Google boots far-right site from ad platform

Google on Tuesday confirmed that it booted one far-right website from its ad platform and put another on notice for hosting "dangerous and derogatory" comments about civil rights protests.

The internet giant said that it stopped channeling money-making ads to ZeroHedge and warned The Federalist that it too could be blocked from Google Ads for violating policy about content.

“To be clear, The Federalist is not currently demonetized," a Google spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"We do have strict publisher policies that govern the content ads can run on, which includes comments on the site. This is a longstanding policy."

The action against ZeroHedge and warning sent to The Federalist related to content in comments sections that consistently violated Google's policy about dangerous and derogatory content, according to the internet company.

The offending content was related to false information about recent Black Lives Matter protets, US media reported.

ZeroHedge said in a post at the website that it is appealing Google's decision and expects to "remedy" the situation.

The policy at issue was put in place by Google three years ago as part of an effort to avoid advertisers from having their marketing messages appear next to vile or hateful content on websites.

Agence France-Presse

YouTuber fined for ‘misleading advertising’ of weight-loss products

SEOUL — A YouTuber with millions of followers was fined 5 million won ($4,100) Monday for false advertising of food products.

Food content YouTuber Jung Man-su, who goes by the name Banzz online, was fined for falsely promoting that his products had weight-loss effects, according to Daejeon District Court.

Eat4U, a health food company Jeong launched in March 2017, marketed its products as diet aids in a misleading ad, according to prosecutors.

During a July 18 trial, prosecutors had asked for a six-month jail term for the 28-year-old on a false advertisement charge. Jeong denied the accusations and pleaded innocence, claiming he had not intended to deceive consumers.


In an online statement posted July 18, Jeong apologized for “causing disappointment.” He also promised to take full responsibility and pledged there was “nothing wrong” with his products.

Following the lawsuit, Jeong suffered a net subscriber loss of around 100,000, down to 3.1 million from 3.2 million.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Super Bowl Ad Winners: Bud Light, Amazon

NEW YORK (AP) — This year some of the Super Bowl ads that grabbed the greatest buzz were surprises, like Bud Light’s “Game of Thrones” teaser. Other crowd-pleasers focused on humor, like Amazon’s take on celebrity product testers.

While the New England Patriots bested the L.A. Rams on Sunday in Atlanta during Super Bowl 53, brands were also winning and losing off the field. Some spots, like Google’s ad about its translation service, charmed many viewers. But others like Mint Mobile’s ad about “chunky milk” fell flat.

BEST

Amazon

The Amazon ad was an early crowd pleaser when it was released well ahead of the game. Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker and other celebrities test out rejected Amazon products that feature its Alexa digital assistant, such as a talking electric toothbrush and a dog collar.

Bud Light

Bud Light’s crossover with Game of Thrones was a hit because it came as such a surprise. What started out as the “Bud Knight” in a jousting tournament morphs into a promo for the next “Game of Thrones” season.

“It was somewhat confusing at first,” said Mark DiMassimo, chief of ad agency DiMassimo Goldstein. “But it was super engaging and fun and surprising.”

Stella Artois

To tout its partnership with Water.org, which helps provide clean water to the developing world, the beer maker shows two 1990s icons giving up their signature drinks for a philanthropy-supporting brew. “The Dude” — a Jeff Bridges character from “The Big Lebowski” —forgoes his White Russian, while Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City” eschews her cosmopolitan. The 1990s nostalgia was a hit with viewers.

Hulu

Hulu kicked off the evening’s surprises during the first break with an ad that started out like Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign ad “Morning in America.” But it was soon revealed to be a teaser for the next season of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” ”Wake up America, morning’s over,” a voiceover stated.

“It was a great misdirect and great placement,” DiMassimo said.

Google

An ad promoting its Google Translate service pointed out that although “words can hurt and sometimes divide,” the most translated words in the world are “How are you,” ”Thank you” and “I love you.”

Kim Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginia, said the ad was an example of how the night’s “most powerful ads focused on unity, positivity and commonality.”

Microsoft

Another heart-tugger was Microsoft’s ad showing a disabled child talking excitedly about the fun he had using an adaptive Xbox controller designed for players with mobility limitations.


“It combined true emotion, great storytelling, and relevant product innovation with an insight about their category (gaming) as a great equalizer,” DiMassimo said.

WORST

Mint Mobile

The wireless provider was trying to stand out from larger rivals Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. But the “gross-out” route may not have been the way to do it.

The ad compares Mint Mobile’s $20-a-month wireless plan with “chunky milk,” then it shows a fake ad with a family drinking the unappetizing beverage. A mint-colored cartoon fox says the milk is “not right,” but Mint Mobile’s plan “is right.”

“The ad could be confusing. People might just remember that Mint’s pricing is ‘not right,'” said Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins.

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines created a trailer for a six-minute short directed by Ridley Scott, known for directing Apple’s iconic “1984” ad. It was the storied director’s first return to the Super Bowl in decades. But some viewers took to Twitter to express confusion over what exactly the ad was trying to promote.

source: usa.inquirer.net

Time is running out for BuzzFeed, Mashable

BuzzFeed has given up on going public for now and Mashable is looking for an emergency buyer. The honeymoon period looks to be over for online news websites — left fragile by a model built almost entirely on advertising.

