July 29, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aspenbloom Pet Care Blogs for Charity in Blogathon 2005

Blogs are a thriving new medium to deliver content. This is taking blogging to the next level to raise money for your favorite charity

ALBUQUERQUE, NM July 29, 2005 - Aspenbloom Pet Care, a business that specializes in educating pet owners on natural alternative prevention care for pets will be participating in a 24 hour Blogathon event for charity starting on August 6, 2005 at 9AM EST.

[Read More!]

Can the future of TV be seen on the Web?

But determined not to make that mistake twice, CBS plans to launch a 24-hour, Internet-based video news service that will let visitors pick reports they want to watch.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

A Thought About Radio...
By Cory Treffiletti

Why isn't radio focusing on the elements that make it a crucial medium?

This week I had the pleasure of sitting with a local radio personality, Chuy Gomez, from 106 KMEL Jams, in San Francisco. KMEL is the No. 1 Hip Hop and R&B station for the Bay Area, and the discussion centered on the future of radio and how to combat its decreasing listenership.

[Read More!]

Blogging + Video = Vlogging

By Katie Dean

It was inevitable: Bloggers who previously wrote endlessly about everything from politics to tech tips to how to fry an egg on a hot sidewalk can now take their commentary, advice and random experiments to the next level by filming and broadcasting their work, thanks to the latest web trend -- video blogging.

Video blogs -- also known by their shorter, clunkier name, vlogs -- are blogs that primarily feature video shorts instead of text.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Podcasting goes from indie to mainstream overnight

Traditional Media Companies Buying Their Way On To The Internet
by Michael Deiber

THE ACQUISITION OF INTERNET COMPANIES by traditional media entities has continued unabated in the first half of 2005, with an uptick in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that has the market approaching heights it hasn't seen for some five years. In June, media giant Gannett bought PointRoll, a Web-based suite of online advertising technologies, in a transaction that was said to be in the $100 million range. The same month, the Scripps Howard News Service bought the comparison-shopping service Shopzilla for about $500 billion. And in February, The New York Times Co. paid $410 billion to acquire About.com.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Online Conversation Benefits
By Tom Hespos

My second cousin Susan, who shares my last name, is slowly but surely gaining ground on me.

For years, I've enjoyed the top listings on Google and Yahoo! under my last name. Hespos.com has always come up No. 1, and anyone searching for me could easily find my online home. Recently, however, Susan's faculty profile on a Web page at Vanderbilt has taken over the No. 1 slot on Yahoo! under "Hespos" and her listings are climbing up the relevance ladder to overtake many of mine, including the listing for the Hespos.com Web site. (I still, however, own No. 1 on Google. Heh heh.)

What did the trick for Susan?

[Read More!]

Yahoo! Apparently Readying RSS Search
by Gavin O'Malley

APPARENT PROOF THAT YAHOO! IS testing an RSS search function appeared online Friday in the form of an RSS search Web site. The site--which would help users navigate the multitude of existing feeds-- became inaccessible later in the day, following press inquiries regarding the subject. A Yahoo! spokeswoman said the company is always testing new and promising services, but refused to comment on RSS search specifically.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

DoubleClick: Web Sites Influence Buying Decisions
by Shankar Gupta

WHEN IT COMES TO INFLUENCING consumers, shopping sites, company Web pages, search engines and the like, stack up well against television ads, according to a report released Monday by DoubleClick. The report, DoubleClick's third annual Touchpoints study, examined how consumers rely on different media channels when making purchase decisions. For the report, researchers surveyed 2,110 adult Internet users in the United States last December, questioning them on the media channels that influence their buying decisions in 10 categories: travel, automotive, telecommunications, banks and credit cards, mortgage and investment, movies, consumer electronics, home products, personal and home care, and prescription drugs.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Merrill Lynch: E-Commerce Ad Spending To Grow 28 Percent in '05
by Wendy Davis

