“During a question-and-answer session at an event hosted in San Francisco by Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, Schmidt reiterated his belief that advertising on mobile devices eventually will emerge as Google’s biggest source of profits. The company hopes to be in a better position to deliver ads to people on the go during the second half of this year when it’s scheduled to unveil its new mobile software package, ‘‘Android.”

Google’s plans to make Android available to wide variety of mobile handsets have caused conflicts for Schmidt in his role as a director of Apple Inc., which makes the popular iPhone. Schmidt said he has had to excuse himself from ”one or two” Apple board meetings involving the iPhone, which he said currently accounts for a ”vast majority” of mobile traffic on Google’s search engine.”

Read more about Android here…

Post from: EveryJoe

Advertising On Mobile Devices

I guess I could say I wish I had seen this from its inception but that isn’t true. Since posts about Walmart’s Classifieds have part of my current interest, I saw Erick’s at TC and read through the comments, coming across one by Bob Wyman. He mentioned the “no-coincidence” thought that Walmart’s new classifieds are being publicized at about the same time the newspaper industry is attempting to “recapture” the classified ad business.

Hence ReinventingClassifieds.com.

From their very first post;

“We’re especially looking for ideas that will help the newspaper industry figure out how to recover some of its lost classifieds business.”

To their post about Wal-Mart’s new Classifieds and Wal-Mart’s official line;

“We recently launched Walmart.com Classifieds beta to provide additional opportunities for our customers to save money and live better. This free, community-based resource allows customers to buy and sell items locally, find local jobs and learn about events in their area. Our new Classifieds beta at Walmart.com provides an expanded offering of products and services, the majority of which are not traditionally available from Wal-Mart, such as job listings, automobiles, rentals and real estate. It also further connects our community of 130 million customers who shop the Wal-Mart brand each week.”

Steve Outing and Co. are attempting to “bring experts together to revive newspaper classifieds by finding a new business model relevant in the Internet age.”

You’ll find a mixed number of opinions there whether classifieds can be saved or reinvented, including Bob Wyman’s. Good reading…

Post from: EveryJoe

Someone Is Trying To Reinvent Classified Advertising

• Watch Out Craigslist and Kijiji, Wal*Mart’s Coming!

• Walmart Launches Online Classifieds Powered by Oodle

“We recently launched Walmart.com Classifieds beta to provide additional opportunities for our customers to save money and live better. This free, community-based resource allows customers to buy and sell items locally, find local jobs and learn about events in their area.

Our new Classifieds beta at Walmart.com provides an expanded offering of products and services, the majority of which are not traditionally available from Wal-Mart, such as job listings, automobiles, rentals and real estate. It also further connects our community of 130 million customers who shop the Wal-Mart brand each week.”

Tell me – do you think that eBay’s executives gave this any consideration, at all??? Do you think it could put a dent in either Kijiji, Craigslist or both? Personally, I don’t think it would bother Craigslist at all but Kijiji might be another story. Wal-Mart is most certainly a power to be reckoned with and can compete with eBay on every level!

Post from: EveryJoe

Blind-Sided By Wal-Mart

“Newspaper publishers are seeing a significant slowdown in the growth rate of online revenue.”

That’s not all either – Print revenue has also plummeted in double digits for the first three months of 2008. Online classifieds have slowed while online display advertising is booming.

“Newspapers’ online classifieds are particularly vulnerable because most newspaper publishers still get the bulk of their online classified revenues from “up-sells” on the print side, offering online ad placement to people placing print classifieds.”

Very telling to one specific area might be “classified advertising was down 15.4% as lower newspaper advertising volumes, especially help-wanted, had an unfavorable impact on the company’s Web sites.” for one company, Media General.

Maybe the job boards have had an impact? (I wonder if eBay is paying attention?) j/k on both counts :)

Post from: EveryJoe

Newspapers Online Revenue Growth Slowing

More newspapers join online ad system

“A group of newspaper publishers said Thursday it was joining an industry-backed online advertising sales effort aimed at winning more business from national advertisers.

The announcement adds 26 newspaper companies as affiliates to an ad sales network launched last month by Gannett Co., Tribune Co., Hearst Corp. and The New York Times Co. The new affiliates to the venture called QuadrantOne effectively doubles the size of the network to about 250 newspapers.

New members of QuadrantOne include several large newspaper companies including McClatchy Co., the No. 3 U.S. publisher by circulation; A.H. Belo Corp., owner of the Dallas Morning News; and Media General Inc.”

Not yet really having a handle on the suggestion that this is not quite on the up and up, I think I might be willing to say that I feel uncomfortable with the depth of this venture relating to how many large resources are coming together. Feels way too much like a “baby-bell” deal.

More research needs to be accomplished…

Post from: EveryJoe

QuadrantOne Doubles Its Size

CBS to bloggers: Install our widgets, and we’ll split the profits

Oh well…

Caroline McCarthy lets us know that: “CBS Television Stations has launched a new program to get its local news headlines onto blogs and social-media sites.

Called the CBS Local Ad Network, it’s a way for participating region-focused blogs to pull in extra cash by embedding CBS news widgets on their sites and splitting the revenue of accompanying ads with CBS.

