Industry
[Update 10/1/08: BT has announced that it will commence a new trial with Phorm to start September 30 in the UK. The trial, in accordance with the conditions below, is opt-in]
Yahoo is not letting the grass grow under its feet with its integration of IndexTools. Today IndexTools partners received an e-mail from Yahoo informing them of a change to the terms & conditions of the service, which need to be agreed to by October 15 in order to retain access to IndexTools.
In a post yesterday on the company blog, Google has announced that it's going to be introducing some DoubleClick-like features into the Google Content network (that is, the group of sites that use AdSense to serve contextual ads). The new functionality includes:
So far in my nascent Online Ad Business 101 series, I've covered the overall advertising value chain, and looked at a superficial level at how an ad 'call' is actually handled. This installment brings together themes from those two first posts, by taking a look at ad networks.
There's been a lot of chatter recently about the "dark side" of online advertising, in particular, the activities of companies like NebuAd and Phorm using somewhat shady techniques to gather behavioral data about user
In a move that I predicted on this blog 18 months ago (ok, really I just called out that a colleague had predicted it, but I shall take my prognostication credits where I can), Google has announced that it's going to be using the AdSense network to distribute new episodes (I suppose you could use that terrible neologism,
When you spend as much time as I do examining the workings of the online ad industry, it's easy to forget that, to many people, it really is pretty opaque. Not only is it characterized by some of the most complex and scalable technology in the world, but it also has its own, pretty unique, economic model to boot.
As anyone who has spent any time in the UK will know, the BBC is a safe haven from that most grubby of industries, advertising. It's enshrined in the BBC's charter. But the BBC's ban on advertising only applies to the UK (where anyone who owns a TV has to pay a $300 licence fee every year, which funds the BBC). Here in the US, the BBC is free to licence its programmes to commercial stations, and also runs BBC America, which carries ads.
So I'm a little late with my obligatory post-E-metrics blog post; my excuse is that I flew straight from San Francisco to Mexico for a vacation, and have just made it back.
Less than a week after announcing that Yahoo! is to buy his company, Dennis Mortensen has announced that Yahoo! will be making IndexTools free to all customers, so long as they sign a new Yahoo! agreement. Those guys aren't hanging around!
Here is an interesting example of celebrating African art and
ingenuity which coincidentally happened in Amsterdam only a week ago.
Africa, Surprising Africa
Cross media storytelling, vibrant, social and creative development
from cities across Africa
http://www.picnicnetwork.org/page/22316/en
Unique strength of Africa and its people.
In most cases Africa may lack the physical resources to meet various needs in the society but definitely not the brain power on how to go about solving the problems. So the aid that is often offered to African or developing countries will be far more beneficial if the recipients are part of the decision making process, not only that, but actually driving the projects themselves because they understand the context better.
As today is Gandhi’s birthday, I thought I would share this quote, which I think applies to the discussion.
“I am wedded to India because I owe my all to her. I believe absolutely that she has a mission for the world. She is not to copy Europe blindly.” - Gandhi
I think a similar thing could be said of each part of Africa, etc… - there is a mission to fulfill for the world.
A very powerful contribution Ueli! This is indeed the attitude we should take, honest, frank, open to criticism, and use it in own circles to lobby for a change in attitude among those that have a bit more (money or political or otherwise) power!?