Online Ads Getting Back Into High Gear

On October 24, 2009

Online Ads Getting Back Into High Gear

After bogging down in the recession, Internet advertising is regaining the momentum that has made it the decade's most disruptive marketing machine. The signs of an online revival are emerging even while advertising in print and broadcasts remain in a slump that has triggered mass layoffs, pay cuts and other upheaval.
On October 23, 2009

Microsoft Spins Q1, People Seem to Buy It

The general headline for the Microsoft earnings announcement seems to be "less profits, but better than analysts expected. Look at the numbers, and you might wonder what positive someone would have taken, other than a pitcher of pity.
On October 23, 2009

Why Capitalism’s Best Days are Ahead

We have record unemployment, national debt, and deficit spending. We have a vastly imperfect system. And we have endless greed and fraud. But capitalism's best days are ahead, and not just because things can't get any worse. I've got 4 irrefutable reasons why capitalism is alive, well, and thriving.
On October 23, 2009

EPA Transportation and Air Quality Chief Talks to BNET Autos About 35.5 MPG

Margo Oge , a Toyota Prius driver, is the director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s office of transportation and air quality, and she sat down with BNET Autos just after a public hearing on the EPA and Department of Transportation’s proposed standards mandating that cars sold in the U.S. reach 35.5 mpg by 2016. The standards are an updating of the 30-year old (and stagnant for 20 of them) Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules, but with reducing climate change added as part of the goals. The EPA is hoping for cars to reach 250 grams of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide per mile, which is virtually the same thing as 35.5 mpg. Contrary to conventional wisdom that predicted the automakers...
On October 23, 2009

Toys”R”Us, American Eagle and Others Bet on Pop-Up Stores

Pop-up stores during the holiday season, while not necessarily a new concept, are gaining extra traction this year. Major chains and boutiques alike are selling items in temporary stores in high-traffic areas to make an extra push when retail sales are forecast to come out slightly up at best. Like any other industry, retailers are looking to scrape out the most favorable financials they can at the lowest possible cost. What these pop-up locations provide are outlets that will garner high foot-traffic numbers without the expensive real estate costs associated with a permanent store. Ironically, Toys"R"Us, one retailer that is going pop-up crazy during these holidays with its 350 Holiday Express units, already operates its own base of 600 stores...
On October 23, 2009

New Jersey Pays Goldman Sachs to Protect Non-Existent Bonds

New Jerseyites worried about where their tax dollars are going can rest assured that it's to a worthy cause: Goldman Sachs. Bloomberg details a program under which residents of the financially strapped state are paying a partnership run by the investment bank nearly $1 million a month to guard against rising interest costs on auction-rate debt. The best part is that the bonds were redeemed more than a year ago. That's right -- the paper is history. The most-densely populated U.S. state is making the payments under an agreement made during the administration of former Governor James E. McGreevey in 2003, when New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund Authority sold $345 million in auction-rate bonds whose yields fluctuated with short-term interest...
On October 23, 2009

Consumers Are Going Online More for Research

Consumer online local research is on the rise according to the findings a recent study from TMP Directional Marketing and comScore. Shoppers go about doing their research a variety of ways, with most going to search engines first (31%) followed by print yellow pages/white pages (30%), online Yellow Pages sites (19%), and local search sites (11%).

Only a year ago in the same study, print yellow pages were ranked number one at 33%. This shows that online is becoming more the norm for consumers to do their research before shopping.

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On October 23, 2009

McCain Locks Horns With FCC on Net Neutrality

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has introduced the Internet Freedom Act of 2009, legislation that would negate many of the principles underlying the concept of Net neutrality, which aims to ensure that Internet users have equal and unfettered access to all services available on the Web. The McCain bill calls for continued unfettered competition for Internet activity.
On October 23, 2009

Apple Commercials Signal Big Positioning Departure

Sometimes it's the big things that show how a company is changing, and sometimes it's the little things. Then there are the times it's both. In this case, I’m talking about the Apple commercials for the Mac. Not just the most recent ones, but the series and the trends they're showing. What we're seeing is effectively communicating a strong shift in Apple's product positioning in a direction quite different from where the company has been before.
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