Some Lenovo laptops that have shipped since August include a pre-installed adware program known as Visual Discovery by Superfish. While Superfish is designed to serve ads, it reportedly does so in a dangerous way that leaves users vulnerable to hackers. While Lenovo claims that it has investigated the tech and does “not find any evidence to substantiate security concerns,” Internet security analysts suggest a major problem still exists. The Department of Homeland Security warns that Superfish makes users vulnerable to SSL spoofing. Continue reading Security: Government Urges Removing Superfish from Laptops

Facebook and Twitter were used in compelling new ways during this year’s Academy Awards for advertising, live blogging and live streaming. Facebook reported an upswing of 21 million global users recording 58 million Oscar-related interactions. According to Nielsen, 13 million U.S. Twitter users watched the Oscar telecast, a 6.5 percent drop from the previous year. However, the show’s overall TV audience in the U.S. dropped by 16 percent, suggesting that the Twitter numbers can still be considered a victory for the social platform. Continue reading Oscars: While TV Viewing Declines, Social Media Scores Victory

StyleHaul, a digital startup with a focus on fashion, beauty and lifestyle content, is paving the way for some of its YouTube stars to make their television debuts. The company, which manages thousands of YouTube personalities, has recently secured a deal with Oxygen, Trium Entertainment and Lentos Brand to create a reality TV show. StyleHaul can leverage this opportunity to not only improve visibility for its YouTube stars but also take a cut of the ad revenue that supports cable TV.   Continue reading StyleHaul’s YouTube Stars Making the Transition to Television

Yahoo is wooing app developers with a new mobile development suite that makes it easier to build apps with search, integrate ads into the code, and analyze app performance. Yahoo is hoping that the development suite will not only encourage developers to build new apps, but also build apps that host its advertisements. Flurry Analytics, a Yahoo acquisition, will provide users with a collection of new tools designed to analyze their app’s performance and securely share that information with others. Continue reading Yahoo Unveils Mobile Development Suite with Analytics and Ads

Revenue from mobile gaming is expected to rise 16.5 percent this year to $3.04 billion, surpassing the revenue growth of e-books, music, and videos. An estimated 60 percent of that growth is expected from in-app purchases. Mobile gaming companies will likely make most of that revenue from only a few strong-performing games because the revenue distribution is highly skewed towards the top. Currently, European gaming companies are making the most successful mobile games. Continue reading Mobile Gaming Revenue on an Upswing, Supercell is Top Earner

The Kardashian sisters, Howard Stern and rap artist Tyler The Creator are all getting new shows, only not on traditional TV but rather the Internet and a mobile app. Whalerock Industries, a company based in Santa Monica, has confirmed it plans to launch personal channels for these artists in the coming months. Each channel will feature an eclectic mix of premium content from the celebrities including videos, music, photos, merchandise and gaming. The app will be available this June.  Continue reading Whalerock to Launch Celebrity Networks via Web and Mobile App

It seems that cord-cutting is continuing with the coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic. New data from Nielsen indicates that traditional TV viewing among millennials dropped 10.6 percent between September and January, falling at twice its normal rate. According to Nielsen, there are nearly 20 percent fewer young adults watching primetime television than in 2011. Additionally, the median age of the TV audience is now 50, just outside the 18- to 49-year-old demographic important to advertisers. Continue reading Nielsen Notes Dramatic Shift in TV Viewing Among Millennials

Facebook believes that it can charge marketers more money to advertise to “influencers,” the individuals responsible for sharing information that often causes spikes in the local share rate. The social network recently patented a new method to determine exactly who those influencers are. Unlike the methods of other Internet companies, Facebook does not measure the influence of an individual by the number of followers or connections, but rather the percentage of followers who re-share content. Continue reading Facebook Patents a Unique Method for ‘Influencer Marketing’

BitTorrent recently partnered with Rapid Eye Studios to produce original video content. BitTorrent, the popular platform for peer-to-peer sharing of movies, music, and other media content, plans to create new original content as well as distribute it through the company’s publishing gateway, BitTorrent Bundle. The company’s first original, “Children of the Machine,” is slated for release this year as a free version that includes ads or a premium, ad-free version priced at $9.95.  Continue reading BitTorrent Partners with Rapid Eye Studios for Original Video

Social bookmarking service Pinterest is adding new features that will allow people to download new apps and purchase their favorite furnishings and clothing directly from the site or mobile app. Pinterest teamed up with Apple to launch “App Pins” last week, so that users can discover new apps as part of their searches and download them without leaving the Pinterest app. Since the service is used by many for discovery, Pinterest may also integrate a “buy button” into pins as early as this year. Continue reading Pinterest Looks to Help App Discovery and In-App Purchasing

Last week, we reported that Verizon would offer users the ability to opt out of the company’s mobile ad-targeting program, which tags customers with unique codes to track online activity. The move followed complaints from privacy advocates regarding the use of the alphanumerical customer codes known as “supercookies.” Now, three Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation are calling for a formal investigation into Verizon’s tracking practices of its wireless subscribers. Continue reading Verizon Could Face Investigation Over Mobile Supercookies

JustWatch is a new service that allows cord cutters to search many streaming services simultaneously to find their desired video content. This streaming aggregator is unique because it is aimed at an international audience, instead of just a U.S. audience. JustWatch also provides updates on new content added to streaming services. The service debuted in the U.S., and will soon be available in Germany and Brazil. Eventually, the company wants to help movie studios target cord cutters using an integrated adtech system. Continue reading JustWatch Is a Search Engine That Scans Streaming Services

Nielsen is developing a new metric for entertainment marketers that measures the social impact of a television commercial. The “tweets per impression” (TPI) measurement shows just how effective the impression of a commercial may have been by mapping the number of tweets about the commercial shortly after it airs. TPI provides entertainment marketers a way to make sure that they are getting the biggest bang for their buck. Studios, networks and advertisers are showing interest in the new metric. Continue reading Nielsen Develops Metric That Tracks ‘Tweets Per Impression’

Yesterday we reported that NBC Sports had announced Sunday’s matchup between the Patriots and Seahawks delivered a 49.7 overnight rating, the highest in Super Bowl history. Numbers released later in the day by Nielsen indicate that the broadcast set a new U.S. television record with 114.4 million viewers, up 2.2 million from last year’s game. The event also set live streaming, social media, and halftime show records. Katy Perry drew 118.5 million viewers, about 3 million more than last year’s performance by Bruno Mars. Continue reading Sunday’s Super Bowl Sets New Live TV and Streaming Records

Verizon users concerned with their online privacy will soon have the ability to opt out of the company’s mobile ad-targeting program, which tags customers with “supercookies” — or undetected code that can be used to track a consumer’s online activity. Verizon’s recent announcement to allow customers to remove themselves from being targeted or tagged with code follows a number of complaints from privacy advocates in regards to the company’s tracking practices and privacy standards.  Continue reading Verizon Users Will Be Able to Opt Out of Mobile-Ad Targeting