their interest in buying out Yahoo.

The news agency quoted a source ‘with knowledge of the approaches’ as saying a potential deal would be contingent on Yahoo selling its lucrative Asian assets, including a 40% stake in China's Alibaba Group and 34.5% of Yahoo Japan.

15/10/2010

15/10/2010  |  Full story...

New research from the Internet Advertising Bureau – the trade association for online and mobile advertising – reveals that mobile commerce has already become widely adopted in the UK, with 51% of mobile owners (23 million people) using their device to make payments, redeem coupons or research products and services.

The study shows once again the urgent need for retailers to catch up with the mobile consumer and enhance the user experience to ensure they don’t miss out on sales. The study – based on a nationally representative sample of over 1000 mobile owners and carried out by work research - was designed to investigate genuine consumer engagement with m-commerce in the UK.

18/10/2010

18/10/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile app store GetJar has exclusively launched the full Android version of the popular Angry Birds game for free, funded by advertising. The move means GetJar becomes the first distributor of the game, ahead of the Android app store.

As a testament to the game's popularity, the huge volume of traffic to GetJar following the announcement took out the store's servers within minutes. Despite this, Angry Birds was downloaded almost 95,000 times within the first three hours on Friday. The game is free but features mobile advertising, and Rovio said a future update will include the option to purchase and opt out of advertisements.

18/10/2010

18/10/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft's Bing search engine has begun showing users which sites and products their Facebook friends like. The move, which will initially be rolled out in the US over the coming weeks, forms part of a continuing four-year deal between the two companies.

The function is optional and only works when users are logged into Facebook or have ‘cookies’ on their PC that store Facebook data. The deal will mean that if someone is searching for a film on Bing, they will see faces of friends who have ‘liked’ the movie on Facebook returned in the results page.

18/10/2010

18/10/2010  |  Full story...

Greater Manchester Police have completed a Twitter hashtag campaign, as a means of protesting Government cutbacks by revealing the sheer number of incidents they face in a single day. The project, which began at 5:00am Thursday last week, revolved around the Twitter account GMPolice tweeting every incident it deals with over a 24 hour-period, accompanied with the hashtag #GMP to help users search and share their comments.

Manchester police said the tweets were being sent by a team of people from its corporate communications department, along with two force inspectors. Incidents would not be tweeted if their publication threatened anyone's safety, a spokeswoman said.

18/10/2010

18/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google registered a 32 per cent jump in profits, beating market expectations and highlighting the success of its emerging businesses. The internet giant posted net income of $2.2 billion (£1.4bn) after revenues rose 23 per cent to 7.3 billion US dollars (£4.6bn) in the third quarter of the year.

Google said its core business grew very well, while its newer businesses continued to show significant momentum. Google recently paid $3.2 billion for DoubleClick, a display ad network, and $681 million for mobile-ad firm AdMob.

18/10/2010

18/10/2010  |  Full story...

The top 10 applications on Facebook have all been transmitting user data, including access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names, to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking firms, according to a news report. The Wall Street Journal investigation found that the issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook's strictest privacy settings.

The Journal found that all of the 10 most popular apps on Facebook were transmitting users' IDs to outside companies, including well-known games such as FarmVille, Mafia Wars and Texas Hold’em. Responding to the report, Facebook has admitted to the problem, which it said was ‘inadvertent’ and was down to a technical fault.

19/10/2010

19/10/2010  |  Full story...

Internet brands are now the closest to UK consumers’ hearts, with the three most popular brands in the UK coming from the web, according to a new survey. The latest Millward Brown celebrity and brand (Cebra) research revealed that Apple had the most buzz (a measure of how much a celebrity or brand is talked about) followed by Google, Facebook, X-Factor and Wii, highlighting the popularity of consumer technology.

In terms of people, David Beckham has been named as the UK’s most powerful celebrity Despite no longer playing football in England, the survey found. The Cebra research now includes a measure of marketability alongside familiarity, affinity, media attention.

19/10/2010

19/10/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo! is planning to launch Y Connect, letting users share content across multiple websites, in a similar way to Facebook’s connect platform. Facebook Connect has been a huge hit for Facebook allowing web users to login and comment on multiple websites with their Facebook ID.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, with Y Connect users will be able to do a similar thing by clicking on a Yahoo button allowing to then share it with contacts on Yahoo while content on non-Yahoo sites will be shared via Yahoo Pulse — the a hub connected to Yahoo Mail accounts.

19/10/2010

19/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google’s Android ad revenue has surpassed that of Apple’s mobile devices, despite the iPhone accounting for more ad impressions, according to new data from ad network Millennial Media.The study found that while the iOS platform remains the forerunner in terms of total market share, Android ad requests have grown 1,284 percent since January of this year while requests on iOS have only grown by 18 percent in that time period.

Android is up to 29 percent of total smartphone share, while Apple has dropped from a dominant 70 percent in March to just under half of total smartphone users at 46 percent at the time of the report. "This month, for the first time ever, Android revenue exceeded iPhone-only revenue amidst strong raw iOS impression growth," according to Millenial's October 19th report.

20/10/2010

20/10/2010  |  Full story...

Brits are predicted to spend £6.4 bn in December, up from £5.5 billion last year, but will be looking to spread the costs in times of economic uncertainty, according to a new study. The latest results from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal that British shoppers spent a total of £4.8 billion online during September (year-on-year growth of 24%), equivalent to £79 per person and bucking the recent fall in sales on the high street.

Apart from home and garden, which saw a decrease of -1%, all of the retail sectors represented on the Index have shown a year-on-year and like-for-like growth of at least 10%, with clothing, footwear and accessories up 28% from September 2009. This impressive growth is attributed to consumers looking to keep spending in check by shopping online for the best deals.

20/10/2010

20/10/2010  |  Full story...

John Lewis’ website offers customers the best online user experience out of the top UK high street retailers, and has been the most consistently easy to use website over the last five years, according to a new study.

The 2010 Online Usability Report from user experience consultancy, Webcredible, revealed that John Lewis scored an exceptional 91 per cent for usability, an increase of 10 per cent on 2009, moving it to the top spot for 2010. The most significant improvement this year was made by Early Learning Centre which achieved a score of 90 per cent, improving by 15 per cent and climbing from eighth place in 2009 to second place in 2010.

20/10/2010

20/10/2010  |  Full story...

Ofcom will not investigate YouView, despite claims from rivals that the TV-on-demand scheme from BBC, ITV, C4 and Five is anti-competitive. However, You View, previously know as Project Canvas was warned that the communications watchdog will act if it blocks rival platforms and services in future.

YouView is a collaboration of seven broadcasters and telecommunication companies including BBC, ITV, BT and TalkTalk. It plans to use a branded interface to bring on-demand web services to set-top boxes. Set to launch next year, YouView will develop a standard framework from which broadcasters and other providers can build TV-accessible online services, such as BBC iPlayer, and which hardware makers can incorporate.

20/10/2010

20/10/2010  |  Full story...

Google has added tools to the left-hand panel of its search results, letting users change location details. Google previously pinpointed a users’ location automatically, but the new tool lets users either change it completely or make it more specific, including by postcode.

Users need to click on 'Change location' to update the information. Google will then automatically run the search again with the new information. The change means the location information is now always visible, as opposed to automatically clearing it from the screen.The feature is being rolled out gradually globally over the coming weeks.

20/10/2010

20/10/2010

Russians are the heaviest social networkers worldwide in terms of time spent per user, while Brits hold the fourth spot, according to a new study. The data, from comScore, found that in August 2010, 34.5 million Russian internet users (74.5 percent of the online population) visited at least one social networking site.

With an average of 9.8 hours per visitor during the month, Russians spent more than double the worldwide average of 4.5 hours per visitors on social networks, ranking it #1 among all countries in social networking engagement.

21/10/2010

21/10/2010  |  Full story...

The number of web users will surpass two billion this year, approaching a third of the world population, but developing countries need to step up access to the vital tool for economic growth, according to a report from a United Nations agency. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said that users have doubled in the past five years.

Of 226 million new Internet users this year, 162 million will be from developing countries where growth rates are now higher, the ITU said in a report. The estimated global population is currently 6.9 billion. However, by the end of 2010, 71 percent of the population in developed countries will be online compared with 21 percent of people in developing countries.

21/10/2010

21/10/2010  |  Full story...

More than one in eight children have been bothered or upset by online content finds a report published today based on interviews with 23,000 young people across Europe. However researchers stressed that the majority of children had no upsetting experiences on the internet and indeed were often comfortable doing things that some adults consider risky.

While 12 per cent of children said they had been bothered or upset by experiences online – including encountering pornography, sexual or bullying messages and potentially harmful user-generated-content – another finding was that their parents were often not aware of the risks to which their children had been exposed.

21/08/2010

21/10/2010  |  Full story...

A new measurement standard, called ‘GEMS’ has won the backing of a number of European countries, in a move that could help online retailers and advertisers better understand how shoppers are using their sites, and compare their results with industry benchmarks. GEMS stands for Global E-commerce Measurement Standard GEMS, and is nowsupported by industry associations representing 75% of European e-commerce.

Ther standard was created by a number of key industry players, including the iMRG, and was launched this at the e-Business Strategy Europe conference. In 2010, business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce is estimated to be worth €550 billion worldwide and €200 billion in Europe.

22/10/2010

22/10/2010  |  Full story...

Crunch.co.uk has secured a second round of funding with investments from Bebo co-founder Paul Birch and former Skype Chairman Michael van Swaaij, valuing the Online accounting service at £4m.

22/10/2010

22/10/2010  |  Full story...

Many Brits are unintentionally exposing personal information online, with men being more likely to let sensitive information slip, according to new research. The study, from fraud prevention firm Garlik, analysed the DataPatrol service alerts generated over the last 12 months for over 250,000 UK customers to produce the findings.

In particular the research has highlighted that men are 60% more likely to unintentionally disclose personal information, and that the probability a person will do this does not vary with age alone.

22/10/2010

22/10/2010  |  Full story...

The Prime Minister has pledged to spend £650 million, over the next four years, on managing the risks associated with cyberspace. In his speech to the Commons earlier this week, David Cameron said the government is developing a National Cyber Security Programme aimed at overhauling the UK’s approach to cybercrime.

Under the cyber security initiative an agency, or a single point of contact, will be created where the public and businesses can report cyber crime. In addition, a major training programme will be set up to ensure that those tasked with tackling cybercrime have the necessary skills and knowledge to identify, understand and tackle it successfully.

22/10/2010

22/10/2010  |  Full story...

The web let anyone publish anything, but Google let people find what they were looking for. The rise and rise of the world’s largest web media business is something we've tracked since testing out the early versions in the late 90s.

As search engines have become the connectors between marketing in any media and people finding what they’re after on the web, getting Google right has become critical for brands and the teams that support them. That’s why in this edition of Digital Intelligence we collated some of the recent stories our team were researching, packaging them into one bite-sized email you could forward on to your colleagues.

Read Digital Intelligence Google special report

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

22/10/2010

Google has admitted to copying household computer passwords and emails while gathering images using its Street View cameras, adding that it is determined to learn lessons from the mistake.

Google collected information from wireless networks while its vehicles drove around residential streets taking photographs for its Street View mapping product, which launched in 2008. Computer passwords, emails and web addresses were copied from private households which did not have encrypted wi-fi access. Google said the personal information was collected inadvertently.

25/10/2010

25/10/2010  |  Full story...

Around a fifth of people (20.3%) claim to like or follow brands on social networks yet not enough brands are responding to consumer complaints, according to a consumer study. The research, from the Internet Advertising Bureau, research company Opinion Matters and social media agency RMM. The survey – designed to investigate how mainstream different types of social media activity have become – found that more consumers engage with brands on these properties than celebrities, with 13.4% of people liking or following celebrities on sites such as Twitter or Facebook.

25/10/2010

25/10/2010  |  Full story...

Total UK revenues for mobile content and services, mobile advertising and marketing, will be £407.10 million in 2010, rising to £1.10 billion in 2015, according to a new report. The 'Mobile Market Trends: UK: Usage and Revenue Forecasts to 2015' report from mobileSQUARED says revenue growth will primarily be driven by increased mobile advertising spend -- especially around 'conversational advertising'.

The mobile advertising market is forecast to grow from £50.25 million in 2010 -- 12% of total revenues, to £357.84 million in 2015 -- 33% of total revenues, as advertisers increasingly target this direct channel.

25/10/2010

25/10/2010  |  Full story...

The internet marketing Brazil is transforming fast. Internet use in Brazil is reaching the mainstream and changing the role of media and communications in Brazil. This page brings together a few examples of data about internet use in Brazil that companies had asked us to research. We hope you find it useful and if you have questions then email us: TheTeam@DigitalStrategyConsulting.com If you would like to submit case studies of internet marketing in Brazil or if you have research about internet use in brazil that you would like to share then please contact us. Our team are based in the UK but regularly work in Latin America so if you are looking for information about Mexico, Venezuela, Belize and other countries then we may be able to help.

27/10/2010

Privacy issues made headlines this week as Google's Streetview cars were found to be capturing more than just photos. Data about local wi-fi hotspots went far beyond the hotspot location, raising concerns across government and business, while at the same time exposing how little most people know about the data clouds that fill their street. It's time to wake-up to privacy.

The week before it was Facebook's turn, with social media games uncovered as the gateway to a wealth of personal data for advertisers to target against. Nothing wrong with trading free games for seeing targeted advertising, but most consumers seemed completely unaware of what they'd agreed to. The key takeout? Read the small print.

Younger internet users were also found to be having a tough time. Across Europe 1 in 8 children have 'had upsetting experiences online', making clear the need to teach more in schools about privacy, social networking and trust.

And here in the UK the government may be deep in the most brutal spending cuts in history, but it still found £650m for a new initiative to fight cybercrime and protect personal data.

The internet is defining the culture of our generation, but new behaviours need to be taught to companies and individuals alike if we are to handle these tools responsibly. Digital strategies and data strategies are essential to all organisations, so I hope you enjoy the stories below and the clicks behind them.

Read October 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

28/10/2010

Companies in the UK will soon have to ensure content on their websites and social network pages comply with rules set out by The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), or face being ‘named and shamed’ as part of a new initiative. From March next year, the rules covering misleading advertising, social responsibility and the protection of children will apply in full to all online marketing by all sectors, businesses and organisations, regardless of size.

The ASA's current remit online includes ads in paid-for space and sales promotions wherever they appear. The extension now means full advertising regulations will now also apply to parts of the internet that are ‘free of charge’ (unlike paid adverts) charge, such as brands’ own websites and online areas like Twitter and Facebook.

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Google has added a new tool called "Priority Inbox" to its Gmail service, designed to help people wade through their overflowing e-mail inboxes. The feature uses formulas developed by Google engineers to automatically figure out and highlight which incoming messages are likely to be the most important to each Gmail user.

Users who opt to turn on the Priority Inbox will see their messages separated into three categories. "Important and unread" e-mails will be at the top followed by messages that have been previously stamped with a star by an accountholder. Everything else appears at the bottom.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Amazon is reportedly planning to launch an online TV and movie rental service, and is currently in talks with major TV and film studios.

According to report in the Wall Street Journal, Amazon has approached media companies including Time Warner. with plans to start an online video subscription service to rival Netflix in the US. The paper quoted three people ‘with knowledge of the talks’. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is broadening the retailer’s digital entertainment services to combat rivals such as Netflix, Hulu LLC and Apple.

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

A third of television viewers now watch their favourite programmes online, on computers and mobile phones, according to new research. The joint study by the Radio Times and SeeSaw.com has highlighted changes in the way people now view programmes.

A total of 34 per cent of those questioned said they watched TV shows on the internet while for students the figure was even higher at 56 per cent, meaning more students are viewing programmes on their laptops than on television sets. Only 39 per cent of students said they watched programmes in the traditional way while more than half of those questioned over the age of 65 generation said they had watched a programme online in the past year.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Google has launched a new tool that lets its US-based Gmail users make free calls to one another via the web. The new feature increases the search giant’s competition with Internet phone providers like Skype.

At an event in San Francisco, Google said the new service, which will roll out this week, is free for calls to the U.S. and Canada at least until the end of the year, though there are costs to make international calls to landlines and mobile phones. Google said it hoped to later offer the service to international Gmail users and possibly to businesses.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

The publisher of the complete Oxford English Dictionary says the iconic publication may give up on paper and go completely digital. The Oxford University Press said recently it may not have enough market demand to publish a hardcover version of the third edition of the multi-volume OED.

The Oxford University Press would instead focus on selling subscriptions to the OED's online version.No official publication date is set for the third edition of the OED. Scholars have been working on the text since 1989, but as of June 2010 only entries from "A" to "Rococoesque" have been completed, representing approximately 0.83 letters of the alphabet every year.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

How we watch, share, discuss and interact with traditional TV in the UK is evolving rapidly in response to the rise of social media, according to the findings of the Social TV Trends Report.The research into the habits of over 2,000 British consumers commissioned by social media agency Diffusion and conducted by YouGov, has found that ‘media stacking’ is becoming the norm as we watch TV with growing viewer demand for more real-time interactive online services accessible via the ‘traditional’ TV set.

From browsing the internet, updating social networks to listening to the radio and using a mobile phone the statistics show that over half (58 per cent) of those surveyed are regularly consuming a least one other type of media while watching a TV. This trend for ‘media stacking’ is most prevalent amongst 18-24 year olds with 76 per cent saying they browse the internet whilst watching TV.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Brits have a wide variety of preferences to marketing formats, depending on their age and location, according to new research, which found that youngsters prefer to buy in-store rather than shop online.

The study, from Experian, found 15-24 year olds are highly receptive to direct mail, while the UK rural population prefer to engage face-to-face. The results challenge existing thinking on consumer preferences and highlight the importance of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has asked Advertising Code writing bodies CAP and BCAP to review the advertising of broadband speed claims.

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Employees are hitting the online shopping aisles during office hours to get away from work pressures, according to research from real-time online shopping tool Invisible Hand. Workers hit a post-lunch slump and as a result head online for some retail therapy, as data shows an 11% increase in the number of online shoppers at 2pm, compared to midday.

2pm isn’t the only time workers whip out their plastic to pass those work hours by, as research shows the largest surge of online shopping during the working week is at 4pm. Figures from Invisible Hand show there is an average 52% increase in online shopping compared to the morning.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook became the most popular social network in India for the first time in July with 20.9 million visitors, up 179 percent versus year ago, according to new data. More than 33 million Internet users age 15 and older in India visited social networking sites in July, representing 84 percent of the total Internet audience.

India now ranks as the seventh largest market worldwide for social networking, after the U.S., China, Germany, Russian Federation, Brazil and the U.K. The total Indian social networking audience grew 43 percent in the past year, more than tripling the rate of growth of the total Internet audience in India.

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned BT's latest TV broadband advertisement, following claims the communications giant was making "unrealistic" claims about the speed of its broadband service. BT's advert showed 'Jane' instantly loading a website and looking through images, while an estate agent was apologising to 'Adam' for the slowness of his connection.

"BT is rolling out up to 20 meg speeds to give you a consistently faster broadband throughout the day even at peak times," intoned a voiceover. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) investigated BT's claim that its new 20Mbps service is "consistently faster" than other leading broadband providers following 17 complaints, including challenges from rivals BSkyB, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Google is testing out a new ‘streaming search’ feature that displays search results to users as they type. The tool, which is being tested on a small group of users, takes the search giant’s existing autocomplete suggestions one step further.

Google has long provided suggestions while typing in the search box, but this apparently experimental feature was first noticed by a UK search engine optimisation blogger who posted a video of his experience online. Rob Ousbey blogged: "This evening, I spotted that you don't even need to hit the 'Search' button anymore - Google updates the results for you while you're typing."

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Channel Five has reversed its decision, made only six weeks ago, to pull out of the UK television industry’s project to allow consumers to see video programmes via the internet. Project Canvas now includes again all the terrestrial broadcasters – the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 remained involved when Channel Five left for financial reasons last month – as well as BT, Carphone Warehouse and the infrastructure owner Arqiva. It is looking for further partners.

The reversal was expected following the purchase of Five by Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell group from RTL, the pan-European broadcaster, earlier this month. “Project Canvas is set to shape the future of broadcasting and open up new and exciting possibilities for viewers,” Mr Desmond said in a statement on Tuesday.

01/09/2010

01/09/2010  |  Full story...

Apple made its first foray into social networking on Wednesday with the introduction of Ping, a 'social music discovery' service with that runs alongside the latest version of iTunes. The service was unveiled by chief executive Steve Jobs, who touted the site as aiding "social music discovery, and comes as part of iTunes 10, which Apple released today. Ping is like Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes, Jobs said at a San Francisco press event. It's a "social network all about music and built right into iTunes," he said.

The service is available on the computer, the iPhone, and the iPod touch. Users can follow their favorite artists publicly or create their own, private profiles, much like Facebook. Users can set up a "circle of friends" and share information only with those people.

02/09/2010

02/09/2010  |  Full story...

comScore has acquired Nedstat, a provider of web analytics and innovative video measurement solutions for approximately $36.7 million. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nedstat offers technology that helps organizations optimize customer experiences and maximize the return on digital media investments.

With the Nedstat technology installed on thousands of sites, the acquisition helps comScore accelerate its global expansion strategy, particularly in European markets, and strengthens comScore's Unified Digital Measurement(TM) (UDM) platform, which combines panel-based audience measurement with census-level data collection to provide a holistic view of digital consumer behavior.

02/09/2010  |  Full story...

More than 9 million UK adults have never used the Internet, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. This compares with just over 38 million UK adults who were Internet users, and of those, just over 30 million accessed the Internet every day or almost every day. People who were more likely to have never used the Internet were the over 65s, the widowed, those on low incomes and those with no formal qualifications.

02/09/2010

02/09/2010  |  Full story...

Columbia Pictures has launched a new official website for their new movie “The Social Network”, a 'warts-and-all' biopic based around the lives of the Facebook founders. The movie, tells the story of Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg, the founders of Facebook, and is directed by David Fincher, of Se7en and Fight Club fame.

Scheduled to be released in the UK on 15th October, The Social Network is based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal.

03/09/2010

03/09/2010  |  Full story...

Samsung has unveiled its rival to the iPad with the Samsung Galaxy Tab, a new tablet PC using Google’s Android operating system. The tablet features a 7-inch LCD display and will run the latest Google Android 2.2 operating system, Froyo, at launch. It will be able to store up to 16 gigabytes of data internally and has a microSD slot that allows for an additional 32 gigabyte SD card.

06/09/2010

06/09/2010  |  Full story...

Google is reportedly in negotiations with music labels on starting a music-download service that would allow mobile users to listen to songs wherever they go in an effort compete with Apple iTunes online music and video store. A report in Reuters cites ‘people familiar with the matter’, claiming Google vice president of engineering Andy Rubin, the executive behind the company's Android mobile operating system, wants to have the service ‘up by Christmas’.

"Finally here's an entity with the reach, resources and wherewithal to take on iTunes as a formidable competitor by tying it into search and Android mobile platform, Reuters quotes a label executive as saying."What you'll have is a very powerful player in the market that's good for the music business."

06/09/2010

06/09/2010

A survey of over 1000 US and UK users found the Kindle scored strongly over the iPad as an e-reader. The survey also found demand remains for the trusty paperback, although many consumers are now going digital for their holiday reads.

The survey, from ebook store OneNewsPage, found its users admitted the iPad was “more compelling” than the Kindle because of the iPad’s multi-functionality, if it came to a straight head-to-head choice between e-readers, almost two thirds (64%) preferred Amazon’s Kindle to Apple’s iPad.

07/08/2010

07/09/2010  |  Full story...