Less than two years ago, blog turned news site Mashable was valued at $250 million, with Time Warner among its investors.

Today, its value has plummeted by 80 percent, and it’s reportedly about to be sold to Ziff Davis. The publisher did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, revenues that fell short of expectations at BuzzFeed — built on a combination of pop culture and social networks — mean it is no longer expected to go public next year.

The website has just announced it is letting go of around 100 of its 1,700 employees.

These sites — like others founded in the last 10 years — promised investors huge growth driven by advertising as traditional media battled for survival.

But in the space of a few months, the tide has turned — as Google and Facebook’s chokehold on the online advertising market reaches a critical point.

In 2017, the two internet giants have snapped up 63 percent of advertising revenue, compared to 58 percent last year, according to market researcher eMarketer. Next year, they are projected to rake in a 67 percent share.

“Advertisers are increasingly demanding more granularity in targeting capabilities to reach consumers,” Monica Peart, eMarketer’s senior director of forecasting, said in late September.

“Google and Facebook have positioned themselves at the front of this demand curve.”

‘It’s not magic’

“It’s not magic,” said Alan Mutter, a professor at the University of California Berkeley specializing in the relationship between journalism and technology.

“Web publishers can publish an unlimited number of pages and get an unlimited number of page views but there’s only a limited number of people buying advertising.”

In this standoff with the two Californian behemoths, it’s new players who stack up the disadvantages — as two thirds of their traffic come from social networks and search engines, mostly controlled by Facebook and Google.

And “if you’re spending money on creating content, you’re competing with the masters of the internet who spend nothing” on producing content, Mutter explained.

But despite the brutal reality, few believe these new media will collapse completely — like the internet bubble of the early 2000s.

It may be 20 percent lower than projected, but with revenue of $280 million according to US media, BuzzFeed is still set to end the year with growth.

For Charlie O’Donnell, founder of seed stage investment fund Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, a website financed entirely by advertising is “still viable.”

“But is it viable to the tune of a billion-dollar exit? That’s tough,” he said.

Promised returns on investment and plans to enter the stock market are likely nothing but memories now — except for Vice, the only organization that has reached a viable scale.

Without reaching such a size, success requires building an audience around a specialized subject and consequently attracting advertisers — as seen with Politico, Eater and technology site The Verge.

But for those starting out today, prospects for success are limited.

“I would have to hear a very compelling story that you’re going to serve some new vertical that nobody ever thought of before,” former journalist Mutter said of investing in a new venture.

“I don’t know what that would be. This is very hard to do.” AB

source: business.inquirer.net

How companies are cashing in on Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go has sent millions of people onto the streets in a worldwide hunt for virtual monsters — and from neighborhood restaurants to multi-national corporations, businesses smell a profit.

“It’s going really well — this is the fourth time we’ve had to restock our Pokemon cuddly toys in two weeks,” said salesman Corentin Flamand, surveying a row of mini Pikachus at the Micromania store in Paris’ bustling Bastille area.

The chain has brought in mugs, baseball caps and a slew of other products to mark this year’s 20th anniversary of the cult Japanese franchise, and is now hoping to profit from the surge of new fans created by the smartphone game.

Beyond products, companies see huge potential in the app’s ability to attract crowds to places in a way that typical advertising does not, by tempting them with the prospect of adding new Pokemon to their collections.

Bars and restaurants from New York to Sydney are reportedly paying for “lures”, a feature of the game which draws Pokemon to a location, hoping this will draw in customers to linger and spend money.

“If you run a bar/restaurant and aren’t spending $10/day on lures and advertising the fact, what are you even thinking?” Eric Neustadter, former head of Microsoft’s Xbox Live gaming service, wrote in a widely-shared tweet.

Pokemon milkshakes

Philippe Bonnasse, a retail expert at French consultancy CA Com, said companies could profit from showing “that their brand is in sync with the times — that they’re ‘Pokemon Go compatible’.”

Some firms are offering Pokecoins — the game’s currency, which players can spend on accessories to help them hunt — as prizes for competitions.

And then there are the many businesses putting a Pokemon twist on their products.

Maxwell’s, a restaurant in London’s Covent Garden, says it has seen a 400 percent jump in sales of its elaborate “freakshake” milkshake since it started offering a new version inspired by the beloved turtle-shaped Pokemon, Squirtle.

Topped with a donut in the shape of one of the “Pokeballs” that hunters use to catch the critters, manager Lloyd Vaughey says the restaurant is shifting 200 of the violently coloured drinks a day.

“Now the sales have levelled but stay very good,” Vaughey told AFP.

In Edinburgh, a taxi firm is offering flat-price journeys that take punters past at least 50 “Pokestops” to load up on Pokeballs, while specialised hunting tours have sprung up everywhere from Barcelona to Mexico City.

At the extreme end of the industry, San Francisco start-up PokeWalk is even charging busy players to have their phones walked for them by full-time professionals.

Sponsorship deals?

Industry tracker Sensor Tower estimates that the game has already generated more than $200 million since its release in early July. Pokemon Go is free to download, but players can pay for extra add-ons that make them better hunters.

Commercial partnerships with other brands could offer another hugely lucrative source of income for its owners — but the Pokemon Company, which licenses the franchise, is currently concentrating on the game’s rollout.

