The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) of London has partnered with Project Sunblock, a content verification company, to help take down copyright infringing websites by replacing ads with warnings. The warning, which notifies site visitors that the site is under criminal investigation, serves as an alternative to when an advertisement from a Project Sunblock client is about to be placed on a piracy site. This solution helps keep respected brands off illegal sites. Continue reading UK Police Fight Piracy by Replacing Online Ads with Warnings

Nielsen and Twitter teamed up to study how consumers decide to go see a movie, and they found that Twitter played a major role in that decision. About 87 percent of surveyed moviegoers said that Twitter influenced their choice of movie and 47 percent said that they saw a movie based on recommendations from family or friends on Twitter. The survey also found that in general, 62 percent of moviegoers use the Internet or mobile apps to look up films before their theatrical release. Continue reading Survey Finds the Twitter Buzz Around Movies Has Real Impact

Yahoo is purchasing mobile app analytics firm Flurry, a company that collects data from some 540,000 apps to help marketers identify which mobile ads work the best for Android and iPhone users. While financial specifics have not been released, insiders suggest the deal is valued at more than $200 million, one of the largest under CEO Marissa Mayer. The acquisition is another step by Mayer to pursue mobile advertising revenue, a market largely dominated by Google and Facebook. Continue reading Yahoo Targets Mobile Advertising Market with Flurry Purchase

According to new data from Nielsen, the amount of time consumers are spending on apps has reached an all-time high. The report indicates that Android and iPhone users in the U.S. age 18+ spend 65 percent more time (in excess of 30 hours each month) using apps than they did two years ago. However, the average number of apps used per month only increased from 23.2 in Q4 2011 to 26.8 in Q4 2013. Not surprisingly, 18-24 year-olds spend the most time on apps each month (37 hours, 6 minutes). Continue reading Consumers Spending 31 Percent More Time with Mobile Apps

Verizon announced its new Smart Rewards program this week that provides consumers with the opportunity to accrue points in a credit card-style program that offers discounts for dining, shopping and travel. Signing on to the Verizon site, paying bills online and participating in the trade-in program lead to earning points. However, participants also have to sign up for Verizon Selects, which collects location, Web browsing and mobile app usage data for marketing purposes. Continue reading Verizon Offers Perks to Those Willing to Share Personal Data

Facebook Mentions is a new iOS app that encourages “actors, athletes, musicians and other influencers” to interact with their fans. It is essentially a more straightforward way for verified accounts with cluttered activity to manage their public figure pages. On the app, these users have a facilitated process for accessing their mentions and responding to them, along with allowing users to view conversations they follow and general trending topics.
Continue reading Celebrities Can Interact with Fans via Facebook Mentions App

Target will feature YouTube stars Todrick Hall, Ann Le, Tiffany Garcia and Mikey Bolts in four online video shows to be aired on Target’s YouTube channel. Each personality will have four webisodes, offering students attending college in the LA area decorating tips using Target merchandise. The show will follow the same format as many HGTV series, with a before-and-after effect. In order to promote the campaign, Target will use #BestYearEver on other social media pages. Continue reading Target Introduces New Ad Campaign Featuring YouTube Stars

USA Today has launched a program called Social Media Tuesdays, in which staff members are expected to act as if social media is the only means of receiving articles. The idea behind the development is to get the employees to think as their readers think. USA Today has increased monthly mobile readership 48 percent since last year, to 25.5 million. Newspapers are hoping online and mobile offerings will make up for the decrease in traditional print readership.  Continue reading USA Today Takes Steps to Boost Mobile and Online Readership

Facebook and Nielsen are joining forces as part of an ambitious campaign to better measure how consumers are using their mobile devices for accessing entertainment media. As part of the mobile ratings Nielsen plans to introduce this fall, Facebook will scan its databases for the age and gender of its users who watch a TV show on their phone or tablet. The data will be shared with Nielsen and ultimately help networks and advertisers learn more about the viewing habits of consumers. Continue reading Nielsen Teams Up with Facebook to Measure Mobile TV Viewing

Amazon’s new Fire smartphone features sensors and front-facing cameras that provide a different perspective depending on how users hold, view or move the phone, leading to the expectation that it should increase demand for 3D applications. This 3D display tech is called dynamic perspective. Mobile software developers are hoping that Amazon’s advertising efforts and massive scale will promote 3D more successfully than other 3D phone makers have in the past. Continue reading Amazon Fire Could Help Boost Adoption of 3D Smartphones

Google Glass was not mentioned during the keynote of the Google I/O developer conference last month, a tactical shift from all the attention the company has been giving the much-hyped wearable. This time around, Google put a larger spotlight on its Android Wear software that powers devices such as smartwatches, which are more affordable than Glass and currently offer more apps. Smartwatches also are not affected by the social obstacles involved with wearing a camera on one’s face. Continue reading Google Turns its Attention to Smartwatches, May Impact Glass

Disney has named the first 11 startups to participate in its 15-week Accelerator program. The diverse first class of tech-driven media and entertainment startups will be mentored by top Disney execs and receive up to $120,000 in seed funding. Mentors will include leaders from ABC, ESPN, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar and Walt Disney Imagineering. The companies will be advised how to best develop effective business plans, product launches and marketing campaigns. Continue reading Disney Accelerator Program Announces its First 11 Startups

Prompted by TV and advertising clients, Nielsen plans to launch its mobile ratings this fall. However, the company says that factoring mobile phones and tablets into TV measurement will roll out slowly based on relatively low adoption and the common practice of time-shifting. According to Nielsen, live TV viewing has remained constant over the last three years, while time-shifting has increased 30 percent — something to consider since most mobile viewing takes place outside of the same-day ratings window. Continue reading Nielsen to Roll Out Mobile Ratings This Fall, Slowly at First

Shipments of wearables are expected to reach 112 million units by 2018 — enough momentum for advertising companies to start considering new approaches to ads for wearable devices. In order to get an idea of how smartwatches, head-mounted displays, glasses and other gadgets may serve as marketing platforms, mobile-ad tools maker InMobi is developing virtual mock-ups of ads for these devices. Millennial Media and Kiip are among those also pursuing viable wearable-ad technology. Continue reading Wearables: Companies Explore New Advertising Opportunities

The social network Facebook is experimenting again with video in its users’ News Feeds. This time, in the iOS app, Facebook users will now see a carousel of video suggestions after watching their friends’ video creations. This new feature makes it easy for users to watch a series of videos and has the potential to eventually become an advertising tool. Currently, the suggested video player only works with user content that is directly uploaded to Facebook. Continue reading Facebook Offers Video Suggestions to Keep Users Watching