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May 01, 2010
CPC Tips - For April 2010
Tips for lowering your cost per click - April 2010
Ann Taylor Investigation Shows FTC Keeping Close Eye on Blogging
Commission's Scrutiny of Retailer for Rewarding Posts About Collection Is a Warning to Marketers
By Natalie Zmuda
Published: April 28, 2010
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The Federal Trade Commission has made public its first investigation into a company's relationship with bloggers, and while the federal agency took no action, the decision provides some insight into how it is viewing marketers' relationships with online communities
The FTC informed Ann Taylor that, following an investigation, it has decided not to take action against the women's retailer over an event held earlier this year. The retailer had invited bloggers to preview the Loft division's summer 2010 collection, offering a "special gift," and promising that those posting coverage from the event would be entered into a "mystery gift-card drawing," where they could win between $50 and $500.
The invite explained that bloggers must submit posts to the company within 24 hours in order to find out the value of their gift card.
The event and the unusual request for posts to be submitted for a prize received media scrutiny and caught the eye of the FTC. "We were concerned that bloggers who attended a preview on January 26, 2010 failed to disclose that they received gifts for posting blog content about that event," Mary Engle, the FTC's associate director-advertising practices, wrote in a letter dated April 20 to Ann Taylor's legal representation.
Although the agency decided not to take action against Ann Taylor, the case serves to let marketers know that the FTC is keeping a close eye on their interactions with bloggers.
Getting the message out
"This tells me that [the FTC] is looking, and that's important to know," said Douglas Wood, an attorney and head of Reed Smith's Media and Entertainment Industry Group. "They're probably throwing a little fire-starter into it, sending some messages out. The message this time is somewhere between $50 and $500 requires a disclosure."
Last year the agency began cracking down on bloggers, issuing new guidelines requiring bloggers to clearly disclose any "material connection" to an advertiser, including payments for an endorsement or free product.
The FTC said it decided not to take action against Ann Taylor, because, according to the company, the January preview was the first and, to date, only such event. Also, only a small number of bloggers posted content about the preview and several of those disclosed the gifts. A sign posted at the event directed bloggers to disclose the gifts, though the FTC says it's not clear how many bloggers saw the sign. Finally, Ann Taylor's Loft division adopted a written policy regarding its interaction with bloggers in February.
According to a spokeswoman for the FTC, the retailer was cooperative during the process. Ann Taylor declined to comment.
Industry watchers have widely expected the FTC to make an example of a company, in its quest to give the new guidelines teeth. The FTC declined to comment on any additional investigations that may be underway.
"I'm speculating, but what the FTC is doing is not being aggressive intentionally, so they can set up a standard they think is appropriate. Maybe they'll do this a few more times," said Mr. Wood. "It's not an unusual way to begin the educational process. In a way, it's always good to be the first one looked at. The second one might not fare so well."
By Natalie Zmuda
Published: April 28, 2010
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The Federal Trade Commission has made public its first investigation into a company's relationship with bloggers, and while the federal agency took no action, the decision provides some insight into how it is viewing marketers' relationships with online communities
The FTC informed Ann Taylor that, following an investigation, it has decided not to take action against the women's retailer over an event held earlier this year. The retailer had invited bloggers to preview the Loft division's summer 2010 collection, offering a "special gift," and promising that those posting coverage from the event would be entered into a "mystery gift-card drawing," where they could win between $50 and $500.
The invite explained that bloggers must submit posts to the company within 24 hours in order to find out the value of their gift card.
The event and the unusual request for posts to be submitted for a prize received media scrutiny and caught the eye of the FTC. "We were concerned that bloggers who attended a preview on January 26, 2010 failed to disclose that they received gifts for posting blog content about that event," Mary Engle, the FTC's associate director-advertising practices, wrote in a letter dated April 20 to Ann Taylor's legal representation.
Although the agency decided not to take action against Ann Taylor, the case serves to let marketers know that the FTC is keeping a close eye on their interactions with bloggers.
Getting the message out
"This tells me that [the FTC] is looking, and that's important to know," said Douglas Wood, an attorney and head of Reed Smith's Media and Entertainment Industry Group. "They're probably throwing a little fire-starter into it, sending some messages out. The message this time is somewhere between $50 and $500 requires a disclosure."
Last year the agency began cracking down on bloggers, issuing new guidelines requiring bloggers to clearly disclose any "material connection" to an advertiser, including payments for an endorsement or free product.
The FTC said it decided not to take action against Ann Taylor, because, according to the company, the January preview was the first and, to date, only such event. Also, only a small number of bloggers posted content about the preview and several of those disclosed the gifts. A sign posted at the event directed bloggers to disclose the gifts, though the FTC says it's not clear how many bloggers saw the sign. Finally, Ann Taylor's Loft division adopted a written policy regarding its interaction with bloggers in February.
According to a spokeswoman for the FTC, the retailer was cooperative during the process. Ann Taylor declined to comment.
Industry watchers have widely expected the FTC to make an example of a company, in its quest to give the new guidelines teeth. The FTC declined to comment on any additional investigations that may be underway.