LEADING ONLINE RETAILERS WILL INCREASE sales and marketing sending by an estimated 28 percent this year, while revenues will grow just 24 percent, predicts a recent Merrill Lynch report on e-commerce. But, despite the predicted year-over-year growth, the report, released last week, also estimates that ad spending at Amazon, eBay and Overstock was down sequentially in the second quarter. Ad spending for online travel, by contrast, was estimated to have increased from the first to second quarter.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

P&G Exec: Online Industry Needs Uniform Measurement System
by Wendy Davis

CHICAGO -- TO TRULY COMPETE with television, the interactive industry should develop its own measurement system, comparable to the Nielsen ratings, Ted McConnell, Procter & Gamble's manager of interactive marketing and innovation, told the audience Monday at Ad:Tech in Chicago. McConnell said the proportion of ad budgets spent on Web advertising -- just 3.7 percent last year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau -- remains small because the Web, unlike TV, has no generally accepted measurement system. On the contrary, he said, new online products seem to go hand-in-hand with new measurements -- a state of affairs he likened to cars being produced without uniform speedometers.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Power Deal: Google, Hearst Back New Outlet For Media
by Shankar Gupta and Joe Mandese

SEARCH GIANT GOOGLE, HAS TEAMED with publisher Hearst Corp. and financial institution Goldman, Sachs & Co., to back a promising new means of distributing broadband Internet connections that could radically change the way people -- and even electronic devices -- send and receive data. The unusual alliance has made a nearly $100 million investment in Current Communications Group (CCG), a company that is developing broadband services over electrical power lines, according to a report in Thursday's edition of The Wall Street Journal.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

How Do You Iron Chef?
By Kevin Newcomb

When Food Network began planning a promotional campaign for the second season of Iron Chef America, it decided to focus the bulk of its spending online.

The spend was made on high-impact takeovers of top portals' entertainment sections; Yahoo! Television and TV Guide this past weekend, and AOL Television next weekend. It will complement those buys with placements on smaller sites, as well as limited TV and outdoor ads. The campaign goal is not so much to attract new viewers but to connect with the substantial audience the show built in its first season and to alert them to the start of the new season, which began Sunday night.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Entrepreneurs Are Reaching Millions of Potential Clients Through Podcasting

As the number of podcast programs increase, only professional sounding shows are expected to last and prosper. The Podcasting Handbook for Busy Entrepreneurs teaches businesses how to create professional sounding podcasts to increase exposure within their niche market.

(PRWEB) July 25, 2005 -- Podcasting is projected to reach 60 million people by the year 2010. Within two days, iTunes registered 1 million subscribers by adding Podcasting feeds to their business. However, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Fortune Magazine, very few of the near 10,000 podcasts on the Internet are worth listening to due to poor quality and content. Eventually, only the most professional sounding podcasts will survive.

[Read More!]

FCC: Broadband Lines Soar 34 Percent in '04
by Wendy Davis

BY THE END OF LAST year, high-speed Web access in the United States jumped 34 percent to 37.9 million lines for all U.S. businesses and households--up from 28.2 million in 2003, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC also reported that growth in high-speed access accelerated toward the end of the year. The number of lines providing access at 200 kpbs or more in one direction grew by 17 percent in the latter six months of last year, compared to 15 percent in the first six months.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

From Niche Marketing to Fragmentation

by Stephen Pierce

Think about something Bill Cosby said and ask yourself 'how does this apply to your current marketing. Cosby stated “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.' Are you trying to be everything to everybody? Are you even trying to be one specific thing to everybody?

Re-examine your marketing strategy and trim the fat and focus on very specific niche markets. Heck, go even further than niche marketing and fragment that niche to micro levels.

[Read More!]

