The Oscars Loved the Web Last Night, Hate It Today [MediaMemo]

What happened with Randy Newman on the Oscars last night?

Apparently something funny, or interesting, or at least worth talking about on Twitter. And since there didn’t seem to be much of that during what I saw of last night’s show, I’d like to see it on YouTube this morning.

And I’m out of luck.

Which isn’t surprising. Just like it’s done for the past several years, Google’s video giant has been scrubbing the site clean of clips from last night’s show.

There’s an official Oscars YouTube channel, but it only has stuff from past shows and previews for Sunday’s broadcast (same goes for the official Oscar site). Maybe there’s a clip of Newman’s acceptance speech buried somewhere on the site, but I can’t find it. Even after I create a filter for newly uploaded clips, all I get are weird non-results and frustrating spam.

Again, not a surprise: Both Disney, which pays a lot for the right to broadcast the show on ABC, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which actually produces the thing, want me to regret not watching the show in real-time.

Big live events are the most valuable things on TV these days, so the people who put them on are trying their best to give real-time viewers carrots — Backstage Oscarscams! Twitter and Facebook feeds! Etc! —  give half-watchers like me the stick.

This is very much a replay of the Grammy awards from earlier this month. And that show had its biggest audience in years, so I don’t see anything changing in the short-term.

Which is a mistake. Because not everyone’s going to watch all of every big live event on TV. And some of us — probably a pretty big number — would like to catch up the next day.

But the half-life for this stuff is very, very short, and its gets shorter all the time. I can’t imagine caring very much about Randy Newman, or anything else on last night’s show by this afternoon. See you next year, or not.What happened with Randy Newman on the Oscars last night?

Apparently something funny, or interesting, or at least worth talking about on Twitter. And since there didn’t seem to be much of that during what I saw of last night’s show, I’d like to see it on YouTube this morning.

And I’m out of luck.

Which isn’t surprising. Just like it’s done for the past several years, Google’s video giant has been scrubbing the site clean of clips from last night’s show.

There’s an official Oscars YouTube channel, but it only has stuff from past shows and previews for Sunday’s broadcast (same goes for the official Oscar site). Maybe there’s a clip of Newman’s acceptance speech buried somewhere on the site, but I can’t find it. Even after I create a filter for newly uploaded clips, all I get are weird non-results and frustrating spam.

Again, not a surprise: Both Disney, which pays a lot for the right to broadcast the show on ABC, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which actually produces the thing, want me to regret not watching the show in real-time.

Big live events are the most valuable things on TV these days, so the people who put them on are trying their best to give real-time viewers carrots — Backstage Oscarscams! Twitter and Facebook feeds! Etc! —  give half-watchers like me the stick.

This is very much a replay of the Grammy awards

Original Link: http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20110228/the-oscars-love-the-web-last-night-hate-it-today/?mod=ATD_rss

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Academy Awards: Who Will Win? How Many Will Watch?

The Award Show season is in full swing, and if history runs true to form this Sunday’s telecast of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards will be one of most-viewed programs of the year.

Viewership for other major award shows in 2011 has increased from previous years, which might give a boost to this year’s Oscar telecast. Last year, with a shoot-out between Avatar and The Hurt Locker, the Academy Awards captured an audience of 41.7 million viewers – the largest in five years.

“The increased viewership for awards shows coincides with the recent trend towards larger audiences for live events,” said Pat McDonough, Senior Vice President for Insights and Analysis at Nielsen. “Watching live events, such as an award show or sporting event, allows the viewer to feel closer to the action and generates a greater appeal to watch. Moreover, simultaneously using Twitter and other social media to follow the event helps enhance the experience even more.”

The Academy Awards

Year Total Number of Viewers Best Picture

2010 41,699,000 The Hurt Locker

2009 36,310,000 Slumdog Millionaire

2008 32,006,000 No Country for Old Men

2007 40,172,000 The Departed

2006 38,939,000 Crash

Source: The Nielsen Company. P2+ viewership, based on live + same day data

The Golden Globes and the Grammy Awards have also seen a steady increase in viewership over the past three years.

The Golden Globes

Year Total Number of Viewers

2011 17,003,000

2010 16,982,000

2009 14,860,000

2008^ 6,038,000

2007 20,036,000

2006 18,765,000

^Golden Globes Press Conference only due to Writers Guild of America, West strike.
Source: The Nielsen Company

The Grammy Awards

Year Total Number of Viewers

2011 26,667,000

2010 25,869,000

2009 19,048,000

2008 17,182,000

2007 20,058,000

2006 17,005,000

Source: The Nielsen Company

Original Link: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/academy-awards-who-will-win-how-many-will-watch/

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How Soon Will the iPad 2 Ship? [Digital Daily]

Assuming Apple does as expected and uncrates the successor to the iPad at its special event next Wednesday, how long will it be before it actually ships?

Not long at all, say supply chain sources, who tell Barclays that the iPad 2 will likely arrive at market in April, just like its predecessor. Evidently, its design and specifications were finalized earlier this month and it’s headed into manufacturing now. Barclays analyst Kirk Yang expects iPad 2 shipments to start in early April, with two million units for that month.

