Digital Knowledge Centre - Digital Intelligence

Revealed: Zynga accounts for 12% of Facebook’s revenue

2012-02-03T13:42:11Z

The full extent of Facebook’s reliance on Zynga was revealed this week, with the social network receiving 12% of its revenue from the games maker last year. In its S-1 regulatory filing Wednesday, Facebook reported that it received 12% of its revenue in 2011 from Zynga, whose social games such as CityVille and Mafia Wars have drawn several hundred million players to Facebook over the years. Zynga launched its own IPO in December. With $3.7 billion in total annual revenue for Facebook, that translates to roughly $444 million in direct payments from Zynga.

03/02/2012

]]>

That figure does not include the revenue Facebook receives from displaying advertising around Zynga's games, which accounted for a "significant number of pages," according to the social network's public filing.

Zynga's games pull in 56 million players a day, according to AppData.com, a site that tracks Facebook traffic.

For Facebook, Zynga is both an asset and a potential liability: "We currently generate significant revenue as a result of our relationship with Zynga, and, if we are unable to successfully maintain this relationship, our financial results could be harmed," the Silicon Valley social network giant wrote among its "Risk Factors."

“If the use of Zynga games on our Platform declines, if Zynga launches games on or migrates games to competing platforms, or if we fail to maintain good relations with Zynga, we may lose Zynga as a significant Platform developer and our financial results may be adversely affected,” Facebook added.

Zynga has been trying to reduce its dependence by pursuing with things like partnerships with other companies and by developing its own gaming portal.

The companies have had their differences in the past. In May of last year, Facebook began requiring Zynga to pay the 30-percent transaction fee for Facebook Credits. That hurt Zynga’s profits, and it started diversifying beyond Facebook after that.

But the two companies have since patched things up, and Zynga is still heavily focused on Facebook, which has 800 million users.

Digital accounts for nearly a third of UK radio audience

2012-02-03T13:40:41Z

The number of online radio listeners in the UK rose 16.4% during 2011, accounting for 29.1% of the total audience, according to the latest RAJAR figures. Although both internet radio, now 3.4% of the market, and digital TV, 4.5% of the market, have recorded healthy gains the main factor fuelling this growth has been the growing popularity of DAB radios which now command 71% of all listening. FM/AM listening continued its decline, hanging onto an overall listening share of 64.1%, down 2.9% year-on-year.

03/02/2012

]]>

RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the RadioCentre on behalf of the commercial sector.

There are currently approximately 310 individual stations on the survey and results are published every quarter.

Digital on the rise

Digital radio put in a strong performance once again last quarter. Listening to radio via a digital platform in terms of weekly reach has increased by 10% year on year, with 23.1 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver (DAB, DTV, internet) each week (up from 20.9 million in Q4 2010 and 22.8 million in Q3 2011).

This increase is reflected in the digital listening hours for Q4, which are up 15% from 26.2 million hours in Q4 2010 to 30 million hours in Q4 2011.

As ever, DAB radio maintains its position as the most popular device when it comes to listening to digital radio, accounting for 66.7% of all digital hours.

However, listening via DTV (digital television) and the internet have both continued to rise year on year (hours up by 1.8% and 10.2% respectively) albeit from a smaller base.

The share of radio listening via a digital platform now stands at 29.1% of all radio listening, increasing from 25% in Q4 2010 (and 28.2% in Q3 2011).

DAB listening increased its share from 15.8% in Q4 2010 to 19.4% in Q4 2011, while the share of DTV listening increased from 4.3% in Q4 2010 to reach 4.5% last quarter.

Internet listening currently stands at 3.4% for Q4 2011 - up 3.1% YoY.

Access to a DAB receiver is also up (13% YoY) with 40% of the population, or 20.9 million adults (aged 15+) claiming to live in a household which has a DAB set.

Digital switchover targets

The figures remain some way off the government’s target of digital listening reaching 50% of total before switchover will take place.