Mainstream Media Harnesses Blogosphere
by Shankar Gupta

BLOGGERS HAVE LONG DEPENDED ON mainstream media, linking to and critiquing established publications' online articles. Now, mainstream media is turning the tables. Salon.com and America Online are among the companies that have recently started providing online readers with links to blogs that discuss specific stories via Technorati, a search engine that crawls the millions of sites that make up the blogosphere. Newsweek magazine is also in discussions with Technorati for this feature, according to a Newsweek spokeswoman. Salon.com added the Technorati links in mid-May, and the links appeared on AOL's official Live 8 page last weekend.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

The RSS Promise for Internet Users

by Rok Hrastnik

The RSS promise for end-users is simple:

» A unified one-stop-shop to consume online content, without having to visit dozens of sites every day to see what’s new and without having their online subscriptions interfere with their personal and business e-mail communications;

» Complete control over their content consumption, including a quick, easy and reliable mechanism to unsubscribe from content they do not wish to receive;

[Read More!]

World needs your ideas? Podcasting to the rescue!
By RODNEY HO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/07/05

The Internet has spawned yet another outlet for navel gazers and egotists to share their pontifications on any topic with the whole world.

Podcasting — a word that didn't exist two years ago — allows everyday Jacks and Jills to be know-it-all DJs, loudmouth shock jocks or opinionated political talkers.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Optimizing Google Adsense For Better Performance and More Money!

by Martin Lemieux

So you want to make money with Google Adsense? I don't blame you, who doesn't want residual income! This article will show you how to better optimize Google Adsense to make more money from your web site(s).

Before we get into it, learn more about Google Adsense here:
http://www.google.com/services/adsense_tour/

[Read More!]

International Online Campaigns Grow
By Kevin Newcomb

As more U.S.-based advertisers expand internationally, interactive agencies are finding themselves facing new challenges.

Though the globalization of digital marketing is nothing new, it has taken on new proportions in recent months, according to many media buyers. They say as regional clients have gone multinational, agencies have had to build up their regional hubs and more intensively manage cross-border communication.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Hi fellow online marketers! Recently I heard from the President of MediaEyesOnly.com He has a pretty incredible newsletter that focuses on offering talent to the media. The media really subscribe to this newsletter too because they are always looking for talent. This is a great way to get yourself noticed in your field of endeavor and promote your business. No, this is NOT an affiliate program. I asked Chris (the owner and also air talent in Tulsa, OK) if I could offer his newsletter to our readers. Why? So I can help you and him too. So I don't make a dime off of this offer and I don't get a special deal with Chris, I just thought it would help you promote your businesses and help Chris too. Collaboration my friends is based in abundance! So, here is the info and a taste of the newsletter for you:
[Read More!]

The Hidden (and Powerful) Benefits of Frequenting Forums

by Diane Hughes

While most people understand the benefits of forums from a 'gathering information' perspective, many don’t think about the hidden benefits of forums. The most common reason for visiting is to ask questions or get advice. That's a good enough reason to go, but there are other - more beneficial - reasons to become a forum frequenter.

Besides providing a wealth of quality information, forums can also be powerful promotional tools. There are three distinct ways forums can benefit you. And all it takes is a few minutes a day to help others in need.

[Read More!]

Study: Readers Remember Ads That Interrupt Copy
by Wendy Davis

ONLINE READERS REMEMBER ADS BETTER when they appear in the middle of articles than in the beginning, but give more credibility to ads that appear at the start of an article--below the masthead and before the byline--according to a study by researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communication. For the study, "Ad Placement in E-Newspapers Affects Memory, Attitude," which recently appeared in the Newspaper Research Journal, the authors questioned 114 undergraduates who were shown news stories containing ads that appeared at the beginning, middle, or end of the article.

"When brand awareness is the goal, advertisers should select the middle location. When image enhancement is a goal, the beginning location may be the best choice," states the report.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

The Age of Unbundling
By Cory Treffiletti

What do you think of "unbundling"?

When I started in advertising way back in 1995 (insert snicker here), the pendulum had just started to swing towards the model of unbundling. Agencies argued that you needed to unbundle media and creative; unbundle brand development and direct response; unbundle traditional from interactive. The terms thrown around were "Best of Breed" and "Category Experts."