“The April shipment time frame (vs. the earlier market expectation of small shipments in March) is primarily due to production line setup and training, and not likely due to any product re-design,” he says. “None of the component suppliers suggest any type of re-designs nor delays.”

Like most everyone else, Barclays expects the iPad 2 to be faster, thinner and lighter and outfitted with cameras and FaceTime support. Its unit shipment forecast for the device: 28.8 million for fiscal 2011 and 40 million for fiscal 2012.Assuming Apple does as expected and uncrates the successor to the iPad at its special event next Wednesday

Original Link: http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20110225/how-soon-will-the-ipad-2-ship/?mod=ATD_rss

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Ignoring social media just stopped working

OK, OK, maybe it stopped working a while ago. Maybe you thought it stopped working when Google debuted Universal Search. Or maybe you thought it stopped working when Bing hooked up with Facebook. But if you were hanging on and saying, "Google doesn't personalize THAT may results," then this wakeup call is for you. If you think nothing matters until ..read more.. 

via #smartr - Brilliant news reader for twitter+iphone

Apple Rolls Out New Subscription Plan

Apple today rolled out its new subscription billing service to all publishers who make their content available through the tech giant’s App Store. Under the new plan, Apple will take a 30% share of in-app subscription purchases.

Original Link: http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/2011/02/15/9154/apple-rolls-out-new-subscription-plan?utm_source=NetNewsCheck-rss&utm_medium=originals&utm_campaign=originals-Apple-Rolls-Out-New-Subscription-Plan

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Ex-President's Daughter Arrested at Iran Protest - Voice of America

MiamiHerald.com
Ex-President's Daughter Arrested at Iran Protest
Voice of America
Iran's state-run news agency says authorities have arrested the daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for taking part in a banned demonstration called by opposition leaders. IRNA says Faezeh Hashemi was identified and arrested while ...
Iran protester killed in clashes with police, say witnesses and oppositionHa'aretz
Iran Squelches Protest Attempt in CapitalNew York Times
Police prevent large protests in IranSydney Morning Herald
Ynetnews -Channel 6 News Online -AFP
all 467 news articles »MiamiHerald.com
Ex-President's Daughter Arrested at Iran Protest
Voice of America
Iran's state-run news agency says authorities have arrested the daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for taking part in a banned demonstration called by opposition leaders. IRNA says Faezeh Hashemi was identified and arrested while ...
Iran protester killed in clashes with police, say witnesses and oppositionHa'aretz
Iran Squelches Protest Attempt in CapitalNew York Times
Police prevent large protests in IranSydney Morning Herald
Ynetnews -Channel 6 News Online -AFP
all 467 news articles »

Original Link: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEHHYWYPUg6fMGwW7XGtmMWnsDovg&url=http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Ex-Presidents-Daughter-Arrested-at-Iran-Protest-116563248.html

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The 15 Most Powerful Members Of 'Skull And Bones'

The most famous secret society in America, Skull and Bones was co-founded at Yale in 1832 by the father of a future president and has come to signify everything that attracts and repulses the public about "The Elite."

Rumor has it that Yale junior class members are tapped for membership each fall by some measure of leadership, influence and breeding.

Among the business titans, poets, politicians and three US Presidents that are rumored to be members, we've picked out the honor roll.

William Howard Taft - Class of 1878

Our 27th, and fattest (fun fact), President was known to his college buddies as "Big Lub," and was the first "Bonesman" ever to reach The Oval Office.

Frankly, young Mr. Taft would probably had a rather easy time getting into the club...

His father, and one-time Attorney General, Alphonso Taft, co-founded Skull and Bones as a Yale student in 1832.

Amos Alonzo Stagg - Class of 1888

Yale's greatest football player of all-time (apologies to Calvin Hill), Stagg practically invented the modern game and is still the only man to be elected into both the Pro Football and Pro Basketball Halls of Fame.

It can only be assumed that being the most gifted jock in Yale's history had some bearing on Mr. Stagg's being chosen to join Skull and Bones.

William Averill Harriman - Class of 1913

The future Governor of New York and Presidential candidate was clearly a man who liked his time at Yale...

Immediately after inheriting the largest fortune in The United States from his railroad baron father upon his graduation, Harriman took a job as Yale's crew coach and stuck around New Haven.

No doubt the man his fellow Bonesmen referred to Averill as "Thor," continued to enjoy himself around town as Yale celebrity before moving on to his many future successes.

View more at Business InsiderThe most famous secret society in America, Skull and Bones was co-founded at Yale in 1832 by the father of a future president and has come to signify everything that attracts and repulses the public about "The Elite."

Rumor has it that Yale junior class members are tapped for membership each fall by some measure of leadership, influence and breeding.

Among the business titans, poets, politicians and three US Presidents that are rumored to be members, we've picked out the honor roll.

William Howard Taft - Class of 1878

Our 27th, and fattest (fun fact), President was known to his college buddies as "Big Lub," and was the first "Bonesman" ever to reach The Oval Office.

Frankly, young Mr. Taft would probably had a rather easy time getting into the club...

His father, and one-time Attorney General, Alphonso Taft, co-founded Skull and Bones as a Yale student in 1832.