Overall 1.03bn hours of radio were consumed in the final quarter, down by 150,000 hours on the same period last year.

Digital Radio UK’s chief executive Ford Ennals said it was a “milestone moment.”

“The direction of travel for radio in the UK is digital. Almost 50% of all listeners now listen to digital radio every week and 40% of people live in a home with a DAB digital radio,” said Ennals. “In addition to strong digital radio sales at Christmas we have seen unprecedented growth in DAB listening.”

Mobile radio usage

RAJAR data also reveals that 15.1% of adults aged 15+ listened to the radio via a mobile phone in Q4, up 14.1% YoY.

In the 25+ demographic, 11.9% say they have listened to the radio via their mobile phone, up from 10% in Q4 2010.

In the 15-24 demographic nearly a third (or 32.2% of those surveyed) now claim to have listened to the radio in this way with 16% stating they listen at least once a week and 2.8% stating they listen every day.

Top shows and stations

DJ Chris Moyles is in danger of being overtaken in the popularity stakes by John Humphrys, according to Rajar.

The BBC Radio 4's Today Programme pulled in 7.1 million listeners in the last quarter of 2011 – just behind Moyles' Radio 1 breakfast show which had an audience of 7.2 million.

Both were well beaten by Radio 2's Chris Evans, whose show had a weekly reach of 8.8 million.

The early morning Today Programme benefited from a leap in audience figures from 6.7 million in the previous quarter, while Moyles had a more modest improvement from 7.1 million in the same period.

Both Radio 1 and 2 lost listeners compared to the previous quarter.

Radio 1 was down from 11.8 million to 11.6 million, while Radio 2 fell from 14.3 million to 14.2 million.

Radio 3's audience saw a modest rise from 2.05 million to 2.09 million, while Radio 4 increased from 10.5 million to 10.8 million.

Radio Five Live lost listeners with its weekly reach falling from 6.23 million to 6.22 million.

Digital stations 6 Music and 1Xtra both recorded their highest ever audiences with 1.4 million and 1 million people tuning in respectively.

Source: Rajar

Amazon debuts 'Junglee' ecommerce site in India

2012-02-03T13:39:12Z

Amazon has launched an ecommerce site in India, marking the entry of one of the world's largest online retailers into the $550 billion retail market. The website, called Junglee.com, will offer more than 12 million products and more than 14,000 Indian and global brands, Amazon said in a statement. India has more than 100 million internet users and online shopping has been growing rapidly.

03/02/2012

]]> Experts say the country could become one of the top 10 e-commerce hubs in the world by 2015.

"We are excited to give customers in India a single online starting point where they can shop a wide selection of products sold by local and global retailers, and make informed purchasing decisions," Amazon.com vice-president Amit Agarwal said.

"We're relentlessly focused on constantly improving the customer experience and growing selection every day, making it convenient for customers to find anything online."

The selection on Junglee includes more than nine million books and three million other products.
It offers mobile phones, cameras, toys and games, baby products, music and movies, clothing and jewellery and the top-selling Kindle e-book reader.

Junglee's biggest competition in India will be Flipkart.

Founded by two former Amazon employees in 2007, the website sells books, mobile phones, appliances, music and movies.

Flipkart says it sells 10 products a minute and targets $1 billion in revenue by 2015.

Facebook Timeline a concern to users- survey

2012-02-03T13:38:23Z

Facebook announced it will make the Timeline profile mandatory for all users in coming weeks, inciting mixed reactions from users. The Timeline offers a linear, chronological display of activity and makes archived Facebook data readily available.

03/02/2012

]]>

The profile features a list of years in the upper right-hand corner that users can click to view content from the selected yea. Timeline makes old relationships, birthday wishes and photos more accessible.

Upon activating Timeline, users have seven days to review and clean up their profiles before they go live and are viewable to the public. Users may hide information and add events from past years.

The Facebook Timeline encourages users to enter more personal details about themselves and their life experiences, while making it simpler for others to view the information. There are concerns that this will instantly make it easier for identity thieves and stalkers to profile individuals.

