Google TV: Can Google Prosper Where Apple Failed?

The (Insert Name) TV. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) gave it a try not that long ago, and now Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) giving it its own go. I must say that Google seems to have put forward a robust, well-rounded attempt to conquer what has thus far been the most important, yet failed endeavor for the Y2K and beyond tech industry: to seamlessly integrate the computer/web-browsing experience with traditional tv and movie media. Microsoft (MSFT) tried with its purchase of WebTV long before Apple gave it its own shot not too long ago and next to bat is Google. Everyone seems to have an inherent bias that considering the prior failures, so too is Google set for the same fate. Yet something feels very different this time around. All in all, Google TV is a huge development for someone like myself–an active investor with a penchant for cutting edge technology–and something that I believe bodes well for future growth of media content distribution.

My Personal Experience with TV in the Living Room

As a user, I was pretty disappointed with the AppleTV from day 1. When first released, it had neither a database of content to buy nor access to YouTube and the device altogether lacked any Internet browsing capabilities. There were some cool features: for the first time I was easily able to bring my personal picture and video collection to my TV and I now had a way to easily play my digital music through the living room surround-sound system without going analog. These were nice perks, but far short of what I was really looking for in an integrated media center.

The AppleTV eventually stopped working (yep it broke…) and I’m still not sure as to exactly why, but rather than fixing it, I decided to pickup a Playstation 3 instead–a video game console with built-in browsing capabilities, and most importantly, a BluRay DVD player. This was a significant step for me. I am not really a video game enthusiast (although I do like Rock Band) and never in my life had I owned a gaming console (outside of the Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) Gameboy my parents reluctantly caved on letting me share with my sister as a young ‘un), but I made the jump. I did this not to play video games, but rather to bring to my living room the Sony (SNE) online entertainment store, Internet access to sites like Hulu, and the Netflix (NFLX) online library. I now have my own on-demand system. Yet it all feels largely incomplete. The browser is far from seamless in its capabilities and the scalability and customization are greatly lacking. I need more.

Read More: SeekingAlpha.com

Real-Time Automation Changing The Media Planner Role

Martin Lawson of media agency Maxus Global – which is under WPP’s groupm umbrella – was recently appointed Maxus’ Global Data and Insights Director. Previously, he was Head of Insight at digital agency i-level.

From the release, much of Lawson’s work for Maxus “will focus on strengthening Maxus’s ‘Relationship Media’ offering, a new media agency model powered by creative media thinking and sophisticated, real-time customer data.” Read more.

Lawson shared his thoughts on his new role and the evolution of the media agency model.

AdExchanger.com: As global data and insights director at Maxus, overall, how do you see your new role helping shape a new media agency model?

ML: It’s clear to me that most ‘traditional’ media agencies still need to improve their digital offering. They are in a great place to integrate digital into the media mix, but sometimes fall short in either strategic or technical competence. Or they may have both competences, but struggle to join them together. This shouldn’t really be a surprise, since they are already covering a lot of bases and are often of sufficient size that they can’t adapt their processes quickly enough to response to changes in the digital market. I also suspect that they aren’t being pushed hard enough by their clients in terms of integrated, digital strategies.

So this creates an opportunity for nimble, digitally-savvy agencies to exploit. The agencies that succeed in this area are likely to be small and young enough to avoid the trappings of scale and legacy process. However, to make an impact, they also need clout – primarily achieved through buying power. Maxus meets all of these criteria and is well on the way to delivering an innovative, future-facing approach to media planning. My contribution to this effort is to bring a blend of digital and traditional media evaluation experience and use it to underpin a planning process aimed at today’s consumers. We believe we have a compelling approach that is relevant for many advertisers. It’s a model that also recognises that consumers are increasingly engaging with media that aren’t bought or traded in a conventional way. It’s not a fixed model either, in fact it’s one that will need constant innovation.

Read More: AdExchanger

IAB Readying Next Phase Of Privacy Self-Regulation: Compliance

The Interactive Advertising Bureau is expected to roll out the next phase of its self-regulatory privacy initiative on Monday, when it will launch a program to certify that online companies are in compliance with self-regulatory guidelines, Online Media Daily has learned.

The IAB, along with the other trade groups participating in the self-regulatory initiative, also is expected to announce that the National Advertising Review Council has tapped the start-up Better Advertising to help monitor compliance with privacy principles. Those principles — which grew out of a task force of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Association of National Advertisers, the Direct Marketing Association, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus — generally require companies to notify consumers about targeting, and in many cases, allow them to opt out; in some situations, the principles call for opt-in consent.