Amos Alonzo Stagg - Class of 1888

Yale's greatest football player of all-time (apologies to Calvin Hill), Stagg practically invented the modern game and is still the only man to be elected into both the Pro Football and Pro Basketball Halls of Fame.

It can only be assumed that being the most gifted jock in Yale's history had some bearing on Mr. Stagg's being chosen to join Skull and Bones.

William Averill Harriman - Class of 1913

The future Governor of New York and Presidential candidate was clearly a man who liked his time at Yale...

Immediately after inheriting the largest fortune in The United States from his railroad baron father upon his graduation, Harriman took a job as Yale's crew coach and stuck around New Haven.

No doubt the man his fellow Bonesmen referred to Averill as "Thor," continued to enjoy himself around town as Yale celebrity before moving on to his many future successes.

View more at Business Insider

Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/p-7i-Wiq1Bc/skull-and-bones-alumni-2011-2

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LivingSocial Hit With Class Action Suit

LivingSocial has been hit with a law suit claiming that they are violating consumer protection laws by including expiration dates on their “certificates,” or vouchers, and that the site is cheating customers out of leftover funds.

Original Link: http://www.netnewscheck.com/link/2011/02/17/9224/livingsocial-hit-with-class-action-suit?utm_source=NetNewsCheck-rss&utm_medium=latest-news-feed&utm_campaign=latest-news-feed-LivingSocial-Hit-With-Class-Action-Suit

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Chertoff: Internet Kill Switch Would Be "Troubling" [Voices]

By Michael Hickins, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

If Senators Joe Lieberman (I, Conn.) and Susan Collins (R, Maine) have their way, the President of the United States would have the authority to shut down the Internet in the country in the event of a cyber-attack or cyber-war–in other words, have access to an “Internet kill switch.”

But don’t count Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, among the fans of this idea. From a purely practical standpoint, he said, shutting down the Internet would likely cause as much collateral damage to the United States as any Internet-based attack because of the difficulty in recovering from such a shut-down.

Moreover, he said, giving a president that kind of authority would be “troubling, at least for me personally.”

Mr. Chertoff left the DHS in January 2009, and is now the chairman of the Chertoff Group consulting firm.

Read the rest of this post on the original siteBy Michael Hickins, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

If Senators Joe Lieberman (I, Conn.) and Susan Collins (R, Maine) have their way, the President of the United States would have the authority to shut down the Internet in the country in the event of a cyber-attack or cyber-war–in other words, have access to an “Internet kill switch.”

But don’t count Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, among the fans of this idea. From a purely practical standpoint, he said, shutting down the Internet would likely cause as much collateral damage to the United States as any Internet-based attack because of the difficulty in recovering from such a shut-down.

Moreover, he said, giving a president that kind of authority would be “troubling, at least for me personally.”

Mr. Chertoff left the DHS in January 2009, and is now the chairman of the Chertoff Group consulting firm.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Original Link: http://voices.allthingsd.com/20110217/chertoff-internet-kill-switch-would-be-troubling/?mod=ATD_rss

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The FBI Wants Tech Companies To Help Make Wiretapping Easier

From the just-extended Patriot Act to warrantless wiretapping, in many ways it’s easier than ever for law enforcement agencies to engage in domestic snooping. And it isn’t limited to phones—the FBI can already access web-based email and things like Facebook messages. So what does the FBI mean when it says it needs better tools for getting wiretaps?

In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee today, FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni cited two examples where FBI agents were unable to pursue investigations because an ISP and a social networking site didn’t have the technological capability to offer law enforcement the data they were legally entitled to collect.

The law that helps cops listen in on digital-age communications, known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), was passed in 1994. Even though it was updated to include certain technologies, like VoIP telephone connections, it’s woefully lacking in other areas, said Caproni.

Caproni acknowledged that the FBI is already able to access “stored data” on things like social networks. The problem, she said, is that the FBI has a hard time collecting data going over apps, social networks and webmail in “real time.” That means “investigators will remain several steps behind” in their efforts to catch bad guys. While Caproni didn’t ask Congress to take legislative action right away, the agency appears to want tech companies to be required to build mechanisms in to their products that make it easier for the government to gather the data it wants. Traditional telephone companies and related technologies like VoIP networks are already required to build in these access points.

But while Caproni laid out these problems to lawmakers, she didn’t ask them for legislative action, at least not right now.

Companies like Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Facebook would be key to enabling these new types of wiretaps. But digital-media companies have largely removed themselves from the debate. Writing on his blog, privacy researcher Chris Soghoian speculates that the companies are trying to keep a low profile for now and save their political juice to weigh in on the “Do Not Track” privacy bills now on the table, which could limit behavioral advertising.

Privacy rights groups have published a “letter of concern” about the FBI’s desire to update the law, saying that applying CALEA to “edge” technologies like peer-to-peer networks could damage those technologies or render them non-functional.

Related

* Get Ready For A Flurry Of New Online-Privacy Bills In CongressFrom the just-extended Patriot Act to warrantless wiretapping, in many ways it’s easier than ever for law enforcement agencies to engage in domestic snooping. And it isn’t limited to phones—the FBI can already access web-based email and things like Facebook messages. So what does the FBI mean when it says it needs better tools for getting wiretaps?

