(PRLEAP.COM) Whittier, California. A new outdoor advertising and event promotion company announced its presence in a big way during the recent Newport Harbor Boat Parade held this past holiday season in Newport Beach, California. The announcement came in the form of a 20 foot tall inflatable Santa Claus cruising the harbor atop a multi-million dollar yacht during the run of the parade. The company responsible for putting him there was Made-U-Look Promotions of Whittier, California.
Made-U Look Promotions is a rental company specializing in outdoor inflatable advertising balloons, searchlights, inflatable dancers and many other attention-getting promotional products. From its central location in the San Gabriel Valley, Made-U-Look Promotions services all of Southern California with outdoor advertising and event promotions.
Brandon M. Reeves, President and Founder of Made-U-Look Promotions, has parlayed his previous experience in the outdoor advertising industry to identify an overlooked niche in the outdoor advertising marketplace. He formulated a solution to satisfy these market needs by providing a means for advertising rentals, offering high quality products and competitive pricing, and making these products available to customers who could not previously justify the high cost of purchasing outdoor advertising tools.
Made-U-Look Promotions opened its doors for business this past summer, with Brandon and his wife Jennifer Reeves leveraging their personal holdings to take advantage of this business opportunity. Jennifer serves as the company’s Vice President of Operations, and handles all daily administrative activities. They also partnered with Matthew Barden, whom Brandon had previously worked several years with in the outdoor advertising industry. Matthew serves as the company’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing and oversees the company’s business development needs.
The business plan of Made-U-Look Promotions is based on helping clients optimize their promotional dollars by increasing their visibility and bringing more customers to their doorstep. Brandon explains the logic behind renting versus purchasing an outdoor advertising balloon: “If you spend your promotional dollars on purchasing a 25 foot tall gorilla, you are forced to build your promotional messages around this advertising balloon all year long. However, with our advertising rental programs, you can rent a 16 foot tall duck one weekend, and a Stars & Stripes hot air balloon the next! We offer our clients the flexibility to keep their promotional landscape fresh without the huge investment required by purchases. Additionally, all of our rental pricing includes product set-up, take-down, maintenance and storage. All of this saves our clients from the upfront investment, time and hassles of ownership!” Made-U-Look Promotions works with each client’s advertising budget and marketing calendar to effectively plan the roll-out of a diverse outdoor advertising campaign.
Matthew states, “If you have a retail outlet that is fighting for attention due to over-saturation of local advertising messages, you have to go over-the-top BIG to have stopping power. Made-U-Look Promotions offers just that. Our clients enjoy all the benefits of ownership, without any of the inherent liabilities. My goal is for our clients to consider us their primary resource and partner for their promotional needs instead of just another advertising balloon vendor”.
The principles of Made-U-Look Promotions firmly believe that to be successful they first need to build strong relationships with their clients. They strongly encourage feedback regarding the company’s customer service. They feel that actively seeking feedback from clients is a valuable tool in refining their service model and ensures that every customer receives outstanding service.
By going beyond the typical users of large scale outdoor advertising products, Made-U-Look Promotions is bringing its advertising rental programs to businesses, institutions and organizations that have traditionally had to forgo the use of such items due to the limiting factors of cost and usage restrictions. Made-U-Look Promotions sees the potential usage of its products for every storefront and event in Southern California.
Made-U-Look Promotions is keeping a keen eye on the factors of taste, professionalism, and appropriateness, while maintaining the fun and light-hearted nature their products are known for. Like their line of outdoor advertising products, Made-U-Look Promotions will be very hard to ignore in the Southern California advertising market. Look for their products to show up at a business or event near you.
source: www.prleap.com
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Friday, January 20, 2006
China Northwest Biotech Retains The Creative Underground for Marketing, Advertising and Web Services
PORT HURON, MI -- (MARKET WIRE) -- China Northwest Biotech Corp. (OTC: AVLL), formerly known as AVL Global, has retained the services of South Florida-based advertising agency, The Creative Underground, to launch its innovative technology products in the United States. The comprehensive effort will include advertising, marketing and website creation.
Recently formed from the merger between AVL Global Inc. and The Chong Yang Group, China Northwest is positioning itself for growth in the U.S. market. The company recently announced an extension of its licensing and marketing contract with Electro-Dynamic Research Group, which will give China Northwest exclusive distribution rights and full marketing rights to a breakthrough energy generating and saving technology.
As one of the rising agencies in South Florida, The Creative Underground will create and manage the branding and marketing efforts for these emerging technology products. The agency partners have worked with some of the largest corporations in the United States, including Verizon Wireless, State Farm, Citibank, Hyatt, Budweiser, La Quinta and Bloomingdale's. Their passion for developing breakthrough creative strategies is quickly drawing interest from a variety of industries.
"We're pleased to be working with a talented agency like The Creative Underground with a reputation for building powerful brands and big ideas," says China Northwest CEO Robert Dooley. "They understand growth, they understand innovation, and this is the philosophy behind our organization."
"China Northwest comes from a tradition of quality and innovation and we look forward to introducing them to a whole new marketplace," says Tom Olivieri, Creative Director, The Creative Underground. "It's exciting to be partnering with a client who is on the verge of incredible growth in the technology sector."
About China Northwest Biotech Corp. (AVLL):
China Northwest Biotech Corp. is a manufacturer of a line of herbal medicines with full GMP certification. GMP Certification allows China Northwest to manufacture their products in house, eliminating the middleman, and to distribute their products worldwide. Their leading product is a liver stabilization drink that assists in slowing down the degenerative effects of various forms of liver disease. They are currently expanding to the technology sector through a partnership with Electro-Dynamic Research Group. More information is available at the company's website: www.ccynet.com
About The Creative Underground:
The Creative Underground believes that sometimes you have to destroy the traditional advertising agency to build a truly fresh one. By eliminating typical layers between the client and the end result, and by putting creative at the forefront, the South Florida-based agency is already bringing big, sales-moving ideas to clients like Florida Beer Company, Poochie Moochie Puppies, Bride To Be Accessories and China Northwest Biotech. For more information on why "The revolution starts today" visit www.thecreativeunderground.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements regarding financial matters in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company intends that such statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Since these statements (future operational results and sales) involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the Company's actual results may differ materially form the expected results.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
SBW Alliance Group
Adam Ben-Evi
1-407-647-9974
SOURCE: www.marketwire.com
Recently formed from the merger between AVL Global Inc. and The Chong Yang Group, China Northwest is positioning itself for growth in the U.S. market. The company recently announced an extension of its licensing and marketing contract with Electro-Dynamic Research Group, which will give China Northwest exclusive distribution rights and full marketing rights to a breakthrough energy generating and saving technology.
As one of the rising agencies in South Florida, The Creative Underground will create and manage the branding and marketing efforts for these emerging technology products. The agency partners have worked with some of the largest corporations in the United States, including Verizon Wireless, State Farm, Citibank, Hyatt, Budweiser, La Quinta and Bloomingdale's. Their passion for developing breakthrough creative strategies is quickly drawing interest from a variety of industries.
"We're pleased to be working with a talented agency like The Creative Underground with a reputation for building powerful brands and big ideas," says China Northwest CEO Robert Dooley. "They understand growth, they understand innovation, and this is the philosophy behind our organization."
"China Northwest comes from a tradition of quality and innovation and we look forward to introducing them to a whole new marketplace," says Tom Olivieri, Creative Director, The Creative Underground. "It's exciting to be partnering with a client who is on the verge of incredible growth in the technology sector."
About China Northwest Biotech Corp. (AVLL):
China Northwest Biotech Corp. is a manufacturer of a line of herbal medicines with full GMP certification. GMP Certification allows China Northwest to manufacture their products in house, eliminating the middleman, and to distribute their products worldwide. Their leading product is a liver stabilization drink that assists in slowing down the degenerative effects of various forms of liver disease. They are currently expanding to the technology sector through a partnership with Electro-Dynamic Research Group. More information is available at the company's website: www.ccynet.com
About The Creative Underground:
The Creative Underground believes that sometimes you have to destroy the traditional advertising agency to build a truly fresh one. By eliminating typical layers between the client and the end result, and by putting creative at the forefront, the South Florida-based agency is already bringing big, sales-moving ideas to clients like Florida Beer Company, Poochie Moochie Puppies, Bride To Be Accessories and China Northwest Biotech. For more information on why "The revolution starts today" visit www.thecreativeunderground.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements regarding financial matters in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company intends that such statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Since these statements (future operational results and sales) involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the Company's actual results may differ materially form the expected results.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
SBW Alliance Group
Adam Ben-Evi
1-407-647-9974
SOURCE: www.marketwire.com
High court hears pro-life group’s challenge of advertising ban
By Staff
Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (BP)--A pro-life organization urged the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 17 to support its freedom to mention public officials by name in advocacy advertising in the weeks before elections.