Morrisons is set to launch an online grocery store, as the supermarket chain looks to take on rivals Tesco, Waitrose and Asda. The move is expected to be announced by Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips, in his first big presentation to the City since his arrival in March 2010. According to reports, his plans, to be revealed on Thursday, will involve the launch internet trials in several stores that could be extended nationwide.

07/09/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo is set to launch an online TV service in Europe, through a partnership with TV maker Vestel. The deal will see Vestel deliver Yahoo's 'Connected TV' service to more than 40 countries in the region beginning in 2011. Content will include TV shows, movies, video and web content in Europe, via TV sets.

07/08/2010

07/09/2010  |  Full story...

If you ever complained about broadband access prices here in the UK then spare a thought for those who would have to pay 40 times their month's salary to get online. New research from the UN throws up some unlikely findings for both the most expensive and cheapest places on the planet for broadband access.

Niger in Central Africa is the most expensive place in the world to get a fixed broadband connection with prices costing nearly 40 times the monthly wage, UN figures revealed. The cheapest is Macao in China, with prices equating to 0.3% of monthly salaries. Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union, stressed: "Access to broadband in an affordable manner is our greatest challenge."

07/08/2010

07/09/2010  |  Full story...

Another internet milestone is reached this month as the two-billionth person comes online, with 85% of those having shopped online, according to new research. This means that almost 30% of the world’s population (of 6.8 billion) are now “internautes”, as the French call internet users, having adopted the World Wide Web which, in its consumer form, is just 16 years old.

Most people (85+%) who go online then shop online, bringing a fundamental shift in the way consumer goods are being marketed, traded and distributed, resulting in global e-retail trade worth a staggering €550 billion in 2010, according to IMRWorld.org estimates.

07/08/2010

07/09/2010  |  Full story...

BBC has revamped its iPlayer online video platfor, with a number of new features, including the ability to let users download shows before they are aired on TV, and then watched them straight after broadcast. Previously, users had to wait for the show to finish and be uploaded to the iPlayer before watching or downloading it.

Other changes to the iPlayer include being able to recommend shows to friends on Facebook and Twitter, a list suggested programmes users may like based on their iPlayer-viewing habits, the ability to create a library of favourite shows and a 'pop-out' player.

08/09/2010

08/09/2010  |  Full story...

YouTube has become the world's online video player. Following numerous attempts from other platforms, YouTube emerged as front runner - then gained the critical mass to deliver video to the world. Google's acquisition boosted the platform's audience reach, and rolling the results into Google Search accelerated discoverability. Google also gave YouTube all the brilliance of Google Search to ensure content would be more effectively discovered.

With video moving to the mainstream in digital comms strategies for consumer brands and business services as well as online media, YouTube needs high consideration in every firm's digital strategy.

Read Digital Intelligence YouTube special report

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

08/09/2010

Google is set to launch its much-anticipated TV service in the US over the next few weeks, while UK viewers will have to wait until next year. The service will let viewers in the US search and view content from TV providers, the Internet, mobile apps and their own personal content library via their TV sets.

Google TV will initially be incorporated into television sets and Blu-ray players manufactured by Sony. Announcing its launch, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told delegates at the IFA technology show in Berlin that Google TV would go live in the US this autumn, and would launch worldwide next year.

09/09/2010

09/09/2010  |  Full story...

Blinkx has partnered with VideoJug and Howdini, to bring 50,000 direct play How-to video’s to its video search platform. These professionally produced videos will help viewers master a wide range of skills, from throwing the perfect curve ball to puppy-proofing the home and more.

Leveraging its AdHoc platform, blinkx will also place contextually relevant advertising against these videos and share resulting advertising revenue with the partners. VideoJug’s how- to videos deliver easy-to-follow, bite-size tutorials on a wide range of topics from beauty and style know-how to health issues, DIY dilemmas and how best to tackle parenting problems.

09/09/2010  |  Full story...

Google has launched 'Instant' search results, a new service that starts predicting results as soon as users begin typing. As internet users begin a word, Google’s homepage will move instantly to a page of results that is updated as each letter is typed.

Google, which currently answers 1 billion search queries per day, described the move as a “fundamental change” that will save the world’s internet users a combined 11 hours per second, or 111 years per day. The update has been trailed over the past two days with 'Google Doodles' on the company's homepage.

10/09/2010

10/09/2010  |  Full story...

Apple announced last week that more than one million users signed up for Ping in the service’s first 48 hours of availability. Ping is the music-focused social network built into iTunes 10, which the company released just last week.

According to Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services, “One-third of people who have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping.” The service aims to let users see what their friends are listening to, liking, and purchasing within iTunes, and to share recommendations and insights with them.

10/09/2010

10/09/2010

The Internet Advertising Bureau - the trade association for digital advertising - has joined forces with Unruly Media to launch a new UK viral chart, showcasing the most popular branded video content in the UK each month. Recognising the increased significance of viral video content amongst the marketing community, but a lack of guidance in terms of how to 'get it right', the IAB will be highlighting the importance of creativity in video by celebrating the best and most popular. The chart will also live on the IAB site, and be sent to members each month.

10/09/2010

10/09/2010  |  Full story...

24/7 Real Media is the fastest growing ad network in the UK, while Google remains top in terms of visitors, according to new data. The research, from comScore, reported the top 10 ad networks based on their reach among UK internet users in July 2010.

The ranking showed that Google Ad Network remains on top, with a reach of 38.3 million internet users, or 93 percent of the total U.K. internet audience, followed by AOL Advertising (33.2 million) and Yahoo! Network (33 million). The fastest growing ad network among the top 10 was 24/7 Real Media (up 111 percent versus a year ago).

13/09/2010

13/09/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has launched social metrics, a new tool that helps marketers understand the benefits of adverts that include social context from people’s friends on Facebook. There is now a new column called “Social %” in the Ads Manager, which shows the percentage of ad impressions that were delivered with social endorsements.

Social context is the sentence in the ad that shows people which of their friends have liked or engaged with the Facebook Page, event or application. Facebook said that these new metrics will allow marketers to understand the impact social context has on their marketing on Facebook and better optimise future campaigns to maximise the number of ads people see with social context from their real friends.

13/09/2010

13/09/2010  |  Full story...

US web users are spending more socialising on Facebook than searching with Google, according to new data from comScore. In August, people spent a total of 41.1 million minutes on Facebook, comScore said, about 9.9 percent of their Web-surfing minutes for the month.

That just barely surpassed the 39.8 million minutes, or 9.6 percent, people spent on all of Google Inc.'s sites combined, including YouTube, the free Gmail e-mail program, Google news and other content sites. US Web users spent 37.7 million minutes on Yahoo Inc. sites, or 9.1 percent of their time, putting Yahoo third in terms of time spent browsing.

13/09/2010

13/09/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile ad platform Blyk, has secured a 17 million euro investment lead by Nexit Ventures and other individual investors. Launched in 2006, the Finnish firm began as an ad-funded mobile network targeted at youngsters, later pivoted to focusing on the mobile advertising platform as a business of its own.

The investment helps Blyk to further accelerate its growth in partnering with mobile operators world wide to help them further capitalise on their customers. Blyk sends exclusive offers to those that opt in to its service, via SMS and MMS. It claims to attract 25% response rates in the markets it operates in.

14/09/2010

14/09/2010  |  Full story...

Some 45 per cent of broadband customers think that switching provider is too difficult, according to research from industry regulator Ofcom. Ofcom has proposed further measures to make switching broadband provider easier, after research showed that nearly half of customers think it is still too difficult.

The communications watchdog said that it was considering measures to make the process faster and remove the hassle for customers by placing the emphasis for switching a service from one company to another on the ISP that is gaining the customer. At the moment, if a customer wants to change provider they have to request an authorisation code from the ISP they are leaving and give it to their new provider, essentially a "losing provider-led process", to use Ofcom's words.

14/09/2010

14/09/2010  |  Full story...

The UK Government has outlined its plans to enforce its new Digital Economy Act, aimed at cracking down on online piracy. Under the new scheme, copyright holders will pay 75 per cent of the costs associated with tackling online copyright infringement, while internet service providers will shoulder the remaining burden.

Comsumer groups have warned such a move could push up the price of broadband. Commenting on the move, the minister for communications said the costs Ed Vaizey, The costs of policing the Digital Economy Act are "proportionate, despite protests from internet service providers who argue the ruling will push up the price of home broadband connections.

15/09/2010

15/09/2010  |  Full story...

YouTube has begun to test its own-brand live video-streaming technology. Over two days the site is planning a trial in which four partners will get the chance to air live programmes.

YouTube has done one-off live events in the past, but the trial marks a test of underlying technology that will be used when the service is launched. The move will place YouTube in direct competiton with other live streaming services including Ustream, Justin.tv and Livestream.

15/09/2010

15/09/2010  |  Full story...

Newspaper websites are enjoying a surge of traffic from their online video stories, while Facebook is on track to be second only to Google for video referral traffic by year’s end, according to new research. The study, from Brightcove, the leading online video platform, and TubeMogul, an online video analytics and advertising platform, is called the Online Video & the Media Industry Quarterly Research Report for the second quarter of 2010.

15/09/2010  |  Full story...

New research shows that despite the rise in online fraud with the recent Zeus Trojan stealing banking information from some 100,000 British people in the UK over the last month, consumer confidence remains high in online banking sites. The latest e-Customer Service Index (eCSI) survey conducted by eDigitalResearch and IMRG, shows that as increasing numbers are attracted by the convenience and speed of online banking, only half of consumers are concerned by online security.

The survey of over 3,000 UK-based people suggests that online banking is on the increase with some 80% more likely to bank online than at their high-street branch. Despite the rise in online fraud, consumer confidence with online banking sites has grown with 65% of people happy to make bill payments and a further 55% readily transferring money between accounts.

15/09/2010

15/09/2010  |  Full story...

Project Canvas, the on-demand TV service backed by BBC ITV, BT and Channel 4, has offially rebranded as YouView, and is set to launch as a beta test in the first quarter of next year.The site aims to bring video-on-demand programming and services to Freeview and Freesat.

From next year viewers will have the choice of a subscription-free YouView set top box that will combine their favourite digital TV channels with the last seven days' catch up TV, as well as bringing a full range of on-demand services and interactive extras straight to the living room. The seven partners in the venture, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, TalkTalk, BT, Arqiva and Channel 5 – have now formed YouView TV Ltd, pledging about £18m each to cover the first four years of operation from April 2010.

16/09/2010

16/09/2010  |  Full story...

Swedish fashion giant H&M has launched its much anticipated transactional website this week, hoping to tap into the growing demand for clothes shopping online.

16/09/2010

16/09/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has unveiled a public beta test of its next web browser, Internet Explorer 9 this week.
IE9 supports several new web technologies, including HTML5 video and CSS3 layouts, and uses a new Javascript engine.

Like the latest beta version of Firefox, it is expected to also support the use of a computer's graphics chip to accelerate the on-screen composition of complex web pages. It will be released for Windows Vista (with Service Pack 2) and Windows 7, but not Windows XP. The launch was first hinted at on a special website promising "a more beautiful web", then confirmed on a Microsoft blog.

16/09/2010

16/09/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter is set to launch a new version of its micro-blogging platform, incorporating picstures and video posted by users into its feed. The popular social network is hoping the revamp- the first major update in its four year history, will encourage users to stay on the site for longer, ramping up its appeal to advertisers in the process.

Some users will start seeing the new look as soon as tonight, though the company says on its blog that it "will roll out as a preview over the next several weeks." To co-incide with the relaunch, Twitter has sealed 16 multimedia partnerships with DailyBooth, DeviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube.

16/09/2010

16/09/2010  |  Full story...

The IAB’s Games Steering Group (GSG) – a committee of leading games publishers and networks - has launched a practical handbook about advertising within console, mobile and online social/casual games.

With games advertising now offering a wealth of advertising options and creative diversity across games consoles, on the internet and on mobile, brands are now spoilt for choice. Dynamic In-Game Advertising alone is expected to be worth an estimated £150 million worldwide in 2010 (Screen Digest and GroupM May 2009).

16/09/2010

16/09/2010  |  Full story...

Nokia is going to connect the “next billion” people to internet using its mobile technology and “locally relevant Ovi services”.The manufacturer made the declaration on the final day of the Nokia World event, calling in Sir Tim Berners-Lee to help fight the cause.

Mary McDowell, Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Mobile Phones, said: “More people will join the information age using a mobile phone than a PC. With approximately 80 percent of the world’s population in reach of a cell tower, it is the mobile phone that will offer the first PC-like experience for many of the next billion people who will come online.”

16/09/2010

16/09/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has become synonymous with social networking. In many countries the two words have become interchangeable, and with Facebook's audiences continuing to grow in numbers - as well as time spent - every brand has to consider a Facebook strategy or an integrated social and relationship marketing strategy.

In this special edition we've drawn together research, news and background to highlight the growth, evolution and key issues. Full stories from our team are at the end of the clicks, and this summary packages them into one bite-sized email you can share with colleagues.
Let us know what you find useful - and what you'd like us to cover in future special editions on other topics.

Read Digital Intelligence Facebook special report

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

20/09/2010

Facebook has launched its Places service in the UK, as the social network looks to take advantage of the growing demand for location-based apps such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Google's Latitude service.The new tool allows users ‘check in’ wherever they are and see who among their friends and other Facebook users is - or has been - at the same location.

The move will also give Facebook a new channel for advertisers to target its audience by location, listing nearby businesses and attractions. Facebook will target the locations it lists to each Places user. To ensure users privacy, Facebook Places has numerous privacy controls in place to control the amount of location information that is shared.

20/09/2010

20/09/2010  |  Full story...

Britain recently passed the 500-million mark for digital music downloads, and figures out this year suggest another record total in 2010, according to the Official Charts Company (OCC).Industry leaders said the figure was all the more impressive given the level of online music piracy which has robbed record labels and their artists of billions of dollars in recent years.

"There are nearly 70 legal music services, more than any other country, and consumers continue to embrace the choice, value and innovation on offer," said Geoff Taylor, chief executive of music industry body BPI.

20/09/2010

20/09/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo is working on improvements to its web services, including e-mail and search, in a move to increase its market share. The internet media giant is planning to give most of its services and products a major overhaul under its new product strategy.

The news was revealed by Yahoo's chief product officer Blake Irving while addressing a media event at the company's head office in Sunnyvale, California. Yahoo has plans to integrate the web services with social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn.

21/09/2010

21/09/2010  |  Full story...

After rumors of new ‘Facebook Phone’ getting ready to take on other smartphones in the market, Facebook has released an official statement, debunking rumors, saying it has no plans to develop such a device.

In a statement, a Facebook spokewoman said: "Facebook is not building a phone. Our approach has always been to make all phones and apps more social, not build a phone." She also added that the phrase ‘Facebook Phone’ sounds like a very catchy soundbite, but reports that Facebook is building a phone are simply not true.

21/09/2010

21/09/2010  |  Full story...

Tesco plans to launch online shopping in China, the Czech Republic and Poland, as the supermarket chain looks to expand its international presence. Speaking to the Financial Times incoming chief executive Philip Clarke told the Financial Times that he wanted to expand Tesco's online offer around the world. Clarke will take over from Terry Leahy next year, said the retailer will start trading over the Internet in Poland next year, followed by Prague and Shanghai.

21/09/2010

21/09/2010

Google went 'instant', Apple went Ping, Microsoft put IE 9 into beta and Twitter got pictures: what a month for giant digital product development from digital giants.

All these impact on how digital strategies work for brands - and that's why to get them working well the strategy needs to be flexible to deal with the constant evolution of the landscape. Technology and business horizons are constantly expanding, the attention of customers is migrating, and brands need to be agile enough to deliver what their customers need today, not yesterday.

Among the social networks Facebook gave social media metrics a much needed boost with their new analytics tools (ROI gradually creeping into social media), Twitter started looking even more like a Facebook-lite, and Facebook launched location tools to prevent young socnets like FourSquare gaining the traction of Twitter.

Mobile device wars intensified with Blackberry and Samsung lining up tablet launches, and the largest smartphone maker - Nokia - reorganising 'in preparation for the next billion mobile web users' and its upcoming high-end device launches. The online video world was equally hectic with product development announcements from Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and Google, proving that the video platforms have much more yet to deliver.

Read September 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

30/09/2010

Facebook has introduced Facebook Questions, a beta product that lets users pose questions to the social network's community. The new service introduced Wednesday appears as an "Ask Question" button at the top of users' homepages.

The feature is initially available only to a limited number of people, but the site plans to roll it out to everyone as quickly as possible, depending on users' feedback. The idea behind the service is to let people tap Facebook's 500 million users to get answers to questions about any topic, from music and restaurants to where to learn to play the piano and the best surfing spots in Costa Rica.

01/08/2010

01/08/2010  |  Full story...

Saudia Arabia and The United Arab Emirates are both banning some of BlackBerry internet-based functions over 'security issues'. BlackBerry owners in two Gulf states will soon have their handsets' functions restricted under a ban imposed by the countries' governments.

People in the the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will not be able to send emails, access the internet or send instant messages to each other, whereas Saudi Arabians will be banned from using the BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry instant-messaging service. There are around 500,000 BlackBerry owners in the UAE, and 400,000 in Saudi Arabia.

03/08/2010

03/08/2010  |  Full story...

Research In Motion has agreed to allow Indian security agencies to monitor its BlackBerry services after the government raised concerns over the smartphones' messaging technology. The news follows the United Arab Emirates' threats to cut off BlackBerry services as authorities could not access encrypted data. RIM later pledged to satisfy both the needs of customers and governments.

The Economic Times newspaper reports that RIM has offered to share with Indian security agencies its technical codes for corporate email services, open up access to all consumer emails within 15 days and also develop tools in six to eight months to allow monitoring of chats, the paper said, citing internal government documents.

04/08/2010

04/08/2010  |  Full story...

Games have overtaken e-mail as Americans' number two online time killer for the first time, according to new research, with social networking coming top of the list. The study, from Nielsen Online, found that of the nearly 24 hours of time that Americans on average spent online during the month of June, 23 percent was on social networks and blogs. That is up from 16 percent in the same month a year earlier.

By far the most visited social network was Facebook, which recently celebrated reaching half a billion active users worldwide. The site commanded 85 percent of the time Americans spent on social networks. Games, meanwhile, accounted for more than 10 percent of Internet users' total time online in June, up from 9 percent last year. E-mail, on the other hand, counts for just 8 percent of Americans' Internet time, down from nearly 12 percent last June.

04/08/2010

04/08/2010  |  Full story...

Virgin Media has lodged a complaint with Ofcom, aimed at halting the BBC-backed video-on-demand service Project Canvas. The cable giant says the project, which is developing common standards for net TV in the UK, is anti-competitive. BT, Channel 4 and ITV are partners alongside the BBC.

It was given the green light in May, when the Office of Fair Trading ruled it was not a merger, but Virgin Media said it could destroy the online TV market. It said the collaboration between the three most prominent public service broadcasters would "significantly and irreparably harm" the TV sector. Describing it as the "national health glasses" of the TV world, Virgin said it would stifle innovation.

04/08/2010

04/08/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has simplified its privacy controls for users who access the social networking using the Apple iPhone and other mobile devices. The changes give mobile users the same privacy settings previously available to those accessing the site via desktop browsers.

The new 'Custom' privacy options enable users to select in fine detail which aspects of their profile are made available to whom - including control over applications and features such as 'instant customisation', which enable third-party partner web sites to harvest user information in order to create customised home pages or offer content and deals based on the user's interests.

06/08/2010

06/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google Inc. will end development of its Wave service, which lets users share images and documents, because customers were slow to adopt the technology. Google launched the real-time web collaboration tool at its annual I/O developer conference last year.

The company acknowledged that despite huge internal excitement over the possibilities offered by Wave, the tool did not catch on with users. “Google Wave set a high bar for what was possible in a web browser,” wrote Urs Hölzle, senior vice president of operations at Google in a blog post.

06/08/2010

06/08/2010  |  Full story...

Software giant Microsoft has said it is "evaluating its options" after Yahoo! Japan announced it is to move away from a deal with the firm and instead work with Google. As part of the new agreement, Yahoo! Japan will be able to utilise Google's search capabilities but the announcement of the deal came after Yahoo! Japan had already spoken about a potential team-up with Microsoft.

Should the deal go ahead, it would give Google almost total control over all of Japan's search engine services and Microsoft may now try and block the agreement citing reasons to do with competitive fairness.

07/08/2010

07/08/2010  |  Full story...

Property website Rightmove has introduced an innovative new search tool to its website. Draw-a-Search allows people to sketch out their own search shape on a Google Map and perform property searches on that specific area.

The tool works by connecting a series of points together to form a shape covering the exact area that the home-hunter would like to search in. These shapes can then be saved to receive property alerts when relevant homes in that area become available, and even be shared with others on Facebook and Twitter.

09/08/2010

09/08/2010  |  Full story...

People in China watch half as much television each day as Americans, but they are more likely to catch video on computer or mobile phones, according to new research. The study, from Nielsen, looked into the technology habits of some 27,000 online consumers in 55 countries in March.

Mobile video viewing is much more common in Asian and Pacific countries than it is in the United States or Europe. The Chinese are 51 percent more likely to watch mobile video than people elsewhere in the world, while Americans are 55 percent less likely, the study said.

10/08/2010

10/08/2010  |  Full story...

Over two in five (42.6 percent) of Brits are now shopping online at least once per week and the average shopper is now spending £71 per month on online goods, according to new research.

The report announced by eCommera, a provider of ecommerce trading solutions, adds weight to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index showing growth for the British online retail market is continuing to climb.

10/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google has bought social widget maker Slide, for a reported $180m, as the search giant looks to expand into the lucrative apps market. The deal gives Google a team of developers with extensive social networking experience.

A person familiar with the situation said the deal was valued at about $180 million, similar to the price tag reported by technology blog TechCrunch on Wednesday. In announcing the takeover Friday, Google engineering director David Glazer said the company would be "investing even more to make Google services socially aware" and expand the social-networking capabilities further across the Web, according to a post on the company's official blog.

10/08/2010

10/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google has reportedly acquired Jambool and Social Gold in a move to add expertise to is rumoured forthcoming new social network. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Google has purchased San Francisco-based Jambool, along with its online payment system Social Gold, for $70 million.

Although neither company has commented on the news, technology news website Tech Crunch has cited multiple anonymous sources who have confirmed the acquisition. Jambool was founded by former Amazon employees Vikas Gupta and Reza Hussein in 2006, and Social Gold was launched in 2008.

11/08/2010

11/08/2010  |  Full story...

MediaMind Technologies, the digital advertising company, formerly known as Eyeblaster, has filed an initial prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission to take the company public.

The Company's shares will begin trading on August 11, 2010 on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the trading symbol "MDMD." According to the company's August 4 regulatory filing, MediaMind intends to offer 5 million shares at $15 and will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol MDMD. The company anticipates raising approximately $73 million in the offering.

12/08/2010

12/08/2010  |  Full story...

Accessing and downloading content from Facebook and YouTube while at work still accounts for more corporate web activity and bandwidth usage than from any other sites, according to new figures from managed security company, Network Box.

Just over seven per cent of all hits from business networks are to Facebook, with Google the second most popular at four per cent. In the dataset used, Facebook clocked up 98 million more hits (totalling 1,008,046,041) in the second quarter of 2010 than it did in the first (which saw 909.710,076 hits), a rise of 10.8% in the quarter.

12/08/2010

12/08/2010  |  Full story...

Internet firms Facebook and AOL are discussing a strategic alliance aimed at boosting their online advertisement business, according to a news report.The New York Post cited three separate sources saying the the two companies have been talking for several months about a partnership that would allow Facebook to tap AOL in selling online advertisements. One possibility for AOL is being named a "preferred media partner" to Facebook, a source told the Post.

