Mark Zuckerberg described Facebook today as a “mobile company,” but he has a long way to go to prove that mobile is a viable business. Zuckerberg’s opening statements on Facebook’s earnings call lasted about seven and a half minutes, and...
Read more »
Photograph by Noah Berger/Bloomberg
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed optimism about mobile, but the numbers aren't there yet.
Facebook Is a ‘Mobile Company,’ But Is That a Good Business?
Photograph by Globe Photos/Zuma Press
Ben Curtis, Dell's pitchman a decade ago, is now an actor and producer. But he's open to returning to his glory role.
‘Dell Dude’ Says He Can Fix Dell
Ben Curtis, the actor made famous by his role in Dell commercials early last decade, says he’s got the solution to the problems that led Michael Dell to seek a leveraged buyout: Resurrect the “Dell Dude.” Dell was an unstoppable...
Read more »
Photograph by Getty Images
Online advertising firm Epic Marketplace is accused by the FTC of spying on Internet users' browsing histories.
How Online Marketer Peered Into People’s Health Histories
There are few things as creepy in online marketing as digging into someone’s health history, without their knowledge, to advertise to them. Yet that’s precisely what New York-based Epic Marketplace is accused of doing. According to the online advertising company’s...
Read more »Advertisers Devote More of Paid Search Budgets to IPad, Tablets
As the iPad and other tablets grab more of consumers’ attention, so too are the devices attracting more of marketers’ money. Marin Software, which helps manage the ad campaigns of more than 1,800 advertisers and agencies, examined their spending in...
Read more »
Photograph by H. Armstrong Roberts/Everett Collection
A programmer in the 1950s works in a data processing room with a Remington Rand UNIVAC computer and tape drives.
Search for Programmers Leads Agency Down Road to ‘Diablo’ Hell
In Silicon Valley, Google, Facebook and others try to court in-demand programmers by offering high salaries, stock and office perks such as free lunches. At one Israeli advertising agency, they’re attracting job candidates by offering demons. When BBR Saatchi &...
Read more »
Photograph by Patrick Pleul/DPA/Landov
Advertisers have not had much success in getting people to scan Quick Response codes.
3 QR Codes People Actually Scan
Those black-and-white boxes found in many advertisements may look like an alien language, and to many people, they might as well be. Advertisers have not had much success in getting people to scan Quick Response codes. For those who do...
Read more »
Photograph by Jennifer S. Altman/Bloomberg
David Karp, co-founder of Tumblr, speaks at a TechCrunch conference in New York last month.
Tumblr Begins Selling Bloggers Service to Promote Their Posts
Tumblr, the social-networking website that had long eschewed advertising, has started letting users pay to promote their blog posts, the New York-based company said. The service puts paid blog posts at the top of Tumblr home pages of users...
Read more »
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
The ability of companies to use what we say for their own commercial purposes is increasing.
Say What? The Potential, Pitfalls of Data-Mining What We Tell Devices
Some of what we type into our digital devices is data-mined and used to help advertisers send us more targeted ads. But how about the queries or commands we say into our smartphones? Is that the next frontier for data-mining?...
Read more »
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
One former Apple marketer says RIM should simplify their message.
With RIM Sliding, What Would Apple Marketers Do to Save BlackBerry?
For Apple, it’s “Think Different.” For RIM, how about “Be Heard?” That’s the advice of one former marketer at Apple, a company known for its advertising genius and ability to convince e-mail addicts weaned on the BlackBerry’s Chiclet keyboard that ...
Read more »
Photographer: Ozgur Donmaz
Advertisers are poised to plunge deeper into face-based marketing, which raises a host of security and privacy issues, the FTC said.
Don’t Show Your Face: FTC Warns of Advertisers’ Use of Recognition Tech
The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the whole face could be a path to your pocketbook, if advertisers have their way. The Federal Trade Commission said on Monday that advertisers are using facial recognition technology to...
Read more »