"I'm speculating, but what the FTC is doing is not being aggressive intentionally, so they can set up a standard they think is appropriate. Maybe they'll do this a few more times," said Mr. Wood. "It's not an unusual way to begin the educational process. In a way, it's always good to be the first one looked at. The second one might not fare so well."
April 29, 2010
Top 10 paid apps for March 2010 based on buy attempts:
Top 10 paid apps for March 2010 based on buy attempts:
Top 10 most recommended apps among Chorus community March 2010:
- Assassin’s Creed 2: Multiplayer: $2.99
- All-in-1 Gamebox: $0.99
- Sniper Strike: $0.99
- Angry Birds: $0.99
- Secrets of Success: $0.99
- Final Fantasy: $6.99
- Flaboo!: $0.99
- Rudolph’s Kick n Fly: $0.99
- Nukeball: $0.99
- Daily Fail: $0.99
Top 10 most recommended apps among Chorus community March 2010:
- FastMalls: Free
- LoKast: Free
- Skee-Ball: $0.99
- 5-0 Overload: Free
- Twit: Free
- Evil Overlord: Free
- Angry Birds: $0.99
- Pic2shop: Free
- Pocket God: $0.99
- NBA Live by EA Sports: $6.99
April 28, 2010
March 2010 Search Rankings Change Little from February
Americans’ usage preference for online search engines changed little between February and March 2010, according to The Nielsen Company.
Google Search Maintains Dominance
Google Search maintained its comfortable lead in search engine usage during March 2010, with 6.39 billion searches, or 65.7% of 9.72 billion total searches. Yahoo Search came in a distant second with 1.3 billion searches, or 13.4% of the total. MSN/Windows Live/Bing Search followed with 1.2 billion searches, or 12.2% of the total.
No other search engine had a search total in the billions or double-digit market share. AOL Search, the fourth-most-popular search engine for the month, accounted for 245.8 million searches, 2.5% of the total. Total searches increased 5.8% from 9.18 billion in February 2010, which is likely at least partly due to the additional three days in March.
February 2010 Numbers Were Similar
Google Search led all search providers in February 2010 with a 65.2% search share, or about 5.98 billion searches, according to previous Nielsen rankings. Yahoo Search came in second with a 14.1% search share, or about 1.29 billion searches. MSN/WindowsLive/Bing followed with 12.5% search share, or 1.14 billion searches. AOL Search, the fourth-most-popular provider last month, had a 2.3% share, or about 207 million searches.
MSN/WindowsLive/Bing experienced approximately 15% growth in its share of US searches in February 2010, increasing from a 10.9% share and 1.12 billion searches. March 2010 figures indicate this growth has at least temporarily stalled.
comScore Results also Similar
comScore’s core search rankings use different metrics than Nielsen’s search rankings, but produced similar results in March 2010. There was little change in comScore’s market share statistics of the five leading US online search providers between February and March 2010. Google Sites led the core search market with 65.1% market share, down from 65.5%. Yahoo Sites slightly rose from 16.8% to 16.9% market share. Microsoft Sites also grew slightly from 11.5% to 11.7% market share. Ask Network and AOL LLC Network’s market share rankings remained virtually unchanged in the low single digits.
Google Search Maintains Dominance
Google Search maintained its comfortable lead in search engine usage during March 2010, with 6.39 billion searches, or 65.7% of 9.72 billion total searches. Yahoo Search came in a distant second with 1.3 billion searches, or 13.4% of the total. MSN/Windows Live/Bing Search followed with 1.2 billion searches, or 12.2% of the total.
No other search engine had a search total in the billions or double-digit market share. AOL Search, the fourth-most-popular search engine for the month, accounted for 245.8 million searches, 2.5% of the total. Total searches increased 5.8% from 9.18 billion in February 2010, which is likely at least partly due to the additional three days in March.
February 2010 Numbers Were Similar
Google Search led all search providers in February 2010 with a 65.2% search share, or about 5.98 billion searches, according to previous Nielsen rankings. Yahoo Search came in second with a 14.1% search share, or about 1.29 billion searches. MSN/WindowsLive/Bing followed with 12.5% search share, or 1.14 billion searches. AOL Search, the fourth-most-popular provider last month, had a 2.3% share, or about 207 million searches.
MSN/WindowsLive/Bing experienced approximately 15% growth in its share of US searches in February 2010, increasing from a 10.9% share and 1.12 billion searches. March 2010 figures indicate this growth has at least temporarily stalled.
comScore Results also Similar
comScore’s core search rankings use different metrics than Nielsen’s search rankings, but produced similar results in March 2010. There was little change in comScore’s market share statistics of the five leading US online search providers between February and March 2010. Google Sites led the core search market with 65.1% market share, down from 65.5%. Yahoo Sites slightly rose from 16.8% to 16.9% market share. Microsoft Sites also grew slightly from 11.5% to 11.7% market share. Ask Network and AOL LLC Network’s market share rankings remained virtually unchanged in the low single digits.
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