12/08/2010

12/08/2010  |  Full story...

Channel Five has made a deal with Facebook that means its TV-on-demand platform, 'Demand Five', will be embedded into the social-networking site.The deal will see Channel Five become the first broadcaster to show television programmes through Facebook, and apparently it will be launching in the next ten days.

Demand Five will show programmes that have been previously broadcast on Channel Five, including CSI: Miami, Home & Away, and Neighbours. Over 26 million people in the UK use Facebook, and so will have access to this TV-on-demand platform.

12/08/2010

12/08/2010  |  Full story...

The global audience to Twitter.com has doubled in the past year, as the Latin American audience grows fourfold, according to new research.The study, from comScore, found that in June, nearly 93 million Internet users visited Twitter.com, an increase of 109 percent from the previous year, as the social networking site achieved strong gains across all global regions.

Indonesia reported the highest penetration, with 20.8 percent of Internet users in the country visiting Twitter.com that month, followed by Brazil and Venezuela, with Venezuela’s growth fueled in large part by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s decision to join Twitter in late April.

13/08/2010  |  Full story...

New research from the Internet Advertising Bureau – the trade association for digital marketing – suggests that email marketers should look to Amazon, Tesco and Marks and Spencer for inspiration when planning their email campaigns.

Around a quarter of consumers cited one or more of the three big brands as those they’d ‘most like to hear from’ via email, citing easy navigation and simplicity as the biggest draw in emails from marketers. The IAB – in partnership with its email council and iCD Research – asked a nationally representative sample of 1000 people their attitudes towards email marketing, levels of usage and preferred layout, to inform the email marketing strategies of UK brands.

13/08/2010

13/08/2010  |  Full story...

More than 200 Facebook users have reported suspicious behaviour online since the launch of an anti-abuse application last month, according to new figures. Investigators saw more than a seven-fold increase in the number of reports from the social networking site since the launch of the safety button aimed at protecting children from bullying, suspected grooming and other abuse.

A total of 211 people used the site's ClickCEOP button to report abuse since July 12, compared with just 28 users who reported abuse through the site in the month before its launch. In all, Facebook users downloaded the application more than 55,000 times in its first month, leading to more than 20,000 people getting regular online safety updates and more than 5,000 accessing help, advice and support, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) Centre said.

13/08/2010

13/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google has been in talks with PayPal about using the popular online payment system with its Android smartphone software. The talks between the search giant and the eBay-owned firm include utilising PayPal's mobile technology to collect payments for applications via Android smartphones.

Currently, Android smartphones offer Google checkout as a payment method. However, to appeal to a larger customer base, PayPal may be another option.Several websites offer PayPal as a checkout option, and adding it to Android smartphones would allow users who do not use Google checkout to pay for their applications.

16/08/2010

16/08/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has reportedly bought semantic search platform Chai Labs, as the social network looks to boost its search capabilities. According to a report from Kara Swisher at Boomtown, Facebook has bought the US firm for around $10m.

Swisher said the acquisition is more focused on acquiring talent, which would certainly fall in line with past Facebook acquisitions. Chai Labs is described as a “technology platform enables publishers to easily customize and launch scalable, search-friendly sites in several verticals. We seamlessly complement our partners’ editorial teams, and some of our most compelling implementations have occurred when editors and journalists have worked side-by-side with our platform.”

17/08/2010

17/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google is reportedly set to buy Like.com, a visual search and e-commerce firm, for more than $100m. Reuters quoted a report in Techcrunch saying that Google wants to experiment with a new kind of search technology that appears to be getting traction. Like.com, which was founded by Munjal Shah and Burak Gokturk in August 2004, raised nearly $50m and started applying computer vision and learning technology to online fashion purchases.

17/08/2010

17/08/2010  |  Full story...

Online retailers should not rely on search to drive business, with the latest quarterly survey from IMRG and The British Population Survey showing that the use of social media has increased fourfold in the last two years.

The IMRG/BPS Internet Access and Online Shopping in Britain report for the second quarter of 2010 shows that internet users visiting social networking and blogging sites have grown to 48.9%, a four-fold increase over the same period in 2008. While overall access to the internet continues to increase – more than half of the UK population now goes online at least once a day – the number using the internet for online search is not increasing at the same rate, falling by 0.5% during the first half of 2010 from 73.7% to 73.2%.

17/08/2010  |  Full story...

Visits to the websites of The Times and The Sunday Times have dropped by 1.2 million since May 2010, according to new data.The statistics, from ComScore, indicate that the websites of The Times and The Sunday Times dropped from 2.79 million in May 2010 to 1.61 million in July 2010.

News International launched its separate Thetimes.co.uk and Thesundaytimes.co.uk websites on 25 May. It made registration compulsory and began redirecting users from the old site on 15 June and started charging for access to both sites on 2 July.

18/08/2010

18/08/2010  |  Full story...

A number of high profile companies, including Disney and Warner Brothers, are being sued in the US for using a company that allegedly tracks the online activity of web users illegally.The complaint, filed last week in California, alleges that Disney, Warner Bros. Records, Ustream and others have installed illegal codes on millions of computers with the purpose of tracking the online activity of their owners.

The defendants are Clearspring Technologies, the company developing Flash-based technologies and its customers, which include Walt Disney Internet Group, Demand Media, Project Playlist, Soapnet, SodaHead, Ustream and Warner Bros. Records.

18/08/2010

18/08/2010  |  Full story...

AOL is to launch an additional 500 websites under its ‘Patch’ brand this year, part of a broader effort to remake itself as a destination for users seeking maps, reviews, and other local content. AOL has launched 100 of these local sites so far and plans to spend more than $50 million to initiate hundreds more this year.

The company, which is trying to move past its roots as a dial-up Internet service provider, AOL is eyeing $20 billion of local online advertising dollars. The move, announced on Tuesday, is part of the company's turnaround strategy conceived when it spun off from Time Warner Inc after a disastrous 10-year marriage.

18/08/2010

18/08/2010  |  Full story...

Too few retailers have a solid mobile presence today, however, 41% plan to have a transactional mobile site or application in place within the next year, according to new research. The study, from the Association for Interactive Media and Entertainment (AIME), the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), indicates that while mobile commerce is still very much at the consideration stage, the majority of retailers surveyed expect mobile commerce to be part of their main strategy within the next 12 months.

eDigital Research, commissioned by AIME, the IAB and the IMRG surveyed 140 marketing professionals from the retail, advertising and mobile service provider sectors in the UK to understand attitudes, behaviours and perceived challenges to mobile commerce. Over half (59%) of the senior-level representatives from UK retail brands that took part expected their mobile revenues to increase over the next 12 months, and 94% saw it as a real opportunity for their business.

19/08/2010

19/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google has released the latest voice based control applications for Android-based smartphones. The voice based action program aid users to direct commands to their smartphones and thus enables to write texts, e-mails and even find road directions. The application works with 12 commands including calling, texting, browsing and GPS navigating.

19/08/2010

19/08/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook's 500 million-plus users will soon be able to track friends' whereabouts across the US. The new "Places" feature begins rolling out on Wednesday to some users and goes across the US within weeks. The tool help users share where they are, figure out who is in the vicinity, and check out happenings and services within the same locale.

The feature will put the social network in competition with the increasingly popular location services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt, which allow consumers to use their mobile phones to keep track of their friends whereabouts and earn rewards for frequenting brick-and-mortar businesses, have caught on among technology aficionados. Facebook and Yahoo both unsuccessfully sought to acquire Foursquare earlier this year, according to media reports.

20/08/2010

20/08/2010  |  Full story...

Britons spend almost half their waking hours watching TV or on the internet, with the rise of smartphones causing a dramatic rise in digital media consumption, according to new research. The study, from communications watchdog Ofcom, indicates that consumers often multi-task while consuming media, with the average person fitting an average of eight hours and 48 minutes of media into just over seven hours each day.

Ofcom puts this down to rising smartphone ownership and the falling cost of mobile contracts and bundles. Around a quarter of the waking day is spent on the internet on social networking sites, while about three hours and 45 minutes are spent watching TV.

20/08/2010

20/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google is testing a universal search feature that will let users search their e-mail, presentations, spreadsheets and documents.Google Apps Search is a new Gmail Labs feature that "extends search with Google Docs and Sites results," according to the feature's description.

When activated, the "Search Mail" button changes to "Search Mail and Docs” with results displaying the 20 most recent e-mails, alongside the 20 related Google Docs or Sites as well. These are displayed below the Gmail search results. In addition to universal search functionality, Apps Search also includes a second feature: "Did you mean?" search suggestions. Whenever queries contain typos, Google will provide a suggestion for the search it believes the user meant to perform.

20/08/2010

20/08/2010  |  Full story...

The affiliate marketing sector will drive an estimated £4.62bn in UK online retail sales during 2010, according to a report published this week by Econsultancy. The Affiliate Marketing Buyer’s Guide 2010, the most comprehensive report available on the UK’s digital performance marketing industry, estimates that the sector grew by 8% in 2009 and will expand by a further 12% in 2010.

According to the report, the sector was worth £4.13 billion last year, when an estimated £245 million was paid in commissions and fees to affiliates and networks. In line with the sector’s overall growth, the value of commission and fees will increase to £275 million for 2010, according to the report.

20/08/2010

20/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google's share of U.S. Internet searches was essentially flat at 71.4% in the four weeks ended Aug. 1 from a month earlier, according to new research. Among the top four categories, Bing notched strong growth across the board from a year ago, while Google's searches grew for automotive, shopping and travel, but fell 4% for health.

Yahoo's searches declined for all four categories, HitwiseExperian Hitwise reports that Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing received market share of about 14.4% and 9.9%, respectively. Those figures were also little changed from the prior month. IAC/InteractiveCorp.'s Ask.com received a 2.3% share of all U.S. searches, up about 6% from the prior month.

20/08/2010

20/08/2010  |  Full story...

From small companies to global organisations, social media campaigns are playing an increasingly important role in brand marketing and now a Social Media Campaign Hall of Fame table has been published. This list runs down the most succesful. memorable and controversial social media campaigns of all time.

23/08/2010

23/08/2010  |  Full story...

Covent Garden-based creative agency BPL has produced the first crowd sourced advert for Unilever’s Peperami brand. The TV ad which is for the new bite size Peperami Nibblers product line features the Peperami character “Animal” and introduces the Peperami family.

The creative concept was submitted via ideabounty.com by Kevin Baldwin, a London-based copywriter and Rowland Davies, a former agency creative director based in Germany. The ad was managed in the UK and produced and animated by BPL’s South African operation.

23/08/2010

23/08/2010  |  Full story...

Fashion brands have a significantly stronger social media presence than other UK retailers, by actively embracing various platforms for the benefit of both the customer and the business, according to a new survey. Having measured the fundamental rise of ecommerce over the past decade with its eRetail Benchmark study, eDigitalResearch is now monitoring retailer’s social media as part of its benchmark activity, assessing brand’s presence over several different sites and their efforts to engage in two-way dialogue.

Assessing some 72 UK retail sites by looking at volume of followers alongside active interaction between the brand and consumer, the research found that fashion retailers are encouraging a larger degree of cross-communication through well-established Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. Topshop and River Island claimed the top two spots, recording a large number of followers and higher levels of customer engagement. ASOS came in third, with New Look and Next completing the top five.

23/08/2010

23/08/2010  |  Full story...

Marketers are still in a muddle when it comes to social media with almost one fifth thinking Twitter founder Biz Stone is a business publication, according to a recent survey conducted by Emailvision at the Online Marketing Show. When asked to clarify who or what Biz Stone is only 11 per cent identified him correctly as the founder of social networking site Twitter.

Other popular answers included a type of mineral and an indie band front man.Other areas leaving marketers flummoxed were the UK websites that attract the most users. As many as 92 per cent of respondents failed to identify Facebook as having the highest user figures.

23/04/2010

23/08/2010  |  Full story...

Google is all set to hire 200 employees for Google Dublin office, as the search giant looks to expand its location services.

The move will see the creation of a new operations centre in the Republic of Ireland’s capital, where new the employees will work on the group's location-based products such as Google Local and Google Maps. The centre could lead a challenge to Facebook Places, as Google pieces together some sort of social network.

24/08/2010

24/08/2010  |  Full story...

In order to help charities and public sector organisations increase their visibility online, the Internet Advertising Bureau – the trade body for digital marketing – has launched a Search Marketing Toolkit to educate the market about how to use search more effectively.

24/08/2010

24/08/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC is planning to create a complete online broadcast history of the corporation dating back to its foundation in 1922, as part of its ‘Genome Project’. Starting this process, thousands of back copies of the Radio Times are being studied in a bid to compile a list of every BBC programme broadcast in its 88 years.

The Radio Times was ‘an ideal place to begin’ the BBC Genome project, said manager Helen Papadopoulos. ‘It contains a record of everything we intended to broadcast – even if what actually went on air wasn’t what we planned to show,’ she wrote on a BBC blog. ‘And it is in a structure and format that people recognise, with basic but consistent details for all programmes, along with regional variations.’

24/08/2010

24/08/2010  |  Full story...

The pace of Google's acquisitions is astonishing: Jambool, Social Gold and social apps maker Slide all became GOOG, and there's clear interest in visual search firm Like.com - the new frontier in search. Add to that their PayPal integration with Android and its clear Google's focus today is as much about social, apps, and the web on the move as it is about Search.

Facebook matched the pace with the launch of their Q&A service and the bedding in of CEOP, both of which are strategically core. Facebook clocked up record access levels at work here in the UK, moved into top place in India, and no doubt its stickiness will rise even higher as TV networks like the UK's Channel 5 start to embed their top shows into FB's TV on-demand platform. As Google gears up for Social, Facebook is gearing up for Search and Video.

In the mobile space, the acceleration echoes the late 90s' Tipping Point when the web mainstreamed. All brands we spoke with this month now put mobile into the digital plan - even if only at small levels - and media owners are finally seeing mobile as a core platform. Innovation from device manufacturers continued - especially Nokia and Apple - while Blackberry's network came under the long-expected scrutiny by governments across the Middle East and India, no doubt triggering a massive loss of customers along the way.

Read August 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

26/08/2010

Foursquare has raised $20 million in a second round of funding, ending speculation that the location-based firm would accept a bid approach from Yahoo. The company has chosen to take the additional venture capital money rather than pursue takeover talks with internet giant Yahoo, which is believed to have made an informal approach.

Carol Bartz, chief executive of Yahoo!, in an interview with The Telegraph, strongly hinted she wished to buy the popular start-up, which lets you ‘check-in’ to bars and restaurants’, with a supposed price tag of $80m (£53m). The funding was led by Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Foursquare's original investors, Union Square Ventures and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. The new cash boost puts the value of the firm at an estimated $95m.

01/07/2010

01/07/2010  |  Full story...

Trade body Internet Advertising Sales Houses (IASH) has announced an investigation into the use of real-time “Content Safe” services, to help advertisers ensure their messages are not shown next to inappropriate content on the web. The use of these real-time content-screening services will be complementary to the established IASH Code of Conduct, which prohibits the use of barred content such as hate, indecent or obscene sites.

‘Content Safe’ or ‘Content Verification’ services can provide an additional layer of protection for advertisers online, and reflect the IASH mission to protect brands from appearing next to inappropriate content. They involve the analysis of URLs and web content to detect inappropriate content to ensure that brands can minimise any risk associated with where their adverts appear online. Brands can choose certain terms, semantics or websites on an ongoing basis to reduce the risk of their ads being placed inappropriately.

01/07/2010

01/07/2010  |  Full story...

The UK internet audience rose by 1.9 million over the last year, with people over the age of 50 accounting for more than half of new users. UK web surfers expanded by 5% to 38.8 million in May, compared with 36.9 million in the same month last year, according to UKOM, a division of market research company Nielsen that measures internet usage.

An additional 1 million people aged 50 or over are now online, representing 53% of that growth. Most of those new users (722,000) were men and 15% (284,000) were women. The next largest group were women aged 21-34, who accounted for 272,000, followed by teenage girls. An additional 231,000 females between the ages of 12 and 20 now have access to the internet.

01/07/2010

01/07/2010  |  Full story...

TV is set to rebound as the medium of choice for UK advertisers, reclaiming the top spot from the Web in terms of ad spend growth, according to new research. The latest AA/Warc Expenditure Report found that TV will be the main driver of UK advertising expenditure growth for 2010, with revenues to increase by an estimated 9.1% across the year. The report provides a measure of UK advertising activity – encompassing print, TV, digital, cinema and out of home – and expects TV to outperform online, which should grow by 7.7%.

It also predicts overall market growth of 3.3% in 2010, up from the previous forecast of 2.3%. Total ad spend is now expected to reach £14.98bn in 2010, an increase of £0.5bn from 2009. Following six consecutive quarters of decline, UK ad spend grew by 3.4% in Q1 2010, much faster than expected.

01/07/2010

01/07/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has tweaked its privacy policy to ensure third party app developers to specify to users what personal information they will access and use. The move forms part of the social networking giants efforts to appease critics of its privacy practices. The changes will apply to all third-party applications and games that a user installs on their profile.

Under the new system, a user will be presented with the permissions box every time they install a new application or first log in to an external website with their Facebook account. For example, JustGiving requests to access basic information, send the user emails, post updates to their wall and access profile information such as likes, music, and favourite TV shows. Meanwhile, on the app Fifa Superstars, Playfish now asks to access the users friend lists in order to create a social and interactive game.

02/07/2010

02/07/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has added a new facial recognition feature, as the social network looks for new ways to streamline its photo tagging process. The facial recognition feature, added last week, will identifiy that a face is present in an uploaded photo, asking the user "Whose face is this?"

According to Facebook, the feature is in limited testing, so you may not see it yet, but this and more will be coming for all soon. The software does not go so far as automatically tagging a recognized face, but this could be a potential feature in the future. This in turn could spark privacy concerns.

05/07/2010

05/07/2010  |  Full story...

Times readers now have to pay a pound a day or two pounds a week to access content. The websites of News International newspapers, the Times and the Sunday Times, have started charging for their content from 2 July.

Users who register for long-term use of the sites can pay a promotional price of one pound for the first 30 days, while subscribers to the newspapers' print editions can automatically access the newspapers online. The two titles are the first of four News International titles in the UK to move to an online-pay model. Chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks said the new sites will feature award-winning journalism and give readers exclusive content and interactivity. The publisher said the Times iPad edition, which costs £9.99 a month, would continue to be charged separately.

05/07/2010

05/07/2010

The BBC Trust has rejected the BBC's plans to close the digital radio station 6 Music, but has backed proposals to shake up news provision on BBC local radio and cut 25 per cent of the funding for the BBC website. The Trust, which is the ruling body of the BBC, has also backed the case for closing the Asian Network digital radio station.

The rulings come from a published response today to the Strategic Review put forward by director general Mark Thompson in March. It is part of a process which will detail the corporation's plans for the rest of the current BBC charter period, which runs until 2016.

05/07/2010

05/07/2010  |  Full story...

The weekend saw the milestone of the five billionth global mobile phone connection, according to new data.

Analyst group The Mobile World said that this landmark has been achieved through rapid expansion in the thriving Indian and Chinese markets, and the instances of people in North America and Western Europe owning two or more devices.

The group found that Q1 2010 saw net additions of 168m, taking the total to 4.82 billion, and the Q2 gain is likely to have surpassed this figure, with China and India adding 50m in April and May alone.

These two markets are the world's largest, and they accounted for almost 28% of the global total at the end of Q1, but their contribution to the net quarterly gain in connections was double this at 56%. In absolute terms, the two markets added 94m in the three months ending 31st March 2010.

05/07/2010

05/07/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has launched an advertising feature for morning people, dubbed Earlybird, letting advertisers offer users exclusive deals on products and events. In a blog post, the company officially announced EarlyBird, which aims to inform users of special promotions that are unique to Twitter and the account. Advertisers who pay Twitter to distribute the offers via @Earlybird will determine the availability and pricing.

The offers will be time sensitive, so fast action will be needed from users to grab a bargain before they’re gone. Bargain hunters can also spread the word by retweeting deals. None of the selected advertisers have yet been named, but Twitter offers more details here. Despite getting a $160m boost in venture capital funding earlier this year, and being worth an estimated $1bn, Twitter is still on the hunt for sustainable revenue sources to support the company.

08/07/2010

08/07/2010  |  Full story...

YouTube has launched Leanback, a new service aimed at the living room offering full screen, HD videos optimised for big screen TV viewing. Still in public beta, Leanback automatically starts playing content feeds based on a user’s preferences, and accesses social networking for users plugged in via Facebook.

Instead of having to use a mouse, users can skip content and navigate the entire interface using four arrow keys and the enter key. Users will need a YouTube account to watch Leanback, with the video "feed" is based on videos that the user has liked, unliked and added to their favourites. Unlike the original YouTube site, there are no visible comments, with the service operating more like a YouTube TV channel.

09/07/2010

09/07/2010  |  Full story...

The Chinese authorities have renewed Google’s license to operate a website in the country, averting a potential shutdown of its flagship search page in the world's biggest Internet market.

Google said last week that it would stop automatically rerouting users to its uncensored Hong Kong-based search page, explaining that Beijing had indicated it would not renew its Internet Content Provider (ICP) license if it continued to do so. That had prompted speculation that China might use the opportunity to shut down Google's China search page, which would have been a blow to its other business in the country.

12/07/10

12/07/2010  |  Full story...

Downing Street and Facebook have launched a landmark initiative aimed at making public spending more effective.‘The Spending Challenge’ initiative marks the largest public engagement project ever launched by the British Government, and saw Prime Minister David Cameron meet Mark Zuckerberg via webconference to discuss its implementation.

The initiative marks the first step in the government’s commitment to creating an open and honest dialogue with the 26 million British citizens who actively use Facebook by calling on them to submit their feedback on the policies that will directly affect them in this year’s public spending budget. The Spending Challenge will initially launch on the Democracy UK Facebook Page by linking Facebook users to microsites specially tailored to focus on key issues open for discussion and debate among the voting public.

12/07/2010

12/07/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has finally launched its much-anticipated 'panic button' on its site, as the social networking giant looks to increase protection of its young users. The ‘ClickCEOP’ button lets Facebook users (especially those aged between 13 and 17) report suspicious online behaviour and access internet safety advice with the launch of the new application.

They can report any abuse to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) and Facebook. Access to the ClickCEOP button will be provided via an application that users can add or bookmark so that it appears on their homepage as not only a constant source of help and reassurance for them but also as a strong visual signal to their friends, family and others that they are in control online.

13/07/2010

13/07/2010  |  Full story...

The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of Google in a decision that could have wide-reaching implications for online advertising. Judges have confirmed that using other companies' names as online advertising keywords is not an infringement of European trademark law. This news will be a major boost to Google’s revenue-generating Adwords service.

The decision follows a long-running battle between Google and trademark owners. The case involved temporary cabin maker Portakabin and its competitor Primakabin. Primakabin chose the keywords ‘portakabin’, ‘portacabin’, ‘portokabin’ and ‘portocabin’ as its search terms for Google Adwords.

13/07/2010

13/07/2010  |  Full story...

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, US, May 10

15/07/2010

US audience reach for top 10 parent companies, May 10.

15/07/2010

The BBC has updated its news website, with a new layout, extra video features and tools that let readers link stories to Facebook and Twitter. The broadcaster said it had used ideas submitted from the public in order to research the redesign.

The redesigned BBC News website, features integration with sites such as Facebook and Twitter, making it easier to share stories with friends. The main menu has moved to the top of the page and there is more emphasis on the stories the BBC considers to be the most important. There are more video stories and the new video player is bigger, with improved playback quality.

15/07/2010

15/07/2010  |  Full story...