In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee today, FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni cited two examples where FBI agents were unable to pursue investigations because an ISP and a social networking site didn’t have the technological capability to offer law enforcement the data they were legally entitled to collect.

The law that helps cops listen in on digital-age communications, known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), was passed in 1994. Even though it was updated to include certain technologies, like VoIP telephone connections, it’s woefully lacking in other areas, said Caproni.

Caproni acknowledged that the FBI is already able to access “stored data” on things like social networks. The problem, she said, is that the FBI has a hard time collecting data going over apps, social networks and webmail in “real time.” That means “investigators will remain several steps behind” in their efforts to catch bad guys. While Caproni didn’t ask Congress to take legislative action right away, the agency appears to want tech companies to be required to build mechanisms in to their products that make it easier for the government to gather the data it wants. Traditional telephone companies and related technologies like VoIP networks are already required to build in these access points.

But while Caproni laid out these problems to lawmakers, she didn’t ask them for legislative action, at least not right now.

Companies like Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Facebook would be key to enabling these new types of wiretaps. But digital-media companies have largely removed themselves from the debate. Writing on his blog, privacy researcher Chris Soghoian speculates that the companies are trying to keep a low profile for now and save their political juice to weigh in on the “Do Not Track” privacy bills now on the table, which could limit behavioral advertising.

Privacy rights groups have published a “letter of concern” about the FBI’s desire to update the law, saying that applying CALEA to “edge” technologies like peer-to-peer networks could damage those technologies or render them non-functional.

Related

* Get Ready For A Flurry Of New Online-Privacy Bills In Congress

Original Link: http://feeds.paidcontent.org/~r/pcorg/~3/UodwDyYNUx0/

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Google Cracks Down On Content Farms

Google yesterday in a blog post announced that it is launching a new extension to its Chrome browser that will allow users to block specific sites from their Web search results. "We’ve been exploring different algorithms to detect content farms, which are sites with shallow or low-quality content," the company said.Google yesterday in a blog post

Original Link: http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/2011/02/15/9158/google-cracks-down-on-content-farms?utm_source=NetNewsCheck-rss&utm_medium=latest-news-feed&utm_campaign=latest-news-feed-Google-Cracks-Down-On-Content-Farms

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Tips and Tricks for Retail Advertisers

(Cross-posted on the Small Business Blog)

Please enjoy the second post in the series of tips and tricks for advertising within your industry. This week: Retail! Up next is Travel.

There are countless varieties of products, services, and companies within the Retail industry, but one thing unites us all: seasonality. Whether you’re selling school supplies, MP3 Players, or sports gear, you probably have a ‘hot season’ and some semblance of a ‘down season.’ I think our biggest trap as Retail advertisers is to only focus our efforts on the hot season; whereas Retail marketing should really happen year-round.

You have a lot of options and resources -- both free and paid -- available for marketing your business throughout the year. Below I’ve outlined a few of my favorite tools and tips.

* Figure out when your hot season actually starts. Many marketers assume they know when their hot season starts and ends or they base this year’s strategy on last year’s season. Use Insights for Search to better understand when customers begin to search for your products. If you look at search volume on ‘swimsuits,’ you’ll notice that queries actually begin to rise in January and maintain steady volume throughout July. Don’t fall into the trap of advertising swimsuits only in the summer!

*  Use different types of campaigns at different times. Once you fully understand your seasonality, think critically about the different types of advertising you’ll do throughout the year. For AdWords customers, for example, I recommend exploring the Remarketing Tool to keep track of customers who may have visited your site during the down season. When hot season strikes again, you’ll be able to reach these customers when they are more actively pursuing your products. Remarketing is also a great way for AdWords customers with multiple seasons to reach people throughout the year. For example, if you sell flowers, you can set up a cookie to target people who purchased flowers from you on Valentine's Day, and then begin showing them ads for your Mother's Day specials in April.

* Through it all, continue to optimize your account structure. Once you’ve established the initial structure of your account, be sure to track performance and optimize your keyword lists and ad texts, particularly during down seasons. I recommend using the ‘Search terms’ report on your broad match keywords or the Opportunities Tab to identify new keyword ideas as well as negative keywords. For your ad text, look at which ads converted best in the previous hot season, and see if any consistent themes jump out. You may notice that mentioning ‘Save 20% on Gifts’ worked better than ‘Save Big on Gifts’ and you can edit your text accordingly for the next hot season.

* Take advantage of free offerings, particularly during the down season. For Retailers with physical locations, it’s imperative that you create a listing on Google Places. Particularly as consumers increasingly search while they are on the go, it’s important that people know when they are near your physical location!

Think of how much more time you have when you’re in the down season -- and use this time to optimize and grow your business in advance of the hot season. Our customers’ interests and behaviors change each year and yes, it can be difficult to keep up. Lucky for us, we have plenty of options to reach our customers at different phases of the conversion cycle and many tools to better understand our customers. Best of luck in 2011!

Posted by Tim Freeth, Team Lead, AdWords Retail(Cross-posted on the Small Business Blog)

Please enjoy the second post in the series of tips and tricks for advertising within your industry. This week: Retail! Up next is Travel.

