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New Windows 7 Ads - "That was my Idea!"

Justin Kerr — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:56:26 -0500

When you write the single most popular operating system in the world, its only a matter of time before people step up and start claiming that many of the cool new features were "my idea!". Playing up on this notion, Microsoft's ad agency has released a new TV campaign aimed at making fun of the unwashed masses who are lining up to take credit for Windows 7.

The first wave of ads will highlight the Windows 7 snap feature that allows you to easily resize windows by simply dragging them to a corner of the screen. They do however conveniently forget to mention that this can be done a whole lot faster by pressing the win + arrow keys, but if they did, you wouldn't need to read our handy shortcut tips now would you?

Take a look at the first batch of ads below, and let us know what part of Windows 7 was your idea.

Small Businesses Look to Facebook and Twitter for Shameless Self Promotion

Paul Lilly — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:32:30 -0500

You and I might call it spam, but small businesses who promote their products on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter call it smart advertising. No matter what you call it, don't expect those product plugs to go away any time soon. In an online survey, Internet2Go found that 45 percent of some 2,400 small business respondents with fewer than 100 employees said they use social networking tools to push their services or wares.

"For these guys, costs was a big factor," said Greg Sterling, an analyst for Internet2Go. "They either need to hire a dedicated person or need more resources and don't have it.

We're talking really small businesses here, as most of the respondents -- 8 out of 10 -- had four or fewer employees and annual marketing budgets less than $5,000. Nearly half of all respondents said they spend less than $1,000 on advertising and marketing, so it makes sense they would flock to Facebook and other essentially free venues.

"We are going to see more and more of this behavior from other small businesses because it's free and you don't have to have expertise to set up these pages," Sterling said.

Apple Ready to Pounce Windows 7 with "Get a Mac" Commercials

Paul Lilly — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:22:10 -0500

Let's for a moment put aside the recent Snow Leopard debacle involving lost data due to a bug in the OS. And while we're overlooking things, we might as well disregard the multitude of positive reactions Windows 7 has received, which is still nearly a week away from being released. None of it matters, because Apple plans to continue its relentless advertising assault against Windows-based PCs.

According to BusinessWeek, Apple is prepared for the Windows 7 launch with a series of "Get a Mac" ads that will air at the same time. Whereas some of the criticisms coming from the Apple camp might have been justified during Vista's forgettable reign, what could the rival OS maker possibly have to say about Windows 7?

"It will likely make the case that Macs are less susceptible to viruses and are best suited to its popular iPods and iPhones. And look for it to poke fun at Microsoft making XP owners go through an arduous process to upgrade to Windows 7 -- one that includes backing up all their files to an external drive, reformatting their PC, and then reinstalling all of their old programs, assuming they still have the CDs," BusinessWeek wrote.

It's an interesting tactic, but we're not so sure Apple's message will resonate as loudly as it did when Vista made it all too easy to go on the offensive. Think about it for a moment - is a somewhat bothersome upgrade process for XP owners really enough to sway consumers over to OS X? Phil Schiller, Apple's senior VP for Worldwide Product Marketing believes it is.

"Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out," Schiller stated. "If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?"

Digg’s New User-Supported Ad Model is Raking in the Dough

Jason Barry — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:54:23 -0500

The New York Times got a chance to sit down with Chief Strategy Officer at Digg, Mike Maser, to discuss the overall success of the special ad-serving engine it integrated into its web service earlier this summer.

They worked on integrating their “social voting” mechanism into sponsored ad placement to provide sponsors and users with a better advertising experience. The users can digg specific ads allowing them to travel up the flow of diggs. Each ad’s cost-per-click is adjusted based upon its number of diggs—higher cost for lesser (buried) diggs. The idea is to encourage advertisers to create ads that are worthwhile to the user, if the ad gets buried, it gets expensive, urging the sponsor to pull the ad down.

