Posted 06/08/09 at 09:30:00 AM by Paul Lilly

Social news website Digg announced plans to take its news ranking system and apply the same concept to a new advertising platform. Called Digg Ads, you, the reader, will have greater control over which ads are displayed and which ones gets buried, the site says.

"The more an ad is Dugg, the less the advertiser will have to pay," Digg wrote in a blog. "Conversely the more an ad is buried, the more the advertiser is charged, pricing it out of the system."

Digg says the new ad platform will initially debut as a pilot program later this summer. The ads will appear next to stories in the river, with sponsored content taking on a similar look and feel to regular stories. However, the site says advertisements will be "clearly marked as sponsored."

According to Digg, this system represents a win-win proposition for both readers and advertisers, giving the former a way to control what content appears, and the latter real-time input on whether or not their products are relevant to the readership.

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digg, ads, advertising, social news, dugg, bury

Posted 05/13/09 at 09:03:24 AM by Paul Lilly

You knew it was coming sooner or later. Microsoft's Laptop Hunters commercials have hit a sore spot with Apple after attempting to expose the MacBook as an overpriced, underpowered (but pretty) platform, so it was only a matter of time before Apple fired back.

Starring Justin Long and John Hodgman (who else?), the latter stands in front of a long line of suited PCs. Two by two, a handful of of PCs are disqualified as an actress lists what's she's looking for (big screen, fast processor), until she lobs and oft-used Apple bomb.

"I just need something that works without crashing or viruses or a ton of headaches," the actress demands.

Disgusted, Hodgman and the remaining PCs march off-screen, leaving Justin Long (Mac) as the remaining option. You can check it out here, then hit the jump and post tell us what you think.

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87

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microsoft, pc, apple, ads, advertising, laptop hunters

Posted 05/07/09 at 11:25:16 AM by Paul Lilly

Let Microsoft and Apple fight over who has the better platform and OS. Meanwhile, Intel has unleashed a new ad campaign that should appeal to viewers of either camp, assuming those viewers have a funny bone. The new ads showcase Intel as a different kind of rock star  -- a geek uprising, if you will -- and if you're not amused, well, you just might not have a sense of humor.

The first of a series of ads stars Ajay Bhatt (portrayed by an actor), co-inventor of the USB, walking down an office aisle filled with giddy fans and signing autographs. A graphic appears at end proclaiming, "Our rock stars aren't like your rocks stars." While tongue-in-cheek, there's a bigger message Intel is trying to send, one which focuses on the brand and not the product.

"The fact that we're an ingredient, it's easy to get lost," said Deborah Conrad, VP and GM of Intel's corporate marketing group. "We really needed to put some meaning into Intel, so 'Intel inside' means something again."

If nothing else, it means a few chuckles, but Intel hopes it leads to better sales as well. No laughing matter, Intel's first quarter revenue slid 26 percent to $7.1 billion, while profit is down 55 percent. True to Intel form, the company will look to spend its way out of a recession, and that includes the new ad campaign.

Check it out here, then hit the jump and tell us what you think.

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intel, cpu, processor, ads, hardware, build a pc

Posted 04/13/09 at 10:03:21 AM by Paul Lilly

No one has been more critical of Microsoft's first attempts at responding to Apple's "I'm a Mac" ads than myself, and I still contend that those quirky commercials featuring Jerry Seinfeld missed the mark wider than Brett Favre in a critical game (you Jets fans still steaming over a 3-interception, 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins know what I'm talking about). Judging by the comments in those earlier blogs (see here and here), either expectations were disparingly low, or other PC users really did find a certain charm in talking about chewy computers or watching Bill Gates do a geriatric robot.

This time around I'm more than willing to give credit where credit is due, and it belongs to Microsoft for its latest offensive against Apple. Microsoft has finally zeroed in on the high price tags that accompany Macs, and it isn't letting up. The first ad featured a woman named Lauren on the hunt for a 17-inch laptop under $1,000, and not surprisingly, she wasn't able to find one in an Apple store. "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person," she concluded. Not long after, a second ad emerged, this time upping the ante to $1,500 and featuring a member of the opposite sex who surmised that "Macs, to me, are about the aesthetics more than they are the computing power. I don't want to pay for the rent, I want to pay for the computer."

