Advertising and marketing

What Google's settlement with the FTC means for users

The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it has completed a nearly two-year investigation into Google's business practices. Here are some of the key takeaways:

On the issue most important to Google, Google won. The most potentially damaging line of inquiry undertaken by the FTC concerned accusations that Google's search results were unfairly biased in favor of its own products. Some critics wanted to see mandated changes to Google algorithms. But after considering a number of approaches, FTC commissioners decided unanimously that Google was not violating any antitrust laws when it comes to search results. For Google, this … Read more

Google, Yahoo accused of funding piracy

Google and Yahoo's advertising networks are accused of financially supporting those who pirate music and movies online, according to a report from the University of Southern California.

The school's Annenberg Innovation Lab studied which ad networks placed the most ads on sites accused of infringing music and film copyrights and today issued a list of the top 10. Google is No. 2, and Yahoo came in at No. 6.

OpenX, a company based in Pasadena, Calif., that supplies digital and mobile advertising tools, was the top advertiser on pirate sites, the report said. To help compile the list … Read more

Google's arty after-party New Year's Day doodle

Are you experiencing a slightly dry feeling in your mouth? Are your limbs offering involuntary jitters and twitches?

The fiscal cliff negotiations can do that to you.

However, Google would like to tell you that it understands the pain of entering 2013 without a sheet to the wind.

Having presented a charming doodle for New Year's Eve (below), featuring so many of the characters from the doodles of 2012 (you can see all Google's doodles here), today it presents the cleanup.

Reality has chimed. The cleaners have arrived. Robert Moog, Moby Dick, and Niels Bohr have all gone … Read more

Yahoo completes withdrawal from South Korean market

As it promised earlier this year, Yahoo has completed its exit from the South Korean market before the end of the year, according to a brief report by the Yonhap News Agency.

Yahoo announced its intention in October to withdraw from the country, saying that the move was a response to "efforts to streamline operations and focus our resources on building a stronger global business that's set up for long-term growth and success."

The South Korean unit, which had been in operation since 1997, consisted of about 200 employees, delivered editorial content and handled the company's … Read more

Social media: Five predictions for 2013

When you think of social media these days, you probably think primarily of Facebook and Twitter, and perhaps Instagram. But while those services have massive -- and growing -- user bases, they're of course not the only games in town.

The world of social media is filled with other services, and millions of people get a daily fix without ever going near Facebook or Twitter. There are big general networks like Tagged, and plenty of smaller, purpose-built ones like Path or celebrity-focused ones like Lady Gaga's Little Monsters. There's even a revamped MySpace.

So what does 2013 … Read more

Retail sites see 27 percent traffic jump on Christmas Day

Following suit with other major holiday shopping days, Christmas Day also saw a jump in online traffic this year.

According to marketing firm Experian, the top 500 U.S. retail sites had 27 percent more online traffic on this year's Christmas Day compared with last year. A total of 115.5 million people in the U.S. visited sites like Target, BestBuy, Sears, and Apple's online store.

Looking at the past seven-week period, online retail traffic went up 10 percent over 2011, and each major shopping holiday had traffic increases this year, according to Experian. Thanksgiving had a … Read more

Newsweek bids (advance) goodbye to print with final cover

Newsweek tweeted out an early version of what will be the cover of its final print edition as the 80-year-old news magazine moves entirely to a digital format.

The cover, a black and white photograph of the former Newsweek Building in New York, includes a hashtag next to "LastPrintIssue". The last print edition will be on newsstands Monday. Newsweek, which merged with the Daily Beast a couple of years ago, announced its intention to go all-digital in October.

In the spirit of holiday promos!

'Tis the season for holiday promos.

To spread the cheer and allow our shows and stars to make a special connection with viewers, each year we create a new holiday campaign. The 2012 CBS holiday promos feature some of our biggest stars showing their playful sides and wishing health and happiness to the people who tune in to CBS night after night.

This year we also adapted our on-air promos into images that can be viewed and shared online. You can view all of the images here and watch the video below. Take a look, happy holidays, and, as always, … Read more

Internet advertising revenue hits $9.2 billion in Q3 2012

Advertisers spent $9.26 billion on Internet ads during the third quarter of 2012, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

That's the most spent in a single quarter, according to the bureau's records. The IAB is a group of media and technology companies that sell 86 percent of online ads in the U.S. This latest revenue figure reflects a 6 percent increase from last quarter and a 18 percent increase from last year.

The executives at IAB said the increase is a reflection of how effective online advertising is for marketers (They don't … Read more