Advertisers are increasingly attracted to advertising on eBay and eBay is increasingly happy to accommodate them, much to the chagrin of some of its sellers.To this end, the auction site is setting up an International Ad Division , headquartered in Bern, Switzerland.

What advertisers want is to run campaigns on a global basis rather than on a country basis, in particular larger players such as Royal Mail and Mercedes-Benz.

“Working with advertisers in local markets, we came across an increasing demand for international campaigns, and campaigns across multiple territories,” said Christian Kunz, head of advertising international at eBay, via ClickZ. “This service will offer a flexible and scalable solution for international advertisers and agencies.”

What attracts advertisers to eBay is the high propensity of the auction site’s users that want to shop. Couple that with the huge amount of transactional data held by eBay Advertising, and the ever-growing collection of highly niche categories, and it’s not hard to see why eBay is an attractive proposition.

Source:BizReport.com

Mobile advertising has been the next big thing for a while now. But although text messaging is popular among young adults, the 160-character format has yet to become a mass influencer. Still, consumers who respond to mobile ads are most likely to engage with text messages, according to a survey of mobile users ages 15 and older in the US by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). Seven out of 10 respondents to the DMA’s “Mobile Marketing: Consumer Perspectives” study who had acted on mobile ads said that text messages for a product or service had prompted their actions. That was more than three times as many as responded to a mobile Web offer or coupon.

But even text messaging is not about to replace other marketing mainstays such as e-mail or direct mail. In fact, only 1% of US Internet users surveyed in February 2008 by ExactTarget picked text messaging as their channel of choice for opt-in communications. Instead, the medium is better-suited for targeting specific audiences, and as part of multichannel campaigns.

Text messaging may not dominate mobile advertising as more mobile users with sophisticated phones and data plans come into the fold (think iPhone and its ilk). Yet the simplicity and compatibility of texting is likely to ensure its long-term appeal in the same way text-based e-mail has remained viable.

In the meantime, the bigger issue is when mobile advertising will become a common campaign tactic. For most marketers and advertisers, mobile is still only getting experimental budget at most.

Mobile advertising’s toddler status was reflected in a February 2008 iMedia Connection survey of US online marketers. Although about one-quarter of respondents said they were open-minded enough to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to use mobile ads this year, more than two-thirds said they would do no more than dabble in the channel.

SpeedDate, an application from the company of the same name, has disappeared from the application list, and the link to the application leads back to the Facebook homepage. SpeedDate is a web-based speed dating service that also offers a Meebo application, and until recently, a Facebook application.

Recent victims include Slide’s Top Friends (was gone for 7 days, restored this weekend), Socialhi’s SocialMe (suspended since July 1, not available yet), RockYou’s Super Wall (moratorium on viral channels), and now SpeedDate.

A recent Google search came up with a Yahoo! Answers post that asked the question “has anyone had the speed date application appear on their profile without adding the application?” There was another response that had someone saying that the same thing had happened to them. This might have something to do with the suspension, but we won’t know until tomorrow (seems to be a trend, the Top Friends application disappeared in the middle of the night as well).

Other speed dating applications (from Desidate.tv and Randomate) on Facebook have remained untouched.

Twitter and Summize (a twitter search engine) maybe merged. The two companies have been in discussion around a merger over the last couple of weeks. Twitter still lacks a search feature and Summize is offering that capability. Summize is the only one partner who has access to Twitter’s XMPP stream.

Source: Techcrunch.com

Today, Hasbro and EA announced that the Facebook app EA has been working on for more than six months will be launched later this month, although a version on Pogo (EA’s online casual gaming site) is available today.

There is a Facebook Scrabble app in private beta, but the company is still testing it. It is not clear what is taking EA so long. After all, this is just a Facebook app, not a fully-featured video game like Spore.

It is also not clear what will happen to Scrabulous, the unofficial version of Scrabble that has become one of the most popular apps on Facebook.

Scrabulous, which was developed by two brothers in India, was almost shut down earlier this year because Hasbro claims that it infringes on its trademarks. Scrabulous was in acquisition talks with many different companies, including Electronic Arts (which has the domestic license to digital versions of the game) and Real Networks (which has the international digital rights), but everyone balked on price.

Rather than force Facebook to shut down Scrabulous immediately, however, Hasbro and Electronic Arts realized that they would suffer an extreme backlash if they took away everyone’s favorite Facebook game without offering up an alternative. Now that the alternative is almost here, it remains to be seen whether they will try to eliminate the competition.