McDonald’s is so far the only brand with a sponsorship deal, in Japan — hoping that having its restaurants designated as “PokeStops” and “Gyms”, where players can fight and pick up virtual supplies, will bring in customers in a country where it is badly struggling.

But the game’s developer Niantic has invited companies to express an interest in tie-ups on its website, signalling that similar deals could follow.

“The partnerships will be agreed in a second phase, but it will be selective,” a Pokemon Company representative told AFP.

In Japan, the game is seen as a potential boost for tourism — especially in the northeast, desperate for visitors after the massive 2011 earthquake, and in Kumamoto in the south, also hit by a series of deadly quakes in April.

Japanese authorities have signed a deal with Niantic to place Pokestops and Gyms in a way that guides tourists to neglected sites — steering clear of the exclusion zone around the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant.

In Japan and beyond, cafes may well profit from players looking for somewhere to hang out and hunt — but retailers may find that footfall from customers glued to their phones has limited benefits, say analysts.

There is also the burning question of whether Pokemon Go is here to stay — or whether it’s a fad we will soon forget about.

“Betting on a duration of three to six months, until Christmas, could allow companies to organise themed operations around the game,” said Yves Marin of the Wavestone consultancy — hopefully winning new customers whose loyalty could outlast the craze./rga

source: business.inquirer.net

AlDub’s gross earnings as product endorsers: P200M and counting

ALDUB—the popular noontime TV love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza—has become the country’s hottest endorser of consumer products.

In just seven months since its debut on TV in July 2015, AlDub’s combined earnings have reached P200 million—based on conservative estimates by sources interviewed by Inquirer Lifestyle.

The number of TV commercials, billboard and print ads that bear their faces, as a pair or individually, is currently pegged at 41: McDonald’s, Talk N’ Text, O+ Ultra, 555 Sardines, 555 Carne Norte, Zonrox, Bear Brand Adult Plus, Tide, Downy, Datu Puti, Rejoice, Hapee Toothpaste, Coca-Cola, Lady’s Choice, Bingo Cookie Sandwich, Gard Shampoo, Cadbury, Eskinol, CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino, Snow Caps Glutathione, Belo, Bench, Bench Fix Salon, Metrobank, Neozep, Nescafe, Nescafe Creamy White, Doña Maria Rice, Boardwalk, Nestea, Technomarine, PhilPlans, Avon, Betadine Fresh Bliss, Lucky Me, Lemon Square Cheese Cake/Lava Cake, Sterling Notebook, Magnolia Ice Cream, Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdog, and Modess.

Alden commands a higher amount than Maine, a source who requested anonymity said: “Mga P5 million si Alden, P1.5 million si Maine.”

Those figures, according to the source, became standard rates after AlDub’s series of McDonald’s TV ads were enthusiastically received by the public.

For Alden’s 555 Carne Norte and Maine’s 555 Sardines endorsements, each was paid “definitely seven figures,” said another source. “The rates were reasonable, relative to their popularity.”

A third source, with direct knowledge of the 555 ads’ impact, noted: “Sales increased by over 50 percent overall. Social media stats went through the roof in terms of number of Twitter impressions, Facebook page views and interaction. Brand equity improved; the ads helped 555 stand out in a crowded category of more than 10 brands.”

For Alden’s Hapee toothpaste ad, “he received “P5 million,” said a fourth source.

Based on the 41 product endorsements, AlDub’s combined gross earnings have reached at least P200 million—less 20 to 30 percent commission for GMA Talent Center and Television and Production Exponents (Tape), Alden and Maine’s management, respectively.

That’s not even counting Alden’s fees from shows or mini-concerts here and abroad.

Contracted to sing three songs on minus-one in a Christmas event last year, Alden was paid P350,000—the same amount he will receive in each of a couple of shows this month and in April.

In what could have been the biggest offer yet for a virtually untested tandem—as live performers in a full-length show, at least—an audacious  producer named Joed Serrano dangled P20 million for a two-night AlDub Valentine concert.

The offer was eventually declined by AlDub’s handlers, deemed a wise decision because Alden and Maine have zero experience as concert acts.

Observers hope that, in due time, AlDub—or even just Alden—would express a desire to expand their talent and be recognized as legitimate artists. Imagine how much they’d be worth by then.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Offbeat humor, upbeat messages dominate Super Bowl 50 ads

NEW YORK— From a strange creature called “Puppymonkeybaby” to a tear-inducing Audi ad, Super Bowl ads ran the gamut this year from offbeat humor to heartfelt messages.

On advertising’s biggest night, Chrysler celebrated Jeep with an ad filled featuring black-and-white portraits of veterans, kids and pop icons. In Audi’s spot, a depressed aging astronaut remembers his joy for life by driving an Audi sports car with his son. And in a quirky Doritos ad, a fetus in a sonogram appears to rocket out of the womb to chase a bag of chips the mother angrily tossed away.

The goal for advertisers: to stand out and win over the 114 million-plus people watching the big game on Super Bowl Sunday, much the way the Denver Broncos triumphed over the Carolina Panthers. With ads costing a record $5 million for 30 seconds this year, the stakes are high to stand out from the 40-plus advertisers and be remembered.

In general, advertisers played it safe with universally liked celebrities such as Anthony Hopkins (TurboTax) and Ryan Reynolds (Hyundai), cute animals and pro-America themes.

“It’s been a pretty safe night,” said David Berkowitz, chief marketing officer at advertising agency MRY. “There’s relatively little going over the top.”