See what happens when a mother-and-son duo take on Microsoft's "Laptop Hunters" challenge after the jump. 

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microsoft, pc, ads, commercial, ad, business, marketing

Posted 03/27/09 at 05:49:42 PM by Andy Salisbury

Ads are a necessary evil when browsing the net. We all see them, we all browse right past them, but it looks like the powers that be are working on new and inventive ways to shove them in our faces.

The latest concoction brewed up by the folks at Pixazza, Inc. is a tool that turns items in pictures into clickable links (presumably to a virtual check-out with that item). And, while supposedly the backend for implementing this feature is a bit complicated, the user interface is intuitive. Visitors to a site will be able to simply move their mouse over an image to reveal any additional information they might want, via a pop-up tab.

So, if you see Scarlett Johansson wearing some sweet shades, and you’re looking to get yourself a pair, look no further then the pop-ups that will soon accompany your images.

Progress!

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Google, ads, adsense, Pixazza, Advertise

Posted 03/09/09 at 07:23:10 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Youtube houses arguably one of the largest music-video collections on the internet, which even features some hard-to-find musical gems. Dan Nelson, a 15-year-old developer, has built an iTunes-esque, free-music service that streams Youtube music to the user’s desktop. His downloadable music player is called Muziic.

Muziic can be considered the notional progeny of Youtube and iTunes: it delivers free music available on Youtube in a seamless manner one associates with iTunes. But its adolescent creator is yet to secure Google’s endorsement.

A Youtube spokesperson told Cnet that Muziic appears to be in breach of the Youtube API terms of use. But he admitted that their inquiry is still in its youth. “This is the first we've become aware of the site,” he said.

Google’s gripe may emanate from the fact that there is no mechanism in Muziic to display the advertisements that usually accompany Youtube videos. So Muziic is effectively depriving Google of ads revenue that is lawfully its due. Having used Muziic, this author can vouch for its utility. But will it be music to Google’s ears?

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Software, itunes, music, Google, copyright, ads, website, youtube, Napster, application, dan nelson, muziic

Posted 12/18/08 at 10:33:27 AM by Paul Lilly

If ever there was a reason to consider switching IM clients to Pidgin or Trillian, it would be the concept of in-chat IM ads. That's exactly what Yahoo has been experimenting with in its Yahoo Messenger instant messaging software since last August.

"Ads in Yahoo Messenger will allow us to put even more resources behind developing and delivering valuable free features and services," Yahoo said. "Yahoo Messenger is a free service to our users, and our goal is to provide a useful and relevant experience while ensuring this is a profitable business for Yahoo. Yahoo is inherently an advertising-driven business."

The test ends this month, but Yahoo isn't offering so much as a hint as to what it will decide to do once the test is finished. However, it might not take much to convince the search company to implement in-chat IM ads. The company has been struggling financially and recently laid off over 1,500 employees. On the bright side, the ads don't appear to be terribly intrusive. Yahoo claim users will see ads at most once per day.

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Software, IM, ads, advertising, Instant Message, chat, yahoo messenger

Posted 11/14/08 at 11:40:46 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube might not ever be the cash cow Google hoped it would be when it purchased the video sharing site for $1.65 billion, but it won't be from lack of trying. The latest money making scheme being rolled out is a new ad platform YouTube is calling Sponsored Videos.

Sponsored Videos will let users promote their videos by bidding on keywords, whether those users be individuals or corporations. To help with the process, Google has created automated tools for users to place their bids for the keywords they want. As surfers type in those keywords, YouTube will display the tagged videos next to the search results. The new feature seems like an obvious one, so what took YouTube so long to implement it?

"In hindsight, it is a natural transition for YouTube to make," said Matthew Liu, a YouTube product manager. "We've been working on this for months. The key was, we wanted to make sure we got it right. There are a lot of intricacies involved. YouTube is a video discovery platform. We've been integrating with Google AdWords for some time, and now we're at a place where it can be win and win."

The Sponsored Videos will be clearly labeled when they appear following a keyword search and come priced on a cost-per click formula.

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Google, ads, youtube, videos, search terms