It has long been assumed by many investors that acquiring Valueclick (VCLK) would be the first step in “plan B” for Microsoft (MSFT) if its bid to take over Yahoo (YHOO) was unsuccessful. When MSFT’s Steve Ballmer recently ruled out a slew of acquisitions of smaller internet players after pulling its bid for Yahoo, ValueClick’s stock seemed to lose some of its “takeover bait” premium over the next couple of trading sessions. Since that time, the sell off in ValueClick shares has intensified and the stock has set new 52 week lows three times over the last week as rumors swirl that it is now hunting for some strategic acquisitions of its own. As might be expected, investors appear to be pricing in 1) concerns over dilution that might accompany any acquisition 2) typical “sell the buyer, buy the seller” arbitrage or 3) that an acquisition is signaling the switch of management efforts to acquiring instead of being acquired.

Much of the chatter regarding ValueClick acquisitions has focused on the possibility of their acquiring a company that would gain them entrance to the “Pay Per Click” [PPC] advertising space, the very high margin business that the Google empire was built upon where advertisers bid for placement in search results that are offered when consumers seek information on specific keyword search terms. This business was invented by Goto.com, which became Overture.com and was acquired by Yahoo and is now Yahoo Search Marketing. This space has been dominated by Yahoo and Google (GOOG), with Microsoft making a late run to gain a foothold in this space and round out “the big three” in the PPC space. While there has always been a “second tier” of companies trying to gain traction in the pay per click space, none have been able to come close to challenging “the big three” for various reasons.

While we are not in a position to know if there is any substance to the rumors, it does seem that the recent upheaval at Yahoo might make a historic opportunity for the right company to make waves in the pay per click space. If a Yahoo/MSFT deal were to reemerge or if Yahoo moves forward with its plans to outsource much of its premium PPC business to Google, the combination of the #2 and #3 players or the #1 and #2 players in this space would leave the door open for another company to slip into the #3 position. While we don’t think there is any magic associated with being the #3 player in PPC search, we do think that there are quite a few deep pocketed advertisers out there who view both Microsoft and Google as their most feared competitors and would like to see their advertising dollars flow to someone else, particularly newspaper publishers, magazine publishers, TV, radio and other legacy media companies.

Another factor that could make for a historic opportunity to enter the PPC search fray is the current market valuations of the second tier players. Just over a year ago, all companies in the online advertising space (but particularly the owners of ad networks) were being bid up to new trading highs after the frenzied buying of many of the other players ((ie.Aquantive, Doubliclick, 24/7 Media, Linkshare, Digitas) in this space for large premiums to their trading prices. As the deal volume dried up, much of the money flowed out of these names and many are now trading at historic lows.

The two names we have seen tossed around most often as a ValueClick acquisition targets fit neatly into this category - Miva (MIVA) and Think Partnership (THK).

Miva Media Solutions, previously known as Findwhat.com, is the largest of the second tier networks. With over $100 million in annual click revenue flowing through the company’s North American and European networks, Miva stands out as the quickest option for an acquiror looking to gain heft quickly. Miva also owns a number of valuable content sites including the rapidly growing Spill.com, Screensavers.com and WeatherStudio.com in addition to a growing toolbar segment that currently boasts of over 6 million active users.

In addition to offering the possibility of instantly becoming the next largest player in PPC behind MSFT, adding highly regarded content sites and leveraging the possibilities inherent in having an installed base of over 6 million toolbars, ValueClick and others have to look at the current market valuation of MIVA as extremely attractive. With a current market cap of $32.5 million (closing price July 1), no debt and over $22 million in the bank, the same marketplace that one year ago placed a valuation on these operations of just over $225 million is currently placing a value on this same business of less than $10 million. While the $250 million+ valuation achieved during the height of the ad network buying frenzy of a year ago might be on the high side, its hard to imagine that there are not buyers out there willing to pay three or four times the current trading price to take down such a large piece of pay per click market share. ValueClick in particular does seem like a company with the complementary assets, existing clientele and market cache’ necessary to take a business like Miva’s that is struggling to be profitable and significantly expand the margins by reaching the critical mass of advertisers necessary to ramp profitability quickly. With an existing CPA (Cost Per Action) network and display advertising business that reaches 74% of US internet users, its quite likely that ValueClick’s reach and brand name would bring many more advertisers into the fold quickly and also that existing advertisers would be more likely to bid higher and spend more through a ValueClick ad network than they would through Miva owned network.

The company whose name seems to be most frequently mentioned as a takeover candidate for ValueClick is called Think Partnership, (THK). Think Partnership (hereinafter THK) is in many respects similar to ValueClick, albeit a smaller version as it is most widely known for the affiliate marketing platform (Kowabunga) within its “network” segment and the lead generation operations within its “Direct” segment.

