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October 7, 2008

In This Update:

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WPP to Acquire Taylor Nelson
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Market researcher Taylor Nelson Sofres agreed Monday to be acquired by WPP Group for £1.1 billion ($1.95 billion), in a deal that will reduce WPP’s reliance on advertising ahead of an expected industry downturn. WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell has been talking for more than a decade about steering his company away from the volatile ad market into research and other marketing fields with more predictable profits. But, until now, his prolific deal making, including the 2004 acquisition of Grey Global Group, kept adding to advertising operations.
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A.M.D. to Split into Two Operations
NEW YORK TIMES
Advanced Micro Devices said Tuesday that it would split into two companies – one focused on designing microprocessors and the other on the costly business of manufacturing them – in a drastic effort to maintain its position as the only real rival to Intel. In addition, the company said two Abu Dhabi investment firms would inject at least $6 billion into the two firms, mostly to finance a new chip factory that A.M.D. planned to build near Albany, N.Y., and to upgrade one of the company’s existing plants in Dresden, Germany.
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VeriSign Sells Jamba Stake to News Corp
REUTERS
News Corp has taken full ownership of mobile content provider Jamba by buying VeriSign Inc’s 49 percent stake for about $200 million, the two companies said on Tuesday. Jamba makes content such as wallpapers, ringtones and games for mobile phones. It also offers short episodes — called “mobisodes” — of some Fox TV series, including “24,” “Prison Break” and “Bones,” for phones.Internet security company VeriSign has been trying to divest its slower-growing businesses to focus on its core website-naming and Internet security services. In August, VeriSign Chief Executive James Bidzos said the divestiture process was hurt by the economic slowdown and would take longer than expected.
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SnapTell Explorer – Mobile Visual Search Heats Up
EDUCATING SILICON
Hot on the heals of kooaba, competitor SnapTell just released an iPhone client for their visual search engine. The index apparently contains most books, DVDs, CDs and game covers – over one million indexed items. If the recognition rate is as high as it should be, that’s a pretty impressive achievement. In principle the service was already available via email/mms. In practice, an iPhone client changes the experience completely. Image search becomes the fastest way to get information about anything around you.
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Hulu to Show McCain-Obama Debates Live
WEB PRO NEWS
There are all sorts of things that might keep folks from watching the presidential debates on TV: technical problems, appointments elsewhere, or spouses with a low tolerance for politicians. Fortunately for them, Hulu plans to stream the last two debates live. At first glance, this development looks dull; who needs Hulu when every major media company (and a lot of minor ones) already had plans to stream the candidates’ squabbling? There are the minor matters of Hulu’s easy-to-use interface and uncommonly good picture quality, however.
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MyPunchbowl 2.0 Launches With Gorgeous Invitation Editor
TECHCRUNCH
MyPunchbowl , an eVite competitor that opened its doors early last year, has launched a ‘2.0? version of its site that features a revamped interface and a very impressive custom electronic invitation creator. MyPunchbowl CEO Matt Douglas says that his team has integrated improvements throughout the site for the new release, including an enhanced address book, the ability to send test invites (to make sure they appear correctly in mail clients), and various UI changes. And while these features are welcome additions to the site, the site’s most significant release is easily its invitation Design Studio.
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Burst Media unveils Thought Leaders Ad Network
WEBWARE
Online advertising firm Burst Media announced Tuesday that it has launched the Thought Leaders Ad Network for a predominantly male audience aged 35 and older. According to Burst Media, the new ad network groups 140 Web sites delivering more than 150 million impressions monthly into one vertical network to help advertisers target their intended audience. Joining other Burst ad networks like Entertainment, Moms, and Early Adopters, the Thought Leaders Ad Network will consist of sites and blogs covering news, finance, politics, business, technology, and international affairs.
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Seeking Broader Reach for Social Web Sites
NEW YORK TIMES
As the Web becomes a more social place, media companies are trying to make it easier to share links with friends, add comments to articles and extend users’ online identities. This week, CNN will begin connecting “The Forum,” a site for political expression, to Facebook, the country’s second-largest social network, enabling users to talk about the presidential debates and see what their friends are writing.
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Crisis Raises Worries on Ad Spending, Bills
WALL STREET JOURNAL
In the first major signs that Wall Street’s crisis and the worsening credit crunch are taking a toll on the global advertising business, ZenithOptimedia has slashed its growth forecast for the industry, and some ad firms are reporting concerns about clients paying their bills.Zenith, whose forecasts are closely followed by the industry, said it expects ad spending in the U.S. to grow just 1.6% this year and by less than 1% in 2009. In June, the ad-buying firm, a unit of Publicis Groupe, predicted growth of 3.4% and 2.6%, respectively, for this year and next.
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appssavvy Raises $3.1 Million To Connect Social Media Developers, Advertisers
TECHCRUNCH
appssavvy , a company that aims to help pair developers on social media platforms with advertisers and brands, has closed a $3.1 million Series A funding round led by TRUE Ventures. Also joining the round is About.com founder Scott Kurnit. appssavvy reports that it has worked with 100 developers on the Facebook platform who account for 500 applications, as well as developers working on OpenSocial, Bebo, and a number of other social networks. Because there are so many developers and applications available across these social networks, it can be hard for advertisers to find an appropriate match for their brands.
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