The justices heard oral arguments in Wisconsin Right to Life’s challenge of a portion of the 2002 federal campaign finance reform law. An opinion in the case could be issued by the high court before it adjourns in late June or early July.
In granting review of the case, the Supreme Court returned to a controversial portion of the campaign reform law to consider whether the pre-election advertisements of advocacy groups can be regulated. The high court upheld the entire law -- known as McCain-Feingold after its main sponsors, Sens. John McCain, R.-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D.-Wis. -– in a 2003 ruling, but the Wisconsin pro-life organization sued the Federal Election Commission in the hope the courts would find the advertising ban unconstitutional in cases of issue ads that are designed to influence legislation, not elections. A federal court, however, ruled against the pro-life organization.
During oral arguments before the high court, Wisconsin Right to Life received some encouraging signs. Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Antonin Scalia both appeared to be skeptical of the advertising ban.
Roberts asked U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, who was defending the law, about a scenario in which an organization runs an ad on an issue every month. Roberts then asked if the ad would become illegal in the months preceding an election, the Associated Press reported. Clement said the organization could use the ad if political action committee funds paid for it or if the ad did not identify a candidate, AP reported.
That would undermine the ad’s purpose, Scalia told Clement. “The point of an issue ad is to put pressure on an incumbent you want to vote your way,” Scalia said, according to AP.
The Wisconsin Right to Life ad involved Feingold and his 2004 re-election bid, which was successful. The ad encouraged calls to Feingold and Wisconsin’s other senator, Democrat Herb Kohl, asking them to oppose filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
The inclusion of Kohl’s name in the advertisement seemed to support Wisconsin Right to Life's contention it was seeking to influence policy, not an election, Roberts said, according to AP.
Some justices, however, expressed skepticism of the pro-life organization’s position.
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wondered why the organization did not wait until after the election to run the ad, AP reported. According to AP, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer told James Bopp, Wisconsin Right to Life's lawyer, that he had “a very good argument. But it’s an argument we just heard in that [2003] case.... Or are you asking us to go back and undo what we did?”
Bopp told the justices, according to LifeNews.com, “There is an immediate need to influence how government is regulating and taxing us. There’s more to government than elections.”
The campaign reform law bars labor unions and corporations from including a candidate’s name in ads 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election. The provision also has been applied to non-profit advocacy organizations, such as Wisconsin Right to Life.
When the Supreme Court upheld McCain-Feingold, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, called it “a disaster for Americans’ First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.”
The vote in the 2003 opinion was 5-4, with Associate Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, David Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer in the majority. O’Connor has announced her retirement, and federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito is expected to be confirmed soon by the Senate to replace her. If he is, it sets up the possibility of a 4-4 tie in the case, since O’Connor would not take part in the decision. New oral arguments might then be held in the case.
--30--
source: www.bpnews.net
Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (BP)--A pro-life organization urged the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 17 to support its freedom to mention public officials by name in advocacy advertising in the weeks before elections.
The justices heard oral arguments in Wisconsin Right to Life’s challenge of a portion of the 2002 federal campaign finance reform law. An opinion in the case could be issued by the high court before it adjourns in late June or early July.
In granting review of the case, the Supreme Court returned to a controversial portion of the campaign reform law to consider whether the pre-election advertisements of advocacy groups can be regulated. The high court upheld the entire law -- known as McCain-Feingold after its main sponsors, Sens. John McCain, R.-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D.-Wis. -– in a 2003 ruling, but the Wisconsin pro-life organization sued the Federal Election Commission in the hope the courts would find the advertising ban unconstitutional in cases of issue ads that are designed to influence legislation, not elections. A federal court, however, ruled against the pro-life organization.
During oral arguments before the high court, Wisconsin Right to Life received some encouraging signs. Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Antonin Scalia both appeared to be skeptical of the advertising ban.
Roberts asked U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, who was defending the law, about a scenario in which an organization runs an ad on an issue every month. Roberts then asked if the ad would become illegal in the months preceding an election, the Associated Press reported. Clement said the organization could use the ad if political action committee funds paid for it or if the ad did not identify a candidate, AP reported.
That would undermine the ad’s purpose, Scalia told Clement. “The point of an issue ad is to put pressure on an incumbent you want to vote your way,” Scalia said, according to AP.
The Wisconsin Right to Life ad involved Feingold and his 2004 re-election bid, which was successful. The ad encouraged calls to Feingold and Wisconsin’s other senator, Democrat Herb Kohl, asking them to oppose filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
The inclusion of Kohl’s name in the advertisement seemed to support Wisconsin Right to Life's contention it was seeking to influence policy, not an election, Roberts said, according to AP.
Some justices, however, expressed skepticism of the pro-life organization’s position.
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wondered why the organization did not wait until after the election to run the ad, AP reported. According to AP, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer told James Bopp, Wisconsin Right to Life's lawyer, that he had “a very good argument. But it’s an argument we just heard in that [2003] case.... Or are you asking us to go back and undo what we did?”
Bopp told the justices, according to LifeNews.com, “There is an immediate need to influence how government is regulating and taxing us. There’s more to government than elections.”
The campaign reform law bars labor unions and corporations from including a candidate’s name in ads 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election. The provision also has been applied to non-profit advocacy organizations, such as Wisconsin Right to Life.
When the Supreme Court upheld McCain-Feingold, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, called it “a disaster for Americans’ First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.”
The vote in the 2003 opinion was 5-4, with Associate Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, David Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer in the majority. O’Connor has announced her retirement, and federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito is expected to be confirmed soon by the Senate to replace her. If he is, it sets up the possibility of a 4-4 tie in the case, since O’Connor would not take part in the decision. New oral arguments might then be held in the case.
--30--
source: www.bpnews.net
Nickelodeon, Kellogg Targets of Lawsuit
Nickelodeon, Kellogg Targets of Junk-Food Lawsuit
Advocacy groups and parents are suing the Nickelodeon TV network and cereal maker Kellogg Co. in an effort to stop junk food marketing to kids.
The plaintiffs are citing a recent report documenting the influence of marketing on what children eat. Ads aimed at kids are mostly for high-calorie, low-nutrition food and drinks, according to the government-chartered Institute of Medicine.
Wakefield, Mass., mother Sherri Carlson said she tries her best to get her three kids to eat healthy foods. "But then they turn on Nickelodeon and see all those enticing junk-food ads," Carlson said. "Adding insult to injury, we enter the grocery store and see our beloved Nick characters plastered on all those junky snacks and cereals."
Carlson and another plaintiff, Andrew Leong of Brookline, Mass., spoke at a news conference organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
They intend to sue Kellogg and Nickelodeon parent Viacom Inc. in state court in Massachusetts and served the required 30 days' notice on Wednesday.
"For over 30 years, public health advocates have urged companies to stop marketing junk food to children," said Susan Linn of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "Even as rates of childhood obesity have soared, neither Viacom nor Kellogg has listened."
Both companies said they have enduring commitments to healthy lifestyles.
Nickelodeon spokesman Dan Martinsen said the kids' cable network has been a leader in helping kids and their families be more active and healthier and has pushed advertisers for more balance in their offerings.
Kellogg spokeswoman Jill Saletta said the company is proud of its contributions to healthy diets and will keep educating people about good nutrition and exercise.
A food industry-backed group defended the companies, saying the lawsuit assumes that parents can't turn off televisions, have no control over the food they buy and can't make their kids go outside to play.
"Going out on a limb here, perhaps her (Carlson's) kids want these foods not because of ads, but because they're children," said Dan Mindus, spokesman for the Center for Consumer Freedom.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the companies from marketing junk food when 15 percent or more of the audience is 8 years old or younger. It targets not only commercials but Web sites, toy giveaways, contests and other marketing aimed at that age group.
CSPI said it had analyzed food advertising on Nickelodeon and during Saturday-morning TV shows as well as in magazines and food packages. The majority of the food ads involving both companies were for nutrition-poor foods, CSPI said.
On the Net:
Center for Science in the Public Interest: http://www.cspinet.org
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/
Nickelodeon: http://www.nick.com
Kellogg: http://www.kellogg.com
Advocacy groups and parents are suing the Nickelodeon TV network and cereal maker Kellogg Co. in an effort to stop junk food marketing to kids.
The plaintiffs are citing a recent report documenting the influence of marketing on what children eat. Ads aimed at kids are mostly for high-calorie, low-nutrition food and drinks, according to the government-chartered Institute of Medicine.