THK’s Kowabunga is a highly regarded player in the affiliate marketing space that has long been a thorn in the side of ValueClick, whose “Commission Junction” is the largest player in the affiliate marketing space. While Kowabunga is much smaller than Commission Junction, many high profile corporate names have either chosen Kowabunga over ValueClick’s Commission Junction when they started their affiliate program (like Microsoft and Yahoo Search Marketing’s affiliate programs ) or migrated to Kowabunga after testing the Commission Junction platform (like Intuit). Taking ownership of Kowabunga would make ValueClick’s Commission Junction not only the largest affiliate program provider, but also the “go to” provider for the largest names in technology, not to mention that the removal of a competitor like Kowabunga from the playing field might allow them to raise their percentage take on affiliate transactions.

While the lead generation operations within THK’s “Direct” segment are much smaller than ValueClick’s lead generation ops from a revenue standpoint, THK has actually had more success at maintaining strong margins while steering clear of Federal Trade Commission sanctions. Additionally, the specific niche’s served by THK’s direct segment (home based business owners and life stage niche marketing) would be complementary to ValueClick’s lead generation offerings.

Despite the obvious synergies of the THK businesses above with ValueClick, it is a third aspect that makes it most attractive to ValueClick. THK’s ValidClick AdExchange offers ValueClick an entry into the Pay Per Click space with what is arguably the most differentiated offering in the PPC space and also what is likely the fastest growing ad exchange. The ValidClick AdExchange platform combines a unique patent pending technology for eliminating click fraud combined with an exclusive technology alliance with Fair Isaac Corporation (FIC) that uses analytics based on artificial intelligence and patented profiling technologies that adapt to each click and conversion, scoring publishers on their ability to drive conversions for advertisers. This new exclusive partnership with the company whose FICO score has become the standard in the lending industry makes the ValidClick Ad Exchange that much more attractive to a company wanting to differentiate themselves from the pack in the PPC space. It has also caused many of the second tier networks to run their own ads through ValidClick’s Ad Exchange to take advantage of its Click Fraud protection.

Recent comments by THK management and our own channel checks in several verticals suggest that the ValidClick exchange is experiencing exponential growth in clicks, searches and revenues generated. In the verticals we tested, we saw more than 100% growth in Q2 over the record clicks and revenue achieved by the network during Q1 2008. This Google-like growth stands in stark contrast to the declines in revenue experienced by most of the other Pay Per Click search networks (including Miva) over the last few quarters as Click Fraud concerns seem to have scared more and more advertisers away from second tier PPC networks. These concerns appear to be making the ValidClick’s click fraud prevention technology and alliance with Fair Isaac that much more appealing.

Despite the success of the ValidClick network, THK’s stock has recently traded down to a historical low, with a market cap settling in the $27 million range. With its existing business pieced together by acquisitions totaling nearly $90 million over the last three years, several business segments that appear to be flourishing and a company campaign to divest non core assets that could raise cash greater than its existing market cap, we believe that THK might look like a tremendous bargain to ValueClick and more importantly, a quick entry into the PPC space with a unique offering whose technology solves the biggest problem (Click Fraud) plaguing the second tier PPC networks.

We believe that ValueClick is uniquely positioned to make waves in the Pay Per Click space if it should make an attempt to enter the fray. We also believe that the timing is perfect for such an entry. The current Yahoo conundrum that will likely result in only two of the big three Per Per Click networks surviving combined with the capitulation among investors in the small cap online advertising names makes the “perfect storm” and possibly a historic opportunity for a well financed player with a good name to stake a claim to be the new “first tier” player in this highly profitable space. ValueClick’s sterling balance sheet (over $160 million with no debt) and scale would likely be attractive to MIVA and/or THK’s management team if they are in fact entertaining offers. We believe that they are and note that both have recently announced steps to divest of assets that would not be appealing to a ValueClick or other similarly situated suitor.

We also note that timing is of the essence as there may be some increase in the valuations accorded many of the online advertising assets when Interactive’s (IACI) spin off is complete next month and they begin shopping with their $1.5 billion cash war chest and a stock currency whose valuation will be based on the prospects of Ask.com rather than many of the slower growth businesses that plagued IACI’s valuation for so long. It will likely take just one deal by IACI, CBS’s (CBS) recently acquired CNET or one of the other media players who would benefit from owning an ad network to make the valuations move back to historical norms - much higher than where the currently reside.

Nimbuzz according to TechCrunch.com has has raised $15 million in a second round led by Naspers/MIH, with Nimbuzz’s other major existing investor Mangrove Capital Partners also participating. It’s already had $10 million from Mangrove (the original Skype investor). Apparently deals with 10 major social networks and three operators are already on the table. The latter see these kinds of apps as a way of boosting data use and therefore revenues. Nimbuzz offers free mobile VoIP, conference calling, IM and group chat and photo and file sending across multiple IM communities, including Skype, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo!, AIM, Jabber and ICQ, plus 23 social networks, including apps/widgets for Facebook and Myspace.