Internet giant Google posted a 24 per cent rise in its second quarter profit to $1.84 billion, on the back of an overall recovery in demand for online advertising. The company had registered a profit of $1.48 billion in the second quarter of 2009. Google also saw its revenue grow by 24 per cent to $6.82 billion in the second quarter of this year, against $ 5.52 billion in the year-ago period, it said in a statement .

“Solid growth in our core business and very strong growth in our emerging businesses drove 24 per cent revenue growth year-over-year,” Google CEO Mr Eric Schmidt said. The Internet search giant’s revenue from outside the US totalled $3.53 billion, accounting for 52 per cent of the total revenue in the second quarter.

19/07/2010

19/07/2010  |  Full story...

Providing universal access to broadband speeds of a minimum of 2Mbps will take until 2015, three years longer than Labour had predicted, the government said last week. Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Hunt said the previous government had not provided enough money to cover the true cost. He said the government wanted to minimise the amount of public money invested in the network and to leverage it with private investment.

Matt Agar, commercial head of Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), said that despite the record deficit, currently around £1.4tr, the government was putting £200m towards the pilot and high speed networks. The government expected the private sector to provide most of the required capital, as it had in Korea, currently the world leader in broadband

19/07/2010

19/07/2010  |  Full story...

The Old Spice channel became the most viewed on YouTube last week, after the men's grooming brand recorded more than 5.2 million views for its viral marketing videos in less than three days. The brand's Twitter followers grew from 3,000 to 48,000 during this period.

"Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into twitter, or maybe the Old Spice man shows up @OldSpice," the company tweeted on Tuesday. The brand uploaded about 185 videos of one minute duration on Tuesday and Wednesday last week to YouTube, in which the Old Spice model Isaiah Mustafa responded to questions from the Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit communities.

19/07/2010

19/07/2010  |  Full story...

The Times has lost two-thirds of its online audience since the introduction of its paywall earlier this month, beating the paper’s own expectations, according to new data. Data from Experian Hitwise, which monitors Internet traffic, found visits to The Times's website had fallen to 33 percent of the levels seen before readers were asked to register and pay for access.

The Murdoch-owned paper is likely to take the data as favourable considering traffic had been expected to drop by as much as 90 percent. However, the shorter drop may have been softened by an introductory offer for customers, which gave them a month’s access to the site for just £1.

19/07/2010

19/07/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook is set to launch a virtual currency, called "Facebook Credits" in September, letting users trade virtual and physical goods throught the social network. Facebook Credits will become the default online currency for the company, and will use a similar syatem to that offered by eBays online payments firm PayPal.

Currently in a test phase, Facebook Credits is likely to be rolled out to all users and developers in September. Credits will be aimed at virtual goods such as games, initially, but will eventually let consumers buy physical goods as well. The virtual currency is likely to provide big opportunities for consumer brands to offer transactions on Facebook and throughout the web using Facebook Connect.

19/07/2010

19/07/2010  |  Full story...

Location-based social network Foursquare is reportedly in talks with major companies in the search space, including giants such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Foursquare's co-founder Dennis Crowley said the talks could lets people search for local information provided by Foursquare on major search engines.

“Our data generates hugely interesting trends which would enrich search,” Crowley said.

“We can anonymise data and use it to show venues which are trending at that moment. Twitter helped the world and the search engines know what people are talking about. Foursquare would allow people to search for the types of place people are going to – and where is trending – not what.”

20/07/2010

20/07/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook is to launch an online campaign to celebrate reaching 500 million global users, meaning one in every twelve people in the world now has a Facebook account. The company is expected to officially announce the half-billion milestone next week.

According to reports, Facebook plans to mark the achievement by launching "Facebook Stories". Facebook Stories will consist of user-submitted accounts, describing how Facebook has changed their lives. Users will be able to tell others how the platform has helped them change their lives by gaining a job or getting back in touch with long-lost friends.

20/07/2010

20/07/2010  |  Full story...

Marketers should consider weather patterns when executing email marketing campaigns, according to new research. The research, from Pure360 analysed open and click through rates on over 7 million emails, promoting a variety of different products and services to assess the impact of weather on the success of email marketing as we approach the summer.

21/07/2010

21/07/2010  |  Full story...

Two thirds of small business owners support the coalition government's decision to scrap the regional elements of advisory service Business Link, a poll of over 500 people by BusinessZone.co.uk reveals.

According to the survey of 516 entrepreneurs, 61% said the axing of the system which supports SMEs in England is a good decision compared to 39% who believed it is a bad move.

21/07/2010

21/07/2010  |  Full story...

As network operators and vendors increasingly deploy their own dedicated app stores, a new Juniper Research report has found that the annual number of consumer-oriented handset downloads is expected to rise from less than 2.6 billion in 2009 to more than 25 billion in 2015.

According to the Mobile App Stores report, players across the mobile value chain are seeking to emulate Apple’s success with the App Store by launching own-brand storefronts, such as ‘Mobile Market’ from China Unicom, ‘Airtel App Central’ from Bharti and the ‘Apps & Games Shop’ on Vodafone 360.

21/07/2010

21/07/2010  |  Full story...

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, global, May 10.

21/07/2010

Global audience reach for top 10 parent companies, May 10.

21/07/2010

New data from ComScore shows that MySpace's UK audience fell 49% during the last year. Unique user numbers were down from 6.5m in May 2009 to only 3.3m in May of this year.

The decline of the social networking giant has been rapid despite the launch of MySpace Music last December.

22/07/2010

22/07/2010  |  Full story...

PayPal saw its revenues rise 22% from last year.

Profits at eBay were up 26% to reach $412.2m, from $327m in 2010. Almost 60% of eBay's Marketplace revenues came from outside the US.

22/07/2010

22/07/2010  |  Full story...

The number of mobile requests for the BBC's iPlayer service grew by 1m in June, reaching a new high of 7m monthly requests.

Mobile traffic was boosted by iPlayer access on the Apple iPad, which already accounts for 10% of all requests from portable devices.

22/07/2010

22/07/2010  |  Full story...

Apple has posted higher than expected third quarter figures, reporting a 78% increase in revenues to $3.25bn (£2.1bn) from $1.83bn in 2009.

Revenues also grew significantly, rising 61% to reach a new high of $15.7bn (£10.28bn) during the quarter.

22/07/2010

22/07/2010  |  Full story...

The latest financial results from Amazon show that second-quarter profit grew to $207m (£135m) from $142m (£92.3) last year - a 45% increase.

While total revenues rose 41% to $6.6bn (£4.29bn), operating expenses also jumped 40%, leading to Amazon's stock price tumbling 13% as market analysts voiced their concerns. Revenues were up 46% in North America to $3.6bn (£2.34bn), and 35% to $3bn (£1.95bn) in the rest of the world.

23/07/2010

23/07/2010  |  Full story...

Google's image search is now receiving over 1bn page views each day.

The search engine now has over 10bn pictures in its archive, which first launched in 2001 with only 250m.

23/07/2010

23/07/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has reported profits of $4.52bn (£2.96bn) for the last quarter, a 48% year-on-year increase.

According to the firm, profits were boosted by sales of its latest Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft has now sold 175m Windows 7 licences since its launch last year.

23/07/2010

23/07/2010  |  Full story...

Online whistleblowing site Wikileaks has published over 75,000 documents containing classified information about the current war in Afghanistan. The documents cover the period from 2004-2009 and reveal a number of inconsistencies with official reports which have emanated from the White House and the US military.

Wikileaks posted the documents yesterday and also leaked them directly to the Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel, all of which have run stories based on their contents.

26/07/2010

26/07/2010  |  Full story...

The latest annual Consumers & Convergence global survey from KPMG has found that UK internet users are the least keen to pay for online content.

The study found that 81% of UK internet users would prefer to go elsewhere for content if a frequently used site began to charge. KPMG polled 5,627 respondents from 22 countries and discovered that 43% of people worldwide are willing to pay for access to frequently-used online content. In contrast, only 19% of those in the UK are willing to pay.

26/07/2010

26/07/2010  |  Full story...

British viewers who watch TV programmes through their computers and who do not own television sets may be made to pay the licence fee as early as next year.

Currently viewers do not have to pay the licence fee if they only watch TV programmes through a computer.

26/07/2010

26/07/2010  |  Full story...

Ofcom's latest UK Broadband Speeds study has found that UK ISPs regularly overstate their broadband speeds and only rarely give consumers the speeds they advertise.

Although the average fixed-line residential broadband speed has risen by over 25% during the last year (from 4.1Mbit/s to 5.2Mbit/s) web users subscribing to faster services are not getting what they paid for.

27/07/2010

27/07/2010  |  Full story...

The Welsh village of Crumlin in Caerphilly is the latest trial site for a new means of delivering broadband services. Virgin Media is working in conjunction with power company Surf Telecoms to provide fibre optic broadband services via electricity poles.

27/07/2010

27/07/2010  |  Full story...

UK sales of Android phones have more than tripled since the start of 2010, with one in 10 new contract handsets now running Google's mobile OS.

Figures from GfK show that Android's share of the UK's mobile contract market rose from 3% to 13.2% from Q1-Q2 this year.

27/07/2010

27/07/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo Japan has signed a deal to use Google for its search engine and search ad delivery system- sparking condemnation from its global search partner Microsoft. Yahoo Japan will continue to manage its own search page and search service. Yahoo Japan will also continue to run its advertising marketplace independent of Google.

Microsoft condemned the deal and said it would result in Google gaining nearly complete control over search and search advertising in Japan through contract, not organic growth. The announcement comes one year after Yahoo and Microsoft announced a 10-year search deal under which Microsoft will power Yahoo's search site while Yahoo will manage the sales force for both companies' premium search advertisers.

28/07/2010

28/07/2010  |  Full story...

Ask.com has launched a new site focused on Q&A-based queries, with results based on user generated answers to questions. The move comes as the fourth biggest search engine looks to gain lost ground on rivals Google, Yahoo and MSN’s Bing.

Rather than relying solely on the Web, the updated Ask.com combines real user interaction with standard Internet search to help users find info. The new site actually harks back to the company’s initial question orieanted focus, which it had back when it launched in 1996. This time, however, the power of the people is a core part of the equation.

28/07/2010

28/07/2010  |  Full story...

Google is in talks with makers of popular online games in an effort to develop a social-networking service to compete with Facebook, according to a report. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google has been in discussions with top developers to offer their games on a new service it is building, according to people familiar with the matter.

Those developers include Playdom, Electronic Arts' Playfish and Zynga Game Network, a company in which Google recently invested. It is unclear when Google may launch the new gaming offering. The plans aren't finalised, but people briefed on the matter told the WSJ that the games would be part of a broader social-networking initiative that is under development by the search giant.

28/07/2010

28/07/2010  |  Full story...

Google is reportedly phasing out the use of Microsoft's operating system amongst its staff due to security concerns. According to a report in The Financial Times, the search giant has already begun to migrate its systems to the Mac OS platform.

The paper cites several Google employees, who stated the move away from Microsoft began in earnest in January after Google's Chinese operations were hacked, and could mean the end of Windows at Google. "Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks," an employee was quoted as saying. ew hires can use Apple Macs or PCs running the the Linux operating system, and getting a new Windows machine requires high-up approval, said another employee. Another said much of the move has to do with Google's forthcoming competing operating system, Chrome OS.

01/06/2010

01/06/2010  |  Full story...

Producers of The Hurt Locker are suing 5,000 people who allegedly downloaded copies of the Oscar-winning film from the internet in the latest attempt to fight digital piracy. In one of the largest lawsuits filed against individuals, Voltage Pictures is suing 5,000 internet users who downloaded the film illegally.

While Voltage currently only has the IP numbers of the targeted individuals, they’re working with ISPs to identify the pirates, who will be sent letters demanding that they pay $1,500 (£1000). If the $1,500 isn’t paid, Voltage plans to take the downloader to court at ten times the amount (up to $150,000). Voltage seems particularly keen on collecting their money, as the film has won numerous awards, yet only earned less than $17 million at the box office.

01/06/2010

01/06/2010  |  Full story...

Apple has sold more than two million iPads since its launch almost two months ago. After becoming available in the US on April 3, the much-hyped tablet device took just 28 days to pass 1m sales, which was around half the time it took the iPhone. The firm began its Asia and Europe launch of the much-hyped tablet computer last Friday. It will be made available in nine more countries in July, with additional markets to be added later in the year.

There had already been a month's delay in the launch in the UK after supplies were diverted to the U.S. to meet unprecedented demand there. "Customers around the world are experiencing the magic of iPad, and seem to be loving it as much as we do," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. Thousands of people queued overnight on May 27 at Apple's flagship London store on Regent Street to be the first to purchase the iPad on Friday morning.

01/06/2010

01/06/2010  |  Full story...

ITV has unveiled its World Cup coverage plans, include matches streamed live online and a ‘dual screen ‘platform that lets viewers chat and watch replays and stats simultaneously. ITV said the dual screen tool will be based on its popular multimedia coverage of the general election campaign.

The initiative, called ITV Live, will allow viewers with laptops to customise ITV.com with a range of interactive elements from a chat service – which can link to Facebook – to polls, quizzes and statistics on teams and players. ITV.com will also be simulcasting matches, with live match streaming and a range of action replays from multiple camera angles. Meanwhile, Apple iPhone owners will be able to download a free ITV World Cup app which will have news, match highlights and a TV guide as well as a links to a live mobile streaming service. ITV will also be running podcasts.

01/06/2010

01/06/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has unveiled a range of new privacy, as the social network responds to user comments and concerns about privacy. Protesters had been organising boycotts over accusations the site made it too easy for criminals and stalkers to see personal information because privacy settings were too complex.

But the site - the most popular social networking site in the world with 500 million members - has backtracked and pledged to simplify settings. Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg officially announced the changes in a blog post. Privacy options will be slashed from nearly 50 to fewer than 15. One measure will mean no one will be able to get at a member's details without their explicit permission, and there will also be less information in its user listings.

01/06/2010

01/06/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has announced it will ban third-party paid tweets in order to better monitor its proprietary advertising service. In April, the microblogging platform unveiled the first phase of its Promoted Tweets service to disseminate information from businesses and organizations to wider user groups. In a blog post Monday, the company said it would now move to block third-party ad tweets that undermine its Promoted Tweets from its timeline.

Twitter Chief Operating Officer Dick Costolo has said the new ad system will become a key pillar in the company’s plans to turn its popular 140-character social networking service into a money-making operation. The company has been valued at over $1 billion and has more than 100 million users worldwide.

01/06/2010

01/06/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC has unveiled a new-look iPlayer with a simpler interface, higher-quality streams and more personalised content. The media player will also link to content on rival platforms and let users share shows via Facebook and Twitter. The iPlayer beta is now live and the corporation expects to launch the full version by the end of June.

New features include integration with Windows Live Messenger, a simplified user interface, a more personalised design and other social features. The new iPlayer will also list programmes from other catch-up services including ITV Player, 4oD, Demand Five and SeeSaw, and directly link to the programmes. Though this might seem like an unusual move, the BBC's director of future media and technology Erik Huggers explained that it wanted to double the amount of traffic it sent into "the broader ecosystem" but insisted that it would not be sharing any technology.

01/06/2010

01/06/2010  |  Full story...

Computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) says it plans to spend $1bn (£686m) and shed a further 9,000 jobs over three years as it creates fully-automated commercial data centres. HP, the world's largest technology company by sales, says the job cuts will be the result of productivity gains and automation. The cuts come on top of 6,700 job cuts made last year.

HP added that it would replace about 6,000 of the jobs that were lost, adding that the changes to the workforce would be made over time and would vary by country. The firm said it would record a $1bn financial cost charge in the course of its 2013 financial year. "As a result of productivity gains and automation, HP expects to eliminate roughly 9,000 positions over a multi-year period to reinvest for further growth and to increase shareholder value," it said. It said the shake-up would make it annual gross savings of about $1bn and net savings "after reinvestment in a range between $500m and $700m".

02/06/2010

02/06/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has revamped the homepage for MSN UK, which will start integrating Facebook and Twitter on its main page. The changes will be the first major adjustment since September 2007 and are intended to simplify the website's design to reduce download time.

A large high-profile spot on the main page will also have the new MSN Video Player, offering online TV service. "The new homepage is much lighter, much whiter, much shorter [in overall length], much smaller", said Peter Bale, executive producer of MSN UK at Microsoft. With the social networking additions, site visitors can access and update their accounts directly from the main page, intending to create a centralized home for UK internet users.

03/06/2010

03/06/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo! is expanding its social networking features available to its 280m email users- but the online media giant is keen to avoid the mistakes made by rival Google’s Buzz earlier this year. The move marks the company’s largest social networking push to date by significantly ramping up social features on Yahoo! Mail with its social media service Yahoo! Updates.

The company plans to let users share comments, pictures and news articles with those in their address books, as well as see updates from contacts on third-party sites such as Facebook. Yahoo! Updates launched nearly two years ago to let people stream updates about their lives, thoughts or activities at its free Web services such as email and instant messaging.

03/06/2010

03/06/2010  |  Full story...

Internet Advertising Sales Houses (IASH) – the council established to police the activities of ad networks in the UK - has voted in a newly elected Steering Committee to come into effect from 1st June 2010. The Steering Committee serves to provide leadership and direction to the IASH Council and facilitate the effective working of the group ensuring it remains committed to brand safety and technical developments in the market.

The newly elected members of the Steering Committee – as voted for by all 26 members of the council - are Harvey Sarjant – Addvantage Media, Brandon Keenon – AOL Advertising, George Odysseous – Tribal Fusion, Gareth Stapp – Yahoo DR and Andrew Goode - Clickbrokers. The evolving structure reflects the maturation of the group, making it more akin to other industry trade bodies such as the IPA and IAB.

03/06/2010

03/06/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook says its advertisers have more than quadrupled since the start of 2009 as marketers aim to get their products before a growing global audience. In an interview with Bloomberg, Facebook's vice-president of global sales Mike Murphy Murphy said: "We're very well positioned as people come out of this current economic situation. What we've become is absolutely core to marketing campaigns."

The world’s largest social-networking site, which has been opening offices around the world to serve ad clients, doubled the number of salespeople last year from 2008, according to an e-mailed statement. The company didn’t disclose the number of advertisers or salespeople.

04/06/2010

04/06/2010  |  Full story...

Online display advertising spend in the UK declined by 5% in 2009, despite the overall online adspend rising 4.6 on the back of strong investment in search ads, according to new figures from IAB Europe.

The report indicates that it wasn't just the UK that experienced declining online display advertising figures - France declined by 6% and Sweden by 5%.

Compiled by Screen Digest, the research covers 23 markets ranging from the mature markets of the Nordics and Western Europe to the emerging markets in Eastern and Southern Europe.

04/06/2010

04/06/2010  |  Full story...

Google is testing a new tool that integrates Twitter feeds into display ads on its popular AdWords system, according to a news report.ClickZ’s Douglas Quenqua reports that the online media giant has invited a few advertisers to test a new display-ad integration with Twitter.

The layout displays the iconic Twitter bird is in the left-hand corner with the advertiser's latest tweet featured in a box centered in the unit Clickz reports. The ad lets users follow the advertiser on Twitter and will initially appear on sites in the Google content network, the report says. Google has declined to comment on the program.

To read the full report, click here.

04/06/2010

04/06/2010

Facebook users now have the option of streaming their updates to websites operated by Yahoo! ad the companies both look to boost their audience reach. Facebook and Yahoo! are letting users link accounts at the world's leading social networking service and the pioneering online enterprise that is re-inventing itself after being eclipsed by Google in online search. The deal will see people who connect Yahoo! and Facebook to see their Facebook newsfeeds on Yahoo! pages and share content from Yahoo! properties to Facebook.

"More and more, people rely on social networks to share and discover information that matters to them," said Yahoo! senior director of social platforms and developer network Cody Simms. "We are bringing all of these elements together to give people one simple, trusted place to share information and connect."

Yahoo! is aiming to make its popular properties Web email, news, sports and Flickr the hub of peoples online activities, boosting traffic and ad cash as a result.

07/06/2010

07/06/2010  |  Full story...

Detailed information about public spending over the last two years was published on Friday as part of a new government drive for greater transparency. The Treasury said it had taken an "unprecedented step" by publishing data from the Combined Online Information System (COINS) for 2008-09 and 2009-10, describing it as "the most detailed UK public expenditure data ever released".

COINS is one of a stack of government databases which Cameron has pledged to make available to the public in an attempt to make the government more accountable. The Central Office of Information spent £540m on marketing in the year to the end of March 2009, which included £211m on traditional advertising and £40m on digital, according to the COI's annual report.

07/06/2010

07/06/2010  |  Full story...

Apple has unveiled the latest version of its iPhone handset, with enhanced video call functions being the key new feature. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the new iPhone 4 at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday. Other features of the new phone include two cameras with an inbuilt flash, updated battery, improved screen resolution and a motion-sensing gyroscope for game usage.

The phone is set to launch in the UK on 24th June. Orange, Vodafone and O2 will carry the handset in the UK, although local pricing has not yet been announced. In the US, the device's cost will start from $199 (£138) on a two-year contract through operator AT&T. The phone’s new ‘FaceTime’ videoconferencing application was the standout enhancement on the market leading smartphone device, and may pressure wireless carriers to provide more bandwidth.

08/06/2010

08/06/2010  |  Full story...

Social networks now receive more UK Internet visits than search engines, with Facebook leading the move towards a more community-driven web, according to new research. The study, from Experian Hitwise, reveals that during May, social networks accounted for 11.88% of UK Internet visits and search engines accounted for 11.33%. May was the first ever month that social networks have been more popular than search engines in the UK.

"Social networks are a key part of the online landscape in the UK, and their popularity continues to grow," commented Robin Goad, Research Director for Experian Hitwise. "Although social networks and search engines perform different functions, they both act as gateways to the wider Internet. This data perfectly illustrates the key role that social media now plays in so much online behavior."

09/06/2010  |  Full story...

Companies are finally investing in analysts and developing better strategies to get the most from their business performance and analytics tools, according to research published by Econsultancy and Lynchpin. Spending on internal staff now commands more than half (53%) of web analytics budget, up from 42% last year. Technology spending now accounts for less than a third (30%) of companies’ web analytics budgets, down from 38% last year and 45% in 2008. Spending on consulting and services makes up approximately 17% of budget.

The survey-based research also found that almost half (48%) of companies surveyed are planning to increase the number of employees they have dedicated to web data analysis. Only a fifth (22%) of companies do not have any employees dedicated to web analytics. Last year nearly half of companies (46%) were without any dedicated web analysts. The third annual Online Measurement and Strategy Report, published by Econsultancy in association with analytics consultancy Lynchpin, is based on a survey of more than 600 companies and agencies carried out in March and April 2010.

09/06/2010

09/06/2010  |  Full story...

Apple’s new iPhone 4 will be the first smartphone to run the company's iAd mobile ad network, with 17 advertisers already lined up to target app users on the move. During his keynote, Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, announced that Apple's iAd mobile advertising network for the iPhone and iPad would debut July 1 with 17 advertisers. The service – which will offer advertising inside mobile apps, initially on the iPhone and iPod Touch – promises to combine the emotion of TV advertising with the interactivity of internet advertising.

Jobs said the advertisers had committed to spend $60 million in advertising in the second half of the year, which represents half of the total U.S. mobile ad spend forecasted by JP Morgan for that time period, according to Apple. Brands appearing on the network will include AT&T, Best Buy, Campbell Soup Co., Chanel, Citi, DirecTV, GEICO, GE, JCPenney, Liberty Mutual Group, Nissan, Sears, State Farm, Target, Turner Broadcasting System, Unilever and The Walt Disney Studios.