There are countless varieties of products, services, and companies within the Retail industry, but one thing unites us all: seasonality. Whether you’re selling school supplies, MP3 Players, or sports gear, you probably have a ‘hot season’ and some semblance of a ‘down season.’ I think our biggest trap as Retail advertisers is to only focus our efforts on the hot season; whereas Retail marketing should really happen year-round.

You have a lot of options and resources -- both free and paid -- available for marketing your business throughout the year. Below I’ve outlined a few of my favorite tools and tips.

* Figure out when your hot season actually starts. Many marketers assume they know when their hot season starts and ends or they base this year’s strategy on last year’s season. Use Insights for Search to better understand when customers begin to search for your products. If you look at search volume on ‘swimsuits,’ you’ll notice that queries actually begin to rise in January and maintain steady volume throughout July. Don’t fall into the trap of advertising swimsuits only in the summer!

*  Use different types of campaigns at different times. Once you fully understand your seasonality, think critically about the different types of advertising you’ll do throughout the year. For AdWords customers, for example, I recommend exploring the Remarketing Tool to keep track of customers who may have visited your site during the down season. When hot season strikes again, you’ll be able to reach these customers when they are more actively pursuing your products. Remarketing is also a great way for AdWords customers with multiple seasons to reach people throughout the year. For example, if you sell flowers, you can set up a cookie to target people who purchased flowers from you on Valentine's Day, and then begin showing them ads for your Mother's Day specials in April.

* Through it all, continue to optimize your account structure. Once you’ve established the initial structure of your account, be sure to track performance and optimize your keyword lists and ad texts, particularly during down seasons. I recommend using the ‘Search terms’ report on your broad match keywords or the Opportunities Tab to identify new keyword ideas as well as negative keywords. For your ad text, look at which ads converted best in the previous hot season, and see if any consistent themes jump out. You may notice that mentioning ‘Save 20% on Gifts’ worked better than ‘Save Big on Gifts’ and you can edit your text accordingly for the next hot season.

* Take advantage of free offerings, particularly during the down season. For Retailers with physical locations, it’s imperative that you create a listing on Google Places

Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleRetailBlog/~3/ZX-PRIWSSxc/tips-and-tricks-for-retail-advertisers.html

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January 2011: Top U.S. Web Brands and News Sites

As in December 2010, the same brands were featured amongst the 10 most popular online in the U.S. in January 2011 except for Wikipedia replacing Amazon (now 11th). There was also only one change to the brands featuring compared to the same period a year ago, January 2010, with Ask Search Network replacing Fox Interactive Media, whose stable of sites includes MySpace and Photobucket.

Amongst January 2011’s U.S. top 10, Wikipedia (+6.7%) and MSN (+4.2%) saw the greatest monthly increase in Unique Visitors through PCs/laptops from home and work locations.

While Facebook, by some way, had the highest average time per person, Ask Search Network saw the greatest gain in monthly time spent, with the average visitor spending just under 11 minutes, up 16.4% from December 2010. Wikipedia, Facebook and Google shared similar growth in time spent, up 6.8%, 6.6% and 6%, respectively.

Top 10 U.S. Web Brands for January 2011 (Home and Work Locations)

Rank Brand Unique Audience (000) Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss) MOM % Change in UA MOM % Change in Time PP

1 Google 153,623 1:21:00 -0.1% 6.0%

2 Facebook 135,622 7:24:12 0.0% 6.6%

3 Yahoo! 130,854 2:20:10 -1.1% 2.1%

4 MSN/WindowsLive/Bing 121,019 1:26:39 4.2% -0.8%

5 YouTube 103,868 1:21:54 -1.9% -0.1%

6 Microsoft 90,221 0:41:53 -0.2% -3.4%

7 AOL Media Network 76,173 1:58:31 0.0% -0.2%

8 Wikipedia 65,698 0:15:31 6.7% 6.8%

9 Ask Search Network 65,454 0:10:40 0.3% 16.4%

10 Apple 63,296 1:18:48 -6.2% -6.9%

Source: The Nielsen Company

Read as: During January 2011, 153.6 million unique U.S. people visited Google using PC/laptops from home and work locations

When looking at the ten most popular Current Events and Global News sites, each saw month-over-month growth in their audience, as is often the case between December and January. Yahoo! News was the top site in the category with 46.3 million unique U.S. visitors, up 6% from December 2010. Yahoo! was followed by CNN Digital Network (+15%) and MSNBC Digital Network (+15.7%), both with double-digit gains in visitors.

Acquired by AOL earlier in the week, The Huffington Post was the #9 news site in January drawing 13.3 million unique visitors who averaged nearly 12 minutes on the site. Huff Post’s new sister site – AOL News – ranked #4 with 22.1 million unique visitors from home/work computers.

Although the Huff Post is now part of the same stable as AOL News, there was already some overlap amongst their audiences. In January 2011, 27% of US visitors to AOL News also visited Huff Post, while 44% of visitors to Huff Post also visited AOL News in that same month.