According to a Sophos survey about 50% users are concerned with the new feature.

The online Sophos poll surveyed more than 4,100 global respondents on their opinion of the

Key findings from the research include-

• 51 percent are worried by the Facebook Timeline
• Only 8 percent like the new Facebook Timeline
• 8 percent say they will get used to it
• 32 percent still don't know why they are on Facebook

"The Facebook Timeline will be a wake-up call for some who have shared too much in the past, too freely. In my case, the Timeline was the catalyst to reassess my relationship with Facebook - and so I've killed my account," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos "If nothing else, Facebook users should take this opportunity to re-evaluate what they share online. It is time to spring clean your Facebook account and online relationships, and ensure you are only sharing what you want to share and with who you want to share. After all, a website that holds details of your entire life, likes and loves, is gold dust for scammers."

"A lot of people will decide that they don't like Timeline and start looking for ways to revert to their old profiles. Scam artists and 'clickjackers' are getting ready for that day, offering bogus links on Facebook that promise Timeline removal," points cyber security vendor ESET.

"So far, Facebook has not been able to keep up with the policing of these scams. I see no warnings on the Facebook Security page about claims to deactivate Timeline. Unless Facebook changes its mind and makes Timeline optional, the bottom line is that you will have to live with it and avoid the temptation to click on links promising to help you deactivate, remove, or disable Timeline," says Stephen Cobb, security evangelist for ESET.

Beggining of the end? Cable and Wireless to axe dial-up internet service in Guernsey

2012-02-03T13:36:08Z

Cable and Wireless plans to end its fixed-line dial-up internet service in Guernsey before the end of the year. The ISP said there were about 380 households that still use the service, which will end on 30 November.

03/02/2012

]]> Jess Bisson, marketing and PR manager, said: "Most websites at the moment are not really compatible with dial up speeds. We're presuming most of those are just accessing emails via that connection."

She said: "It's not cost effective to keep it going, the funds will be diverted to our broadband services. There are options, there is the broadband option either with ourselves or with other people or, if they really want to continue using a dial up service, there are companies we can put them in touch with who can provide that.

"If these people are using the internet sporadically or just to check their emails there are options [besides broadband] they can use."

Bisson said all customers affected by the changes would be notified by letter.

Facebook $5bn float plans lower expectations- revenues revealed

2012-02-02T13:37:35Z

Facebook has unveiled plans for its much-aniticipated stock market flotation, seeking to raise $5bn (£3.16bn), about half the amount many analysts expected. The move has also revealed the social network's complete user figures and revenues for last year. Despite lowering analyst expectations, the initial public offering (IPO) is still expected to be the biggest sale of shares by an internet company.

]]>

The social networking market leader filed its intention to float with the Securities and Exchange Commission after the US stock markets closed. The float could happen as early as May this year.

The documents revealed for the first time information about the company that had previously been the subject of speculation.

This included news that Facebook's net income in 2011 rose 65% to $1bn, off revenues of $3.71bn.

It was disclosed that founder Mark Zuckerberg owns 28.4% of Facebook, and also that the network now has 845 million monthly users and 443 million daily users.

Facebook, just eight years old and started by Harvard University students, now has 845 million users and made a profit of $1bn last year.

A letter from Facebopok founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission - to make the world more open and connected. We think it's important that everyone who invests in Facebook understands what this mission means to us, how we make decisions and why we do the things we do."

The $5bn being raised would be the most for an internet initial public offering since Google and its early backers raised $1.67bn in 2004.

The final amount Facebook will raise is likely to change as Facebook's bankers gauge the investor demand for the shares over the coming months.

Facebook is the latest in a series of online firms to sell shares to the public in recent months.

Online voucher firm Groupon went public in November 2011 and online games maker Zynga in December 2011.

Zynga's stock market value immediately fell below its asking price on the first day of trading, whilst Groupon only climbed past its offer price three months after the float.