Maser boasted that the new platform proved effective, “so far we’ve already tripled our revenue forecast from this initiative.” An Intel sponsored blog earned a 2.2 percent click-through-rate, others earning close to 3 percent, compared with the average regular display ad on Digg earning about .08 percent.

Have you noticed the ads? Have you clicked on any, or Dugg any? Considering the web will likely always have ad sponsorship, what do you think of the new model?

Microsoft Plans to Inundate New PCs with Ads-ridden Office 2010 Starter Edition

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:18:26 -0500

If you buy a Windows 7 PC in the future, you might not be getting that copy of Microsoft Works nobody uses. Instead it will come with a completely free version of Office 2010. Oh… Office 2010 Starter Edition, that is. It will be a limited functionality version of Office supported by Ads. The nature of the ads was not made clear.

According to Microsoft, the Office Starter Edition will have, “a simple path to upgrade to a fully featured version of Office 2010 directly from within the product.” This is probably an effort to get customers used to Office features in the hopes that they will purchase the full version. Microsoft will have to walk a fine line to make the ads annoying enough that people will want to get rid of them, but not so annoying that they don’t even use Office.

The new PCs will already have the full version of Office 2010 installed on the hard drive. Customers will simply have to purchase a card from a retailer with the unlock code. The card will apparently be sold through some “major electronic retail outlets”. Microsoft hasn’t detailed which OEMs would be installing the Office Starter Edition software. Try to contain yourself waiting for this one.

Skype Tacks on Click-to-Call Ads

Paul Lilly — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:05:07 -0500

Some of the calls you make to landlines via Skype will soon be free. That's because after testing its click-to-call ads on the Web for several months, Skype today announced it is rolling out the new business-funded product in a partnership with European Directories.

"Partnering with European Directories is a key part of bringing our new business funded click-to-call product to market and providing advertisers with solutions that can help them connect with customers in new and innovative ways," said Don Albert, GM and VP of Americas and Advertising for Skype. "When a call is free and only one click away, we believe it can have a positive impact for a business because there are fewer barriers to start a call. That can result in more qualified leads, more engagement, and possibly a higher rate of conversion for a business."

Calls that are funded by a business will be highlighted with a blue "Free Call" button that appears anywhere online where a phone number is displayed, Skype explained. This includes search engines, internet yellow pages, and local search sites.

Image Credit: TechCrunch

Yahoo Rolls Out $100 Million Television Ad

Paul Lilly — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:24:12 -0500

You have to spend money to make money, and Yahoo will spend $100 million (or more) on its new marketing campaign, which formerly rolled out on Monday. As part of the pricey campaign, TV ads will begin airing on AMC, ESPN, USA, Comedy Central, Bravo, and several other broadcast networks in the U.S.

"You are about to enter a place. A place where time and space collide, and breed wonder, and joy, and wow. Where news travel faster, where friends come closer, and you go farther," Yahoo's new Anthem ad starts out.

The initial ad appears to be more about pushing the company's 'It's Y!ou' slogan than anything else, as there's no mention of specific Yahoo products or technologies. But according to Elisa Steel, Chief Marketing Officer for Yahoo, the search company is planning on rolling out some new products and promoting them through future ads.

Anthem Ad Link

New Windows 7 Ad has me “Waiting for a Spaceship”

Justin Kerr — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:09:32 -0500

Love em or hate em, Microsoft ads certainly have churros… I mean Character. As the October 22nd launch of Windows 7 approaches we expected to start seeing a new wave of advertisements, and the first of these have already begun appearing on YouTube. The theme of the new ads appears to revolve around the new UI features such as Aero Shake, Taskbar, and themes.

Maximum PC readers might know these features inside and out, but it’s actually a smart move to start getting mainstream consumers interested in the idea of upgrading to the latest and greatest. Focusing on the UI is also an area that Apple can’t easily counter, mainly because its new operating system is almost indistinguishable from its predecessor.

Can anybody tell me why this guy is waiting for his spaceship to fly?