Proposed NBC Comcast Merger under Intense Review

Comcast has proposed to purchase 51% of NBC from General Electric, which would give Comcast the controlling stake in NBC.

Public interest groups are already raising red flags at this possible merger. Comcast owns the majority of cable systems throughout the US, so many are concerned that NBC will receive special privilege from Comcast over its competitors. Interest groups like the Free Press and The Center for Digtal Democracy hope the Obama administration will closely scrutinize this merger, and that he will continue to live up to his campaign promise to work towards a more diverse media.

Another big concern with the merger is the impact of the Internet video market. Currently, NBC owns a 30% stake in Hulu, a website that allows users to watch TV or film clips online. According to the group Media Access Project, a public interest law firm, Comcast is threatened by websites like Hulu, which may possibly lead to the limitation of free television episodes.

I spent over 8 years with NBC, so I will be very interested to see how this merger develops.

Here is a link to the full NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/media/09comcast.html

I also found a couple of additional realted articles:
http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE5A801F20091109?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=11624

Spamming/Scamming

I found this section of the lecture particularly interesting, because my husband was recently scammed/spammed.

Yesterday, I noticed three strange charges on our banking account. As it turns out, these were charges from two different companies who specialize in selling cyber dollars. This scammer found my husband's debt card number, expiration date, and code on the back of his card. We are not sure what site his information was stolen from. He uses Paypal and various other sites to buy products, so who knows where they obtained his information.

We spoke with both companies about the scam, and they both agreed to reverse the charges. One of the companies told us that they receive about 100 orders a day and 2 of those orders are scams. It is really scary to realize how quickly these unethical "black hat" scammers can steel people's private information. In the future, we will definitely be more diligent to protect our online privacy.

I found a couple of good articles on the subject.

Cyber security: Beyond black and white

New scam with a taste of old con

Online ads more prominent in NY Times' ad revenue

This article was recently posted on Adotas about the New York Times online ad revenue. I found this especially timely, since our class was just debating about ad blocking and the New York Times online advertising. The article suggests that online advertising is healthy and will continue to grow.
For more details click on the link below:

Online ads more prominent in NY Times' ad revenue

Free Content or Paid Content?

This article discusses the ongoing debate to pay or not to pay for content. It was recently discussed at the DPAC4 (Digital Publishing and Advertising Conference) in New York City. The article suggests that subscription based website may work better regionally. To read the full article click on the link below.

Live from DPAC4: To pay or not to pay for content

The next generation of social media

Image Credit: Google Images
Meez: The next generation of social media

This article discusses the blending of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook with virtual universe sites.

Meez, a social entertainment site that combines avatars with games and virtual worlds, is collaborating with MySpace. They are building applications that will allow users to bring their Meez avatar into their MySpace account. Meez is also in discussions with Facebook to create a similar application on their site.

Meez offers many different advertising platforms including rich media, ad banners, and video channel sponsorships, and they hope to bring these advertising component to social networking sites and mobile applications.

The article suggestions that merging these social media together is the next generation to social media. To read the full story I have provided a link to the article.

Advertising deals sent to your mobile phone.

Image Credit: Google Images

Deals shot to your cell
Here is a brief survey conducted by Harris Interactive and Placecast. The research suggests that mobile users may be more willing to accept advertising deals via text messaging.

Targeted Video Ads Into Video Games

Image Credit: Google Images

Advertisers have been marketing their products in video games for the past few years now. In fact, the Obama presidental campaign had a very successful marketing strategy involving video game advertisements. Game advertsing has been limited in the sense that video ads were not available due to slow loading time, but now bandwidth technology is giving companies the opportunity to place targeted video ads into browser-based games.

For instance, the Sony Ericsson's game World Tour has already included real-time video highlights in the game. It gives gamers the ability to watch video highlights and encourages interaction with the video components.

Giving advertisers the ability to promote their products through video will create more engagement with the consumer by keeping them on the site longer, and this in turn will give companies the chance to receive valuable information about the targeted consumer.

For further details, check out the attached link below.

Integrating Targeted Video Ads Into Browser-Based Gaming

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What's government's role in making the Web secure?

Image Credit: Getty
Below is an interesting article about the government's role with web security. Should the government have the power to shut down the Internet if a cyber attack occurs? Obviously, this would not be as easy as turning off a switch to shut down the Internet, but it is interesting to think about government's position with the Web. Government now has to consider how it would handle this possibility. "McAfee points out that there may be as many as 10% of the world's computers infected with a 'botnet', which is an army of computers used by someone without the owners' knowledge." It is scary to consider an American virtual attack occurring, but it must be explored and discussed. Is it the government's place to control the Internet, or should it be left up to the companies that control it? This is an on-going question that is being explored in the House and Senate as well as in private industry. This is a very important issue that must be decided in order to protect Americans. Maybe the government should direct the necessity for an internet shut down, but the businesses that control the sites would be held accountable for the actual shut down. It'll be interesting to follow the progress.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090927/ap_on_go_ot/us_securing_the_internet

Measuring Web Activity with. . .Photoshop?

Measuring Web Activity with. . .Photoshop?

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Here is another interesting article that is related to this week's lecture. Web analytics company, Omniture has been purchased by Adobe. This should be an interesting mix of a creative design company with a research measurement company. The author discusses how he believes these two companies will mesh or not mesh together. Towards the end of the article he suggests that this merger may lead to the demise of web analytics. I don't really see how this would happen. Advertisers are going to demand some kind of measurement from websites in order to justify their advertising purchase. Not to mention the demand for analytics to determine ROI after a campaign is complete. Still this is an interesting article and it will definitely be worth keeping an eye on this merger.

Twitter: a billion-dollar company that few trust

In this week's lecture, Professor Moore discussed the popularity of microblogger, Twitter. Although, the site is used by millions, the company has still not figured out a good business model to garner revenue. Companies have obviously jumped on the Twitter bandwagon to market themselves, but as you will see from the embedded article below consumers may not find Twitter a trustworthy resource outlet.

Twitter: a billion-dollar company that few trust

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I have a Twitter account, but I am still trying to figure out what the difference is between doing tweets and doing my status updates on Facebook. I do receive useful tweets from the people and companies I follow. I just need to work on deciphering myself from Facebook and Twitter, so I can gain the most from my social media sites.

Trademark-infringing fake blogs fraud?

Trademark-infringing fake blogs fraud?

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Publishers and affiliates get all the fake blog blame

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These embedded articles are very interesting especially since Professor Moore just lectured over the negative implications of fake blogs and how it can be harmful to businesses.

These articles came from a site called Adotas. They provide interactive advertising industry news and information. I receive frequent email blasts from them. Other classmates may find this to be a useful source to subscribe to, if you are interested in knowing the latest goings-on in the industry.