Wakefield, Mass., mother Sherri Carlson said she tries her best to get her three kids to eat healthy foods. "But then they turn on Nickelodeon and see all those enticing junk-food ads," Carlson said. "Adding insult to injury, we enter the grocery store and see our beloved Nick characters plastered on all those junky snacks and cereals."
Carlson and another plaintiff, Andrew Leong of Brookline, Mass., spoke at a news conference organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
They intend to sue Kellogg and Nickelodeon parent Viacom Inc. in state court in Massachusetts and served the required 30 days' notice on Wednesday.
"For over 30 years, public health advocates have urged companies to stop marketing junk food to children," said Susan Linn of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "Even as rates of childhood obesity have soared, neither Viacom nor Kellogg has listened."
Both companies said they have enduring commitments to healthy lifestyles.
Nickelodeon spokesman Dan Martinsen said the kids' cable network has been a leader in helping kids and their families be more active and healthier and has pushed advertisers for more balance in their offerings.
Kellogg spokeswoman Jill Saletta said the company is proud of its contributions to healthy diets and will keep educating people about good nutrition and exercise.
A food industry-backed group defended the companies, saying the lawsuit assumes that parents can't turn off televisions, have no control over the food they buy and can't make their kids go outside to play.
"Going out on a limb here, perhaps her (Carlson's) kids want these foods not because of ads, but because they're children," said Dan Mindus, spokesman for the Center for Consumer Freedom.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the companies from marketing junk food when 15 percent or more of the audience is 8 years old or younger. It targets not only commercials but Web sites, toy giveaways, contests and other marketing aimed at that age group.
CSPI said it had analyzed food advertising on Nickelodeon and during Saturday-morning TV shows as well as in magazines and food packages. The majority of the food ads involving both companies were for nutrition-poor foods, CSPI said.
On the Net:
Center for Science in the Public Interest: http://www.cspinet.org
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/
Nickelodeon: http://www.nick.com
Kellogg: http://www.kellogg.com
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Google Applies for Mobile Click-to-Call Advertising Patent
The US Patent and Trademark Office has recently published an application from Google to patent a one-click pay-per-call advertising system for mobile phones.
Google’s proposed system would make it possible for users of web-enabled handsets to click once on an ad, and have their call routed directly to that advertiser. The increasing convergence of cell phones with the internet is increasing the potential profit of such a business model. Survey data suggests that 71% of small to mid sized businesses would rather pay for a phone call than a click to their website, which furthers the case for the pay-per-call advertising model.
Whether Google will be able to get a patent on their idea, however, is far from a sure thing. The USPTO is notoriously strict about issuing business method patents, with an average approval rate of just one in ten applications.
Despite these odds, patent attorney Aaron Chatterjee, believes that Google’s request is specific enough that it could be approved. “I think they have a chance,” he was quoted as saying.
Google’s proposed system would make it possible for users of web-enabled handsets to click once on an ad, and have their call routed directly to that advertiser. The increasing convergence of cell phones with the internet is increasing the potential profit of such a business model. Survey data suggests that 71% of small to mid sized businesses would rather pay for a phone call than a click to their website, which furthers the case for the pay-per-call advertising model.
Whether Google will be able to get a patent on their idea, however, is far from a sure thing. The USPTO is notoriously strict about issuing business method patents, with an average approval rate of just one in ten applications.
Despite these odds, patent attorney Aaron Chatterjee, believes that Google’s request is specific enough that it could be approved. “I think they have a chance,” he was quoted as saying.
Microsoft Eyes E-advertising Market
Microsoft has upped the ante against Google and Yahoo, by opening an advertising laboratory in Beijing that will develop technologies for its upcoming MSN AdCenter which will offer paid search, analytical tools and other services for advertisers.
AdCenter Incubation Lab or AdLab, opened in Beijing, has reportedly hired over 50 researchers to work on about 40 technologies for advertising through video, television, and mobile, at points where these media intersect with the Internet.
AdLab was unveiled this week, during Microsoft's AdCenter Demo Fest at its Redmond, Washington headquarters.
Among the technologies highlighted at the fest were "video hyperlink ads," which can detect products displayed on television screens during shows or commercials. Consumers can zoom into the products and click-through to detailed information on where these can be bought.
For example, viewers of "Sex and the City" can click on Carrie Bradshaw's designer shoes as she sashays down a New York street, and get transported to advertisements for these products.
Microsoft's AdCenter - currently being tested in the United States, is expected to launch there in spring.
With AdCenter, Microsoft intends to help advertisers more effectively market their products to online audiences. The technology also includes a system for selling sponsored search results on the MSN Search engine, a task which is currently out-sourced to Yahoo.
As of now Microsoft remains a distant third in the business of online search; however Tarek Najm, general manager, AdCenter, says that the company is determined to establish itself as the top leader in this space.
source: www.techtree.com
AdCenter Incubation Lab or AdLab, opened in Beijing, has reportedly hired over 50 researchers to work on about 40 technologies for advertising through video, television, and mobile, at points where these media intersect with the Internet.
AdLab was unveiled this week, during Microsoft's AdCenter Demo Fest at its Redmond, Washington headquarters.
Among the technologies highlighted at the fest were "video hyperlink ads," which can detect products displayed on television screens during shows or commercials. Consumers can zoom into the products and click-through to detailed information on where these can be bought.
For example, viewers of "Sex and the City" can click on Carrie Bradshaw's designer shoes as she sashays down a New York street, and get transported to advertisements for these products.
Microsoft's AdCenter - currently being tested in the United States, is expected to launch there in spring.
With AdCenter, Microsoft intends to help advertisers more effectively market their products to online audiences. The technology also includes a system for selling sponsored search results on the MSN Search engine, a task which is currently out-sourced to Yahoo.
As of now Microsoft remains a distant third in the business of online search; however Tarek Najm, general manager, AdCenter, says that the company is determined to establish itself as the top leader in this space.
source: www.techtree.com
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Profiles of the Powerful: Advertising Exec Dudley Fitzpatrick
By Kalish Allan
In a sense, the entrance to SFGT is a window into the person who leads the company, Dudley Fitzpatrick, CEO. Open the big front door of the old town house on Walnut Street and the first thing you notice is three old stone steps. Couldn't they afford new steps? Then you see the second door. It's all glass and through it you see the modern reception room, the classic furniture, the attractive receptionist and the small oriental rug in the center of the beautiful wood floor. "I get it," you think to yourself.
When you meet Dudley and chat with him, you really get it. He's a traditionalist, like the steps and the beams on the ceiling. He's confident and assertive, like the stately furniture and the offices themselves. He's tasteful, like the oriental rug and like the conference room on the fifth floor. You go there for the interview after a trip on the modern elevator.
And Dudley's a trip.
This is a man who knows where he's going, who wants to do it the right way, who has strong feelings about his beloved business. Notice that I didn't say "his beloved advertising business." He has different views about that way of looking at the business of marketing and advertising.
Life and career are quite different than he would have anticipated when he graduated from Miami University in Ohio. He got a degree in Mass Communication even though he says he went there primarily "to play hockey." While there, he discovered that "movies were more fun" and decided that he would like to write movies. Off to New York, he "bummed around for over two years" trying to connect in the film business and finally had to get a steady job.
He decided to settle for "30 second movies" and he landed a job in the creative department of one of New York's biggest agencies, now known as Ammirati Puris Lintas. There, he worked exclusively on television and participated in network spots for Heineken, Diet Coke, Lysol and Mennen.
The agency was account-service dominated which influenced his firm belief that "strategy and creative are really the same thing." That is an idea which continues to drive his work and the agency's intentions.
While in New York, he was recruited to a Los Angeles agency, Dancer Fitzgerald-Sample. He took the job and became their youngest ever vice president but he admits that he probably took it because making movies still had some intrigue for him. At D-F, he worked on their efforts to get accounts to supplement their Toyota business. The agency landed Pioneer Electronics which became one of his proudest successes. His campaign, "Catch The Spirit of a True Pioneer," led Pioneer to great success.
Dudley created and produced the first music-video commercial in the industry for his client, Pioneer. It was a takeoff on West Side Story. Because it reflected the social realities of that era, it was selected to be part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's Cultural Mores Section.
Both Dudley and his wife, Tanice, were raised in New Jersey. They live there now, in Pennington, with their three children: Aubrey, Drew and Tess. The two older children go to The Lawrenceville School, Dudley's alma mater. The proximity to New Jersey was one of the reasons he responded to an opportunity at Lewis Gilman and Kynett (now Tierney Communications.)
He was very impressed by the quality of LG&K's work. As vice president and group creative director, he participated in what he calls their "glory years" but was one of the victims of one of their many top management changes.
