It’s well known that Google doesn’t do much in the way of marketing around its search service.

So, then, what is one to make of a half-dozen videos–called “Search Stories” and which look suspiciously like commercials, starring its many products–that Google introduced late last week on its blog and posted on a new channel on YouTube.

Could it be that the $100 million marketing campaign that Microsoft launched for its Bing search service, which seems to be slowly gaining share, is bothering those Spocks in Silicon Valley?

Read More »

Here is a funny but decidedly creepy new commercial from Microsoft, in its ongoing marketing campaign to push its Bing search service.

Titled “Vampire Decision Engine,” it is an effort by the software giant to tap into vampire mania, playing into Halloween and the next chapter in the “Twilight” movie series, “New Moon,” set to debut in November.

Load up on garlic, Google!

Read More »

Last week, the only known filmed images of doomed teenage diarist Anne Frank were posted online.

The short film, from 1941, is part of a whole channel the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam launched on YouTube last week.

The clip of the inspiring Frank has had close to 1.7 million views so far and is well worth a look.

Read More »

This week, in its annual survey of consumer technology attitudes and adoption, titled “The State of Consumers and Technology,” Forrester Research found that…wait for it, wait for it…the kids love the Internet!

As for the olds–they like their traditional media stories and they’re sticking to them.

It’s only at the Weather Channel where online and offline media live together under blue skies.

Read More »

Why can’t BoomTown stop watching the dopey machinations of the boys of “Entourage”?

Because, it’s always more of the same on the popular HBO show, which is oddly comforting–a revelation that College Humor mocks perfectly in a very funny online video called “Every Week on Entourage.”

“So many twists and turns, you’ll forget they’ve been using the same formula for five seasons,” explains the humor site.

Read More »

Continuing our posting of the full sessions, in order of their presentation at the D: All Things Digital conference in late May, here is a video of the demo of new personal channels from Pure Digital, maker of the Flip digital camera.

Which is, as many readers of this column know, a key BoomTown accessory–with which I make my wobbly videos annoying various tech mandarins.

Pure Digital debuted its first Flip at a previous D conference and was recently sold to Cisco.

Read More »

A lot of entertainers have been using the Web increasingly to promote upcoming material, so it comes as no surprise that the Jonas Brothers have turned there aggressively to do a countdown for their latest music release.

The new album, which is inexplicably called “Lines, Vines and Trying Times,” is set to debut next week.

Thus, the pop trio have been doing a lot of online promotions, such a live Facebook Webcast on their fan page today.

Unfortunately, the digital hawking also include a very odd YouTube video, which is due to some fan request that has landed Joe Jonas in spike heels and a leotard, doing a bizarre dance interpretation of Beyoncé’s viral music video, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).”

Read More »