09/06/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has launched improved analytics for websites, applications, and pages, helping website owners get further insights into how users interact with their Facebook-related content.

The new Insights dashboard acts as a single source for all Facebook analytics:

- Websites: Fully-integrated sites and those that use social plugins, or add a non-integrated domain in one easy step

- Applications: Including canvas, mobile, device, and desktop applications

- Facebook Pages: Including Pages created on Facebook.com and those that are part of the Open Graph protocol

For example, site owners can now view analytics around specific stories liked on their website, or how many users commented on posts made on the page. To protect users’ privacy this data is anonymized aggregate data and does not include personally identifiable information. The Insights dashboard contains more data than before, as well as new visualization tools, including the ability to view full screen, print, and save graphs.

10/06/2010

10/06/2010  |  Full story...

Trinity Mirror Group is changing its existing advertising model on Mirror.co.uk and Mirrorfootball.co.uk through a partnership with Imagini. Trinity Mirror is moving from simply selling impressions to what it claims is a far more sophisticated system which will effectively allow them to 'sell audiences', using the online profiling specialists patented VisualDNA technology.

Imagini’s VisualDNA works by inviting internet users on a site to take part in a free online personality test via text links and display ads. The results are used to create highly detailed profiles with around 100 tags for each user based on their responses to questions revealing core demographic, location, lifestyle, attitudinal and motivational personality traits and specific brand preference data.

10/06/2010

10/06/2010  |  Full story...

Google has come under criticism after introducing a background image on the search engine's homepage to promote its new customization features. The new look, featuring images from a number of established photographers, will run until the end of this week.

However, the move has left many users frustrated by the lack of a 'delete' button. The Official Google Blog announced the feature, stating that they would be publishing 'inspirational' pictures on the background of Google.co.uk for the next 24 hours, to highlight the new feature.

11/06/2010

11/06/2010  |  Full story...

Spotify has launched its music service on TVs across Sweden and Finland this week, in partnership with Nordic telecommunications giant TeliaSonera. Spotify is making the music app available to TeliaSonera’s 120,000 digital TV customers.

The TV app will be available to TeliaSonera customers who have subscribed to the Spotify Premium service, giving them access to a streamlined version of the music application that can be used to access Spotify playlists on the TV screen via the TeliaSonera remote control. Last year Spotify launched its mobile app on the iPhone, Android and Symbian smartphone platforms.

11/06/2010

11/06/2010  |  Full story...

British Petroleum (BP) has purchased Google and Yahoo search terms in order to influence consumers’ views on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Matthew Whiteway at Greenlight, takes a closer look at BP’s latest attempt at damage limitation as the slick spreads…

BP is clearly trying to protect its brand image following the catastrophe of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, turning to paid search in an attempt to present a more compassionate image. With the company buying top position in paid search, it hopes to drive users to its corporate response page which attempts to paint a more positive picture of the BP brand.

Excluding the paid search listing in the results page, 95% of the listings are very negative. A search in Google for “BP Oil Spill” presents the user with a number of listings that are being very cynical of BP, including YouTube clips of the impact the disaster has had on the local area and its wildlife.

11/06/2010

11/06/2010  |  Full story...

Tomorrow sees the launch of AOL’s new music platform as the portal joins the battle for online music provision. ‘Cambio’ is billed as following the MTV model of music video content, aimed at the 13-24 year old age group. Early indications are that the service will be ad-funded, aiming to push AOL’s video ad revenues and create new inventory at a time when this target audience is being drawn into YouTube and online TV networks. Alongside daily and weekly video programming there will be further content, and localisation is expected.

14/06/2010

14/06/2010  |  Full story...

Virgin Media plans to launch its first full internet-connected TV service in partnership with Tivo by the end of the year. The service will bring the web to the TV screen, in the form of apps, and will offer a search service similar to Google.

There will also be apps such as Spotify pre-loaded onto the service, too – so people can listen to their music, while browsing the TV menu. As yet, however, there is no detail on Tivo pricing, a specific launch date, beyond “later this year” or information on how Virgin’s existing 3.7 million customers will be able to upgrade their set-top boxes.

15/06/2010

15/06/2010  |  Full story...

Digital ad technology provider Eyeblaster is rebranding its entire company under the name of its flagship product, MediaMind. Effective immediately, the company will operate under its new brand at all offices worldwide.

The name change follows the introduction of the MediaMind platform and its adoption as a primary marketing vehicle by hundreds of advertisers and agencies worldwide. With this new name, the company has evolved to embrace the full cycle of intelligent advertising, providing a cross-channel solution for optimizing media opportunities and creative messages.

16/06/2010

16/06/2010  |  Full story...

Apple UK has unveiled pricing details for a SIM-free iPhone 4 direct from its Apple Store and online, with prices starting from £499. The web pages on Apple's site that displayed the prices are now unavailable, possibly owing to the high demand from Apple fans, but the details have been widely reported this morning.

The 16GB model will cost £499, while the 32GB model will cost £599. Unlike previous models, the iPhone 4 will function only with a micro-SIM, so customers purchasing the phone directly from Apple will have to buy a new SIM card.

16/06/2010

16/06/2010  |  Full story...

Home shopping retailer N Brown has bought online lingerie, underwear and swimwear Figleaves for £11.5m. Internet pioneer Figleaves was founded back in 1998, and is forecast to generate a turnover of £23m for the year to June 2010.

It sells more than 100 brands, has over 1.2m visitors to its website each month, and delivers to over 100 countries including the US. N Brown, which is best known for its plus-size and value brands Simply Be, Jacamo and Marisota, says the deal will consolidate its position as the UK's number one online lingerie retailer.

16/06/2010

16/06/2010  |  Full story...

The Chinese government has unveiled plans to give 45% of the population internet access over the next five years, up from the current 30%. But it vowed no relaxation of stringent internet controls.

The Chinese government whitepaper praised the Internet for improving access to information and giving citizens a way to better oversee the behavior government officials, but reaffirmed the need for policies aimed at controlling access to online content. Titled "China's Internet situation", the whitepaper was published by China's State Council Information Office.

A copy of the document (in Chinese) was posted online by portal Sohu.com. The whitepaper praises the Internet, calling it "one of the great scientific inventions of the 20th century" and noting the positive impact it's had on economics, politics, culture, and society.

09/06/2010

16/06/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter experienced 1.87 per cent downtime between 1 June and 15 June 2010 – representing a total of six hours and 44 minutes – compared with just 0.18 per cent for the whole of May, according to new research.The study, from website monitoring and load testing specialist, Site Confidence, found the micro-blogging site experienced two hours and 20 minutes of downtime on 16 June 2010 alone.

This represented its poorest day for availability since the beginning of June. Twitter also experienced one hour and 41 minutes of downtime on 9 June and one hour and nine minutes on 14 June. The company admitted on its official blog yesterday that “from a site stability and service outage perspective, it's been Twitter's worst month since last October”, pointing to downtime as a result of complex systems improvements as the cause of its recent poor performance.

17/06/2010

17/06/2010  |  Full story...

Google UK has expanded into the UK property market by adding additional property search functionality to Google Maps. The service is being run in partnership with a number of estate agents, alongside Zoopla and Trinity Mirror. Tools which allow for detailed search for property went live yesterday on Google Maps.

Google said that rather than competing with estate agents, it’s intention is to generate income from advertising which will be displayed around the property results pages. However, a notable absesnse from its list of partners is Rightmove, the current UK market leader in property portals and search.

17/06/2010

17/06/2010  |  Full story...

Orange has revealed its iPhone 4 tarifffs, with the 16GB device only free on a 24 month, £75 contract. The device will cost £29 on a £45 per month, 24 month contract. It will cost £89 on a £40 deal, £119 on a £35 contract, and £169 on a £30 per month deal. For £30, customers will get just 150 minutes and 250 texts. 18 month deals start at £229 for the £35 per month tie in.
The phone can be bought on the network’s prepay animal tariffs for £480. Meanwhile, the 3GS is available for free on a £35 per month contract.

Meanwhile, Tesco Mobile has confirmed it will join the major networks in selling the iPhone 4 from 24 June. The supermarket giant, which runs on the O2 network, inked a deal to sell the iPhone 3GS just before Christmas 2009.

17/06/2010

17/06/2010  |  Full story...

AOL has sold Bebo to privately owned investment firm for an undisclosed sum, just two years after buying the social networking site. Criterion Capital Partners, a private investment firm, announced that it had bought the business, but did not disclosure the amount paid.

However, analysts suspect it to be just a fraction of the price of $850m (then £417m) paid by AOL in 2008. Bloomberg BusinessWeek quotes 'a person familiar with the deal' as saying Criterion payed less than $10 million to buy Bebo from AOL. Teen-focussed Bebo has struggled to compete against social networking rivals such as Facebook and Twitter.

18/06/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter is testing a new ‘Promoted Trends’ tool with Pixars upcoming new movie Toy Story 3, as the micro-blogging site seeks new ways to turn its popularity into cash. Twitter already allows advertisers to insert messages into users’ streams through a program called Promoted Tweets, is also exploring the idea of selling its trending feature, which highlights topics popular with its users.

The tool lets advertisers insert their own trend to display on users’ home pages, which is highlighted in yellow to alert users that the topic is promoted, not organic. Users who click on the link are lead to a search results page on Twitter to see what people are saying about the film.

18/06/2010

18/06/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook reportedly generated revenue of $800m in 2009, more than double the previous year, fueliing speculation that the social network may be close to a flotation. Reuters reports that the company also earned a solid net profit, in the tens of millions of dollars last year, citing a sources familiar with the situation.

However, the firm has refused to commit to an IPO in the near future, despite its success aqnd a growing queue of eager investors.The 2009 results are significantly higher than some of the figures that Facebook had suggested earlier in 2009, as well as analysts' estimates that have appeared in various media reports. Last July, Facebook board member Marc Andreessen told Reuters the company was on track to surpass $500 million in annual revenue for 2009.

21/06/2010

21/06/2010  |  Full story...

Google is reportedly developing a music download service to launch later this year, by a "cloud"-based subscription service in 2011. Dow Jones Newswires cites people familiar with the Internet giant's discussions with the music industry, saying the service will be tied to its search services.

Google hasn't made any specific proposals yet, but the nature of discussions with music companies suggest the Internet giant is likely to roll out its music services in two phases, said people who have been briefed on the talks. The launch of Google's download music store is still months away, the Dow Jones sources said.

22/06/2010

22/06/2010  |  Full story...

Car maker Ford has launched FordOnline.co.uk, a new car buying website that lets shoppers buy cars over the web, via email or telephone transactions. The site is run by Ford retail, and was set up as a response to growing demand for wanting to buy a car without going to a dealership.

FordOnline.co.uk said it has found that a large proportion of internet shoppers, nearly 40% (37%) in fact, are prepared to purchase vehicles without a test drive. This allows FordOnline.co.uk to grow fast as it removes one of the final barriers to online selling of vehicles, the company claims.

22/06/2010

22/06/2010  |  Full story...

SapientNitro has developed the world’s first ‘smile-activated’ vending machine for Unilever, rewarding grins with free ice cream. The machine works with an “attractor screen” immerses a passerby into the world of augmented reality. Once drawn closer to the machine, the person is prompted for a big smile and the ‘smile-o-meter’ measures his or her grin.

A photo is then taken and with permission uploaded onto Facebook. The consumer can pick out his or her free ice cream by using the touch-screen interface on the vending machine. 3G technology then enables uploading and sharing of smiles via social media with the user’s permission

23/06/2010

23/06/2010  |  Full story...

Two Way Media has created an interactive TV application for BetfairTV, allowing users to place bets on current and upcoming football matches. The app runs on Samsung connected TV’s, and launches to coincide with the World Cup.

The application, developed by Two Way Media’s in house team, receives data live from Betfair’s Football Exchange where the markets and odds are constantly updated in line with the action on the pitch. Viewers can bet on individual matches or on the result of a whole competition; they can choose to bet on the winner, correct score, next goal or half time result. The application is part of a suite of games being developed by Two Way Media for Betfair.

23/06/2010

23/06/2010  |  Full story...

In a landmark ruling, a judge has rejected a $1bn lawsuit brought by Viacom accusing Google of allowing copyrighted material on its YouTube service without permission. The US movie and television giant sued Google and YouTube for a billion dollars in March 2007, arguing that they condoned pirated video clips at the website to boost its popularity.

The lawsuit was merged with a similar complaint being pursued by the English Premier League, which said football clips were also routinely posted on YouTube without authorization. Viacom's suit charged that YouTube was a willing accomplicee to "massive copyright infringement" and sought more than one billion dollars in damages.

24/06/2010

24/06/2010  |  Full story...

The Apple iPhone 4 goes on sale today, with Tesco claiming to offer the cheapest prices for in the UK, selling the 16GB version of the smartphone for £19 on the £45-per-month tariff.

Tesco Mobile just announced its price plans yesterday and is one of six operators offering the iPhone 4 handset for sale including Vodafone, O3, Orange and T-Mobile and Three who have both have 'iPhone 4 coming soon' notices on their websites with no pricing revealed as of yet.

Those wishing to purchase the iPhone 4 without the contract will be paying UK£479 for the handset at Tesco Mobile, which is just a pound cheaper than Orange.

24/06/2010

24/06/2010  |  Full story...

The Times has seen its market share halve since introducing required registration for its online content, according to the latest Hitwise data. Robin Goad, Research Director, Hitwise UK takes a closer look at Rupert Murdoch’s latest web gamble…

Following months of speculation, News International has finally erected a paywall around the Times newspaper website. After a couple of weeks running two sites, (www.timesonline.co.uk and www.thetimes.co.uk) in parallel, visitors to the former site are now automatically redirected to the latter.

Since last Tuesday, users have had to register to read content on the Times website (as well the separate Sunday Times site). However, they don't yet have to pay: during the trial period, which is expected to last until the end of the month, simply having registered is enough to access the content behind the paywall.

25/06/2010

25/06/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has updtated its new Bing search engine with Bing a bespoke ‘Bing Entertainment’ search category. The category lets users search for films, TV and games. You should be able to watch a show, listen to online music, or play a game with a few clicks."Music searches will also return lyrics and will also – in the US- return playable streams from 5m songs licensed through Microsoft's Zune service. Users can play a full stream once, and thereafter for 30 seconds.

Hailing the improvements, senior Microsoft VP Yusuf Mehdi said: "We are trying to remove all of those hurdles that block you from enjoying [entertainment content]. You should be able to watch a show, listen to online music, or play a game with a few clicks."

25/06/2010

25/06/2010

Project Canvas, the online TV project involving BBC, ITV, BT, Five, Channel 4 and TalkTalk given approval from the BBC Trust, providing the project sticks to certain agreements. The news follows the go-ahead by the Office of Fair Trading last month.

Concerning a partnership between BBC, ITV, BT, Five, Channel 4 and TalkTalk the BBC Trust gave its approval after extensive consultation. It will now review the BBC's involvement in Project Canvas twelve months after it's launched to consumers.

28/06/2010

28/06/2010  |  Full story...

Google is to stop automatically redirecting users of its Google.cn site to its Hong Kong page, in a bid to secure renewal of the company's China service license. The move comes after the Chinese government said the company would lose its mainland Internet license, which expires Wednesday, if the tactic continued.

Chief legal officer David Drummond said in a blog posting that Google had already started taking a small percentage of users to a landing page on Google.cn that links to Google.com.hk, and would soon stop all redirecting.

29/06/2010

29/06/2010  |  Full story...

A new ‘state of the nation’ survey from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) shows that search advertising is still not fully integrated into the marketing mix, with 99% of UK advertisers believing there is a greater opportunity to link it with the rest of their communications activity.

The ‘IAB Search Marketing Barometer 2010’ found that search is still largely confined to specialists, with 60% of brands stating that those outside the wider digital team did not have a strong enough appreciation of how search can build a business. The study also revealed that only around a third of brands (37%) think that their corporate website fulfils their marketing objectives, leaving much room for improvement after consumers have clicked-through.

29/06/2010

29/06/2010  |  Full story...

Reports that Google is working on a Facebook competitor called "Google Me" have been confirmed by Facebook's former CTO, Adam D'Angelo in a blog post.

D'Angelo's confirmation that Google Me is a "real project" and "not a rumor" comes after Digg founder Kevin Rose tweeted that a "very credible source" had revealed that Google was going to "launch facebook [sic] competitor very soon" called "Google Me."In the blog post on Quora, a Q&A website, D'Angelo lists what he has "pieced together from some reliable sources”.

30/06/2010

30/06/2010  |  Full story...

Computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard has become a new player in the smartphone market, buying phone maker Palm for $1.2 billion (£787 million). Palm has been struggling to compete with rivals Apple and RIM, with its most recent model, the Pre, failing to make sales targets.HP will use Palm's webOS operating system to help it to gain a foothold in the competitive smartphone and mobile devices markets; expanding the OS across other devices, possibly including a tablet or slate type device.

Commenting on the acquisition, Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group said "Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.”

1/5/2010

01/05/2010

Tibboh, a new internet service provider, has launched in the UK with film-style age ratings to protect youngsters from inappropriate content. ISP Tibboh has worked with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to categorise some three billion web addresses. However, thousands of new ratings will be added every day.

Parents select the filter level they require - U, PG, 12, 15 or 18 - on behalf of their children. For example, popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace receive a 12 rating but online casinos and bookmakers' websites are slapped with an 18 certificate. News websites including the BBC, the Telegraph and the Guardian along with computer giants Apple and Microsoft have a "U" certificate, meaning they are suitable for all. Sky and Virgin Media however are rated PG, along with web browser Mozilla. Blogging hosts Blogger and Wordpress are given a "15" rating.

1/5/2010

01/05/2010  |  Full story...

Italian audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Apr 10

02/05/2010

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, Italy, Apr 10

02/05/2010

Monthly internet use: key indicators for Italian web users, Apr 10

02/05/2010

Google has invested in Recorded Future, a startup company that claims to be able to predict the future. Google Ventures, the company’s investment arm, and put forward an undisclosed sum to own a part of the Massachusetts-based startup.

Recorded Future claims it "offers customers new ways to analyze the past, present and the predicted future," according to a new Google Ventures site that went live on Monday. Recorded Future's own Web site doesn't list any products for sale, but the company has developed a data analytics technology that could be used to try to predict future stock market events or even terrorist activity, according to blog posts and videos on its site.

4/5/2010

04/05/2010  |  Full story...

Chinese search engine Baidu has posted first quarter profits of 480.5 million yuan (£46m), representing a rise of 165 percent year-over-year. The company's increase in market share in the region follows Google’s withdrawl from operations in mainland China. Google refused to comply with the Chinese government's requests to censor searches in the region. Baidu’s revenue and net income was also up. Net income rose to $70.5 million and revenue grew 60 percent to $189.6 million.

Baidu revealed that it had 221,000 active online marketing customers, up 20 percent year-over-year. Average revenue per marketing customer was $864 - up 34 percent from Q1 2009 and 3.5 percent from the previous quarter. Baidu expects revenue to increase to $274 million, up to 70 percent, in the second quarter. A recent survey conducted by iResearch found that Google and Baidu held the majority of the Chinese search market, accounting for 94.9 percent of the search requests.

4/5/2010

04/05/2010

I-Level, one of the UKs largest independent digital marketing agencies, has gone into administration after losing a large contract for government advertising. It is estimated that around £40m, or two-fifths, of I-Level’s revenues came from the Central Office of Information until earlier this year. However, despite teaming up with media agency Starcom to tender for the renewed contract in February, the COI awarded its business to WPP’s GroupM.

The agency, led by co-founder Andrew Walmsley and group chief executive Stephen Rust, has now called in Zolfo Cooper as administrator after suffering cashflow problems resulting from the loss of the contract. The administrators hope to sell the business as a going concern.

5/5/2010

05/05/2010  |  Full story...

Research firm The Nielsen Company has bought GlanceGuide, a US-based video analytics and technology company. The purchase will see the research firm add a new ‘audience attentiveness’ metric for measure the impact of online video ads.

GlanceGuide’s analytics capabilities have been integrated into Nielsen’s online video measurement tools to deliver more actionable daily insights to media publishers, agencies and advertisers. Nielsen clients now have access to better understand who is watching online video each day, and how consumers interact with online video content and advertising. GlanceGuide’s technology provides insights into how consumers interact with the video they watch online.

5/5/2010

05/05/2010  |  Full story...

Ad-funded mobile media firm Blyk has launched in the Netherlands in partnership with operator for the service is Vodafone. Blyk will offers subscribers in the Netherlands 1,000 free SMS and 1,000 free ‘Blyk-to-Blyk’ minutes per month.

Blyk is targeted to the young people of 16 – 29 years and subscriptions are based on a membership (opt-in, profiled). Members need to have a SIM-lock free, MMS capable mobile phone. Blyk’s launch advertiser partners include local and global brands including Nike, Beachmasters, Universal Pictures, McDonald’s, Pearle and Electronic Arts.

7/5/2010

07/05/2010  |  Full story...

Google has updated the way it presents its search results, in a bid to make the information more relevant and simpler. The new layout includes features that are already being employed by its rivals such as Bing Yahoo and Ask. The changes include a touched-up logo, and a navigation panel on the page to refine queries with options to search specific categories such as news, images, blogs and video.

The site will also include trending topics, pioneered by the likes of Twitter. So for a hot topic, such as the General Election results, users would be able to refine their search to content posted online within the past 24 hours or past few days. Similar lay-outs are already employed by Bing, Yahoo and Ask, making Google a relative latecomer to what has become a standard design for the search engines on the web.

7/5/2010

07/05/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile advertising networks AdMob is testing its geo-targeted ad serving technology with location-aware dating site Lovestruck.com in the UK. Focusing on iPhone and iPod Touch handsets , this campaign will allow the online dating service to target users based on their real-time location, enabling Lovestruck.com to serve a more specific and relevant advert.

The ongoing campaign targets young professionals in London who are looking for love. AdMob’s geo-targeted graphic banner ad format will run across the website and applications within its network in order to drive consumers in London to the Lovestruck.com dating website.

7/5/2010

07/05/2010  |  Full story...

Monthly internet use: key indicators for Uk web users, Apr 10

08/05/2010

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, UK Apr 10

08/05/2010

The British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) has relaunched, offering a new range of new initiative, including a jobsite, printable legal docs, education drive and a digital hall of fame.

The 25-year old industry body for digital Britain has launched the initiatives to support the sharing of knowledge and best practice across the country, to reward great work and encourage the industry’s next generation.

The organisation is also opening up new offices in Scotland and Wales and partnering with regional bodies to ensure more regional coverage.

11/05/2010  |  Full story...

Digital Spy has revamped its UK entertainment news site, adding a range of new ad formats in the process. The site was acquired by hachette filipacchi 2 years ago, and now has more than 7.2m unique users

The new look incorporates improved navigation, streamlined channels, new and more integrated advertising formats, increased use of images and the addition of key services such as newsletters and ecommerce. The entertainment news destination site was bought by Hachette Filipacchi two years ago.

11/05/2010

11/05/2010  |  Full story...

Social networking giant Facebook is venturing into location-based services, allowing users to add their whereabouts to status updates through a partnership with McDonalds. In a move that imitates popular mobile location based social network FourSquare, the social network will allow users to check in at any McDonalds outlet near them and receive reward coupons.

Facebook is hoping the trial will lead to it rolling out its geo-location services for other uses in the future. The move will allow Facebook to compete head-on with other location-based social networking platforms like FourSquare, which allow users to share their location with friends.

11/05/2010

11/05/2010

I-Level has gone into liquidation after failing to find a buyer, with communications agency Engine becoming the first firm to buy part of the one-time leading UK digital agency. The decision follows a dramatic winding down of the business following private equity firm ECI placing it into administration last week.

