BoomTown » marketing

While Microsoft Is Talking to Publishers, Paying Up to "Rent" Content for Bing to Thwart Google Is Unlikely

Kara Swisher — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:55:29 +0000

While it might be a dream of publishers–hard hit by the digital tsunami and blaming Google for the crisis–Microsoft is not likely to fork over the big bucks they’d need for exclusive indexing of their content.

“Microsoft isn’t the monopoly guy anymore,” joked one source close to ongoing talks between Microsoft and publishers, especially News Corp. (NWS) and Associated Press. “So, it’s not going to be the bank for publishers.”

While a spate of reports has Microsoft (MSFT) execs girding the globe offering gobs of cash to content companies to block Google (GOOG) and favor its Bing search service, sources close to the situation caution that it is extremely unlikely that the software giant would pay giant sums for that pricey privilege, which many inside the company think will not help it gain much search share.

“While there is a lot of mutual interest, it’s doubtful Microsoft is going to pay to ‘rent’ a corpus of content that it does not own,” said one source close to the situation. “The economics are not there for anyone.”

Nonetheless, that has not stopped AP and News Corp. from aggressive public agitating recently about how their content has been treated online, accusing Google of a wide range of crimes against them and threatening to “de-index” their content from the search giant.

For example, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch–who has been on what seems like a televised campaign against the search giant–accused Google of pilfering stories from his publishing properties.

Presumably, by yanking Google’s access to them and offering them to Microsoft, balance will be restored in The Force.

Except, not so fast, since such a deal would end up costing Microsoft a fortune, which is why several sources said its execs don’t seem to be keen on doing that without getting a lot in return.

The swirl of chatter about it, these sources said, is coming from publishers–who initiated the very early-stage talks–who are keen on playing Microsoft and Google against each other in hopes the warring tech titans will loosen their fat wallets to battle each other.

News Corp., for instance, has been looking for ways to replace the three-year, $900 million (or less) Google/MySpace search deal that expires next year. The publisher has been talking to Microsoft about some sort of exclusivity since this summer, but News Corp. executives also say they’re happy to work with Google if Google is willing to pay up. But what would either company really be buying?

Another source used YouTube as an example of Google getting a mass of videos, when it paid $1.65 billion in 2006 for the online video company.

“That made sense, since Google got all that content to use,” said the source. “But it is hard to see publishers getting the advertising economics and revenue they want from Microsoft for lending their content out, even exclusively.”

Still a third source noted that the only way such a deal could be envisioned by Microsoft is if a majority of publishers was able to band together to block Google from indexing their sites.

“If it was everyone, that might become interesting,” said the source. “But even that has issues, since Microsoft is not interested in having exclusive news for a temporary period of time by overpaying for it.”

Added the source, noting how much money Microsoft has lost in its online efforts so far:

“It’s essentially a marketing expense, and there are a lot better ways to spend that money to win market share than giving it to publishers.”

(Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.)

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

AOL CEO Armstrong Talks About New Branding Effort and the Investor Road Show! (Plus Internal Aol. Logo Video)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:02:05 +0000

After AOL CEO Tim Armstrong unveiled the newly punctuated AOL logo–big A, little o, little l, period–last night, he got on the horn with BoomTown to chitty-chat about the change in image and, more pertinently, how it’s going on the road show to sell investors on the soon-to-be independent company.

First off–while many suggested it–Armstrong said he never considered dumping the AOL moniker for another name, in an effort to rid the company of the 1990s feel of the brand.

“I wanted to keep AOL as the the brand, because bottom line there was a lot of good will around the name,” he said, noting the billions of dollars invested in it. “As a consumer brand, there was a high level of affection.”

Of course, I have a lot of nostalgic affection for Beanie Babies and the kids from “Saved by the Bell.” But, in no way does that mean I want them back, especially Screech.

But Armstrong prefers to use the revival of the Apple (AAPL) brand as a better comparison. “We think that kind of comeback is the way we’re looking at it,” he said.

In that case: Calling Steve Jobs, stat!

Of course, the AOL name has also forever been linked with Time Warner (TWX)–its current owner–in perhaps one of the worst mergers in history, another ding on the brand.

Armstrong agreed that that corporate debacle left a bad taste in the mouths of investors, which is one of the things he has to change during the road show he is now on to sell the new and improved AOL.

And while he is only two days into it, Armstrong said he is encouraged by the response.

“A lot of initial reaction is what we expected, and we have had to do an update on AOL to change perceptions,” he noted. “People did not know we were doing so much…and, I think, they really like our strategy.”

That would be a leaner, meaner staff with a big focus on content.

Still, Armstrong said, investors are going to take some convincing. “Basically, they want to know where we are on the AOL turnaround and are asking us if we can get this company growing again,” he said. “AOL is still the ‘Show Me’ state.”

Actually, that’s Missouri. Perhaps a better goal would be Florida: The Sunshine State!

In any case, Armstrong said it will be critical that AOL show investors that its change is authentic, innovative and meaningful.

The idea of transformation is obviously and sadly clear with AOL’s recent announcement of massive layoffs and the deleveraging of assets.

In other words, it’s not your father’s bloated online company.

