November 2011

Yahoo Acquires Interclick for $270 Million to Gain Ad Tools

Yahoo, the U.S. Web portal that is exploring strategic options, agreed to buy Interclick Inc. for $270 million in cash to help advertisers reach online users with more targeted messages.

Interclick stockholders will get $9 a share. That’s 22 percent more than the closing price Nov 2 of New York-based Interclick, which assists companies in marketing to customers based on their online behavior. The tender offer is expected to close by early 2012. Yahoo may use the purchase to revive sales of display advertising, such as banner ads, which stalled last quarter. “Interclick’s behavioral targeting technology could help Yahoo to grow its display advertising revenue faster,” said Kerry Rice, an analyst at Needham & Co. “Yahoo could give Interclick more resources to expand into areas like mobile and video advertising.”

How Much Does an NBC Turnaround Even Matter Any More?

Imagine switching your TV set to NBC and finding nothing there but static. Would you be surprised? More important, would you care?

More evidence is accumulating to suggest America would not be completely bereft if a certain multi-colored Peacock ceased to hold forth on the TV screen. When NBC's new news magazine "Rock Center with Brian Williams" made its debut earlier this week, network hopes probably weren't too high. TV news shows cost significantly less than high-quality dramas but usually win smaller audiences too -- which is why most members of this TV club, like "Dateline" or "48 Hours Mystery," tend to air on less important Friday and Saturday nights. But "Rock Center" drew just 4.14 million viewers overall and 1.28 million viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, both measures somewhat less than "The Playboy Club" got in the same slot before it was canceled for weak ratings. The lower expenses make the equation more favorable to "Rock Center," but that still wasn't the performance executives wanted.

That's just the latest bit of lackluster news from NBC, which hasn't had much to crow about in the last several years. Its overall ratings have continued to slide. The situation has degenerated to such a degree that the cost of an ad in the most expensive program for advertisers on the CW -- Wednesday night's "America's Next Top Model," which costs an average of $61,315 for a 30-second spot -- has nearly caught up with one of NBC's cheapest programs, Wednesday's "Harry's Law," which commands an average of $64,017.

Senators Seek To Shield Small Businesses From Online Sales Tax Bills

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced a nonbinding resolution that calls on the Senate to exempt small businesses from legislation that would authorize states to require Internet retailers to collect sales taxes from out-of-state customers.

"It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should not enact any legislation that would grant state governments the authority to impose any new burdensome or unfair tax collecting requirements on small Internet businesses and entrepreneurs, which would ultimately hurt the economy of, and consumers in, the United States," the resolution states. The resolution appears to target legislation being crafted by a bipartisan group of senators that would authorize states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes from customers in states where the stores have no brick and mortar building. A 1992 Supreme Court decision found that states cannot require retailers to collect sales taxes to people in states where those retailers lack a physical presence. Since then, states have complained that they are losing billions of dollars in revenues because of the loophole, which originally applied to catalog retailers but has since been extended to online retailers.

How Technology Is Eliminating Higher-Skill Jobs

The U.S. economy hit an important milestone last week: gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the country, returned to pre-recession levels. But the gains were made with millions fewer workers. Part of the reason is technology, as computers and machines continue to replace humans. We used to think about machines taking over mundane jobs, like twisting a screw into a toaster on an assembly line over and over again. But more recently, technology is eliminating higher-skill jobs.

New DTV standard could emerge in three years, says Aitken

A new standard for the digital over- the-air transmission of television signals in the United States will emerge within three years, says Mark Aitken, VP of Advanced Technology of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and the chairman of the ATSC TSG/S4 specialist group responsible for Mobile DTV standardization.

For an industry that completed the transition of full-power stations to DTV in mid-2009, Aitken’s view might seem extreme. But the completion of the June 2009 transition, while fresh, doesn’t involve new technology. “The major elements of that standard — VSB, for instance — are 20 years old. Today, we are living a vision of what was possible 20 years ago,” says Aitken. Aitken envisions the deployment of a “heteronet,” or heterogeneous network in which digital television broadcasting is overlaid onto the wireless infrastructure to leverage the strength of television — one-to-many transmission of spectrum-hungry video — and that of the wireless Internet and cell networks, namely interactivity.

With an App, Your Next Date Could Be Just Around the Corner

A growing pool of people is using cellphone applications that let them make an instant date, based on who is in the area and available to grab a drink.