Shares in the social networking site Linkedin fell below their May 2011 offer price after its shares became freely tradeable.

Read the official Facebook stock marklet registration statement here

Trip Advisor forced to drop ‘trust’ claim from website

2012-02-02T13:36:33Z

UK ad watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered TripAdvisor to rewrite some of its marketing claims, following complaints by hotels that the site had said that its holiday reviews could be "trusted". The ASA said it was concerned that consumers might be fooled by fraudulent posts since the entries could be made "without any form of verification".

02/02/2012

]]>

The tripadvisor.co.uk homepage now contains no reference to the word "trust" and simply describes itself as "the world's largest travel site".

However, its international tripadvisor.com address - which is accessible in the UK - continues to describe its content as the "world's most trusted travel advice" in the corresponding part of the page. It adds elsewhere that "you'll find real hotel reviews you can trust".

When asked about this the ASA said that its remit only extended to claims targeted at a UK audience, so it would not be pursuing changes at the .com site.

TripAdvisor described the ruling as a "highly technical view" of "copy that was used in a limited capacity".

However, the watchdog said that the ruling served as a warning to all UK-focused sites with user-generated material.

The ASA said that the US-based firm's site originally carried statements saying that it contained "reviews that you can trust" and that it had "more than 50 million honest travel reviews".

It said that two hotels and the online reputation firm Kwikchex, which represented others, had complained that the claims were misleading since they could not be substantiated.

The advertising body said it acknowledged that reviewers were asked to sign a declaration that their reviews were real and that they had no incentive or competitive interest with the places commented on.

It also recognised that the site said that it used "advanced and highly effective fraud systems" to identify and remove fake content.

However, the ASA said it was still possible that "non-genuine" reviews could appear on the site undetected and that users might not be able to spot them.

It warned that this was particularly a problem in cases where an establishment only had a small number of reviews. It added that offering hoteliers a right to reply did not fully address the problem.

The ASA ordered the site to avoid running adverts in the same form again and said it must not claim or imply that all its reviews were from real travellers, or were honest, real or trusted.

Chief executive Guy Parker said that advertising rules policed by the authority applied to companies' claims on their own websites.

"This is a classic example of the sort of thing that members of public are complaining to us about," he said.

"Advertisers must apply the same scrutiny to their websites, as they do to their campaigns in paid-for space. And don't major on trustworthiness if fake reviews can appear."

The ASA's ruling was based on a survey of the site carried out in July 2011 when it was still owned by the travel booking service Expedia.

It has since been spun off as a separate entity.

Sainsbury's renames Tiger bread to ‘Giraffe bread’ after social media buzz

2012-02-02T13:35:30Z

Sainsbury's has bowed to a social media campaign urging the supermarket to rename its Tiger Bread to 'Giraffe Bread' on the advice of a 3-year-old girl. The new Giraffe loaves went on sale this week, eight months after toddler Lily Robinson sent a letter to the supermarket suggesting the splotches on the bloomer's crust resemble more a giraffe's pelt than that of a tiger.

02/02/2012

]]>

Lily Robinson, who is "age three and a half" wrote to Sainsbury's last May, even drawing a picture of her imaginary dog Beaky at the bottom.

"Dear Sainsssssssssssssssssssbbbbbbbbbbbburyyys, Why is tiger bread c/alled tiger bread?" It should be c/alled giraffe bread. Love from Lily Robinson age 3 1/2"

The letter, addressed to Sainsbury's Supermarkets, reached the customer service department, from where employee Chris King responded:

"Thanks so much for your letter. I think renaming tiger bread giraffe bread is a brilliant idea - it looks much more like the blotches on a giraffe than the stripes on a tiger, doesn't it?"

King then explains the reason behind naming the bread so was because the first baker who made it a "looong time ago thought it looked stripey like a tiger. Maybe they were a bit silly."

King encloses a £3 gift card for the store and signs the letter "Chris King (age 27 & 1/3).