Top 10 U.S. Current Events & Global News Sites for January 2011 (Home & Work)

Rank Brand Unique Audience (000) Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss) MOM % Change in UA MOM % Change in Time PP

1 Yahoo! News 46,274 0:14:54 6.0% 22.5%

2 CNN Digital Network 37,008 0:22:37 15.0% 22.7%

3 MSNBC Digital Network 32,494 0:16:36 15.7% 13.4%

4 AOL News 22,060 0:14:00 3.9% 0.2%

5 Tribune Newspapers 16,929 0:10:10 21.7% 3.9%

6 Fox News Digital Network 16,652 0:19:14 16.0% -1.8%

7 NYTimes.com 15,503 0:15:15 24.0% 8.9%

8 ABCNEWS Digital Network 14,551 0:05:55 11.2% 0.6%

9 TheHuffingtonPost.com 13,266 0:11:39 12.0% -18.4%

10 Gannett Newspapers and Newspaper Division 12,763 0:18:04 20.4% 22.5%

Source: The Nielsen Company

Read as: During January 2011, 46.3 million unique U.S. people visited Yahoo! News using PC/laptops from home and work locations

Note: The “Current Events & Global News” category does not include financial news sites such as Wall Street Journal, Reuters, etc. These sites are in a separate “Finanical News & Info” category

When looking at overall computer and Internet usage, U.S. Internet users spent more time online (+10%), visited more domains (+5.3%), engaged in more sessions (+3.5%) and viewed more pages (+3.5%) during January than they did last month.

Average U.S. Internet Usage for January 2011 (Home & Work)

Metrics Current Month Previous Month % Change

Sessions/Visits per Person 59 57 3.5%

Domains Visited per Person 99 94 5.3%

Web Page Views per Person 2,750 2,656 3.5%

PC Time per Person 61:27:19 55:53:03 10.0%

Duration of a Web Page viewed 0:00:58 0:00:55 3.9%

Active Digital Media Universe 197,842,270 198,595,819 -0.4%

Current Digital Media Universe Estimate 242,999,000 240,813,000 0.9%

Source: The Nielsen Company

Original Link: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/january-2011-top-u-s-web-brands-and-news-sites/

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Chart: Benefits of Social Media in Innovative Process - MediaBuyerPlanner

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NBC's "The 20" Brings Twitter Influencers to Local News

Local NBC stations in both New York and Washington D.C. have rolled out a new experiment incorporating news, local celebrities and everyone's favorite news add-on, Twitter. Dubbed "The 20", the experiment attempts to surface to stories that people are talking about "by following 20 individuals who shape the local conversation." Twitter has become a ..read more.. 

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You People Were Totally Twittering During the Super Bowl [MediaMemo]

More fuel for Twitter’s “we work really, really well with big TV events” pitch: News that the service set a new frequency record during Sunday’s Super Bowl. Twitter says users generated a peak of 4,064 tweets per second at the end of the game, eclipsing the old high for televised sports set during last year’s World Cup. But that’s not Twitter’s all-time record, which was set, oddly, in Japan last year on New Year’s Eve.

Original Link: http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20110209/you-people-were-totally-twittering-during-the-super-bowl/?mod=ATD_rss

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NBC: Here's Why We Fired The "Today Show" YouTube Leaker [MediaMemo]

Yup, NBC did indeed fire the guy who put that 1994 “Today Show” clip up on YouTube.

Here’s the company’s official statement: “The individual in question violated the company’s standards of conduct by repeatedly copying and distributing a variety of materials without permission.”

Not that it needs much unpacking, but just to be clear: NBC is saying, without actually saying so, that their position is that they canned the leaker for behavior beyond posting that single clip.

And not to be too square and get-off-my-lawn about it, but there are lots and lots of companies — including, for instance, Google, which owns YouTube — that fire people for distributing things on the Internet that aren’t supposed to be distributed on the Internet.

As PaidContent’s Andrew Wallenstein argues, the fact that the clip is funny and interesting and had already been on TV 17 years ago — and on NBC’s own Web site today — doesn’t mean the NBC guy had the go-ahead to do it. (It also points out the complexity that YouTube has in policing authorized and unauthorized clips, but that’s a different story.)

But, as noted: The clip is funny and interesting! And reminds of us what Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric used to look like. Let’s watch it again!Yup, NBC did indeed fire the guy who put that 1994 “Today Show” clip up on YouTube.

Here’s the company’s official statement: “The individual in question violated the company’s standards of conduct by repeatedly copying and distributing a variety of materials without permission.”

Not that it needs much unpacking, but just to be clear: NBC is saying, without actually saying so, that their position is that they canned the leaker for behavior beyond posting that single clip.

And not to be too square and get-off-my-lawn about it, but there are lots and lots of companies — including, for instance, Google, which owns YouTube — that fire people for distributing things on the Internet that aren’t supposed to be distributed on the Internet.

As PaidContent’s Andrew Wallenstein argues, the fact that the clip is funny and interesting and had already been on TV 17 years ago — and on NBC’s own Web site

Original Link: http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20110204/nbc-heres-why-we-fired-the-today-show-youtube-leaker/?mod=ATD_rss

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LinkedIn Skills Launches, Brings Real Knowledge Search to LinkedIn

LinkedIn, which is in the early stages of becoming a public company, is clearly working on improving their platform. LinkedIn Skills launched today, allowing users to search for a specific skill across the LinkedIn platform. If a user searches for a specific skill, LinkedIn returns key people within that community, top locations, related companies, relevant jobs, and relevant groups.