On the more positive side, Armstrong said communicating a new brand image and accompanying logo–whose motto is: “one logo/countless ways to reveal” and will include a marketing and advertising campaign–is also key.

“We want to use the new logo to highlight other things within the service,” he said. “And that would be all the things that you can pivot to that come after the dot.”

Here is a first look at a video of Armstrong talking to his employees about the new logo–and, no, I have no idea what the fawn, the goldfish or the weird-looking ghosts mean–as well as images of some older AOL logos (only the yellow running man is staying put):

[ See post to watch video ]

Google Search Stories–Including Batman!–Or Are They Anti-Bing Commercials in Disguise?

Kara Swisher — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:41:49 +0000

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

While you will catch advertising for the Chrome browser or for Android smartphones on the Web, given Google’s huge 70 percent market share in search, it hardly needs to attract users.

So, then, what is one to make of a series of new videos, which look suspiciously like commercials, that Google (GOOG) launched late last week on its blog and posted on a new channel on YouTube?

Called “Search Stories,” there are a half-dozen of the short videos, some more adorkable than others, which star the main search box.

One thing they have in common is that they have the look and feel of a marketing campaign, with the tag line “Search on.”

They also stress a variety of Google products, such as mapping, video, price comparisons, email and more.

One imagines what pre-Batman Bruce Wayne would look for, complete with ominous music, including search terms such as “coping with loss,” “flexible kevlar” and “gotham city crime statistics.”

Another video, called “Newbie,” has a grandmother searching on “keeping in touch with grandkids” and–in a clever dig at the MySpace and Facebook social networking services–“what is myfacebook,” which gets corrected by Google to “what is facebook.”

Could it be that the $100 million marketing push Microsoft (MSFT) launched for its Bing search service, which seems to be slowly gaining share, is starting to get on the nerves of those Spocks in Silicon Valley?

Not that Google would admit this, instead simply saying it was feeling all warm and fuzzy and so decided to make some kids-let’s-put-on-a-show videos.

Wrote Robert Wong of Google Creative Lab in a blog post, in part:

Because while we’re proud of the innovations we’re making in search, we’re proudest of the things people use search to accomplish. In other words, the best search results don’t show up on a webpage–they show up in somebody’s life.

So in that spirit, we made a bunch of videos. There’s one about grandma dipping her toe into technology. One about friends taking a Kerouac inspired road trip. And yes, there’s even one about Bruce Wayne.

Judge for yourself–here they all are:

Parisian Love

Mad to Live

Batman

Newbie

Potholes

High School

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

"Come to Think of It, eBay"–Is That a Killer Ad Motto or a Desperate Plea for Attention? (Plus Old Commericals!)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:10:59 +0000

BoomTown–fresh from slapping around six graders caught in a Bing stupor and commenting on the use of restaurant-seeking vampires by Microsoft (MSFT)–is also not quite sure what to think of another new advertising campaign from an Internet giant.

This time, it is coming from eBay (EBAY).

With the tagline, “Come to Think of It, eBay,” the ads start today, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, to “boost its standing as a holiday shopping destination.”

Interestingly, the new marketing campaign in print, television and online–the first for the Web commerce giant in 18 months–has been crafted by San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which has also just nabbed the lead role in the $100 million advertising campaign by Yahoo (YHOO).

Goodby, owned by the Omnicom Group (OMC), is known for its innovative ideas and has done such memorable campaigns as the Slowsky turtles for Comcast (CMCSA), the weird folk of Emerald Nuts, owned by Diamond Foods (DMND)–as well as campaigns for tech companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Adobe Systems (ADBE) and Netflix (NFLX).

Still, Goodby might be getting a little too cute here, because “Come to Think of It” could remind consumers exactly how much they have forgotten about eBay.

At best, “come to think of it” is a double-edged sword.

In a good scenario: “Come to think of it, I really haven’t listened to my ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ album in forever and I really want to hear it again.”

In a bad scenario: “An old girlfriend of mine is trying to friend me on Facebook–but, come to think of it, she was pretty freaky and I am very scared she found me again.”

You get the idea! Come to think of it: Play at home!

Actually, according to the Journal story, Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay’s marketplace operations, is pushing a different meaning of the phrase: “to shift the buyer perception of what eBay is today.”

The San Jose, Calif.-based company has to shift perceptions since it has seen its core marketplace business suffer, even as it has advertised less.

Here’s a video of one of the new ads, as well as some past ones–all of which include an unusual amount of Broadway-style singing, dancing and egregiously fabulous frolicking for a company led by then-CEO Meg Whitman.

But, come to think of it, Meg: Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

And, I could not resist adding at the end Weird Al Yankovic’s funny parody song about eBay, with video clips synched.

Enjoy:

“Come to Think of It, eBay”:

[ See post to watch video ]

“On eBay”:

“That’s on, eBay”:

“Do It, eBay”:

“Found It on eBay” by Weird Al Yankovic:

It's Complicated, but MicroHoo Hasn't Fallen and Will Get Up (Now, Lay Off Jerry Yang)

Kara Swisher — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:34:03 +0000

In what should come as a shock to almost no one, the detailed negotiations to complete the Microsoft and Yahoo search and online advertising final agreement are more complicated than its authors anticipated and are taking longer than expected to complete.