Despite being more than seven months old, the story has been resurrected and has had more than 14,000 ‘shares’ on Facebook in recent days.

Lily's mother went on to upload the letters to Facebook, starting the 'Campaign to change Tiger Bread to Giraffe Bread at Sainsbury's' which went viral, registering hundred of Facebook 'likes' and comments, and nudging Sainsbury's into action.

A spokesman for the store said: ‘In response to overwhelming customer feedback that our tiger bread has more resemblance to a giraffe, from today we will be changing our tiger bread to giraffe bread and seeing how that goes.’

Customer manager King received hundreds of compliments for his thoughtful response and is now training to be a primary school teacher.

US: Apple closes gap on Android in smartphone market

2012-02-02T13:34:21Z

The high-profile launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S in autum had an enormous impact on the proportion of smartphone owners who chose an Apple iPhone, according to new research from Nielsen. Among recent acquirers, meaning those who said they got a new device within the past three months, 44.5 percent of those surveyed in December said they chose an iPhone, compared to just 25.1 percent in October.

02/02/2012

]]>

Furthermore, 57 percent of new iPhone owners surveyed in December said they got an iPhone 4S.

Android continues to hold the lead among all smartphone users, with 46.3 percent of all smartphone owners surveyed in Q42011 reporting they have an Android-based mobile phone.

As of Q42011, 46 percent of US mobile consumers had smartphones, and that figure is growing quickly. In fact, 60 percent of those who said they got a new device within the last three months chose a smartphone over a feature phone.

For more, see Nielsen’s Mobile Media Report.

Top 50 US websites

2012-02-02T13:33:26Z

Google continued to lead the US as the most visited site in December, with women’s network iVillage the highest riser, according to new data from comScore.

]]> The holiday shopping season continued its momentum into December, propelling Retail and Shipping sites to annual highs.

Among the top-gaining retail categories for the month were Movies, Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories and Flowers/Gifts/Greetings, each growing approximately 20 percent during the month.

Many Americans also looked to close their financial books for the year, while others got a head start on researching information for 2012 tax season, making Tax sites the
top-gaining category in December.

“The holiday shopping season continued with strong momentum in December as Americans worked to cross everyone off of their list in time for the holidays,” said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore. “Shipping sites were heavily trafficked as consumers tracked their packages, while some found time to browse Tax sites as they closed their books for 2011.”

Holiday Retail Rules the Web

Retail sites scattered the top-gaining properties list in December, including Movie sites which grew 21 percent to 43.8 million visitors. Netflix.com ranked as the category leader with 34.7 million visitors, a 31- percent increase versus November, earning it a spot on the top-gaining properties list. Redbox.com came in second with 5.3 million visitors, followed by Blockbuster Inc. with 3.6 million (up 7 percent) and Walmart Movies with 1.6 million.

Jewelry, Luxury Goods and Accessories sites reached 28.6 million visitors during the month (up 19 percent) led by 6PM.com with 2.6 million visitors (up 8 percent). BradfordExchange.com closely followed in second with 2.6 million visitors (up 30 percent), followed by Zale Corporation with 2.5 million (up 23 percent), Coach.com with 2.4 million (up 24 percent) and Kay Jewelers with 1.8 million (up 18 percent).

Flowers, Gifts and Greetings sites attracted 34.1 million visitors in December, representing a 19-percent increase. Gifts.com secured the #1 position in the category with 7.4 million visitors (up 31 percent), followed by AmericanGreetings Property with 5.9 million (up 22 percent), Hallmark.com with 2.4 million (up 7 percent) and PersonalizationMall.com with 2.1 million (up 65 percent). 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. drew nearly 2 million visitors (up 19 percent), while ProFlowers.com drew 1.9 million (up 72 percent).