He and a good friend at LGK, Bob Schell, were both let go with quite limited severance. Fortuitously, they were contacted by Herr's Potato Chips which offered them the account if they wanted to start an agency. That was in 1992, the beginning of what is now SFGT. Herr's was with them for 12 productive years. Today, the agency has 30 people and serves eight accounts. Interestingly, two of their accounts, Tylenol and Sunoco, are deeply involved in NASCAR racing.
Dudley feels that their work with NASCAR is one example of why he prefers not to be thought of as a traditional advertising agency. He insists that the agencies which rely primarily on "advertising" for success are on the wrong track. His vision calls for an agency which is deeply involved in all aspects of a client's marketing communications activities. For SFGT's clients, NACAR is one (important) ingredient in all-inclusive programs for the clients' core consumer markets, for clients' public relations focus and for clients' employee pride.
When asked about the account he is most proud of, he winces and reminds me that he's proud of every account. Prodded, he volunteers that he is particularly proud of the work SFGT did for the opening of the Constitution Center. His feelings of patriotism seem to be reflected in the positioning they created for the Center, "The Freedom To Be You. It All Starts With The Constitution."
Oddly, he says that the "dumbest" and the "smartest" things he ever did in business are actually the same thing. "The smartest thing I ever did was to surround myself with my two partners: Sarah Lenhard, Managing Director and head of Account Service and Dan Reeves, Managing Director and Executive Creative Director." The dumbest thing? "Not bringing them on board sooner."
That supports his conviction that the toughest part of the ad business is finding, hiring, nurturing and growing with good people. He worries about that because he finds it difficult to find candidates with outstanding talent, valuable experience and a good cultural fit. He also worries about the possibility that good clients may be losing confidence in agencies. He says, "Agencies have to be emotionally able to have complete confidence in themselves in order to be secure enough to warrant meaningful collaboration from clients and in order to provide optimal service."
Dudley Fitzpatrick is confident. It's apparent. Think about the old stone steps leading into the agency. Sure, they could afford something new but "old" has character and character is what he wants to project. It's apparent when you take the elevator to the spiffy conference room on the fifth floor. That's another, positive message to visitors. It's apparent when you hear his straight forward answers to direct questions. Yes, Dudley Fitzpatrick is confident about his agency, about his vision of the business he's in and about himself.
Allan Kalish founded, managed and sold Kalish & Rice, one of Philadelphia's largest ad agencies. He is currently chairman of Trichys, providers of extranet and intranet solutions for online collaboration and document sharing.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kalish_Allan
In a sense, the entrance to SFGT is a window into the person who leads the company, Dudley Fitzpatrick, CEO. Open the big front door of the old town house on Walnut Street and the first thing you notice is three old stone steps. Couldn't they afford new steps? Then you see the second door. It's all glass and through it you see the modern reception room, the classic furniture, the attractive receptionist and the small oriental rug in the center of the beautiful wood floor. "I get it," you think to yourself.
When you meet Dudley and chat with him, you really get it. He's a traditionalist, like the steps and the beams on the ceiling. He's confident and assertive, like the stately furniture and the offices themselves. He's tasteful, like the oriental rug and like the conference room on the fifth floor. You go there for the interview after a trip on the modern elevator.
And Dudley's a trip.
This is a man who knows where he's going, who wants to do it the right way, who has strong feelings about his beloved business. Notice that I didn't say "his beloved advertising business." He has different views about that way of looking at the business of marketing and advertising.
Life and career are quite different than he would have anticipated when he graduated from Miami University in Ohio. He got a degree in Mass Communication even though he says he went there primarily "to play hockey." While there, he discovered that "movies were more fun" and decided that he would like to write movies. Off to New York, he "bummed around for over two years" trying to connect in the film business and finally had to get a steady job.
He decided to settle for "30 second movies" and he landed a job in the creative department of one of New York's biggest agencies, now known as Ammirati Puris Lintas. There, he worked exclusively on television and participated in network spots for Heineken, Diet Coke, Lysol and Mennen.
The agency was account-service dominated which influenced his firm belief that "strategy and creative are really the same thing." That is an idea which continues to drive his work and the agency's intentions.
While in New York, he was recruited to a Los Angeles agency, Dancer Fitzgerald-Sample. He took the job and became their youngest ever vice president but he admits that he probably took it because making movies still had some intrigue for him. At D-F, he worked on their efforts to get accounts to supplement their Toyota business. The agency landed Pioneer Electronics which became one of his proudest successes. His campaign, "Catch The Spirit of a True Pioneer," led Pioneer to great success.
Dudley created and produced the first music-video commercial in the industry for his client, Pioneer. It was a takeoff on West Side Story. Because it reflected the social realities of that era, it was selected to be part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's Cultural Mores Section.
Both Dudley and his wife, Tanice, were raised in New Jersey. They live there now, in Pennington, with their three children: Aubrey, Drew and Tess. The two older children go to The Lawrenceville School, Dudley's alma mater. The proximity to New Jersey was one of the reasons he responded to an opportunity at Lewis Gilman and Kynett (now Tierney Communications.)
He was very impressed by the quality of LG&K's work. As vice president and group creative director, he participated in what he calls their "glory years" but was one of the victims of one of their many top management changes.
He and a good friend at LGK, Bob Schell, were both let go with quite limited severance. Fortuitously, they were contacted by Herr's Potato Chips which offered them the account if they wanted to start an agency. That was in 1992, the beginning of what is now SFGT. Herr's was with them for 12 productive years. Today, the agency has 30 people and serves eight accounts. Interestingly, two of their accounts, Tylenol and Sunoco, are deeply involved in NASCAR racing.
Dudley feels that their work with NASCAR is one example of why he prefers not to be thought of as a traditional advertising agency. He insists that the agencies which rely primarily on "advertising" for success are on the wrong track. His vision calls for an agency which is deeply involved in all aspects of a client's marketing communications activities. For SFGT's clients, NACAR is one (important) ingredient in all-inclusive programs for the clients' core consumer markets, for clients' public relations focus and for clients' employee pride.
When asked about the account he is most proud of, he winces and reminds me that he's proud of every account. Prodded, he volunteers that he is particularly proud of the work SFGT did for the opening of the Constitution Center. His feelings of patriotism seem to be reflected in the positioning they created for the Center, "The Freedom To Be You. It All Starts With The Constitution."
Oddly, he says that the "dumbest" and the "smartest" things he ever did in business are actually the same thing. "The smartest thing I ever did was to surround myself with my two partners: Sarah Lenhard, Managing Director and head of Account Service and Dan Reeves, Managing Director and Executive Creative Director." The dumbest thing? "Not bringing them on board sooner."
That supports his conviction that the toughest part of the ad business is finding, hiring, nurturing and growing with good people. He worries about that because he finds it difficult to find candidates with outstanding talent, valuable experience and a good cultural fit. He also worries about the possibility that good clients may be losing confidence in agencies. He says, "Agencies have to be emotionally able to have complete confidence in themselves in order to be secure enough to warrant meaningful collaboration from clients and in order to provide optimal service."
Dudley Fitzpatrick is confident. It's apparent. Think about the old stone steps leading into the agency. Sure, they could afford something new but "old" has character and character is what he wants to project. It's apparent when you take the elevator to the spiffy conference room on the fifth floor. That's another, positive message to visitors. It's apparent when you hear his straight forward answers to direct questions. Yes, Dudley Fitzpatrick is confident about his agency, about his vision of the business he's in and about himself.
Allan Kalish founded, managed and sold Kalish & Rice, one of Philadelphia's largest ad agencies. He is currently chairman of Trichys, providers of extranet and intranet solutions for online collaboration and document sharing.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kalish_Allan
Sofizar Finds Security Flaw in Google AdWords Pay Per Click Service
Geotargeting or location based advertisement display vulnerability allows malicious robots or users to commit PPC Click Fraud, potentially causing advertisers millions in losses.
Carlsbad, CA (PRWEB) January, 2006 -- Sofizar Inc, a company specializing in Click Fraud Detection Services announced today that it has identified a vulnerability in Google’s Pay Per Click (PPC) location based advertisements. The Google location based service is meant to display Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisements only in the advertiser designated locations. However, a back door allows a malicious user or automated programs in a non designated area to click on the advertisement, potentially causing grievous losses. Furthermore, Google charges the advertisers for these clicks, even though Google does not record the advertisement impression. This vulnerability has been reported to Google.
The location based Google service is designed to display targeted advertisements to users from a certain region. For example, a ticket broker ( http://www.ticketnest.com/theater-tickets/wicked-tickets ) who needs to sell wicked tickets in New York City does not want her advertisement to be displayed in New Delhi. The pay per click advertisements to a non target audience can be extremely costly, and AdWords PPC advertisers use Google’s facilities to designate countries (and in some cases cities) where their advertisements can be displayed. However, this vulnerability allows a hacker in Beijing to see and click on advertisements meant for a Las Vegas audience. Some advertisers pay up to $35 every time a user clicks on their advertisement, and a hacker can run up the tab for such advertisers quite fast. Sofizar’s internal testing shows that Google not only charges for these clicks, but due to a software glitch in Google’s reporting interface, does not record the impression.