Relax, folks–they’ll get done.

But here’s a more important thing that should wrap up sooner than later: Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz’s seemingly never-ending gibes about former CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang’s tenure.

First, let’s deal with the issues around the agreement, which is a monster document.

That’s why MicroHoo missed the deadline yesterday to execute its definitive agreement on the transaction struck in July.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Yahoo (YHOO) said:

“The Letter Agreement specified that the parties would execute definitive agreements by October 27, 2009, but given the complex nature of the transaction, there remain some details to be finalized.”

Added Microsoft (MSFT) in a long statement:

“Microsoft and Yahoo! are committed to this agreement and believe this is a highly competitive deal that is good for consumers, advertisers and publishers. We have made good progress in finalizing the definitive agreements. Given the complex nature of this transaction there remain some issues that need some additional clarity and definitive details. So, the teams at Yahoo! and Microsoft are continuing to work on the remaining details, and we have mutually agreed to extend the period to negotiate and execute the agreement. We plan to do this as expeditiously as possible. Both companies are optimistic that we will be able to close this deal by early 2010.”

Thus, the deadline has been pushed back indefinitely, which is very common in such larger and complicated deals.

Yahoo and Microsoft had already done a pretty hefty binding letter agreement (here is a picture of Yahoo’s Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer holding it, in fact).

Getting approval from regulators is also part of the deal, and it is likely to happen in the U.S. just after the new year.

International regulatory approval is another story, especially in Europe, which could further delay the implementation of the partnership, since it is unlikely the pair would move forward without clearance globally.

But perhaps most of all, what seems more likely to never end and probably should is the proclivity of Yahoo’s Bartz to use sharp-tongued analogies to talk about just how bad Yahoo had been doing and how it is now poised to make a comeback.

In her very first press conference when she got the job, in fact, she noted that Yahoo, “frankly, could use a little management.”

Bartz was right then and even more correct to say it out loud, but she has not stopped the criticism.

And, like clockwork, at an analyst day at Yahoo HQ in Sunnyvale, Calif., today, Bartz trotted out a yet another in a long series of backhanded insults to former CEO Jerry Yang and his crew.

Said Bartz at the event about the Silicon Valley icon:

“We have fallen and we really want to get back up. If you haven’t had good times and bad times, you don’t know what you’re doing. We prefer the good times. We have passion to get back there. Today is the start of that.”

Today is the start? Didn’t Yahoo declare a version of the same theme when the MicroHoo deal was announced in July? And at the the launch of the new homepage in September? And the more recent rollout of its massive marketing campaign?

It seems to me that since she has been there almost a year, much like the Obama administration, Bartz should not be looking backward anymore and keep announcing that it is time to get back on track.

Because she is most definitely in charge now at Yahoo and should be the one to get all praise and all blame from here on out.

So, as someone who has definitely been very tough on Yang while CEO, it’s time to stop knocking him over now, because it is starting to feel like a very cheap shot.

Beware Google: Bing Is Going to Suck Your Blood, Um, Market Share: The New Commercial

Kara Swisher — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:28:10 +0000

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

In the commercial, below, titled “Vampire Decision Engine,” the software giant taps into vampire mania, playing into Halloween and the next chapter in the “Twilight” movie series, “New Moon,” set to debut in November.

In it, an Edward Cullen type, aided by a comely young woman, is looking for a place to “eat.”

According to Bing’s blog, it’s one of a new series of television spots in its $100 million marketing campaign.

The creative is different from earlier commercials, which featured search-overloaded people spouting keywords.

“Our latest Bing advertisement is the first in a series of new commercials where we highlight specific ways Bing can help simplify your life and help you make decisions faster,” said Bing in its blog.

You can see more video on Bing’s YouTube channel, owned by, yep, Google (GOOG)!

Yahoo Hires New M&A Head–But Whither Greg Mrva?

Kara Swisher — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:12:50 +0000

Yahoo has hired a new head of mergers and acquisitions–former General Electric (GE) M&A exec Andrew Siegel, who will now be VP of corporate development.

Yahoo (YHOO) CFO Tim Morse dropped the news with exactly no details about that title in an interview with The Wall Street Journal about the Silicon Valley Internet giant’s third-quarter earnings.

Another question apparently not answered was what exactly is the status of its current top M&A exec, Greg Mrva–who has had the title Siegel has now posted on his LinkedIn profile–as well as that of VP of mergers and acquisitions more recently.

In other words: Where the heck is Greg?

BoomTown was considering a search party–get it?–if Yahoo hadn’t outsourced that to Microsoft (MSFT). Thus, Plan B: Mrva milk cartons!

On Facebook, Mrva is still listed as being in the Yahoo network, although there was a report floated recently by Silicon Alley Insider that he was asked by Morse to leave his M&A job at Yahoo and find a new one at the company.

Whatever the situation–either Mrva running it with Siegel or being hipchecked out by him–helming M&A at Yahoo can’t be a fun job right now, given that the company has been looking to sell quite a few of its assets, including its Zimbra open-source email business, its personals unit, its HotJobs online classified business and many more to come, said sources.

In fact, in a recent post, BoomTown wrote: “Mrva’s new job title should be: VP of un-mergers and de-acquisitions.”