In addition, the “power i” icon, consisting of a lowercase ‘i’ inside an open circle — which was supposed to indicate when online ads were being served based on users’ Web activity — appears likely to get a makeover. Industry insiders say that some ad organizations were concerned that the symbol was too similar to other logos to be licensed. The slightly renovated version is likely to consist of an ‘i’ inside a triangle pointing toward the right, like a ‘play’ button.

Read More: MediaPost

Is Mobile Advertising Ready for an Exchage?

Microsoft, after a long hiatus in advertising-related announcements, unveiled two new salvos in its bid for a major role in mobile advertising: a Mobile Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 and a Microsoft Advertising Exchange, claimed to be the first such platform to support real-time bidding (RTB). (See details on this Microsoft blog.)

On the principle that three data points close together define a trend, here are two more:

• DataXu, a leading demand-side platform (DSP) for RTB announced last week the “industry’s first” DSP advertising solution for mobile, GroupM’s B3 (using DataXu’s decisioning technology);
• Ericsson announced that, on September 22, it will announce AdMarket, a “an open marketplace for targeted mobile advertising through which Ericsson acts as a neutral broker” (in other words, an ad exchange) – see video here.

This is all good news for the mobile advertising market, which still trails online by about $60 billion worldwide. It shows that many of the technologies and concepts innovated for the Internet can help accelerate the mobile market and potentially avoid some of the pitfalls of fragmentation and inefficiency that have at times impeded the development of web advertising (at least on the display side).

The problem, of course, is that for an exchange to work – that is, to attract a critical mass of buyers and sellers and generate enough fees to cover infrastructure and operations – there needs to be sufficient liquidity to start with. This also goes for the highly-touted targeting capabilities of mobile: they’re only valuable if the resulting segments are large enough to interest advertisers, and we still appear to be short of audience.

Read More:  Blogs.Gartner.com

Launched: Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 Apps and RTB Exchange

Today, Microsoft Advertising is launching our Mobile Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 and Microsoft Advertising Exchange for Mobile, the industry’s first real-time, bidded ad exchange in mobile. The release of these innovative platforms is designed to enable display ad serving for Windows Phone 7 applications and deliver tangible benefits to many key industry stakeholders.

With this launch, Windows Phone 7 app developers can maximize their mobile ad revenue by leveraging the industry’s first real-time bidded Mobile Ad Exchange, our superior ad targeting, multiple purchase models and leading resellers including Microsoft’s sales force –as well as the large-scale adCenter marketplace. Specific capabilities of our Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 include Demographic, Category, Carrier and Location targeting; Text and Image Units; Click to Call and Click to Web ad actions, and robust reporting on in-app ad revenue, ad inventory, clicks, CPM and sell thru rate.

Read More: Community.MicrosoftAdvertising.com

Looking Ahead: The Future of Yahoo! Products

A few months ago, when I first yodeled my way into Yahoo!, I told folks that I was stoked for the opportunity to join up with some of the smartest and best-in-class talent in the world to deliver the future products vision for a company with such a rich history. With more than 600 million worldwide users, Yahoo! has become one of the largest and most trusted Internet brands ever. In fact, we’ve been so successful in bringing the Internet to the masses that, for many, Yahoo! is synonymous with the Web. Over the last 15 years, we’ve delivered habit-forming communications products, highly intuitive search functionality, and awesome content services that make us central to the online lives of vast audiences on global scale — in turn, driving killer value to publishers, advertisers, and developers.

As I’ve learned more about the people and products that make Yahoo! great, I’ve grown even more positive that our future will be a bright one. Our products continue to evolve — and at the heart of that evolution is our commitment to bringing personal meaning to the Web for everyone. In short, that means helping you and the other 600 million people on Yahoo! cut through the vastness of online data by providing the experiences that are most important to you — whether that’s instantly finding the content you are searching for or connecting you with family and friends.

Read More: YCorpBlog

Yahoo’s Ambitious Plan To Change Search

Yahoo previewed features and functions Thursday scheduled for release this fall across its network of sites. During a product demonstration at its headquarters, the Sunnyvale, Calif. technology company focused on search, news and entertainment running on a variety of devices, including Apple’s iPad.

The new design gives Twitter a place on Yahoo, and lets users import Facebook contents into Yahoo Mail. Those who find content on the Yahoo site will have an option to share it via their Twitter feed. Yahoo’s network of sites will integrate social, rather than try to reinvent the social network.

Rolling out on the search engine, an accordion design will allow Yahoo searchers to query broad keyword terms and expand or contract the results by clicking on a link. The tabs will serve up Twitter tweets, videos, events and more. The goal to reduce the footprint on the search page aims to give searchers answers as quickly as possible, according to Shashi Seth, Yahoo’s senior vice president of search products.

Read More: MediaPost