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David Card | September 05, 2008, 04:57 PM
A Good First Take on Shoe Circus
Anybody who reviews Crispin Porter + Bogusky's BillG/Seinfeld campaign after seeing only the first chapter is asking for trouble. That said, this is the most insightful review I've seen yet, courtesy Andrew Frank of Gartner. Gawrsh, I bet I'm not allowed to mention them anymore......( more )

Emily Riley | September 05, 2008, 04:25 PM
Jerry Seinfeld nods to Jupiter
Ok, so he doesn't mean Jupiter Reasearch, but he could. Bill is so straight, Jerry has to play the clown. It doesn't work, but I wish it did....( more )

Doug Williams | September 05, 2008, 11:11 AM
Embarq Launches Call Screening of Voice Mail
Remember that little box people used to buy that sat next to the phone, and when you didn’t answer an incoming call the box would play a greeting and then record the caller’s message? They used to be called answering machines. (Ok, they still exist, built into those cordless phone...( more )

Mark Mulligan | September 04, 2008, 10:19 AM
Wippit RIP
After 8 years Wippit has closed its doors. A genuine pioneer in digital music Wippit founder Paul Myers tried to get the labels to sign up to a legal P-to-P service long before they were ready (they’re still not all the way there yet cf PlayLouder). Paul could have chosen...( more )

Barry Parr | September 03, 2008, 07:05 PM
No comment? No problem.
I love Matt Haughey's thoughtful post on the differences between comments on blogs in 2008 and those back in the day (five years ago). But I think the root of the problem (described in various media outlets over the past year or so) of snarky, or mean-spirited, or generally unhelpful...( more )

Diane Clarkson | September 03, 2008, 02:35 PM
United Airlines retreats on eliminating transatlantic meals
Earlier this summer, United Airlines announced plans to stop providing meals to coach passengers on its transatlantic flights. Today, the airline emailed its customers to advise that they had changed their mind based on the feedback they’d received. United Airlines is positioning this as responding to what travelers value. You...( more )

David Schatsky | September 02, 2008, 09:55 PM
What I Learned About Work in the Woods of Maine
I'm just back from a couple of weeks' vacation in rural Maine and New Hampshire with my family. One morning, my kids and I each went off in different directions to spend an hour in solitude in the woods. As I walked along a trail that paralleled a stream bed...( more )

John Lovett | September 02, 2008, 10:20 AM
Will Google Chrome Rock?
Google’s at it again, although this time someone ripped the covers off the beta a bit early. The Google Chrome Web browser hasn’t hit the public Web yet, but hopes are high that today will be the day. My first thought on the news brought to mind the Wilco song;...( more )

IanFogg | August 28, 2008, 11:22 PM
3g Mobile Phone Battery Life
This is a slide from a report I wrote over three and a half years ago on Mobile Music Phones. In other words, the more successful a phone is with its design, the more people want to use their phones various features, and so the more strain is placed on...( more )

Thomas Husson | August 28, 2008, 05:34 PM
Mobile Social Networking
o2 & MySpace or Orange & Bebo were among the most striking deals between European mobile operators and online social networking sites in 2007. Many have followed since then and a bunch of mobile-only players are also claiming to have great audiences. Handset manufacturers have also embraced the trend and...( more )

Julie Ask | August 28, 2008, 01:12 PM
Using Location to Give Context to Content
I saw my first really good example today of using location to add context to content. It was simple, but good ... and to me I define good as useful/providing some utility. I received an email from Orbitz alerting me to the fact that the Republican Nat'l Convention is in...( more )

Ed Kountz | August 28, 2008, 08:51 AM
Judge's Ruling Limits Scope of Discover Lawsuit
Judge Barbara Jones, the Federal judge overseeing Discover’s antitrust lawsuit against MasterCard and Visa, reduced the scope of Discover’s suit in a ruling that generated responses from both MasterCard and Visa over the last few days. Judge Jones, responding to a summary judgement motion filed by MasterCard, ruled no evidence...( more )