The effort to unload big swathes of Yahoo is part of an aim by new management to slim down its diverse portfolio, even as it strives to redefine itself with a new, pricey marketing campaign that seeks to position the company primarily as a consumer offering.

Mrva has been the main exec shopping Yahoo properties around, according to many sources, a job that will now apparently be Siegel’s.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has said the company is also looking for acquisitions, mostly small, so perhaps there will be more to do for the company’s dealmakers than running an Internet garage sale.

I contacted Yahoo to find out what’s up with Siegel and Mrva, a well-liked exec in Silicon Valley, and also have reached out to him. When either responds with anything of note, I will update here.

Liveblogging Yahoo's Third-Quarter Conference Call: Bartz "Came Down With Something," and CFO Carries On (and On and On and On)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:15:15 +0000

Uh-oh, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was expected to appear on the Internet giant’s third-quarter earnings call, but she has apparently “came down with something,” according to CFO Tim Morse.

BoomTown is sending over chicken soup right now, but let’s hope she gets her vaccinations tout de suite!

Worst of all, no sassy quotes or cursing, replaced by a very earnest Morse, who sounded like he was once a Boy Scout.

After the markets closed, Yahoo reported better-than-expected earnings on still lackluster revenues.

Overall, the conference call boiled down to one quote from Morse that seems to have been selected as the Yahoo (YHOO) buzzword of the moment:

“The theme for third quarter was stabilization.”

2:02 pm PDT: Investor stuff from guy who sounded like a robot that I completely ignored, since I was much more interested in a conversation between two women about a bad date this past weekend, which I eavesdropped on in its entirety while liveblogging from a Starbucks (SBUX) in San Francisco.

By the way, the man whom the ladies are ripping was a very unstable date!

2:04 pm: Morse jumped on and gave everyone the bad news about Bartz being sick and the good news about the better-than-expected net income, while also updating all the various happenings of the quarter.

“I am happy to report that our Q3 revenue came in above our guidance range,” said Morse, who sounded somewhat jaunty.

Morse reeled off numbers, numbers and more numbers, some stuff about the new marketing campaign ($18 million spent so far and $45 million in the next quarter!) and other stuff about the cost cuts and fourth-quarter guidance.

Also, no sale of the company’s Alibaba in China or the Yahoo! Japan stake, thank you very much!

2:12 pm: Morse also gave a quick update about the search and online advertising partnership Yahoo has struck with Microsoft (MSFT).

His message: The Silicon Vally Internet icon is not out of search, because it is not about the algorithm, but a better search product.

Tim, you might want to roll that claim back, especially since you also might want to notice how well Google (GOOG) has done with its giant math-brains in the search business.

Morse tried mightily to channel Bartz on search, using a comparison she has made about the Intel (INTC) chip, which is widely used by computer makers. Said Morse, it’s the “differentiation” that matters!

I wonder if Yahoo will keep repeating that one, even as its search share continues to decline.

But Morse did make a funny about how many ex-Yahoos are on the Microsoft payroll now, so the partnership transition should go smoothly.

Well, there’s that!

2:28 pm: Morse mentioned Yahoo’s analysts day next week, and then opened up the call to questions.

Analysts always ask very dull questions at earnings calls and this one proved no different.

The first was about display run rate and about the search market in comparison to Google.

What’s the good word? Stabilization, of course!

The next question was about eBay (EBAY), which seems far from the point.

Morse agreed and cut it short.

Then, a question about guaranteed placement and stock buybacks. Zzzzzzzzz–even Morse sounded bored.

The Starbucks lovelorn ladies had left by now, so I was too.

2:37 pm: The next question concerned the affiliate business and how it might be affected by the Microsoft deal.

I immediately summoned the barista, since it was clearly time for a double espresso!

A question came next about when the display ad business would recover from the econalypse. Morse: Stabilization!

Then, a query about gross margins and whether they can be maintained. Morse was not saying, except to point out that there was a “good, old-fashioned, get-your-hands-dirty” attitude at work at Yahoo now about watching costs.

I was suddenly worried about dirty-handed Yahoos, just when the CEO is sick!

Use Purell, please–or suffer the wrath of Judy!

2:43 pm: Another question on ad sales and quality. Thus, I moved onto mainlining coffee beans en masse. I long for a visit from Juan Valdez!

Then, a question about Q4 guidance, which was not good enough for one analyst, who wanted more.

Morse did not really bite, although he talked a lot.

Next, a question about slow-growing page views and what was Yahoo planning to sell of its various assets.

Morse tried to be all silver-lining about page views and would not talk about specific divestitures (nor did he mention the appointment of a new head of Yahoo M&A).

“We continue to look at the landscape,” he said.

What about more job cuts or hiring, since Yahoo added 200 people in the quarter? Morse noted Yahoo was staying strong in tech talent and was “putting feet on the street” in advertising.

Also something about paid inclusion, but a new person at Starbucks was having a really good cellphone argument, so I zoned out of Morse-talk for a second!

2:56 pm: A question about premium and nonpremium inventory. Looks good on premium, said Morse.

The next query was about the different metrics between the new and old homepage, as well as a request for more info about the analyst day next week.