“PPC advertisement has become very popular due to their instant traffic results, and control over the composition of the traffic” said Ron Arthur, Program Manager of Sofizar managed service. “Given that there is about $7 Billion at stake with Google PPC advertising in 2006, malicious hackers are always on the look out to get a piece of the pie. An advertiser may feel secure in the knowledge that his advertisements are being displayed only in the US, while his advertisements may be getting unwanted clicks (and a massive bill) from a hacker in East Europe.”
“There is essentially an arms race between the click fraudsters and us,” said Zafar Khan, CEO of Sofizar. “We see ever insidious tactics by hackers to deplete the budget of advertisers, and unless the advertiser is really keeping close tabs on their PPC advertising they are a prime target for fraud. The location based vulnerability allows hackers to fly under the radar, and hit unsuspecting advertisers. We have reported this flaw to Google and we are confident that they will fix the glitch in their software. Our previous experience in dealing with Google customer support regarding glitches has been outstanding.”
Testing methodology used:
The vulnerability was tested on Sofizar’s test account ( http://www.ticketluck.com) where a US targeted AdWords campaign for a keyword with no searches was selected. Sofizar’s testers in their test center in Pakistan then used the back door to display and click their test advertisement (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-19,GGLD:en&q=Minimalist+Jukebox%3A+Reich+Tickets&gl=us) that was only supposed to show in the US. When the account was checked, Google had charged Ticket Luck campaign for the click, even though it did not report the impression.
About Sofizar:
Sofizar uses its traffic analysis and pattern matching software to detect fraudulent PPC clicks. This software is adaptive, and stores patterns for certain websites as well as deviations from recognized patterns. Sofizar manually audits the accounts which are flagged by this software as possible frauds and then works with search engines to obtain refunds and credits against future advertising spending. Sofizar proactively looks for vulnerabilities in Overture and Google, in order to better protect its clients.
This press release is available online at http://www.sofizar.com/press-release-google.php
Carlsbad, CA (PRWEB) January, 2006 -- Sofizar Inc, a company specializing in Click Fraud Detection Services announced today that it has identified a vulnerability in Google’s Pay Per Click (PPC) location based advertisements. The Google location based service is meant to display Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisements only in the advertiser designated locations. However, a back door allows a malicious user or automated programs in a non designated area to click on the advertisement, potentially causing grievous losses. Furthermore, Google charges the advertisers for these clicks, even though Google does not record the advertisement impression. This vulnerability has been reported to Google.
The location based Google service is designed to display targeted advertisements to users from a certain region. For example, a ticket broker ( http://www.ticketnest.com/theater-tickets/wicked-tickets ) who needs to sell wicked tickets in New York City does not want her advertisement to be displayed in New Delhi. The pay per click advertisements to a non target audience can be extremely costly, and AdWords PPC advertisers use Google’s facilities to designate countries (and in some cases cities) where their advertisements can be displayed. However, this vulnerability allows a hacker in Beijing to see and click on advertisements meant for a Las Vegas audience. Some advertisers pay up to $35 every time a user clicks on their advertisement, and a hacker can run up the tab for such advertisers quite fast. Sofizar’s internal testing shows that Google not only charges for these clicks, but due to a software glitch in Google’s reporting interface, does not record the impression.
“PPC advertisement has become very popular due to their instant traffic results, and control over the composition of the traffic” said Ron Arthur, Program Manager of Sofizar managed service. “Given that there is about $7 Billion at stake with Google PPC advertising in 2006, malicious hackers are always on the look out to get a piece of the pie. An advertiser may feel secure in the knowledge that his advertisements are being displayed only in the US, while his advertisements may be getting unwanted clicks (and a massive bill) from a hacker in East Europe.”
“There is essentially an arms race between the click fraudsters and us,” said Zafar Khan, CEO of Sofizar. “We see ever insidious tactics by hackers to deplete the budget of advertisers, and unless the advertiser is really keeping close tabs on their PPC advertising they are a prime target for fraud. The location based vulnerability allows hackers to fly under the radar, and hit unsuspecting advertisers. We have reported this flaw to Google and we are confident that they will fix the glitch in their software. Our previous experience in dealing with Google customer support regarding glitches has been outstanding.”
Testing methodology used:
The vulnerability was tested on Sofizar’s test account ( http://www.ticketluck.com) where a US targeted AdWords campaign for a keyword with no searches was selected. Sofizar’s testers in their test center in Pakistan then used the back door to display and click their test advertisement (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-19,GGLD:en&q=Minimalist+Jukebox%3A+Reich+Tickets&gl=us) that was only supposed to show in the US. When the account was checked, Google had charged Ticket Luck campaign for the click, even though it did not report the impression.
About Sofizar:
Sofizar uses its traffic analysis and pattern matching software to detect fraudulent PPC clicks. This software is adaptive, and stores patterns for certain websites as well as deviations from recognized patterns. Sofizar manually audits the accounts which are flagged by this software as possible frauds and then works with search engines to obtain refunds and credits against future advertising spending. Sofizar proactively looks for vulnerabilities in Overture and Google, in order to better protect its clients.
This press release is available online at http://www.sofizar.com/press-release-google.php
Friday, January 06, 2006
Technology Predictions For 2006 And Reflections For 2005
By: Sharon Housley
2005 literally took the world by storm. The tragedies of the Asian Tsunami, the Hurricanes that blew through the US Gulf Coast and the earthquakes that swallowed parts of Pakistan have left an indelible mark on 2005.
2005 literally took the world by storm. The tragedies of the Asian Tsunami, the Hurricanes that blew through the US Gulf Coast and the earthquakes that swallowed parts of Pakistan have left an indelible mark on 2005.
While mother nature cast a shadow on 2005, it was technology that delivered the impact that resulted in a huge outpouring of donations. The world was touched by the human element seen real-time in pictures and videos. Today's technology was able to deliver the graphical grittiness that portrayed the nightmares occurring half a world away.
Technology is usually thought of as impersonal, but something needs to be recognized; without technology the personal elements of the 2005 tragedies would not likely have been conveyed to the extent and timeliness they were. Reflecting on 2005 and looking forward to 2006, technology will undoubtedly continue play a significant role in the future both on a personal and impersonal level.
In 2005 Blogs gave birth to splogs, where senseless web scrapers generated massive amounts of senseless content. Spam reached a whole new level, right along side the ethical debate of content scraping. Copyrights have been stepped on and I foresee a new host of tools that will emerge to protect content.
SPAM and phishing scams were easier to recognize, but to their credit, spammers showed off their creativity, finding additional channels to inundate. From splogs to forum spam, 2005 tech users saw spam as one of life's continued annoyances. Looking into a crystal ball, I fear that social bookmarking will become the spam vehicle of 2006, weakening the value of a collective voice.
Sadly the blog saturation has resulted in web clutter. Due to increased competition and vast quantities of blogs on free hosted blog networks services, bloggers competing for audiences and web traffic will result in significant abandoned content, cluttering the web with useless ramblings. The ease of blogging that resulted in saturation will be its downfall. Credibility will again become important. Journalist, who have suffered from the blogosphere in 2005, will have a reprieve as credibility becomes an issue for bloggers. In 2006 web surfers are going to look for multiple sources to confirm facts, and rely on reliable respected sources, community content, and collaboration like Wikipedia is going to suffer and become less relevant in 2006. While Wikipedia scores well in search, it does not perform as well with accuracy. The Wikipedia community is haunted by spam and like DMOZ, it's success will be its downfall. The relevance of successful community wiki's will fade in 2006.
Cell phones have become personal homing devices, and it is near impossible to locate a cellular phone that is not capable of manipulating or taking photos, videos, graphics and text messages in addition to the traditional voice calls. It is likely the PDA will become extinct in 2006, as travelers move to a single multifunction device. In 2007 MP3 players will likely be a common feature of cell phones.
Wireless growth is still worth noting, as it has moved from hotspots, to hot zones, to hot cities. Philadelphia and San Francisco are leading the way as wireless cities in 2006.
What is in store for 2006? Privacy is a hot topic that is not going to disappear. Google and the US Government are battling a Big Brother image. Data mining has made the collection of data meaningful. Anti-Google sentiment is growing. Google has fallen from grace, while Google has made friends on Wall Street, it has disappointed surfers who have turned to Yahoo and MSN in growing numbers. 2006 will likely result heat up the search engine war with MSN and Yahoo scrambling for marketshare and Google walking a tightrope with privacy advocates on one end and monopoly theorists on the other end.