Zia Daniell Wigder | August 26, 2008, 12:19 PM
Olympics site as bellwether of global online population
Yesterday comScore published visitation figures for the official Olympics site Beijing2008.cn during the first 10 days of the event. Much was made of the international nature of the traffic, and indeed, the list of top visitors largely reflects the global distribution of today’s online users (with the obvious exception of...( more )

Pfreemanevans | August 21, 2008, 10:12 PM
Online Sales and the Economic Environment: Q2 Update
News regarding the economic situation continues to be relatively gloomy and has been reflected in the Q2 results that offline retailers have been reporting. For example JC Penny reported Q2 comp store sales declined 4.3% versus last year, Abercrombie and...( more )

Nate Elliott | August 01, 2008, 02:06 PM
Thoughts on the Brand Value of Paid Search
I've always been curious about how marketers use search for branding. Search is such an obviously direct response medium, but whenever we survey online advertising executives, they tell us creating brand impact is one of their top search marketing goals. I've actually spoken to marketers who admit they bid themselves...( more )

Bobby Tulsiani | July 22, 2008, 08:10 PM
Competing with Hulu?
We recently published our report “Competing with YouTube”, where we explored strategies to compete with the video giant. Hulu, who has carved out a niche strategy around full length TV shows and premium content, has been one of the early success stories of 2008 in the competitive video space. Hulu’s...( more )

Ina Sebastian | May 07, 2008, 01:45 PM
Deal for a National WiMAX Network Announced
Sprint, Clearwire, and additional investors (Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House Networks) have reached an agreement regarding a national WiMAX build out through a new company named Clearwire. My colleague Julie Ask wrote a very insightful blog on the motivations of the investors yesterday. As she implied, success of...( more )

Zachary McGeary | February 25, 2008, 12:08 PM
The IVR Revolution Will NOT Be Televised: We Predicted it First
A recent BusinessWeek story highlights the dwindling popularity of the pro-consumer crusade established by GetHuman.com. Page views on the site have dwindled from about 40,000 a day in the spring of 2006 to some 4,000. The discussion board, while still active, has quieted down since 2006, when thousands of comments...( more )

David Daniels | December 18, 2007, 11:49 AM
Not Always for Geezers
My colleague David Card makes a good point about the merit of emusic’s unprotected MP3’s and their _gradual_ foray into the “mainstream.” Now this is the point that I evoke the Proton Pack wearing words of Harold Ramis – “whatever you do, don’t cross the beams, Ray.” Crossing my beams...( more )

Sapna Satagopan | August 27, 2007, 04:21 PM
Talking Multimedia at SES
I moderated a panel on ‘Optimizing for video search’, a topic that we wrote on last year here. What has changed since last year? Increasing advertiser interest and agency enthusiasm, for one. According to our survey, 15 percent of search marketers performed multimedia search optimization in 2006, and 36% plan...( more )

Peter Sargent | August 09, 2007, 11:10 AM
Findings from the Online Video Custom Research Report
One of the points within the report I discussed in my last blog will surely get the attention of advertisers and publishers alike. In the consumer survey, we presented respondents with a scenario in which online video content was free...( more )

Marcia Loewenstein | April 10, 2007, 12:51 PM
Accessibility and Dunkin' Donuts?
Recently, I have seen some great examples of ‘accessible technology’ and the more broad application ‘universal design’ rising in importance – a couple of examples that I will point to… · Apple’s Leopard release and ‘Universal Access’ highlighted as one...( more )

Marcia Loewenstein | May 17, 2005, 01:39 PM
Is Technology Accessible? (How Do You Increase the Font?)
My Mom just got an iMac. Most of it was up and running before I stopped by (except AOL). I wanted to show her some AAA rates on a hotel site, so while I was there she installed AOL - didn't need any help there. .....but, as soon as she...( more )