Offbeat humor reigned with a creature called “Puppymonkeybaby” — pretty much exactly what it sounds like — in an ad for Mountain Dew’s Kickstart. The ad sought to show that three great things go together, since Kickstart combines Mountain Dew, juice and caffeine.

“It’s on my list of the weirdest ad of the night, but it’s very catchy and people will be talking about it,” said Kelly O’Keefe, a marketing professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Heartfelt messages were in abundance too. SunTrust’s ad urged people to take a breath and feel better about their financial health. BMW’s Mini urged people to “defy labels.”

Most ads managed to avoid the somber tone struck last year, when an ad for Nationwide about preventable household accidents bummed out many in the audience.

There were a couple of misfires. Two pharmaceutical ads highlighted unappealing digestive conditions. One promoted an anti-diarrhea medication Xifaxan with a small-intestines mascot taking a seat at the Super Bowl. Another sought to raise awareness about “opioid-induced constipation.”

“This just isn’t a topic that people want to hear about during a Super Bowl,” said Villanova University marketing professor Charles Taylor.

Offbeat humor

Mountain Dew’s ad might have been the weirdest ad of the night, but Doritos’ ad also seemed likely to divide viewers. The spot showed a couple during a sonogram. When the mother throws away a bag of Doritos, the fetus seems to zoom after it, to the consternation of all present.

“It caught you a little off guard, but it fit the brand,” said O’Keefe.

Some Super Bowl watchers agreed. Brian Kearney, from Morris County, New Jersey, was watching the game with about 15 people and said the ad was a hit with his friends.

“I thought it was hysterical, we all cracked up,” Kearney said.

Other ads with offbeat humor: Bud Light featured Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen traveling around America promoting “The Bud Light Party.” A Shock Top ad showed actor T.J. Miller trading insults with the brewery’s talking orange wedge mascot. And the outdoor goods-and-clothing company Marmot showed a man palling around with an actual marmot he appears to be falling for, all to illustrate falling in love with the outdoors.

Money Money Money

Eight years after the financial meltdown, financial companies are feeling more comfortable promoting their products and services. Six advertised in the big game, including including SunTrust Banks, PayPal, Quicken Loans, Intuit brand and Intuit’s TurboTax and Social Finance Inc.

Most promoted optimistic messages about money. TurboTax, for instance, enlisted Anthony Hopkins to get out the message that you can file your taxes for free with TurboTax. PayPal’s music-video style ad asked people to embrace “New Money.”

“We’re officially over the mourning of 2008 (financial crisis),” said Mediapost columnist Barbara Lippert.

Cinematic ads

Some advertisers created mini-movies. Toyota went long with a 90-second ad depicting bank robbers who use a Prius 4 to escape from police. LG enlisted Liam Neeson in a futuristic spot showing off LG’s new OLED 4K TV. Hyundai’s “The Chase” ad, echoed “The Revenant,” showing people escaping grizzly bears by using Hyundai’s remote start feature.

“Super Bowl advertisers are sticking with light themes,” said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. “Last year we had serious ads about fathers and mortality. This year the ads are funny and creative.” TVJ

source: business.inquirer.net

Google parent Alphabet may soon top Apple’s market value

SAN FRANCISCO— As the digital advertising market booms and demand for smartphones wanes, Alphabet Inc. could soon dethrone Apple as the world’s most valuable company.

If it happens, Alphabet will move to the head of the class just five months after Google reorganized itself under the holding company.

The Silicon Valley rivals could trade places as early as Friday, given how rapidly the financial gap between them is narrowing. At the end of trading on Thursday, Apple’s market value stood at $522 billion; Alphabet was worth $515 billion.

That’s a dramatic swing from where things stood just 13 months ago. Apple then boasted a market value of $643 billion, almost twice Google Inc.’s $361 billion.

Since then, investors have soured on Apple Inc. The company has struggled to come up with another trend-setting product amid slumping sales of its most important device — the nearly 9-year-old iPhone, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of Apple’s overall sales.

Apple has already acknowledged the iPhone will begin this year with its first quarterly sales decline since it debuted in 2007. The slowdown helped push down Apple’s stock price by 15 percent since the end of 2014.

In contrast, Google has maintained its leadership in the lucrative Internet search and ad market while building other popular products in video, mobile, web browsing, email and mapping. That bundle of Google services brings in most of Alphabet’s revenue, and is expected to deliver growth in the 15 percent to 20 percent range as marketers shift even more of their budgets to digital services.

Alphabet also has impressed investors by reining in its spending. Google hired a Wall Street veteran, Ruth Porat, as its chief financial officer last May.

In addition to reversing a long expansion of Google’s operating expenses, Porat also persuaded Alphabet’s board to spend $5 billion buying back its own stock. That move signaled a more shareholder-friendly approach to managing the company’s cash hoard.

Investors also have applauded the creation of Alphabet, which is structured to provide more information about the cost of the company’s experimental ventures into self-driving cars, Internet access services, health science and city management.

All of those factors have helped lift Alphabet’s stock — previously Google’s — by 41 percent since the end of 2014.

It’s a potentially big shift for Apple, which has held bragging rights as the world’s most valuable company for most of the past four-and-a-half years. (ExxonMobil seized the high ground for a brief time in 2013.)