Morse refused to “steal my own thunder” on what is going to happen there. But, there will be thunder? I am always dubious when it comes to Yahoo and thunder.

As for the homepage, Morse said Yahoo was still evaluating the performance.

2:58 pm: Mobile. Aaaaaghhh, another chance for Morse to say not much about anything substantive. Morse: Better and more established! Translation: No moolah yet!

A head count question. Will improvement come from cost cuts due to the Microsoft deal or revenue improvements?

Three guesses and the first two don’t count. Thanks for the row-boatloads of money, Microsoft!

Something about bookings and small-to-medium businesses. Morse did not understand the question and neither did I.

Next, a question on search monetization, which has weakened. Answer: Stabilization!

3:02 pm: A question about the new $100 million branding campaign. Morse: “It’s very, very early.”

Some deal question and then one about behaviorial targeting, which Morse said will apparently be a “lifeblood” of the future.

Incredibly, Morse has gone hog-wild chatty with Bartz laid low and is asking for more questions, without making one good joke or salty remark yet.

I was completely losing it when it gets to ad exchange details and not as coffee-saturated as I needed to be.

Finally, the LAST question: Another one about divestiture and acquisition.

As if Morse was going to answer, referring instead–as he has many times in the call–to his “script.” Yahoo will buy stuff, Yahoo will sell stuff, but pretty much a no-comment!

And on that note…Carol: Please, pretty please GET WELL SOON!

Until then, here is a minidose of Bartz, via video snippets from an interview with me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference.

Her lively tone seen here at D7 would have been a good thing at today’s earnings call:

[ See post to watch video ]

(And, here is a link to Yahoo’s presentation of its financial highlights, for those with a hankering for even more numbers.)

Yahoo Earnings After Market Close, Plus Liveblogging of Conference Call at 2 pm

Kara Swisher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:46:02 +0000

It’s not likely the announcement of Yahoo’s third-quarter earnings later today will be quite as exciting as its Open Hack Day in Taiwan this past weekend, but BoomTown will try to make those numbers and the conference call afterward with CEO Carol Bartz as entertaining as possible.

Still, while recent results from both Google (GOOG) and, especially, Apple (AAPL), have been pretty impressive, no one is expecting Yahoo to blow the roof off.

So, here’s what to look for:

Wall Street is estimating that Yahoo (YHOO) will earn just under seven cents a share, with revenue of $1.12 billion. This compares with nine cents and $1.33 billion in the same period a year ago.

Some whisper numbers peg the results at close to 10 cents a share, which would be a sensation, especially given the still-recovering state of display advertising, which is Yahoo’s bread and butter.

Also likely to be asked about is the recent decline in Yahoo’s search share. According to comScore (SCOR), its share in the important U.S. market dipped to 18.8 percent in September, even as both Google and Microsoft (MSFT) saw small gains.

Yahoo is set to start an online search and advertising partnership with Microsoft, as soon as regulators give it the thumbs up, as seems likely.

And analysts will likely ask about the effectiveness of Yahoo’s $100 million marketing campaign, designed to revitalize its image, which it is ramping up.

But Bartz has also been cutting costs and streamlining staff and operations–her strong suit–which could improve the bottom line.

Yahoo shares, while up 39 percent for the year, are down 2.7 percent for the month, even as other tech firms are up.

The stock is down 1.7 percent today, hovering just under $17 a share.

Whether the results and what Yahoo has to say about the year ahead will affect the share price remains to be seen.

Until then, here is a link to a very good Q&A interview Bartz did with the New York Times about her management style, which was posted over the weekend.

Money quote, from the ever-quotable Bartz:

“I have the puppy theory. When the puppy pees on the carpet, you say something right then because you don’t say six months later, ‘Remember that day, January 12th, when you peed on the carpet?’ That doesn’t make any sense.”

As Traffic Booms, Is HuffPo Ready to Make Some Real Dough?

Kara Swisher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:21:53 +0000

For the past few months, the Huffington Post has been on a bit of a tear–both in terms of traffic gains and in its hiring of some big talent for key positions.

Now, those execs are focusing on using that consumer momentum to achieve what has eluded the Huffington Post thus far: Making some serious bank from the privately held news and media site.

How to help marketers to better understand the site and, therefore, spur this significant monetization will be his main focus at the Huffington Post, said Greg Coleman to BoomTown in an interview over the weekend.

Coleman–a former Yahoo (YHOO) advertising exec, as well as one for Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL–was named president and chief revenue officer a month ago by Huffington Post’s new CEO, Eric Hippeau.

Hippeau, who was himself just appointed in June, is another well-known online media exec and has been a big investor and board member of the Huffington Post. (You can read a thorough interview by Staci Kramer with Hippeau on paidContent.)

“It’s important for advertisers to know how big we have gotten, while also highlighting this amazing audience of influencers we have gathered,” said Coleman, in his first media chitchat since taking on the job. “I think it is the beginning of a tipping point.”

Well, of course, Coleman would say that, as the guy looking to drum up interest among marketers in spending their money on the Huffington Post.

But stats seem to indicate that consumers are increasingly liking what the Huffington Post is creating, because it is starting to surpass some well-known media icons on the Web in traffic.