Google wants to make money, and like it or not data, is a commodity. Google will likely use the data from their various ventures to develop new technologies and personalize content. Conspiracy theorists believe that the Google's aggregate data will also be used to optimize the fees charged for pay-per-click, influence organic ranking, or worse yet, sold.
Google's growth will continue to motivate privacy advocates and those in the technology field behind the Attention Truste movement, to work together, to improve how personal information and subscription information is used online. I expect we will see a lot of energy and effort in this area.
Personalized content will be a buzz word for 2006. Whether it is users selecting Podcasts, iTunes, or purchasing Amazon recommendations the web is learning how to cater content based on user selections and choices. Web surfers see personalized content as regaining control of what they want to watch, see, or listen to. From Tivo to podcasting, users are taking back control. Yet when the web serves content that is based on past surfing habits, who is really in control?
In 2005, marketers were told in no uncertain terms, if they are not using syndication and RSS, they will not survive. Well, they have one more chance to get it right. In 2006, marketers must use RSS as an alternative communication channel. It will no longer be cutting edge, it will be a must to survive. Web surfers no longer expect to provide personal information (an email address) for marketing materials, they expect to have a choice about how they wish to receive the content.
Vendors selling through affiliate programs lost ground in 2005. Publishers found the easy money of pay-per-click advertising not fraught with the inherent problems of affiliate tracking and cookie-killers. The increase in click-fraud and content scraping on AdSense sites will even the playing field and make affiliate programs more attractive in 2006.
The world is getting smaller, and technological advancements has not only brought us tragedy, but also has opened doors and the global market is now a viable option for small businesses. I believe the globalization trend will continue in 2006.
Top 10 Winners Predicted for 2006:
- Cyber Security
- VOIP
- Attention Data
- RSS/Syndication
- Copyprotection
- Credibility
- Privacy
- Alternative Energy (reusable fuel, clean energy)
- Content Filtering
- VideoTunes (iTunes with Video)
source: www.webpronews.com
2005 literally took the world by storm. The tragedies of the Asian Tsunami, the Hurricanes that blew through the US Gulf Coast and the earthquakes that swallowed parts of Pakistan have left an indelible mark on 2005.
2005 literally took the world by storm. The tragedies of the Asian Tsunami, the Hurricanes that blew through the US Gulf Coast and the earthquakes that swallowed parts of Pakistan have left an indelible mark on 2005.
While mother nature cast a shadow on 2005, it was technology that delivered the impact that resulted in a huge outpouring of donations. The world was touched by the human element seen real-time in pictures and videos. Today's technology was able to deliver the graphical grittiness that portrayed the nightmares occurring half a world away.
Technology is usually thought of as impersonal, but something needs to be recognized; without technology the personal elements of the 2005 tragedies would not likely have been conveyed to the extent and timeliness they were. Reflecting on 2005 and looking forward to 2006, technology will undoubtedly continue play a significant role in the future both on a personal and impersonal level.
In 2005 Blogs gave birth to splogs, where senseless web scrapers generated massive amounts of senseless content. Spam reached a whole new level, right along side the ethical debate of content scraping. Copyrights have been stepped on and I foresee a new host of tools that will emerge to protect content.
SPAM and phishing scams were easier to recognize, but to their credit, spammers showed off their creativity, finding additional channels to inundate. From splogs to forum spam, 2005 tech users saw spam as one of life's continued annoyances. Looking into a crystal ball, I fear that social bookmarking will become the spam vehicle of 2006, weakening the value of a collective voice.
Sadly the blog saturation has resulted in web clutter. Due to increased competition and vast quantities of blogs on free hosted blog networks services, bloggers competing for audiences and web traffic will result in significant abandoned content, cluttering the web with useless ramblings. The ease of blogging that resulted in saturation will be its downfall. Credibility will again become important. Journalist, who have suffered from the blogosphere in 2005, will have a reprieve as credibility becomes an issue for bloggers. In 2006 web surfers are going to look for multiple sources to confirm facts, and rely on reliable respected sources, community content, and collaboration like Wikipedia is going to suffer and become less relevant in 2006. While Wikipedia scores well in search, it does not perform as well with accuracy. The Wikipedia community is haunted by spam and like DMOZ, it's success will be its downfall. The relevance of successful community wiki's will fade in 2006.
Cell phones have become personal homing devices, and it is near impossible to locate a cellular phone that is not capable of manipulating or taking photos, videos, graphics and text messages in addition to the traditional voice calls. It is likely the PDA will become extinct in 2006, as travelers move to a single multifunction device. In 2007 MP3 players will likely be a common feature of cell phones.
Wireless growth is still worth noting, as it has moved from hotspots, to hot zones, to hot cities. Philadelphia and San Francisco are leading the way as wireless cities in 2006.
What is in store for 2006? Privacy is a hot topic that is not going to disappear. Google and the US Government are battling a Big Brother image. Data mining has made the collection of data meaningful. Anti-Google sentiment is growing. Google has fallen from grace, while Google has made friends on Wall Street, it has disappointed surfers who have turned to Yahoo and MSN in growing numbers. 2006 will likely result heat up the search engine war with MSN and Yahoo scrambling for marketshare and Google walking a tightrope with privacy advocates on one end and monopoly theorists on the other end.
Google wants to make money, and like it or not data, is a commodity. Google will likely use the data from their various ventures to develop new technologies and personalize content. Conspiracy theorists believe that the Google's aggregate data will also be used to optimize the fees charged for pay-per-click, influence organic ranking, or worse yet, sold.
Google's growth will continue to motivate privacy advocates and those in the technology field behind the Attention Truste movement, to work together, to improve how personal information and subscription information is used online. I expect we will see a lot of energy and effort in this area.
Personalized content will be a buzz word for 2006. Whether it is users selecting Podcasts, iTunes, or purchasing Amazon recommendations the web is learning how to cater content based on user selections and choices. Web surfers see personalized content as regaining control of what they want to watch, see, or listen to. From Tivo to podcasting, users are taking back control. Yet when the web serves content that is based on past surfing habits, who is really in control?
In 2005, marketers were told in no uncertain terms, if they are not using syndication and RSS, they will not survive. Well, they have one more chance to get it right. In 2006, marketers must use RSS as an alternative communication channel. It will no longer be cutting edge, it will be a must to survive. Web surfers no longer expect to provide personal information (an email address) for marketing materials, they expect to have a choice about how they wish to receive the content.
Vendors selling through affiliate programs lost ground in 2005. Publishers found the easy money of pay-per-click advertising not fraught with the inherent problems of affiliate tracking and cookie-killers. The increase in click-fraud and content scraping on AdSense sites will even the playing field and make affiliate programs more attractive in 2006.
The world is getting smaller, and technological advancements has not only brought us tragedy, but also has opened doors and the global market is now a viable option for small businesses. I believe the globalization trend will continue in 2006.
Top 10 Winners Predicted for 2006:
- Cyber Security
- VOIP
- Attention Data
- RSS/Syndication
- Copyprotection
- Credibility
- Privacy
- Alternative Energy (reusable fuel, clean energy)
- Content Filtering
- VideoTunes (iTunes with Video)
source: www.webpronews.com
Pornographers Turn to Click-Fraud
By John P. Mello Jr.
E-Commerce Times
"The industry concern is that the more these ads are syndicated broadly, the more potential there is for click fraud," SEMPO spokesperson Greg Jarboe said. "You can see it pretty quickly if you're dealing with the major search engines, but when ads are appearing elsewhere, they become trickier to police."
Peddling smut has always been a lucrative business on the Internet Get Linux or Windows Managed Hosting Services with Industry Leading Fanatical Support., but apparently it isn't lucrative enough for some skin merchants.
According to a statement released yesterday by Kessler International (KI), a cybercrime investigations firm based in New York City, pornographers are turning to click-fraud to supplement income generated by their vice sites.
Click-fraud is a scam targeted at a popular form of Net advertising called pay-per-click (PPC). With PPC, an advertiser pays an agent a fixed amount each time someone clicks on an ad linked to the advertiser's Web site.
To distribute an advertiser's ads, agents often use affiliate programs. An affiliate has a Web site and agrees to post advertising from the agent there. When someone clicks on an ad at an affiliate's site, they get a cut of the money paid to the agent.
Ripe for Abuse
Since its inception, the scheme has been ripe for abuse. A business can gleefully click away on a competitor's ad knowing that with each click it's reducing the ROI of the competition's ad budget. Deceitful affiliates can repeatedly click ads to puff up their earnings. Hackers have even brought zombie networks into the act to automate bogus clicking schemes.
