Pocket Lint: Google has flexed its muscles and dropped BMW Germany from its search engine following the German car manufacturer’s attempts to artificially boost its popularity ranking. The move is likely to send shockwaves through the Internet industry over fears that one company has such power and affect over a website's access to the public. The delisting was reported by Matt Cutts, a software engineer at Google, …
Is Craig Building Community Or An Empire?
Tim Redmond of San Francisco Bay Guardian is not a big fan of Craig, nor his list. Craig Newmark, the stumbling, self-effacing creator of Craigslist, was the keynote speaker at last weekend's Association of Alternative Newsweeklies conference in San Francisco. It was an odd choice: Most trade associations don't invite someone who is costing members millions of dollars and who is often described as the number one …
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Pay Per Send
NYT: Companies will soon have to buy the electronic equivalent of a postage stamp if they want to be certain that their e-mail will be delivered to many of their customers. America Online and Yahoo, two of the world's largest providers of e-mail accounts, are about to start using a system that gives preferential treatment to messages from companies that pay from 1/4 of a cent to a penny each to have them delivered. …
Apple Calls PCs “Dull Little Boxes.” Intel Ecstatic.
Money: In its ad blitz announcing the first ever Intel-based Macs, Apple skewers PCs -- which happen to be Intel's biggest customers. While Apple is known for controversial ads, the newest spot puts Intel in a potentially uncomfortable spot. Clearly, Intel is happy that its newest customer -- one that's especially rich on cultural cachet at the moment -- wants to celebrate the partnership, and gets some extra …
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How To Waste 5 Mil In 60 Seconds
Barbara Lippert: Let's start with the lowest of the low: GoDaddy.com. Talk about a $5 million vanity project (so bad they had to run it twice). This complete mess was what it took Bob Parsons 14 tries with ABC to get through—a bunch of cliché-smarmy boy executives rehashing the wonder of last year's GoDaddy commercial? Message to clients: ad agencies actually supply an idea and a framework for a spot, so maybe you …
Another Platform For Deep End Diving
John Bell, Vice President and Creative Director at Ogilvy PR, invited me to take part in Morph, a new group blog sponsored by The Media Center, a provocative, future-oriented, nonprofit think tank. Part of the American Press Institute, The Media Center agitates for dialog and action towards the creation of a better-informed society. In my initial post, I talk about trust, honesty and authenticity being on the …
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Monday Morning Quarterbacks
Lewis Lazare also liked the Fed Ex "stick" spot from last night's big game. But Lazare loses me soon thereafter, as he believes the Escalade spot, and the Ameriquest Mortgage hospital spot are "touchdowns." Ameriquest's key message, "don't judge too quickly" does come across loud and clear in the spot, but I question the appropriateness of death bed "humor" used to deliver the message. Stuart Elliott of The New York …
Super Bowl 40–A Commercial Occasion
[Pre-Game Pre-Ramble] USA TODAY provides a list of Super Bowl ads, complete with a one-line synopsis for each. Some of the spots don't sound too good. Ameriquest: Patient's family walks in on medical misunderstanding. Budweiser: Sheep is a big fan of big game. CareerBuilder: Chimps celebrate strong sales quarter. Gillette: Five-blade razor is a top secret until now. GM Hummer: Monsters marry and have a Hummer …
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