Alphabet would become the 12th company to rise to the most valuable spot, according to Standard & Poor’s.

BGP Financial analyst Colin Gillis believes the potential changing of the guard reflects a wider recognition that Alphabet is fostering a “culture of innovation” while Apple has lost some of its magic since the October 2011 death of co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. “I no longer see a sense of urgency at Apple,” Gillis said.

If Alphabet doesn’t surpass Apple’s market value on Friday, it could do so early next week after it releases fourth-quarter earnings on Monday. Investors expect a big quarter after Google’s closest competitor in digital ads, Facebook Inc., announced that its revenue soared 52 percent in the period.

Of course, Apple isn’t just rolling over. It’s reportedly working on new products such as self-driving cars, virtual reality and Internet TV that could conceivably re-ignite its revenue growth — as could any resurgence in the iPhone itself. Alphabet has shown no signs of letting up on Google’s grip in Internet search or its expansion into other markets.

Which means we could see Apple and Alphabet continue to trade places in the market-value rankings over the next few years, as both race to be the first company worth $1 trillion.

source: business.inquirer.net

Bloomberg takes on AlDub’s influence on markets

The phenomenal loveteam of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza a.k.a. Yaya Dub is undeniably one of the hottest pairings in the Philippine entertainment industry nowadays.

But after a show in the world’s largest indoor arena sold out 55,000 tickets in less than three days, and with a Twitter record of 41 million tweets with its hashtag in one day, AlDub has also caught global attention in both the mainstream and social media.

After the British Broadcasting Company dubbed them as a ‘social media phenomenon,’ international business news platform Bloomberg discussed how the unassuming and ‘bizarre’ Philippine show is affecting sales in different markets.



"The 'AlDub' phenomenon, (and) how it's becoming a mega hit on social media and how it's becoming a gold mine for anyone associated with it," read the blurb of the Bloomberg story.

In the article, Ehden Llave Pelaez, social media manager at iSentia Brandtology, described AlDub and the Kalyeserye segment from Philippines’ longest-running noontime show ‘Eat Bulaga’ as a brand new type of the typical Cinderella love story.

Pelaez said its appeal came from how it responded to the audience.

“Another nice thing, which is probably where social media comes in, is they get to listen to their fans. They story follows what the fans wanted to see. It's an open-ended series,” Pelaez said.

After only months of charming the Filipino audience, AlDub already starred in different commercials for a wide variety of brands, such as fast food, household cleaning agent, a telecommunications company, adult milk brand, cellphone brand, and many more.

Vice President for Marketing Communications at Golden Arches Development Corporation Margot Torres confirmed that the sales of McDonald’s grew significantly following the release of the #ALDUBkoto TV commercial.

"Our  growth is measured based on same-store sales and transactions. If we use the period when we sold Minions (which was a good month) as a base index of 100 and compare the same-store transactions growth figure with the period 3 weeks after we launched our chicken fillet a la king and the AlDub campaign, the figure is 470 versus base index," Torres told GMA News Online.

"This is a nationwide number,” she added.

"Needless to say, the launch of our Chicken Fillet a la King product with the AlDub campaign has positively impacted our business and sales for Chicken Fillet a la King have well exceeded its target," Torres said.

Within 24 hours of posting on September 11, the AlDub TVC was viewed 1.5 million times on the fast food chain’s Facebook page.

According to Pelaez, this remarkable increase in business is brought by the fact that the ‘AlDub phenomenon’ is not restricted to a particular class or industry.

Aside from being talked about in five out of seven continents, the love team’s reach also cuts across different markets because of their wide audience reach assisted not only by television but more importantly, by social media.

“They are cutting across different industries and segments. Beyond McDonald's and Talk N' Text, they have household cleansers and other upcoming TVCs,” Pelaez said.

“Using these people as effective product ambassadors proves that their fanbase also cuts across different markets. So, you're touching different consumers, and it doesn't matter what industry you're in. You are able to connect to different kinds of audience," she added. —Bianca Rose Dabu/NB, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

McDonald's enjoys 470% sales increase after AlDub commercial

The phenomenal AlDub love team has boosted not just ratings and social media influence of Eat Bulaga, but has also been a boon for a fastfood chain that has tapped them as ambassadors.

In a tweet on Thursday, quoting Margot Torres, Adobo Magazine cited how McDonald's sales expanded by more than 470 percent when the company released its  #ALDUBkoto TV commercial.

Torres, vice president for Marketing Communications at Golden Arches Development Corporation, told GMA News Online on Friday that the figure was "accurate but not clearly explained."

 "It's a nationwide figure," she added.

Golden Arches is the franchise holder of McDonald's in the Philippines.

"Needless to say, the launch of our Chicken Fillet a la King product with the AlDub campaign has positively impacted our business, and sales for Chicken Fillet a la King have well exceeded its target," Torres said.

However, she declined to give the peso equivalent of McDonald's sales in relation to the #AlDubkoto TV ad. "I cannot share peso sales."

The product was launched in stores on September 7.  The TV ad aired on September 11.

"Within 24 hours of posting, the TVC (TV commercial) was viewed more than 1.5 million times on our Facebook page," Torres noted.

Regarding future plans in relation to AlDub, she said, "We will continue to support AlDub as our newest brand ambassadors."