The idea of meeting someone on the fly through a mobile app based solely on proximity may seem, at first, like a risky proposition. But the operators of these services say they are aware of the potential pitfalls and allow users to control how much information they divulge. And users say it’s another step in the continuum of courtship — always fraught with peril — from traditional matchmakers to personal ads to online dating. Users -- typically people in their 20s and 30s -- say they are a slightly updated version of Internet dating sites. They say the services allow them to skip the more elaborate mating rituals of standard online dating, which seems to move glacially in an era of text messaging and social networking. On the apps, which use smartphone location technology, users post a simple profile and then broadcast their availability, or scan a list of others who have done so. They can immediately exchange messages and, if there is mutual interest, decide where to meet. Some of the apps are stand-alone, while others are new features of established dating sites; there are fewer than a dozen so far, including Blendr, OkCupid Locals and HowAboutWe. They tend to be free, making money by selling ads or charging for extra features.

Samsung's request for iPhone 4S details in Australia isn't so crazy

Samsung asked an Australian judge for an order requiring Apple to hand over source code and mobile telco agreements relating to the iPhone 4s. The early reactions assumed that this request is similar to Samsung's failed attempt to get pre-launch (or non-existent) "iPhone 5" and "iPad 3" product specifications in its US case against Apple. But this is actually quite different — it's exactly what Samsung should be asking for at this point.

Two main components go into a patent plaintiff's case: infringement and damages. In order to prove an alleged patent infringement, it's pretty clear Samsung will need to see the relevant parts of Apple's code, just as Apple will need to examine the relevant parts of Android for its case. It would be nearly impossible to demonstrate how a specific device actually operates internally without access to its code. That doesn't mean Samsung will necessarily be able to see all of Apple's code; it's likely it will just get access to the parts that are affected by its patent claims. And Samsung's second request to secure the agreements between Apple and the Australian carriers seems reasonable as well — it can make a strong argument that it needs the telco's iPhone-related revenue and share data in order to calculate any potential damages Apple may have to pay. Samsung was primarily acting in a defensive capacity when it asked the US judge to hand over the goods on unreleased iOS devices. Samsung's recent discovery request in Australia appears, at least on its face, to be a legitimate attempt to build an offensive case against Apple and the iPhone 4s. Now, what the Australian court might do is obviously a guessing game, but it's doubtful the judge will think these new requests are baseless.

Facebook Timeline a new privacy test

Facebook’s Timeline will roll out to all 800 million Facebook members and is designed to give a more comprehensive view of people's online identities. As with past moves, Facebook's plans are sparking privacy concerns among some members and privacy advocates.

The new emphasis on past posts means Facebook users have to be vigilant about screening who sees old posts to prevent potentially uncomfortable situations, especially for those who have matured since creating their account as students and would rather leave the past in the past. Up until now, Facebook accounts have focused on the most recent posts. With the new profile format, the most recent Facebook activities will be at the top. But as users go back in time, Timeline will summarize past posts — emphasizing the photos and status updates with the most "likes" or comments. The new profile gets rid of the "practical obscurity" that has always been part of Facebook, says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "Things, over time, get harder to find, and that is sometimes a good thing," he says.

UK says governments' Internet power grab will fail

Attempts by China, Russia and others to gain more control over the Internet are doomed to failure, Britain said, after hosting a major conference on cyberspace that it said sent a clear signal to authoritarian governments.

Speaking after the London conference attended by 60 nations, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said threats of cyberterrorism and cybercrime were real, but should not be used as a pretext for online repression. "The conference agreed that efforts to improve cyber security must not be at the expense of human rights," he said, summing up the conference's conclusions. "My message to governments is that in the long term efforts to resist the freer flow of information, the tide that is flowing toward greater transparency and accountability, will fail."

'Wired' Bringing Advertisers and Its Blogs Closer Together

It may have taken nontraditional publishers like Federated Media to pave the way for “conversational media,” in which advertisers mix more directly with the blogging community. But now premium content brands want to get in on the act.

A prominent example is Wired, which is running ad-sponsored blogs that let advertisers commingle their messages with editorial content. Wired publisher Howard Mittman says the topics started as Wired editorial ideas that needed ad support and were not generated by the advertisers themselves, as would be the case with much conversational media. (Separately, the magazine is also publishing some advertorial blogs where the content is driven by the advertisers, currently GE and BMW.) “We’re not creating push-style content; what we’re really doing is trying to create conversations that engage the community,” Mittman says. “These are a new way for us to connect brands with consumers.” Kristin Haarlow, associate media director at digital media agency Spark Communications, says interest in conversational media has grown as advertisers have recognized the importance of peers’ opinions in influencing what people buy. The format has also evolved to become more dynamic.