[Read More!]

Google Reportedly Ready To Launch Firefox Toolbar
by Shankar Gupta

GOOGLE WILL RELEASE A SEARCH toolbar application for the open source Firefox browser Thursday, according to an e-mail message that appeared late last week on a Web site for Mozilla developers. The product will have roughly the same functionality as Google's toolbar for Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to the e-mail, which was sent to Firefox distributors under the name of Google developer Fritz Schneider. Google did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Cell Phone Marketing: Podcasting, Ringtones, Wallpaper, and Games are Hot in 2005!

by Jack Humphrey

Cell phone and PDA cell phone combo users are downloading, buying, and playing more and more add-ons than ever before. From cell phone wallpaper (backgrounds and images) to games and ringtones, it seems cell phone users just cannot get enough!

There are also even newer software and information packages that come as add-ons to the PDA/cell phone market. You can download software that tells you how to mix any drink imaginable and even tells you which types of glasses to use for each drink.

[Read More!]

Slate To Offer Podcasts
by Tobi Elkin

THE ONLINE MAGAZINE SLATE WILL start offering podcasts of two or three stories per day starting July 15, and has snared DaimlerChrysler as a launch sponsor. The company is expected to promote vehicles in the Mercedes-Benz C-Class product line on the podcasts. Ads will appear at the beginning of each podcast, and will have prominent positions throughout Slate. "Certain Slate stories each day are going to be podcasts," said Cliff Sloan, the online magazine's publisher. "We know that Slate users are early adopters of technology, so we think we have a great audience for podcasts."

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

An Internet Marketing Secret: Using Tie-Downs to Increase Sales

by Mike Adams

Copyright 2005 Mike Adams

If you could get your prospective customers nodding their heads in agreement with every major point in your sales copy, that would be likely to increase your sales, wouldn't it?

If you could get people saying 'yes' to almost any marketing statement of your choosing - long before they even get to the close - that would be valuable to you, right?

[Read More!]

Report: Media M&As Climb To $27 Billion This Year
by Michael Deibert

LED BY DEALS SUCH AS Yellow Pages Group's $2.07 billion purchase of Advertising Directory Solutions and IAC/InterActive's $1.85 billion takeover of Ask Jeeves, 266 media and information mergers and acquisitions were completed in the first six months of the year-- compared to 231 in the first six months of last year, according to a report released Thursday by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. The total value of these transactions totaled nearly $27 billion, a more than 180 percent increase over the value of deals completed in the first half of last year.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Adding Content To Your Site Every Day

by Rick Rouse

If you have been a webmaster for more than a week, you've surely heard the saying 'Content Is King'. And it really is true! This article will explain why the regular addition of fresh content to your website is so crucial and explain several ways to do it easily and inexpensively (even free).

Why Adding Fresh Content Regularly Is So Important

Adding new content to your website on a regular basis is the key to your online success for several reasons:

[Read More!]

WebSideStory: Google Accounts For Most Search Engine Referrals
by Wendy Davis

GOOGLE APPARENTLY SENDS MORE ONLINE users to e-commerce and other business sites than all other search engines combined, according to a study released this week by analytics company WebSideStory. For the report, WebSideStory looked at all traffic on June 6 to Web sites of the businesses in its network--ranging from large companies such as electronic retailer Best Buy to thousands of smaller operations. WebSideStory found that more than half--52 percent--of the U.S. traffic to those sites that came from search engines originated with Google. That proportion represents growth from about 45 percent last June.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Make Money Blogging

by Matt Bacak

You have created a blog and your blog is dedicated to a niche industry. Have you ever thought that the blog could make money for you? We would look here in this article, ways and means, to make money blogging. Lets first have a look at what are the prerequisites for a blog needed to make money:

[Read More!]