The love team of Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards is featured on Monday to Saturday on the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga's KalyeSerye segment on GMA 7. – VS/JST, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Google increases user privacy controls

SAN FRANCISCO- Google increased privacy controls for users and rolled out a website on Monday that answers frequently asked questions in response to increasing concern over how the search giant collects and uses its massive amounts of data.

Users have been able to control certain privacy settings for months or years, such as whether to save web browser and location history, which is also used in targeted advertising.

But managing the controls is confusing and time consuming because the settings are in various places across the web that are not always easy to find.

Now users will be able to use My Account, which provides a privacy checkup and security checkup, or lists where people can check off which data they want to be public and private.

Google's new website answers frequently asked questions, such as whether the company sells personal data and what information is given to advertisers.

"We knew that users find privacy and security really mysterious so we wanted to make it very approachable," said Guemmy Kim, product manager for account controls and settings.

Data control has become increasingly important to users in recent years as more day-to-day activity has moved to the Internet.

In 2013, Edward Snowden leaked classified documents that showed the U.S. National Security Agency was engaging in mass collection of phone records, placing companies that have enormous amounts of data, such as Google, Facebook and Apple, under increasing scrutiny.

Only 9 percent of people in a recent Pew survey felt they had a "lot" of control over their data.

Monday's rollout comes on the heels of newly increased app permissions for Android, which Google announced at its annual developer’s conference last week. The new system mirrors the app permissions on Apple's iPhones, which do not allow apps to automatically access numerous types of data, such as location or phone contacts.  — Reuters

Facebook to sell real-time Super Bowl ads, taking on Twitter

This Super Bowl Facebook is taking a page from Twitter's playbook, for the first time during a football championship selling ads that target people based on what they are talking about in real time.

These include video ads that will play automatically on Facebook's newsfeed, triggered by key words that members mention in their posts as they watch the American football game on Feb. 1.

Smartphones and tablets provide a second screen for the Super Bowl's 100 million television viewers to comment about the game as it proceeds, giving advertisers a more precise way to target messages.

Twitter is the leader in this arena that other social media networks are seeking to emulate. Mondelez International's Oreo sent out clever tweets when the lights went out during the Super Bowl in 2013, a stunt considered to be a marketing coup.

"Twitter has owned the mantel of being a real-time platform but the sophistication of Facebook's ad targeting is unparalleled," said Noah Mallin, head of social for north America at MEC, a media buying agency that is part of WPP.

"That is a big change."

At last year's Super Bowl, marketers on Facebook could target ads to segments of members based on their likes, profiles and demographic information. Facebook has introduced real-time targeting features since then, and this year the social network, with 155 million daily users in the United States and Canada, will customize audience clusters that advertisers can target in real time during the game.

Maura Tuohy, head of social media at the marketing agency Eleven Inc, said Facebook had to work hard to dispel the notion that people do not use the network while watching live tent pole events. "People are talking about these shows" on Facebook, she said.

For example, Toyota Motor Corp in the past had turned to social media to amplify its creative TV commercials running in the Super Bowl. Now, the Japanese automaker is making commercials specially for social media.

Dionne Colvin-Lovely, director of traditional and emerging media at Toyota, said the automaker is running two commercials during the Super Bowl but has turned to digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google Inc's YouTube and Hulu to generate a conversation around car buying.

"There is a lot more fragmentation," Colvin-Lovely said. "TV is an important media; it's not as dominant. We need to make sure we have a strong presence online and in mobile. It's more complicated now."

WAR-ROOMS

Twitter is staffing "war rooms" of 13 advertisers for the Super Bowl, including PepsiCo and Anheuser Busch - triple the number of companies that worked directly with Twitter for last year's big game.

Staffers at the 13 companies will monitor social networks during the game and pump out videos, tweets and graphical ads. Some companies will have lawyers on hand to approve the spots.

A growing number of big brand advertisers want to create "unplanned" social ads for the Super Bowl, said Twitter Director of U.S. Brand Strategy Ross Hoffman.

Twitter and Facebook are hoping that by executing memorable real-time ads with a more precise way to reach consumers will be an additional tool in their long-time efforts to grab a bigger slice of the estimated $66 billion television advertising pie.

Many marketers are also turning to digital platforms, including YouTube.

While many agencies executives said social networks do not necessarily charge more for ads during tent pole events, total spending rises as advertisers target more people.

This year, NBC is charging a record $4.5 million on average for a 30-second commercial. So far the network, a division of Comcast Corp, has sold 95 percent of the game's inventory.

When the $5 million to $10 million cost to produce a TV commercial is factored in, digital advertising looks even more attractive.

"It's a much more complicated ecosystem than 2 years ago," said Winston Binch, partner, chief digital officer Deutsch North America. His firm created the iconic "The Force" Super Bowl TV ad featuring a little kid dressed up as Star Wars character Darth Vader in 2011 for Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), which is not airing a spot this year.

"The price tag keeps going up. It's not an easy decision now for big brands," he said.  — Reuters

Facebook Q4 revenue rises more than expected

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook Inc's fourth-quarter revenue jumped 63 percent, beating Wall Street targets, as the Internet company's mobile ad sales continued to accelerate.

Shares of Facebook were up 7 percent at $57.36 in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

The world's largest social networking company said that revenue from mobile ads represented 53 percent of its total advertising revenue in the last three months of the year, or $1.24 billion, versus the 49 percent proportion that mobile ads represented in the third quarter.

