Breaking Digital Marketing News

Online Marketer QuinStreet Files for $250 Million IPO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 9:40am.
Foster City, Calif. - QuinStreet, a provider of online marketing services, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $250 million in its initial public offering (IPO).

Report: U.S. Labels Concerned on Spotify Premium Conversions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 12:02pm.
London - The major record labels are reportedly concerned about the percentage of U.S. users likely to pay for ad-supported streaming music service Spotify's for-pay premium version, the Financial Times reported. Spotify, which is available in several European countries, had planned to launch in the U.S. in the fall, but recently said it would delay the launch to 2010. "We think Spotify is a great service but they're going to have to convince us they can convert enough people from free to paid subscriptions to make it worth our while," one label executive told FT.

In-Game Video Ad Firm NeoEdge Merges With Offspring

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 10:22am.
Mountain View, Calif. - NeoEdge, a provider of in-game video ad insertion services, announced on Thursday that it will merge with Offspring, a developer of casual online games.

Adknowledge Buys Ad Network Unit of SocialMedia.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 9:59am.
Kansas City, Mo. - Adknowledge, a provider of behavioral online advertising services, announced on Thursday that it has acquired the advertising business of SocialMedia.com.

Universal Music Licenses Ad-Supported Download Site Guvera

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:21pm.
New York - Universal Music Group on Wednesday announced a deal to provide free, legal downloads to Guvera, an Australia-based, ad-supported download site that plans to launch in the U.S. in February. Launched in 2008, Guvera asks users to fill out demographic profiles and brand preferences, and in turn receive free downloads accompanied by targeted advertisements.

1020 Placecast Lands $5 Million for Location-based Marketing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 9:41am.
San Francisco - Location-based ad network provider 1020 Placecast announced on Wednesday that it has raised $5 million in second round funding.

Cox, NBC Universal Trial Dynamic VOD Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 12:27pm.
Atlanta - Cable TV provider Cox Communications and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) on Tuesday announced a trial of dynamic advertising on Cox's video-on-demand service. The trial will see different ads rotated into on-demand prime-time programs including NBC's "The Office" and USA's "Monk." Up to four ads or promos will be served to viewers at the beginning, as well as within the program.

Social Network Application Developer RockYou Gets $50 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 7:34am.
San Mateo, Calif. - RockYou, a developer of social network applications and advertising technology, has raised $50 million in its fourth round of venture capital financing from existing investor Softbank, TechCrunch reported.

Mobile Ad Firm Millennial Media Raises $16 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 16, 2009 - 8:46am.
Baltimore - Millennial Media, a provider of mobile advertising technology and services, said on Monday that it has raised $16 million in its third round of funding, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA).

Report: News Corp. to Block Google News "Within Months"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 13, 2009 - 9:52am.
London - Days after News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) chairman Rupert Murdoch said he plans to block stories from his stable of newspapers from appearing in Google's news index, the company's chief digital officer, Jonathan Miller, echoed the position and said the move would come in "months and quarters -- not weeks," the Telegraph reported. "The traffic which comes in from Google brings a consumer who more often than not read one article and then leaves the site. That is the least valuable of traffic to us... the economic impact [of not having content indexed by Google] is not as great as you might think. You can survive without it," Miller said at the Monaco Media Forum, according to the Telegraph's coverage.

Microsoft's Massive, comScore to Study In-Game Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 12, 2009 - 11:06am.
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft's (NASD: MSFT) Massive in-game advertising network announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Internet audience measurement firm comScore, to measure the effectiveness of in-game ads. The companies will seek to find out the degree to which in-game ads motivate gamers to visit websites; conduct brand-related searches; and engage in other actions that had previously gone unmeasured. Preliminary research indicates that people exposed to in-game ads registered a 280% increase in visits to a TV channel's website, compared with those not exposed to the ads.

Sony Music Taps Azuki Systems for Mobile Artist Sites

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 12, 2009 - 11:04am.
New York - Sony (NYSE: SNE) Music Entertainment has tapped Azuki Systems to create mobile versions of its artist websites. Among the first Azuki-designed mobile sites for Sony artists is a new official Michael Jackson mobile site, which features news, photos and streaming access to a number of music videos.

Spotify Delays U.S. Launch Until 2010, Cites Publisher Talks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 12, 2009 - 9:48am.
London - Spotify, the ad-supported streaming music service currently available in parts of Europe, has postponed its planned U.S. launch until 2010 as it continues to negotiate agreements with thousands of U.S. music publishers, CEO Daniel Ek announced at the Monaco Media Forum, according to reports.

Universal Music Taps TuneCore for Branded A&R Portals

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 11, 2009 - 2:33pm.
New York - Major record label Universal Music Group on Wednesday announced a deal with TuneCore, a provider of flat-fee digital music distribution for artists to services like iTunes and eMusic, to create Universal-branded portals where unsigned artists can have their music heard by A&R executives from Universal labels. Three such branded sites have been created, for Interscope Geffen A&M, Island Def Jam and Universal Motown. In addition to distribution to iTunes via TuneCore, artists submitting through the Universal-branded sites will receive "potential access to such coveted major label services as worldwide distribution and marketing."

YouTube Experimenting with Skippable Pre-roll Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 11, 2009 - 2:00pm.
San Bruno, Calif. - Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube has begun experimenting with skippable pre-roll ads before some videos, in a bid to increase ad value for advertisers while also giving users some input into the ads to which they're exposed.

Sony to Offer "Meatballs" on Web TV Before DVD Release

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 11:35am.
Los Angeles - Sony (NYSE: SNE) plans to make its animated film "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" available via Internet-connected televisions and Blu-ray players ahead of its physical DVD release date, The New York Times reports. The price tag for the advanced screening, available from Dec. 8 through Jan. 4, is $24.95, which Sony told The Times was "high enough not to alienate retailers."

AOL Reportedly Cuts 100 Jobs as Prelude to Mass Layoffs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 9:30am.
New York - AOL was expected to cut about 100 jobs on Tuesday, in what several industry blogs are calling just a prelude to mass layoffs expected to occur once the company completes its spin out from parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) next month. The moves reportedly are part of CEO Tim Armstrong's "Project Everest" initiative, which aims to trim costs throughout the company.

Qtrax Delays Australia Launch; Seeks $50M in New Funding

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 8:27am.
New York - Qtrax, an ad-supported song download service, has missed its planned launch date for Australia, as it seeks to raise another $50 million in funding, the Financial Times reported.
tags: Deals | VC | Advertising | Music | Qtrax | CLSA |

AppNexus Raises $5 Million for Online Ad Platform

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 8:13am.
New York - AppNexus, the developer of a cloud-based online advertising platform, announced on Tuesday that it has raised a $5 million third round of funding, led by Kodiak Venture Partners.

Ticketing Firm CTS Eventim Partners with iTunes Store

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 9, 2009 - 11:49am.
Hamburg, Germany - CTS Eventim, a Germany-based online ticketing company, has partnered with Apple's iTunes Store to market its concerts to iTunes Store customers, Billboard reports. Under the deal, iTunes customers will receive access to Eventim concert pre-orders before the general sale date, while Eventim.de will provide concert promoters with iTunes-related marketing opportunities.