While only in beta, LinkedIn Skills marks an important step forward for LinkedIn. The results page for LinkedIn Skills offers some of the most interesting contextual information to come from the business-focused social networking company.

How to Add Skills To Your LinkedIn Profile

Adding skills to your LinkedIn Profile is a simple process. First, go to LinkedIn and sign into your account. Once you have signed in, go to the LinkedIn Skills page and search for a skill you have. 

On the skill results page click "Add Skill" to add the skill to your profile. You will then be taken to a new screen to add the skill.

Note: Users must first add a skill through this method and then other skill additions can be made directly from the profile page. 

Type in the skill you wish to add to your profile, then select you proficiency and years of experience and click "Add Skills".

If you are a regular reader of this blog then you might want to add "Inbound marketing" and "HubSpot Software" to your skills list. Your skills will now display in a new section of your profile.

This feature is still very new and LinkedIn has only a limited number of recognized specialties to search for today. But the concept has value for marketers, recruiters and sales people.

Marketing Takeaway

Visit your LinkedIn profile today and add your core specialties. Encourage others within your industry to add specialties as well to help get industry skills recognized by LinkedIn.

Remember that if you have experience in "Inbound Marketing" and/or "HubSpot Software" please add them to your list of skills as well. Keep an eye on this feature as it evolves. It could be a useful free tool to identify industry influencers, community event locations and find new employees.

LinkedIn seems to be rolling out new features quickly right now, so keep your eyes open for other innovations in the coming months. What feature would you like to see LinkedIn launch next?

Free Download: Social Media Marketing Kit

Learn How to Leverage Social Media for Your Business.Download the free kit for all the tips and tricks you'll need to harness the power of the social mediasphere.

Connect with HubSpot:
 

 LinkedIn, which is in the early stages of becoming a public company, is clearly working on improving their platform. LinkedIn Skills launched today, allowing users to search for a specific skill across the LinkedIn platform. If a user searches for a specific skill, LinkedIn returns key people within that community, top locations, related companies, relevant jobs, and relevant groups.

While only in beta, LinkedIn Skills marks an important step forward for LinkedIn. The results page for LinkedIn Skills offers some of the most interesting contextual information to come from the business-focused social networking company.

How to Add Skills To Your LinkedIn Profile

Adding skills to your LinkedIn Profile is a simple process. First, go to LinkedIn and sign into your account. Once you have signed in, go to the LinkedIn Skills page and search for a skill you have. 

On the skill results page click "Add Skill" to add the skill to your profile. You will then be taken to a new screen to add the skill.

Note: Users must first add a skill through this method and then other skill additions can be made directly from the profile page. 

Type in the skill you wish to add to your profile, then select you proficiency and years of experience and click "Add Skills".

If you are a regular reader of this blog then you might want to add "Inbound marketing" and "HubSpot Software" to your skills list. Your skills will now display in a new section of your profile.

This feature is still very new and LinkedIn has only a limited number of recognized specialties to search for today. But the concept has value for marketers, recruiters and sales people.

Marketing Takeaway

Visit your LinkedIn profile today and add your core specialties. Encourage others within your industry to add specialties as well to help get industry skills recognized by LinkedIn.

Remember that if you have experience in "Inbound Marketing" and/or "HubSpot Software" please add them to your list of skills as well. Keep an eye on this feature as it evolves. It could be a useful free tool to identify industry influencers, community event locations and find new employees.

LinkedIn seems to be rolling out new features quickly right now, so keep your eyes open for other innovations in the coming months. What feature would you like to see LinkedIn launch next?

Free Download: Social Media Marketing Kit

Learn How to Leverage Social Media for Your Business.Download the free kit for all the tips and tricks you'll need to harness the power of the social mediasphere.

Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HubSpot/~3/7Y1wzGdsjUc/LinkedIn-Skills-Launches-Brings-Real-Knowledge-Search-to-LinkedIn.aspx

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Facebook most popular, not most successful, social media tool

Facebook may be the most popular social media channel, but businesses certainly don't view it as the most successful tool in their box. Almost three-quarters (71%) of companies in the Inc. 500 used Facebook in 2010, up from 61% the previous year, so it's certainly an avenue being explored. In contrast, 59% used Twitter and half used blogging. Yet of ..read more.. 

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Advertising executives must lead by example in digital and social media realms

Gerald Adler Wrote:
Interesting read. Newspaper (and all media) advertising pros evolve.

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Blogs

Original Link: http://www.inma.org/blogs/integrated-advertising-sales/post.cfm/advertising-executives-must-lead-by-example-in-the-digital-and-social-media-realms

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Exclusive: LivingSocial Adding Real-Time Discounts Soon to Mobile Apps [eMoney]

Over the next couple of weeks, LivingSocial tells us, it will be adding real-time discounts to its mobile applications to enable consumers to search for discounts at nearby restaurants on the fly.

Likewise, it will give merchants the tools to find customers immediately should business get slow.

The service represents a big shift in the way daily deals are sold.