Coen Forecasts 15 Percent Growth In Online Ad Spending
by David Kaplan

BOB COEN, UNIVERSAL MCCANN'S SENIOR vice president and director of forecasting, predicted that online ad spending will be up 15 percent to $7.8 billion this year. But, despite the predicted double-digit growth, his report wasn't all positive: online marketers have slowed down their advertising in the first quarter of this year, he said. "A review of some of the largest and most important Internet advertisers suggested that online spending for traditional advertising on the Internet has slowed considerably," Coen said.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Google's Beta RSS Aggregator
by Shimon Sandler

RSS IS STILL IN AN early-adoption stage. And, if RSS is a game of follow the leader, then MSN and Yahoo! are the leaders and Google is the follower. But, look out. In their usual innovative fashion, Google has incorporated an RSS reader into Gmail. It's called Web Clips, and it's on top of the screen. Not everybody has it. Google automatically subscribes you to the RSS feeds from Ask Yahoo!, Engadget, and Reuters: Oddly Enough. Of course, Google rotates sponsored advertising from Adsense throughout the feeds.
[Read More!]

Grokster May Haunt Podcasting

By Katie Dean

Apple's new podcasting service could be in a sticky situation if podcasters post copyrighted material, thanks to Monday's Grokster decision by the Supreme Court, some experts say.

But others suggested Apple's new podcast hub could prove to be an ideal one-stop-shop for securing music licenses for homebrew radio shows.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

No Sales? Your Traffic Is Not The Problem!

by John Iacovakis

There are thousands of web sites getting thousands of visits to their websites every week without making a sale! I can tell you the traffic is not the problem. Well maybe from some traffic providers out there. But, in most cases the web site itself is not able to convert web site visitors to customers.

A visitor most likely will not take the time to find out what you’re offering. Especially since he was not looking for your website and your site popped up (or under). You better give him a reason to not close your pop under!


[Read More!]

Survey: Two of Three Online Mags Have Web-Only Advertisers
by Wendy Davis

TWO-THIRDS OF CONSUMER MAGAZINE WEB sites run ads from marketers that don't also advertise in the print editions, according to a recent study by magazine publishing group International Federation of the Periodical Press. The report, based on an April survey of 71 consumer magazine Web sites worldwide, found that 66 percent of such sites report that they have Web-only advertisers--up from 53 percent two years ago. U.S. Web sites surveyed included Meredith Corporation, PC World Communications, and Readers Digest Association.

CLICK HERE to continue reading....

Hey, Stop Stealing My Affiliate Commissions!

by Anik Singal

Don’t get offended, I was not speaking directly to you. I was speaking to the horrible companies who are stealing not only my affiliate commissions, but yours too!

These companies are called “spyware.” They specialize in invading a consumer’s computer through unethical means and then literally replacing YOUR affiliate ID with their own! It is almost as if you never even existed!

[Read More!]

A&E: Blogging for Body Art
By Enid Burns

A&E Networks has launched a tattoo culture Weblog to promote its new television show on that subject. Created by viral marketing agency ElectricArtists, it's the second lifestyle blog that firm has launched for a client in as many months.


CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Supreme Court: Cable Companies Need Not Share Lines
by Michael Deibert

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT RULED in a 6-3 decision on Monday that cable companies, unlike telecoms, need not share their lines with rival Internet providers. The case, which pitted Brand X Internet Services against the Federal Communications Commission and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (whose members include cable giants Comcast and Time Warner), potentially could lead to fewer broadband options for consumers down the road, analysts said. But in the short term, the holding--which preserves the status quo--is seen as unlikely to affect service or availability.

CLICK HERE to continue reading....

US court overturns ruling on cable Internet lines
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned a ruling that cable high-speed Internet lines must be opened to rival online service providers.

