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Intel reportedly wants to kick off a new interactive TV service this year, though media companies aren't yet sold on the idea, Reuters reports.

The new service would use a set-top box with embedded Intel technology and tap into facial recognition to figure out who's watching, according to the report, which cited "sources who have been negotiating with Intel." Reuters said such a feature could allow advertisers to better direct their ads to specific genders and age groups.

But Intel wants to unbundle and license specific networks and TV shows at a discount to what cable … Read more

Do Facebook ads influence members to buy stuff? A new ComScore study says yes.

In advance of the study's publication next week, ComScore analyst Andrew Lipsman discussed the impact of Facebook advertising, saying that "Facebook earned media is having a statistically significant positive lift on people's purchasing of a brand."

The conclusions reached by ComScore run counter to recent a Reuters/Ipsos survey claiming that most Facebook members aren't influenced to buy products and services that appear in ads or comments.

But ComScore questions the accuracy of such surveys, saying that people don't necessarily … Read more

I refuse to bow to the inevitable.

Indeed, I look the inevitable in the eye, grab it by its lapels, slap it a little and say: "Hey, inevitable. How do you like that, then?"

And yet it seems that I may now have to face the inevitable somewhere that I hoped I wouldn't have to.

Yes, the public restroom.

I have become used to ads above the urinal. They remind me to drink beer and work out. However, now, I may have to watch video ads while I wash my hands and stare at my uneven eyebrows.… Read more

Earlier this week, I wrote about how Facebook is in danger from a new kind of social network, one that's born mobile and figures out how to make money on that mobile usage.

I figured, in response to many questions and comments, it was only fair to get a little wonky for a moment about who actually is making money on mobile, or how a site or startup might try a mix of potentially successful strategies in the future. Here are my guesses.

First, the only apps and companies making significant money on mobile right now are making most … Read more

Facebook has settled a lawsuit over its "sponsored stories" feature, in which plaintiffs claimed the social network violated users' right to privacy by publicizing their "likes" in advertisements without asking them or compensating them.

Details of the settlement weren't released, Reuters reported. The judge in the case last year rejected a Facebook request to dismiss the lawsuit and had scheduled a hearing on class-action certification for Thursday.

Facebook's sponsored-stories ads essentially display a user's name, picture, and a tagline asserting that the person "likes" a particular advertiser. These particular ads initially … Read more

BOSTON -- Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav warned Dish Network that it's playing with fire when it comes to a new commercial hopping DVR technology.

During a panel here at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's annual tradeshow, Zaslav told CNN's Erin Burnett that the new feature Dish Network introduced recently on its Hopper DVR, which skips advertising during shows that are recorded from broadcast TV, could disrupt the industry in a negative way. He said the model is unsustainable since program owners need the advertising revenue to help cover the cost of their shows.

Dish co-founder … Read more

For those who have $600,000 lying around, there's reportedly a new way to spend it. Amazon is said to be courting advertising agencies to buy ad placements on the Kindle Fire's welcome screen, according to Ad Age.

The $600,000 would reportedly get advertisers a two-month run-time and cover both the front-page ad and inventory from Amazon's "Special Offers," according to Ad Age. If agencies were willing to spend $1 million, they could get even more ad inventory and be part of "Amazon's public-relations push." Currently, the device costs $199.

A … Read more

Although General Motors has decided that social-media advertising is not right for its business, a new study seems to indicate that few other companies agree.

Local-media consulting firm BIA/Kelsey yesterday revealed that U.S. social-media ad spending is expected to hit $9.8 billion by 2016, up from $3.8 billion last year. This year, companies are expected to spend $4.8 billion on social-network advertising.

BIA/Kelsey's findings come at a time when one of the largest companies in the world, General Motors, is calling Facebook advertising into question. In a report yesterday, The Wall Street Journal … Read more

Yesterday, word broke that General Motors ended $10 million in Facebook ad spending after determining the ads didn't work for it. The timing of the original WSJ story on the subject was spectacular, coming as it did just three days before Facebook's IPO.

Now folks sympathetic to Facebook are firing back at the automaker, saying GM ran a lousy Facebook campaign and ignored the social network's advice. Which is not terribly surprising when you think about it, since the GM story has ignited a wider debate about the utility of corporate ad spending on Facebook at about … Read more