More than 90 jobs are believed to have been made redundant, and the closing down of the agency will have a knock-on negative effect for a number of high profile media owners. This includes Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, along with mobile operator Orange, who were working with the agency on various projects.

Corporate restructuring specialists, Zolfo Cooper have been confirmed as Administrators to I-Level. Joint Administrators Alastair Beveridge, Deborah King and Stuart Mackellar have finalised the successful acquisition of the company’s social media unit – ‘Jam’ – to communications agency, The Engine Group. It is understood that 18 I-Level employees will transfer across in the purchase.

12/05/2010

12/05/2010  |  Full story...

Orange and T-Mobile have announced further details of their joint venture in the UK, to be called Everything Everywhere, creating the biggest mobile network provider in the UK with 30 million customers. The two brands will be kept separate, with 700 high-street stores in the UK between them and 16,500 staff.

The new Everything Everywhere service will combine the two mobile networks offering better coverage for making calls and accessing the web. Plans for the two companies to merge UK operations were first announced in September last year, though attracted the attention of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). However, the OFT gave Orange and T-Mobile the go-ahead in March this year.

12/05/2010

12/05/2010  |  Full story...

Google is working on a tablet computer to rival Apple's iPad, according to press reports. The Wall Street Journal reports that the web giant is collaborating with Verizon wireless, the largest US wireless carrier. Verizon Wireless chief executive Lowell McAdam told the Wall Street Journal that tablet computers are part of the "next big wave of opportunities." He told the paper that the tablet computer project is part of a deepening relationship between Verizon and Google, whose Android operating system is used by a number of mobile handset makers.

13/05/2010

13/05/2010  |  Full story...

Johnston Press, the UK’s second-largest regional newspaper publisher, is considering other methods for customers to pay for access to their internet editions after an online trial ended. John Fry, chief executive of the publishing house, made the comments after a trading update in which Johnston said its performance in April was a little more subdued, primarily due to the impact of the general election.

Edinburgh-based Johnston Press runs The Scotsman publications and other newspapers and websites around the UK and EIRE. Last year, Johnston experimented with making customers pay for the specialist local news interest it supplies at three local titles.

13/05/2010

13/05/2010  |  Full story...

Selfridges is to display an augmented reality promotion in its London Oxford street store, showcasing the Tissot luxury watch brands. The display has been created by Holition, a 3D augmented luxury retail brand technology provider. The campaign will promote Tissot’s new Touch collection of watches.

The two week interactive touch screen window display will feature at Selfridges department store on London’s Oxford Street, one of the highest footfall areas in London. From this week consumers will be able to virtually `try on` a 3D watch and interact with the innovative features of the entire Tissot Touch range without even entering the store.

14/05/2010

14/05/2010  |  Full story...

Popular video sharing website YouTube is celebrating its fifth year this month and has another reason to celebrate: it generates two billion hits nearly every day. The 2 billion views of the site, which sports the slogan “Broadcast Yourself”, is more than the combined total number of viewers of the US major television networks. YouTube was created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005. In November 2006, Google bought the company for 1.65 billion dollars and has been operating as a subsidiary for it since then.

17/05/2010

17/05/2010  |  Full story...

Google is to stop selling its Nexus One smartphone through its Web store, marking a U-turn in the firm’s attempt to reshape the mobile-phone market by selling handsets directly to customers. The company said in a blog post it would make the phone available to consumers through wireless partners' existing retail channels. Google added that its Web store would morph into an "online store window" where it could showcase a variety of phones built with its Android software.

18/05/2010

18/05/2010  |  Full story...

The Crown Prosecution service (CPS) are once again investigating whether they have a case to go to court over BT's trials of Phorm back in 2006. The Police initially looked in to BT's use of Phorm’s behavioural targeting technology, back in September 2008 before deciding that no criminal offence had been committed. The trials took place in Autumn 2006.

However, according to IT news site, The Register, the CPS have once again called in the City of London Police. The CPS have received technical and expert evidence on the case and have now brought the City of London Police back in assist in ongoing enquiries.

18/05/2010

18/05/2010  |  Full story...

Google is buying Norwegian internet telephony company Global IP Solutions for $68m (£47.6m) to boost its online voice and video services. Global IP Solutions makes the underlying processing software for voice and video calls over internet networks that will help boost Google Voice and other IP telephony based services.

The deal will enable Google to step up competition with traditional telecoms companies and IP telephony firm Skype. The deal will also mean that Google will own some of the technology that supports Cisco's WebEx system, IBM's Lotus Sametime, and the instant messaging systems.

19/05/2010

19/05/2010  |  Full story...

File sharing site The Pirate Bay has returned after being taken offline for a day due to an injuction from a Hollywood film studios. The high-profile bit torrent site, which has helped millions download pirated music and films, this week saw German authorities order its former Internet host to cease providing Web access to the site.

The regional court in Hamburg issued the injunction following complaints from major Hollywood studios, including Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros, accusing it of helping users to breach their copyright by sharing blockbuster films.The court ordered discontinuation of service for The Pirate Bay for linking to six torrents for movies from The Walt Disney Studios.

19/05/2010

19/05/2010  |  Full story...

Music streaming service Spotify has unveiled a new pricing plan and removed the need for an invite to join the service, but new free users will have their listening time capped. The Sweden-based firm has launched two new services; Spotify Unlimited and Spotify Open. The move seems to suggest that the company trying to encourage more of its subscribers to opt for the paid-for service, and away from its ad-funded model.

Unlimited will give users an ad-free service for a cut-price £4.99 a month but only on their computers and without extras that Spotify Premium offers, which costs £9.99 a month. Previously all new users had to be sent an invite by an existing Spotify user to sign up to the service. However, the new Spotify Open scheme is a way of inviting in all of those people queuing at the free entrance without giving them as much as the early arrivals - they get to listen for just 20 hours a month, and have to put up with adverts too.

19/05/2010

19/05/2010  |  Full story...

The average Briton spends 65 per cent more time online each month than they did three years ago, equating to nearly a whole day online each month, according to new research. The survey, by the UK Online Measurement company (UKOM), revealed that the average Brit now spends 22 hours and 15 minutes online each month.

The research suggests that the rise in time spent online is down to the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, which now account for 23 per cent of time spent online.UKOM also reported a fall in the time users spent instant messaging. This went down from 14 per cent of online time in 2007, to just five per cent in 2010.

20/05/2010

20/05/2010  |  Full story...

The dotDigital Group has bought digital agency Netcallidus for an undisclosed sum.The Northamptonshire based digital marketing agency provides premium search engine marketing services to enterprise organisations throughout the UK.

Netcallidus will join dotDigital’s roster of digital marketing brands including dotMailer and will sit alongside the Group’s existing search engine optimisation brand, dotSEO. Founded in 2002 by Stuart Haining and joined in 2006 by Mark Furber, initially offered SEO services through a range of resellers and partners. Since 2006, the company has also been selling direct to enterprise brands.

20/05/2010

20/05/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo has bought freelance-driven news website Associated Content for $100 million, as the online media giant looks to boost its traffic. Associated Content boasts of having 380,000 print and multimedia contributors available almost instantly to provide material all over the website. Its competitors include Demand Media and AOL's Seed.

Associated Content’s offerings are typically U.S.-oriented, but both companies say that will now be expanded globally. Yahoo! officials say the acquisition is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2010.

20/05/2010

20/05/2010  |  Full story...

Sites ranked by volume of searches for the week ending 22nd May 10.

20/05/2010

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 22nd May 10

20/05/2010

The new coalition government has put two Conservative ministers in charge of its digital policies. Jeremy Hunt is in charge of the UK's broadband and Ed Vaizey is overseeing the implementation of the Digital Economy Act. Hunt, the Conservative secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport, will oversee the rollout of high-speed broadband across the UK, the government said on Wednesday night.

Parliamentary under-secretary of state Ed Vaizey will work across two departments — the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Vaizey will be responsible for implementing the copyright crackdown that is enabled by the Digital Economy Act, which is the policy descendent of the Digital Britain report. It remains to be seen if Liberal Democrats' opposition to elements of the act, such as its website-blocking provisions, will influence official government policy.

21/05/2010

21/05/2010  |  Full story...

Google has officially unveiled its Google TV service in the US, which will enable users to search content on the web and download applications while watching TV. However, there are no plans for a UK launchin the near future.The service will let viewers in the US search and view content from TV providers, the Internet, mobile applications and their own personal content library.

Google TV will initially be incorporated into television sets and Blu-ray players manufactured by Sony, with the first products due to launch in the US this autumn. The platform is built on Google's own Android operating system, and runs the Google Chrome Web-browser on specially enable Digital TVs. Sony, will be selling TVs in the US with Google TV built-in from autumn of this year. Google has also teamed up with Logitech to develop a set-top box that plugs into existing sets at around the same time later this year.

21/05/2010

21/05/2010  |  Full story...

Online TV catch-up service SeeSaw has announced that it is now possible to rent shows, such as Lost and Top Gear, through their site. The company has offered free programmes on the web since it's launch in February. This will be the first time users have been able to pay to access premium content. Shows available initially include a mix of the old and new, from Spooks to Fawlty Towers, and Gavin and Stacey to Only Fools and Horses.

SeeSaw has also struck deals with several large US TV networks such as MTV & Comedy Central, which means that American shows such as South Park will also be available. SeeSaw will be charging between 99p and £1.19 per individual episode, with whole series set to range between £3.99 and £17.99.

24/05/2010

21/05/2010  |  Full story...

Google is debating whether it should launch its new facial recognition technology after criticism about its privacy settings. Speaking at a developers conference, Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said the search giant is still debating whether to launch the recognition technology following criticism from privacy campaigners who raised fears that it would be an ideal tool for stalkers and identity fraudsters.

Schmidt said he would not rule out its use but said “anything we did in that area would be highly, highly planned, discussed and reviewed”. The company is now reviewing its products and the merit of introducing the controversial technology in light of recent complaints.

21/05/2010

21/05/2010  |  Full story...

Yell has acquired UK local reviews website trustedplaces.com, letting consumers recommend a local business through its Yell.com website for the first time. The combination of Yell’s database of over two million businesses with TrustedPlaces’ technology for generating recommendations from local consumers represents a major shake-up of the fast-growing local reviews market.

It will drive strong benefit to Yell’s 399,000 mainly small business advertisers, through generating additional leads and providing a richer online interaction with existing and potential new consumers. Initially, TrustedPlaces reviews will be added to Yell’s business listings, leading to full integration under the Yell.com domain.

21/05/2010

21/05/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that Facebook "missed the mark" over recent privacy concerns, and plans to introduce a number of new features on the social network to make protecting a users privacy simpler and more comprehensive. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg admitted: "Sometimes we move too fast - and after listening to recent concerns, we're responding. The biggest message we have heard recently is that people want easier control over their information.

"Simply put, many of you thought our controls were too complex. Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark," he wrote.

The move may placate some of the growing band of members who had pledged to quit the social network on 31 May. The company plans to announce changes to privacy settings to make controls that manage what information is shared online simpler, Facebook said last week. The fixes will be unveiled shortly, it said.

24/05/2010

24/05/2010  |  Full story...

Sites ranked by total display ad impressions, Q1 2010

25/05/2010

Sites ranked by total display ad impressions, Q1 2010

25/05/2010

Google has won approval for its $750m acquisition of AdMob, after rival Apple’s own entry into the market doused fears the purchase would give the search giant a monopoly of the mobile ad space.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that Apple’s purchase of the online mobile ad company Quattro Wireless in January would mitigate Google’s dominance of the market as more people access the web through their phones and other mobile devices such as Apple’s iPad.

The US regulator said: “The decision was a difficult one because the parties (Google and AdMob) currently are the two leading mobile advertising networks, and the commission was concerned about the loss of head-to-head competition between them.”

The decision, after months of investigation and uncertainty, paves the way for a battle between Apple and Google in smartphones and the advertising served on them. Both companies are ramping up their efforts to push into the mobile internet — Apple with its iPhone and nascent iAd advertising business and Google with its Android operating system for smartphones.

25/05/2010  |  Full story...

The Office of Fair Trading is calling for sites to clearly identify which are “personalised” advertisements based on their previous web browsing habits. Behaviourally-targeted ads collect information through “cookies”, tiny files which are placed on a user's computer after their first visit to a website. The OFT is concerned about the misuse of personal data and says it raises concerns about privacy.

Heather Clayton of the OFT said: “The OFT is keen to engage with industry players and consumer groups while behavioural advertising is in its relative infancy. Discussions now about the potential for both benefits and harm, and how consumer protection legislation applies, will stand us in good stead in the event that industry action proves ineffective.”

The revenue from online behavioural advertising is currently between £64m and £95m, but this looks set to rise significantly in the future.

26/05/2010

26/05/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo has bought Koprol.com, an Indonesian mobile location-based-services Web company similar to US-based Foursquare. The acquisition boosts Yahoo’s location-based mobile services, such as helping people find nearby local businesses, reviews as well as locating friends as finding out what they are doing.

Prior to Tuesday's announcement, Yahoo had reportedly been seeking a deal for New York City-based Foursquare valued at over $100 million. Yahoo bought Koprol because people are increasingly using mobile devices to access the Internet, the company said in a statement.

26/05/2010

26/05/2010  |  Full story...

UK audience reach for top 10 parent comapnies, Apr 10.

27/05/2010

Terms ranked by search clicks for the four weeks ending 22nd May 2010.

27/05/2010

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 22md May 10.

27/05/2010

The UK internet advertising sector increased revenues by 4.2% to £3.54 billion in 2009, up from £3.35 billion in 2008. Surpassing industry forecasts, online grew last year despite a decline in total UK advertising. Despite the economic outlook and its devastating effect on the advertising industry, online has weathered the storm. The results of the bi-annual IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP advertising spend reflect the inexorable move of Britain’s population online as recognised by the Government’s Digital Britain vision.

Records show that, since the dot com crash of 2001, internet advertising expenditure registered growth every year during the noughties. From £153 million in 2000 to £3.5 billion, UK online advertising has shot up by 2,200%. The study also highlights that the second half of 2009 was healthier than the first, with online advertising spend increasing by £25.6 million to £1.78bn between July and December. During the first half it accounted for £1.76 billion.

01/04/2010

01/04/2010  |  Full story...

Wales has become the UK’s first digital TV nation today when the analogue signal is switched off for the final time. The Welsh switchover began last August and will conclude tomorrow with the Wenvoe transmitter group, which covers Cardiff, Newport and south east Wales. The first stage of the Wenvoe switchover process began earlier this month when analogue BBC Two was turned off and some new digital channels became available. The remaining analogue channels – BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five – have been switched to digital and the remaining digital channels will become available.

01/04/2010

01/04/2010  |  Full story...

Google has revealed further plans for its forthcoming high-speed fibre broadband network, and will announce the target market for the first tests by the end of the year. The initial trial will cover a group ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 people in the US. The project, first announced in February, will provide 1GB networks in targeted markets as a way of testing open broadband networks.

Google will also make its broadband cables open to other service providers. Interest in the project has been high since the announcement, and Google claims that some 600 community groups have expressed interest in participating, as well as more than 190,000 individuals.

01/04/2010

01/04/2010  |  Full story...

German audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Mar 10

02/04/2010

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, germany, Mar 10

02/04/2010

Monthly internet use: key indicators for German web users, Mar 10

02/04/2010

AOL is looking to sell Bebo and could shut down the social network altogether, according to press reports. The move comes as the internet company looks to shed loss-making divisions that it considers will not make a significant contribution as it focuses on content, advertising and consumer services. AOL spun off from its parent company Time Warner in December last year. It bought the social network it purchased for close to $1bn in 2008.

In a note sent to its employees yesterday, AOL said: “Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space, " adding "AOL is not in a position at this time to further fund and support Bebo in pursuing a turnaround in social networking."

07/04/2010

07/04/2010  |  Full story...

Nokia is to launch an online music store in China, as the mobile maker looks to expand its media services to emerging markets.The service will offer DRM-free music from major labels and a number of independents as part of the China launch for its Comes with Music service tailored for downloads to mobiles and PCs.

In a statement, Nokia said: "The launch of Nokia's unlimited music download offering in China adds further momentum to Nokia's leadership in the world's highest growth markets including Brazil, Russia and Indonesia. The forthcoming launch of the service in India will add significant scale and differentiation in another critical market."

08/04/2010

08/04/2010  |  Full story...

The UK Government’s controversial broadband tax has been dropped, while illegal downloaders could soon be banned for life, as part of a new bill rushed through Parliament this week. The laws were passed in the final push to get the Government's Digital Economy bill passed into law.

The Bill was rushed through during the "washout" period before Parliament is dissolved. The bill was passed by 189 votes to 47 after concessions were agreed that saw the Government dropping a clause which could have allowed it sweeping powers to block sites. A plan by the government to charge 50p month on all copper lines to fund superfast connections in more rural areas was one of the proposals that was cut. Meanwhile, legislation to disconnect or slow down the Web access of people who repeatedly infringe copyright law was left in the bill, which is likely to become law within days.

09/04/2010

09/04/2010  |  Full story...

Terms ranked by search clicks for the four weeks ending 10th April

10/04/2010

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 17th April 10.

10/04/2010

As the Digital Economy Act is made into law, key industry players, including ISP Talk Talk, are beginning to voice their opposition to the acts sweeping powers over cutting off accused illegal file-sharers. The Digital Economy Bill was rushed through Parliament in a period known as the 'wash-up', the period between a general election being called and Parliament being dissolved.

It has now been enshrined in law after it was given Royal Assent on Friday, now becoming the Digital Economy Act 2010. These measures include the disconnection of broadband customers who are deemed to be infringing copyright laws without first being given the opportunity to plead their innocence before a court.

12/04/2010

12/04/2010  |  Full story...

The Electoral Commission will for the first time use Facebook to encourage more Brits to register to vote on May 6. The move comes after turnout fell to historic lows in the last two ballots. Young people are among the biggest users of Facebook, but are traditionally the hardest to persuade to cast their vote.

The organisation said every visitor to the social networking site on Saturday will be asked if they have already signed up to vote. If not, they will be redirected to the commission's site where they can register. At least 3.5 million people failed to register for the 2001 election and the commission estimates there may still be millions in the same position.

12/04/2010

12/04/2010  |  Full story...

Monthly internet use: key indicators for UK web users, Mar 10

13/04/2010

Google is to incorporate website speed as a factor in how it ranks websites in search results. The search engine first revealed its plans to include speed as a ranking factor in its algorithm last December.Now website owners looking to improve their search engine optimisation strategies may need to look at how quickly their pages load as part of their digital marketing campaigns.

Despite this, Amit Singhal and Matt Cutts of Google said in a post on the Google Webmaster Central blog that the relevance of each website page is still more important in terms of ranking factors than site speed. They also emphasised the other benefits of ensuring a website runs as quickly as possible, such as better usability.

13/04/2010

13/04/2010  |  Full story...

Monthly internet use: key indicators for UK web users, Mar 10

13/04/2010

Twitter has launched its much-anticipated ad program, as the micro-blogging platform looKs to turn its growing popularity into profit. The new service, named "Promoted Tweets," will allow companies to place a less-than-140-character message at the top of pages of search results.

Twitter said that it was currently testing Promoted Tweets with a number of advertisers including Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks and Virgin America. Under the program, one "Promoted Tweet", such as a sponsored message from Starbucks, will appear at the top of a search result page on Twitter for keywords that companies specifically purchase from Twitter.

14/04/2010

14/04/2010  |  Full story...

Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Telefonica have called on Google to begin sharing ad revenues to networks. They claim that their networks are fast becoming "dumb pipes" for hosting the group’s bandwidth-hungry technology, including YouTube, on their broadband use the internet search and advertising company pays the network operators little or nothing for carrying its content.

14/04/2010

14/04/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook will not add a safety button on each user’s profile page, despite calls from a leading UK child protection agency, saying they would ‘confuse and intimidate’ users. Instead it will run a £5m safety campaign including a 24-hour police hotline. The move comes after a lengthy four-hour meeting in Washington with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and Facebook’s chief security officer, Joe Sullivan.

Facebook stopped short of adding a CEOP safety button to each user’s profile page, but did announce a raft of new safety measures which it believes will be more effective in protecting children’s safety online. Instead of the button, UK users under the age of 19 will now be able to click on the ‘Report abuse’ link on each page and have the option to report the abuse directly to CEOP as well as to Facebook employees.

14/04/2010

14/04/2010  |  Full story...

The Internet Advertising Sales House council has confirmed that ad network eSpot has failed to complete and pass the most recent ABCe audit. The online ad network did not submit an audit for the period July to Dec 2009, and has therefore been suspended. This decision is based on the IASH Code 9.2 which states that if an IASH Member fails to submit for an audit they will be suspended from IASH Membership.

Any IASH Member who fails to complete or an audit will be referred for a re-audit and can only re-apply for IASH Member status upon the successful completion of an IASH audit. IASH said that if eSpot wishes to regain IASH membership, the company must, as a minimum, complete and pass an audit before being considered for re-admission.

16/04/2010

16/04/2010  |  Full story...

UK audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Mar 10

18/04/2010

Sites ranked by unique audience, Mar 10

18/04/2010

Google has seen its revenues rise 23% to $5.06 billion in the first quarter of this year, hiring some 800 new employees in the process.The search giant notched up its strongest growth of the last 18 months between January and March this year. However, there were jitters in the City as the results failed to reach unofficial estimates.

One of Google's areas of growth is in PPC advertising, which has grown by 15% - with the average cost per click soaring 7% higher than the previous quarter. Google’s net income stood at $2.18 billion, or $6.76 per share. "Large advertisers have come back in force,” said chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette.

19/04/2010

19/04/2010

Facebook is updating its website to highlight pages for bands, books and businesses, encouraging users to become fans of their listed interests. The social network is also launching a new community feature, as the social network looks for new ways to leverage their users’ interests and connect them with advertisers.

From this week, Facebook will prompt users to join the fan pages of their listed interests. If they opt in, users will still be able to hide this connection on their profile, but their name will still be listed one the "people who like this" on the fan page. This feature will also be used for users' home towns, education and work places.

20/04/2010

20/04/2010  |  Full story...

Shoppers are being hit by a “high street tax”, paying up to 70 per cent more for goods bought in store rather than online, according new research. The study, from shopping comparison website PriceRunner, suggested shoppers are paying hundreds of pounds more for the privilege of shopping in store.

The average cost of a basket of 10 goods from the high street – including a camera, an ipod and a television – reached £2,252, compared to £1,785 for the best prices on the same products online. PriceRunner said the study indicates 95 per cent of all prices could be beaten online.

20/04/2010

20/04/2010  |  Full story...

Social network Facebook has shut down its Lite site after running for just seven months. Facebook posted a note on its own fan page thanking those who used Lite, which had been aimed at users with slow or poor Internet connections, and stated that it had "learned a lot from the test of a slimmed-down site".

The Lite site emulated Twitter, offering a smaller number of features than the fully-fledged site. The options on Facebook Lite were limited to letting users write on their wall, post photos and videos, view events and browse other people's profiles. There were no applications or special boxes.

21/04/2010

21/04/2010  |  Full story...

Google is changing the name of its Local Business Center to Google Places adding new tools to help connect consumers with local shops, including photos of the interiors of buildings. The search giant is letting businesses in some cities buy Tags to make their listings stand out on Google.com and Google Maps, for $25 a month. Businesses in some cities can also now request a free photo shoot of their interiors, which Google will offer on Place Pages.

Users searching for information about restaurants, hotels, museums, schools and parks can click on a location on a Google Map and be whisked to the Place Page to see details, pictures and reviews of that location. Other initiatives Google is proposing include customized QR codes (a unique barcode that links to the Google Place Page when read by a mobile phone) and real-time updates that let businesses communicate directly with their customers.

