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GM Ditching Facebook Ads

Matt Cantor — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:52:27 CDT

Bad news for Facebook ahead of its IPO: General Motors, the third-biggest advertiser in the US, has decided to stop running paid ads on the site. GM execs have found the ads aren't very effective—a conclusion other advertisers have apparently reached as well, the Wall Street Journal reports. "Companies...

Devices Spy on You 24 Hours a Day

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:54:52 CDT

Companies are observing nearly every move you make and selling your personal data for billions of dollars—and Washington appears helpless to stop them, the Los Angeles Times reports. Whether it's your smart phone, cable box, Facebook page, or video game, devices are amassing reams of data on your location,...

Companies Using Ad Money to Buy Players Virtual Cash

Harry Kimball — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:16:51 CDT

Online advertisers are migrating ever more quickly toward a gold mine of eager, impressionable consumers: gamers on social networks. The preferred ad buy trades some sort of action—watching a video, becoming a fan of the company on Facebook—for a few units of the online currency used in those...

Chatroulette Penises in Peril

Harry Kimball — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:13:09 CDT

Chatroulette is an intriguing, innovative social networking/chat/video site with a huge problem: penises. A study says 13% of users are “perverts”—use your imagination—and that makes potential advertisers understandably skittish. If you think you can help solve the "penis problem," Nicholas Carlson of Silicon Alley Insider wants to hear...

Twitter Apes Google's Ad Model

Kevin Spak — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:35:00 CST

Twitter’s finally ready to unveil its ad service, and it’s going to look a heck of a lot like Google’s. Sources tell Peter Kafka of All Things Digital that Twitter intends to allow companies to place ads using a self-serve program, and that they’ll show up in search results, much...

Cold Weather Means Hot Demand for Soup, Boots

Harry Kimball — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:37:00 CST

When the weather turns cold, retailers swing into action, targeting ads toward areas where the mercury's dropping—even in normally temperate markets like Florida. “Marketing into a situation that's favorable for your product” is the key, one analyst tells Advertising Age . Take Campbell’s Soup, which uses a “misery index” based...

SI Website Ad on Chris Henry Story Goes Too Far

M. Morris — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:32:00 CST

An unfortunate juxtaposition has the sports blogosphere abuzz: As Sports Illustrated was reporting the death of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry this morning, the website's advertising apparatus was employing a special effect on behalf of Liberty Mutual's car insurance offerings. The effect? A shattered windshield. "The cracked windshield on...

NJ Gov Hopeful Runs Afoul of Monty Python

M. Morris — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:40:49 CST

Republican Chris Christie holds a razor-thin lead over incumbent Jon Corzine in the New Jersey governor's race, and now he has five more potential opponents—the members of Monty Python, who are considering suing the former US Attorney for violating their copyright. An online ad the campaign swiftly yanked from...

Online Political Ads: Subject to Regulation, or Just a Link?

Kevin Spak — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:13:27 CDT

If online ads are the future of political campaigning, then a legal snafu in the St. Petersburg mayoral race bears watching. Florida election officials have ruled that one candidate’s Google and Facebook ads violate state election laws because they don’t clearly state who paid for the ad, the Wall Street...