Primetime and scheduled TV are losing their impact as consumers create their own entertainment lineups. Digital video recorders (DVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD) allow viewers to watch content on their own schedule and avoid traditional TV advertising.

At the same time, the slowing economy drives advertisers to demand the greatest return on their advertising investments. With interactive digital platforms allowing more measurability, the business case for traditional TV advertising is becoming increasingly weak.

VOD would seem well-positioned to capture a rising share of ad spending, but the way consumers use it may limit its potential as an ad medium.

Most cable TV operators offer free VOD content in combination with pay-per-view options, but time-shifting with DVRs is proving more popular.

According to Comcast—the leading cable operator in the US with 14.7 million subscribers—the most popular free VOD content is karaoke, music videos and programs for children.

VOD’s ad potential is somewhat limited by use. An August 2007 study by IBM indicated that only 48% of US adult Internet users had used VOD.

eMarketer estimates that VOD is available in one-third of TV households today, and will reach over 60% of households by 2012.

Content is the big driver of VOD usage. ChoiceStream data from December 2007 shows there would be greater viewership of VOD if there were “more content of interest.” Notably, however, 57% of respondents said they would not watch more VOD even if the content were better. Clearly price, awareness and usability are also factors in VOD usage.

Increasing the VOD audience (and ad revenue potential) may depend in part on advertisers and marketers: Better content, supported by ads, combined with VOD awareness and education campaigns, could be part of the solution.

By the end of 2009, more than two-thirds of the US population—or 200 million people—will be going online.”Unfortunately, this potential audience for Internet ads is largely unenthusiastic about most forms of advertising, notably banners, rich media and the growing area of online video,” says David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, Behavioral Targeting Attitudes: The Privacy Issues. “A primary reason for their lukewarm attitude is Internet advertising’s irrelevance, with messages peripheral to their current interests and needs.”

However, with its promise of relevant advertising and greater revenues from ad inventory, behaviorally targeted advertising offers a ray of hope for online advertisers and Web publishers.

“And yet, collecting the visitor data needed for online ad targeting is raising concern among Internet privacy groups, the FTC, state governments—and, most importantly, consumers,” says Mr. Hallerman.

For the public, government agencies and the mainstream media, behavioral targeting can represent all the ways that companies appear to be violating individual privacy on the Internet.

As the FTC indicated in its report, “Protecting Consumers in the Next Tech-ade,” while behavioral targeting “may result in more relevant advertisements being served to consumers, it also may implicate data security and privacy risks if the underlying information used to target consumers is not adequately secured or is misused by companies in the marketing chain.”

The report went on to say, “Given the amount of information—personal and otherwise—about consumers that is likely to be collected, used and stored, privacy will continue to be a top consumer protection priority for the FTC.”

“While Internet companies argue that behavioral targeting benefits Internet users because it greatly increases the relevance of the advertising they see online, perception is reality,” says Mr. Hallerman.

Consumers are confused.

The second annual “State of the Media Democracy” study from Deloitte and the Harrison Group found that while 66% of US Internet users said they would click on additional Internet ads if they were better targeted and 67% would be willing to accept more ads in exchange for free and valuable content, a similar number—65%—called Internet advertising more intrusive than print ads.

Making a strong argument for behavioral targeting, a TNS Global survey commissioned by TRUSTe found that 72.4% of Internet users “agree” or “strongly agree” that irrelevant Internet advertising was intrusive and annoying.

“As people make the Internet an increasing part of their daily lives, privacy issues will become more of a battleground,” says Mr. Hallerman.

However, among marketers and Web publishers attuned to consumer concerns, a good portion of these issues can likely be resolved through a clear process of informed consent.

“In other words,” says Mr. Hallerman, “ask the audience for permission.”

Just like marketers have learned to do with e-mail.

Explore all the pros and cons of this controversial new advertising tactic, download the eMarketer report, Behavioral Targeting Attitudes: The Privacy Issues, today Source: emarketer.com

Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to buy MobiComp, a Portuguese company that makes software for the mobile world, including mobile posting to Web sites such as Facebook.

Microsoft hopes the acquisition will further its mobile ambitions, particularly in building new mobile data protection and sharing services, the company said in a statement. The company also plans to use MobiComp to further expand its ability to provide compelling software that can be used for work and play with mobile phones, PCs and the Internet.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MobiComp offers several Web based software services. For example, its MobileKeeper Backup & Restore backs up mobile phone data, while MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities connects mobile phone to social networking sites and gain updates on entertainment and news.

Microsoft paid US$240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook last year.