Mobile Drives Direct Response for Other Ad Channels
In-store ads drive more mobile response than print
The US is still several years away from seeing a smartphone in every pocket, but the rise of mobile and the fast adoption of smartphones have led to many consumers going everywhere with their very own direct-response tool. With the device, they use calls to action from other media to get more information—and sometimes even make a purchase—immediately, wherever they are.
As the habit of pulling out a phone to respond to ads takes hold, some media are enjoying faster uptake than others. According to March 2012 research from Google, conducted by Ipsos MediaCT and TNS Infratest, 43% of smartphone owners used their device to search in response to television ads at least monthly. Nearly as many, 40%, searched in response to ads they saw in stores.
Which New TV Shows Also Have the Top Twitter Stars?
Goodbye to Windows Live (and Whatever It Meant)
Microsoft is leaving behind the once-ubiquitous, yet often confusing, Windows Live as a brand name, and renaming every product that currently features that two-word phrase.
IF you own a Windows-based PC, you may like the operating system well enough. Or you may merely tolerate it, if you give it much thought at all. But whatever your feeling, “love” probably isn’t the word that immediately comes to mind to describe it.
I bring this up because Microsoft acts as if its customers have a strong affection for all things Windows. For the last seven years, it has tried to make Windows the anchor brand for software that is not an operating system.
Facebook Rolling Out “Trending Videos” [Report]
Facebook users have encountered “trending articles” popping up in their news feeds for the past few weeks. This new feature highlights articles that are popular with your friends, ensuring you don’t miss a hot story because it gets pushed down to the bottom of your feed.
Now, Facebook is reportedly doing the same with viral videos.
A new “trending videos” feature is being rolled out to some Facebook users, according to a report from TheNextWeb. Once you’ve got the new feature, it will auto-populate with videos your friends are watching on Facebook’s Open Graph apps.
Are Brands Seeing More Engagement on Google ?
Consumer engagement on the rise on brand pages, but not reaching the levels of other social networks
Brands have been creating company pages on Google+ since November 2011, and consumer engagement with brand content seems to be picking up.
In May, Simply Measured released its report tracking brand page adoption and engagement by looking at the pages for Interbrand’s Top 100 companies—64 of which have verified pages on Google+. Additionally, more consumers are adding these companies to their Circles. As of May 7, 2012, at least 5,000 people had added 35% of these Top 100 brands to their Circles, up from 21% as of February 7. Additionally, 22% of brands had been “Circled” by more than 100,000 people, an increase from 13% in February.
Is There a Problem with Facebook Advertising?
83% of Facebook users say they rarely or never click on Facebook ads or sponsored content
Facebook has received a healthy amount of criticism for its platform’s failure to generate returns on paid advertisements. Part of the problem might be on the brand side, though, with advertisers concentrating too hard on direct-response metrics like conversions instead of long-term awareness and engagement KPIs.
Facebook users are disinclined to spend much time with Facebook ads. According to a May 2012 poll by the Associated Press (AP) and CNBC, 83% of Facebook users in the US hardly ever or never clicked on online ads or sponsored content when using Facebook.
Mobile Devices Keep Execs Connected on Vacation, Weekends
Tablets, smartphones used by more execs after hours than local or national newspapers
eMarketer predicts 115.8 million US consumers will be smartphone users and 54.8 million will be tablet users by year’s end. The swift adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets among the US population has allowed for media consumption to become an anywhere, everywhere activity.
March findings from mobile research firm Prosper Mobile Insights showed US smartphone and tablet owners were very much tethered to these devices even while on vacation—a time once thought to be a screen-free period of relaxation. Just 2.2% of this audience left these devices behind; 78.8% not only took their devices with them but used them “all the time” while on vacation.
A User’s Guide to Finding Storage Space in the Cloud
Cloud storage, now offered by a number of companies in different price ranges, offers a substitute for physical storage, with the additional ability to synchronize across multiple devices.
One day, you’ll gather the grandchildren around you and tell them wondrous tales of life before cloud computing: how you used to put information, photos and music on a floppy disk, a memory card or a USB fob to carry it from one device to another. You’ll tell them how it was called sneakernet because you had to physically move the data.
They will look at you funny, pat your hand and continue to take personal cloud storage for granted.
Facebook Gold Rush: Fanfare vs. Realities
The small gain for Facebook’s stock on its first day of trading suggests that many professional money managers viewed all the hype as just that.
DealBook: Pinterest Raises $100 Million
Pinterest, which allows users to share photographs, recipes and other media on custom “pinboards,” raised $100 million in a funding round led by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten.
Pinterest, the social bookmarking site that is popular among Mormons, brides-to-be and Barack Obama, just got richer.
The site, which allows users to share photographs, recipes and other media on custom “pinboards,” raised $100 million in a funding round led by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, according to an announcement on Thursday.
