Apple and Samsung are both taking a greater share of mobile ad impressions from RIM and Nokia, but Cupertino’s devices are gobbling faster than Korea’s, according to research. Read more »
The Washington Post’s new editor, former Boston Globe editor Marty Baron, faces a mountain of problems at the newspaper, which has seen circulation and revenues fall dramatically. Here are some areas he needs to focus on in order to turn the sinking ship around. Read more at GigaOM »
Despite that famous 1996 declaration, many publishers have struggled to find effective consumer offerings online. But now a perfect storm of new models and prospects gives renewed confidence for many. Read more »
A media CEO reminded people that, despite new internet distribution platforms, content owners remain in the drivers seat. He played down the idea of “cord cutters” but did acknowledge the emergence of people who have never had cable at all. Read more »
As web advertising faces challenges, how can an operating system and a VoIP service show more ads whilst not disrupting users? By threading them so deeply in to the technologies that no-one notices, Microsoft and Skype say. Read more »
Some prominent users of Facebook such as billionaire sports-team owner Mark Cuban are complaining that the social network wants to charge them to reach their users with marketing messages — but shouldn’t it be fairly obvious that this was part of Facebook’s plan all along? Read more at GigaOM »
Publishers reliant on classified advertising are getting hurt by the UK’s fragile local economy. Some are now desperately courting alternative advertising models, but our earnings round-up shows their growth is so far being wiped out. Read more »
German publisher Axel Springer is buying heavily in to European classified sites to court digital and international growth. Snapping up Belgian property service Immoweb, it says the move will make up for a weakening print ad sector. Read more »
Any web service that is growing as quickly as Tumblr is should be of interest to Facebook — but especially one that focuses on creating and sharing viral social content, and one that is appealing to growing numbers of young users. Read more at GigaOM »
Many small businesses have had few options beyond Google’s AdWords to attract customers online. But now, upstart ad companies are using social media and new publishing tools to offer businesses effective — and affordable — alternatives. Read more »
AOL has been a basket case for years as it tried to figure out if was a tech or a content company. But today it announced earnings and a strategy that suggest it may finally have found a way forward. Read more »
Numbers of people paying for digital content will take off thanks to new media devices, Forrester forecasts. If paid content becomes commonplace, will publishers turn their back on advertising, and what should marketers do instead? Read more »
Like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, the New York Times is having to run faster and faster to try to fill the gap left by declining advertising revenue, but even a rapidly growing subscription base doesn’t seem to be accomplishing that. Read more at GigaOM »
The exclusive provider of ad services to a host of Italian online publishers is taking on money to fund development of new ad formats. Read more »
In the online local listings and reviews segment, US big boy Yelp is giving a five-star review to Hamburg-based peer Qype – and buying it to expand the breadth of its business overseas. Read more »
While Yahoo pulls out of South Korea citing “challenging” conditions, Google is seeing strong mobile revenue growth. What is the difference leading to contrasting fortunes? Read more »
US politicians want to outlaw Chinese mobile phones – but China’s state news agency is happy to use an American technology vendor to power its mobile advertising ambitions. Read more »
A Columbia Journalism Review columnist argues that a free or advertising-supported news model inevitably leads to lower-quality journalism. But there is no reason why ads can’t co-exist with high-quality reporting just as easily as they can subsidize pageview-driven clickbait, despite the CJR’s claims to the contrary. Read more at GigaOM »
Google has apparently offered to indicate when its search results point to its own properties, in its ongoing negotiations with EC antitrust investigators. But that offer likely doesn’t neutralise the original complaints. Read more »
As the traditional media industry continues to struggle with the disruption caused by the web, some sceptics argue that a “digital first” approach isn’t the answer — but the reality is that focusing on digital is the only hope the industry has. Read more at GigaOM »
UK mobile ad spending is more than doubling year-on-year, according to new figures, as two more vendors in the space take on new financing to exploit the sector’s growth opportunity. Read more »
Ad spending online will grow by 16 percent next year and hit 21.4 percent by the following year, according to a ZenithOptimedia forecast. Read more »
A growing army of bots are doing everything from leaving comments to entering sweepstakes, harming the online environment for both publishers and advertisers. Solve Media has a study on the problem. Read more »
Mobile now takes more than 16 percent of paid search spending in the US, according to research. But its growth tailed off in the last quarter. Read more »
While it has gotten attention recently for the launch of its new online business offering, Atlantic Media has been making a lot of innovative and interesting moves in transforming its business from print to digital — moves that other media companies would do well to emulate. Read more at GigaOM »
Print and digital media are so disconnected, they often appear a lifetime apart. But new technology promises to bridge the divide and save newspapers by bringing interactive buttons, Facebook likes and audio playback to newsprint. Read more »
An editor at the Guardian argues that newspapers should be funded by a tax on internet service providers, because public journalism needs to be supported. But there are a host of flaws with the idea, including the fact that large newspapers are not synonymous with journalism. Read more at GigaOM »
Much digital news consumption is moving to mobile devices. But the money isn’t yet following. UK publishers say slow-coach ad agencies still wedded to desktop web ads are at fault. Read more »
While publishers and developers have evolved to take advantage of new digital platforms, advertisers are lagging behind. Too often, they are simply repurposing TV material rather than tailoring their creative material to the online video environment. Read more »
Consolidation is continuing apace in digital marketing, as one of advertising’s big four agencies lines up to buy one of the last remaining large specialist digital ad outfits. Read more »
One of the recent crop of mobile personalised news aggregators is being acquired by an RSS advertising company looking to take its ads in to smartphones. Read more »
It has a clear digital vision under former MSN chief Scott Moore, but Yellowbook publisher Hibu warns the cost of servicing its diminishing printed directory business may render its shares worthless. Read more »
Consumers’ use of mobile devices whilst watching TV is becoming popular. But, with another viewing companion app due to launch next week, some in the industry are still debating the potential and the pay-back. Read more »
Twitter has argued that it doesn’t own a user’s tweets, but at the same time the company wants to control what users do with their content so that it can monetize the network. There’s an inherent conflict there that is becoming increasingly difficult for Twitter to avoid. Read more at GigaOM »
Some proponents of newspaper paywalls — including a columnist in the Columbia Journalism Review — argue that charging readers for content results in better journalism than the free and advertising-supported model used by many digital publishers. But the evidence for this assertion is dubious at best. Read more at GigaOM »
The Journal Register newspaper chain has filed for bankruptcy for a second time, which some say means its “digital first” vision is flawed. But all it really means is that the kind of transformation required for the newspaper business will be measured in decades. Read more at GigaOM »
Real-time bidding is gaining traction with publishers keen to wring more out of their online inventory. Now rival French publishers are joining forces for a united pitch to advertisers. Read more »
Although the ad-driven business model behind Facebook looks similar to that of a newspaper, the crucial difference is that the social network knows a lot more about its users. The more focus that newspapers put on doing the same, the better off they will be. Read more at GigaOM »
As Twitter shuts off the access that services like Instagram and Tumblr used to have to its valuable “follower graph,” it is also promoting the new relationships it has with media players like NBC. Between them, those two moves speak volumes about the company’s future. Read more at GigaOM »
Sling Digital is taking what it calls the Moneyball approach to Twitter ads, letting customer buy cheap keywords that still connect to the audiences they are targeting. The service analyzes users’ conversations to find out what they’re talking about and who they’re following and sharing from. Read more at GigaOM »