According to the latest numbers from the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), based in Wakefield, Mass., click-fraud cost online merchants US$800 million in 2004.
And now pornographers are entering the picture.
Links Behind Naked Ladies
According to KI's statement, its six-month investigation into PPC programs revealed that some unscrupulous affiliates were linking dirty pictures at their Web sites to the sites of PPC advertisers, including family attraction parks, high profile law firms, children's toy companies and religious ministries.
Moreover, KI said, most of the porn bunko sites are displaying photos with subjects engaging in alleged incest without any references to the federal law requiring that models used in skin pics be 18 years old or older.
When contacted by the E-Commerce Times, KI's President and CEO Michael G. Kessler declined to reveal the names of sites that had been targeted by the porn click-fraud artists or the affiliate systems that were being abused, but he did explain the nature of the racket.
Database Access
"If you have people all over the world clicking on naked pictures and it's taking them to a legitimate site, all those people are going to do is back out of the site because all they were doing was looking for another naked picture," he said. "But when they click on that naked picture, it's registering somewhere as a click, and somebody is getting money for that click."
The investigator added that the fraudsters appear to have found a way to maximize their ill-gotten gains.
As part of its investigation, he said, KI set up dummy companies to buy PPC ads. The companies experimented with the amounts they paid for each click that led a visitor to their sites. A direct relationship was found between payments and traffic. The more a company paid for a click, the more traffic that was driven to its site from porn locations.
"We know for a fact that the porno site operators have a direct link to the databases of some of the pay-per-click advertising companies," Kessler asserted.
Scam a Week
One of the largest PPC operations on the Net is run by Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Latest News about Google through its AdSense network. When asked by the E-Commerce Times if any of its advertisers had complained about their ads being hijacked by pornographers, spokesperson Barry Schnitt responded via e-mail:
"As stated in our Google AdSense policies, we do not allow sites with pornography, adult, or mature content into our network."
Nevertheless, the porno link to click fraud has been seen by others. Yoni Kahnrose, vice president for operations for Authenticlick, a click fraud auditing and recovery company in Los Angeles, told the E-Commerce Times, "We have seen instances of adult sites sending illegitimate traffic to clients such as law firms."
When told of the porn scam, SEMPO spokesperson Greg Jarboe was surprised. "That's a new development," he told the E-Commerce Times, "although in click fraud, new developments sort of come once a week."
He noted that the growing popularity of PPC has increased the capacity for click fraud.
"The industry concern is that the more these ads are syndicated broadly, the more potential there is for click fraud," he observed. "You can see it pretty quickly if you're dealing with the major search engines, but when ads are appearing elsewhere, they become trickier to police."
source: www.ecommercetimes.com
E-Commerce Times
"The industry concern is that the more these ads are syndicated broadly, the more potential there is for click fraud," SEMPO spokesperson Greg Jarboe said. "You can see it pretty quickly if you're dealing with the major search engines, but when ads are appearing elsewhere, they become trickier to police."
Peddling smut has always been a lucrative business on the Internet Get Linux or Windows Managed Hosting Services with Industry Leading Fanatical Support., but apparently it isn't lucrative enough for some skin merchants.
According to a statement released yesterday by Kessler International (KI), a cybercrime investigations firm based in New York City, pornographers are turning to click-fraud to supplement income generated by their vice sites.
Click-fraud is a scam targeted at a popular form of Net advertising called pay-per-click (PPC). With PPC, an advertiser pays an agent a fixed amount each time someone clicks on an ad linked to the advertiser's Web site.
To distribute an advertiser's ads, agents often use affiliate programs. An affiliate has a Web site and agrees to post advertising from the agent there. When someone clicks on an ad at an affiliate's site, they get a cut of the money paid to the agent.
Ripe for Abuse
Since its inception, the scheme has been ripe for abuse. A business can gleefully click away on a competitor's ad knowing that with each click it's reducing the ROI of the competition's ad budget. Deceitful affiliates can repeatedly click ads to puff up their earnings. Hackers have even brought zombie networks into the act to automate bogus clicking schemes.
According to the latest numbers from the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), based in Wakefield, Mass., click-fraud cost online merchants US$800 million in 2004.
And now pornographers are entering the picture.
Links Behind Naked Ladies
According to KI's statement, its six-month investigation into PPC programs revealed that some unscrupulous affiliates were linking dirty pictures at their Web sites to the sites of PPC advertisers, including family attraction parks, high profile law firms, children's toy companies and religious ministries.
Moreover, KI said, most of the porn bunko sites are displaying photos with subjects engaging in alleged incest without any references to the federal law requiring that models used in skin pics be 18 years old or older.
When contacted by the E-Commerce Times, KI's President and CEO Michael G. Kessler declined to reveal the names of sites that had been targeted by the porn click-fraud artists or the affiliate systems that were being abused, but he did explain the nature of the racket.
Database Access
"If you have people all over the world clicking on naked pictures and it's taking them to a legitimate site, all those people are going to do is back out of the site because all they were doing was looking for another naked picture," he said. "But when they click on that naked picture, it's registering somewhere as a click, and somebody is getting money for that click."
The investigator added that the fraudsters appear to have found a way to maximize their ill-gotten gains.
As part of its investigation, he said, KI set up dummy companies to buy PPC ads. The companies experimented with the amounts they paid for each click that led a visitor to their sites. A direct relationship was found between payments and traffic. The more a company paid for a click, the more traffic that was driven to its site from porn locations.
"We know for a fact that the porno site operators have a direct link to the databases of some of the pay-per-click advertising companies," Kessler asserted.
Scam a Week
One of the largest PPC operations on the Net is run by Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Latest News about Google through its AdSense network. When asked by the E-Commerce Times if any of its advertisers had complained about their ads being hijacked by pornographers, spokesperson Barry Schnitt responded via e-mail:
"As stated in our Google AdSense policies, we do not allow sites with pornography, adult, or mature content into our network."
Nevertheless, the porno link to click fraud has been seen by others. Yoni Kahnrose, vice president for operations for Authenticlick, a click fraud auditing and recovery company in Los Angeles, told the E-Commerce Times, "We have seen instances of adult sites sending illegitimate traffic to clients such as law firms."
When told of the porn scam, SEMPO spokesperson Greg Jarboe was surprised. "That's a new development," he told the E-Commerce Times, "although in click fraud, new developments sort of come once a week."
He noted that the growing popularity of PPC has increased the capacity for click fraud.
"The industry concern is that the more these ads are syndicated broadly, the more potential there is for click fraud," he observed. "You can see it pretty quickly if you're dealing with the major search engines, but when ads are appearing elsewhere, they become trickier to police."
source: www.ecommercetimes.com
Creative Awards Increase Advertising Sales
| When newspaper advertising rises to an art form, advertising revenues also rise. | |
That’s why it is important to encourage good advertising design by giving the "creatives" the recognition they deserve. Creative awards are a good way to recognize advertising talent and, at the same time, increase advertising sales. The World Newspaper Advertising Conference and Expo, to be held in Paris, France, on 23 and 24 February, will devote a session to some of the best award programmes globally. The conference, organized by the World Association of Newspapers, will examine the Europe-wide Creative Juice awards, the ATHENA awards in the United States, and will feature a report from South America on the impact of creative awards on advertising sales. Full conference details are available here. The Creative Juice competition aims to identify the best young creative minds in the European advertising industry and culminates in a "Best Yet" final of more than a dozen teams from seven European countries. The conference presentation will be made by Robert Ray, the Marketing Director for the Newspaper Society in the United Kingdom. The Newspaper Association of America’s ATHENA awards (Award To Honor Excellence in Newspaper Advertising) recognizes the most outstanding advertising work in newspapers for the year and are designed to inspire marketers and advertisers. The presentation will be made by Mort Goldstrom, the NAA’s Vice President for Advertising. The session will also include a report from South America on the impact of creative awards on advertising sales, by Geraldo Leite, Advertising Committee Director for the Brazilian Association of Newspapers. Other presentations include:
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 73 national newspaper associations, newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr. |
The case of a successful advertising revenue generation program in the United Kingdom called AD!mpact, which has helped newspapers increase expenditure from existing customers and to add new advertisers as well. The presentation will be made by Lorraine Caine, Advertising Director for the Bristol Evening Post, and David Barker, Business Development Director of UK-based New Revenue Solutions.Thursday, January 05, 2006
Be Creative - Effective Advertising Is Extremely Important
Don't be embarrassed when it comes to advertising. Sell yourself and you will succeed. Without advertising, there is no exposure, and without exposure, there is no business. Don't expect people to just find your site or store and give you business.