Shipping Sites Spike during Holiday Hustle

36 million Americans visited Shipping sites during the month to send and track packages, an increase of 22 percent from the prior month. UPS Sites topped the ranking with 20.3 million visitors (up 31 percent), followed by USPS Sites with 15.5 million (up 33 percent). FedEx ranked third with 12.4 million visitors (up 22 percent), while Stamps.com Inc witnessed 1.2 million visitors (up 23 percent).

Tax Sites Swell at Year’s End

Tax sites saw an uptick in traffic in December as many looked to close their financial books or research the requirements for the upcoming tax season. More than 6.6 million visited a Tax site in December, up 29 percent to rank as the fastest growing category.

Top 50 Properties

Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in December with 187.1 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 177.3 million and Yahoo! Sites with 176.5 million. iVillage.com: The Womens Network jumped 10 positions to rank #29 with 36.4 million visitors, while Netflix.com appeared on the chart at #33 with 34.7 million visitors.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

Google Ad Network led the December Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 92.9 percent of Americans online, followed by Yahoo! Network Plus (84.9 percent), AOL Advertising (84.1 percent), AT&T AdWorks (82.9 percent) and ValueClick Networks (82.1 percent).

Souce: www.comscore.com

Amazon profits dip despite Kindle boost

2012-02-02T13:31:23Z

A doubling in UK sales of its Kindle ebook reader failed to stop Amazon - the world’s biggest online retailer - suffering a profits slump. The Seattle-based group said sales rose 35% to $17.4bn (£11bn) in the final quarter of 2011 as the number of Kindles sold worldwide rose 177% in the last nine weeks of the period.

02/02/2012

]]>

But Amazon’s net income fell 58% to $177m (£112.4m) despite the strong sales as it invests in new products and expansion. It warned there was a possibility of an operating loss in the current quarter.

In the UK, twice as many Kindles were ordered over Christmas as the previous year, making it the best selling product in 2011 as a whole.

Following the launch of an updated version of the device, sales of e-books in the UK were almost five times higher than a year ago.

Amazon said it took orders for more than three million items on its busiest day of the Christmas period on “Cyber Monday” - December 5.

The rate of around 35 items ordered every second over the 24 hour period compares with the 2.3m items ordered on the busiest day of 2010.

Amazon’s seven UK fulfilment centres shipped over 2.1m items in one 24 hour period, amounting to 1,124 tonnes of goods, as on average a delivery truck left an Amazon centre once every 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

Alongside the Kindle, Amazon’s second most popular product was the DVD version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Now That’s What I Call Music! 80 also featured in the top ten of Christmas best-sellers.

Its new Kindle Fire device, which has a touch-screen and can stream films from the internet, was its best-selling product worldwide over the period.

Analysts have said it does not make much money from selling ebook readers, instead hoping to make a profit on selling books for the devices.

Bebo dampens shutdown rumours after site goes offline

2012-02-01T13:46:34Z

The co-founder of Bebo has denied claims the social networking site has shut down, following the site going offline on Monday night. According to reports Bebo has been taken offline because of technical problems. Founded in 2005, Bebo was the most popular social networking site in Britain until 2007, whereupon it was overtaken by Facebook. But since it was bought by AOL in 2008 for £540 million the site rapidly lost users and value.

01/02/2012

]]>

Michael Birch, who launched the one time Facebook and Myspace rival with his wife in 2005, sparked confusion on Twitter on Monday night:

"Am super sad that Bebo has actually gone. Some very fun times with very cool people. #RIPbebo - keep sharing that luv!"

But it wasn't long before he tweeted again, creating the mix up:

"Hold the press (too late for that). Bebo should be coming back in a matter of hours. #LongLiveBebo".

According to reports Bebo has been taken offline because of technical problems.

Founded in 2005, Bebo was the most popular social networking site in Britain until 2007, whereupon it was overtaken by Facebook.

But since it was bought by AOL in 2008 for £540 million the site rapidly lost users and value.

AOL sold it just two years later to private equity firm Criterion Capital Partners for a fraction of the price paid for it, reportedly just £6.3million.