21/04/2010

21/04/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo! has acquired the Me.Me domain name to enhance the brand of its social networking site, meme.yahoo.com, which allows users to connect and share their common interests. Online domain marketplace Sedo, brokered the sale of Me.Me to Yahoo!. Sedo secured the domain name from the .Me Registry on Yahoo!’s behalf. The domain will be used for the company’s upcoming Yahoo Meme microblogging service, which was launched a while ago as a rival to Twitter.

22/04/2010  |  Full story...

Yahoo has reaped the benefits of Microsoft web search deal, posting its best quarterly performance since hiring Carol Bartz as chief executive to engineer a turnaround. The first-quarter results released marked the internet company's first revenue growth in 18 months, although the gain of 1% fell shy of management and analyst hopes. The company's shares dropped by more than 3.5% in extended trading.

Earnings for January to March more than doubled as Yahoo's plans to rely on Microsoft for its web search results and accompanying ads began to bear fruit. The savings and scheduled payments from the deal began to flow, even though the transition will not be complete until next year, after regulators approved the alliance in February.

22/04/2010

22/04/2010  |  Full story...

This month's relaunch of Reuters.co.uk marks a clear shift into mainstream consumer-facing publishing and the promotion of a consumer facing brand. For the news network that supports tens of thousands of media titles, this clear expansion signals a broadening business model and new vehicle for corporate marketers.

Reuters was among the first media groups to deliver content digitally, with their own networks pre-dating the web. The migration into web publishing in the 90s was a natural stepping stone, but for a business that made heavyweight revenues from supplying news feeds to publishers and broadcasters, their consumer-facing channels have been relatively small scale till now given the size of the Thomson Reuters machine behind them.

23/04/2010

23/04/2010  |  Full story...

Nick Clegg has been voted the winner of last night’s leadership debate, according to an online poll of Facebook users.

An exit poll launched within minutes of the debate ending showed that the Liberal Democrat leader was the most successful candidate, polling 48% of the vote, followed by David Cameron 27% and or Gordon Brown on 25%. Facebook said over 20,000 users of its social network took part in the poll.

23/04/2010

23/04/2010  |  Full story...

The Conservative party gained the most homepage visits after the second leadership debate last night, according to new research.

The research, from Hitwise, indicates that the Conservative's homepage getting 36.42 per cent of the share, the Liberal Democrats 31.80 per cent and Labour 31.78 per cent.

23/04/2010

23/04/2010  |  Full story...

Amazon has signaled a recovery in online consumer spending with an excellent quarter that saw profits rise 68 per cent. The retailer made a quarterly profit of $299m (£194m), and reported overall revenues up 46 per cent to $7.13bn (£4.63bn). US sales rose slightly faster than the rest of the world, and electronics sales rose 72 per cent.

26/04/2010

26/04/2010  |  Full story...

Vodafone UK has become the first European operator to sell Nexus One, Google’s first smartphone handset, with contract prices starting from £25 a month. Customers who pre-order online will be the first to get a Nexus One for free on a £35 monthly price plan (24 month), on April 30. The Nexus One will also be available via Vodafone stores and telesales. Price plans start from £25 a month on a 24 month contract.

Vodafone UK customers with the Nexus One can use up to 1GB of mobile data as part of their price plan as well unlimited access to Wi-Fi in the home and free, publicly available services throughout the country. Customers using Wi-Fi can also use an additional 1GB of data at premium BT Openzone hotspots throughout the UK.

www.vodafone.uk

27/04/2010

27/04/2010

Last week’s debate saw the reputation of Gordon Brown rise significantly, while David Cameron remained static, according to analysis by social media firm Yomego.

Yomego has been analysing the reputations of each leader through the first two leaders debates, and the reputational shifts are charted in the graph below, as are the social media reputation scores of each leader.

27/04/2010

27/04/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile ad spend beat expectations last year, with entertainment & media and telecoms brands being the biggest mobile advertisers, according to new research.

Despite a contraction in the advertising sector in 2009, total spend on mobile phone advertising in 2009 rocketed by 32% year on year to a new high of £37.6m, according to the second, annual Internet Advertising Bureau study.

27/04/2010

27/04/2010  |  Full story...

The use of the web by politicians has been underwhelming, but the current UK elections are still the most digital. Here’s why...

Social media reached out to a new generation and told them to vote. The Electoral Commission used simple digital marketing tactics to reach the right people (youngsters not yet registered), in the right media space (Facebook), with the right offer (one click to register). Simple, brilliant, game-changing.

Secondly, digital analytics came into their own for the first time. Old-style telephone polling and street surveys are over. Instead social media monitoring provided granular insights into every sound-bite and every gesture from the leaders of the three main political parties. Online polls from YouGov have been fighting with new social media monitoring tools, while live social media trackers run alongside TV debates. They’ve given politicians an unprecedented window into their own electability - and like all good marketers, politicians have quickly applied those lessons.

Collating this month’s research and news for you reminded me that the right digital strategy isn’t just about advertising. Digital strategies work throughout the marketing mix - from researching customer insights, to changing brand preference, through building buzz and engagement, sale and ongoing support.

Read April 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

28/04/2010

More than 220,000 people logged in to Facebook last Thursday to watch the second leaders’ debate. Both Sky.com and ITV.com used Facebook Live Stream to allow viewers to comment on what they saw on screen, the first time worldwide that two broadcast networks have used Facebook Live Stream in parallel.

28/04/2010

28/04/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter is testing a hashtag-based ad platform that might be launched in a few months, according to a news report. The move was rumoured by Seth Goldstein, CEO of socialmedia.com, during the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting 2010 in California.

Declining to confirm exactly when Twitter would release the platform, Anamitra Banerji, head of product management and monetization at Twitter, told MediaPost following the panel that "we are working on an ad platform, but it's only in the test phase." Banerji told MediaPost that the ad platform, it will make it "explicitly clear that a sponsor paid for the ad", and make it "relevant and useful".

These ads will appear as Twitter messages with hashtag in update as a temporary "workaround" and Twitter says its engineering team is still working on better idea.

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

Consumers are most likely to fork over their cash for online movies, music and games, according to a new international survey looking into paid content.

The findings, from Nielsen Online, revealed that vast majority (85%) prefer that free content remain free. However, the survey, which covered more than 27,000 consumers across 52 countries, revealed some people are more willing to at least consider paying for particular categories, especially if they have done so before.

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

Publishers using Google’s Ad Manager system to control their sites ads will soon be moved over to DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP). Google said the move is designed to make the ad management process easier and faster for publishers. Google acquired DoubleClick in March 2008, and has since upgraded DFP to include a variety of new features.

In a statement Google said: "DFP comes in two flavors, tailored for different publishers’ needs: DoubleClick for Publishers, for the largest online publishers, and DFP Small Business, a simple, free version designed for growing online publishers. We’ll be upgrading current DART for Publishers publishers to DoubleClick for Publishers over the next year as we continue to add features and modules, and we’ll be moving Google Ad Manager customers to DFP Small Business in the coming weeks."

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft is to give IE users the option to switch to rival browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, Opera or Safari, as part of new competition rules.The move follows a legal agreement between Microsoft and Europe's Competition Commission in December 2009.

Starting from March 1st, Microsoft will let Windows PC users across Europe install the web browser of their choice, rather than having Microsoft IE as a default. Figures suggest that over half the world's internet users have IE. Testing for the update is already underway in the UK, Belgium and France.

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

Google has completed its $125m acquisition of video compression specialist On2, as the internet giant looks to expand further into the growing online video market. The deal closed after gaining approval from On2 shareholders and was valued at $124.6m. The figure was about $18 million more than the value stated when the acquisition was first announced last year. On2 provides video compression technologies for mobile video, embedded devices, Adobe Flash Player and VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol).

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

Social networkers and businesses looking to sell to them will soon be able to use the PayPal online payment network to purchase goods and services on Facebook. The two companies announced a partnership Thursday under which Facebook will allow advertisers to use Ebay-owned PayPal's transaction system in order to pay for ads.

The companies said it would make it easier for smaller businesses, especially those outside the U.S., to purchase advertising on Facebook. 70% of Facebook's users live in countries other than the U.S. "We want to give the people who use Facebook, as well as advertisers and developers, a fast and trusted way to pay across our service," said Dan Levy, Facebook's director of payment operations, in a statement.

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

UK video-on-demand service SeeSaw has started its launch campaign, worth £5m, beginning with 10 second commercial. The campaign will start with a series of ten-second teaser ads across Channel 4's portfolio of TV services, expanding to run on ITV, Channel Five, digital multichannel stations and high-traffic websites.

SeeSaw has signed advertising agency Fallon to develop the series of three teaser commercials, which feature the SeeSaw logo acting out scenes of romance, comedy and action. The campaign also introduces the service's strapline, "If you love TV, SeeSaw.com".

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

Search engine marketing firm Bigmouthmedia is to merge with marketing agency LBi International, to create the largest marketing and technology agency in Europe. The deal was made through Bigmouthmedia’s holding company Obtineo, a combination of Bigmouthmedia and EU40m of new capital which will expand the combined entity.

The merger will combine LBi’s digital media, marketing, communications, design, brand and technology services with Obtineo’s SEO marketing to meet customer demands within on agency.

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC is planning large scale cuts in its online, television and radio services reports The Times. The plans have come to light following Director General Mark Thompson's strategic review of the broadcaster's remit and services, due to be published next month following sign-off from the BBC Trust.

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

In a landmark case, two managers and a former executive of Google have been found guilty of privacy violations by an Italian court. The ruling represents the first such conviction for employees of Google, and the internet giant has vowed to appeal the decision. The move could have wide-ranging implications for all websites in Italy that allow users to upload their own content.

Milan Judge Oscar Magi ruled that David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president of corporate development, and Peter Fleischer, global privacy counsel, as well as George Reyes, a former chief financial officer,were guilty of privacy violations. They were on trial on charges related to a clip uploaded to Google Video in 2006. The clip was created and posted on the Web by a group of Turin school students, who filmed themselves bullying a disabled classmate.

01/03/2010

01/03/2010  |  Full story...

Google has bought online photo editing suite Picnik, in a bid to bolster the capabilities of its existing image altering and photo-sharing software Picsa. Formed in 2005, Seattle-based Picnik works directly with online photo libraries such as Flickr (owned by Google's rival Yahoo), Facebook and Picasa web albums. Users can also upload files to the service and download them again when they are done. The 20-strong team will start working on Picasa, Google's online photo sharing service.

02/03/2010

02/03/2010  |  Full story...

Swiss audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Feb 10

02/03/2010

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, Swizerland, Jan 10

02/03/2010

Monthly internet use: key indicators for Swiss web users, Jan 10

02/03/2010

Rupert Murdoch has hinted he may issue a lawsuit against Google if it did not stop indexing content from his media empire.

In a recent interview with New York Magazine, a senior media executive claims Murdoch is ready to see the search giant in court. "He’s pretty tightly wound up over Google and has been ready to sue them,” the executive claims. “He doesn't trust them at all.” Another unnamed executive from MySpace, the flagging social-networking site that Murdoch paid 580 million U.S. dollars for in 2005, claims Murdoch is ill at ease in the internet sphere.

03/03/2010

03/03/2010  |  Full story...

AOL has sold its affiliate marketing business Buy.at to UK affiliate marketing network Digital Window for an undisclosed sum. Digital Window (formerly known as Affiliate Window) has acquired Newcastle-based Perfiliate, which runs Buy.at.

The deal will see Digital Window and Buy.at combine their technology and serve customers in territories such as the UK, USA and Scandinavia. Perfiliate’s clients include the AA, Barclays and Marks & Spencer.

03/03/2010

03/03/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC have confirmed its plans to cut back on its website as part of a company-wide strategy review. The corporation will cut spending on its website by 25 per cent and cut back on the number of webpages on the site by up to 50 per cent, it has been announced.

Sections of the site including BBC Switch and BBC Blast, both aimed at a younger audience, will be shut down, the BBC said. The move was announced by BBC director general Mark Thompson, who has been under pressure from critics who believe that the corporation is stifling competition in many markets and costing too much money.

03/03/2010

03/03/2010  |  Full story...

The proposed merger between Orange and T-Mobile in the UK has been cleared after the Office of Fair Trading withdrew a request for an EC investigation. Having investigated the merger, the EC decided that it could see no direct competition concerns relating to providing services to end users, or consumers, or the wholesale telecoms market. The European Commission has cleared the way for T-Mobile and Orange to merge its operations in the UK after receiving advice from a UK consumer body that it will "not now have an adverse impact on competition within the UK".

03/03/2010

03/03/2010  |  Full story...

ITV has reported online revenue growth of £6m for 2009 on the back of an overall profit of £25m last year. The news comes as a welcome relief to the broadcaster, which made a staggering loss loss of 2.55 billion pounds in 2008. ITV attributed much of the growth to cost cutting and increasing its share of a declining TV advertising market.

The broadcaster increased its online revenues to £24m, excluding Friends Reunited, in 2009. Video views across itv.com reached 215m, up from 85m in 2008, and monthly unique users grew by 33% to 8.7m.

04/03/2010

04/03/2010  |  Full story...

Apple is taking legal action agaianst phone manufacturer HTC, the company behind Google’s Nexus One handset and other Andriod-based smartphones, for allegedly using patents and technology seen in the iPhone.Apple claims the phone manufacturer has infringed 20 iPhone patents, using the company's "underlying hardware and architecture" for its own phone models.

Sales of HTC handsets that use the techonology could be blocked in the US if Apple's lawsuit is successful, though not in the UK. Although Apple has not named Google in the suit, many of the named patents relate to operating system processes. Google’s Nexus One handset is expected to launch in the UK in April.

04/03/2010

04/03/2010  |  Full story...

Profits at Trinity Mirror sank 41% last year as the severe economic downturn hit advertising revenues and budgets shift online. The publisher, which owns the Daily Mirror newspaper and 120 regional titles, remained cautiously optimistic, saying it had seen signs of an improving advertising market, and the trend should continue.

Pre-tax profits at the media group tumbled to £72.7m, from £124.2m, with revenues down 11.8% to £763.3m. Trinity's chief executive Sly Bailey said she was still cautious about prospects for 2010.

04/03/2010

04/03/2010  |  Full story...

The Financial Times is to introduce new payment options for reading stories on FT.com, including accepting Paypal payments, as the publisher looks to bolster its successful online subscription model. John Ridding told the FT’s Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference in central London on Tuesday that the FT would begin trialling eBay’s PayPal, for daily or weekly access to FT.com.

04/03/2010

04/03/2010  |  Full story...

Email marketing firm ExactTarget has acquired Twitter business app CoTweet for an undisclosed sum.Founded in 2008 and based in San Francisco, CoTweet is a Web-based collaboration platform that allows companies to manage multiple Twitter accounts from a single dashboard.

The tool supports multiple editors, track conversations, assign roles and create follow-up tasks. The company has a growing client list, including Whole Foods, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Ford, Dell, Pepsi, Sprint, Intuit, Salesforce.com, USA Today and Coca-Cola.The deal will see ExactTarget incorporate Co-Tweet’s technology, creating a tool for marketers to manage social media, email and mobile communications. CoTweet will operate in San Francisco as a business unit of ExactTarget and will lead the company’s social media product development.

05/03/2010

05/03/2010  |  Full story...

New powers have been given to the UK government department tasked with policing data protection, including the right to issue fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches of personal data. Speaking at the DMA annual data protection conference, the Commissioner talked of email and online marketing as sectors that have forced the regulator to focus on the new types of data challenges, giving a clear warning to the digital marketing industry to ensure compliancy.

05/03/2010

05/03/2010  |  Full story...

The switch to web marketing, email and database driven profiling has prompted marketing regulators to go on the offensive in the run up to the election. “In the past some parties have flouted the rules”, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham told us. “That’s why today I’m issuing updated guidance for political parties covering email, direct mail, phone calls, automated calls…”

05/03/2010

05/03/2010  |  Full story...

UK audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Feb 10

06/03/2010

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, UK, Feb 10

06/03/2010

Monthly internet use: Key indicators for UK web user, Feb 10

06/03/2010

Marketing services giant WPP has begun hiring staff again, with a focus on its digital division and Asia markets. The move comes after WPP slashed nearly 14,000 staff last year as part of a cost cutting drive to counter to ad downturn.

Group CEO Sir Martin Sorrell hopes WPP will do better than flat revenue growth this year but has budgeted conservatively after being "once bitten, twice shy" on forecasts in 2009. The company has said that digital services will make up two-thirds its revenues in “three or four years” and that it expects 2010 to be a stable year. WPP reported an 11 percent drop in profits to £663 million ($1 billion) after a “brutal” 2009 and a particularly low second quarter. New media sales accounted for 27% of the advertising and marketing group’s revenues, or $3.6 billion.

08/03/2010

08/03/2010  |  Full story...

Apple is to start selling its iPad tablet PC from the 3rd April in the US, although it is yet to confirm the launch date for its international rollout.

The US launch date comes slightly later than originally announced. Unveiling the touchscreen multi-media device on January 27, the California company behind the iPod, iPhone and Macintosh computer had said the iPad would be "available in late March worldwide." Apple said it would be accepting pre-orders from US customers at its online store from March 12 for the iPad, which allows users to watch video, listen to music, play games, surf the Web or read electronic books.

08/03/2010

08/03/2010  |  Full story...

Ads on social media sites will soon have to comply with the same code of conduct as traditional media, following a new industry-wide initiative. The move has been designed to help increase protection for consumers and children, by holding online ads accountable for being honest and responsible.

Set to begin this Autumn, the UK internet industry (including the Internet Advertisising Bureau) has joined forces to agree an extension to the CAP Code to claims on companies’ own websites, which would extend the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) remit in digital media. This code is designed to ensure that the marketing industry adopts the same self-regulatory standards for all marketing communications on the internet as it does across traditional marketing channels.

08/03/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile network operator Vodafone is to slash up to 500 jobs in the UK as the mobile network operator is reportedly mulling a bid for rival 3.

The European telecoms carrier plans to cut 500 staff from its headquarters in Newbury as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Vodafone, which has around 9,000 staff in the U.K., said "the roles affected are in a number of areas, across a number of locations, primarily in back office functions."

It also cautioned that there will "also be additional changes as further efficiencies and natural attrition in these functions take effect."

09/03/2010

09/03/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has launched a three month TV ad campaign for its new search engine Bing, in an attempt to gain ground on Google in the UK. Starting this week, the campaign will attempt to increase Bing's market share from the three per cent it currently holds.

The adverts, which are part of a £2billion marketing campaign, feature the slogan ‘Bing and decide’ – which appears to be a sly dig at rivals Google.Using the tagline 'Bing and Decide', the campaign features people suffering from "information overload", and, as such, positions Bing as the search engine which delivers the more accurate, effective and streamlined search results. The ads will run for 3 months, and will be complemented by an online campaign.

10/03/2010

10/03/2010  |  Full story...

Google is set to launch its Street View service for many parts of the UK so far neglected by the service.When launched in the UK last year, Google Street View initially covered 25 towns and cities. Subsequently, further sites of interest were added, some of which were not accessible to Google's Street View car and were instead explored by the ‘Google Trike’.

From this week, Google will make images for "almost all of the UK's roads, both rural and urban" available on the Street View service.The tool, available on Google Maps, offers a 360-degree photographic treatment that users can explore and move around online.

11/03/2010

11/03/2010  |  Full story...

More than three quarters of electors – 77 per cent - would vote on the Internet if they could, according to a new survey released today. The poll also found 56 per cent had visited political websites – signalling a substantial interest in online politics among voters. The survey of 1,000 people by social media consultants LEWIS Communications was conducted to gauge public attitudes to the use of social media and digital technology by political parties.

12/03/2010

12/03/2010  |  Full story...

Google users viewed on average 94 videos each during the month of Jan 10.

15/03/2010

Google attracted 136.5 million unique viwers during the month of Jan 10

15/03/2010

Google is close to an exit from China, following a feud with the country’s government over censorship, according to a new report. The Financial Times quotes a source familiar with the matter that the search giant's proposed departure from China is now "99% certain" to go ahead.

Google has been embroiled in an ongoing feud with the Chinese government since mid-January, when an executive announced on the company's official blog that it was no longer willing to censor search results in the country, as required by local authorities, following a cyberattack on its intellectual property. At the time, it admitted that this could result in the company pulling out of the Chinese market. The company has since continued to filter results on google.cn, but says it will not do so forever.

16/03/2010

16/03/2010  |  Full story...

Microsoft has launched a free online video player for the UK, which will rival existing services such as BBC iPlayer and 4OD. MSN Video Player contains 1,000 hours of programmes including Skins, 8 Out of 10 Cats and Footballers’ Wives. Over the next few weeks the service will also begin to include a selection of HD shows.

While MSN Video Player is free to use, viewers will have to watch 30 second adverts before, during and after the programme. The service, which is currently only available in the UK, also allows users to view certain clips, viral videos and news footage from the web. In addition, users can create their own playlists and point friends and followers to MSN Video Player videos via Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, MySpace, Diggit and other social media tools.

12/03/2010

16/03/2010  |  Full story...

Twitter has launched a new feature, called @anywhere, that lets partner websites display its content.The tool is similar to Facebook's Connect service, which lets people log in to other websites using their Facebook details and interact with friends.

Initially, 13 sites will adapt the @anywhere service, including Amazon, eBay and The New York Times. @anywhere will allow people using Amazon or the New York Times to follow new users or share media directly from the page.

17/03/2010

17/03/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook has become the most-visited site in the US after overtaking Google, according to new data from Hitwise. The popular social networking page toppled the search giant after accounting for 7.07% of all US web traffic compared to Google's 7.03%. However, the research did not include other Google services such as Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube.

"It's definitely a big moment for Facebook, even though they beat by a small margin," News.com.au quoted Hitwise's Matt Tatham as telling CNN. "People want information from friends they trust, versus the anonymity of a search engine."

18/03/2010

18/03/2010  |  Full story...

News Corp has cut a significant chunk of its staff at IGN Entertainment, an Internet portal which focuses on video games. The move comes 9 months after Murdoh's media conglomerate laid off 30% of its staff at MySpace.

IGN has eliminated approximately 65 jobs, or about 20% of its staff, according to a person close to the company. IGN president Roy Bahat announced the layoffs in a memo Tuesday, though he didn't specify the number of job cuts at the time.

18/03/2010

18/03/2010  |  Full story...

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 30th Jan 10

18/03/2010

Sites ranked by market share of visits for the week ending 30th Jan 10

18/03/2010

Google will close its businesses in China in April, according to a report in China Business News, citing an unnamed local authorised agent of Google.The newspaper added that Google may announce details of its exit from China on Monday, the day after the company’s staff are due to receive their annual year-end bonus, citing unnamed Google employees in China.

The newspaper didn't specify whether Google will close parts or all of its China operations.The agent said: “I have received information that Google will leave China on April 10, but this information has not at present been confirmed by Google.” Google China spokeswoman Marsha Wang declined to comment on the report.

19/03/2010

19/03/2010  |  Full story...

Lovefilm has struck deals with Sony and Samsung to stream movie rentals directly to viewers TV sets via an internet connection.The deal is expected to bring more than 2,000 films, to the TV manufacturers' latest sets, which can be connected directly to the internet.

Lovefilm said the deals marks the first of many deals with technology companies, including producers of games consoles and other set-top boxes. The company has so far declined to give pricing plans for the TV distribution service.

19/03/2010

19/03/2010  |  Full story...

As the Election draws closer, the Prime Minister has pledged universal super-fast broadband for all - coupled with a personal webpage for every UK citizen to manage their government transactions and access local services- in a bid to transform the UK by 2020.