While more of this increase is going to be due to a socialization of the news–the Huffington Post has an aggressive deployment of Facebook Connect called HuffPost Social News–the growth is more about building a brand people trust and seek out.

According to recent reports from both comScore (SCOR) and Nielsen Online, for example, the site just became larger than several online brands of big media companies, such as the Washington Post (WPO), in terms of unique monthly visitors.

In its September report, Nielsen clocked the Huffington Post at 9.47 million uniques, up 26 percent, while the Post site was at 9.2 million–a drop of 30 percent.

According to the Nielsen, the Huffington Post is within spitting distance of USA Today’s Web site (9.9 million), a Gannett (GCI) property.

And, it is bigger than Hearst Newspapers Digital (7.9 million) and the BBC (7.2 million).

For September, comScore has the Huffington Post (at 6.83 million) besting the Post (6.77 million)–as well as WSJ.com (6.7 million), a unit of Dow Jones, which is owned by News Corp. (NWS).

(The Wall Street Journal site, to be fair, makes a chunk of its revenue from subscription fees, rather than relying solely on advertising from traffic like the Huffington Post. And full disclosure: Dow Jones owns this site.)

In any case, big traffic is key for most news sites, and internal numbers from Google (GOOG) Analytics that Huffington Post execs cite are higher, as is typical for most sites, pegging traffic at about 27 million monthly uniques with more than two million reader comments per month.

Huffington Post co-founder and blogging icon Arianna Huffington attributes the recent boost in traffic to the site’s proclivity to “start conversations” that interest readers, such as her recent suggestion that Vice President Joe Biden should resign.

“We are aiming to go beyond just facts, to create a narrative,” said Huffington, who thinks the speed of news helps attract visitors to the site. “We think bringing journalism to a new level is exactly what people are looking for.”

Perhaps. But, even if traffic increases continue to bear her theories out, she and others have said that the Huffington Post still has not been regularly profitable despite doubling annual revenue–mostly in advertising–to what some estimate to be about $8 million in 2009.

While the site is aiming to invest rather than focus too hard on showing profits, Coleman said he would like to make revenue seven times larger in the next years, building on the performance of the site to vaunt past old media giants online.

“This kind of thing is a milestone for the marketing community,” he said. “Our goal is to be the top Internet newspaper, and this points out that we are on our way.”

To do that, he will have to spend some of the $37 million in funding that the Huffington Post has raised from venture investors.

While the edit side is using the money to expand the number of news categories, Coleman said his focus will be on building a higher caliber team of sales and marketing execs with deeper relationships to big clients.

“Unlike selling an auto page on Yahoo (YHOO), our site has a more complex sales process that takes some time for people to understand,” said Coleman. “But once they get it, it should be an easier sale.”

Until then, check out the video of the entire interview I did at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference with Huffington and Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth in which they talk about the future of journalism and more:

[ See post to watch video ]

Got Yahoo? Internet Giant Hires Goodby as Top Creative Agency for Its Ongoing Brand Revitalization.

Kara Swisher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:55:05 +0000

In a shift that is sure to be much commented on by the advertising industry, Yahoo has tapped Goodby, Silverstein & Partners to take the lead for creative, advertising, digital marketing and strategic planning efforts.

The San Francisco-based Goodby, which is owned by the Omnicom Group (OMC), is known for its innovative ideas and has done such memorable campaigns as the Slowsky turtles for Comcast (CMCSA), the weird folk of Emerald Nuts, owned by Diamond Foods (DMND)–as well as campaigns for tech companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Adobe Systems (ADBE) and Netflix (NFLX).

Also, of course, the terrifically memorable “Got Milk?” campaign.

Perhaps a “Got Yahoo?” campaign is in the future?

Until now, the top job of goosing Yahoo’s tarnished brand, as part of a recently launched $100 million marketing push, has been helmed by Ogilvy & Mather, a unit of the WPP Group (WPPGY).

While Goodby will lead on creative initiatives worldwide, Ogilvy will remain in the mix, Integrated Marketing and Brand Management SVP Penny Baldwin told BoomTown in an interview this afternoon, focusing on international marketing efforts, including all upcoming brand launches in France, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Brazil and Indonesia.

And, via it Neo and Mindshare units, Yahoo said, Ogilvy will also run all media buying for the Internet giant globally.

Yahoo (YHOO) is also keeping strategic branding firm Landor & Associates.

Goodby, Ogilvy and Landor will apparently form a Brand Advisory Board at Yahoo, run by Baldwin.

Baldwin stressed that the move was a broadening of its outside marketing advisers and was not a replacement of Ogilvy, or any indication that the current new marketing campaign needed to change.

She said internal reports on the effectiveness of the overall big theme, “It’s Y!ou,” launched last month, have been strong.

Nonetheless, Baldwin added that the new agency is sure to bring more ideas to the mix in the massive effort, which has included television, print, outdoor and online ads.

And, she noted, the location of Goodby’s HQ in San Francisco, not far from Yahoo’s Sunnyvale digs, was also a plus.

“Goodby has the caliber to serve worldwide needs,” said Baldwin. “And with the way the Web moves so fast, we thought it was also important to have deep resources locally.”