Nintendo gets serious about online gaming and downloads

2012-02-01T13:45:25Z

Nintendo has announced Nintendo Network, an online service that will span the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, providing personal user accounts and the ability to purchase downloadable content. Nintendo knows it must take a “bold attempt” in establishing a robust online ecosystem for Wii U, and simplifying DLC shopping is key to that plan, the company’s president has said.

01/02/2012

]]>

Satoru Iwata believes Nintendo has struggled to establish its digital games business because online transactions “are not simple enough” for the typical Wii customer.

“It is said that with each extra step [in purchasing DLC], the number of consumers drops by one-tenth,” Iwata told investors in a Tokyo financial briefing last week.“Our challenge is how to improve such steps one by one.”

Iwata dismissed the idea that the age of the dedicated handheld games device was over and said he aimed to return the company to substantial profit in 2012/13, after it warned of its first ever operating loss this year.

Smartphones eating into console sales?

Shares in Kyoto-based Nintendo tumbled nearly 85 to an 8-year low after it slashed its full-year guidance for the third time in 6 months, and analysts said the potential market for its products was shrinking rapidly.

The creator of the Super Mario franchise reported a sharp drop in quarterly earnings, as its sales of its games devices that have dominated the industry for years were hit by competing gadgets such as Apple Inc's iPhone.

Iwata said he blamed the dismal results on a mixture of strategic errors and the difficult business environment created by the strong yen and European consumer gloom.

"Nintendo is facing its worst results since it entered the games business. What matters now is how Nintendo can make a profit from next year onwards, even under these harsh conditions," he told an analysts' meeting.

The maker of the Wii home console and DS handheld games is struggling to compete as sales of more versatile smartphones and tablets boom, and poor sales forced it to slash the price of its much anticipated 3DS handheld game device in August.

"The profitability of 3DS hardware was the biggest issue for earnings this financial year, but it looks like we'll be able to resolve the problem we've been having with losses on the 3DS during the first half of the next financial year," Iwata said.

"We should be able to generate a large profit by getting rid of losses on the 3DS hardware, if we can substantially lift sales of software."

80% of UK firms ‘don’t have a mobile website’

2012-02-01T13:41:57Z

While 73% of consumers now access websites on mobile devices, only 20% of companies have a mobile-optimised site, according to new research. The study, from EPiServer, reveals the extent to which UK companies are failing to meet consumer expectations for mobile website browsing.

01/02/2012

]]> Research found that only 20% of companies have a mobile-optimised website in place and almost half (49%) of UK consumers are experiencing frustration with mobile sites.

More encouragingly however, the EPiServer study also reveals marketers are beginning to plan for a mobile future with 76% saying they currently have a mobile strategy in place, and over a quarter (26%) expecting to launch a mobile-optimised site in the next year.

The EPiServer study, ‘Developing a mobile strategy: how to deliver mobile sites that truly engage’ (http://www.episerver.com/mobileresearch/) reveals the opinions of over 200 UK senior marketing executives and over 1,000 UK consumers. It gives a full overview of all the research findings as well as insights into how online marketers are handling the challenge of mobility.

Consumer complaints

Consumer adoption of mobile devices is soaring, with 73% of consumers now accessing websites on mobile devices and two thirds having used a mobile app in the last year. However, more than a quarter (32%) of survey respondents said they find mobile websites hard to navigate, while 35% said that if a mobile website is hard to use they’ll drop off. Specifically, 15% said they had stopped using a mobile website because it was difficult to navigate and 14% indicating they rarely feel like the mobile version of a website meets their expectations.

Almost half (49%) of consumers said they find mobile sites slow, 35% found logins difficult and a further 35% said mobile sites are often missing important functionality. Perhaps most worryingly, almost a fifth (19%) struggled to find the content they were looking for. A quarter of consumers said they would try a competitor if the mobile website they were trying to access was not working, while 64% said they’d only give a mobile website an average of three chances to work before moving on.