Instead of having to commit to a restaurant deal at least a day in advance, consumers can search for a discount in real time, on the way to lunch or dinner. And for merchants, it solves an immediate problem–it can offer a service right away, rather than selling a discount voucher that can be redeemed at other times.

The idea of walk-in deals is the latest evolution of the rapidly evolving daily deals space, which is fueled by stiff competition and millions (wait, scratch that), billions of dollars in venture capital.

“This could be a big next step in how people interact with local businesses. It’s a more efficient marketplace, and whenever you can do that, there’s potential for a lot of success,” said LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy.

The concept is brand-new for LivingSocial.

Just yesterday, it started approaching merchants about “walk-in” deals and plans to launch them in Washington, D.C., first, over the next couple of weeks. Soon after that, it will roll out the deals steadily across the country.

The service, however, is akin to efforts by others in the space, such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook.

But matching a critical mass of merchants who are willing to make an offer at a particular location and time with a critical mass of consumers is extremely difficult to do.

O’Shaughnessy believes LivingSocial can check both boxes.

“From the merchant perspective, there’s a reason we invested so heavily in a field sales team–it’s so we could try new initiatives. Getting a density of merchants is going to be easier for us than other check-in deals stuff,” he said.

As for customers, he said, “We have a really big mobile presence already. We are in the millions on iPhone or Android apps. They buy through us and redeem through us, and we have an active user base already.”

LivingSocial, which is backed by Amazon.com, will spend the next few months educating merchants as well, O’Shaughnessy said.

To make it all work, the company will be testing out different platforms, including giving merchants iPads and other proprietary hardware. During the pilot, LivingSocial will pay for that hardware.

By getting the tools in their hands, merchants will be able to  spontaneously decide whether their lunch crowd isn’t big enough and create a deal on the iPad that is designed to get people through the door within minutes. Once created, the deal will be instantly pushed out, and could expire a couple of hours later, based on the merchants’ preferences.

As with other offers found on LivingSocial or its competitors, like Groupon, merchants may ask the customer to pay $3 for a $5 sandwich or salad, and the customer must buy the voucher up front from the mobile application.

LivingSocial’s very lucrative business model will remain the same for walk-in deals, O’Shaughnessy confirmed.

That means, if a consumer pays $10 for a $20 dinner, LivingSocial will take roughly half, or $5.

Once inside the establishment, consumers can always choose to pay more for additional items–a drink or bag of chips with that sandwich, maybe?

Original Link: http://emoney.allthingsd.com/20110201/exclusive-livingsocial-adding-real-time-discounts-soon-to-mobile-apps/?mod=ATD_rss

Nielsen: Android, Apple And RIM Are In A Three-Way Tie In The U.S.

Some stats released today on smartphones that, for a change, don’t concern the number of devices shipped: Nielsen says 31 percent of U.S. consumers now have a smartphone, but penetration is significantly higher among certain racial groups. And while Android devices, iPhones and BlackBerries are still selling well, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, Nokia/Symbian and Palm (NSDQ: PALM) devices are emphatically not—with these three accounting together for only eleven percent of smartphone purchases in the last six months.

According to Nielsen, among Hispanics and Asians/Pacific Islanders, penetration is 45 percent, and African Americans have a 33 percent penetration. Meanwhile, the penetration is lower than average among Whites/non-Hispanics, at just 27 percent.

And while analysts have found that Android is gaining a lot of ground—and some say now dominating—among smartphone OS’s that are getting shipped, Nielsen says that when it comes to actual users, it is, in fact, a three-way tie between Android, iPhones and RIM.

But, Nielsen notes that this is changing. Among consumers that have purchased a smartphone in the last six months, 43 percent chose an Android device, 26 percent chose iPhones and 20 percent chose RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) devices.

Adding those three up, though, would leave just 11 percent for all the other devices, such as the Palm Pre, handsets running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) devices running Symbain. A very dismal picture for the rest of the smartphone market indeed.Some stats released today on smartphones that, for a change, don’t concern the number of devices shipped: Nielsen says 31 percent of U.S. consumers now have a smartphone, but penetration is significantly higher among certain racial groups. And while Android devices, iPhones and BlackBerries are still selling well, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, Nokia/Symbian and Palm (NSDQ: PALM) devices are emphatically not—with these three accounting together for only eleven percent of smartphone purchases in the last six months.

According to Nielsen, among Hispanics and Asians/Pacific Islanders, penetration is 45 percent, and African Americans have a 33 percent penetration. Meanwhile, the penetration is lower than average among Whites/non-Hispanics, at just 27 percent.

And while analysts have found that Android is gaining a lot of ground—and some say now dominating—among smartphone OS’s that are getting shipped, Nielsen says that when it comes to actual users, it is, in fact, a three-way tie between Android, iPhones and RIM.

But, Nielsen notes that this is changing. Among consumers that have purchased a smartphone in the last six months, 43 percent chose an Android device, 26 percent chose iPhones and 20 percent chose RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) devices.

Adding those three up, though, would leave just 11 percent for all the other devices, such as the Palm Pre, handsets running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, and Nokia (NYSE: NOK

Original Link: http://feeds.paidcontent.org/~r/pcorg/~3/YgwxXHgLJeY/