Up next, she added: to “root our brand strategy with more hard-hitting” messages about Yahoo.

“This is far more than just an advertising effort,” said Baldwin of Yahoo’s efforts to revitalize itself in the eyes of consumers–and, while she did not say so, to the digerati of Silicon Valley. “This is a business transformation.”

Here is Baldwin’s boss, Yahoo CMO Elisa Steele talking about the company’s marketing efforts of late in a video interview with Nicki Dugan on the company’s Yodel Anecdotal blog in a new feature called Yodelcast (sorry, Nicki, but it is simply too professional and unjiggly for BoomTown’s seal of approval):

And here are two examples of Goodby’s creatives–Comcast’s Slowskys and Robert Goulet for Emerald Nuts:

Stock Stronger as Yahoo Preps to Report Next Week–But Employee Departures (and Return of Yodeling!) Rattle

Kara Swisher — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:39:11 +0000

In one week, Yahoo will report its third-quarter earnings, after the market closes.

And so far, its stock is showing signs that investors are hoping for better days ahead for the Internet giant.

Shares are up 8.5 percent for the month, almost 13 percent for the last three months and almost 39 percent since the beginning of the year.

While that’s not the rocket ship Google (GOOG) has been on–the search giant’s stock is up 70 percent since January, which includes a big boost recently on expectations of a strong earnings report tomorrow–it’s clear investors are hoping an improvement in the online advertising market will boost Yahoo’s fortunes.

Wall Street is expecting $1.12 billion in net revenue and seven cents in earnings per share from Yahoo (YHOO)–and a better performance than that could boost the stock.

In fact, a pair of bullish analyst reports that came out today predicted just that.

Broadpoint AmTech analyst Benjamin Schachter raised his price target to $21 a share, noting that after the search and online advertising partnership deal closes, Yahoo “should be meaningfully smaller and leaner, but should also be a significantly more profitable company.”

And Benchmark Co. analyst Clayton Moran moved Yahoo from hold to buy, with a price target of $20.

But a string of recent exec departures in Yahoo’s advertising units are making some within the company’s ranks slightly worried.

The departures include Jim Schinella, the company’s SVP for corporate partnerships, in September.

And yesterday, Glam Media announced that it had nabbed Josh Jacobs as SVP of Brand Advertising Products & Marketing. At Yahoo, Jacobs was a key exec in its display ad platform unit.

Many inside the company expect more departures in the ad and engineering arena at Yahoo, pointing out that many big stock packages given to hold onto talent are about to vest.

In addition, once Yahoo’s search and online advertising partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) is approved, as it is likely to be by the end of the year, hundreds of Yahoo engineers will get the choice of moving to Microsoft.

Some will, of course, but some simply do not want to go and many Silicon Valley companies and start-ups BoomTown spoke to report seeing more resumes recently from Yahoo staff.

There is little Microsoft can do to stop possible leakage of tech talent from Yahoo until the deal is approved, since the companies cannot do any integration until it is.

Perhaps worst of all, there seems to be nothing Yahoo can do to stifle its proclivity to yodel, which I begged Yahoo execs to forgo in its recent $100 million “It’s Y!ou” marketing push.

No such luck!

Yesterday, Yahoo launched its online Yodel Studio (no, I am not kidding), where you can record your own yodel in various music genres, like, um, rap.

Yahoo held a kickoff event in New York’s Time Square yesterday–however did I manage to miss it, since I was in Manhattan?–with a passel of celebrity yodelers like Jewel, as well as one in London’s Covent Garden.

Today, there is a yodel event in Mumbai, India. Bollywood yodeling anyone?

Here is a link to the famous Yahoo yodel, by the way, if you are so inclined.

And here is a video of the Times Square event, and also the very memorable Yahoo commercial of Taylor Ware, after she won the Yahoo National Yodel Challenge contest in 2003.

Some things never change (even if they should!).

Bobbing for Apple, PC Hide-and-Seek and More: Swisher Boys Throw a Windows 7 Launch Party!

Kara Swisher — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:17:01 +0000

To be totally honest, BoomTown was a little late getting a request in to Microsoft to host a Windows 7 Launch Party.

Thus, no “special Signature Edition of Windows® 7 Ultimate and your very own Windows® 7 Party Pack to share with your guests” for a shindig at my house!

As you might imagine: Massive, massive bummer.

While Microsoft (MSFT) PR head Frank Shaw begrudgingly invited me to his party, flying to Seattle for it seemed like too much fun to have in one lifetime.

So, because we admire the very gumption of Microsoft marketing types for trying to make a software launch festive, which many have mocked mercilessly, the Swisher boys and I pressed on and created our own party to mark the launch of the much anticipated new operating system software.

With Windows 7 officially in stores on Oct. 22, the software giant hopes its new offering will erase all memories of Vista. And so far, reviews, such as Walt Mossberg’s here, are pretty good.

After a rocky start, including disinviting all the All Things Digital staff from the proceedings for reasons you will see in the video, Louie, Alex and I proceeded to party down.

The festivities included Pin-the-Moustache-on-Steve-Ballmer, Bobbing for Apple (AAPL) and, of course, a very exhausting game of “Search”–also know as Hide-and-Seek–for the Google (GOOG) PC.

