Breaking Digital Marketing News

Video Service Joost Sells Assets to Adconion Media Group

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 24, 2009 - 8:26am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Adconion Media Group, the operator of an online ad and content network, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Joost, the streaming TV service founded by the creators of Kazaa and Skype. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2007 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, Joost has raised about $50 million in funding for its peer-to-peer-based video distribution service.

Indie Label Collective Merlin Signs MySpace Music Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 9:00am.
Los Angeles - MySpace Music, the joint venture between the News Corp.-owned (NYSE: NWS) social network and the major record labels, on Monday announced a global licensing agreement with Merlin, which represents independent labels accounting for 10% of global music sales. The parties did not say whether Merlin received any equity stake in MySpace Music, although Merlin did note that they have agreed on an "indie participation plan" for Merlin labels and artists, representing "an opportunity to participate in and benefit from the financial growth of MySpace Music with very minimal threshold qualifications."

Google Adds TiVo Viewing Data to Google TV Ads Platform

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 24, 2009 - 10:15am.
Alviso, Calif. - TiVo (NASD: TIVO) announced on Tuesday that it has entered into an audience research agreement with Google (NASD: GOOG), which will see Google integrate TiVo television viewing data into its measurement of audiences for ads sold through the Google TV Ads platform.

Attentio Nabs $786K for Social Media Monitoring Tools

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 24, 2009 - 9:03am.
Brussels, Belgium - Attentio, a developer of social media monitoring services for brands and companies, has raised $786,000 in financing from SRIB/GIMB, TechCrunch reported.

Facebook, Zynga Face Class Action Suit Over Offer-based Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:35am.
Sacramento, Calif. - A class action suit has been filed against Facebook and social network gaming firm Zynga, over "offer-based" advertisements that allegedly resulted in users being billed for unwanted services, Valleywag reported.

Report: Million Spotify Streams Earn Lady Gaga Just $167

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 10:03am.
Los Angeles - Despite racking up more than a million streams in Sweden during a five month period on ad-supported streaming service Spotify, artist Lady Gaga's song "Poker Face" generated a songwriting royalty payment of just $167 from Swedish performing rights society STIM, TorrentFreak reported, citing the local Swedish outlet Expressen.

Study: Online Video Ads Less Effective on Social Networks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 9:36am.
Los Angeles - Online video advertising is more effective on content sites and within email than it is when place on social networking and video game-related sites, according to a report from Eyeblaster, a provider of third-party online ad distribution.

AOL to Unveil New Logo Following Next Month's Spinoff

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 8:42am.
New York - Hoping to reinvigorate its business, AOL said that it plans to alter its logo beginning Dec. 10, the day after the completion of its scheduled spinoff from parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX).

Google Acquires Customized Ad Technology Firm Teracent

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 8:28am.
Mountain View, Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on Monday that it has acquired Teracent, a developer of online display advertising customized by machine-learning algorithms.

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.