Be creative. Money is not the only solution to getting your business off the ground. Take advantage of all the free services and materials to get your name out there. Submit your site to free web directories, print out flyers and put them in people's mail box or drop them off in malls or airports for people to take a glimpse of your business. Make t-shirts with your company logo and contact information and wear them around whenever you go.
I would like to suggest something like, go write on walls for people to look at, but that's called vandalism so please stay away from that.
Just to give you an idea of what you can do with your creativity. Don't just think, go act it out. Everyone has some idea of how to advertise, but most of the time they back down because they think it's stupid or embarrassing. Nothing is embarrassing but rather consider it successful if you are able to get your name out to even a single person. That one person may talk about your company with another person, which is called "word of mouth" advertising - most effective and credible advertising method available. They can either talk about your business or make fun of it; either way, more and more people are getting to know what you are doing!
Go out there and show them what you got!
By Anthony Bae
http://www.ImBae.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Bae
Be creative. Money is not the only solution to getting your business off the ground. Take advantage of all the free services and materials to get your name out there. Submit your site to free web directories, print out flyers and put them in people's mail box or drop them off in malls or airports for people to take a glimpse of your business. Make t-shirts with your company logo and contact information and wear them around whenever you go.
I would like to suggest something like, go write on walls for people to look at, but that's called vandalism so please stay away from that.
Just to give you an idea of what you can do with your creativity. Don't just think, go act it out. Everyone has some idea of how to advertise, but most of the time they back down because they think it's stupid or embarrassing. Nothing is embarrassing but rather consider it successful if you are able to get your name out to even a single person. That one person may talk about your company with another person, which is called "word of mouth" advertising - most effective and credible advertising method available. They can either talk about your business or make fun of it; either way, more and more people are getting to know what you are doing!
Go out there and show them what you got!
By Anthony Bae
http://www.ImBae.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Bae
Writing Effective Adverts
By Stephen Kaye
Advertising – Who Needs It? - Who doesn’t!
Most people who read information about business or advertising are doing so because they are trying to make some kind of positive change in their life. Perhaps get a job, make money, and increase their customer base – whatever. That’s the central purpose of a classified ad. They get you what you want.
This article has the same purpose, Like a classified advertisement, it will get you one of the things you want – it will show you how to write a classified advert. which gets results. Not only that, it will help to prevent you from wasting your hard-earned cash ads which never had a cat in hells’ chance of bringing you any business in the first place!
This article has a focused theme (showing you how to write ads). In the same way your advertisement should have that a central and focused purpose. Your advert. should be 100% geared to achieve one thing and one thing only
• If the intention of the ad is to get people to contact your business, then that is the only thing it should achieve. And it must achieve that one thing, nothing else.
• If you are trying to sell your old car your ad should get your telephone ringing the minute it hits the newsstands.
• If your advert is to get your 25-years old set of Encyclopaedia Britannica sold, that it the only thing it should achieve, and it must achieve that one thing. You would expect the telephone to start ringing within hours of the advert hitting the streets.
Seems obvious enough, doesn’t it? What else should an advert do? Why would a good advert in the classifieds section achieve anything else other than sell the service or product it was written for?
Unbelievable analysis
A random analysis of any classified adverts in any magazine or newspaper shows something unbelievable. Most people appear to have written their advertisements whilst asleep, during Wimbledon, watching a Science-Fiction film, or even when walking the dog. Most of the ads appear to have been written with the express intention of throwing money into the nearest skip.
What does a brief view of over 95% of classified adverts show? It shows that the writers have broken the basic rules of marketing.
EzineArticles Expert Author Stephen Kaye
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Kaye
Advertising – Who Needs It? - Who doesn’t!
Most people who read information about business or advertising are doing so because they are trying to make some kind of positive change in their life. Perhaps get a job, make money, and increase their customer base – whatever. That’s the central purpose of a classified ad. They get you what you want.
This article has the same purpose, Like a classified advertisement, it will get you one of the things you want – it will show you how to write a classified advert. which gets results. Not only that, it will help to prevent you from wasting your hard-earned cash ads which never had a cat in hells’ chance of bringing you any business in the first place!
This article has a focused theme (showing you how to write ads). In the same way your advertisement should have that a central and focused purpose. Your advert. should be 100% geared to achieve one thing and one thing only
• If the intention of the ad is to get people to contact your business, then that is the only thing it should achieve. And it must achieve that one thing, nothing else.
• If you are trying to sell your old car your ad should get your telephone ringing the minute it hits the newsstands.
• If your advert is to get your 25-years old set of Encyclopaedia Britannica sold, that it the only thing it should achieve, and it must achieve that one thing. You would expect the telephone to start ringing within hours of the advert hitting the streets.
Seems obvious enough, doesn’t it? What else should an advert do? Why would a good advert in the classifieds section achieve anything else other than sell the service or product it was written for?
Unbelievable analysis
A random analysis of any classified adverts in any magazine or newspaper shows something unbelievable. Most people appear to have written their advertisements whilst asleep, during Wimbledon, watching a Science-Fiction film, or even when walking the dog. Most of the ads appear to have been written with the express intention of throwing money into the nearest skip.
What does a brief view of over 95% of classified adverts show? It shows that the writers have broken the basic rules of marketing.
EzineArticles Expert Author Stephen Kaye
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Kaye
Advertising and PR
By Matt Bacak
What Is The Difference Between Advertising and PR?
Advertising and PR are two different functions, however, many business do not know the difference. Since spending your advertising budget and your PR budget effectively is crucial, how can you expect to accomplish this important goal unless you understand the difference?
When thinking of advertising, billboards, glossy spreads, quarter-page newspaper advertisements and other forms of highly visible promotional material comes to mind. This is clearly advertising. Branding or creating a well-recognized presence for your company is a clear example of effective advertising. Business cards with pizzazz are a form of advertising.
What, then, is PR? Public relations are those things that must be accomplished to let the world know who you are and what your company offers. Press releases, news conferences, professional networking and exhibitions or trade shows are examples of PR work. PR is not as flashy as advertising but it is every bit as important.
Effective Advertising and PR
In today's competitive marketplace, it is crucial to spend every bit of your advertising and PR budget strategically. Public relations can provide a mix that uses advertising but also enhances the efforts of your advertising dollar.
It has long been a "supposed fact" in business that word of mouth is the best advertising. This is not necessarily true. It is an unfortunate fact that a customer who has an exceptional experience dealing with your business will tell one or two people about their experience. A customer who has a bad experience will tell at least a dozen people and your business gets negative advertising.
Word of mouth is, however, one of the most effective PR tools available. Offering school tours, sponsoring science fairs or children's' sports teams, volunteering for public speaking opportunities, attending trade shows or presenting at conferences are rather inexpensive ways to build a wealth of good will and put your name out front.
Have you noticed that television commercials for a product often run a 15 to 30 second advertisement of a really great advertisement and within a few weeks shorten the advertisement to the most important 5 to 10 seconds? The reason is that the initial advertising is meant to brand the product or service and associate the advertisement and the product or service in your mind. It works very well - provided you have really memorable advertisements.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bacak
What Is The Difference Between Advertising and PR?
Advertising and PR are two different functions, however, many business do not know the difference. Since spending your advertising budget and your PR budget effectively is crucial, how can you expect to accomplish this important goal unless you understand the difference?
When thinking of advertising, billboards, glossy spreads, quarter-page newspaper advertisements and other forms of highly visible promotional material comes to mind. This is clearly advertising. Branding or creating a well-recognized presence for your company is a clear example of effective advertising. Business cards with pizzazz are a form of advertising.
What, then, is PR? Public relations are those things that must be accomplished to let the world know who you are and what your company offers. Press releases, news conferences, professional networking and exhibitions or trade shows are examples of PR work. PR is not as flashy as advertising but it is every bit as important.
Effective Advertising and PR
In today's competitive marketplace, it is crucial to spend every bit of your advertising and PR budget strategically. Public relations can provide a mix that uses advertising but also enhances the efforts of your advertising dollar.
It has long been a "supposed fact" in business that word of mouth is the best advertising. This is not necessarily true. It is an unfortunate fact that a customer who has an exceptional experience dealing with your business will tell one or two people about their experience. A customer who has a bad experience will tell at least a dozen people and your business gets negative advertising.
Word of mouth is, however, one of the most effective PR tools available. Offering school tours, sponsoring science fairs or children's' sports teams, volunteering for public speaking opportunities, attending trade shows or presenting at conferences are rather inexpensive ways to build a wealth of good will and put your name out front.
Have you noticed that television commercials for a product often run a 15 to 30 second advertisement of a really great advertisement and within a few weeks shorten the advertisement to the most important 5 to 10 seconds? The reason is that the initial advertising is meant to brand the product or service and associate the advertisement and the product or service in your mind. It works very well - provided you have really memorable advertisements.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bacak
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