Approved sites will be able to choose the content of the CBS headlines displayed (breaking news, sports, politics), as well as select from a number of options to determine, for example, whether they want video content in the widget.”

Lest anyone think there might a a free lunch,

“Bloggers can’t just embed a widget and hope for profits, CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group president Jonathan Leess told CNET News.com. ‘There’s a screening process, obviously,’ he said. ‘We have to figure out or get some visibility into what the content is on that site, and then we screen, but we have a third party (Syndigo Networks) that administers all this for us.’”

So, if you’re interested, visit the Syndigo Networks link for more info.

Post from: EveryJoe

I Can’t Simply Embed A Widget And Hope For Profits?

Financial Times In Depth tells us;

“Interviews with agency executives since the unsolicited $40bn offer for Yahoo was announced last month make clear that they and their clients welcome the prospect of a stronger rival emerging to Google.

“If we have two competitors, a duopoly is better than a monopoly,” says Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, who has dubbed Google a “frenemy” – both friend and enemy to advertisers. Some agency bosses claim that Google’s dominance of search advertising has inflated prices and held back innovation in the fast-changing online market.

“The deal would probably be beneficial for advertisers, not just in encouraging price competition but also in terms of improvements in technology and the offerings for clients,” says Robert Lerwill, chief executive of Aegis.”

Seems to me that any “competition” added to the market ought to become beneficial to you and I when we’re in the position to consider expending money on advertising. It should work exactly the same way as lowering costs if we had more competition in the broadband cable and telecom universe. (Might motivate somebody to expand the capabilities of the “tubes” with the $200 billion “gift” they still haven’t spent…)

Post from: EveryJoe

Google Rival Might Be Best For All?

Opportunity of a Lifetime by Seth Godin;

“So, there’s plenty of bad economic news floating around. From the price of oil to Wall Street to bailouts to the death of traditional advertising.”

Which sounds negative in its beginnings but what Seth says next removes the down attitude quickly;

“Which is great news for anyone hoping to grow or to make an impact.”

I can only imagine how many folks would see the first sentence and go, oh, here’s another sad story… but it doesn’t have to be that way, does it?

Seth seems to leave us to use our imagination when he ends this short post with;

“Change (and the fortunes that go with it) is almost always made during the down part of the cycle. It might not be fun, but it’s exciting. (Where do you think Google came from?) The opportunity is to find substantial opportunities (in any field) that deliver real value and have a future. Those jobs/investments/companies/ideas are undervalued right now, but not for long.”

But, if you do a bit of research you’ll find there are opportunities around the recovery corner that are new and exciting, for instance…

Advertising: “Mobile Advertising Reaches For The Sky”

It may sound like old news but its still an infant about to sprout!

“What has everyone so excited about mobile advertising is what has happened on the Internet. Ad spending on the Web is growing at a compound annual rate of 18.3% and will reach $73 billion in 2011, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The consultancy says Internet advertising will comprise 14% of the entire global advertising market by that year.”

Will you be prepared?

[Graphic source - Strategy Analytics]

Post from: EveryJoe

Thanks Seth For Staying Positive!

In this case, they’re doing it to target Google once again. All’s fair in love and profit eh?

[H/T PaidContent]

Cable Firms Join Forces to Attract Focused Ads

“In an effort to slow Google’s siphoning of advertising dollars away from television, the nation’s six largest cable companies are making plans for a jointly owned company that would allow national advertisers to buy customized ads and interactive ads across the companies’ systems.”

Allowing for the level of paranoia our current administration has developed within me, I didn’t miss this;

“Cable companies have the ability to compile better data on users than Internet companies can glean, which could make focused ads on television more effective, according to Craig Moffett, a senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. It also makes the data that Project Canoe will collect from set-top boxes a valuable asset.”

Which simply serves to remind me of this article from The EFF: “New Telecom Whistleblower Describes Possible Gateway for Massive Surveillance of Wireless Communications”

“Three powerful House Commerce Committee Chairmen strongly urged their colleagues Thursday to defer acting on requests for retroactive immunity and to demand more information from the White House and the telecommunications companies in the wake of disclosures by another whistleblower that the government apparently has been granted an open gateway to wireless communications by a major telecommunications company”

Things that make me go – hmmmmm???

Post from: EveryJoe

Google Targeted Again [Codename: Project Canoe]

The latest addition to these offerings is Microsoft’s adExcellence becoming available in the UK. [H/T to Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Land.]

As Brad Geddes tells you: “Being able to claim that your analysts have been certified by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft is a strong point to emphasize when one is comparing various agencies.”

So, now you have choices.

Google Adwords Professional

Yahoo!’s Ambassador Program or

Microsoft’s adExcellence

Check out the adExcellence Classroom. “The Classroom is your source for in-depth knowledge of Microsoft adCenter and it prepares you for the Microsoft adExcellence accreditation exam. The Classroom courses are organized by category, allowing you to hone your focus based on your personal needs as a Microsoft search advertiser.”

Don’t forget this – from the adExcellence Blog – “Designed especially for our advertisers, the Microsoft adExcellence program offers free training to help you become a Microsoft adCenter expert.”

The training is free!

Post from: EveryJoe

Microsoft adExcellence Launched For UK Advertisers