All in all, a memorable evening at the Swisher household, as you can see in the video below:

[ See post to watch video ]

(All joking aside, ATD staff do regularly use both Windows and Apple computers, as well as all the various browsers, to make sure our site works well on all platforms. That said, no Apples were harmed in the making of this video.)

Lonely Planet Names New U.S. Head as Its Digital Strategy Escalates

Kara Swisher — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:33:28 +0000

Lonely Planet, best known as a traditional travel guidebook publisher, is announcing a new U.S. head tomorrow, as it increasingly moves to reposition the company as much more of a “cross-media” platform.

John Boris–set to take over today as new managing director of Lonely Planet Americas, based at its Oakland, Calif., office–comes to the company from Zagat Survey, where he was the SVP of marketing and interactive.

Previous to that, Boris worked at 1-800 Flowers and Fresh Direct.

“I’m thrilled to be joining one of the world’s best-loved travel brands at such an exciting time, with Lonely Planet rapidly evolving as a cross-media travel player,” he said in a press release.

As the paid versus free content online debate gets louder over the next year, how well known brands like Lonely Planet–which has a strong reputation among consumers–handle the fallout will be more and more interesting to watch.

Indeed, in recent months, Lonely Planet has been escalating its digital content efforts, which was the initial promise when BBC Worldwide bought 75 percent of the Melbourne, Australia-based company for about $200 million in late 2007.

But the digitization of Lonely Planet’s business, as with many traditional media publishers like it, has been slow going, with 75 percent of its revenue still in print.

While that business remains profitable, the breakdown between print and digital will be changing sooner than later, since digital is where much of the growth is coming from, said CEO Matt Goldberg to me over a recent dinner in San Francisco.

Goldberg–who came to Lonely Planet early this year from Dow Jones, where he was SVP of digital strategy and operations, including for WSJ.com–noted that Lonely Planet’s digital businesses have doubled their revenues to $20 million this year via premium pricing and advertising.

Besides the obvious use of Twitter and Facebook, Goldberg flagged a number of the more promising and innovative digital initiatives now at work at Lonely Planet, especially in its key U.S. market.

They include:

* Leveraging the 700,000 registered members of Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree community,

* The announcement this week of putting all or part of 600 of its travel guides on the international release of the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle e-reader.

* Work on collaborative trip planning for its “Trippy” gadget, as part of the Google Wave beta launched last week.

* A compass application for Google (GOOG) Android handsets that make use of augmented reality technology to highlight points of interest in cities. As Goldberg described it in an email, travelers will be able to “pan a city destination using the video on their handset and see Lonely Planet recommendations (points of interest from our City Guides) as virtual sticky notes above real live points of interest.”

* Over 500,000 downloads from around 70 premium-priced apps on the iPhone from Apple (AAPL), as well as various location-based guide apps for Nokia (NOK) and BlackBerry from Research in Motion (RIMM).

* Travel music collections featured on Spotify and other online music services.

Goldberg highlighted other interesting ideas, such as an online travel video contest and even a “hack” day in Australia recently, which will be followed by one in the U.S. in the late winter.

While not all of it is going to work, this kind of endless experimentation at Lonely Planet is probably the right way to keep figuring out how to deal with the seismic media shifts that show no sign of abating.

Will Facebook and Twitter Keep "Paranormal Activity" From Turning Into "Snakes on a Plane"?

Kara Swisher — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:30:37 +0000

Four years ago, the movie, “Snakes on a Plane,” became a genuine Internet phenom well before the movie was in theaters.

Which, in the end, only showed that online buzz had negligible impact on the viewing public, given that the movie’s box office turned out to be tepid at best.

But will another small film, about a demon-plagued couple with an infrared-equipped videocamera, called “Paranormal Activity,” prove that the chatter of Facebook and Twitter has more legs today?

It looks like it, given that the very-low-budget film–acquired by Viacom (VIA) studio Paramount Pictures as a remake–performed spectacularly well last weekend, selling out midnight-only shows focused on college towns.

That middle-of-the-night tactic was made larger this past weekend, creating a ton of online heat, which led to an expanded release planned for this coming weekend at all hours.

Of course, along with a clever television marketing push, the studio is using Internet feedback to discern where to head next and how.

Well, “Paranormal Activity” looks scary and all–although BoomTown would like to know exactly when people will stop trying to irk demonic spirits.

That quibble aside, it will be interesting to see if the reliance on Facebook (where the movie has about 32,000 fans, most whom are posting variations of “It scared the crap out of me!!!!”) and Twitter (where is it now a trending topic) turns a cult win into a mega-hit.

That’s what many predicted would happen to camp thriller “Snakes,” starring Samuel Jackson, especially considering the deluge of Internet frenzy starting in 2005 that actually forced Time Warner (TWX) studio New Line Cinema to finally release it.

But the movie buzz peaked too early, well before the film debuted, and it limped to a weak box office–leaving the blog-fueled “Snakes” as an asterisk in the annals of failed Web marketing hype.

So, until all the tweeting gets you to the theater–I shall pass, as I prefer skeletons in my closet–here is the clever promo for “Paranormal Activity,” as well as the classic line from “Snakes”: