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My 2 featured articles for the week ending May 5, 2006:

Archived blogs for the week of May 1, 2006

1160 - May 3, 2006 - 4.21 PM EST

Class-action suit filed against Yahoo

On Monday, a class-action suit was filed against Yahoo and a group of third-parties accusing the company of engaging in syndication fraud against some of its advertisers.

The lawsuit claims that Yahoo displayed these advertisers' Internet ads with the use of spyware and of so-called "typosquatter" sites that capitalize on misspellings of popular trademarks and/or company names.

Even more explosive is the plaintiff's claim that Yahoo regularly uses its relationship with spyware and typosquatting sites to boost extra revenue around earnings time. The plaintiff alleges that Yahoo is conspiring with unnamed third-parties to increase revenue.

From the suit: "Not only have Defendants turned a blind eye to abuse of their pay-per-click (PPC) advertising system, but Defendants knowingly have manipulated that system for their own benefit, by increasing the volume of improper advertising displays during financial reporting periods when Defendants were at risk of failing to meet investor expectations."

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New Jersey. One of the attorneys of record in the case, Ben Edelman, said the plaintiffs aren't ready to divulge the source of their information on the conspiracy allegations, adding that the information would come to light at trial if Yahoo decided not to settle the case.

"Yahoo ought to settle this case, but they ought never have allowed this problem to fester to the extent that it has," Edelman said in a phone interview. Edelman is a Harvard Ph.D. candidate and well-known spyware expert.

Posted on Businessblog™

1159 - May 2, 2006 - 5.32 PM EST

Advertising on the Web more popular than ever

Last week the AdTech San Francisco conference was held in that city. The tradeshow was the largest in its 10-year history, both in terms of attendance and number of exhibitors.

According to conference spokeswoman Susan Bratton, there were over 300 exhibitors and more than 9,000 attendees. "We are the health meter of the industry," said Bratton, principal of Cendara, a consultancy focusing on interactive marketing startups.

Affiliate marketing and search companies represent a large percentage of AdTech exhibitors. However, there are strong trends emerging: Internet video, "wild" publishing and advertising on social media.

Avant Interactive showcased technology that makes Internet video clickable. Viewers can mouse over the video as it plays. The cursor changes when it goes over a part of the picture that's hyper-linked, as related content appears in a box next to the video.

For example, on the site for UPN's "America's Next Top Model," viewers watching show outtakes and episodes can click to read bios of each model.

In a 2005 NASCAR promotion by Coca Cola, race videos ran in a branded player; clicks brought up stats and information about the drivers.

According to Dan Bates, CEO of Avant, viewers clicked 15 to 18 times on the NASCAR videos. While marketers could use Avant's V-Click technology to enable viewers to buy products they see onscreen, Bates for now is focusing on brand advertisers.

"Companies are using our product looking to engage users with their brand rather than having people buy through the interface," he said.

"If you give them digestible content that enhances the medium, you keep them clicking. Then we move into the commerce model."

Entertainment marketers have long used "wild posting," hiring crews to plaster posters on vacant buildings, construction sites and fences.

In the wild publishing model, information and service providers, such as mapping or weather services, let third parties republish their information or use it to create mash-ups.

Posted on Businessblog™

1158 - May 2, 2006 - 7.16 AM EST

Alexa drops Google for MSN Live

From Aaron Wall comes word that MSN Live is now powering Alexa's search results instead of Google. Alexa results were previously Google results informed by user data from the Alexa toolbar, plus a number of post-search refinement buttons.

The Alexa toolbar's gotten Alexa a bad rap from privacy advocates, though in function its effect on search results is similar to click stream data that Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask may or may not be using in their determinations of relevance.

Wall points out that A9 is still powered by Google". A9 is Amazon's primary search project. Wall wonders, however, if the change in Alexa indicates a larger coming change in Amazon's relationship to Google.

I agree. In fact, I see the move as the first Google Dump in the post eBay's-seeking-partners-against-Google era.

Craig Donato of Oodle, a classifieds search engine, steers studiously clear of *selling* classified ads. His partners - his suppliers of his index of classified ads - would not appreciate the competition. Google opened the content floodgates with Google Base, creating competition for the companies in its organic results.

Posted on Businessblog™

1157 - May 1, 2006 - 5.36 PM EST

Google concerned about competitors

Google is worried about competition from Microsoft in the Internet search segment. The New York Times reports that Microsoft's new Internet browser includes a search box in the upper-right corner that is typically set up to send users to Microsoft's MSN search service.

Google claims that this offers Microsoft an unfair advantage to unfairly attract Internet traffic and, by the same token more advertising dollars from its competition.

The search leader's CEO says future revenue growth in China 'will obviously be large.'

"The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services," Marissa Mayer, the vice president for search products at Google, told the Times. "We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose."

The objections are similar to past anti-trust complaints against Microsoft's Windows operating system.

But Microsoft executives told the paper the default settings in the browser, Internet Explorer 7, are easy to change. And it says the product was designed with consumers and many partners in mind, even though it might not be to the liking of No. 1 search engine Google.

"Whatever behavior happened in the past, the guiding principle we had is that the user is in control," Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of the Internet Explorer group, told the paper.

Posted on Businessblog™

Copyright © Serge Thibodeau 2006. All rights reserved.

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