Gordon Brown said his proposals could slash billions from public service costs and create more than 250,000 jobs, adding that funding for the proposals will be announced in Wednesday’s Budget. Brown said: “Super-fast broadband is the electricity of the digital age. And I believe it must be for all - not just for some."

23/03/2010

23/03/2010  |  Full story...

Google has begun redirecting its Chinese users to its Honk Kong site, following an ongoing row with the government over the censorship of its search results. The move has met condemnation from the Chinese government , branding Google’s decision as "totally wrong" and in violation of its promise to abide by Chinese laws.

Users in Mainland China will now get access to Google’s unrestricted Hong Kong site, although Chinese firewalls mean results still come back censored. Google threatened to leave the Chinese market completely this year after cyber attacks traced back to China.

23/03/2010

23/03/2010  |  Full story...

GMTV was wrong to allow consumer expert Martin Lewis to promote his commercial website on Lorraine Kelly's show, broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has ruled.

In its March bulletin, Ofcom said GMTV had breached its broadcasting code by re-directing viewers to Lewis's website from the morning show's own web page. The ruling referred to a segment on January 14 in which Martin Lewis claimed that free gym passes were available on his site.

23/03/2010

23/03/2010  |  Full story...

We collated this edition of Digital Intelligence to give clients and Academy Graduates a picture of internet use in the UK today - what is arguably the world's leading country when it comes to online marketing.

If your colleagues would like copies sent to them directly then we can arrange a guest account through www.DigitalStrategyConsulting.com/digitalbriefings.

As we research other markets and sectors, email me back to let us know what would be interesting for you.

Read the UK sites and audience market focus

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

23/03/2010

Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced this year’s budget with plans for a major broadband roll out, funded by its much anticipated 50p-a-month broadband tax. He announced super-fast broadband for the majority of homes by 2017, funded by a £6 annual tax on landline phones. The Conservatives have vowed to scrap the tax if they win the next election.

In his budget speech, the chancellor said: "The UK has the potential to be a digital world leader. It needs high-speed broadband for rural areas as well as urban, it must not be limited to the well-off," the chancellor said in his budget speech. A super-fast broadband service will create "hundreds of thousands" of new jobs while putting services online will lower the cost of public spending, the chancellor said. He also promised more tax breaks for the UK's computer games industry.

24/03/2010

24/03/2010  |  Full story...

Terms ranked by search clicks for the four weeks ending 13th Mar 10

24/03/2010

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 13th March 10

24/03/2010

News International is the start charging readers of the The Times and Sunday Times to look at articles on its website from June. The papers' articles and comment pieces are currently available to be read for free on the Times Online website.

NI said it would launch new websites in May for both papers, which would then charge for access from June. Web users will pay £1 for a day's access, and £2 to subscribe for a week. NI chief executive Rebekah Brooks described the move as "a crucial step towards making the business of news an economically exciting proposition."

26/03/2010

26/03/2010  |  Full story...

A European court has ruled in Google's favor allowing advertisers using its AdWords system to use the names of other companies as search keywords. In a landmark ruling this week, the court ruled that this practice does not represent a trademark violation.

The court also went on to say that Google's AdWords program is protected by a European law governing Internet hosting services. "This is important because it is a fundamental principle behind the free flow of information over the Internet," Harjinder S. Obhi, Google senior litigation counsel for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, wrote in a blog post.

26/03/2010

26/03/2010  |  Full story...

ITV is reportedly studying its results after conducting trials of digital product placement technology, which inserts brands and clickable ads in online versions of shows.Broadcast magazine reports that the broadcaster is aiming to boost income streams via a trial to insert digital product placement and clickable ads into the online version of Coronation Street.

Broadcast magazine cited a source saying :“It’s early days but we have to look at all the options and the strength of advertiser demand. "We’re investigating if there’s an appetite and whether the cost warrants the investment,” the source said.

29/03/2010

29/03/2010

Behavioural ad targeting technology group Phorm has announced the commercial launch of its Open Internet Exchange platform in Brazil.

After months of inactivity, the company has now announced that it will be working with Brazil's leading ISPs to deploy its new Web Discover service in the country. The firm claims to have $5.6 million of advertising pre-booked for the roll-out. The announcement has sparked a mini-rebound for Phorm's share price, which plummeted after its prospects of a UK launch collapsed last summer.

29/03/2010

29/03/2010  |  Full story...

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 13th Mar 10

30/03/2010

Terms ranked by search clicks for the four weeks ending 13th Mar 10

30/03/2010

Young UK internet users are creating social network profiles despite being below the official age limit, according to new research. Ofcom's annual Children's Media Literacy Audit for 2009 found that a quarter of UK internet users aged eight to 12 had profiles on Facebook, Bebo or MySpace last year, research has found, although the lowest minimum age set on any of the sites is 13.

The audit also found that 44% of children between 12 and 15 thought downloading shared copies of films and music for free should not be illegal. Among parents of those eight- to 12-year-olds who had social networking profiles, 17% said they were unaware what their children were doing.

30/03/2010

30/03/2010  |  Full story...

This month saw the power players marking out their turf: Facebook leapfrogged Google into pole position (at least on a couple of metrics in the US), Microsoft pushed deeper into video players, the BBC gave shape to the cut backs, and China and search went head to head in that long awaited showdown. Everything's to play for as the online media market matures, and the flurry of lawsuits over IP is another fixture on the landscape.

As we head into election season in the UK, voters want to vote online and every political heavyweight now wants to 'do an Obama', moving their message through social media. Sadly neither voters nor politicians stand any hope of getting their wishes this time around, and while the Obama campaign is a case study in social marketing the Digital Training Academy will be using for years, most of the tweets, blogposts and email spam being thrown at British voters will remain quietly unopened thanks to their wholehearted failure to apply customer insight and engage their audience. Politicians are yet to learn the first rule of social media strategies: it's not how loud you shout, it's how much your audience want to listen!

Read March 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

31/03/2010

Microsoft’s has seen profits increase 60% in the final quarter of 2009, attributing the success largely to its high profile marketing campaign for its new Windows 7 operating system.

In its quarterly results, Microsoft reported a net profit of $6.66bn (£4.13bn) for the three months to 31 December 2009, up from the $4.18bn (£2.59bn) it made in the same period a year earlier. It also reported record revenues of $19.2bn (£11.9bn).

02/01/2010

01/02/2010  |  Full story...

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

01/02/2010  |  Full story...

Nokia has reported a big jump in quarterly profits after the mobile phone maker grew its share in the increasingly important smartphone sector. Net profits came in at 882m euros ($1.2bn; £760m) for the last three months of 2009, a 53% increase on the 576m euros recorded a year earlier.

This was achieved despite a 5% fall in sales, from 12.6bn euros to 12bn euros. The strong results capped a tough year for Nokia in which 12-month profits fell from 3.9bn euros to 260m euros.

01/02/2010  |  Full story...

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  |  Full story...

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

01/02/2010  |  Full story...

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

01/02/2010  |  Full story...

Pepsi is to ditch its iconic Super Bowl ads for the first time in 23 years, putting its cash into a social media charity project instead. The drinks brand has launched the Refresh Project, an online cause marketing campaign that asks readers how the company should give away its $20m grant money.

The project began yesterday (February 1), letting readers vote to give grants to a number of health, environment, culture, and education-related organisations. Pepsi plans to give away multiple grants each month, including two $250,000 grants, 10 $50,000 grants, and 10 $25,000 grants. Visitors are also encouraged to submit their own organisations and grant ideas.

02/02/2010  |  Full story...

If elected, The Conservatives are promising to deliver super-fast 100mb broadband by 2017, challenging both BT and BBC in the process. The party said it is confident that the UK Kingdom can become the first major European country to have internet speeds of up to 100 megabits per second by 2017.

The Conservatives have said they intend to break up what they described as British Telecom’s monopoly on providing internet connections, if they win this year’s General Election. Private investors from companies such as Carphone Warehouse and Sky would be given permission to use BT cables to provide the service. And if the market did not deliver, then a Tory government would extend the 3.5 per cent levy on the BBC license fee, currently being used for digital switchover, to pay for broadband expansion.

02/02/2010

02/02/2010  |  Full story...

Amazon has begun re-listing Macmillan e-books, following a weekend row with the publishing giant over pricing. Macmillan has been pressuring Amazon to adopt a new model for selling e-books that would give publishers more flexibility in setting prices.

The publisher said it preferred the ‘agency’ model for selling books for its forthcoming iPad device to the current “wholesale” terms for Amazon’s Kindle, the current leader in e-readers. Amazon responded on Friday by pulling all Macmillan’s physical and digital titles from its website and Kindle e-book store.

02/02/2010

02/02/2010  |  Full story...

More than one in seven legitimate marketing emails sent in Europe are not being delivered to consumer inboxes, according to a new study. The findings, from Return Path’s Email Deliverability Benchmark Report, found that in the second half of 2009, 15 per cent of European permission-based commercial email either went straight to recipients’ spam folders, or weren’t delivered at all.

The report measured inbox placement rates across North America and Europe . Return Path collected data on the success of more than half a million email campaigns between July and December 2009 to gain the most comprehensive picture of true “delivered” rates.

The report also found that inbox placement rates varied significantly between Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For ISPs in the UK , the proportion of messages successfully delivered to the inbox ranged from a high of 98.25 per cent, to barely 75 per cent for the most marketer-unfriendly ISP.

04/02/2010

04/02/2010  |  Full story...

The Office of Fair Trading has cast doubt on the planned merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange, warning it could threaten competition."The OFT's initial view, following consultation, is that the joint venture threatens significantly to affect competition in mobile telecommunications in the UK," the agency said in a statement.

T-Mobile UK, which is owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom, and Orange, which is owned by France Telecom, are planning to join forces to create a mobile operator that would have a 37-percent market share in Britain, beating nearest rival Vodafone - which holds 25 percent of the market.

05/02/2010

05/02/2010  |  Full story...

Mobile software maker Symbian has made its smartphone platform open source, letting developers use and modify the platform's underlying source code for any purpose. Until now, the source code for the platform was only open to members of the Symbian organisation. The Symbian 3 platform, including applications, middleware, and the kernel itself, will be offered under terms of the Eclipse Public License and other open source licenses.

05/02/2010

05/02/2010  |  Full story...

Australian audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Jan 10

06/02/2010

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, Australia Jan 10

06/02/2010

Monthly Internt use: key indicators for Australian web users, Jan 10

06/02/2010

Google is set to launch a new smartphone translator tool that will be able to hear speech and translate it instantly.

The Times reports that the software would take the information learned from the company's text translation software, and Google’s existing voice recognition tools for smartphones.

At launch, the software will only be able to analyse small segments of speech before translation, but Google is aiming to develop the technology to work over long segments of speech, essentially helping people conduct whole conversations in another language.

08/02/2010  |  Full story...

Facebook is to ditch Microsoft’s banner ads in favour of its own, but is now using Bing to power its site search engine, as the two companies overhaul their 2007 search ad deal.The move comes as Facebook has made a number of changes to its social network to mark its 6th birthday, with a new homepage layout that focuses on status updates, games and chat.

Microsoft acquired a 1.6% stake in Facebook for $240 million in 2007, valuing the social network at $15bn. As part of the restucture, Microsoft will no longer be responsible for display ads on Facebook. Facebook claimed that its own display adverts - which can target viewers based on personal information - are better suited to the site than Microsoft's alternative.

08/02/2010

08/02/2010  |  Full story...

UK advertising spend in 2010 will rise by 2.8% by the end of the thrid quarter of this year, with online's share growing 4.2 percentage points during 2009, according to new research. The modest rise comes despite nine consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline. according to new figures from the Advertising Association (AA) and Warc.

Total UK ad spend for full year 2009 is now expected to be down 12.7% year-on-year representing the worst recession for the advertising industry since the quarterly survey began in 1982, the data found. Internet and cinema advertising were the only two mediums to record actual ad spend increases in Q3 2009, up 4.2% and 10.2% respectively.

The internet, including search, now accounts for almost two thirds of all classified advertising. Across all areas of advertising, the internet’s share gain of 4.2 percenage points is mainly at the expense of press – which fell by the same amount.

10/02/2010

10/02/2010  |  Full story...

Trinity Mirror has bought Guardian Media Group's Regional Media for £44.8 million, as the local arm of the Guardian struggled to make profit last year amid falling ad sales and growing competion from the internet.

Included in the sale are both GMG Regional Media's subsidiaries, MEN Media which publishes the Manchester Evening News and 21 weekly titles in the North-West, and Surrey and Berkshire Media, which publishes ten titles in the South-East including the Reading Post. The businesses of Regional Media made no operating profit in the 12 months to December 2009 and have gross assets of £8.7 million.

10/02/2010

10/02/2010  |  Full story...

In its continuing quest to speed up the Internet, Google has decided to build what it calls "ultra high-speed" broadband networks in some parts of the US, the company announced.The fibre networks will deliver a huge 1GB bps (bit per second) connections to homes at prices that will be "competitive," the company said. This would be 20 times faster than the highest speeds currently in the UK, which reach around 50MB. The services would cover between 50,000 and 500,000 people, Google said.

11/02/2010

11/02/2010  |  Full story...

The IAB has received the backing of publisher and broadcaster members to enforce Video Advertising Standard Templates (VAST 2.0) in the UK, to bring greater consistency to online video planning and buying.The inititive has been developed by the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Video Council – the group dedicated to the promotion of online video advertising.

VAST 2.0 is a global initiative created by IAB in the US, originally launched to bring greater consistency to online video planning and buying, and make the format more comparable with other media such as TV. It allows advertisers to easily run multi-site video campaigns from one point of contact, third party ad servers.

11/02/2010

11/02/2010  |  Full story...

Google is to make changes to the privacy settings on its new ‘Buzz’ social network amid concerns over privacy, after it emerged the network creates a profile for new users by drawing on their Gmail contacts.

Early users of Google Buzz had complained that they found the settings too complicated, especially the ones that relates to privacy. Privacy advocacy group the Electronic Privacy Information Centre's head Marc Rotenberg said he would lodge a complaint on the network's practices with the US Federal Trade Commission, adding: “People are surprised that Google treated a private [email] contact list as a public ‘friends’ list."

12/02/2010

12/02/2010  |  Full story...

Lloyds Banking Group has sold 70% of its stake in Esure, the online insurer, to the company’s founder Peter Wood.

The stake has been bought by a management buyout vehicle to be called Esure Group Holdings Ltd, led by Esure chairman Peter Wood. The stake has been sold for a cash consideration "slightly in excess" of £185m. As at 31 December 2008, esure had gross assets of £975.5m (including assets backing insurance liabilities).

12/02/2010

12/02/2010  |  Full story...

More than 1.2 billion 'tweets' were posted on micro-blogging website Twitter in January. Figures from web-monitoring firm Pingdom showed that there were 16 times as many tweets in January 2010 than there were in January 2009.

"Twitter is as of December processing more than one billion tweets per month. January passed 1.2 billion, averaging almost 40 million tweets per day. This is significantly more than Twitter was processing just a few months ago," it said.

In fact, January 2010 saw more tweets per day (39.5 million) than the whole of September 2008 and activity on Twitter has doubled since August 2009.

www.pingdom.com

12/02/2010

Uk audience reach for top 10 parent companies, Jan 10

13/02/2010

Time per person for top 10 parent companies, UK, Jan 10

13/02/2010

Monthly Internet use: key indicators for UK web users, Jan 10.

13/02/2010

Yahoo has partnered with Nectar, Sainsbury's loyalty card scheme, to provide targeted advertising for brands. The program is called Consumer Connect, and mirrors a scheme called Consumer Direct that Yahoo has been running in the US since 2003.

The aim is to combine Yahoo's online purchasing data and Nectar's consumer spending data together to allow brands to target their digital advertising.According to reports, Cadbury has already signed up to the program, along with five more FMCG brands. 20,000 'sample' Yahoo and Nectar customers have opted to be part of the trialling of the scheme. Their buying behaviour will be measured to make sure the resulting advertising is targeted correctly.

15/02/2010

15/02/2010  |  Full story...

British gamers spent £280m playing online casual games in 2009 according to a new report. The UK National Gamers Survey estimated that there are 13.3m Brits playing on various game portals but only 2.4m pay to play - an average of £117 per person per year.

Casual games are defined as those that can be played on social networks or online in short bursts, such as popular apps Farmville, Mafia Wars or Bejeweled Blitz. UK gamers also spent around £170 million playing their favourite games on their mobile, with all these figures set to rise in the future.

15/02/2010

15/02/2010  |  Full story...

The number of users accessing Facebook via mobile devices has increased by 54% to 100m mobile users in the last six months, according to stats released by the social network. According to an official release, this has happened in less than a period of six months after Facebook had announced a figure of 65 million people using Facebook via their mobile devices. The figures alos come less than a week after Facebook announced it was set to exceed 400 million users in total.

15/02/2010

15/02/2010  |  Full story...

Adobe has made long-awaited updates to its Flash video player to support Google's Android phone platform, but iPhone users will still miss out. Adobe, whose Flash software delivers most video viewed online and made YouTube possible, also said it believed Apple would eventually bow to market pressure and include Flash on the iPhone and the new iPad tablet computer.

Apple has until now rejected Flash on these grounds, and has also said Flash is "buggy," blaming it for instances of its Mac computers crashing -- although almost every other device manufacturer, including hundreds of brand names -- supports it. On Monday, at the start of the week-long Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Adobe unveiled Adobe AIR for mobile devices, which provides developers tools to create Flash applications to be delivered through application stores for a variety of devices.

16/02/2010

16/02/2010  |  Full story...

Engines ranked by visits for the week ending 13th Feb 10.

17/02/2010

Engines ranked by search volume for the 4 weeks ending 6th Feb 10.

17/02/2010

Microsoft has unveiled its latest operating system for mobile handsets, Windows Phone 7. The OS was first shown this week at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. Including a completely redesigned interface Windows Phone 7 also brings more entertainment-based features from its Zune music player devices and Xbox Live gaming. Previous versions of Microsoft's OS for mobile phones were known as Windows Mobile, whereas the new version is called Windows Phone.

"In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience," said Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

17/02/2010

17/02/2010  |  Full story...

Websites ranked by visits for the week ending 13th February 10

18/02/2010

Sites ranked by visits for the week ending 13th Feb 10.

18/02/2010

SeeSaw, a free online aggregation service offering a selection of UK broadcasters’ content, has launched after completing beta tests. So far, SeeSaw has signed content partnership deals with BBC Worldwide, Channel 4, Five and several major independent production companies. However, the company could not ink a deal with ITV.

SeeSaw is completely funded by advertising with Ikea and Kraft among the advertisers that have already signed up. The service has been trialled by 20,000 people during its beta phase. It will go live with over 3,000 hours of content. SeeSaw's owner Arquiva hopes to cash in on the growing trend of viewers watching back catalogue shows online via each broadcaster's own website.

18/02/2010

18/02/2010  |  Full story...

LinkedIn and Microsoft have launched a new service allowing LinkedIn members to bring their professional network right into their Outlook Inbox. The new tool, called the LinkedIn Outlook Connector, can be accessed by LinkedIn in three steps to begin using their professional network within Outlook.

As soon as LinkedIn and Outlook are connected, Outlook will begin feeding in information about their LinkedIn network. Profile photos and LinkedIn activity for any connection that emails the member will start to appear. Members can see the latest activity for any LinkedIn connection who emails them right at the bottom of that email. See who they are connecting with, the articles they are reading and sharing, and the questions they are asking and answering.

18/02/2010

18/02/2010  |  Full story...

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt predicted a massive shift of adverting revenues from the fixed web to mobile platforms similar to that from print publications to the internet. The change would happen because mobile advertising could be more precisely targeted, making it more effective, he said in a keyote at the Mobile World Congress, taking place this week in Barcelona.

“The reason is that we know more about the person [using the mobile]. For a start, we know where they are,” he said, referring to the fact that many handsets pack GPS and other location technologies." Schmidt also echoed Ericsson chief Hans Vestberg’s warning that mobile pricing will have to change as speeds increased. “Operators will have to introduce some kind of tiered pricing to deal with the fact that one percent of the users consume 70 percent of the bandwidth,” he said.

18/02/2010

18/02/2010  |  Full story...

Following from the launch of the PC e-book reader application, and iPhone e-book reader application, Amazon has now made their free Kindle application available on the BlackBerry platform. The free ‘Kindle for BlackBerry’ app will be accessible in the US for customers of networks including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, offering most titles for less than $9.99.

Amazon Kindle vice president Ian Freed said: “Since the launch of our popular Kindle for [Apple’s] iPhone app last year, customers have been asking us to bring a similar experience to the BlackBerry." The new BlackBerry Kindle application is designed to let readers view more than four hundred thousand books on their BlackBerry.

19/02/2010

19/02/2010  |  Full story...

The BBC will launch a range of free mobile applications to deliver its online content to mobile devices, with the possibility of an iPlayer application for smartphone users ready by the end of this year.The broadcaster is reportedly planning to launch mobile apps for BBC News in April followed by apps for BBC Sport in May. The BBC will launch both apps in a UK and a global version.

The news app will first be available on the iPhone from April, with apps compatible with the BlackBerry and devices based on Google's Android operating system and others following shortly after. The sports app will be launched in time for the football World Cup in June. Erik Huggers, the director of future media and technology at the corporation, yesterday announced plans to launch apps for BBC News and BBC Sport for the first time as well as a dedicated app for the iPlayer, its online catch-up service.

19/02/2010

19/02/2010  |  Full story...

Italian car maker Fiat has launched the first UK Facebook sampling ad campaign, promoting its Punto Evo model. The ads are targeted to 18-34 year olds in the UK, with some targeted specifically at car enthusiasts. As part of the campaign, Fiat will be using sampling ads on Facebook and will be the first brand to use this type of engagement ad in the UK.

Already launched in the US, sampling ads are designed to enhance the direct response element of the campaign. The new format enables brands to test any product and get valuable feedback – in Fiat’s case, this provides an opportunity for continued engagement with its target audience. Alongside advertising formats such as ‘become a fan’ or ‘attend an event’, Sampling Engagement Ads enable brands to offer free samples of a product to Facebook Users.

19/02/2010

19/02/2010  |  Full story...

Pepsi ditched the Superbowl, The Guardian newspaper ditched its regionals, TV adspend took another nail in the coffin, and UK politicians decided to make 100meg broadband an election issue. Brands, media and policy makers: channel switches are everywhere.

The mobile channels will dominate this year's switch the way social media did last year. Mobile wars are intensifying with Nokia's Ovi Maps set to decimate TomTom, Blackberry getting Kindle, and Google refocusing on the small screen ahead of a fusion with social media. But mobile isn't just for global giants - every brand needs a mobile digital strategy to reach customers in the right places through the routes they want. Building the technology and platforms is the easy bit; translating customer needs into the right services is way tougher.

Read February 2010

Recent editions of Digital Intelligence | Apply for a guest account for Digital Intelligence

26/02/2010

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

01/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

01/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

04/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

05/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

05/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

06/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

07/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

07/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

07/01/2010  |  Full story...

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.

07/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

07/01/2010  |  Full story...

Speaking frankly Zuckerberg outlines how privacy “is no longer a social norm” and the role that Facebook is playing in changing and upgrading their technology and platform. He explains that “people have really gotten comfortable sharing more information…we view it as our role to be constantly updating our system to reflect the current social norms.”

09/01/2010

09/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

11/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

11/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

12/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

13/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

13/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

13/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

13/01/2010  |  Full story...

Spanish audience reach for top 10 parent companies, December 2009

14/01/2010

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

14/01/2010

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

14/01/2010

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

14/01/2010  |  Full story...

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

15/01/2010  |  Full story...

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.