Maria Wasing, VP of Marketing Europe & Sales Operations at EPiServer, commented, “It is unfortunate to see that consumer expectations are not always being met. Our research clearly highlights the increasing importance of an effective mobile strategy in order to attract new customers and to effectively serve existing ones.

“The number of consumers carrying an internet-enabled device with them at all times is rocketing and, by thinking about the best approach for your brand now, businesses can make the most of the growing mobile opportunity.”

Barriers for marketers

Consumers are not alone in the frustrations they experience when it comes to mobile websites and apps. Marketers report numerous barriers to developing coherent strategies such as lack of technology (24%), budget (23%), and the ability to prove ROI (7%).

“Rather than attempting to do everything at once, there are many simple solutions to quickly improve websites and make them more appropriate for mobile access and, once these are in place, the strategy can then be continuously refined over time.” added Wasing.

The EPiServer report can be downloaded from http://www.episerver.com/mobileresearch/

http://www.episerver.com

Wonga: when SEO goes bad

2012-01-31T13:44:42Z

This month saw payday lender Wonga pull a section of its website which suggested payday loans could be viewed as an alternative to making use of a student loan, following mass outrage. The firm said the main purpose of the content was search engine optimisation (SEO). Julia Kukiewicz, editor of consumer site Choose.net, looks at why there is no such thing as 'SEO content' in the eyes of consumers.

31/01/2012

]]>

Wonga’s business has always been data-driven: whatever you think of their ethics, their performance in the digital marketing arena is formidable.

No other payday lender, and certainly no mainstream lender, has worked as hard to fine tune organic search, PPC and, finally, the on site sign-up process to get people casually searching for a fast loan actually signing up: they use real insight and very real money to make it pay off.

So it was a bit of a surprise, earlier this month, to see Wonga make a fairly dramatic online marketing mis-step.

Several sources, including the BBC and The Guardian picked up on the fact that Wonga were targeting the term ‘student loans’.

Within days, the offending page, which suggested that students could supplement their income by borrowing using one of Wonga’s short term, high-interest loans, was deleted, as was the link using the same keyword on Wonga’s homepage and, after a little more prodding, AdWords targets for similar keywords.

The company even published an explanation.

“We would like to clarify that Wonga does not target students,” it said, immediately undermining its own point a few paragraphs later. “The previous article on this page was several years old… the main purpose of the content was search engine optimisation, or ‘SEO,’ which is a common practice for any internet business that wants to appear in searches for relevant subjects.”

So, more accurately: Wonga does target students, SEO being a form of targeting, but, you know, they did it a while ago and didn’t really mean it. Or something.

SEO gone bad

For anyone with an online business the affair was a salient reminder that there is no such thing as ‘SEO content’ in the eyes of site users, just content: the former is not admissible.

Though Wonga’s status as a lightning rod for all criticism of the payday loans sector sparked a national debate, the same thing could happen to any site using SEO poorly. Targeting profitable but irrelevant keywords come back and bites, doubly so if you happen to be controversial loan provider.

Having said that, it would be foolish for any one to think that deleting a page of spammy, outdated link bait really represents a change of heart over at Wonga HQ.

If we accept the premise that marketing loans to students is irresponsible we shouldn’t forget that much more insidious forms of online advertising mean that it will continue, just in a less recognizable form.

For example, Wonga may leave off the student loans keywords for a while but if they target student Facebook profiles in the penny-pinching period before SLC loans are delivered, they won’t have to use them to get their point across.

In a May 2011 interview with StrategyEye Wonga founder Robin Klein said, “[social web data] is our ‘secret sauce’... We are adding more and more data and testing hypotheses using sophisticated mathematical and statistical techniques to verify which bits of data actually are indicative and which aren't.”

If consumer groups are serious about making the payday sector more responsible, and there are certainly more irresponsible players in the market than Wonga, they need to go beyond criticism of marketing messages. The lenders certainly are.

Julia edits consumer site Choose.net which helps people to compare personal loans, though not payday loans.