Facebook said it now has 1.23 billion monthly users, with 945 million accessing the service on a smartphone or tablet.

Overall revenue in the fourth quarter rose to $2.585 billion, compared with $1.585 billion in the year-ago period and above the $2.33 billion expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Facebook reported net income of $523 million, or 20 cents a share, versus $64 million or 3 cents a share in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, Facebook said it earned 31 cents a share.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Publicis, Omnicom to merge to create advertising giant

PARIS - Publicis and Omnicom have announced merger plans to create the world's biggest advertising group, worth $35.1 billion, a tie-up that could put pressure on rivals to do deals to keep pace.

The transaction marks a return of jumbo-sized M&A among the world's "Big Six" advertising groups, which have spent the past few years buying up much smaller targets in emerging markets and among web marketing specialists.

The French and U.S. company presented the deal as a "merger of equals" in which Publicis and Omnicom shareholders will each hold about 50 percent of the new company's equity.

Publicis said the transaction was expected to create "significant value for shareholders", with expected synergies of $500 million. The merged group would keep its head offices in Paris and New York, it said.

"(Omnicom head John Wren) and I have conceived this merger to benefit our clients by bringing together the most comprehensive offering of analog and digital services," Publicis Chief Executive Maurice Levy said in a statement. Levy also said the French government was supportive of the merger.

The deal is likely to push the remaining advertising agencies to consider mergers to keep up. Current leader WPP may make a move for U.S.-based Interpublic, France's Havas or Japan's Dentsu, said Pivotal Research analyst Brian Weiser in a note.

"What would have been unthinkable previously would now make sense," he said.

Together, Publicis and Omnicom had combined 2012 revenue of $22.7 billion, with more than 130,000 employees, and they would overtake WPP, worth $24.1 billion.

The deal would bring together Publicis brands such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett with Omnicom's BBDO Worldwide and DDB Worldwide.

Wren and Levy will be joint CEOs for an initial integration and development period of 30 months, after which Levy will become non-executive chairman and Wren sole CEO, Publicis said.

Publicis shareholders will receive one newly-issued ordinary share of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Publicis share they own, plus a special dividend of 1.00 euro per share.

Earnings boost

Omnicom shareholders will receive 0.813 newly issued ordinary shares of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Omnicom share they own, together with a special dividend of $2.00 per share. They will also receive up to two regular quarterly dividends of $0.40 per share.

The companies said the transaction would be a cross-border merger of equals under Netherlands-based holding company Publicis Omnicom Group, with stock market listings in both New York and Paris.

Publicis said the deal, which had been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, was expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.

Levy said the merger would boost adjust earnings per share and that the new company would keep its BBB+ debt rating.

The head of rival agency Havas questioned the logic of the merger earlier on Sunday, saying digital business and technology had made scale irrelevant, and that the uncertainties associated with large mergers would distract staff away from clients.

"I'm not sure this is in the best interests of their clients or their talent," David Jones said. "Clients today want us to be faster, more agile, more nimble and more entrepreneurial, not bigger and more bureaucratic and more complex."

The CGT union said the merger would fly in the face of the government's ambitions to preserve French brands, adding that the merged group would be dominated by the U.S. in many areas.

The union called on the French government and competition authorities to avoid a monopoly situation being created, adding that it would mobilise to protect jobs.

Levy said he did not expect resistance to the deal from the French government. "We don't expect that the French government will have anything else other than great support," he said.

Moelis is acting as financial advisor to Omnicom, while Rothschild is advising Publicis on the deal. — Reuters

 source: gmanetwork.com

Twitter makes ad campaigns easier

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter on Wednesday made it easier to run ad campaigns using tweeted messages in a move that promised to ramp up the company’s money-making potential and prospects for a stock market debut.

San Francisco-based Twitter announced that five partners are using new software that automates and streamlines advertisements displayed as “tweets” and promoted to high profile positions in user feeds.

“We’ve been testing the Twitter Ads API since January with our partners, and today we’re officially launching it,” revenue product manager April Underwood wrote in a blog post.

“Marketers now have more tools in their arsenal to help them deliver the right message, to the right audience, on the desktop and on mobile devices—all at scale.”

Twitter started the year with more than 200 million users and a prediction by industry-tracker eMarketer that the company’s annual revenue would top $545 million.

The first companies using Ads API (application programming interface) software include computer software veteran Adobe and cloud computing triumph Salesforce.com.

“As interest in Twitter has grown, our focus has been on delivering better ads for users, not more ads,” Underwood said.

“Our system rewards marketers for being good, not for being loud.”

In August of last year, Twitter began letting advertisers aim “promoted tweets” at users based on the interests they express in their messages.

Twitter ad products tap into a “real-time interest graph” to target the terse promoted messages in hundreds of categories ranging from gardening and hobbies to pets and investing.

Factors that go into determining interests include which Twitter accounts people follow, such as sports teams or chefs.

source: japantoday.com

Facebook plans to raise $10.6B in mega IPO

SAN FRANCISCO—Facebook Inc. aims to raise about $10.6 billion in Silicon Valley's largest IPO, dwarfing the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google Inc. and granting the world's largest social network a market value close to Amazon.com's.

The eight-year-old social network that began as Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room project indicated an initial public offering price range of between $28 and $35 a share on Thursday, which would value the company at $77 billion to $96 billion.