By a 6-3 vote, the justices overturned a U.S. appeals court ruling that cable high-speed Internet service, known as broadband, has a telecommunications component and is subject to traditional telephone network access requirements.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Microsoft and Google Show It's Time for RSS Marketing

by Rok Hrastnik

Many internet marketers are still wondering whether to start marketing with RSS or not. It seems that not even all the case studies, hard metrics and benefits available can’t convince them, or everyone would be jumping on the RSS wagon by now.

Just as an overview, here are some of the benefits marketers are missing out on by not marketing with RSS:

[Read More!]

Microsoft To Take RSS Mainstream
by Shankar Gupta

AS EXPECTED, MICROSOFT FRIDAY UNVEILED plans to increase support for RSS applications in the upcoming seventh version of Internet Explorer, as well as its upcoming operating system, code-named Longhorn. The move signals the increasing importance of RSS technology, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "First and foremost, this announcement really demonstrates how mainstream RSS has become, and now we're really seeing the big players get involved," Gartenberg said. The upcoming changes in Explorer and Longhorn will make RSS available to all users of the new Windows platform; today, RSS is mainly used by a narrow, tech-savvy group.

CLICK HERE to continue reading....

Just An Online Minute...New Ipod Software

Here's something new for your iPod today. Apple introduced new software that's supposed to make the device easier to use and offers a podcast directory that offers more than 3,000 free audio programs and a menu that enables users to automatically send new podcasts to their computers. Apple also launched color screens for the iPod.

Podcasts on Apple's iTunes Music Store include a variety of topics ranging from movies to technology, and are offered by blogs and major news organizations.

[Read More!]

Scarborough: Newspapers Grow Readers Via The Web
by David Kaplan

THE COMPETITION BETWEEN ONLINE AND print for readers is more of a symbiosis when it comes to newspapers, a study released last week by marketing data consultant Scarborough Research found. For the report, Scarborough combined the audience of traditional printed newspapers with the audience of their Web sites, and found that a significant number of people only read the Web versions of newspapers. Web audiences also are younger, overall, than readers of the printed version.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

A Message for the Sales Folks - 2005
By Cory Treffiletti

Once or twice in my publishing career, I've taken a moment to write from the perspective of a planner/buyer and let the sales people of our industry know what the agency folks are thinking. This topic inevitably gets the most responses on the Spin board (as well as some of the more heated ones) as some people think I can be a little tough, while others thank me for my honest approach. I've left the topic alone for a couple years now, but the new rush of entrepreneurial spirit is making me think it's time to re-address the topic in the light of 2005.

[Read More!]

TNS: Internet Ad Spend Will Grow 7.6 Percent
by David Kaplan

SPENDING ON WEB ADS, OTHER than paid search listings, is expected to grow 7.6 percent, while ad spending across all media likely will rise 3.4 percent this year, according to TNS Media Intelligence. But, cautioned TNS CEO and president Steve Fredericks, the medium is entering a phase in which year-on-year comparisons are becoming more difficult. "I don't think we've seen such buzz surrounding a media industry since its first heyday in 2000," Fredericks said at a presentation in New York City. "There is considerable press attention not only on who is moving ad dollars to the Internet and what percentage the Internet is of an overall brand marketing budget--but also many opinions on how the industry is and will be tracked in the future.

CLICK HERE to continue reading....

What is Domain Name Backordering? Watch Out For This One!

by Martin Lemieux

Domain names are the hottest net-real-estate on the internet. It's no wonder services like: 'Domain Name Backordering' is available to the public. Can someone really backorder your domain right from underneath you? Guess again...

So what is Domain Name Backordering?

[Read More!]

Broadband Fight Heads to Congress

By Michael Grebb

WASHINGTON -- The nation's high court this week gave the latest hard knock to key rules in the highly regulated telecommunications industry. Now the question is whether the century-old competition scheme will topple completely, or settle back into a new structure.

Proponents of "open access" suffered a major setback on Monday in the so-called Brand X case, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided (.pdf) that the cable industry doesn't have to let competitive ISPs onto its wires.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...