The size of the IPO reflects the company's growth and bullish expectations about its money-making potential as a hub for everything from advertising to commerce.

"We certainly haven't ever seen a tech IPO on this grandiose a scale," said Lise Buyer, a principal with the IPO advisory firm Class V Group.

Buyer, who worked on Google's 2004 IPO, said the question about a company "that's already this big and that is raising this much money is how many of the glory days of growth are in the past versus how many are ahead."

Facebook stands to raise as much as $12 billion at the upper end of its planned range. If an over-allotment or "greenshoe" option is triggered, the company could sweep up a maximum of $13.6 billion, according to a Thursday prospectus.

Facebook is only getting about half, or $5.6 billion, of the estimated $10.6 billion that it would raise at the midpoint of its planned IPO range. About $4.9 billon will go to some existing shareholders.

Facebook's stock could begin trading as soon as May 18, according to a road show schedule obtained by Reuters. The offering's price range can be adjusted depending on Wall Street's response during the road show.

Investors are expected to flock to the highly anticipated IPO, although there have been growing concerns about the social network's longer-term growth and Zuckerberg's majority control.

Facebook will trade at 13 to 16 times the revenue that GreenCrest Capital analyst Max Wolff believes it will generate this year. By comparison, Google, the world's dominant Internet search engine, currently trades at 5.5 to 6 times expected 2012 revenue, he said.

Google's valuation was higher when it went public in 2004, though Facebook's IPO valuation is still higher than Google's was back then, Wolff noted.

But some observers said the rich premium was unlikely to deter investors.

"People are going to be very comfortable with this valuation," said Sam Schwerin of Millennium Technology Value Partners, which owns Facebook shares worth roughly $200 million. The firm is not selling in the IPO.

"A price range of $28 to $35 will be a relief to some people who are concerned that they may try to take the highest possible price because of high demand," he said.

"The amount being raised is noteworthy. Selling stockholders are raising about $5 billion in the IPO, which is a lot."

Facebook executives are due to hit the road on Monday, presenting their investment case to audiences. They will start in New York, go to other major cities such as Chicago and Boston, and end up on Facebook's home turf in Menlo Park, California, according to the schedule.

Zuckerberg is expected to participate in the two-week road show, a source has said, although chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and finance chief David Ebersman will lead the briefings.

Tantalizing Wall Street

Zuckerberg's involvement in the road show will be key for investors with concerns about Facebook's long-term strategy and money-making potential, said Brian Wieser, an analyst with Pivotal Research Group.

Zuckerberg's control of the company–which was underscored when he orchestrated the $1 billion acquisition of mobile app maker Instagram last month–means that investors need to "get comfortable" with the 27-year-old CEO, said Wieser.

Last week, Facebook reported its first quarter-to-quarter revenue slide in at least two years, a sign that the social network's sizzling growth may be cooling just as it prepares to go public. Some observers have also flagged the company's lack of revenue on mobile devices such as smartphones as an area of concern.

Dressed in a gray t-shirt and jeans, the copper-haired Zuckerberg appeared in a 31-minute road show video posted online on Thursday. In the video, Zuckerberg predicted that in five years almost every software app would be integrated with Facebook.

Facebook generated the lion's share of its $3.7 billion in revenue last year from online advertising. It also collects fees when consumers use its special Credits currency to purchase virtual goods in social games such as Zynga's Farmville. The company has said it may expand the use of its payment business beyond games.

Facebook–which plans to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the ticker "FB"–has long tantalized investors with the prospect of a mega IPO.

As a private company, shares of Facebook have traded briskly in secondary markets for the past couple of years, as investors sought to get a piece of the fast-growing company ahead of its expected IPO.

The IPO price range indicated in Facebook's filing on Thursday would value the company a hair below the level it has traded at in the secondary markets in recent months, with some trades valuing the company at slightly more than $100 billion.

But some investors think Facebook, which touts 900 million users worldwide, is setting itself a fairly conservative target.

"The price range may be tactical. They will likely walk the range up," Schwerin argued.

Facebook plans to sell 337.4 million shares, or 12.3 percent of the company, in the offering. The capital-raising target far outstrips big Internet IPOs that came before it. Google raised just shy of $2 billion in 2004, while last year Groupon tapped investors for $700 million and Zynga raked in $1 billion.

At the top end of the IPO range, Facebook would rival the market value of Amazon.com and Cisco Systems Inc., which are worth just over $100 billion, and surpass the combined market value of older technology companies Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc.

Among existing shareholders, the largest seller in the IPO will be venture capital firm Accel Partners, which will make about $1.2 billion assuming the shares sell at the $31.5 mid-point. Zuckerberg is selling the next largest chunk of shares, worth a little under $1 billion.

Facebook said that a "substantial majority" of the proceeds from Zuckerberg's stock sale will be used to satisfy taxes he will incur from exercising his options.

In its prospectus, Facebook said the "lock-up" period, during which employees cannot sell shares after the IPO, would range from 151 days to 181 days.

Facebook also added two new underwriters, including online broker E*Trade Securities. The broker caters to retail clients who some have speculated may try to pile into the IPO.

"No doubt Facebook doesn't want to upset the average mom and pop out there," said Craig Huber, research analyst, at independent research firm Huber Research Partners. —Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com